And The New Header Is....

....The Caspian Stonechat as seen by Colin Bushell on his recent trip to Israel....Well, its a Stonechat so was always likely to be a feature on Birds2blog.

Caspian Stonechat Colin Bushell.

The Caspian Stonechat S.m.variegata (CS) is described as one of six eastern Palearctic subspecies of Siberian Stonechat, though as if to confuse matters only two of the subspecies - S.m.maura and S.m.stejnegeri - are truly Siberian in that they breed in that area, the other four do not.

The CS breeds through Transcaucasia and moves through eastern Iraq and Arabia to spend the winter in north-east Africa. It is a passage migrant in Israel where CB saw his bird/s and where one or two have been recorded as wintering in the Eilat and Yotvata areas of Israel. The species has been recorded in Europe on occasions in different months of the year, two records of which have been in the UK.

Stonechat Martin Jump  

In the image above is a Stonechat I'm a little more acquainted with, and the plan is to get back up Clougha at the end of April by which time - if they are to make a come back up there in 2013 - they will have taken up residence and by mid-April will hopefully have started to lay eggs, the second week of the month being the average time for the majority of egg laying in the UK, though there is an extraordinary record of a Stonechat nest with young found in February in the unusually warm and early nesting season of 1995, this means that the clutch was completed by mid-February at the very latest. 

Meanwhile, I'd better get out like everyone else and look for the returning migrants....Tuesday hopefully.

Another Arctic Adventure.

Well not quite Arctic, but yesterday the biting cold easterly wind still blew and Cockersands is a good place to get the sharp end of it if your mad enough to go for it.

 

Wheatear Astland Photography  

The walk and icy wind along the headland was actually well rewarded when I found my first Wheatear in the very field I usually find them in each spring, there are a couple of horses regularly in this field and these birds know where the insects are. I had the bonus of a second Wheatear moments later on the shingle near the Caravan Park. Thanks for the Wheatear Peter & Susan, complete with a bee in its bill.

The Wheatear almost took 'Bird of the Day' prize but....

Stonechat. Copy Permitted.

I'm not prepared to let the Wheatear stand in the way and take any prizes from the Stonechat and today I found a male south of the Caravan Park where I saw a Snipe dive down into the marsh. The Stonechat image above is the very same little beauty seen today which had been seen here yesterday.

On what was left of Plover Scar with its head above water at high tide, an excellent count of at least 150 Turnstone, 10 Knot, and 4 Ringed Plover. The Little Egret was in the same area as Tuesday, and c.150 Black-tailed Godwit were off Crook Cottage. Another c.300 Black-tailed Godwit at Glasson Dock made the total of 450 on the Lune Estuary again as Tuesday. Also noted at Glasson Dock, 42 Goldeneye. From Bodie Hill, a Little Egret on the marsh from where I saw a single Redwing.

At Conder Green, a Spotted Redshank shows a distinct start to its unique change of plumage from brilliant white on its underparts in winter, to it's jet black breeding plumage, an amazing bird. I managed to find the Common Sandpiper again today along with a Greenshank and 15 Black-tailed Godwit in the creeks. A drake Goosander and 2 Little Grebe were on Conder Pool, and a Grey Wagtail was on the stones below the road bridge, the first I've seen at Conder Green in something like 3 years.

Common Sandpiper.

Common Sandpiper Antonio Puigg

I'm not sure I can refer to the bird at Conder Green as 'the' Common Sandpiper - being the wintering bird - anymore, although the mean date for their arrival is 5 April there are earlier records in Lancashire. 

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL BIRDS2BLOGGERS AND NON-BIRDS2BLOGGERS....I DON'T DISCRIMINATE AT EASTER!!

Starting With The End.

The Beginning Of The End. Warren Baker.

This photograph marks the beginning of the end for a man in Kent who I got to know via the internet and blogging, but more importantly it marks the same beginning of the end for the birds and wildlife which this man has observed, studied, and recorded daily on his own chosen 'patch' in a more dedicated and comprehensive manner than most other birders and wildlife enthusiasts I know.

