Alphabetical storms and Mo(o)re food for the Snipes...

Three weeks ago, the Forestry Commission hid here... 

...now this is all that's left... 

The reason? An argument between Eunice and Franklin over who would be the wolf and who would be the three little pigs. I have no idea who won, but somebody's 'huff and puff' did the job. Not only that, but they did a pretty good job on many of the trees along the north path too...

 

I'd returned after the early morning woodpecker extravaganza to walk the dog and take in Hillcrest Quarry - a part of the patch I had yet to hit up this year. I always have a bit of a buzz when I'm near the gorse, as it potentially provides a different habitat mix than the woody/watery norm of the reserve proper. It's also where I've had Linnet in the past and so I guess subconsciously, that was why we ended  there - that and a surfeit of D.absens (see previous blog). Ironically, of the finches that part of the patch throws up, hound and I got pretty much all of them, except Linnet. There were Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Bullfinch and Chaffinch singing and L.Redpoll over calling. Linnet though? Carduelis absens...

In fact, absence, it seemed, was the word of the day, as there were no raptors from the ironically named Raptor Watch View Point either...

...ah well, on the brighter side, there were 35 Tufty (largest count this year for me), 5 L.Grebe, 10 Wigeon and handfuls of Coot, Cormorant and Moorhen on Lapwing Lake...

...on the cloudier side, I lost ANOTHER pair of glasses to the Snipe (see previous blog), this time my rather nice white round-lensed prescription sunglasses. So if you're out and about and spot them, be a dear, keep them safe and drop me a comment... and in the meantime, I'll set about training the wee dog to sniff them out. Apparently, I am not the only donor to the Snipe foodbank... so who knows, we may find YOUR glasses...

Snipe 2 - 0 Mark

Dendrocopus absens...

 

At Moore, perhaps no bird is more appropriately named than the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus minor), for indeed it is not spotted often compared to its larger cousin, the Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major). Yesterday, word got out that a female LSW had been seen near the Feeding Station and predictably enough, this drew a small crowd early doors.

However, we were treated not to its demure delights, but instead, to cracking views of its much much commoner cousin, the Unspotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus absens).  The eight or so birders that were already on site when I arrived around 8:45, had been treated to spectacular views, as too, was I for the next hour and a half.

We paced in teams around the little triangle of trees by the boardwalk enjoying its silent invisibility from all angles and I even snapped it flitting about (below).

Nobody was confident enough to sex it, but I reckon the small silent flock feeding voraciously on homeopathic bugs and grubs in the treetops, among the singing Goldcrests and Treecreepers, numbered perhaps 6-7, mostly males judging from their weight (male Unspotteds are much heavier than females and so make the trees move more...). Regardless, and of course we could debate the validity of the latter assertion, I left the now 16 birders enjoying the sunshine, happy with my three year ticks - Greenfinch, Collared Dove and Sparrowhawk.

Marsh Tit!

That little chap above is a Marsh Tit... and these past couple of weeks there has been some talk on the patch about whether there's one knocking around Lapwing Lane and the Feeding Station, usually the haunt of Willow Tit. I had debated Marsh Tit records on the reserve with young Michael not long ago, and he was less sceptical than me on account of a photo he'd seen showing a potential bird with a white spot at the base of the bill and had, himself, one or two on the patch over the years. So, when a report of one singing popped up on the Manchester Bird Forum I decided to take advantage of a post-Eunice sunny window and investigate. Parked up the hill alongside the car park and set off...

Today was all about the ears... picked up the expected Great Tit, Blue Tit, Robin, Dunnock, Wren, Blackbird, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush... less expected Siskin (are these the flock from Pumphouse?), Redwing, Treecreeper, Goldcrest and a totally UNexpected Chiffchaff calling on Lapwing Lane... presumably an overwintering resident or one overwintering off-patch and blown in by Eunice. However, there was no calling OR singing Marsh Tit. 

