Great White Egret at HOM.

I couldn't get out for the high tide on the Ribble around midday today so I opted for an early visit to RSPB Hesketh Out Marsh anyway. Nothing much from the ramp at the eastern end of the reserve so I walked the seawall to Karen's Viewpoint where the first bird I clapped eyes on was this Great White Egret! The strong wind and drizzle was soon forgotten as although there have been several recent records, this was a HOM tick for me. No rings on the legs. 
A walk to the west end of the reserve was pretty quiet apart from small numbers of Pink-feet overhead, 3+ Little Egrets and 19 Whooper Swans on the reserve. These joined some more in the fields at Hundred End, totalling 57 in all. At least 350 Golden Plovers on Banks Marsh East and hundreds of Teal on HOM as the creeks started to fill.
Wonder what else was found once the reserve flooded? 

Marshside 28 October.

Thought I'd head down to Marshside for the big tide today and although there was nothing out of the ordinary, quality was certainly replaced by quantity. Literally thousands of birds on the South Ribble Marshes today, many displaced from the long saltmarsh grasses by the ten metre tide.

I started at Crossens well before the tide covered it where there were hundreds of Wigeon and Teal, 850 Godlen Plover, 950 Dunlin, 220 Black-tailed Godwits, 35+ Ruff and 3 Grey Plover. Marsh Harrier and Merlin hunted the outer marsh where up to 9 Little Egrets and a family party of 5 Whooper Swans were feeding. Raven on the marsh too.

Joining (well, not quite) the birders gathered on the sandplant, I waited for the tide to come in with the hope of a Short-eared Owl or two pushed out of roost by the incoming waters. No joy there but hundreds of Pink-footed Geese were close in and Rock Pipits and Twite flew over the peninsula.

A couple of Sparrowhawks were given a hard time by Carrion Crows  but I gave in around 1PM and headed for the RSB reserve where the best I could find was 3 Barnacle Geese with the Pink-feet on Sutton's Marsh.

Two Teals.

Drake Green-winged Teal, Mersehead RSPB (D&G) 25 October 2011.

 I've had very little time for birding after work in SW Scotland this week with the shortening days. However a couple of hour-long sessions at RSPB Mersehead were very enjoyable indeed with this drake Green-winged Teal on the wetland outside the Bruaich Hide on Tuesday being the pick of the bunch. It was a bit elusive even though it was at close range, hiding in the wet grassland for long periods.

 At least 2000 Barnacle Geese were outside the hides on Monday evening with 700+ Pink-footed Geese coming into roost on Tuesday. I've never seen the reserve so full of birds, no doubt due to the high water levels at the moment.

 Male Hen Harrier, several hundred Starlings coming into roost (harassed by at least 2 Sparrowhawks), parties of Yellowhammers and House Sparrows in the hedge and huge numbers of winter wildfowl made it a very busy couple of hours leading to dusk on both evenings.

Black-tailed Godwits, Mersehead RSPB.

Snipe at Mersehead.

 Outings to the Ribble Estuary have been unspectacular of late but there were a few more birds of note at Hesketh Out Marsh RSPB last Sunday (23rd). More passerines on the reserve now with 15 Tree Sparrows in the farm hedge and scores of Skylarks over the saltmarsh. The latter is no doubt responsible for the increased time put in by the hunting Merlin, with a female chasing larks over the reserve most of the time I was there. Marsh Harrier was the only other raptor of note at the weekend with150 Golden Plover, Curlew Sandpiper, 4 Greenshank, Avocet and 2 Twites with Linnets being the other birds of note.

 Drake Green-winged Teal (centre), Hesketh Out Marsh RSPB 27 October 2011.

 I really expected the South Ribble Marshes to turn up a goodie this autumn with the plethora of Nearctic waders on our shores of late. The drake Green-winged Teal I chanced upon at HOM this morning was my first half-decent local "self-found" for some time, even if it had a consolation prize feel about it. Still two GWT's in a week shouldn't be sniffed at I suppose.

 I first saw it in the creeks on the reserve but as the 10 metre tide flooded the saltmarsh it came into view again. Awful light and still pretty far off though, so just record shots.
More birds on the reserve with the big tides as usual, mainly wildfowl with several hundred Teal, 2 Pintail, 6 Gadwall and 100+ Wigeon. The first 6 Whooper Swans of the winter were at HOM today and there's plenty of Pink-footed Geese in the area but not settling to feed at HOM just yet. Avocet, Knot, 2 Greenshank, 12 Snipe, 35+ Dunlin and 30+ Black-tailed Godwits on or over the reserve with 700 Oystercatchers, 50 Golden Plover and 550 Lapwing on the Ribble shores before being pushed off by the incoming tide. At least 8 Little Egrets around, single Merlin on the other side over at Warton, Siskin, Redwing, 6 Fieldfares and a flock of 33 Jackdaws overhead and 2 Rock Pipits flitting around the outer marsh.

