Mini Marathon!

But first another stunning image from BR, this time a Redwing which graced his garden today, many thanks yet again for allowing me to put your images on Birds2blog. Don't forget you can link to Brian Raffertys blog from here in the left hand sidebar.

I decided on another 'Up a Lazy River' again today which is actually not quite accurate as the walk involves going downstream. Today I started at Skerton Bridge and although it was never my plan to do so I ended up 4 hours later at Glasson Dock, the dawdle produced the following......

Between Skerton Bridge and Marsh Point I saw 9 Goldeneye, 2 Goosander drake's, and 4 Cormorant, the tide was wrong today and this resulted in the 'gull grilling' being much reduced as there were very few to grill. At Marsh Point I saw just 6 Black-tailed Godwits today but note C.180 recorded earlier by H Hughes on another blog on which you can read more here http://birdingaldcliffe.blogspot.com/

On Aldcliffe Marsh the visit was in ruins just after my arrival here due to a 'man and microlight' which put up a couple of thousand 'geese' of which I did managed to ID the 4 Snow Geese accompanying them in flight before disappearing from view. I won't wish this guy had run out fuel in case I'm accused of wishing ill on one of my fellow men as he fell from the sky, but why did he have to be over here at the same time as me instead of - lets say -  somewhere in Scotland......Urghhhh!

Two Little Egret, 12 Goldfinch, and a  Dunnock were noted and 2 Water Rail obliged feeding below the fence on the much reduced (in water) flood. Between Stodday and Conder Green I counted a good number of 42 Blackbird and what I can only describe as 'an amazing' 22 Song Thrush at least, also 4 Fieldfare, a Mistle Thrush, and a Brown Hare was racing straight at me on the path until it saw me. On the lake at Ashton Golf Club I noted 21 Tufted Duck, I then had to put my legs into 5th gear to catch a bus for Lancaster at 4.15 from Glasson Dock. So, with the 'amazing' Song Thrush record aside nothing remarkable but this is birding in my book. 

Many Thanks to EVERYONE who visited Birds2blog in 2009, I never really thought I'd get this far down the line when I created the blog in November 2008 but encouraged by lots of people visiting I did and am now left wondering whether or not I'll survive 2010......we'll see!

HAPPY NEW  YEAR TO ALL.