Another Sparrowhawk in my Garden

First Sight of the Sparrowhawk

A Bit Closer

It's funny, but once you start looking it's amazing what you actually can see in your own 'back yard'. I'd never imagined that I'd ever get a bird of prey in my suburban garden here in Tyldesley.  But then earlier this year I saw my first Sparrowhawk as I posted here.  And today I saw another, this time a lot less bedraggled from the weather and looking very fine indeed.

Turning Around

One thing I've learnt over the last three years is that with birds, you must take your shots while you can - look away for an instant and they can be gone.  And so, to get these photos, I just shot them through the kitchen and later the patio windows, muck and all!  If I'd even attempted to open the windows the bird would have flown, and there was no hope of going outside into the back garden.

Showing An Interest

I had actually suspected that there was a bird of prey around, because last week I found a large number of Wood Pigeon feathers scattered across my back lawn.  Our two cats are always very interested in any birds in the garden, and Wood Pigeons in particular, but I don't think they'd manage to catch one - I also couldn't find any remains of a body, which is what usually happens when they do manage to catch a bird.  They play around with it for a while and carry it from place to place, before getting bored with the fact that it's not moving any more. A sad fact of the cycle of life I'm afraid.

A Bit Ruffled

So in this case I suspected that a Sparrowhawk had caught it, and presumably taken it away to eat. Unfortunately, like so many garden feeding stations, our feeders seem to have become a Sparrowhawk feeding station too.  This bird was sat on the fence overlooking the feeders in exactly the same place as previously, and it may have even been the same indivivual.  The largest group of feathers was almost directly below the feeders, and so my guess is that the Sparrowhawk grabbed the Wood Pigeon whilst it was on the feeding table, killed it and then flew off with it leaving only the feathers scattered across the grass.

A Closer View

Of course I didn't see any of this so it all just supposition, but I'm fairly confident that's what happened here.  So there you have it, a few male Sparrowhawk shots taken through mucky glass, and that said, I'm quite pleased with them.

A Bee Flies Past

Post-Easter Eggs

Whilst out in the garden last weekend I found an egg on my back lawn.  It had a small hole in it and the yoke could just be seen.  At first I thought our cat's might have raided a nest because they're winning 3-0 against the birds this year, with a further two of the ones they've caught surviving at least for a while after I released them. But I'm not sure that cats are interested in birds' eggs and so I now think a Magpie or a Crow might have dropped it whilst flying over the garden.









Then a day or so later my wife Sarah was giving the grass it's first cut of the year (she wanted to, honestly!) and she found another egg, this time completely intact. She was certain it wasn't there when she started, although the grass was a little long in places, and so we presumed it had fallen out of the sky, favouring the Magpie or Crow scenario.


At around 4cm long, the eggs are larger than most common eggs I've found in and around my garden over the years, and they are also a smooth featureless white colour. They might not even be both from the same bird as the broken one on the left is a little longer and a bit more pointed at the ends than the one on the right, which is ever so slightly pinker in colour.

My best guess at the moment is that they belong to a Wood Pigeon, or perhaps a Collared Dove but I'm open to suggestions for correctly identifying them.

If you've any ideas to which bird these eggs belong and how they ended up on our back lawn, we'd be interested in hearing from you - just click on 'comments' below this post and, after writing your message, use the 'Anonymous' identity to log it for speed if you like.

Dunham Massey Park

Today I decided to hunt for the elusive Green Woodpecker and (even more elusive) Lesser Spotted Woodpecker which are actually seen fairly frequently at Dunham Massey Park.

A favourite activity of most birders visiting this location is to go for a so-called hat-trick of Woodpeckers, by seeing the Green, Great Spotted (GSW) and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers (LSW) all on the same day - a tough assignment when I've only ever seen one before, but I knew there would always be plenty of other interesting things to see here such as the deer, as well as good views of Nuthatches and perhaps Treecreepers.

I had only been driving for about five minutes when I realised I'd left my National Trust membership card at home and, without it, parking would either be expensive or very difficult.  So I turned off the East Lancs Road and went down a cut through back towards Astley Green in order to return home.

However, as soon as I approached Higher Green Lane I noticed a Kestrel flying very low over the fields here and, as the sky was blue and almost cloudless at this point, I decided to try for some photographs.  The best of what I got are shown here:

Later I also got a Lapwing and a Goldfinch in the same area:

After this short but very enjoyable distraction, I returned home for my card and then set off once again for Dunham Massey Park.  The first bird of note I saw was a Grey Heron high up in a tree on the north western edge of the Moat pond.

