Black Terns

I had been getting messages all day about Black Terns at Pennington Flash Country Park but, being at work all they did was make me jealous. I missed a couple of birds earlier in the month and, I don't recall seeing any last year, so was keen to go and see them, especially as there was double figures present.

As soon as I finished work I set off for the flash, arriving at around 15:40. I wasn't disappointed; as I scanned the flash I picked up a flock of 13 flying in formation near the sailing club. I watched them from the shoreline for maybe 10 minutes before heading into Horrocks Hide to see what else was about.

There wasn't a great deal from the hide, a Redshank and Common Sandpiper were feeding close in and there were the usual birds on the spit, Common Terns, Black-headed Gulls etc. After maybe 20 minutes in the hide 10 of the Black Terns came and settled on the end of the spit giving great views. I did try to phoneskope them with limited success - heat haze and distance didn't help though. When they flew off a few minutes later they came so close to the hide I couldn't get the scope on them.

Digiscoped Redshank

Digiscoped Black Terns

The weather started to change and clouds began build to the south of the flash. This is often a good sign at this site and these conditions often result in waders suddenly appearing. Sure enough a Whimbrel appeared out of nowhere on the end of the spit along with a single Dunlin. The prospects for tomorrow look really good if the weather continues like it is!

Hope Carr

I nipped over to Hope Carr in Leigh today, not to see the Blyth's Reed Warbler which I thankfully saw a couple of weeks ago, but to try and see the Black Redstart. The latter bird would be a Greater Manchester and Wigan Borough tick for me.

I was slightly surprised to find so many people on site when I arrived shortly after 12:00. I was honestly expecting to be on my own, or with just a couple of people.

There was a steady stream of birders arriving in what seemed like perfect weather for the Warbler. It has shown a definite preference for sunny, calm weather and as you can see, today was perfect. The bird did show briefly (I didn't see it), and I didn't see the Black Redstart either. It did feel a bit strange to be more bothered about dipping a Black Redstart than the Blyth's!! I did manage to add Green Sandpiper to the year list, and I did add Peregrine to the site list. I also managed to 'tick' a few friends from over the pennines and some who I just haven't seen for a while, so despite not seeing the bird I was after it was a pleasant few hours.

Later I went to Pennington Flash to check the gull roost in the hope of catching up with the Iceland Gull that has been pretty regular. I failed!! I managed a nice adult Mediterranean Gull but that was all. What was a slightly unexpected bonus was seeing the huge Jackdaw roost. Not quite as good as a Starling murmuration but they don't half wind the gulls up, dropping down over their heads and generally being a pest. Just seeing that was worth the effort. I also had a very early, maybe too early, Pipistrelle around the cottages on the way back to the car.

Lancashire Birding

So! Its ages since I wrote anything. A few reasons for that. Firstly I started a new job just after the family summer holidays which meant I had other things on my mind. Secondly, despite having several days out on top of my normal birding activities, I really didn't see much or have anything that interesting to write about. I had my usual autumn visit to Spurn, which was as enjoyable as always without throwing up anything unexpected. I was pretty regular at my local patch(es) but aside from a nice Ring Ouzel (which was a brilliant bird in the location I found it) it was quiet from late spring through to Christmas, and my birding year finished on a bit of a flat.

However, my birding in January has been quite the opposite. I have had three days out and about so far, including one at Llanfairfechan and Morfa Madryn, and the last two days have seen me out and about in Lancashire. Yesterday I spent most of the day on the Ribble estuary at Hesketh Outmarsh and Marshside RSPB, and today I have been at Leighton Moss RSPB with my mate, Rob. As is usual when Rob accompanies me anywhere, it turned into a good day.

Hesketh Out Marsh

Hesketh and Marshside both provided some good birding, with the best coming at Marshside where I managed Hen Harrier, Merlin and Short-Eared Owl on the raptor front, plus Barnacle Goose and White-fronted Goose for the year list.

