Weekends Off.

Well the weather never affects me at the weekends because I never get birding then, but it's all very well me sounding a little clever about the weather never being a problem Sat/Sun but after this comes the Mon - Fri bit and this is where it really begins to hurt, especially as of late and the forecast I just looked at gave little if any hope of improvement in the early part of the coming week, but based on past forecasting - which is sometimes a bit more than off the mark - I live in hope, meanwhile a couple of pic's and comments whilst I see what tomorrow brings......

Purple Sandpiper courtesy of David Cookson.

The Purple Sandpiper is a difficult species to find - though not impossible - especially if you're wanting to find it in the LDBWS recording area where it is best described as the rarest regular winter visitor, but a visit to Heysham Harbour will actually make life a little easier as you can often find up to two birds usually on the old wooden jetty, also 1-2 annually returning birds to the Stone Jetty area at Morecambe though to date I've seen no records of any here this winter so far. Personally I otherwise only ever encountered this bird at Rossall Point Fleetwood and again in single figures only.

Willow Tit courtesy of Alan Tilmouth.

The Willow Tit is not just a species difficult to find but one you're not likely to find anywhere within the LDBWS recording area and well beyond I would suggest. However, one was found at Cottam Brickworks on 27 October in 2004 and was the first in the Fylde recording area since 1998. In 2007 one was found yet again at Cottom Brickworks in January, then at Greyfriars on 21 March and was presumed to be the same individual present in the area since 2004. Whilst I don't pretend to know any other history about this species I do know that one has been - and is still present again today  - at Cottam Brickworks representing some excellent records of what can only be described as a rare visitor.