First autumn Barnie fix.

Barnacle Geese at Southerness with Criffel in the background, 28 October 2012.

 Angie and I headed to the Solway on Sunday 28th October for our first look at the Barnacle Geese of the autumn. Pretty grey and dull when we arrived with a fair bit of drizzle in the air but we needed to stretch our legs and walked along Gillfoot Bay towards Southerness Point.

Many of the Barnacles were resting by the little burn at the east end of the bay with some loafing gulls and Oystercatchers. The sea was a little quiet with the dropping tide but I did see a couple of Red-breasted Mergansers out there.

It wasn't really a day for searching for migrants in the bushes so I concentrated on the geese. A drive around to Powillimount produced a lot more Barnacles but despite a fairly thorough search I couldn't find anything unusual. Surely there had to be something in this lot?

Riverside stroll

River Ribble this morning, looking downriver towards Freckleton Naze Point on the Fylde.

Just a quick amble along the Ribble this morning to the west of Preston. Very pleasant in the sunshine, with a cloudless sky but crisp NE wind giving the air a chill.
Green Sandpiper on the small flood near the river and Common Sandpiper by Savick Brook were the only notable waders (just a few Snipe and Redshank seen) and checked through a few hundred Wigeon but no sign of any transatlantic traveller (yet). One small flock of Pink-footed Geese heading to the outer estuary, otherwise nothing but noisy Greylags and Canadas in the stubble.
The Hawthorns were loaded with thrushes - Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, 100+ redwings and at least 250 Fieldfares. Most of the latter headed off north across to the Fylde by mid-morning. A flock of Long-tailed Tits held nothing more interesting than a Goldcrest as far as I could see.
A flock of 20 Skylarks headed inland as I neared the car but undoubtedly the best bird of the morning was the Kingfisher, not a bird I regularly encounter on the Ribble nowadays.

Vismig and goose-watching.

Pink-footed Geese and Lapwing over Marshside 25 October 2012.

Great Spotted Woodpecker, Banks Marsh 23 October 2012.

 Plenty of birds on the move now - flocks of Redwings and Woodpigeons over the house this week and even some definite "Vis mig" today.
A morning visit to Banks on 23rd produced the usual stuff - 20 Whooper Swans, 2 Merlins, Great White Egret ("usual"?), 17 Little Egret, thousands of Wigeon and at least 1200 Golden Plover. The bushes were full of thrushes - many Blackbirds, a few Song Thrushes, 7 Mistle Thrushes and 2 Fieldfares. Strangely no Redwings.
Four Crossbills seen heading east from the seawall were the most notable birds of the morning.
I spent a couple of hours in the afternoon at Martin Mere WWT. Pretty murky conditions but I managed to pick out a single Tundra Bean Goose in the Pink-footed Geese arriving on the reserve. 
Neck-collared Pink PHP was on the reserve again. The WWT have kindly sent me the recent sightings history of this individual, a female first controlled in Angus on 20 November 2005. Since that date she's been touring Aberdeenshire, Perth & Kinross, Moray, Lancashire, Northumberland, Dumfries & Galloway and seems happy back in Lancs at the moment with four recent sightings around the mere since the end of September.

I was free most of the day today (25/10) and this morning headed down to my "passerine patch" on the coast, just south of Southport. Not much in the bushes but plenty going overhead as I checked.

0900 - 1100 hrs. NNE 1-2, 8/8 cloud.

Brambling 57
Chaffinch 123
Siskin 41
Starling 151
Fieldfare 302
Redwing 13

Virtually everything heading NE unexpectedly. 

Also a couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Jay and usual finches (Linnets, Greenfinches, Goldfinches, etc) flitting around. Robins seemingly all over the place, Little Egrets on the beach with Pinks coming out of roost from the estuary.

A drive round the mosses next. A few hundred Pink-footed Geese on Downholland Moss included PBH neck band, seemingly associating the whole time with three juveniles.

Some of the 5000 Pink-footed Geese at the Ainsdale end of Halsall Moss early this afternoon.

I checked nearby Formby and Plex Mosses but with little doing there headed to Halsall Moss where the Whooper Swan herd mentioned on Graham Clarkson's blog could be viewed at distance. I counted 510 but may have missed many in the depressions and had no chance of accurately assessing the flock for number of  juvs unfortunately.

I was heading home for lunch when I noticed that Sutton's Marsh at Marshside RSPB was like a "grey carpet", covered in Pink-footed Geese. I quick stop at the pull-in overlooking Crossens Outer produced Great White Egret and ringtail Hen Harrier before doing an about turn and heading back towards Marshside to give the geese a good grilling from the old seawall.

"Pinkies" were already leaving (probably for the WWT Martin Mere area) when I arrived on the seawall with smaller numbers dropping in from the estuary, so I knew the clock was ticking.

Despite being distracted by feeble attempts to take flight shots of geese I did pick out a single Barnacle Goose, but many of the Pink-footed Geese were out of view to the south near Marshside Road.

Richardson's Canada Goose, Marshside RSPB, 25 October 2012.

