Tawny owl 1
Kingfisher 2 chasing each other around the mere
Teal 1
Tufted duck 2
A poor selection of waterfowl today, no doubt as a result of a yacht and speedboat on the mere.
Monday, 4 November 2013
Sunday, 3 November 2013
Frodsham Hill
It turned out to be a lovely autumnal afternoon. We had a nice woodland walk from Frodsham hill, and were treated to some spectacular views over Frodsham marsh and the Mersey estuary. Birds today included Raven, Buzzard, Nuthatch and Goldcrest, and there were lots of fungi in the woods, especially earthball and birch polypore.
The Weaver bends and the Mersey estuary.
No. 6 bed and the Mersey estuary.
The Weaver bends and the Mersey estuary.
No. 6 bed and the Mersey estuary.
Eccleston Mere
Chiffchaff 1
Gadwall 11 (5 males, 6 females)
Teal 6
Little Grebe 2 juvs
Cormorant 5
Great Crested Grebe 12
A chiffchaff overwintered in 2005, and that is the only other Chiffchaff I have recorded at the mere in November. It's been a good year for Gadwall at the mere with record numbers.
Gadwall 11 (5 males, 6 females)
Teal 6
Little Grebe 2 juvs
Cormorant 5
Great Crested Grebe 12
A chiffchaff overwintered in 2005, and that is the only other Chiffchaff I have recorded at the mere in November. It's been a good year for Gadwall at the mere with record numbers.
Saturday, 2 November 2013
Eccleston Mere
I had a walk around the mere with Damian this afternoon, when we recorded:
Chiffchaff 1
Gadwall 5 - 7
Tufted Duck 7
Kingfisher 1
Sparrowhawk 1
Chiffchaff 1
Gadwall 5 - 7
Tufted Duck 7
Kingfisher 1
Sparrowhawk 1
Banks marsh
Great White Egret 2
Little Egret 30
Marsh Harrier 1 juv. / f
Merlin 1
Peregrine 1
Dunlin 5000
Grey Plover 80
Golden Plover 100
Knot 100
Wigeon 5000
Teal 1000
Pink-footed Goose 500
Year 248 (Great White Egret)
Fabulous scenes at Banks Marsh over the high tide, with particularly impressive numbers of waders and egrets. Year ticks just keep coming, I keep thinking that they must slow down soon, but they don't, and I've seen 13 new birds for the year since the end of September. I'm in unknown territory at the moment, I've never been past 245 before and with two months of the year still to go, there's time for a few more yet.
Little Egret 30
Marsh Harrier 1 juv. / f
Merlin 1
Peregrine 1
Dunlin 5000
Grey Plover 80
Golden Plover 100
Knot 100
Wigeon 5000
Teal 1000
Pink-footed Goose 500
Year 248 (Great White Egret)
Fabulous scenes at Banks Marsh over the high tide, with particularly impressive numbers of waders and egrets. Year ticks just keep coming, I keep thinking that they must slow down soon, but they don't, and I've seen 13 new birds for the year since the end of September. I'm in unknown territory at the moment, I've never been past 245 before and with two months of the year still to go, there's time for a few more yet.
Hesketh Out Marsh
Smew 2 redheads
Goosander 1 redhead
Goldeneye 1
Greenshank 3
Little Egret 5
I'd completely forgotten that these Smew had been at Hesketh Out Marsh for the past few days, and I only called in because I was in the area. They were a great sight and an unexpected bonus, though it was nearly so different. All of the birds listed above were on the same pool, a little distant, and initially I walked past them and didn't even notice! I could easily have left Hesketh Out Marsh thinking that there was nothing there. The Smew seemed to be loosely associating with the Goosander, perhaps picking off fish which the larger bird was scaring.
A couple of digiscoped images of the Smew and Goosander. Give me a break, it was pretty dull at the time and the birds were distant, in fact even through the bins they were just dots.
Goosander 1 redhead
Goldeneye 1
Greenshank 3
Little Egret 5
I'd completely forgotten that these Smew had been at Hesketh Out Marsh for the past few days, and I only called in because I was in the area. They were a great sight and an unexpected bonus, though it was nearly so different. All of the birds listed above were on the same pool, a little distant, and initially I walked past them and didn't even notice! I could easily have left Hesketh Out Marsh thinking that there was nothing there. The Smew seemed to be loosely associating with the Goosander, perhaps picking off fish which the larger bird was scaring.
A couple of digiscoped images of the Smew and Goosander. Give me a break, it was pretty dull at the time and the birds were distant, in fact even through the bins they were just dots.
Exapate congelatella in Lowton
Never swat a moth! I rescued this little guy from certain death from a bathroom in Lowton two days ago. It's a micro moth and one of the tortrix species, this is Exapate congelatella. Amazingly, there have only ever been three records in St Helens, two of which were from my backyard, and according to the NBN Gateway there are no records from Great Manchester! In fact, if you can believe the NBN map (and it is usually pretty accurate when it comes to moths), the three records from St Helens are the only records from anywhere in SW Lancs, Merseyside, North Cheshire or Greater Manchester! So like I said, never swat a moth....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)