Eccleston Mere

Common "Mealy" Redpoll 1
Water Rail 2 in SW corner, chasing each other through Alder Carr
Lesser Redpoll 10
Siskin 30
Goldfinch 50
Bullfinch 1 male
Snipe 2
Willow Tit 1
Goldcrest 2
Goosander 2 (male and female)
Tufted Duck 6
Cormorant 6
Song Thrush 2 singing

The Mealy Redpoll was a great view, feeding with the finch flock on the ground. I was even more prepared for it than last week, having spent the past few days reading various books, browsing the internet and generally researching the identification features of the redpolls. Once again I was struck by how easy the bird was to pick out from the flock, and apart from the id features noted last week, today I paid particular attention to the birds back, which had two obvious pale lines down the middle when compared to the accompanying Lessers which did not show this feature. I think that you can just about see the lines on one of last weeks photos. No chance of a photo this morning, it was very dull and the birds were very skitish, any movement and they were off back into the trees with no guarentee that they would return to the same spot to feed, so I didn't bother trying. Despite having seen quite a few Mealys over the years, this is a very educational bird for me, and has allowed me to get back up to speed with Mealy identification.

I walked (or crept) past the SW corner 4 times today, and on the first 3 occasions didn't see sight nor sound of a Water Rail, but then on the 4th occasion there were 2 birds chasing each other through the Alder Carr completely oblivious to my presence!

Even more strange, on my first lap of the mere there was just one female Goosander, yet on my second lap it was with a drake! Presumably the latter flew in at some stage. If I'd gone home after my first lap I'd have been disapponted, with Bullfinch and female Goosander about the only good birds to report!