On Wednesday I did a repeat run of Tuesdays birding, resulting with just 10 Black-tailed Godwit seen at Conder Green in the creeks. On the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock, sightings and numbers remain the same with an intermingling of 250 Bar-tailed Godwit and 100 Knot one or two of both species in stunning 'red' breeding plumage.
At Cockersands apart from 11 Wheatear, Tuesdays estimated 2,500 Dunlin and 900 Ringed Plover were again on Plover Scar at high tide, and moved around considerably as the tide fell to feed between Crook Farm and the Cocker Estuary affording me excellent views.
Lune Estuary Waders.
The 2,500 Dunlin, the 900 Ringed Plover, and the 250 Bar-tailed Godwit on the Lune Estuary have been another notable feature of my birding recently....
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The Dunlin.
During April and May there is a large movement of Dunlin through Britain to their Arctic breeding grounds. And although as many as 11 races of Dunlin have been recognised only 3 occur in Britain. The race arctica breeds in north-east Greenland and occurs briefly on passage in spring and autumn. The race schinzii breeds mainly in Iceland and south-east Greenland with small populations in Britain and Ireland. The third race alpina breeds in northern Fennoscandia and across western Siberia, and is the race thought to be the majority of our winter population of Dunlin.
There have been suggestions that two other races of Dunlin occur in Britain, one is sakhalina from breeding areas across eastern Siberia, tentatively identified from the measurements of a few large individuals. However, these are within the upper part of the ranges for alpina and so cannot be separated from them on the basis of measurements alone. The second race is centralis from central Siberia, which most authors no longer distinguish from alpina.
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The Ringed Plover.
Void of being able to quote accurate figures without a search, as far as my personal records are concerned I cannot recall ever recording the number as high before at Cockersands as on two visits this week to Plover Scar at high tide when I estimated at least 900 Ringed Plover.
The Bar-tailed Godwit.
The Bar-tailed Godwit is a powerful migrant bird, modern technology and satellite tracking has shown that they are capable of flying across the Pacific Ocean in a single stage. One such tracked bird flew from North Island in New Zealand to Yalu Jiang in China non stop. The shortest distance between these two sites is 9,575 km but the route this Bar-tailed Godwit took was 11,025 km, and it took it just nine days. In human terms....mind boggling stuff.
Please 'clik the pik' and get the very best out of these excellent images from BR/AP/PT with my appreciation.
Lune Estuary Waders.
The 2,500 Dunlin, the 900 Ringed Plover, and the 250 Bar-tailed Godwit on the Lune Estuary have been another notable feature of my birding recently....
Dunlin Brian Rafferty
The Dunlin.
During April and May there is a large movement of Dunlin through Britain to their Arctic breeding grounds. And although as many as 11 races of Dunlin have been recognised only 3 occur in Britain. The race arctica breeds in north-east Greenland and occurs briefly on passage in spring and autumn. The race schinzii breeds mainly in Iceland and south-east Greenland with small populations in Britain and Ireland. The third race alpina breeds in northern Fennoscandia and across western Siberia, and is the race thought to be the majority of our winter population of Dunlin.
There have been suggestions that two other races of Dunlin occur in Britain, one is sakhalina from breeding areas across eastern Siberia, tentatively identified from the measurements of a few large individuals. However, these are within the upper part of the ranges for alpina and so cannot be separated from them on the basis of measurements alone. The second race is centralis from central Siberia, which most authors no longer distinguish from alpina.
Ringed Plover Antonio Puigg
The Ringed Plover.
Void of being able to quote accurate figures without a search, as far as my personal records are concerned I cannot recall ever recording the number as high before at Cockersands as on two visits this week to Plover Scar at high tide when I estimated at least 900 Ringed Plover.
Bar-tailed Godwit Phillip Tomkinson
The Bar-tailed Godwit.
The Bar-tailed Godwit is a powerful migrant bird, modern technology and satellite tracking has shown that they are capable of flying across the Pacific Ocean in a single stage. One such tracked bird flew from North Island in New Zealand to Yalu Jiang in China non stop. The shortest distance between these two sites is 9,575 km but the route this Bar-tailed Godwit took was 11,025 km, and it took it just nine days. In human terms....mind boggling stuff.
Please 'clik the pik' and get the very best out of these excellent images from BR/AP/PT with my appreciation.
Pete. Impressive nos of Dunlin and Ringed Plover at Cockersands. No two days are ever the same and good to see you are enjoying the current weather.
ReplyDeleteI visited Cross of Greet area this week.Stonechats,Whinchats and Ring Ouzel on Bloe Greet. No raptors seen but cuckoo heard throughout the day.
Thanks for this Brian.
ReplyDeleteGood to get the news about the birds of Bowland, in particular the Stonechat/Whinchat.
Due up there and several other locations soon myself.