Smew - Lunt Meadows

I had a day off work towards the end of January to recharge the batteries and get outside in some bright dry weather. I always plan my trips, and I like to do a nice circular route. I headed to Lunt Meadows for the second time in a month, as I just really like the place and it's not too busy. 

The first bird of note, was a nice Marsh Harrier hunting over the reeds, my first of the year. It soon glided out of view and I continued my walk. I was drawn to a bright white bird on the water, and my binoculars confirmed my thoughts. A male Smew!!. I had a quick panic to set up the scope , but there it was. This was not what I expected to see, but what a real bonus of a bird. Only the second male I've seen, and this one just by pure luck and chance.

Male Smew

It later went missing, but flew straight over my head when the group of Teal it was with took flight from a Peregrine.

A bird that had been here for a while was a Richardson's Cackling Goose (origin unknown). A much smaller bird than the Canada Goose, you can see how much shorter the neck is on the front bird.

A little bit of sunshine.

A trip to Redesmere last week turned up some very good numbers of water birds. For once the sun broke through the clouds and made viewing much easier than on a dull day. I counted 19 Goosander, of which a good number were males. The green heads of the males looked stunning through the binoculars.

Alongside the Goosander were a few Goldeneye. Numbers have started to dwindle in recent weeks, and I suspect very soon I will turn up and they will all have left until next Autumn, so I am making the most of them while they're here.

Female Goosander coming in for a landing.

A few of the males, looking splendid.

Distant shot of (left to right) Grey Heron, Goosander and a Goldeneye.

I moved down the road to Lapwing Lane to see what was around, and the female Smew was still showing, and very well this time. With it being a little closer and some better light I was able to get something a bit better than my previous grainy efforts. This too, will soon be departing for the winter.

Drake Smew at Lapwing Lane

At a site I visit frequently in Chelford, there is a female Smew that overwinters, and has done for the last few years now. Not a common bird here, so it's nice to be able to see it fairly regularly. I don't see it on every visit as it is quite a large body of water and there are many places it likes to visit where it can be hidden from view. Excitement grew just after the new year, when a male and another female both turned up. I have never seen the male in a wild setting, only at the Wildfowl and Wetland sites where they are captively bred. So to see a male just 20 minutes down the road was a big thing. 

It's such a smart looking bird and such a contrast to the female. The male is mostly white with a black mask around the eyes, while the female is pretty grey looking with a red head. I think it is my favourite duck, along with the Pintail, so to be able to see one was pretty exciting. Can you tell how excited I was?😄 The only downside was that the light was once again poor and grey, with the threat of rain, so I didn't manage anything other than record shots that are pretty grainy, but still a great record of my first male Smew all the same. Being able to watch through the scope was more than good enough for me.

Drake Smew

Drake and female together (in poor light)

The female a little more in the open

Final image of the male when it emerged from the undergrowth

Sunny Times

The sun has returned in recent weeks, and even better than that, at the weekend. Woo hoo! Being able to go for a walk without covering up your binoculars from the rain, and even getting the camera out of the car is a nice feeling.

I took a few local walks last weekend to Redesmere and Chelford. There were good numbers of birds about enjoying the sunshine too. Birds that I have noticed an awful lot this winter have been Siskins. They seem to be around on most of my walks and in places I'd not come across them before. There was a large flock of 50+ at Redesmere and within that flock were around a dozen Lesser Redpolls. Both of these birds are quite small and flighty, and also like to feed at the top of trees. If they are not making their calls they can be easily overlooked. I managed to track them down and once seen, they were happy to keep feeding and doing acrobatics. Both these birds like to feed upside down and it can look quite comical at times.

In Chelford the long staying over-wintering pair of Smews were still in attendance. They are usually a telescope view away, and tucked under the over hanging vegetation, but on this occasion both were out in the open and in the sunshine. A great opportunity for a record shot.

Smew

Lesser Redpoll

Siskin

Smew - Castleshaw Rervoir

The Smew is not a very common bird in the North West. Only turning up in the winter months and never in great numbers or great regularity. That being said, I saw that one was up in the Oldham hills on Castleshaw Reservoir and it was too good an opportunity to miss.
It had been a few years since I saw my last, in Cheshire.
The bird was quite a distance out, but at it's closest when I arrived. I was able to pop my head and camera over the wall of the upper reservoir and take a few pictures.

The water was choppy on a very windy day, and like all Smews, this one was very wary.

Newchurch Common - Smew

I'd seen reports of a Smew in Cheshire for the last few days and wondered if I'd be able to get along and see it before it departed. An opportunity arose on Sunday to have a look for it, and the weather was good too. Cold and bright, plus the clocks had gone back an hour, which usually means less people up and about as early as me. I guess I'm a little anti-social in the morning, and I like to have the place to myself.
Anyway, Newchurch Common in Winsford was the destination and a rather large fishing lake. I found it okay, but finding the bird was a different matter. I went the wrong way round and had to double back, but this was not such a bad thing, as it meant I got to watch lots of Goldcrests, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Bullfinch, Buzzard and other more common birds.
Having doubled back I eventually got to a good viewing area for the Smew. Such a small duck, with its red head and small frame, it certainly stood out amongst the Tufted Ducks it was socialising with. Only my second seen in the wild and not in a collection. A very nice year tick indeed,

And just to add to the highlights of the day, a Ruddy Shelduck was also on the water in with the Canada Geese. A probable captive escapee, there has been one in this area of Cheshire for a while. Still, I wasn't expecting to see it, so it was a nice surprise.
Seen here very distant, but its orangey beige colour quite distinctive.

It got a little closer for a better picture.

Tatton Mere

I'd heard of several Redhead Smew in the vacinity last weekend, and then I heard that one had found it's way to Tatton Mere in the grounds of Tatton Park. I made my way over in the afternoon and with the help of two birders located it at the morth end of the mere. It was very flighty but kept drifting back to the same area so it was just a case of waiting. I did wait and wait, but it was just getting darker and it just would not come near enough. A dog jumped in and made it fly a long way from me and I called it a day. Here is my best shot, followed by one taken of a captive Smew at Martin Mere last year.

Smew in flight (after harassment from a dog)

Smew  

 Very dodgy light, too far away and too shaky, but there it is.

Smew (captive) taken at Martin Mere

Pochard at Tatton Mere