Gadwall, Coot, Moorhen, Teal, Mallard all calling from Lapwing Lake and there were 30 Cormorant roosting already (it was only about 3pm)... but MT? Nada. At that point my sunny window came to an end and the sky got dark and heavy fast. Fearing a sudden downpour I headed back to the car and bumped into a lad and ladess in birding togs. "Owt about?" I ask... "Marsh Tit..." came the reply. "Really?" I queried, "Was it calling?" "Nope, but it showing well 10 minutes ago at the Feeding Station. A few female Brambling too." I thanked them and shot down.

The place was buzzing. There was a constant stream of Great Tit, Blue Tit and Chaffinch constantly rotating through the feeder in front of the screen along with occasional Robin, Coal Tit and Nuthatch. On the hanging feeders were Great-Spotted Woodpecker and Long-tailed Tit too and Teal, Mallard and Coot pottering around in the puddles - but, there were no Brambling and no Marsh Tit. Ah well, different species come and go at different rates I reasoned and so decided to hunker down and watch. I'm glad I did because the first new species in, about 15 minutes later was, a Willow Tit... followed 1 minute later by another and then 7 minutes later by another... but wait... this one looked different. Was that a pale spot at the base of its bill? It shot off into the trees to my right and I lost it. For the next hour I watched as a pattern began to emerge and I could get more and more on the 'odd' bird. There seemed to be just two Willow Tit. They came in from the back of the feeding station, always from the left in quick succession and returned to the same trees. The 'odd' bird always came from the right and at different times to the other two. I managed to get good views of all of them and concluded the 'two' were likely a pair, clearly Willow Tit, pale on the wing, dull black cap, slightly 'fuzzy' bibs, no bill spots, fattish-necked, whereas the solitary bird has an almost shiny black cap and nape (the black extending more too), no pale patch on the wing, had a dinkier neater bib, seemed less compact and had a distinct pale spot at the base of the upper mandible. Sadly none of them called, so I can't confirm Marsh Tit on call or song, but I'm pretty confident that I can on all the rest. Was able to compare birds in relatively quick succession and in similar light ranging from shade to bright sunlight, so, please, if you're at Moore... keep your eyes (and ears!) peeled and comment me here if you get any records...

Proper chipper and still a little incredulous at the Marsh Tit (the presence on the patch of which I had stubbornly refused to accept up until now), I decided to extend my stay (the weather had brightened) and chance my luck at finding a few year ticks... the Marshy, the earlier Treecreeper and itinerant Chiffchaff being three. Quick check of the trees by the capped tip path, north of the Feeding Station yielded 2 female Brambling. A quick tromp around the boardwalks could not however conjure up a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and I don't know of any records at all for 2022 yet... but I did get a motionless, squirrel-shaped plastic bag hung in a small willow... that actually turned out to be a motionless squirrel (above). I was convinced it was dead and had somehow become 'impaled' in the willow, until I shook the tree and the thing bolted. So, with Lapwing Lane done, I thought, why not see the sun go down at the east end? Always a chance of flitty stuff in the alders alongside Pumphouse, Mill Brook and the Eastern Reedbed. Alas, not today... unless you count Cetti's Warbler, singing briefly at ERB. Mind you, I did finally get calling Water Rail - a late bonus 4th year tick. The river again however, yielded no Goosander, but Firecrest Alley came up trumps...

It was the first time this year I have walked it, preferring usually to skirt the high ridge to look out over the Black Fields and their pools - but not today. There was enough twittering in the Hawthorns for an illusive finch or crest and enough potential in the ditches for flushed Snipe to keep me on the path. Alas just Great Tit, Blue Tit and Robin... oh, and a heavy sigh from me as I passed the bench near where Long-eared Owl used to regularly roost during the winter before the photographers scared them off... ho hum. And as I neared the steps at the far end, I thought that was that, until a Woodcock flitted across the path and disappeared into the wet woods. Year tick number 5 and from the same spot as I'd had one donkey's years ago - go figure...

