13/01/2024 Lunt Meadows, Sefton ecks

Green-winged Teal: Between the family duties around the festive break and now being back at work its took me a while to get myself over to Lunt. 

This yank teal has made itself at home here for a few months now and I'm glad its stuck around so  I could go and see it. The bird was associating with the Eurasian teal on the great-white egret pool at the far end of the site. 

It eventually showed really well after drifting in from the submerged vegetaion and took a power nap on the nearside bank close to the sluice. 

Richardson's Cackling Goose: Another bird that has taken up residence at Lunt, albeit for a much short time so far is this diminutive cousin of the Canada goose, the cackling goose. With stubbier bills, steeper foreheads and a shorter neck they side by side they really do stand out.

Cackling geese that frequently in the wild in the UK, usually associate themselves with either barnacle or pink-footed geese. However there has also been a number of records of birds appearing on their own or with feral geese and these are often assumed to be escaped birds - this may be the case but it is entirely plausible that at least some are wild birds too.

Smew: A good morning spent on the reserve topped off by a drake smew, this bird initially gave me the run around and I saw it fly off from the main lake land on one of the border pools. 

07/02/2021 Pennington Flash

Richardson's Cackling Goose: Well my day just got that bit more interesting.  After a very early and cold start, taking a short walk to Lightshaw Flash to see the Richardson's goose I got news that it had relocated to Pennington Flash. 

Once I got home from the morning walk I warmed up with a hot cup of tea and some breakfast then settled in for an afternoon of entertaining the baby. 

When news came through on BirdGuides that the bird had been spotted at pennington flash I didn't give it a moments thought, pleased that I was it more locally earlier this morning

I was soon told that the bird was coming to seed in the car park with the Canada geese. Well whatever this birds real origins are and with its behaviour now making it even more likely that its plastic I don't think I will get an opportunity to see one so close up outside of a zoo!

So not wanting to miss a good photo opportunity, I packed my gear, the baby and Dawn and we headed over to our local Pennington Flash. 

Penny was typically busy, but you can't really blame anyone for coming to use such a great public amenity even during this pandemic, there is no law against it or restrictions that forbid folk from going to a park. Sure, you can question the suitability of dozends on people going to one place for an outdoor walk, but firstly you'll be a hypocrite and secondly it's down to an effective government to lay out strong and sensible rules. 

The bird was pointed out me by a lovely bloke called Dave, as it came out of the water to feed on a concrete ramp opposite the children play area, a little further down from the main car park. 

The bird was clearly more jumpy and shy then the much larger Canada geese although it didn't mind come right out of the water at almost arms length to feed on the seeds that families were buying to feed to the ducks and swans.   

Richardson's really are little dinky things once you see then standing side by side with a giant Canada  they really stand out like a sore-thumb. its Richardson's (hutchinsii) are known to be the smallest of the palse vagrant forms,

They have a small bill and a short neck, thick and is similar in size to a Brent Goose. They breed in Arctic Canada and winter on the Gulf coast of Texas and Mexico

The bird was often pushed off the seed by the bigger geese and swans and moved out onto the water before coming back once the coast was clear.  This image below shows how diddy the birc really it's almost mallard size when compared side by side.

Regardless of the birds status and now its behaviour it great to see a nice local bird during a week of staying at home. 

07/02/2021 Lightshaw Flash, Abram, Wigan

Richardson's Cackling Goose: Lightshaw Flash is a place I rarely visit, perhaps it should be my local patch? It's down the road, its watched a little by some good local birders and it occasionally throws up a decent bird.  Lightshaw is off the beaten track and many of it is inescapable which is a good thing for the wildlife making its a real jewel in the crown for Wigan. 

When I arrived the bird could viewed from the screen overlooking the flash. It was associating with a large flock of Canada's and was busily feeding on the grassy bank. 

It was great to see the Richardson's side by side with its closely related relatives, the Canada geese. Giving me a good opportunity to really see the difference in body size and even shape with Richardson's showing a shorter neck and steeper, less sloping forehead and darker chest.  

Canada Goose: nice short walk to and from my home. 

Another good lockdown find by Mr. Davies.