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No ringing for me this morning when no one else seemed available, so last night I looked forward to whatever came along. I didn’t set the alarm clock but let my natural rhythms take account of the increasing light of the spring which woke me before 0630. Not quite the 0330 start that a month or twos time promises but still a shock to the system after the long winter nights. Warm and snug under the duck down duvet did at least inspire me to think about where to go – Knott End to try and get a few pictures of the jetty loving Eider but also the regular flock of Twite. I emptied yet another can of de-icer on the car windscreen and set off.

Of course Twite twittered long before twittering became the latest and most imperative social function; after all, that’s how they came to be called Twite. I saw and heard the flock of 25, take one or two, twittering away from the roof of a block of flats where they go when disturbed by bird watchers, photographers and uncontrolled dogs. They twittered from the ridge tiles, twittered when they flew down, twittered as they fed on the marsh, then twittered all over again when they went for a fly around. And I got a few pictures even though the light was pretty poor, but I need to go back when it’s sunny.

Twite

Twite
As I hung around the jetty I think the ferry man set off from Fleetwood for my fare but then seemingly then turned around mid stream when I walked in the other direction. Hope I didn’t wreck his early brew, but my mission was more important than his first cup of tea. The tide rolled in slowly to allow my counts of 1200 Oystercatcher, 15 Turnstone, 18 Redshank, 1 Ringed Plover, 55 Knot, 2 Cormorant, 65 Shelduck, 5 Eider, 2 Pied Wagtails and 1 Meadow Pipit. The Eider were not very accommodating, waddling off into the water instead of sitting watching the world go by from the jetty end as they usually do.


Eider

Knot

Knot

Ringed Plover

Turnstone

Pied Wagtail
It’s a shocking forecast for Sunday and whilst it looks like the south of England will bear the brunt of rain, I don’t see us northerners getting out either. Then on Monday I’m off to ditch the old Honda and trade it in for another product from The Land of the Rising Sun which will at least allow me to go Lancaster way incognito for a while until PW susses me out. Tuesday is babysitting so that’s me thwarted for a day or two.

But it’s only two weeks before we see one of these fellas to cheer us up.

Picture courtesy of Bjorn Torrisen at
http://bjornfree.com/galleries.html

Wheatear

Weekend Wildfowl

I didn’t get out this morning but I am posting some wildfowl pictures from Sunday afternoon when I grabbed a few hours birding after the morning mist and murk lifted, but I didn’t see a lot apart from lots of Lapwing, Curlew and Redshank along Fluke Hall way. The highlight was a single Ruff in a muddy puddle with Lapwing, perhaps one of the two I found last week, then later a fast flying Barn Owl on Pilling Moss being harried by a Carrion Crow. Best shot I could get I’m afraid. The technical term for this is "record shot". But at least I know where to park my car next time after I weighed up its hunting circuit.

Barn Owl

Being Over Wyre in mid-winter there were plenty of wildfowl around at the weekend, and also lots of birders looking for and at them. Paul sent me some pictures that he took of a Dark-bellied Brent Goose at Copthorne that was hanging around with feral Greylag Geese; plus Bewick’s Swans at Thurnham, and Whooper Swans also at Thurnham.

Dark-bellied Brent Goose & Greylag Goose

Bewick’s Swan

Whooper Swan

I did grab these next few pictures,Eiders at Knott End and more Whooper Swans, these at Fluke Hall Lane, part of the huge flock of 250+ seen recently.

Eider

Eider

Whooper Swan

Beware The Balls

My first admission is that I haven’t got any new photographs from today apart from the first one because most birds I saw simply weren’t playing ball for posing, but I also had the usual problem of too much grey sky and no sunshine. I like to use my own photographs to illustrate the blog but sometimes it’s just not possible to get new or relevant ones. What an excuse!

But at least I have some birds to report and if I stick in a few old pictures from sunnier times, maybe I can be excused this time or other readers simply wont notice.

After a morning swim and sauna but in need of fresh air I thought I might head off walking in a slightly different direction this afternoon but I first checked out the Knott End stuff along the foreshore and the jetty.

Go to the top of the jetty, just hang about there and for sure the Twite appear from wherever they were just spooked by a passing stranger. At least in the air I can get a reasonably accurate count as I did when the flock of 40/45 flew over twice before landing in the fenced off abandoned building site where the encroaching weeds must offer a bit of food. Three Eider, 2 males sharing a female, waited for the ferry on the concrete slope but as the boat got a little nearer and they saw the other passengers, the Eider changed their minds and slipped into the water. A sentinel Cormorant was long gone towards the Wyre Light when the ferry was only half way from Fleetwood.

On the pebbles and tidal debris below the jetty I counted 14 Turnstone, 12 Redshank, 2 Pied Wagtail 2 Sanderling and 1 Rock Pipit. And there are three of my older photographs taken at Knott End on previous occasions. I’m biased but I think the Pied Wagtail pic really captures the forever active spirit of the species.

Eider


Turnstone

Pied Wagtail


Sanderling

I didn’t count the Oystercatchers, Redshank and Shelduck further out on the beach to the north because I decided to head up river and south across Knott End Golf Course reckoning that few golfers might be out on such a cold, dismal, windswept day and thus make my walk across the fairways a little safer. As it happened I needn’t have worried too much from head height golf balls as most of the objects travelled fairly slowly at ankle height. Luckily I was now kitted out with walking boots, double skin trousers and thermal socks to protect my lower body, but from wayward golf balls as well as the cold wind.

