New toys to play with and try to master at the moment, which is just as well, as weather and the birding gods seem to be conspiring against us.
Managed a nice colour-ringed Grey Wagtail at Lunt Meadows on Friday, when Trops and I tried to work out which end of a bridge camera to look through.
At least Stonechats were easy, but we also had Kingfisher, Buzzard, Kestrel etc – and more photographers than birders as we wandered around the reserve, but that was okay too.
Yesterday was a rained off yule shopping diversion, but this morning Neill, Pete Allen and I nipped down to Hightown, where the rain came in earlier than forecast and the male Snow Bunting remained hidden south of the sailing club.
Nice drake Red Breasted Merganser on the rising tide though, and a few Redwings and Fieldfares along the approach road to the village.
Fresh (well, not that fresh) corpse of a Shag on the tideline north of the outflow pipe.
Too dark to try more camera lessons this afternoon, but Plex still had 112 Whooper Swans, a few Pinkies and 40-50 Fieldfares.
A ringtail Hen Harrier was hunting over the Withins despite the rain, and Merlin was zipping around out there too, while a small flock of 8 Golden Plovers wandered over the flooded fields.
John Dempsey Birdblog 
I got surprisingly close to the wader flocks just north of Ainsdale as the tide rose this morning, and was mildly surprised to spot a Sparrowhawk working the tide line. Naturally it put the whole lot up, whereupon a Peregrine appeared from nowhere and successfully grabbed its prey (Sanderling from its size). In the general mayhem the Sprawk also chased a Sanderling and caught it just above my head, whereupon it was in turn targeted by two very vociferous Crows and several GBBs. Eventually it seemed to me that the sprawk won out, but the whole melee had by that time moved away north. The wader flock went south.
Better than an episode of “The Hunt” it was…
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22 Little Grebes on Southport Marine Lake yesterday at noon. Didn’t see the Shag though.
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Hi John
This Grey Wagtail was ringed at Middleton Nature Reserve just south of Heysham on 18/9/15.
Almost certainly a resident(ish) wintering bird with absolutely no weather at all on the horizon likely to disrupt this so if you hear of any further sightings, even just part-reads, please could you let me know.
Usual wintering recipe of an extensive circuit but with favoured hotspots, I suspect.
Pete
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Two Grey Partridge beside Broom’s Cross Road, Thornton, on the way to work this morning.
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