After getting my entry ticket (free to NT members), I walked under the entrance arch and soon spotted two Buzzards circling high up over the formal garden in front of the house.

I set off along Charcoal Drive where there were many Fallow Deer grazing on the grass. 

Whilst taking this photograph I could hear a Green Woodpecker near the Smithy Pool. Today was also Jackdaw-city here at Dunham.  These noisy birds were 'chacking' everywhere I went.

I saw a male Kestrel on the way to the Deer Barn, but there were no Green Woodpeckers on the anthills here today.  However I could still hear one (and later several more) and so I made my way in the direction of the 'yaffling'. This took me back to the Smithy Pool.

Here I accidentally flushed a Green Woodpecker from the ground which then flew into a tree in the fenced off area near here.  I fired off a couple of shots, but got nothing worth showing - however, they were enough to say I saw a Green Woodpecker today.

There was also a beautiful male Kestrel sitting in the same tree, although it could have been the same one that I has seen earlier - it flew out of the fenced area and into a tree on the edge of Smithy Pool.

After hanging around for half an hour or so and hearing but not seeing the Green Woodpecker again, I decided that was going to be it for today.  I headed off back across Charcoal Drive towards the old Slaughterhouse building where I immediately spotted this Nuthatch working a tree outside it.

This is my best picture of the day - a classic Nuthatch downward pose.

This Carrion Crow also flew directly over me outside the Slaughterhouse.

After having a look at the displays inside the Slaughterhouse, I crossed over Main Drive and made my way to the Island Pool where there was a Mute Swan and a single pair of Tufted Ducks looking very picturesque amongst the lilies. 

After walking round the pool I found this Blackbird gathering worms from under the trees on the edge of the Deer Park. I wondered if it could possibly have any young yet?



Finally I set off towards the Obelisk looking for the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.  As I looked around I saw a Song Thrush on the ground and another Nuthatch, a Great Tit and some Blue Tits in the trees.  And then I saw it! A flash of black and white and a bit of red. I took a few pictures as record shots and I thought I'd cracked it, patting myself on the back for an excellent find. Now I only needed the GSW for the hat-trick.

I followed the bird as it flew around from tree to tree, trying to get a better photograph. Whilst looking up amongst the treetops for where it had landed, a National Trust Ranger approached me and asked if I'd seen the LSW, to which I said 'Yes'. We chatted for a while about birds and he showed me a fresh hole which had been made by one and then told me someone had videoed it making this hole and put it on YouTube. Here's the video:

We looked up at another hole at the top of a large grey-barked Beech Tree and two GS Woodpeckers landed on it as we spoke, with one going into the hole.  'Great - there's my hat-trick', I thought to myself.

The Ranger went on to tell me lots of stuff about the wildlife and trees in this area and I even learnt a new word today - epicormic, the name for the growth of vegetation around the trunks of Lime and other trees. And after that we parted company and I went home happy, for a while anyway.

However, when I closely examined the one decent photograph I had at home, it was actually a Great Spotted Woodpecker that I had seen.  How could I be so stupid? It was much too big for a LSW and I'd mixed the wing patterns up - it seems I scored an own goal rather than getting a hat-trick. Unfortunately, I'd already made report on the Manchester Birding Forum before I realised this, and I haven't worked up the courage to tell them I was wrong yet!

Well, it seems I didn't get to see the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker after all today, so that just gives me a reason for going back to this great place.  For now I'll have to make do with this video of one excavating the hole in a tree here - at least I saw the actual hole today!

Here's what my Dunham Massey Park map looks like now:

View Dunham Massey Park in a larger map

It's a great place and a fantastic half or full day out, even if you only walk around the park.  There's a public right of way through the middle of the park, so you don't even need to pay as long as you can find somewhere safe and sensible to park your car.

Postscript:

I couldn't write this post without including some more photos of the wonderful deer here, which roam freely in amongst the people throughout the park as well as having their own sanctuary areas.

In Search of the Great White Egret (in Abram)

Tim Wilcox?

I spent a great day out at the Abram Flashes to the south of Wigan today, most of the time with fellow (but much more experienced) birder Tim Wilcox, whose avatar on the Manchester Birding Forum is David Suchet of Inspector Poirot fame (and boy does he look like him!).  The sun was shining and the sky was blue with some wonderful fluffy white clouds - I even got a bit sunburnt! We had both gone out in search of the Great White Egret which had been reported here several times in the last few days, and so we really were expecting to see it.  More of that later.

