Spoonbill

A young adult spoonbill in all of it's breeding finery at Burton Mere Wetlands today. It's a young adult because it has dark wing tips but in all other respects it's in full breeding plumage and is one of three birds currently on the reserve where they are nest building and looking likely to breed.

What a turn of events this is, way back in 1981 I remember the excitement of being at Minsmere in Suffolk with my Dad and hardly believing my eyes as a spoonbill flew over and landed on the scrape in front of the hide and began feeding, bill in the water and head swinging from side to side.

These days it's hard to convey the thrill of my first ever encounter with the species which at the time was much rarer than it is today, but it's  perhaps even more amazing to recall that my first spoonbill was actually an unexpected bonus of a trip for which the primary reason was to see avocets. Avocets these days hardly raise a birders eyebrow. A week or two ago an avocet at Pennington Flash barely attracted any attention from local birders and I watched it alone in Ramsdales hide and then Horrock's hide, and the species now breeds at several locations in North West England, including Burton Mere Wetlands. Yet back in 1981 if you wanted to see an avocet, East Anglia was your best chance and Minsmere the classic location.

Stilt Sandpiper at Lunt Meadows

An adult stilt sandpiper at Lunt Meadows showed well this morning (despite what the photos may tell you!) and was my 5th following birds at Frodsham Weaver Bends (1983), Bowness-on-Solway (2008), Neumann's Flash (2013) and Cresswell Ponds (2014). It was also my 273rd species in Merseyside and my 311th in Lancashire.

Avocet Pennington Flash

An Avocet at Pennington Flash today was a site first for me. When I arrived at Horrock's hide it hadn't been seen on the spit for a while so after a wait of a few minutes I decided to head round to Ramsdales hide just in case it had moved there. Fortunately it had, and though still a little distant and slightly against the light it was still an excellent view. I watched it feeding for several minutes before it was harassed by a lapwing and flew off high over the trees. I thought that it had gone but then I heard it calling and saw it flying back and it appeared to land again on the spit. Sure enough when I returned to Horrock's hide it was standing on the end of the spit and I watched it for a few minutes more until it sat down for a nap and was lost to view behind the vegetation.

Nature Red in Tooth and Claw - a working day on Mull

When I was asked if I'd consider going up to the Isle of Mull to undertake a habitat survey I immediately jumped at the opportunity even though it was only going to be a day visit and would involve two full days of driving. It was just one of those jobs I couldn't possibly turn down. We stayed in Oban for two nights and traveled over to Mull on the earliest ferry and back to Oban on the latest ferry to give us as much time as possible on the island.

Whilst travelling across Mull today we came across this magnificent immature white-tailed eagle eating a lamb on the moors below A Mhaol Mhor. At first it was harassed  by a buzzard and some ravens, but after a while the lambs mother appeared and walked around watching the eagle and eventually walked straight towards it and caused the bird to fly. Unfortunately the lamb was already dead and half eaten and well past the point of rescue and the eagle flew off with it in its claws to finish off its meal. It's hard to know if the eagle had killed the lamb or if it had just come across the animal already dead, but I guess that it hadn't been dead long if the behaviour of the mother was anything to go by.

Oban harbour

Oban, the gateway to the Hebrides, is an attractive town in its own right, with the harbour at the centre of everything, with its colourful fishing boats and impressive ferries. It was from here that I sailed to St. Kilda in a chartered ex-fishing boat back in 1986, and in more recent years I've sailed from here to the islands of Mull and Barra.  Black guillemots breed in the harbour wall and can be incredibly tame, allowing for excellent photo opportunities.

On the banks of the Glaze

Photo: Cowslip

I was pleased to discover a wonderful array of flowers growing along the banks of the river Glaze at Hope Carr today. These included a few of my early spring favourites such as cowslips, wood anenome and butterbur. Meanwhile two Cetti's warblers sing between the footbridge and the road bridge and an over wintering green sandpiper still frequents the muddy banks of the river along with an occasional little egret.

Hope Carr

The leucistic black-headed gull is still being seen on and off at Hope Carr. Migrants are flooding in now, today with 200 sand martins, two house martins, 10 swallows, 10 singing blackcaps and 12 singing chiffchaffs. Last Monday there were two little ringed plovers, and less obvious migrants include a pair of shelduck, five oystercatchers and 39 tufted ducks. The Cetti's warbler is still singing.

Black Guillemots on the Great Orme

Great to see at least five black guillemots off the Great Orme today, a site first for me. It's looking like this species is now breeding on the Orme, which is wonderful news. The Great Orme has always been a top spot for birding in North Wales, but with black guillemots and chough now breeding it's almost unbeatable.

Melanistic Great Tit, Hope Carr

In a previous post I mentioned a leucistic black-headed gull which occasionally visits the sewage works at Hope Carr. At the other end of the pigmentation scale there is a partially melanistic great tit on territory in the centre of the site best seen from the path through the middle. Apart from a much wider black stripe on its breast and belly, it looks pretty much like a normal great tit, just one which has been covered in soot.

Common scoter, Hope Carr

Hope Carr today, a female common scoter was a site tick for me and there was still a green sandpiper on the sewage works. Twelve goosander were on the main lake and 26 tufted ducks across the site.

Bits and pieces from Hope Carr

With the Blyth's reed warbler now fading in the memory, I usually find myself alone at Hope Carr. Not really much new happening at the moment, one or two green sandpipers are occasionally seen, a pair of Mediterranean gulls perhaps, up to six chiffchaffs and every now and again I hear the Cetti's warbler singing. I guess that the Blyth's reed warbler could still be there, but with nobody looking and even I'm spending only around 10 minutes per visit in front of it's favoured bramble patch, it's going to take an amazing stroke of luck to re-find it now.