The Dee at Connah's Quay was the scene of some serious fishing this morning with the local fisherman and the resident Cormorants competing to hoover-up the flatfish. Judging by the number of bulging throats, the Cormorants were winning hands-down. Have the fishermen not seen the HSBC advert – work together guys!Cormorants have always interested me. How it is a bird so tied to the water has feathers that are so prone to getting wet is beyond me. This in addition to its rather prehistoric appearance leads me to think it must have just given up evolving…
They are certainly an optimistic species too; some of the twenty or so birds assembled on the edge of Oakenholt Marsh were attempting to dry their wings in the middle of a deluge, although according to somebody who shall remain nameless (!) the classic wings-out pose may also facilitate digestion.
Plenty of other activity too, with thousands of waders jostling for position as the tide quickly enveloped the marsh – its predicted height of nine point two metres seemingly increased by a combination of the low pressure, high wind and swollen river.
Oystercatcher, Dunlin and Knot completed the lion’s share of the roost. The Black-tailed Godwit numbers seem to have dropped-off markedly in the last couple of weeks. From a peak of around six thousand birds in October, the vast majority of them have seemingly moved on to either other areas of the estuary or to wintering grounds further south. Sounds like a plan to me!
Connah’s Quay 18.11.09
2,500 Oystercatcher
2,000 Knot
1,200 Dunlin
1,000 Black-tailed Godwit
300 Lapwing
100 Redshank
60 Curlew
3 Greenshank
70 Cormorant
90 Great Black-backed Gull
8 Great Crested Grebe
800 Teal
1 Kingfisher
Until later.
2 comments:
Hi Paul
As requested I'm letting you know
what was about at Frodsham Marsh
on my last visit.On the day I was hoping to go to Llanfairfechan to catch up with the Slavonian Grebes and the now infamous Firecrest,
but with strong winds and pouring rain Frodsham seemed a better option....only just!
The day promised much with reports of a Water Pipit and a Cetti's Warbler,both being seen recently,but after extensive searching for both birds,I was unable to locate either.On the day itself I recorded 48 species,without there being anything of any note,so below I've just listed a few of the more interesting ones.
So it was,Monday November 16th 2009
which might have added Slavonian Grebe,Firecrest,Water pipit,or Cetti's Warbler to my Life List,all of which would have been personal firsts for me ended with.......
Slavonian Grebe 0
Firecrest 0
Water Pipit 0
Cetti's warbler 0
Cold and cheesed off Birder 1
Frodsham Marsh 16 11 09
10.30am - 2.45pm.
Pied Wagtail c20
Mistle Thrush 1
Goldfinch c100
Redwing 11
Long Tailed Tit 9
Kestrel 1
Peregrine(fm) 1
Lapwing c1000
Common Buzzard 3
Common Teal c100
Redshank 30
Meadow Pipit c100
Little Grebe 3
Grey Wagtail(ml) 2
Goldeneye 3
Reed Bunting 3
Curlew c50
Sparrowhawk 2, 1(ml) 1(fm)
Linnet c20
Common Snipe 2
Stonechat 1 (ml)
Raven 1
Fieldfare 2
Shoveler 2, 1(ml) 1(fm)
Cheers Denzil
Hi Denzil, thanks again for the post.
You're right, it's hard going out there at the moment - not ideal conditions for looking for small passerines, or birds on top of the water for that matter!
Cheers, Paul.
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