Menzie's 2007 Merseyside Year List

[Stephen Menzie]

Sorry it's taken so long to get this thread going. Had a few things going on of late which have put a stop to most things, including birding. Which is also why my list is quite a bit lower than I would have liked it to have been by now, although there's nothing I'm missing that I shouldn't catch up with easily enough later in the year.
As the title suggests, this year I'm staying local and going for a Merseyside county year list. Boundaries for the list are as the Met. County of Merseyside (that's Sefton, City of Liverpool, Knowsley & St Helens north of the river and Wirral to the south).
As the county is split between two bird recording areas (Lancs & N. M'yside and Cheshire & Wirral), the county is seldom used for listing purposes so it's nice to see that at least another two people are also doing a M'yside list this year - SiG (http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=75237) and Pelican Crossing (http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=75118). Good luck to both of you; it will keep me on my toes having a bit of competition ;)
So... species seen [in order of appearance] upto the 11th Jan are as follows:

1 Common Gull
2 Collared Dove
3 Magpie
4 Lesser Black-backed Gull
5 Black-headed Gull
6 Starling
7 Carrion Crow
8 Woodpigeon
9 Robin
10 Blackbird
11 Feral Pigeon
12 Goldfinch
13 Kestrel
14 Mistle Thrush
15 Buzzard
16 Cormorant
17 Tufted Duck
18 Shelduck
19 Mute Swan
20 Great Black-backed Gull
21 Herring Gull
22 Skylark
23 Wigeon
24 Mallard
25 Pink-footed Goose
26 Golden Plover
27 Lapwing
28 Black-tailed Godwit
29 Little Egret
30 Meadow Pipit
31 Reed Bunting
32 Grey Heron
33 Redshank
34 Pintail
35 Pochard
36 Little Grebe
37 Greylag Goose
38 Canada Goose
39 Euarasian Teal
40 Jackdaw
41 Shoveler
42 Snipe
43 Moorhen
44 Coot
45 Curlew
46 Linnet
47 Pheasant
48 Blue Tit
49 Goldeneye
50 Wren
51 Greenfinch
52 Long-tailed Tit
53 Chaffinch
54 Sanderling
55 Bar-tailed Godwit
56 Oystercatcher
57 Red-throated Diver
58 Grey Plover
59 Brent Goose
60 Great Tit
61 Turnstone
62 Knot
63 Fieldfare
64 Song Thrush
65 Redwing
66 Pied Wagtail
67 Yellowhammer
68 Dunnock
69 Blackcap
70 Goldcrest
71 Sparrowhawk
72 House Sparrow

It took me 6 days to find a Dunnock and until today before I came across my first House Sparrows! :h?: :brains:
You can also visit my intelligently named new blog, Merseyside Year List 2007 (http://merseysideyearlist07.blogspot.com/) where the list is broken down into something a bit more detailed.

[Stephen Menzie]

London Road, Liverpool City Centre
73. Grey Wagtail

It's slow going at the moment... :gn:

[Stephen Menzie]

A walk around the Woolton Wood/Camp Hill just up the road this morning added 6 new species to the list:
74. Jay
75. Treecreeper
76. Nuthatch
77. Coal Tit
78. Stock Dove
79. Great Spotted Woodpecker

Also a pair of Weasels, which were something of a surprise!

A drive out towards St Helens this afternoon added another species:
80. Red-legged Partridge

[Stephen Menzie]

A day spent at Marshside today added 8 new species:

81. Rook (at Netherton, on the way)
82. Peregrine
83. Scaup
84. Merlin
85. Short-eared Owl
86. Dunlin
87. Gadwall
88. Barnacle Goose

Gradually ticking off all of the easier species...
Barnacle Goose was a singleton with Pink-feet on the marsh; about as wild as you're going to get up this way, although obviously there's no way of proving it's not one of the 60 or so feral birds in Lancs that's tagged onto the Pink-feet at Martin Mere and moved across with them. And even if it was it can go on the list as Cat C :scribe:

[Stephen Menzie]

A stroll around Sefton Park, Liverpool, after uni today added 3 new species:

89. Great Crested Grebe
90. Siskin
91. Kingfisher

[Stephen Menzie]

After a considerable time with no year list action, I finally got out today and added 3 more:

At New Brighton:
92. Guillemot (2)

At Leasowe:
93. Eider (pair)

At Thurstaston:
94. Bullfinch (1 male)

See my blog (link below) for more...

[Stephen Menzie]

A few more today after a day picking off a couple more target species in Sefton.

Lunt:
95. Little Owl

Southport:
96. Jack Snipe
97. Common Scoter

Marshside:
98. Stonechat

[Stephen Menzie]

No sign of yesterday's Iceland Gull at Lea Green tip, St Helens today, but nevertheless I still managed one year tick:

99. Yellow-legged Gull (first-winter on the warehouse roof)

[Stephen Menzie]

A wander around Sefton today added another three to the list and took me over the 100 mark -

Ince Blundell:
100. [Greenland] White-fronted Goose (one with Pinkfeet)

Marshside:
101. Whooper Swan (1 flying over)
102. Ruff (9 individuals)
103. Avocet (the first returning bird of the Spring)

[Stephen Menzie]

Over on the Wirral today, another four -

Leasowe Lighthouse:
104. Mediterranean Gull (adult)

Hilbre:
105. Ringed Plover
106. Rock Pipit
107. Purple Sandpiper
Pale-bellied Brent Goose
Dark-bellied Brent Goose*

*For the purpose of this list, both subspecies are counted as 'Brent Goose'. However, this was the first sighting of either of these subspecies in M'yside this year but not my first sighting of Brent Goose as a species after a flock of 22 birds on Jan 1st that were unassigned to race... If that makes sense?

