Little Owl, Croft

Green Sandpiper, Pennington Flash

Red Knot with Common Terns, Seaforth

Buzzard, Houghton Green Flash

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Last week I also shoe horned in a swift visit to Seaforth - forgot about this one. Lots of waders with around 700 Dunlin, 210 Blackwits, 150+ Redshanks, 45+ Knot (many still in breeding plumage), 18 Curlew, 8 Oystercatchers and a Turnstone. The Common Terns were down to around 150 birds.

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Today continues the recent raptor theme. While scanning the fields around Midhops Farm at HGF early this morning I noticed two Sparrowhawks flying over the cereal crop in the far field. They turned out to be a female with a smaller juvenile - the latter kept pestering mum for food. The female suddenly accelerated towards the farm at low level - not sure how she was going to catch anything though as junior was flying aboe and behind her and was very conspicuous. I wonder if there is a Sparrowhawk version of "will you do as your bloody told!"

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They disappeared around the farm and I then spotted another juvenile. This one flew over the cereal crop until it reached the ploughed field and dropped right onto a Woodpigeon which was feeding along the margin. The juvenile Spar clearly hadn't a clue what to do with the far larger woody and consequently the latter escaped. Back came mum and juvenile number one right in front of me with mum having a pop at the Swallows and missing by a mile!

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Not much around the pool though still good gull numbers and a Grey Wagtail present. Interesting to see someone has reported a Hobby here today on Bird Guides. On the way to work a field vole made a run for it across the busy A57 - I had to swerve a bit to avoid it but the little critter somehow survived.

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On the way home from work I diverted through Rixton again. Two Green Sandpipers and a couple of Teal were on the pool at the foot of the tip off Prospect Lane. The pool has half dried up and looks perfect for waders. In the next field along, just before the farm, I spotted a largish flock of wagtails. I counted eight Yellow Wags (6 juveniles and 2 females) with 10 Pied Wags - however before I finished scanning a group as large again buggered off and I could hear more Yellow Wags in it calling! Not many gulls on the tip but a flock of around 75 Linnets on Holly Bush Lane. A Kestrel was also flitting around with a small furry animal in its talons.

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Moat Lane pool one was stuffed with birds - 174 Canada Geese to be precise. A Nuthatch did fly over and a small stocky duck circled the pool, dropped down to land and then suddenly took off west. I had difficult views due to lighting, however it looked more like a female Mandarin or Wood Duck than anything else. On pool two a Common Sandpiper was joined by two Mute Swans and a couple of Herons. This evening a juvenile Kestrel was eating a vole on a fencepost on Waterworks Lane.