Today at Leighton Moss we started with a fantastic experience - as we walked down the causeway to the Lower Hide the Starlings were leaving their roost, flying directly over our heads. Standing there in the dawn light and almost complete silence bar the noise of the Starlings wings was absolutely magical. Several thousands must have flown over us in the space of no more than 3 or 4 minutes. I should have taken a video on my phone but it would have spoiled the experience. From here we made our way to the Lower Hide where we were greeted by an Otter 30-40 metres from the hide. Brilliant. Next we worked our way round all the hides, finishing at the Saltmarsh pools where we managed to add a few more species to the day list including Peregrine, Red-breasted Merganser and Greenshank. Overall a really enjoyable day.

Cors Erddreiniog

I had a day out in Anglesey today at a site I last went to on a training course 14 years ago! It isn't a particularly renowned bird reserve, but it is known for its insects, and that's what we were after, in particular dragonflies and damselflies.  I had to drop number 1 son off at the airport at 05:00 so had the opportunity for an early start, beating the traffic. I picked Rob (the dragonfly expert) up just after 06:00 and we made good time along the M56 into North Wales, and once past Chester it was easy going all the way.  There isn't much 'on road' parking in the Village of Capel Coch but thankfully there is a small car park just on the north edge of the village, about 200m from the entrance to Cors Erddreiniog. This is a site with multiple designations, including Site of Special Scientific Interest, Special Area of Conservation, Ramsar Site and National Nature Reserve. There are a range of habitats, including fen, phramites reedbed, heath, woodland and plenty small pools and ditches.

Considering it was a day for insects more than birds, the weather was certainly on side. Bright sun, no wind and hot!

Twenty one species of dragon & damselflies have been recorded on the site and as soon as we got to the end of the hedge lined track we were treated to numbers of both. The site holds a couple of specialities - the two we really wanted to see were Southern and Scarce Blue-tailed Damselflies - plus some species that are difficult if not impossible to see locally (for me anyway) - Golden Ringed Dragonfly, Hairy Dragonfly, White-faced Darter and Keeled Skimmer the most difficult.

Straight away we had a Southern Damselfly and numbers of Four-spotted Chasers. Next were Variable and Azure Damseflies and then we thought we'd dropped lucky with a Blue-tailed Damselfly that did a great impression of a Scarce Blue-tailed and had us going for a few minutes.

We carried on around the site, stopping frequently wherever there was a pond, scrape or ditch. To be honest the dry weather has taken its toll, some ponds had already dried up, and wet scrapes were fewer than I would have liked. However, we found a cracking spot at the end of one of the ditches where we had Hairy Dragonfly, Emperor, Keeled Skimmer, Broad-bodied Chaser and Black-tailed Skimmer.

Keeled Skimmer

At another spot, closer to the woodland edge we had our best views of Southern Hawker and Golden-ringed Dragonfly. We'd seen both of these distantly on several occasions and the site must hold excellent numbers of both.

After mooching around for a while we returned to the edge of the ditch where we'd seen most activity. It was here we managed to see our main 'want' for the day and a 'tick' for us both, Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly. It took some time to actually confirm it as a Scarce, not just a Blue-tailed, but after a good 15 - 20 minutes of observation, we were both happy we had seen the rarer of the two species.

Birds were plentiful but nothing special - mainly Meadow Pipits, Reed Warblers, Reed Buntings and Sedge Warblers. A few Redpolls were flirting around, a pair of Stonechats were nice to see, and a single Buzzard provided raptor interest. Surprisingly for a site with so many 'meadow' or 'rushy pasture' areas there were very few butterfly species. We had plenty Meadow Browns but other than that only a couple of Small Heaths and a couple of Small Skippers. Very, very poor.

Small Heath

I did learn some valuable photography lessons though- namely its very easy to over expose in bright sunlight, especially when shooting species with light coloured abdomens or underwings!!!

Cairngorms 2018

Last week I spent the best part of three days in Aviemore, birding various sites across and around the Cairngorms National Park with my mate Rob. We arrived on Wednesday at 10:00am with the intention of heading straight up the funicular railway to try for Ptarmigan. However, as we drove up the road towards the mountain railway it wasn't looking promising. There was a thick layer of cloud and as we pulled onto the car park it was beginning to snow, so with the prospect a rather cold and wet time at the cafe with zero visibility, we decided to cut our losses and go elsewhere.

