Lancashire Birding (4 Viewers)

[WyreWader]

I had a very enjoyable day out with a photographer pal yesterday round a few local haunts, starting with: -

Stanley Park, where the sightings included 3 x Great spotted Woodpeckers, two pairs of Treecreepers (could've been the same pair twice though), 4 Great crested Grebes, about half a dozen each of Pochard, Shoveler & Tufted Duck & about a dozen Grey Herons @ the heronry.

It was then onto Marton Mere where we managed to locate (with more than a little help) 2 of the Long eared owls, the mere was fairly quiet, even Teal numbers seemed well down, we saw male & female Goldeneye, 1 x Great spotted woodpecker at the feeding station where, as usual, there were also plenty of Reed Buntings, about half a dozen Cormorant, 2 x Great crested Grebes.

We them moved onto Pilling for the SEO's & spotted at least 4 Kestrels in the area, 20+ Curlew & one (possibly two) Short eared owl. All in all some very good sightings on a day when photography would've been much easier had we had a bit of sunshine.

Cheers

Cliff

 

[NickPatel92]

Great SEO pics Cliff. very jealous cos havent connected with them yet. Also Great website Cliff.

 

[mikfoz]

Lovely pics there , Cliff.

You say you had difficulty finding the LEOs at Marton Mere. Does this mean they've moved from their usual haunt up by the bridlepath?

 

[WyreWader]

Great SEO pics Cliff. very jealous cos havent connected with them yet. Also Great website Cliff.

Crikey Nick, I thought you'd disappeared off the face of the earth |8.|

If you want to see the SEO's you best get there soon as apparently they'll be moving to moorland to breed in the next couple of weeks. If you need directions pm me.

You say you had difficulty finding the LEOs at Marton Mere. Does this mean they've moved from their usual haunt up by the bridlepath?

No Mik, they've not moved, I'm just hopeless at finding them, I think they use some sort of Romulan cloaking device when I'm looking for them, fortunately the last couple of times I've been some kindly birders have pointed them out to me after the owls have de-cloaked.

 

[NickPatel92]

thought you'd disappeared off the face of the earth

not disappeared :-O just gave bf a rest for a while

 

[Geoff Pain]

Spent the morning at Leighton Moss hoping for the Smew(no luck)but did manage to see Bittern,apparently the one thats just been released there.All the usual stuff plus a nice pair of Bullfinches on the feeders.

 

[derekg]

Birthday Birding

Decided to take the day off (Birthday & Half Term) and head off to somewhere different.

Started at a couple of RSPB sites in the Wirral area or would have if we could have found them. No sign posts and as they don't show post codes on the website my sat nav was pretty useless.

Undeterred we headed for Marine Lake to see if there was anything to see there and we weren’t disappointed with sightings of cormorant,pied wagtail, black headed gull, herring gull, redshank, curlew, shellduck a lone whooper swan , oyster catcher and a grey heron.

Next we headed for Hoylake, have heard a lot of talk about the area but this being our first visit we where unsure of where to go so just drove the coast road. Luck was with us as we took a wrong turning down towards Wirral Caravan Park and saw 15+ black tailed godwit and 2 whimbrel. Both lifers for the pair of us.

We then decided to head to somewhere we did know and a drive under the Mersey (eventually) brought us to Marshside.
Canada geese, mute swan, 3 cormorant, 20+ Teal, 2 black tailed godwit, 10+ pochard, 2 little egret, grey herron, little grebe, sky lark, Widgeon, 5+ pintail, 5+ tufted duck and 15+ shovler.
No sign of the green winged teal but it had been showing in the morning along with a short eared owl.

Last stop was Martin Mere and as soon as we sat down in the ron barker hide 2 marsh harrier appeared and where showing the full 2 hours we stopped. We also saw pink footed geese, whooper swan, 2 buzzard, 2 ringed plover, ruff and lapwing as well as the usual.

So all in all not a bad day


Derek

 

[derekg]

did manage to see Bittern,apparently the one thats just been released there

It was found just up the road from where I live but the first I heard about it was the other night on the news!

 

[WyreWader]

Half an hour at Marton Mere (Blackpool) this afternoon produced sightings of about 30 Tufted Ducks & likewise 30+ Wigeon, only a handful of Teal, Shoveler & Pochard, 6 Cormorant, 2 Great crested Grebes & 3 Mute Swan, oh - & lots of gulls.

Cheers

Cliff

 

[oncebittern]

Morning all.

I'm hoping to get to Marton Mere for the first time over the weekend, probably Sunday, with the intention of spotting some owls. I've never been there before, and have no idea where to start looking, so if anyone can give me a few pointers, it would really be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Steve.

edit: Yesterday at Warton Crag gave great views of a Peregrine perched high on the crag face, whilst a quick visit (10 minutes) to Leighton Moss gave me my first Marsh Tit of the year.

