BIRDING THE LUNE ESTUARY THE FOREST OF BOWLAND AND BEYOND......................................................MEDITTERANEAN GULLS CONDER POOL PETE WOODRUFF

Friday 23 January 2009

Number 4.

I visited 'the patch' for the fourth consecutive day today (with
JB/BT). Absolutely nothing wrong with that but I just wonder if I should consider a change in my birding habits and miss a rarity....food for thought.

Dealing with the photograph first which is by permission of a contact/friend I have recently acquired but who's name I'm not sure I'm at liberty to publicise on this blog. However (and I'm repeating myself here) I strongly recommend a visit to his blog at http://jrlandart.blogspot.com/ (he's also to be found on 'Flickr') to see the kind of 'work' this man is capable of. I promise you will be impressed......give it a go! The pic is of a Peregrine Falcon he saw today on Clougha......thanks RS.

To birds, the highlights of which were......

At Conder Green this morning 50+ Twite seen, a Greenshank, up to 7 Little Grebe, a Grey Wagtail, Grey Plover, and the m/f Stonechat seen again. A Spotted Redshank put in an appearance in the creeks for the first time since 9 January.

From Bodie Hill 2 Little Egrets were on Glasson Marsh.

At Cockersands the 1w male Stonechat put in it's 13th appearance since its early arrival here more than three months ago on 6 October. This individual has been/is on a winner feeding on the creatures in the tidal debris (I've never seen this bird anywhere other than on the debris) throughout the cold icy days of December......wise bird!

In the field opposite Sand Villa, the 6 Whooper Swans were seen again, but today only 2 Bewick's Swans. I'm convinced the reason why numbers of these swan number's fluctuate is that they can be hidden behind trees which surround a pool below the embankment, or below a 'dip' at the far end of the field. A Little Egret was also seen here.

On Pilling Marsh - which was otherwise pretty much deserted save the ever present Shelduck - 3 Little Egrets seen.

As always JB's account of the day will be far more comprehensive than mine much to the delight of the recorder/s.
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2 comments:

  1. Hi Pete, thanks for the recommendation again. Much appreciated.

    I was at Cockersands today and saw a (or the?) male stonechat. He was sitting on top of the hedge by the caravans and the road. Lots of twitchers out but none that said hello so I assume you weren't there. Loads of birds too.

    A question. Do you only report certain migratory birds or is it everything? The reason I ask is I've seen other birds up there that haven't been listed and I wonder if they are too common to need a mention. Shelduck, Lapwing, Oyster Catchers that kind of thing. Either you have mentioned them and my eyesight is poor or I have mis-identified and it's still my eyesight!

    All the best.
    Richard

    Ps. Don't mind you mentioning my name as long as you don't mention where my nest is!

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  2. Thanks for this Richard, I will e-mail you with a reply.

    Meanwhile it's good to see you're visiting my blog, dozens of others are too on a daily basis......I have a 'hidden' counter to let me keep tabs on whether or not I'm wasting my time.

    Pete.

    P S. No 'nest' records on here Richard.

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