Bird Racing across the Universe

When I lived in Suffolk bird races were one of my personal highlights of the year. We would normally do two each year, with one on January 1st and another at the beginning of May. Whereas May was more akin to a marathon (with more available daylight), January was all about tactics and planning. Having not taken part in a bird race in 7 years, I thought I would give it a go at Hale in my patch boundaries (although without the competitive element of having other teams out and about). With up to 110-115 species having been seen on the run-up to the New Year I set myself a rather stretching (but what I thought would be possible to achieve) target of reaching a nice round 100.

Driving along Carr Lane at just after 7am, my first species of the day was one of the local Barn Owls that ghosted across the road as I headed down to the bridge, always a nice start. As I parked up a Water Rail started to squeal away, whilst Robins, Blackbirds, Song Thrush and a Mistle Thrush were in full voice. Common Snipe were squelching away, and a Woodcock had a fly around over my head. I could hear Eurasian Teal and Lapwing from towards Carr Lane Pools. As the first embers of daylight appeared the first Wrens of the day burst into life.

I decided to try my luck at Hale Park, although as it was still fairly dark I didn't hold out much hope of seeing many of the woodland species that I would expect. A Tawny Owl was keewik-ing from the entrance to Hale Hall, quite often a tricky species to see or hear at this time of year on patch. The first gulls (Black-headed, Herring and Lesser black-backed) were starting to move over whilst Cormorant and Woodpigeon were quickly added. However as expected there were next to no woodland species, with only the Great Tits starting to wake up.

Moving around to Town Lane I parked up on Marsh Bridge and was immediately rewarded with the Short eared Owl quartering Hale Marsh. A Kestrel was already on the wing and flushed a couple of Water Pipit (with 3 eventually being seen). A check of the Town Lane floods, revealed plenty of Eurasian Teal, 2 Shelduck and a rather smart male Pintail. The Stonechat (3 birds - male, female and 1st year) were already awake and sat on the fenceline in the middle of Carr Lane Pools. A couple of Little Egret were mooching about on Hale Marsh, and I had clearly missed the early morning exodus from the roost (although plenty of Grey Heron and Cormorant were still leaving).

Acutely aware that an early morning visit was required to Pickerings Pasture (to avoid the hordes of walkers, dogs, drones, kids, cyclists etc!) I made my way quickly to the car park. The Ring necked Parakeet was screeching around, whilst the feeders were busy with various tits and Chaffinch. The Common Buzzard that has taken to lingering around the car park gave ridiculously good views. Scanning the Mersey picked up stacks of Canada Geese, whilst 2 Barnacle Geese and a single Greylag Goose tried their best to hide. The Mersey was relatively quiet, but I picked up a couple of the more expected Gulls and Waders to keep the yearlist ticking along. Up to 7 Bullfinch were in the usual hedge and were surprisingly easy to see, and having picked up the expected bits made my way through the Control Meadows to the Scrape.

The Control Meadows were relatively quiet, so the walk to the scrape was quicker than usual. The Kingfisher was feeding directly in front of the screen, whilst the Common Sandpiper was also mooching about. The feeders were heaving with finches and tits, but sadly there was no sign of any of the recent Brambling. Hale Marsh was also relatively quiet, though the Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail flock was still present and included a single Grey Wagtail. The Mersey held at least 7 Great crested Grebe, but was also quiet. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was very vocal, whilst the overwintering Chiffchaff also put in an appearance in front of the screen. Deciding to cut my losses I headed back to the car picking up Coal Tit and Goldcrest on the return. I had reached 60 species by 9.35am, and my confidence of reaching 100 was pretty high.

Returning to Hale Park I walked through the Ice House Woods quickly picking up Nuthatch and Treecreeper, whilst I was pleased to also find 2 Siskin (which have been particularly scarce this winter). I received a WhatsApp message from Dominic about a Merlin in the carrot field west of the Lighthouse, I was probably only about 100m away, but by the time I ambled out I had missed it (which I would later regret). Reaching the Shore I walked the length of tidal channels up to the Lighthouse picking up my first Rock Pipit (my 70th species at 10.40am) but failing to flush a single Snipe of either species. However scanning Frodsham Score and Ince Marshes produced a bonus ringtail Hen Harrier and at least 3 Marsh Harrier, along with plenty of Raven.

