What did you get up to in 2015

So how was your year?

Feeling in a reflective mood as I sit looking out the window on this dreary January Sunday - well it's what you do at new year, put the old year to bed, bank the good memories and plan for the new. 

Despite the foul weather, my garden birds are battling on, the goldfinches (counted over 20 today with a sprinkling of greenfinches too) have taken to picking the seeds from the evening primrose stalks and I've just seen a male house sparrow pass a mealworm to a female, early courtship because of recent mild weather perhaps?

This time last year, the weather was drier and colder and we had an honorary member with us - remember Monty Adelie who went to live with our Fran.

My year, like probably most of you, had highs and lows. But I'm only going to pick out some of the highlights from my year.

Monty Adelie our endearing penguin gifted from Lewis's brought a smile to our faces and raised the group a lot of dosh!

Monty and Crew...Speke Garston Coast Jan 2015

Getting a great and unusual view of a female scoter sitting on the tide line (sadly appeared unwell, waterlogged) straight after seeing the snow buntings on the beach on the Wirral.

Poorly Scoter

It was a miserable day in March when I joined the wildflower centre and friends of Everton Park to scatter wildflower seed on Everton Park, but I enjoyed watching it develop over the year, cumulating in the land life tale of two cities celebration day in July.

Poppies Druid st patch

Our RSPB Croatia trip in May, what can I say- lovely scenery, great birds and good chums. Fond memories of sitting quietly alone, awestruck, listening to nightingales in an olive grove at 7am, and then standing in a dark churchyard searching for scops owls. Wandering through mountain gorges, visiting wetlands, and then there was Pag Island – griffon vultures and the wonderful wryneck. 

Olive groves between beach and mountains

If you haven’t been away with us before, why not review the past blogs; we’ve been to some wonderful places, Norfolk, Cairngorms, Mull, Croatia, and Hungary. .. Maybe join us in future?

A particular happy memory was coming across a nifty stoat in Clock face Country Park, heaving his rabbit dinner back home...small but mighty!

Stealthy stoat in the buttercups

Walking around the coastal path of Anglesey during summer watching peregrines, choughs and ravens. Saving a hedgehog from certain death, as it had become stuck down a cattle grid, I’ll never walk across a grid again without looking down... A trip to Penmon point & Puffin Island on a beautiful spring day seabirds galore including puffins and eider ducks.

Saved - should have gone to specsavers!

Attending the Hen Harrier weekend in August in support of our hen harriers, and other persecuted birds of prey and wildlife. Proud to be part of RSPB Liverpool standing up for nature (the only RSPB group who took a bus load of members by the way)

Hen Harrier champions

Enough from me, if anybody would like to share a few happy/exciting memories with the group; I will post it on our January blog page 

Don’t forget were also have a twitter account @RSPBLiverpool, and our group is now on WhatsApp, a real-time info portal to find out what’s about, certainly has been well used today, pallas warbler, black throated diver, Caspian gull. Once registered on the site call Chris T and he'll add you to our group RSPB Lpool- Local Birds.  Enjoy

Hope 2016 brings you all you could wish for, birdie or otherwise!

Laura

Wader Conservation World Watch.

http://www.waderquest.org/p/the-wader-quest-team.html

WADER CONSERVATION WORLD WATCH

Wader Conservation World Watch. 

Part of Wader Conservation November

A celebration of wader conservation and conservationists.

7th & 8th November 2015

Its as simple as A,B,C.

A.     Go out and see waders/shorebirds wherever you are in the world.
B.     Send us an email telling us what you have seen and where.
C.     We'll create a list the species seen between us worldwide.
D.     Look for you name on the roll of honour on this website.

It is that easy; no registering required just good old-fashioned bird watching... oh! And an email.

This is your opportunity to show your solidarity with, and appreciation of, wader conservationists around the world be they professionals or volunteers.

Go and see waders: because you can!

WIRRAL WADER FESTIVAL

This year the UK will have its first dedicated wader festival.

Join us for the 

Wirral Wader Festival

14th - 15th November 2015

http://www.waderquest.org/p/wirral-wader-festival.html

Laughing all the way

Lucky Warren caught up with a rare uk visitor today. 

Hiding out with the turnstones, redshank and Purple Sandpipers was a yank, a first year Laughing gull. These gulls normally winter in south America, along way from home. Maybe it just dropped in for Starbucks!

