Little Egret at Carr Mill

From a coupe of days ago but these pics are great!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/48154061@N05/16132225798/

Paul B

Carr Mill Dam

Haven't visited Carr Mill for a while but a rare day off combined with some sunshine lured me there.  The cold weather always means the birds have to make the most of any bright, dry spells and I wasnt disappointed.

Scanning the trees, hedges and fields  around The Dig Pit and Otterswift Farm meant I was soon "ticking" tree sparrow, fieldfare (40), redwing(20), mistle thrush(6), skylark (35) and song thrush (4).  A large female sparrowhawk and kestrel were in attendance and waiting to pick their victim amongst the massed feeders.

Venturing down to the dam I was lucky to glimpse this fella through the shrubs.

 

 

Moving on toward the Goyt I bumped into a regular and we didnt have to wait long for the local blue, great, coal and willow tit to show.  It was at this point that I was informed of a little egret sighting from the previous day along with female goldeneye and a pair of goosander. 

These constitute rarities for St Helens especially the egret which are far as I'm aware is the first sighting since I had one there in winter a few years back.  These sightings though do match the weather conditions as birds relocate due to worse weather elsewhere.  Needless to say I had no sight of these today.

Moving up the Goyt valley I had a brief flyover of 2 siskin and could hear distant pink-footed geese.

Before I left I headed a bit further down the dam to check the gull roost and get a good count of the great crested grebes as they were mainly confined to one of the few unfrozen areas.  Alas despite good numbers of gulls there were no "white wingers" but the 4 most common inland species were present.

My Great Crested Grebe was again one of my highest ever with 56 present after a number of counts.  To put this in context Carr Mill Dam holds more grebes than bred in the UK back at the start of the 20th Century!  Oh what a little protection, education and restoration of gravel pits can achieve :)

Whilst doing this count I was rather distracted by this little fella

 

 

Paul B

Eccleston Mere

I had good views of the kingfisher along the stream late this afternoon. I stood and watched them for around 15 minutes from a good distance. Eventually, one caught a fish and was quickly chased by the other - they both disappeared into the dead wood.

Kingfisher 2
Bullfinch 1m
Pochard 5 (4m,1f)
Mute Swan 2 (1m, 1f)
Sparrowhawk 1

Also, the blackcap have been daily visitors to my garden since my first sighting last week. The female seems to be a bit braver and frequently visits the fat block, the male seems to stay in the trees. The only time I've seen the male come into the garden, it was quickly chased off by the female. Blackcaps have a reputation for being quite aggressive to other birds, but this example was the only time I've seen them interact with another bird. This afternoon, the female waited patiently for a blackbird to finish on the fat before it took it's turn. I'm having a minor op on Tuesday so will probably get chance to watch them a lot more in the next few weeks!

Garden..

Blackcap 2 (1m, 1f)
Grey Wagtail 1
Pied Wagtail 1
Blackbird up to 12 at any one time!

Damian P

Taken at Promised Land Farm this afternoon. I couldn't believe it as two Peregrine falcons flew from an adjacent field and came together directly overhead. It looked like a passover(?) similar to what happens during the breeding season when the male passes its prey to the female in mid air but im not sure if it happens at this time of year? One of them then veered off but the other swooped down just yards over my head. For a split second the camera had focus but then lost it as I pressed the shutter and rattled of a few shots. It joined its mate in a tree further up in the adjacent field, then as I approached they both shot off in front of me. I panned the one at the back and this was the best of about 6 shots, albeit quite a large crop!
   They live up to their description of fastest land animal, like sh*t off the proverbial shovel!
 Can anyone give any info on the above description and is this bird male or female?

Long tailed tit in hawthorn I photographed near Promised Land Farm ,late November.

Eccleston Mere

The male goldeneye was back again this morning. No sign of the wigeon or teal but I didn't walk the whole way around so they could have been behind the island...

Goldeneye 1m
Bullfinch pair
Pochard 1m, 1f
Willow Tit 1
Treecreeper 1
Goldcrest 1 in SW corner
Reed bunting 1f

 

Damian P

My Garden, Eccleston

I managed to get a few photos of the female blackcap when it was visiting my garden yesterday. It flew onto my trellis and was after the few remaining berries on the honeysuckle. Blackcaps are fascinating birds, they only started to over-winter in the uk in the past 50 years or so and switch their diets from insects in the summer to fruits and berries in the winter.

