I was alerted this morning at around 10:15am by Dave Owen of the presence of a drake common scoter on Black Brook which he had subsequently lost sight of. I was on the far side Billinge Hill in the search of migrants (see whether I was successful below) so it took me a while to get back to the house, eat something and jump into the car.
Some time in the early afternoon I got further new that the bird had been refound in the pool below the overflow of Carr Mill Dam. After a quick chat with Denis Egling at the Waterside car park I arrived on site and quickly found the bird.
I would never have imagined seeing a scoter in a small overflow pool leading to a stream that runs under a railway line and major road! But unlikely as it seems the little things do add up ... ... ...
These birds migrate at night and in spring migrate over land. Last spring several small flocks were found on Eccleston Mere (by Colin Davies) and on Pennington Flash. Carr Mill Dam is the largets body of water in Merseyside and thus you would assume that occasionally it too would hold scoter in the spring. The other things to consider would be the misty weather leading to some confusion and the possibility of getting "lost". And the final piece of the jig-saw would be the fact that these birds actually breed near rivers/lakes in the birch/willow forests of northern Europe and that little part of the brook is arguably similar!
And bizarrely it wasnt the only odd duck of the day, after a couple of fly-by sightings I pinned down th elocation of a drake Mandarin(!?!) on the far side of Billinge Hill but then one could argue that this too was in ideal breeding habitat ie an upland pool surrounded by plenty of vegetation and established trees ....
The large flock of redwing were still present but difficult to photograph ...
And still there were no signs of wheatear, chiffchaff or white wagtails ....
Paul B
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