....And The Fieldfare Came Too.

Perfect timing this morning when I went into an upstairs room at home in Lancaster to see up to 200 Fieldfare flying south. But my first c.70 Fieldfare were seen over Conder Green yesterday.

My best from four attempts was a count of 18 Little Grebe on Conder Pool. But later I saw Tim Hutchinson - an excellent birder from Clapham who I've not seen for many a year but used to see regularly on Newby Moor and thereabouts when I went to this Stonechat hotspot in the 2000-10's - told me he had counted twenty Little Grebe on the pool. The Goldeneye was seen again on Conder Pool, and in the creeks, a Ruff, 2 Goosander, a Little Egret, and 4 Linnet took to bathing there.

Lapwing. Noushka Dufort.

The Goldeneye was seen on the canal basin at Glasson Dock again, and on the Lune Estuary, wader estimates consisted of at least 4,000 Lapwing, 420 Golden Plover, 230 Bar-tailed Godwit, 60 Black-tailed Godwit, and an adult Mediterranean Gull....Still no Goldeneye on the estuary.

 Little Owl. Pete Woodruff.

  

Cockersands was a little void, but was well worth the visit if only to find a Little Owl at Abbey Farm. Until I search my records for dates, the first one here for several years, never bred here and never a resident at this farm. Up to 30 Greenfinch was a decent count for the species in the cover crop field on Slack Lane, c.350 Golden Plover were on the Cocker Estuary, a Snipe came up from the marsh as the tide pushed in, a Kestrel seen, and c.500 Oystercatcher appeared to tolerate two people with nine uncontrolled mutts on Plover Scar with not another bird in sight....but I'll resist the temptation this time to go into another of my rants on that one.

I failed again to take notes on the Little Egret but probably saw c.10 on the day on the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock and Cockersands.

And finally....

  

My closing shot at Cockersands taken at 4.10pm when I was running out of decent light for birding. Worthy of 'clik the pik' which is more than I dare say for the Little Owl shot which features the last one seen at the farm several years ago.

Thanks to Noushka  for the brilliant sixteen Lapwing in flight.