Seaforth NR,

 3 Black terns provided some evening entertainment as they hawked insects very close to the hide. A little owl showed close by.

Seaforth NR and a peek at Plex Moss,
     The first day of May was bright and sunny with a strong easterly blowing. A female whinchat, my first swift of the year, 4 arctic terns, 62 sandwich terns, 200+ common terns, 2 little gulls, and a black swan. A corn bunting made a brave attempt to sing on the topmost branch in the hooley blowing across plex moss. No sign of any dotterel yet.

 Beautiful little gulls but only 2 present today. Just looking back on this blog, on 19th April 2006 there was a count of 530 little gulls over crosby marina. A stunning sight to behold. http://stevesbirding.blogspot.com/2006/04/crosby-marina-beautiful-sunshiney-day.html

 A very showy female whinchat

 Nice streamers on this Arctic tern

Plex moss and Marshside,

   Checked out the mosses to see if any dotterel had dropped in but no sign of any today. They seem to be very early this year. Nice to see the grey partridge, corn bunts and yellowhammers showing well. On to marshside and a drake garganey was a smart bird from nels hide. Still 280 pinkfeet on the marsh today but no sign of the whitefront. Lots of sedgey's and reedy's singing  even though it was very chilly and overcast today.

Seaforth NR,

 A great selection of birds on this Good Friday. A stonking male whinchat was on the long bank with the 20 wheatears and 30 alba wags,and a couple of yellow wags also added to the show. Still a flock of 2000 oystercatchers, always an impressive sight as they take flight. House martins were collecting mud from the pool to make their des res in the nearby suburbs. Lesser whitethroat, whitethroat, blackcap and willow warbler were on site. 4 little gulls were over the marina and 50 arctic terns flew in and out again. Common terns were up to 28 and 15 sandwich terns also

3 lrp's , a spangley female ruff, 2 common sandpipers, 12 whimbrel flew over, 3 knot, 2 turnstone and a few dunlin. A red admiral and brimstone today. 

Seaforth NR

The needle like bill and pale super of the spot red at Seaforth today

Dwyran Anglesey N Wales

The first views of this bird were in flight as it came in and landed near the small pond . We then had excellent views of this adult purple heron as it fed along the edge of the pond. It was feeding well and caught at least 5 fish whilst we watched it. Viewed from the footpath which is about 200 metres away was plenty close enough with a bird this big.  

Called it at Llanfairfechan on the way home. At least 25 red throated divers still, 5 gannets feeding close in  and a dozen sandwich terns. Plenty of auks and great crested grebes also.

Seaforth NR

After yesterdays lapland bunting I thought I would give hide C an hour first. After a heavy rain shower a lapland bunting appeared near the fence at 12.45. A few distant record shots and I alerted others but only Chris Gregson who was nearby managed to see it before it flew off high to the north as the sun came out. We initially assumed it was yesterdays bird but after reviewing photos of each lapland bunting it was clear that they were 2 different lapland buntings.

Another good bird today was a purple sandpiper on the causeway. 30 white wags,4 wheatears, 20 meadow pipits, 3 chiffchaffs and a willow warbler and a swallows and a few sand martins. 

Todays bird

This bottom picture is Chris Gregson's Saturday lapland bunting

Seaforth NR,

  Good numbers of common migrants today with18 white wags,10 wheatears, 12 sand martins,1 swallow, chiffchaff and willow warbler. An adult yellow legged gull and 2 little gulls also. Missed the lapland bunting found earlier today found by Chris Gregson near hide C.

Oriental Turtle dove, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire

I had no intention of going for the oriental turtle dove. Didn't fancy queueing in a houseing estate and then having to go into somebodies home to maybe or maybe not catch a glimpse of this siberian dove. News yesterday that it had been seen again and the homeowner Steve was open for viewing I finally thought it was time to pay it a visit. We arrived at The Leys at 7.05am and a couple of minutes later the door opened and we were invited in with just 1 other birder by the the very hospitable Steve. At 7.10 I spotted the dove in the next door garden and it was soon on the bird table giving stonking views.We stayed until about 9.30am with the dove showing on and off during this time. Only 5 other birders arrived while we were there and when we departed the dove was still showing but nobody left to watch it. A nice cup of tea generously given by Steve made this a very pleasant and successful twitch. Our £5 donations were duly given with the total now over £3000, going to birdlife Malta.

It was overcast this morning so pics not as sharp as they could have been. In between the times the dove was not showing we had bramblings, bullfinches, reed buntings, goldfinches,greenfinches and jackdaws to entertain us. Great Stuff !

 Looks like the bird has almost completed a full moult . A rather stocky dove, it looked bigger than the nearby collared doves but was much smaller than the local wood pigeons. The rather dark/dull breast, belly and undertail of orientalis is one of the features that seperate it from meena A very smart looking bird and I was glad I made the belated effort to see it.

Tail feather still growing

The grey tail tips of orientalis can be seen in this blurry flight shot

Prescot Reservoirs

My first swallows of the year today with 6 going through and a couple of sand martins also. 3 lrp's, 2 ringed plovers,30 lapwing and 16 oystercatchers on the drained no4 res. 5 chiffchaffs, 4 reed buntings and just 1 meadow pipit left from yesterdays fall of 33 in the meadow. 2 shellduck, 36 tufties, 20 goldeneye and 2 great crested grebes on no3 with 4 buzzards displaying above. The Little ringed plovers would certainly breed here but unfortunately the reservoir is to be filled with water again next week.