I visited Moore Nature Reserve again this morning, hoping to get some photos of the Bitterns that have taken up winter residence here, but of course, today being my only day off this week the weather was crap, not only that the hide at the eastern reed bed must be the most exposed in Cheshire, if only they'd put a roof on it. Anyway, after a good hour and a half in constant driving rain and wind, I gave up. Birds of note were Kingfisher, Pochard, Gadwall, Teal, Wigeon and a Cetti's warbler.
Eastern reed bed hide
Kingfisher
Teal
Pochard
Heronry behind the Eastern reed bed
Walking back to the car, I connected with a Long-tailed tit flock moving through the trees, amongst them were 2 Goldcrests and a Willow Tit, which was a real bonus. There were also good numbers of Siskins and Redpolls as I walked towards Pumphouse pool.
Sisken
On arrival at Pumphouse pool, I was hoping to jam in on the Glaucous gull, which was reported yesterday, but again there were plenty of gulls loafing about, and they were nearly all Black headed gulls, and it was the same on Birchwood pool when I arrived there. I did see a Bullfinch, though, which has been my bogey bird of the year so far, and a Woodcock was seen flying over the tip from Birchwood pool and a single Oystercatcher overhead.
Bullfinch
Walking down Lapwing lane towards the feeding station, I saw 3 Great spotted woodpeckers, Goldfinch and at least another 20 Siskins in the trees.
On reaching the feeding station at the bottom of Lapwing Lane, another Woodcock was flushed. And a Sparrowhawk was overhead. There was no sign of any Willow tits again on the feeders, but this was probably due to the number of squirrels knocking about. I counted at least ten.
Walking back to the car, I received a text that the White fronted goose was still showing on the Wirral behind Decca pools, which is a scarce bird in our county, so that would be the next stop, after a bit of lunch and hot brew.
If you haven't visited Moore Nature Reserve, there is a map below of the area. It's a cracking reserve and well worth putting a few hours of birding in.
Anyway, on arrival at Decca pools, thankfully, a birder was already on the White fronted goose; it would have been trying to find a needle in a haystack, being so distant, but it was on the list showing with Pink-footed geese. Other birds seen were, Great white egret and three Short-eared owls.
Three Short-eared Owls were on the Marsh
