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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Red Rocks Marsh NNR, Merseyside (1 Viewer)

Flying visit this morning - need to get the kids up for school. Not much grounded - a Blackcap, three Willow Warblers and a Chiffchaff in the gardens. Redpolls were moving - prob 30 by the time I left, a Snipe in the south end of the marsh a flock of 300 Knot and a imm fem Peregrine on the beach.

4 species there that were not recorded yesterday (canada goose being the 4th)



Evening update. The Velvet Scoters were present again over the tide and the bigger news was the first Jay of the year just after I left!
 
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Cheshire Birder said:
Mega indeed Jane! Only the fifth record or as you put it so eloquently "its rarer than Great Grey Shrike".

CB

PS Thanks for the Velvets. They were a much needed county tick for me.
Click to expand...


No probs - I suggest anyone who want to see Velvet Scoter in Cheshire has a go - I've never known the species to be so reliable!
 
Another brief and early visit. The only grounded migrant was a singing Chiffchaff. Vis mig was looking promising with 30 or so White Wagtails 10 Redpolls by 7am. Fly throughs included a Rook and a female Sparrowhawk.

Testing a new (tiny and hence likely to get into my pocket routinely) video camera. It bodes well - the Sprawk was still for about 5 seconds an was before dawn.
 

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Jane Turner said:
Another brief and early visit. The only grounded migrant was a singing Chiffchaff. Vis mig was looking promising with 30 or so White Wagtails 10 Redpolls by 7am. Fly throughs included a Rook and a female Sparrowhawk.

Testing a new (tiny and hence likely to get into my pocket routinely) video camera. It bodes well - the Sprawk was still for about 5 seconds an was before dawn.
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What's the camcorder Jane?
 
A promising morning this morning. A Ring Ouzel was flushed first thing from the south end dunes. Apparently it took off like a rocket and flew high over the golf course. I picked it up hurtling down Stanley Rd as I arrived a little late. It flew ahead and above of me for most to the way down (looked to be a male). About 6 houses from te end it flipped over to the seaward side of the houses and was lost from view. I had a good poke about the point gardens, found a couple of grounded Tree Pipits that flew off towards Hilbre and a few Greenland Wheatears but no Ring Ouzel. It might have just kept going out to Hilbre.

There was evidence of a small arrival overnight. Two, or possibly three Blackcaps chasing each other about in the Poplars and superbowl, 5 or so Willow Warblers and a Chiffchaff and a singing Grasshopper Warbler south of the Pinfold Steps. The Sedge Warbler appears to have gone though. Two or three Whimbrel were heard, a Grey Heron came in off and there are still a few Water Rails in the marsh. The Wheatear total made it to 9 in the end and there were 30 or so White Wagtails on the golf course. At 8 o'clock a Fieldfare dropped into the Poplars, then left high to the south.

Visible Migration was interesting. A total of 5 Tree Pipits, Golden Plover, 6 Swallows, 3 Sand Martins 3 Siskin and 55 Redpolls. Like last week, one of the flyovers was huge and very pale looking. Eventually a flock of 5 landed. Of these one was a clear (male) Mealy Redpoll and another was a very good candidate (clean underparts, white wing bars and grey toned cheeks. It makes me think that many of the passing birds may be Mealies (as on Bardsey)
 

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Another good morning. The visibility was just about perfect for Red Rocks this morning - enough to At 6.30 male Ring Ouzel flew north over the dunes and appeared to drop on the seaward side of the Stanley Rd gardens. True to form it wasn't located again. At about 8 o'clock another bird dropped (out of clear sky) and landed briefly in the big alder next to the board walk. It stopped just long enough to get a scope on it, them flew off very high, circled and appeared to land somewhere near Pinfold Lane. Also very early there was a Little-ringed Plover that flew through calling. I heard it first as I set off home. There are now two Grasshopper Warblers singing - one at the extreme south end and another in the middle of the golf course. Also grounded was a male Redstart in the back of the poplars and about 5 Willow Warblers.

