Missing In Action!

Mostly missing for me around the Lune Estuary yesterday, disappointingly so....Should have gone to Specsavers! 

Little Grebe Conder Pool. Ian Mitchell.

A quick scan resulted with a count of 18 Little Grebe on Conder Pool, catching small fry like there's no tomorrow....nothing 'missing' there then. Also on the pool, a female Shoveler, interesting in itself as the species is no more than irregular here. Four Wigeon were the only other birds of note, and a Goosander in the creeks, decided to make a move and flew to the canal.

On the Lune Estuary, my best count to date of up to 600 Golden Plover, lined up on the shore below Colloway Marsh. Otherwise of note, 166 Curlew and 68 Black-tailed Godwit. I managed to pick out 3 Mediterranean Gull amongst the hordes of other mainly distant gulls.

Although as always, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Cockersand, the only notes I came away with from here were, 6 Skylark over in a move from one field to the next, and 16 Tree Sparrow at Bank Houses. 

Tree Sparrow.

Yesterdays record represented my first record at Cockersand in nearly 12 months, when I found a lone Tree Sparrow at Bank Houses on 1 December 2022, the previous record being 3 Tree Sparrow - again at Bank Houses - 12 months earlier on 14 December 2021. In my records that represents a decline of the Tree Sparrow at Cockersand.

Golden Plover.

Albeit early in the winter season, yesterdays 600 Golden Plover at Glasson is my best to date and a good record. We will have to see what happens next this winter, but in 2022 Golden Plover records in Lancashire were disappointing, my peak count was of 1,500 at Braides on 11 October 2022, and as far as I'm aware, this number wasn't exceeded anywhere else that year on the Lune Estuary. 

Important to note, the Golden Plover is scarce on the UU Bowland Estate, and no breeding was confirmed in 2022....Lancashire Bird Report 2022