Migrants At Last.

Conder Pool.

I found my first migrants this week, the first being a pair of Little Ringed Plover on Conder Pool.

The first bird was seen on the small island to the right of the viewing platform, it soon flew off. The next sighting was of a bird on the island behind the main Common Tern raft, was joined by a second bird. I was soon able to observe display behaviour, with posturing seen. I had seen the same behaviour between a pair last year on Conder Pool 26 March.

Other notes from Conder Pool, numbers of godwit continue to fall, with just 280 Black-tailed Godwit today, they were accompanied by at least 10 Knot. Also 15 Avocet in view, and 5 Tufted Duck noted, the Shoveler have departed.

 Cockersand.

My second migrant species was the 2 Wheatear male, seen off the headland. 

Wheatear. Pete Woodruff.

I'm not seeing the Tree Sparrow at Cockersand in anything like the numbers that used to be, though I did find 40 here last September. this time just 3 Tree Sparrow were around Bank Houses, 2 Stock Dove were in a field. The number of swans are dwindling, with no more than 160 Whooper Swan in fields off Moss Lane. I noted 3 Buff-tailed Bumblebee.

Deceased Gannet Plover Scar 2 April. Pete Woodruff.

Lune Estuary.

The estuary at Glasson Dock was near deserted 3 hours after high tide, but 10 Avocet saved the day. If this number is in addition to the birds seen on Conder Pool 3 hours earlier - I ran out of time to call back and check - the grand total would be 25 Avocet. A pair of Red-breasted Merganser were also to note. I saw not a single Wigeon here today, but a few lingering gulls also added a bit of life to the area. 

Red-tailed Bumblebee.

Bombus lapidarius. Pete Woodruff.

In the garden this week, I found my first Red-tailed Bumblebee of the year. 

A Few Hits & A Big Miss!

The hit and miss day started at Conder Pool - no surprises there then - where another first for this amazing site was finding 16 Shoveler present. Seen as migrants in a group never seen in this number on Conder Pool ever before according to my records. Another good record was 2 Gadwall drake, seen as a species I last recorded on Conder Pool 10 years ago, on 8 April 2016.

My other notes from Conder Pool, up to 130 Black-headed Gull, 28 Wigeon, 12 Teal, 8 Tufted Duck, and 2 Little Grebe. In the creeks, 65 Teal and 2 Goosander noted.

Black-tailed Godwit Conder Pool. Pete Woodruff.

Up to 3,000 Black-tailed Godwit were on Conder Pool 2 years ago today 26 February 2024.

I paid an all time briefest of visits to Cockersand to find a female Stonechat playing hide and seek in the long grasses behind Bank Houses, where I spent a little time behaving like someone hunting down the owls and raptors for a picture without success.

Todays big miss came when I drove past Haresnape's Farm twice, on the way to and returning from Cockersand, and failed to spot 135 Russian White-fronted Geese on the north side of the farm....FBC WhatsApp

The Pink-footed Geese were dropping into the field north side of Cockersand Abbey as I arrived on a recent visit here.

Bewick's Swans. Ian Walker.

On the receiving end of a heads-up about some swans at Cockerham, I went off to find 2 Bewick's Swan with 105 Whooper Swan off Hillam Lane.

Thanks to Ian Walker for his excellent image of the Cockersand Bewick's December 2025.  

Black Redstart male Bank End. Paul Ellis.

I then continued down the road to Bank End to gain the brief view of a stunning male Black Redstart before flying off to disappear amongst the farm buildings, then standing around for an hour to see if it returned....I'll leave that story there then!

Thanks to Paul Ellis for the excellent image of this stunning bird.

This female Black Redstart I found on the flood defences 21 years ago at Fluke Hall in March 2005.   

The swans at Cockersand and Cockerham where all over the place today, spread over six fields, and amounted to an estimated total of up to 400 Whooper Swan.

Brown Hare. Pete Woodruff.

On my wanderings today, I found a pair of Brown Hare, they had been behaving like it was the Mad March season, but just chilled out as I got the camera out.  

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We Have Lift Off!

