Back Again Birding

Another fine morning saw me hit the trail for Pilling in search of migrant birds again. 

Less than a quarter of a mile from home my first Swallow of the year was flying near farm buildings, a returnee claiming home territory. I saw another Swallow through Cockerham village and again this one was back on familiar ground near farm buildings. 

Barn Swallow

There didn’t appear to be visible Swallow migration during the morning, the two being the only hirundines noted. I’ve yet to see Sand Martin or House Martin this year but there’s no panic to do so. 

After some weeks without paying a visit I motored on up to Conder Green to see what I’d missed. The answer came back as “not a lot” and with a pretty high water level there wasn’t a great deal happening apart from a number of Meadow Pipits passing overhead, a theme to be repeated throughout the morning. The wintering Common Sandpiper was on the far bank where in a day or two it should be joined by others which spent the winter in warmer regions. 

Common Sandpiper

Otherwise - a single Grey Heron, 8 Tufted Duck, 2 Teal, 10 Oystercatcher and 12 Shelduck. 

It was at Fluke Hall where the apparent movement of Meadow Pipits became more obvious. Groups were grounded, perhaps by the hazy and less than perfect visibility, while others made their way overhead in mostly south east and easterly directions and using the slight breeze coming from the south-east to give lift. This was happening throughout a walk to Pilling Water and back with a total of 150+ “mipits” seen and heard. The pipits are on their way north to the inland hills of England, the whole of Scotland and the Scottish Isles, Iceland and maybe even Scandinavia. 

Meadow Pipit

The woodland was quite busy with the sound of birdsong. I found 4 Chiffchaff, 3 Willow Warbler, 2 Mistle Thrush, 3 Song Thrush, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 1 Treecreeper, 2 Pied Wagtail and 2 Greenfinch, plus lots of Blackbirds, Robins and Tree Sparrows. 

Willow Warbler

The sea wall to Pilling Water and back found the movement of Meadow Pipits plus 2 Snipe on the wet fields, 1 Whimbrel flying off the marsh, 2 Reed Buntings in the phragmites bed and 3 separate Little Egrets. Small numbers of non-breeding egrets spend the summer along the marsh here. Two Kestrels were at Fluke Hall and a single one at Pilling Water. 

 Kestrel

Fluke Hall - Pilling

Just 2 Wheatear today and they were separated by 800 yards. Thursday proved to be a big push day for the species with good numbers reported up and down our coastline north to south, numbers which included small parties of between a few and 15 individuals. 

Yes, there’s more birding to come soon from Another Bird Blog. Don’t miss it.

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday.