A hunting ground for birds
EVEN when I am out enjoying one of biggest matches in the football calendar - Southport v Chorley on New Year’s Day – my mind can turn to wildlife.
It wasn’t hard as every couple of minutes my ears caught a loud ‘peeping’ coming from above the packed stand, as the rain lashed the poor players on the pitch.
I was fascinated to see a flock - or parcel – of oystercatchers buzzing the top to the stand, obviously a little annoyed by the crowd of humans that turn up once or twice a fortnight.
Around that ground on the West Lancashire coast are lots of marshy areas where waders, like the oystercatchers, love to seek food. At this point though, I am suggesting that the football pitch, soaked by days of rain and scarred by studs on boots, might also provide a good, sheltered spot where these magnificent birds can dip their beaks into the ground and seek food.
I’m pretty sure the floodlights would also warm the area.
I have actually been surprised by this phenomenon of oystercatchers being sports fans before – around 70 to 80 of them were feeding on a school rugby field close to Blackpool last winter.
It made me think of a picture of hundreds of the birds huddled together on a pier side at Heysham in November, just waiting for the tide to go out so they could search for food.
Sports pitches seem much safer and sensible places to hang out, once the crowds have gone.
This scene might become more and more regular inland, too, as oystercatchers have started to spread from the coasts.
It’s already started, Mosslands birding legend Dave Steel spotted six oystercatchers on Irlam Moss, in Salford, on New Year’s Eve.
Four days earlier he had seen a parcel of 60! With groups of up to 20,000 being seen on the coast, it is not surprising that we have birds moving inland looking for feeding areas.
In the region we have more than 15 per cent of the UK wintering population, half of them will have flown in from other parts of this country and other countries, including Norway and Iceland.
Most people who know a bit about birds will know what an oystercatcher looks like with its long, red bill.
On the coast they are a bit like me, eating shellfish, particularly cockles and mussels.
However, I don’t have that flattened bill which can prise or hammer open the shells.
They are about twice the size generally of your average magpie if you take into account wingspan and weight.
They are black and white with pinky-red legs. In flight their black and white, long wings make them stand out from other seashore birds.
I was thrilled to hear the oystercatchers on New Year’s Day and they were fairly easy to make out as they neared the stand in the glow of the floodlights.
I did lose a bit of interest in the match as it became a bit one-sided, but it must have confused my fellow spectators as I kept staring upwards towards the sky.
»●If you want to support the work of the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside, Text WILD09 with the amount you want to donate to 70070.