Eccleston Mere

Tufted Duck 130
Pochard 14
Gadwall 2
Snipe 1 (in SW corner)
Goldeneye 4 (2mm, 2ff)
Goldfinch 40
Siskin 1

To try to put the Tuftie flock into perspective, in the past 20 years, according to my database, I have visited the mere on over 1400 occasions. My previous highest count for Tufted Duck was 30 birds! Todays flock is over four times that total, and is easily the biggest flock ever recorded in St Helens away from Prescot Reservoirs.

At first I thought that maybe it was the Prescot flock, displaced or on their holidays, but a quick phone call revealed that most of the Prescot flock was still present, though viewing was difficult in the fog. However, a fisherman who was just setting up his gear, told me that he had just been to White Mans Dam in Knowsley Safari Park, and it was completely iced over. This maybe the source of the Tufties - obviously they flew over the reservoirs, decided it looked a bit dodgy, and carried on to civilisation and the comfort of Eccleston Mere. If only they could convince the Great Northern to do the same. About 30% ice cover of the mere today.

Prescot Reservoirs

Great Northern Diver 1 (juv. still on PR4)
Tufted Duck 128
Ruddy Duck 27
Goldeneye 23
Pochard 11
Little Grebe 6

A few hundred gulls, but nothing of note.

Leighton Moss

Bittern 2 (from Public hide and Lower hide)
Goosander 2 males
Marsh Tit 2
Water Rail 1

Plus lots of ducks.

The Bitterns were both excellent views.

Eccleston Mere

Barn Owl 1 (hunting the large field adjacent to the mere at 16:45)
Water Rail 1 (in the ditch in the SW corner)
Goldeneye 1 m

Following hard on the heals of the Short-eared Owl on Christmas Eve, the Barn Owl was a great sight, and was my 156th species at the mere. No sign of the SEO today.

Richard's Pipit, Green-winged Teal and much more on Wirral

Richard's Pipit 1 (Parkgate Golf course)
Green-winged Teal 1 (drake, Inner Marsh Farm)
Hen Harrier 6 (2mm, 4ff at evening roost at Parkgate)
Short-eared Owl 8 (inc. 6 flying together at Parkgate at 11:30am)
Merlin 1 (Parkgate)
Spotted Redshank 1 (Inner Marsh Farm)
Water Rail 1 (Inner Marsh Farm)
Pale-bellied Brent Goose 101 (Hilbre Island)
Purple Sandpiper 16 (Hilbre Island)
Shag 1 (Hilbre Island)
Red-throated Diver 1 (Hilbre Island)

An absloutely amazing day. We just dropped on with everything! The Green-winged Teal hadn't been reported for a few days but we re-found it. The Richard's Pipit has been elusive and mobile, going missing for hours but it was on view as soon as we arrived at Parkgate and we watched it for 15 minutes in full view, with the sunlight right on it. Amazingly, this was my fourth Richard's Pipit on the Dee estuary alone!

The scenes at Parkgate were incredible. We had six Hen Harriers coming in to roost in the evening, with Short-eared Owls hunting the marsh in every direction. Eight owls is a conservative estimate, because we had six together at mid-day, and at least 8 scattered over the marsh in the evening. It could easily have been 10, 12 or 14 owls. In the background, almost unnoticed, Little Egrets streamed down the estuary in small groups, totalling maybe 30 birds, probably heading for their roost at Inner Marsh Farm.

Hilbre was crowded with tourists, but even so, the Brent Geese showed particulalry well, and it's a long time since I counted so many Purple Sandpipers on the island.

An amazing day!

Eccleston Mere

Willow Tit 1 (on feeders in SE corner)
Kingfisher 1
Goldeneye 1 m

Bat 1 (Pippistrelle?)

Merry Christmas to everybody!

Eccleston Mere

Short-eared Owl 1
Little Grebe 2

The Short-eared Owl was hunting the fields adjacent to the mere. It was my first Eccleston Mere tick for a long time, and brings my mere list to 155.

Rough-legged Buzzard, East Yorkshire

Millington Pastures

Rough-legged Buzzard 1 juv.
Red Kite 1
Buzzard 6
Stonechat 2 (m&f)
Marsh Tit 1

It took us about an hour to locate the Rough-legged Buzzard, but once we did we had excellent views of the bird, which was a juvenle. It had very white underparts and tail, with a black belly, legs and carple patches. A very distinctive bird. We saw it three times in flight, and a couple of times had it sitting in a tree. The best view of all was when we climbed the side of a hill, and it flew and soared at eye level and at quite close range for several minutes. My first RLB for 23 years!

Thanks to Marcus Conway for allowing me to use this remarkable photo of the bird. You can visit his website here.

Great Northern, Prescot Reservoirs

Great Northern Diver 1 (juv. on PR4)

Also 5 Ruddy Ducks. Didn't have time to stay long. Today was meant to be a DIY day, but you know how it is. You have to get to see these birds while they're available. Not much point going tomorrow when it's gone!

Twite, Birkdale Beach

Twite 55 (Birkdale Beach)

Great views of the Twite as they fed on the edge of the saltmarsh just north of the car park at Weld Road, Birkdale.

Rainford Mosslands

Merlin 2 (Dairy Farm Road / Inglenook Farm)
Lesser Redpoll 10 (Dairy Farm Road)
Fieldfare 100 (Dairy Farm Road)
Tree Sparrow 40 (Old Coach Road)
Bullfinch 1 (Old Coach Road)
Pink-footed Goose 600 (Old Coach Road)

The Merlins were so intent on chasing each other, twisting and turning, that they failed to notice that I was standing about 20 metres away from them. My 5th and 6th Merlins on the mosslands this year.