As I parked at the Dover Lock pub rear car park, where the landlord kindly allows birders to park, I was greeted by the sound of Chiffchaffs and Great Tits. And as soon as I set off walking along the towpath under the canal bridge, I was met by two Mute Swans on the Canal, a Grey Heron flying over and a couple of Blackbirds in breeding mode. 'A good start', I thought to myself.

The first pool you see from the canal is Dover Basin, where I managed to miss the Osprey which stayed around here for a few days in 2010 (grrr - it still gripes with me). On the water there was a pair of Great Crested Grebes, some Tufted Ducks, Coots and Mallards. On my way down the steps to the excellent new footpath which has been created along the bed of a old long-disused railway line, I could hear a Willow Warbler - my first of the year.  Not only did I hear it, but I also got a great view of it for a couple of minutes, but not long enough for me to get my camera out for a photo.  There were also quite a few Lapwings on Lightshaw Meadows.

I'd been down to Lightshaw Meadows in late January this year, when Pete Alker from Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust led a short 4.5 mile round trip from Pennington Flash on their 'Big Garden Birdwatch' day.  He'd explained the work that was going on here to revert the meadows back to their natural state and how Longhorn cattle were being introduced as part of the process. The Longhorns will be instrumental in 'conservation grazing' in order to make the meadow more suitable habitat for bird species such as redshank, lapwing and snipe.  I could clearly see fifteen or so of them doing this from quite a way off today.

Longhorn Cattle

Shortly after this I met Tim on the footpath, who was also in search of the Great White Egret, but with no success so far. We introduced ourselves and had a nice chat about all things birding, and in the process exchanged phone numbers so that we could text each other should one of us find the bird. I then set off for the new viewing screen at the western edge of Lightshaw Hall Flash, whilst Tim headed back up to the canal towpath to look down on the small pool on the northern edge of the main flash, which is mostly hidden from view down here.

As soon as I approached the viewing screen, I could see a white shape on the far side of the Flash and so it was with some excitement that I took out my binoculars to get a better look. Unfortunately, it was not the Great White Egret for which I was hoping, but a Mute Swan preening itself in a small depression in the ground.  Soon another swan bobbed it's head up, followed by three and then four Greylag Geese.  'Oh well, there's still plenty of time left to find it', I thought.

Alert Male Wheatear

The viewing hide is in a lovely location, but it really needs a spotting scope to view the Flash as the birds are still quite some distance away.  Fortunately I had brought mine with me, and so my camera stayed in it's bag for most of my time here. With my scope I could see two Oystercatchers, four Shelduck, many Lapwing, a few Teal and several Black-headed Gulls.

Two male Wheatears

After 45 minutes or so I was joined by two fellow birders also in search of the Great White Egret and together we saw two distant Buzzards, some Redshank and my best sighting here, a pair of male Wheatear which came quite close and which forced me to eventually take out my camera for some pictures. Still no Great White Egret though.

My closest and clearest view ever of a male Wheatear

By now Tim had gone back to the car park for his sandwiches and returned to join us at the viewing screen.  We went on to see a Curlew which flew over the screen making a shortened call and a Reed Bunting as well as closer views of the Wheatear.  When the two other birders left, Tim and I decided to walk round to the new viewing screen on the eastern side of the Flash via Lightshaw Lane.  It was a fair walk round, but on the way we saw Yellowhammer, Goldfinches, Skylarks, a House Sparrow, Blue Tits, Mistle Thrushes, a solitary Pied Wagtail and a Jay flying through the woods at the end of the lane.

The view at the eastern viewing screen was a little disappointing being somewhat restricted by early flowering Blackthorn bushes which have only been partially cut back to allow a small viewing area through the middle.  It has probably been left this to maximise the camouflage of the screen and any birders there, and thus minimise any disturbance to the birds, but it doesn't make viewing easy, particularly when all the birds are still some distance away.

Tim and I spent more time looking the other way where we had great views of the two Buzzards coming in to land in their nesting tree, a Jay which did an extended flypast across the fields behind us and a very vocal, low hovering Skylark which eventually dropped to the ground right in front of us. Still no Great White Egret here though!

On the way back along Lightshaw Lane I spotted a Black-tailed Godwit and a Redshank on the Flash and, when Tim trained his scope on them, there turned out to be three Godwits and three Redshank splashing around in the water.  The view from here is one of the best in this area and probably better than the eastern viewing screen.

