Sunday, 23 September 2012

Red Rocks - 10 May 2012

Walking from Hoylake to West Kirby on the English side of the Dee Estuary, I spent a while around the brackish reedbed at Red Rocks.

I hoped to find a few warblers or at least listen in on their spring-time songs, but sounding very warbler-like, my first sighting was a Dunnock. It was not hopping around foraging on the ground but singing cheerfully from the top of a hawthorn, and I could have mistaken this for a warbler but for the clearly visible grey neck. I did get brief views of Reed Warblers popping in and out of the common reeds and a Sedge Warbler was singing cheerfully whilst perched on a fence top within the reeds.

During my walk back from West Kirby, I had lunch on the rocks from where I spotted a Meadow Pipit out on the marsh, before being joined by a male Northern Wheatear that was completely oblivious of my existence. It stayed while I finished my coffee, posed for a few shots and then took off.

Dunnock perched on top of a hawthorn

This Northern Wheatear was a welcome lunch buddy

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