Red Rocks Marsh NNR, Merseyside (3 Viewers)

[Jane Turner]

Did it by any chance lack an exhaust ?

It had an exhaust. More excitingly it had spectacularly inefficient brakes, the top of the original 1600 engine and the bottom (3/4) of a 1998cc without any gear adjustment and the tendency to do this round bends.....

http://dxbec.ihep.su/~solo/alfa/pics/alfagta.jpg

I once came back to it in the car park of the Ellesmere Port Holiday inn (when the RAC rally was on) to find Stig Blonquist peering through the window. He used to race them in his youth and made me promise to red line it every day, which I did till the day it exploded.

 

[deborah4]

Prepare yourself fo a whole new round of blurry mystery photographs!

Rufous Turtle Dove
Moustached Warbler (but could be Sedge!)
Siberian chat
Orphean Warbler
f. Rustic Bunting


Reckon you can start your own mini-Id forum here Jane - fwiw, I ID'd all your pics then noticed your comments at the end of your post above! Still happy to be proved they are not as listed o (well done on the pics, know what you mean about needing rec.shots, sadly I'm still firmly emcamped in the fuzzy blob section)

 

[Jane Turner]

After nearly a year of enforced absence from "proper birding", it seems like time to start keeping my bird blogs up to date. There was a smell of spring in the air this morning, so I thought I'd go out and find myself a Wheatear.

I was met at the corner of the Poplars by a potential migrant, a calling Chiffchaff. I say potential, since there have been one or two birds in the area all winter. Whilst I was trying to get a view of it, male Bullfinch dropped in. I've seen more Siberian Phylloscs at Red Rocks than Bullfinches and about as many Serins! Things were looking promising!

I scanned and scanned the golf course, failing to find either Wheatears or an early Ring Ouzel. There were however a few flocks of Meadow Pipits, totally about 150. There were also at least 6 singing Skylarks.

Back to the marsh, where 3 Reed Buntings are holding territory and a female was flycatching from the reeds. Whilst watching the Stonechat I picked up a Short-eared Owl hunting the outer dunes. It appeared to leave to the south. I was planning on walking round the marsh, and had nearly got to the south end crossing point, when I found myself unexpectedly 10ft from the Owl. It was sat on a post and had its back to me, so I stopped still and waited. I could almost see surprise on its face, when swivelled its head round. We stood there, staring each other out for good ten minutes. Then it appeared to relax and started scanning. Every time it had its head away from me, I edged backwards, till I was out of sight.

Walking back the way I came I heard two or three Coal Tits in the gardens. Like the Bullfinch they were evidence of a little local movement today - though unlike the Bullfinch, I expect to record a few in early spring. As I reached the end of Stanley Road, a flock of about 700 Knot flew over my head.


Perhaps the Wheatear will arrive tomorrow.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Nice to have you back posting Jane. I've been sort of vaguely hoping for a Wheatear the past couple of days myself, without success so far.

 

[Jane Turner]

A couple of Willow Warblers on the 3rd and an interesting day yesterday - way too clear for any migrants to have dropped in overnight. Still I checked every square mm of the Golf Course for a Ring Ouzel.... annoyingly one was reported later. The only migrant was a Tree Pipit. I had a bried moment of excitement when I flushed a small duck from the reed bed, but it was a female Teal, followed shortly by a male. My first ever "down" in the marsh. One day I'll surprise a Garganey!

The best bird was a Stock Dove.. The Wagtails on the beach are still Pied's, though 3 were doing a good impression of White.

 

[Jane Turner]

Very clear overnight, so I was expecting most of yesterday's fall of migrants to have left, however I arrived early with hopes of a singing Grasshopper Warbler. I was rewarded almost instantly as one spluttered into life from the regular breeding site. As I was heading up the marsh to see if I could see it, I thought I heard a Sedge Warbler start to sing. Then I thought I heard a snatch of Reed Warbler. The Reed Warbler stared to churn out a proper song, and I was thinking that I must be hellishly rusty, when first one, and then another Sedge Warbler joined in. Up to 8 Willow Warblers and couple of Chiffchaffs were also singing.

A female Sparrowhawk (migrant here) headed out across the estuary to Hilbre, with a couple of Crows in hot pursuit. As I rounded the south end of the marsh I decided to take a look across the Spartina, to see if there were any pipts, wagtails or Wheatears lurking. There were none present, but my timing was admirable, since a female Merlin came through about 2ft off the ground. As I walked up the seaward edge of the dunes, the Merlin was flushed by a dog, and flew low over the beach to Middle Hilbre, where I lost view of it. I did however pick up a Peregrine sat on the beach.

Overhead passage was mostly composed of Siskins (45) and Redpolls (20), though two Sand Martins and about 45 Meadow Pipits also passed through. The surprises of the day came in the form of 2 Long-tailed Tits passing south through the reed bed, and a second Sparrowhawk and a Jay which appeared in the Poplars.