Having made an appointment to meet Mike Baron at Rixton this evening, I had to leave Tim still looking for the Great White Egret at this point and as I bode him farewell he spotted a Kestrel in the distance, whilst I saw a Wren along the lane and had a great view of a low flying Jay on the main road back to the car.  It seems Tim went on to meet up with some other birders later in the afternoon, but the Egret wasn't seen by anyone here today, although a Kittiwake did fly over Dover Basin.

Back at home in the evening, I updated the Abram Flashes map on my Where-2-See Birds website with details of the parking spot, suggested walking routes to the viewing areas and some of the sightings I had today.  Here's what it looks like now:

View Abram Flashes Bird Sightings in a larger map

A great place and a fantastic day out with a nice fellow birder. Now that's what it's all about, isn't it?

NestCam 2012 Update

I've removed the live NestCam 2012 video stream from the main posts in this blog for the time being as nothing much is happening yet. As soon as there is any activity worth watching I'll put it back online. You can always check here or on the link to the right if you want to see if it's live today.

I'm also working on providing details about how to stream live video from a nestcam (or any webcam or video camera for that matter) for others to view over the internet.  It's not quite finished yet, but you can get a preview of my work so far here or also on the link to the right.

I've Finally Bitten the Bullet

You may have noticed a distinct lack of photographs in this blog over the last few months. The reason for this is twofold:  firstly I became very unhappy with the quality of the photos I was producing, mainly due to the limitations of my lens, and secondly because the iMac computer I use for picture-editing developed a software fault that rendered it unusable. So the last few posts have been sent from a different computer until now, when I have found a working solution for using my iMac again.

So what about the photos? Well, last week I finally bit the bullet a bought a secondhand lens which nearly cost me both my kidneys.  It's a Nikon 300mm f2.8 AF-S VRII and all you need to know is that means it's a professional quality lens that's bloody expensive.

The reason I bought this lens is that, after fieldcraft and experience in getting close to birds, I believe that lens quality is the next most important thing for a bird photographer, more important than the camera body or any other piece of equipment. I wanted to take the lens out of the equation in sorting out why my photographs are not sharp enough for me.  I also need to be able to carry the lens about all day and so it mustn't be too big and heavy - the 300mm f2.8 fits the bill for this although I will need a 2x teleconverter to get some of the shots I'm looking for.

Here are some of my first attempts at Pennington Flash on a sunny April day, all shot at just 300mm with some cropping and slight sharpening, but no teleconverter as I haven't got one yet:

Great Crested Grebe

Great Crested Grebe

Common Snipe

Common Snipe

Common Snipe

The birds did come surprisingly close on this trip today and so the 300mm was just about long enough to get decent photographs when cropped.  I'm now on the lookout for a secondhand Nikon TC-20e III teleconverter which will give me an easily portable 600mm lens for both handheld and tripod shots.  And before you warn me about this choice (as many have already), this lens is one of the few such lenses that works very well with a 2x teleconverter - in fact I believe it was designed with this lens in mind.

I think you can easily tell the difference in the quality of these photos and what I've put on my blog previously, so from a photographic point of view, this blog will be almost like starting again from scratch.  I can feel a renewed vigour for going out a taking bird photos and writing this blog, so come back soon.

Note to Self

I need to do some brief posts on the following:

• Sizergh Castle and Leighton Moss
• Hest Bank and Glasson Dock
• High Rid Reservoir, Doffcocker Lodge and Moses Gate Country Park

NestCam 2012

I know I've left it a bit late, but yesterday I cleaned out my nestbox with a camera in it so that we may get some good views of nesting birds again this year.  I had originally intended to clean it at the end of August last year, but as it requires step ladders putting in a neighbour's garden and a climb up on a flat roof, I just didn't get round to doing it before the winter set in.

Anyway, spurred on by the fact that it's already been inspected once by a Blue Tit (which hasn't returned for over a week now), I decided to get up there and quickly give it a spring clean.  Fortunately I didn't need to take the whole box down, as unscrewing the two front sections gave me good access to remove the previous nest and disinfect the box.  As the camera looks vertically down on the nest, it was quite good to see the nest from a different angle and work out where the birds had been in the box.

The nest itself was mainly compacted moss and feathers and had a little indentation in one corner where the eggs had been laid and incubated.  There were no signs of any eggshells or remains of chicks that had died, and so the birds had done a good job at removing all the unwanted debris from inside the box.

The floor of the box was very pitted from all the pecking that had been going on in the days before the birds decided to use it for nesting.  They really had removed quite a lot of wood and my guess is that they were testing it for strength, but it might have been part of their mating display.




