Bird Weekend

On Saturday we joined a bird watching walk with the Grey to Green project over at Horrocks' flashes.
This was an area we hadn't visited before. It was previously an industrial area with the Leeds and Liverpool canal running close by and is now a wetland area created by mining subsidence. There are a series of flashes and it has been designated an area of biological importance.

We first walked through the woodland, hearing lots of bird song and spotting long tailed tits, great tits and blue tits, along with a tree creeper and greater spotted woodpecker.

 

 

I'm not very familiar with lots of wetland birds apart from the usual mallards, coots and mute swans which were all present here. There were lots of different birds to spot, some of which over Winter here from further afield.

 

Today we spotted (didn't photograph any of these myself - just found photos to remind me what they all looked like!)

• Shoveler - these were using their wide bills to scoop the water as they swam along

• Gadwall

• Tufted ducks - with a very striking eye and tuft to the back of their necks

 

• Great crested Grebe - interesting hairstyle

 

• Teal - interesting eye patch

 

 

• Cormorant - we saw 6 of these sat on an island in the middle of the flash and also watched one flying over. The white feathers are part of their Winter plumage

 

 

•  Mute swans - never seen so many of these together - some still with juvenile feathers

 

 

 

This weekend was also the rspb big garden birdwatch. Our count this year was as follows:

 

3 Blackbirds

3 Blue tits

2 Magpies

3 Feral pigeons

4 Starlings

2 Carrion crow

1 Robin

1 Dunnock

1 Great tit

1 Coal Tit

 

No surprises but a reasonable show up for our garden - it has been cold this week.

 

So a twitching weekend for us!