What was meant to be a quick trawl round ending up being a leisurely stroll and various conversations with other birdwatchers en route. Guy was having a pedal round and had seen a male Merlin, Red Breasted Merganser 3 by the pylons along with Raven, Little Grebe, and Meadow Pipit 1 on the dung heap near the Flood. Other birds seen,
Freeman’s Pool
Goldeneye, Tufted Duck and Smew still present.
Stubble field and track
Skylark 4
Linnet 17
Reed Bunting 5
Dunnock 4
Greenfinch 3
Goldfinch 8
Chaffinch numerous.
Great/Blue Tit half a dozen of each.
Song Thrush 2
Mistle Thrush 1
Water Rail 1
Wildfowlers’ Pools
Teal 9
Oystercatcher 2
Redshank 3
Moorhen 28
Flood
Green Sandpiper 1 and 1 Redshank.
Marsh
Little Egret 2
Black-tailed Godwit 3
Shelduck 7
Curlew 19
Pink Footed Geese 275
Steve
Welcome to Aldcliffe & Freeman's Wood, Lancaster - an area of the Lune Estuary in Morecambe Bay, North Lancs.
2 comments:
Although merlin is annual down here this only the second male I have seen. The last one was in the winter of 2003/04. Does any one have any ideas why there are fewer males seen?
Guy, I had a quick look in the migration atlas as you question intrigued me. The Migration Atlas states "based on ring recoveries, there appears to be no significant difference between the sexes in distance of movements away from breeding areas or in average wintering areas. however, a study in Northumberland (Kerr 1989) based on wintering birds identified in the field as either adult males or females/immatures, suggested that adult males are less likely to move away from inland breeding sites than other birds. On Shetland, however, where some of the breeding birds overwinter, very few adult males are recorded during the winter period (Ellis & Okill 1990). So, no clues there.
Regards,
Seumus
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