Instead we headed to Abernethy and Loch Garten, not so much for the Ospreys but just the general birding around the woods. We did visit the Osprey watchpoint though - who doesn't? A Redstart was singing as we approached which was the first of the trip, and we had some 'limited' views of the female Osprey on the nest from inside the centre. As usual there were Siskins and Coal tits everywhere.

After half an hour or so we left the centre and went for a walk around the Loch. It was pretty quiet, a pair of Goldeneye, a couple of Common Sandpipers and a few Greylag Geese were on the Loch, with Swallows and Sand Martins hawking insects above the waters surface. We heard a Tree Pipit but could only get brief glimpses, however a Treecreeper put in an appearance whilst we were searching and then, out of the blue, a Crested Tit flew into view. Lifer (or more correctly UK tick) number one for Rob and a good year tick for me. By now it was lunch time so we decided to drop our gear off at the Aviemore Youth Hostel and grab something to eat.

A quick word about the hostel. Its a great place to stay for a cheap break. It has good kitchen facilities, a common room, dining area, drying room etc and its really clean and comfortable. An added bonus is that you can see Peregrines from the car park and its adjacent to the Craigellachie Nature Reserve - more of which later. The hostel has a website and you can find them on twitter @hostellingscot.

After dumping our gear the weather had changed and we could see the summit of Cairngorm, so we headed back up. Although the cloud had lifted there was still a good amount of snow up there, much more than when I was there last year, and it was bitter on the cafe viewing terrace, with a stiff wind creating a bit of spin-drift.

View from the terrace!

There was a single birder on the terrace but he hadn't seen any Ptarmigan. But we were there so gave it half an hour anyway (its not like you can just nip back down). It was worthwhile as we had cracking views of Snow Bunting down to just a few feet. After half an hour though we were pretty cold so went in for a brew and a warm up. Just as we finished our drinks the other birder came back in and told us he'd just seen a Ptarmigan fly in, and gave us precise directions to where it had landed. We went out and managed to get on it immediately - impressive as it was a moulting grey and white bird on a very grey and white background! Lifer number two for Rob. A dutch family were intrigued as to what we were looking at so we spent a few minutes showing them the bird. Satisfied we had seen what we wanted we got the train down. Back at the car park we picked up a small flock of Snow Buntings (4 to be exact) and a single Wheatear, my first for the year. After that it was back down and off to get a shower, some food, some beer and some sleep!

Snow Buntings!

Next day we started early in one of the many beautiful woodlands in the area hoping for the elusive Capercaillie. I will point out now that we were not looking for a lek, we were in public woodlands and we stayed on the forestry tracks. The woods were very quiet, spring was clearly a few days behind; last year there had been Redstarts and Tree Pipits everywhere but this year they were few and far between. We spent about an hour wandering around and had started to retrace our steps after covering a few areas of the woodland. We were chatting quietly, discussing where we were going to go next, which path to take when we got to the next junction, when Rob tapped me on my shoulder and simply muttered my name. I knew instantly what he was getting at and luckily I looked straight in front just as a stonking great male Capercaillie walked slowly across the path and into the vegetation! We quickened our pace to see if we could get another view and luckily I spotted its head sticking up amongst the Bilberry and Heather. We stopped and I had chance to set up the scope for a few minutes of excellent views before it decided it had had enough of being looked at and flew off. A superb bird, a lifer for me and lifer number three for Rob.

Bird of the trip - Capercaillie!!!

Even though we had nailed the target bird of the trip we stayed in the woods, birding for another hour or so, during which time we had another pair of Crested Tits, singles of Redstart and Tree Pipit plus a pair of Crossbills which, given the calls, the habitat and the (to me) slightly larger, deeper billed appearance were good contenders for Scottish Crossbill. Lifer number four for Rob.

Now, I will point out here that yes, Rob managed four lifers in 24 hours (admittedly that could easily be the case for any UK birder heading to Speyside for the first time), but, Rob is about the luckiest birder I have ever met. Since he started joining me on trips I have had some of the best birding days ever, adding quite a few lifers and some tricky year ticks seemingly every time we go birding.