Pumphouse Pool was next up and despite scanning the mud, no Snipe there either - just the usual (see previous posts recently). Was getting dark so headed off, bumping into a chap called Ian en route who'd had Redpoll earlier (doh) with the small Goldfinch flock that flew in as we watched. Still, Goldfinch was No.6 for me and I got the Redpoll on a quick backtrack later (No.7) so all was good. Took the south path through Birchwood back to the car, picking up 1 male and 2 female Goldeneye on Birchwood Pool... and a bunch of fallen trees from storm Eunice.

 

All in all though, a great couple of hours today - full tally below 51 spp.

GC.Grebe, L.Grebe, M.Swan, C.Goose, Mallard, Gadwall, Shoveler, Teal, Tufty, Goldeneye, Buzzard, Pheasant, Coot, Moorhen, Water Rail, Woodcock, BH.Gull, H.Gull, C.Gull, W.Pigeon, S.Dove, G.Woodpecker, GS.Woodpecker, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, S.Thrush, M.Thrush, Redwing, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Chiffchaff, Cetti's Warbler, Goldcrest, G.Tit, B.Tit, LT.Tit, C.Tit, W.TiT, M.Tit, Chaffinch, Bullfinch, Siskin, Goldfinch, L.Redpoll, Brambling, Crow, Magpie, Jay, Jackdaw

Year List to date, now 73 - starting to look up, but waaaaay off the usually hoped for ton ahead of the first migrants...

The Monkey Birds of Runcorn...

 

I was out a couple of weeks back, late at night in Runcorn, near my house giving the wee boy his pre-sleep walk when I heard cackling above me. It was not a sound I recognized and on looking up was met with a coven of these things settling in for the night - Monkey Birds, or at least that's what they looked like when I checked the above photo on my phone when I got indoors.

In total there were 13 of them and they were there just for the one night. The question was, what on earth were they? I had to know. Now perhaps, YOU can tell from the pix, but I certainly couldn't and their glowing eyes and owl monkey-ish appearance got me guessing. And before you leap in with... they're owls, really? Think again - they are NOT owls. Neither are they native to this country... and I had never before seen them in a tree!

It reminded me of a different occasion in which an expected species turned up in an unexpected place and momentarily threw me completely. My friend and I were in Scotland hunting for this beauty...

We lived there at the time and had been tipped off about a couple of possible lekking sites and so went for a tromp up a steep Heather and Blaeberry slope to some semi-natural Scots Pine habitat where a male had been calling for a few days. We kept our ears peeled for the characteristic 'knife-sharpening & champagne cork-popping' song to no avail and after an hour or so, headed somewhat disappointed back down the slope at which point there was a loud whoosh as a bird the size of a turkey skimmed our heads and clattered off down into the valley. It had been high up in a Scots Pine unseen by us until it decided to hop ship and skedaddle. We had NOT expected that. Nowhere in the field guides does it say "Oh, and don't forget to check the trees!" Thankfully we got the same chap showing off to three females among the pines a week or so later, but it just goes to show - one can be caught off guard.

Back to the Monkey Birds. So, in that 'what are they doing up there' mindset in combination with their non-native status and the fact that yesterday they were feeding on the grass... and there were only four of them... you can perhaps understand why it took me a second visit with a torch to confirm what they were.

Perhaps a silhouette will satisfy the curious... 

How easily we forget...

 

Well, I managed an hour on the patch today and saw sod all...but I did add TWO to my Moore life list? Now how is that possible? Failing memory and a good chew on some patch fat with my fellow patcher, young Michael - that's how.

Bumped into each other near the Eastern Reedbed. I was on my way to check for Water Rail, finches along the path, Goosander on the river and anything on the Black Fields... he had already done the east end and found zilch. The place was dead. So instead of yonking the loop, we sat at Pumphouse at Colin's Screen (it can no longer be called a hide) and chewed the proverbial. Wasn't long before days of yore were on the menu and those birds still yet to get. Now, the Mullster's patch list is longer than mine, without a doubt, he had after all been working it long before I came along... and so conversation ambled into birds I have still to get. One of which is this little chap...

