Laughing Gull

Over the years I have seen a number of rare birds in Britain including three American Laughing Gulls; two adults in Norfolk in the nineties and a second summer bird in North Wales ten years ago. So I was unlikely to travel very far to see another one, that is unless one turned up near my home, and that is exactly what happened a few weeks ago!
I live three miles from New Brighton on the Wirral, so when a group of visiting birders from Manchester found a Laughing Gull on the marine lake in the resort I dashed to the site at the first available opportunity. For the first few days the bird was quite mobile and when I arrived it was feeding near the lighthouse on the incoming tide at a distance of over half a mile away. Luckily it took to roosting on a pontoon on the marine lake that is regularly used by wading birds as a safe place to rest over the high tides.
Birders often talk about the tameness of a bird (especially gulls) by saying "it was coming to bread". Well there was plenty of bread on offer on the pontoon, but some enterprising individuals had sprinkled a few shrimps on the wooden platform and these tasty morsels proved irresistible to the vagrant gull. At times it came closer than any other bird on the lake, providing birders and photographers with unrivalled views.
Now I know that gulls are not every wildlife-watchers cup-of-tea, but I have to confess to being a bit of a larophile (lover of gulls!). So that even in its drab first winter plumage I found it to be an immensely interesting bird. The adult birds with their black hoods and dark grey backs and wings are most attractive. Hopefully this bird, which still exhibits some brown juvenile feathering, will stick around and develop more of a black hood. It is still present three weeks after being found.
Another popular bird that frequents the pontoon at this time of the year is the Purple Sandpiper. This scarce dumpy wader is found on rocky coasts and is something of a speciality on the Wirral, with birds regularly spending the winter on the northern coast and on Hilbre Island in the mouth of the River Dee. There were at least a dozen of these roosting on the pontoon when I was photographing the  Laughing Gull. Also present was a solitary ghostly-white Sanderling. All in all it was an excellent morning spent close to home.

Purple Sandpiper

Sanderling

Redshanks and Turnstones



Cormorant



First-winter plumaged Herring Gull

 

Short-eared Owl

Mid-afternoon yesterday saw me mingling with the masses in New Brighton, but unlike the shoppers and general public enjoying the first sunny day for some time, I was there for one reason only; waders. Or to be more precise Purple Sandpipers. The jetty on the marine lake is a safe high tide refuge for a variety of wading birds that on Saturday included Redshank, Turnstone, a few Knot and at least fourteen Purple Sandpipers, the first I have seen this year. After a few record photographs I left the bustling cafes and shops and headed for the peace of Parkgate.
On the way I checked a few roads around Irby for Waxwings but without any luck. No sooner had I arrived in the Old baths car park at Parkgate than a ring-tail Hen Harrier drifted across the Spartina. Too distant to photograph but beautiful nevertheless. Moments later the first of two superb Short-eared Owls started quartering the marsh close to the car park; fantastic! These two birds drifted up and down the marsh for the rest of the afternoon, sometimes giving amazingly close views. At one point one of the owls drifted close and high to investigate what looked like a remote-controlled toy helicopter, but I don't know where the operator was. They would have got a shock if the owl had intercepted it!
Later a superb male Merlin perched quite close giving excellent telescope views. It was one of two seen. And the finale to an excellent afternoon's birding was a distant Barn Owl seen heading south towards the ice-cream shop!

Here the owl is investigating
the remote controlled helicopter!

Purple Sandpiper avoiding the crowd of Turnstones

Redshank

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Norfolk

Wind and Waders

Another blustery day. Left the house at 9am on a training run. Made very slow progress down the main roads to Meols, but speeded up a lot once the wind was behind me on the prom. Lots of gulls flying into the teeth of the gale and good numbers of waders including large flocks of Oystercatchers in flight and on the beach at  Leasowe. A nice flock of Ringed Plover was on the sea defences at Moreton, but the highlight for me were my first Sanderlings of the year on the beach at Wallasey.
Managed 17 miles at 7.15 min/mile pace, despite being hit by a few a few large waves!

Sanderling at Wallasey (2008)

Didn't see any Purple Sandpipers today, they were probably

all on the pontoon on New Brighton marine lake. This is a

photo from by the Coastguard station in Wallasey (2006).