Marshside

A great selection of waders at Marshside today, including one of my favourite birds, a Pectoral Sandpiper, which turned out to be my first ever in Merseyside! It was probably the closest and best view I have ever had of the species, right in front of Nels hide, and the light was perfect, but unfortunately my little camera struggled! Still, normally when I attempt to photograph Pec Sand, I end up with little more than a scenary shot!

The two pictures above and below show the Pec Sand with a Curlew Sandpiper.

Left, a nice little group of five Spotted Redshanks, a common Redshank and a Black-tailed Godwit, right a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper.

Pennington Flash

Not a bad early morning at Pennington Flash, with Black Tern, Red-necked Grebe and two Black-necked Grebes all seen well (and all juveniles!).

Seaforth

We had a good afternoon at Seaforth today, with a nice selection of birds. Juvenile Black Tern was possibly the highlight, but also juvenile Black-necked Grebe, Yellow Wagtail and three adult Mediterranean Gulls.

There were quiet a few waders, with two Common Sandpipers, hundreds of Redshank, a few Knot, 50 Curlew, Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits as well as about 50 Common Terns.


Juvenile Black Tern


Yellow Wagtail (left) and juvenile Black-necked Grebe.

In the morning we visited Martin Mere, which was a lot quieter, though we did see juv. Marsh Harrier and a Little Owl.

Red-backed Shrike Frodsham

I went to Frodsham Marsh today to see a juvenile Red-backed Shrike, my first in the North West. Also on Number 6 tank, 10 Curlew Sandpipers.

Red-necked Grebe, Pennington Flash

I biked it to Pennington Flash today to see a stunning juvenile Red-necked Grebe. Forget how dull juv Great crested, Black-necked and Little Grebes look, juvy Red-necked looks almost as good as the adult. As it happens, there was also a Black-necked Grebe present as well!

Hilbre Island

A long, exhausting, yet ultimately productive day started as I arrived at West Kirby at 6:00am ready for the 40 minute walk over to Hilbre. The forecast was for light south easterly winds, seemingly ideal for migration on the island.
The first migrant I saw was a Wheatear on Middle Eye during the walk across, but once on the main island things seemed a little slow, with just a couple of glimpses of Willow Warblers on the first walk around.
However things improved as the morning progressed, with three Yellow Wagtails, a decent passage of Swallows and a few House Martins recorded. Most pleasing of all, a Treecreeper was seen to come in off the sea and was initially seen on one of the stunted Sycamore trees, before heading off into a Heligoland trap to claim its prize of a shiny new ring! Treecreepers are rarities on the island, and this was a Hilbre tick for me.
Seawatching wasn't bad considering the conditions, with 3 Arctic Skuas, 40 Gannets, 10 Little Terns and lots of Sandiwch Terns seen. I left the island at about 12 noon.

Treecreeper in Hilbre forest (left) and in the hand (right).

Highfield Moss

Couldn't resist another visit to this site today. Having just spent 6 hours on Hilbre from early morning, a 20 mile round trip bike ride to Lowton perhaps wasn't the best idea, but at least I felt fit and healthy at the end of it!

Black Darter (left) and Devil's-bit Scabious. I was really pleased to get such a nice photo of the darter, which has always eluded me in the past.

Spot the difference


Gorse (left) - a big bushy plant with grey / green spikes and branches, and lots of twiglets coming off the branches. Western Gorse (right) - a small plant with yellowy green spikes and branches, and no twiglets. Oh yeah, and one's in full flower whilst the other is in seed........