Well they come to cardboard if you throw it to them, until they find out it's not edible. It's also an easy way to find the Med Gull with them....but not this time.RECORD BREAKERS.
Today I was at Pilling Lane Ends doing a WeBS count (how/why do I find myself in these situations) and I was reminded of the astounding 30,000 Pink-footed Geese here on the marsh on Wednesday last. John Bateman and I had the advantage of someone who came to talk to us and revealed he submitted his counts North of the Ribble to WWT and confidently claimed this count as a respectably good estimate. But this story really began on Bradshaw Lane about 20 minutes earlier when in a little more than 15 minutes an estimated 12,000 flew high NW in a line stretching for probably 4 miles and in skeins of 200 - 1,000. So this mystery of 30,000 on Pilling Marsh in mid November had started here because these birds were at such a height that they were not local, so where did they come from and why were they on the move?
Pink-footed Geese have been behaving differently this year in that they have been spending many daylight hours on the marsh and I've also noted much to and fro from here. On Monday 3 November I had counted at least 12,000 here and another 2,500 crammed to almost falling over each other in a small field on Fluke Hall Lane, these birds seemed unsettled in that just about every single one of them was calling excitedly, I can honestly say I never heard anything quite deafeningly like it before....so what was that all about? I personally don't know whats going on with the 'Pinkfeets' in the Fylde this winter.
Another excellent record breaker on Tuesday 28 October was 300+ Whooper Swans in a large flooded field off Black Lane....an amazing sight. Another less impressive record was that of 45 Greenfinch at Cockersands on Wednesday 12 November, I don't remember the last time I saw such a number small though this one was, but I do recall seeing 200+ one day with my old friend John Leedal in 19goodness knows when.
Isn't birding interesting/exciting/intriguing, and everything else!
I 'fiddled' later with this post and deleted the picture by accident and at the time of writing don't know how to restore/replace it.
Hi Pete
ReplyDeleteGood to see the blog is up and running. Now I can see what I am not getting out to photograph!
Simon
Thanks for this Simon. Hope this recession doesn't restrict you too much in getting out and about and showing us the results of your photographic efforts on the LDBWS website.
ReplyDeleteBest Wishes
Pete.