27/03/2016 Ainsdale Beach, Southport

Caspian Gull: After eating my fill of chocolate easter eggs, Dawn and I decided we should walk off the excess calories and go take a look at Birkdale's Crossbills.

After a long walk in the rain we found gate 29, where the birds had regularly been seen and after a short wait we didn't see or hear any so moved on to Ainsdale Beach.

The  2nd-winter caspo was sitting in full view right opposite the burger van waiting for the day trippers to share their lunch.

Something you don't see everyday - the gullet of a caspo.

This must have been my 5th visit to Ainsdale in search of this bird since originally seeing it back August 2015.

Back then the bird had both its legs!

 It's sad to see that it has twine wrapped around its good leg! This might be catastrophic to the birds health as gulls can live a good, normal life with one leg but I don't think it will survive with no legs at all.

Here is a closer look at the gulls problem, I have a soft spot for gulls and wish this particular gull all the best and hope I don't see a post in the near future saying 'found dead'.

Sandwich Tern: Another bird to note was a single Sandwich Tern close in, off the shore but it was unable to settle down due to the dog walkers disturbing the bird.








I watched it fly around the burger vans and towards the RLNI watch-out before landing on the tideline itself and again getting spooked by a passing dog walker.

19/03/2016 Trafford Park Hotel, Trafford

Black Redstart: After dropping Dawn off in Manchester I had a free pass for an hour, so I decided to pick Jon up and head across town for the black red that was found yesterday by Steve Burke on the disused Trafford Park Hotel.

Trafford Park Hotel is a lovely looking brick red Grade II listed building with a bit of checkered past, it's had a number of squatters occupy its derelict rooms and has even been used as a small Cannabis growing factory back in 2011.

The black red didn't seem to mind the piles of rubbish, broken bottles and full black bin liners that adorned the hotel grounds. However the bird was happy feeding amongst the trash and posing on the industrial structures of Trafford Park Hotel, a fitting scene.

While Jon and I enjoyed the views of the bird we heard someone galloping around the corner, a young lad with a huge grin on his face. This was very enthusiastic and very keen birder Joel Tregan.

It was an absolute pleasure to meet Joel and his mum who were both lovely to talk to, keep the good work up.



Great find Steve.

18/03/2016 Crabtree Lane, Burscough

Corn Bunting: With a very foggy start to this mornings bird survey and visibility down to less then 200 metres all I could do was listen out for my target birds and get treated to the Spring songs of Yellowhammer and Corn Bunts.

Once the fog had lifted a little and I finished my survey I grabbed my camera and found a large flock of Corn Bunts feeding in the fields and warming themselves on a huge dung pile off Crabtree Lane.

This was a typical view as the birds were difficult to get close to on foot.

The light was awful, to a point were it was not worth taking any pictures and although the fog had lifted and the visibility improved the cloud cover was thick and grey making for some poor images.

There were plenty of Yellowhammer and Tree Sparrow in the area too.

Yellowhammer: As I approached the railway crossing on Crabtree Lane I stumbled upon a tree with five hammers, a beautiful sight to end the morning on.

10/03/2016 Sandbach Flashes

Herring Gull: A day spent with Dawn shopping ended with a quick twitch for a gull. I was originally hoping to see Patrick Earith's adult glauc which he took some awesome images of -the brute.

Unfortunately the adult was long gone when I arrived but I was treated to some nice views of a juvenile Glaucous Gull instead.

However there were some people who thought this bird was a pale looking Herring Gull, but looking at its bill structure and wing length along with its pale biscuit-primaries I thought I was spot on.

But like a lot of these Viking gulls there is a chance they hybridize and with the help from the Pete 'Gull Man' Kinsella I have downgraded the bird to a Northern Herring Gull "argentatus" or more likely a possible hybrid Glauc x Herring.

07/03/2016 Ainsdale Beach

Sanderling: Toady I was hoping to follow in the footsteps of Neil Gordon who struck bird-gold yesterday at Birkdale Golf Course finding a flock of 50 Common Crossbill and managed to get some cracking pics too.





