Good-sized tide and plenty of sunshine lured me onto Taggs Island this morning for a few hours - and it wasn't bad.
Large finch flocks (Linnets and Goldfinch) bouncing about, with Siskin and Greater 'Pecker over, plenty of Meadow Pipits, Reed Buntings and Skylarks, alba wags, two Sprawks, two Red Breasted Mergs offshore, Kestrel, three Little Egrets, two Jack Snipe, 10+ Common Snipe and a Lapland Bunting which came up out of the vegetation off the boardwalk and after a typical dry rattle (such a distinctive call), headed off to the north never to be seen again.
Probably still lurking in there somewhere though.
Nice to see the Jack Snipes again too, but the only thing that sat still long enough for an over exposed pic was one of the Little Egrets.
From Taggs, I headed north to Marshside, where the juvenile Black Tern was daintily feeding on Polly's Creek when it wasn't being hassled by Lapwing, or resting on the banks.
Lovely little bird, I watched it for about 45 minutes.
Two Marsh Harriers on the outer marsh and a Peregrine overhead.
Didn't get as far as Old Hollows Farm for the Pec/Curlew Sand/Little Stint combo, maybe some other time.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
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Marsh Harrier high nw over the dunes at Ainsdale at 1pm today, light movement of Skylarks, offshore 1 Gannet, 1 Red Throated Diver, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 8 Razorbills, 2 Guillemot, 3 Common Scoter over the tide.
I spent a couple of hours at Taggs over the tide. It was high when I arrived so I crossed the boardwalk and headed south a little way and picked my spot a quarter of a mile south of the boardwalk, as the tide began to ebb and the waders began to return I got phenomenal views of waders ony 75 yards away. Just in the area I was the numbers were impressive: Oystercatcher 5000+, Knot 3000, Bar Tailed Godwit 1000, Sanderling 1000, Dunlin 200, Grey Plover 100. The light was incredible at that range and it was great to see them so close. The odd bird still with traces of summer plum whereas the majority where fully in winter, 1 Grey Plover was still in almost full sp. 2 Little Egrets also showed well. Offshore was fairly quiet, 1 Razorbill, 8 Auk sp flying out in the haze, 10-15 Common Scoter and a very distant Gannet plus numerous Cormorants. Lots of Meadow Pips and Skylarks aswell as Linnets and Reed Buntings around and a high flying party of Siskin went south, with another single bird over the edge of Royal Birkdale/Birkdale Common on the way home.
Marshside: 3 Russian White Fronts in Wheatear Corner, 5 dark bellied Brents on the tide, ringtail Hen Harrier and 2 Curlew Sandpipers on Crossens.