Pink-footed Geese, Fluke Hall Lane
xxxxx October 9th – 10th.
Xxxxx
One sighting from last week I forgot – last Friday morning a flock of 48 Greenfinches was present in Waterworks Lane in the dead trees by the entrance to the farm. I see a largish flock of these birds in the area each autumn, however in the past it has tended to disperse quite quickly.
Xxxxx
Last Saturday started with a Great Spotted Woodpecker in the garden. I have barely watched the garden in recent weeks and consequently I have little idea of what is visiting at the moment so it was great to see something interesting there. We left early morning to go to the van – on my way past I called briefly at the feeding station and was delighted with the flock of 60+ Tree Sparrows feeding there.
Xxxxx
Saturday lunch I headed off to Bolton-Le-Sands for high tide. When I arrived (sunny but very windy) the tide had already flooded most of the salt marsh. There were birds everywhere – I didn’t know which way to look. I can’t help wondering why no one else seems to be birding this area – not another birder in sight today and have never seen one here. One of the first interesting birds detected was a Green Sandpiper which was calling as it was flushed out of a channel by the tide. At least 9 Little Egrets had joined the herons in feeding around the marsh. Most of the waders had roosted on a relatively dry bit around the bend of Mill Lane – the water across the lane here was around 3 feet deep! I made two profound discoveries – the best place to view at the next high tide is from a bank in front of a caravan park (which will probably get cut off for a while) and I also had a hole in my right welly!
Xxxxx
There were plenty of Curlews and Redshanks and Oystercatchers with a few Bar-tailed Godwits and a flock of Dunlin. A Little Stint was observed running between the legs of the barwits before flying off while a Wheatear perched briefly on the back of a roosting Curlew! The sea seemed to be awash with Shelducks while Linnets and Skylarks buzzed all around. Fantastic couple of hours birding – didn’t know where to look half the time. I later nipped round to Teal Bay where gulls seemed to have taken over the groyne – a few Eiders and Wigeon and a lone Black-tailed Godwit were the best of the other species present.
Xxxxx
At the van late in the afternoon 6 Buzzards appeared in the air around the site – just drifting around like Buzzards do. In the evening I took Bill for a walk by the river just past Halton Mills weir. I decided just to plonk myself down by the edge of a small wood for the last hour of daylight and see what turned up instead of mooching through the wood. Small parties of Jackdaws soon started moving over NW to their roost site – the parties got bigger and bigger with eventually at least 670 over by the time I left. A couple of Goosanders were fishing in the river (with lots of jumping trout) – a Dipper and at least 8 Grey Wagtails also flew past. Two flocks of Long-tailed Tits passed noisily through the bushes at the edge of the river (18+9) and two screaming Jays and a Great Spotted Woodpecker also put in appearances. Nothing of great interest but nice and peaceful and very enjoyable!
Xxxxx
Sunday morning I wandered over to Fluke Hall Lane a couple of hours before high tide. Quite a few birders were present hoping for a glimpse of Lapland Buntings from the day before. A few well known birders flogged the fields behind the car park but to no avail. I plonked myself in a gateway to that field for a bit - all I saw was a Wheatear and a few Tree Sparrows flitting in the hedge. I then had to move when a lady turned up and claimed the gateway was her own personal viewing spot! Two Peregrines were perched next to each other on driftwood way out on the beach and a male Sparrowhawk flashed close past, low over the boulders. When the Lappies didn’t appear most of the birders drifted off leaving me and one other guy watching the waders fly past. As the tide came in we could see nothing was staying around that area so we decided to decamp to Pilling Lane Ends.
Xxxxxx
As high tide arrived the waders passed through thick and fast. Interestingly I saw very few Bar-tailed Godwits; there was a sprinkling of Grey Plovers and at least 100 Sanderlings with the Dunlins. Probably the most impressive bit was the ducks and geese. I estimate there were at least 22,000 Pink-footed Geese with most on the water and a few thousand in a nearby field. Around 8,000 Teal were joined by numerous Wigeon and over 400 Pintails. The water surface was literally covered in birds – an absolutely amazing sight no matter how many times I’ve seen it before. A Chiffhcaff was also in full song in the autumn sun in the bushes by the car park.
Xxxxx
I could see a group of birders on the banking from Lane Ends leading off towards Fluke Hall and guessed they were watching the Lapland Buntings (that was where Maurice Jones had found them the day before). After a bit of indecision I decided to wander over just as they started to disperse. The comments as I passed were along the lines of “three Lapland Buntings flew that way”. I walked down anyway and quickly picked one up on call as it flew around with the Mipits. The time I have recently spent learning that call certainly paid off and I was much more chuffed with that brief sighting than I was with the confiding individual on Winter Hill recently. I didn’t really have time to try and pin it down though and left shortly afterwards.
Xxxxx
Later that night around the van I could hear two Tawny Owls calling in the darkness and then the high pitched whistles of numerous migrating Redwings as they passed over. I always think this is a wondrous experience knowing that hundreds if not thousands of birds are flying overhead in the darkness, unseen. I arrived back home in Winwick late that night to hear the same calls there too!
