Waxwings (briefly)

I was down at the University of Liverpool today at about 1.00 pm and noticed a flock of at least 20 Waxwings fly over the campus near Oxford Street. The flock where very low (just over rooftop level) and appeared to be local (not just passing over). I later gave the area a brief search at about 3.00 pm but couldn't relocate them. I will search the area around the uni and the Metropolitan Cathedral tomorrow............fingers crossed!

Clywdian Hills

Blew away the cobwebs on Sunday with a nice long hike around the clwydian hills, centred around Moel-Y-Parc and Caerwys. Lovely weather all day long combined with a 12 mile walk, and some decent birds too, with Perregrine, Buzzards, 2 Green Woodpeckers, Redpolls, Siskins, Dipper, large numbers of Redwings and Fieldfares in hedgerows laden with berries (I have never known a better berry crop), Nuthatches, Goosander, Little Grebes, and plenty of Ravens.

Good numbers of Starlings roosting on the Runcorn bridge on the way home, along with a Perregrine feeding on one unlucky bird, sometimes traffic jams can come in handy.

The Orange Blob

Visited Hale on Saturday after the report of a Ruddy Shelduck on Friday, seen from the hide at Pickerings Pasture (on the other side of Hale Marsh). After scanning the marsh I found a distant orange blob in with Canada Geese, but it was to far away to say whether it was Ruddy, Cape, or one of the weird hybrids that knock about. Other birds in the area included a Perregrine, 4 Buzzards, Sparrowhawk, Tawny Owl, 3 Grey Partridge, a mixed flock near the lighthouse contained at least 100 Skylarks (with more passing over), and 2 Brambling in the woods.