A Trip Down The A588.

The original plan on Wednesday was to leg it along the coastal path from Fluke Hall to Knott End, but in the end I did a U turn at Cockers Dyke where the gulls were a bit thin and no more than eighty strong, with not a stray wader in sight with the few Lapwing present. So the gains were a Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, and 4 Little Egret.

But it was at least a decent butterfly day and I notched up 9 species along the walk from Fluke Hall to Cockers Dyke, and probably saw at least 200 individuals. I made no attempt at accurate counts and the list notes estimates only....

Large White 80

Common Blue 40 including 2 male

Small Copper 30

Gatekeeper 25

Meadow Brown 20

Small Tortoiseshell 4 

Peacock 2

Green-veined White 2

Small White 1

Clouded Yellow.

Clouded Yellow Warren Baker @ Pittswood Patch

Nine years ago on 7 August 2006 I counted 12 Clouded Yellow butterflies all flying east along the same route as today between Fluke Hall and Cockers Dyke, a record I have yet to better, I also saw six other butterfly species here on this date.

I made a brief call at Pilling Lane Ends to see a Kestrel dwarfed by the Peregrine Falcon it was mobbing at some height. Another brief call was at Conder Green on the way back to Lancaster to find 4 Common Sandpiper and 2 Greenshank in the creeks, with just one Little Grebe noted on Conder Pool. A Sparrowhawk surprised everything in the creeks to clear the lot out before diving out of sight having taken out one of the waders.

Little Egret.

Little Egret. Pete Woodruff.

These seven Little Egret were from fifteen on the River Lune at Glasson Dock yesterday where double figure counts have been regular recently, but on Tuesday evening at Burton Mere Wetlands in Cheshire an amazing 200 Little Egret went to roost.