September 2019 : Summary
September 2019 : Summary
UK Species Year List to September : 181
Total UK Species in September : 89
New “Year Ticks” in September : 4
New “Life Ticks” in September : 0
Life ticks in July 2019
- none
Year ticks in September 2019
- Yellow Wagtail at WWT Slimbridge on 4th September 2019
- Whinchat at WWT Slimbridge on 4th September 2019
- Little Stint at Burton Mere Wetlands 17th September 2019
- Red-necked Phalarope at RSPB Marshside on 24th September 2019
Birding Group
September proved to be a much more active month, birding-wise, for us. A trip up to Hoylake for a high tide on the 1st September gave us really close views of very high numbers of Ringed Plovers, Sanderling, Dunlin etc. We added Spoonbill when we then went on to Parkgate. An overnight stay at Slimbridge gave us a chance to visit the reserve both on the 4th and 5th September and here we god a couple of really good year ticks, Yellow Wagtail and Whinchat, both species we do not always see every year.
The birding group started up again on the 10th September with a morning at Pennington Flash where we didn’t see much special but we still got thirty-four species got thirty-four species and got particularly good views of Willow Tits – at least two of them, possibly more.
On the 24th a few of us ignored the bad weather warnings and went up to Martin Mere and Marshside where we got great views of the arriving Pink Footed Geese. There was no wind at Marshside for once but there was no shortage of rain. Despite the rain we kept largely dry and did manage to get a year-tick Red-necked Phalarope before returning home through flooded roads.
Garden
I have had to change all my feeders to reduce the number of feral and wood pigeons that have come to dominate the garden. I have largely replaced the old tube feeders with circular ones which make the birds hang on with their heads above the seed supply. This seems to have worked reasonably well and often there is just one feral pigeon circling the bottom of the feeder pole. The birds have to work a bit harder for their food but there is less mess. I have seen Coal, Blue and Great Tits as well as House Sparrows and Goldfinches – and even a Nuthtch – manage on the new feeders and the sunflower seed kernels keep much drier so this should be more hygienic and less messy – and cheaper !! Not a small matter when we now have about thirtyto forty House Sparrows at a time visiting the feeders.