Thursday, 19 October 2017

Farmland Vis

Yesterday and today I have been doing some bird surveys, yesterday in the Fylde and today in the Lune valley. The vis hasn't really been part of the surveys, but I record it anyway for my own interest, and after the stormy weather earlier in the week the flood gates opened. 

The day dawned with clear skies and very little wind, perhaps just a tad from the east, and birds were on the move straight away. My totals below don't really justify the true numbers of the birds involved, as I was having to concentrate on other things, but the species make-up is accurate. So a flavour of yesterday morning included 654 Pink-footed Geese, 49 Skylarks, 4 Woodpigeons, 13 Meadow Pipits, four Redwings, a Snipe, a Tree Sparrow, 44 Jackdaws, a Lesser Redpoll, five Alba Wags, two Grey Wags, a Brambling, a Greenfinch, a Siskin, a Raven, a Fieldfare and nine Lapwings.

 Some of the Pinkies yesterday

This morning the vis was a lot quieter and as I said before I was in the Lune valley. I was preoccupied with looking at hedgerows, but the vis was so light I am pretty sure I recorded most of it. My totals included a Siskin, 23 Meadow Pipits, two Reed Buntings, three Goldfinches, 122 Redwings, a Fieldfare, three Chaffinches and 16 Skylarks.

 A typical hedge that I was surveying today

I had a few other bits and pieces, non vis related, when I was surveying the hedges, and this included two Mistle Thrushes, two Grey Wagtails, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, 16 Blackbirds (some continental birds), a Stock Dove, five Song Thrushes, a Goldcrest and two Bullfinches.

I had two Sparrowhawks during the morning, an immature male and a female. I watched the female mobbing one of the two Buzzards that I had.    

I've got another work related bird survey tomorrow and then at weekend it looks like more sea watching based on the forecast.

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