Visible migration started off very promisingly, with good numbers of Redpolls and a couple of Tree Pipits. Then more or less ground to a halt. Highlights were Great Spotted Woodpecker, two Jays, Tree Sparrow, 39 Redpolls (again including a very large bird) three Siskins, 7 Sand martins and two Swallows. 55 species so far - I'll go back and take a look at the tide later.
 
A late start this morning (it was damp 1st thing I I only have an hour between first light and getting the kids up for school.) I arrived at Red Rocks at about 8.45. There were three parties of Swallows working their way up Stanley Rd as I drove down, totally 27. At the point there was a Willow warbler on the rocks - always a good sign. I scanned out across the estuary and out to sea and picked up a flock of birds. I was struggling to ID them - long winged, hesitant flight...quite large looking about 40 birds in a loose flock. Eventually they came overhead and I could ID them. 38 Wheatears. I've never seen a large flock in flight before! They went over my head and out of sight over the gold course. At this point I thought I prudent to put some leg work in! There were a few more Wheatears perched up in the bushes at the south end of the reed bed. As I walked south I hear a chack, looked up to see a male Ring Ouzel appear briefly overhead then dive back into the large patch of gorse in the south end dunes. I carried on to the Pinfold steps and counted 15 Wheatears in the saltmarsh. I thought it would be worthwhile seeing just how many Wheatears were on the golf course, and to my surprise found that the answer was none, though there were at least 500 Meadow Pipits down and a handful of White Wagtails. I couldn't see the Ouzel either, but did locate a Stonechats, which are on territory. Crossing over to the other side of the course I came across 6 Jays and 2 singing Blackcaps behind the Greenkeeper's cottage.

The final Willow Warbler count was 15 and Swallows were well over 50 by the time I left to check the Langfields and Meols.

Part of the Pipit flock:
 

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Spring arrived properly overnight, with the bulk of the breeding warblers being present and correct this morning. There are 5 Reed Warblers and 4 Sedge warblers in the Marsh, with 5 Whitethroats (one more than there are territories). Also singing away was a Blackcap. 3 Willow Warblers too.

Some interesting vis Mig included 4 Rooks, 2 Ravens, a northern Golden Plover a Tree Pipit and 4 Redpolls. Hirundines were on the move, with 35 Sand martins, 20 Swallows and the first House Martin of the year. Here is a small selection of the singing vegetation recorded this morning!

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/105780754001015479487/20100422#5462922544016431682

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/105780754001015479487/20100422#5462924088489114354
 
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Jane Turner said:
Spring arrived properly overnight, with the bulk of the breeding warblers being present and correct this morning. There are 5 Reed Warblers and 4 Sedge warblers in the Marsh, with 5 Whitethroats (one more than there are territories). Also singing away was a Blackcap. 3 Willow Warblers too.

Some interesting vis Mig included 4 Rooks, 2 Ravens, a northern Golden Plover a Tree Pipit and 4 Redpolls. Hirundines were on the move, with 35 Sand martins, 20 Swallows and the first House Martin of the year. Here is a small selection of the singing vegetation recorded this morning!

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/105780754001015479487/20100422#5462922544016431682

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/105780754001015479487/20100422#5462924088489114354
Click to expand...

Singing vegetation Jane? Surely you mean whispering grass by Don Estelle and Windsor Davies? :-O:-O
 
Jane Turner said:
Here is a small selection of the singing vegetation recorded this morning!

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/105780754001015479487/20100422#5462922544016431682

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/105780754001015479487/20100422#5462924088489114354
Click to expand...

Hi Jane, was this video taken with your new camcorder, I'm looking at getting one in the near future and have been quite impressed with your recent pictures, like the Sparrowhawk on the rails, I'm looking for something to use for record shots only, and this looks ideal.

Cheers.

ps always enjoy your threads, my Dad and myself use to spend a lot of time at Red Rocks and Hilbre in the 70's and early 80's, must get back one day for a visit.
 
Yes it is. If I was looking to buy one rather than making the most of a freebie, I'd look for one with a circular objective lens (this is square!) - just so digiscoping would be easier. The sound recording is quite good!
 
