Arriving mid-afternoon at Marshside today I wasn’t expecting too much, but it was pleasant enough as the warm sun fought the cold wind.
The Glossy Ibis was at the bottom of Marshside One, and nearby the Blackwit flock also held two Whimbrel and three Ruff.
Warblers singing away in the SSSI ditch (Reed, Sedge, Whitethroat and Blackcap), while the Avocets in front of Sandgrounders were looking just dandy.
There were still three first summer Little Gulls zooming around over the Sandplant Pool, rarely landing to catch their breath.
While they whizzed about a Herring Gull swept into the BHG colony, grabbed a chick and powered off, gulping it down in a single fluid motion as the BHGs screamed around it.
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2CY Caspian Gull by the boating lake at Crosby Marine Park at lunchtime today – but it appears to have a different bill pattern to the bird you had at Southport Pier on May 8th.
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Marshside/Crossens 0830-1430
Cuckoo low over HGC, male Blackcap singing on Crossens Embankment and a handful of Swifts and Swallows only sign of landbird migration today. Pair Little Ringed Plovers briefly by Fairclough’s Pool and another with c. 30 SP Dunlins at pool by Sewage Works Boundary. First summer Med Gull again at Sandgrounders but all Little Gulls and Black Terns seem to have moved on.
Survey of territorial male warblers from Stanley School boundary through HGC, M1, M2 and Crossens: 10 Reed Warblers, 28 Sedge, 23 Whitethroats, 6 Blackcaps (all in SSSI/HGC) 5 Chiffchaffs (ditto). I’ll repeat and compare next week.
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Excellent work Bazzo – cheers.
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I’ll be out again Thursday…will blog anything interesting
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How times change Baz – no Willow Warblers sticking on territory…the Chiffchaff advance contiinues! Still two Willow Warblers singing at Sands Lake today, but at least five different Chiffchaffs.
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There seem to be lots of Sedgies singing behind the Green Beach – nearly as many as there are Mipits and Skylarks.
I was pleasantly surprised and entertained this morning by a sizeable mumuration of Knot (I assume) as the tide rose just off the beach at Weld Road. Surprised because it’s the sort of spectacle I expect during the winter months, and entertained because the birds spent a good five minutes wheeling and turning in horizontal and vertical formations. It was only when they split into two separate groups that I realised they were trying to escape the attentions of a very persistent raptor – Peregrine I think. There were also significant numbers of Sanderling along the tide line, though for the most part they do look very different from the ‘usual’ winter birds.
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A feast of Mediterranean Gulls at Marshside this morning: 2 adult summers north over the Hesketh Road platform, later one of these (or a new adult), a second-summer and two first-summers around the Lagoons; 2 first-summer Little Gulls also there. Glossy Ibis showing well on Rimmer’s Marsh; apart from c150 Swifts low over the marshes before the rain set in no sign of continuing landbird migration, but our first breeding pair of Jays with at least two squawking fluff-balls out of the nest on HGC.
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Nice blogging Baz ! Still trying to get my head round all this computer stuff! Breeding Buzzard, S’phawk +Bullfinch+Goldcrest on the farm is all i can blog!
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Lovely pair of Bullfinches seen whilst cycling through Pimbo this evening.
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