The Russian Down The Lane!

The female Pochard remains faithful to Conder Pool, and thinks it is one of the 46 Wigeon I counted with which it mingled. Also noted were 22 Tufted Duck and 6 Little Grebe, with single figure Fieldfare, Redwing, Blackbird, and 2 Song Thrush taking berries along the hedgerow, but the male Stonechat wasn't deposed from its top spot on Conder Pool....AC had seen the pair of Stonechat here earlier in the day.

Hen Harrier. Simon Hawtin.

At Cockersand, my third recent sighting of the ringtail Hen Harrier in flight over the stubble field behind Lighthouse Cottage before lost to view over Crook Cottage, almost but not quite knocking 4 Stonechat seen off their throne....Well if I'm going to keep seeing this spectacular ringtail, I'm going to keep posting the spectacular images from Simon Hawtin. 

The c.240 Whooper Swan seen had made return appearance, with 120 in the field at Clarkson's Farm where I only found one of the four Cattle Egret seen there earlier per AC, another similar number of Whooper Swan were distant around Thursland Hill.

The bunting currently reported around Plover Scar, gave me a bit of a run-around. I saw 2 Twite foraging the detritus on the scar, and gave up on the bunting, but as I went through the kissing gate, I saw a bird flying around, by the time I reached the abbey I saw it was a Snow Bunting flying off towards Plover Scar and calling, but I made a fruitless chase after the bird. My other Cockersand notes were of at least 200 Curlew in the field north of Abbey Farm, 9 Greenfinch, and 92 Pink-footed Geese over >south.

As I headed to Cockersand earlier in the afternoon, the field off Jeremy Lane, which had held large numbers of geese for a fortnight, was deserted. But when I drove back down the lane 3 hours later returning to Lancaster, there was up to 80 Greylag back in the field....is this my lucky day?

The 1st winter Russian White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons with a white facial blaze and pink bill and breeds in western Russia, had recently latched on to the large gaggle of Greylag Geese which - though noticeably smaller - it resembles.