Magnetised!

Lapland Bunting. SP.

This is the bird I was unable to get to see and was at Ridge Farm on the Fylde on 16 October, with my thanks to SP and the permit to post on Birds2blog.

Redwing. Brian Rafferty. 

This is the bird I will get to see, in fact I did so today but only in flight and briefly at that....Thanks for the pic Brian, much appreciated as always.

I'd have liked to have got into the hills today but the weather put me off, in any case the magnetism of Conder/Glasson/Cockersands and beyond drew me once more to the coast....the pull is overpowering!

At Conder Green 3 Spotted Redsank and 3 Greenshank were in the creeks and I counted only 11 Little Grebe on the pool today, c.80 Fieldfare/Redwing in a mixed flock went over. I was unable to do the circuit today and regard Conder Green as only poorly covered. At Glasson Dock on the Lune Estuary  things were quiet and only c.200 Knot and 120 Bar-tailed Godwit seen with 2 Black-tailed Godwit, notable this early winter on the River Lune here is the low number with no more than 60 Wigeon in the Conder mouth today.

At Cockersands a roughly 50/50 flock of 700 Golden Plover/Lapwing in the field opposite Lighthouse Cottage and through which a Sparrowhawk flew, the c.40 Greenfinch flock were still around, c.550 Dunlin, 2 Grey Plover, and 12 Eider were all seen without my leaving the motor. I had the best sighting of the day here when 8 Barnacle Geese flew low overhead going south. In two days birding these eight take the count to at least 40 birds which is surely indicative of 'the real thing'.

From Hillam Lane 4 Whooper Swans were in a field with 65 Mute Swans, and 25 Fieldfare in flight over here. At Bank End - where I hoped to find a few hundred 'gulls' to grill but found none - 2 Little Egret on the marsh, a Grey Wagtail and 4 Linnet were noted, 62 Golden Plover were seen from the A588 in a field opposite Braides

On Pilling Marsh 7 Barnacle Geese were with c.5,000 Pink-footed Geese, and although it is usually easy to find a double figure on here these days I could only see 6 Little Egret today with 2 Whooper Swans out on the sands. On a flood on Back Sands Lane 2 Black-tailed Godwit were with 22 Black-headed Gulls. 

From Fluke Hall I walked only half way to Cockers Dyke before backtracking and drawing a blank of anything of note. From the embankment behind Fluke Hall Wood I watched a Peregrine Falcon mobbing 2 Buzzard which were down in the field....great stuff, but I worry for the safety of these two Buzzards if they're regularly preying on the poor unfortunate Red-legged Partridge - which I refuse to record and will never be seen on Birds2blog. A Raven was over the wood and I reckon may have a 'rarity' status here, I don't recall seeing one here before. 

I'm grateful for the contribution in the comments section of yesterdays post 'PFG' pointing me in the direction of the 2009 Lancashire Bird Report in order that I may make a correction to a claim I made at the end of the post when I stated with regards to the Svalbard population of Pink-footed Geese, quote....'there is no 'direct' evidence that any of the Svalbard population have ever occurred in Lancashire'....unquote.

In the report in the section 'Lancashire Ringing Report 2009-2010' there is a record of a Pink-footed Goose which is claimed to be 'One of at least two displaced Svalbard birds in the county during winter 2009/10'.

Since the bird was ringed as an adult in 2004 it was observed/read 26 times in Denmark/Norway/Netherlands/Belgium and finally in Upper Thurnham on 21 February 2010. This record clearly shows my error and brings me to suggest....A little knowledge can be dangerous!