Out of the Ordinary

At long last a clear, calm and sunny winter’s day! I didn’t need asking twice and just after half past nine I was ‘powering’ down to Lavan Sands in the Morris Traveller, following a brief stop to pick-up Mark Murphy from Rhyl.

I must confess to being guilty of perhaps under-rating this large area of estuary; the nearby Dee may get plenty of plaudits for its excellent range of wildlife and lah-de –dah new RSBP reserves, but Traeth Lavan holds a few cards up its sleeve too.

For starters we headed to the rather bijou Spinnies. Not much doing from the lagoon hide, although I did register my first Water Rail for the year and we enjoyed fleeting views of a male Sparrowhawk in full operations mode.

Another Water Rail was added on the way to the estuary hide scurrying across a ditch so foul smelling it could grace the metropolitan area of Chennai, or ‘Madras’ in old money.

The mouth of the Ogwen played host to an excellent variety of waders and wildfowl, highlights being tens of Goldeneye, a female Goosander and a trio of Greenshank.

Abergwyngregyn was the next port of call where I momentarily dreamt of living under Sharia Law – maybe people wouldn’t vandalise hides if they were going to receive 50 lashes as punishment!

No matter, dozens of Pintail and Wigeon thronged the shoreline, and a minute didn’t pass without a Common Snipe being flushed from the marsh by the encroaching tide.

Our attention was largely focused on the water though. Excellent visibility and a calm surface provided an ideal opportunity to scan the sea for Grebes, Sea Duck and Divers. Finally, after working through many Great Crested Grebes and Red-breasted Mergansers I picked-up a Slavonian Grebe towards the lighthouse at Penmon Point.

It was close enough the exclude Black-necked - but still too far way to enjoy properly - so after I had worked through the large flotilla of loafing gulls (fad of the year for the North Wales birders?), we moved over to Morfa Madryn.

After failing to secure a Firecrest near the car park we moved over towards the three hides. A workman was shifting logs bang in front of the first one, but the hundreds of waders roosting on the shingle spit didn’t seem unduly concerned. Oystercatchers dominated the roost, the remainder comprising a smattering of Sanderling, Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Knot, Curlew and a single Bar-tailed Godwit.

The lagoons were teeming with roosting waders too. Nothing out of the ordinary, but as I worked through the shorebirds it was incredible how many of the birds were ringed – will the clampers/bird strokers/pseudo-scientists/hobbyists ever relent!?

With the light fading it was time to move over to the promenade at Llanfairfechan. Again, many birds on drink - albeit a good way off shore - with a drake Eider the pick.

There was a probable distant ‘Horned’ Grebe too and as I was squinting through my scope a passing happy-snapper asked Mark what we were looking at.

“Slavonian Grebe”, I said.

“…Oh, we’ve seen some Ordinary Grebes today…”

Until later.

Eider down Mostyn Way...

Finally, six days into the New Year I had the opportunity to get out and kick-start my Flintshire year list.

It is always good to start afresh, especially considering that last year only registered a paltry 152 species – a dozen down on my previous and first effort.

Will I ever reach the magical 200? Perhaps, providing Fortuna keeps delivering like she did on Friday.

A ninety minute stroll down through Whitford and Mostyn Estates had produced the usual woodland birds, plus a calling Willow Tit that unfortunately I could not locate amongst a large mixed winter flock.

Incidentally, it is very evident this winter that the effect a mild spell has on the numbers of small passerines. Hardly a Nobel Prize for Biology observation I grant you, but the trees and undergrowth are dripping with Goldcrests, Treecreepers and Wrens currently.

Arriving at the coast near Mostyn Dock I soon added a couple of Great Crested Grebes to the list and I was happily enjoying watching them lazily dive in the winter sun until I picked-up a duck loafing just behind the rusting Duke of Lancaster.

As I approached the vessel, it drifted out of sight Port (okay, I admit it, I had to look that up) side. A minor civil offence was required in trespassing behind the fence, but when I crept around t’other side a cracking immature drake Eider was a mere ten yards away from me. Nice.

Until later.

Shenton's Smew

I have been out and about over the last few days, including an excellent Saturday morning at the Point of Ayr.

If the seawatch at this site on Friday was a little sketchy, it redeemed itself the following day with some excellent birds.

Contrition was not the order of the day early on though; although the area was thronged with birds there was little variety on the wader and wildfowl front and more gulls then you could shake a stick at.

In fairness, the immature Spoonbill put on a show, but it was a good hour and a half before the first raptor appeared on the radar – a fem/imm Merlin that buzzed the roost a couple of times before docking on a mound in the middle of the marsh.

Eagle-eyed Mark Murphy then caught a glimpse of a possible Jack Snipe disturbed by the incoming tide, but the bird was not playing ball and promptly buried itself in a clump of Sea Purslane.