After a quick spray of disinfectant and a wipe out with some kitchen roll, I left the box open for a while to dry out and take in the fresh air.  I also tried to adjust the camera position a little to get a more even view, but it was very difficult to see what I was doing with the TV being downstairs in the kitchen!

After refixing the front sections, I gave the outside a wipe and brush down to remove a few cobwebs that had been attached to the roof and eaves for most of the winter, and that was that - all ready for the new tenants.  Last year they started nest-building in March with the eggs being laid in April.  So fingers crossed, we'll get something similar this year.  Keep watching for the live nestcam to appear here on my blog.

Short-eared Owl at Astley Green

Following a sighting report by Pete Berry on the Manchester Birding Forum yesterday, I popped out to Astley Green this afternoon to see if I could see the Short-eared Owl.  I was still feeling the effects of a trip to the dentist this morning and a quick spot of birding on a sunny afternoon was just the tonic to help them wear off.

I parked up on Whitehead Lane and, after speaking to a homeowner there, decided I could walk round the locked gates here to the fields at the back of Astley Colliery.  I soon saw a number of people gathered at what looked like the probable viewing location and so I headed for them.  As it turned out, only one was a bider, Mike Baron, and the others were dog walkers interested in what he was doing.

Whilst waiting for the owl to put in an appearance, I chatted to Mike about Risley Moss and the area around Rixton Clay Pits which he knows very well - in fact he'd previously sent me an e-mail detailing what could be seen at different times of the year there. In my rush to get out, I'd left my binoculars at home and only brought my camera and tripod.  So after I'd set it up, I had to rely on Mike and his binoculars for looking into the distance.  A pair of Kestrels and a Grey Heron flew over as we looked.

We were soon joined by Pete Berry who had been the first to report the owl here and later by Pete Hilton.  It turns out that the first Pete had seen the bird in several fields around this area, sometimes down to just 10 metres.  Several Skylarks dropped down into the fields as we chatted about whether the owl had moved on or not. And then suddenly Mike spotted it as it landed on a post.

Short-eared Owl at Astley Green - not a great photo but the best I've got.

We had good views of this beautiful bird as it quartered the fields and hopped from one fence post to another.  Unfortunately, except for our first view of the bird, it was mainly flying away from us this evening and it didn't come close enough for me to get a decent photograph.  The best view I had was through Mike's spotting scope where I could see all the detail of it's feathers and that magnificent pair of bright yellow eyes.

Mike however got a great shot with his scope and digital compact camera (i.e. digiscope), much better than I've ever got woth my DSLR camera.  With the power of the scope at 30x magnification and the zoom on his camera, he got a pretty decent full frame shot of the bird which left me wondering if I was using the wrong equipment as the 500mm zoom lens on my DSLR is only 10x magnification.  Below is one of Mike's digiscoped photographs from this afternoon's session.

Short-eared Owl at Astley Green - copyright of Mike Baron

After an hour or so we decided the bird was not going to reappear any closer to us today and so headed off for home happily having had a good view.  As I got into my car two more birders were arriving and asked for details of where to view it from. And later in the evening Steve Burke messaged me to ask the same question, so I added the details to the Astley Moss map in my Where-2-See Birds website.

High Tide at Parkgate on the Wirral

After looking forward to it for a couple of months, today was the day I went to see a high tide at Parkgate on the Wirral.  I'd heard that it can be quite spectacular if the conditions are right, with lots of raptors chasing the many voles, mice, ground-nesting birds and other small mammals and rodents being flushed by the incoming tide.  Unfortunately, to the dismay of the large crowd of birders who had gathered here with the same intention as me, today wasn't to be one of those events.

It was positively grey and drizzly as I set off for the Wirral, but the forecast predicted decent weather and it became progessively better as the day wore on.  When I arrived at the car park on the site of the 'old baths' it was quite sunny, although there was a strong cold onshore breeze blowing into our faces.  I was told that high pressure weather systems (as currently in place over this part of the world) tend to suppress the tide and so we'd have to wait and see how far the 9.9m tide actually came in.  Not very far proved to be the answer.

The best sighting for the day for me came not long after I had got into a good position for observing the marshes - a Spoonbill (which has been here for most of the winter) flew very close by and I got a good view through my binoculars. At first I thought it was the Great White Egret which has also frequented this area recently, but when I looked through my bins its bill was unmistakable. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera out to get even a record shot.

