Not much life at Cockersands....

....but a gold rush on the Lune Estuary, and another bit of a buzz at Conder Green.

A comment was made to me in an e-mail about the birds of Plover Scar....'I spent two hours down there at high tide and got 6 Turnstone, with 19 Oystercatchers, no Dunlin, no Ringed Plover, no Golden Plover, no Redshank'.

Turnstone. Howard Stockdale.

I also know a birder who turned Cockersands inside out for several days during the migration period, and the 'dead' experience continued for me on Monday when I was on Plover Scar before and up to high tide which held little more than 320 waders, at least 250 of which were Oystercatcher, with 42 Turnstone, a solitary Ringed Plover, and just about a double figure of Redshank and Curlew. Off Crook Farm I noted c.90 Dunlin and 14 Black-tailed Godwit.

Wader Mass Brian Rafferty 

Whilst I was on Plover Scar I noticed two separate huge distant 'clouds' of up to a total of 10,000 Knot and Dunlin in the air then down on to Middleton Sands. 

On the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock, up to 2,500 Golden Plover glowed gold in keeping with their name on the opposite side of the river with bright sunlight on wet sands....a brilliant sight. I would never have dreamt not many years ago, that I would see 10 Little Egret together in one view in a low water pool on a river in Lancashire 2015....another brilliant sight. Also noted, a lower number than my last sighting here was of c.250 Common Gull and 2 Great-crested Grebe.

Another bit of a buzz at Conder Green, a Ruff was probably the fifth different individual I've seen here these past few weeks, Monday's bird was a large upright male. Also in the creeks, 24 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Greenshank, a Common Sandpiper, Goosander, and a Rock Pipit. The count on Conder Pool was of 14 Little Grebe.

I saw 4 Red Admiral on the day, including one in our garden, and a small bat species was over and around Gardners Farm as I drove along Moss Lane, not my strong point, but I'd guess probably Pipistrelle.

Thanks to Howard for the Turnstones, a brilliant little wader well up my favourites list, and to Brian for his wader mass seen on one of his many visits to Southport.