Scanning through the ducks at the Lighthouse I quickly picked up a good selection of ducks, including 87 Pintail, 2 Shoveler and a single female Gadwall, among good numbers of Eurasian Teal, Wigeon and Mallard. Continuing along the shore I kicked up a good number of Skylark and at least 6 more Rock Pipit. I had almost given up hope of finding any Snipe when I finally flushed a Jack Snipe from the last patch of shore. Returning towards the Lighthouse I bumped into Rob and Carol Cockbain and stopped to have a quick catch-up, whilst still scanning. I quickly added Great White Egret, Sparrowhawk and Magpie before saying my goodbyes and heading back towards the car to meet up with Iggy.

Meeting up with Iggy on the back edge of the Ice House Woods, we had some nice views of various woodland species before heading back to the car and deciding to head back to Hale Marsh and Town Lane. After a rather nervy wait a Moorhen (that could have been an embarrassing miss!) finally gave itself up, whilst a Little Egret was feeding in Ramsbrook. A Peregrine put in a brief at the end of the Marsh, surprisingly my first of the day. A quick pit stop at the Co-op to pick up some food (10 doughnuts anyway!) and coffee, and it was straight onto Pickerings again to hopefully look the assembled masses of waders...….

Sadly reaching Pickerings and it was evident that there were not many waders at all! Only 2 Dunlin were present on the expanse of mud/sandflats, whilst a big group of Lapwing and Golden Plover were flying around over Frodsham Score. We bumped into Sean O'Hara and Anne, and enjoyed at least 2 Common Sandpiper that were present, but Gull numbers were very low and didn't contain anything of interest despite a good grilling. Looking through the species still missing I decided to head back to Carr Lane, leaving Iggy to have a scout around Pickerings and the Scrape.

The sunflower strip held good numbers of Linnet and Goldfinch and a couple of Greenfinch, but sadly none of the better species that had been seen over the last couple of weeks. Fortunately I picked up both Redwing and Fieldfare feeding in the fields and then returning to the tops of the trees in Clamley Park Wood. With time (or daylight) quickly slipping away I headed to Within Way, where the Little Owl (90th species at 14.15pm)  was unusually playing ball straight away. I decided to walk to the end of Within Way (hoping that there may be some waders at the end).

Again, there was a lack of any waders at the end of Within Way, other than a handful of Redshank. I was joined by Geoff Bond and his wife, and whilst catching up was fortunate enough to pick up a group of 3 Tufted Duck flying around over the Weaver Estuary. Returning along Within Way I met up with Iggy again, but despite a good scan of the Marsh we couldn't pick up anything new, and again no Merlin! We decided to head round to Hale Lighthouse for the Gull roost.....and having parked up got a message through from Rob and Carol to say that a Merlin was showing well on Hale Marsh......GRRRRRRRRR!!!!! However my first Jay of the day flying towards Hale Park limited the pain momentarily.

Grey Plover and a Ringed Plover (95th species for the day) were added on the Mersey as the Gulls started to flood through. A Peregrine was sat out on the mudbanks, which may have not helped with adding any further waders. There was still plenty of scope for reaching 100, especially given how productive the evening gulling had been recently.....however it wasn't to be. The Gulls were moving through in vast waves at different heights and distances making scanning through them a nightmare. Despite adding 2 adult Mediterranean Gulls, I failed to add any of the better Gulls (Iceland or Yellow Legged) that I had seen on each occasion previously. With the light almost gone and temperatures plummeting I decided to head back to Hale Marsh in one last ditch effort to add Merlin. Another failure, meant that I ended the day on 96.

Although it was a disappointing not to reach my target of 100, I feel that this is more than possible with a little more luck. However 96 species in such a small area is nothing to sniff at, and just goes to show how good the mix of habitat around Hale really is. Roll on May and maybe I'll give a full day effort a go...….
 
      

Patch Struggles

After yesterday's Brent dip I really struggled to motivate myself to get out onto patch; and I'm starting to have seriously dark thoughts of defecting to a different patch to try my luck. Nevertheless I eventually pulled myself out of my funk and headed off to the patch (well, I was never going to turn down the chance to get out for some birding!). The weather had turned decidedly unspring-like overnight and it was back to cold, grey and damp conditions.

