Eleven Days Later.

When I finally got out yesterday, it had been 11 days since I'd had a wander around the estuary, and in my book the day started well with the sight of a Stonechat in the east corner of Conder Pool. This looks like a bird from a possible 4 pairs set to winter in the area around the Lune Estuary....time will tell. A lone Tree Sparrow was in the hedgerow by the viewing screen.

A stunning female Kingfisher soon followed the chat to oblige and pose for a picture. If the volume in the video is full on, the winnowing call of one of 10 Little Grebe is heard towards the end prior to the Kingfisher leaving the scene.

On arriving at the bowling green to view the estuary, to be honest I was overwhelmed by the sight of up to 5,000 waders in view. Making life even more difficult, there was also a raptor - probably an undetected Peregrine Falcon - in hunting mode. Up to 2,000 Lapwing and 1,500 Black-tailed Godwit, with good numbers of Golden Plover, Curlew, Redshank, and Dunlin. A drake Goldeneye, 4 Goosander, and a Great-crested Grebe were of note, also 4 Shoveler are at best irregular here.

On the canal basin, 24 Tufted Duck and a drake Goosander seen, with not a Goldeneye in sight, a favoured location for the winter visitor.

Driving along Moss Lane with a vehicle behind, I noted c.40 Fieldfare in trees. At Cockersand, I struggled to find 3 Stonechat, two were working their way along the bulrushes in the ditch off Slack Lane, and after two visits to the rough field behind Lower Bank House, I eventually found another Stonechat. I also saw a pair of Chaffinch....Can't remember when I last saw Chaffinch at Cockersand!

Along a length of c.1/4 mile, I estimated at least 2,500 Wigeon in rafts stretching from Plover Scar to the Cocker Estuary. In a field by Abbey Farm, 130 Curlew seen. This winters peak count of 245 Whooper Swan was opposite Gardners Farm off Moss lane.

Whooper Swan Thurnham 19 Nov. Howard Stockdale.

Howard sent me the image of Whooper Swan W43C. Ringed a little over 3 months ago at Miklavatn, Skagafjorour, Iceland, 14 August 2023. Having flown 1,600km to be seen for the first time in Thurnham on 19 November....Thanks Howard, much appreciated. 

Fringillidae's Ring My Bell!

It was good to get back up to Birk Bank again on Monday, though I found no Stonechat, but didn't feel any guarantee to do so to be honest. I only managed to chalk up 9 species in the 3 hours spent there doing the circuit, Rigg Lane - Ottergear Bridge - Crag Wood - Littledale Road -  Rigg Lane, but like I have said many times before....this is upland birding, and this is mid-winter.

The first of my pick of the day birds were, 8 Siskin, seen briefly in Alders around the car park, they were soon followed by a mix of around 50 Redwing and Fieldfare in a field with c.500 Starling off Rigg Lane, nearby a Jay seen. Birds noted on the circuit were, 5 Blackbird, 5 Robin, 2 Wren and a female Chaffinch.

At least 14 Red Grouse seen, included probably my tenth encounter over three years, of a rogue individual. I've not yet worked out this behaviour by all these grouse which, given they are game birds subject to being shot out of the sky, they don't take kindly to humans and take to flight on sight.

Like every other encounter I have had with these birds, this one either went ahead of me, or followed behind with its loud bouncing barks and 'go back' calls. This one flew three times at me from behind....I remain puzzled!

Calling in at Lancaster Cemetery on my way home was a good idea as I made my second 'pick of the day' and sixth contact with a pair of Bullfinch, the male calling/singing to a female in the tree opposite before both flying off....Must keep my eyes on these two for possible breeding evidence in May.

Stonechat Records January 2023.

Stonechat Cockersand. Ian Mitchell.

Having collected 33 wintering Stonechat records during the month of January, I'm supposing they had a good breeding season in 2022. There have been a couple of January records which surprise me, in that I either haven't seen records from the location before, or don't know the site, examples are....

9 Jan Milnthorpe Sewage Works, female.

9 Jan Haweswater Moss, bird.

15 Jan Longridge Fell, 4 pairs.

21 Jan Light Ash, pair.

Two birders have been in touch with me, and passed on records from two locations which they claim haven't had wintering birds, both have suggested spring migration of the Stonechat is already underway in the first week of February.

Ring Ouzel.

