LANCS: Waders - R.I.P.

Mud, glorious mud! Ribble Estuary near Freckleton, Lancs 22 July 2009.

Did you know "The saltmarshes and sand and mud flats of the Ribble Estuary form another of the most important wetlands for wintering and passage waterfowl in Europe and the most important in Britain after the Wash for its waders, ducks, geese and swans"? Well, nor did I, but I do now thanks to Birds of Lancashire and North Merseyside. There you go then, and it's right on my doorstep too.
Since moving to Lancs I've tried to get out on the estuary as much as possible but work abroad has often prevented watching the waders in late summer. This week it's been possible though with some good totals at the high tide roost - 350 Black-tailed Godwits, 74 Oystercatchers (not common in large numbers this far up river) and Dunlin varying in numbers anywhere between 70 and 800! Wednesday afternoon was notable for the above totals plus single Whimbrel and a dainty Arctic Tern on the river.
Today was special though. I spent three hours out there after high tide, didn't see anything rare but the comings and goings of hundreds of birds was simply enthralling. In fact total of birds were pretty unspectacular compared to the start of the week with only 77 Blackwits in the roost but 13 species of wader is good for this Ribble patch (plus the Green Sand' I saw at Newton Marsh on the way in) and I didn't see Greenshank or Spotshank this afternoon. It was good to see a few Golden Plover back on the estuary, even if it was just 22. There were a few waders around normally present on the outer estuary with more frequency like the two splendid summer plumage Ruddy Turnstones living up to their name, still in breeding splendour. A couple of nice pink-flushed Knot and a single summer plumaged Sanderling were all I could find in the Dunlins but the lack of rare visitors didn't bother me in the least. Just sitting there in the mud with nearly a thousand Dunlin to look through (most in fine summer dress still) for that elusive White-rumped or Pec' was quite enough for the afternoon to pass all too quick.
The disturbance of roosting birds on the shore has long been a personal gripe. I regularly witness horse riders, dog walkers or just folks out for a stroll putting up large gathering of waders, terns, gulls or wildfowl during my time on the Solway or on Lancs shorelines. It's irritating to say the least but it can happen inadvertently and I did it by mistake today. Many folks do it on purpose just for the thrill of seeing wheeling flocks of birds, not realising that these birds need to rest up after energy expended after long migratory flights or before setting out again in the Spring. How best to deal with it? Well I'm with John Dempsey who spoke to folks heading towards shoreline roosts in N Merseyside the other day - "all [the walkers on the beach] seemed genuinely interested in birds and quite happy to make the detour to avoid flushing them". Much better than giving out a mouthful because you didn't get a photo and then "demanding respect" as a birder. Sorry, I read some very strange posts on blogs and the suchlike!

Really enjoyed the estuary. Think I'll do some more tomorrow maybe ........

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