BIRDING THE LUNE ESTUARY THE FOREST OF BOWLAND AND BEYOND...............................................................RED GROUSE HAWTHORNTHWAITE PETE WOODRUFF

Thursday, 24 September 2009

Good to be back......

......on the patch again. But first lets deal with the pic to accompany the post which is an excellent image of the Snipe by kind permission of David Cookson. Well my photographic contacts never produce anything other than excellence, thanks once again David.
With JB today starting at Conder Green where 2 Spotted Redshank today were last seen together on 4 September, a Greenshank and Common Sandpiper - is it too early to wonder if this/one is going to winter here again this year - up to 300 Goldfinch again, 45 Wigeon in the channel, 3 Jay over the pool isn't your average sighting here or elsewhere for that matter, and the 3 Little Grebe again on the pool. At Glasson Dock on the Lune Estuary 2 Greenshank, c.400 Redshank, single Red - breasted Merganser and Goosander, otherwise the area was pretty short on birds and unremarkable. From Bodie Hill 2 Little Egret were in the Bazil Point area, and on Jeremy Lane up to 30 Golden Plover were in a field with Lapwing. As we approached Gardners Farm on Moss Lane at least 30 House Sparrow were to note, and a 'few' Swallow are still around here with at least one young bird begging on the wires, conversely they seem to have departed Banks Houses and I recall only seeing a couple more all day, having said that I wouldn't like to have been a migrant bird in this neck of the woods - or probably any other - today. A brief visit to Cockersands produced two of the ever reliable Wheatear and c.28 Eider off Plover Scar.
On Pilling Marsh probably a few more Pink - footed Geese to add to last Thursdays 145 but some hidden in the channel, also a Little Egret to note. A run to Knott End had a worse result than my Monday visit in that the Eider count was down to c.35 today. Cockers Dyke showed an adult Mediterranean Gull.
An enjoyable days birding as ever but which just leaves you with the feeling that our West Coast is never going to be the East Coast.

3 comments:

  1. Interesting that you too had a few Jays today as I did at Rawcliffe . Another one of my contacts near Garstang saw 8 fly over Jays today.

    That Snipe is just awesome.
    Regards. Phil

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  2. I went ''Med gull Hunting'' today pete. I wasn't as successful as you though. :-)

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  3. Sorry to hear that Warren and to make matters worse for you, I called in on a site on Thursday where they are quite regular and being confronted by something like 350 'gull's' I had decided to start at the very end where - would you believe it - the very first bird I put my scope on was a smart adult Med Gull.

    You saw what I said about the Swallow three quarters across the Sahara Desert, it had to keep saying to itself......'you just have to keep trying'.

    Thanks for looking in again Warren.

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