Scallys DO have their uses!!

Much cooler fresher conditions today, with some pretty hefty thunderstorms. The thunderstorms had flooded out my own road, and I was hopeful that the rain may have pushed in something to the patch; especially with news of two Red Necked Phalarope just down the road at Woolston Eyes. At least with the light nights it didn't matter that I wasn't able to get down to patch until gone 7.30pm.

I had planned to start by visiting Burnt Mill Farm, however an overturned 4x4 (presumably nicked and then ditched by some Scallys) at the end of Carr Lane meant that I had to change plans. Driving round I stopped at the bridge on Town Lane to scan the floods. Sadly there were no Phalaropes, but there were 2 Avocet and 2 Little Ringed Plover and a better selection of ducks than of late - 2 Tufted Duck, 7 Gadwall, 2 Shoveler and 12 Mallard.

Walking back to the car I picked up a juv Spoonbill spiralling down onto the decoy on Hale Marsh. Judging by the extent of black in the primaries I would say that it was probably a 1st summer. Definitely a case of being in the right place at the right time, and all thanks to the Scallys!! The decoy was overflowing with Cormorants, a few Grey Herons and a Little Egret, but sadly the Spoonbill must have landed in the decoy or too low to see.

Moving round to the gate I quickly spotted an adult Hobby whizzing around over Great Boar Wood. The Pools appeared relatively quiet, but a Little Grebe was feeding along the back edge, whilst 3 Teal were feeding along the near edge with 5 Gadwall and a few Mallard. There was no sign of the Green Winged Teal until a group of Scallys on hairdryers zoomed past, flushing everything and revealing the Green Winged Teal!!

Whilst watching the Green Winged Teal, I picked up a Great Spotted Woodpecker flying over, whilst the woods seemed alive again with bird songs (clearly the rain has got them all frisky again!). Having had my fill of the Teal, which clearly has a serious case of OCD (spending at last 10 minutes non-stop preening and cleaning) I moved round to Within Way.

One of the local Little Owl's was showing very well tonight, and was singing almost constantly throughout my visit. The Blackbird's were certainly very agitated, and didn't give the Owl a minutes peace. A Peregrine was sat out on Hale Marsh, whilst the Oilseed Rape field held plenty of Yellow Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Linnet and Skylark; but there was no obvious signs of the Channel Wagtail or any sound of the Quail.

A quick return to Carr Lane produced an Egyptian Goose (my first actually on patch this year - no patchtheft from Frodders required). The only additions to the Pools were 4 more Avocet, and a single Dunlin. Clearly I failed to turn the homing device on for the Phalaropes or Terek Sandpiper! A Tawny Owl was calling from Great Boar Wood (only my second of the year on patch), and there were still plenty of singing Blackcap, Willow Warbler and Reed Warblers from the surrounding area. I spent a while listening for Crakes at the flooded field (which is wet again! Woohoo!), without success and with the rain starting to get a little heavier I decided to head home.

A really enjoyable late evening trip to the patch, but sadly I failed to locate the Eagle Owl which was seen just after 10pm. Not a tickable bird, but would love to eventually catch up with it; but it'll just have to wait until next time.

Back to Normal-ish

The day started a lot fresher than of late, with a fair amount of cloud cover and a light north-westerly which at least made it feel more bearable. However by mid-morning it had burnt off leaving another scorcher of a day with temperatures up to 27 degrees. The north-westerly had picked up though which again helped to take the edge off....and cunningly disguise how strong the sun was!

Burnt Mill Farm produced pretty much a carbon copy of yesterday's birds, minus the Wheatear. The pair of Grey Partridge were still feeding in the open, whilst the Corn Bunting was singing from the wires by the Farm and a few Yellow Wagtails buzzed about. Starling numbers seem to be building with a minimum of c.90 birds feeding in the paddocks.

The Damp Squib (formerly known as the flooded field) was again very quiet other than 4 very vocal Reed Warbler. A Peregrine bombed through scattered virtually everything in it's wake....which wasn't much! Scanning across towards Carr Lane Pools and there seemed to be very little on show other than a few rather territorial Redshank.

Moving round to Town Lane I met a few birders who were looking for the Green Winged Teal without success. It was evident that there had been a bit of clear out, with only 4 Teal remaining today, with 9 Gadwall and the usual Mallard posse. Walking along Town Lane the wet fields were very quiet as well, with only 2 Tufted Duck of note, and no waders at all. Scanning across Hale Marsh I picked up an adult male Hobby buzzing around rather very distantly, always nice to see but it would be nice if they came a bit closer!