Laughing gull - Warren Sumner

• 
  

  Laughing Gulls are medium-sized gulls with fairly long wings and long legs that impart a graceful look when they are flying or walking. They have stout, fairly long bills.Laughing Gulls are medium gray above and white below. Summer adults have a crisp black hood, white arcs around the eye, and a reddish bill. In winter, the hood becomes a blurry gray mask on a white head. The legs are reddish black to black. Immatures are much browner and more subtly patterned than adults; they take 2-3 years to gain adult plumage.

No doubt New Brighton Marine lake will be knee deep in twitchers tomorrow.

http://www.marinepoint.co.uk/directions/

Laura

Showy Snow Buntings and a Scoter story

Crosby beach

Missed out on the high tide day trip to Heswall  and consequently the red throated diver, but managed a late afternoon trip to a stormy Crosby beach with hubby who thought climbing dunes would be good exercise, that idea didn’t last long!  Dipped on the snow bunting that’s supposed to be about.  

Linnets

But caught up with a large ‘parcel’  don’t know where that collective comes from! of Linnets  up to 30 flighty ones, lovely to see.

Sunday saw me chomping at the bit  to follow up another snow bunting lead from twitter.  Once again non birder hubby dragged out with the promise of a stroll from the kings parade to leasowe lighthouse and back.

Coastguard hovercraft

The beach ws busy the local coasguards when on exercises, a hovercraft was out at tthe water edge- just as well as the liverpool echo later  reported ' A family were rescued by the RNLI Hovercraft  after they were nearly cut off by the rising tide. Coastguards stopped a training session carry out a real life rescue at New brighton yesterday.Two men and two young girls had walked out to a sandbank on the beach at around 11.30am and became stuck.' 

Snow Buntingon

Ecstatic, the buntings were exactly where Ron told me, mooching about the flotsam of the strandline  2 out of reported 3. Great little birds to watch. Sprinkled some bird seed in area, may help to keep them about for other birders.

Snow buntings on strandline

Mission completed now for the stroll. Pied wagtails flitted around the breakwater but am unexpected encounter left me surprised, pleased as I hadn’t seen one in the wild close up and little sad, because  this was  female scoter, sitting on the shore close to the sea, I’m more used to  viewing these sea duck s through a telescope way out to sea.

Female scoter

Female Scoter

She was preening her back end feathers, which looked a little scruffy some unknown substance spoiling her plumage.   She seemed content to sit however she didn’t account for a curious boy determined to get  a mobile phone pic, she flew off down towards meols/hoylake along the waters edge. (which is sort of a positive sign?) I’d like to think she’s ok.

On the return leg  a turnstone and  a couple of sanderling treated us to a reasonably close view, again on  the waters edge.

Turnstone

Sanderling

Happy days.

Quick vids:  view small

A tale of Wirral Wanderings, Wondrous waders and a Wretched Fox

Fox lox stranded on Parkgate Marsh

If the recent weather had anything to do with it, our Wirral wander was about to be a gale lashed wash out, never believe the weather forecast, fortunately for our group the day dawned cold, bright and gustier rather than gale force.

Our first stop on our wander was the Leasowe lighthouse area. A terrific area offering mixed habitats, shoreline, marshy reed beds and fields. From our vantage point of the sea wall we observed the birds dashing on the tideline, small groups of curlew, shelduck and oystercatchers amongst the bigger flocks, the gulls were squabbling and pecking at some puzzling unfortunate on the shore. The welcome voices of Skylarks sang over head as we walked along the sea wall, we were accompanied by a solitary turnstone busy foraging for things only he could see. 

Mixed waders on the Leasowe groyne

Eventually we reached a point along the wall were a rocky groyne had been constructed out from the wall towards the sea. This proved to be great place to stop as this was were our waders escaping the incoming tide took refuge; dunlin, redshank oystercatchers, lapwing, turnstones and a solitary sanderling sat huddled together. 

Lapwings

Fidgeting, jostling then taking flight, a wonderful aerial ballet, a shimmering silvery cloud of dunlin wheeling and whirling in unison, a spectacle to put the Snettisham knot to shame.

Wheeling waders

Time was tight today as we had planned to get to Parkgate marsh for the high tide after midday, so we dragged ourselves away from our waders to investigate the paddocks and reed bed area behind the seawall. No rarities and strangely no visiting winter thrushes today, sparrows, finches, meadow pipits, song thrushes and tits were the order of the day; even the wagtails were the more usual black and white.

The morning pressed on, we just had time to make  a dash to New Brighton’s marine lake where we were assured to see Purple sandpipers. 

