Perfect Timing.

I had my third sighting of the Cockersand 11 December male Stonechat, still there on Monday.

1st winter male Stonechat. Crook Cottage 18 December. Pete Woodruff.

Talk about perfect timing....As I arrived at Crook Cottage the bird was flitting here and there, and promptly went atop of a fencepost by the cottage and obliged perfectly whilst I fumbled with my thirty quids worth of camera to achieve at least a second rate image of this stunning little bird....You can keep yer Siberian Rubythroat!

I had seen and spoken with AC on Moss Lane, and fifteen minutes later he contacted me to ask if I was near the Lighthouse Cottage, and could I see the Stonechat in the area. I was soon able to reply that the bird was in fact on the roof of Crook Cottage, to which AC was able to confirm that two male Stonechat were now present at Cockersand as he was looking at another 1st winter male on the shingle near the Caravan Park....Nice one AC.

To be continued....    

Twite....Alright.

I reckon the Twite at Cockersands this late afternoon qualified for the 'Bird Of The Day Award' they were virtually the last birds I saw on a long day with a short list for my efforts. I gave Conder Green an hour, with another hour here and there at Glasson Dock, and spent in excess of four hours at Cockersands turning over a few stones, but probably left quite a few unturned.

Black-tailed Godwit David Cookson

At Conder Green the number rises and today saw 11 Little Grebe on Conder Pool....thirteen reported on Sunday. A Little Egret also on here with a Kingfisher seen, I had two further sightings in different areas here but no evidence I saw more than one bird, 2 Spotted Redshank were in the creeks, with 9 Snipe, and 4 Goosander. The female Scaup was on the canal basin at Glasson Dock but beware of the 'distant' female Tufted Duck with a 'decent' white blaze. On the Lune Estuary, hardly heaving with birds but 2 Mediterranean Gull were both adult, 85 Black-tailed Godwit, c.250 Golden Plover, and 3 Little Egret were of note. 

Wigeon Geoff Gradwell

Seeing some small bird movement in a field off Moss Lane en-route to Cockersands I parked up and paraded up and down the lane to find 40 Meadow Pipit - and probably couldn't see twice that number - some good Robin song, and a Dunnock. At Cockersands another Little Egret on Plover Scar, off here c.750 Wigeon, a 'few' Pintail - I don't think reached two figures -  and 4 Eider. From the Caravan Park, a pair of Shoveler were very unusual in the Cocker channel with 4 Little Egret, and c.120 Dunlin were a joy to see....where are they all.  

 

Reed Bunting Brian Rafferty

Walking along the road towards Crook Farm I counted at least 300 Curlew and a solitary Bar-tailed Godwit on the sands, 5 Greenfinch, 3 Reed Bunting, and the last birds of the day....10 Twite. 

And the latest MEGA news in the UK is....

A Siberian Rubythroat Shetland, Fair Isle, this afternoon....OUCH!!

If in doubt....

....and you can't get out, post a pic or two!

Common Yellwowthroat Zac Hinchcliffe 

Starting with the Common Yellowthroat still showing a few miles west of Newport, Gwent, in Wales to the delight of Zac and fellow 'twitchers' whose motivation for such enthusiasm I clearly understand but have never been bitten by the bug as my passion for birds leads me down many other roads. Please take a look at Zacs blog where you can see his enthusiasm for the scarce/rare/mega birds along with the more common ones with which he is equally enthusiastic about the ringing aspects of birding.

 Siberian Rubythroat. Copy Permitted.

Well you wont have many chances in a lifetime to see one of these little gems, so....if an opportunity ever arises I'd jump sky high at it if I was you. A couple of points of interest are that the first record for Siberian Rubythroat in Britain wasn't until barely over 40 years ago in October 1971, Fair Isle, Shetland, the bird winters India to Southeast Asia and Philippines. 

 Hornemanns Arctic Redpoll. Copy Permitted.

And here's another you maybe won't get many chances to see either.The first British record of Arctic Redpoll C.h. hornemanni is of a bird shot at Whitburn, Tyne and Wear in 1855. Its pretty sad that thousands of so called 'humans' who still shoot birds in the 21st century, don't give the impression that they'll ever become at least a little more civilised and take up some other less violent and destructive pastime. But there you go....I digress.

   Marmora's Warbler. Copy Permitted.

Bringing up the rear of four little gems is the Marmora's Warbler, and yes, yet another of those you probably won't ever see in your lifetime. The first record of this species was collected a little nearer to home only 30 years ago in 1982 at Langsett on the Pennines in Yorkshire where it stayed for seven weeks. It was found in the month of May when it was in full song, rising into the air in display not unlike a Whitethroat, the bird was also actually observed carrying nesting material. This record was claimed to have been over 2,000km north of its previously known range.

Birds fascinate me in a thousand ways.

Running Late!

I was 'railroaded' into attending a family birthday party last night....managed to keep my 'pop' intake to an absolute minimum and kept my mouth firmly shut all evening on the politics of the day. But enough of this rubbish, my post is a day late.

Ruff. John Bateman.

With JB/BT yesterday we first paid a visit to Conder Green where the 10m tide was quickly submerging the entire area, but we noted 4 Little Grebe in the channel and Conder Pool holding just 4 Wigeon, 16 Black-headed Gull - they're brown-headed actually - and 19 Common Gull.

Away from here we pulled in off the A588 at Sand Villa where I counted at least seventy 'swans' - more distant than they had been when I called here on Tuesday - and found 19 Bewick's Swan's here again and at least 51 Whooper Swans. At Knott End c.70 Twite were very mobile off the esplanade. At Cockers Dyke c.45 Grey Plover and 650 Dunlin were of note. Off Backsands Lane 2 Ruff  - thanks for the picture John - appeared to be the two seen by me on Tuesday when one was here and the other off Fluke Hall Lane. On Pilling Marsh, more distant 'swans' were 15 Whooper Swans and a minimum of 4,000 Knot were spectacularly swirling around. 

Little Owl. David Cookson

On Gulf Lane 2 Little Owl seen today presumably a pair looking to the breeding season, also at least 4,500 Pink-footed Geese seen in fields here. Thanks for the pic DC.

Linnet. Ian Tallon. 

A brief look in at Cockesands gave c.70 Linnet at the set-aside, and on Jeremy Lane 3 Whooper Swans included the staying immature here. Thanks for the pic IT.

And finally....

Nuthatch. Brian Rafferty 

I was tempted yet again to show BR's excellent photographs of the Nuthatch including the brilliant one about to catch the airborne seed....Great stuff BR and thanks a bundle.

Some notes.    

The Slaty-backed Gull is still putting in appearances here and there and is/was at Pitsea Landfill Site in Essex. The Rufous Turtle Dove of the form orientalis is still at Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire....collecting the cash at £5 per person for a five minute gaze at the bird!

And I hear the planned Badger cull has been put on hold on the basis that fewer TB cases in cattle have been found in a recent study of the problem. As you were Mr and Mrs Badger....getting to live another day!

Now I'm off to make arrangements for a Siberian Rubythroat to visit my garden for a couple of weeks at £10 a time through the kitchen window!!