Earlier in the day (and after the discovery of an invasive Chinese Mitten Crab to the River Mersey yesterday)…
…I was back along the Sankey Canal at Widnes Warth Marsh and during the course of that period I came across an Elver in a water culvert. It’s not that often I come across these young Eels so to find one in the muddy culvert below the broken bridge on the Trans Pennine Trail was a bonus. Soon after a young Common Toadlet appeared from the same culvert and performed well for the camera. What was probably the last male Common Hawker Dragonfly of the year whizzed past. A singing Cetti’s Warbler, fly by Little Egret and Kingfisher and a pale morph Common Buzzard all added to a decent time. I initiated the rescue of an injured Mute Swan that had a fishing hook stuck in its webbed foot and I felt a proper guardian of the countryside.
After work I made a visit in the gloom for a brief walk along the track by No.6 tank. A roost gathering of c500 Lapwing in the shallow waters of the sludge tank. The whole flocks were jittery and rose into the air leaving c120 Black-tailed Godwit and 14 startled Ruff.
A bird perched up on one of the fence posts soon revealed itself to be the first Short-eared Owl of the late autumn early winter period on No.5 tank. The yelping of 10 Pink-footed Goose overhead were drawn down by c400 others of their kind grazing on No.3 tank.
Again not a bad little tally of birds in such a short period of time.
Observers: Sparky, WSM (Illustration, images and videos).
