In search of a Short Eared Owl & 2 Brockholes Wetland visits - 1st August 2009

First stop of the day was the edge of Darwen Moor via Crookfield Rd car park. I had been told about a Short Eared Owl that had been hunting by daylight in the area, though this was several weeks ago. We spent about an hour searching the area in the wet with not much to show apart from 3 Kestrel, Linnet, a little brown bird? and a large flock of Goldfinch. I’m not sure about other areas of the country but within a few miles of Bamber Bridge Goldfinch have done very well this summer.
With the weather in the area not looking like it was going to improve, no sign of the SE Owl and the fact we could see bright sunshine over Preston we made the decision to head over to Brockholes to see if we could catch any of the passing waders that have been reported recently.
We spent just over an hour searching the main pit with nothing out of the ordinary on show. Lapwing numbers were reduced with only 30 across the pit, 4 Oystercatcher were feeding around the island and Swift, Sand and House Martin and Swallow graced the air.
Along the approach road we spotted 3 Jay and a single Green Woodpecker whilst Reece picked out a Garganey taking a nap amongst the Mallard and a single Teal feeding on the far end.
Later down at Brockholes things improved slightly with 2 Common Sandpiper, 4 Little Ringed Plover and a Shoveler. Also a flock of 15 Long Tailed Tit made their way down the Trees bordering the approach road.

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