Crosby,
Very quiet today with a cold northerly blowing but the 2nd w ring- billed gull showed briefly at coastguards on the shore.
Eccleston mere,
An adult winter little gull performed well this afternoon found by AS at midday.

Escaped Harris hawk

Carrion crow feeding in the meadow today

Female green woodpecker

Prescot reservoirs,
A drake goosander over no4 this afternoon,19 oystercatchers, 6 chiffchaffs , 3 buzzards, 1 woodcock and female green woodpecker seen in yates wood.
An American raptor was screaming at the edge of the wood . A harris hawk with jeesies on its legs allowed close approach obviously used to humans.

Small tortoiseshell

Comma

Lapwing on territory in the meadow

Prescot reservoirs,

Pretty quiet today but lovely in the spring sunshine. 13 oystercatchers, 60 lapwing, 6 great crested grebe, 2 gadwall, 13 cormorants, 2 kestrel m+f, 2 buzzards, green wood calling, and 3 chiffchaff singing.

250 common gull, 100 black headed, 20 lesser black backed, 30 herring gulls.

The butterflies and moths were enjoying the sunshine with 2 comma, 2 small tortoiseshell and a small quaker basking in it.

Prescot reservoirs,
BH had the first sand martin today flying up and down no3 res. Green woodpecker calling, 6 redpoll, and 2 woodcock.

The police get with it at Crosby

Crosby Marine park,

The 2nd winter ring billed gull showed well briefly and a 3rd winter yellow legged gull gave a fly past well spotted by T.V. I managed to miss a couple of white wags that were present today but no other migrants today. I sneaked a look through the fence at Seaforth to see a couple of female type scaup very distantly. Plenty of black tailed godwits, redshanks, a few curlew and a single knot and ring plover. The area was well watch today with 5 birders present.

It looks like I will have to correct the post below. After posting the great tit photos on Birdforum, the general concensus is that it is just a 1st winter female great tit. I thought I had read somewhere that these pale birds were scandinavian birds. We live and Learn!

Great tits need a closer look !

First winter great tit with a male great tit for comparison

It really stood out as being very pale

Mantle colour is darker than the common gull next to it. It is probably from the northern european populations.


Larus argentatus agentatus

Large white primary spot is visable on p10

Prescot reservoirs,

The Chiffchaff is still singing but no other migrants yet. A dunlin went over and green woodpecker showed and called in the meadow late afternoon. Also 16 goldeneye,1little grebe, 4 great crested grebe with a pair displaying, 2 gadwall,4 shellduck, 2 teal,80 lapwing 17 oystercatchers, 2 raven, 1 peregrine, 6 red legged partridge and 2 redpoll .

62 lesser black backs, 8 great black backs, 120 common gull ,100 black headed, and 100 herring gulls with and adult argentatus amongst them.

At the feeding station a great tit caught my eye. It was a washed out version of the other great tits present.Its breast being a pale cream colour as opposed to the bright yellow of the others and its mantle being a grey blue as opposed to the green of the others. I at first I suspected this was scandinavian race of great tit but in fact it is a first winter female great tit.

Has spring sprung?

Prescot reservoirs,
A chiffchaff was singing and showing well this morning in yates wood. Possibly a spring migrant or possibly a wintering bird enjoying the morning sunshine. Green woodpecker seen and heard today and 2 stonechats on the north fence. A harris hawk with jessies flew over the meadow mid morning. 3 woodcock also. Pretty quiet on the gull front with lesser black backed numbers building up.

Desert Wheatear, Irlam

After re-arranging my work schedule for today I was off to sunny Irlam after picking up Billy from the reservoirs. We arrived at Roscoe Rd, Irlam on the edge of Chat moss . We met Menzie who gave us on the ground info that the bird was showing better from Astley Rd on the other side of the field. So off we went and parked up. With only about 20 birders present we were right on to the Wheatear which was feeding in a small ploughed field. What a stunning bird this was. A cracking male and showing really well in the morning sunshine.

