Keeping Up Appearances!

In my attempt against mental instability and my world of diminishing birding. I was off armed with bino's round my neck and camera in pocket, and went for a wander through the Lancaster Cemetery and Williamson Park, from where there was excellent if slightly misty views from the Ashton Memorial over the north side of Lancaster to the distant Lakeland mountains over Morecambe Bay.

This turned out to be another excellent idea, if only because I found a stunning male Bullfinch in the cemetery. This is my second record of Bullfinch at this location, I found five here on 30 October 2014. These represent the only two records of Bullfinch seen in Lancaster Cemetery east of Lancaster at SD 491619  

I will be keeping an eye on this, although 7 years between my sightings, I now reckon the Bullfinch is resident in this area in which to my knowledge no-one does any birding and I only visit occasionally, but that's going to change, and I need to find them here in the summer months. 

Some thoughtful bird lover has put four feeders up in the cemetery which had attracted a mix of up to 20 Blue Tit and Great Tit, a Nuthatch and Robin soon joined them as I watched. Also seen in the cemetery, at least 8 Long-tailed Tit and a Treecreeper. Other notes on the wander, 2 Jay one of which was seen of in aerial combat by 2 Magpie. 

Eight Rooks were in the rookery by the entrance to Williamson Park, they were quite noisy and you would have thought it was at the start of the breeding season in March by their behaviour.

Good numbers of birds at the feeders in Williamson Park, including Blue Tit, Great Tit, and Coal Tit, 3 Dunnock, and 2 Robin. Fourteen Black-headed Gull were accompanied by Mallard on the pond. I liked the reflections of the surrounding landscape in the video.

All in all, an enjoyable couple of therapeutic hours on Friday.