New Brighton Sea wall

Boy was it busy when we arrived, the windy weather combined with the expected high tide, made the sea heave and swell, crashing against and above the sea wall, here the Sunday walkers had been joined by ranks of excited onlookers, there to witness the crashing sea.

Arriving at the lake we were not disappointed, we found our sandpipers 16 in total clustered alongside yet more redshank, turnstones and dunlin. 4 cormorants stood on the pontoon corners, as if on guard over the restless flock, one of these guards displayed an attractive white, crested head plumage, which identified it as continental fellow, very striking.  An unexpected bonus was a solitary red breasted merganser preening and fishing on the lake, an eye catching stunning individual.

Red breasted Merganser R Blythe

Continental cormorant

Mixed waders on the pontoon

Leaving the lake we rushed to Parkgate, anticipation was high as the previous days high tide had brought in all manner of raptors eager to feast, short eared owls, Kestrel, peregrine falcon and hen Harriers. 

Good grief from one football crowd to another, the promenade and sea wall was packed with spectators. We made our way along the path away from the boathouse and promenade. The tide was already on its way in, flushing birds up into the air above the marsh. The Marsh was alive with a multitude of skylarks, pipits and linnets.

 

The wirral wanderers at parkgate

One forlorn, dejected fox sat on a marshy clump stuck between the tidal water and the massed ranks of humans on the seawall, a sad sight an unhappy soul unable to find the courage to make a break for it, to the safety of the fields behind, and here he stayed for how long we don’t know, still crouched on his soggy island as we left.

Short eared owl  R Blythe

Shortly after arriving we saw our first ‘shortie’ quartering along the shoreline, deep languid beats, a most splendid owl. Our second was a kestrel hovering over the marsh, searching for an unfortunate mammal trying to escape the waters. Exploring the waters lapping against the sea wall we were surprised not to see more stranded creatures, a sign perhaps that the previous day’s high tide may have flushed most out already, a thought certainly indicted by a fellow members account  of watching a kestrel take 6 mice or voles from her shop windowsill vantage point the previous day!

Kestrel and mouse.  N Prendergast

A second and third sighting of  short eared owls was too follow, one being  an owl sitting on the marsh, mobbed by skylarks but content to sit and  digest his dinner. 

Twite

We were due  to leave when a small bird fluttered down along the path in front of us,  fevered scrutiny through the binoculars confirmed this to be a twite, a welcome sighting for many.

We left the RSPB stand and the retreating spectators and headed for our last destination of the day,  a remarkably busy RSPB Burton Mere wetlands, other birders had obviously had the same idea. The scrapes seemed less busy than our December visit; the usual geese and ducks were there but hidden amongst them was a charming bar headed goose and a single godwit. A black swan was feeding with the whoopers on the reserve perimeter fields, noticeably smaller than his fellow swans. No sign of the water rail, little stint or golden plover, a single little egret briefly dropped into the waters by marsh covert hide.

A gt spotted woodpecker high in a tree was the last bird to be seen as we wearily left for home. It had been a long day, a busy day, but a great day and to cap it all on the way home five travellers were treated to a wake of seven buzzards hopping round a field edge, on the hunt for a wormy dinner no doubt!

Laura

No snow but a beaut of a Bunting

Snow Bunting -Rhodie Blythe

Having heard on the Tyno grapevine that there was a Grey Phalarope at Gronant and that the Snow Bunting was still around the New Brighton area, Ann and I decided to journey to Wild Wales.  We did ask a few others if they wished to join us, sadly all had other commitments!

Well, what a lovely day we had, the sun shone and we arrived at Gronant to see several people with extremely large scopes looking at the lake.  We then spotted the Grey Phalarope, spinning dementedly and pecking furiously at the water. 

 There was obviously lots of lovely food around for this very pretty bird.  

En route to the beach we saw a Little Egret.  We ventured down to the beach to be greeted by a very large colony of Cormorants sitting on the shore line.  We heard a skylark, saw Linnets and of course a lovely array of Black Headed Gulls, Lesser Black Backed Gulls and a Great Black Backed Gull.   A Grey Heron flew over head.  Oyster Catchers were looking very smart and close to them Ann spotted Ringed Plover, dashing about looking for food. 

After a further look at the Grey Phalarope we decided that Point of Ayr was just too close to pass, so we had a wander down there.  The new screen hide is very smart but it does have a roof!!  Sitting eating our butties a Redshank came close by followed by a Little Egret, and then a Curlew.  We did have a lovely view of them.  Soon a large flock of Lapwing came across.  Ann spotted Shelduck in the distance and Shelduck Tours was reinstated!!  We also saw House Sparrows, a Skylark, Long Tailed Tits, a very striking Robin and a dear little – very noisy – Wren.

