An excellent few hours at Marshside, Southport this afternoon. Just north of Sandgrounders hide in amongst the cows, there was a stunning summer plumage cattle egret, easily the best plumaged individual of that species I've ever seen, in Britain or Europe.
Equally as stunning in its own way, the long staying glossy ibis was showing well in front of Nel's hide.It was a bit silhouetted at times, but when it was over to the left of the hide and the sun was out, you could really see the birds glossy green plumage with a few hints of bronze. A cracking bird!
And still the stunners kept coming! Before I left I had a root around in the sea club-rush behind the sand winning plant and found a few gorgeous short-winged conehead bush-crickets Conocephalus dorsalis. These are a relatively recent arrival on the north west coast, but a very welcome addition to the Marshside fauna.
What a beaut! There is a photograph of one of these insects taken at Marshside in 2002 in Phil Smiths book "The Sands of Time". He also speculates how they might have arrived at Marshside, since the nearest other colony is on Anglesey, they are generally flightless and their habitat is of fairly recent origin at Marshside. Eggs transported on floating salt-marsh detritus is one suggestion.
Plenty of little egrets about today as well.
Hare's-foot clover Trifolium arvense.
Sea club-rush Scirpus maritimus.
Perennial sow-thistle Sonchus arvensis.
Broad-leaved Everlasting-pea Lathyrus latifolius.
Wild parsnip Pastinaca sativa.
Black-tailed godwits.
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