The Breeding Pool!

It was my first visit to Conder Green in a month, and good to get my eyes in on Conder Pool again to find breeding activity on an industrial scale....At least 350 birds on here today.

It's difficult to priorities my observations, but with a personal count of 18 Avocet, a pair with three chicks little more than a day out of the nest took the prime spot, soon followed by a pair of Avocet mating, also noted 4 colour ringed birds.

My count was 15 Common Tern back on Conder Pool, with as many as 18 recorded recently including ringed birds, I also observed a mating pair. Five Little Ringed Plover seen, with more mating seen between these little beauties.

A 1st summer Mediterranean Gull, which was seen collecting nesting material, at one point I saw it with a twig up to a foot long in its bill. In the video, watch the Little Ringed Plover fly into the upper right of the frame.

There are at least 130 nests occupied by Black-headed Gull, a pair of Redshank were also added to the list of 5 species of mating pairs seen today. A lone Wigeon was worthy of note, a drake which appears to be going to summer on Conder Pool.

I've recently managed to get three videos of Mediterranean Gull on Conder Pool, including one on 12 April and two this visit, when 2 Little Ringed Plover came into view....Watch for this one in centre frame.

A wander around the area produced a Goosander with seven chicks which nearly escaped me as they swam upstream and out of view on the River Conder. A Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler were from the canal towpath, from where I saw 6 Large White and 5 Orange Tip.

Common Tern.

Some interesting data about four of the Common Terns currently on Conder Pool. 

One was ringed in Senegal in 2005 as an adult, this bird bred at Conder Green in 2023, and at Preston Dock before that. One was ringed as a chick at Shotton, Flintshire in 2017, and two were ringed as chicks in Teeside 2016 and 2021....Ian Hartley LDBWS

Canal Interest.

Banded Demoiselle Marc Heath

A short walk along the canal towpath at Barton yesterday produced 3 Banded Demoiselle, average first appearances in Lancashire 17 May, seen as 2 male and a female, also up to 20 Blue-tailed Damselfly, average first appearance noted to be 7 May, though in favourably warm springs they can emerge in late April, with one seen 24 April 2011.

Garden Interest.

14-Spot Ladybird. Pete Woodruff.

The Ladybird spectacularly named Propylea quattuordecimpunctata in the garden yesterday. The insect below left is presumed to be one of the leaf beetles of the family Chrysomelidae.

Briefly Birding.

I took an opportunity to get out briefly birding yesterday, and having not been in eight days I was overdue a visit to Conder Green so went there to find a Common Sandpiper had returned.

Common Sandpiper. Warren Baker @ Pittswood Patch 

Last year a Common Sandpiper was still at Conder Green on 27 May, then not seen again until a month later on 26 June 8 days later than yesterdays bird. By the end of June the Common Sandpipers will no doubt be at Conder Green in a double figure along with the Spotted Redshank which in my records was on 1 July. My first returning Greenshank in 2014 was seen here on 7 July....It will be interesting to see where all these dates fit in with this years returns.

Also on Conder Pool at near high tide, at least 40 Redshank, 6 Tufted Duck, a juvenile Pied Wagtail, and two young Oystercatcher. A few Sand Martin were hawking over the pool, with fewer Swift and a single House Martin.

The Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock was a wide expanse of water with the tide at it's height, but I was rewarded by finding 2 Mediterranean Gull both 1st summer birds, also singles of female Eider, Red-breasted Merganser, and Goosander.

The Conder Pool Common Terns.

I was lucky to see the Common Tern on Conder Pool yesterday, none of the boxes are in view, now completely overgrown with vegetation.

Common Tern. Howard Stockdale. 

But on my visit to the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock, one of the Common Terns came over the river and did so 5 times in 20 minutes to return to Conder Pool each time it caught small fry. When I returned to Conder Pool a little later I watched the bird come in once again from the River Lune to feed the one in the nest box....Wonderful stuff.

Thanks to Warren and Howard for the photographs, 'clik the pik' to see them at their very best.  

Our Garden.

Ladybird. Pete Woodruff.

This Ladybird was on a Rose petal where I photographed it - badly - in our garden recently. As is to be expected of me, I'm a little confused about it's identity, but I think it's a 14-Spot Ladybird variant....Anyone with a liking to correct me is most welcome.

Also in our garden, it was good to see the regular Goldfinch at the feeders had brought along four juveniles with them in the last few days, and our Blackbirds fetched the same number of four young with them too....Great stuff.