Some bird pics at last! Last weekend when I was in one of the museums in Paris my mobile bleeped with a message from East Lancs birder Bill Aspin. I've only seen one Slav' Grebe in Lancs before so the news of one near Clitheroe was welcome, even if I was out of the country.
When I woke this morning the weather showed a slight sign of improvement (it couldn't really get any worse) and the news was out early that the Slav' had been seen so I packed my gear and set off up the A59. On arrival at Barrow Lodge it was obvious from the small huddle of birders where the bird was, so I parked and set up ready to snap a few pics.
It's not the most scenic site in East Lancs (MacDonald's and Sommerfields can be seen at the back of the lodge in the pic), but well worth a visit for the grebe and a nice Kingfisher bonus. After an hour or more watching the Slav' I decided to make the most of the reasonable weather and head back "on patch" to the Ribble Estuary. I stopped off at Brockholes Quarry but little to report from there, before pulling in at Newton Marsh.
The Entrance Pool was flooded once again with 300+ Wigeon and 80 Teal close to the road, but little else of note.
The Stonechats were in the bramble and on the barbed wires near the water treatment works showing well as 40 Pink-feet headed south.
With a bit of time still to spare I drove through Warton to Bank Lane where I spent an hour or so scanning the saltmarsh there. No sign of the long-staying Glossy Ibis with the 13 Whoopers and 5 Little Egrets but a nice selection of raptors included 2 Merlins, Peregrine and a ringtail Hen Harrier to add to the Buzzard and Sparrowhawk I saw on the way. Some huge flocks of Golden Plovers and Lapwings with a few Blackwits out on the mud - if only the Ribble was more accessible.Five weeks to go until Mexico but plenty to do until then!
