Sunday 18 February 2018

Wet in Wigan

The Safari shouldn't trust the weather forecasts so far in advance! We'd arranged to have a day out on safari with CR this week and at first it was looking like Monday was the best day then the forecast changed to Tuesday being better so we booked Monty in at the sitters and made the necessary pick up arrangements only to find that as the weekend drew to a close the forecast had changed again and Monday was back to being the better day. But now Tuesday it was for the further flung safari.
Monday was chilly but bright and we headed out to Marton Mere for the morning.
With nothing to stop for at the feeding station we went straight round to the  viewing point at the south west bay where our old cabin used to be. As soon as we raised the bins we spotted a small flock of Pintail (MMLNR #52). Great to see, even if a little distant across the far side of the mere.
Moving round to Ice Station Zebra we had to wait a little while for them to come in to the viewable gap between the reeds
The wait gave us a good opportunity to have a close look at the Teal and Wigeon much closer to us.
We also saw a our first Great Crested Grebe of the year here (MMLNR #53).
At the now well used gull viewing hideaway under the Willow trees (really need a screen here now)  half way down to the Bird Club hide there were no gull gulls to view - when does that Iceland Gull that frequents the nearby waste depot come in to bathe???
From the Bird Club hide we had very little other than a good number of Coots. A Buzzard (MMLNR #54) soared over the barn but we couldn't see any Stock Doves or the Kestrel over on the barn roof. Along the embankment we had a female Reed Bunting, on a sunny mid-February day like this we should be hearing the first warm-up chords from male Reed Buntings but not today. The scrub areas to the north of the mere were devoid of birds, the path was far from devoid of dogs, we counted 38 in the two hours we were on site and apart from Monty only two were on leads - the level of doggy disturbance is atrocious - - even more atrocious is the attitude of some of the dog walkers who firmly believe it is their inalienable right to let their dog do whatever it wants even encouraging them to leave the path and enter the habitats, usually to the tune of oh it doesn't matter there's no nature here anyway I've never seen any!
From the thankfully dog-free viewing platform there was little to view apart from the large flock of Grey Lag Geese which have recently decide to call the reserve home.
The Pintail were still on the water but distant and in poor light so no chance of a better pic than earlier. behind us at the edge of the scrub the Snowdrops were in full flower, always nice to see.
We were on the hunt for a Magpie in flight shot for our Photo Year List Challenge and just about managed one (PYLC #74) over Lawson's Field.
We should have used the one on the ground we got a little later but really wanted to post the in-flight shot. Hopefully we'll get a chance to improve on it sometime in the coming year.
The male Greenfinch wasn't on his usual song perch but as we walked towards the car heard Greenfinch song from further down the track. After a bit of a stake out we found a small flock in the top of a large Sycamore tree but couldn't get a clear shot due to intervening twigs and branches. Until at last we found one sitting out in the open but a fraction of a second before we pressed the shutter it/they flew. Still it's almost in focus and just about identifiable as a Greenfinch so on the challenge it goes at #75.
A similar thing happened with the flock of Long Tailed Tits that were working their way through the dense scrub beneath the Sycamore tree. The light was perfect on them but try as we might we couldn't get the camera to focus on a bird fast enough before it had flitted to another branch - infuriating! Then they decided to leave the scrub and fly over to a more isolated and much less dense patch of bushes. Now the light was against us a bit but at least they were perching in the open more often. Click went the shutter - again the tiniest fraction of a second too late.
Not a bad effort and certainly good enough for the challenge (PYLC #76) but we do with it hadn't turned its head away, it could have done us the courtesy of looking at the camera!
After all that blue sky the following day dawned grey wet cold and miserable and we were about to go out on safari with CR. We had a choice of two destinations one of which had no hides the other did so it was the second we opted for, Pennington Flash at Leigh near Wigan - a site we've not visited since the 2013 Lesser Scaup. Was it really that long ago!!!
It was wet and got wetter as the morning progressed. At the first hide we called in at there was a family of Mute Swans chilling out right outside the hide window.
Further out on the pool a Cormorant fished and a Great Crested Grebe cruised around in the rain.
Secreted around the reedy margins were a few each of Teal, Shoveler and Tufted Duck.
The rain eased a little and we took the opportunity to nip round to the next hide only a hundred yards away. This was the feeding station and it was very very lively. We didn't know where to look it was that busy. Star of the show were the Bullfinches at first.
Then some beautiful Stock Doves turned up (PYLC #77) muscling everything else away from the feeding tables
We even got a nice comparison shot when a Woodpigeon turned up, the Woodpigeon cleared all the Stockies off on its own!
One of the star performers here is a confiding Water Rail and before too long we spotted it coming through the brash at the back of open area. 
It was a little shy avoiding the Moorhens a Mallard but soon found some space for itself as it came and went a few tmes throughout the morning.
Now Water Rails are awesome and to get views like this are something else but the real star of the site are the rare and declining Willow Tits. It took a while for them to turn up and when they did, two of them, they were hard to get on as they were so quick darting in for a seed then out again to eat it deep in cover.
We only managed a couple of half decent pics considering how gloomy it was at best we went 'up' to ISO6400 and some of the pics had to be taken at ISO 10000! (108, PYLC #78)
The supporting cast included a Wren (PYLC #80) that repeatedly worked the underside of a fallen log.
Unlike the much bigger Water Rail it was unphased by larger neighbours.
Stay away from my seed you big galoot
Our top count of Dunnocks was five
But the Long Tailed Tits were uncountable, they were everywhere zipping in and out and smothering the feeders.
Just the 16 Moorhens were scratching about in the undergrowth until one turned 'monkey'.
Only one Nuthatch was seen at the feeders although we had had one earlier as we walked off the car park.
A couple of Reed Buntings came and went.
And up to six Robins scrapped for scraps in the rain.
Surprisingly despite all the small bird activity we didn't see a Sparrowhawk all day.
The rain eased off and that was our cue to head for the butties in the car, passing a singing Song Thrush (PYLC #81) on the way, then explore the rest of the reserve.
That's enough typing for now we'll let you know how we got on around the rest of the reserve tomorrow.
Where to next? More tales from Pennington Flash and news of an unsuccessful twitch elsewhere.
in the meantime let us know which site you should have safari'd to more often.


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