2014 Annual Summary

2014 Annual Summary

The tail end of 2013 had seen some great birds (Ross’ Goose, Long-tailed Duck, Two-barred and Common Crossbill, Hoopoe, American Buff-bellied Pipit and Siberian Chiffchaff) but 2014 was not without its great birding days either. We managed twenty life ticks in 2014 and our annual UK list stood at 193 species.

Monthly Highlights

January

Highlights in January were the presence of a substantial flock of Redwing in a tree opposite our house for a couple of weeks and on one day at Burton Mere Wetlands we got Merlin, Hen Harrier, Sparrowhawk and Short-eared Owl and Great White Egret. We did miss some of the early birding group dates because we were on holiday in Lanzarote.

February

February was quiet int he garden but we had some good days out. A visit to Parkgate for a high tide gave us Merlin, Short-eared Owls, Peregrine Falcon, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel and a birding group visit to RSPB Conwy gave us Red Breasted Merganser and Scaup and on the way back we stopped at Pensarn where we added Red-throated Diver, Common and Surf Scoter. Later on in the month a visit to Carsington Water gave me my first Great Northern Diver.

March

This was a very quiet month in the garden and not too special otherwise, either. We did see the first Avocets of the year but probably the highlight of the month was seeing a Ruff in almost complete breeding plumage – a rare thig this far north – at Burton Mere Wetlands. A definite highlight that we just missed would have been a Woodpecker Hat Trick at Moore. Unfortunately the Green Woodpecker that we could hear just a few metres from us refused to show itself well enough to be counted – despite being very noisy and obviously there ! A nice Long-tailed Duck at Marshide and a Water Rail at Mere Sands Woods was also nice and at Pennington Flash we were treated to the very loud and prolonged singing of a Cetti’s Warbler.

April

April saw a rise in garden activity. We saw the first Black-necked Grebes of the year at Woolston Eyes and also of their resident Ruddy Duck. Wigan Flashes gave us a male and a female Red-crested Pochard.

Our holidays down to Somerset included a flying visit to WWT Slimbridge where we got our annual Cranes as well as a life tick Little Gull. At RSPB Ham Wall and Shapwick Heath Reserve we heard, but did not see, Bittern and Cuckoo but we did get good views of Great Egrets and Marsh Harrier. We also visited Blashford Lakes, a very interesting site although our visit was somewhat marred by poor weather.

Next up was the New Forest where we got good, if brief, views of a male Dartford Warbler as well as Green Woodpecker in the woods surrounding heathland. Tree Pipits were a good tick and at Eyeworth Pond we saw the famous breeding Mandarin Ducks. We also visited Keyhaven where the weather was also challenging and unremitting drizzle somewhat blunted out pleasure at seeing a good number of bird species 943 that afternoon) including lovely views of a large flock of Linnets and sightings of Little Terns, WHitethroats, Wheatears, Whitethroats and lots of others. A great site full of mixed habitat and well worth another visit – preferably on a better day.

On our way back we stopped off at the Cotswold Water Park, a place we had entirely underestimated in its size and the amount of development within it. A very curious place. Our holiday gave us ninety-seven species.

May

A birding group visit to Macclesfield Forest gave us a male Goosander and a passing Mandarin Duck. Another birding group visit was to RSPB Conwy where we saw so many Sedge Warblers displaying that one almost felt like an expert on that bird by the time we were done. A disappointing visit to the Goyt Valley was more than made up for when we went on to a nearby site where we got our very first Ring Ouzels.

The end of the month saw us off on holiday again – this time to Grantown-on-Spey for a return for more guided birding. As well as the usual suspects in that area we were able to add to our life list, Ptarmigan, Dotterel and Black-throated Diver but we also got Crested Tit, Osprey, Slavonian Grebe, Red-throated Diver and Black Grouse and Short-eared Owl and Woodcock !

Between Grantown and New Deer we stopped off to get memorable views of a drake King Eider on the Ythan Estuary. Including that bird we had got to 113 species for the holiday including six life ticks and twenty-four year ticks.

June

By now the garden was full of newly fledged birds but we had no luck with our camera bird box that was examined by a bird over a few weeks but nothing came of it. We also had our annual birding group visit to Wales starting at Cemlyn Bay where we got the three main Tern species as well as some Mediterranean Gulls. The following day we went to RSPB South Stack where we got great views of a Peregrine chick and also Puffins and all the usual cliff-nesting birds. Another visit to the Fish Dock at Holyhead gave us Black Guillemots as usual – they are very reliable.

