Cockersand Gold Again.

I was at the end of my visit to Cockersand on Thursday heading back to the Lighthouse Cottage, but I had an underlying feeling the day was going to end well with what I was hoping to find in the field SW of Crook Cottage. The field has been favoured by the GP's for several weeks in the second half of this winter, though recent numbers have fallen and fluctuated, at least 3,000 Golden Plover again today was pretty impressive.

In the field at my back on Slack Lane while I was watching the GP's, I reckon up to 120 Meadow Pipit with a few Skylark and Linnet seen, also in another field close by, 3 White Wagtail were with 7 Pied Wagtail. The 252 Whooper Swan here today represents a closer and more accessible group for once, with a little more effort to count on my part.

The Cockersand Twite. 

Twite Jan Larsson

I was a little surprised to see c.30 Twite come off the shingle and fly over their recently favoured rough field behind Bank House Cottage, not seen since 15 March I had been thinking they had left the area, having arrived here at the early date of 9 October when I found nine on the inner edge of Plover Scar. 

Five Goldeneye were on the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock, with 7 Wigeon hangers on, and a drake Goosander. There was some arial interaction between 2 Kestrel at Conder Green, and a  Buzzard soaring high, 25 Tufted Duck were noted on Conder Pool. I saw my first Small Tortoiseshell butterflies today, one at Glasson Dock, the other at Cockersand.

As can often be the case - amongst the last to score most years for me - I've yet to see my first hirundinidae of 2018, though a part of the reason is that I've not been birding since last Thursday, and no blogging time since Friday....But all that's about to change in the next few minutes.

Putting a smile into birding.

Short-eared Owl Brian Rafferty

Found on a website....The Short-eared Owls have got so fed up of having long lenses shoved up their a***s all winter that they've taken to sneaking around on foot to avoid the circus.