Hardly a surprise that on a clear sunny afternnon, with a good north easterly blowing, Pink Feet were piling into Marshside from all points of the compass - off the mudflats, down from the north, in from the south and east, all whiffling down onto Marshside One and Two (Rimmers/Suttons Marshes) and Crossens beyond.
Estimating numbers was hard, 'cos so many were moving about, but there were at least 4,000 birds in the hour or so I spent down there.
Snipe, Blackwits and Lapwings on Marshside 2, with several Greenshank calling loudly from Polly's Pool. Seven Ruddy Duck on the Sandplant lagoon.
Winter wildfowl staples like Pintail are steadily increasing in numbers, altho' I suspect this one's decision to swim uphill is more down to my ineptitude with a tripod than anything else.
Diggers were closing in on the remnants of the Forest of Bale, so I didn't really check the compound, but Mipits, finches and Skylarks were heading over, albeit in smaller numbers than on Sunday.
A young Peregrine tore through panicking all the waders, but I didn't see it catch, while Sparrowhawk and Kestrel were hunting the outer marsh.
Hesketh Road platform revealed small numbers of Curlew and Blackwits feeding amongst the gull and Wigeon, and a few Mipits trickled south.
Surprisingly a single Yellow Wagtail went south over my head, calling loudly at about 5.45pm - it pitched down onto the Municipal Golf Course.
I wonder what race that was at this time of year?
A reminder that its not just big fat Pinkies the north easterly brings - passerines are lurking out there too.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
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Jellyhead Jackson wrote...
Mega - just heard there's a Brown Shrike at Flamboro' round the Old Fall Hedge...
Posted by: Jellyhead Jackson | September 24, 2008 7:09 PM