Scattering of Spring Migrants

A few highlights from a morning trawl today included: 

House Martin - my first of the year with with a few sand martins at Freeman's Pools
Sand martin - several passing through plus birds feeding at Freeman's pools. 
Wheatear - 11 (8 on tideline, 3 in fields)
Blackcap - 2 singing in Freeman's Wood 

Green sandpiper on Frog Pond
Black-tailed godwit c250 on The Flood & c300 on Wildfowlers' Pools 
Wildfowl included 4 goldeneye, 3 pink-footed geese, 3 shoveler, 4 tufted duck plus a fe gadwall and teal. 
Great White egret on Colloway Marsh 
Multiple chiffchaffs singing around the patch.

Sadly, no sign of any little ringed plover. 
Last year the first (late, thanks in part to the 'Beast from the East') arrival was on April 1. 
The Flood has no appealing muddy edges thanks to high water levels at the moment and although the Wildfowlers' Pools are crawling with waders it's presumably also too wet for LRPs. 

For context, recent years LRP arrival dates at Aldcliffe as follows - all March: 21st 2017, 18th 2016, 19th 2015 & 2014, 17th in 2013. 

Of note, I didn't find any evidence of breeding at Aldcliffe last year...

Jon

There's No Bunting, Like Snow Bunting

With some time on my hands today, I decided to hop into the motor and head off to pastures not-so-distant.
So, I started off with a stop at Conder Pools. The tide was high in the creek and a quick scan revealed a greenshank on the banks. The pools were relatively quiet with just 3 little grebe and the usual scattering of wigeon, teal, tufted duck, mute swan etc. A couple of snipe were visible in the waterside vegetation and at the back of the pools there was a feeding flock of 20 black-tailed godwit.
I then headed along Jeremy Lane where a quick stop to go through the large herd of mute swans only came up with a pair of whooper swans among them - and adult and a juvenile bird.

Whooper swans

As I continued along Moss Lane toward Cockersands I came across another mass of swans.
Pulling over, I could hear the distinctive honking of whooper swans and was soon looking at almost 200 wild swans grazing in the roadside field.
Scanning through, I could see a handful of Bewick's swans among them.

Bewick's swan among whooper swans

After taking a few pics I carried on toward Plover Scar. The tide was pretty much at its peak by now, though it was not an especially high tide so there were some areas of saltmarsh visible.
I walked toward the fishing skeer where a small selection of roosting waders included ringed plover, turnstone, oystercatcher, knot, redshank and curlew.
After a couple of minutes I came across the long-staying snow bunting picking its way through the rocks and marsh.

Snow bunting

This is the first snow bunting that I've seen in the UK for quite a few years - the last I saw anywhere was last May in Canada, where I am pleased to say that they do actually call them snow bunting and not something like 'Frosty longspur'.

On my way back I stopped off at Conder once more. The pools were even quieter now, even the godwits had gone.
In the creek there were the usual numerous teal and mallard, redshank, little egret and other assorted common stuff.

Spotted redshank

A pair of spotted redhank were, erm, spotted and I even managed a digi-scope snap of one as it snoozed on the creek bank and a lone grey plover was in with some lapwing.
From the bridge I scanned through the wigeon, hoping for a yankee interloper but it wasn't to be. A mobile flock of 12 reed bunting were moving from tideline to marsh and everywhere in between. A single rock pipit flew over.

Next stop was good old Aldcliffe. There wasn't a great deal going on to be honest and I struggled to find anything worthy of mention. The 30-40 fieldfare that have been a feature of the last week were still in the area and there were c400 pink-footed geese on the marsh but little else.
A quick check of Freeman's Pools saw the return of the redhead smew and a handful of goldeneye back on the main pool.

Jon
 

Barn Stormin'

Freeman's Pools at dusk

I've been determined to go down to Freeman's Pools on a reasonably fine late afternoon with the hope of seeing what, if any, owls might be hunting around the area.
I've heard from several dog walkers that barn owls have been showing fairly regularly and after that brilliant spell back in early 2009 when we had barns, short-eared and long-eared owls all present it was definitely got to be worth a good look.
I also wanted to see if any woodcock were flying in from Freeman's Wood to feed at the pools, as they often have in winters past.
As it happens, I got down there a little too early for owl-action and so happily checked the Wildfowlers' Pools, the Flood and everything in between.

