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Return of the Ibis by Neill Hunt

Posted by on February 16, 2007 6:00 PM | 

Glossy%20Ibis%202007.jpg

Been out again this week with Micky boy Stocker, tryin' to add to his poor attempt at a year list.
Yesterday we wasted a couple of hours looking for LS Peckers nr Ellesmere Port, no joy , but managed to get a shot of Grey Wag and Jay.

Grey%20Wag.jpg

Jay.jpg


Today we've been playin' out around Lytham and Preston, firstly pickin up the Glossy Ibis at Lytham, (Ballam Road on flooded field opposite Birks Farm).
Watch how u park, very fast narrow road.
Try to avoid what we did, ie park on a verge then spend 40 mins trying to get of it!
Digging wet mud from under the front wheels in the rain, with our bare hands, walking up n down the road looking for bits of flagstone, tarmac, bricks etc to put under the wheels then spraying mud and sh*te all over the place, we did finally get out, but I did begin to think at one point we wouldn't.
However, the bird was under the belt.
Happy, though delayed, we left for Preston and better birds. What can be better than a duck on a grey Feb day?
I'll tell ya, loads of things, that said a pair of Mandarins (at Grasshoppers Rugby Club pond, Tom Bensons Way) was a nice sight, but I really do hate ducks!

Mandarin.jpg

Now covered in mud n sh*te, jeans black/brown which match coat, hands shoes etc, home and gettin' in the bath.
Washed car on way home so Mrs H is none the wiser (told her I fell in a ditch).
LIFE IS GOOD.

Thanks Neill - great pix.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies....

Comments (3)

ron jackson wrote...

John,
Not, presumably, a coincidence but Pete Fearon had a (the) Glossy Ibis at Banks today plus a Greenshank and a coupla Green Sands.
As I first found out in 1960 (after being shown a Buff Breasted Sand by Harry Shorrock, Maurice Jones et al at the then magnificent Frecketon Sewage Farm) this side of the Ribble is "star", just a bit more extensive and inaccessible. and fortunately underwatched.
I see Grey Wagtail and Jays in or around my garden daily. no Mandarins but there is a duck Wood Duck in Hesketh Park,
Ron

Posted by: ron jackson  | February 16, 2007 8:45 PM

Bob Stinger wrote...

The Glossy Ibis was at Lytham all day from about 9-9:30 am , what time was it seen at Banks?

Posted by: Bob Stinger  | February 19, 2007 12:01 PM

Kieron Crossley wrote...

I noticed all the twitchers on Ballam Road in Lytham over the last few weeks, as I live close by. I have had an interest in birdwatching from being a young teenager altho Im not 'active' these days. However Im pretty good at spotting anything unusual...

Imagine my surprise this morning when two small green birds twittered about the shrubbery near where I was walking my two dogs. They were smaller than our common brown wrens which, I thought, could mean only one thing...Goldcrests! However, on consulting my bird book to check I discovered that I was wrong. Not Goldcrests but Firecrests! It was the distinctive eye markings that confirmed it. I couldn't believe how tame they apopeared - less than 10 feet from me searching out insects. I have never seen either a goldcrest or a firecrest before. I thought they were more southerly visitors but I am positive because of their size and eye markings. I dont know of a birdwatching club in Lytham so I thought you might be intertested. I spotted them near the water pumping station on Park View Playing fields about 8.30am (13.3.2007)

Kieron Crossley
Lytham Resident

Posted by: Kieron Crossley  | March 13, 2007 11:40 PM

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