Quiet this morning - the territorial warblers were much the same, though perhaps only 3 Sedge Warblers and definitely only 3 Whitethroats. 4 Reeds chortling away and a 5th bird seen. 3 Willow Warblers, a Chiffchaff 3 Redpolls and an overhead Tree Pipit.
 
71 species so far this morning.

Brent Goose 1 a late bird seen flying west towards the n.end of Hilbre, Common Shelduck 40, Mallard 2, Scoter 5, Red-breasted Merganser 5, Common Pheasant 4, Great Crested Grebe 2, Great Cormorant 40, Grey Heron 1, Sparrowhawk 1 in off the sea with several Herring gulls in hot pursuit, Common Kestrel 1 the first of the year, also in off the sea, Peregrine Falcon 1, Water Rail 2, Common Moorhen 2, Eurasian Oystercatcher 45, Ringed Plover 1, Dunlin 80, Curlew 25, Redshank 2, Black-headed Gull 10, Common Gull 5
Lesser Black-backed Gull 10, Herring Gull 50, Great Black-backed Gull 2, Kittiwake 6, Sandwich Tern 10, Common Tern 50, Feral Pigeon 2, WoodPigeon 30, Collared Dove 20, SkyLark 10, Sand Martin 7, Swallow 80, House Martin 2, Tree Pipit 5 including two down low, Meadow Pipit 40, Yellow Wagtail 2, Pied /WhiteWagtail 2/6, Wren 6, Dunnock 2, Robin 4, Stonechat 1, Northern Wheatear 2, Blackbird 6, Song Thrush 1 1st of the year, Mistle Thrush 1, Grasshopper Warbler 3 one at the south end, one near the Hawthorn Hollow, and one in the back of the Superbowl, Sedge Warbler 3, Reed Warbler 4, Blackcap 4, feeding in the superbowl, Common Whitethroat 4, Chiffchaff 1, Willow Warbler 25, Long tailed tit 1, Blue Tit 4, Great Tit 2, Magpie 4, Carrion Crow 6, Starling 5, House Sparrow 4, Chaffinch 2, Greenfinch 4, Goldfinch 30, Siskin 1, Common Linnet 7, Lesser Redpoll 45 inc a couple of decent Common Redpoll candisates in the 10 that came down, Reed Bunting 4, Jay 1, Turnstone 1, Stock dove 2, second record of the year, Jackdaw 1
[115 for the year]

Goose spp heard, a noble effort to string YL Gull and Arctic Tern!


15 Wheatears came in off yesterday, after I left.
 
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Yesterday's daylist (60 species for the day and 119 for the year)

Greylag Goose 2, Canada Goose 1 Common Shelduck 40 Mallard 4 Common Eider 5 all imm males between red Rocks and Hilbre on the tide. Common Pheasant 2 Great Crested Grebe 1 Northern Gannet 10 Little Egret 3 Grey Heron 2 Peregrine Falcon 1 adult male on the beach as usual Common Moorhen 4 Eurasian Oystercatcher 10 Ringed Plover 3 Sanderling 3 Dunlin 10 Whimbrel 2 Curlew 10 Redshank 2 Black-headed Gull 20 Common Gull 5 Lesser Black-backed Gull 10 Herring Gull 40 Great Black-backed Gull 3 Sandwich Tern 10 Common Tern 4 Guillemot 1 Feral Pigeon 10
Common Wood Pigeon 20 Collared Dove 20 Common Swift 1 Sky Lark 12 Sand Martin 20 Still moving N - late for passage of this species, Swallow 20 House Martin 2 Meadow Pipit 1 Yellow Wagtail 1 Pied Wagtail 2 Wren 8 Dunnock 4 Robin 4 Stonechat 2 feeding young Blackbird 8 Mistle Thrush 1
Grasshopper Warbler 1 Sedge Warbler 15 Including one bird in the superbowl with much reduced streaks and a non-contrasting rump, presumably down to wear Reed Warbler 8 including two birds in the superbowl, Common Whitethroat 6 Willow Warbler 1 Blue Tit 3 Great Tit 2 Magpie 4 Carrion Crow 8 Starling 10 House Sparrow 6 Greenfinch 4 Goldfinch 10 Common Linnet 10 Reed Bunting 6
Redstart 1 Female, arrived mid morning

Also 90+% sure we had a Spotted Flycatcher, it flew straight through a few minutes after the Redstart arrived.
 