Warren Baker explains it all on his blog, he outlines the devastation both wildlife and himself are suffering, in both cases they will have to turn their lives around and move on to accommodate this crime against wildlife, a wildlife which cannot speak for itself and relies totally upon our doing so for it. We need to keep up the pressure on people at the top who we must continue to badger and protest against in order to get it through to them that they are getting it - and doing it - all wrong. We must let them see that their views and decisions don't go unchallenged, and that we are taking note of what they say and do, maybe we should start here with....David Cameron/George Osbourne, the NFU, and Landowners/Gamekeepers.

You can find the first post on Monday in which Warren points this tragedy out to his followers on Pittswood Birds and then his follow up post the next day HERE  

Sparrowhawk. Warren Baker.

Warren also takes some excellent photographs as the Sparrowhawk testifies. Thanks for this Warren. This really isn't the end for you, it's just the beginning....honest. 

Puffin David Cookson

Hundreds of Puffin and other sea birds like the Razorbill and Guillemot, are being found dead on east coast beaches from Aberdeen to Northumberland, believed to be related to severe weather which is leading birds to struggle to find food or sheer exhaustion. It is being suggested that this could be the start of the worst Puffin wreck for almost 50 years.

Although the Puffin is a small sea bird, they are quite hardy birds, adept a coping with all the hazards of life at sea. They are approaching the start of the breeding season, and tens of thousands of seabirds are returning to their colonies, but the tragedy unfolding now could have a devastating effect on their success in 2013, adding to the already population decline particularly of the Puffin. The fear now is that the hundreds of dead seabirds already found may well turn into thousands, and the breeding season will need close monitoring to find the results of many breeding seabirds throughout the summer months.

Footnote.

If the weather bulletin I watched this evening is anything to go by, this weather we are experiencing in the country right now is not expected to improve much - if at all - throughout April.

What a depressing - 'but this is the real world' - post. 

An Enjoyable Chat!

Stonechat Simon Hawtin   

Two enjoyable chats actually....The best one had to be the female Stonechat at the Caravan Park end of Cockersands. The other chat - also at Cockersands - was with a couple I met who gave me the info that they had seen 10 Brown Hare here earlier. I immediately told them they had made my day in telling me this, and proceeded to give them some up to date info on the Brown Hare in the Cockersands area. So perhaps its looking like they may have 'moved a little' rather than 'disappeared a lot'....here's hoping.

Song Thrush Astland Photography

I find it hard to believe I even attempted to go to Cockersands again today let alone spend three hours there following last Thursdays Arctic like experience. The first bird I saw here was a Song Thrush by Crook Cottage, a bird I'm always pleased to find, not an every day occurrence any more unfortunately, a once familiar and popular garden songbird, now in serious decline - in particularly on farmland - the bird now has the distinction of being a Red Listed species.

Wigeon Martin Jump

I have to confess the visit to Plover Scar was not a riveting experience. not least because of the persistent icy cold howler from the east. Birds I noted were, 50 Knot, 4 Grey Plover, and 2 Ringed Plover, off here were c.150 Wigeon and 12 Eider. A Little Egret has obviously taken up residence in the area, I have seen this bird almost every visit for a few months now and it spent a lengthy time here in 2012, today it was around the body of water which runs west from the road north from Bank Houses. I saw just one Brown Hare, and not a solitary Whooper/Bewick's/Mute Swan in this area today.

On the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock I counted at least 450 Black-tailed Godwit being almost half the number seen here a week ago, 35 Goldeneye, and noted a pair of Pintail, very unusual on this section of the River Lune. On the canal basin, a drake Pochard and 2 Little Grebe noted. I then had to make a hasty exit from birding back to Lancaster.

Mrs Mutt Was Here....OK!!    

I make no apology for the mention - and the shock - of finding not one but two Mrs Mutts at Cockersands today with a grand total of 28 unleashed dogs, one parading the entire length and breadth of Plover Scar, and - lo and behold - when I got to the Caravan Park end another Mrs M and her mutts parading the length of the Cocker channel.

And finally....

Grasshopper Warbler Phillip Tomkinson  

Coming soon to a location somewhere near you, the Grasshopper Warbler....if you're lucky.

Wheatear, Wheatear....

....where ar't thou Wheatear.

Clougha Pike. Pete Woodruff.

This was the view of the beautiful Clougha Pike from our bedroom window today and the weather looks set to continue into next week and possibly throughout it to make the month of March the coldest for 50 years. Unlike my Arctic-like adventure last Thursday I'm not likely to be too keen to repeat it tomorrow....but who knows!