Known to winter mainly in southern Spain and N.W. Africa, I was surprised to see one reported 3 days ago on 5 February at Tarn Crag, Langdale, Cumbria. I was further surprised to learn this sighting isn't the first winter record of Ring Ouzel in Cumbria, that being of a bird reported 27 years ago on 2 February 1996.

Absolutely no apologies for two stunning images of Stonechat at Cockersand. With many thanks to Howard Stockdale and Ian Mitchell.   

Twice Round The Block!

During the week I managed a couple of blasts through Williamson's Park and Lancaster Cemetery. This turned out to be another one of my good ideas as I was rewarded with the latest sighting of 4 Bullfinch here again, seen as two male and female. This is my fourth sighting of Bullfinch in Lancaster Cemetery since I found five on 30 October 2014, whilst noting as in Bowland, I've never found Bullfinch here during the breeding season starting late April.

Canadian Maple In Williamson's Park. Pete Woodruff.

Also of note in the park, 2 Jay, Nuthatch, Goldcrest, and Wren, 3 Coal Tit, at least 16 Blackbird, 12 Wood Pigeon, 8 Magpie, and with 6 Chaffinch on beech mast I was hoping to find a Brambling....wishful thinking!

Red Admiral 19 October. Pete Woodruff. 

On the two visits I saw 7 Red Admiral, they were seen as five in Williamson's Park, and two in Lancaster Cemetery....Have you seen the one on Ivy top left of the frame?

Pintail Anus acuta....In our recording area, the Pintail is a passage migrant and winter visitor.

The header image is of 20 Pintail>south off Plover Scar. This is significant in that I'd say it's the first record of such a number at Cockersand in many a year, I've never recorded the species here to date, and I regard the Pintail on the Lune Estuary at best scarce. In my records, 2 female on Conder Pool 25 October 2019 were the first there and not since.

Thanks to Martin Jump for his excellent record breaking image.   

B2B Episode 2247.

Though the weather wasn't all that pleasant on Tuesday, having scrounged a lift to Galgate, I did have a enjoyable ramble along the canal from Galgate back to Lancaster, about 4 mile in as many hours at a snails pace.

Treecreeper. Martin Jump.

Along the way, it was a toss up for bird of the day, between the small mouse-like Treecreeper, with it's long miniature Curlew-like decurved bill, and doing what it does best as the tree-trunk and branch-climbing passerine, and the 3 Goldcrest seen. Best in number was the count of at least 22 Blackbird, with 5 Robin seen, a Wren, Blue Tit, Great Tit, and Chaffinch. A Buzzard flew treetop height over the canal, and a Cormorant over south.

December 2019 Notes.

I've noted the Little Grebe have failed to return to winter on Conder Pool in anything like the numbers of previous years. I think the best count to date has been 8 Little Grebe, which compares to a personal peak count of 22 last year on Conder Pool 18 December.

Also failing to return to Conder Green this winter is a Common Sandpiper, one of which wintered for 11 consecutive years until last recorded here in 2018. But I've not seen a wintering Common Sandpiper, nor seen any reports from here since my last sighting on 11 October 2019.

Until 1,000 had been reported at Cockersand yesterday Saturday 5 December, the Golden Plover had so far been absent in number from the Lune Estuary to date, counts had only been at around 500. My last combined peak count was of c.3,350 Golden Plover at Glasson/Cockersand on 16 December 2019, probably representing the entire Lune Estuary population at the time. A notable comment on the LDBWS sightings page from one regular Lune Estuary birder last Sunday 29 October....'Didn't see a single Golden Plover'.

Fieldfare. Richard Pegler.

Another two interesting December records from 2019, was of at least 1,000 Fieldfare seen in the Conder Green/Cockersand area on 16 December. The following day, Fieldfare with Redwing were in view for the length of the walk Aldcliffe to Glasson on 17 December, amounting to 1,200 individuals by the time I got to Glasson Dock. Also seen on the walk 92 Blackbird...Impressive stuff. 

Video Issue.

The recent 'Videos won't play on B2B' issue has been fixed. I'd like to publicly thank Blogger for resolving this problem.

Thanks to Brian, Martin and Richard for some excellent images.

Seeing Is Believing.

Well I thought I'd seen it all on Monday with the unprecedented numbers of winter thrushes to be seen around the Lune Estuary. But Tuesday was to be a repeat and more when I decided to do the 5 mile trek from Lancaster to Glasson Dock, and by the time I reached there I had recorded in excess of Mondays total of 1,000 winter thrushes.