Continuing to scan the sky resulted in a minimum of 7 Common Buzzard and hundreds of Swift clearly enjoying the warm weather. Scanning over the back of Carr Lane Pools I picked up a Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and a few more Common Buzzard. A further Hobby (a 2cy bird) fortunately provided much better views, but sadly the resultant phone-scoped shots didn't really do it justice....they're just too fast!!

Walking back to the car my eyes were drawn to a large raptor drifting east over my head, the long wings and gull like look immediately made me realise it was an Osprey. This is now my 4th on patch this year, but as many as 7 or 8 birds have been recorded making it an excellent Spring. With the high tide not due for a few hours I decided to head to Within Way.

The adult Hobby followed me along Within Way and showed well throughout. There was not a peep out of any of the Quail today, but the flava Wagtails were putting on a good show. I was finally able to confirm successful breeding of the Channel Wagtails as well, with the parents feeding at least one fledgling. There were loads of Skylark, Goldfinch and Linnet on the move, but little else to keep me going so I moved round to the Lighthouse to watch the rising tide.

The light misty haze made picking out anything on Frodsham Score near impossible other than assigning blobs to colour, and even then it was a bit of a guess. Fortunately whilst scanning the Mersey I picked up 3 Common Tern moving west quite close. Given that they are a relatively common bird, with breeding birds within 10 miles they are a scarce bird on patch; this being only my second patch record this year.

I spent the next hour scanning for more terns without success. There was little else of note, and with my arms and neck getting redder by the second I decided to head home and cool down. Not a bad patch visit, but it feels like the start of the long summer when new birds are hard to come by....but hopefully there's still time for a couple of goodies.

***The Green Winged Teal appears to have relocated to No.6 Tank on Frodsham. Just as well I bumped found it on it's summer jaunt across the Mersey!!***

Double June Joy

It was another exceedingly warm, sultry day. The bright blue skies having been replaced by a veil of thin cloud, and light haze. When the sun broke through, it was almost unbearably hot. The thundery showers missed us, but I was hoping that they may push a few birds in. Having not had chance to get down on Sunday to look for the Spoonbill, I decided to take a days leave and give it a go.

As is usual of late, I started at Burnt Mill Farm, where the paddocks held 2 Grey Partridge feeding out in the open. Scanning the fence line I was surprised to find a female Wheatear perched up at the back (a rather late date for the patch). 2 singing Corn Bunting, a couple of Yellow Wagtail and 5 Buzzard on the wing were also about, whilst the sky was full of hirundines and Swift.

The flooded field was again rather quiet, with the available water receding quite quickly. The reeds were still alive with the songs of Reed and Sedge Warbler though, both of which seem to be having a good year. Scanning over towards Carr Lane Pools I was surprised to see that the water levels had increased - presumably due to the recent high tides rather than the thunderstorms.

Moving round to Town Lane it was nice to find 2 Avocet showing well, whilst there were a number of young Lapwing and Redshank chasing around the edges. A Hobby flew over towards Great Boar Wood, whilst I continued to scan the pools. I was surprised to find a couple of Teal......I was even more surprised when the next duck I looked at was a smart drake Green Winged Teal!! Not the most expected find at this time of year!!

I watched the Green Winged Teal for a while to ensure that there was no bling on it's legs and discount any potential hybrid potential. Fortunately it all seems okay, but it does raise the question of where it has come from? Maybe it is the Frodsham bird from earlier this year that has relocated with some lingering Teal? Or maybe a returning bird from the north?

The rest of the Pools held a single Ruff, Little Ringed Plover, 2 Tufted Duck, 4 Shoveler, 17 Teal and 2 Yellow Wagtail. The decoy at Hale was noisy with numerous Cormorants and a couple of nesting Grey Heron on display. The rest of Hale Marsh was quiet other than the expected Meadow Pipits and Skylarks....and the 73 billion Canada Geese.

Deciding to give Frodsham Score a grilling for the Spoonbill, I made my way around to the Lighthouse. The fields on the way down to the Lighthouse are supporting at least 3 pairs of Yellow Wagtail at the moment, and they were very active during my visit. 2 white blobs on the Ince Marsh end of the Score may or may not have been Spoonbills.....but distance and haze was against me. A Great White Egret was feeding on Hale Shore to the west of the Lighthouse, my first on patch for quite some time. With the "high" high tide fast approaching I shot round to Pickerings Pasture.

