Shrove Tuesday

28/02/2017, Weather , cold, heavy showers , wind N/W 11mph , 

A very soggy mid morning trip to the lighthouse area Provided a good assortment of birds , Even with the poor conditions Skylarks and Greenfinch  were in good voice  Greenfinch numbers totalled 20 around Lingham lane, 

Dunlin murmuration at Dove point

At high tide there was little room on the groyne and embankment for the Waders , A sizable flock of Dunlin put on an excellent display almost in touching distance with a single Knot joining them 

In the paddocks Linnet numbers reached over 40 with a single Skylark mixed in with the flock, with the wet conditions a very bright male Grey Wagtail  was walking near the horses it maybe the same one that has been in the area for the past couple of weeks, 

A 2nd winter Mediterranean Gull being chased by a Black headed Gull

Kerr's flash is rapidly turning into Kerr's lake ,

A single 2nd winter Mediterranean Gull harrased a Redshank into giving up a very large worm then in turn was chased by 4 Black Headed Gull ,

The surprise of the day were 7 Ringed Plover And 2 Dunlin mixed in with the 20 plus Redshank , 

Storm Doris

23rd of February 2017. Weather:  heavy rain , storm force winds 80mph at peak north westerly direction

A  trip to the lighthouse at the peak of the storm was quite a risky prospect, It soon became apparent that it was more powerful than we have experienced in a while, 

Kerr's field was the first port of call, the surprise was the lack of gulls with only 2 Black Headed Gull and 1 Herring Gull  present, 20 plus Redshank and the 12 Canada Geese that were in the Lingham lane paddocks yesterday, all the birds were wisely lying in a prone position 

                                                              Kerr's field

Waiting for Doris

22/02/2017, weather: mild, occasional blustery showers strong north westerly winds .

Birding can be a very unpredictable hobby, some days you can go out full of optimism and you can return home very deflated other days you can go out with no expectations and return home buzzing with excitement today was more like the latter, 

With storm Doris fast approaching the winds have picked up in strength increasing the chance of a rarity or something unusual being blown in , Today it was something unusual in the shape of a Herring Gull (possibly Argenteus) with very pale yellow legs, possible reasons are hybridization , hormonal or maybe just a one 

off

Herring Gull (pale yellow legs)

in comparison with A typical Herring Gull (Argenteus) below Left

At Dove Point groyne the Greenshank was feeding in the gully along with a Little Egret,

The Linnet  flock continues to increase in numbers up to 30 birds  fed in the paddocks and were spooked by a very healthy looking now resident Pink Footed Goose

Valentine's Day

Weather: SE-3, cool, partly sunny.

A brief circuit of the paddocks mid morning produced little in the way of new birds. The winter Linnet flock remain in the paddocks as do a small flock of five Skylark. Our now 'resident' Pink footed Goose remains on site and is looking healthy and actively feeding. I wonder how long it will stay ? 

Kerr's field or as it's now referred to, Kerr's Flash remains flooded and continues to attract lots of roosting Gulls and Waders including 217 Lapwing and 34 Curlew.

Waders on Kerr's Flash

Resident 'Pink Foot'

Resident 'Pink Foot'

 

1st February 2017

Weather, SE- 3, sunny spells and clear

A spring like day today on Wirral. Although many birds were in song, winter was still very much evident as large Tit flocks roamed the coastal hedgerows. At least 11 Long tailed, 4 Blue and 2 Great Tits were recorded in one flock.

ThePink footed Goose remains in the paddocks adjacent to Park Lane. Other wildfowl included 3 Mallard and a drake Teal on the Birkett from lingham Lane. 150 Great crested Grebe were offshore as were 50 Common Scoter. The Scoter numbers are quite a change to the 30,000 we have been recording over the last couple of years.

Highlight of the day was a Woodcock which flushed from the grass verge in Lingham Lane and promptly dissapeared into the private horse paddocks.

AMC, DH, EW

Mallard (left) and Teal

Long tailed Tit