Sluggish Start To 2025!

Sluggish and little to report, but never any less the pleasure of birding for me.

The tide was well advanced when I arrived at Glasson on Thursday and had driven most of the waders off the estuary. But I noted a pair of Goosander, and it was good I saw two drake and a female Goldeneye, seen as the only three individuals found here this winter, and looking like a scarce bird for our area now. This despite its status being recorded 3 years ago in the LDBWS Annual Report as....'a fairly common visitor to the Lune at Glasson'....I doubt that the Goldeneye will be recorded as 'common' in the next report!

I couldn't resist a video of the ducks on a cold but beautiful January day, on a calm river in an attractive setting....Pump up the volume to hear 17 secs of 22 delightful whistling Wigeon.

There was nothing to report at Glasson Dock, until a Kingfisher flew across the canal basin toward the marina. Neither was there much action at Cockersand, but over a couple of hours here, it did turn out to be something of a mini raptor fest.

Although the high tide was a little under 10m, 4 Rock Pipit were pushed off the marsh and were on the shingle. There was up to 1,500 Golden Plover in fields, with 150 Curlew, and possibly 180 Whooper Swan scattered over three fields.

The raptor foursome started with views of a Barn Owl followed by a Merlin soon followed by a Buzzard.

The Little Owl was again basking in the sun on its favoured girder on the farm building at Bank Houses with a horse appearing to be on guard duty.

The Cockersand Barn Owl.

I had the same experience with the Barn Owl today as I had at the start of the year on 7 February, the account of which is copied here.... 

The Barn Owl took off from Bank Houses at the same time I started my circuit of Cockersand. It was in view for up to an hour as I walked along Moss Lane until I reached the Lighthouse Cottage at 2.25pm. In the hour, the owl crisscrossed every field in the area, and hunted along every ditch and hedgerow, diving to the ground at least six times without success, and perched on fence posts about the same number of times.

Thursdays sighting ended with views of the Barn Owl flying south toward Abbey Farm, I then picked up a female Merlin rocketing south across the same field to cause up to 2,000 Golden Plover/Lapwing/Curlew and Starling to panic. I myself panicked when I saw the Merlin mobbing the Barn Owl, but the pair disappeared behind bushes. I didn't see the Merlin again, but was sure the Barn Owl escaped the attentions of the raptor to take refuge at Abbey Farm.

And Finally.

In my inbox I received two brilliant images recently, both of which represent my appreciation and respect for the ability to freeze a moment in time with excellent photography. 

Goosander. Martin Jump.

This one from Martin shows the Goosander with the catch of an Eel and lookers on, one showing anger, and one with envy.

Blue Tit. Ian Mitchell.

This one of a Blue Tit coming in to land on Ian's garden feeders. Thanks Martin and Ian....Amazing stuff. 

Conder Pool Shank Day!

Over the hour I spent at Conder Pool, up to 650 Redshank assembled there to escape and seek refuge from the high tide surge. I was chuffed to have found another personal all time record on Monday, and I became even more chuffed to find the Spotted Redshank and a Greenshank in the pack, a lone Black-tailed Godwit was also present. Also to note, 75 Wigeon, 4 Goosander, 5 Little Grebe, 3 Snipe, and 3 Tufted Duck. An Oystercatcher appears to have taken a liking to the old square pontoon, early days but perhaps planning on breeding there as it has in the past.

As I approached the junction of Jeremy Lane/Moss Lane, 3 Cattle Egret and 4 Little Egret were in the field accompanied by several hundred gulls.

 

At Cockersand, only a small patch of Plover Scar was visible above the high tide, and little joy on the circuit especially in a bit of a howler on the headland. I was surprised to find the fields deserted of waders at the height of a 10.30 metre tide, and I found not a single Stonechat, but it was good to find 8 Rock Pipit on the shingle as the tide dropped.

Sand Hopper.

Sand Hopper. Pete Woodruff.

Following on from finding Rock Pipits on the shingle at Cockersand, I made an interesting discovery when I found an abundance of Talitrus saltator on and around the same area of shingle. With some afterthought I'm convinced the 8 Rock Pipits, which were in close proximity of each other, were feeding on them.

Summer Visitors.

The first migrants have arrived on UK soil with a Wheatear seen 6 February in Shropshire, and a Sand Martin seen 10 February in Kent. And I have a suspicion that the Stonechat spring passage has taken off with 6 Stonechat seen at Fairhaven Dunes on 13 February....Thanks to AC for passing on to me this excellent news.