May 20th - a bit of a special date in Red Rocks History. Today won't go down as anything special however.

Two Spotted Flycatchers at least 3 new Whitethroats (9 in all) three Wheatears a Willow Warbler, a Siskin and a Cuckoo were the migrants.

There are still Water Rails in the marsh, so perhaps they are breeding. Also 7 singing Reed warblers, 10 Sedge Warblers and two Grasshopper Warblers. There were lots of extra Reed Warblers on show today too, perhaps a small influx.

120 for the year
 
Mute Swan 1 a 2nd cal year bird flew N out of the estuary. Greylag Goose 2 Canada Goose 2 Common Shelduck 40 Mallard 8 Scoter 4 Common Pheasant 4 Great Crested Grebe 4 Northern Fulmar 1 Northern Gannet 3 Great Cormorant 10 Little Egret 1 Grey Heron 1 Peregrine Falcon 1 Water Rail 2 Common Moorhen 4 Eurasian Oystercatcher 40 Ringed Plover 2 Sanderling 2 Dunlin 10 Whimbrel 1 Curlew 1 Redshank 2 Black-headed Gull 5 Common Gull 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull 10 Herring Gull 100 Great Black-backed Gull 20 Sandwich Tern 5 Common Tern 2 Feral Pigeon 1 Common Wood Pigeon 70 Collared Dove 50 Common Swift 5 Sky Lark 5 Sand Martin 1 Swallow 40 House Martin 30 Tree Pipit 3 one over early and two birds down (one singing briefly) Meadow Pipit 1 Pied Wagtail 2 Wren 4 Dunnock 4 Robin 2 Whinchat 1 Stonechat 2 Northern Wheatear 1 Greenland type Blackbird 1 Song Thrush 1 the first for months - and in the Reed-bed to give me palpitations! Mistle Thrush 2
Grasshopper Warbler 1 Sedge Warbler 20 Reed Warbler 15 Blackcap 1 Garden Warbler 1 male, Common Whitethroat 10 Willow Warbler 2 one acredula type arrived mid morning, circled over the point and eventually came down on the lighthouse. It was singing as I left. Spotted Flycatcher 5+ birds apperead to arrive and leave most of the morning, so its hard to be sure how many. Three cit=rlcing over the point with two in the Poplars is the most i saw together. Blue Tit 2 Great Tit 2 Magpie 4 Carrion Crow 2 Starling 10 first young fledged House Sparrow 20 Chaffinch 1 Greenfinch 4 Goldfinch 20 Siskin 2 , Common Linnet 10 Lesser Redpoll 5 Reed Bunting 6 Jackdaw 1 Golden Plover 1 Over Middle Hilbre Turtle Dove 1 Heard at 5.30, eventually seen over point at 6.30 and again just after 7 Stock Dove 1 1 south Cuckoo 1 In off estuary Lapland bunting 1 Heard coming in off the sea, landed in edge of spartina - full ad male. After a minute, carried on south

77 species for the day. I'm fairly sure its the first 5 pigeon species day for Red Rocks. There are two previous late May Lappers, 20th May 1978 and another in about 1990.
 

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A quieter morning today. Still plenty of Spotted Flycathers about (min 5) though birds were seen leaving to the south on three occasions and two birds circled up until out of sight, whilst three were still a minimum of three at the point. So the actual count could be higher. Two Lapwings were today's rarity. Sedge and Reed Warblers are still arriving, with two of the former and one of the latter appearing in the point buckthorn before moving to the marsh. The Grasshopper Warbler is still holding territory in the gorse-filled hollow at the south end. 3 Whimbrels were the only shore wader. Aside from hirundines, there was little overhead passage today. Single Siskin and Redpoll (though it the latter did appear to have a whitish rump, it didn't look very mealy like when it landed. Single Yellow Wagtail and one or two Tree Pipits on of which came down in the poplars for a minute, completed the day
 

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