Owtabout!

Well there certainly wasn't as much about on Conder Pool as my last visit which was three weeks ago on 9 August when there was up to 2,500 birds there, with at least 2,200 Redshank present in a now established unprecedented record.

In stark contrast today, the number on Conder Pool amounted to a little under 100 birds of no more than 12 species noted, being 65 Lapwing, 8 Little Grebe, 6 Black-headed Gull, 6 Lesser Black-backed Gull including 4 immature, 5 Mallard, 3 Pied Wagtail, 3 Carrion Crow, 2 Greenshank, a Grey Heron, Little Egret, and a Swallow which scooped up a drink as it flew through.

But a return visit to Conder Pool in the afternoon paid off as it often does with me. As I scanned the area, I thought a nice Yellow Wagtail might be a good one to end the day, but hey'up, there's not one but 2 Green Sandpiper roosting in the channel.

Green Sandpiper Conder Pool 29 August

Not very obliging, asleep and too distant for a decent photograph, but the video footage is good enough for the record.

A look over the Lune Estuary at Glasson gave me sightings of 3 Mediterranean Gull, a Greenshank, a few Golden Plover, with probably more as they dropped out of sight below the mud bank which falls steeply as the tide ebbs, and 22 Little Egret counted.

At Saltcote Pond, a Brown Hawker was seen off by a Migrant Hawker every time it entered its air space. Also, 3 Large Red Damselfly included a pair in cop, and a Common Blue Damselfly.

Coastal Path. Pete Woodruff.

 

As I walked back to Glasson Dock, up to 6 Migrant Hawker were seen patrolling the hedgerow along the coastal path. 

Urban Dragonflies.

I've seen two urban dragonflies in Lancaster in the past week, a female Common Darter by the Chip Shop on Coulston Road before flying off, and a Migrant Hawker buzzing over our garden for several minutes yesterday.