A Flurry At The Green.

Birding on Friday started with a bit of a flurry at Conder Green, within the first 15 minutes I had seen a Green Sandpiper, the wintering Common Sandpiper, a juvenile Ruff, and 12 Black-tailed Godwit all in the creeks, then counted my peak of 18 Little Grebe on Conder Pool, with 4 Wigeon noted.

On the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock, although the tide had virtually washed everything away I found the juvenile Curlew Sandpiper, it was feeding with c.250 Redshank and 120 Dunlin all hanging on to what little mud was left on the south bank. Barely reaching a double figure for both species, Black-tailed Godwit and Bar-tailed Godwit were distant beyond mouth of the River Conder. On Jeremy Lane, 42 Golden Plover were in a field with up to 200 Lapwing.

Buzzard. Pete Woodruff.

At Cockersands, Mondays Buzzard seen again, and I was able to have a play with my camera trained on it again, it was in the same tree when I returned 2 hours later, having occasionally been seen to fly into the stubble field in which I saw 5 Stock Dove, to return to its perch in the tree. Plover Scar at high tide held just one species of wader apart from a few Redshank, which was a healthy count of at least 150 Turnstone. I saw 8 Greenfinch on Slack Lane, 2 Wheatear are still around off the headland where I saw just one Silver Y in the cloudy, dull, and cold breezy conditions.

I saw up to 950 Golden Plover over three hours at Cockersands in three groups of around 200/250/500, two groups were seen in flight and coming down into inland fields, the third on the shore below the abbey, but I have no way of being able claim I actually saw 950 individuals.

The Conder Green Sandpiper. 

Green Sandpiper Jan Larsson  

The Green Sandpiper seen at Conder Green on Friday was probably the one first found here 2 months ago on 17 August, and again a month later on 18 September, I've also seen one reported here at least once since that date. Looks like we could be going to have a Green Sandpiper to join it's Common relative to winter on the Lune Estuary at Conder Green.

Thanks to Jan for the Green Sandpipers, and to Bob for the header Redwing, some of which will be heading your way soon - if they have'nt got there already - looking for berries.