Nice crisp autumn mornin' on the marsh today, unfortunately I didn't have much time, so whizzed through the wildfowl and waders from Hesketh Road, and checked off Sandgrounders.
A colour ringed Blackwit at the bottom of Marshside One (Right Leg: white above orange/yellow, Left Leg: red above green) amongst the Wigeon, Teal etc.
Here's a blow up of the bird from the scene shot above....
Will let you know when I get the ringing data back from this bird.
At least three semi-albino female Wigeon in with the flock at this end of the marsh too.
1,500 Golden Plover on Marshside One, and north of the Sandplant, three Little Egrets visible in the flooded area on the outer marsh. I'm sure there were more...
Greenfinch and Reed Bunting numbers starting to grow around the Sandplant compound now, and a few Mipits and Skylarks there too.
24 Pochard on Sandplant lagoons.
One Grey Wagtail calling overhead, and several thousand Pink Feet leaving the outer marsh on the tide to head inland to feed.
Two Redwings calling over the golf course, and a Little Grebe yickering away in the SSSI ditch.
Met Graham Clarkson later, and he told me about the Snow Buntings - apparently three have been seen on the rough ground at the seaward end of Fairways (the road that runs along the north end of the Marine Lake) or on the beach opposite for the last few days.
Nice to get some back here, they always used to like this area years back.
Called into the Bird Fair and restrained myself to just two books - The Hebrides (much sought after New Nat) and Stronsay Birds - 'cos I'm a sucker for islands.
Plenty of Whooper Swans on main mere now, with Red Breasted Goose in with the Barnies.
It is fitting that this bird appears on the same bulletin sheet in the centre as Amazonian Parrot today - if that Red Breast is wild, I'll show my bum in Burton's window.
At least the Whoopers are pretty....
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies.....
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Simon G wrote...
Hi John
Looked for the alleged snow bunting yesterday and today, but no joy. First heard about them on Wednesday, but got distracted by a pair of water rail ten feet from the left hand window in Nels showing for 45 mins. With the one I saw right outside the Janet Kear hide at the mere yesterday, and the one at Sandgrounders last Sunday that was 4 in a week - well and truly unblocked! Otherwise, a couple of hours at the marsh much the same out on the lorry road for high tide (a couple of barnacle geese in with the pinkfeet on the mud, and some barwit, sanderling and turnstone in with the usual suspect waders as the tide turned, but overall wader numbers seemed low. Then pioneered a route through the spartina to Mt Baker which flushed a few snipe and a short-eared owl, before seeing the egret.
Posted by: Simon G | November 19, 2006 5:35 PM