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)

30th April

Weather: E/SE-4, warm, overcast partially sunny.
 

An exciting start to the day saw an overnight arrival of a number of grounded migrants. The first circuit of the Lighthouse produced at least 30 Wheatear and 10 Whinchat including some stunning males. A good number of warblers were also to be found in the coastal sallows. Some 50 Willow Warbler, 20 Blackcap, 12 Chiffchaff, Reed and Sedge Warbler had arived over night. Two Yellow Wagtails dropped into the coastal paddocks briefly before heading off north. Two Redstart were along Park Lane near their usual place near Parkfield House

In Lingham Lane, a further male Redstart was located in Wood Warbler Wood where a male Lesser Whitethroat was also singing mid morning.

Offshore 14 Great crested Grebe were found off the Lighthouse car park along with a summer plumaged Red throated Diver and 10 Sandwich Tern. Despite big numbers of Black Tern in Liverpool Bay, none could be located from the Lighthouse.

A summer plumaged Great Northern Diver was offshore from Hoylake where there were also 3500 Dunlin, 1000 Sanderling, 2 Knot and a Grey Plover.

With continued easterlies we are looking forward to continued migration.

Whimbrel - with one Redshank Leg !! (Les Hall)

 

YellowWagtail (Tim Kinch)

Weather: wind, slight south westerly force 2, overcast and cool. 

Much needed southerly winds brought a few migrant to the lighthouse area, A female Ring Ouzel was on the disused golf course on Lingham lane and stayed for most of the morning a totally different female to the bird in the paddocks yesterday morning 

Female Ring Ouzel  GC