Spent a few hours down on at Marshside today, pretty quiet, but pleasant enough.
Approx 1500 Blackwits roosting at the back of Marshside One, but wildfowl numbers are clearly falling.
16 Avocets on Marshside One today, eyeing each other suspiciously in case one tried to make an early claim on a prime nest site; the water is too high for them to start seriously prospecting yet though.
One Knot at the Hesketh Road end, and two Scaup (the male and female) with about 30 Pochards up by Junction Pools.
Quiet around Mount Baker, with just two Little Egrets on the outer marsh - met up with Pete Allen, who rightly pointed out this is the in-between time.
Winter birds starting to dwindle, and a few weeks yet before the Spring migrants start to arrive.
Two small parties of Meadow Pipits passing overhead raised my hopes, but when I found myself counting Coot from Nels I realised it was time to get therapy or get home.
(I got to 42 before I heard my inner voice screaming).
Quick check of the Sands Lake at Ainsdale for Ralph Jones' female Common Scoter, but there was no sign.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
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Hi John
Nothing wrong with counting coot! Where do they come from and where do they go?
They come from hell and they go to Mars...
Er...sorry about that Dave.
I think the birds at Marshside may have moved from the winter flock on the Marine Lake in Southport, where the count used to peak at several hundred.
Hard to say without a ringing return tho....or visual confirmation of groups of them flapping up the coast low over the Municipal Golf Course like pot-bellied bombers.
I used to count the lake at lunchtimes when I worked in Southport, but it seems to have slipped thro' the Dempsey birding net this winter.
You can't get everywhere...
John,
Missed my weekly walk around Marshside so decided to have a look see at a nice little reserve not far from my place of work, Risley Moss (just off Jct 9 M62). The hide nearest the visitors centre has a feeder station to its front and attracts blue, great and long tailed tit.
They were joined fleetingly by small numbers of greenfinch and chaffinch and to my great surprise a couple of reed buntings, a first for me.
A good dinner time break which will hopefully improve as the weather does.
Mrs G went shopping around Southport with her best friend which gave me a good four hours birding around Marshside plenty of walking.spotted a group of six reed bunting,two little egret,several skylarks,good number of golden plover,lapwing and two kestrel over outer marsh.
Sand hide was very quiet sombody had been on pools with rowing boat so i took the opertunity to have my buttys and a drink before going to nels.Another good day, does the sun always shine at Marshside Riviera?
counted 18 avocet,2 female and one juv male scaup,one cormorant in breeding plumage,16 curlew,one common snipe,one merlin and about 30 redshank,1000 roughly godwits,wigeon everywhere but numbers seem to be falling.
John
My thoughts coincide with yours.re. the in-betweenies time. Rutland Water on Sunday had lower numbers of wildfowl than recently.
Several species were busy pairing with the associated squabbling, the winter gems - Smew - had departed and the first Oystercatchers have returned.
By the way, the tide was definitiely in!
There's a lot of water in the res at present, parts of the shoreline remided me of a good 10m tide down at Marshside!
Keep birding!
Barrie
I agree with Pete (not often I agree with Kopites!), all very inbetweeny, 34 Avocets on Rimmer's marsh today.
A first-winter male & two female Scaup still on Rainfords lagoon.
Islands on the lagoon have been tweaked with a bit of shaping & a few cockleshells in order to improve for breeding waders - fingers crossed for the return of breeding Ringed Plover on the lagoon.
Cheers. Graham
THIRTY FOUR!!!!
God's holy troousers - how many are there going to be back by April!