It was 17 days since my last spell of birding, and my first session for 2026....Lift Off!

I suppose lots of visitors to Conder Pool, wouldn't know the drake Shoveler and Pintail present today, were both at best only occasional here, but I note 5 Shoveler were recorded here last Thursday, and I reckon this is an all time best count of the species on Conder Pool. My last Shoveler here, was a pair last year on 23 February 2025, and my last Pintail was a drake 24 November 2025. Also noted today, 9 Redshank, 8 Tufted Duck, and 2 Little Grebe.

On the Lune Estuary at Glasson, I found my first Goldeneye of the winter and was a drake. I've seen no previous records of Goldeneye this winter around the Lune Estuary, but low end double figures at Aldcliffe.

 

A smart drake Goosander was close in with the Wigeon, and thinking I may not get any more opportunities for piks today, I grabbed a video. A pair of Red-breasted Merganser were diving by the Conder mouth, seen as a species at best irregular here, my last were a pair seen on the estuary 3 years ago on 13 January 2023. Also of note, 550 Black-tailed Godwit, a lone Bar-tailed Godwit, and 52 Knot.

At the south end of Jeremy Lane, a splendid 2,500 Black-tailed Godwit, with single figures of Curlew and Dunlin, and up to 60 Redshank in the field opposite.

Stonechat Cockersand 14 January. Pete Woodruff.

At Cockersand, a pair of Stonechat were on the spoil heaps, presumably the same pair seen on my last visit here 29 December. Off Slack Lane, 8 Whooper Swan were the only ones at Cockersand. I think the bulk of swans seem to have pitched up in fields at Cockerham/Braides where the 2 Bewick's Swans also seem to be currently residing.

Breaking News.

Bewick's Swans Cockersand 21 December. Ian Walker.

It was great to see the news that 4 Bewick's Swans were found this morning at Lower Thurnham, begging the question....are there 6 Bewick's Swans in the recording area now?

Thanks to Ian Walker for his excellent image of the stunning Bewick's Swans. 

The Header.

Couldn't resist this one....Long time no see a Stonechat header image on B2B, but Dave Mudd delivered the goods when he got this excellent shot of the pair at Cockersand recently. Not unique, but I reckon Dave or anyone else will achieve an image of two Stonechat so close together in the frame any time soon.    

Hit And Miss!

Actually very few hits, the rest all misses on my latest visit around the estuary, and some concerns to be going on with.

I suppose I would have to admit, the birds seen on Conder Pool were representative of what is to be expected on a moderate day in the first week of December, and it was necessary that I recorded every thing seen here today in order to create a bit of something to read on the report. 

If I'm honest, the most exciting thing to be seen was 14 Long-tailed Tit in a procession working through the hedgerow by the viewing screen. On Conder Pool, 3 Snipe, 3 Little Grebe, 8 Wigeon, 20 Mallard, 9 Black-headed Gull, and a lone drake Tufted Duck.

A couple of decent counts on the Lune Estuary at Glasson, up to 2,520 Black-tailed Godwit and at least 1,500 Golden Plover. At the south end of Jeremy Lane, 5 Whooper Swan were seen as a family of two adult and three 1st winter. These were the only swans I saw in a 4 hour trawl around the Lune Estuary....More on that subject later.

Now the concerns began to develop at Cockersand....At first it wasn't particularly worrying, but an example of the days misses were, no sign of the short stay Snow Bunting, no sign of the even shorter one day Black Redstart, and despite the distinct possibility of three pairs wintering at Cockersand this year, no Stonechat today.

But now things get really serious....Since 27 October, at least 200 Whooper Swan have been resident at Cockersand, lately they have been spread over fields south from Moss Lane down to Bank End, but today zilch. Not a single large white bird in the fields around the Cockersand area....Misery!

The one thing I did find was the reason why the herd of swans have 'disappeared', but to see why in the bigger picture you have to clik the pik.... 

The c.200 Whooper Swan have been replaced along the same length of fields by a similar number of c.200 sheep. 