After the woods we called at small Lochan to check for Slavonian Grebes but none were present. According to some birders we spoke to later, most territories on other waters had 'Slavs' back on them so it looks like they may have abandoned this particular site this year.

We drove into Aviemore and had breakfast and then headed up to Lochindorb to see if we could see the Black-throated Divers that had been showing so well.

Lochindorb- sadly no Black-throated Divers

When we arrived it was clearly not going to be as easy as we had hoped. There was a very stiff breeze (possibly an understatement) cutting across the loch whipping up a few white horses. Small ones, but still white horses. We drove along the loch edge scanning at every opportunity. A group of birders were parked up in one of the few parking spots and when we pulled in after doing a length of the loch, they told us the divers had been out, but had swam into a bay out of sight. So, it was a waiting game. We amused ourselves watching a few Red Grouse and Meadow Pipits and constantly scanned the water and the sky for divers and raptors respectively. We stayed for four hours and still dipped the divers. But, we did have brilliant views of one or maybe two separate Ospreys, a Red Kite (which was a surprise), and a very distant Golden Eagle. As we waited, we chatted with a few birders, one of which mentioned seeing Wood Warbler at the back of the Youth Hostel in the Craigellachie Nature Reserve, so we decided to go for a look later.

Once back at the Youth Hostel in Aviemore, we parked up and headed out to the nature reserve. Its a brilliant woodland area that was buzzing with birds and we quickly picked up a singing Wood Warbler which eventually gave good views. We then picked up a Tree Pipit in full display mode which was really nice to see. By now though we were both ready for some food, so that was the end of day two.

Our last day started early again as we only had an hour or two before we needed to head home. We tried a route I had been told about that led through Rothiemurchus forest to the estate lodge. The birder who told me about it must have been there a while ago as the Forestry Commission are currently removing vast swathes of Lodgepole Pine to enable the native Scots Pine forest to regenerate. Great, except it wasn't great for us. The birding was, lets say, poor. We walked for 3/4 hour from the car before turning around, and apart from a few Willow Warblers, Coal Tits and Siskins we saw very little.

So a slightly disappointing end to the trip, but overall it was another great visit to this beautiful part of the world. We didn't amass a massive trip list - only about 50 or so species, but the list contained some real quality birds so no complaints at all.

How much would you pay?

Its that time of year when I pay my annual visit to Martin Mere. I blogged about a visit there last year and said how good it could be. Although today wasn't the worst day I've had there, it wasn't the best. Lots of Teal, Wigeon and Pintail, plenty geese, numerous Swans and a couple of Marsh Harriers. Great. But, with the possible exception of the Harriers, nothing I couldn't have seen at Marshside RSPB or Burton Mere. Chances are I could have seen a bit more at Marshside or Burton - maybe a Short-eared Owl, or a Merlin, chance of a Twite at Marshide too. Now, none of this would have really bothered me except that when the friendly volunteer asked me if I wanted to pay the gift aid price for my entry, they quoted me £14 (£12.72 if not gift aided). It doesn't really matter whether its £12 or £14, I only wanted a half day birding. Another 20 mins in the car and I'd have been at Marshide where it would have cost me nothing as this site is free to visit. I chose Martin Mere as I do like to support the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust a couple of times a year and have been visiting for as long as I can remember, so its a bit of a habit. But this is getting silly. There is no way I'll be going back and paying £12 plus for entry. I know I could join - its £50 and thats reasonable I suppose, and I know they do amazing work. But the thing is theres not another WWT reserve for over 100 miles so its not like I'm going to be nipping off to one every weekend. So, £50 is just not worth it. But neither is £12.72. I felt ripped off. I accept this would have given me a day round the collection or the canoe safari if I'd wanted, but Ive been there and done that (and you have to pay extra for the safari too), and I just wanted to visit the hides and see the wild birds.  I'm sorry WWT but at that price I won't be back in a rush. If it was £6 or £7 then I'd probably do two or three trips plus per year but not at the current rate. Is that reasonable or am I being tight? What would you pay?