Wheatear Marc Heath  

I'll be fortunate to find a Wheatear this week let alone tomorrow - if I go - at Cockersands or anywhere else. This unfortunate individual which Marc found yesterday in Kent may well struggle to continue its journey in the UK, the combination of a Wheatear and snow doesn't look good. My past two years for first Wheatear were 17 March 2011 at Cockersands, and one on Clougha 26 March 2012. Thanks for the image Marc. 

The Wheatear is usually the first of the migratory summer residents to appear in the UK and frequently arrives during the first week of March - but not in 2013 in Lancashire - and is a bird which fascinates me, not least because it can be in the UK for a minimum of seven and often eight months. In the spring of 2011 a Wheatear first arrived in Lancashire on 13 March, and the last to be seen was as late as 27 November eight and a half months later.

Iv'e done no search for modern day ringing of Wheatear, but two interesting ring recoveries referred to by Oakes  are of a bird ringed on the coast at St Anne's mid-June 1915, was found near the nesting locality a year later in May 1916, and another ringed at the nest near Sabden - a village in the Whalley Parish, Lancashire - late June 1948 and was recovered two months later in France, obviously an early migration for this bird.  

More on their way....

Pied Flycatcher. David Cookson.

Here's a bird I can't wait to get my eyes on, the Pied Flycatcher, and I'm going to be really interested to see if they take up territory in Bowland again this year, particularly a pair I found breeding beyond Trough Bridge in 2011, though they didn't return in 2012. 

Spotter Flycatcher. David Cookson.

And the brilliant Spotted Flycatcher, also on territory again in Bowland 2013 to have the Marshaw - Tower Lodge - Trough Bridge area the most productive for the species in the LDBWS recording area. Thanks to David Cookson for the Pied/Spotted Flycatcher.

Loosing my sense of reasoning....

....but plodding on!

By the time I got on to the headland at Cockersands on Thursday afternoon I finally realised I had lost all my sense of sensible reasoning. There was on unholy icy howler blowing and I may as well have been on a training exercise in preparation for a forthcoming North Pole expedition as opposed to pretending to be birding, and birding isn't a fun pastime for me, it's a serious business....and this was hopeless. But with....'I'm going to do this circuit of it's the last time I do it'....in mind I plodded on. I got back to the motor two hours later with a Little Egret, and 2 Ringed Plover in my little black book. It may be dedication to the cause....but this is ridiculous.

I wouldn't have minded if the birding earlier in the afternoon had produced anything like some rewards, but before all this Arctic adventure at Cockersands I called in at Conder Green, but despite an hour here - including the circuit - I noted just one Little Grebe and a Snipe on Conder Pool, and 2 Spotted Redshank in the creeks.

At Glasson Dock on the Lune Estuary I counted only 250 Black-tailed Godwit which was something like six hundred down on the mega-count here on Tuesday. Also to note, 32 Goldeneye, 2 Goosander drake, and 2 Red-breasted Merganser a male and female.

I couldn't possibly have brought myself to call this anything like a good afternoons birding....'over and above the call of duty' as far as I'm concerned.

Bird Behaviour. 

 Shelduck Simon Hawtin

There was a good number of Shelduck on the River Lune at Glasson Dock on Thursday, though I didn't count them, in excess of 200, accompanied by....

Mallard. Copy Permitted.

....a decent number of Mallard. Both these species presented me with a surprising first record in that I observed them in a quite tight group of about fifty in total all of which were diving. Iv'e never witnessed this behaviour by either species before and never expected to, seeing these birds together in this manner intrigued me, and I can find no reference to either species known to dive including referring to one of the largest and best books the BWP. 

And finally, two brilliant raptors....

Black Kite Antonio Puigg 

The stunning Black Kite, not a multitude of records of this bird in the UK. Not up to date, but from 1950 over a 57 year period 355 reported. 

Kestrel Warren Baker 

And an excellent image of the female Kestrel. A smart little falcon which runs well up my list of raptors to the favourite Merlin.

Hare Is The News.

I couldn't resist the title for this post, its a bit light-hearted, but the reality is....this is bad news.

