Foolish Birding

After a fairly murky morning with heavy rain I managed to time my patch birding perfectly, with the clouds breaking revealing some warm Spring sunshine. After a bit of a rush of migrants to the end of March, I was hopeful that the start of April would follow in the same vain.

I started at Burnt Mill Farm where I was delighted to find that the first Wheatears were finally back in. At least 7 Wheatear were bouncing about the paddocks, including some nice confiding birds which allowed some good photo opportunities (....for me!). The paddocks were full of Meadow Pipit, Linnet and Goldfinch, although it was slightly alarming that there was a distinct lack of Corn Bunting again. A Willow Warbler was singing in the garden of Burnt Mill Farm, my first of the Spring and always a joy to hear.

Moving down Carr Lane I stopped at the bridge and found a female Garganey feeding quietly at the back of the flooded field. The fields were alive with Wheatear whilst Great Boar Wood and the scrubby ditch along the back of Ramsbrook were alive with Chiffchaff and Blackcap. The sudden arrival of some sunshine clearly tempted the raptors out with 3 Peregrine, 20+ Buzzard, 2 Sparrowhawk and 6 Kestrel. Sadly despite what looked like perfect conditions and good numbers elsewhere I failed to find any Osprey.

Carr Lane Pools were remarkably quiet with only a handful of hirundines flying around, so I moved quickly onto the bridge on Town Lane. A Great White Egret was sat out distantly on the Marsh, whilst at least 2 Water Pipit were still present. It will be interesting to see how long they decide to remain.

Heading round to Within Way I caught up with the Little Owl, which was enjoying the afternoon sunshine. 2 Marsh Harrier were soaring on the thermals just east of Runcorn Hill, whilst a female Merlin shot through. Hale Marsh held a Green Sandpiper and the hybrid Shelduck sp.  but the tide failed to push many waders in. With very little else moving, and next to no migrants I decided to head back towards Carr Lane again.

The male Garganey had reappeared on the main pools, whilst a very smart summer plumaged Water Pipit was feeding in the small pool just in front of the gap in the hedge. There were still at least 5 Wheatear bouncing around, and a Whimbrel came flying over from the north and headed towards Hale Marsh. A Siskin and a Lesser Redpoll flew over, just as a reminder that it was still early Spring. With my time running out, I decided to head home.

Everything's Not Lost

Well the weathermen clearly got the weather forecast wrong........with mainly dry conditions for the majority of the day on Sunday. I managed to grab a few hours in the late afternoon, although rather annoyingly the weather did finally start to turn as I headed towards patch. The last remaining hours of light were generally light to moderate drizzle with a north-easterly breeze.

I called in briefly at Pickerings Pasture where the tide was still relatively high. 2 Common Sandpiper were feeding along the rocky edges up towards Hale Marsh, whilst a Peregrine was sat in it's usual position on the Runcorn Bridge. There were good numbers of waders on no mans land, but Gull numbers as had been the trend of late were poor. Walking back to the car I picked up 5 Bullfinch, whilst 2 Lesser Redpoll (or should that just be "Redpoll" now!) flew over calling.

I headed to Hale Shore to watch the Gull roost, not really expecting too much following the closure of Arpley Tip and the historical trend of Sunday being a "poor" Gulling day. However reaching the Lighthouse I was pleasantly surprised to see good numbers of Gulls heading west past my position (just underneath the Lighthouse walls). Not only were there good numbers of smaller Gulls (Common and Black Headed), there were also good numbers of larger Gulls (predominantly Lesser Black Backed and Herring).

Continuing to scan through the Gulls pouring through I managed to pick up a stunning adult Iceland Gull (although the pics clearly don't do it justice!). This was quickly followed by 2 adult Mediterranean Gulls. Over the next hour I picked up a further 1st winter Iceland Gull, 3 Yellow Legged Gulls and 3 more Mediterranean Gulls (adult, 2nd winter and 1st winter). I estimated that roughly 15,000 large Gulls passed west, not far off the numbers of last winter/spring. Where they have come from I really don't know; although clearly there are still feeding areas further up the Mersey. So after my doom and gloom of fearing the end of Gull watching on the Mersey, maybe I spoke too soon, and I can't wait to get back down to check the roosts......maybe that Ivory or Ross's will finally turn up!!