So, I was rueing not yet having had Little Gull when I was reminded that I had, so I checked my blog and bugger me, he was right! I'd had one on Birchwood Pool. Here's the very bit from 'Little Things...' my blog of Sunday April 1st 2012... and yes the irony of the date is not lost on me!

"There was already a bloke at the west hide when I arrived and we chatted briefly until... hang on... what's that... bloody hell LITTLE Gull. A gorgeous adult not yet with its summer black hood was hawking for insects in the sunlight with elegant dips and flutters above the pool.  Smokey underwing, delicately rounded wingtips, lightest most bouyant flight... beautiful. Quickly gave Mully a ring who was down in about 5 minutes flat and who then began the round of calls and texts to other patchers. This was apparently the first Little Gull for the reserve itself, the only other records coming from Halfway House."

Slightly worrying how the old memory fades... even more so when I asked him about the Richard's Pipit records for the reserve (his memory far exceeds my own...). He'd had one or two and looked a little surprised at my envy... "Well you had one too..." he said. I did? Then in a bizarre epiphany a flash of a record whizzed past 'Eastern Reedbed!' I remembered. Well, I wasn't far off it was actually Mill Brook Pool on December 1st 2009... and I had blogged about that too! Maybe I should go back and read my own blogs lol. Here's the entry...

Dec 1st – Richard's Pipit NNW over Millbrook Pool mid-morning - calling "schriiip". Heading toward capped tip. Large pipit, long tail, pale underside. Long undulating flight. Called twice. 

I have no idea if I submitted it to CAWOS (I used to do crazy things like that back in the day before one too many rejections after which I thought... 'D'ya know what? F**k it! I know what I saw. Your approval is not necessary...', nor if I did, whether it was accepted - I'm guessing not. Either hoo, it's mine and I'm having it...

The Fast & Furious XVII...

 

If you watch the Fast & Furious movies, you'll know that one of the major tenets of the various stories is 'the quarter mile' - the distance the various protagonists race to demonstrate the speed of their cars and their Machismo or Marianismo (yes, I didn't know there was a female equivalent either...) and so today, I did the quarter mile at Moore - on foot.

I had very little time and it was as much about grabbing a dry window to let the wee boy have a run with his favourite blue ball, as seriously looking for patch ticks. If I got any, bonus, but to be honest it was nice to get out in the fresh air for a bit. So, we parked up near Pumphouse and ambled up to the East Hide (Colin's), picking up what little there was in between scuffing said blue ball along the track and through the puddles so that the pooch could get wet and muddy and then hopefully snooze later.

The first thing we heard and saw were 13 Siskin and 7 Redwing in the alders near the gate to the Eastern Reedbed, along with a few Blue Tits, calling Long-tailed Tits and a single singing Goldcrest. Along the path past the Green Woodpecker view point sign that looks out over a scrubby area with pines on the east shore of Pumphouse, we got one 'yaffling' together with a Great Spotted Woodpecker 'chekking' in the distance, 2 Herring Gull and 2 Carrion Crow over west.

There were zero surprises on Pumphouse itself, although I forgot to 'predict' Shoveler, Moorhen and Grey Heron in my previous dismissal of a site visit this week on account of the weather... what was I thinking...

Pumphouse Pool (east hide) - 26 Gadwall, 6 Mallard, 14 Tufted Duck, 3 Shoveler, 15 Coot, 8 Black-headed Gull. 1 Grey Heron, 3 Moorhen

... and that was pretty much that. No Greenfinch. No Goldfinch. No Linnet. No Redpoll. Where ARE all the finches??

The Alpaca Cocktail Bar...

