Plover Days Again.

It was good to see the first bird on Conder Pool yesterday was a Pochard, but not just any Pochard, a female Pochard, a bird of almost rarity status here. Also of note, by way of a change the Common Sandpiper was on the pool, with 5 Snipe, 4 Black-tailed Godwit, a Goldeneye, and 16 Tufted Duck. In the creeks, a pair of Goosander, and a Kestrel overhead.

Stonechat Conder Green 13 March Pete Woodruff. 

Bird of the day was a male Stonechat around the scrub by The Stork car park, of which I managed a record grab shot.

Waders on the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock were at a premium, but 45 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Bar-tailed Godwit, and 120 Curlew were noted, with 4 Shoveler drake a good record, 15 Goldeneye, 5 Goosander, and 135 Wigeon, 2 Goldeneye were on the canal basin.

At Cockersand, at least 70 Meadow Pipit and 24 Skylark with 4 Linnet seen. Two drake and a female Shoveler were on the Moss/Slack Lane junction flood where a Sparrowhawk was over, and c.60 Twite were again in the rough field behind Bank House Cottage, and although I didn't set out to count them, I saw 15 Brown Hare here today.

The Cockersand swans were spread out over inaccessible fields again, but including 75 counted off Jeremy Lane they stand at c.325 Whooper Swan.

My day ended as last Friday did, as I drove along Moss Lane I watched a Barn Owl hunting the ditches at Bamber's Farm, and the Stonechat I'd seen 6 hours earlier at Conder Green was still around as I drove past on my way back to Lancaster.

The Cockersand Golden Plovers.

The Lune Estuary plovers have consistently spent their time in fields mainly in the Abbey Farm area for several weeks now, and at least 3,000 Golden Plover were there again yesterday, initially seen in the air, but eventually settled in the field by Abbey Farm.

Golden Plover. Pete Woodruff. 'Clik the pik'

This photograph was taken at Cockersand in April. In a mix of GP's, there are at least five classic individuals of the Northern form, completely black from face to belly, but with a broad white supercilium which extends down the sides of the neck, to broaden on sides of the breast and down the flanks. I was looking through the Golden Plovers at Cockersand when I found the lone Dotterel with them here in April 2013.