Got to Marshside with Bazzo in tow before 8am this morning, for the fourth day running, but the conditions were far from ideal - cold, grey with a strong south westerly.
Two Chiffchaffs singing from the Sefton Coast Path between Hesketh Road and Marshside Road, two Swallows bombing north, four Lesser Redpolls feeding in a larch and two Siskins calling overhead.
Nice birds true enough, but for a spring morning?
I've seen more life in three day old roadkill.
Things brightened up with the discovery of a species new to science - Marshside Tree Duck - which I managed to capture on camera.
Yes I know it's a drake Mallard, but when was the last time you saw one sitting 20 foot up a tree? Stupid bird.
Bumped into the Bannon boys - John and Matt, and later Neill and Tropical, who all seemed as impressed with the weather as I was.
Three White Wagtails were on the muddy area at the bottom of Marshside One, and there were still four Little Stints at least, and a few Ruff, amongst the hordes of Golden Plover and Avocets.
Almost as daft as the treeduck, the Green Winged Teal was parading his new Common Teal missus about in front of Sandgrounders Hide after a week of serious jiggy-jiggy - what the offspring will look like is anyone's guess.
One of the thin trickle of northward moving mipits dropped in on the island in front of the hide, and the Merlin was perched up along the fenceline in the reeds again.
Mount Baker and the peninsula were dead, but there were two male Wheatears on the relic dunes at the back of Marshside One later, where Lesser Black Backs were displaying.
Many of the Blackwits are coming into full plumage now -stunning birds.
Right after four days of migrant hunting, I'm off to work again -someone else can do the dawn patrol.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies.......
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Cliff wrote...
It probably wasn't the first swallow of the year in Square Lane, Burscough, this morning but I think there is a good chance it was the first house martin of the year [for me at least]
Cliff
Posted by: Cliff | April 12, 2007 10:17 AM