Burton Mere

 A visit to the Wirral is always good, and especially RSPB Burton Mere at this time of year. Waders are returning from their breeding grounds and in good numbers it seems this year. There have been high numbers of Curlew Sandpipers on site, and I managed to see a few. A real bonus was a Pectoral Sandpiper which had been found just moments before my arrival.

Pintails were on the water, as were some Wigeon, a real sign of the changing seasons. Lots of Snipe were good to watch as they probed the mud. Teal numbers were climbing too. A Great White Egret was close in to one of the viewing screens, and a lone Avocet was also good to see. There was a good supporting cast of Cetti's Warblers, Green Sandpipers, Mallards and Coots. 

A few of the Black-tailed Godwits that were on the reserve.

A Curlew Sandpiper (centre) and a Snipe to the left.

This Great White Egret gave me my closest ever views of one, from behind a screen.

A Pectoral Sandpiper (centre) with some Teal 

3 Ruff (to the right) and a Curlew Sandpiper on the left

Curlew Sandpiper - Burton Mere

A look back to the Summer months, when I took a trip to the Wirral and Burton Mere wetlands. A couple of year ticks were added, in the shape of this Curlew Sandpiper with its superbly curved bill, and a Green Sandpiper.

Both birds stayed fairly distant, but thankfully the light was quite decent. Here is the Curlew Sandpiper. 

Showing typical stance.

Green Sandpiper in the background and Curlew Sandpiper in front.

Cattle Egret

There have been a couple of Cattle Egrets around in recent weeks in the North West. One has been present up at Marshside RSPB reserve in Southport and the other has been at Burton Mere RSPB reserve on the Wirral. I've only ever seen one before, a couple of years ago, and also at Burton Mere.

When I arrived it was hiding behind a bush on an island in front of the main reception. So I made my way out towards a viewing screen a couple of hundred yards away, in the hope that I'd get a better view. Although I was further away, I could actually now see the bird, even though it seemed to want to hide away at every opportunity. 

It is slightly smaller than a Little Egret and has a yellow beak as opposed to the black of the Little Egret. It does spend time in with cattle too, as did on this occasion. 

So these are just record shots once again (as they were a couple of years ago). Hopefully one day I will get a little closer, in good light, with less vegetation, less haze etc etc. The agonies of photography. You rarely get all elements working in your favour, especially when the subjects are birds. Still a great bird to see and this took my year list to 187.

A distant but stunning Curlew Sandpiper was seen from the IMF hide. This took my total to 188. I'm hoping to get to 200 species this year, but time is running out.

Curlew Sandpiper

Curlew Sandpipers seemed to be at most sites I visited when in Norfolk a month or so ago. In small groups of threes, fours or fives, they busied about there business probing the beds for food. Similar to the Dunlin, they can cause confusion, especially for me. What does help is when you get both together. Fortunately at Titchwell I did get both together and was able to sort out which was which quicker than normal. The Curlew Sand has a slightly more down-curved bill and a little less dumpy looking. These guys were stopping off on migration, as they don't stay here year round. Off to Africa for the winter. Now that sounds like a great idea.

Curlew Sandpiper

Dunlin on the left and Curlew Sandpiper on the right.