Exploring the Cheshire Badlands

With a day off work I was keen to get out birding again, but I really am struggling to get back onto the patch at the moment. So with a decent forecast, which for once was pretty much spot on I decided to have a bit of a wander around Cheshire. March is a great month to find displaying resident species, and with that in mind I decided to head off into deepest, darkest east Cheshire.

Reaching the site at just before 9am I was delighted to see and hear all three Woodpecker species within minutes of arriving. The whole area was buzzing with Treecreeper, Nuthatch and the other expected woodland species. Up to 5 Mandarin were also in the area, always nice to see and hear. Great Spotted Woodpecker seemed to be everywhere, whilst Green Woodpecker were constantly laughing away in the background. But the star birds were the pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpecker that performed brilliantly.

At least 2 birds were in the area, with possibly another present. It was great to finally catch up with them again, having not seen one since I moved back to the North-West. Not wanting to disturb them, I left them in peace and returned to the car with a rather large Cheshire Cat Smile.

I decided to head to Newchurch Common to catch up with the Red Crested Pochard that had been present for ages. However I wasn't entirely sure where I was going, but after a few non-starters I eventually found the area, parking up and walking along the track to view the lakes. The whole area was alive with the calls of Chiffchaff and a couple of Blackcap, and the weather certainly made it feel like Spring.

I eventually picked up the Red Crested Pochard in the west bay. The lake also held 2 Wigeon and stacks of Tufted Duck. There were also good numbers of gulls present, and on closer examination I managed to pick out 4 adult Mediterranean Gulls, one of which was very vocal and displaying. Continuing to scan the lake I was surprised to pick up the female Smew hiding under the overhanging willows on the east side of the lake. I'm not aware of any reports recently, so maybe it has been hiding elsewhere in the mean time?

I decided to head to Kelsall where there had been a flock of c.150 Waxwing earlier in the day. However despite my best attempts I was unable to locate them, with no sight nor sound of the flock. However the orchards still held good numbers of Fieldfare, Redwing and Blackbirds. The air was full of raptors with loads of Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel. But with no sign of the Waxwing I decided to head on towards Gowy Tip.

Reaching Gowy Tip I was disappointed to find that the Gulls were all wheeling around the site, and not settling. I spent a while grilling the masses of gulls over the tip and eventually picked out a juvenile Glaucous Gull and a juvenile (1st or 2nd winter) Iceland Gull. However throughout my stay the birds didn't land for longer than a few seconds, and the "wash" pools were looking decidedly dry. With many gulls drifting off towards the Mersey I decided to call it quits.

I had a brief stop at Moore, but annoyingly had managed to kill my phone storage with photos from earlier! A Green Woodpecker was calling away, whilst there were again good numbers of Nuthatch and Great Spotted Woodpecker. A look at the feeding station was productive with at least 2 Willow Tit calling and feeding in the area, whilst the feeders still held plenty of the expected species. I had planned to stop via the patch on the return home, but other than a quick scan from Town Lane I decided to head home and put my feet up.

North Wales Birding

Despite only being a stones throw away from North Wales, I have done next to no real birding in the area since I returned to the north-west. With patch birding being slow (a huge understatement) and the temptation of seeing a number of scarce breeders I thought I would give it a go. I managed to talk Iggy into taking a break from the patch and together we headed into Wales at some ungodly hour.

Arriving at Worlds End at just before sunrise, we slowly drove along patiently awaiting the arrival of the Black Grouse. A couple of calling Red Grouse, Stonechat, Meadow Pipit and a brief Merlin put in a showing, but strangely there was no sign of any Black Grouse?! Retracing the road we finally managed to pick up a very distant lek of c.15 birds....but to say they were distant would be kind! Thankfully we could hear some more birds calling, so carried on a little further until......

The lek must have decided to have a sleep in, as 21 males were sat right by the road. Using the car as a hide we managed to balance scopes and optics through the windows and get some great views. Sadly there were no females on show, but a female Mallard that decided to walk through the lek drew some admiring glances...... Having had our fill of the Grouse we headed back towards civilisation, taking in a much better view of a male Merlin and a few Red Grouse on the way.

We headed towards Clocaenog and along one of the minor roads had some great views of Common Crossbill and Siskin. Both were very much in evidence across the whole of the forest. Pulling over to let a car pass, Iggys car unfortunately dropped into a newly created "gutter" of water and mud. After c.30 minutes and realising that we were well and truly dug in, we managed to find a kind farmer to extract us! Why I forgot to take any pics I will never know!!

A number of stops around the area failed to yield any Goshawk, and the lack of phone reception didn't help in trying to locate the Great Grey Shrike. On the plus side we jammed in on a singing Firecrest, along with the more expected woodland birds including plenty more Common Crossbill and Siskin. A distant raptor certainly looked good, but having stupidly walked down the hill without a scope I wasn't to firm up any ID (note to self - don't walk anywhere without a scope!!).

Driving up towards Llanbedr y Chenin we had a number of stops, and eventually found a smart Dipper along one of the many good looking rivers. Red Kites were very much in evidence with at least 5 birds, and a female Goosander flew over the car. Despite Google Maps attempting to take us to random locations we finally made it to Llanbedr y Chenin in good time (despite the numerous river stops).

Within seconds of arriving we were watching a couple of Hawfinch at the tops of the trees. However getting decent views was a different matter, with the birds very mobile and deciding to sit just the wrong side of branches! There was a minimum of 9 birds, but an accurate count was difficult given how mobile the flock was. We also distantly scoped a group of 5 Goosander and had another 4-5 Red Kite circling around above our heads.

