Cockersand Wader Festival.

Up to 3,000 waders were in the field looking more like a lake behind Lighthouse Cottage at Cockersand yesterday. The field held an absolute minimum of 1,800 Black-tailed Godwit and 900 Golden Plover, with a male Ruff, single Turnstone, and uncounted Lapwing, Dunlin, Redshank, and Curlew, also seen in the field 10 Pied Wagtail and a Kestrel over Slack Lane. 

From the Lighthouse Cottage I saw a Peregrine Falcon clear out everything on Plover Scar, to leave it void of birds by the time I got there. Today's c.400 Whooper Swan herd had thinned out and spread out, mainly now in the Thursland Hill area, with 275 counted before they left the recently estimated 550 field by Bank Houses.

Conder Pool was pretty lively and included the first Goldeneye on here this winter, a decent count of 28 Tufted Duck, a Greenshank with 32 Redshank, 3 Snipe, and a drake Goosander. Of the 2 Common Sandpiper seen, one on the pool was feeding on small insects in their hundreds by the side and on the pool, a Song Thrush was in the hedgerow. 

Up to 180 Teal were in the creeks and put to flight at the arrival of a Sparrowhawk zipping through, 3 Little Grebe seen, the other Common Sandpiper was down the channel, but a beady eye needs to be kept out here as I almost certainly saw a third Common Sandpiper as it disappeared on the bend towards the Conder mouth. The Kingfisher also put in an appearance briefly on the mud down the channel, and 62 Goldfinch were seen from the coastal path.

I found this dead Whooper Swan on the shingle below Cockersand Abbey last Friday, still there yesterday.

I get caught out at Cockersand more than anywhere else I go birding, not long after  I took this pic I was hot-footing it in the rain back to the motor....nowhere to hide.

Little Grebe. Conder Green 24 November. Pete Woodruff. 

For some unknown reason, the remaining Little Grebe's desert Conder Pool about this time every year, and take to the creeks. When the River Conder is in spate, they escape attention until you discover they hide and just sit below the marsh overhangs like this one did yesterday downstream from the A588 road bridge, Iv'e found five doing this recently.

This was an excellent day for me, the close on 2,000 Black-tailed Godwit and 900 Golden Plover at Cockersand where inspirational, and the male Ruff a brilliant bonus in my book.

Thanks to Noushka for the Crested Tit header....Confined to the Caledonian Pine Forest in Scotland if you ever want to see one in Britain.