Devon Bonanza

1st winter male King Eider, Instow

Also got Surf Scoter, Cirl Bunting, GN Diver, B T Diver, Dartford Warbler, Spoonbill and Long-billed Dowitcher. Jammed in on distant Franklins Gull at Keynsham on way home.

Off to Australia tomorrow so no updates for a couple of weeks.

At home in my adopted county.

I'm not originally from Cheshire but have made it my home and an enthusiastic local birder! All good birders should work a local patch and become immersed in birding within the county they live in. Hence my dedication to the Wirral & Cheshire. Its a great county to live in for birding and something suprising is always just around the corner - like these Eider off the N Wirral coast yesterday afternoon. Found by me and twitched by Mr Conlin. Superb!

Plenty of other birds around with Red-throated Diver & Razorbill being the best. Good numbers of Great-crested Grebes and Common Scoter were on the sea but no sign of any summer migrants in the paddocks around Leasowe Common & Lighthouse. Surmising the overnight conditions and early morning drizzle were likely to result in at least some grounded migrants I was up and out early this morning. Sure enough I found a immaculate male Wheatear feeding in pastures along the Birkett. The first of the year. Star bird however was a summer plumaged Water Pipit with a flock of 50+ Meadow Pipits in the fields opposite Park Lane Caravan site. My first summer plumaged bird for many a year..................

Earlier in the week I was able to catch up with a Night Heron at Mere Sands Wood lnr, Lancs. This bird is being touted as perhaps being of the N American race. Hmm. Can't see it myself.

Panic sets in for a short moment.......

Ever had one of those days when you think you've found something special and then dismiss it as something not so special and then ahve those nagging doubts.................................Well it happened to us yesterday. Allan, Frank and yours truly had spent a fruitless few hours searching for early migrants on the N Wirral coast in blustery conditions when the other two decided to head in land towards Carr Lane, Moreton. I carried on the fruitless search with Molly until a phone call from Frank had me racing back to the car. The lads had found an odd looking alba Wagtail with extensive white in the wings. Arriving at the site it took us another few minutes to relocate the bird. it was odd looking and had virtually all white primaries, greater & median coverts as well as a very white head. Hmm - my first thoughts were Amur but it couldn't be could it?

With the weather closing in we all left. Arriving home I started looking at the texts and there right before my eyes was a picture looking exactly like our bird - an Amur Wagtail. Oh shit! have we coked up? A quick phone cal to Allan & Frank to see if they'd noted the all improtant flank colour (none of us had!) and I was back in the car with camera heading up the M53!

We found the bird fairly quickly but then it flew to a more distant field where a few distant shots were managed. Then it flew and was never seen again as it departed over the distant houses. Unfortunately for us the bird had grey flanks - the one factor we hadn't noted. Oh well.

Closer to home I've been out and about in the local area hunting for something new or unusual. The hours spent out in the field resulted in a new addition to the local 'patch' list with a hen Pheasant being seen early Friday morning.

Spring passage has started with small numbers of Skylarks and Meadow Pipits being heard flying overhead. More evidence of this came with the first spring Lesser Redpoll in Stanney Woods where the resident Marsh Tit(s) are now in full song.

A stormy weekend on the Wirral.

With birding success on the N Wirral coast Friday afternoon I decided to head that way again Saturday afternoon after arranging to meet up with the Wirrals premier seawatcher Allan Conlin.

First stop was New Brighton Marine lake where a 2nd winter Med Gull showed well on the landing stage. Using the Landrover as a hide I managed a few shots despite the severe buffeting from the near gale force winds. Suddenly it flew off and didn't return.

The surrrounding grassy areas held good numbers if roosting gulls so I decided to check these out. Again the use of the vehicle as a hide allowed some pretty good close up views and enabled a comparison of the different plumages.

Common Gulls were pretty 'common' and many were 'paddling' to try and get worms to the surface. Some, like the bird to the left , were in full breeding regalia whilst others were still in their winter finery.

summer plumaged adult Common Gull

Next stop Leasowe Gunsites where I was soon joined by Allan looking smart in his new 'India' jacket. Plenty of gulls were loafing around here as well and Allans well distributed loaf soon had them closing in around us. Amongst them was this stunning Lesser Black-back in full breeding plumage. Who says gulls are ugly?

A bit of excitement was the discovery of a ringed Herring Gull. Colour ringed on its left leg with a BTO ring on its right we were able to read some of the numbers and hopefully trace the origins of this bird. See below. With Allan calling it a day, after realisng there was no more tea left in my flask, he left me to scan the seas for a further hour! Not much moving but a few Common Scoter, a single Great-crested Grebe and two adult Kittiwakes.

