Wigeon (Anas penelope) on the ice in front of the John Morgan Hide

Wigeon (Anas penelope) on the ice in front of the John Morgan Hide

Record shot of Green-winged Teal (Anas carolinensis) from the John Morgan Hide

Record shot of Green-winged Teal (Anas carolinensis) from the John Morgan Hide

At the moment Woolston Eyes is the gift that keeps on giving. We’ve all worked hard this year and been rewarded with 156 species, before this morning, including such goodies as White-crowned Sparrow, 5 Yellow-browed Warblers, 3 Siberian Chiffchaffs, 2 Firecrests, Ring Ouzel, Bittern, Goshawk, Osprey, Red Kite and Hen Harrier. Sitting in the Morgan Hide this morning, with beautiful sunlight reflecting on the largely iced-over lagoon, I was musing that it’d be unlikely we’d find anything else new before year end. I then did a quick count of the 475 Teal out on the ice and challenged Colin Wells and his RSPB team to have a stab at estimating the number. Colin, being Colin, started to carefully count the flock, pausing only to say “I think I’ve got a Green-winged Teal out there”. He certainly did, too. So, that’s our 157th for the year and only the third ever at Woolston, the last being in 1987……and there’s still a month or so to go.

Cheers David Bowman (with Colin Wells et al, Ash Radford, David Spencer and Mike MIles)

Record shot of the Green-winged Teal (Anas carolinensis) seen this morning from distance amongst a huge flock of Teal opposite the John Morgan hide.

Photo of frozen leaves on a young Birch sapling.

Cheers David

Photo of a frozen Giant Hogweed seedhead.

Cheers David

Photo of the sun rising over the Ship Canal near Bollin Point.

Cheers David

Photo of a Siskin from the Morgan Hide this morning.

Cheers David

Photo of a Greenfinch from the Morgan Hide this morning.

Cheers David

Photo of a Wren from the Morgan Hide this morning.

Cheers David

The dawn sun, struggling through the mist, made for a really atmospheric morning. Despite the lagoon being almost completely frozen over on No.3 bed, 400 Teal were working hard to keep a small pool open, where they were joined by a couple of Wigeon and nearly 60 Canada Geese. We then wandered from No.1 bed to Bollin Point and then beyond Rixton Paddocks to check out the arable land to the east. Records of note from the morning included: 1 Cetti’s Warbler, 3 Water Rails, 400 Teal, 1 Snipe, 2 Wigeon, 1 Yellowhammer, 1 Willow Tit, 100 Greenfinches, 50 Chaffinches, 2 Siskins, 9 Redpolls, 6 Bullfinches, 80 Fieldfares, 20 Redwings, 35 Blackbirds , 7 Goldcrests, 3 Skylarks and 24 Long-tailed Tits. There was no sign this morning of the female Scaup from Thursday. After our exertions it was nice to have our lunch back in the Morgan Hide, trying to get some photographs of the multitude of common birds, despite the mist which seemed to be winning the battle with the watery sun.

Photo of a Wren from the Morgan Hide

Cheers David Bowman (with Dave Steel, David Spencer, George Dunbar, Helen Wynn and Les Jones)

Great couple of hours at the eyes today cold but sunny.Number three bed was partly frozen however we saw three snipe over by the submerged digger as the distant picture shows.A few teal shovelers pochard and the odd wigeon.Under the feeder there was a young fox picking a few bits off the floor by the time I got my camera it had gone.There was a male bullfinch on the tree by the feeder quite a lot of greenfinch ,a willow tit and chaffinch.Gill saw finches on the sunflower field willow tits and chaffinches also plentiful also three goldcrest in a nearby tree.On the way out three thrushes and four wrens lots of blackbirds feeding on the berries.A great day out Roger and Gill

Another interesting morning, with a third Siberian Chiffchaff ringed, this one on No.3 bed by Kieran Foster et al. That’s now 5 Yellow-browed Warblers, 3 Siberian Chiffchaffs and 2 Firecrests for the Autumn. Meanwhile, the rest of us were doing the monthly Visible Migration Watch from the top of Butchersfield Tip. We were lucky with the weather, with blue skies overhead while the heavy weather hung over Winter Hill. Not too much was moving, apart from a few skeins of Pink-feet plus small numbers of Redwing, Fieldfare, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks.. Perhaps most interesting were the six Bullfinches which dropped in from high to the north-east, calling in a louder and more emphatic way than our local birds. This led us to consider the possibility of Northern Bullfinch, though the call wasn’t quite right for these, so we had to let them pass. We managed to record a few scarce local birds, though, with 2 Red-legged Partridges, 1 Merlin, 2 Yellowhammers and 1 Green Woodpecker. We then finished with lunch in the Morgan Hide, where 5 Black-tailed Godwits were still present and a Water Rail was active on the scrape. The link to a video clip shows the antics of the latter.