Having eaten our lunch it was decided that perhaps the Snow Bunting would be the icing on our delicious cake, so off we went to New Brighton – Peaty would have been proud of our map reading abilities!  We walked along the sea wall seeing the usual gulls etc., then Ann spotted some Turnstone running along in the strong wind – but still no Snow Bunting.  Within sight of the car and almost despairing, we trudged across the field when Ann said is that a Sparrow?  No, to our delight it was the Snow Bunting, having a seed/insectfest protected by the car park wall.  We watched it for ages, revelling in its antics, as it sat down to feed, stood up, turning this way and that, almost showing off for us, the audience.  It has such lovely colouring with the edge of the tail highlighted in white and, of course, the amazing beak.

Back to Liverpool and home just as the weather turned wet but what a lovely happy day we had.

Rhodie

I could have stayed at home

I missed a trip out today to Burton Mere Wetlands with Tomo, another appointment in the morning sunk that idea. Must catch up with the Egrets, Merlin's, Harriers,Spotted Redshank, Bramblings and Water Rail soon. 

Dinner time with the weather closing in, saw me making a mad dash for New Brighton. Rob had reported a large flock of mixed waders on the pontoon -  "1 Ruff, 18 Purple Sandpiper, 310 Turnstone, 130 Dunlin and 1,200 Redshank on the pontoon at New Brighton pontoon. Can't have been much room left!"

We'd caught up with the purple Sandpipers at Christmas on a Local Group walk. Me thinks another looksy would be nice. 

I didn't count them but it was busy.

Mixed Waders, New Brighton Pontoon 01/02/13

A didn't linger, not even for cake & coffee, a thought  had entered my head..  A snap decision and I  was heading for Hoylake and the Kings Gap. (I'd missed the high tide wader watch  a few weeks before, had sulked a bit after hearing about the masses of swirling flicks, on the the tide line)  Fortunately I was in luck the tide appeared to be on its way out but there were plenty of birds on the shore. Small flocks of Dunlin went through toward Hilbre, and parked up along the shore further along  sadly, too far for my bins alas. But I was compensated by plenty of Oycs, Redshank, Curlew and  mixed Gulls, including some massive Gt Blacks.  Managed to get reasonably close to those sitting on the tide line by the life boat station. 

Oystercatchers

Aloft

Shelduck! and his mates

Ten minutes later I was running to the car, I was soaked  and I'd only been out an hour and half,  but I was glad I went.

Laura 

  

The quest

Sunday dawned bright and the Moore 6

Moore 6

were up early on a mission to try and help Ann get to her target 200 UK birds for the year, 3 to get. Our target birds were Smew, Short eared Owl and Purple Sandpiper.
Moore nature was part flooded,part tundra, the reserves lakes   frozen around the edges despite the recent rain and upturn in temperature. There were plenty of skating teal and squabbling coots but the Smew if it was still there, kept itself well hidden.

Teal

2.5 hrs later we decided to decamp to New Brighton to the marine lake by Perch Rock. Fortunately the seadogs  had not been out in their boats and subsequently  not hauled them out on the pontoon are waders roosted on.  Here we found a mixed flock of waders cuddling up against the bitter wind. Mainly Turnstones and Redshank, some Dunlin and 16 Purple sandpipers.

Mixed waders on pontoon roost

That's a tick and we rewarded ourselves with a restorative cup of hot coffee and a wee cake. Well..needs must!

Purple Sandpipers

Onward to Parkgate...not before eagle eyed Tyno spotted a hooded crow flying overhead  as we departed, sadly Ann already that ticked.

On arrival the Parkgate twitchers informed us they had see up to 8 shorties earlier in the day scouring  the marshes..promising. Scanning the marsh we could see plenty of  whirling  waders on the shore line,  and 2 Gt white Egrets were hanging out with several of their smaller relatives.

We trudged down the path towards Thurstaston, observing Finches and Fieldfare on the golf course. The time passed and we were treated to all kinds of raptors a pair of hunting Hen harriers and a solitary ring tail,  and then a Peregrine and Merlin perched on posts, but not a sniff of a Shortie.

Shoreline Hunter - Hen Harrier   c. N Prendergast

As the light faded in the west we had to call it a day, 2 out of 3  had eluded us. But it has been a grand day out and Ann still has 2 weeks to reach her goal -   although I don't think she will be too  disheartened to have reached  a measly 198! 

Laura