Pea Brained Earwigs................

Bright idea!

Who gets the bill!

Exciting and crazy morning at Aldcliffe. As I was approaching Railway Crossing I noticed a bespoke camper/traveller van, which I have seen a few times down here, with a bloke (pea brained earwig) entering the van with what looked like a petrol container. I stood at the gate looking across over the marsh; the bloke then got in a car and drove off. I did think it looked all a bit odd. I then noticed the flames, rang 999, and prevented a fire which would have been much worse; the fire brigade were here in no time. There were vehicles parked nearby, how stupid or what! The van was half burnt out.

Bird wise, I noticed a few Skylarks and Meadow Pipits flying over, heading south. I struggle with identifying vismig, there was a very interesting bird flying high over the river, but hadn’t a clue! There were a number of Chaffinches, nothing like the numbers seen over Caton Moor and Heysham see LDBWS. Reed Buntings in the hedge and a good number of ticking Robins. A Little Egret was on the Marsh along with Curlews and Lapwings. At Gull Bank there were a few hundred Lapwing, a scan with the scope revealed 1 Grey Plover and 6 Golden Plover. A Grey Wagtail was on the track. Freeman’s Pool had the usual and the Wildfowler’ Pool had a Kingfisher, still a large amount of flood water throughout the area.

Steve

Water, water everywhere

visit at dusk
I hadn't realised how much rain came down last night until I saw the flood. It is at typical late autumn levels and the lower path is covered also. If we get a November like last year then most of the patch will be under water.
6 pied wags were at the flood..
30 black headed gulls and 2 common gulls were feeding on the fields with roughly the same proportions of lapwing to curlew
c. 30 swallows where in the Freemans pool area. Wonder if the roost in the maize?
2 kestrels looking for supper in Freemans pool area
Numerous robins ticking along the cycle track. Easily my favourite sound of the autumn....well except for goldcrests.

Guy

Lesser

As with yesterday's rooks (only two seen today) this morning was about contenting oneself with locally scarce species in the absence of any tasty migrants.

Ringed plovers are hardly mindblowing but occur only rarely on our patch, so a party of 7 on the near riverbank by the pylons was a bonus of sorts.

Green sandpiper is a wader far more regularly encountered here, but none were on show today.

Around 800 lapwings were on Gull Bank, when not being scattered by peregrines, and a great crested grebe floated past on the incoming tide.

Best passerine was a lesser redpoll near Stodday, which later flew South with goldfinches and chaffinches. Indeed, there seemed to be a fair bit of finch passage mid-morning, more usual in late October.

Warblers comprised five chiffchaffs and a lesser whitethroat.

Three shovelers and a tufted duck were by the Wildfowler's Pools.

Dan.

The Rook of Rove.

Conditions were mild and mellow down the patch today. By midday warm sun broke through and dozens of black headed gulls began insect- feeding over Freeman's Wood and up to 10 migrant hawkers were hunting and pairing.

Rooks are not easy to come by at Aldcliffe, so a noisy roving party of 40 mainly 1st-winter birds are worth a mention.

I arrived late morning, seemingly at the tail end of an OK morning for visible migration. Meadow pipits were airborne and Southbound and a party of seven skylarks went over too.

A little later a common buzzard drifted over to the South.

Passerine-wise I couldn't find anything better than two tree sparrows, six chiffchaffs, a blackcap and a goldcrest.

And in terms of waders the highlights were a lone bar-tailed godwit, 4 greenshanks and two green sandpiper.

Dan.

Pishing in the wind

Amazed at what a week of westerlies does to the patch. I spent a good half hour pishing the  bushes round the abandoned football pitch. The only "quality" was a female blackcap and 2 coal tits.
The juvenile little grebes are still with their parents on Freemans pools.
A mystery wader flew off the flood and over the cycle track. It looked slightly rakish but a bit too small for a greenshank. I'll check it out again tommorrow. The blackberries make the place worth a visit even if the birding is a disappointment..

Guy