Sylvia's Cover

Dan:

Thought I'd make the most of the still conditions this morning and do a spot of Aldcliffe 'vis' ... almost all birds were heading south or south-east

0730-0900

Raven - 1E (though probably a local).

Chaffinch- 16.

Linnet- 4.

Alba wagtail- 32.

Meadow pipit- 34.

Goldfinch- 9.

Song thrush- 3.

Greenfinch- 29.

Coal tit- 3.

House sparrow- 3.

Siskin- 3.

Grey wagtail- 3.

Snipe- 6.

Starling- one flock of 80.

Golden plover- 123.

Skylark- 20.

Redpoll sp.-3.

Reed bunting- 1.

Smaller (silent!) finch sp. -flock of 17.

As I began working Freeman's Wood I could hear more skylarks, meadow pipits and alba wags heading over , until fog stopped the vis trickle at about 0930.

The FW bush-bashing was fairly productive with a shy garden warbler, 3-4 male blackcaps, 15 or so goldcrests, 9 coal tits and c.40 song thrushes.

Seems to have been an influx of robins with around 25 in the wood. I could only find one chiffchaff, but another was just out of area halfway down Willow Lane.

At 1100 43 pink-footed geese headed S as the fog began to dissipate- a welcome change to all the feral honkers that seem to dominate the area at the moment!

Before a family exercised their dogs in Freeman's Pools 2 pochards had added to the duck numbers.

A green sandpiper was vocal and mobile in the north of the parish.

Jon: Following my return from 2 weeks out of the parish (birding in the Western & Northern Cape = approx 180 new birds), I had a lazy amble with Jenny this afternoon (that's not a euphemism, but a description of our walk) but it was unsurprisingly devoid of notable birdlife.
We did bump into Dusty (long time, no see) who reported 3 buzzards and a little egret.
The pochard pair were on Freeman's Pools along with a drake tufted, 21 coot & a little grebe. Nice to be back... cheers, as always, to Dan for keeping things interesting here.