Lesser scaup, Pennington Flash

Lesser scaup 1 male
Pochard 4
Tufted duck 50

There was a time (about 20 years ago??) when Lesser scaup was a real rarity, but these days it's more like a scare vagrant. This was a my seventh in the UK, my second this year and it wasn't even my first at Pennington Flash, having seen the last in 2003. It was a better looking bird than I was expecting. Described as a drake in eclipse, it still stood out well from the tufties with its grey, vermiculated back and pale sides. Given a half decent view it's bill is distinctly different from tuftie and it looked a slightly larger bird.

Eccleston Mere

Little Grebe 1 juv.
Tufted Duck 5
Nuthatch 1
Mute Swan 1 adult
Kingfisher 1
House Martin 20
Swallow 10

Dipper Davies strikes again

Sometimes it might seem like everywhere I go I see things, and life's just one new tick after another. Yet there is a another, unseen, darker side to birding. It began last week, Tuesday to be precise. I called in at Blithfield Reservoir in Staffordshire, on my way down to Hampshire, in the hope of seeing a couple of Ospreys that had been there for a few days. They were still there (apparently) but I couldn't see them, there was a blanket of thick fog over the entire area. I had to go back the following day.

Then on Sunday I went to the Great Orme. The Dotterel disappeared shortly before we arrived and reappeared shortly after we left, after we had spent almost five hours there. On Monday I decided to have a second, more relaxed look at the Stilt sandpiper at Neumann's Flash in Cheshire. I was there at 7:30am, just minutes after it had been flushed to Sandbach by a Sparrowhawk.

Yesterday evening I decided to call in at Pennington Flash to have a look at the Lesser Scaup that has been present for a day or two. No luck, it flew to the other end of the flash moments before I arrived and we couldn't relocate it. So I decided to go again this morning on my way into work. It's probably still there, but once again a thick blanket of fog stopped me seeing it. Aaaargh! Hopefully that's the end of it and I can return to a life of seeing everything I try for.

On the positive side, I did at least see the Ospreys the following day, I did see the Stilt sandpiper on Saturday and I have already seen Lesser scaup this year, and it's not even a Pennington flash tick for me. So who cares...............

Great Orme

We had a nice walk across the Orme today, but I was out of luck with the Dotterel that has been there for a few days. It disappeared about two hours before we got there and reappeared about one hour after we left! Oh well, can't win them all.

 

The only bird of note today was a Gannet.

 

There was a great display of gorse and bell heather on the Orme. This is looking towards Puffin Island and Anglesey.

 

Stilt sandpiper Neumann's Flash

Stilt sandpiper 1 adult summer, moulting
Ruff 2

Year 231 (Stilt sandpiper)

The Stilt sandpiper was my third in the UK and my second in Cheshire (the last Cheshire Stilt sand was at Frodsham in 1984). Superficially, Stilt sands are similar to Curlew sandpipers, with long bills and white rumps. However this was a cracking bird, an adult in an advanced state of moult, but still with signs of summer plumage, with a nicely marked back and barring on the flanks and breast. It also had nice long legs and a bill nowhere near as curved as a Curlew sandpiper.

Richmond Bank

Yellow-legged gull 1+ adults, 1 possible 1st summer

Herring gull 1000

Lesser black-backed gull 1000

Buzzard 1

 

Year 230 (Yellow-legged gull)

 

There have been up to 12 Yellow-legged gulls at Richmond Bank recently, and there may have been 12 today (though I doubt it!). I find Yellow-legged gulls very difficult, especially if they are not adults, so it was a relief to find a nice adult standing on the mud in good light, surrounded by Herring gulls and Lesser black-backs.

 

Fiddlers Ferry and the River Mersey

Eccleston Mere

Kingfisher 1
Mute Swan 2 adults
Buzzard 2
Sparrowhawk 1
Swallow 20
House Martin 30

It's tough going at the mere at the moment, especially when I think back to this time last year when we had an American Black Tern and lots of excited birders. Still, even last year it was pretty quiet in the run up to the appearance of the ABT, and I suppose it's times like these which make me appreciate more the good times and the appearance of unusual birds. I still visit the mere almost daily, in fact I've been twice today, but there doesn't seem a lot of point in reporting the same old things day after day. I wonder what the next good bird at the mere will be. Perhaps it will appear tomorrow.......