Sunday 11 January 2015

Walney Island

This is the first time ive been to this  ' Cumbrian Spurn ' , the site of many rare and spectacular species over the years, but in Jan I didn't expect much. A cracking female Merlin was the first bird seen, showed very well for 20 mins or so. A flock of  100 + Twite and 40 Skylarks kept things interesting and a flock of 45 Barnacle Geese overhead was a surprise.
  A quick scan of a flock of flying waders was initially thought to be Knot but turned out to be 42 Grey Plover which landed just by the road side. Bar and Black tailed godwits with 100's of redshank , Knot , Lapwing Oystercatcher and Curlew. A quick look out to sea produced 2000 Eider , 500 Pintail ,500 Widgeon , 100 Teal , 50 Mallard a flock of 148 Brent geese ( all pale bellied) , 600 Shelduck  and a couple of great Crested Grebes........................beautiful winter birding so much colour..

2 comments:

David Sutcliffe said...

That sounds a great spot Andy especially the flock of Grey Plover - usually singletons !
You are getting spoilt up there..

AndyC said...

42 Grey Plover is a good number in Cumbria,,well pleased and a great sight..