[Stephen Menzie]

A quick trip to Lunt, Sefton, after uni today helped me to add another two to the list:

108. Grey Partridge
109. Corn Bunting

[Stephen Menzie]

On the way home from uni today, a flock of finches seen from the bus on the central reservation of the main road in Woolton, Liverpool looked like it could be potentially interesting. I got home, grabbed my bins and walked up there. It paid off:

110. Brambling

One female was with about 30 Chaffinches feeding on Beech mast.

A second look this later afternoon and the female has now been joined by a male...

[Stephen Menzie]

A trip up to the Formby area on Wednesday added another two of my target species to the list -

Lifeboat Road:
111. Raven

Ainsdale Hills:
112. Crossbill

[Stephen Menzie]

An afternoon at Crosby Marina was useful for some gulls:

113. Little Gull (2 ads and 1 2nd-winter)
114. Kittiwake (2+ offshore)
115. Ring-billed Gull (the regular 2nd-w)

Ring-billed Gull can be a bit of a pig to catch up with, so was useful to get it under my belt relatively early in the year.

[Stephen Menzie]

An afternoon visit to Marshside today saw me adding another potentially awkward species to the list -

116. Green-winged Teal

[Stephen Menzie]

An afternoon at Prescot Reservoirs was useful with another 4 species added:

117. Chiffchaff (at least 7 birds singing)
118. Ruddy Duck (1 fem)
119. Woodcock (1 flushed from some scrub)
120. Lesser Redpoll (4 in the hedge)

[Stephen Menzie]

A mad dash up to Crosby Marina this afternoon help me to secure the first major rarity in Merseyside this year:

121. White-tailed Eagle

Viewed (very!) distantly from Crosby shore looking south-west over to the Wirral.

[Stephen Menzie]

Finally a chance to get out and go and have a proper look for migrants today.

On the way up the M57:
122. Swallow

At Sands Lake, Ainsdale:
123. Willow Warbler (3+ birds present)

And at Marshside:
124. Wheatear (2 males and a female)
Also my first White Wagtails in the county this year.

[Stephen Menzie]

An early start this morning at Red Rocks with Jane Turner added even more migrants to the list:
125. Grasshopper Warbler (one reeling and showing briefly[!])
126. Ring Ouzel (male; 'elusive' is an understatement)
127. Tree Pipit (1... in a tree)
128. Tree Sparrow (a pair overhead)

And at Leasowe later in the day:
129. Red-breasted Merganser (pair)

Also much better views of Ring Ouzel (female) and Gropper there.

Yet another try for Mandarins are Raby Mere saw me dipping, again! And at Arrowe Brook I took the fact that I couldn't even get into the car park as a sign not to bother... :stuck:

[Stephen Menzie]

Three more at Marshside this afternoon:
130. Yellow Wagtail (male with White Wags)
131. Common Sandpiper
132. Little Stint

And driving through Ince Blundell late evening on the way home:
133. House Martin (2)

[Stephen Menzie]

Across on the Wirral this morning, at Raby Mere:
134. Mandarin (2 drakes and a female on my umpteenth attempt)

At Leasowe:
135. Sand Martin (2)
136. Sedge Warbler (3)

At Gilroy Pool, West Kirby:
137. Whimbrel
138. Lesser Whitethroat

Then this afternoon at Prescot Reservoirs:
139. Green Sandpiper
140. Little Ringed Plover

[Stephen Menzie]

Another early(-ish) start on the Wirral. No sign of the Wood Warbler at Caldy. At Red Rocks:
141. Whitethroat (2 males)

A couple of hours sea-watching from Jane Turner's upstairs window (http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=872240#post872240) (cheers, Jane :t:) added another four:
142. Gannet
143. Sandwich Tern
144. Arctic Skua
145. Great Skua

And finally, at Leasowe lighthouse:
146. Reed Warbler

[Stephen Menzie]

Over the house in south Liverpool this evening:
147. Swift

[Stephen Menzie]

Dawn at Barnston this morning added two more within the space of a couple of minutes:
148. Barn Owl
149. Black Kite - Merseyside's second quality raptor this year (and showing considerably closer than the last one!)

And at Dove Point, Meols:
150. Whinchat (male)

[Stephen Menzie]

At Marshside this afternoon:
151. Curlew Sandpiper
152. Greenshank

[Stephen Menzie]

A dash up to Marshside this morning secured another good county tick:
153. Woodchat Shrike (adult female)

And on the way back, a very quick seawatch off Formby added one more:
154. Common Tern (several off shore)

[Stephen Menzie]

Hmm, I'd forgotten about this...
A few additions since the last post:

20th May, Marshside -
153. Woodchat Shrike

Formby Point -
154. Common Tern


16th June, Seaforth
155. Roseate Tern


Today, Hilbre Island -
156. Little Tern
157. European Storm-petrel