Met Neill down at Marshside this morning at Nels, pausing to admire a Little Ringed Plover with a few Dunlin at the Junction Pool along the way.
We discussed many things, including the wisdom of birders wearing escaped Eagle Owls for a hat - ouch that must have hurt!
Strange the attraction of two escaped birds and their three young, I quite fancy a visit to Whittendale myself, although there's more chance of finding Ivory Billed Woodpecker in Formby Pinewoods than an owl with jesses on and its bad tempered partner making it onto the British list.
Neill is finally starting up a website for his brill pics and Marshside records soon - about time too, more details when I get the address.
At the hide Neill had a Little Stint - a real pearler, with the Dunlin, plus a different Curlew Sand to the one about a few days back (we had two Curlew Sandpiper at Polly's Creek later).
After months of watching distant mice-birds, the Little Stint actually flew in right in front of Nels, the closest I've seen one here this year, beautifully marked, braces, tiny etc, a fine wader.
The young, white bellied Dunlin was still about, waiting to trap the unwary, plus Avocets, Lapwing, Blackwit, Redshank as normal.
Good numbers of hirundines and Swifts hawking around, and a Sand Martin and a few Swallows perched up on the wires in front of the Sandplant Lagoon, nice and close.
Even I couldn't miss at that range.
Ruddy Duck still on the lagoon.
In front of Sandgrounders there were more Dunlin and Blackwits, and loadsa folk with great big lenses blatting away.
The point and Mount Baker were quiet - Greenfinch, Mipits etc and a single Stock Dove was in with the Woodpigeons at the bottom of Marshside One, from Hesketh Drive.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies....
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Simon G wrote...
John,
A long day for John A, Jason, Bones and me that ended with the Southport contingent getting a) the 2 curlew sands on Polly's and b) wet (the two are merely coincidental) began with getting onto Hilbre around 7am. High tide brought:
3 Arctic Skua
5 Little Tern
5 Common Scoter
500+ Common Tern (where plus is a very large number; we gave up counting)
7 Sandwich Tern
8 Gannet
1 Great Crested Grebe
A Whimbrel was on the eastern end of the island on the way back.
Arrowe Park waterfall had no sign of the Dipper, but there were two adult females and a drake Mandarin on the lake above, and possibly some young.
And I finally caught up with a Merseyside Nuthatch for the year, and Jason missed the Kingfisher - a life bogey bird for him - by glancing away 2 seconds early for the second time this month ... A total injustice as he’d been finding birds for the rest of us all day.
Leasowe didn't produce anything spectacular to add to the day's list, although there were hordes of whitethroat and finches.
Posted by: Simon G | May 28, 2007 5:29 PM