Birding Limited.

Birding by halves I'm afraid, but it was better than no birding at all, and this wider area - Yellow Wagtail territory - has to be given the full treatment sooner rather than later and that's my intention, but meanwhile....With my time limited on Wednesday I thought I'd give the River Lune a visit and first called briefly at Bull Beck where I had found five Little Ringed Plover last year in a short distance upstream from here but found none today. 

I have no idea what numbers are to be expected in this section of the River Lune, but there appears to be a healthy colony of Sand Martin in mid April this year, a Dipper flew downstream, with 3 Goosander seen. I heard 2 Blackcap, a Chiffchaff, and saw a distant soaring Buzzard.

Down the River Wenning from Hornby, and up the River Lune for no more than a mile from the confluence. I had excellent views of a singing male with a female Blackcap, two Willow Warbler, a Chiffchaff, 4 Reed Bunting, a good number of Sand Martin around but no sign of a colony though I didn't reach Lloyne Bridge, a single Swallow, 2 Common Sandpiper, and 11 Goosander.

White Wagtail Jakob Sigurosson 

Pied Wagtail Simon Hawtin 

On the edge of a flood in the field at the confluence a White Wagtail was conveniently accompanied by a Pied Wagtail which gave an excellent opportunity to take note of the details of plumage variation of the two. 

Many thanks to Jakob and Simon for the White/Pied Wagtail images.