I know these birds regularly frequent the pines of the dunes in this area and I have tried twice in the past to find these elusive birds without any luck.

I met up with Patrick Earith and we set off in to the dunes finding Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Coal Tit and Goldcrest but no Crossbill, no sign or sound of them.

From Birkdale I decided to go check out Ainsdale Beach for 'stumpy' the one legged Caspian Gull, but it was looking like one of those days; the kind when you don't see the birds you are hoping for, the kind I regularly have!

The tide was quickly retreating when I arrived and after a long fruitless search for the Caspo I happily got distracted by this feeding Sanderling that put on a good show.

Common Scoter: It was also brilliant to watch several hundred Common Scoter flying and bobbing up and down off shore.

They were very flighty, I only wish I had my scope with me so I could scan the flock and look for some of the more rarer Scoter.

Grey Plover & Knot: Despite not seeing either of my target birds it was a stunning day with some good company and good supporting cast of birds.

25/02/2016 Banks, Southport

Little Owl: After three previous visits and approximately eight hours waiting, the Banks Little Owl finally gave up and came out to get it's pic snapped.

I arrived mid morning but the Owl still wasn't fully awake and was even yawning as it warmed itself in the sun.

The bird was happily perching and beautifully framed by the barn door until a dog walker came out of nowhere and spooked the bird.

The bird eventually reappeared on the roof, not often a dog walker does me a favour, usually they obliviously get in the way and let their dog run amock.

This is probably the most photographed Little Owl in the North West and there are tons are great pictures out there particularly on:

www.facebook.com/groups/leighosnaturephotos

www.facebook.com/groups/330737625441

Well worth a look.

20/02/2016 Rhos-on-Sea, Conwy

Black Redstart: Despite todays relentless rain Dawn and I joined my little sister (Kirstin) and her fella (Sam) on a double date to North Wales.

We spent most of the day in the amusement arcade on Llandudno Pier but I managed to convince the group that it would be rude not to go and see the local bird life too!

So on our way home we stopped at the white house with the monkey puzzle tree on the promenade at Rhos-on-Sea for the female black red. Here I bumped in to Anglesey's finest, Stephen Culley who was sure he had seen two birds; a male and female, so well worth keeping your eyes peeled if you're taking a walk down there.

I even managed a quick trip to Kinmel Bay for the beautiful Snow bunting but in fading light and bad weather I decided the pictures were rubbish.

Despite the rain and wind, the black red not showing as well as I was hoping and spending a small fortune in the 2p machines we all had a great day.

07/02/2016 Abberton Reservoir, Colchester, Essex

Drake Smew: There are a few things I really do cherish, family, Dawn and birding so mixing all three on my recent trip to Essex was great.

Dawn and I traveled down to see Eddie Izzard, a childhood favourite of mine who was performing at the Palace Theatre London so we thought we would stay at my mums in Essex.

We drove straight to Colchester hoping to get a lot closer to drake Smew than I have before, but was a little disappointed as the birds were still a little way off.

In the end I counted 3 redheads (females) and 2 drake (males).

Grey Phalarope: Although the Smew kept their distance we struck lucky as while we enjoyed a slice of lemon drizzle and a cup of tea we were informed that a grey phal had turned up.

Apparently the day before a Sanderling was reported this was not really chased up and the old regulars were saying it was probably the grey phal.

So once I finished my amazing slice of cake I made my way down to Gwen's Hide where the bird was busily feeding on the edge of the reservoir.

Again the bird was distant but a great year tick and a great record to see for Abberton.

31/01/2016 Norfolk

Brambling: Dawn surprised me with a post Christmas trip away to Norfolk as she knew I was keen to see the resident Golden Pheasant and the Pallid Harrier that has been there for ages.

