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

Friday 6 February 2009

The Short List.

Noted in the short list on the third
consecutive day local patch birding.

At Conder Green 25+ Twite seen late morning had increased to 55+ by late
afternoon just north of the picnic area. The 3 Stonechat were seen here again, also 2 Greenshank, a Spotted Redshank, a Grey Plover, and 7 Little Grebe. Four hours later 6 Little Grebe were on the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock therefore not possible to claim having seen 13 birds on the day. Also on the estuary, at least 1,000 Bar-tailed Godwit and 200 Black-tailed Godwit. Goldeneye numbers appear to have fallen here dramatically and only c.40 were seen today, 3 Turnstone are something of a rarity at Glasson Dock and I don't recall ever seeing this species here before......or haven't I been trying hard enough? From Bodie Hill a Little Egret was on Glasson Marsh.

On the short list at Cockersands were 45 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Grey Partridge, and the Bank Houses Little Owl. Also noted were 7 Brown Hare.
For the second day in a row the male Stonechat didn't put in an appearance, perhaps it has just failed by a couple of days to be here a full four months, time will tell.

No appropriate 'birdie pic' again, nothing new there then! This one - which was taken from the Cockersands lighthouse parking area - is of the last house - Old Hall - on the east side of Sunderland Point. The house will have a huge value today but where will it be by the turn of the century. The photograph had two obscene pylons behind it in the composition which ruined the whole scene but which I 'fixed' with Picasa. If you do photography and need tools to manipulate your images with download it now for free......recommended.

If you are reading this Richard I'm pleased to tell you your artwork remains standing and in tact, but a 10 mtr tide one day next week may change all this, although if the weather is anything like today with brilliant sunshine and a flat calm then I'm willing to take bets it stands the test of time and the tide.
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4 comments:

  1. [manipulating pics]........so when you claim an American Robin on your lawn, we know where it came from :-) Pete

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  2. Ahhhh....we won't go into the world of 21st century photography anonymous (the name doesn't suit you) you can create an elephant out of a dustbin these days with all the manipulation tools a your disposal....a game of total deceit.

    Thanks for the comment, much appreciated.

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  3. Hi Pete,

    Part of my original plan was to film the cairn being submerged, then maybe being destroyed or emerging from the water. But I neglected to think whether the water would actually reach that spot. I filmed the cairn during the next high tide but the water didn't get anywhere near it! But part of the my point of my art is to find out about nature. I learnt about the stones that I built it with and then I found out that the tide only rarely makes it up that high.

    So it was a super-high one this week? Whether it destroyed it or not does not matter. The point is that what happens happens. I am only disappointed when it falls down before I have finished or I do not manage to get a decent photo. Everything else is all good. I will have to build one further out to see it consumed by the tide.

    All the best.

    Richard

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  4. Just found your post Richard (computer been ill). If the tides last week (one was a 10m+) havn't demolished your 'tower' then they stand for quite some time before the next 'high' ones and it is now obvious a strong wind is also required to coincide with these tides to do any damage to your work. I'll be at Cockersands in the coming days and will report back to you if you don't beat me to it.

    Good to hear from you again Richard.....Thanks.


    Pete.

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