Colin Bushell
Well-known member
I moved to Preston in Lancs from Herts in 2001 and having been "landlocked" for so long I soon acquainted myself with some new birding areas of coastal Lancs. The first sites I visited were on the Ribble Estuary, mostly on the north shore near Freckleton and Warton. This area soon became a favourite of mine but it wasn't long before the scarce birds turning up at Brockholes Quarry just east of Preston made this site too hard to resist too. So my "patch limits" were set: Ribble Valley about six miles east and 10 miles west of my home in Preston.
Over the past five years I've seen some good birds in the Ribble Valley: Honey Buzzard, Ring-billed Gull, Spoonbill, Glossy Ibis, Temminck's Stint, Long-tailed Duck (cracking summer plumaged male at Preston Docks), Waxwing, Yellow-browed Warbler, etc, etc, etc ...... But it's the everyday stuff that gives me a lot of pleasure up here - the estuary is just loaded with birds (especially at the moment!) and nothing gives me more of a thrill than huge gatherings of birds.
Last Sunday (19 Nov) was my first chance to get out locally after my latest trip abroad. My first stop of the day at Warton Bank was pretty uneventful really - just 11 Whoopers out on the saltmarsh and 6 Little Egrets (a Lancs max. for me at the time). I spent some time searching through stubble here and found some Tree Sparrows. I only saw parties of 8 or 9 but apparently there's about 30 around at the moment. It was quite late by the time I got to Freckleton and the footpath down to Naze Point that overlooks the estuary. The fields around Naze Pool were loaded with birds: 1500+ Lapwings, 550+ Golden Plover, 35+ Black-tailed Godwits and a huge flock of Starlings. A nice mixed tit flock in the woods along Freckleton Creek held a couple of Goldcrests and a Chiffchaff but the sound of Pink-footed Geese in the distance meant I hurried a bit to Naze Point. "Pinks" are usually just fly-overs in this area and usually only seen as distance specks on the deck across the Ribble at Hesketh Marsh across from Warton, sI was pleasantly surprised to find a huge flock of 3,000 or so feeding on Longton Marsh. A white-necked bird had the pulse racing for a few seconds in the fading light of a late November afternoon but excitement soon faded when the bird stood up and revealed itself to be an escaped Emperor Goose! Another "sweep" through the geese with the 'scope produced the goods in the form of 3 Barnacle Geese - a patch tick for me. Let's hope this flock of Pinks hangs around and drags a few other stragglers down. Far fewer wild swans on Longton than usual though - just 16 Whoopers and 4 Bewick's.
A Little Egret flying over stopped me opposite Naze Pool on my way back to the car and when I checked there were 18 of these snowy-white birds at a pre-roost gathering. Easily the most I've seen together in Lancs. Last word to the Barn Owl before I reached the car - a pretty good afternoon really and only ten miles from home.
More soon ...... Colin
Over the past five years I've seen some good birds in the Ribble Valley: Honey Buzzard, Ring-billed Gull, Spoonbill, Glossy Ibis, Temminck's Stint, Long-tailed Duck (cracking summer plumaged male at Preston Docks), Waxwing, Yellow-browed Warbler, etc, etc, etc ...... But it's the everyday stuff that gives me a lot of pleasure up here - the estuary is just loaded with birds (especially at the moment!) and nothing gives me more of a thrill than huge gatherings of birds.
Last Sunday (19 Nov) was my first chance to get out locally after my latest trip abroad. My first stop of the day at Warton Bank was pretty uneventful really - just 11 Whoopers out on the saltmarsh and 6 Little Egrets (a Lancs max. for me at the time). I spent some time searching through stubble here and found some Tree Sparrows. I only saw parties of 8 or 9 but apparently there's about 30 around at the moment. It was quite late by the time I got to Freckleton and the footpath down to Naze Point that overlooks the estuary. The fields around Naze Pool were loaded with birds: 1500+ Lapwings, 550+ Golden Plover, 35+ Black-tailed Godwits and a huge flock of Starlings. A nice mixed tit flock in the woods along Freckleton Creek held a couple of Goldcrests and a Chiffchaff but the sound of Pink-footed Geese in the distance meant I hurried a bit to Naze Point. "Pinks" are usually just fly-overs in this area and usually only seen as distance specks on the deck across the Ribble at Hesketh Marsh across from Warton, sI was pleasantly surprised to find a huge flock of 3,000 or so feeding on Longton Marsh. A white-necked bird had the pulse racing for a few seconds in the fading light of a late November afternoon but excitement soon faded when the bird stood up and revealed itself to be an escaped Emperor Goose! Another "sweep" through the geese with the 'scope produced the goods in the form of 3 Barnacle Geese - a patch tick for me. Let's hope this flock of Pinks hangs around and drags a few other stragglers down. Far fewer wild swans on Longton than usual though - just 16 Whoopers and 4 Bewick's.
A Little Egret flying over stopped me opposite Naze Pool on my way back to the car and when I checked there were 18 of these snowy-white birds at a pre-roost gathering. Easily the most I've seen together in Lancs. Last word to the Barn Owl before I reached the car - a pretty good afternoon really and only ten miles from home.
More soon ...... Colin
Last edited:
