A sunny morning with wind that was not especially biting was a good time to interrogate the Wigeon at Hesketh Out Marsh to see if they would give up the American interloper among them. With such close examination, it was interesting to see how many of them had a certain amount of green about the face, but there wasn’t a convincing textbook American wigeon to be seen.

My struggles to be confident about the difference between Linnet and Twite continue; perhaps I just need to spend a lot more time staring at them, although a better view than was had today won’t be had.

Bird of the day was the huge Peregrine who rules over the site, proudly sunning herself on a large tree trunk.

White-fronted geese, Spotted Redshank and Bewick’s Swans were available to more industrious / less careless birders than myself.

On to Banks to tick Little Owl for the year: we got a nice photo which I should attach to this post some time.

Finally, we ended the day at Mere Sands Wood, where Mandarin Ducks were not to be seen but a Great Crested Grebe and a Treecreeper more than made up for it.