It takes commendably large cohones to admit you've got a bird wrong, especially when it's a rare one, but that's just what Mad Dog Bannon did today when he called me 45 minutes before my shift was due to end, with news of a runt Skylark leading him astray (see John's comment on previous entry).
I completely sympathise - long time readers of the blog will remember I fell foul of just such a lark on Marshside One some years ago, and frankly anyone who thinks they never get a bird wrong is living in major denial.
Mad Dog called me fresh from a bout of what some folk quaintly term "trespassing" on a private golf club in our area.
For the sake of argument, let's call it "Xanadu", where he'd had four Spotted Flycatchers and a Pied Fly after the heavy rain.
I tazzed up there for about 5pm, with the wind strengthening.
Now there are two ways to "trespass" on a golf course - one is to reduce the size of your kharma to zero and move like a greased khaki panther, avoiding fairways and golfers, becoming a ninja birder, invisible to all but the most zealous green-keeper.
The other is to drop your trousers and stride boldly across the manicured turf, loudly singing "Firestarter" by The Prodigy.
While I generally favour the former, I guarantee that if you adopt the latter strategy, no-one will challenge you (they won't have to, they'll just call the men in white coats - but if you're lucky, you'll have seen the birds before those guys arrive).
Anyway, I sneaked into the central copse pantalone intacto, and almost immediately bumped into three lovely Spotted Flycatchers, zipping around a sheltered glade, surrounded by the usual Blackcaps, Chiffies, Willow Warblers, Jays, Long Tailed Tits and Chaffinches.
Great birds, but sad to think how scarce Spot Flys have become around here, it wasn't that long ago that they were a regular breeding species, now they can spark a micro-twitch.
Checked a few other areas in the lee of the wind, but it was quiet, apart from Willow Warblers etc.
Marshside One was buzzing with hirundines as the temperature began to drop, and I walked back to Hesketh Road.
Lapwings and Avocets flew up to mob and shriek at any corvid.
Lovely evening.
Earlier in the day I'd spent an hour or two on a Great Crested Newt survey - no sign of the mini-dinosaurs, but some cracking young Smooth Newts and an encouraging amount of dragonfly nymphs and exuvae.
I'm a bit rusty on dragonfly nymphs, but I suspect the brute above is an Emperor, based largely on its size and annoying bitey-bitey tendencies.
Damselfly nymphs are far nicer.
My first Cuckoo of the year flew across the road at the Pontins Roundabout at Ainsdale around 1230, dropping out of sight into Ainsdale LNR, and at Weld Road in the early afternoon three splendid male Greenland Wheatears (sorry Mad Dog, but I think the Alaskan birds fly direct across the Atlantic from Iberia), were joined by two females and a White Wagtail.
Then, quite wonderfully, enough Natterjacks cranked up and started singing near the Weld Road car park for them to be audible 400m to the north, despite the wind and traffic.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
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Formby Point seawatch, 1315-1600
Substantial southward movements in strong NW breeze
Common Scoter 2
Red-breasted Merganser 3
Red-throated Diver 1
Great Crested Grebe 3
Manx Shearwater 36
Fulmar 1
Gannet 358
Arctic Skua 3
Kittiwake 9
Sandwich Tern 1
Common Tern 2
Arctic Tern 4
Single Swift battling north over the waves into a rain-squall
Hi John,
Mad Dog's runt lark on the Sandplant point sounds like the bird I flushed about 2 weeks ago when we where out with Bazzo.
That too, flew out towards The Fylde and puzzled me, looking back and after a few Guinnesses in the Legless Arms I mentioned to Bazzo the resemblance it had to a Woodlark.
Glad Mad Dog got a good look at the little critter and was able to confirm its true identity.
One, maybe two, Spotted Flycatchers in the wooded cuttings on Selworthy Road today, great little birds.
John Kelly - God bless him - did the early morning shift at MBO this morning and had a very late Merlin, 10 Wheatear in the Obs garden plus 25 Goldfinch, 2 Collared Doves and some 40 Swallows through.
Pete Allen and I did the inland area after a late start at 07:30 and had four Redpolls around the central copse and yet another Hobby over! The Redpolls were behaving as if they were thinking of staying around - we also had the resident Barn Owl. By 11:00 at least 100 Swifts were hawking high over Rimmers Marsh.
The Leisure Lakes had 8 Whimbrel, which dropped in while we were there, more Redpolls, 1 Common Sandpiper and all the usual warblers, Reed, Sedge, Willow, Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Whitethroat. We beat a hasty retreat as soon as the jet skis and the paintball were getting into full swing! Two pairs of Great Crested Grebe were displaying on the Jet ski lake - no chance!