And Finally.

Didn't get any piks today, so struggling for a header I thought the ferry 15 minutes out of Heysham and into the Irish Sea, made a cool shot.

Barn Owls In The Spotlight!

I'm a bit cheesed off at getting it wrong again, but in my defence I never hide behind my errors. My claim at Conder Pool on 12 January....'the vegetation has been cut down, so no doubt goodbye to the wintering Stonechats of several weeks here'....proved to be a hasty and unjustified one. 

I had excellent views of the Stonechat pair at the east end of Conder Pool. The result of the rest of the stock taking exercise was, 6 Little Grebe, 10 Canada Geese, 4 Mute Swan, and a Wren in the hedgerow. 

On the canal basin at Glasson Dock, 4 Goosander seen, and in fields off Jeremy Lane, up to 350 Pink-footed Geese, 175 Greylag, and 125 Golden Plover.

 

Best surprise whilst watching the geese, was the appearance of a Barn Owl which spent a few minutes hunting along the hedgerow around Saltcote Brow pumping station....Perhaps this was the bird seen at Conder Pool 10 November.

At Cockersand, the Barn Owl flew over my car whilst I was watching the Stonechat pair on the marsh where I saw 2 Rock Pipit, 2 Meadow Pipit, and 4 Reed Bunting. Up to 380 Whooper Swan were seen a distant north from behind the Caravan Park.

Sunderland Point from Cockersand with snow on the Lakeland Mountains. Pete Woodruff. 

The circuit was a pleasant walk and resulted in a lone Stonechat just short of the Moss and Slack Lane junction, from where I saw 3 Bewick's Swan, seen as two adult and a juvenile. Also a Snipe came up and out of a ditch, a Song Thrush and 420 Curlew were in two fields with 6 Pink-footed Geese.

 

A pity the footage of 21 Eider off Plover Scar, was taken against the light, but it was a great opportunity to see them on a calm sea. The sighting proved to be quite interesting as I was able to observe some unexpected behaviour with display not normally associated with mid-January. In my experience, the Eider is very vocal during courtship, usually silent at other times, and doesn't start to think about breeding until April....Pump up the volume to hear the Eider 'cooing/crooning'. 

Kingfisher at Cockersand.

There was a remarkable report of 2 Kingfisher flying north past Plover Scar on Wednesday 17 January. 

The Kingfisher isn't known to take to open water like an estuary, more likely to avoid it, and I'm intrigued to hear from anyone able to explain what they thought two Kingfisher were doing flying over the sea and past the lighthouse on a estuary in mid-winter? 

Barn Owl at Cockersand.

In my last post, I made the suggestion that I suspected there might be 2 Barn Owls at Cockersand. Today it seems to be common knowledge that there are indeed 2 Barn Owls here. I met five people on Wednesday who all told me of the roost here. 

I get great pleasure in sharing and reporting the Barn Owl anywhere, but don't agree with any kind of freely published information about any species of Schedule 1 birds that gives even a hint of where they might be holding territory to start breeding by early April.

Picture Gallery.

Howard Stockdale sent me an image of the long staying Snow Bunting on Plover Scar.

Ian Mitchell's image of Long-tailed Tit on his garden feeders.

Martin Jump observed some excellent aerobatics by no less than 7 Buzzard and 3 Raven over the ridge at Harrisend recently.

Thanks to Howard, Ian, and Martin for the excellent and much appreciated images which add some interest and colour to B2B. 

March Migrants.

Having had one of my worst weeks for birding in many a year, Birds2blog came close to having a seven day blank, but it was salvaged by an attempt to see a few birds on Wednesday along the coastal path between Aldcliffe and Glasson Dock.

The day turned into a near flop, but I did see my first Wheatear of the year on the flotsam at high tide, a stunning male, though not a Rock Pipit in sight. Also scurrying across the floating flotsam towards me, was what I regarded to be an unmistakable jet black Water Shrew, which unknown to the unfortunate creature, turned out to be heading towards its demise. The shrew disappeared below the bank, but 15 seconds later it reappeared between the teeth of a Weasel to disappear once more below the bank on the other side of the footpath.

