Thursday, August 29, 2013

More Fishy Tales

The fishy bit comes during post-birding grandparent duties, but first the bird news from a couple of hours Wednesday, later than desired due to BT being down on Wednesday afternoon. 

I don’t know why the sign warns of ducks crossing at Conder Green because the road is far too busy for birds to walk across the road. Mostly they fly above the road to and from the creeks, the pool and the more distant Lune marshes. 

Ducks crossing?

There were lots of Lapwings, a combined count of 300 on the creeks and pool but more like a couple of thousand out on the marsh beyond the railway bridge. I was walking the old railway track when it became obvious a Peregrine was about from the mass of Lapwings suddenly in flight, but it’s not always easy to spot a hunting Peregrine which might fly below, above or through the flocks of birds it panics into flight. Eventually I picked it up, the anchor shape cruising down river towards Lancaster and moving steadily away. Oh well, there will be other days with the magical raptor when wintering Peregrines are an almost daily occurrence in these parts. The Lapwings are very wary at the moment but I managed a half decent shot of a juvenile bird at the poolside. 

 Peregrine

Lapwing

The railway path was quiet with a single Whitethroat seen, a rather loud and emphatic “hweeting” Chiffchaff from the trees at the car park and a couple of overflying Goldfinch. Near the pool I at last found a decent flock of Goldfinches with 35 or more feeding on the extensive clumps of thistles, the number of plants enough to support a much bigger number of finches if only they were about. There was an addition to the regular waders with the appearance of a Ruff, too distant for a picture and constantly in and out of view as it walked behind a grassy bank. Two Spotted Redshank again plus 3 Greenshank, 10 Snipe and 40+ Common Redshank. 

Redshank

Spotted Redshank

A Kingfisher put in a brief appearance by flying at head height across the pool from direction of the canal and off towards the road bridge of the A588. Just one Little Grebe and 2 Cormorant, 12 Teal, 2 Tufted Duck and 2 Wigeon. 

Time allowed a quick look at Glasson where Coot numbers are now circa70 and Tufted Duck close on 15. Swallow numbers are down everywhere now that September beckons and I could find less than 10 here and similar numbers at Conder Green. 

There was a Buzzard circling over Thurnham on my journey back south and lunch time. 

Buzzard

Grandparenting duties took us to Knott End with Theo and to Knott End Chippy, a friendly little establishment which also happens to serve probably the best traditional fish and chips in the Fylde. 

The pictures of Knott End are for blogging pal Kay, a lady who enjoys Adventurous Travel yet has never visited the village of Knott End. Shame on you Kay. 
 
Knott End
 
 The Esplanade at Knott End
 
GranPa's Toy Shop

Knott End Chippy

 Haddock, Chips and Mushy Peas

More tales and more birds soon from Another Bird Blog.

16 comments:

Carole M. said...

enjoyed the bird shots Phil, but also that tasty fish 'n chips shot just as it's nearing time to think dinner preparations here

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

HI Phil Lovely selection of birds you saw and great shots of them. Now that plate of fish & chips looks very tasty adn making me hungry!!

eileeninmd said...

Hello Phil, sounds like a great outing. The Falcon on the hunt and pretty Lapwings. I would love to see a large flock of your gorgeous Goldfinches. The juvie Lapwing is adorable. And the buzzard in flight is great. Awesome post and the fish & chips does look delicious. Happy Birding!

Ercotravels said...

Wonderful collection of the birds which found by you. such, Nice photography, Indeed! or yes my new post has been updated...

Ana Mínguez Corella said...

Fine!!!. Great pictures. regards..

Kay L. Davies said...

PHIL! This is wonderful. My name is on the chippy. What a lovely surprise and, yes, it did cheer me up, make me smile, and make me laugh!
Knott End looks like a wonderful place. I am going to put my foot down about our next-to-next destination. We are already booked for Iceland at the end of March for Dick's 70th birthday, so I'm putting in for England and Scotland in summer '14. September would be nice, but he's always busy in September. (Work, about which I can't complain, because it pays for our travel.)
If it's okay with you, I'd love to put the photo of the chippy on my Facebook page.
Thanks for the smiles.
K

Wally Jones said...

Lapwings in the creek, lapwings on the marsh, goldfinches munching on thistles, a Peregrine!

All of that AND a plate of fish 'n chips!

What a life you have!

--Keep enjoying it, Grandpa!

Mary Howell Cromer said...

I adore seafood and so those fish and chips and mushy peas look grand to me...oh for some right now!
The peregrine, the Buzzard, the Lapwing, all favorites of mine and your photography always shows them off so handsomely.
I am having such a busy time and can hardly keep up, though I try. Have a happy weekend.
Oh and the duck crossing sign...I need to borrow that for when the young Mallards try to cross the 4 lane highway every Spring...what a mess to get them to the far side, where the lake is...

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Great birds (and again, so many .. and again, that there are so many makes me happy and hopeful). I can certainly see several good reasons why you took your grandson to Knott End...

Kerri Farley said...

Great birds! LOVE that Lapwing!!

TexWisGirl said...

the food looks good! :) that lapwing shot is beautiful as are the raptors in flight!

carol l mckenna said...

wonderful bird shots and love the trip shots too ~ carol, xo

VioletSky said...

I find some of the ducks (and geese) around here don't care if the road is busy, or four lanes, we get in their way!

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

Nice shots and oh my- I think it's time to fix supper!

Unknown said...

The sign is fun even if it's safer for the birds to fly across the road. I love your photo of the lapwing.

Stuart Price said...

I have never never never understood why anyone could eat mushy peas. That is all.

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