Siskins and shelduck

Great to see a flock of 40+ siskins in the alders along the canal at Pennington Flash today. This is the largest flock that I have seen at the flash in nearly 10 years.

Yellow-browed warbler and Siberian chiffchaffs, Martin Mere

A yellow-browed warbler at the sewage works at Martin Mere was a site tick for me, bringing my site list to 186. As always with this species it was a very difficult bird to photograph because it was so fast moving, but it provided some nice views as it moved around the vegetation, often quite low down.

It has been loosely associating with chiffchaffs, including at least four Siberian chiffchaffs, which were were much more obliging and easier to photograph. I'm not sure what this bird is doing!

Long-tailed ducks, Hoylake

All the way from home to Hoylake I was driving through fog and occasional heavy snow showers but miraculously just as I arrived at Kings Gap I saw a patch of blue sky and by the time I'd got all of my gear on it was glorious. 

I walked out for a mile to the shoreline and scanned over the sea. There were not as many common scoter as last time I was here just before Christmas, but the bonus was six long-tailed ducks including three stunning drakes. 

Caspian, yellow-legged & Mediterranean gulls in the roost

The 2nd winter Caspian gull was in the roost at Pennington Flash this evening,  along with an adult yellow-legged gull and the adult Mediterranean gull. 

Mediterranean gull in the roost

This adult Mediterranean gull has been coming into the roost at Pennington Flash all winter.

Kittiwake in Ramsdales

Timing is everything! It's been lashing it down all night and all morning here in sunny Leigh, so I decided to drive to the main car park at Pennington Flash and sit in the car for a while to see if I could read any more black-headed gull rings. No joy with that and to be honest I could barely open the car window the rain was so heavy. After half an hour I gave up and headed for home but for some reason drove past the turning and ended up at Green lane with the rain almost stopped but the sky still looking ominous. 

I quickly got my waterproofs on, grabbed my scope and brolly and scoped the flash from here. Immediately I saw an adult kittiwake in Ramsdales bay, but after just a few moments it flew up, headed towards Horrock's hide, turned back and then flew away high over the ruck and was gone. If I'd been 5 minutes later I'd have missed it, but perhaps it wasn't just luck or co-incidence, perhaps both myself and the bird had taken advantage of a window in the rain, and seeing it was more down to the fact that I'd had the enthusiasm and opportunity to go to the flash on a day like this. As I type, the rain is bouncing down again. 

The photo is of the last kittiwake I saw at the flash, nearly three years ago. It was clearly a much nicer day than today!

Another day, another roost, another Caspian gull

The fourth Caspian gull I have managed to find at Pennington Flash in the past five weeks, and they have all been different ages, 1st winter, 2nd winter, 3rd winter (today's bird) and sub-adult. This once rare species in Greater Manchester is now getting quite frequent, in fact it's almost more frequent than yellow-legged gull at the flash, though both species still present a challenge unless seen well.

Whooper swans, Barrow Nook

Six whooper swans have been in fields around Barrow Nook for the past week or so.

 

Old Coach Road and Dairy Farm Road

I was working in the general direction of Rainford this morning, so when work was over I had a walk in the Old Coach Road / Dairy Farm Road area. There were lots of flocks of pink-footed geese in the area but the largest was off New Cut Lane, with about 2-3000 birds on the ground until flushed by gunshots. Nearby, a flock of 13 ravens flew over and a stonechat was along the ditch that follows the footpath between Dairy Farm Road and Inglenook Farm.

Yellow-legged gull, Pennington Flash

A magnificent adult yellow-legged gull dropped into the roost this evening.

2nd winter Caspian gull, Pennington Flash

The superb 2nd winter Caspian gull which I first found on 2nd December was back again today, and for once into the roost nice and early in the south east corner, allowing me to get a good look at it at relatively close range. It's a really smart bird and stands out a mile, I even managed to pick it out with my binoculars before confirming with the scope.

The yachts were on when I arrived this afternoon and an impressive 55 goldeneye were in two groups in Ramsdales and off the car park. Three willow tits were on feeders and in total I managed 50 species to kick off the new year.