I aborted my plans and wandered back to Lancaster via the embankment along Aldcliffe Marsh, to see 8 Snipe along the way, exploding into the air ahead of me. As I walked along the path parallel to Freeman's Pools, a stag Roe Deer was resting by the central reeds.

Ring Ouzel Cockers Dyke 23 March. Paul Ellis.

In addition to the early arrivals of Sand Martin, Swallow, and Wheatear in the March Migrants in my last post, a male Ring Ouzel was found on Thursday. This bird was seen one day after the first spring arrival of a Ring Ouzel at the Verne, Portland Bill on Wednesday 22 March, where the first spring Willow Warbler was seen on Tuesday 21 March the day before.

Some other interesting early arrivals and on the waiting list in our area....

28 Feb Little Ringed Plover Hampshire.

1 Mar Osprey Hampshire.

2 Mar Whinchat Isles of Scilly.

12 Mar Yellow Wagtail Norfolk.

12 Mar Hoopoe Cornwall.

18 Mar Sedge Warbler Hampshire.

19 Mar Hobby Dorset.

20 Mar Common Tern Cornwall.

Conder Pool Common Tern.

An interesting record to be noted, the first ever Common Terns on Conder Pool, didn't arrive until the late date of 2 July 2014, they successfully raised two young and were last seen at Cockersand on 14 September.

Conder Pool Avocet.

On Friday *30 Avocet were present on Conder Pool, a record which developed into an interesting discovery. The book of wisdom, and papers written about the age of Avocet before breeding is 2 years. However, last year on Conder Pool two Avocet chicks were colour marked with flag codes in 2021. These birds were both female, and were paired up to breed on their return to Conder Pool as yearling's in 2022, both pairs hatched 4 chicks each....Maybe time to update the literature!

*A report of 39 Avocet on Conder Pool Saturday per FBC.

Rock On!

A pretty strong howler from the north and cold with it, took the edge off a decent day, but came nowhere close to ruining my enjoyment at the sight of 14 Rock Pipit and a Water Pipit at Cockersand on Friday. 

A female Stonechat was again in the long grasses and marsh by the parking area at high tide, and a male seen again at the far end of the rough field behind Lower Bank Houses, seen twice previously, but always distant and busy.

I didn't linger at Cockersand after a couple of hour of pipit watching, but pulled up as I drove away to count c.130 Pink-footed Geese in the same field by Abbey Farm as found 14 January, also a few uncounted Golden Plover. I didn't pull up on Moss Lane, but as I drove by, at least 300 Whooper Swan presumably accompanied by Bewick's Swans in a field west of Gardener's Farm, and on Jeremy Lane 122 Greylag and a Kestrel hovering overhead.

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On the Canal Basin at Glasson Dock, 12 Goldeneye were ruling the waves, with 18 Tufted Duck, and 2 Goosander noted.

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Conder Pool was hosting a nice 84 Black-tailed Godwit until there was some disturbance and they departed west. A Little Grebe, 2 Goosander, 35 Wigeon, and a Snipe noted.

Rock Pipit at Cockersand.

Fourteen Rock Pipit, probably the best count at Cockersand in recent times, certainly a personal best ever, 10 here 12 years ago LDBWS Annual Report 2010.

A pint of lager and a packet of crisps please....Rock On!    

Full House At Cockersand!

Well, sort of a full house when I visited Cockersand on the best day of the week weather-wise. Sightings for the little black book looked good, and Plectrophenax nivalis hunters were out in force, with fourteen cars parked up when I arrived.

In order of being seen, 7 Goosander were the first to be noted on Conder Pool, then 22 Black-tailed Godwit arrived over the pool from the Lune Estuary, circled once and appeared to be going to land on the island, but decided against it and departed back from whence they came, they were accompanied by 2 Jack Snipe in the flyover. Two Little Grebe seen, one on the pool, one in the creeks.

The Cockersand swans were scattered over three fields, I estimated they numbered 220 Whooper Swan, with 8 Bewick's Swan accompanying 114 in fields west of Gardner's Farm. At high tide, 6 Rock Pipit were with a similar number of Meadow Pipit on the marsh, a few Snipe were driven off the marsh by the tide, and the female Stonechat of the wintering pair was constantly mobile over the shore between the caravan park and Bank Houses, it was still there two hours later on my return, but I never did see the male today.

