Thursday 14 March 2013

No Wheatears yet..........

..........but that isn't unexpected given the weather. The forecast for this morning was meant to be a WSW wind and I thought there might be half a chance of a Wheatear with the change of wind direction. Looking south across Liverpool Bay from the obs this morning I could see North Wales, where I know there has been Wheatears over recent days.

It was bitterly cold this morning with a hard frost and a biting ESE wind. No wonder there wasn't any Wheatears! Even though there wasn't any Wheatears the visible migration was quite good and even though I was only out for an hour and a half I had a Grey Wagtail, 34 Alba Wags, 50 Meadow Pipits, four Goldfinches, four Linnets, a Siskin and 34 Curlews all head north.

It was impossible to seawatch as there was a horrendous heat haze making everything other than birds just over the tide line difficult to identify. As the morning progressed the wind veered NE, then to the north and finally NW just as I left. This lead to the 'frosty heat haze' clearing by the time I headed home. All I had on the sea were 47 Cormorants, 24 Common Scoters, two Red-throated Divers and an Auk sp.

Yesterday I was surveying some farmland in East Lancashire and although I didn't see many birds it was a pleasant if not cold day to be walking round. What the farm lacked in birds it made up for in archaeology so it was an interesting few hours at work. The few birds that I did record were eight Siskins, two Nuthactches, a Goldcrest, 12 Redwings, six Long-tailed Tits, a Buzzard and a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. I say Lesser Spotted Woodpecker as I never saw the bird, only heard it drumming from a nice piece of Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland (ASNW). The drumming was quieter and more faster than a 'Great Spot' and it finished abruptly rather than 'fading out' as a Great Spot does. I had heard several Great Spots drumming that morning and as soon as I heard this bird it really stood out.

Below are a couple of views from 'my office' yesterday and the final one a view from 'my desk' as I ate my lunch!




1 comment:

Ana Mínguez Corella said...

A very friendly place to take pictures.. Great images.. Cheers!!!..