The Aldcliffe drumlins viewed from the Flood

There were still quite a few pinkfeet up on the drumlins, but they were feeding low in the field and many were obscured by the hedges, so an accurate count wasn't possible.
Other wildfowl in and around the Aldcliffe area included the usual mute swans, shelduck, mallard and teal plus good numbers of coot and the large numbers of moorhen.
I have noticed that the number of adults to 1st year moorhens suggests that 2012 was a very productive breeding season. I don't know what numbers are like at Leighton Moss and elsewhere, but there are at least 50 moorhens on the Aldcliffe patch at the moment.

Moorhens, moorhens everywhere...

I had the good fortune to bump into Ray Hobbs at the parking area, who was in search of snipe for his year-list. We had a good natter, but after a while I had to scarper as the light was starting to fade and I had owls on my mind.
I headed up along the track to Marsh Point and started scanning over the western edge of Freeman's Pools - traditionally good owl habitat.
Within a few minutes a barn owl dutifully appeared as it hunted over the rough ground, giving pretty decent if somewhat distant views. I continued to check around the pools for signs of any other species but I couldn't locate any other owls, and I also dipped on woodcock.
A merlin dashed through in the fading light, chasing a lapwing which managed to escape its speedy pursuer. 

Jon      

Life On Marsh

Lapwing

Despite the many pressing things that I find myself having to do as Jenny and I continue our repatriation, I am still finding a couple of hours most days to get out and refamiliarise myself with the neighbourhood birds.

On Monday I was on Aldcliffe Marsh for the high tide once again and it was another big one.

As on Sunday, lots of geese were grazing in the adjacent fields along with good numbers of curlew, lapwing (pictured), redshank and black-headed gulls.

The tideline by Walled Meadow had attracted a decent little feeding flock that contained chaffinch, greenfinch, goldfinch, robin, wren, pied wagtail and 11 rock pipits. As I walked along the seawall up to Marsh Point and Freeman’s Pools I came across at least another 9 rock pipit. Checking through them, there was nothing to suggest they were anything but petrosus types, although one bird with a distinctive supercilium was certainly suggestive of littoralis. 

The European white-fronted goose was with greylags on the marsh opposite Snatchems.

Freeman’s Pools, now thawed, were starting to attract a few birds including common goldeneye, tufted duck and a pair of mute swans.

Bits of a little owl

On Tuesday I visited the marsh again, though walked via Aldcliffe village and down Railway Crossing Lane. As I passed Admiralty Wood I checked for little owls and eventually located a snoozing bird (pictured here). Nuthatch, treecreeper and great-spotted woodpecker also put in appearances.

I bumped into Steve Wallis in the village; he was on his way home having completed his WeBS count. After a good chat about what Aldcliffe birds I’d missed in the 3+ years I’ve been away and what changes had been observed around the patch we continued on our respective ways.

Late afternoon at Aldcliffe Marsh

The tide peak was considerably lower today and as a result there wasn’t much pushed off the main river. A handful of little egrets were scattered around the saltmarsh and once again there were loads of redshank and lapwing, plus a few dunlin, feeding around The Flood.

I can’t recall ever seeing quite so many moorhen as seem to be around at the moment – have they just been steadily increasing or are there simply a lot in the Aldcliffe area this year? Coot have certainly colonized in recent years (my first record was in the late 1980s and concerned a freshly dead bird along the seawall. I was quite excited.)

Talking of modern additions to Aldcliffe’s avifauna, as I bumbled along the pathway back to Willow Lane alongside Freeman’s Wood I noticed a little egret on the path ahead of me. It was searching for prey in the wet ditch and looked a bit out of place so close to the edge of town. They’ll be nicking koi carp out of garden ponds before we know it…   

This afternoon (Wednesday) I had to go to Morecambe and managed a quick walk down the Stone Jetty. There was nothing much going on offshore, and wader numbers were pretty unremarkable around the shore. Species present included the expected curlew, dunlin, redshank, turnstone, oystercatcher and knot.

Jon