Turned Out Nice Again.

But it took until mid-afternoon today to turn out nice. It was dull, damp, and grey all morning/early afternoon, but it began to improve later and was eventually very pleasant, sunny and warm.

Small Skipper Marc Heath 

I managed to add two new butterflies to my miserable 2013 list with a Small Skipper and Speckled Wood en-route to Conder Green where I walked to from Aldcliffe. Thanks for the Small Skipper Marc.

Jay Antonio Puigg

Birds finding their way into the book were a pair of Mute Swan with three cygnet on Freeman's Pools with 6 House Martin noted over, and 14 Lapwing loafing around on the island. I found 8 Whitethroat including good views of young being fed, a pleasing sight, 3 Chiffchaff and a Jay were good, also 8 Wren and 17 Blackbird were decent counts, with c.12 Goldfinch, and a Song Thrush seen....its always good to see a Song Thrush. Thanks for the Jay Antonio.

Local Eider.

Following on from my comments about the status of breeding Eider in Lancashire, I note counts of 111 ducklings from Cockersands, Sunderland Point, and Morecambe over recent days. Obviously some duplication risk here, particularly the Cockersands/Sunderland Point counts, but at least 56 of these counts are individuals. Interesting, in that not long ago the Eider was regarded as a difficult bird to come by in our recording area during mid-summer let alone in excess of 50 - and possibly up to 100 - duckling.