On the circuit, I noted 4 Wren including three together, the interest there being I've never seen the species as a threesome before, though they are known to roost communally in hard weather, with numbers occasionally up to 10, but there is an amazing record of up to 61 from the archives. Also, a Reed Bunting, with 10 Greenfinch which are always a pleasure to be seen in double figures these days. Ten Eider were off Plover Scar, where 6 Turnstone was the sum total of waders on Plover Scar an hour after the tide.

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By the time I reached Cockersand Abbey, a happy little band of birders were enjoying the sight of an obliging and tolerant Snow Bunting quietly pecking around the front door of the abbey, at the same time 12 Twite were also pecking around the gate to Abbey Farm.

When I got back to the caravan park, a traditional look through the gate by Lower Bank Houses paid off when a Barn Owl came into view before soon disappearing again.

I didn't hang around for the sunset at Cockersand, but when I got home, this was the view looking SW from our bedroom window at 16.40pm....Another Grand Finale.

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Belted Kingfisher Ceryle alcyon....North America, south to Panama and Caribbean coast of South America.

First recorded (shot*) in Britain at Sladesbridge, Cornwall in November 1908. The sighting stayed unrecorded until it was exhibited at a meeting of the BOU in October 1918.

*Nothing's changed in the persecution of birds in the 113 years since this man seeing the bird from a window in his house, he records himself to say....'I took my gun and went out, and successfully stalked and killed it'.

Belted Kingfisher Kevin Cole

An angler and ex-birder George Shannon was astounded to see the bird at Redscar Wood by the River Ribble in Preston on 8 November 2021. George couldn't believe his eyes that a Belted Kingfisher had crossed the Atlantic Ocean and  found itself in Lancashire, England, but his disbelief was dispelled by the fact he had previously seen the Belted Kingfisher for himself in North America. In the month that followed the birds discovery by George, twitchers in droves from all over the country have been to see this bird. 

Bonanza & Dearth.

The first day of the meteorological spring was on Monday 1 March. Although there was a chill in the wind it certainly looked like it, and I was off to do a circuit of Cockersand.

Videos best viewed Full Screen....Hopefully!

As I drove along Moss Lane, there was a mini-murmuration of c.2,000 Starling in the air. Later a small group put on a bit of a display, screeching then falling silent as they moved around on the marsh below Crook Cottage....An underrated bird.

This field is badly flooded....

....but the field to the east of Abbey Farm held at least 1,500 Golden Plover, also to note in the field 2 Stock Dove.

As the tide reached its height, off Cockerham Sands Country Park, I saw 14 Snipe and 3 Rock Pipit put to flight off the marsh. A raft of 35 Eider was in the Cocker Channel, by coincidence the same count as seen off Plover Scar 4 February. A Song Thrush was in the horse paddock at Bank Houses, Skylark in flight song, and a Reed Bunting seen. There are at least 350 Whooper Swan still in the area, the bulk being distant and inaccessible. 

Small Tortoiseshell. Pete Woodruff.

I saw my first butterfly of the year, a Small Tortoiseshell was basking on the stone wall at Cockerham Sands CP.

Bonanza & Dearth.

The Stonechat passage ended abruptly on 28 February, 10 days after the early start on 18 February. I collated the count of an amazing 182 Stonechats, mainly from FBC birders including AC who amassed a count of 80, with 36 seen by LDBWS.

At least 1,500 Golden Plover at Cockersand this week, represents a peak count of what has been the poorest winter for the species on the Lune Estuary. The most regular LDBWS birder to the Lune Estuary made the comment 'didn't see a single Golden Plover' on 29 November. Since that date I found just two records of 1,400. 

Local Birds.

Barn Owl. Howard Stockdale.

Thanks to Howard Stockdale for the Barn Owl seen Wednesday on Abbeystead Lane in Bowland, with a pair of Stonechat also seen here again. Also thanks to Howard for his excellent Heysham Rock Pipit header image. I was grateful to Peter Kitchen for alerting me to the Avocet back on Conder Pool Monday morning.

And Finally....

A Yankee Doodle Dandy was found on Banton's Lake, Wyreside Fisheries, apparently there since 3 March.

Pied-billed Grebe. Barry Dyson.

This is the third record of Pied-billed Grebe in Lancashire, the first was at the then named Dockacres Gravel Pits 1997, the second at Leighton Moss RSPB 2015.

Mission Impossible....Well Almost.

