Monday, September 17, 2012

A Nearly Day

I nearly didn’t go out after watching this morning’s weather forecast depicting wind and rain, that and also worrying about getting home on time for a midday appointment. But then the sun was out, the wind seemed no worse than of late, the sky didn’t look too ominous and so off I went. 

After tons of overnight rain a check of a few flooded fields was in order, first Backsands Lane and then Braides Farm. There was absolutely nothing at Pilling where the flood is almost too close to the busy lane, but the distant flood of Braides held a wealth of birds: 60 Teal, 140 Lapwing, 2 Ruff, 18 Dunlin and 30 Curlew, with lots of birds hidden by the far-off uneven ground and ditches. Even though I have permission to walk the area, to do so would only serve to scatter the many birds in all directions; so I stayed put, watching from the car and pondering if there could be a more unapproachable gathering of birds than one which includes watchful and nervous Teal, Redshank, Lapwing and Curlew. There were a good number of Swallows over the fields too, at least 70 feeding low down in the windy conditions, and still a few House Martins. 

Teal

At Lane Ends the sun was definitely out with the clouds too far away to do any immediate damage so a walk to Pilling Water beckoned. I almost walked past the Goldcrest in the plantation, but because it was very close to the path I just heard its thin calls above the sway of the trees and then on reaching the gate a Little Egret was heading for the shelter of the trees surrounding the pool. Further along I was to find another 9 Little Egrets and 2 Grey Heron. 

Little Egret

At Pilling Water; more Swallows c40, 100 Goldfinch, 1 Pied Wagtail, 4 Meadow Pipit, 3 Skylark, 2 Linnet, 4 Wheatear and 1 Kingfisher, with the latter two species about to provide the almost, the nearly, the not quite, the frustration that ringers, birders and photographers know only too well. First came the Wheatears, dodging about the meal worm traps, showing all the signs of taking the bait until two people came along intent on walking over my traps and sending the Wheatears along the sea wall to Knott End. Cursing while retrieving the traps I saw one of them had been sprung with no sign of the meal worm in the hair grip. They do that sometimes the Wheatears, take the bait without so much as a thank you. Ten minutes later the strollers were on their same way back as the traps found their way back in the shoulder bag for another, less trying day. 

Wheatear

Hi-Fly man had been and gone with the sacks of wheat, so had all the Teal, with just small groups motoring back from the tideline, diving for the cover of the deep ditches now the coast was clear. The Peregrine, a juvenile today, flew over heading for the pool near Fluke Hall where there might be more Teal for breakfast. But I’d heard a Kingfisher so sat down in the grassy bank. The Kingfisher came near, too close for comfort as I dropped low in the grass with the stems and seed heads obscuring the lens. I clicked once; the Kingfisher saw me and off it sped across the pool and out of sight.

Kingfisher

Better luck next time. Hopefully soon an Another Bird Blog.

This week I’m linking with  I'd Rather-B-Birdin and Paying Ready Attention Photo Gallery– take a look see. 

18 comments:

  1. A great bird post. A lot of interesting photos!
    Well done!

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  2. Lucky you to get the wonderful shot of the kingfisher!

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  3. Kingfishers are a real treat to see here. Glad you got another shot of this beauty. It's always fun seeing your birds. I hope to see them someday.

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  4. Phil, I am so glad the weather permitted your outing. Love the kingfisher and egret shot! Happy Birding!

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  5. Wow the first picture of the teals give a very soothing feeling.

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  6. Buena captura de la Garzeta comun en vuelo.Saludos

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  7. your kingfisher is so beautiful! love those subtle-colored but striking wheatears. and the sparkles on the water in the first shot are wonderful, too.

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  8. You got some lovely shots Phil!
    I like the sparkles off the water in the first one and the kingfisher shot was still worth it.
    Your header shot is gorgeous!

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  9. Great photos of all the birds!
    I would love to see a kingsfisher - some day!
    Greetings Pia in Sweden

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  10. I really enjoy your pictures. How do they know if there are 100 or 7000 birds. I am unsure how this is worked out. From Findlay

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  11. Beautiful shots,especially the kingfisher. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  12. oh my.........that kingfisher.......stunning!!!!

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  13. I'm glad you got the Kingfisher photo. It's beautiful and quite a different color from what I see out here.

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  14. I really like the Wheatear and of course the Kingfisher shot. Really nice stuff.

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  15. Love the shot of the little egret! Sounds like you saw quite a few ducks!

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  16. I do wish people who don't want to look at birds would stay at home!! (Although on reflection that may be a bit extreme!)

    I used to work on some urban fringe NR's in the NE of England - and we used to loose the fencing timber over night and some of the fences during winter! I think the 'scopes would last about 10 minutes!

    Thanks for linking to WBW

    Stewart M - Australia

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  17. Fantastic series, and I love the egret shot! Beautiful!
    :)

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