Pik & Mix!

The image sent to me of the Knot at the high tide roost at Heysham was an absolute must for the new header on Birds2blog. Howard told me about 6 hours of pleasure he spent photographing these birds, amongst which he said he found a mix of no less than 18 Icelandic and Merseyside ringed birds, including one Dutch ringed bird at Hest Bank.

It's rare that 6 hours birding can be anything other than a pleasure for me, and I can identify with Howard when he said he spent that amount of time over two visits with these birds at Heysham, suggesting an estimate of 10,000 Knot on the day.

 

View Full Screen

I'm grateful for the excellent array of images Howard sent me, and for the video.

................................................................................................ 

Whooper Swan 12 February Cockersand. Martin Jump. Clik the pik

Ringed as an adult female at Cearlaverock February 2017, from where it has been sighted just once in December 2019, and recorded six times, all in the Thurnham/Cockersand area. Interesting that this swan came from it's last sighting at Caerlaverock on 19 December, to Cockersand where it was seen 12 days later on Slack Lane on 31 December, then seen again on Slack Lane 12 February.

Thanks to Kane Brides and Steve Heaven at WWT for dealing with the record for me, and forwarding the history of the bird, and to Martin Jump for the image of ZXL.

.............................................................................

In an e-mail, AC reminded me that we had found a male Stonechat at Cockersand 12 months ago on 15 February 2019, the bird turned out to be the vanguard of an exceptionally early spring passage, and in fact over the following 6 days I made notes of 18 Stonechat at 9 locations into our area by 21 February.

............................................................................. 

I stitched two short videos together of the Mediterranean Gulls on Conder Pool on 24 June 2019. I decided to leave the sound on because we hear the sadly missed Ian (The Common Terns Champion) Pinkerton making a couple of comments to me in the 57 sec film.  

 

View Full Screen

There was a bonus in this already excellent record of two Mediterranean Gulls on Conder Pool, in that the 2nd summer bird was ringed as a chick in Senov, Volensky Fish Pond, in the Ostrava District of the Czech Rebublic, on 8 June 2017. It was first reported at Kilkieran Harbour, Galaway, Ireland, on 9 January 2019, and subsequently seen on three dates in June 2019 at Leighton Moss RSPB Reserve, Lancashire, before my sighting on Conder Pool on the Lune Estuary 2019. 

I'm out of the birding scene at the moment, hence filling  the gap with 'Pik & Mix'.