Nothing Spektakler....

....but a beautiful calm, frosty, sunny day, and it was good to be taking a look at the birds again yesterday in the Conder, Glasson, and Cockersands area after the Christmas break.

There are 15 Little Grebe still in the area, with eight seen on Conder Pool, one in the creeks, three down the Conder Channel, and another three seen later on the Lune Estuary. On a circuit of Conder Green I noted, 5 Fieldfare, a single Redwing, Little Egret, Snipe, Dunnock, 7 Long-tailed Tit, and c.20 Chaffinch.

Red-breasted Merganser Brian Rafferty 

On the Lune Estuary, a mix of 72 diving duck were pretty hard work to count whilst drifting downstream and constantly diving, I saw them as 32 Goldeneye and 40 Tufted Duck. Also of note, c.120 Black-tailed Godwit, 70 Bar-tailed Godwit. At the Conder mouth, a Spotted Redshank and 2 Red-breasted Merganser. The injured Snow Goose was at the south end of Colloway Marsh again, and c.3,000 Knot were seen at Sunderland Point from Bodie Hill.

Last Wednesdays 2 Bewick's Swan were seen on Jeremy Lane again, and 2 Bewick's Swan were with at least 80 Whooper Swan off Moss Lane. At Cockersands, 108 Black-tailed Godwit counted off Crook Farm, with 16 Dunlin and 3 Knot noted. Off Plover Scar, 600 wildfowl were seen as estimates of 500 Wigeon and 100 Pintail, 4 Red-breasted Merganser were in the Cocker Channel, and I saw 2 Kestrel during the visit here.

Blackbird. Pete Woodruff.

There appears to be a good number of Blackbird around and I counted at least twenty on the day. We had one with a metal ring on it's right leg in our garden recently, the first ringed Blackbird I ever saw.

Snow Bunting.   

Snow Bunting David Cookson 

An excellent count of 36 Snow Bunting were on Pendle Hill yesterday morning.