Xxxxx
One sighting from last week I forgot – last Friday morning a flock of 48 Greenfinches was present in Waterworks Lane in the dead trees by the entrance to the farm. I see a largish flock of these birds in the area each autumn, however in the past it has tended to disperse quite quickly.
Xxxxx
Last Saturday started with a Great Spotted Woodpecker in the garden. I have barely watched the garden in recent weeks and consequently I have little idea of what is visiting at the moment so it was great to see something interesting there. We left early morning to go to the van – on my way past I called briefly at the feeding station and was delighted with the flock of 60+ Tree Sparrows feeding there.
Xxxxx
Saturday lunch I headed off to Bolton-Le-Sands for high tide. When I arrived (sunny but very windy) the tide had already flooded most of the salt marsh. There were birds everywhere – I didn’t know which way to look. I can’t help wondering why no one else seems to be birding this area – not another birder in sight today and have never seen one here. One of the first interesting birds detected was a Green Sandpiper which was calling as it was flushed out of a channel by the tide. At least 9 Little Egrets had joined the herons in feeding around the marsh. Most of the waders had roosted on a relatively dry bit around the bend of Mill Lane – the water across the lane here was around 3 feet deep! I made two profound discoveries – the best place to view at the next high tide is from a bank in front of a caravan park (which will probably get cut off for a while) and I also had a hole in my right welly!
Xxxxx
There were plenty of Curlews and Redshanks and Oystercatchers with a few Bar-tailed Godwits and a flock of Dunlin. A Little Stint was observed running between the legs of the barwits before flying off while a Wheatear perched briefly on the back of a roosting Curlew! The sea seemed to be awash with Shelducks while Linnets and Skylarks buzzed all around. Fantastic couple of hours birding – didn’t know where to look half the time. I later nipped round to Teal Bay where gulls seemed to have taken over the groyne – a few Eiders and Wigeon and a lone Black-tailed Godwit were the best of the other species present.
Xxxxx
At the van late in the afternoon 6 Buzzards appeared in the air around the site – just drifting around like Buzzards do. In the evening I took Bill for a walk by the river just past Halton Mills weir. I decided just to plonk myself down by the edge of a small wood for the last hour of daylight and see what turned up instead of mooching through the wood. Small parties of Jackdaws soon started moving over NW to their roost site – the parties got bigger and bigger with eventually at least 670 over by the time I left. A couple of Goosanders were fishing in the river (with lots of jumping trout) – a Dipper and at least 8 Grey Wagtails also flew past. Two flocks of Long-tailed Tits passed noisily through the bushes at the edge of the river (18+9) and two screaming Jays and a Great Spotted Woodpecker also put in appearances. Nothing of great interest but nice and peaceful and very enjoyable!
Xxxxx
Sunday morning I wandered over to Fluke Hall Lane a couple of hours before high tide. Quite a few birders were present hoping for a glimpse of Lapland Buntings from the day before. A few well known birders flogged the fields behind the car park but to no avail. I plonked myself in a gateway to that field for a bit - all I saw was a Wheatear and a few Tree Sparrows flitting in the hedge. I then had to move when a lady turned up and claimed the gateway was her own personal viewing spot! Two Peregrines were perched next to each other on driftwood way out on the beach and a male Sparrowhawk flashed close past, low over the boulders. When the Lappies didn’t appear most of the birders drifted off leaving me and one other guy watching the waders fly past. As the tide came in we could see nothing was staying around that area so we decided to decamp to Pilling Lane Ends.
Xxxxxx
As high tide arrived the waders passed through thick and fast. Interestingly I saw very few Bar-tailed Godwits; there was a sprinkling of Grey Plovers and at least 100 Sanderlings with the Dunlins. Probably the most impressive bit was the ducks and geese. I estimate there were at least 22,000 Pink-footed Geese with most on the water and a few thousand in a nearby field. Around 8,000 Teal were joined by numerous Wigeon and over 400 Pintails. The water surface was literally covered in birds – an absolutely amazing sight no matter how many times I’ve seen it before. A Chiffhcaff was also in full song in the autumn sun in the bushes by the car park.
Xxxxx
I could see a group of birders on the banking from Lane Ends leading off towards Fluke Hall and guessed they were watching the Lapland Buntings (that was where Maurice Jones had found them the day before). After a bit of indecision I decided to wander over just as they started to disperse. The comments as I passed were along the lines of “three Lapland Buntings flew that way”. I walked down anyway and quickly picked one up on call as it flew around with the Mipits. The time I have recently spent learning that call certainly paid off and I was much more chuffed with that brief sighting than I was with the confiding individual on Winter Hill recently. I didn’t really have time to try and pin it down though and left shortly afterwards.
Xxxxx
Later that night around the van I could hear two Tawny Owls calling in the darkness and then the high pitched whistles of numerous migrating Redwings as they passed over. I always think this is a wondrous experience knowing that hundreds if not thousands of birds are flying overhead in the darkness, unseen. I arrived back home in Winwick late that night to hear the same calls there too!
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