Starting on Carr Lane I parked up at the bridge and had a little scoot around. Little Grebes have finally returned to the flooded field, and could be heard calling from the deeper cover. A (the?) male Merlin was again bombing at the back of the pools, but wasn't in a very photogenic mood. A Kingfisher darted along Ramsbrook, and that was about it. The Pools were decidedly quiet, with only a small group of 7 Black-tailed Godwit and a few Lapwing and Redshank.

I again decided to head to Within Way to double check the Marsh. A couple of Common Buzzard looked as enthused with the weather as I did. Grey Partridge seemed to be everywhere, with small coveys in most of the fields as I headed down. I stopped to pay my respects to the local Little Owl, who again was sitting nicely out in the open. A few Blue Tits and a Robin had clearly taken exception to it though, and were constantly hopping around giving it a bit of grief.

A single Little Egret was feeding in the middle of the Marsh, and there were again good numbers of ducks and geese about - 500+ Canada Geese, single Greylag Goose 142 Shelduck, including the dodgy hybrid again. However there was again no sign of the Brent Goose. A Peregrine was zooming around distantly towards the Runcorn Bridge, but with no sign of the goose I decided to press on to the end of Within Way.

A couple of Rock Pipit were flying around at the end, whilst I was clearly too noisy when approaching the shore, flushing a Turnstone and 3 Ringed Plover, amongst the noisy Redshank. A female Merlin dashed through towards the Marsh, causing panic amongst the Pipits and Wagtails. The river was exceedingly quiet though, and despite a decent scan I failed to pick out anything of great note.

Returning along Within Way I picked up a rather nice mixed flock of winter Thrushes, which included c.120 Fieldfare and c.20 Redwing. The mixed flock also contained good numbers of Starling, Linnet  and a few Goldfinch. It will be good to see how the numbers build over the next couple of weeks, and maybe there is still time to pick out a decent Thrush amongst them.

A brief stop at Town Lane to check Carr Lane Pools was unproductive other than a single male Stonechat. So I decided to again head towards Burnt Mill Farm to check out the Buntings. I spent a good 45 minutes traipsing around the fields with very little joy - 2 Yellowhammer and 7 Reed Bunting the only result.....time to go home and pour a LARGE glass of something strong!

Swanning about on the Mersey

The forecast was fairly grim for the weekend, so I decided to try and risk getting out on Saturday to avoid the impending "torrential" rain on Sunday (which never materialised!!). It was still a fairly grotty day, with low cloud, heavy rain and light drizzle, whilst it still felt relatively cold. Fortunately visibility was marginally better, and with a reasonable high tide (7.8m) I decided to head down to Hale Lighthouse.

I decided to park up at the end of Church Lane to scan the Mersey from a higher vantage point, which turned out to be an inspired idea. I immediately picked up 3 Red-breasted Merganser on the far side of the Mersey feeding just off Ince Marshes. They were quickly followed by my first Mute Swan of the year (a rather grotty looking juvenile) floating along in front of Frodsham Score. A Great White Egret and c.8 Little Egret were on Ince Marshes, but unfortunately the Geese were all a little too distant to have a proper look through. The covey of Grey Partridge had increased to 28 birds, although they looked fairly miserable in the wet conditions.

The walk down to the Lighthouse was quiet with only a few Reed Bunting and Skylark (where are all of the Finch and Bunting flocks from last year!?). A couple of Raven cronked over, always a joy to see on this side of the Mersey (despite seeing massive groups on the Frodsham side). I spent the next hour or so scanning the Mersey with little luck, only managing 9 Great crested Grebe, but nothing rarer. Hale Shore held 2 Rock Pipit, 7 Turnstone, 2 Grey Plover and a few small groups of Linnet and Goldfinch, but was otherwise quiet.

With the rain becoming heavier and more persistent I found a slightly more sheltered spot by the Lighthouse and had a good scan through the Canada Goose flock that has taken up residence on the fields. However there was nothing hidden amongst their number on this occasion. Loosing patience with the weather I headed back to the car, enjoying the Ravens that had come down onto the fields, and were cronking away to each other.

Moving round to Within Way I had a brief wander along to catch up with the Little Owl, but the fields were otherwise dead (probably not helped by the endless shooting going on in the background). A scan of Hale Marsh revealed one of the pale Common Buzzard, Peregrine, a couple of Little Egret but little else and again no Merlin.

