Bamber Bridge Birder

2 ticks and updates - 16th December 2011

With 2 birds showing well in North Lancashire that I needed for my life list I spent the first day of a long weekend off work in search of them. The first stop was Leighton Moss RSPB and it didn’t take long to find the Glossy Ibis feeding at the edge of a flooded field near to the car park entrance of the Allens Hide. Scope views were good but only record shots were obtainable as the autofocus kept picking up the branches when I tried photographing it through a nearby hedge.

ABOVE & BELOW GLOSSY IBIS

Next stop was Heysham Docks were a small number of Twite were feeding in the usual place. As I pulled up on the north side of the harbour. A quick scan along the edge as I walked up the entrance of the harbour brought 2 juvenile Shag and a Turnstone on the walk back. I found the Glaucous Gull at one of the outlets on the south side so views through the scope were good but no chance of any photographs. These views were disrupted as a dredger began work and I was unable to locate the bird for the remainder of my visit. 3 Little Gulls were a nice addition as well as c30 Kittewake.

JUVENILLE SHAG

ABOVE & BELOW KITTEWAKE - NOT SURE OF AGES

Even though the blogs been quite I have managed to get out on a few occasions mainly to Crossens-out Marsh with the hope of getting some photos of the Short-eared Owls but though I saw them the weather conditions made photography difficult. A tick with 4 European White-fronted Geese made the trips worthwhile.

Local patch additions included Fieldfare, Redwing and on the 17^th December a flock of c20 Siskin which was a nice addition. Buzzard have been showing well recently with 2 giving good views again on the morning of the 17^th. The disappointment has been the lack of the local Tawny Owl, it had been calling regularly up to a few weeks ago and I had seen it several times at dusk and dawn but things have been quite of late.

Wall Farm Nature Reserve, Shropshire - 4th November 2011

A call on Monday from Mike Foley prompted this trip down to Wall Farm near to Telford. A Steppe Grey Shrike had been reported from there (firstly identified as a Great Grey) and Mike managed to get down on Tuesday and as my work didn’t take me anywhere near I managed to take Friday off and take the 2 hour drive down to this small nature reserve. I must say I was a little worried as first as my trips to Shrikes have mostly proved fruitless over the years and as Bird Guides had reported the bird before 8.00 most of the week and it wasn’t until after 10.00 that it showed up on the report today. After parking up in the farmer’s field and dropping my £3.50 (all being donated to the British Legion) in the bucket I took the 10 minute walk down to the edge of the ploughed field from where the bird could be viewed. It was quite distant at first, approximately 600m and though well out of range for photography it was easy to pick up with the scope. For the first 2 and a half hours it stayed at the bottom end of the field but stayed mainly in view occasionally dropping to the ground before returning to the hedgerow or to a high point on a bush or tree. Eventually it started to move closer and spent about half an hour around lunch time at about 400m where I was able to obtain a few record shots. I must admit with these or any other photos I’ve seen I’d struggle to distinguish it from the Great Grey Shrike and even looking in my reference books and the internet I’ve failed to gain any real knowledge about this species, a copy of Shrikes of the world is on its way. After about 4 hours I decided to head home happy that I’d added the Steppe to my Shrike list having only seen Great Grey and Brown I’ve still got a long way to go.

Above the ploughed the Steppe Shrike could be viewed from, it didn't even make it down as far as the two large trees in the centre of the photograph.

Above you can just make out the white wing pattern, much larger than on the Great Grey Shrike

Banks Marsh & Marshside RSPB - 22nd October 2011

Another weekend trip up to the Ribble Estuary but this time my first visit to Banks Marsh where I met up with Nick Green. I didn't get far along but managed some nice species including a late Curlew Sandpiper.

ABOVE CURLEW SANDPIPER BELOW WITH A RUFF

At times the Cirlew Sandpiper was as close as 20m even though dogwalkers constantly walked passed but it seemed to carry on undisturbed feeding at the pools edge in the company of a Ruff. A mixed flock of Black-tailed Godwit in the field behind were also accompanied by a few Ruff but soon took to the air when disturbed.
Other birds of intrest included Golden Plover, Widgeon, Teal, Lapwing, 2 Kestrel, Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk, Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit and 6 Little Egret.

TOP BLACK-TAILED GODWIT BOTTOM A FLOCK OF ABOUT 20 GODWITS WERE PRESENT WITH A FEW RUFF

After Scanning the area with the hope of getting a Short-eared Owl (none present today) e headed off to Marshside in perticular Nels Hide. Black-tailed Godwit were present in larger numbers and more dropped in over the hour we were there. 2 Drake Pintail showed well as well as a small number of Shoveler but Teal just about outnumbered everything across the pool. The odd Golden Plover were intermingled with the Godwit as well as numbers of Lapwing. 3 Little Egret flew across as well as a Grey Heron and there were several Gull species including Common and Greater Black Backed.