The other day we headed to Crosthwaite to run some robotics at a primary school there where we were unexpectedly met by the local Alpacas. It was strange to see them up in the lakes, peering over a dry-stone wall and making little chunnering noises, but it struck me afterwards how much MORE strange it must be for them, looking out over the Cumbrian landscape at the Crows, Magpies, Buzzards and local Robins, instead of their Andean neighbours.

Now of course, I'm romanticizing here... these particular Alpacas are no doubt, as English as you or I, bred in captivity somewhere and now happily pottering around in the English countryside, unlike their native cousins 6000 miles away in the Andes... but it got me thinking...

...if not Crows, Magpies, Buzzards and Robins then what? What sights and sounds were our Anglicized friends in the north missing out on? Stick them on a flight to meet the relatives and what birds might they encounter in their home country?

Sadly, I have yet to hit the Bolivian Altiplano or its neighbouring environs where Alan the Alpaca may naturally hang out and so I've had to rely on the Interweb for gobbits of curious information. Apparently, 23  bird species have the prefix Andean, namely; avocet, condor, coot, crested duck, duck, emerald, flamingo, flicker, goose, guan, gull, hillstar, lapwing, motmot, potto, siskin, solitaire, swallow, swift, teal, tinamou and tit-spinetail...

Curiosity aroused! What on earth is a Tit-Spinetail?? Well, it's one of these... an Ovenbird. Handsome wee crittur! And in case you're wondering, they get their name from the resemblance their covered nests have to Dutch ovens...

... and what indeed is the difference between a Eurasian Siskin and an Andean one? Answer: this...

 

However, it was two particular Andean species that caught my eye - both sounded like they were on the menu of a Cocktail bar to me and I had no idea what either looked like... I give you the Andean Negrito and the Subtropical Doradito.

The first is made by mixing tiny amounts of Gin, Sweet Vermouth, Campari and Orange Juice and the second by toasting ground maize, vegetable oil and salt and shaping the mix into snack-sized flat triangle-shaped Tortilla crisps. The resultant birds are rather splendid, especially the wee Doradito, whose name in Spanish means 'Little Fried and Golden Thing'! More apt perhaps for its contracted cousin, the Dorito.

 

                              Andean Negrito                                         Subtropical Doradito

... and I leave you with perhaps the saddest and most non-descript birdy epithet from the region (presumably the equivalent of the British 'Little Brown Job') and a bird that looks like the love-child of a Bullfinch and Dunnock,  the ambivalently name Plain-colored Seedeater. Aw, bless...

Rainy Kibosh, the Kybalion and Migrant Relish...

The weather has played havoc with my patch plans. I was all set to hit it early today and then the weather started and so I kicked the patch can down the road - there's always tomorrow, I thought... 

I was wrong. A quick check of local conditions and... it's going to rain all week...

What to do? Now, I have no issue with rain... it is after all the water of life and all that, plus if you tog up, the dampness penetrates not... no, the issue is that birds don't like it very much, or at least, they're tricky to see and if you throw in some wind, tricky to hear as well in bad weather. Water birds, not so much. 'As above, so below' or rather 'as below, so above', not the old Hermetic axiom, but the reality of being a duck. What's the difference if it rains? The bottom half is wet already...  Trouble is, from a patch year tick perspective, Goosander is about the only such wet weather bird I need - the rest are likely to be tucked away on a pool or river bank or hunkered down in a bush or tree somewhere this week. 

Part of me (the smallest part) still fancies braving the weather and taking a peak, if only to confirm the above, but I'd be happier to do that if the damn hides had lids on. Only Birchwood does these days and I'm not a huge fan of it truth be told. I'm not sure why, but I always favoured Pumphouse on a rainy day. Perhaps because it was quieter, or perhaps because a wader might drop in. Then again, at this time of year you can pretty well guarantee just Coot, Moorhen, Tufties, Mallard, Gadwall and Black-headed Gull - hardly worth the trek. Ah well, spring is around the corner... Now that IS something to relish... spring passage and the arrival of summer migrants.

