Return to the mosses and the mere.

Juvenile Glaucous Gull at Weld Road car park, Birkdale 25 January 2012.

Tundra Bean Goose (centre) with Pink-feet on Downholland Moss, Lancs 25 January 2012.

Hesketh Out Marsh was back to something resembling "full fitness" on Monday morning (23 January) with ringtail Hen Harrier on the approach road to the reserve and then over the weedy field next to the car park as I pulled up.

For the first time this winter there were respectable numbers of Pink-footed Geese in the eastern fields, some 2000 or so with an adult Greenland Whitefronted Goose and two adult European Whitefronts arriving with Pinks from the south later.

The 70 Whooper Swans were accompanied by 3 adult Bewick's and a Merlin could be seen perched on the fenceposts nearby.

Back on the RSPB reserve the saltmarsh was rapidly being flooded by the incoming 9.4m tide with 2 Marsh Harriers and a Merlin present, 8 Gadwall, hundreds of Wigeon and Teal, single Little Egret and 14 Snipe present. A walk to the end of the seawall revealed 8 Barnacle Geese amongst another 2500 Pink-feet present and a couple of Grey Partridge.

Tundra Bean Goose today.

Last chance for a bit of Ribble birding today so I headed out to the SW Lancs mosses early, starting with Downholland Moss in hope of Bean Geese again.

The Pinks were a bit flighty and mobile at first but lucky me, there were a few of the 2000 or so grazing in the short grass. Thankfully one of these birds was a Tundra Bean Goose and I picked up the orange legs on one of the first "sifts" through the flock. 

 I soon picked up a pair together, both having nice bright orange legs, but their bills covered in mud! Even so, the chunky bill of one of the birds was obvious, compared to the accompanying Pink-feet (one orange-legged Pink-foot has been seen here recently). Neck-collared IJF Pink-footed Goose was in the flock again too (it was here Saturday morning).

Tundra Bean Geese, Downholland Moss 25 January 2012.

 A light aircraft flushed all the Pinkies into a nearby enclosure so I opted for a quick tour of the rest of Downholland and Plex Moss where 5 Buzzards and a flock of 30 Fieldfares were the only other birds of note.

 Next stop today was Weld Road on the Ribble coast near Birkdale where this juv' Glaucous Gull was showing very well indeed. Same bird I've seen here in the raging gales over the New Year and a couple of times up at Marshside even before Xmas. First photo opportunity though and there is a second winter bird around that I've still not connected with.
A flock of 25 Goldeneye was all I noted on the Southport Marine Lake before joining Graham Clarkson at the Marshside Sandplant where we saw Great White Egret, 6 Little Egrets, Merlin, Short-eared Owl and hundreds of distant Pinks. Graham headed off for the mosses to look for the Beans as I headed to TC's for a bacon and sausage barm via Crossens Outer where there were 5 Barnacle Geese with the Pink-feet and a Marsh harrier being mobbed by a Peregrine.

 I ended the day at Martin Mere WWT listening to a reserve first in the shape of a Cetti's Warbler, found while I was watching the Beans this morning. At least 2000 Pink-feet came onto the reserve in the late afternoon with 38 Barnacle Geese and of course there were loads of Whoopers. Kingfisher outside the United Utilities Hide was a year tick, 2 croaking Ravens are always a delight and I returned to the reed-bed walk for sunset where the Cetti's was calling frantically (I didn't make a lot of effort to see it) and ringtail Hen Harrier and 3 Marsh Harriers wheeled over the reeds at dusk.
One of my best South Ribble / SW Lancs birding days for quite a while.

Day out to the local duck brothel.

Whooper Swans on the mere today.

 I spent a pleasant six hours at Martin Mere WWT today, the perfect site for birding in these rather unpleasant wet 'n' windy conditions we're experiencing at the moment. Apart from the constant sound of inane drivel, Velcro and smell of flask coffee in the hides it was very enjoyable with some decent birds on the reserve today.

 This Bewick's Swan (adult between two Whoopers, above) showed well from the United Utilities Hide, spending its time on the Plover Field. Thanks to the birder who had already found it, saving me going through the 1700 or so Whoopers.
Female Brambling and Willow Tit at the Janet Kear Hide are good local birds and the only ones I'm likely to see anywhere in the Ribble Estuary regional Park this winter, with Great Spotted Woodpecker on the feeders too. Plenty of Tree Sparrows around the grounds and I counted 95 Pochard and 27 Tufted Duck between the mere and the Harrier Hide, 30 Ruff with c. 2000 Lapwings and the odd Oystercatcher and two or three Black-tailed Godwits were around the mere. But it was the geese I was really interested in, with a thousand plus Pink-feet coming in late afternoon, dictating a return to the Ron Barker Hide as I was making my way to the exit.

