Trip reports

A DAMP DAY AT MARSHSIDE AND MERE SANDS WOOD

RSPB library photo: snipe

Wednesday, 12 October 2011

When we reached the Sandgrounders Hide at RSPB Marshside we found it already half-filled by a party of birdwatchers from Slimbridge. There were lots of wigeon, but numbers were far from the peak of 100's possibly 1000's reached in the deep midwinter. In the channel viewed from the left hand window we could see little grebe, Shelduck, shoveler, mallard, teal and coot. Some members found snipe crouching in the long grass on the big island in front of the hide. Curlew were seen in flight. A good flock of lapwing were resting on the grassland and later we watched c20 in typical floppy-winged flight uttering their gentle, rather plaintive 'chee-o-wip' call. Parties of Canada and greylag geese grazed on the pasture at the farthest edge of the reserve.

The friendly couple, who were deputising for the warden, told us that curlew sandpipers were passing through the reserve, we set off on a brisk walk down to Nel's Hide. We were not disappointed, in the end nine curlew sandpipers calidris ferruginea were counted, having dark grey legs, with some of them having a rosy-buff wash on the sides of the upper breast.

There were hundreds of waders in various stages of plumage, some juvenile, some sub-adult non-breeders, and some in fading adult post breeding plumage. Other waders seen during the morning included redshank, curlew, ruff and knot. A party of snipe with their noticeable extra-long bills wading into the shallow water and a few golden plover and lapwing were sighted.

The spectacle of the day was provided by a great flock of black-tailed godwit under attack by a peregrine. The whole flock took up in a great cloud, turning and swirling to avoid the attacker. The peregrine appeared large and brown, maybe a female or juvenile, difficult to tell as it passed before us at such a rate. It attacked from above in a dive, then again in a fast horizontal dash but this was in vain because the godwits' aerial acrobatics were proving effectively evasive. After four unsuccessful attempts at a kill, the falcon gave up and flew toward the marshes to try its luck elsewhere.

After checking through the wader flocks, we moved on to LWT's Mere Sands Wood reserve. From the Lancaster Hide we spent some time watching two elegant green sandpipers tringa orchrpus, their dark mantles contrasting sharply with their clear white underparts. One of our lady members thought there were four birds, but it turned out that her bins had gone wonky! As we left the hide a little grebe was fishing on the far side of the lake.

On the way to the Marshall Hide a jay crossed our path, flashing its white rump, whilst above us a robin sang his autumn song. From the hide we counted 30 Canada geese, a heron flew over and there were some teal and mallard on the lake beneath the trees, above which flocked calling jackdaws. There were three mute swans plus a black swan with a bright red bill. We heard the 'tzee-tzee-tzee' notes of the long-tailed tits as they appeared in the willow scrub by the hide.

Wandering along the path which runs round the periphery of the reserve, we came upon the Holmeswood Corner feeding station, visited by nuthatch, blue, coal and long-tailed tits.

At the Rufford Hide a kestrel flew over, also we saw pheasants and heard chaffinches and a wren. A brown hawker dragonfly passed through the reeds around the base of the hide.

Moving along the path we heard the 'kick-kick-kick' of the great spotted woodpecker and managed to glimpse it before it disappeared behind a tree trunk. Near the end of our walk 50 plus tufted duck were found on the Mere End lake.