The first hints, apart from overwintering Chiffchaff and Blackcap starting up their song (haven't heard any this year) or the trill of a Common Sandpiper on the river or Manchester Ship Canal, are typically Wheatear and Sand Martin. I usually pick up my first birds along the ship canal - Wheatear in the fields by the warehouses on the far shore or the fields on Upper Moss Side and Sand Martin over the ship canal or the pools. Middle of March onwards will probably see them turn up. That's only 4 weeks away. It's also worth checking the MSC fields for Ring Ouzel too, albeit a week or two later, when the early Sand Martins are likely to be joined by the first Swallows and a week after that by the first Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs. Sandwich Terns start arriving back on our coasts too around the end of March-ish, so you never know...

Most of the action though kicks off in April. House Martins arrive early on with Blackcap and are quickly followed by Sedge Warblers, Reed Warbler, Grasshopper Warbler and Whitethroat, with Garden Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat joining the party later. Swift and Cuckoo arrive about mid-month and if there are to be patch Garganey, Osprey, Whinchat, Hobby, Tree Pipit, Yellow Wagtail or 'other' terns... April is as good a time as any to keep eyes and ears peeled for a first stab at these patch irregulars. This year I'm staking out the fields around the Balloon Hut on Upper Moss Side - I'll put money on it that Great Grey Shrike turn up there more frequently than we realize, the two patch records both being in April.

Quite fancy a Black Tern too. They do show up locally, but we've not had one at Moore. Maybe this year... Flycatchers too are thin on the ground, with just a few patch records of Spotted Flycatcher and I think just the one record for Pied Flycatcher in the last 20 years? Woodland species such as the latter, along with Redstart and Wood Warbler are 'blue moon' birds at Moore, but you never know. Based on my long stint at Halfway House ages ago, I reckon stuff is moving through all the time... just need to be on the patch as much as possible to pick things up. That used to be easier than it is now - more people regularly worked the patch and shared news... these days, I know of just two... and one of those, I've never met! Ah well, if you DO patch at Moore, drop me a comment, the mo(o)re of us looking, the more we'll find ;)

THE Moore LISTS... 20 years of birds

 

Let's face it, if you're a birder, you're also a lister... These may simply be quick tallies in a notebook or, if you're like me, colour-coded spreadsheets. I have always kept lists... life lists, year lists, site lists and at one point even a somewhat creepily voyeuristic 'birds I've seen mating' list, a 'birds I've seen while taking a leak' list and the rather obscure, 'birds I've seen whilst standing on one leg and looking through the wrong end of my scope' list - the latter was rather short. However, that was then and this is now and these days, having given up twitching over a decade ago, I keep just three lists - all of them from Moore. The lists I now keep are (i) my year list (ii) my life list and (iii) a Moore MASTER LIST that records all species seen by anybody that I know about. The latter is, because I don't have access to ALL records from Moore necessarily probably incomplete, however I think it contains the majority of species recorded at the site. If you have others, please DO comment them below as I'd like to come up with as definitive a list as possible...

Lets' look first at YEAR LISTS. If you click on the blog links you'll find several of these from the past and a running total of the current list on the right-hand side of the main page. Currently it stands at a paltry 66 and so I'm a long way off my best year where I was ONE short of the magical 140 species and 10 short of the reported patch year record of 149, although I read that in a forum and can't personally attribute it to anyone, nor find any online confirmation. If that is a real tally, who's is it? Answers in the comments please...

