Tuesday 23rd May 2017

Weather; Sunny and warm. Wind W to NW F2.


Some news for yesterday evening was of a male Blue-headed Wagtail in the paddocks at Leasowe along with two Wheatears and a Whinchat. (Stan Davidson et al) Unfortunately it could not be located today.

Today's highlight was a single Roseate Tern seen flying west at close range along with some Common Terns over the morning's high tide (Dave Haigh et al) 2 Gannets and 3 Common Scoter were also noted.
Some  late migrants are continuing to arrive in the lighthouse area. 6 Wheatears were present today along with a single Whinchat in the paddocks and inland fields. Most of the Wheatears appear to be the large, upright, Greenland race birds. 

Large 'Greenland type'  Wheatear in the paddocks.         EW

Other new arrivals included two Willow Warblers in coastal bushes along the sea embankment and a Lesser Whitethroat and a Garden Warbler along the nature trail. There is a very confusing and talented Blackcap singing at the top of Lingham Lane near the car park which can imitate the songs of many species including Reed, Sedge and Garden Warblers, Swallow and Starling.

Blue-headed Wagtail in the paddocks.    Stan Davidson

  

Sunday , weather. Mainly cloudy sunny intervals wind westerly 15mph,

A very quiet day compared to the last few days ,  birds spotted AM: 4 Wheatear 1  Whinchat 1 Yellow Wagtail Flying over,  birds PM: 1 Yellow wagtail, 1 Whinchat, 5  Wheatear all in the coastal paddocks except 1 Wheatear on The groyne at Dove point, 2 Common Tern off shore, The Hooded crow was seen flying between Dove point and the fields by Lingham Lane and later in the day the Gun site,

Monday, Weather Heavy showers AM and PM, Wind,  South south west 12mph,

A very quiet day due mainly to the very poor rainy conditions, birds spotted AM and PM 2 Wheatear 5 Yellow Wagtail, All in the Coastal paddocks, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker searching for grubs on a post at Kerrs field

Yellow Wagtail (Stan Davidson)  

Weather. Early showers, sunny later, Wind westerly 13mph

Spotted Flycatcher ( Tony Edwards)

Weather, Cloudy dry AM heavy showers PM, Wind east south east 15mph , 

Spotted Flycatcher (Tony Edwards) 

The long awaited return of the Spotted Flycatcher had been on every Wirral birders lips the last few days, today turned out to be the day with sightings from Hilbre island and Red Rocks and individual reports of 16 birds being seen in the lighthouse area , with birds being seen at Lingham lane, the nature trail, The paddocks and park lane numbers could easily have been in the 20s , 

Hooded Crow GC 

Weather, hot sunny . Wind east southeast.11mph,

A brief update from today, another glorious day weather wise, The main activity being from the horse paddocks with 1 Whinchat  1 female Redstart and 2 Yellow Wagtail 

Yellow Wagtail (Tony Edwards)

Many thanks to Tony Edwards and Stan Davidson for the sightings , Any sightings and photographs from the lighthouse area please send via email to  

Grahamconnolly66@googlemail.com 

Weather. Hot sunny, wind, north westerly 5mph

A typically hot May morning at the lighthouse, conditions were almost perfect apart from the heat haze that made viewing any distant birds quite difficult,The sea was as still as a mill pond the only notable birds being 3 Sandwich Tern  which were heard before they were seen with their harsh "kierr-k" call, At Dove point 30 + Dunlin  along with 3 Ringed plover spent high tide on the western groyne, 

Little Owl, GC

Tuesday 9th May 2017

Cloud early, sunny later. Wind variable E to NW. F2

There was a noticeable passage of hirundines eastwards along the embankment today with many then heading out north-east over Liverpool bay towards the Sefton coast. Around 50 Swallows, 40 House Martins and 28 Sand Martins were involved. Only a single Swift was noted, however.

Grounded migrants included 5 Wheatears and a Whinchat in the paddocks and inland fields. A male Redstart was in Park Lane this morning but had apparently moved on by lunchtime. A Garden Warbler was along the nature trail and two Lesser Whitethroats were on Lingham Lane.

The northward Willow Warbler passage is now past it's peak with only 4 birds being logged today. There was a small arrival of Sedge Warblers, however, with around 6 birds being noted away from regular breeding territories, mainly in the Lingham Lane and Park Lane areas.

