Downholland moss,

The lesser snow goose stood out from the crowd today as it grazed with the 2000 pinkfeet.

Also a barn owl hunting along the ditches and a mixed flock of redwing and fieldfares comuting between fields.

27 jan 07
Yorkshire Treble




1st winter female Yankee robin at Bingley

A very showy firecrest at Ivy Cottage, Bingley

Shore lark and skylarks at Holmfield, Halifax.

Prescot reservoirs,

CD reports 5 Scoters on no 4 res today. 3 drakes and 2 female

Friday 26th Jan 07

Prescot reservoir

2nd winter med ,2 peregrines, 2 buzzards, 14 pochard, 2 gadwall, 3 g c grebe,2 little grebe, 1 grey wagtail. No sign of the iceland gull today but it was seen yesterday.

Iceland gull and robins nest building

This robin was busy making its nest in my garden today. Well it is January!!!

Prescot reservoirs,

I finally caught up with the 2nd winter Iceland Gull today. It arrived at the reservoirs at 4.00pm with a large number of herring gulls (c1000) which had come in to drink and bathe before moving off to roost elsewhere. No large gulls roost at the reservoirs but a few black heads do so occasionally. The sun had gone down below the treeline so the light was awful and the iceland was well out in the middle of the reservoir so record shots of this gull were all I could manage.It stayed for 15 minutes and then flew off south .
This bird was first seen by AS flying over the north fence heading east at 09.15 on 8th Jan. It has only been seen a couple of times since in the afternoon coming in from the east. It is probably feeding during the day around St Helens and has been seen by CD at Lea green tip which is close to Sherdley Park.I hope this helps any local birders hoping to see this excellent merseyside bird . White wingers have become increasingly rare in our area in recent years. Arpley landfill site being the only reliable site locally but of course this is in Cheshire.

Also of note today was an Argentatus herring gull with very limited black wing tips and from below it had only a tiny black mark on the outer primary which made it look very glaucous gull like.

Prescot Reservoirs,

A peregrine with attitude was having fun chasing a herring gull over the reservoirs today. It then preceded to dive bomb the resting gulls on the water. I'm sure it was just having fun on this sunny afternoon. A couple of rooks flew over which are an uncommon bird at the reservoirs. Bird of the day was a fine drake goosander which flew over SE late afternoon. 150 pinkfeet flew over no4 into the sunset . Also today 14 goldeneye 5m+9f, 8 pochard, 3 gadwall, 48 tufted duck, 56 mallard, 5 little grebe, 3 gc grebe, 3 buzzards, 8 meadow pipits, 2 nuthatch . Green woodpecker was heard in plantation.

Another photo from Friday

Prescot reservoirs,
2nd winter med gull again on no 4 res, 12 goldeneye, 8 pochard , 3 little grebe, 50 tufted duck,
3 snipe and 1 raven

Some people just want to get too close to the little gulls!

Crosby marine park

After yesterdays gales I thought a visit to the coast was in order. With a strong westerly still blowing it certainly made it difficult viewing the birds . A couple of little gulls on the boating lake was a good start. 100 plus oystercatchers,2 redshank, 1 bar tail godwit , 5 skylark and a big roost of gulls were also around the edge of the lake.

A stroll along the beach up to the leisure centre and back produced another 20 little gulls feeding in the shallow waters as the the tide came in. You cannot fail to be impressed at thier aerial control as they pitter patter across the water leachs petrel style in a gale that I could just about walk in. A first winter , 2 second winter and the rest being adults. A single knot , a single sanderling and 10 turnstone were the only waders present as the tide was almost fully in.

When I returned to the boating lake the little gulls were up to 8 and were resting on the grassy edge. A pair of goldeneye gave close views on the lake .

Prescot reservoirs,
2 peregrines,2 ravens,1 oystercatcher, 5 redwing,13 goldeneye 4m 9f,50 tufted duck,2000 herring gull,25 gbb gull,200 black headed gull , 50 common gull and 30 lesser black backed.

Prescot reservoirs

BC + BH reported the 2nd winter Iceland gull again this afternoon.

Prescot reservoirs,
100 pink feet went over,1 snipe dropped into the meadow and only 9 pochard now.

Prescot reservoirs,
A cracking 2nd winter Iceland gull was on no 4 for half an hour this afternoon. Watched by BC and BH it did not stop long enough for me to catch up with it. This is probably the same bird that AS had on Monday over the ranch.

Prescot reservoirs,
A drake wigeon was a smart bird on the reservoirs today. 9 pochard, 3 teal, 60 tufted duck, 4 little grebe, 2 ravens and 3 redwing also.

Prescot reservoir,
A quick visit early morning produced 2nd w med gull and 16 pochard.

Arpley landfill site,
The torrential rain did not make it easy to view the masses of gulls today. A first winter Iceland gull was picked out in flight as it floated around in its almost all white plumage. This was a nice bird to follow on from the second winter iceland I had on Thursday. 1st winter and second winter med gulls were also seen. Tony Conway and Tim Vaughan also had a probable kumliens gull in flight .

Crosby Marina,
The 2nd w ring billed gull showed in the roost beside the boating lake today. A minute after locating the bird a lovely lady with 2 dogs walked right through the middle of them. Never mind.
A walk along the beach produced an adult med gull. For some excellent images of the ring bill visit Another Place
http://www.crosbybirding.blogspot.com/

Arpley landfill site,

GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL would have been very nice today but I was more than happy with the 2nd w Iceland gull that was present around 13.00 .

Prescot reservoirs,
Peregrine, 3 ruddy duck, 3 gc grebe, 3 little grebe,8 goldeneye, 17 pochard and 60 tufted duck.
BH reports adult med and 2nd w med gulls yesterday.