John Dempsey Birdblog 
The Black Throated Diver had moved a little further out onto Crosby Marine Lake by the time I called in between meetings.
A fine bird, it snorkelled and dived frequently with an easy fluid action, its big white flank patch and dazzling white throat obvious at range, before it came in closer off the Lake House, submerging for distances of 50-100m underwater then surfacing like a groovy, snaky submarine.
Red Throated Divers are common offshore of course, from Formby northwards, and if the Great Northern Diver is still on West Kirby Marine Lake, Chris Kehoe’s find today presents the opportunity of a nice local diver hat-trick.
It’s not often you can do that on Merseyside – Black Throated is a rare bird here.
The Marine Lake and its surrounds is on good form at the moment, with plenty of sporadically noisy Cetti’s Warblers in the south east corner, Water Rail, Goldeneye and occasional Kingfisher.
During a sunny spell on Wednesday, two Chiffies and a few Goldcrests emerged too. Med Gull on Ainsdale beach, but no sign of the Snow Bunt trio reported last week – although I haven’t had the time this week to scour the tideline properly. Two Marsh Harriers in the dunes south of Shore Road on Tuesday.
