Ribble Estuary

High tide was at 20:30 today about the same time as sunset.  An initial look out from the Windmill showed very little.  A few Curlew, couple of Meadow Pipits and Oystercatcher scattered about the place.  As the sun was getting low it was blinding, it was also very breezy but I had the wind behind me as I walked in the direction of Fairhaven.  At the RNLI Jetty I saw 5 Linnet that took flight as I approached and flew onto the green to join the Starlings.  I also saw a White Wagtail, Female House Sparrow and appx 1000 Dunlin flying and settling on the water line.

As I approached 'Cocklers Cobbles' the sun dipped making visibility much better.  A  flock of around 500 birds swarmed passed showing too much clean white on the underside to all be Dunlin.  Luckily they landed and a quick look in the scope showed a mixed flock of Turnstone and Ringed Plover.

It's funny to think that if you don't know what you're looking for you would never know there were hundreds of birds here!  You'd just think they were stones on a beach! 

 I stayed there for a while and more birds arrived, settling quite close giving me the chance to get some photos.  On the way back I saw a couple of Bar-tailed Godwits off the Jetty and managed to get a phone-scoped image.

Witch Wood and the Estuary

Today I took a wander through Witch Wood.  Admittedly it was more of a quick walk than a 'wander' as I wanted to get to the estuary and make the most of the light!  Most notable birds were:

Blackap
Long-tailed Tit
Chiffchaff
Greenfinch
Nuthatch
Great Tit
Wren

The estuary was a hive of activity and the light was just nice.  There were a few mixed flocks of Ringed Plover and Dunlin (c200) flying constantly, twisting and then turning back on themselves.  They would drop for a matter of seconds then repeat the process again.  This unsettled behaviour was interesting to watch.  Most of their activity was around the cocklers boats and vehicles on the water line.  The Dunlin were all in breeding plumage showing that lovely dark patch on the underparts.  The Ringed Plover were a pleasure to see in such numbers.  The large numbers of Eider I've been getting used to seeing were absent from the Southport shore - I just saw two in flight.  I checkout the scrubby / concrete area near the RNLI shop for Wheatear but no joy.  There were however 5 red-breasted Linnet.  A walk down the Jetty gave me good views of a beautiful Bar-tailed Godwit in breeding plumage and two Whooper Swan!  According to the Fylde Bird Report 2012 - the WeBS count for Whooper in April for that area was 0 and only 1 in the 2011 report.  I didn't have the camera so couldn't get any pictures of the Barwit or Linnet so a poor phone scoped picture of the Whooper Swans will have to suffice.