AFTERNOONS WALK ALONG RIVACRE VALLEY

The weather was beautiful today on the Wirral so I spent the afternoon walking around my local nature reserve in Rivacre.It wasn't long before I saw my first Comma butterfly of the year as I was walking along the stream.

COMMA BUTTERFLY

Spring is truly upon us now and the valley floor was covered in Bluebells.

BLUEBELLS

There were good numbers of Orange Tip butterflies around the reserve and I managed to get a distant photo of a Brimstone butterfly as it landed on the other side of the stream.

ORANGE TIP 

BRIMSTONE

Walking further along the valley I heard a Green Woodpecker calling and it didn't take long to locate the bird sat right out at the top of a tree.

GREEN WOODPECKER

The stream held a single Grey wagtail and two Kingfishers.Due to the constant disturbance of dog walkers and children playing in the stream I was surprised that the Kingfishers were still around as I hadn't seen them at all this year after numerous visits.

GREY WAGTAIL

Walking back to the car a Peacock butterfly appeared right in front of me near the path and a Speckled wood was seen around the rangers cabin.

 PEACOCK 

SPECKLED WOOD

A lovely afternoons walk and so nice to see a good selection of butterflies which are now seriously in decline in Great Britain.

For further reading on this click on the links below:

LINK 1    LINK 2

CHESHIRE AND WIRRAL BIRD NEWS AND UK MEGAS 15TH APRIL 2017

WIRRAL
Burton RSPB-Little Gull and 4 Spotted Redshank.

CHESHIRE
Mobberley-50 Waxwings feeding in cotoneaster in front garden of cottage between Bucklow Avenue and Pavement Lane.

Woolston eyes-Grasshopper warbler-Reeling in North meadow.

Kelsall-77 Waxwings in orchard east of Yeld Lane at Eddisbury Fruit Farm.

Hale-Arctic tern,4 Cattle egrets and a Water pipit.

MEGAS IN BRITAIN
RUFOUS TAILED ROCK THRUSH-Male on northeast side of Bread and Cheese Cove-St Martins-Isles of Scilly.

CHESHIRE AND WIRRAL BIRD NEWS AND UK MEGAS 14TH APRIL 2017

WIRRAL
Hilbre-Black-throated Diver off north end and a Great Skua chasing gulls at high tide.


Leasowe-Pied Flycatcher.

Burton RSPB-1 Osprey over,Great White Egret,Little gull and Spoonbill.

CHESHIRE
Sandbach flashes-Iceland gull.

Mobberley-52 Waxwings feeding in cotoneaster in front garden of cottage between Bucklow Avenue and Pavement Lane.

MEGAS IN BRITAIN
RUFOUS TAILED ROCK THRUSH-Male on northeast side of Bread and Cheese Cove-St Martins-Isles of Scilly.

PIED BILLED GREBE-Loch Feorlin-Argyll.

CHESHIRE AND WIRRAL BIRD NEWS AND UK MEGAS 13TH APRIL 2017

WIRRAL
Burton RSPB-A record count of 121 Avocet this morning and an adult Spoonbill.


Heswall-36 White Wagtail in ploughed fields between Riverbank Road and Banks Road.

Hoylake Shore-18 Ringed Plover.

CHESHIRE
Mobberley-20 Waxwings feeding in cotoneaster in front garden of cottage between Bucklow Avenue and Pavement Lane.

Hale-Water pipit-2 at Carr Lane Pools.

MEGAS IN BRITAIN
RUFOUS TAILED ROCK THRUSH-Male on northeast side of Bread and Cheese Cove-St Martins-Isles of Scilly.

AMERICAN COOT-still at Loch nam Feithean,Balranald-Outer Hebrides.

CHESHIRE AND WIRRAL BIRD NEWS AND UK MEGAS 12TH APRIL 2017

WIRRAL
Heswall-65+White Wagtail in ploughed fields between Riverbank Road and Banks Road.


Heswall Shore-19 Red-breasted Merganser (12 males),Peregrine,c2500 Redshank,c800 Curlew,3 Whimbrel and 2 Lesser Redpoll flew W.

Burton RSPB-Drake Scaup,1ST Winter Little gull and Spoonbill.

Neston Marsh-White Fronted goose.

Burton Marsh-Great white egret.

CHESHIRE
Sandbach Flashes-Glaucous Gull.

MEGAS IN BRITAIN
RUFOUS TAILED ROCK THRUSH-Male on northeast side of Bread and Cheese Cove-St Martins-Isles of Scilly.

BUTTERFLIES CRASH IN FOURTH-WORST YEAR ON RECORD

UK butterflies suffered their fourth-worst year on record in 2016, with the majority of species experiencing a decline in numbers, a study has revealed.CLICK ON LINK

LATEST STATE OF UK'S BIRDS 2016 REPORT REVEALS FURTHER WORRYING DECLINES

More than a quarter of British birds are in need of urgent conservation efforts, according to a major new report.CLICK ON LINK

CHESHIRE AND WIRRAL BIRD NEWS AND UK MEGAS 11TH APRIL 2017

WIRRAL
Heswall-123 White Wagtail in ploughed fields between Riverbank Road and Banks Road.


