View over the Junction Pool, Marshside RSPB 10 April 2009. Drake Garganey lurking in the corner somewhere.Mrs B and I were really pleased to get out birding this afternoon after a very hectic ten days or so. Heading south of the Ribble the weather looked very unfavourable indeed but we continued and as we reached the Hesketh Road platform at Marshside RSPB the rain reduced to a drizzle. A drake Garganey had been reported but no sign in the murky conditions, just plenty of Teal, a few Wigeon plus the odd Black-tailed Godwit in full summer splendour. Sand Martin was the only migrant on view so we jumped back in the car and drove round to Marshside Road.
Apart from the obvious Avocets the first bird we looked at on the Junction Pool was a superb drake Garganey - one of my favourite summer visitors to the UK. Plenty of signs of movement today too with several Sand Martins, Swallows and at least 3 House Martins over Rimmer's Marsh. A mix of winter, intermediate and summer plumaged adult Golden Plovers amused us for a while before reaching Nel's Hide where we informed a few local bods of the whereabouts of the Garganey. Pintails, Ruff, Blackwits, Snipe and several Little Egrets (don't even bother to count them nowadays, tut, tut) and then time to head back to the car. Mrs B. stopped to find the Garganey for the local bods at the Junction Pool before a brief stop at the Sandplant Lagoon where a female Ruddy Duck was with some Tufties.
Last gasp stop for some Pink-feet on Crossens Outer Marsh where there were at least a dozen White Wagtails on one of the pools. Couldn't see anything in with the "Pinks" but there were more geese lurking in the long tussocks of the saltmarsh and I hear some Greenland Whitefronts were seen today.
A good choice of venue for a brief trip out and nice to blow away some domestic cobwebs.
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