Anyway, at 1pm I was off. A Hooded Crow had been found literally 10mins walk from where I live and it is a Greater Manchester mega and would be a GM tick. I also wanted to get to the gull roost at Pennington Flash. I dipped on the crow - its been around for 2 months according to a dog walker so I'm hoping I'll see it another day. The gull roost was a bit more successful. No white winged gulls but the 2nd Winter Caspian put in another appearance, so I added this to my GM list instead!

Caspian Gull Phoneskoped at Pennington Flash

Dee Day

I finally managed a full day birding today. Didn't walk too far but had a good 6 hours out solid birding.

I wasn't 100% sure where I was going to go. I fancied Llanfairfechan but the wind forecast for North Wales was a pretty consistent 20mph plus with gusts into the 30mph range, just a bit too strong. So, it was back out to the Dee Estuary where the wind forecast was much better.  I was joined by my mate Rob who usually accompanies me to Spurn. We pulled onto Denhall Lane at about 08:30 and I was surprised to see there was still quite a bit of standing water - evidence of three days of very high tides.

The water in the above photos is standing water, not the river! 

There were plenty of Canada Geese feeding plus a few Greylags and Pink Feet. The usual ducks and waders were around in force as well as a few surprises. A Great White Egret was out on the marsh and a Ruff was feeding in with the Redshank. A sizeable flock of Black-tailed Godwits looked stunning as they flew back and forth across the marsh. After an hour or so we walked up to Decca Pools in the hope of seeing a Short-eared Owl or maybe a Hen Harrier. The pools held the usual Wigeon and Teal, and a couple of Little Egrets were knocking around. The sun was out at this point and the Wigeon and Teal were looking stunning.

A lone Marsh Harrier put in an appearance but there wasn't a great deal different here than at Denhall Lane itself, so at 11.30am we headed up to Heswall for the high tide. 

Its the first time I have been to this bit of the coast for a high tide. By all accounts it can be better than Parkgate as the water can get higher on lower tides (today was only 9.4m or so, and it usually needs a 10m plus to get the best action at Parkgate). 

We arrived at Heswall about 12:00pm, parked up on the car park, and headed straight to the marsh which is only 100m or so away. We walked about 100m or so along the coastal path before finding a place to stop and watch from.

Its a bit different to Parkgate too, its not just a salt marsh, its a bit of a boatyard, so there are very few birds close in. Most are a good 50m or so away. It wasn't exactly dripping in birds but there were enough to keep us occupied for a couple of hours. 

There was a steady stream of skeins of geese going over. Small parties of ducks were constantly buzzing around the marsh and a small party of Pintail out on the river added a bit of extra interest. We had up to four Marsh Harriers in view as well as two Peregrines, the photos above were phonescoped at quite a distance. I did have a very distant Merlin, but sadly no Hen Harriers or Short-eared Owls.

I did see one of the most bizarre sights I've seen whilst I've been birding and it sort of fits with that crass statement you often get when you tell people you're a birder! You know the one - "What, feathered ones?". A middle aged bloke, a twenty something bloke and two young women came walking along the salt marsh carrying large bags and, we noticed later, a couple of cameras. The next thing we saw was this:

 A fashion photo shoot on the Dee estuary salt marsh, in January. It was a bit nippy to say the least,  and the model was wearing that dress for a good half hour. She must have been freezing. Even funnier (for me and Rob anyway) was the fact that they hadn't realised the tide was rising quickly and when they came to walk back to the path there was at least a foot of standing water and only the older bloke had wellies on.

Anyway, after watching these antics for a while we headed off to Hoylake, just to see if the waders were roosting close in, and to see if we could pick up the Scoter flock. The waders were quite distant which, on a positive note, meant they weren't disturbed every 10 minutes by the dog walkers. There were plenty of Scoters moving over the sea, but again very distant so it wasn't worth staying too long and we were on our way home by 15:00. It was a productive day overall in many respects, maybe not in terms of species numbers, but the quality of birds was great and given that two weeks ago I struggled to walk for an hour this felt brilliant.