Another birding group visit to Moore was ok but nothing new was spotted. Anne and I, howeve, decided to go over to Frodsham Marsh afterwards and got a life tick, a Red-necked Grebe. We managed to see it right next to a Great-crested Grebe and a Little Grebe so we got a great idea of size which is always useful.

July

For various reasons this month was not a big birding month for us but we did manage an interesting few days on the Northumbrian coast. We did our first boat trip out to see the Roseate Terns on Coquet Island. There were also lots of other sea birds and charming families of Eider Duck swimming in the harbour. We also went to Druridge Bay and East Chevington and several other places that were all highly interesting

There were no birding days out in July but we made a solo visit to Burton Mere Wetlands where we saw two Spotted Crake Not exactly a totally barren month.

August

This was a good month for waders with Wood Sandpipers at WWT Martin Mere and lots of Dunlin and Ringed Plovers at Hoylake. A trip to RSPB Leighton Moss gave us Greenshank, Spotted Redshanks, Water Rails and Great White Egrets. There were no birding group days in August.

September

Probably the highlight of September was a visit to Burton Mere Wetlands where in a single day we got the life ticks of Cattle Egret and Red-necked Phalarope as well as Pectoral and Curlew Sandpipers, Greenshank and Little Stints. The waders were from the Inner Marsh Farm hide which was so full there was a queue outside the hide waiting to get in. On a later visit there we also got the first Pink-footed Geese and Wigeon of the year.

Apart from that our most interesting day out was a walk along the Heswall Shore from the Sheldrake Restaurant to the visitor centre at Thurstaston Nature Park.

October

Our birding holiday was dominated by a fortnight in Mallorca where we stayed at a hotel in Port de Pollencia where we saw Black Vulture, Booted Eagle and Eleanora’s Falcon. We also got Purple Swamphen, Red-knobbed Coot and Blue Rock Thush and Sardinian Warbler. We were so impressed that we have already booked a return visit in Spring to catch the big migration.

We were back in time to get one great birding day out – to RSPB Leighton Moss. We have previously only seen Bearded Tits here once and that was a pair in the reeds at the side of the Public Hide. Every other time we have visited the grit trays on the causeway we have been disappointed. Not this time though; we had incredible views of no less than nine Bearded Tits. On top of that we saw Great White Egret, Kingfisher, Little Stint and lots more. A day out that we will all remember for a while.

November

November turned out to be a very quiet month perhaps due to the continuing mild weather. The birding group visit to Frodsham Marsh was enlivened by an immediate close sighting of a Barn Owl. We actually ventured further afield to the farm which was interesting and might well be productive in Spring.

A high tide visit to Hoylake was slightly disappointing, perhaps due to the very warm and pleasant day. We did get very good views of a breeding plumage Grey Plover which was the first one we had seen in this plumage this far north. It also produced very nice views of Sanderling. A visit afterwards to Burton Mere Wetland gave us more views of the Cattle Egret and a ringtail Hen Harrier.

The anticipated influx of winter thrushes didn’t happen but we did manage to see a small flock of Redwing at Dunham Massey. No Fieldfare at all.

December

December brought another lifer – a Tawny Owl roosting in a tree at Moore Nature Reserve. It has taken me so long to see a Tawny Owl that is seemed impossible that we saw another one at WWT Martin Mere just a week or so later. A further high tide visit to Hoylake was very disappointing with a complete lack of birds in the sky ! It was made up for after we went from there to New Brighton where we got the life tick of Purple Sandpiper, roosting on the pontoon in the marine lake. A last minute decision to go to Burdworth Mere on the 30th gave us lovely views of a Bittern in the reed beds. A nice end to a good birding year.

2014 Summary

We managed twenty life ticks in 2014. They were :

• Red-crested Pochard
• King Eider
• Surf Scoter
• Ptarmigan
• Red-throated Diver
• Black-throated Diver
• Great Northern Diver
• Slavonian Grebe
• Red-necked Grebe
• Cattle Egret
• Spotted Crake
• Eurasian Dotterel
• Little Stint
• Purple Sandpiper
• Red-necked Phalarope
• Little Gull
• Roseate Tern
• Tawny Owl
• Ring Ouzel
• Yellow Wagtail

The UK list for 2014 ended at 193 species.

Our UK life list stood at 234 at the end of 2014. By comparison, 2013 gave us 183 species and 2012 gave us 178.

The UK 2014 list was therefore

2014 Bird Sightings in Great Britain : 193 Species