Eccleston Mere

Redwing 20

Mute swan 5 (3 ads, 2 juvs)

Coot 195

Grey wagtail 1

A new record count of coot but no diving ducks.

Appleton Reservoir, Warrington

Gadwall 36
Tufted duck 24
Shoveler 2 males
Teal 1 female
Kingfisher 1

Denbigh Moors, North Wales

I was out on the Denbigh moors this morning checking out the extent of an area of moorland for a local farmer, when a ghostly male hen harrier drifted past at close range. It was no more than about 30m away when suddenly it dropped down after prey, but missed and then carried on its way.  Such great views of male harriers are always special, and it was a pleasure to be on the moors on such a lovely sunny day, especially following the downpour of yesterday afternoon.

Appleton Reservoir, Warrington

Gadwall 24

Tufted duck 20

Shoveler 1 male

Black Spleenwort, St Helens

Whilst pulling out a few weeds from the wall today, I came across this fern which I didn't recognise. It's very leathery with large brown sori (spore producing structures) on the underside. Following a bit of research it turns out it's black spleenwort Asplenium adiantum-nigrum, which amazingly is a species I've managed to avoid seeing in the past, and is therefore unsurprisingly the first I have seen in St Helens. I suppose it does occur elsewhere in the borough, but not if you believe the NBN Gateway, which has no records of the species in St Helens.

Not bad, a new species for me and possibly St Helens whilst weeding! It just goes to show that it's always worth keeping your eyes open even in the most unlikely circumstances. This takes my wall fern list to five, the others being maidenhair spleenwort, hart's-tongue fern, wall rue and male fern. The black spleenwort is still there by the way, but I'm surpressing the exact location because I don't want a mass twitch.......

Eccleston Mere

Snipe 2

Pochard 2 males

Pink footed goose 70 over north

Little grebe 2

Tufted duck 35

Redwing 10

Goldfinch 100

Goldcrest 1
Kingfisher 1
Grey wagtail 1

Mute swan 3

Good to see a couple of snipe in the fields, but nothing like the numbers of a couple of years ago when there were also a few jack snipe. The fields where much wetter then though.
 

I'm in the middle of some serious decorating at the moment, finished the hall, stairs and landing last week, half way through the yard this weekend (painted walls - yuk!) and still have the kitchen to do. Hence the lack of exciting birding recently, but normal service will be resumed soon (not soon enough!).

Southern Scotland

Jack snipe 3
Snipe 40

Wet heath. The yellow / green shrub is bog mrtyle.

Red Grouse, Winter Hill

I just found this photo on my camera of a red grouse on Winter Hill from a few weeks ago.

Appleton Reservoir, Warrington

Shoveler 7 (4 males)

Gadwall 29

Tufted duck 8

Appleton Reservoir, Warrington

Gadwall 6

Redwing 10

Kingfisher 1

Grey wagtail 1

Tufted duck 6

Mute swan 2

Eccleston Mere

Willow tit 1 in SW corner

Tufted duck 22

Coot 154

Black headed gull 150

Herring gull 20

Lesser black back gull 1

Treecreeper 1

Just a quick look around the mere today and not much has changed, except that there was a relatively large number of gulls on the water.

Appleton Reservoir, Warrington

Gadwall 14

Tufted duck 10

Grey wagtail 1

Mute swan 2 adults

Redwing 2 over

A big drop in duck numbers over the past few days, and not even the excitement of winter thrushes passing over in numbers today. 

Appleton Reservoir, Warrington

Pink-footed goose 150 over west
Fieldfare 50 over south
Redwing 100
Grey wagtail 3
Bullfinch 3+
Gadwall 20
Shoveler 2 (m&f)
Tufted duck 10
Little grebe 1

Eccleston Mere

Wigeon 1 female

Mute swan 5 (ad male & 2 cygnets + 2 adults)

Coot 158

Tufted duck 25

Buzzard 1

Sparrowhawk 1

Meadow pipit 15

Skylark 20 over heading SW.

Chiffchaff 2

Appleton Reservoir, Warrington

Gadwall 87

Wigeon 2

Shoveler 6

Tufted duck 10

Mute swan 2 adults

Chiffchaff 1

Bullfinch 2

The gadwall gathering at the reservoir keeps increasing and has now reached quite impressive numbers for a lake which is half the size of Eccleston mere.

Appleton Reservoir, Warrington

Shoveler 9

Gadwall 20

Tufted duck 10

Chiffchaff 2

Hilbre Island

Little egret 5
Pale-bellied brent goose 5
Goldcrest 1
Turnstone 20
Oystercatcher 500

Eccleston Mere

Little grebe 1
Kingfisher 1
Grey wagtail 1
Coot 150
Tufted duck 15

Grey Phalarope Morfa Madryn, Llanfairfechan

Grey phalarope 1 1st winter
Little egret 10
Wigeon 200
Goosander 4
Redshank 40
Curlew 5
Teal 20

Year: 276 (Grey phalarope). This time last year I as on 236.

This is not me by the way!

Appleton Reservoir, Warrington

Gadwall 55

Wigeon 5

Shoveler 4

Grey wagtail 2

Houghton Green Flash, Winwick

Wigeon 4
Teal 3
Lapwing 30
Little grebe 1 juv.

Eccleston Mere

Coot 146
Tufted duck 15
Grey heron 3

It can be a real struggle at the mere at this time of year. I still visit the place three or four times a week, but there are only so many times you can report on 140+ coots. Still, it's the quiet times which make you appreciate the good days!

Eccleston Mere

Kingfisher 2
Tufted duck 17
Coot 140

Appleton Reservoir, Warrington

Gadwall 66
Wigeon 4
Shoveler 3
Tufted duck 15

Dragonflies: Migrant hawker 10, brown hawker 1, common darter 5