This morning:

1 Great White Egret at the western end along with two Little Egrets

21 Great Black-backed Gulls around the flash, remnants from the night’s roost 

A flock of 14 Meadow Pipits feeding on the ruck

1 Chiffchaff along the shore of the ruck

This late afternoon:

230 Pink-footed Geese flew over west at 16:49 which veered off SW as they passed over the flash

12 female/immature Goosanders at the western end

1 Great White Egret around the western inflow as usual

3 Little Egrets, one at the western end and two on Ramsdales Scrape

Excellent sized gull roost, though I couldn’t pick out anything scarcer (though I was counting much of the time!)

71 Great Black-backed Gull (many leaving SW towards dusk as usual)

2920 Herring Gulls

6 Redwings west over Sorrow Cow Pond at 15:45

Late news forgotten about for yesterday afternoon when a Tawny Owl was singing around Sorrow Cow Pond prior to dusk

Late evening today saw the juvenile Garganey still present, Great White Egret at the western end, Little Egret by the spit and the adult Mediterranean Gull roosted again. 

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes 

This late afternoon/evening:

1 Great White Egret

3 Little Egrets

Adult Mediterranean Gull roosted

4 Wigeon still present

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes

This late afternoon and early evening:

83 Great Black-backed Gulls (75 of which were adults)

Adult Yellow-legged Gull (same individual as the 22nd)

1850 Herring Gulls

402 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

130+ Starlings in their own ‘mini murmuration’ around Ramsdales eventually roosted in the reedbed there.

Also late afternoon today:

2 Little Egrets at the eastern end and 7 Goosanders on the spit.

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes

First light this morning to just after 10am:

4 Whooper Swans (at least one an immature) flew SE at 08:16

744 Pink-footed Geese over, with 524 SE in six skeins and 220 W in two skeins

2 Greylag Geese over W

2 drake Pochards off the car park

3 Goosanders, including a drake, off the car park

1 Little Egret flew in from the west early morning

6+ Snipe on the spit

11 adult Great Black-backed Gulls remaining from the gull roost at first light

6819 Woodpigeons over SE in 123 flocks from 08:10 to 09:50

4 individual Skylarks over south and two still down on the ruck

8+ Meadow Pipits down on the ruck and a small handful over south

77 Redwings over S/SW in 9 flocks

1 Chiffchaff on the ruck

33 Goldfinches over south in small flocks

17 Chaffinches over south in ones and twos mainly

4 individual Greenfinches over south

Many more finches in small flocks over south, probably into three figures and many with the bulk of the Woodpigeon movement/flocks but all way too distant to identify!

1 male Linnet down on the ruck

1 Lesser Redpoll north over the ruck

A morning of high disturbance with ducks flying everywhere. Virtually no usable shore anywhere for waders due to water levels, swimmers and sailing club. One particular member of the sailing club seems determined to flush everything, constantly taking her canoe right into every nook and cranny and seemingly only happy when everything flies off. This is despite reassurances from the person in question and the sailing club that it will not happen again, it just doesn't seem to sink in. Oh well, despite the best efforts of people to disturb everything, I managed to see the following at this "National Nature Reserve" between 8:00 - 11:00;

Pochard 5 inc. 4 males

Wigeon 2 females / 1st winter off the remnants of the spit

Mandarin 1 female on what's left of Ramsdales scrape

Egyptian goose 1 adult at the sailing club

Teal 20 Ramsdales scrape

The birds I just reported as black-necked grebes are being put out on the birding apps as Slavonian, which I must admit I thought they might be when I first saw them. In the photos, the right hand bird especially seems to have the head shape.

Please excuse the quality of the photos. I was battling with pouring rain, mist and soaked optics.

Highlights from this morning:

Female/immature Pintail with Wigeon flock

4 Wigeon, including two males

Drake Mandarin circled the ruck before flying off back towards the canal basin. Judging by the amount of Mallards flying around at that point too it would seem they'd all been disturbed off there.

2 Great White Egrets

4 Little Egrets

53 Snipe circled the ruck at 08:25 before flying off NW. There were a few Snipe visible on the mini spit earlier but it is unknown if this flock was disturbed off the Ramsdales area or came in from elsewhere

24 (all adult) Great Black-backed Gulls, with 14 down on the water and the rest flying over NE

22 Meadow Pipits down on the ruck

748 Redwings over east in 24 flocks up to 09:30 (record shot of one of the flocks attached)

1 Linnet NE over the ruck at 08:12

Bittern flew out of Ramsdales reedbed and over the trees along the edge of the ruck at 13:35, before doubling back towards the same reedbed.

