Godwits and Lings.

It was good to find at least 20 Black-tailed Godwit still on the Lune Estuary last Tuesday, and better still that they were on Conder Pool and included my sixth ringed bird this spring.

Black-tailed Godwit Martin Jump 

Sending the result of my reading this birds colour combination to the very obliging and reliable Böðvar in Iceland, he promptly sent back to me the history of the bird ringed as a chick on 30 June 2013 in Iceland. This bird had been sighted six times by the time it was barely over five months old, four times on the Dee Estuary, and twice in Flintshire, before my finding it on Conder Pool on Tuesday 20 May 2014 still not one year old.

OL-LN 30.06.13 Kaldaðarnes, Árnessýsla, S Iceland

OL-LN 12.09.13 Thurstaston Shore, Dee Estuary, Merseyside, England

OL-LN 13.09.13 Thurstaston Shore, Dee Estuary, Merseyside, England

OL-LN 20.09.13 Thurstaston Shore, Dee Estuary, Merseyside, England

OL-LN 21.09.13 Thurstaston Shore, Dee Estuary, Merseyside, England

OL-LN 7.11.13 Llawndy Farm, Talacre, Flintshire, Wales

OL-LN 02.12.13 Mostyn, Flintshire, Wales

OL-LN 20.05.14 Conder Pool, Conder Green, Lancashire, England

Sanderling. Howard Stockdale.

I was grateful to my man at Cockersands for getting in touch to tell me of a 'small group' of Sanderling off Crook Farm last Wednesday evening, with more seen again on Saturday and Sunday. So good to see the Sanderling moving through Cockersands again this May, though I've not seen my own ration yet. Also a birder from the Fylde tells me of breeding Stonechats - a pair with two young - at Foulshaw Moss....Great Stuff Howard/Andrew and thanks a bundle.

And finally....

Abbeystead Bluebells. Pete Woodruff.

Couldn't resist the 'clik the pik' photograph of the Bluebells at Stoops Bridge. An excellent location for finding Pied Flycatcher, Spotted Flycatcher, Garden Warbler, Redstart, Blackcap, and more.

I'd sooner be birding!....But my prospects for any birding since last Wednesday haven't looked good, and still don't until six days later tomorrow....here's hoping.