I then went on a short walk down the shore led by two people from the RSPB and as the tide slowly came in flocks of birds could be seen taking off in the far distance, including Shelduck, Redshank and various Gulls through my spotting scope. I went on to to see a couple of ringtail Hen Harriers, a Peregrine Falcon, a Kestrel, a Sparrowhawk and a very distant Short-eared Owl being mobbed by a crow.  And that was about it for the raptors today, although there were also couple of Little Egrets on the marshes as well as plenty of Skylarks singing their hearts out.

Before I'd realised it people were starting to move off and it was over for this hide tide.  I have to admit to being more than a little disappointed that the water did not come further inland and with the number of birds I saw, but there'll always be another time.  And with this consoling thought I headed off up the west coast of the Wirral towards Thurstaston and West Kirby and then along the top through Hoylake and Leasowe towards my final destination of New Brighton in search of a Purple Sandpiper - see the next post for what happened here.

New Format

Now that I'm getting out a lot more often, I've decided that my 'quick visits' will be reported in just one post, rather than have a separate post for each trip.  In the last two weeks I've been to:

• Deeside Naturalists' Reserve in Flint with Jeff Cohen
• Denhall Lane, Burton on the Wirrall
• Dunham Massey Park in Cheshire
• The Wigan Flashes with Rob Thorpe
• Rindle Road and Moss Lane on Astley Moss
• Pennington Flash with Jon Taverner
• Hope Carr Nature Reserve

If you're wondering about the lack of photographs it's because I'm quite unhappy with the quality of what I'm producing at the moment.  Too see if there's a noticeable difference, I've started taking shots in RAW mode but these take a lot more processing and storage space.  As yet I haven't got anything I think is worth publication, but I will be putting some shots up to go with the write ups on some of the above trips. 

Bitterns and Owls

I had a great day out with John Conway from the 'Bring Nature To Life Forum' and his friend Steve today firstly at Mere Sands Wood and then at an undisclosed place fairly nearby to see the Bitterns and later the Short-eared Owls.

From Rufford Hide at Mere Sands Wood LWT one Bittern showed well at times (well, the longest and best views I've ever had) although it was a little too far off for me to take any worthwhile photos. All John's Bittern shots on the forum are way better than any I took today, but I wasn't disappointed as I had good views and learnt a lot about digital photography from both John and Steve.

If it wasn't for the nearby reserve staff trying to meet their grant quotas for removing unwanted vegetation, sometimes with a chainsaw, the bittern would probably have come a lot closer - it's a shame they didn't work on something else whilst the Bitterns are showing. John did briefly see a second Bittern today, but I missed it. There were also Goosander, GC Grebes, Coot, Teal, Moorhens, Grey Herons, Mallards, some distant Gulls and a Sparrowhawk around the pools, but unfortunately no Kingfisher today.

Then we went on to see the Short-eared Owls. For a long time they were a 'no show' and unfortunately Steve had to go before two eventually appeared, quartering the field for prey. Although the light was starting to fail, It was well worth the wait just to view them through my binoculars. They stayed around for a quite a while and flew past several times, but I only got a few record shots as I'm still learning how to shoot such fast moving birds. A little later a third bird briefly showed. Finally, we moved up the field to get some more views of the SEO's which had reappeared a little further away, and we were treated to a good few minutes of a couple of Barn Owls flying around - the icing on the cake!

Many thanks to John and Steve for a great day out - they were both very friendly and helpful to someone who is keen to learn about birding and bird photography (me!)

Cheers lads, hope to see you again sometime.

A Weekend in North Wales and Anglesey

Sarah and I had a great mini-break to parts of North Wales and Anglesey this weekend, at times meeting up with members of the Leigh Ornithological Society. Over the two days we visited the following places:

Spinnies Nature Reserve, Aberogwen, Bangor - a fantastic little place

• 2 Buzzards over as we drove towards Penrhyn Castle
• Red-breasted Merganser (lifer), Shelduck, Goldeneye, Great Crested Grebe and rafts of Wigeon on the estuary in front of the car park
• A single lost Tundra Bean Goose (lifer) in a nearby field amongst a load of Greylags
• Several Redshank in the same field
• Two Little Egrets flew over the field
• Snipe, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Little Grebe, Moorhen, Mallard, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, and Great Tit from Kingfisher Hide (but sadly no Kingfisher)
• Much the same at the Bird Hide with the exception of Snipe and with better views of a Little Egret and at least 3 Grey Herons
• Redshank on the edge of the water along the beach

Bangor Harbour Area - just a quick stop

• Single Greenshank
• Lots of Oystercatchers and Shelduck
• Greater Black-backed and Herring Gulls
• Mute Swans with juveniles