Info thanks to John Dixon

This morning's highlights:

2 Greylag Geese over east

Juvenile Garganey still on Ramsdales Scrape

Drake Pochard in Ramsdales

202 Tufted Ducks

2 Great White Egrets (one of which perched on the very top of the tallest tree by the lagoon on the eastern side of the ruck for some time)

2 Little Egrets

1 Chiffchaff on the ruck

5 Bullfinch in a flock feeding on western end of the ruck

This early morning:

11 Whooper Swans flew over east at 07:30 (very record shots attached!)

62 Pink-footed Geese east in 2 skeins from the Mersey flightpath, with 26 at 08:20 and 36 at 08:30

11 adult Great Black-backed Gulls on the spit

1098 Woodpigeons S/SE in 32 flocks from first light to 08:30

23 Skylarks, with two singles high north over the ruck quickly followed by a flock of 21 low north at 09:08

14+ Meadow Pipits down on the ruck

15 Redwings in four flocks, all dropped into trees on the top of the ruck and most of which were still present around 09:30

Cetti's Warbler alarm calling and showing well in shoreline bushes around The Point

9 Linnets in a single flock low south over the ruck at 08:20

This morning:

314 Tufted Ducks

1 Goosander flew through north 

2 Great White Egrets

1 Little Egret

36+ Snipe feeding on the spit, probably many more I couldn't see

6+ Chiffchaffs around Ramsdales Ruck

2 Redwings on the ruck

This evening:

Great White Egret fishing close to Sorrow Cow Farm, then flew across to the south shore of the ruck and then flew back across to the south shore of the flash, all within the space of 10 minutes!

Adult Yellow-legged Gull

First winter Caspian Gull (more photos and videos, taken at dusk, on the website)

36 Great Black-backed Gulls

1 Cetti's Warbler calling and briefly in song around the shore by Sorrow Cow Pond

1 Chiffchaff by Sorrow Cow Pond 

This morning:

Great White Egret on the south shore of the flash just east of Sorrow Cow Farm at first light

2 Kestrels hunting over the ruck, as was a Sparrowhawk

1543 Woodpigeons moved SE in 51 flocks up to just after 8am when they abruptly stopped again

11+ Meadow Pipits down around the ruck

45 Redwings over in 10 small flocks, mainly east but some birds west and a few dropping in around the ruck

26 Song Thrushes around the ruck, with four dropping in high out of the sky from the north and another two heading directly over south

This evening, a second winter Caspian Gull was in the roost, along with 41 Great Black-backed, 84 Herring, 107 Lesser Black-backed and almost 3000 Black-headed Gulls. A flock of 27 Pied Wagtails flew S/SE over Sorrow Cow Farm near dusk and a single Chiffchaff was around the pond there in a tit flock, along with a single Treecreeper.

Garganey still present on Ramsdales Scrape this afternoon, also Great White Egret, Little Egret and 27 Great Black-backed Gulls in the pre-roost.

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes

This morning:

188 Tufted Ducks

1 female/immature Goldeneye

1 Great White Egret, flew from the ‘nature reserve’ area And dropped in to the western end

1 Common Sandpiper on the sailing club shore

14 Great Black-backed Gulls (one juvenile and the rest adults) on the water and moving through N/NE

9+ Meadow Pipits down on the ruck

23 Song Thrushes around the ruck

2 Chiffchaffs on the ruck

24 Goldfinch feeding in the ruck

1 Yellowhammer flew high west over the ruck at 08:22

Yesterday evening:

Adult Mediterranean Gull roosted

5 Wigeon

Great White Egret flew off towards Bickershaw at dusk

Water Rail on the sailing club shore

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes

Adult Yellow-legged Gull and 26 Great Black-backed Gulls roosted on Tuesday evening (24th).

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes

A very enjoyable visit this morning, 7:30-10:30;

Stonechat 1 first-winter on the ruck. My first at the flash since 29/11/1981!

Great white egret 2-3. Two in view at the same time on the south side and at the western end reedbed. A few minutes later probably a third bird flew in high from the north and landed on the side of the ruck. By that time I couldn't see the other two.

Little egret 2

Common sandpiper 1 at the sailing club

Swallow 2

Great black-backed gull 1 adult

Pink-footed geese 10 heading east

Shoveler 28 including 18 at the western end.

Chiffchaff 2 on the ruck.

Skylark 1 on the ruck.

Highlights this morning included:

1 Wigeon flew in from the west

214 Tufted Ducks

2 Little Egrets

1 Redshank flew in from the west and then lost to view behind trees so no idea if it landed at all

1 Common Sandpiper

1 adult Great Black-backed Gull

1 Swallow very low west over the ruck

Only a handful of Meadow Pipits south 

24 Song Thrushes around Ramsdales Ruck was a large increase in numbers and the first real sign of their migration here, which included five birds (a two and a three) dropping high out of the sky from the north and into cover on the top of the ruck

13 Chiffchaffs around the ruck

8 Jays around the ruck alone 

Common sandpiper still at the sailing club early afternoon and a single little egret on the side of the ruck.