Bearing in mind, at least 3,500 Pink-footed Geese were at Slack Lane 24 November, they have now also 'disappeared'. But the good news out of all this is, the Bewick's Swans had relocated to fields by Gardner's Farm yesterday 6 December....Alleluia!

In short, not a swan or goose to be seen on this weeks visit to Cockersand, in my book this is a disaster.

Around The Block....Again!

Tufted Duck. Pete Woodruff.

With just four species present on Thursday, Conder Pool seems to be loosing its grip at the top of the league table, but 21 Tufted Duck gave the feeling that all is not yet lost. Also 4 Goosander came into view from behind an island, 3 Little Grebe, a lone Redshank, and a Kestrel was hovering over the Stork Inn.

Calling in on the Lune Estuary at Glasson, if there was anything to call spectacular here, it was the sight of at least 2,000 Lapwing on the north side below Colloway Marsh. Also of note, a small group of c.70 waders were predominantly Knot and a 'few' Black-tailed Godwit. Up to 250 Wigeon were along the shoreline upstream to the Conder mouth.

In the field at Clarksons Farm, my notes read up to 200 Whooper Swan, in fact AC who I met later, told me he'd made an earlier count of 196 Whooper Swan.

Third time lucky....Having finally caught up with a female chat at Cockersand, I found a pair of Stonechat today on the marsh by the Caravan Park. Also to note, a large raft of at least 2,000 Wigeon were strung out along the length from Plover Scar to the Cocker Estuary.

As I set off on the circuit a small bird came out of the hedge, flew across the road and into the hedge opposite. It started a call which I'm not acquainted with, so I pointed the camera towards the hedge to get a recording.

Dunnock Cockersand 30 October. Pete Woodruff.

I did see the bird eventually whilst recording and found it to be a Dunnock, interestingly it's call was responded to by another Dunnock somewhere close by.

 

Best with full volume

So what's going on here, communication between 2 Dunnock at the end of October!

As I approached the junction of Moss Lane/Slack Lane, I spotted a raptor zipping at barely 1m above the stubble. I picked the bird up in my bino's and watched it come to land on a mound by a small flood, its was a stunning male Merlin. 

Pool And Pond.

Pleasantly checking Conder Pool and Saltcote Pond on Friday. Mostly cloudy, though a few sunny spells, and at best a chill wind on a day not unlike 6 March as opposed to it being 6 June.

Conder Pool.

I counted 22 Common Tern on the raft, with up to 5 chicks visible underneath the adults. I also counted 21 Black-headed Gull chicks on the raft today, and harmony seems to reign between the terns and gulls, but who knows if that will last....Time will tell!

My count today was of 16 Avocet, with only two on Conder Pool, and 14 on the creeks marsh including the only two surviving young. 

Little Ringed Plover. Pete Woodruff.

Throughout two visits to Conder Pool today, I had several sightings of Little Ringed Plover, but never saw more than two together. Also of note was a Little Grebe in breeding plumage, seen as a first record on Conder Pool for me. The Little Grebe doesn't breed here to my knowledge.

Other notes from Conder Pool, a drake summering Wigeon seen again, with 3 Tufted Duck and a lone Black-tailed Godwit.

Saltcote Pond.

Ruddy Darter 20 July 2023. Martin Jump.  

As can be seen in my header, Saltcote Pond is an attractive little pond, one of the nicest anywhere in our area. The pond's claim to fame being the location were Martin Jump found a rare Ruddy Darter 2 years ago on 20 July 2023. The Ruddy Darter is the second rarest regular breeding species in Lancashire. 

A male and female Broad-bodied Chaser and up to 12 Common Blue Damselfly, with a Chiffchaff and a singing Sedge Warbler was skulking in the Reedmace here.

As I walked around the edge of the pond I spotted a pair of Common Blue Damselflies in tandem. The female appeared to be completely submerged, but as I got closer, the male released the female and flew off. I soon convinced myself this female floating on the water was drowning, in an attempt to rescue I broke of a Reedmace leaf and managed to encourage the damselfly to the edge and out of the pond clinging to the leaf. 