The extended run of foul wet and windy weather we are having, takes away most if not all of the pleasures of birding, it's pretty well impossible to stand around, particularly on the coast in a westerly gale, and I've been driven back home by this looking like a wet mackerel a couple of times, but.... 

Mediterranean Gull Conder Green. Pete Woodruff. Clik the pik

It was good to find an adult Mediterranean Gull with the Black-headed Gulls just as the tide was about to flood the B5290 at Conder Green yesterday. The last of the wintering Little Grebe was on Conder Pool again, with c.250 Redshank and 2 Goosander also noted. On the canal basin, 4 Goldeneye.

I had no intention of hanging around at Cockersand, just wanted to check a couple of Stonechat hotspots which drew a blank, but a Rock Pipit was driven off the marsh, with at least 2,000 Golden Plover tightly packed by Abbey Farm, and the herd of distant swans now looking more like 500 Whooper Swan.

A run down the A588 was well rewarded by two excellent female Stonechat on the fence posts at Pilling Lane Ends, soon followed by another female Stonechat at Fluke Hall, and a Snipe lifting into the air out of a damp rough field here. 

Thanks to Martin for his Black-tailed Godwits header in flight at Cockersand, taken recently during a lull in the storms.

Rings And Things.

Following on from the interest in finding nine colour ringed gulls with Pete Crooks on the Lune Estuary on 6 March, I made a search for any info I could find about the origins of rings without knowing the codes. The best I came up with was, the bulk of the projects are European, with one on Guernsey, Isle of Man, and Ireland, but one was local and corresponded with the Black ring we saw on the left tarsus, in which case, if it could have been read, the ring would have had a White single letter indicating R=Ribble, T=Tarnbrook, W=Walney....Frustrating.    

After Ciara....

And....Great birds in great places.

Clik the piks

Storm Ciara combined with a high tide was responsible for some serious damage to a couple of sections of the sea wall at Cockersand. It's my understanding that Natural England takes no responsibility of maintaining this sea defence any longer....So what's new about Natural England then! 

It was a great pleasure to watch 28 Whooper Swan dropping in to grace Conder Pool yesterday morning, 21 Mute Swan were already present, with 52 Greylag, 64 Teal, 8 Wigeon, 4 Tufted Duck, and 3 Snipe also noted.

On the Lune Estuary, with higher numbers than last Friday, at least 3,500 godwit were making life hard again, mingling above and below the Conder Estuary, 2,500 Black-tailed Godwit, and 1,000 Bar-tailed Godwit were my final estimates. Also noted, 3 Goldeneye, 5 Goosander, and 550 Wigeon. On the canal basin, 14 Goldeneye and Black-headed Gull 6CY seen here again for my fourth sighting since the first on 26 September 2014, all on the Lune Estuary.

At Cockersand, the male Stonechat showed briefly in the rough field behind Lower Bank House, 5 Rock Pipit were pushed off the marsh by the tide, with 3 Reed Bunting seen. In the field behind Lighthouse Cottage, up to 40 Twite were flighty, with at least 15 Pied Wagtail. From Slack Lane I saw a flight of c.900 Golden Plover undecided where to make landfall. Off Plover Scar, 10 Eider follows 8 seen here on 3 September 2019, and was only my second record off the scar at Cockersand since 3 on 18 May 2019.

Two Kestrel seen, one at Bank Houses, and one at Slack Lane, where I think this one had just reduced the Twite number to 39, a few minutes earlier it had been surveying the landscape from the telephone wires above the field.

The Lune Estuary Whooper Swans.

There are currently in excess of 400 birds in the Thurnham/Cockersand area. In addition to the 28 on Conder Pool. On Jeremy Lane, 45 Whooper Swan were accompanied by 8 Bewick's Swan and 132 Mute Swan, and Whooper Swans were strung out in fields between Thursland Hill and through towards Bank End. 

Brent Adventure.

It was a bit of an adventure with the geese on Tuesday, not least because I had to turn my back on the birds for while, to avoid being hit in the face with hailstones during a heavy shower with a howler behind them coming in off the sea.

I was determined to keep up to date with the invasion, and paid a follow-up to Mondays visit to Heysham to see if I could add to the 72 and arrived at a count of 88 Brent Geese including at least one Dark-bellied Brent Goose, MD had recorded two earlier in the day.

Clik the pik....there's more to see if you do.