Red Wharf Bay South Side, Anglesey - another quick stop

• Lots of Curlew
• Oystercatchers
• Shelduck
• Distant Gulls (various)

Point Lynas, Anglesey - a fabulous location

• Male and female Stonechat (lifer) in gorse field on the approach road to the lighthouse
• Kestrel on telephone wire
• 2 Shags (lifer) and a single Cormorant on the sea
• Various Gulls, but mainly Herring and Black-backed Gulls

Holyhead Harbour, Anglesey - a very short morning walk

• A Song Thrush and a Chaffinch singing away in trees
• House Sparrows going inside the ruined old 'house'
• Lots of feral Pigeons in the old disused 'fort' building
• Not much else about on the harbour

Penrhos Nature Reserve, Holyhead, Anglesey - a brief stop on the way to Conwy RSPB

• Quite a few Bar-tailed Godwits along the water's edge
• Many Oystercatchers and Curlew on the mudflats along with some Shelduck
• Various Gulls

Conwy RSPB, North Wales - a good walk round which got better after a slow start

• Water very low in front of the coffee shop and nothing much about
• A pair of singing Dunnocks and a Robin in the Gorse along the paths but no Firecrest :furious:
• Red-breasted Merganser, Little Egret, Lapwing, Moorhen, Canada Goose on the larger pool seen from Carneddau Hide
• Many House Sparrows and Tits around the feeders near the gate to the car park
• Two Buzzards over the picnic tables
• At least 40-50 Curlew on the island in the larger pool (seen from viewpoint on the estuary)
• At least 30 to 40 Redshank in the same place
• A few Oystercatchers on the islands
• Not many Canada Geese
• A pair of Gadwall
• A small group of Teal singing on the estuary along with 20-30 Shelduck and a raft of around 10-15 Wigeon
• Around 20-25 Redshank on the shallow 'spit' on the Estuary
• Various distant Gulls on the river Conwy
• A single Grey Heron over

Great Orme, Llandudno (free car park halfway up)

• Lots of Jackdaw about
• A single Carrion Crow bowing and cawing on the picnic tables
• A small flock of Greenfinch around the Gorse bushes
• Not much else, although the wind was making it quite cold

Rhos-on-Sea, North Wales

• A beautiful pair of Eider Duck resting on one the rocky breakwaters
• Many Turnstones around the same rocks
• There were a few Oystercatchers about and a raft of 20-30 Wigeon whistling on the sea
• 2 Great Black-backed Gulls, 2 Pied/White Wagtail and 2 Rock Pipits on another breakwater
• Many distant Gulls on the golf course with a couple Coot on the ponds
• A small flock of Twite (lifer) (or perhaps Linnet, we couldn't decide which) was also flying around the golf course entrance

A great end to a fabulous weekend with my dearly beloved, who is now gradually getting into this birding lark. With a few others on the way, we saw a total of 57 species and 5 lifers (for me) over the short break.

UPDATE

After reading Henry Cook's post on the Manchester Birding Forum, it seems the Twite are more likely to be Linnet now, which means I only got 4 lifers this weekend - nevermind, I can live with that.

Moore Nature Reserve, Warrington

With the prospect of some better weather today, I paid my first visit to Moore Nature Reserve in Warrington. As well as a general recognisance visit to learn the lay of the land, I had three target birds in mind:

• Tawny Owl
• Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
• Bittern

These birds have all been reported recently on the Manchester Birding Forum thread for Moore.

On my way round today I saw the following birds:

• Greenfinch
• Treecreeper
• Robin
• Magpie
• Wigeon
• Tufted Duck
• Great Tit
• Blue Tit
• Gadwall
• Coot
• Moorhen
• Great Black-backed Gull
• Grey Heron (juvenile)
• Herring Gull
• Black-headed Gull
• Oystercatcher
• Starling
• Woodpigeon
• Shelduck
• Little Grebe
• Canada Goose
• Mallard
• Long-tailed Tit
• Great Spotted Woodpecker
• Buzzard
• Great Crested Grebe
• Teal
• Water Rail (heard only)
• Raven
• Cormorant
• Crow
• Goldfinch
• Jackdaw
• Tawny Owl
• Reed Bunting
• Jay
• Chiffchaff
• Oh and the back of a beautiful light brown fox as it ran away from the feeding station.

So 37 species on my first visit and one of my three target birds spotted - I can't be too disappointed with that can I?  But I'll be back .....

