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

Friday 14 March 2014

Nearly Fogged Off !


Looking upstream from Cockersands lighthouse, looks even worse if you 'clik the pik'.   

I escaped trying to be 'Husband Of The Year' at 1.30pm yesterdayand got to Cockersands in a slightly less pea soup fog than it had been since around 9.30pm the night before. But a pretty unpleasant day, following on from Wednesday which was more like 12 May than 12 March and shirt sleeve stuff....today more like 13 January and cold with it.


Golden Plover Brian Rafferty

Off Crook Farm I estimated 150 Redshank, counted 112 Black-tailed Godwit, 22 Curlew, and a solitary Knot, all quietly feeding on the mud flats. In an Abbey Farm field, c.135 Golden Plover with a 'few' Lapwing, 8 Linnet were in and around the cover crop field again. The surprise of the day was a Great-spotted Woodpecker which appeared to be going to fly out to sea until it did a U turn to go inland over Bank Houses.

I made this comment in a post two weeks ago....'I don't recall the last time I saw as many 'gulls' on the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock with in excess of 5,000 mainly Black-headed Gull'....and the numbers came a close second again today, a quite amazing sight. On the canal basin just 2 Goldeneye today.



Goldeneye Simon Hawtin

Looking in on the way home from the viewing platform at Conder Pool, 5 Goldeneye, a Little Grebe, and a pair of Lesser Black-backed Gull which seem to appear on here annually and are a real handsome pair of brutish beauties. A Little Egret also looked elegant in the creeks.

The Cockersands Whooper Swans. 

The Moss Lane Whooper Swans were even further inland today and mostly disappearing into the murk. Two Whooper Swan - an adult and immature - were with Mute Swans off Slack Lane, and up to 60 Whooper Swans were in flight heading towards the River Lune. An hour later when I reached Crook Cottage they had gone down on to the bank opposite at Sunderland Point.

Thanks as always to Brian/Simon for the images of Golden Plover and Goldeneye....Excellent. 



The plan was for more of the same today, but not when I saw this view from our window this morning and still lingering as I post.

7 comments:

  1. Thats not foggy Pete, you should have see it here, 20 meters visibility at best - very frustrating!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice pictures.. I love Golden Plover.. Greetings..

    ReplyDelete
  3. Crackin view from the upstairs room there Pete...I could look at that tricked up Land Rover all day :-)

    Cheers

    DaveyMan

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ah Pete you need to get up high and then you'd have been looking down at all that fog and looking up at clear blue skies ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Warren....Not foggy, you're right, not nice either.

    Ana....Nice pictures, thanks.

    Daveyman....I'll check if the LR is for sale for you!

    Sharon....Above the clouds, sounds great. Good to see you again Sharon.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love your profile pic by the way (feeling very honoured!) Saw a lovely male stonechat on Trevor rocks in Llangollen at the weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good to hear you had a Stonechat at Llangollen Sharon. And I can assure you you're welcome to the honour of the profile pic of the Stonechat painting.

    ReplyDelete