The path from the promenade climbs up towards Knowley's Road, from where I waited then watched the geese fly off south at 11.30am. I sent MD a text to tell him about the movement, to get a reply later to say he had seen 10 Brent Geese at Red Nab, but they soon flew off heading down the coast towards Potts Corner.

A brief look in on the shore at Half Moon Bay saw 2 Rock Pipit. 

The Brent Goose.

Brent Geese Heysham 27 January. Pete Woodruff. Clik the pik

Two distinct populations of Pale-bellied Brent Geese winter in Britain and Ireland, those from Svalbard on Lindisfarne, and those from high Arctic Canada around Strangford Lough.

Enquiries about the unprecedented numbers of Pale-bellied Brent Geese currently at Heysham - including two Canadian ringed birds - lead me to understand, that these birds are from Walney Island in Cumbria - 170 there on Tuesday. On the other hand, British wintering Dark-bellied Brent Geese all originate from the central Siberian Arctic, mostly around the Taimyr Peninsula.

I must say I really enjoyed the exercise on Tuesday despite the less than poor - pretty awful - weather conditions. It was surreal to see this number of Brent Geese at Heysham. 

Third Time Lucky.

At Conder Green, 9 Little Grebe seen as six in the creeks and three on Conder Pool were there was 14 Wigeon and little else. On the coastal path 6 Chaffinch were of note.

There was good numbers of Fieldfare in the berry laden hedges along Moss Lane to Cockersand, including at least fifty along the length of one close to Bank Houses....Clik the pik it's a bit more 'berry laden' impressive.

Up to 200 Whooper Swan remain in inland fields despite much farming/tractor activities in the area. Also in fields, 268 Black-tailed Godwit, 125 Curlew, and at Cockerham Sands, a Rock Pipit, 10 Greenfinch, and 2 Reed Bunting.

On Plover Scar at high tide, 55 Turnstone, 25 Knot, and 12 Oystercatcher. From Slack Lane, at least 50 Meadow Pipit were flighty, and on the wires appeared unaffected by a Kestrel perched alongside them at one point.

There had been no sign of the Stonechats seen at Cockerham Sands on 21 November, and again from Slack Lane on the bulrushes 26 November, I had checked both locations and all points in between. But a hunch they might be along the sea-wall between Lighthouse and Crook Cottages paid off handsomely when I found the pair in fading light at dusk, they were midway between the two cottages....Third time lucky.

Female Stonechat  Martin Jump@Flickr

My birding had ended as well as it could have done, after all these were a pair of Stonechat, with no apologies for yet another pik.

The Full Page....Well Almost!

The page was almost filled in the little black book yesterday. 

Starting with calling at Conder Green about 30 minutes before the high tide, when a smart adult Mediterranean Gull dropped in with the Black-headed Gulls to make a decent start to the session, and at least 150 Teal. On Conder Pool, 3 Little Grebe, 25 Curlew, 18 Wigeon, with 2 Snipe over and a hovering Kestrel.

On the canal basin, a drake Pochard, 2 drake Goldeneye, 38 Tufted Duck, 2 Goosander, and a Great-crested Grebe. Of note on the Lune Estuary, c.350 Dunlin, and low counts of 45 Golden Plover, 34 Black-tailed Godwit, and 32 Curlew, 2 Little Grebe were on the River Lune today at the Conder mouth.

Driving along Moss Lane to Cockersand, several groups totaling an estimate of 200 Fieldfare. Four Rock Pipit were off the marsh at Cockerham Sands, also 6 Snipe, and 18 Turnstone were again on the shingle here, and a lone Grey Plover on the shore. At Bank Houses, 9 Greenfinch, and a Wren. In fields, c.225 Curlew and 28 Black-tailed Godwit.

Stonechat Cockersand 26 Nov Pete Woodruff. Clik the pik 

By a stroke of fortune along Slack Lane, a bird seen flying across the field behind Lighthouse Cottage, and then on the bulrushes along the ditch between fields, was a male Stonechat, soon joined by a female, they were almost certainly last Thursdays pair less than a mile south from here at Cockerham Sands.

The pik is as good as it gets with my little digi camera. Not world class equipment, and the bird was a long way off using the zoom lens. Clik the pik, it really is essential this time to see the bigger picture. 

The session ended even better than it had started with the Mediterranean Gull. Well....after all they were Stonechats!