Hilbre-Yellow Wagtail and 25 White Wagtail.

Heswall Shore-Merlin,Peregrine,Whimbrel,Sedge Warbler and 2 Willow Warbler at Target Rd.

Burton RSPB-Scaup (drake),Little Gull,Cetti's Warbler and c500 Black-tailed Godwit.

CHESHIRE
Delamere-60 Waxwings.

Hartford-10 Waxwing-around Carriage Drive and entrance to Marshall's Arm LNR.

Woolston Eyes-Osprey,Hobby and 9 Black necked grebes.

Newchurch Common-Smew-Female still on large pool to north of track.

Frodsham Marshes-Little Stint.

Middlewich-Grasshopper warbler-Male singing by iron fence along Stone Heyes Lane.

Sandbach Flashes-Glaucous Gull.

Middlewich-Waxwing-16 at Kings street industrial estate.

MEGAS IN BRITAIN

RUFOUS TAILED ROCK THRUSH-Male on northeast side of Bread and Cheese Cove-St Martins-Isles of Scilly.

A MORNING'S BIRDING AT MARBURY COUNTY PARK

I spent this morning birding around Marbury county park with Malc curtin hoping to see a pair of Lesser spotted woodpeckers that have been seen daily excavating a nest in Big wood.The birds were not present when we arrived so we headed down to the mere where we had good numbers of Sand martins and 3 Yellow wagtails in the fields.

YELLOW WAGTAIL

A Willow warbler was singing down by the mere which was my first of the year.On arrival back at the nest site for the Lesser spotted woodpeckers the male was showing really well.

LESSER SPOTTED WODDPECKER

The male bird showed well for over ten minutes before flying.It was great to see this scarce species and hopefully the Woodpeckers will have a successful breeding season.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK 5TH-11TH APRIL 2017

CLICK ON LINK

BIRDGUIDES REVIEW OF RARE BIRDS THIS WEEK IN BRITAIN-5TH-11TH APRIL 2017

REVIEW OF THE WEEK CLICK ON LINK
BY JOSH JONES

CHESHIRE AND WIRRAL BIRD NEWS AND UK MEGAS 10TH APRIL 2017

WIRRAL
Heswall-32 White Wagtail in ploughed field behind Riverbank Road car park.


Hoylake Langfields-10 White Wagtail.

CHESHIRE
Middlewich-Waxwing-7 at Kings street industrial estate.

Delamere-c.50 Waxwings by cafe and tree nursery this morning; access via station car park.

Sandbach Flashes-Glaucous Gull.

MEGAS IN BRITAIN
RUFOUS TAILED ROCK THRUSH-Male on northeast side of Bread and Cheese Cove-St Martins-Isles of Scilly.

PIED BILLED GREBE-Loch Feorlin-Argyll.

AMERICAN COOT-still at Loch nam Feithean,Balranald-Outer Hebrides.

AFTERNOONS BIRDING AT LEASOWE LIGHTHOUSE

I spent this afternoon birding around Leasowe looking for spring migrants and started off walking down Lingham lane.I soon connected with a pair of Blackcaps and a Chiffchaff in full song.

 FEMALE BLACKCAP

CHIFFCHAFF

The paddocks down Lingham lane were very quiet and there were no Ring Ouzels around which I was counting on seeing.An Oystercatcher was the only bird present.

OYSTERCATCHER

A small flock of Curlew were in the fields at the bottom of Lingham lane and a Sparrowhawk put in a brief appearance before flying off west.

CURLEW

There were also plenty of Goldfinches about along with good numbers of Linnets.

 GOLDFINCH

LINNET

Walking back towards Park lane I saw good numbers of small Tortoiseshell butterflies and a single Orange tip.

SMALL TORTOISESHELL

Other birds of note were a pair of Stonechats and 8 Swallows were over the paddocks,but otherwise it was a very quiet visit.

STONECHAT

CHESHIRE AND WIRRAL BIRD NEWS AND UK MEGAS 9TH APRIL 2017

WIRRAL
Hilbre-Hooded Crow and 8 Carrion Crow flew over heading SSE and 5 Wheatear.


Leasowe Lighthouse-5 Wheatear.


Leasowe-2 Grasshopper Warbler.


Parkgate-Grasshopper Warbler,Hen Harrier,Marsh Harrier,Merlin and 2 Wheatear.

Park lane-Meols-A Ring Ouzel flew east from fields.

Hoylake Shore-26 White Wagtail on shore by Lifeboat Station.

CHESHIRE
Ellesmere port-Drake on Poole Hall Sands,River Mersey, viewed from Mount Manisty.

Sandbach Flashes-Glaucous Gull and 7 Common Terns.

MEGAS IN BRITAIN
PIED BILLED GREBE-Loch Feorlin-Argyll.