I reached Hackensall Hall without major incident or little round indents to my boots; I stopped for a while to look around the old buildings and wonderful old trees, perfect for owls I thought, but not today, only Robins, noisy Blackbirds, and chattering Wrens, with a single Song Thrush and a Mistle Thrush.

I did find other woodland birds, like 4 Great-spotted Woodpeckers scrapping over the best trees even though I thought there were dozens suitable. Obviously the peckers know which ones are best for their purpose. Below is a “nearly” picture on a sunny day. There were surprisingly few Chaffinch about but a small flock of titmice included four Long-tailed Tits and 2 Treecreepers, just after I said a day or two ago that they are scarce.

Great-spotted Woodpecker


Treecreeper

The recently thawed pool with now the thinnest skin of either ice or much colder water was almost deserted save for a Moorhen and a Coot. Here’s a photo I took a week ago when I recall the weather being a little icy. What enormous feet, but useful for mauling bird ringers.


Coot
Out of the woodland I followed the track towards Barnaby’s Sands where on the other side of the hedgerow I counted 7 Redwings and 5 Blackbirds feeding on a damp grassy field with 15 Oystercatchers and 3 Redshank for company. I was rapidly running out of time after lingering in the woodland and watching the antics of a few less than accomplished “golfers”, but I was in time to watch both a Merlin and a Short-eared Owl over the marshes of the Wyre backdropped by hundreds of distant Teal and Wigeon. I retraced my steps to Knott End along the riverside path where behind the stone parapet I found an abandoned golf ball nestling bright yellow in the rough grass. I threw it back into the fairway to get my own back and hopefully confuse a wayward golfer.

To sum up, a pleasant, quiet walk with a good tally of birds and I'm still in one piece.

Fogged Off

Obviously the wind dropped a little more than anticipated, the fall in temperature and the moisture in the air played their part and bingo – fog. I set off because I just knew I could see a hint of sunshine up there to burn off the damp air quickly, optimistic fool.

At 8am the only birds I saw through the gloom were the ghostly shapes of crows and gulls, up early whatever the weather. Similarly the Robins ticked and called through the murk and surprisingly, somewhere out there a Buzzard called from the treetops or flew around on radar.

I struck out along Motorbike Mile thinking that by the time I got to Conder, the pool would be bathed in early sunshine, perfect photography light. I must have been the first vehicle along the road for a while because sat on a roadside post near Gulf Lane was a bright, orangey, male Merlin which glanced at me in the car, but as I slowed to look closer, flew off towards Moss Edge. I guess that this is the male we see regularly at Braides.

It was too much to hope that I could get a picture of a Merlin but the image below is by the famous ornithologist John Gould (1804-1881) who played an important part in the identification of Darwin’s finches.

The light was pretty gloomy at Conder, in fact it was a light fog but I convinced myself, perhaps marginally better than before. The light was good enough to make out the grey shapes of Redshank across the pool, as the bills of Snipe became the key to identification. A Spotted Redshank fed with common Redshank below the road and I heard the other fly overhead then probably around the pool when some of the birds spooked away for a while.

The mist hung around for what seemed ages, with intermittent but sunless bright spells where a trickle of Meadow Pipits, Skylarks and albas went over. About 40 Pink-footed Goose, now all grey in the overhead mist, reoriented west and back towards Pilling after their brief flight towards the Lune. The Kingfisher appeared briefly on the overflow wall and also flew across the road into the creek but the light was too poor to take more pictures hence the one from August below.

I stuck it out until 10 when I turned back along the A588 and down towards Bank End where the hopeful parachutists had watched the same weather forecast as me and were parked up surveying their non flying morning. I always look in the gorse along there, and as usual there was an assortment of Blackbirds on the old blackberries and my friend the Kestrel worked the hedgerow but from a tree today. At least the spiders had been busy, making patterns through the damp gorse.

Sod’s Law they call it because as I neared Lane Ends towards home and a warming coffee the sky noticeably cleared and the sun appeared, burning away the remnants of mist.

Along Backsands Lane several Meadow Pipit clung to the barbed wire fence ahead of me as the clearing air allowed the combined calls of many Pink-footed Goose to reach me. Along Fluke Hall Lane in the stubble field the geese were as densely packed as can be, upwards of 3000 I thought as I dare not leave the car so close to the road were they; just on the other side of the tree screen at the edge of the field, so near that the murmuring, the humming of the flock was very loud. By going further east I also moved from too close proximity which allowed a better scan of the pinkie flock to locate nine Barnacle Geese with them.

In the wood I heard Long-tailed Tits calling, then again at the end of the wood at the car park where I saw a handful, but it looks like there are a couple of flocks at least. There were more Meadow Pipits here, just before Ridge Farm where the failed potato crop lies on the ground with several grounded and ones or twos flying without any obvious direction in mind.

I counted more than 30 Skylarks here and in the stubbly field south of it, but as usual it is difficult to quantify what Skylarks are actually “up to”.

Below the sea wall a couple of Wheatears stuck together as they hopped back and forth through the rocks according to the passage of people walking above them.

Sometimes it just has to be done - Shopping that is. But I don’t just stand outside I do actually go in, mainly to make sure the wine bears the correct label. But at least at Knott End it is possible to grab a few birds, as in 3 Little Egrets on the shore this afternoon plus one on the mussel beds, 15 Eider and a Great Crested Grebe off shore together with a couple of Pied Wagtails opposite the Thai takeaway.

Alright then, the Eider isn’t my picture but the egret and wagtail are.