Otter at the west end

Otters have been reported at Pennington Flash for a few years now but they're very rarely seen. I visit the flash almost daily but I've only had one previous sighting which lasted about 5 seconds. Today I was amazed to see an otter at the western end fishing for almost one hour. Occasionally it caught a small fish and would lie on it's back in the water eating it and then start fishing again, until finally it came up with a large eel which it took to the shore to eat, sadly out of view for me. Even in Scotland I've rarely had views so good. Possibly the highlight of the year at the flash for me.

Egrets at Pennington Flash

Photo: Great white egret
Ramsdales, Pennington Flash.

There's been an explosion of little egrets at Pennington Flash in the recent years and they even breed nearby these days. In the past week there's been at least seven around the edge of the flash as well as up to two of the somewhat rarer great white egret. Cattle egrets remain surprisingly scarce.

A day of passage at Pennington Flash

A fabulous start to September began when I found a wheatear on the ruck at 7am. It might not sound like much, but my first of the year at the flash was as recent as Wednesday and these two records are my first and second ever at the flash in autumn! 

Whilst walking around the ruck I heard the distinctive call of two tree pipits flying over and then the seven whistles of a whimbrel. The latter kept flying around the flash, occasionally looking like it might leave, before returning and looking like it might drop on the spit. A little later I called in at Horrock's hide and found the bird down on the spit, before it finally left at 9am.

Other highlights today included a great white egret and another juvenile black-necked grebe.

Pink-feet are back!

After the excitement of yesterday I returned to Martin Mere today to find that there had been something of a wader clearout. I was more than compensated by the sight of the first pink-footed geese of the winter, with 21 on Woodend Marsh. The first arrived yesterday when there were 10 birds, but I didn't see them. 

Pink-footed geese usually start arriving in the second week of September, with the main build up by mid October, but there are often a few early arrivals such as this. Even so, these are my earliest ever and the first I have ever seen in August 

Curlew sandpipers and more at Martin Mere

I was lured to Martin Mere today by a juvenile pectoral sandpiper which unfortunately I didn't see but it was still a fantastic visit with the stars being 11 juvenile curlew sandpipers on Woodend marsh from the Gordon Taylor hide. It's quite a while since I saw double figures in the north west. 

Birds were just everywhere today with other highlights including wood sandpiper on Vinson's marsh, a flying bittern, hobby, 24 cattle egrets, two little egrets, green sandpiper, eight juvenile little ringed plover, greenshank and a hunting peregrine. Pretty awesome stuff!

Black-necked grebes and ringed plover at the flash

Two juvenile black-necked grebes were on Pennington Flash at first light and though they came close in to the sailing club, it was really murky and drizzly for photography so this is about the best I could manage.

A juvenile ringed plover has been on the shore a the sailing club for about three days.

Sabine's gull, Flint Castle

The Hudsonian godwit which was at Burton Mere Wetlands has proved a bit elusive since I saw it last Tuesday. Not seen for the rest of the week, it reappeared at BMW on Sunday and was still present on Monday morning before disappearing again on Monday afternoon. Rumours abounded that on the days that it wasn't seen, it was actually at Connahs Quay Nature Reserve which is members only and these rumours were probably fueled by the fact that this was where the bird was initially found on the Monday before I saw it.

Yesterday afternoon it was seen on the saltmarsh at Flint Castle so I decided to call in for a look today, not really expecting to see it again, but just because I'd never been to this area before and a saltmarsh with a castle seemed quite an appealing proposition on a beautiful sunny day.

It proved a very worthwhile visit because as high tide approached I was amazed to see a cracking adult breeding plumage Sabine's gull flying straight towards me from the east, before turning north and heading towards the mouth of the estuary. Pretty sure this is my first self found Sabine's gull, certainly at an 'inland' location such as this. Of course I realise that Flint is on a coastal estuary and not really inland, but neither is it open ocean where we might normally expect to see Sabine's gull. It was a really fabulous bird which I was very surprised to see because there have been no recent gales to blow the bird so far into the estuary. However, they do occasionally occur inland especially in August and in 2015 one spent about two weeks at Pennington Flash, just outside Horrock's hide.

No sign of the Hudsonian godwit for me today, but as well as the Sabine's gull I did manage a whimbrel on the mud flats and a wood sandpiper on my way home at Hale.