Green-winged Teal at Mersehead.

Ross's Goose.

Ross's Goose with Barnacle Geese at Caerlaverock WWT, Dumfries & Galloway 20 October 2011.

 The Ross's Goose at Caerlaverock WWT on the way home from Dumfries & Galloway was this week's highlight I suppose, but in a few days with few birding opportunities there were some quality Solway moments. 

Drake Shoveler, Mersehead RSPB (Dumfries & Galloway).

 A late afternoon visit to Mersehead RSPB on a cold afternoon on 19th produced a Short-eared Owl over the rough ground in the eastern part of the reserve. Shorties are a bird I don't often see in D&G so this one was a nice surprise as it rose into the cloudless sky, being mobbed by Corvids. It was the second owl of the day, with the local Barn Owl seen as I left Southerness for work in the early hours of the morning.

Mersehead RSPB from the Bruach Hide, Dumfries & Galloway 19 October 2011.

 With high water levels the reserve is full of winter wildfowl including many Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall and Pintail. A few Pink-footed Geese were on the wetland and the Barnacle Goose numbers have swollen to c. 5000 in the area since my visit last week. A Kingfisher was my first in D&G for sometime now. Barnacle Geese over the caravan as I arrived "home" for the night was a spectacular sight and sound.

A fraction of the 5000 Barnacle Geese in flight east of Mersehead RSPB, 19 October 2011.

 Two Whooper Swans circling the fields at Loaningfoot near Southerness were my first birds of the day as I left for work on 20th. The Ross's Goose discovered at Caerlaverock WWT last week was still about and although there was no news I gave it a try. 

The view from the Avenue Tower at Caerlaverock WWT, 20 October 2011. The Ross's Goose sticks out like a sore thumb!

 A brief stop to view from the approach road to Caerlaverock Castle produced a few mobile Barnacles and 150+ Pink-footed Geese but nothing white so I headed for the reserve.

 The Ross's Goose was showing well from the Avenue Tower with 2000+ Barnacle Geese in Field 3. I spent most of the late afternoon watching it seeing Ringtail Hen Harrier there as well.

 Earlier in the week I called in at Milton Loch near Crocketford where a female Scaup was with 105 Tufted Ducks, 70+ Wigeon fed on the grassy banks where a couple of redhead Goosanders were loafing. Nice to see a decent sized flock of Aythya ducks and hopefully this loch will attract something interesting this winter.

Across the Folly Pond towards the Solway from the Farmhouse Tower, Caerlaverock WWT, 20 October 2011.

Shortie and Snow Buntings.

 Early morning dog walking at Longton Marsh today; not spectacular for overhead migrants (just a few Redwings and Fieldfares) but this Short-eared Owl more than made up for that. It flew out of the seawall bank below us, found a grassy patch but was then harassed by crows and departed to the west and over the River Douglas.

Two female Snow Buntings flew out of a stubble field towards the river but I couldn't relocate them unfortunately. Few Redshank, a Greenshank, 100+ Wigeon and small numbers of Curlew on the river. Green Sandpiper flew over and a dozen Grey Partridge in the fields. I pity whoever gets to count all those Canada Geese on tomorrow's WeBS though.
Lunchtime at Banks was pleasant if not spectacular with just one each of Curlew Sandpiper and Little Stint being the best birds. A Peregrine made scanning through the 70+ Dunlin and 700+ Golden Plover difficult, flushing the waders and hordes of Wigeon frequently. Grey Plover, a handful of Redshank, single Green Sandpiper and 7 Little Egrets being the other "notables". I waited for a flock of Long-tailed Tits to pass at Cross Bank Covert, but nothing else with them as far as I could see. It's that time of year again (Yellow-browed at Fleetwood this morning).

Fieldfares plus.

 Today (13th) saw Fieldfares arrive in some numbers in SW Scotland. I could hear flocks passing over in low cloud and every now and then they would appear, one a group of 77 birds flying west.

I did a bit of birding in the Galloway hills in the afternoon where one flock of 700 Fieldfares were grounded in a pasture surrounded by trees. A few Redwings in with them as well. 
Male Black Grouse on a stone wall was a nice bonus as I toured the hills by car. Still a scarce bird in Dumfries & Galloway I think. 
Heading back south I stopped on the Solway at Redkirk Point and Browhouses where there were some decent flocks of Pink-feet, 2 Whooper Swans, 1000+ Golden Plover, 7 Grey Plover and several Goosander and Goldeneye.

Solway harrier and winter thrushes.

Pink-footed Geese.