140 is certainly a good target to aim for if you're a Moore patcher, but that kind of ballpark tally was in days of old when the dump was still open and you could get 8-10 species of gulls, when LSW was a regular, hence 3 woodpeckers were easy and when Long-eared Owl roosted every year, both Little Owl and Barn Owl bred on site and SEO was a winter regular on Norton Marsh. In addition, to get close to a 140, you'd need a cracking few passage sessions to pick up waders at Halfway House, which can yield 18+ species in a good year. On top of that you need all the migrants and a good sprinkling of irregular species to come close. Even with all that, I never quite managed it, which is strange given that 50 spp days are a regular thing for me at Moore... they just happen, I guess, to be mostly the same 50 species lol. Cut to the present day and at the moment, even breaking 100 looks challenging... however, the patch is full of surprises and my gut is telling me my final year tally will be either 117 or 125. We shall see...

My LIFE LIST is a little better... emphasis on little. It stands at 152. Adding new species is hard and I'm lucky to add 1 or 2 every few years, such is the way of things and it's perhaps not surprising, because my best estimate of the MOORE MASTER LIST for the reserve, based on the past 20 years is somewhere around 181 species. So I'm missing 29. When you see the list (below), you'll appreciate the challenge of growing a patch life list when you've missed historical birds and new stuff only turns up once in a blue moon. SO, here's what I DON'T have that other DO have (lucky them), according to the records...

White-fronted Goose, Lesser White-fronted Goose, Ruddy Shelduck, Mandarin Duck, Red-crested Pochard, Ring-necked Duck, Common Scoter, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-winged Pratincole, Kittiwake, Ring-billed Gull, American Herring Gull, Caspian Gull, Arctic Tern, Great Skua, Glossy Ibis, Sacred Ibis, Great White Egret, Osprey, Hobby, Honey Buzzard, Rough-legged Buzzard, Black Kite (I put it down to a string at the time, so didn't bother going for it - doh!), Ring-necked Parakeet, Marsh Tit, Bearded Tit, Wood Warbler, Yellow-browed Warbler, Pied Flycatcher

Seek and ye shall find......

 

Today I had a few hours, so figured I'd do an early morning on the patch to try to add to the rather poor current year list (I guess it's only Feb...) and in particular try for a few of the flitty ticks, in particular the patch quartet of; Willow Tit, Brambling, Goldcrest and Stonechat. All are typically get-able each year, but are rather hit and miss. There ARE places to go for them (with the exception surprisingly of Goldcrest that just turns up here and there), but there are never guarantees and two of them, Brambling and Stonechat, are winter ticks, so need to be nailed early on. SO, plan was to start at the Feeding Station and then either head to Halfway House or take a more direct route to the river by way of the north. Arrived at the Feeding Station at 07:35 and... sod all! I mean literally ne pas de sausage... 

Hmmm, well maybe nothing's that hungry... either that or not up yet. Mind you, the tables did look a little empty... Gave it 20 mins and with still nothing at all there, I left for the river via the back path to Birchwood, hoping to flush a Snipe or Woodcock - no luck.

Got Tawny Owl calling and a Common Buzzard but that was about it. Mind you, the sunrise more than made up for the lack of birds...

However, that lack did not last long and a single calling Redshank sounded the starting pistol for a flurry of patch-tivity; 30 Golden Plover, 190 Lapwing, 14 Redshank, 2 Oystercatcher, 2 Great Black-backed Gull, 5 Lesser Black-backed, 12 Herring Gull, 1 Common Gull and ~200 Black-headed Gull. Checked them all in case there was a Med lurking... there was not. Elsewhere on the river were Canada Goose, Gadwall, Wigeon, Mallard, Shelduck, Grey Heron and Cormorant. Kestrel over (male) was a year tick. The two singing Cetti's Warbler were a lovely bonus too,  but the star of the show was a male Stonechat, flitting among the reeds... 

 

By this point my leaking boots (NTS: buy new boots idiot!) were soaked through and so I headed for drier ground... namely a second go at the Feeding Station. I was curious if it was just a time thing or an 'empty' feeder thing. It was a time thing! Unlike earlier, now, an hour later, the place was alive... most notably with Grey Squirrels - there were FIVE raiding the feeders...