Fieldfare @Pegler Birding 

Starting with the birds seen at Aldcliffe, where - by the time I reached Aldcliffe Hall Lane from Freeman's Wood - I had seen at least 200 Fieldfare and probably half that number of Redwing, a similar ratio of which continued for three hours until I reached Glasson Dock to repeat Mondays conservative total of 1,000 Fieldfare which included at least 50 seen at Conder Green. Added to this, I recorded 105 Blackbird and 2 Song Thrush along the way.

This was one of those unbelievable experiences, including the Blackbirds. I had Fieldfare and Redwing in my sights virtually all the time, seeing it was believing it. 

Back to the start, with the exception of up to 40 Teal, Freeman's Pools was quiet, a pair of Gadwall and Wigeon. I watched a Buzzard leave a tree to fly across the pool to land in a tree opposite. As I was 3/4 of the way along the top track at Aldcliffe, a Sparrowhawk flew towards me, went over my head and flew the full length of the path at little more than a metre off the ground.

Along the way, a flock of 42 Chaffinch, 25 Greenfinch, 18 Long-tailed Tit in three groups, and 12 Robin. On the canal basin at Glasson Dock, 4 Goldeneye and 3 Goosander....The bus is coming!    

Third Time Lucky.

At Conder Green, 9 Little Grebe seen as six in the creeks and three on Conder Pool were there was 14 Wigeon and little else. On the coastal path 6 Chaffinch were of note.

There was good numbers of Fieldfare in the berry laden hedges along Moss Lane to Cockersand, including at least fifty along the length of one close to Bank Houses....Clik the pik it's a bit more 'berry laden' impressive.

Up to 200 Whooper Swan remain in inland fields despite much farming/tractor activities in the area. Also in fields, 268 Black-tailed Godwit, 125 Curlew, and at Cockerham Sands, a Rock Pipit, 10 Greenfinch, and 2 Reed Bunting.

On Plover Scar at high tide, 55 Turnstone, 25 Knot, and 12 Oystercatcher. From Slack Lane, at least 50 Meadow Pipit were flighty, and on the wires appeared unaffected by a Kestrel perched alongside them at one point.

There had been no sign of the Stonechats seen at Cockerham Sands on 21 November, and again from Slack Lane on the bulrushes 26 November, I had checked both locations and all points in between. But a hunch they might be along the sea-wall between Lighthouse and Crook Cottages paid off handsomely when I found the pair in fading light at dusk, they were midway between the two cottages....Third time lucky.

Female Stonechat  Martin Jump@Flickr

My birding had ended as well as it could have done, after all these were a pair of Stonechat, with no apologies for yet another pik.

High As A Kite!

Hard to believe I didn't get up Hawthornthwaite Fell this summer, the last and only time I was there was 22 April when I found none, but I derived great pleasure in finding 3 Stonechat at Hawthornthwaite yesterday, also a decent count of 22 Red Grouse and a Wren to note.

Red Kite Noushka @ 1000-Pattes Clik the pik

As I reached to top of the hill at Cam Brow, turning a bend I was confronted by a large raptor on a carcass in the road, the bird took off the minute it saw the car and flew north toward Abbeystead. I pulled off the road to walk back to see if I could find the bird, but it had disappeared, but soon came into view again flying south towards Hawthornthwaite Fell, it was a Red Kite. I'm grateful to Noushka for the excellent image of this stunning bird. 

At least 100 Chaffinch seen today. Walking up the track toward White Moor from Tower Lodge, c.40 were up and down out of the trees and onto the track, I found just 2 Brambling with them. Later another flock of at least 60 seen in the road east of Tower Lodge, this time up and down between the traffic with just one Brambling seen with them.

Good numbers in excess of 200 Fieldfare seen on the day, with estimates of at least 40 at Isle of Skye Farm, probably 100 at Fellside Farm seen from a moving car, and 70 in the Tower Lodge area. A Dipper was the only bird seen on the Marshaw Wyre. 

Marshaw Wyre Bowland. Pete Woodruff. Clik the pik 

Bowland Updated.