 

Damian P

Eccleston Mere

Myself and Paul spent a few hours around the mere this morning, it was cold but lovely and bright. The highlights were the widgeon and teal which were on the water but easily spooked by the dog walkers.

Mute Swan 1
Wigeon 6
Teal 9 on the Mere + 4 in the woods
Common gull 6
Little grebe 2
Willow tit 2
Bullfinch heard
Kingfisher 1
Great spotted woodpecker 1
Redwing 1 heard
Fieldfare 1 heard
Grey Wagtail 1
Pochard 3 m 1 f
Gadwall pair
Treecreeper heard

Damian P

Forgot to mention the fox which was pouncing for something in the fields...

Widgeon

My garden, Eccleston

My garden has been visited by a male and female blackcap over the past few days. They tend to come every winter at about this time. I'll try and get some photos while I'm off work but the apples I put out in the tree yesterday were pinched by the squirrels!

Also yesterday was the daily visiting coal tit and a sparrowhawk which flashed through.

Damian P

Eccleston Mere

I had a quick look around late afternoon...

Pochard 5 (3m, 2f)
Gadwall 3 (2m,1f)
Mute Swan 2
Little Grebe 1

No sign of the Goldeneye from Sunday.

Damian P

Grey Seal, Newton-le-Willows

Surely this is one of the most amazing wildlife sightings ever in St Helens! An Atlantic grey seal in a field alongside Newton Brook. This incredible photo was taken by Colin Lane.

If it was you who found it, send us a write up of the circumstances so that we can post it here.

Eccleston Mere

The first time I've been around for a while since getting my new permit...

Goldeneye 1 male (thanks to Bill for pointing it out to me! )
Pochard 6-9
Mute swan 2 (1m,1f)
Lots of tufted duck (about 40), coot (about 80), and black headed gulls (about 80) and a few herring, lesser-black backed, and 1 common gull.

Also, a male great spotted woodpecker was on my garden feeders today - the first one for years.

Damian P

Colliers Moss & Developments

I had an interesting walk around Colliers Moss (http://www.discoverthemerseyforest.co.uk/Country-Parks.aspx?region=2&RefNum=CPK033)  today as part of a "reccie" with new owners Mersey Forest http://www.merseyforest.org.uk/

The idea was to get a feel for the place from numerous points of view because the place has changed dramatically to the last time it was officially surveyed.  See http://www.birdwatchinginsthelens.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/bold-moss.htm for an explanation of how it was regarded as one of the regions best wildlife sites, especially for odonata (dragon and damselflies).  

However, over the past decade or so woodland has begun to encroach the open heath areas thus reducing the opportunities for birds such as meadow pipits, skylark, linnet and (dare I say) cuckoo.  There is however a note of caution not to remove to much of the young birch/alder as the potential presence of birds such as willow tit and spotted flycatcher may be affected.

Elsewhere reeds and typher have begun to encroach seriously on the mosses thus intervention is needed to protect and restore these rare habitats.  One of these mosses is the only place in merseyside for cross-leaved heath (http://www.plantlife.org.uk/wild_plants/plant_species/cross-leaved_heath)

In other areas the reed has colonised the once open pools which has provided ideal habitat for reed warbler, reed bunting and water rail, only a little opening up of pools should be needed.  Oh and maybe a few features put in to make spotting wildlife a little easier :)

Each of these relatively small pieces of work should enhance the site for the return of the wide variety of odonata that the site was put on the map for over a decade ago.  And as you know where there are dragonfly .... there are hobby!

In order to carry out these much needed works the Mersey Forest people will be looking to a funding source and may need a crack team of volunteers to help them, I'm happy to throw my name in the hat  ...... As for now its a case of watch this space 

Whilst out and about the undoubted trip for me were the woodcock.  We had 5 fly out of an area toward Burtonwood Moss and 2 fly out of an area near to Sutton Moss.

Other birds of note:

Reed Bunting x3

Redwing

Fieldfare

Sing Thrush

Siskin (heard)

Goldcrests (heard)

Buzzard x2

Sparrowhawk

Cheers

Paul B

A little twist on Birding in Billinge

Had a lovely day out and about in Billinge with a new acquaintance included getting up close and personal with a few of my feathered friends ....

http://two-in-a-bush.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/ringing-session-with-twist.html

As you can see from the twitter account the photos are causing quite a stir!

If yo look closely at the photos you'll see me too!