 Quick late afternoon visit to Mersehead RSPB yesterday (12th) where a fine 2CY male Hen Harrier was definitely bird of the day. My first male of the autumn after a couple of females seen in the Galloway hills this past week.

Mersehead RSPB, Dumfries & Galloway.

 Plenty of Barnacle Geese in now (2000+), 100+ Pink-feet and an increase in wildfowl with the rising water levels on the reserve. 

Pink-footed Geese at Mersehead RSPB 12 October 2011.

 Redwings seem to be arriving too. I had 5 at New Abbey on 11th, a couple at Kirkcowan yesterday and they are "seep-ing" overhead as I write and wait for the sun to come up this morning.

Solway goose dusk flight.

 Driving back from Dumfries this evening I noticed a cloud of geese over the fields just north of Southerness. Ten minutes later I was watching 2000 Barncle Geese with 300 or so Pink-feet in the stubble between Loaningfoot and West Preston.

 A flock of 47 Twite on the wires was impressive but when all those geese took flight and overhead towards Mersehead to roost well, that was something else indeed ....

Solway so far.

Long-billed Dowitcher (centre) with Teal on the Folly Pond at Caerlaverock.

 This is getting worrying. Calling in at Caerlaverock on the Solway shore of Dumfries and Galloway resulted in yet another successful attempt at seeing a rare wader on the way to working in Scotland.
The juvenile Long-billed Dowitcher showed reasonably well on the Folly Pond, albeit sleeping for most of the three quarters of an hour or so I was watching it.
Plenty of Barnacle Geese around the WWT reserve now, a few Ruff, Black-tailed Godwits plus the usual winter wildfowl.

Folly Pond and Farmhouse Tower, Caerlaverock WWT (Dumfries & Galloway).

 My first Redwing of the autumn was heard over Southerness during an unscheduled stop in the evening with Spotted Redshank calling clearly as it headed towards the beach early this morning.

Guillemot off Southerness Point.

Roosting waders at Southerness Point.

 An enforced stay in the Southerness Point area today was rather productive around high tide with roosting waders including many Oystercatchers, 2 Knot, 30 Curlew, 120 Sanderling, 100 Dunlin, 25 Ringed Plovers, 22 Golden Plover, a Grey Plover and 50 Turnstones. I failed to find any Purple Sand's though. A couple of Red-throated Divers, Red-breasted Merganser and an unfortunate looking Guillemot were the only birds of interest on the sea.

Twite at Southerness.

I heard Water Rail in the reeds during the return walk to the caravan across Gillfoot Bay where Whinchat and Chiffchaff were found in the bushes. At least 36 Twite on the rocky shore feeding on grassy seed-heads too.

"So it's come all the way from Slavonia, wherever that is?"

Slavonian Grebe pretty close to the shore of Fairhaven Lake today.

 I took the easy option today and drove to the north side of the estuary for a look at the Fairhaven Slavonian Grebe after a couple of days birding the Ribble marshes for that elusive North American wader (there just has to be a yellowlegs, buff-breast or dowitcher out there somewhere).

Slavonian Grebe, Fairhaven Lake 9 October 2011.

 It was close to the bank during my time at the lake, but feeding well and most of my views were reminiscent of the above photo than the one below.

 I called in at Newton Marsh en route to Fairhaven where there was nothing out of the ordinary but numbers of Wigeon and Teal were building with a few Shoveler present.

A late afternoon visit to Marshside was very pleasant, if not spectacular. Still 2 Curlew Sand's from Nel's Hide, several hundred Black-tailed Godwit, a Snipe, 26 Golden Plover and 35+ Ruff all seen. Hundreds of Pink-footed Geese arrived as dusk approached and watching from Fairclough's Pool I noted at least 6 Little Egrets heading towards the Marine Lake to roost and a juvenile Merlin dashed low over the pool, passing close to the platform and flushing the flock of Black-tailed Godwits.

More Curlew Sand's.

Curlew Sandpiper, Marshside 7 October 2011.

Only time for a couple of hours at Banks Marsh this afternoon, where I bumped into Nick Godden who'd been birding the Ribble coast in search of something new without any joy. We did manage a Little Stint and  5 Curlew Sand's at Banks, but that was about as good as it got. Three Grey Plovers on the splashes were vocal too. A 600+ flock of Golden Plovers kept us busy in hope of something from across the pond, but that'll just have to wait for another day.
Lots of mobile Pink-feet in the area with one Barnacle Goose in a flock heading up-river. Marsh Harrier was the only raptor in these wet 'n windy conditions and a Raven headed across the NNR.
Kingfisher, 2 Gadwall and 16 Tufted Ducks on the local Longton Brickcroft NR while walking the dog ..... that's about it.