Lancashire Birding - 5th April 2010

Better late than never I know, but it took me a while to get round to examining the photos from the day out and as I’m not happy with any of them it’s a text only post I’m afraid. Reece on the other hand did a little better so don’t forget to check out Spudds Nature Blog.

The day started up at Leighton Moss to photograph the returning Marsh Harrier and with 2 male and 1 female viewed from the lay by just before the path to the public hide on 2 brief visits it wasn’t a bad day. Other birds in the area included 2 Pheasant, 2 Shellduck, 1 Mute Swan, 2 Magpie, 2 Greater Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Swallow and 1 Buzzard mainly seen flying overhead.
In between visits we headed up to Warton Crag where amongst the large number of Jackdaw we managed 1 Raven, 2 Peregrine, 1 Kestrel and a calling Chiffchaff.
Next stop was Conder Green and although we missed out on the Hooded Crow we did see 2 Curlew, 2 Lapwing, 10 Oystercatcher, 9 Redshank, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Mallard, Teal and Mute Swan.
From there we called in at Pilling Lane End to see if we could see any passing Wheatear as we did at a similar time last year but no such luck on today’s visit. 2 Sparrowhawk were a bonus along with the c300 Pinkfooted Geese, Shellduck, c30 Knot, Redshank, 2 Rock Dove and a Little Egret.
On the way home we called in at Bradshaw Lane feeding station, only our second visit here and somewhere we should call at a little more often. Sightings on the seed and surrounding fields included 9 Yellowhammer, 2 Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting, Skylark, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Dunnock, 4 Chaffinch, 2 Shellduck, 2 Red-legged Partridge, Woodpigeon, Grey Herron, Swallow, c25 Lesser-black Backed Gull, 3 Carrion Crow, Kestrel and 11 Curlew. Not a bad day out, just wish it had been a little lighter then I might have had a chance of some reasonable photos.