It was a female Common Blue Damselfly of the blue form, not an uncommon form, but are often outnumbered by greenish and brownish ones.

Common Blue Damselfly blue form. Pete Woodruff. 

Drying out its wings was a first for me, as I've never before seen a damselfly at rest with opened wings....Looking away for a second to check the camera settings, it had flown off.

Barnacle Double Bonus.

It was good to find a Barnacle Goose on Conder Pool, the bird is yet another first here, and I must search my records to get the full picture of firsts for Conder Pool. 

Barnacle Goose Conder Pool Wednesday 12 March

The Barnacle Goose was accompanied by 44 Greylag Geese which maybe puts the provenance of the BG in some doubt, but it is a marked bird with a blue ring which - at the time of publishing this post - has yet to be read. 

You can never tell with Barnacle Geese, there are many feral bird species in the country these days, with Lincolnshire alone having an estimated 2,000 individuals. Barnacle Goose with Greylag Geese get labeled feral, with Pink-footed Geese they get the thumbs up. An interesting note about the recent Lesser White-fronted Goose on Jeremy Lane, was that everyone was happy about this bird being wild....Thanks to Paul Ellis for his help with my query 'maybe puts the provenance of the Barnacle Goose in some doubt'.    

Other notes from the pool, 11 Avocet, 12 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Tufted Duck, a Little Grebe, and a Kingfisher which put in two appearances, the second being a brief pose on the sluice.

By the time I got to the coast and Cockersand Abbey, I had a distinct feeling I was going to get a soaking, but with the exception of a cold wind from the north, my circuit was a pleasure, albeit there was little to rave about, though up to 900 Golden Plover were in the field on the south side of Abbey Farm, and an estimate of 550 Whooper Swan were in multiple fields including Jeremy Lane.

When I arrived back at the Caravan Park, the stormy weather had drifted south over Bowland and I had escaped the downpour. 

A female Marsh Harrier was seen at the outer edge of the marsh, flew out of sight left in the picture towards Bank End, across the Cocker Estuary, and over Cockerham Marsh centre of the picture, disappearing from view over Pilling Marsh in the right edge of the picture.

Aldcliffe - Glasson Dock.

I decided to leg it on Friday, not one of my best decisions ever, and didn't create any excitement for the 5 mile hike, but after all it's only mid-March so what was I to expect. 

But I did collect my best count of the winter when I found 18 Goldeneye on Freeman's Pools, and noted 2 Black-tailed Godwit, soon followed by the wonderful sight of a pair of Long-tailed Tit nest building in brambles. There was up to 5,000 Pink-footed Geese on Aldcliffe Marsh, unsettled and soon departed to the opposite side of the river on Heaton Marsh.

The only other notes I made were of a Chiffchaff at Stodday, a Buzzard over, 16 Blackbird along the length of the walk, and a Jay was in the woodland by Christ Church at Glasson Dock.

Wednesdays Barnacle Goose was in the west corner of Conder Pool out of view from the viewing screen and the blue ring under water, this was a double bonus for me.

Stop Press.

It was excellent news that I learn a Little Ringed Plover arrived on Conder Pool yesterday 15 March. My prediction is, that the Common Tern will have also arrived back here in c.3 weeks time....Watch this space. Many Thanks for the info Howard Stockdale.

News From The Garden.

Buff-tailed Bumblebee on Hellebore. Pete Woodruff.

Found my first bumblebee in the garden on Tuesday 11 March, a huge queen Bombus terrestris. I found two more since then, one of which was at Cockersand.

Two For The Price Of One!

I took advantage of decent days to get off my backside and get out again....Twice!

Wednesday 29 January. 

I covered the estuary starting at Conder Pool to note 5 Snipe, the same number of 5 Little Grebe and 3 Tufted Duck, but the best bird for my book was the Song Thrush below the hedgerow.

Notes from a 'relatively quiet' Lune Estuary at Glasson, up to 400 Golden Plover, 325 Wigeon, 3 Goosander, 450 Pink-footed Geese were at the south end of Colloway Marsh. Pick of the day was 4 Goldeneye seen as two drake and two female, these four represent my best count this winter....something wrong here!