 Glad I took the "about-turn" as I located 2 European White-fronted Geese with the Pinks. They were too far off for a photo but there is a male Sparrowhawk there somewhere. Best of all a Ringtail Hen Harrier appeared while I was going through the geese; the first local bird I've seen all winter. 
The wind was dropping late afternoon so hopefully the next few days will be a bit better for local birding?

Too windy!

A quick SW Lancs run around this morning was a little unproductive, but birding was very difficult in the sometimes gale-force westerly wind, often with the odd squally shower thrown in for good measure.
About 40 Twite were on the beach at Southport opposite the Marine Lake but I failed to find the 2nd winter Glaucous Gull on the beach at Ainsdale so I headed inland to the mosses. An initial circuit of the southern part of Plex and adjacent Downholland was disappointing. Hardly any grounded geese (although there was a fair bit of disturbance today) until I arrived at the western end of Downholland where 280 Pink-feet included neck-banded birds IZU (which I've seen before, more than once) and IJF. I eventually found around 3-4000 Pinks on the deck on the northern half of Plex but the poor light, distance and strong wind defeated me, even in the car!
Not a total waste of time though (with the neck-bands already submitted to the WWT) and I'll be back for more soon.

Lochmaben American Wigeon.

Drake American Wigeon, Kirk Loch (Dumfries & Galloway), 20 January 2012.

With the winter days drawing out a little there was an opportunity for a bit of "spotting" after working in Dumfries & Galloway today. The weather was pretty grim but I had enough time to call in at Lochmaben on the way to the A74(M) on the way home for a quick look at the drake American Wigeon.

Lucky for me I found it almost straight away with Eurasian Wigeons on Kirk Loch. It was a bit distant, but good through the 'scope. This is presumably the returning bird from at least last winter and most likely the bird that Angie and I found at Mersehead in December 2008 (later relocated at Caerlaverock).
Several Goosander, Goldeneye, a few pairs of Gadwall and some Tufties on nearby Castle Loch but unfortunately the weather closed in soon after these photos were taken so I headed south to Lancashire.

Spot checks.

Pink-footed Geese on Marshside beach this morning.

Just enough time to stop at a few choice Ribble points this morning in some fantastic winter weather (at last!):

Plastic Fantastic on the Marine Lake.

Southport Marine Lake
Female Goosander, 14 Goldeneye, 14 Tufted Duck and leucistic female Red-crested Pochard that drifted off into the middle of the lake with its Mallard buddy.

Female Goosander, Southport Marine Lake 14 January 2012.

Marshside shore
260 Pink-footed Geese and a Peregrine.


Marshside RSPB from Hesketh Road
Marsh partially frozen but still hundreds of Wigeon and Teal, pair Tufted Ducks and 700+ Black-tailed Godwits.


From Marshside Sandplant
Marsh Harrier, Merlin, Peregrine and the juvenile Glaucous Gull over the saltmarsh.

Late afternoon delight.

Inner Ribble Estuary, 13 January 2012.

I spent a couple of afternoons (12th and 13th) walking the inner estuary this week with the highlight being two Short-eared Owls found while I was counting these (60) roosting Cormorants opposite Lea Marsh. 

HOM's been pretty quiet of late but the Whooper herd is building nicely with around 75 birds in residence at the moment. There were at least 500 Pink-footed Geese on the outer saltmarsh too, but far off and no chance of finding anything just yet. Two Buzzards and  a Peregrine the only raptors of note at HOM but a day-flying Barn Owl was nice.
Three Whooper Swans near Longton were the first wild swans I've had east of the Douglas this winter and a Bay-winged (Harris's Hawk) with jesses heading towards the village must be one that has been hanging around the Ribble (and bred apparently) for a while now.
I couldn't find the American Wigeon on the inner Ribble opposite Clifton Landfill but there were far fewer wigeon on the river. Goosander (female) and Common Sandpiper were good winter Ribble birds; shame the same cannot be said about the two Bar-headed Geese with 96 Greylags. Hutton marsh was heaving at high tide: 225 Curlew, 2000+ Lapwings, 120+ Dunlin, 250 Canada Geese and a single Pink-foot. No shortage of the latter as I could see a cloud of 3000+ Pinks in the distance over Banks/Crossens.
The stubble fields, whilst not as alive as last winter (all those Bramblings and the odd Lap' Bunting) still held 75 Skylarks and 10 Stock Doves.
Local Brickcroft reserve still has drake Pochard, duck Gadwall, duck Goldeneye and singing Mistle Thrush already.
Four Brown Hares in the local fields of Longton Marsh yesterday .......

REGUA tour reports.