A Ron Atkinson spotter’s badge was then duly earned after he picked out a female Goosander that had stealthily drifted in.

For afters it was over to Warren Fields and after setting up scopes near the railway bridge I located a group of five grey geese. My thoughts were initially White-fronts, but with my only experience of these birds a fleeting glimpse of a pair of juveniles about two miles out into Banks’ marsh near Southport, I was a little unsure.

Thankfully there was one adult replete with diagnostic great whacking white band around the base of its bill – the other four being juveniles.

A Barnacle Goose was also found with a group of Canada Geese, but the most intriguing bird was what appeared to be a drake Smew roosting on the bank of one of the pools.

Sadly, the opportunity of a life bird for Mark was taken away when it revealed itself to be a Muscovy Duck, or to give it its new name – Shenton’s Smew.

Until later.

Parsimonious Poseidon

With strong westerly winds blowing for the majority of the week, I decided to take a punt on a seawatch down at the Point of Ayr this morning.

With most of the Skuas, Petrels and Shearwaters now safely kicking it in warmer climes, a December session is never going to set the pulse racing fully, but nonetheless this time of year can still be productive.

Things started in a promising fashion with a handful of Kittiwakes and a small party of Red-breasted Mergansers moving out of the estuary before most teachers were calling their register.

It was good to see a few juvenile Kittiwakes too; through no fault of their own the Scottish breeders have been about as productive as a Greek roadie in the last few years – perhaps they have enjoyed more success this year?

A 1st winter Little Gull was next on the scene, battling valiantly against the strong gusts. Superficially similar to a young Kittiwake in plumage, there really is no mistaking these little critters if you take a few minutes to observe their flight and behaviour. It was a plucky little bugger too, spending plenty of time feeding from deep within the troughs.

And then things gradually petered out. Great Crested Grebes, Red-throated Divers, Guillemots and a few Common Scoters passed through, but nothing too interesting.

The winds began to abate too and then I noticed the Cormorants started to get busy commuting around in all directions – always a sign that normal business is resuming. Time to call it a day.

It was now my time to do battle with the wind as I headed to Prestatyn to pick up a bus home. Hundreds of gulls were roosting on the beach and although conditions were not exactly conducive to careful study I did managed to pick out an adult Yellow-legged.

Until later.

Inclement

I’ve been out on a couple of birding expeditions this week – a walk from home at Lloc to Prestatyn and a hobble around Greenfield Valley and Dock.

Let’s start at the beginning.

On Tuesday I set off in warm sunshine and a steady breeze and so it was until I neared the Point of Ayr when the skies darkened somewhat, blackened and then moved into a new level of lightless murk hitherto unknown to Man.

Cue monsoon and gale force winds. Fortunately – or so I thought – there was a Hawthorn tree thicker than your average Wag, so I hunkered down leeward side and waited for the deluge to pass – except it didn’t.

Forty-five minutes later I was sodden and with the prospect of three more hours of walking to go I was not a happy camper.

It was a pity really, because things had started well: a Marsh Tit in Garth Wood and a quintet of Brent Geese near Mostyn were unexpected.

When I squelched up at the Point of Ayr there was pandemonium as the waders and wildfowl had been caught with their pants down so to speak.

The combination of the lashing wind and low pressure had caused the tide to cover the marsh in a spectacle reminiscent of a good ten metre effort.

With my bins not in the best of shape and myself not entirely won over to the idea of catching hyperthermia I was in no mood to enjoy the commotion, but there were excellent numbers of birds – particularly Pintail.

Leaving the marsh I headed for the shoreline to undertake a Snow Bunting/Shore Lark hunt, but was surprised to see the waves hammering into the dunes. Not being particularly partial to drowning, I walked along the tops of the dunes until the tide had ebbed.

Alas, not much to report. I’ve not seen any Snow Buntings at Talacre this year and indeed I only had one passage individual last winter. I’m not sure why this is, but I have noticed a distinct lack of a strandline along most of beach…lack of food?

After a day’s convalescence, I was still in the painful throws of severe chafing, but nonetheless decided a trip to Greenfield was in order.

Hobbling long like John Wayne did have its advantages – I was able to pay a little more attention to any arboreal action as I shuffled along.

Plenty of mixed flogs of foraging passerines around, although ‘mixed’ is pushing it a little – the three major groups I located were dominated with Blue and Great Tits with the odd Goldcrest, Nuthatch or Coal Tit thrown in.

I had hoped for a Yellow-browed Warbler, Firecrest or Lesser Spot – fat chance.

Still, a Dipper was a good find as was a Grey Wagtail, both earning a crust on the stream at the bottom of the Valley. This made up a little for the distinct lack of birds on any of the pools, that quite frankly were pony.

Until later.