I decided to check Carr Lane Pools from the Town Lane gate. A male Stonechat was feeding and sitting up on the fence posts, whilst a couple of Common Buzzard were also sat around. The pools held c.400 Lapwing, c.150 Eurasian Teal, 3 Common Snipe and 2 Shoveler. A Little Egret flew in and fed at the back of the Pools, but otherwise it was rather disappointing. Hopefully the rain will at least raise the water levels a little in time for Spring.

The sun finally did manage to put in an appearance, so I spent the next hour searching for Bunting and Finch flocks along Carr Lane - sadly without much success. A flock of 18 Yellowhammer, c.7 Reed Bunting were the best, with a Sparrowhawk causing chaos among a group of Meadow Pipit, Linnet and Goldfinch hiding in the stubble field. The flooded field though seems to be going through a quiet patch with no sign of the Cetti's Warbler (again!) or any Water Rail. By now although I had pretty much dried out I was feeling quite cold and tired, so I decided to head home. 

Spring Tide (aka Ospreygate)

With a mix of cold weather, strong northerly winds, tidal surges and a big spring tide it all seemed to point towards a potentially exciting time to visit the patch. It was a bit of a mixed day weather wise with some cloud, brighter spells and a few light hail showers, with a chilly north-westerly wind.

With the impending high tide I only had a brief stop along Carr Lane, where it was very quiet. A brief squeak from a Water Rail was about it from the flooded field, with a handful of Eurasian Teal and Mallard poking about at the back of the pool. Carr Lane Pools looked equally quiet, but three Black-tailed Godwit were feeding close by (including one with a gammy looking knee!). A Kestrel and Common Buzzard sat on the fences had probably put paid to many passerines, so I quickly got on my way again.

I parked up at Within Way and enjoyed a couple of bubbling Nuthatch, Coal Tit and a decent sized flock of Goldfinch that contained 2 Siskin pretty much by the car. A Sparrowhawk zoomed over the track heading towards the copse, whilst the fields were full of Curlew and Black-headed Gull, presumably pushed off by the high tide. The Little Owl was showing well, and kept a close watch on me as I continued my way down the track.

A brief scan over Hale Marsh revealed a juvenile Peregrine and one of the very pale Common Buzzard helping to reduce the Canada Goose population. There were already good numbers of Dunlin, Cormorant and Lapwing roosting on the Marsh ahead of the rising tide, and a couple of Little Egret flew in towards the sanctuary of the Decoy edge. A scan of the Mersey from my elevated position didn't produce any results, so I hurried down to the end of Within Way.

Scanning the Mersey and Frodsham Score finally picked up an Egyptian Goose, presumably the same bird that spent the majority of 2016 on Hale and has now defected. A female Common Scoter flew east past me, having been flushed by a boat (the "White Osprey"). Somehow my tweet must have been mis-interpreted, with a report of an Osprey flying east quickly emanating on the bird news services?! Hmmmmmmm............

Walking further round towards the Lighthouse I picked up a couple of Great White Egret, 2 Whooper Swan and up to 12 Rock Pipit among good numbers of Meadow Pipits. Waders were starting to move a lot and some impressive counts of Dunlin (5000+), Golden Plover (1200+), Grey Plover (120+), Knot (c.20), Black-tailed Godwit (150+) also contained 5+ Bar-tailed Godwit. Duck numbers were less impressive, with only small numbers of Wigeon and Eurasian Teal visible.

At least 3 Jack Snipe were flushed off Hale Shore as the tide engulfed the vegetation, with c.20 Common Snipe also being pushed off. A male Common Scoter flew east past the Lighthouse, but was always distant. Sadly that was as good as it got for wayward sea-ducks/grebes/divers and auks. However probably highlight of the day were 3 Rook (a rare patch bird) that flew north over the Mersey towards Garston. Frodsham Score provided good numbers of Raven, a female Marsh Harrier and a Peregrine, but little else, whilst the tide pushed a few more Turnstone my way as dry land became a hot commodity among the fleeing waders.

Two hours of watching the rising and turning tide didn't produce as much as had been hoped for, but it was still good fun as ever. Retracing my steps back to my car, I picked up 2 Gadwall just off Hale Marsh, whilst the Little Owl was still awake and watching me slowly trudge back. Hale Marsh held 5 Little Egret, but was surprisingly quiet given the high tide; although the slowly dropping tide had already exposed no mans land and a quick look upriver revealed stacks of waders making the most of the freshly exposed mud. Finally reaching the car I made a brief (rather pointless stop) at Carr Lane before heading home.