Brown Hare Martin Jump  

I love to see the Brown Hare (BH) especially at Cockersands, its a delightful creature and as far as I'm aware causes no problems for anyone/anything, sightings of these creatures here go to add an interest to the already excellent birding location which I have been visiting for a few years now. I know I'm repeating myself - a bad habit of mine - but some time ago I walked from Glasson Dock to Cockersands where I did the circuit and returned to Glasson Dock having recorded the excellent count of 32 BH on the afternoon, the area has always been a good one for numbers of BH and I could often easily count a figure in the teens without much effort and searching.

Over recent posts on Birds2blog I've been noting the fact that not many - if any - BH are being seen by me and other birders I've spoken to, and I decided to make enquiries with local people to find out if they have noticed the decline in BH sightings in the area. John Kellet from Abbey Farm was one of the first and best people I asked about whether or not he had noticed the absence from the Cockersands area and he agreed with me and had noticed that there are few BH around recently.

I continued with my enquiries, and on Tuesday I met what turned out to be my best contact in the area with regard to the missing BH's because this time I got the answer to the question I was looking for and to be honest have been expecting and dreading all the time....Hare Coursing....hunting with dogs, to which this person added 'they're hard to catch in this illegal act'.

Wildlife throughout the world is surrounded by people who have no regard for it and spend their time killing in the name of fun and often in the name of money. I personally can see no easy - if any - means of ridding our wildlife of these criminals, though there are many people out there who have been trying very hard to do so for many years and we can only continue to try.

And finally, to brighten things up a little....

Yellow Wagtail Simon Hawtin   

The brilliant Yellow Wagtail, of which you'll be hard pushed to find in our recording area again this summer. That said, if you visit the right area at the right time you probably will, but certainly not in multi number. A declining species I'm afraid, and referred to as a very scarce migrant breeder and passage visitor, its status is that of a red listed species. 

Grey Wagtail Brian Rafferty

Another brilliant bird, the Grey Wagtail. In our area it is regarded as a fairly common and widespread resident breeder, but of note, I personally have not seen a Grey Wagtail at Conder Green probably in three years, previously to be seen regularly here, its status is an amber listed species....

Thanks to Martin/Simon/Brian for the excellent images.  ...

And The Winner Is!

Avocet David Cookson

Today's winner was the Avocet in the Cocker channel at Cockersands, it got a few more votes than the Barn Owl in fields behind Ridge Farm and the Tawny Owl roosting in a tree on the edge of the same field, followed by another Barn Owl briefly as I drove past Braides south west of Cockerham, these four birds were just ahead on points of the Merlin squat on the biggest boulder on Plover Scar waiting to pounce and put sheer panic into everything around....I was looking for waders!

 

Barn Owl Brian Rafferty

But the day as always when I'm in this area started at Conder Green which was pretty quiet and it was noticeable that I saw not a single Little Grebe here today, but a Spotted Redshank put in an appearance and I noted 4 Cormorant - a bit irregular on Conder Pool - 3 Black-tailed Godwit, and 3 Snipe, 2 Long-tailed Tit were the only birds of note on the circuit. 

Cormorant Ana Minguez

On the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock an unprecedented c.850 Black-tailed Godwit surpassed the recent number of the species here by 200, these birds have been/are almost certainly the ones from the Eric Morecambe complex at Leighton Moss, c.25 Goldeneye were the only other birds of note here today.

Turnstone Noushka Dufort

At Cockersands the 'Moss Lane' swans have dwindled to c.95 Whooper Swan today, still distant and still holding a 'few' uncounted and hard to assess Bewick's Swan. On Plover Scar, at least 80 Turnstone, 4 Eider were off here, and c.550 Golden Plover on shingle towards the Caravan Park end. Three Little Egret were also noted in a field opposite Braides as I drove by.

Many thanks to DC/BR/AM/ND....not just photographs, brilliant photographs. Did you 'clik the pik'.    

Slow, Slow....

Wheatear Marc Heath 

This has to be the bird to make every birder realise that summer is around the corner....isn't it! Found today in Kent, a cracking male as you rightly say Marc. 

White Wagtail. Pete Woodruff.

This White Wagtail was on Conder Pool on 6 April 2009, although I found two on the flood at Aldcliffe on 21 March 2011. But the migrants will be struggling until we get this crap weather out of the way, but fear not a few are being seen in the south having presumably departed in fairer conditions on the other side of the channel. Iv'e come across just a few examples with figures of 5,000 Meadow Pipit, 75 Alba Wagtail, and 31 Slavonion Grebe seen, but I think we'll need to wait a few days yet for anything like good numbers to reach our area if the forecast I watched a few minutes ago is anything to go by.  

