Surf Scoters, Pensarn, Abergele

Surf Scoter 3 (2mm, 1f)
Common Scoter 8000+
Red-throated Diver 3
Red-breasted Merganser 5
Canada Goose 1 (in the middle of the scoter flock!)

The scoter flock was closer than normal today and I had wonderful views of the Surf Scoter, my best ever. Two drakes chasing around a female. It's a breath-taking spectacle! What more can I say?

A small part of the scoter flock at Pensarn.

Llay, Clwyd

Slavonian Grebe 1
Goosander 2 (m & f)
Green Woodpecker 1
Teal 10

I arrived at 7:30am, first light, and there was a low mist over the lake, but fortunately the grebe was fairly close.

Hilbre Island

Purple sandpiper 9
Pale-bellied brent goose 140
Guillemot 1
Common scoter 8
Turnstone 50

A beautiful afternoon on Hilbre. Unfortunately no camera to record the scenes.....

Revised year 2014: 140

Kittiwake, Eccleston Mere

Kittiwake 1 ad win
Water rail 1 in ditch on western side.
Siskin 20
Bullfinch 1
Kingfisher 1
Buzzard 1
Pochard 7 mm
Goldeneye 1 m
Shoveler 1 m

My 5th Kittiwake at the mere, but the first for six years. The last one stayed for three days at least, so there's a chance it will hang around. The first I found freshly dead at the side of the mere in February 1997, hopefully this bird won't go the same way, but realistically this oceanic bird is probably only at the mere because it's worn out following the recent storms.

Kittiwake (centre) with two black-headed gulls.

The bird looks to have a growth or an infection of some kind near the base of its bill on the right hand side.

No problems with this side of its face.

Notice the black legs.

Water rail.

Myrtle Warbler, Durham

Myrtle warbler 1 young male

Aberford (near the A1 / M1 junction)
Red kite 1

UK Life: 396 (Myrtle warbler)   Year 136

Over about a four hour period we strung together a few decent views of the Myrtle warbler, which was found during the Big Garden Birdwatch and is about the 17th for Britain, but only about the 4th on the mainland. It's been feeding on several coconuts hung out to feed it.

When we first arrived, the bird hoped up onto a branch in full view and showed well for about 30 seconds. After that it became much more difficult. It skulked around in the undergrowth, giving fleeting views, before occasionally landing on the most obscured coconut to feed, which annoyingly had its husk facing us so that when the bird fed you could only see its tail or its wings, only rarely the full bird.

However if you followed it through the scope as it moved through the undergrowth, you would occasionally see the bird quite well through all of the branches etc. On these occasions it was seen to have bright yellow flanks and an almost startlingly bright yellow rump. Perhaps most interestingly, I also managed to see its tiny yellow crown starting to develop, which seems to indicate that the bird is a male.

Photographs? No chance....

Moore, Cheshire

Iceland gull 1 1st winter
Buzzard 3
Great spotted woodpecker 2
Treecreeper 3
Wigeon 6

This bird has quite grey wing tips compared to some Iceland gulls I have seen (e.g. compare it to the bird I saw at Preston in 2010, below). Makes me wonder if it might be a 1st winter Kumlien's gull, but as far as I know it's impossible to be sure without seeing its wings open.

Eccleston Mere

Pochard 7 mm
Tufted duck 8
Little grebe 1
Snipe 4
Grey wagtail 1

One or two of the dead trees down in the wet wood, but otherwise very quiet at the mere and ultimately a little disappointing in the aftermath of the storm.

Formby beach

It was an extremely breezy yet ultimately exhilarating experience on Formby beach today. There was a nice selection of very photogenic waders on the beach, which I just couldn't resist.

Bar-tailed godwits.

Bar-tailed godwits.

Bar-tailed godwits.

Bar-tailed godwits.

Red Knot, Calidris canutus, named after the king who proved he couldn't hold back the tide, and neither could these birds.

Sanderling trying to look like a Western sandpiper (body shape at least!). Notice that it has a metal ring on its right leg.

Sanderling. Notice that it has part of its right leg missing.

Eccleston Mere

Pintail 1 f
Pochard 6 mm
Gadwall 2 (m&f)
Teal 2 or 3 calling from the wet wood
Tufted duck 13 (8mm, 5ff)
Snipe 3

This was my 7th Pintail at Eccleston Mere, but the first for 10 years. All of the previous birds have appeared singularly and all have been in the Autumn. Initially it was on the water, but after about five minutes it flew off towards Prescot Reservoirs.

Red-flanked Bluetail, Wiltshire / Gloucestershire border

Red-flanked bluetail 1 1st winter male
Raven 3
Buzzard 2

We risked the dire weather forecast for the south-west today and headed to Shirehill farm at Marshfield on the Wiltshire / Gloucestershire border. There has been a first winter male Red-flanked bluetail showing well for about five days along a swollen brook, which is the border between the two counties. It's a very unusual time of year for this species to be seen in the UK, though of course it may well have been in the country since the end of October which is the more usual time for them to occur.

The weather was great this morning, sunny with little more than a breeze, and the bird performed well, mainly staying in a hawthorn bush, but occasionally dropping onto the ground to feed. A really stunning bird, very similar to a Robin in many respects, but MUCH brighter and more colourful, especially in summer plumage. Red-flanked bluetail is one of those mythical birds which when you start birding you think you'll never see. That's what I thought 40 years ago, so today was a very special day!

I'm now getting dangerously close to joining the 400 club, so I've had a tidy up of my list and removed four species which technically shouldn't be on there, leaving me with the following:

UK Life list: 395 (Red-flanked bluetail)

Year 2014: 133 (which amazingly is SIX better than at the same time last year, which was my best ever year by a mile!).

Shirehill Farm. What a beautiful place, and to think they now have Red-flanked bluetail on their garden list (at least two people from the farm were in the "garden" with binoculars while we were there and the bird does occasionally pop onto their side of the brook to feed).

Hams Hall Industrial Estate, Warwickshire

Green sandpiper 1
Teal 1
Grey wagtail 2

We called in at this grim place on the way back from the heavenly Shirehill Farm, in the hope of seeing a Hume's leaf warbler. No chance. The weather was starting to turn and it had gone quite windy, making hearing the little blighter all but impossible, and with that hindrance, seeing it as it creeped its way along the base of the thick bramble was even less likely. We abandoned the search, but not before we had seen a nice Green sandpiper on the river.