Another day on Wirral

Cetti's Warbler 1 (Neston sewage works)
Hen Harrier 1 (male, Parkgate)
Black-tailed Godwit 1700 (Thurstaston)
Pintail 1000 ((Thurstaston))
Peregrine 1 (Thurstaston)
Oystercatcher 9000 (Thurstaston)
Jack Snipe 11 (West Kirby Saltmarsh)

It was a bitterly cold day at Neston, where we spent two hours standing in one spot waiting for the Cetti's Warbler to show. Oh, well, it could have been worse - I nearly went for the Glaucous-winged Gull instead. :-)

Amazing numbers of waders at Thurstaston, I don't think I've ever seen so many Black-tailed Godwits. Meanwhile, at West Kirby, Jack Snipe were flying up from everywhere. Some of these birds were almost flying up from under our feet. A great experience, with Hilbre as a backdrop.

Eccleston Mere

Pochard 21
Bullfinch 2
Snipe 1
Buzzard 1
Little Grebe 2

A suprisingly good count of Pochard since the mere was 95% iced over.

Newton Lake

Teal 149
Treecreeper 1
Goldcrest 3
Black-headed Gull 100

Martin Mere

Whooper Swan 1200+
Bewick's Swan 1
Water Rail 1
Ruff 65

Eccleston Mere

Woodcock 2 (flew from woods to feed in the fields at dusk)
Shoveler 4 (2mm, 2ff)
Snipe 5

Martin Mere

Barn Owl 3

One of the Barn Owls landed on a post right outside the Ron Barker (Millars Bridge) hide. A fabulous view.

Birkdale and Marshside

Twite 50 (Birkdale beach)
Green-winged Teal 1 (male at Marshside)

The GWT was so close to the hide it was very nearly under it. Easily the closest view I have ever had of the species. If only I'd had my camera with me....

Hilbre Island, Red Rocks and West Kirby

Hilbre

Pale-bellied Brent Geese 130
Dark-bellied Brent Goose 1+
Purple Sandpiper 2
Shag 1

Red Rocks

Snow Bunting 1

West Kirby Saltmarsh

Jack Snipe 2

Eccleston Mere

Bullfinch 3 (inc. 2mm)
Snipe 1
Little Grebe 1
Pochard 1

The mere was 98% iced over.

A few thousand gulls too many

Prescot Reservoirs

Great Northern Diver 1 juv.
Herring gull 3000+
Tufted Duck 140
Goldeneye 23

There were horrendous numbers of gulls of the reservoirs today, mainly Herring Gulls and Black-headed.

Moore

Tawny Owl 1
Willow Tit 1
Gulls 1000's

I went to Moore to try to see the Bitterns, but for some reason I just can't explain I ended up in a freezing cold hide working my way through 1000's gulls, and as expected, I left with nothing. I wouldn't mind so much if I hadn't just done the same at Prescot this morning, with equally fruitless results.

As usual, the day I went was the worst day in living memory for finding rare gulls at Moore, despite the fact that the water and ice were covered in the commoner species. I actually don't believe that Caspian Gull exists. At least 20% of all adult Herring Gulls have white heads in winter, 5% have dark eyes, almost all of them have pear shaped heads and lots of them have long bills (especially when the feathers on their heads are wet). Long legs, the way they sit in the water and slightly darker mantles are completely subjective and the latter dependant on many things, especially the light conditions at the time.

Why can't we just be happy with Herring Gull, LBBG, GBBG, Iceland and Glaucous Gulls? We don't need any more species.....

Llanbedr-y-cennin

Hawfinch 4 (Llanbedr-y-cennin)
Short-eared Owl 9 (Parkgate marsh)
Hen Harrier 1 (female, Parkgate marsh)
Merlin 1 (Parkgate marsh)

I'd been thinking about going for the Hawfinches in Conwy for several days, and today seemed the ideal opportunity. I was on the road at 7:30am, driving in the dark and through freezing fog, but at least the roads were empty. Not many other fools were heading for North Wales at that time on this New Years Day. For many miles I was driving through a dark, misty and frozen landscape, with the frost so heavy that it looked like it had snowed all night. I passed Holywell and still there was no let up in the murk, until at last, as I reached the top of the Clwydian ridge, the road turned west and ahead I could see hope. Brightness through the murk! Within 5 minutes my depression was forgotten, and I was driving in bright morning sunshine, and looking west, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was now a gloriously bright and crisp winters day, and suddenly the effort seemed worthwhile! Behind me, a huge wall of blackness hung over the Clwydians, but all of that was forgotten now.

I reached Llanbedr-y-cennein at 9am, and Robins and Dunnocks were singing, and a Great Spotted Woodpecker was drumming. It was almost like spring, except it was -2'c. Almost before I had parked the car, I saw a large finch like bird flying to the top of one of the high trees, and there it was, a fabulous Hawfinch! It was a great view, right on the top branch, with blue sky behind it and the sun shining right on it. And then it was gone. Unfortunately, I hadn't even had time to get my scope out. I hung around for another two hours, and had a reasonable though somewhat obscured view of a bird on the ground. I left at 11am feeling a little disapointed. My plan now was to head back to the Wirral via Conwy RSPB, but that was all stuff which could wait until tomorrow. Was it worth rushing back to the cold and gloom just to see a grotty Black Redstart? I spent an hour walking along the estuary at Conwy, trying to decide what to do. At 1pm I was back at at Llanbedr-y-cennin, and by now it was pleasantly warm.

This time I based myself in the church yard. Viewing was a bit restricted, and I couldn't see the tops of the trees, but it was much closer, and I had a hunch that the Hawfinches were actually spending more time low down or even on the ground than they were in the tops of trees.

The hunch paid off. Within minutes I had located two birds in a low bush and in full view, about 20 yards distant. They looked like male and female. The "male" had its back to me, but kept looking round in my direction, and after about 5 minutes it decided that it would be more comfortable to turn round and face me. In total I watched these fabulous birds for about 10 minutes, a real good experience. A few days ago there were 11 Hawfinches reported from this site.