Tuesday 4 November 2008

Excellent coverage, not a lot of reward

Too clear, cloud too high, no birds. A real shame as the site received the best coverage of the whole autumn.

Vis
Crossbill - two heading north mid-morning comprised the highlight of the day
Chaffinch - c18 SE
Greenfinch - c5 SE
Skylark - 2S
Starling - c120 N
Meadow Pipit - 2 SE

Grounded
Goldcrest - c11 (4 ringed)
Redwing - c12
Song Thrush - c10
Blackbird - c50
Robin - presumably mostly birds on non-breeding season territory - c30 noted - but one orange and grey bird in-off at OE foreshore & trying to hide under the car was obviously a migrant!
Long-tailed Tit - unringed flock of 13 gave a slight degree of respectability to the ringing effort

Miscellany
Linnet - c25 OE foreshore & c11 north harbour wall
Twite - c25 Ocean Edge saltmarsh (with Linnets) & at least 72 north harbour wall, including presumably 'the' yellow-ringed bird from the Duddon seen two days ago. NO access along here for the general public at the moment as the dredger is retrieved. Please do not drive along the narrow section of road and clog things up for vehicles wanting access for the rescue operation.
Med Gull - ad north harbour wall
Little Egret - one OE saltmarsh channel and then the first ever individual (north) past the north harbour wall!

Elsewhere
Adult Great Grey Shrike (returning?) to Dalton Crags, but incredibly elusive and wide-ranging. Todays observations suggest that absence from the open limestone area may indicate it is in the clearings in Dalton Wood itself, not further afield on the great expanse of pavement/scattered scrub. The pavement area can be scoped from about 1/4 mile along the Keer Falls/Arkholme road and has been successfully seen at long-range from there in previous years, notably in the scattered trees breaking the skyline to the "left" of the N-S wall. See LDBWS site for record shots on a larch in a clear area of Dalton Wood. Chiffchaff Silverdale Moss