Around 3pm I picked out a "small canada goose" in the flock. Knowing how tricky these can be (I've been caught out many times before assessing structural features incorrectly), I set about getting some all-important record shots.
It appeared small, slightly smalerl than most of the accompanying Pinks, with short legs, a rather short stocky neck, a "blocky", flat-topped head shape with a steep forehead and a small bill. The plumage appeared fairly uniform with little or no contrast between the upper and under parts and lacked any black markings on the white throat patch.
I was siding with Richardson's Canada Goose and able to send Chris Batty of RBA a photo of the bird while I was still in the field (not such a technonumpty then?) who gave me his expert opinion on the bird who told me later it was only the third Lancs record and the first in the county since 1982. 
As the afternoon wore on the geese began to depart in larger numbers, one group containing the star bird, probably heading to Martin Mere where a small canada goose has been seen twice over the past fortnight or so.
Neck-banded Pinkie LNC was out there, heaven knows what I missed while preoccupied with the Ricahrdson's?

Coastal bush-bashing.

Over the last three autumns (since moving south of the river) I've tried my luck in search of migrants at a coastal patch of willow scrub bordered by avenues of sycamores on the southern edge of Southport . This morning's conditions were perfect - sunny and still and but other than a few birds overhead (Skylarks, a couple of Siskins), I struggled to find much apart from a Chiffchaff. 

I was just about to throw in the towel when a small flock of Long-tailed Tits announced their presence with their familiar contact call and then it happened: "swee-eet" and a Yellow-browed Warbler appeared in front of me! It flew across the road into a patch of sycamores (against the light unfortunately) and then moved on. Unfortunately I never saw it again, despite locating more Long-tails (a different flock I think - more birds and Goldcrests with them) over the next two hours. Female Blackcap, male Sparrowhawk and three Buzzards were the only other birds of note seen before I left for lunch.

Common Darter

Pink-footed Geese over the Harrier Hide at Martin Mere this afternoon.

Angie and I took a late afternoon walk just outside the WWT grounds at Martin Mere. Glorious sunshine, loads of geese coming in and Whoopers calling - all very autumnal. A brief view of a Merlin was the highlight until I noticed a Short-eared Owl being mobbed by several crows over the reserve near the Ron Barker Hide.

More Ribbling.

Buzzard at Hesketh Out Marsh East this afternoon.

Peregrines from United Utilities Hide, Martin Mere WWT, 20 October 2012.

I returned to Martin Mere WWT this morning checking the mosses before opening time (loads of geese, Marsh Harrier, etc) and heading straight to the UU Hide once the turnstiles allowed. Three Peregrines and a Marsh Harrier were on view as Pink-footed Geese arrived en masse. 

No sign of anything unusual at first but I managed to find the neck-collared Pink-footed Goose PHP (see yesterday's post) just before picking out a nice Tundra Bean Goose floating around on the mere with the Pinks.

The Tundra Bean finally emerged from the water, revealing its nice orange legs. Unfortunately the geese were flushed shortly after, leaving me no time to sift through the other arrivals so I went walkabouts.
I ventured into the duck brothel section, checking tit flocks but found nothing more than a few Goldcrests, 2 Coal Tits and Great Spotted Woodpecker with the usual stuff.

WWT Martin Mere wildfowl collection area, 20 October 2012.

Merlin, Hesketh Out Marsh 20 October 2012.

 A post lunch session at Hesketh Out Marsh RSPB produced a nice selection of birds including Peregrine (above), 2 Marsh Harriers, 2 Merlins, Buzzard, Great White Egret, 10 Little Egrets, drake Pintail, Gadwall (pair), 2 Grey Plovers and 2 Spotted Redshanks.

HOM this evening with Marshside sandplant and Southport in the distance.

Pink-footed Geese over Lytham.

Ribble patching.

Adult European White-fronted Goose with Pink-footed Geese near Martin Mere this afternoon.

 Thought I'd try to catch up with a few of the good birds knocking around locally today. I spent the morning at Banks which was littered in birds but spread all over the marsh after the recent high tides.

Angie and the dogs near Banks, 17 October 2012.

Banks Marsh on a ten metre tide (17/10). Old Hollow in the distance and Pool Covert in foreground.

 At least 20 Whooper Swans, thousands of Pink-footed Geese, Wigeon, Teal and a few Gadwall, Pintail and Shoveler covered the pools with hundreds of Golden Plovers, Dunlins, Lapwings and a few Redshanks on the fringes. Several Little Egrets but no sign of the Great White or any Spoonbills. A Great Crested Grebe on the pools was the biggest surprise. 
Checking the hedges and coverts was quite unproductive but I wouldn't have seen the two Green Sandpipers along the SSSI ditch if I hadn't done it. At least four Peregrines loafing out on the marsh and Sparrowhawk over the meadow.

Birding during the recent big tides had been good with reports of raptors over Crossens Outer (above) so I headed down there after lunch. At least two Marsh Harriers, a Merlin, a Peregrine and best of all single Short-eared Owl and ringtail Hen Harrier finally gave themselves up during a two hour watch over the tide this afternoon.

I gave the flooded marsh a pretty good grilling - thousands of dabbling duck, Pink-footed Geese, Dunlins, Golden Plovers, hundreds of Black-tailed Godwits, a few each of Golden and Grey Plovers and a few Ruff all seen but nothing unusual. Two Ravens made their way towards Banks as I left the estuary to see what I could find inland.

The stubble fields near Martin Mere had at least three thousand Pink-footed Geese in them but the frantic feeding made them hard to study. A few could be seen in the nearby grazed fields and after a while I picked out the European White-fronted Goose seen at the nearby wetlands centre recently.

I also managed to locate neck banded Pink-footed Goose PHP but couldn't see any Tundra Beans unfortunately. 

Not a bad day. Flamborough might have its rare Phylloscs and flycatchers but it doesn't get this ....... Watch this lot take to the air.



OK, Flamborough wins but it's not bad.