Birding Lancs

Oystercatchers

Black Guillemot

Black-headed Gulls

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This morning, as usual, I made up my mind on where to go birding at the last minute. Today North Lancashire was my gut feeling so I headed off with Bill to do some sea watching. The conditions were pretty good though a heat haze made distant viewing difficult. Unfortunately it was a very quiet morning with the following being seen:

1 Black Guillemot

1 Purple Sandpiper

11 Guillemots

1 Gannet

6 Sandwich Terns

2 Arctic Terns

3 Eiders

1 Red-breasted Merganser

400+ Oystercatchers

180+ Turnstones (many moulting into their stunning breeding plumage)

2 Dunlin

1 Curlew

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On the way home I called into the Mythop flood for good but distant views of the Wood Sandpiper. 7 Wheatears were flitting around the rabbit warren.

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At home the Dunnock is still going well with her brood in the laurel hedge. In the ploughed field off Waterworks Lane were 4 Wheatears, 4 Stock Doves and a Brown Hare.

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At HGF there are still 8 Black-necked Grebes and the Yellow Wag was also showing well. A Blackcap and 2 Willow Warblers were singing behind the east hedge. The first youngsters of the year appeared when a duck Mallard lead her brood of seven onto the water!