We stayed till 10.30 and apparently the wheatear left flying high to the south west at 10.45. I'm glad I made the effort this morning and didn't wait till this afternoon. We decided to go home over the moss and come home on the East Lancs Rd. Big mistake. The road starts off ok but gradually gets worse and worse with pot holes 6ft deep. Got lost but eventually came out the other side.

Larus Agentatus Argenteus

Larus Agentatus Argenteus

Larus Agentatus Argentatus

Larus Agentatus Argentatus



Larus Agentatus Argentatus




Argentatus and Argenteus 2nd winter (3rd calender year) herring gulls

The photos above are of 2 herring gulls that are of the same age but are very different in appearance. I took them on saturday 23rd feb at Prescot reservoirs.The top 2 are of the british sub species argenteus and the bottom 3 are of the northern european sub species argentatus. The main difference between them is that the mantle and scapulars are mostly an adult-like pale grey on the argenteus at this age giving it a saddled appearance but the argentatus looks almost like a first winter as its mantle and scapulars have moulted through with anchor markings on them. The pale iris and rounded primary tips age it as a second winter. Argenteus also shows a broad dark tail band and less streaking on the head and neck. The wing coverts and tertials are very pale and have a contrasting pattern on the argentatus. The argentatus also looks a bigger bird, more fierce looking, longer legged and more attenuated at the rear with a longer primary projection. Also note the tail pattern on the argentatus is similar to 1st winter great black backed gull. This is typical of these gulls although this argentatus is towards the paler end of the scale but there is a lot of individual variation. These are my observations but feel free to comment on the above if you have not already fallen asleep! Always willing to learn.

Lea Green landfill,
A dull grey rainy morning was brightened by a 1st w Iceland gull flying from the tip onto the warehouse roof at 10.00 am . I think one was reported a couple of weeks ago so it was pleasing to pick it out amongst the herring gulls. There was only about 100 large gulls around with a flock of 200 black headed. We were there for about an hour but when we left there was hardly a gull on show so timeing your visit is difficult. A bit hit and miss.

Prescot reservoirs,

A male Stonechat popped up on a bramble in the scrub today. An expected bird as a few usually start to pass through at this time of the year. 5 Skylarks went through also starting to move. A Curlew on the causeway was nice as we usually only get fly overs. 20 oystercatchers and 50 lapwing also on the causeway. 7 buzzards in the air today as they start to pair up .Only 2 pochard today, 50 tufted duck, 2 gadwall, 2 little grebe and 2 gc grebe. The goldeneye are starting to display with the males throwing thier heads back and the females swimming almost fully submerged. A grey wagtail also.

An adult med gull was seen early morning by BH.

A mid morning visit to Lea Green tip and the warehouses produced nothing of interest after some excellent birds being seen midweek.

Prescot reservoirs,

The 2nd winter iceland gull was reported last Sunday and Monday at the reservoirs on birdguides and CD reports seeing it near Leagreen tip on the warehouse roof this afternoon.

An adult med gull and an adult yellow legged gull were at the reservoirs today. One of the regular peregrines was over no4 res and a raven flew over .Also today 1 buzzard, 1 kestrel f, 13 cormorants, 5 pochard, 4 goldeneye 2m 2f, 1 gc grebe, 3 little grebe,50 tufted duck, 1 grey wag and 1 stock dove.

The gull numbers today were;1000 herring gull, 200 black heads, 100 common gull, 40 lesser and 20 great black backs.

Great bird crap video

Eckee thump! A PACIFIC DIVER.

I was back in Yorkshire today and what a glorious sunny day it was. This time the draw was a first for me and for Britain, Europe and the western paleartic. A juvenile pacific diver was on a gravel pit at Farnham. Similar to black throated diver it shows a chin strap, no white flank patches and also has a thin ventral line on its underside. It has a smaller bill, more rounded head giving it its own particular jizz.

It was apparently suppressed for two weeks before the sighting was made public. All credit to the person who asked the question "This may not be a black throated diver" and went further to id this mega bird. 10 pounds to get in but shared between 3 made it more than acceptable.

This is a full species according to the AOU so hopfully the BOU will give it the same status but its already on my list.

A red kite on the way back was the icing on the cake.