The Safari has been out n about with good mates CR and IH over the last two or three weeks; we've been to both the north side and south side of the River Ribble to some of the variety of coastal and inland wetlands to be found between Liverpool and Barrow, not that we got into Cumbria this time.
Over the last few years it's been noticeable how many more egrets you can see in these places than Grey Herons, the latter was the only long legged thingy to be found in the parts back in the day. Now it's a game of 'by how many will Little Egrets outnumber Grey Herons today?'. And it's usually 'loads'. And it's no longer 'just' Little Egrets there's a whole host of 'Daz' (other titanium oxide enhanced laundry cleaneres are available) white long legged beasties waiting to outnumber Grey Herons, they're all over the shop! Not that we're complaining, we'd have had to go to far flung corners like the Danube Delta to see Great White Egrets when we started birding some 50 something years ago, not that we'd been much further than Anglesey back then.
First up we headed up north to Leighton Moss where we found a trio of Cattle Egrets out on the saltmarsh, until very recently these were quite scarce locally favouring a few small hotspots but now seem to almost ubiquitous although still in small mubers, we're yet to come across a double figure flock. Maybe when they start following the plough like they do on the continent we'll see large numbers together - by then they'll probably be fighting off Black Kites, or maybe even Black Winged Kites, for what gets turned out of the soil.
On the moss itself it was pretty quiet with somewhat too high water levels in the pools and very recent habitat work outside two of the hides. But of course we did find a Great White Egret.
Beyond it in the furthest part of the pool was a Grey Heron too and then there were two. After a bit of a squabble over fishing rights the newcomer flew off over the Causeway...we hadn't taken much notice of it but looking that way at something else we saw that its upper wings were very gingery and we were suddenly became very interested in it. Now there had been a Purple Heron here but it was at least two weeks since the last sighting and we hadn't paid enough attention to this bird and it was soon lost to view. However, with plenty of other birders around all day it's unlikley that had it been a Purple Heron no-one else had seen it...so 'just' a 'normal' Grey Heron and a trick of the light combined with a good dose of wishful thinking was the conclusion.
The Bearded Tits weren't playing ball at either of the grit trays and with nothing much else about in easy reach of the lens (recently pics of Ospreys, Bitterns, Marsh Harriers and more had been flooding social media groups but they weren't on show today) we had to 'make do' with watching the dragonflies outside the Causeway Hide window and what a show they were putting on for us, they were loads of them, Mostly Migrant Hawkers.
Like the egrets it's not that long ago that these were almost unknown around these parts too. Always numerous though were Common Darters and so it was today with several pairs in tandem on the wing and perching up.
So far this year we've not come across a Garganey so we spent quite a lot of time checking through the nort so many Teal to be found in case one was lurking in plain sight and nobody had picked it out yet. What was unsual wasa Teal stood on a post, there's lots of posts sticking out of the water here and we've seen all manner of birds stood on them but never a Teal. There's got to be a first time for everything we suppose.
No sign of any Garganey on the main reserve but we did find a distant likely candidate on the saltmarsh pools with a much greater number of Teal to rummage through.
At range through the bins it did look quite good but when we asked a newly arrived birder to put his scope on it it showed a bit of previously hidden green on the wing so no joy for us. It did stand out from the crowd, often a good sign of something unusual - if you take your eyes off it and then can't relocate it it probably wasn't anything out of the ordinary but this one was easy to pick out among the much darker, plainer Teal...close but no cigar!
The Bearded Tits weren't playing ball at either of the grit trays and with nothing much else about in easy reach of the lens (recently pics of Ospreys, Bitterns, Marsh Harriers and more had been flooding social media groups but they weren't on show today) we had to 'make do' with watching the dragonflies outside the Causeway Hide window and what a show they were putting on for us, they were loads of them, Mostly Migrant Hawkers.
We were also put onto two very distant Whinchats, always nice to see but we do wish they'd been a mile or two closer - we won't be winning any photo competitions with this effort.
Our next safari was south of the Ribble to Marshside, in the hope of connecting with a Spoonbill or two. The pools at Sandgrounders Hide were really good for Canada Geese and not a lot else! Closeish were a smattering of Lapwings and a few gulls until IH found a Pale Bellied Brent Goose lurking at the far end of the Canada Goose flock. We watched it come nearer, waiting for a better photo opportunity when CR shouts Kingfisher. Which duly landed on the perch especially positioned for them. Not only did it land, it fished too and for a good length of time, giving the camera shutter a lot of work to do.