A "posh" toilet stop for Iggy at Conwy RSPB allowed me to pick up a couple of Chiffchaff  in the car park, whilst an adult Mediterranean Gull flew over calling. By now the drizzle was becoming quite heavy, but undeterred we pushed onwards to Llandudno and the Great Orme. After navigating our way to the Mines, we were slightly miffed to find that the clouds were exceedingly low, reducing visibility to near zero.

A drive around and a scan from the Church resulted in a few Red Throated Diver, Shag, Cormorant, Guillemot, Razorbill. A stop by the café along Marine Drive produced my first 2 Wheatear of the year, but the cold wind definitely didn't make it feel much like Spring! Jackdaws were very much in evidence, but we just couldn't locate any Chough. We decided to carry on and have a mooch around the Limestone Pavement.

A wander around the rather windswept top produced very little other than 8-9 Stonechat and plenty of Meadow Pipit. But finally the sounds of Chough filled the air, but sadly views of a pair flying away were far from what was hoped for. The early start was starting to catch up with us both, so we decided to call it a (rather successful) day and head home. The drive home was uneventful, but we picked up the 21 Whooper Swan on the M56 at Frodsham (opposite Helsby Hill). I'll definitely be heading back to North Wales again soon, if nothing else to catch up with the Pied Flycatchers!

Surely it has to get better....

I managed a brief visit to the patch after work today, and with a more positive feel of late I was hopeful that the patch may find start delivering.......in reality I should probably have just gone home and caught up on some sleep! A rather grey and overcast afternoon, with fairly poor light and not much about.

I started at Burnt Mill Farm, hopeful that the southerly winds may have brought in an early Wheatear. The paddocks were full of Meadow Pipit, Linnet, Starling and Pied Wagtails, which was at least more productive than of late. A Corn Bunting was singing from an unseen vantage point, but I suspect it was hidden in the fields at the back. A thorough search of the area produced little else, but a Kestrel and a few Common Buzzard displaying above my head made it feel a bit more like Spring.

Carr Lane was pretty much devoid of birds. The flooded "Ibis" field held a couple of calling Little Grebe and masses of Moorhen and Coot but little else. A scan over towards the Pools produced no Pipits, and only a handful of Redshank and Black-tailed Godwit feeding in the shallows. A few Eurasian Teal, Shoveler and Mallard were tucked up towards Town Lane, which at least gave me hope that something may be hidden amongst them.

Moving round to the gate on Town Lane, and I could scan through the assembled ducks properly. 67 Eurasian Teal, 19 Shoveler, 2 Wigeon, and 14 Mallard were the best of it though. Hopefully it won't be too long until the first Garganey may appear....Spring really can't come quick enough at the moment. A single male Stonechat was along the fenceline at the back of the Pools, and a couple more Common Buzzard were displaying over the top of Great Boar Wood, but otherwise it was very quiet.

I decided to try my luck and scan from the end of Church Lane again. A Great White Egret was stalking about on Ince Marshes, but there was no sign of any Swans on this occasion. There were c.300 Pink-footed Geese again on Frodsham Score, but sadly they again were too distant to do much with - however nothing really stood out on this occasion. A female Marsh Harrier was quartering the back edges of the Score, and Raven numbers are really starting to build (in line with the lambs). The clouds had been building whilst I was scanning the river and eventually I could feel the first rather heavy spots of rain. With the whole area seeming rather lifeless I decided not to waste my brownie points and headed home.

Cheshire Ticking

I have never really been too concerned about keeping a Cheshire List, probably something I will regret in 20 years time. However I was unable to resist the temptation to pop over to Frodsham for the Great Grey Shrike (despite having seen one in Scotland a few weeks ago) that had been found on Saturday. Iggy had already deserted Hale for the day, so I again dug out my passport and headed towards the Runcorn Bridge. The weather had been pretty much a wipe out all morning, and things didn't really improve in the afternoon, if anything getting worse as the day went on.

I quickly found my way along Marsh Lane and onto Lordship Lane where I met Iggy. He was busily watching a sleeping Otter, always nice to catch up with even if it was a little obscured. Having had our fill of the Otter we made our way along towards the Hoverport regularly stopping to scan for the Shrike. I eventually picked up the Great Grey Shrike but it was rather distant. The bushes were full of Reed Bunting, and my mind started to wander about what else may be present.

The Great Grey Shrike was very active and was moving about the bushes between Hares Lane and Lordship Lane, and we eventually got pretty decent views as it came closer and closer. A very smart bird indeed, with many happy faces walking to and from the fields. With time marching on I suggested popping into Moore, as it was pretty much on the way back to Liverpool. Driving towards Moore the rain seemed to get heavier and heavier, not great!

We had a fairly unproductive wander around in the pouring rain, but there was a reasonable selection of expected woodland species including Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Great Spotted Woodpecker and a distant yaffling Green Woodpecker. The feeding station was attracting plenty of birds in, but my optics were drenched, and despite being clad in waterproofs myself I was starting to feel rather wet and miserable too. I decided to dry off and have a brief call into patch before heading home.

Pulling into the bridge on Town Lane I was a little drier, but sadly the rain hadn't stopped, although it did seem marginally lighter. A brief look picked up a single Water Pipit in front of the decoy, a Little Egret feeding distantly out on the Marsh and a big gaggle of Canada Geese. I had a brief look over towards Carr Lane Pools, where 15 Shoveler were roosting. With the rain getting heavier again I decided to call it a day and head home, at least I would get some brownie points for getting home at a reasonable time!!