ACRE NOOK AND LAPWING HALL POOL BIRD SIGHTINGS LATE JULY

Lapwing Hall pool bird sightings:

On the 23rd, I was walking around the pool when a Redstart flew in front of me and landed in some bushes. I couldn't believe it, but it was just a reward for the amount of hours I have put in this year.

Redstart, a new bird for the patch

The Tree sparrows are still showing each time I visit and now have young.

Tree Sparrow

On the 24th, a Common Scoter arrived, which stayed until the 26th and another Black-necked Grebe was found on the same day, which was still around on the 30th.

Common Scoter, another first for the patch

Pochards are still on the move, and numbers vary from day to day. There were three at the pool on the 27th. The number of Tufted ducks reached over 50 by the 28th, along with 9 Great Crested Grebes.

Pochard

Acre Nook Sightings:

Another Mediterranean gull was found with large numbers of gulls on the 25th, along with 3 Black tailed godwits. Numbers of Curlew reached 40 plus by the 20th, along with over 100 Lapwing by the 28th.

Black Tailed godwit

A good number of birds are dropping into Acre Nook

A Common Sandpiper dropped in on the 21st. Teal numbers have reached 12, along with 8 Mandarin Ducks. A Hobby flew over during my dinner hour on the 26th.

Common Sandpiper

AFTERNOONS BIRDING AT BURTON RSPB-SPOTTED CRAKE

I visited Burton RSPB this afternoon to try and see the juvenile Spotted crake that has been showing all week. I met up with Colin Wells on arrival, who is the warden for the site, who soon put me straight on the bird as it came out of the reeds and showed for a few seconds before scurrying off back into the reeds. I was lucky to have seen the bird so quick, as some birders had waited hours. The nine Spoonbills were also showing well in front of the reception hide, along with 200 Black tailed Godwit and 2 Spotted Redshank.

9 Spoonbills

Spotted Redshank

A good afternoon's birding, which was finished with a stunning Marsh Harrier over the reeds.

GLOSSY IBIS GIVES PATCHERS THE RUN AROUND AND THEN GIVES IT SELF UP!

A tweet off  https://twitter.com/marburypatch this morning got the pulse racing as someone had seen a Glossy Ibis on Neumann's Flash in Northwich on my old patch. I needed Glossy Ibis as a patch tick, so I rang Malc Curtin, who was already on his way. The bird had been found by Greg Baker, one of the patch regulars, as he was watching a Little egret on Stilt Island. The Ibis had been spooked by the egret and flew over to Ashton's flash. I soon drove over to Northwich, but the news wasn't good; the bird had not been seen again. I met up with Malc and his wife, and we walked all the way around Ashton's flash, but no luck. As birders started to depart and we walked back to our cars, Malc received a phone call from another local patcher, Mark Taylor, who had relocated the bird back to Neumann's. We soon made our way to where the bird was showing, and it was just happily feeding around the reeds.

Glossy Ibis

The Glossy Ibis was a 2nd for the patch, the last one roosted in 1992 at Neumann's Flash from September 30th to October 2nd and was watched as it fed in a field by nearby Marston Flash on October 3rd. This was the first record for Cheshire and Wirral. The record, mentioned by T Hedley Bell in “The Birds of Cheshire”, of one on Burton Marshes from September 16th to October 6th 1959, was only accepted by BBRC for Flintshire.

ACRE NOOK AND LAPWING HALL POOL-JULY SIGHTINGS

Acre Nook Sand Quarry bird sightings:

The month started off relatively slowly and was hard birding. 6 Teal turned up on the 5th along with 7 Mandarin. A flock of 14 Linnets were around on the 6th.

Teal

Mandarin Duck

Linnet

Numbers of Gulls continue to rise as the month proceeds, with all the usual species being seen.47 Curlew and 9 Oystercatchers were present on the 8th, along with a Little ringed plover. 9 Pochards were present on the 10th, along with 84 Curlew and 17 Oystercatchers. Lapwing numbers are continuing to rise as well, with well over 50 present by the 10th.2 Great spotted woodpeckers showed well on the 11th but flew before I could get any photos. On the evening of the 10th, an adult Mediterranean Gull was picked out among at least 200 gulls that are now coming in off he fields at night to roost. A Redshank was a surprise find on the 10th as well, with 2 Gadwall also feeding near the far reedbed.

Mediterranean Gull 

Redshank

Lapwing Hall Pool bird sightings:

A Black necked grebe was found on the 4th and was still around on the 10th. A single Mandarin on the 6th. 8 Pochard on the 8th, along with a female Wigeon. Tufted ducks have now reached over 40 by the 10th. 6 Little Grebes were around on the 8th.

Black-necked Grebe

 Pochard

Mandarin Duck

Wigeon

On the 9th, I was walking down the lane towards Lapwing Hall pool, and a Spotted flycatcher appeared near the kissing gate.

 Spotted Flycatcher