26 March 2011

The following is a update of the last three days at Westport, unfortunately I'm currently offline and as I've come up to St Helens visiting family I thought I would take this opportunity to update the blog, as you we see it's been a rather good 3 days!

24/03/2011

Temp 5c, misty over water, bright sunny skies, no cloud or wind.

A female Goosander on the canal by the bottom entrance was unusual, a pair were also on the main lake and another female on the boating lake, 3 Cormorants also flew over near the bottom entrance, 2 Mistle Thrushes just before the boating lake with another 1 near the top pool and another 2 near the top entrance, male Shoveler on the boating lake, 24 Tufted Duck on the main lake also 2 Mute Swans, 1 Pochard, 1 Goldeneye and 6 Great Crested Grebes with the usual pair also on the boating lake, a pair of Linnets were feeding by the side of the visitor centre (Westport year tick 74) and a Meadow Pipit flew over here, a Little Ringed Plover landed briefly on the grass verge before flying off north, flushed the pair of Teal near the 1st gate too the nature reserve, a male Reed Bunting was calling from the reed bed on the top pool and a Chiffchaff was singing near here with another 2 singing on the sewage works, 2 Chaffinches near the top entrance plus another pair by the canal side of the main lake and a pair by the sidings, a Collared Dove was near the sewage works and a couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls went over here with another 16 flying south over the main lake later and 2 on the main lake, 2 Willow Tits were along the ‘Avenue’ and a single Bullfinch.

25/03/2011

Weather very similar to yesterday with the temp slightly up at 7c, also a bit of cloud after 2 days of clear skies, again no wind of note.

Again as I entered the park a female Goosander was on the canal and 2 Mistle Thrushes just after the entrance with another 2 near the top entrance later, a couple of Pied Wagtails also flew over the bottom entrance, on the boating lake 2 Great Crested Grebes with another 6 on the main lake which also held 27 Tufted Duck, 1 Pochard, 1 Goldeneye and 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls flying in followed by another 3 later on, highlight of the day and a Westport life tick (112 life & 75 year) was a flock of 20 Waxwings flying towards us calling over the boating lake and then heading west towards Bradwell, in the nature reserve a Treecreeper was by the bend at the bottom end with a Coal Tit calling a bit further up and we flushed the pair of Teal from the 2nd pool, by the top pool a single Willow Tit and the 1st of 4 Chiffchaffs that were seen the rest being around the sewage works, a male Reed Bunting was calling from the reed bed and the pair of Mute Swans have moved into here for the start of there breeding, the male Shoveler was at the top of the main lake and a Jackdaw flew over the sewage works, back on the main lake a single Sand Martin was flying around, a Sparrowhawk was flying over Bradwell Wood and a Grey Heron flew over the main lake.

26/03/2011

A very cloudy morning with a slight mist as well, temp was 7c but felt colder with a slight south easterly breeze which built up over the visit, visit from 06.10 - 08.50.

By the bottom entrance the pair Mistle Thrushes were nest building, another was seen near the top entrance and another near the visitor centre, 2 Pied Wagtails flew over and another on the grass bank, on the boating lake 2 Great Crested Grebes and another 5 on the main lake, a Grey Heron flew off the main lake, also on here 21 Tufted Ducks, 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls went over, 1 Pochard & 1 Goldeneye, by the visitor centre the pair of Linnets were still present and 4 Jackdaws flew over, the male Shoveler flew into the main lake and later the boating lake, 2 separate Meadow Pipits flew over the main lake, the Green Woodpecker could be heard calling distantly, 3 Sand Martin came in over the main lake and were present for the entire visit eventually increasing to 8, Chiffchaffs increased to 8 all around the park area, 5 Chaffinches were present, a single Willow Tit was calling from the nature reserve and the pair of Teal were at the top of the 2nd pool, the pair of Mute Swans were on the top pool, a Kestrel (Westport year tick 76) flew over the gas works to the sewage works and a single Stock Dove flew up the railway, 2 Lesser Redpolls (Westport year tick 77) flew over the sewage works calling followed by 11 Waxwings heading northwest, a Collared Doves was along the canal and a male Blackcap (Westport year tick 78) was singing briefly from the trees between the sewage works entrance and main lake, back down by the grass verge and 2 Little Ringed Plovers flew in for a few minutes before heading off north, a Little Grebe flew into the main lake and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over.

Not long after I'd left Westport, Phil Jones had a Swallow go through, this is the 1st of the year for Westport, also of note today was the complete lack of Goosanders for the 1st time in ages.