Birding Group Visit to Frodsham Marsh : 11th November 2014

Birding Group Visit to Frodsham Marsh : 11th November 2014

Our visit to Frodsham Marsh could not have got off to a better start. As we collected at the parking spot and were starting to head off down the path to the River Weaver, I stopped to try to locate the source of some bird calls in the trees near to the road. As we were looking at the trees a white bird came out of them and slowly flew in the direction of the river. Our first thoughts were that it must be a gull but then it wasn’t flying in that way. Additionally there were golden brown markings on the wings. It dawned on us that we were looking at a Barn Owl.

What a start to our morning ! This was the main highlight of our day, however, as – yet again –  we seem to have misunderstood when the tide would be low on the Weaver Bend. As it happened, the water was very high even though technically the tide should have been out. We rarely seem to get this right and no one is quite sure why this is. As a result there were no waders at all. We did see a large number of Tufted Ducks and a small flock of Teal and there were a few Great Crested Grebes and many more Little Grebes. Small flocks of Goldfinches flew around and some of the group spotted a Stonechat. I saw a Skylark or two and, as we were about to leave, we saw a pair of Goldeneye.

By now the weather was a little bit gloomier but, at my suggestion, we decided to try a new option which involved walking down to Marsh Farm from the parking spot. This turned out to be about a mile and the path runs between Tanks 2 and 5 on the left and Tank 1 on the right. As we walked down the path, the sub-group ahead of us saw a Marsh Harrier flying off to the left but the group I was with, which was at the rear, saw another bird, possibly also a Marsh Harrier, flying off to our right. It seems unlikely that this was one bird only.

On Tank 2 there were large numbers of Starlings both on the ground and on the wires above the field. A largish flock of Curlew flew down into the field as we walked by. The general impression we got was that this was probably a very fruitful route in the spring or summer and wasn’t too bad for us either. A few Pied Wagtails were bouncing around. When we got down to the farm we discovered that it is really a sheep farm, with the farmer using the marsh for grazing. We spoke to him and he said that he used a small boat to move them around some small islands just off the mainland.

As we looked out towards the sea we could see that, despite the high water on the Bend, the tide was, indeed out. It was a little frustrating for those without scopes but even they could see flocks of Curlew and Dunlin flying around. Those with scopes could see large numbers of Shelduck out on the mud and a few Cormorants drying themselves out.

The weather started to deteriorate and we had a bit of a drizzly walk back to the cars. I don’t know about the others, but I really enjoyed exploring the site more than we had with the group previously. It would be interesting to go back there solo and try out some other paths through the tanks and fields.

In the end it wasn’t the biggest birding day but any day when you see a Barn Owl as your first bird, the day has to be regarded as a big success !

Bird Sightings : Frodsham Marsh