I made a video of two Cormorant on the Lune Estuary today, but the birds were too distant for it to be any value for positive ID. But in a drastically cropped still from the video, one of the Cormorants was seen as suggestive to be a continental Sinensis, though good views of the gular pouch angle - not possible here - is the best way to be certain about this.

I have found Continental Cormorant twice on the canal basin at Glasson Dock, the first being seen 14 years ago in February 2011, when I was grateful to Stuart Piner for sending me this illustration for comparison of the gular pouch on both carbo and sinensis. The second almost to the day, was seen 5 years ago in February 2020. I was also grateful to Paul Ellis for his help in the 'suggestion' that my bird at Glasson was of the continental form.

En-route to Cockersand, at least 60 Fieldfare off Moss Lane, and probably up to 400 Whooper Swan were fragmented over five fields between Bank End Farm and Crook Farm. In fields around Abbey Farm, at least 1,500 Golden Plover were put to the wing with Curlew and Lapwing, probably by the wintering Merlin which I failed to latch on to. Eight Eider were off Plover Scar from where I saw 2 Greenfinch on a fence post.

Notes.

I make interesting notes about two species today. In my book, the Goldeneye is generally absent from our area this winter, the best count I've seen recently reported is of 17 Goldeneye on 12 January. My records reached a peak of 4 Goldeneye at Glasson this week on the Lune Estuary. 

As far as I can see, the winter thrushes are also in short supply in our area this winter too. My best count was of the c.60 Fieldfare seen along Moss Lane this Wednesday, my previous best was of 12 Fieldfare at Cockersand 9 January.

Thursday 30 January.

My intention was to go on the Stone Jetty at Morecambe, but I swiftly had a change of mind, and made a U-turn when I saw this from the landward end of the jetty....

Off Broadway, up to 60 Eider and 2 Red-breasted Merganser seen. At Teal Bay, there was a nice variety of 8 species of waders roosting on the groyne, including 10 Bar-tailed Godwit and a lone Golden Plover, 2 species of wildfowl, 26 Wigeon, 4 Pintail, and 2 Great-crested Grebe.

It was good to be close up and see the birds come to feed as soon as the tide started to ebb.

In The Garden.

I found a Pygmy Shrew on Wednesday, a first for our garden, and a Buzzard was excellent low over the house, with great views of underwing plumage detail in the sunlight.

Pygmy Shrew (Deceased) Pete Woodruff

When it is active, the Pygmy Shrew has to eat every 2/3 hours to survive, it lives little more than a year, long enough for it to have two litters producing up to 6 young....Shucks!

And Finally....An Owl At Cockersand.

It was good to find 2 Grey Wagtail on Conder Pool yesterday, they were collecting insects on the tern raft for several minutes, and according to another birder had been doing so earlier in the day when he called in. A rare sight, I don't recall the last time I saw Grey Wagtail on Conder Pool. Other notes from a stock taking exercise, 112 Mallard, 45 Wigeon, 2 Tufted Duck, 5 Goosander, 10 Little Grebe, and a Grey Heron.

On the Lune Estuary, up to 2,000 Black-tailed Godwit, half the number disturbed and flying downstream, with a 'white' individual amongst them but not discernible in the video. An adult Mediterranean Gull was ringed on the left leg, unreadable at the distance, but looked white or possibly very pale green with a metal ring on the right leg, otherwise gull and wader numbers were low.

At Cockersand, despite the effort made for a circuit, there was little to report, and the 13 Whooper Swans of 10 October obviously decided to move on. However, I did manage to log 3 raptor species, with a Buzzard atop of a telegraph pole, a Kestrel which thought it was a Merlin zipping at a metre height over a stubble field before hovering, and a Sparrowhawk. As I left Cockersand, a Barn Owl flew across the road in front of the car and over the Bank Houses paddock.  

Little Owl.

In company with Andrew Cornall on Monday, Ian Mitchell had good views of the Little Owl in residence at Cockersand, and in the circumstances with poor light, achieved a decent image of the bird....Thanks for this Ian, it is much appreciated.

