Wednesday 2nd August

The forecast for Wednesday wasn’t good. Dry, dull and cloudy for the morning before yet more rain. Luckily I managed a couple of hours birding before dark clouds rolled in from the West and rain spotted the windscreen. It was just eight-fifteen so I was home in time for morning coffee after clocking up an agreeable list of birds in short time. 

I stopped first at Gulf Lane where Linnets in the wild bird seed crop numbered more than fifty. We plan a ringing session on the first suitable morning to kick off Linnet Project 2017/20018. The latest forecast points to next Tuesday or Wednesday before the weather becomes anything like. 

A feature of the last few weeks has been the number of Sand Martins at Conder Green. This morning I again noted a large number of martins feeding over the water and along the hedgerows. Mixed in with the martins were lesser numbers of both Swallows and Swifts, a mass of fast moving birds that I estimated at 140 Sand Martins, 40 Swallows and 10 Swifts. This appears to be an early morning phenomenon linked to the post-dawn emergence of many thousands of insects from the immediate area. A visitor later in the day will see very few of the same bird species. 

A mile away is the now highly successful Sand Martin colony at Bank Lane where on Monday I counted 350 Sand Martins but today less than 50. If I were a Sand Martin I too might be tempted to head for Africa rather than persist with an English summer. 

Meanwhile, and back at Conder Green  2 Common Terns continue to loaf around the floating pontoon where the species bred this year. Whether some three weeks after breeding these two birds are the self-same pair is anyone’s guess; probably not, as the species is both widespread and as common as the name implies. 

Four Goosanders floated across the water and took turns to dive for fish. As is often the case here, autumn sightings consist of a female and three or four offspring but rarely a male. 

Goosander

Wait long enough and Lapwings that roost on the island show themselves by “spooking” at something unseen. The Lapwings seemed especially nervous and took to the air several times before returning to the island a minute or so later, their worries over for now.  I counted 160+ today.

Other waders and wildfowl today: 22 Redshank, 14 Curlew, 10 Oystercatcher, 2 Common Sandpiper, 1 Dunlin, 5 Little Grebe, 3 Little Egret, 2 Tufted Duck, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Cormorant. 

Common Sandpiper

“Bit and bobs” were few and far between and limited to 6 Linnet, 4 Goldfinch, 2 Pied Wagtail, 2 Stock Dove, 1 Tree Sparrow and 1 Willow Warbler. 

It was a little too breezy for the regular Kingfisher to sit around so I drove up to look on Glasson Dock where the water is protected from the wind by buildings, tallish boats and the walls of the dock. My luck was partially in with a brief view of a Kingfisher on mooring ropes and a Grey Heron fishing the shallow edges. A small fishing boat gave out voices and then an outboard motor sparked into noisy life to ripple the water. Both birds fled the scene and I cursed that I hadn’t been there earlier. 

Grey Heron

 

Grey Heron

Kingfisher

Lesser Black-backed Gulls

On the larger expanse of water I saw a Great Crested Grebe, a second Grey Heron, a Common Tern and four Cormorant.

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday Blog.