When The North Wind Blows

It was bl**dy cold this morning as I headed down to the river and stood on the edge of the saltmarsh with nothing in between me and the snow capped Lakeland fells! The wind was a bitter 15 mph north-northwesterly, but with clear skies and the old 'currant bun' in the sky it was a joy to be out!

 The snow capped Lakeland fells behind Fleetwood; they're not as close

as they look!

As I walked across the saltmarsh to get to my vantage point to view the mudflats I put four Rock Pipits up. It's rare to get them in full view on the deck to try and sort out race. There were good numbers of Lapwing on the river and I had 924 in total. Other waders included 290 Dunlins and 165 Curlews.

 Looking across the saltmarsh

Surprisingly I didn't have any Wigeon on the river, and I imagine they were all tucked in under the banking or in some of the larger creeks, but I did have 131 Teal. Walking back to terra firma two Little Egrets flew over and dropped into one of the creeks to feed.

On the reservoir were 46 Tufted Ducks and a couple of Goldeneyes. The wildfowl on the res were hard to see as they were sheltering out of the wind behind the wooded embankment. Walking back to my car I heard a Raven calling, looked up, and it was being mobbed by three Carrion Crows. I know Ravens are big, but when you see one alongside a Carrion Crow you just realise how big!

I called at my feeding station to top up the feeders, but had nothing of note other than a Stock Dove. I intend to have a ringing session here tomorrow as the forecast is looking favourable, but to be honest I'm not confident of a decent catch as it was very quiet this morning. I'll let you know.