Lesser  Whitethroat (Tony Edwards)

Sunday 7th May, weather, sunny, wind north westerly force1 

Perfect weather greeted us at the lighthouse with almost still wind  conditions meant every bird sound and movement in the trees could be Monitored. 

Swift passage had slowed down compared to the great numbers (300+) yesterday with ones and twos passing through during the morning, 

At Lingham bridge a Sedge warbler 1 of 3 in the area was perched on top of the hedgerow an unusual sighting at the bridge, later on in the morning a Little Owl was heard,

Lesser Whitethroat, (Tim Kinch)

6th May

Weather: E-3, overcast

Swift passage continued in earnest today. Last evening (5th) saw an impressive movemement of 273 Swift north over a period of 2 hours. Today continued in the same way with over 300 recorded during the day. All birds headed N/NE into the headwind.  An impressive site for those present they never stopped coming through as the final obsevers left for the day.

A male Cuckoo , the first of the spring, spent the whole day singing from the paddock behind the Lighthouse. Further west a female Redstart was fond along Park Lane early morning.

A female Marsh Harrier was picked up coming in from the West. Flying over Lingham lane and continued East. The bird returned west some 2 minutes later with the local gulls on its tail. Some 10 minutes later it was picked uo again over the Lighthouse car park purposefully heading back east at height.

AMC

AMC

 

 
 

Weather, sunny, partly cloudy , Wind north  easterly 15mph.

A quieter than expected day at the Lighthouse, with few migrants in the area mainly due down to the clear weather conditions over night causing many of yesterdays  birds  to fly through  , 

Surprise bird of the day was a  Spoonbill that flew over to the  east and unfortunately didn't stop, other birds that passed over were Yellow Wagtail, Lesser Redpoll and Siskin,,

9 Wheatear were mainly in the paddocks west of the lighthouse and in the fields south of Park lane along with a single Whinchat at the old brick pit ,

At Lingham lane towards the railway end, 2 Possibly 3 Lesser Whitethroat were seen along the hedgerows giving quite brief glimpses, their song was quite clear and not as scratchy as the common Whitethroat, 

Other birds in the area were, Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, and good numbers of Swallow . 

Observers , DH, KD, TK, TE, AC, JJ, GC.

Stomechat (Tony Edwards)

2nd May

Weather: E/NE-3 sunny with cool breeze.

Overnight there had been a small arrival of migrants including. The most notable was the arrival of Garden Warbler. 2 were recorded along park Lane whilst 3 more were in hedgerows along Lingham Lane. 20 Willow Warbler and 14 Chiffchaff were also in the coastal hedgerows. 3 Lesser Whitethroat were again recorded along Lingham Lane as was a female Common Redstart. Another 2 Common Redstart played cat and mouse in the hedges bordering the paddocks. Bird of the day was a female Black Redstart. Found and photographed by Lighthouse regular Tony Edwards, the Black Redstart fed on the ground between the farm buildings along Lingham lane. Other warblers on territory inclued Reed , Sedge and Grasshopper Warbler. Along Park Lane there were 4 Whinchat and 10 Wheatear perched on the wire fence.

The cool wind kept the temperature down and produced a slight sea mist. An unexpected 1st summer Little Gull drifted in then back out again on the ebb tide. 

Waders included 2 Whimbrel and 3000 Dunlin on the foreshore. 

Black Redstart (Tony Edwards)

Garden Warbler (AMC)

 

1st May

Weather:E/NE-3-4, warm and overcast
  

Showers overnight produced a few grounded migrants around the Lighthouse this morning, the first couple of circuits producing 30+ Wheatear and 3 Whinchat. As birds continued to arrive all day the final count for Whinchat had reached 8 birds. All of yesterdays Redstarts however had appeared to have left overnight. Two male Lesser Whitethroat continue to hold territory at the inland end of Lingham Lane whilst at least 11 Common Whitethroat were recorded in the coastal scrub. 10 Sedge Warbler were new in and 5 Blackcap and 5 Reed Warbler were also recorded. A single Swift passed through early afternoon. Another Merlin (3rd of spring) was found in Park Lane.

Wader passage included 2 Whimbrel and 3000 Dunlin and 600 Sanderling.

Seawatching today was time limited however 5 Gannet and 5 Great crested Grebe were recorded over the tide whilst an evening visit on the ebb tide produced 150 Sandwich Terns and 10 'Commic' Terns from the Lighthouse Car park. Although distant their evocative calls heralding their arrival all the way from their African wintering grounds.

Sandwich Tern flock from the Lighthouse car park (AMC)