BIRDING THE LUNE ESTUARY THE FOREST OF BOWLAND AND BEYOND......................................................MEDITTERANEAN GULLS CONDER POOL PETE WOODRUFF

Friday 17 December 2010

Keep Moving!

Are you sitting comfortable, then we'll begin....

Versicoloured Barbet. Colin Bushell

....with the bird with a fancy name which CB photographed on his last trip to Peru recently, another bird you'd be well advised not to hold your breath whilst it finds itself lost in the UK.

One thing I certainly was never going to do today was to stand around counting waders whilst seeing if there was anything with them that shouldn't be. So if I was going to do some birding I'd have to keep moving to keep warm on a decent day, but with a wind that had nothing about it at all to call friendly.

Blackbird. Tim Crossley.

So it was foot soldiering from Skerton Bridge to Glasson Dock which - as always with birding - had it's surprises and rewards not least of which was, over the length of the walk I counted 90 Blackbirds and no doubt missed several more, so certainly in excess of 100 of the species on this route of c.6 miles. What a coinsidence you sent me this brilliant pic of the female Blackbird yesterday Tim, never knowing I was going to find this number the following day....nice one.

On the River Lune to Aldcliffe I noted 10 Goosander, a Little Grebe, and a single Goldeneye, and grilled several hunderd 'gulls' to no avail. On Aldcliffe Marsh 16 Barnacle Geese were distant, as were c.120 Greylag, a much reduced number from 650 seen here on two previous visits recently, c.320 Canada Geese and a Little Egret, c.250 Pink-footed Geese were in a field behind Aldcliffe village, and I counted 35 Moorhens in one group around the wildfowlers pool, c.45 Fieldfare and a 'few' Redwing seen. Of note between Aldcliffe and Conder Green, 6 Song Thrush, 6 Robin, 2 Wren, a Meadow Pipit, Mistle ThrushReed Bunting, Dunnock, 6 Grey Heron, and a Sparrowhawk whizzed past over the marsh.  

I had little time to spare at Conder Green today which was unfortunate as I'm overdue a good search of the area, but noted from the railway bridge, 2 Little Grebe, 4 Snipe, and a Grey Plover, 12 Fieldfare and a 'few more' Redwing, and another Sparrowhawk. The canal basin at Glasson Dock is now 50% ice free and up to 100 Tufted Duck have returned as have a similar number of Coot with a single Goldeneye of note with another 10 Goldeneye on the Lune Estuary.

And finally....

Fallow Deer. Brian Rafferty

By way of a diversion from the birds, a brilliant close encounter with the Fallow Deer. Thanks to CB/TC/BR once again for the pics....what would Birds2blog be without such excellent and varied photographs. 

2 comments:

  1. Once again you recorded many birds I'd love to see here pete, and yes it was a day to keep moving, as was today (sat)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Weather not looking good for the foreseeable future for the sake of us humans and the birds and our watching them Warren....lets hope we can wave it goodbye soon.

    ReplyDelete