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

An afternoon visit to Burton RSPB was rewarded almost immediately with views of the juvenile Spotted Crake that has been present throughout the week. On arrival, I met site warden Colin Wells, who promptly directed me to the bird. It emerged briefly from the reeds, showing well for a few seconds before slipping back into cover. Given that some observers had waited for hours, I was fortunate to connect with it so quickly.

Elsewhere on the reserve, nine Spoonbills were showing well in front of the reception hide, accompanied by an impressive gathering of around 200 Black-tailed Godwits and two Spotted Redshanks, rounding off an excellent visit.

9 Spoonbills

Spotted Redshank

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

A tweet from @marburypatch early this morning set pulses racing when news broke of a Glossy Ibis at Neumann’s Flash, Northwich — my former patch and a long-standing omission from my patch list. With the species still needed as a patch tick, I quickly rang Malc Curtin, who was already en route.

The bird had been found by local patch regular Greg Baker, who was watching a Little Egret on Stilt Island when the ibis was flushed by the egret and flew across to Ashton’s Flash. I headed straight over to Northwich, but on arrival, the news was discouraging: the bird had not been seen again.

I met up with Malc and his wife, and we walked a full circuit of Ashton’s Flash without success. As birders began to drift away and we were heading back to our cars, Malc received a call from another local patcher, Mark Taylor, who had successfully relocated the bird — back at Neumann’s Flash. We immediately made our way there, where the Glossy Ibis was showing well, feeding calmly around the reed margins.

Glossy Ibis

This record represents only the second Glossy Ibis for the patch. The previous bird roosted at Neumann’s Flash from 30 September to 2 October 1992, before being watched feeding in a field near Marston Flash on 3 October. That individual constituted the first accepted record for Cheshire and Wirral.

An earlier record cited by T. Hedley Bell in The Birds of Cheshire — a bird present on Burton Marshes from 16 September to 6 October 1959 — was subsequently accepted by BBRC as Flintshire only.

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

ACRE NOOK AND LAPWING HALL SIGHTINGS JUNE

Acre Nook Sand Quarry bird sightings:

By the middle of the month, the water level is now high with good numbers of gulls returning to the site. Black headed numbers have reached 40, Lesser black backed 13, Great Black backed 32 and Herring gull 16 on the 23rd.14 Curlew were seen on the 23rd, along with 2 juvenile Mandarin ducks, 34 Lapwing, 26 Shelduck, and 10 Oystercatchers were also present.

 With all the rain that fell in June, the quarry is now filling up

 Two juvenile Mandarin Ducks showed well on the 23rd

 Shelduck now have young

Gull numbers have now increased 

On the 24th, a pair of Bullfinches were present around the entrance to the quarry. A Green Sandpiper was seen on the 28th along with 42 Curlew. On the 30th, a Black tailed godwit was present along with a Shoveler.

 Green Sandpiper

 Curlew

Black Tailed Godwit

Shoveler

Lapwing Hall Pool bird sightings:

The Long-tailed duck, which was found on the 10th, hung around till the 18th before departing. A single Pochard and a Wigeon remained throughout the whole month. Sand martins remain in good numbers along with Swallows. A Yellowhammer was calling on the 23rd, along with the resident Tree sparrows, which are now feeding young. 4 Meadow Brown butterflies were seen on the 25th along the pool path.

 Wigeon

 Juvenile Swallows have now fled the nest

 Sand Martin

Meadow Brown

BUTTERFLY DAY OUT

With the birds drying up, I had a day out and visited Shropshire to a butterfly site at Prees Heath Common. This is the last sanctuary for the Silver-studded blue butterfly in the Midlands. The reserve is on a large common that had been a World War 2 airfield. The silver-studded blues were in good numbers as we walked around the common.

Silver studded blues

Other species of butterfly were seen as we walked around the common, and a cracking Green woodpecker showed well for a few minutes before a dog walker flushed it.

Painted Lady

Ringlet

Speckled wood

After a good walk around the site and a bit of lunch, I moved on to Eyarth rocks near Ruthin in Denbighshire, which is being carefully managed to sustain North Wales' strongest populations of the threatened Pearl-bordered fritillary. After one hell of a hike up a mountain, I eventually found the site, which was well overgrown. I did connect with a Dark green fritillary and gave it a good hour searching around, but couldn't connect with any Pearl bordered fritillary, and then the weather started to deteriorate, so I called it a day.

 Dark green fritillary