Sedge Warbler David Cookson  

But this year I'm already late seeing my first Wheatear and Sand Martin, having found both species on 17 March in 2011 at Cockersands and Glasson Dock respectively, though for the Sedge Warbler above I think we may need to wait until the first week of April, but predictability isn't all that sure with our feathered friends so keep looking and forget the weather and the date. 

Laughing Gull. Pete Woodruff.

Well you can tell its one of mine by the quality....But this Laughing Gull was at Marton Mere in Blackpool in April 2006, so the month isn't just for migrants but vagrants too.

Laughing Gull Isidro Ortiz  

Thanks to Isidro for this excellent in flight shot of the Laughing Gull, to Marc for the Wheatear, and to David for the Sedge Warbler....photography to impress every time.

I'D SOONER BE BIRDING!....But yesterdays 'hopefully tomorrow' wasn't good enough to do any birding today, perhaps a couple of prayers might bring about a change on that for tomorrow.  

Egghead!

Lost to the world of 'other things' and unable to get out birding, I thought it a good idea to fill the gap with some exposure to the man from Scotland who isn't an academic 'egghead' at all, which makes my title to the post a little sarcastic....but n'er mind.

It's also an excellent opportunity to put up another three brilliant images....even more brilliant if you 'clik the pik'.

Slavonion Grebe.Tim Kuhn.

This guy pleaded guilty to several charges relating to the trading in eggs of protected or threatened species of birds including Slavonion Grebe, Black-throated Diver, and Peregrine Falcon. He also pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful possession of in excess of 300 eggs including those of the Osprey and many others. 

  

Peregrine Falcon Tim Kuhn.

The future populations of vulnerable or slow breeding species like the Peregrine Falcon and other birds of prey and divers are at risk of a devastating impact because of this illegal and out dated practice of egg collecting, and this fella was involved in one of the biggest ever egg trading investigations. 

Black-throated Diver Rick Derevan 

The outcome of this was a long time in the making and started back in 2009 when another man was convicted of a similar crime. Thousands of e-mails were examined in that case and a network and number of individuals were discovered and exposed  to be trading in eggs via the internet as far afield as the US and Scandinavia, it was because of this case that Mr 'Scotland' was amongst these individuals, and was unearthed by investigators and found to be in possession of 2,300 birds eggs....He gets sentenced in April, and its taken since 2009 to come to this....a bit of a drag!

Thanks to Tim Kuhn for the excellent images of the Slavonion Grebe and Peregrine Falcon, and to Rick Derevan for the equally excellent Black-throated Diver.

Birding tomorrow....hopefully.

And Again!

I managed to sneak off again on Wednesday. Below I have added some of my sightings to Tuesdays birding in the same areas.

Common Sandpiper. Simon Hawtin.

This is just as I expect to see the Common Sandpiper sometime soon on the stream between Marshaw and Trough Bridge in Bowland, and I know of at least two areas where they are guaranteed and probably breeding again this year. Meanwhile, on Wednesday the wintering Common Sandpiper was on view obligingly on the near island on Conder Pool. 

Snipe. Simon Hawtin.

A Spotted Redshank, 8 Black-tailed Godwit, and a Snipe were also noted on Conder Pool.

As on Tuesday I counted at least 150 Black-tailed Godwit again, and 80 Goldeneye counted were twice the number I managed to find on Tuesday on the River Lune at Glasson Dock. Additions at Cockersands were, 3 Rock Pipit, 6 Eider, and a Little Egret. Ironically I found 3 Brown Hare squat close to each other in one of the Abbey Farm fields, the very fields the day before John Kellet had agreed with me the absence of these creatures in the area this year.

Cockersands Abbey. Peter Guy.

As well as an excellent birding location, with a visit to Cockersands you can also take a look at an impressive piece of history as this equally impressive piece of photography illustrates, and if you go on the right days during the months of September/October I reckon you'll see at least one Wheatear on these ruins, and if not, multiples of them on the headland....or your money back guaranteed! 

