31st january

Weather; Cold occasional showers wind force 5.

Grey Wagtail GC

A very quiet day at the lighthouse , few notable birds on lingham lane apart from 3 Goldcrest  along the hedge rows and 1 Goldcrest on the nature trail.

The long staying Pink -Footed Goose, GC

The paddocks proved more lively with a flock of 12 Linnet feeding on the grass,

The  Pink-footed Goose that has frequented the paddocks for the past week or so is sat in the same position it has been for the last few days putting a question mark over its health 

  A  Grey Wagtail was the highlight from the Paddocks ( pictured above ) along with 3 Pied Wagtail , Also 21 Curlew Sought sanctuary  from the rough weather in the back fields.

The Greenshank  was in its favorite haunt of Dove point groyne, and a male Teal was swimming far out by the sandbank 

Lapwing numbers were down compared to sunday estimated at about 100 today, 

Moving on to kerrs field the regular Mediterranean Gull was nowhere to be seen at 11-30am, but good numbers of Black Headed Gull , 2 Herring Gull , 1 Greater Black Backed Gull and 2 Common Gull sheltered from the elements along with 2 Oyster Catcher, 1 lapwing , 7 Mistle Thrush were at the back of the new paddock giving there famous rattling call as they flew over

GC

29th January 2017

Weather; very cold icy and clear , clouding over pm,

wind speed 0-5mph,

A very cold morning at the lighthouse with conditions ideal for a good mornings birding,

5 Bullfinch were in the area, 2 male and 2  female were in the trees along side the river birket and 1 male was in the gardens by kerrs field,

1 Kestrel flew in from the sea and perched on the lighthouse, A good vantage point for a very busy horse paddock which had  good numbers of Woodpigeon Blackbird , and 2 Meadow pipits,

2 very vocal Ravens  flew east over the brick pit , Ravens are becoming a regular visitor to the area, 

Mediterranean Gull (Tim Kinch)

At Dove point with the high tide fast approaching  the groyne was packet with waders, Lapwing , Oystercatcher, Redshank, Knot and Ringed plover all competed for position on the rocks, star birds were 1 Greenshank with a silver ring on its leg, and 1 Grey Plover,

Greenshank  (Tim Kinch)

Grey Plover (Tim Kinch)




Also in the area was 1 Mediterranean Gull in kerrs  field with a flock of Blackheaded Gulls
Observers; David Haigh  Ken davies, Tim Kinch, Graham Connolly
GC

Wednesday 25th January 2017

Weather; Fine and sunny with some fog patches. Wind SE F2

283 Great Crested Grebes, 3 Red-throated Divers and 2 Long-tailed Ducks were seen off Hoylake this morning. The lone Pink-footed Goose remains in fields off Park Lane, Meols.

 

2 Marsh Harriers, 2 ringtail Hen Harriers, a Merlin, a Short-eared Owl, a Greenshank, 40 Skylarks and 6 Rock Pipits were seen on or over the saltmarsh off Neston Old Quay today.

2 Water Pipits were along the freshwater stream at the Old Quay and another 2 were with 12 Meadow Pipits feeding in fields to the south of the sewage works. Also in these fields were good numbers of Thrushes including 20 Song Thrushes, 35 Redwings and 2 Fieldfares.

Redwing near Neston Old Quay.        EW

Water Pipit near Neston Sewage Works    EW

2 Chiffchaffs and 3 Goldcrests were in scrub bordering the sewage works. AMC, DH, EW

Chiffchaff;  Neston Sewage Works.    EW

Weather: SW-1-2, foggy to start, warm and sunny later

A cold grey winters day gave way to to a warm sunny afternoon and by 2pm the sun was as warm as an early spring day. The winter Goldfinch flock was in song and there appeared to be a higher number of Meadow Pipits than of late. The beach roosting Lapwing flock remains steading at 200 whilst small numbers of Curlew fed in the sea defence gutter. 

A suprise find was that of a Pink-footed Goose feeding in the paddocks off of Park Lane.  Whilst Pink-footed Geese are not rare at the Lighthouse they are always recorded as flyovers commuting between the Lancashire Mosses and Dee Marshes. We have only ever had a very small number of 'grounded' birds.

Raptors included Kestrel, Buzzard and a showy Sparrowhawk basking in the late afternoon sunshine.

A 2nd winter Med Gull was recorded in one of the flooded paddocks. After a notable period of abscence this is the second different Med Gull to have occurred within a week.

AMC

 

21st january 2017

Weather calm, dull, very cold, wind SE 5MPH, 

An early morning trip to the lighthouse area was the order of the day, even before first light there was plenty of activity with numerous Herring gull being very vocal as they flew in land, with the calm conditions the Irish sea was like a mill pond exposing the sandbank, Oystercatcher numbers were estimated of 200 plus, mixed in with Curlew, Redshank, Dunlin and good numbers of Lapwing plus mixed gulls mainly Black headed some already showing signs of summer plumage

Heading west towards Dove point Meadow pipit were amongst the sea debris in search of insects, and a very nervous Lapwing was stood on the grass no more than 8 feet away a truly stunning bird with a wispy crest was a real treat it afforded me a few minutes to look at it through the binoculars , a bird that is sadly declining in numbers and is on the red list,

At dove point (Greenshank groyne) a pair of  Shelduck were paddling and three Little Egret squabbling over the best rock to stand on, 

Greenshank

13th January 2017

Weather; W/NW-8/9 , squally showers.

Following an overnight gale and a morning tide, Gulls were very much the order of the day. The Hoylake Gull roost held an impressive 3000 large Gulls, including many brutish looking Argentatus Herring Gulls, presumeably brought down by the advancing cold weather. At Dove Point Meols there was a feeding frenzy of approx 1000 Black headed Gulls. A Black heaaded Gull of this size had to hold something of interest and sure enough an adult winter Little Gull flew into view. Further East at the Lighthouse the flooded paddocks held an adult winter Mediterranean Gull and a storm driven Kittiwake. Further east again another Little Gull was picked up. This time a first winter was found dip feeding on the tide edge with the Black headed Gulls. So a nice day of assorted gull species but no sign of the hoped for Ross's. Yet !

AMC

!st winter Little Gull

Adult Med Gull