Apart from the Gulls the Mersey was quite productive with a single male Goldeneye flying east past the Lighthouse (my 120th patch tick of the year). A Great White Egret was padding around on Ince Marshes, and up to 12 Little Egret were constantly flying around. A few Great crested Grebe were again feeding on the Mersey, whilst duck numbers were fairly impressive with some good Wigeon and Eurasian Teal flocks.

So not a bad last patch visit of the month, with two new additions leaving me on 120 for the year. Not a bad start, although the rest of the winter period may be hard work.........

Dusk Patching

After two day time visits to the patch I was keen to get out for a dusk session. After a freezing sub-zero overnight frost, I was hopeful that the expected dusk species would be present. I headed out in glorious late afternoon sunshine, and although it was freezing cold it was good to get out in some fairly decent weather.

I decided to head to Pickerings Pasture to try and pick up a few missing birds from the patch yearlist. Up to 9 Bullfinch were again in the hedge leading down to the Mersey, but again they were sat on the wrong side of the hedge to get any decent pics. The feeders were again alive with birds, although there was nothing of great note. Reaching the Mersey the tide was still relatively high, with most waders and gulls still loafing about on no-mans land.

Settling in to have a quick look through the distant waders and gulls, my attention was drawn to two ducks flying towards me from the west. Without raising my binoculars I knew what they were, but it was nice to get a flyby of 2 male Goosander as they headed east towards the Runcorn Bridge. 3 Common Sandpiper were feeding along the shore line, whilst a scan of the distant gulls and waders didn't really reveal anything unexpected. A couple of Raven were "cronk-cronk"ing along the Mersey flying backwards and forwards, always a great sound to hear.

A male Gadwall was hiding amongst Mallards by the bridge on Ditton Brook, amazingly my first on patch this year. A Peregrine was sat up on the Runcorn Bridge, whilst some loud "wink-wink" drew my attention to a group of c.48 Pink footed Geese heading west along the Mersey and over my head. A couple more Bullfinch and a calling Chiffchaff were in Ditton Brook, but with light starting to fade I made my way quickly back to the car.

Driving back along Hale Gate Road towards Hale village I stopped to have a brief scan of the Marsh from by the farm. Although the Marsh was quiet there was a large finch flock which contained c.200 Goldfinch, 8 Siskin and at least 2 Lesser Redpoll with a few Chaffinch thrown in for good measure. Stopping on the bridge on Town Lane proved fruitless with the flood totally frozen over and the marsh still rock solid, resulting in no Pipits; or any other passerines for that matter. However the field at the back of the Pools held c.400 Golden Plover and c.200 Lapwing, always nice to see.

With a few minutes to spare I thought I would head round to Church Lane and have a quick scan over the Mersey and Frodsham Score....surely there would be Swans by now? Nope! The setting sun didn't help with viewing Frodsham Score, but even in poor light there were clearly no Swans of any type. Just as surprising was the fact that there were only a couple of Little Egret and no Great White Egret present. A decent number of Raven were again feeding along the edge of the Score, whilst an immature Marsh Harrier was drifting about Frodsham Marsh.

I headed round to Carr Lane ready for dusk, and after a quick look around again finding the majority of open water frozen I positioned myself on the bridge. The Cetti's Warbler was again calling from Ramsbrook, whilst a few Water Rail were already starting to squeal away. I was joined by Mike Roberts and another local birder for the next hour. A large Fieldfare flock came into roost, and a Woodcock came whizzing out of Great Boar Wood. But the best was probably the hooting Tawny Owl from the top section of Great Boar Wood, an increasingly infrequent sound on patch. A few Common Snipe squelched over, but with light seriously fading fast I had given up hope on the Barn Owl. But at 17.20pm the Barn Owl suddenly emerged from Great Boar Wood and drifted along the field edge and out onto Ramsbrook. By now it was too dark to see, so I gave up on the Short-eared Owl, hopefully it'll wait for the next visit........