Click here to see Dave’s video of the Water Rail or cut and paste the link below into your browser

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSwe9iOLr3U

Cheers David (with Dave Steel, David Spencer, Helen Wynn and Les Jones)

In addition to David Bowman’s records today were 3 Common Snipe and 2 Jack Snipe on the Loop of No.4 bed, 5 Collared Doves near the Sandpit Pond and a Water Rail calling on No.1 bed. Reserve-wide counts included 55 Moorhen, 223 Tufted Duck,of which 180 were at Bollin Point, 52 Robins and 7 Little Grebes. A second Black-tailed Godwit was found on No.3 bed and a male Goldeneye in the Weir Basin.

A dawn visit for a bit of birding prior to a meeting about the winter habitat management activities on No.3 bed - also an excellent antidote to the Trump fiasco! Highlights were 2 over-flying Whooper Swans, 1 Little Egret, 2 Cetti’s Warblers,1 Black-tailed Godwit, 6 Snipe, 2 Bramblings, 2 Siskins, 10 Lesser Redpolls, 1 Water Rail and 1 Chiffchaff. Other counts of interest were: 40 Linnets, 45 Goldfinches, 60 Greenfinches, 50 Chaffinches, 300 Teal and 3 Willow Tits.

Photo of a Sparrowhawk in front of the Morgan Hide

Cheers David (with Brian Ankers, John Langley, Ashley Radford, Colin Wells and Robin Horner)

Common Snipe (gallinago gallinago) from The John Morgan Hide

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba) from the John Morgan Hide

A dawn start, with clear skies and a chilly north wind,on No.3 bed this morning. Only a handful of Starlings came out of the roost at sunrise, though a Sparrowhawk still managed to snatch one before perching in a favourite dead birch to feed. A steady westward movement of Cormorants totalled 35 and, though the recent Hen Harrier seems to have moved on, the wildfowl were still jumpy, enabling us to get some good counts as they congregated on the open water. They included: 300 Teal, 60 Shoveler, 40 Mallard, 25 Gadwall and 10 Wigeon, while Dave Hackett reported 2 Goldeneye from the Weir Basin, Pleasingly, a few waders were still present, with 2 Green Sandpipers, 7 Black-tailed Godwits, 50 Lapwings and 8 Snipe. Other counts of note were: 3 Cetti’s Warblers (including the 10th ringed this year by K. Foster et al), 2 Chiffchaffs (also ringed), 1 Siskin, 3 Lesser Redpolls, 60 Greenfinches, 50 Chaffinches, 10 Goldfinches,a few Redwings and Fieldfares, 2 Water Rails, 4 Sparrowhawks, 5 Buzzards, 18 Blackbirds 1 SongThrush, 1 Little Grebe and 1 Goldcrest. Cheers David (with Dave Steel, Brian Martin, Alan Warford, Helen Wynn, Brian Baird, Les Jones and George Dunbar)

A Red Admiral was on No.4 bed.

The first frosty morning of the autumn soon gave way to another lovely sunny day. Unfortunately there was no sign of the Hen Harrier which a large number of permit holders had come in the hope of seeing although it may have been present earlier in the day. There was still plenty of interest however and reserve wide counts of 54 Robin and 53 Shoveler were noteworthy. A count of 58 Moorhen was the highest for many years. Other sightings included 3 skeins of Pink-footed Geese, 168 Teal, 9 Black-tailed Godwit on No.3 bed and 7 Snipe on the Loop. 2 drake Wigeon were seen from the footbridge.

On an unseasonally mild and sunny morning, I went onto No.3 bed, at dawn, for a couple of hours birding before meeting up with Dave Morris and his RSPB colleagues. The Hen Harrier, on its sixth day at Woolston, again showed well and, as always, the bed delivered an excellent variety of birds. Highlights were: 1 Hen Harrier, 1 Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Woodcock, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Cetti’s Warbler, 80 Pink-footed Geese, 1 Kingfisher, 10 Black-tailed Godwits, 3 Willow Tits, 13 Snipe, 2 Wigeon, 155 Teal, 46 Shoveler, 60 Goldfinches, 5 Redpolls, 75 Greenfinches, 2 Sparrowhawks and 2 Buzzards. More interesting information on the harrier is emerging, too. We’d presumed that our bird was the same as the radio-tagged one at Risley Moss recently. Not so. The Risley bird is definitely a second bird and, remarkably, left Risley Moss, went to Dorset and then came back. The link is to a short video clip of the Hen Harrier from this morning.

Click here to watch Dave’s video clip of the Hen Harrier or cut and paste the link below into your broswer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0Ed9UjqvA0

Cheers David (with Brian Martin, Dave Morris et al and Ashley Radford)