Two Yellow Wagtails were in a crop field between Mere Sands Wood and Mere Lane - exactly where Mr Clarkson said they would be and even the weather improved.
IYDGOYDSN !
Hooded Crow flying over the Ravenmeols dunes near the (now Herdwick-less) Herdwick enclosure about eleven-ish. Plex bird was there early yesterday morning, with Swifts, Whimbrels, Wheatears and a Sedge Warbler, but I didn't see it on way out or back today, (though just a had a quick scan on way through). Same bird?
Quiet beach this morning, with the usual suspects joined by a couple of swallows over the sea. Dunes much busier with Wheatears, Willow Warblers, Whitethroats, Reed Buntings, Meadow Pipits, Swallows, House Martins, Swifts, Stonechats, Linnets and a Whinchat.
Same walk yesterday at 5.00am was completely negated by the same unbelievably strong winds that were pushing everything up the beach and close to the shoreline. The beach and sea full of birds, but between tear-filled eyes and wobbly bins, I just couldn't get a fix on anything as I was battered by wind, rain, flotsam and the odd Sanderling. Even managed to sustain a binocular strap facial injury! Despite that, good views of 2 Arctic Terns directly overhead, pinned in place by the wind as they battled vainly towards sea. Plenty of Gannets up close too. Nuthatch, Long-Tailed Tits, Chiffchaff and Blackcap along the woodland walk.
Whinchat at Birkdale Green Beach this afternoon, also 5 Wheatear and a light but steady passage of Hirundines 2.30-3.30; Swallow 65, House Martin 8, Sand Martin 5 with 3 unspecified. Another 4 Wheatears on the rough ground between Queen Jubilee and the Eco Centre. Nice to hear a couple of Natterjacks break into 'song' on the green beach just south of Weld Rd. No sign of any flycatchers today in Selworthy road wooded cutting, spent an hour looking for them. Great Spot 'Peckers still busy nesting though which is nice.
Very poor vismig this morning, where joined later by Clarko and 'young' Pete Allen. A Greenshank, 22 Redpolls and Buzzard over plus Cuckoo nearby and Lesser Whitethroat 'rattling' from bushes on the Municipal GC. Also a male Redpoll in display flight bodes well for breeding.
Look out for a new facebook/petition site 'Get Cross With Bloody Malta!' which promotes the total embargo of Maltese tourism, products and services until they stop the ongoing bloodthirsty massacre of Europe's migrant birds.
Is it any wonder that the beautiful 'puurring' calls of the Turtle Dove is seldom heard nowadays, when over 5,000 trigger-happy so-called 'registered hunters' blast them to pieces each spring and autumn - despite a blanket ban on spring shooting throughout the European Onion.
Most civilised human beans appreciate and value our birdlife, but these Maltese murderers take great delight in exterminating it. So brave are they, that their perverse 'machismo-fuelled' bloodlust drives them to take out as many dangerous species - such as White Storks, Turtle Doves, Bee-eaters and Orioles - as possible!
If you know anyone even thinking of going to Malta, let them know what's going on - anyway Mull is much nicer!
Cracking pair of Redpolls in scrub on Sefton Coastal Path in Hightown yesterday.
Walk there from Formby was filled with Sedge Warbler, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Whitethroat and Chiffchaff.
Nothing out of the ordinary species wise but this is more a local interest thing. I'd noticed a pair or two of Lapwings and a pair of Oystercatchers in the Birkdale/Kew area in the past few weeks. The Oystercatchers appeared to be sitting about two weeks ago.
I've just checked in on them now with interesting findings.
The Oystercatchers have a least one chick, interestingly other than the steep sided Fine Janes Brook they are nowhere near any water (there are puddles on a nearby playing field that the adults fly to), they are just on an idle arable field. I'd always thought Oycs nested by water?
One of the pair of Lapwings have nested in a Free Range Chicken enclosure, probably about one and half times the size of 5-aside football pitch. They are surrounded by electric fences and accompanied by about 40 chickens for protection!
How is that for taking advantage of Man for once rather than seeing Man destroying their breeding grounds? Pleasingly they have two tiny chicks at the mo. I'm not sure about the other pair which are on the same field as the Oycs, no sign of any chicks as yet or obvious signs of them sitting.
Had my first trip to the reed bed walk around Martin Mere on Saturday. Very pleasant: lots of Sedge Warblers creating lots of racket.
Two even put on display flights before parachuting back into the vegetation. Also saw Swift, lots of Swallow and a single Whitethroat towards the end of the walk.
Quite quiet out on the water at the Mere itself: certainly no sign of the Garganey reported earlier in the week, which was a shame.