Also had a super close up view of a pair of cock pheasants on the path to the sea hides at LM; beak to beak, with heads bobbing up and down. Obviously sizing each other up, and so engrossed in what they were doing that they hardly budged as I approached them, and I got to within a couple of feet before they decided to leave. Fascinating to hear them at close range, almost 'growling' at one another.

 

[Stephen Dunstan]

They are in the north west corner best viewed from the bridlepath by the golf course. I recommend looking for birders looking at them, failing that look for where there is a mud area on the grass where people have been standing.

Stephen.

Morning all.

I'm hoping to get to Marton Mere for the first time over the weekend, probably Sunday, with the intention of spotting some owls. I've never been there before, and have no idea where to start looking, so if anyone can give me a few pointers, it would really be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Steve.

edit: Yesterday at Warton Crag gave great views of a Peregrine perched high on the crag face, whilst a quick visit (10 minutes) to Leighton Moss gave me my first Marsh Tit of the year.

Also had a super close up view of a pair of cock pheasants on the path to the sea hides at LM; beak to beak, with heads bobbing up and down. Obviously sizing each other up, and so engrossed in what they were doing that they hardly budged as I approached them, and I got to within a couple of feet before they decided to leave. Fascinating to hear them at close range, almost 'growling' at one another.

 

[oncebittern]

They are in the north west corner best viewed from the bridlepath by the golf course. I recommend looking for birders looking at them, failing that look for where there is a mud area on the grass where people have been standing.

Stephen.

Thanks Stephen - you've probably saved me hours of searching...in vain no doubt

 

[mikfoz]

I might be up there myself on Sunday.

If you're definitely going up there give me an ETA via PM and I'll show you where they are, as long as they don't let us down by migrating back to Scandinavia or something.

 

[Stephen Dunstan]

Thanks Stephen - you've probably saved me hours of searching...in vain no doubt

When I said north west I meant north east, but if you can meet Mick on site that will clearly help.

(Mick - you weren't there last Sunday afternoon in a dark coat rather than a red one were you. Looked like a Border Terrier...)

Stephen.

 

[WyreWader]

Following on from Mik's & Stephen's posts, if I've got my bearings right I think roughly where I've put the arrows on the attached plan of the mere is where you need to be looking.

A quick edit - I've just added an aeriel photo too, with a red circle showing the area you need to concentrate on, I dunno what the mention of the Irish sea is all about, maybe they're getting ready for the change in sea levels triggered by climate change?

 

[oncebittern]

Cheers guys - you're all being very helpful; its appreciated :t:

Mik, thanks for the offer, but there are several other factors in play that day, so I really have no idea what time I'll arrive. If you want to PM me your mobile number, maybe I could give you a ring when I get on site, and if you happen to be there too, then we could meet up?

 

[Johnny1]

A visit to Martin Mere this morning produced Hen Harrier, Marsh Harrier, 16 Avocet, 30+ Ruff, 1 Black Tailed Godwit, 3 Ringed Plover, 4 Curlew, 2 Buzzard, Kestrel, 1000+ Pinkfeet and at least 800 Whoopers pluss all the usual Teal, Pintail, Widgeon, Pochard etc. and all before midday!

 

[ColonelBlimp]

A visit to Martin Mere this morning produced Hen Harrier, Marsh Harrier, 16 Avocet, 30+ Ruff, 1 Black Tailed Godwit, 3 Ringed Plover, 4 Curlew, 2 Buzzard, Kestrel, 1000+ Pinkfeet and at least 800 Whoopers pluss all the usual Teal, Pintail, Widgeon, Pochard etc. and all before midday!

I saw something similar from an RBA report from Martinmere, and let's just say me being cooped up here doing a bit of patch-working I'm very slightly envious!

 

[Johnny1]

33 Avocets reported at Martin Mere today, if the numbers keep increasing they'll be having a record breaking year.

 

[derekg]

Spent a couple of hours up at Martin Mere this afternoon and managed to see 27 of the avocets reported by Johny1

Sightings included Teal, Widgeon, Pintail, Shellduck, Greylag and Pinkfooted Geese, Heron, Gadwall, Redeshank, Ruff, Ringed Plover 6, Curlew, Black Tailed Godwit, Oyster Catcher, Marsh Harrier 2, Merlin, Buzzard 6, Kestrel, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Blue and Great Tit, Tree Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Reed Bunting, Cormorant, and Whooper Swan.

Our local pair of Oyster Catcher returned this week. They have bred for the past 3 years near by, not sure where but can be heard most mornings and evenings. Was a suprise when we first saw them as the area is not known for its waders. Will post some photo's as soon as I can get some.

Derek