Paul B

Rainford Mosslands

Whooper swan 1 adult Dairy Farm Road
Pink-footed goose 5000+ Old Coach Road (best viewed from railway bridge)
Corn bunting 11 (Dairy Farm Road and 10 in Moss Lane)

The whooper swan was my first in the borough for about eight years. It was in a field with sheep to the north of the road. More photos on my blog http://birdingsthelens.blogspot.co.uk/

Promised Land Farm

There was a large flock of Fieldfare here this morning. I didn't realise they had so much white on their lower belly!

My Garden Eccleston

Two goldcrest were flitting around my garden this morning.

Damian

East Lancs

Monday Morning. Mixed flock of about 30 Linnets and 20 Pied wagtails feeding in cabbage field alongside East Lancs. Near layby just before Knowsley turnoff.

Regards, Dave

Moss Lane

The fieldfare and redwing were a lot more settled today, there were about 10 of each on the berry bushes around the sheep paddock, I didn't see any flocks overhead today. A bit further on there were 7 corn bunting at the top of a tree. They're the first I've seen there for a while but they're much harder to find when they're not singing. The starling numbers seem to have decreased, only about 400 there today mixing with a flock of around 100 jackdaw. I had another glimpse of a stoat/weasel but it saw me before I saw it and refused to come back out of the undergrowth despite me waiting there for ages!

Corn Bunting 7
Redwing 10
Fieldfare 10
Reed Bunting 1
Tree Sparrow 1
Meadow Pipit 1 over
Pied Wagtail 8
Yellowhammer 8
Kestrel 1
Starling 400
Jackdaw 100

Damian P

Eccleston Mere

Goldeneye 1 female
Tufted duck 30
Coot 190
Little grebe 1
Great crested grebe 12
Mute swan  1 adult
Grey wagtail 1
 
 

Slender grasshopper

On Saturday I found this tiny grasshopper in my backyard, it's about 15mm long. I was quite excited by it, because I knew that I'd never seen this species before, and to find it in my completely flagged back yard in November seemed strange to say the least, for a group of inverts that I normally associate with flower filled meadows on hot sunny days in summer! On top of that, we don't really see very many grasshoppers of any species in St Helens, so I was quite keen to find out what it was.

The first thing to say is, I've been decorating recently, and this unfortunate insect seems to have walked into some white paint. So ignore the white bits, it's really completely dark brown!

A few tweets and messages later, I had my answer, it's a slender grasshopper (or groundhopper)  Tetrix subulata,  a species which is largely confined to the midlands and south east England, with just a handful of records from the Sefton coast and around Bolton. So it's not a million miles away from St Helens, but so far a I can tell, this is the first record for the borough.

Brick not Delicate

Last week I tweeted a photo of a moth which I thought might be a migrant species known as the Delicate. I was wrong, it turns out it was the Brick, not exactly common, but certainly not as rare as the Delicate.

Moss Lane to Sadlers Lane

I had another look for winter thrushes this afternoon at Moss Lane. After walking all the way to Sadlers Lane, and then most of the way back again, I'd seen very little, but then a flock of  about 10 thrushes landed in the hedge right in front of me. I was chuffed to see my first fieldfare of the autumn. Moments later a large flock of around 100 birds were flying directly towards me - more fieldfare! In the hedge around the sheep paddock, there was one fieldfare eating berries. These were the best photos I could get in the low light...

Fieldfare 100+
Mistle Thrush 1
Song Thrush 2
Starling 1500 getting pretty impressive
Skylark 4
Kestrel 1
Pied Wagtail 10
Yellowhammer 3
Linnet 15

Damian P

Eccleston Mere

I was having my roof looked at this morning after damage from the recent winds - two flocks of redwing flew over while I was outside - about 30 in total, the most I've seen this year. When I got to the Mere I realised I'd forgotten my camera but there wasn't that much there to photograph anyway. A few small flocks of redwing flew over and a larger flock of about 20 thrushes which looked a bit big for redwing but I can't be sure what they were.

Redwing about 25 in separate flocks
Mute swan 2 adults
Tufted duck 35
Grey Wagtail 1
Little Grebe 1
Sparrowhawk 1
Nuthatch 1 (pointed out to me by someone else!)
Coal tit 1

Damian P

Pink Footed Geese

I was wondering if all the geese around the vicinity of Heatons farm/Promised land farm will have left the area for good this autumn now? I noticed them last Saturday and didn't have my camera. Then when I saw the tweet about 3000 flying over last Tuesday , I was at work. I haven't seen any since!