June to August 08

The little owl hatched four young but only two fledged. From watching the actions at the nest it was surmised that the male had fallen prey to a sparrowhawk just before the young hatched: with only one adult being seen on the webcam. Interestingly prey brought to the nest included a dunlin and a blackbird besides the usual mice etc. It is hoped that the webcam can be placed in a better position at the nest before next year.

The two little owls that fledged

Halton Webcam

Six pairs of grey heron nested and reared eight young, the last two only leaving the nest in late July. A great spotted woodpecker nested quite low in an oak and fledged at least two young, while a carrion crow reared three young. Two pair of coots bred: one hatched six young but only four fledged, the other pair built a nest but this failed. At least two pair of moorhens reared young on the main pool while two others were trying to breed on the moat.

A pair of little grebes arrived late in the season and was successful in rearing four young. 

 During May and June up to seven tufted ducks were present with a pair showing great interest in one of the floating islands but they were not successful. Several broods of mallard were recorded and by mid June over 35 mallard were present. Also in June three male teals were around for several weeks.

Buzzards were seen fairly regularly looking for prey on the decoy and the marsh, as were a pair of kestrels. A nice surprise was an adult hobby seen chasing the martins, and a first summer hobby was also seen on a couple of occasions in late June.

During the spring willow warblers, chiffchaffs, and two pairs of blackcaps held territories and young were later seen.

 With the cold, wet weather early in spring only one noctule bat and several pipistrelles were seen.  The dragonflies seemed to fare much better with several broad-bodied chasers and four-spot chasers being seen and actually laying in the pond.  Large red, azure and blue tailed damselflies were regularly seen.

 In late July southern hawker and brown hawker dragonflies were seen patrolling the ditches and pond whilst the first teneral common daters were seen.

By late June most of the Canada geese had moved over to Ince Marshes to moult, leaving only 142 young Canada geese with 196 adults on the marsh. These young birds were brought across the Mersey from the Manchester Ship Canal.

The early species of butterflies struggled with the bad weather but with slightly warmer days the meadow browns, gatekeepers, speckled woods, peacocks and green veined whites did well.  Once again we managed to record Purple hairstreaks in very small numbers, but they were on two different oak trees well apart from each other.

In July a male Ruff, in black summer plumage, was present on the marsh and up to 5 little egrets were using the decoy as a roost site at night ~ flying out onto the Mersey or the marsh to feed during the day. On the 10^th July a juvenile garganey was found on the marsh, as well as a green sandpiper.

By the 15^th the first grey wagtail, snipe and kingfisher had been seen, a foretaste of autumn. Green sandpipers were arriving on the decoy.  0n the 29^th a wood sandpiper (our third this year) appeared on the marsh and stayed for several days. By the month's end the marsh had also been visited by a greenshank, several little ringed plover, a black-tailed godwit and a whimbrel.

A female peregrine has taken to roosting at night in a large dead oak tree on the decoy and excellent views can be had with a telescope from Marsh Bridge. On the 31^st July a female marsh harrier was present for most of the day, hunting the marsh and on one occasion flushing eleven snipe as it plunged down to make a kill. In early August an adult Mediterranean gull was seen on the marsh, together with six black-tailed godwits.

In late July the Friends of Pickerings Pasture arranged a work party on the decoy, cutting back vegetation, cleaning the interpretation boards and general repairs to the bird hides. A further work party has been arranged for October and if anyone is interested in helping please contact the ranger on 0151-425-4706. Besides the conservation work this gives you the opportunity to see the site and the wildlife from the hides.

The toads have had a good breeding season and lots of young toadlets can be seen about the paths and in the woodland. A grey squirrel appears to have taken up residence and has been seen on several occasions.

On the 31^st July a female marsh harrier was present for most of the day, hunting the marsh and on one occasion flushed 11 snipe as it plunged down and caught one of them.

The British trust for conservation volunteers came to the decoy on two days in early August and did some splendid work cutting back the vegetation on all the paths. They also removed several fallen trees and branches which were blocking the paths.

In early August an adult Mediterranean gull was seen on the marsh, together with 6 black-tailed godwits. An adult Brent goose turned up on the marsh on the 9^th and stayed for two days.

In mid August 4 gadwall arrived: a female and 3 juvenile, which were possibly the progeny of the pair which we saw displaying in mid May, on the nearby field pools. Another female garganey arrived at the months end and was about for at least three days. Already several small parties of teal and 5 shoveler have been seen, the forerunners of the many ducks that are due to arrive in the next month.

On one of our only warm evenings, a special visit was made to look for bats and at least 5 noctules and 8 pipistrelles were seen circling over the pool ~ coming right up to the bird hides. This same evening, most excitingly, 14 little egrets were seen flighting onto the decoy to roost in the bushes around the edges of the pond. The egrets make a fine sight on the Halton wildlife web-cam. They usually arrive about an hour before dusk.

Sunset from the hide on

Hale Duck Decoy