Weather-wise not quite the day I had hoped for on Monday, an hour into the visit I had to escape back to the car almost a mile away from a downpour. But it was actually all worth while when the weather dried up, not least because I eventually found 3 Pied Flycatcher, a male of which was at a natural hole in the same tree 100 metres east of Trough Bridge, where I've found them before in two previous years, I got no sign of any female in a lengthy stakeout. The other sighting was at a nest box with male and female entering to feed young.

Spotted Flycatcher. Howard Stockdale.

I found only 4 Spotted Flycatcher today, all at the backside of the plantation from Tower Lodge. Also noted of the 24 species counted, 10 Grey Wagtail were on the Marshaw Wyre including juveniles, also a similar number of Pied Wagtail. A few Sand Martin were at Marshaw, and at least four active House Martin nests are at Tower Lodge with Swallow around. On the Marshaw Wyre, 4 Common Sandpiper were seen as two pairs with behaviour indicating young around.  

I twice heard a Cuckoo calling, this one in the Marshaw area as opposed to the last visit when one was heard in the area of woodland above Tower Lodge. Nine Chaffinch seen included two juvenile, 2 Blackcap, 2 Mistle Thrush, and a singing Willow Warbler was the only one today.

I had no sighting of Dipper on the Marshaw Wyre, my last here was on 23 May 2018 despite at least four visits.

At Stoops Bridge, Abbeystead, another pair of Pied Flycatcher were seen visiting a natural nest hole to feed young, and a pair of Spotted Flycatcher, the female of which could be clearly seen on the nest.

Garden Birds.

Garden Blackbird 11 June. Pete Woodruff.

We now have a trio of young Blackbirds in our garden. It was a treat to see all three together in pursuit of an adult male, running down the path towards the kitchen door yesterday....Magic.  

OT.

On a suggestion by the team, more occupational therapy was required. So armed with a pair of binoculars I could turn the therapy into a welcome spell of birding with KT through Williamson Park on Friday....Chocks away!

An influx of at least 12 Blackbird were attracted to berries on a beautiful Yew at Fenham Carr, they were accompanied by 2 Redwing and 2 Goldcrest, with 2 Robin seen, and a small number of Blue Tit, Great Tit, and Chaffinch. Most impressive was the 9 Nuthatch seen/heard on the visit.

Comma Lancaster Cemetery 26 October. Pete Woodruff.

Four October butterflies seen on a brief wander through Lancaster Cemetery on Quernmore Road, 2 Comma and 2 Red Admiral all pristine individuals on Ivy. Not many birds seen, but a Song Thrush is an excellent record in any birders notebook these days, and up to 12 Magpie and at least similar Wood Pigeon. 

This was OT at its best.

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A Ring-necked Parakeet was reported seen in flight over Freehold on 14 October. Presumably the same bird had been heard three days earlier at the University of Cumbria, and I'm belatedly and reliably told of a bird heard again from St Peter's Road around the cathedral last Sunday 21 October.

Ring-necked Parakeet. Warren Baker.

Almost certainly, this is the same bird heard twice since the first sighting, and possibly still in this area.

Red Letter....Continued.

By the time I had soaked up the enjoyment of the Keeled Skimmers on Birk Bank bog, then done the 5 mile circuit, to returned to the bog for another dragonfly session, I'd had the perfect example of a good days birding which took me five hours to complete.

The Red-Letter day continued when I had climbed up to the two styles to reach the top of Birk Bank where I found 9 Stonechat, a lone bird on the wall looking east to Clougha, eventually turned out to have been a part of the family party of a pair with a full brood of five young, later at the NE end of Birk Bank I saw a distant lone male, which - with the distance between them - probably wasn't connected to the female seen further on.

In the circuit I noted 18 species including, Garden Warbler and Blackcap heard from the bog. I saw but mainly heard 8 Willow Warbler, 5 Mistle Thrush, Robin, Dunnock, Blackbird, Wren, Chaffinch, Wood Pigeons, and 3 Curlew with their variety of calls. My miserable year with the species continued when I saw just one Meadow Pipit....unbelievable.

Of 10 Red Grouse seen, I'd flushed four adult and six young at four sightings. A flock of c.70 'corvid' exploded into the air, the majority were Rook with Carrion Crow, they were flying all over the place, and were very vocal for some reason. As I walked the return along Rigg Lane I found a Sedge Warbler, and by then had probably seen 60 Swallow feeding over the fields.

IP's Conder Update.

