Part Time Birding....Again!

Not enough hours in a day for me at times, and last Friday I was again restricted to just a couple of hours to get my birding fix - though I've no idea when I'll get my next one - and was limited to getting myself an update on the Conder Pool birds, a wander along the coastal path to Glasson Dock, and return via the canal to Conder Green.

The Conder Avocet.

 Guard Duty. 

There was still six adult Avocet on Conder Pool, with two sitting, a pair obviously considering nesting on the edge of the boxed island opposite the viewing screen which is what they were doing last Wednesday, one on guard duty, and the other generally loafing around.

The Oystercatcher and the Avocet....Charge!

The adult on guard duty was attacking anything that moved within sight of the only chick I saw which was feeding contentedly on the grass whilst thinking it was one of the many sheep around.

It's going to be impossible to keep tabs on numbers of hatched young, too many out of sight areas, and not knowing dates of hatching or how many, we'll just hope we can see the total of fledglings in due course.

The Conder Tern.

The Common Tern are going to be easy to monitor as they are nesting on the pontoon, and on Friday I was able to zoom in when the bird got up to stretch its legs and could clearly see three eggs in the nest, albeit well camouflaged on the stones. We will be able to note the dates of hatching and fledging, all very interesting.

The Wander.

I counted 126 Back-tailed Godwit in the creeks, upstream I heard a singing Sedge Warbler, but better still had excellent views of a Reed Warbler as it clambered up the reeds, a male Reed Bunting also seen.

Painted Lady 2 June. Pete Woodruff.

Sixteen Eider on the Lune Estuary were seen from the coastal path before I returned to Conder Green along the canal where I saw my second Painted Lady which allowed me some photographs, also seen, a Red Admiral, and a Silver Y moth.

The Shearwater.

Sooty Shearwater. Martin Lofgren @ Wild Bird Gallery 

A Sooty Shearwater flew west past Knott End this morning at 10.28am, 12 minutes later it was reported west past Rossall Point at 10.40am....RBA 

An excellent record of this species, even more excellent at this time of year as very rare in British and Irish waters in spring. This powerful flyer is one of the great ocean wanderers which nest mainly on remote islands in the southern oceans, and migrate to winter in the North Atlantic and North Pacific during our summer. The perfect example of....what's a bird like the Sooty Shearwater doing off the Fylde Coast in Lancashire in early June.

Many thanks to Martin Lofgren for the use of his excellent image, much appreciated Martin.