Another day, another park

Saturday morning I could be found by another lake, in another local Park, Stanley Park. Wedged between Everton and Liverpool football grounds it was quiet, no home games today, just a few Anglers at one end. I had come in search of a psychedelic male Mandarin duck, photographed by fellow local RSPB member Rob Lewis.

Male Mandarin Duck  - Rob Lewis

Stanley Park has a reasonable sized lake, designed in 3 sections, separated by bridges with footpaths around.  All the usual inhabitants were present Canadian Geese, Mallard, Coot, Moorhens and scores of Black headed gulls, sadly no Swans they appear to prefer the south end parks. 

The George Audley Lake Information sign (why not look it up, theres an interesting article on the parks creation http://www.yoliverpool.com/forum/showthread.php?30419-Stanley-Park  I’d  have like to have seen it in it’s heyday)  Indicted Pochard, Tufted duck , and Gt Crested Grebe , but they were nowhere to be seen, perhaps the  local yob mentality of not knowing what a waste bin is makes for a undesirable home, with quite a bit of litter submerged on the lake fringes.

Sadly I dipped, the bird appears to have flown, perhaps he had heard of the fetching little female Mandarin hanging out at Sefton Park. Still an unexpected bonus was to occur. As I completed my second circuit of the lake, I espied somebody, either newly arrived or emergent from the shrubbery.  A juvenile Cormorant, a healthy and robust specimen obviously finding plenty of fish, and thankfully apparently untroubled by the Anglers.

So no Mandarin today, but my 32^nd bird of the new year a Cormorant, strange bedfellow next to no’ 31 a Waxwing!

Onward to battle it out in ASDA, with the hordes of shuffling mobile phones.

Laura