Raking Around!

Photograph by Pete Merryweather.

I was initially a bit hesitant at going birding today but a little blue patch in the sky around 10.00am got me going, though I did later suffer another of those 'sat in the car staring through the windscreen' periods at Pilling Lane Ends which is where the pic above was taken and where I got that feeling again that I should be doing something useful in life instead of this birding lark....'scuse the pun!

The creeks at Conder Green were awash once again with the tide well on its way in, the pool appeared quiet but the customary walk down to the west end proved otherwise with 2 Spotted Redshank, 2 Greenshank, a Little Egret, Kingfisher, Common Sandpiper, and 3 Goosander, I gave in counting after reaching 7 Little Grebes several times and if yesterdays ten were still here they wouldn't all come to the surface at once, I could also only find 3 Wigeon today. Leaving here the Little Owl was to be seen from Jeremy Lane.

I decided the best plan was to leave Glasson Dock until after the tide had fallen and went off to Pilling Lane Ends in a downpour which - as the pic above illustrates - was still in progress when I arrived there to find at least 650 sheep out from the car park. After the rain ceased I made some estimated counts of 450 Greylag, 90 Pink-footed Geese, and noted at least 380 Pintail, 5 Great-crested Grebes were also of note as a species I'm not seeing many of wherever I go these days, 3 Little Egret, a Peregrine Falcon came through putting up a not all that impressive number of distant waders.

At Fluke Hall a walk west along the sea wall for a few hundred metres proved several species of waders thinly spread along Preesall Sands which I could see all the way down to Cockers Dyke and which I made no attempt to count in total but noted as far as the walk went, 17 Grey Plover, 42 Golden Plover, 15 Bar-tailed Godwit, 12 Knot, and I could see 26 Pink-footed Geese at Cockers Dyke a 1/2 mile away. Passerines in the hedgerows and flighting, 25 Goldfinch, 38 Tree Sparrow, 15 Linnet, and 2 Skylark, a 'few' Swallow and Meadow Pipit were passing through, and 2 Wheatear were on the sea defences. The best bird came at the end of the visit here as an adult Mediterranean Gull was seen on the sands.

A quick check over the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock produced 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Spotted Redshank, a Greenshank, and c.580 Golden Plover were of note, a Little Egret was over below Waterloo Cottage.

And finally....

The North Western Fells. Gary Jones. 

Another of those unrelated photographs for a birding blog but just too impressive to ignore. Gary's account and photographs of his recent visit to the Lakes is HERE and recommended....Thanks for the picture Gary it must have been a great day for you.