This did not, however, put off the birds... Chaffinch, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Robin and Nuthatch were constant visitors and later joined by Great Spotted Woodpecker (f)  and Coal Tit. Had heard Green Woodpecker earlier from the same spot... so nice to get two pecker species. Decided to give the feeders another 5 minutes and was glad I did - gorgeous views of Willow Tit. Now, every so often somebody claims to have had Marsh Tit at the feeders... no disrespect, but I'd be surprised. There haven't as far as I'm aware been any confirmed sightings of Marsh Tit on the reserve. Claims, yes... verifiable, repeat unequivocal sightings - not as far as I know. No doubt someone will correct me if I'm wrong... and if you do, please point me to the record(s) - thanks*

So that was two of my 'sought four' nailed. Sadly though, the one I really wanted at the Feeding Station was Brambling as it's the only place they tend to turn up and a female had been knocking around last month - alas, not today.

Next up was Goldcrest and maybe Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Goldfinch. Best chances in the trees along the track past Pumphouse Pool to the Eastern Reedbed. Parked up alongside Pumphouse and did a quick check of the pool - nothing noteworthy. Checked all the trees bordering its south side - quiet as the grave... and then I remembered how the waste ground behind me, used to be good for finches and also how there had been a report of Goosander (another needed year tick) from the Manchester Ship Canal beneath the rail bridge. I wonder if I might combine the two? Was there a way in? Yes there was!

...and it led to the canal...

 

Interesting... and not a path I had trodden. How strange. All those years working the site and this was a new bit to me! Go figure. Sadly the waste ground yielded nothing... it has become as waterlogged as much of the reserve and despite the promising looking Juncus patches and underfoot wet moss and shallow puddles there were not, alas, any Snipe hidden away, nor Woodcock haunting the margins - I know coz I yomped it in a zig-zag... as you do. BUT, there were 36 Redwing in the bordering trees and the views of the canal were worth the added wetness. No Goosander there today, just Moorhen, Coot, Gadwall, Mallard and Cormorant, but I can easily see how regular winter checks may indeed yield them. Maybe a Grey Wagtail too, so I'll be checking more often. What the stroll east along the canal did produce though, was Goldcrest! The last bird I though I'd get there.

Well, three out of four wasn't bad. Headed back to the car quite content. Had added a few more to the year list and felt awake and alive. Drove slowly back past the warehouses towards Lapwing Lane checking the rooftops for Pied Wagtail, with no luck and was just passing the Gatehouse when something flitted across the road and landed in a bush by the style. Finch. Stopped the car and got my bins on it. WTF? It was only a female Brambling... maybe even THE female Brambling that had previously been recorded at the Feeding Station. But what was it doing here? I watched as it flitted back over the road to the Gatehouse. Puzzle solved! There's a little feeding station tucked away by the gatehouse, beneath a large Cypress tree (I think it's a Cypress)... and there she was with the Chaffinches, Great Tits, Robins and Blue Tits... well hooda thunkit?  What's that saying? 'Seek and ye shall find?' Well ain't that a Universal truth. 54 species for the day... 10 year ticks, bringing the still paltry tally (though less so than a day ago) to 66 species. 

Now the work begins... still plenty to play for ahead of the migrants; Little Egret, Greylag Goose, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine, Merlin, Water Rail, Common Snipe, Jack Snipe, Woodcock, Collared Dove, Kingfisher, Skylark, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Fieldfare, Treecreeper, Rook, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Linnet, Lesser Redpoll, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Goosander... that's 24 species I need - time to get serious ;)

* ADDENDUM - well, just had a dm from a birdy chum who reckons there have been records of Marsh Tit... about 4 of them, on the 'pitchu' call or song... good enough for me. Also, more recently, said birder, let's call him Dave for consistency and anonymity as per some of my previous blogs, has seen a photo of possible Marsh Tit from the Feeding Station showing that pale upper mandible dot... hmmm... eyes and ears peeled then ;)