Summary February 2016
Species this month = 81
New Species added to 2016 Year List in February = 19
Running Total for the 2016 UK So Far = 102
New UK Life List Birds In February= 1
Snow Bunting
Mistle Thrush, Chequers Road, Chorlton
Garden Birding
The weather improved a bit towards the end of the month and we had some nice sunny days, if a bit cold. We continue to see the pair of Mistle Thrushes and a single Jackdaw. A few Goldfinches are around and, very occasionally, we have seen a Siskin. A small group of Starlings is regular and occasional views of Robin, Dunnock and Wren add to the regular Blackbirds, Woodpigeons and Colalred Doves.
Birding Group
A birding group visit to Neumann’s Flash on the 2nd was fairly uneventful but provided a good smattering of ducks. Good views of two Great Spotted Woodpeckers displaying was the highlight.
The following week (the 9th) was a high-ish tide on the Wirral at 9.7m at 11.33 GMT (Liverpool) so we went to Hoylake thinking that this would be the most productive site but it was a little disappointing but we still got Dunlin and Knot. We went from there to New Brighton where we got the usual Purple Sandpiper and the bonus Greenshank that we sometimes see there on the raft. We left there and went to Riverside Road which was actually quite interesting and we got some Red-breasted Mergansers for our efforts. The tide was pretty much going out by then but it encouraged us to go back there for an incoming tide which we did a few days later (see below)
On the 16th February the birding group decided to go back to Tatton Park where Dog Wood had been closed (due to high winds) on our previous visit, earlier in the year. It wasn’t that brilliant but it did get me my 100th species for the year – a pair of Ravens.
The last birding group date of the month was a rather mixed day out on the north Wales coast. We started at Pensarn where we did get Common Scoters in smallish numbers but no definite sightings of Divers. We went from there to Kinmel Bay where we were eventually rewarded with a bird that has eluded me so far and which now showed really, really well for us – a single Snow Bunting ! The rest of the day was put down to a recce of Rhos Point and Penrhyn Bay which were promising if not quite delivering for us on this day.
Solo Days Out
A morning walk out to Chorlton Water Park on the 5th February gave me my best views yet of a Scaup. It was the first nice dry morning for a while so it was a pleasure to be able to add Siskin and Ring-necked Parakeet to my year list which had got off to a poor start due to illness and/or bad weather in January. There were other nice surprises too. A return to the water park on the 7th February gave me further views, though not so good, of the Scaup but even better views of the Ring-necked Parakeet.
We visited a friend in Ellesmere on the 10th February and we managed to arrange it so that we were coming back past the general area of Neumann’s Flash as dusk was setting in. I had heard that there was a Starling murmuration each evening and this was a dry one so we took a chance and were rewarded with one of the biggest bird spectaculars I have ever seen.
We had been to the Wirral for a high-ish tide with the birding group on the 9th but we had a return visit to the Wirral on our own on the 12th. This was later in the day so we popped in to Burton Mere Wetlands to get their first Avocet of the year which had just turned up. We also got a nice small flock of Pink-footed Geese on the lake in front of the reception hide. We also got a nice Water Rail. We went from here to Riverbank Road which turned out to be pretty good as we got great views of a pair of Short-eared Owls and a Merlin. We went from there to Parkgate where the tide was hardly in at all but we were still able to add Great White Egret to the day’s list.
We returned to Neumann’s Flash again on the 15th and although the numbers of birds had decreased it was still a fantastic show. This had just been the last of three different stops for us that day as we had started out looking, successfully, for the female Smew on the angling lake at Newchurch Common . We then went on to Marbury Park where we hoped to see the Bittern, again successfully, sitting in the Coward Memorial Reedbed. So it was quite a day for us with a couple of year ticks.
So it has been a great February and next we are off to Lanzaote for nine days ! Details of the 28th and 29th of February will be put together with the March summary.