Though the war rages on, and four adult Common Tern have been in battle on the pontoon on occasions over recent days, which could all too easily turn nasty for the three young which are coming along in leaps and bounds, being fed large fish at times, and even some early wing flapping exercises now and again, though I reckon 15/16 days yet before they become fully functional.

Common Tern Young 24 June. Ian Pinkerton.

Evidence in the image above, of three Common Tern young thriving, despite conflicting reports of only two birds four hours before this shot was taken. 

The Avocet pair are still in the breeding business, with the female sitting tight, and the male preening and feeding occasionally in the creeks.

Thanks to Mike Atkinson for the excellent header image of the stunning male Stonechat.

Birding On The Edge....

....the edge of winter.

It was more like the beginning of March than May when I made my first visit of the year to Barbondale on Wednesday. Dull with a cold wind, but nothing dull about finding 6 Pied Flycatcher, all mobile and behaving like there was no intention of breeding just yet. In fact I had sightings of nine birds over a period of time, including at one point, two males on the same branch with less than a metre between them. But with lengthy observations, I regarded six birds seen as three pairs.

The 4 Stonechat I found take top spot from the Pied Flycatchers for me, they were seen as two pair. The place held a good number of Willow Warbler, singing within earshot pretty much all the time I was there. I heard up to 6 Redstart, but saw not a single one, 4 Tree Pipit, 2 Wheatear, 2 Mistle Thrush, and of the 3 Nuthatch seen, there was some interaction between two of them. A stunning male Grey Wagtail was on Barbon Beck, where up to 6 Swallow were flying up and down.

Quite a good number of Chaffinch were notable in the area, and 3 Small White butterflies were seen on a day when the weather had me thinking it unlikely.

The Barbondale Stonechat.

When I first started to visit Barbondale a 'few' years ago, if the Stonechats were ever present there I certainly never saw them. But I did begin to find them, eventually in double figures, for example....13 including juveniles on 15 August 2005, and 19 including juveniles on 24 August 2006. Since then numbers fell away to nothing as had been the case historically, until - with the exception of a lone male on 7 May 2015 - today's was the first multiple sighting here since I saw a pair six years ago on 29 May 2012.

Stonechat. Ana Minguez @ Naturanafotos

Nothing short of a brilliant record in my book. Hopefully signs of a come back for the Stonechat at Barbondale, and certainly warrants another excellent image on Birds2blog....Thanks Ana.

A Whooper First.

Little to inspire on the Lune Estuary at Glasson or at Conder Green yesterday, with 25 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Bar-tailed Godwit, and c.350 Wigeon to note. A Peregrine Falcon was on Colloway Marsh where there was 150 Pink-footed Geese at the south end, and another 325 over flying south, and at Conder Green, despite the usual good coverage, 4 Little Grebe in the creeks was as good as it got.

Whooper Swan Brian Rafferty

A Whooper First.

In excess of 1,000 Whooper Swan in the Thurnham/Cockersand/Bank End area, a record peak count first for this area of North Lancashire, counted in a wind chill of -6c from the east, and broken down as, 260 off Jeremy Lane, 435 in fields off Moss Lane, and 310 in fields NW of Bank End Farm, 7 Bewick's Swan were with the Clarkson's Farm herd.

The Cockerham Sands female Stonechat was again down at the east end of the caravan park where I had found it once before on 18 January, I also picked up a Merlin here as it zipped out of sight below the marsh and over the Cocker Estuary.

Stock Dove Richard Pegler

Field birds seen, 6 Stock Dove, 8 Skylark, 54 Dunlin were around a flood at Abbey Farm, and the Shoveler pair were again on the flood by Slack Lane/Moss Lane junction with c.60 Teal noted here, and 5 Snipe flushed out of the ditches, 2 Kestrel seen were at Bank Houses and Bambers Farm. Walking towards Crook Cottage, 4 Pied Wagtail, 4 Greenfinch, 2 Chaffinch, and a Wren seen. 

Cockersand Lighthouse. Pete Woodruff.

BIRDING TILL DUSK AGAIN....GREAT STUFF!!

A Wader Moment In Bowland.

Though it was a good sunny and windless day on Wednesday, it was a generally dull day for me in Bowland, not least because I found no Stonechat on my first venture of 2018 on to Hawthornthwaite Fell, though I reckon the two seen on my last visit on 27 December and previously 15 November, were keeping their heads down and in hiding from me this time.