Little Owl. Ian Mitchell.

According to my records, this is the first record of Little Owl at Cockersand for 10 years, with one last seen at Bank Houses 10 November 2014. I also found a Little Owl at Abbey Farm on 31 October 2014, at the time I thought this was the Bank Houses bird having a day out as I had never found one at the farm ever before or since.

Little Owl 10 July 2020. Pete Woodruff.

This Little Owl was a surprise find at the junction of Green Lane and the Kirkby Lonsdale Road 4 years ago. I managed this grab shot from my car with traffic behind me....I've not seen a Little Owl anywhere else since.

Little To Write Home About Mother!

Given its recent history, Conder Pool was at best pretty quiet on Friday, with just 60 birds noted in my stock taking exercise. The bulk of the count being 42 Lapwing and 13 Little Grebe, with 2 Tufted Duck, a pair of Lesser Black-backed Gull and a Little Egret bringing up the rear. I've reluctantly called this a dull and boringly routine experience, and not what I'm acquainted with for Conder Pool....But that's birding in'it!

The Lune Estuary didn't light any fires either, with up to 550 Lapwing, 155 Curlew, 24 Little Egret, 4 Greenshank, a lone House Martin flyby, and not a Golden Plover in sight. But I did see my first of the winter 120 Pink-footed Geese in two skeins >south. Other than finding them too distant to sift through, I ignored a couple of hundred gulls to the north of the Conder mouth.

Common Darter Saltcote Pond. Pete Woodruff.

On a relatively short walk along the canal towpath, 7 Migrant Hawker, 3 Brown Hawker, and a mewing Buzzard over. On Saltcote Pond, 3 Common Darter, one of which provided me with the only pik of the day.

Garden Goings On.

Garden Robin. Pete Woodruff.

A Robin returned to our garden nearly 2 months ago on 18 July after its summer break, and I tracked it down for a pik through the kitchen window yesterday in the plum tree. 

I captured this Dunnock out of the kitchen window too, they have had at least one brood this year with a juvenile>1st winter seen.

We have had some regular butterfly sightings in the garden, with probably 10 Red Admiral and a couple of Peacock seen over a couple of weeks.

Conder Pool's Got Talent.

Good results at Conder Pool Tuesday, including my finally catching up with a count of 19 Avocet including a bird marked Yellow Flag 6V. Another excellent find was 5 Mediterranean Gull which were seen as 2xadult, 2x2nd summer, and one unaged out of view save a full black hood behind the island.

Distracted by the other excitement, I failed to get a count of the godwits which flew off before I could, but I made an estimate of up to 900 Black-tailed Godwit which were accompanied by the lone Bar-tailed Godwit which obviously thinks it is one of them, and up to 400 Knot, a number I've never seen on Conder Pool before.

Also present, a Greenshank, 6 Snipe, a pair of Shoveler, 4 Tufted Duck, and a Stock Dove. I also caught up with the Spotted Redshank away from the Lune Estuary this time it was on the River Conder at Conder Green.

At Cockersand, interestingly a Barn Owl was on a post as I arrived here, it was in the same area as I left 2 hours later. Up to 80 Meadow Pipit were in the stubble field off Slack Lane, mostly flighty and not easy to assess, also in the same area 22 Linnet. Off Plover Scar, 8 Eider, and 6 Small Tortoiseshell were within a few metres along the path behind the caravan park.

Avocet. 

Avocet Conder Pool. Howard Stockdale.

Yellow Flag 6V was ringed as a chick at Conder Green in Lancashire on 1 June 2021. This bird paid a visit to Alkborough Flats in Lincolnshire on 31 July 2021, to return to Eric Morecambe Pool Leighton Moss RSPB Reserve on 26 August. Another interesting sighting was that of 6V seen at Conder Green with two chicks on 12 June 2022. The bird was sighted multiple times in 2021/22/23 up until 26 March 2024 at Conder Green.

You can't fail to ponder and question, why would an Avocet ringed as a chick on 1 June, fly out of Lancashire to Lincolnshire, then fly back to Lancashire 26 days later on 26 August?

