Cormorant on Scotman's Flash

This is my favourite photo from yesterday. I've done very little processing in this shot, it's just the way the light hit the water a that particular moment. The Cormorant is almost incidental. Worth viewing at full screen size, IMHO.  Here's a cropped version too. Which do you prefer?

Great Northern Diver at the Wigan Flashes

I finally caught up with this juvenile Great Northern Diver on Scotman's Flash in Wigan today. I started looking on the yacht club side of the flash before driving round to the canal side where I quickly found the bird. However I could only get a record shot as the light was poor and the bird was quite mobile. When the sun actually came out for a while I decided to stay for a few hours in the hope it might come closer, but it was always distant and eventually I lost it altogether.

Whilst I was waiting for the Diver to reappear I took a couple of shots of some feral birds on the canal. I don't care what anyone thinks about them, you can't deny the Canada Goose is a handsome beast! 

And the same goes for the drake Mallard, especially in good light. Such beautiful colours on a very common bird on our canals and inland waterways.  What a shame it isn't appreciated a little more.

Bird Guides have just published an article on the new National Nature Reserve being created around the Wigan Flashes and have used my Willow Tit photograph as an example of why it has been chosen.

Full article here: https://www.birdguides.com/news/former-industrial-area-becomes-one-of-uks-biggest-urban-nature-reserve/

Smew, Smew, Goldeneye too ...

We've had a long-staying drake Smew on the Wigan Flashes for a while now, but unfortunately I decided to go to see my son Robert in Kent whilst it was here.  So you can imagine my desire to see it if was still present when I returned.

I asked if it was still present on our North West Birding WhatsApp group and after a phone call from fellow L.O.S. member George Pike telling me the bird it was, I decided to brave the minor blizzard in Tyldesley and hotfoot it to the Wigan Flashes.  The weather here was totally different, with bright sunshine when I arrived. 

I met George outside one of the entrances to the Flashes just as he was about to leave.  He told me that he'd had good views but the bird has flown out of view behind the small island of trees on Scotman's Flash.  It didn't show again for around two hours and the light slowly deteriorated whilst I waited for it to reappear.

Whilst I was deciding what to do do next, I met up with Wigan Flashes stalwarts David Bretherton and Warren Topping and they convinced me to walk back along the canal with them and have another look.  David left Warren and me to carry on looking and I eventually spotted the bird flying and then landing in the middle of Scotman's Flash.

Although it did slowly make its way to the eastern bank of Scotman's Flash, it never really came that close. Warren and I tried to approach it several times using the few trees and bushes along the bank for cover, but it seemed very sensitive to our movements even from a long way off. So I had to be happy with these distant shots.

Whilst waiting for the Smew to appear I took some video of two mating Goldeneyes.

Looking For More Year Ticks

For the first time since I started serious birding in 2009 I have decided to keep a '2018 Year List' this year. This has been spurred on by the fact that I've started using Bubo.org to maintain my lists, which was first recommended to me by Gareth Hughes a couple of years I go.  I had a quick look at it then but didn't persevere.  Now I think it's the best thing since sliced bread for keeping bird lists and indeed, I've also added my 'UK Life List' and 'Greater Manchester Life List' to Bubo.  Here's where I currently stand:

So today I was off in search of more '2018 year ticks' mainly in the form of a Kingfisher at the Wigan Flashes.  I also was hoping to get some close photos of a drake Goldeneye which has been giving very good views on the canal recently.

I started off at the Hawkley Hall Feeding Station which was only a short distance from where I parked my car.  Here I was expecting to see Willow Tits, Reed Buntings, Chaffinches, Long-tailed Tits, Blue Tits, Coal Tits, Great Tits and Robins, none of which disappointed.  What I wasn't expecting to see were male and female Bullfinches and even less so the normally very shy and elusive Water Rail, so that was a real bonus.

Lesser Redpoll at the Wigan Flashes

Today was my birthday and I decided to go to one of my less-frequented local sites, the Wigan Flashes. My target birds for today wer the Lesser Redpolls which had been sighted regularly at the Hawkley Hall feeding station over the last few days, although I did hope to see a few other birds too.