Walking down to the hide I received a message from Elliot Monteith to let me know that 3 Little Tern had just headed down the Mersey. I was in two minds whether to return to the Lighthouse, but decided against it. A number of seabirds enter the Mersey but fail to make it down to Hale, so thought I would continue as planned. The track to the hide was full of fledglings again, and there were also 4 Bullfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker and a calling Spotted Flycatcher.

The roost was slowly building whilst I continued to scan the Mersey.....and suddenly in the distance I picked up 2 small terns flying east towards me. As they got closer I was in full fist-pump mode to realise that they were indeed Little Terns (another patch lifer for the day). Amazingly Little Tern is actually a better patch bird than Green Winged Teal!? Thanks must go to Elliot for the heads up on this one! The rest of the high tide roost was uneventful with only a leucistic Black Headed Gull putting in an appearance. The only waders deciding to roost were 74 Lapwing and 15 Oystercatcher.

A quick look on the Mersey from Pickerings picked up another Avocet swimming in the rising tide, whilst a Peregrine was sat on the Runcorn Bridge. On the walk back to the car I flushed a Sparrowhawk from the track, which had been feasting on one of young rabbits.

What a great couple of hours on patch, and very unexpected in quality given the time of year. Two new patch ticks have moved me up to 196 on my patch, not bad for a quiet corner in the North-West!!

  

Hobby Hobby Hobby!! Oi Oi Oi!!

It had been a long week with no time to get out on patch, so I was glad that it was finally the weekend. The weather started rather overcast today, but it was still surprisingly warm and humid. Once the sun broke through it felt even hotter, and even the light north-easterly breeze couldn't take the edge off.

Just as I was pulling up at Burnt Mill Farm a Cuckoo flew over the road calling, before continuing on it's way towards Halebank. Despite the good habitat, and plentiful "host" species this is a surprisingly difficult bird to see on patch. The rest of the area held the expected Corn Bunting, 3 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Grey Partridge and plenty of recently fledged Starling.

The flooded field looks more like a damp puddle after the recent dry weather, and the vegetation has made viewing of the remaining wet areas difficult. The area was full of Reed Warbler, Whitethroat and Reed Bunting, but there was a real end of Spring feel to the area. Looking over towards Carr Lane Pools was a pretty similar picture, with water levels desperately low.

Moving round to Town Lane I bumped into Sean O'Hara; we both scanned the Pools for a while, but other than a pair of Shoveler there wasn't much to keep us entertained. Sean decided to stay and keep looking for the recent Hobby, whilst I headed off to check out Hale Marsh. The pools along Town Lane held 2 Little Ringed Plover, a further pair of Shoveler and a number of recently fledged Pied Wagtail. A few large kettles of mixed Gulls were "anting", but didn't contain anything of any note. Other than the large Cormorant colony and the multitude of Canada Geese, Hale Marsh was depressingly quiet. 

I decided to move round to Pickerings Pasture, hoping that the recent Little Gull may put in an appearance. The track by United Utilities was alive with new fledglings including Great and Blue Tits, a few Blackcap and Whitethroat. Although I am predominantly only interested in birds, it was nice to see so many Southern Marsh Orchid, and the wild flower meadows were looking very impressive. Butterflies were also well represented with plenty of Speckled Woods. 

I spent about an hour looking through the Gulls on the Mersey off Pickerings, and despite a good build up the highlight was a single 3rd summer Yellow Legged Gull. A Greenshank was calling from the near bank, but stayed just beneath my position for a photo opportunity. By now the sun had started to break through and it was starting to feel very hot. I decided to head back and move round to Within Way.

The walk along Within Way was very hot, with only a few Common Buzzard on the wing and the ever present song of Whitethroats. A couple of Yellow Wagtails were whizzing around, but it was very quiet. Reaching the end of Within Way I picked up a male Marsh Harrier over Frodsham, whilst a Peregrine was sat on top of the blue topped chimney. Mersey itself was very quiet with nothing of great note. The walk back, produced a 5 minute rush of goodies, with a Hobby soaring above my head before zooming off towards Frodsham and a Quail singing from the usual field. Scanning the fields I picked up a pair of Channel Wagtail that appear to be nesting alongside at least 4 pairs of flavissima.

So not a total wash out of a day, but I have a feeling that the rest of the summer months may be hard going.....!