Ringed Herring Gull - colour ring 'WBOK'>

BTO ring numbers ......0990...

My weekend strolls around Stanney Woods with Molly are always apleasure if not full of suprises. The Marsh Tits are singing in Stanney but a suprise did come today in the form of a singing Chiffchaff in Rivacre. An early migrant or a wintering bird enjoying the sunshine................

A miserable wet day in Cheshire

After spending the week in cold but fine weather in Austria & Italy I found myself back to a drab wet and windy Cheshire today. Whilst away the local Sandbach crew had discovered a Green-winged Teal on Elton Hall Flash so I decided to leave work early and head that way today just in case. My first ever UK G W Teal was 'ticked' here on 30th November 1980 as a student from Manchester University!!!!!

A text from one of the birding regulars informed me it was still there as I still driving through pouring rain! Luckily Janet Jones had waited for me and managed to get me straight on the the drake G W Teal before retiring back to her car! As is usual with these birds it wasn't doing much but sitting minding its own business. The obligatory 'record shot' was secured for the rarities committee before I left it to its own devices and walked down to Pumphouse Flash for the 'resident' juvenile Iceland Gull (with deformed bill) and adult Yellow-legged Gull.

The feeding station was swarming with Tree Sparrows and I was informed the record count at this site is over 200.

Can you spot the Green-winged teal?

With the weather clearing but with high winds coming from the west I decided to take a punt on the N Wirral coast in the hope that something had been blown in! From the Gunsites car park the wind rocked the car but I could see plenty of birds moving in the Mersey mouth so headed for Fort Perch. A good move. A 1st winter Little Gull and two adult Kittiwakes were amongst the throng of gulls around the massive 'Atlantic Conveyer' being manouvered into the docks by three tugs! A check of the marine lake, boating pool and surrounding grassy areas produced the usual gulls but no Med Gull. At least 200 Starlings fed on a grassy bank alongside the main road.

Cinclus cinclus amongst other corny happenings.

The week started well with a large number of Corn Buntings on wires along Carr Lane, Hale. 33 - surely a record for Cheshire in recent times. A quick scan from Within Way produced a good flock of 200 + Golden Plover on the arable fields but best of all two Short-eared Owls hunting the saltmarsh. Magic.

Cinclus cinclus - the TSB's self proclaimed Mr. 'Eye Candy's' nightmare! I'd never seen the Continental race of Black-bellied Dipper before so with work taking me over to Hull it was only a short trip across to Watton where this bird has been hanging around for the past week. Unfortunately I had to contend with thick fog and -5 C temperatures so photography wasn't really an option! However the 'record shot' was duly acheived.

Once I'd crossed the Pennines to civilisation the fog miraculously cleared and a beautiful crisp evening descended. My mate Le Donis had informed the Marbury Bittern was showing pretty well in the icy conditions so another detour was in order. Unfortunately the only views I got were flight views as it came in to roost.

Another day and another potential customer to see. This time in Macclesfield. Hmm. A Cattle Egret has graced local fields at Higher Poynton for a week. An ideal oppurtunity to catch up with only my 2nd Cheshire record after the bird at Neston earlier this year. On arrival I was dismayed to hear from other people that there was no sign. Oh yes there was! They weren't looking in the right place. Another misty morning, another record shot made viewable by the magic of Photoshop.

The bird didn't come any closer than about 100 m and eventually flew out of site across the hedge to another field. A quick search couldn't relocate it but I had the bonus of a superb Little Owl.

Whilst in the Macclesfiled area it seemed churlish not to look for Dippers at Wildboar Clough and Red Grouse on the nearby moors. The Dipper was hard but the Red Grouse performed well!

One of the highlights of this week has been the appearance of Siskins on the garden bird feeders. Favouring the Nijer seeds at least 4 of these beautiful little finches have been fighting off all comers. These are the first in our garden for at least 7 years.

Moore is more.

Another epic marathon at the gull mecca of the N West finally nailed American Herring Gull although the jury's still out and the bird will have to be accpeted by the powers that be! However, from all the reading we've done and the superb views of the bird in flight and on the ground it certainly ticked all the boxes.

Statto Williams found another very interesting and very dark 1st winter Herring Gull at Arpely. Not the same bird but another very good candidate for a 'smickers'. Not only did we finally catch up with this bird but there were two different Glaucous Gulls an two different Iceland Gulls present.




















One of the Icelands was a big bruiser whilst the other was quite a dainty looking bird:


























To cap a good weekend I managed to get the Cetti's Warbler at Neston Old Quay in another long wait in the frezzing cold.