Frodsham Marsh : 3rd November 2015

Frodsham Marsh : 3rd November 2015

We were due to have a birding group visit to Frodsham Marsh this Tuesday but there had been a lot of bad fog for a couple of days so most people called off. David Poole seemed to think it would be bad on the motorway and foggy on the marsh and doubted the wisdom of driving so called off. Mike and I thought we would take a look in the morning and make a judgement then and we were glad we did so, even though we were the only people from the birding group there, because we had a fine day with good birding light and some fine views, partilcularly of a Short-eared Owl.

As soon as we parked up we caught sight of a small group of Redwings. We kept seeing these coming and going all morning but they were possibly the same small group. We walked down the hill to the path that leads to the field but we discovered that a path that skirts around the field has developed between the reeds and the barbed wire; this means you do not go over the stile and then have to navigate the cow pats and mud. This new route proved by far the best path we have found yet.

When we came up at the other end, we perused the water and could see a lot of Tufted Ducks in the distance and some Great Crested Grebe. As we were scanning however a bigger bird hove into view from the direction of the canal. As it flew nearer it was clear from the slow, deep wingbeats that it was a Short-eared Owl. I managed to get the scope on it and had good views, even of facial details, as it flew up the water towards, us, past us and flew over the track and started to quarter the edge of the field on our right. It went up and down there several times, occasionally landing. Eventually it landed and did not get up so we walked on.

Further up to the “Bend” we came acroiss a nice group of ducks including Mallards, Shelduck, Teal and Pintail. As we walked down the path we frequently started groups of birds feeding off the Teasel on the slope leading down to the fields on one side and the water on the other. It was hard to determine what all these were but there were certainly large numbers of Goldfinch but there may also have been Meadow Pipits and Linnets.

Buzzards appeared regularly and one in particular seemed to roost at the top of a tree for as long as we were there. Kestrels were also ever-present.

We eventaully walked back to the car, again startling Redwing, Blackbirds and possibly a Song Thrush. We walked pat the car and took the path that leads to the farm at Frodsham Score. There wasn’t a lot at the score but on our way there we had brilliant views of Ravens and one in particular perched on a post; we got the scope on it and got really good views. The Ravens seemed to be making other birds a bit scatty and from the field on the right large flocks of Starlings and Lapwings would suddenly risae up, wheel around and then land again. The same was true of a large flock of Curlew feeding in the field to the left.

We didn’t see the Spoonbill or the Long-eared Owl that reports said were around but we did have a pretty good day with good overcast light. No glare and no heat haze so viewing conditions were excellent and we got very good views of the Short-eared Owls.

We did consider going to the number five tank but there was a sign at the start of that path saying no vehicles allowed between 7am and 5pm ! There was no sign that anyone was doing any work, however. It was a shame because, after a period of the tanks being totally dried out, some reports of waders being seen there have started to return.

Anyway, we had thirty birds at least today so we were happy with that and it was time to repair to The Bears Paw in Frodsham village for lunch !

Bird Sightings : Frodsham Marsh