A busy week 2: chasing birds

Sometimes you have to take a chance, especially when the reward is something special. Green sandpipers are a rare bird (less than 1000 wintering in the UK, according to the RSPB), so three together within walking distance was worth checking out. "Todderstaffe Hall" is a rather grandly named farm with a small caravan site alongside the railway line, and to the east the fields often flood. They border Main Dyke, the major drainage channel for the Fylde coast (and formed part of the lake bed of Marton Mere before it was largely drained over the last few centuries according to my local contact Davd), and often attract interesting birds. But the view is distant - between 75 and 400 metres (and even further to the next set of fields, which also had birds in them).

I didn't have much hope. I've been thwarted here before - it's a long walk, nearly 8 miles round trip, partly across very rough ground - and even if a species has been seen earlier in the same day (as the sandpipers had), chances of catching it are slim. As it turned out, I was not in luck. There were birds - though it took some staring through my 1400mm lens setup. A pied wagtail, a very distant flock of lapwings, a pair of shelduck in the further field, and a couple of crows (which might have been ravens, as they were reported there, but as I didn't know this at the time, so dismissed them as uninteresting, and took no shots that would later allow me to be sure). The main source of interest was a mixed flock of fieldfares and starlings - and from carefully examining my photographs, at least one redwing too. But all the shots were for record purposes only. No pretty pictures from this distance (see below).

 This is the sort of image I was combing for birds. I took lots - although I did check for signs of life before I took each shot, ultimately you can't see much in the viewfinder, and it's easier to look on a computer screen.

 One of the birds that was present (a fieldfare). You don't get good quality at this distance, but it's enough for ID purposes.

The most attractive view of the day was just as I was returning home, and the sunset turned into something special. Alas, I was at an ugly road junction, but you get the idea. Anyone on the sea front would have had an excellent photo opportunity.

The next day I had an appointment with a very helpful and knowledgable local wildlife expert, David M (whose blog is here). He very kindly invited me to join him on a south Lancashire odyssey, which would give me the opportunity to visit some places I've heard about but never visited (though accessible by train, it's a lot easier in a car).

After a brief, unsuccessful trip back to Todderstaffe to look for the green sandpipers again, we went to Mere Sands Wood, a series of freshwater pools and wetland surrounded by woodland (mostly mixed birch and oak, with a stand of pine in the middle). It was chilly and overcast, not the forecast weather, so I didn't expect much in the way of good shots. Plus, there were very few birds close by, even viewed from the hides.

Three or so gorgeous red-legged partridges were feeding in a freshly-ploughed field just beyond the reserve, along with a pheasant. Blogger has mangled this photo a bit - it seems to apply extra compression to uploaded photographs, especially apparent in areas of grey.

One of many high-quality shots of a great crested grebe. It came close, and the water was very still. Very little cropping was needed, and the light cooperated at last.

 A pair of teal also came close. This is the female.

Back by the visitor centre, the feeders were manic. At least nine tree sparrows fed along with a greenfinch, plus other common birds and a couple of mammals - a surprisingly large brown rat (my first ever) and a rabbit.

Every other bird we saw seemed to be a robin. One was very tame - feeding from David's hand, and making a very odd, quiet songlike purring. This one by the car park was singing normally. 

Aside from being a nice location, it was great to hear from one of the people who'd set it up in the first place. My companion helped establish the reserve over thirty years ago, and pointed out what was original, what had changed, and lots of other interesting titbits. I'll have to go back sometime - we didn't see the red squirrels, a species I had no idea lived so close to home.