More tree pipits on Billinge Hill

I was at Billinge Hill North Top looking for flycatchers in the pine wood when I heard the familiar "tzeet" call of a tree pipit. I couldn't say if the bird had been in the trees or simply flying over but suddenly I saw two birds flying away from me and heading down the hill to the same wires on which I had seen two tree pipits on 19th August, about 100m from where I was standing. I followed them down the field and found not two but three tree pipits on the wires.

Tree pipit 1.

Tree pipits 2 and 3.

Juvenile little gull, Pennington Flash

Q: When is a phalarope not a phalarope? A: When it's a juvenile little gull! My first juvenile little gull in a long, long time was a really lovely sight at the Flash today.

Frog on Hilbre

One of at least four young adult frogs on Hilbre today. Not quite sure how they would have arrived on the island. I don't think they're mentioned in J.D. Craggs excellent account of flora and fauna on the island published in 1982 so presumably a fairly recent arrival.

Painted Lady

Painted Lady butterfly in the garden today. It's been a good year generally for butterflies this year but I've so far not seen a lot of this species. Painted lady is a migrant butterfly from Southern Europe and arrives here in variable numbers each year. The fourth in the garden this year.

Curlew sandpiper at Leighton Moss

A great weekend in the Leighton Moss area, with the highlight a juvenile curlew sandpiper at the Allan Pools. Other birds seen this weekend included bittern and osprey from Lower hide.

Ruff, Pennington Flash

A great couple of hours at the flash this afternoon, with this juvenile (male?) ruff the highlight. It was quite comical to watch it feeding on weed washed up on the tideline of the spit. It walked at pace from the top of the spit all the way down to Horrock's hide and then back three times while I watched, feeding all the time. Ruffs are rare birds at the flash, we get more avocets annually these days, and presumably the same bird was reported yesterday. I don't know what the weed is but it appeared on the tideline a week or two ago and is probably what has kept the bird here because there is precious little other habitat for it.

Also today a hobby hunted over the ruck, a great white egret was on the mini spit and two green sandpipers were in Ramsdales.

Montagu's harrier, Marshside

A stunning juvenile Montagu's harrier has been at Marshside Southport for a few days and possibly for as long as a month. I got chance to call in this morning due to an appointment in Southport and I was there for 8am. At about 8.15am I was walking towards the sand plant from the wildfowlers pull in, when suddenly the bird appeared and was flying towards me, at a distance of about 70m. 

Back in 2002 I found a Monty's on Reeds Moss near Rainford and I remember well how taken I was at the time by it's completely different jizz to hen harrier. My first impression on seeing the Rainford bird was that it was a large falcon, and only when it started hunting did I realise that it was a harrier. 

It was exactly the same today. Even before I saw it's white rump or any detail on the bird I knew straight away that it was Monty's, because it was flying in the same falcon like way.

I was very fortunate today. Before my plans changed yesterday, I was going to go to Marshside this afternoon, after a planned meeting in Warrington. If that had happened I wouldn't have seen the bird. At 9am it started to ride the thermals and circled higher and higher until it was just a dot even through the telescope. We thought it was going but it dropped considerably and seemed to head towards Hesketh Out Marsh before being lost to view. There have been no sightings since 9am.

Garden warbler and Spotted flycatcher Billinge Hill

Spring used to be my favourite season but not anymore, I just love autumn. There's something really special about a bright, still, sunny morning with blue skies and the trees and bushes full of berries and fruit. An elder tree has chiffchaffs and blackcaps moving around, and suddenly a garden warbler appears. What else might be in there?

I see a dead tree in a distant pine wood and think to myself "That looks good for a flycatcher". So I make my way over to it and sure enough, a spotted flycatcher is sitting on one of the top most branches.

Willow Emerald Damselflies, Bickershaw

Willow emerald damselfly was first recorded in the UK as recently as 2009 but like many other species of odonata it has rapidly spread north. Even so, iRecord shows no previous records of willow emerald in Greater Manchester so it was nice to find at least three individuals at Bickershaw today including this pair egg laying. Unlike most species of odonata which lay their eggs in water, willow emerald lays it's eggs in the bark of trees, mainly alder and willow. A potential first for Greater Manchester,  this is another remarkable record for Bickershaw in 2025, following 12 Norfolk hawkers and 8 keeled skimmers earlier in the summer.

Identification features visible in this photo include pale pterostigma (the rectangular shapes near the tip of the wings) and an obvious spur in the pale lower part of the thorax. The damselfly also has a relatively long abdomen compared to other damselflies, and pale appendages at the end of the dark tipped abdomen.

Albino moorhen, Bickershaw

If ever a bird deserved a post of it's own, this is it. An albino / leucistic moorhen at Bickershaw Country Park today. What a bird! On the small pond adjacent to Diggle Flash.

Passage continues at Billinge Hill

This morning at Billinge Hill, three pipits were heard passing over but none were found on the ground or, as is more usual, on the wires. Also today a peregrine and raven flew over and a single swift was flying around the beacon. Quite a few warblers still about, willow warbler, chiffchaff, blackcap and whitethroats.