Many thanks for the Common Sandpiper and Snipe to Simon Hawtin who I regularly met in Bowland and Conder Green but who Iv'e not seen for some considerable time now. And to Peter Guy for Cockersands Abbey who I still 'bump into' now and again, coincidentally at both the Bowland and Conder Green locations. 

And finally....

I wanted to add some colour to Birds2blog and didn't need to look further than Ornitholidays for the Brassy-breasted Tanager in Brazil....WOW. As always, don't forget to 'clik the piks' for something much better. Thanks to Colin Bushell whose own website Ribble To Amazon is Here  

I'D SOONER BE BIRDING....but not since Wednesday and not until Monday, not good. 

A Change Of Sequence.

With the tide at 11.32am on Tuesday - according to the chart I follow - I changed my sequence  to accommodate the high tide, but made my visit to Conder Green the first as usual.

Little Grebe Brian Rafferty  

Three of the Conder Green resident 'goodies' showed with 2 Spotted Redshank and a Greenshank the first birds I found. A singing Dunnock was by the viewing platform at Conder Pool where 3 Little Grebe were seen, with 20 Wigeon also noted. In the creeks a Snipe and solitary Black-tailed Godwit.

I gave Cockersands to Bank End a good three hours, on Plover Scar, 170 Knot, 95 Turnstone, 7 Grey Plover represented a good count of the species here, 2 Ringed Plover, and a Rock Pipit. South of the Caravan Park I managed decent if distant views of the 'Moss Lane Swans' and counted 115 birds the majority of which were Whooper Swan but certainly a 'few' Bewick's Swan with them. On the circuit, 12 Skylark, 6 Tree Sparrow, 2 Dunnock, and at least 550 Golden Plover in one of the Abbey Farm fields as was a solitary Brown Hare.

Stonechat Antonio Puigg

I then went south to Fluke Hall to find a female Stonechat, 6 Blackbirds on a dung heap, and 3 Little Egret on the marsh. At Cockers Dyke the trek there was made all the worth while by finding 2 Mediterranean Gull both black hooded adults amongst the c.250 'gulls' there.

Tufted Duck Simon Hawtin

There was little to inspire on the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock but I did note c.150 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Bar-tailed Godwit, and c.40 Goldeneye. On the canal basin, up to 46 Tufted Duck, 2 Pochard drakes, 3 Little Grebe, and a Kingfisher. 

Brown Hare in the Cockersands area in 2013.

I had a conversation with John Kellet at Abbey Farm on Tuesday, he was unable to add anything to the Brown Hares apparent disappearance from Cockersands, but agreed with me that they are hard to come by to date this year.

The Siskin.

Siskin Ana Minguez

The Siskins have paid their third known visit to our garden again today Thursday.

Beauty and the Beast.

 Photograph Pete Woodruff.

I  took this  photograph from  the coastal  path at Fluke Hall, it  shows a  good  line  of Lakeland mountains with a coating of snow and seen  as the beauty  of the  Lakes, and the nuclear power station  on the  right, seen  as the  beast of  Heysham  with the landscape  scarred  by it for life. Perhaps  I  shouldn't  say   this  but.... this  one   looks much  better  than  the usual  poor  quality photographs of mine  if you 'clik the pik' which is what you  should do with the other four thanks to Brian/Antonio/Simon/Ana.

Just to be going on with....

....a bit of news and some pics - five actually - until I can get out birding again....

2nd Winter Iceland Gull Ronald Surgenor  

A 2nd winter Iceland Gull was on the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock yesterday. The bird was  on Glasson Marsh initially, then west of the marsh before flying off.

Snow Goose. Copy Permitted.

This intermediate morph Lesser Snow Goose is/was doing the rounds with Pink-footed Geese since first being found SW of Cockerham on 13 January.

Snow Bunting Martin Jump  

A Snow Bunting was found on the beach opposite the old Lifeboat Station at Morecambe on Sunday.

Wheatear Brian Rafferty  

I'll be looking in earnest for my first Wheatear probably - but not necessarily - at Cockersands, not sure it will be in the next couple of days with the weather as it is, but I'll be looking just the same.

Sand Martin Simon Hawtin  

And the canal basin at Glasson Dock will be a good place to find my first Sand Martin if I haven't already found one elsewhere beforehand.

And finally....

A Little Ringed Plover was at Marbury Country Park in Cheshire yesterday....Conder Pool here we come!!