At Cockersand, a Kestrel was the first bird I saw, as I drove along Slack Lane it was flying ahead of me just a few metres above and the full length of the lane before landing atop a telegraph post, I saw 14 Linnet by the cover crop. As I set off to walk towards Plover Scar, a Merlin was perched on a post in the field behind lighthouse cottage, 32 Tree Sparrow were at Bank Houses, at least 4,000 Starling were mobile over the fields, and 4 Little Egret were in a field.
The Goldeneye was still on the canal basin, and on the Lune Estuary, another adult Mediterranean Gull seen, 2 Greenshank were at the Conder mouth then flew up the channel, also 2 Snipe, 2 Great-crested Grebe, and a drake Red-breasted Merganser noted.
On Conder Pool, I managed a count of 10 Little Grebe and 42 Mallard, with the Common Sandpiper and a Goosander in the creeks.
The Curlew.
Curlew. Pete Woodruff.
Birds were a little on the thin side for me on Wednesday, but 'thin' couldn't be applied to finding at least 430 Curlew as a species in serious decline, with 155 noted on the Lune Estuary at Glasson, and 275 in a field at Cockersand with 245 Black-tailed Godwit.
It's easy to be fooled into thinking waders are booming in terms of status when you hear that the Curlew is an abundant winter and breeding bird in Lancashire. OK, 430 Curlew isn't massive, though it's always encouraging to see a decent number like this, and the 245 Black-tailed Godwit made for good reading in my records book too.
But the Curlew is in serious trouble, it is one of our most rapidly declining breeding birds, numbers are claimed to be down by up to 50% across the UK, and it is a species globally near threatened, making it a priority on the Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern, though the monthly peak counts in our area on the Lune Estuary last year, show the estuary to continue to hold the largest population of Curlew throughout the year with Morecambe Bay at the forefront of holding internationally important numbers, the only other site being the Solway Estuary.
I'll be finding a lot more Curlew than 430 on and around the Lune Estuary in the coming winter months....I look forward to that.
Thanks to Ana for the stunning and much appreciated male Black Redstart header.
It's easy to be fooled into thinking waders are booming in terms of status when you hear that the Curlew is an abundant winter and breeding bird in Lancashire. OK, 430 Curlew isn't massive, though it's always encouraging to see a decent number like this, and the 245 Black-tailed Godwit made for good reading in my records book too.
But the Curlew is in serious trouble, it is one of our most rapidly declining breeding birds, numbers are claimed to be down by up to 50% across the UK, and it is a species globally near threatened, making it a priority on the Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern, though the monthly peak counts in our area on the Lune Estuary last year, show the estuary to continue to hold the largest population of Curlew throughout the year with Morecambe Bay at the forefront of holding internationally important numbers, the only other site being the Solway Estuary.
I'll be finding a lot more Curlew than 430 on and around the Lune Estuary in the coming winter months....I look forward to that.
Thanks to Ana for the stunning and much appreciated male Black Redstart header.
I love your Curlew, and there was plenty of them.
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