The Spoon On The Loon!

I come across some truly naff titles on birding blogs including this one of mine for this post. But it was good to see the Spoonbill had returned to the Lune Estuary again yesterday, and was at the mouth of the Conder mid-afternoon, having apparently been 'spooked' by dogs - BASTARDS - on Sunday to fly off upriver.

Juvenile Common Tern. Pete Woodruff. 

But for me the Spoonbill sighting was overshadowed by the two juvenile Common Terns, almost certainly the Conder birds which I keep thinking have dispersed, one of which was initially at close range from the bowling green, then went on to the buoy a little further off, just one disappointment was that all three juveniles were not present.

Another excellent sighting was that of a Barn Owl which came from behind me and crossed the river to do a U turn and fly off out of sight in the direction it came from. It's reasonable to suggest this is the bird recently seen in the Jeremy Lane/Dobs Lane area. Also of note on the Lune Estuary, a 3cy Mediterranean Gull.

At Conder Green, the prize went to the juvenile Ruff in the creeks, with 5 Common Sandpiper, 3 Greenshank, 4 Little Egret, and a Swift south. On Conder Pool, 3 Little Grebe, and c.250 Redshank were of note.

I gave Bank End an hour, to find several Pied Wagtail mostly on Cockerham Marsh, but nothing of a yellow colouration. But my birding ended up being a most enjoyable five hours with some nice sightings recorded.