Very damp this morning on a pilgrimage for the Twite who obliged c. 25-30 tucked up against the slipway wall and after the rain stopped on the strand line
A no-show by the Turtle Dove for me (although it was reported from 22 Beach Rd garden during my search) but 25 Twite by the slipway were very nice indeed. Also a flock of c800 Pink-footed Geese.
Cheers, John
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Sunday 25th of February 2018 09:41:51 PM
I haven't been to see it yet, but the plumage is remarkably sharp for an individual apparently having flown from the other side of the Sahara !
PS, having just seen another pic, the tail is extremely worn & damaged - inconsistent with the tidy mantle & flight feathers. And given the date & how rare the species is in the UK nowadays ...
Other opinions welcome ...
-- Edited by John Watson on Tuesday 20th of February 2018 09:11:10 AM
Nothing really wrong with this being a wild bird, whilst over-wintering birds in the UK are rare they do occur every year (there is another in a garden in Northern Ireland at the moment)
I haven't been to see it yet, but the plumage is remarkably sharp for an individual apparently having flown from the other side of the Sahara !
PS, having just seen another pic, the tail is extremely worn & damaged - inconsistent with the tidy mantle & flight feathers. And given the date & how rare the species is in the UK nowadays ...
Other opinions welcome ...
-- Edited by John Watson on Tuesday 20th of February 2018 09:11:10 AM
Part of a tour of the Fylde today just before high tide. Rock Pipit 7 Eider ( 5 males ) 17 Twite inc one ringed bird with red over white on left leg 12 Turnstone became 11 as a Sparrowhawk came fast over the coastguard station and killed a Turnstone on the foreshore Single a Ringed a Plover Flock of 10+ Bar tailed Godwits off shore Peregrine Falcon on the Tower on the Fleetwood side
A quick check of the fields around Pilling revealed hardly anything so we finished up at Knott End.
As soon as we parked the car, 7 TWITE came flying over and landed on the roof of Fylde Court flats. Absolutely beautiful little Finches. They flew around, then they suddenly became 8 having picked up a straggler, before losing it again and going back to 7. One of the residents was amazed at how nice they were and has wondered for ages why the birders have been staring up at her roof! They came down to drink in the concrete channel near the sea wall before disappearing.
Other birds of note... Redshank in good numbers Lapwing approx 25 with 2 Dunlin in the flick. Oystercatchers here and there A single Curlew near the Ferry ramp Various common species of Gulls but no sign of the Glaucous Gull
A brilliant day in all, pity we couldn't be in every place at the best time, too much to see over a large area and it meant us not catching the high tide at Knott End, but had we done that first and worked our way back to Lytham, it would've been dark for the Shrike, and we couldn't have been able to try for the Glaucous Gull at Knott End evening roost!
Totally disappear out of sight in the channels and divets in the grass on the sea front. they cover a wide area flying back and forth and the odd time come to drink at the base of the concrete channel just below the Esplanade wall near the Bourne Arms. Cracking little birds!
Other birds of note... Oystercatcher - huge numbers probably up near 1000. Redshank - alot Dunlin - 1 flock of approx 150-200 Curlew - 3 Shelduck - 2 Plenty of the common Gulls around
Nice to meet Jonathan Platt and friend as I was leaving
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Sunday 21st of December 2014 02:01:19 PM
Fantastic flock of 35-40 Twite (along with 2 Linnet) feeding in vegetation by the promenade at high tide 7 Redshank 22 Lapwing 20-25 Shelduck on the water 8 Lesser Black-Backed Gulls along with with large numbers of Herring and Black Headed 2 Eider off the pier in the rivermouth (1m, 1f) 7 Turnstone by the pier after high tide
Flock of 50+ Sanderling 20-25 Dunlin 23 Redshank 8 Oystercatcher 3 Lapwing 4 Lesser Black-Backed Gulls Several small groups of Shelduck 1 Peregrine 1 Buzzard
Also, in fields just outside the village- 12 Whooper Swans 1 Little Egret
Good to hear it went to roost - maybe it was the Blackpool bird later in the week. Was telling a crowd of kids that stopped & showed interest when I was photographing a Barred Warbler the other day that lots of migrants get predated. They were mortified & said why couldn't I catch it & save it from that!! Then it could go & live on that farm you mention
Cheers Paul
p.s I know Sid knows about Chris Batty, was just posting to let others on the forums know a little about his background!
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Thursday 25th of October 2012 10:37:43 PM
Yes it is a huge thanks to Chris Batty - who is not just a local ringer. Chris is a long serving bird news operative at RBA, is a top birder with fantastic ID skills and due to this is a serving member of the British Birds Rarities Commitee, a post he has held since 2007!! He is also a mate of mine & a good lad, who when I thanked him said that he had stood in innumerable gardens looking at birds so it was nice for him to be able to return the favour in this instance!
I can confirm what Sid says in that the bird showed really well on Friday, not long after it was rung, allowing me superb scope views but eluding that digiscoped shot that I craved!! Chris even provided a box & a pair of stepladders for shorter birders to see over other birders or the fence (depending on how short they were). I spoke to a birder who visited Saturday & as Sid says again, he confirmed that he bird was far less showy, going missing for long periods. After a no show on Sunday here was a report of a Pallas's Warbler in nearby Blackpool on Wednesday. Although another theory, from the birder I spoke to who visited Saturday, was that a Sparrowhawk was hanging around all day whilst he was there & the warbler may have met a premature end.
Hi Paul.the sparrowhawk did go through twice while me and mike were there but it showed again after that around 5.30(we were possibly the last to see it;we waited until near six but it had presumably gone to roost by then).I would like to think it had a plan to meet up with the flamborough bird that went missing around the same time!and all my childhood cats really did go to live on a farm too. And yes Chris batty is a nice bloke.he had a quick chat with us when we were the only ones left(probably trying to usher us out of the garden!)fair play to him and his neighbours for that matter.
-- Edited by chrisdorney on Thursday 25th of October 2012 09:23:01 PM
Thanks to Chris Batty for kindly forwarding two of the photos of the Pallas's Warbler that I took using his camera last Friday (see my report). Ian has put them in the "Chats and Bunting" section of the "Out-of-County Rare and Scarce" bit of the Photo Galleries.
A fantastic reminder for me of a special day at the end of a fairly bum week, amazing how that little creature raised the spirits.
After Chris released the bird he tells me that it went back to its usual routine throughout Friday, but Saturday was overcast and, without the sun hitting the Sycamore, it became more erratic in its appearances, fortunately though everyone who turned up did get to see it.
There are also some more shots of the bird on the Fylde Bird Club web site in their Galleries section.
Arrived at the home of Chris Batty a local ringer at 07.45 this morning and was immediately invited into his rear garden and almost straight away I was on to the reported Pallas's Warbler.
It was in it's now favourite Sycamore in next door but one's garden. I watched for a while then went to my car to pick up a drink - when I got back inside Chris was removing the bird from his mist net !!!!!
As Chris ringed the bird and took the necessary measurements I was photographing the procedure using his camera - fantastic, a bird in the hand etc
I was really delighted to have witnessed this event, just a shame that there were no other birders present before the bird was released.
Also during that first hour 100's and 100's of Pink-footed Geese went over the garden - quite a sight.
3 Little stint juvs showing really well in excellent light today from The Esplanade opposite 'Oliver Court' flats. Two birds have been along that stretch of beach at the edge of the vegetation for approx a week now, and today there were three!