Unfortunately this impacted on my attendance at Leigh Ornithological Society's open day of which I can't apologise enough for, but I don't think I was missed too much as the open day was a big success. Well done guys.

We arrived in Norfolk on Saturday morning and went straight to Wolferton Triangle. We saw the Golden Pheasant but very briefly, so much so that I was unable to get a picture. We waited a few hours before heading off to Flitcham hoping to see the Pallid Harrier.

Again after a long wait we didn't see the bird so moved on to Holme Dunes and dipped again, this time we dipped Shorelark. Although Saturday was a bit of a wash-out we were still thrilled to see a huge flock of over 100 Brambling at Abbey Farm.

Brambling are one of my favourite birds so to see so many was just awesome and was a welcome distraction from an empty field - which the day before had contained a Pallid Harrier.

Egyptian Goose: We stood opposite the hay bails facing a long hedgerow that was full of birds, not just Brambling, we counted good numbers of Red-legged Partridge, Tree Sparrows, Goldfinch and even a Stoat! We even had this Egyptian Goose drop in

The goose stayed for a short while feeding on the spilt grain before taking off - probably to Abbey Farm bird hide pond.

Golden Pheasant: First light on Sunday morning we went straight to Wolferton Triangle with the hopes of getting a picture of the bird as the day before I only saw it briefly and was therefore unable to get a pic.

Dawn and I didn't have to wait long before the spectacular bird came from the dense Rhododendron bushes that line the edges of the road.

The bird walked across the road right under the famous Wolferton Triangle 'give way' signs that often come up on bird sighting reports as a marker to where the bird had been seen.

This was Dawn's favourite bird of the trip and I can totally understand why, it is a glorious looking bird with its golden mane and colourful body leading to a superb long flashy tail.

Shorelark: Thrilled with better views and even a couple of record shots of the Golden Phes we decided to wait on positive news of the Pallid Harrier before chasing after it and instead we went to Burnham Ovary for the Shorlark.

Burnham Ovary is a great place, first of all its stunning with distant views of sand dunes a serpentine creek full of waders and vast fields full of geese we both enjoyed the long walk over to the beach.

The fields contain excellent numbers of Brent Geese, Lapwing, Curlew and we spotted a Sparrowhawk and Kez hunting the field margins. Dawn also spotted a washed up daed seal which was sad to see.

There had been three birds reported over the last few days from the beach opposite Gun Hill, as we did not know precisely which dune was Gun Hill when we reached the edge of the sand dunes I asked Dawn to pick a direction and chance our luck.

Dawn's a little star and she picked the right way - within 5 minutes we found the trio feeding at the far end of the beach in the shingle.

A real Norfolk scarce bird specialty and a confiding bird it was a real treat to get so close and watch them go about their daily activities.

Cracking little birds!

Living on the North West I vary rarely have the opportunity to see Shorelark and can remember the last one was the Fleetwood bird back on the 4th of December 2014.

A scarce bird across the UK and a mega on the North West coast, so for me it was great to connect with them.

I noticed that one of the birds had a gammy eye, it appeared to have completely lost it's eye and the condition around its face.

I observed the bird rubbing it's injured side of its face up against the pebbles and rocks however it was still feeding well and moving around with the other two birds without any obvious problems.

 Pallid Harrier: While walking back from the Shorelark at Holme I checked BirdGuides and saw that the Pallid Harrier had made an appearance and come back to Abbey Farm, so with a hurried pace we headed back over to Flitcham.

When we arrived the bird was sheltering from the rain in a nearby tree and a small crowd started to gather. I watched it for about quarter of an hour before it took off in chase of the local Linnets.

The bird quartered the field giving us some brilliant views and showing us all of it's diagnostic features before flying out of sight.

By this time the rain came in a little harder and with a long journey ahead of us combined with empty stomachs we decided to make an early dash home following a stop to McDonald's.

We had a great weekend away, great birds, great food and great company, thanks Dawn for being patient during the twitches and not moaning 'too much'.

Norfolk.....we'll be back!