As I left, I was greeted by a flock of about 15 alba wagtails on the Nursing Home Lawn. 6 were the resident Pieds, but the rest, and presumably the 15-20 in view on the golf course as I drove away, were very smart White Wagtails.

I suspect that tat is my earliest Reed Warbler.

 

[Jane Turner]

Too clear again today to have grounded and migrants, though there are still a Grasshopper Warbler, 2 Sedge and now 2 Reed Warblers singing. Phylloscopus warblers were much reduced though, with no more than 5 Willow Warblers and a single Chiffchaff. A short-tailed Sparrowhawk made the crossing to Hilbre, from where, slghtly surrealy there was a choir singing Judas Macabeus at 7am! There were 4 Wheatears in the saltmarsh, though I missed them.

Overhead passage was where the action is today. 40 Redpoll, 35 Siskin, 12 Swallows and shortly after 8am, an Osprey, which came in low from the estuary. I didn't see it until it cast a shadow on me!

There was a little flurry of migrant activity at 8.30, with two Goldrests and A Whitethroat emerging from the gardens. There are still a few White Wagtails on the Golf Course, as well as plenty of Pieds.

Edit: Oh and I meant to say, there are a couple of Water Rails still in the reed bed.

 

[Jane Turner]

I took the camera out with me this morning, just in case I needed a record shot. Not a lot going on I have to say. 20 or so Redpoll and 35 Siskin moved through, as did a flock of 55 Woodpigeons. A couple of Swallows over the beach, two each of Sedge and Reed Warbler still in the marsh and the Grasshopper Warbler is still on territory (though he shuts up at dawn). one Chiffchaff and a few Willow Warblers were singing. The hihglight was what I thought was going to be the female Merlin again, hurtling after a Skylark straight towards me over the saltmarsh. It turned out to be a male Peregrine that went more or less over my shoulder.

Oh and I flushed a slim looking large brown thrush from the superbowl (ivy-filled hollow). It didn't call and I didn't see it again. Obviously an Ouzel! Some pictures to relieve the tedium

 

[JWN Andrewes]

Oh and I flushed a slim looking large brown thrush from the superbowl (ivy-filled hollow). It didn't call and I didn't see it again. Obviously and Ouzel!

The new new approach. I like it, so many applications!

James

 

[PhilW]

Now then, now then............................

 

[Jane Turner]

I should have said that I did see two smaller brown Song Thrushes, which were moving, and clearly support the good day for an Ouzel hypothesis.

 

[PhilW]

Ahh. Now I understand. A movement of thrushes supports the hypothesis that a Ring Ouzel must be around. The theory being that like species may move together on the same weather fronts. You didn't see an Ouzel but one could have been there so the theory can't be disproven so the hypothesis stands. I think thats the correct interpretation?

Hows the Landie going?

 

[Jane Turner]

You got it! The Landie is behaving impeccably save for a small oil leak. Just enough to make me think about parking it somewhere other than over my york stone flags!

 

[Jane Turner]

A promising start to the morning, with a nice drop of migrants at dawn. These rapidly dispersed however, and as the wind picked up, not a lot more arrived. The highlight was a singing Whimbrel. Here are the highlights.

Blackcap (6),CHiffchaff, Lesser Redpoll (45) Lesser Whitethroat, Peregrine, Pied Flycatcher (m) Raven (2) Redstart Reed Warbler (4) Sand Martin (10) Sedge Warbler (5) Swallow (60) Swift Tree Pipit (2) Wheatear (Greenland) (3) Whimbrel (13) Whitethroat (2) Willow Warbler (15)

 

[Jane Turner]

I was out early this morning. Fine wetting drizzle downed a few migrants, most notably a female Redstart in the poplars. Three or so Tree Pipits were lurking in various bushes (I flushed 5 but think that they may have been moving from bush to bush.) There was a Whinchat, my first of what has been a very poor spring for them, in the south end bushes and another on the nursing home lawn on the way home. There were 3 Greenland Wheatears on the beach (later 5 I gather). There seems to be 6 singing Reed Warblers (one more than usual) and 12 Sedge Warblers on territory as well as three breeding Whitethroats

The Peregrine was out on the beach as per usual.

 

[Jane Turner]

I hear that there were 5 Spotted Flycatchers this morning. A classic first arrival date.

 

[PhilW]

Several on Hilbre as well - a week after they started getting them on the south coast. Makes you wonder where those earlier ones came from..........................

 

[Cheshire Birder]

Whinchat at Red rocks today. Also saw the Brent Goose present on Hilbre flew past. c20 Gannets offshore plus several summer plumaged Sanderlings in the high tide wader roost.

 

[Jane Turner]

nice!

 

[Cheshire Birder]

I was particularly pleased to find the Whinchat given the large number of people about.