After a good while the Kingfisher left which meant looking for the Brent Goose again, it was nowhere to be seen among the Canada Geese - how could it hide so effectively? Well it wasn't hiding at all it was right out in the open on its own, it had snuck across the channel onto the island in front of us while our attention was elsewhere.
While watching it grazing all alone we spotted a juvenile Little Ringed Plover working its way along the water's edge behind it and while looking at that IH saw a White Wagtail drop in briefly. Having exhausted the possibilities of the pool we decided to nip round the other side of the reserve and view the muddy pools from the old sea wall wherwe a number of Curlew Sandpipers had been seen in recent days. It didn't take long to find them too and a nice Ruff for good measure.
While we were watching (and checking the small flock of roosting Black Headed Gulls for Mediterranean Gulls - gotta be done!) another dozen Curlew Sandpipers dropped in - We now had more Curlew Sandpipers in front of us at any one time than we've had before and possibly almost as many as we've ever had put together - they're not a bird we see often or many of - WOW! Sadly they were too far spread to be able to fit in one frame so this is the most we could get together.
There were no Spoonbills to be seen from this side and only a couple of Little Egrets so it wasn't that Carmarguey after all.
From there we hit Martin Mere WWT reserve where there were a lot of noisy argumentative Grey Lag Geese, well they made a change from the Canada Geese at Marshside. A quick fly-by Kingfisher made it a daily double which doesn't often happen.
Like at Leighton Moss the the water level was a bit too high after all the recent rain so there was precious little mud to attract many waders. Scanning around we found the usual duck characters, Teal and Shoveler, Mallard, Gadwall and just a handful of Wigeon.
From there we hit Martin Mere WWT reserve where there were a lot of noisy argumentative Grey Lag Geese, well they made a change from the Canada Geese at Marshside. A quick fly-by Kingfisher made it a daily double which doesn't often happen.
Moving round to the new Tominson Hide we had a bit of a shock when the herd of cows came trundling down the narrow track. Was someone moving them back to the shed we'd just passed, seems a bit odd to be doing that during opening hours but as far as we could tell there was no 'cowboy' 'cushing' them on from the rear. Two calves took an interest in us as we stood in the widest part of the track we could find and then we saw the huge bull lumbering along...and still no sign of a 'cowboy'...the flimsey gate we were stood by didn't look as if it would hold our weight if we had to vault it, not that we do much vaulting but in the case of an emergency, and it certainly wouldn't hinder the progress of a 1000+ kg animal should he have had the mind to follow us...oooh errr. He passed by without looking up far more interested in the lush grass on the opposite side of the path - phew! We tried to get three lingering cows to catch up with the rest so that we could carry on to the hide but they wouldn't pass us rather they turned and went back the way they came so our cattle wrangling skills were rated as a big fat 0...
CR did the decent thing and phoned reception for assitance and shortly after a member of staff came running down the track explaining that a gate had inadvertently been left open. He suggested we make our way to thew hide and stay there until he told us the coast was clear - which we did! On the way to the hide we pased a family of Stonechats on the adjacent fence but had no time to stop and admire them.
Once in the hide all we had to do was watch and wait for the cattle to be brought home. High water levels meant there wasn't much to see other than the almost ubiquitous Grey Lag Geese, a couple more Pink Footed Geese and a few Gadwall but we had to stick it out until the coast was clear. Close Encounters of the Herd Kind! Ian missed all the excitement ftoday (& jeopardy) when we were surrounded by these escaped Longhorn Cattle, including bull, and had to phone the visitor centre asking them to rescue us 😱 https://twitter.com/messages/media/1702722124132016343
Before too long our cowboy friend popped his head through the door letting us know the beasts were back in their field and the gate locked behind them. Off we went for a look at the Stonechats but for a few minutes we couldn't find them. Then one reappeared further down along the fenceline.
Despite a long search we never did see the rest of the family, where had they disappeared too?
With time now pressing it was decided to have a last look from the Discovery Hide and lo and behold what did we find here - a whole heap of Cattle Egrets, and, of course, a couple of Little Egrets scattered about the wetland.
Where to next? More adventures on the 'Carmargue' coast.
In the meantime let us know who's got the longest legs in your outback
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