BIRDING THE LUNE ESTUARY THE FOREST OF BOWLAND AND BEYOND......................................................MEDITTERANEAN GULLS CONDER POOL PETE WOODRUFF

Wednesday 20 July 2016

Stock Taking On The Lune Estuary.

Monday 18 July.

Juvenile Wheatear. Pete Woodruff.


Pity it had it's back to me as I got just one shot at the juvenile Wheatear at Cockersand before it flew off, still showing some down in it's plumage.

An excellent find on Plover Scar at high tide was 6 Ringed Plover a pair of which were constantly calling for the thirty minutes I was stood motionless to find the reason being three chicks recently out of their shingle nest. Also on Plover Scar, c.90 Dunlin, with 6 Whimbrel and a single Bar-tailed Godwit close by on Long Tongue, 16 Eider were off here.

Inland at Cockersand, 6 Linnet seen, and I counted 9 Tree Sparrow and 3 Whitethroat feeding on the road ahead....curious! I saw 5 Swift in the three hours here, all loose individuals flying south, and 16 Swallow were on wires on Slack Lane.

The tide was five hours gone when I got to Glasson Dock, the Lune Estuary was quiet with gull numbers not reaching the hundred mark, but 12 Little Egret counted, with my highest post breeding number so far of c.700 Lapwing noted.

Conder Pool was quite a buzz with 17 species easily counted, they included the Avocet adults and lone young growing nicely towards fledging. 6 Common Sandpiper, a Greenshank, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, a Stock Dove, Little Grebe and Little Egret, with House Martins, Swallows, c.30 Curlew and a Kestrel over heading towards the estuary.

From Conder Pool viewing platform I saw a dread of around a thousand birds come up into the air from the Jeremy Lane area, certainly a large number of c.500 Lapwing, with Curlew and gulls before settling back down again.

The Conder Common Tern.


Common Tern adult and juvenile with Redshank 12 July. Pete Woodruff.

The Common Tern may have departed, I've not seen them since an adult and juvenile on 12 July, but there was a report on Sunday 17 July when all four adult/juvenile were seen on Conder Pool, but not since. Therefore a breeding programme concluded in ten weeks and two days - arrival to departure - for a pair of Common Tern on Conder Pool and their third consecutive year, with ten weeks of pleasure watching all this unfold. Excellent....amazing even. 

Meanwhile, the Avocet which arrived on Conder Pool two weeks after the Common Tern on 20 May, their story continues with bated breath.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Pete,
    WOW, all those bird species where you are... I guess that's why I didn't see many on the Atlantic shores! LOL!
    They must be breeding in England, here most only rest at migration times.
    I won't complain though since the few I saw allowed me some nice pics!
    All the best, and I hope your fine weather lasts!

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