Note to Self

I need to write up the following trips:

• Horwich Moors and Moss Bank Park, Bolton
• Rixton Clay Pits Nature Reserve
• Captive and Ornamental Ducks outside Forester's Arms, Glazebrook

'Where-2-See Birds' Website Changes

After giving it some thought, I've decided to change direction slightly with my 'Where-2-See Birds' website. Instead of making it a place in which anyone can contribute their bird sightings by pinpointing them on a map, I'm going to use it to provide locations and useful details (such as suggested parking places and walking routes) purely for the entries in this blog.

From now on, many posts in this blog will have a link to the relevant map page in 'Where-2-See Birds'. So, if you want to know the location that a particular post is describing, just click on the location name in the body of the post (not the title) and you will be instantly transported to the map page.

Why not try it on the post below this one, or click here for a quick look at the Pennington Flash page for an example. But please note that 'Where-2-See Birds' is still under development and only some locations have fully completed maps at present - it's still a work-in-progress as they say.

Moss Lane and Rindle Road

As it was cold but sunny today, I decided to pop out mid afternoon to Moss Lane and Rindle Road, which is only ten minutes from where I live. I parked up at the last but one bend on Moss lane where there were at least 200 Jackdaws in and over the fields at around 3pm.  Large groups would regularly take off and head westwards, off to a roost somewhere in that direction.  

Whilst I was there I met another birder from Manchester in search of Grey Partridge.  We chatted for a long time about birds in the area and he gave me some good pointers to locations a little further afield, such as the pontoon which is covered in waders at New Brighton (Wirral) at high tide, and where and when to se the Hawfinches at Sizergh Castle car park. I did ask his name, but I'm afraid I've forgotten it - that's senility for you.

Whilst we chatted a female Sparrowhawk flew out of the trees and low over a field and there were quite a few Wood Pigeons around. We didn't see the Grey Partridge but a Mistle Thrush was in the field next to 'Cobs and Plods' riding school on the way to Rindle Road.

There was another large group (100+) of mixed Corvids (mainly Jackdaw) at the corner of Rindle Road and Nook lane, before they took off and landed in the trees behind.  As I drove down Rindle Road a Kestrel was sitting on the telephone wire outside Moss Bank Farm.

At the Rindle Road feeding station there were less birds than usual, but there were still some Tree Sparrows, Chaffinches, two Robins, a Great Tit and two Blue Tits - no Willow Tits though. I walked through Rindle Wood and around the SSSI trail but saw nothing of note. On the way back towards Rindle Hedge a group of 20 or so Linnets flew out of the hedge and into the ploughed field.  A Jay also flew over the field next to the ploughed field in which there were also three Pheasants.

But the best was left until last - a Treecreeper was showing well in the trees around the entrance to Rindle Wood. I've only seen one once before and have often looked for them to no avail, in spite of visiting many times.  This just shows you what birding is like - go for a nice walk and if you happen to see some birds that makes it even better!

Leighton Moss and Hest Bank

I took advantage of the sunshine and went up to Leighton Moss today.  I had a number of target birds to see and managed to see most of them, including:

• A Glossy Ibis in the field next to the one facing the chimney (not seen first thing in the morning but went back late afternoon and got it.)
• A Bittern which did quite a long flypast at the Public Hide
• A Redhead Smew showing quite well at Lillian's Hide
• A Little Egret at Griesdale Hide
• Marsh Tits, Nuthatch and Treecreeper in the woods to the right of Lillian's Hide (I've only seen them on the feeders previously)
• Two very tame Robins posing for photos
• Several Fieldfare in the woods on the way to the causeway
• I had distant views of two Otters playing in the pool to the left of Lillian's Hide.
• Lots of Greylag Geese about, especially in the field near the level crossing where there must have been 200 in the late afternoon
• Three Oystercatchers in another nearby field
• There were not so many of the usuals around except at the Public Hide - 2 Mute Swans, 1 Pintail, 1 Cormorant in the usual place, lots of Tufted Ducks and Coots, some Mallards and Moorhens - there's probably something I've missed

         The only thing I didn't get to see today were the Bearded Tits.  I didn't visit the Lower Hide or the Eric Morecambe and Allen Hides today.   

On the way home I paid a short visit to Hest Bank where I saw:

• Curlew
• Oystercatchers
• Many Redshank
• Sanderling
• A Grey Heron
• Lots of Lapwing
• Shelduck
• A Black-headed Gull treading mud and catching shrimp
• A large group of House Sparrows chattering away in the tree-tops

A good day out to what is becoming one of my favourite regions for birding. Some pictures to follow...