A Little Birding Magic.

Avocet. Conder Pool 26 April. Pete Woodruff.

The Avocet were on Conder Pool again yesterday, though interestingly they were nowhere to be seen when I called back again five hours later. This bird was initially on the nest but then started a cleaning up exercise around the site, picking up bits of vegetation and other debris and throwing it to one side. A Kingfisher landed briefly on the outlet, and a Brown Hare was seen running off. In the creeks, 3 Greenshank, a Common Sandpiper, and 'the' lone Black-tailed Godwit seen again.

Seen on the Lune Estuary from the bowling green towards the Conder mouth, birds hanging on to what remained above water as the tide raced in, 120 Redshank, 85 Dunlin, and 34 Black-tailed Godwit, 8 Eider seen but probably more out of sight on the bank on the river bend below Colloway Marsh. At least 15 Sand Martin were hawking over the canal basin, and I saw 3 Reed Bunting from a moving car on Jeremy Lane.

Dunlin. Plover Scar 26 April. Pete Woodruff.

I was at Plover Scar at Cockersand an hour before high tide standing as motionless as possible, by mid-day I was watching up to 3,000 Dunlin which had been driven slowly towards and just a few metres in front of me. This was twice the number seen on here on Monday, and with the sight and sound of a short rippling 'plip-ip-ip' by a flock of this size a little birding magic was created for me.

Also on Plover Scar, c.100 Ringed Plover, 4 Oystercatcher, and a lone Grey Plover, 6 Eider were off here, being five drake and a female, and 4 Whimbrel were later off Crook Farm. A pair of Shoveler remain on the flood where I saw my first 2 Lapwing chicks, 8 Goldfinch were around Bank Houses where Swallows have arrived, and 2 Stock Dove were in a bush by the track to Abbey Farm. 

But definitely not a migrant day....again.