I am grateful to Ian Hartley for the info on Avocet 6V, and to Howard Stockdale for his record shot of 21 Avocet on Conder Pool 24 March....Clik the pik for a better view.

Quiet Around The Lune Estuary....Again!

The lull before the storm migration takes off. But for what it's worth, high spring tides this week, 10.64m where I'm planning on going Tuesday. 

On Conder Pool, by the time I had noted the number had declined considerably from 4,000 recently to 1,500 Black-tailed Godwit today, a drake Scaup with 6 Tufted Duck had come into my view. This smart little drake was seen as another 'goodie' to add to the long list on Conder Pool, and was my first here since I found one 7 years ago in August 2017.

On the eerily quiet Lune Estuary at low tide, probably the same 9 Avocet as seen on 9 February/4 March, this time they were fragmented into 3 groups, 4 opposite Fishnet Point, 3 upstream opposite Waterloo Cottage, and 2 at the Conder mouth. The only other note was of 2 Goldeneye drake.

At Cockersand, the circuit was again quiet, but I had a brief view of a Barn Owl leaving its roost in a farm building, to perch on a post and return to roost 2 minutes later. A Sparrowhawk and later a Buzzard seen over fields, a Raven overhead on Slack Lane, from where c.35 Linnet poorly seen in the stubble field, and 4 Snipe exploded out of the ditch.

Through the doorway to the shell of a barn, I heard alarm calling which initially fooled me, until 4 Great Tit erupted out of the thicket.

Park and Garden.

Yes, this is the pond in Williamson's Park, and yes, this is a drake Pintail. 

I think Amazon have had a hand in the delivery of this duck here...I've seen the invoice!

And in the garden at dawn around at 6.15am, I watched a pair of Robin exploring the possibilities of using this open nest box for breeding....Definitely a case of watch this space.

On Wednesday, a Comma in the garden was my first, and the first one this year to be reported on the Butterfly Conservation website.

Thanks to Paul Ellis for the header image of the Scaup on Conder Pool Tuesday 5 March.

The Godwits And The Owl....Déjà vu.

The Conder Pool Godwits.

A few years back I had the amazing experience of seeing the huge number of 2,500 godwits on Conder Pool. I was not expecting to see a repeat again on Monday, but did have an even more amazing one, when I found a number there which equaled those I have been seeing lately, the last time being 9 February on the Lune Estuary at Glasson, when up to 3,500 Black-tailed Godwit graced Conder Pool once again.

Black-tailed Godwits Airborne Over Conder Pool. Pete Woodruff.

The godwits were accompanied by at least 50 Dunlin and a few Knot....Another magical first for me, with 10 Tufted Duck and 3 Little Grebe to note. 

On Jeremy and Moss Lane, a combined count of 475 Whooper Swan, also 4 Cattle Egret were in fields at Clarkson's Farm, which have now entered their 5 month stay in the Cockersand area. Five Reed Bunting and a Wren were on the marsh, c.550 Golden Plover were in the field by Abbey Farm, and a decent count of 25 Grey Plover were on Plover Scar as the tide ebbed. I found just one female Stonechat along the bulrush ditch off Slack Lane.

The Cockersand Barn Owl.

 

As I started the circuit, I came across the Barn Owl in the field by Bank House Cottage. By something of a coincidence, the owl took off and behaved pretty much the same as it had done on 7 February, it was in my sights for an hour and a half, crisscrossing the fields, hunting the hedgerows and ditches, before flying past me enroute back to Bank House Farm, having once again flown at least 3 miles in it's pursuit of prey.

If you have 3 minutes to spare this is an interesting and informative video ....

The Bowerham Bullfinch.

Bullfinch. Mike Atkinson.

I am grateful to Mike Atkinson for sending me the image of the male Bullfinch in his garden recently, whilst telling him we wait in anticipation of the first visit to our own garden just around the corner from him.

A female Siskin obliged the Woodruff's with a visit to the garden feeders this morning, but appeared alert and not feeding during the recording.