The Mini-Marathon.

An excellent eight hours yesterday on a bit of a marathon which started with a nice Green Sandpiper on Conder Pool along with 3 Shoveler at best scarce for the pool, my third consecutive count of 12 Little Grebe, 8 Teal, and 3 Wigeon. On the circuit, 2 Common Sandpiper were in the creeks, 25 Goldfinch seen, and House Martins still visiting nest/s at Cafe d' Lune. By the entrance to the car park I briefly saw a Blackcap seen as a  well grown young but still with down, obviously a late second brood bird. On the Conder channel from the iron bridge, 8 Greenshank one of which was in company with c.420 Redshank.

A planned visit to check Plover Scar at Cockersand was thwarted by a pillock on parade with his mutt on the rampage, I did a u-turn and went to Cockerham Sands Caravan Park and legged it to Bank End to find 5 Greenshank with a Green Sandpiper close by, and c.200 Greylag including two unreadable Orange collar marked birds presumably from the Lake District project.

Snipe. Pete Woodruff.

A drive down Crimbles Lane to view a brilliant flood at SD460497 produced 3 Little Stint, 3 Little Ringed Plover juveniles with Dunlin, and an amazing conservative estimate of at least 200 Snipe to put into the shadows my previous best count of 60 Snipe on the Lune Estuary 5 November 2015.

Mediterranean Gull/Black-headed Gull. Pete Woodruff.

A wander along the coastal path from Fluke Hall to Cockers Dyke was rewarded by 2 Mediterranean Gull, one in winter plumage, the other still retaining the better part of it's full black hood, a Ruff was good here too, with 115 Golden Plover, 42 Dunlin, 3 Ringed Plover, a single Knot, and 5 Little Egret. Along the path I found 5 Wheatear, 4 Linnet, and a constant trickle of Swallows with House Martins following the coast south west. 

A decent days birding in my book.