A weekend in the Yorkshire Dales

We had a lovely long weekend at Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales and did three main walks. The first was from Conistone to Grassington via Grass Wood and Bastow Wood and back through the impressive Conistone Dib. At Bastow Wood we came across a few Scotch Argus butterflies which outside Scotland I have only ever seen before at Arnside Knott. 

Tree pipits at Billinge Hill

About 10 years ago I had a spell of birding at Billinge Hill on a regular basis but when I left St Helens I stopped going. Even now though, it's only about five miles from home and with Autumn rapidly approaching I've decided that it's time to reacquaint myself with the place, since it's easily the best site in St Helens for a bit of birding vismig.  

August is a good month to start because it gives you the opportunity to experience the late summer movement of tree pipits without too much difficulty, but I was going to leave it until next week rather than risk visiting too early on a really quiet day and instantly risk loosing my enthusiasm. 

That all changed at the weekend though when I heard reports of 400 tree pipits moving past a site in Scotland and another 100 further south. I decided that it was time for at least a reconnaissance visit.

Thankfully I hit the jackpot on my first visit yesterday and managed to find two tree pipits, one a flyover bird which was calling, the second a very obliging bird on the wires just below the beacon. It's not the first time that I've seen tree pipits on wires at Billinge Hill so it wasn't totally unexpected but still a great way to kick start what I hope may be a productive autumn.

Buoyed on by a great first visit I went again this morning and added a further three tree pipits, two on the wires and another flyover.

I have no problem with identifying tree pipits which are on territory singing or migrants that fly over calling, but find one on the ground, or in this case on a wire, and it can be a different story.  They do look very similar to meadow pipit but there are subtle differences.

The first thing that draws my attention to a bird on the wire is what I think is a distinctive jizz. They look almost like a miniature song thrush, and have a chunky slightly upturned bill which is deep based. On closer inspection the bird has fine streaks on the flanks, contrasting with the heavier breast streaking, a white belly and most importantly the short, curved hind claw which is diagnostic. The latter is perhaps the most important feature but is difficult to see in the field so worth trying to get a photo if possible.

Hudsonian Godwit, Burton Mere Wetlands

I was at the top of Billinge Hill watching a tree pipit this morning when I received news that there had been a Hudsonian godwit at Burton Mere Wetlands yesterday evening. Unfortunately within about 20 minutes of being found it had flown off onto the estuary and there were no subsequent sightings either yesterday or so far this morning. This is a species which I had seen before, in fact I'd already seen three in the UK, despite this being only the sixth ever!  Even so, if it came back I knew that it was a bird that I would definitely go to see. It's just one of those American waders that I really like and of course a fabulous North West tick. 

I didn't exactly rush back to my car because at this point the bird still hadn't been seen this morning, but I made sure that I was at least moving in the right direction. I was halfway down the hill when the news broke that I had hoped for. The godwit was back! I contacted Ray and 30 minutes later we were on the M6 heading for Burton Mere Wetlands. 

It was an easy enough twitch, the car park wasn't even full, and after a longish slog from reception we arrived at Border hide to find it not too packed and the bird showing well though asleep. Ten minutes later a couple in front of us left and we had the best seats in the house. 

The godwit stayed mainly asleep, but did occasionally have a preen and a couple of times it lifted it's wings to reveal that breathtaking underwing. No subtleties here, no fine differences in shades of colour to negotiate, no discussions about hues and tones, no miniscule differences of markings to sketch, no need to argue about the scapulars. Nope, a full on stonking black underwing = Hudsonian godwit [full stop].  The birding equivalent of clean bowled, no argument about this decision. All of the other godwits have white underwings. My kind of bird and the 376th species I have seen in the North West. 

Some early autumn birding at the flash

Things are starting to get a bit more interesting at the flash, the occasional drake common scoter has been turning up and there are a couple of common sandpipers knocking about and two common terns, but the highlight of the week so far was this juvenile yellow wagtail at the sailing club on Monday. 

The 7 Egyptian geese are still present and there's a shoveler with 7 chicks in Ramdales. I can't remember the last time I saw this species with chicks at the flash. A water rail showed well briefly from Pengy's hide today and the usual late summer build up of juvenile lesser black-backs totalled 210 juveniles.

Regarding common terns, there's been a real lack of juveniles at the flash this year. In 14 visits during July I recorded a maximum of 9 juveniles, compared to a maximum of 42 juveniles in 26 visits in 2023. Also at the start of July a flock of 18 adults dropped in briefly before heading off south. These were presumably non-breeders.