Prescot reservoirs,

A juv/1stw iceland gull was on no4 res today, the second one this year. It was first seen yesterday by BH. A very white winged bird and it has a damaged tail making this bird easy to recognise if it turns up anywhere else. A dark eye and juvenile marked bill ages this bird even though the plumage is very bleached out.

26 goldeneye, 32 pochard and 16 oystercatchers also today.

Watercolour sketch of a 1st winter caspian gull. It would be great to see one at Moore in the coming weeks but for now this will have to do.

Ring billed gull and glaucous gull in this photo.

Richmond Bank,

A valentines day suprise in the form of an adult ring billed gull brightened up this grey gloomy morning. Found by the Seaforth crew, it took a couple of phone calls from Tim on the opposite side of the Mersey to locate it in the thousands of gulls on the bank, as it was stood straight on to us. A very small juv glaucous gull was also present and at first I thought it was an iceland gull but on closer inspection the short primary projection, big tertial step and bright pink bill with black tip confirmed this as a glaucous gull.

We had 4 adult yellow legged gull with others having up to 8 shows the start of a michahellis movement which happen at this time last year. Also a small increase in lesser black backed gulls today.

Retrospective gull,
This gull was seen at Birchwood pool on 15 November 08. It was filed away on my computer with lots of photos I did not have time to process at the time and then forgotten about. I have been having trouble lately trying to turn herring gulls into caspian gulls and probably annoying others in the process but once again I think this is a 2nd winter caspian gull.

Moore NR,
First bird of the day was this argentatus herring gull below.It had yellow legs which caused me to mis identify it as a michahellis but on more careful inspection by others the yellow orbital ring and eventually the primary pattern confirmed it as a yellow legged argentatus herring gull. 2 good adult michahellis were seen later, one with a metal ring on its leg.

This adult med gull was a smart bird, getting close to full summer plumage seen on the frozen birchwood pool.

Up on the tip a 2nd w iceland gull showed well and another more subtle 2ndw iceland gull with pale eye was seen briefly also. A leucistic herring gull was an interesting bird . A 2nd w glaucous gull was seen very briefly by others and a 1stw was seen from birchwood pool over the tip. A good selection of gulls today but apart from the 2nd winter iceland gull most birds were seen for just a few seconds which was a little frustrating. Another juv iceland gull was seen by others on Richmond bank later.

See http://www.freewebs.com/merseybirders/birdersdiary2009.htm and http://www.crosbybirding.blogspot.com/

Chris D had a male lesser pecker on Lapwing Lane earlier and a look around Moss side in the afternoon produced 30 + yellowhammers, lots of tree sparrows and a willow tit .

Moore,

It was bitterly cold today. A juv iceland gull which was a brute of a bird, an adult yellow legged gull and an adult med gull was the best of it.

Waxwings in Warrington, Gulls at Moore,
40 plus waxwings showed well at Battersby Lane today . It was then on to Moore for a couple of hours Gulling. No white winged gulls seen today which considering there was about 30000 gulls around the tip today it was very unusual.Very few gulls choosing to come on the pool but this 1stw yellow legged gull showed well.

Altcar moss, Formby.

A change from the gull watching today with some geese grilling at Formby . The guns were out today but we managed to find a decent sized flock of pinkfeet to study.

A 1st winter Russian white front was showing well. Also a tundra bean goose and a possible tiaga bean goose seen.

Moore nr,
An adult iceland gull is a rare sight at moore, with most iceland gulls seen being juveniles. 2 juveniles iceland gulls also today. No glaucous gulls seen today. An adult yellow legged gull and a 1stw med gull was seen in flight.
Also 100 redwing, 10 siskins and willow tit at the feeding station.

Moore nr,

It was very quiet at birchwood pool today with only a couple of yellow legged gulls of note. This great black backed gull had me dreaming of slaty backed gull. The paleness of the mantle and upperwing and a hint of a string of pearls had me frantically thumbing through 'Gulls' . Ah well, a first for Britain will just have to wait.

Cheshire Birding,
An excellent days birding at Moore nr and Warrington today. Its been a few weeks since I have visited Moore and it was quality birding as usual.
An adult yellow legged gull was the first gull of note seen on birchwood pool. Then an adult Caspian gull showed well to the group of 15 hardened gull watchers in sub zero temperatures shortly followed by a 2nd w glaucous gull. A juv iceland gull was then spotted amongst the thousands of gulls present. A leucistic black headed gull was seen in flight and its pure white plumage with just a dark leading wing edge was strikeing. Another juv iceland gull was on the ice at birchwood pool as was an adult med gull. Only the second time I have had 10 species of gull in one day.
It was then on to the eastern reedbed and a bittern drifted over the reeds after only a 10 minute wait . They had been showing really well only 20 mins before we arrived but I could not feel my toes so we made do with these brief views.
The waxwings in warrington gave us a merry run around but eventually 9 were seen briefly on Gainsbourough rd.

2nd w glaucous gull

2nd w glaucous gull

juv iceland gull

adult med gull

waxwings in Warrington

There is a bittern in there somewhere

Leucistic Black headed gull

Prescot reservoirs,

The great northern diver was finally frozen out of the reservoirs on the 6th Jan with no3 res 100% frozen and no4 res 80% frozen. Arriving on 22nd Dec it performed well for all comers and year listers. A juv iceland gull on the 3rd and 7th Jan on n04 res was interesting and going on bill colour it was probably the same individual that was here on Christmas Eve.

Today an adult Med gull, 25 goldeneye, 120 tufted duck, 4 pochard, 2 great crested grebe, 2 ruddy duck, and 4 redpoll.

Marbury country park

Hawfinch is a bird I dont see often enough so it was nice to see this impressive finch today. Sitting high up in a lime tree close to the visitors centre it took a couple of hours to find it. It has been present for a few days now. Plenty of greater spotted woodpeckers but no sign of the elusive lessers. Nuthatches are everywhere. A flock of 100+ redwing also.

Glaucous-winged gull ,
I could not resist a trip up the A1 to see this wanderer from the Pacific coast of America / Asia. An adult, it showed in a ploughed field next to Cowpen Bewley tip in Cleveland.This is a dream bird for a gull enthusiast like myself and Chris D who made the trip with me. We arrived in the area at 10 am and was feasting our eyes on this beauty at 10.15. A 1st w glaucous gull and a 3rd w iceland gull also today.

Prescot reservoirs,
A little warmer today and no fog although a little misty. The diver has stayed for the new year and a great crested grebe was new today. Gull numbers were quite good today mainly herring gulls and blacked headed gulls with 4 great black backed, 20 lesser black backed and 120 common gull, An adult yellow legged gull was amongst the herring gulls. Good numbrs of argentatus were among the argenteus today. 149 tufted duck today with 4 pochard, 25 goldeneye 14 ruddy duck and 9 little grebe. A house sparrow put in a show early morning ,a reservoir rarity.