The Lune Estuary Pochard.

It was good to see a drake Pochard on the canal basin yesterday at Glasson Dock, one seen at Middleton NR on Sunday was referred to as 'presumably the Lune Estuary singleton?'.

The Pochard is at best a scarce bird anywhere on the Lune Estuary, referred to as 'very irregular' in the LDBWS Annual Report. My last record was a drake on Conder Pool 21 June, previously, three drake was an exceptional record also on Conder Pool 31 May 2018.

Pochard. Pete Woodruff.

A female photographed through the fog on Conder Pool 15 March 2018, has an even more scarce status than the drake. 

Dream On!

I watched this small group of Turnstone at Cockersand, as one of the most appropriately named birds, scurrying across the shingle turning stones in search for food as they went.

 

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Not recorded in this short video, I observed them as they took to flight a couple of times, and heard them call. A first for me, as I've never been so close to Turnstones before to be able to hear the call as clear as this....

If I'm honest the visit to Cockersand was planned to have been a thorough and pleasant  one, a search with the hope of finding a Snow Bunting on Plover Scar, but saw 10 Knot with 250 Oystercatcher. I was also hoping to find a winter Stonechat here, they usually are. Two Rock Pipit were on the marsh edge as the tide receded, a lone Greenfinch seen, with others heard in the Bank Houses area, a female Shoveler was in the large ditch running through the field at the Moss/Slack Lane junction where 12 Meadow Pipit were flighty.

Otherwise the visit to Cockersand soon went downhill for me, it was thwarted not least because of the cold howler in my face and I had to beat a retreat called back to Lancaster. Unfortunate, as the fields were alive with a few thousand waders which would have kept me interested and occupied for some time, including the recently seen at least 3,000 Golden Plover and 650 Curlew, with large numbers of Redshank, Dunlin, and Lapwing. 

Who knows, I could have missed an American Golden Plover with the 'Europeans', a White-rumped Sandpiper with the Dunlin, or even a Ruff with the Redshank....Dream on!

Thanks to Ian Mitchell for the header image, a fraction of the 3,000 Golden Plover currently resident at Cockersand.   

Oh No....Not The Lune Estuary Again!

I got a text yesterday morning to tell me of a Snow Bunting on Plover Scar, by something of a coincidence the very place I was heading for at the time. Thanks for the heads-up Ian, it was much appreciated as always, and the dip took nothing away from the appreciation.

Despite giving three hours to Cockersand, the Snow Bunting was nowhere to be seen, but I noted 325 Oystercatcher and a lone Ringed Plover on Plover Scar at high tide. At my back as I checked the scar, I found the field to the north of Abbey Farm was holding at least 2,500 Golden Plover, an impressive sight here again, also the number was more like 635 Curlew today, an increase of around 100 at my last two counts. There are always a few wildfowl around the ditch south of the abbey, today 32 Teal, and close by 25 Wigeon were grazing. Along the length of the headland, 12 Turnstone, with 6 Grey Plover seen on the wing. 

Rock Pipit Cockersand 12 November. Pete Woodruff. Clik the pik

At Cockerham Sands, 5 Rock Pipit seen on the marsh and the shingle to the north of the Caravan Park. Off Moss Lane, 65 Whooper Swan were at Clarkson's Farm, and uncounted Fieldfare seen from a moving car included c.20 in a tree.

To note on the Lune Estuary, c.320 Black-tailed Godwit, also 82 Wigeon were all hauled out and on the mud. On the canal basin, 28 Tufted Duck and 5 Goosander. Ten Little Grebe at Conder Green were seen as the same pattern as last Friday, with five on Conder Pool, and five in the creeks including two downstream towards the Conder mouth.

Common Sandpiper at Conder Green.

A Common Sandpiper has wintered at Conder Green for 11 years now, but despite the traditional circuit search yesterday, there was no sign of the bird again for the fourth week. But this absence for long periods has happened before, in fact in its second year of wintering here, it wasn't seen after 22 November 2009, until it reappeared on 28 December, so I'm not prepared to give up on the Common Sandpiper at Conder Green just yet. 

Sunday 10 November.

On a beautiful sunny and calm day, a pleasant wander over Heysham Barrows with KT saw a Song Thrush and up to 12 Long Tailed Tit in the woods, and a Rock Pipit on the shore at Half Moon Bay.