On a day when the weather was supposed to be much worse than it turned out to be, four of us headed out for a days birding and were not disappointed. First stop was the now mandatory one at Moore N.R. near Warrington for the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. As this was our third visit this year a certain optimism greeted our arrival (pity no one told the bird) and as usual nothing was seen or heard in a little over 45 minutes. Next stop was Burton Mere RSPB reserve and shelter from the elements, its always a very welcoming place to visit anyway. As we arrived the sun came out but it was still cold and very windy. We visited the various hides and saw: - Marsh Harrier, Great Egret, Pintail, Redshank, and Dunlin.
We headed up the coast as high tide approached and called at The Old Baths at Parkgate and managed to see a lone Marsh Harrier just as another deluge had us running back to the car. We moved up to Heswall through the various caravan parks to what looked like an interesting spot, but the tide was really high by now and there were no birds to watch!
We went through the tunnel to Liverpool passing one of our old favourite places to birdwatch before it was effectively cut off, that is Seaforth N.R. We headed towards Southport and eventually managed to connect with two Cattle Egrets present in the Birkdale area. At Marshside RSPB reserve we were directed to a lonesome Spoonbill that had recently arrived, lots of wildfowl in this area. News of two White Fronted Geese at Hundred End, just north of Southport, had us calling at Hesketh out Marsh looking for them. I just wish that posters of bird information could be a little more specific with details of sightings (sorry, rant over) as you can tell we didnt locate them. Our last call was at Curlew Lane near Rufford to try to see the Corn Buntings that have been present for a long time. Upon searching a recently ploughed field Chris B managed to see two birds hunkered down in the furrows. We managed to count at least 10 birds. Nice to know that they are doing well in the area. Time for home after a difficult but enjoyable day out.
