Geoff Pain
Sunday 2nd February 2003, 20:18
Picked my birding mate AJ up this morning and set off on a little tour of Lancashire.First port of call was the moor above Slaidburn where a Great Grey Shrike has been since before Christmas,my 5th attempt to see this bird and once again I dipped damn!!High tide was due around 12 oclock so we set off for Hesk Bank,near Morecambe,arriving there about 11.15 after a detour to Heysham(nothing much doing here).Plenty of birds about and with the incoming tide they were being pushed ever closer to us.Hundreds of Knot,Oystercatcher,Golden Plover,Bar-tailed Godwit and Curlew with a supporting cast of Shelduck,Starling,Lapwing,Wigeon,Pintail and the usual gulls.After having lunch we went to Leighton Moss where we watched a female Sparrowhawk hunting over the reed beds for 3-4 minutes.Goosannder,Teal,Pochard,Goldeneye,Shelduck ,Tufted Duck and Mute Swan being some of the birds present.A walk down to the Griesdale hide produced Teal and Mallard.A Grey Heron in the far corner put something to flight and I managed to connect with a Bittern for about 5 seconds before it disappeared into the reeds.
Next port of call was Pine Lake for the Red-head Smew which has been here since before Christmas.We were about to call it a day when AJ caught sight of it not too far away,another year tick in the bag.Other birds included G.C.Grebe,Cormorant,Gadwall,Pochard and Shoveller.Next down the M6 to Preston and then on to Clitheroe where AJ lives.A call in at Barrow Lodge near to Clitheroe produced Grey Wagtail and 18 Goosanders(6 males,12 females)The weather was cool and wet at times but a good time was had by all.Sorry no pics but it was just too windy,too much vibration.Roll on 2 weeks time I'm off to Norfolk for the weekend,watch this space.
Geoff :t:
Next port of call was Pine Lake for the Red-head Smew which has been here since before Christmas.We were about to call it a day when AJ caught sight of it not too far away,another year tick in the bag.Other birds included G.C.Grebe,Cormorant,Gadwall,Pochard and Shoveller.Next down the M6 to Preston and then on to Clitheroe where AJ lives.A call in at Barrow Lodge near to Clitheroe produced Grey Wagtail and 18 Goosanders(6 males,12 females)The weather was cool and wet at times but a good time was had by all.Sorry no pics but it was just too windy,too much vibration.Roll on 2 weeks time I'm off to Norfolk for the weekend,watch this space.
Geoff :t: