Is It Still Saturday?

The early BBC forecast looked like no birding today but the rain was much less than predicted and after a couple of hours birding my note book entries from Pilling read almost as a carbon copy of Saturday. 

Overnight rain replenished the wet fields of Backands Lane leaving areas for 300+ Lapwings, 4 Redshank, 4 Black-tailed Godwit and 18 Golden Plover, with many gulls I didn’t get the chance to scrutinise when the local bus ground slowly and noisily by. Which faceless bureaucrat decided that this quiet lane should be part of a bus route I don’t know, but they obviously sat on their brains at the same time they sat at their comfy, out-of-touch desk. 

It was from Damside I saw the Marsh Harrier quartering the wildfowler’s pools again, but I’d also seen Hi-Fly man along Fluke Hall Lane heading out the on the quad bike and towing a trailer full of cages holding more birds for release. When I reached the sea wall at Lane Ends the harrier had gone and the duck were just leaving for the marsh, 500+ Teal and 70 or so Pintail today. I don’t see many Wigeon using the daily bags of wheat here and I guess they must be even more wary than the legions of Teal which find the hand-outs early on in the feeding season. 

Pintail

There was a steady movement of Swallows this morning with upwards of 90 birds making their way west into the strong wind. Both pipits and Wheatears were noted this morning, with at least 6 Wheatears at several points along the wall, 30+ scattered Meadow Pipits and 1 White Wagtail. Four Little Egrets today and at least 3 Grey Herons, but it was so windy there would certainly be more feeding down in the creeks. I tried to get a few pictures of the Wheatears and the pipits but they kept their distance today, and my meal worms need replacing, so no joy there either. There's a trip planned to the Reptile Room for a new stock of wrigglies this pm. Just the other week I was talking to a guy waiting for the shop to open so he could buy food for his 17 tarantulas; and you think feeding Wheatears is weird? 

 Meadow Pipit

 

Meadow Pipit

 Wheatear

Wheatear

 

Here’s another picture for PW, part of the morning’s 120+ Pink-footed Geese flock looking much closer to Heysham Power Station than they actually were. Sorry Pete, our side of the bay. 

Pink-footed Goose

Scanning towards Heysham I saw 2 Peregrines flying close together and heading over towards Fluke Hall, with a few minutes later a Merlin, probably the same one seen in recent days and this morning chasing through the Swallows as they flew oh so slowly into a westerly headwind. 

It was a short session really, curtailed and limited by the wind but enjoyable all the same with hopefully more to come tomorrow on Another Bird Blog.