The ring-necked duck that turned up at Taylor Park in St Helens just over
three weeks ago moved to nearby Eccleston Mere after a couple of days and
that's where it's been ever since. Eccleston Mere of course used to be my
local patch until I moved to Leigh about eight years ago, so I was keen to see this bird here because it would a new addition to my Eccy mere list.
Unfortunately it's no longer as simple as that. Since I left St Helens,
Eccleston Mere has become a fortress for the anglers, the sailing club has
been kicked out and all none angling access stopped, with an eight foot fence
erected to enforce the rule. Viewing is extremely difficult and only really
possible in winter when there are no leaves on the trees and vegetation is
low, and even then only about 30% of the water is visible and the mere is at
least 200m distant.
Still, I was in St Helens today so decided to try my luck. Fortunately I
managed to see the bird, though as you can see from the photos it wasn't easy.
Nothing like the views at Taylor Park but I was delighted to at least see it.
Also today only my second ever little egret at the mere and probably best of
all I found a willow tit. This species used to breed at the mere in small
numbers, but since access became difficult records have dried up, so it was
great to confirm that they are still here.
No comments:
Post a Comment