Taking stock

Pleasant walk round even in the inclement weather.
Water levels are dropping for now but it's looking good for water rails along the bottom path if we get a cold snap.
Flock of c. 150 golden plover on Aldcliffe marsh. They are usually only seen this far up the Lune during bad weather.
4 reed buntings along the sea wall.
4 little egret on Aldcliffe marsh with 4 on Oxcliffe marsh and perhaps the same 4 on Colloway later.
2 stock dove in the stubble fields.
4 tufted duck on Freemans pool
5 snipe flushed on the marsh with a further 12 at snipe bog.
10 long tailed tits near on the top path with a lone chiffchaff belonging to the western race.
1 goldeneye and 2 little grebe on wildfowlers.
c. 20 blackbirds in various places with 10 together near the sewerage works.
3 meadow pipits and 7 pied wagtails in the sewerage works.

Guy McC

Monday....

Aldcliffe, lunchtime visit. In total contrast to the very wet weekend today was frost and blue sky and not a breath of wind.
Freeman’s Pools
Some work being done as I arrived, which was useful as it allowed a good count of Coot totalling 38.

Darter Pool
Mute Swan 3
Coot 2
Moorhen 3

Wildfowlers’ Pools, filled to the brim.
Green Sandpiper 2
Kingfisher 1
Little Grebe 1
Snipe 1
Moorhen usual.
Flood, saw Moorhen 5.

Marsh
Little Egrets 3
Skylark 1 going south.
Usual Greylag and Canada’s.

Track.
Cropped maize fields continue to attract a number of birds. Jackdaw, Crow and a large flock of feral pigeons as well as Woodpigeon.
Chaffinch 30
Reed Bunting 6
Dunnock 2
Greenfinch 4

SteveW

Sunday....

Sunday 8th Nov, got down for an hour this morning to Freeman's Pools.
Nothing new in that I saw. After yesterdays heavy rain pools filling up and fields flooding.

Sparrowhawk giving good views on fence post.
Greenfinch 4
Goldfinch 8
Song Thrush 1
Gadwall 2
Snipe 2
Tufted Duck 4
Coot usual
Little Grebe 3
Grey Heron 3
Mute Swan 2

SteveW

Dies Veneris, Vanellus vanellus…….

Aldcliffe 09.00 – 11.00, SSE 7-10, 7 oktas,
First time to the patch for a while, weather was looking dodgy, thankfully apart from a light shower it kept fine. A noticeable increase in Lapwing numbers since the last WeBS count which is good news, lets hope for at least twice as many again over the coming weeks. This time last year the Wildfowlers’ was more like a shallow lake and had good numbers of waders present, today hardly anything.

Marsh
Lapwing, up to 2000, numbers increasing from last WeBS which was 1200.
Little Egret 3
Canada Geese 130
Shelduck 2
Peregrine 1

Freeman’s Pools
Gadwall 2
Tufted Duck 2
Goldeneye 2
Mallard and Coot usual.
Little Grebe 2
Mute Swan 2
Pheasant 4
Grey Heron 2

Frog Pond had 2 Mute Swan
Darter Pool also had 2 Mute Swan, Moorhen 2

Wildfowlers’ Pool
Mallard
Moorhen
Nothing else of note, water levels rising.

Flood
Moorhen 8
Redshank 2
Pied Wagtail 2

Track
Fieldfare 6
Redwing 4
Chaffinch a flock of 16, moving south along hedgerows.
Goldfinch, Greenfinch small numbers.
Dunnock 4
Robin 7/8
Blackbird 35/40, from Freeman’s to meadow.
Reed Bunting 6/8
Wren 7/9
Maize fields have been cropped, a large number of Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Greylag Geese 220 and Woodpigeon 90+, Starlings

SteveW

Hunt for Red, October

Morning visit.
SE 1-3, 8 Oktas, a little light drizzle at first.

I thought the weather looked promising for something grey with an orange tail, but there wasn't a BR on the marsh debris this morning.. (is this even on the Aldcliffe list, Jon?)

I switched to look for stripy easterners in the sycamores and willows, with no success.

So, the parish passerine highlights were:

A chiffchaff, goldcrest, blackcap, lesser redpoll and 22 song thrushes in the wood.

Also 45 reed buntings and two tree sparrows in and around the maize field.

Dan.

All Quiet on the Western Bund

Late morning to mid-afternoon visit.
SSW 0-1, 6-8 Oktas, dry.

Me and Steve W decided to take advantage of the calm conditions to do some good hard listening.

But what few warblers we came across on our bush-bashing search were all exceedingly quiet and shy. Even the flocks of tits seemed to have taken a vow of silence, so it wasn't always easy to locate the action.

The best of a mute bunch:

4 blackcaps, a chiffchaff and 1-2 goldcrest in Freeman's Wood.

Two goldcrests and 2 rock pipits Stodday sewage works.


A water rail, 3 tree sparrows and an Eastbound flock of 17 skylarks were a little more vocal.

Dan.

Swanning Off

Weather: SW 0-1, 8 oktas, light mist.

Dan here.

This picture of 4 off-passage whooper swans over Frog Pond this morning is dedicated to Guy McLelland because he is a big fan of my photography! I can see why.

Only had chance for a quick look around today, which was a shame because passerine numbers were reasonable-- highlighted by:

50-60 blackbirds

c20 song thrushes

c25 redwing

c30 meadow pipits

97 greenfinches (a decent flock for Aldcliffe)

2 tree sparrows

2 goldcrests (a mega so far this autumn!)

and a littoralis-looking rock pipit.

Didn't seem to much in the way of vis, with just 5 skylark and 7 meadow pipits noted moving S.