All Quiet Around The Estuary.

On Conder Pool, not only was it good to find 2 Little Ringed Plover there, but it was interesting to see the female reject the males advances and fly off when it was posturing....But love at first sight it seems! 

Also on the pool, no count of Avocet today, but certainly didn't see a double figure of them. In the creeks, a Greenshank and Spotted Redshank, which according to my records is the first at Conder Green since one there on 26 July 2024 with plumage black as the devils waistcoat. All quiet on the Lune Estuary at Glasson, with just 48 Black-tailed Godwit and a Greenshank seen at low tide.

To be honest it was all quite at Cockersand too, but Mondays 120 Linnet were seen again, and I guess the count was of c.220 Whooper Swan in inland fields. Plenty of pre-breeding activity, with good numbers including at least 40 Lapwing tight-knit in a field off Slack Lane.

I made a vain attempt for a pik of the White Wagtail, seen on the rim of a silo as I set off on the circuit, but had a little better luck for a pik when it was seen again 2 hours later in the field by Bank House.

White Wagtail Cockersand 26 March. Pete Woodruff.

Early Migrants.

I've yet to find my first Wheatear and Sand Martin. Last year on 29 March a Wheatear was seen at Cockersand, and on the 24 April Sand Martin were seen on territory at Catshaw Grieve on Hawthornthwaite.

Interesting dates for earliest migrants in Lancashire.

Wheatear. 26 February 2003. Mean Date 10 March.

Sand Martin. 24 February 1990. Mean Date 9 March.

March Stonechat.

Female Stonechat Cockers Dyke 22 March. Paul Ellis.

My records for March stand at 76 Stonechat at 36 locations collected from FBC sightings page, with no duplicate counts. To keep it simple I've noted the records as passage birds, though by now some will be on territory, and April records are to be noted as territorial/breeding. However, I have limited knowledge of lowland breeding sites in the Fylde and on the Sefton Coast, although I do know that breeding along the Sefton Coast was widespread in 2023....Lancashire Bird Report 2023   

A Large White was in the garden this morning, my fourth butterfly of the year. Here's hoping they have a better year than the last one.