Following a damp start, by mid-day on Monday the day came good with wall to wall sun, though the wind took the edge off it and was strong and very cold along the headland at Cockersand.
Seen as at least a decent count, up to 65 Skylark were in the field to the north of Bank Houses........
....But an even more exceptional count was made on 7 February, when BD achieved an amazing 470 Skylark at two locations in the Eagland Hill area, making my count at Cockersand look paltry by comparison, but a grand total of at least 470 Skylark is an inspiring sight, even seeing 65 in my case at Cockersand, and the perfect example of 'right place right time' to see a gathering of large scale cold weather movement of a bird like the Skylark.
The female Stonechat was around it's chosen area of tide wrack by the CP with an endless supply of grubs keeping this bird here since 18 December, it had the company of a Reed Bunting. A Kestrel was at Bank Houses with 6 Linnet seen.
Seen as at least a decent count, up to 65 Skylark were in the field to the north of Bank Houses........
Skylark Eagland Hill. Barry Dyson.
....But an even more exceptional count was made on 7 February, when BD achieved an amazing 470 Skylark at two locations in the Eagland Hill area, making my count at Cockersand look paltry by comparison, but a grand total of at least 470 Skylark is an inspiring sight, even seeing 65 in my case at Cockersand, and the perfect example of 'right place right time' to see a gathering of large scale cold weather movement of a bird like the Skylark.
The female Stonechat was around it's chosen area of tide wrack by the CP with an endless supply of grubs keeping this bird here since 18 December, it had the company of a Reed Bunting. A Kestrel was at Bank Houses with 6 Linnet seen.
I pulled in on Moss Lane to check out a group of 210 of the c.500 Whooper Swan still in the area which have remained fragmented far and wide more than any other winter spent here, another small group seen later were accompanied by 13 Greylag. Approaching the junction of the A588 from Moss Lane, at least 2,500 Pink-footed Geese were in fields, but despite 30 minutes, I found nothing 'odd' amongst them.
As I stood by the bowling green overlooking the Lune Estuary at Glasson, a flock of waders created a loud whoosh as they flew full throttle low overhead, they went down onto the bank upstream of the Conder mouth and counted as 1,250 Black-tailed Godwit. Also of note, 550 Wigeon, 6 Goldeneye, and a Great-crested Grebe. The two drake Pochard were notable in their absence again on the canal basin.
At Conder Green, the Common Sandpiper was down the channel seen from the iron bridge, and 6 Little Grebe were in the creeks.
Apart from this Cormorant taking a liking to the pontoon on Conder Pool - as a pair of Oystercatcher weighing up the accommodation, and a pair of Lesser Black-backed Gull have done recently - 82 Curlew were the only other birds present.
My birding has been at zero since Monday, as has Birds2blog'ing, and doesn't look good for any change as I see it at the moment....This is not good for my morale.
As I stood by the bowling green overlooking the Lune Estuary at Glasson, a flock of waders created a loud whoosh as they flew full throttle low overhead, they went down onto the bank upstream of the Conder mouth and counted as 1,250 Black-tailed Godwit. Also of note, 550 Wigeon, 6 Goldeneye, and a Great-crested Grebe. The two drake Pochard were notable in their absence again on the canal basin.
Common Sandpiper. Conder Estuary 12 February. Pete Woodruff.
At Conder Green, the Common Sandpiper was down the channel seen from the iron bridge, and 6 Little Grebe were in the creeks.
Cormorant. Pete Woodruff.
Apart from this Cormorant taking a liking to the pontoon on Conder Pool - as a pair of Oystercatcher weighing up the accommodation, and a pair of Lesser Black-backed Gull have done recently - 82 Curlew were the only other birds present.
My birding has been at zero since Monday, as has Birds2blog'ing, and doesn't look good for any change as I see it at the moment....This is not good for my morale.
Love Cormorants.. Cheers
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