Photos
Sparrowhawk and Wheatear on the salt marsh at Bolton-Le-Sands
3rd September
I got to HGF at dawn to see if the Ruff were still there. Even this early there were dog walkers already present and predictably no Ruff. Teal still present (this really is a long-staying bird) – not much else about.
Next I called in at the feeding station. 35 House Sparrows, 2 Tree Sparrows and a juvenile Whitethroat were present until a Sparrowhawk came through. A short while later another Sparrowhawk flew down Green Lane in front of my car as I headed off to Newton Lake.
It was raining by the time I reached NL. A single Green Sandpiper was again present on the spit while there were quite a few waterbirds present including a pair of Little Grebes, 20 Gadwall, 16 Teal, 6 Tufted Duck and 8 Canada Geese. A sub-adult Cormorant was present – presumably the same bird that keeps hanging around here and a couple of Nuthatches were very vocal.
Next we headed up to the van. I then nipped over to Red Nab where it was windy and raining. Both Little Gulls were still present plus four Meds (two adults, two first winters) and an adult Sandwich Tern. A single Grey Plover and a single Bar-tailed Godwit were also there. Birding ended early today.
4th September
Early morning found me at Glasson checking the channel from nr the bowling green. Low tide and very sunny with poor visibility. In the channel was a Little Egret, otherwise I was reduced to counting Golden Plovers. 525 in case you are interested. I then took Bill for a walk down the old railway line track past the café. This immediately paid dividends when I found a Curlew Sandpiper on the mud with some Dunlin. There seemed to be hundreds of Long-tailed Tits about here this morning but not a sniff of anything else interesting with them. Conder Creek was likewise deserted.
Later on I walked the dog track by Heysham power station. A couple of Bullfinches flew across the path and a couple of Willow Warblers briefly perched up on the chain link fence and two Jays passed through. Red Nab was quiet though a juvenile Peregrine then flew over the power station making quite a racket as it went.
Back at the van at lunch three Jays were hanging around the park and a couple of Nuthatches inspected the feeders (I haven’t put any food out for a couple of weeks).
Late afternoon I nipped out again and went to Bolton-Le-Sands for high tide. A female Sparrowhawk flew over the horse paddocks as I walked out onto the marsh. Two Wheatears were also flitting around and a group of 7 Snipe flushed from a nearby hidden channel. Lots of waders today with 4700+ Oystercatchers, 840+ Curlews and 130+ Ringed Plovers plus small numbers of other species. Four Little Egrets were present on the marsh. Two Red-breasted Mergansers floated by off-shore and then a second Sparrowhawk turned up. This one flew part way out to the marsh and then perched up. All of the waders had responded to the first movement by bunching up near the shore. The hawk just looked around for 20 minutes or so and then barrelled straight into the throng of waders and pandemonium ensued. I completely lost the hawk so I could tell if it caught anything.
I got to HGF at dawn to see if the Ruff were still there. Even this early there were dog walkers already present and predictably no Ruff. Teal still present (this really is a long-staying bird) – not much else about.
Next I called in at the feeding station. 35 House Sparrows, 2 Tree Sparrows and a juvenile Whitethroat were present until a Sparrowhawk came through. A short while later another Sparrowhawk flew down Green Lane in front of my car as I headed off to Newton Lake.
It was raining by the time I reached NL. A single Green Sandpiper was again present on the spit while there were quite a few waterbirds present including a pair of Little Grebes, 20 Gadwall, 16 Teal, 6 Tufted Duck and 8 Canada Geese. A sub-adult Cormorant was present – presumably the same bird that keeps hanging around here and a couple of Nuthatches were very vocal.
Next we headed up to the van. I then nipped over to Red Nab where it was windy and raining. Both Little Gulls were still present plus four Meds (two adults, two first winters) and an adult Sandwich Tern. A single Grey Plover and a single Bar-tailed Godwit were also there. Birding ended early today.
4th September
Early morning found me at Glasson checking the channel from nr the bowling green. Low tide and very sunny with poor visibility. In the channel was a Little Egret, otherwise I was reduced to counting Golden Plovers. 525 in case you are interested. I then took Bill for a walk down the old railway line track past the café. This immediately paid dividends when I found a Curlew Sandpiper on the mud with some Dunlin. There seemed to be hundreds of Long-tailed Tits about here this morning but not a sniff of anything else interesting with them. Conder Creek was likewise deserted.
Later on I walked the dog track by Heysham power station. A couple of Bullfinches flew across the path and a couple of Willow Warblers briefly perched up on the chain link fence and two Jays passed through. Red Nab was quiet though a juvenile Peregrine then flew over the power station making quite a racket as it went.
Back at the van at lunch three Jays were hanging around the park and a couple of Nuthatches inspected the feeders (I haven’t put any food out for a couple of weeks).
Late afternoon I nipped out again and went to Bolton-Le-Sands for high tide. A female Sparrowhawk flew over the horse paddocks as I walked out onto the marsh. Two Wheatears were also flitting around and a group of 7 Snipe flushed from a nearby hidden channel. Lots of waders today with 4700+ Oystercatchers, 840+ Curlews and 130+ Ringed Plovers plus small numbers of other species. Four Little Egrets were present on the marsh. Two Red-breasted Mergansers floated by off-shore and then a second Sparrowhawk turned up. This one flew part way out to the marsh and then perched up. All of the waders had responded to the first movement by bunching up near the shore. The hawk just looked around for 20 minutes or so and then barrelled straight into the throng of waders and pandemonium ensued. I completely lost the hawk so I could tell if it caught anything.
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