Back to blogging after a week off and away from the web...but it wasn't a bad seven days for birding.
After the massive arrival of Leach's Petrels in the Mersey on October 1 (100 off Hilbre and a record 112 past Formby Point for Barry McCarthy, who also had pom skua there), many of the birds had headed off west along the Welsh coast by the Sunday morning.
I still managed a few (six in total) coming out of the Mersey mouth on the tide, weaving along behind the oddly unobtrusive Antony Gormley "Another Place" sculpture installation.
Earlier in the day I'd gone seawatching with Barry at Formby, where all was quiet _ apart from a good flock of scoters offshore, presumably blown down from Blackpool by the raging hooley.
Patient scoping revealed a velvet scoter amongst them _ a good bird anyday, but always a result off Formby.
Later in the week I did Marshside a few times, but while the east coast was flooded with yellow browed warblers and Shetland and Scillies began to REALLY show off with quality neartic vagrants and sibes, Marshside maintained its record of consistency....no surprises here!!!!!
Great for geese and wildfowl, but the place'll break your heart if you're looking for quality passerine passage.
I'll concede that chiffchaff, greater 'pecker and goldcrest did move through in small numbers amongst the expected larks, wagtails and pipits _ but this is autumn dammit, I need MORE!
Looking out from the plateau of Mount Baker I was distracted by an odd, annoying call on Tuesday, and a big bright yellow, starling-sized bird with a blackish head landed in the tops of the willows.
A first for Marshside _ shame the Village Weaver was clearly an escape _ and should form a cautionary warning to anyone who thinks they may have Black Headed Bunting in the North West over the next few weeks, and only gets brief views of the bird.
While they are of course quite different when seen well, a split second fly-by may be confusable....
The weaver was only at Marshside on Tuesday, when it hung around with greenfinches etc.
Quite fearless, it showed big rounded bat wings and a short tail in flight, but perched up it looked mighty fetching, with bright yellow underparts, a great big decurved bill and reddish eye.
But when you spend too much time watching something like that, you know its time to go home.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies.
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