The Ornitholiday's tour report for the two REGUA tours in the Atlantic Forests of Brazil (September 2010) are now on line here.

Grey-winged Cotinga, Pico da Caladonia, September 2010.

Baldpate still about but .....

I was thinking of having a look at the American Wigeon again this morning. However the grim, grey conditions with constant drizzle and the news that the Baldpate had defected north of the Ribble, kept me from the riverbank and I joined Graham Clarkson for a look at Hesketh Out Marsh instead.
The weather didn't help with poor visibility but we did OK with 4 adult Bewick's Swans with 83 Whoopers in the fields, 6 Gadwall on the lagoon, 2 Little Egrets, 6 Grey Partridge, Sparrowhawk and several Dunlin and a Golden Plover with a Lapwing flock over the reserve. At least 12 Tree Sparrows were in the hedge near Dib Lodge on the approach road to the reserve and 150 Linnets were flitting around the reserve in a couple of flocks but no sign of any Twite unfortunately.

American Wigeon on the Ribble.

 I've been waiting for a chance to have a go at relocating the drake American Wigeon found on the Ribble between Christmas and New Year. A rather feeble attempt the day following the first sighting on the Douglas (where it was discovered) was hindered by atrocious weather. Today wasn't much better and I have to admit to being more than a little surprised when I was confronted with the above while searching through Wigeons on their main Inner Ribble gathering.
The Wigeon flock (there was about 500 on this stretch) was a little skittish to say the least and the strong wind made capturing a record shot all the more tricky.

Drake American Wigeon (front, right) with Eurasian Wigeons, River Ribble (Lancs) 7 January 2012.

 Other birds seen today included 1500+ Teal, many Pink-footed Geese, mostly flying north apart from a single on the deck with Canadas, 30 Greylags, one or two Little Egrets, 2 Peregrines, 5 Grey Partridges and 16 Corn Buntings.
Not too bad for walking distance from the house (albeit a long walk!).

Longton Marsh, 7 January 2012.

Bewick's Swans.

Bewick's and Whooper Swans at Hesketh Out Marsh, 6 January 2012.

 The first decent birding weather of 2012 encouraged Andy Bate and me onto the Ribble Estuary this morning. The "bright morning" didn't last too long but long enough to give the much neglected Hesketh Out Marsh a decent look where we found 3 adult Bewick's Swans in with 78 Whoopers.

The third Bewick's (with a dirty face) and a Whooper at HOM this morning.

We heard a Lapland Bunting three times at the western end of the reserve but failed to see it (it was with Skylarks) and Pink-footed Geese were overhead throughout our time at HOM, with several hundred flying to the Fylde.

Single female Merlin, 2 Sparrowhawks, a Marsh Harrier, 3 Gadwall and 9 Grey Partridges were the other birds of note at HOM. Oh, we could see the Great White Egret way out on Banks / Crossens too.

We made our way to Weld Road after a bite to eat but the Glaucous Gull wasn't around. Undoubtedly the juvenile I had fly past Marshside just before Christmas, I had a quick look at this injured bird a couple of days ago from the car in a gale. It's still about but had headed south along the coast towards Ainsdale before we arrived.

Last stop Marshside RSPB where 19 European White-fronted Geese could be seen with 14 less convincing Barnacle Geese near Sandgrounder's Hide. A Water Rail flew right past us and landed under the bank and there's no guessing just how many Black-tailed Godwits are on Marshside at present (although if I had to I'd go with more than five thousand!). A few Golden Plovers (maybe 25) with several hundred Lapwings, thousands of Teal, Wigeon, fewer Pintail and Shoveler and many Pink-footed Geese seemingly prefering the saltmarsh than the inner marsh at the moment.

A good day.

Steady New Year Start.

Female Hen Harrier, Bowland (Lancs) June 2009.

Bit of an inauspicious start to 2012 with some dreary mid-winter weather and few new arrivals of late. A dull, drizzly morning did little to inspire me out on the marshes on this New Year's morning and a lunchtime excursion to Marshside was the best I could muster. The "regular" Euro White-fronted Geese were on show there, 22 of them albeit more distant than of late and 13 Barnacle Geese with a few Pink-feet. On Crossens Outer Marsh there were 3 more Barnacle Geese with the Pinks, a Whooper Swan, a Peregrine, hundreds of Golden Plover, a couple of Ruff and an Andy Bate who stopped to wish me a Happy New Year!
I had a quick look for the Glaucous Gull on Southport beach but no joy; just a Stonechat. Mind you, not many of those on the Ribble nowadays. At least 28 Little Egrets in the marine lake roost at dusk but I couldn't see the Great White.


I haven't seen a Hen Harrier on the estuary this winter and with just four breeding pairs in England last year it's a worrying situation.