Red Grouse Richard Pegler 

On the way up to the summit, the sum total of birds seen on this visit were 20 Red Grouse and 2 Wren. Driving away from here I saw a single Fieldfare in flight at Cam Brow, and a Kestrel perched was the only raptor seen all day. 

In three and a half hours between Marshaw and the foot of Whinfold Fell where I saw 8 Red Grouse, I found just 11 species, including a Dipper and Grey Wagtail on the Marshaw Wyre.

The other seven....

Blackbird

Chaffinch

Coal Tit

Lapwing

Mallard 

Robin

Wren

The Woodcock.

Woodcock. Noushka @ 1000-Pattes 

At Marshaw a moment of excitement came when a bird flushed just a few metres away from me, then just 30 seconds later a second bird also flushed and flew away....they were 2 Woodcock in a small damp woodland clearing.  As a bird of crepuscular habits, I was lucky to see these two daylight birds, but I recall going to Birk Bank with John Ledall one early evening before dusk many years ago to watch the Woodcock roding over the treetops.

By coincidence my last Woodcock seen was also two birds, and also in the same area of Bowland, one in the plantation at Marshaw, and later another in the plantation behind Tower Lodge 3 years ago on 18 March 2015.

Thanks to Richard and Noushka for their respective images.

Friday 23 February.

I escaped yesterday, but had only got to Conder Green before a call back home to attend a problem ended the day for me, but I had seen 6 Little Grebe, a Goosander, and the Common Sandpiper in the creeks, with a Kestrel hovering overhead. 

Happy Days.

Black-throated Diver. Martin Lofgren @ Wild Bird Gallery 

As a mega for the location, I had to twitch the Blea Tarn Reservoir juvenile Black-throated Diver yesterday, after all it's on my doorstep, well about a mile away anyhow, and with a little elevation over the reservoir from the track to Middle Langthwaite Farm, the bird gave good views, and at one point obliged by keeping still whilst preening....Nice.

Smew. Jan Larsson @ Vingspann  

The perfect example of 'right place, right time' to find the mega diver there, and reminded me of a visit I paid to this very same reservoir 25 years ago on 5 March 1993, when I called there on my way to do my Saturday bit in the days of delivering car parts, to find a stunning drake Smew there, a scarce if not rare sight in our area today. 

Another record I came across, was that of up to 300 finches seen on 5 December 1995, my record reads....'A flock of Chaffinch and Brambling held up to 300 birds found below a Beech at Levens Bridge in Cumbria, the greater majority of this flock was of up to 250 Brambling with Chaffinch'....They were seen in a year when the beech mast crop was excellent, and when I had found eleven mostly local Brambling locations....Happy Days. 

Thanks to Martin and Jan for the excellent photographs.

A Ruff Passage.

This year has seen an exceptional autumn Ruff passage in our area, since I found 2 at Cockersand on 4 September, to date I've seen 50 Ruff, the best being 14 on the shore off Lighthouse Cottage at Cockersand on 26 September, and 18 on the Lune Estuary at Glasson on 6 October. 

On Friday I found an adult male Ruff at Cockersand for the third time in a week, this time it was in the field beyond Bank Houses horse paddock with 5 Stock Dove and a few Redshank. In other fields, 550 Golden Plover and 150 Curlew. Seven Snipe came up off the marsh opposite the caravan park, up to 20 Twite were were mobile, initially in the rough field behind Bank House Cottage from where I watched a Merlin single out a Starling from the mass before being lost to view to see a result of the attack.

Fieldfare. Richard Pegler@ Peglerbirding  

In the Willows and by the cover crop on Slack Lane, 45 Fieldfare, 14 Chaffinch, 5 Greenfinch, and a Skylark heard.

The Lune Estuary at Glasson was uninspiring, but the first Goldeneye on here this winter was a drake, with 4 Bar-tailed Godwit and 3 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Great-crested Grebe were my only other notes.

Of the 7 Little Grebe seen at Conder Green, two were on Conder Pool with five in the creeks. Also on the pool, up to 150 Teal, 24 Tufted Duck and 19 Wigeon. The Common Sandpiper was again downstream by the bridge, and along the coastal path, 12 Blackbird, 12 Fieldfare, 6 Redwing, and 2 Mistle Thrush over.

Birding till dusk. Cockersand Abbey & Farm. Pete Woodruff.

Thanks to Richard for the Fieldfare, and to Antonio for the header image of the Chough.