20 June 2021

Conder Green
Greenshank 1
Pochard 5 males on pool
Lapwing 22

Lune from Glasson bowling green
Great White Egret 1
Little Egret 16
Eider 3
Carrion Crow 28
Bar tailed Godwit 4

Conder Green Avocets
There have been 8 pairs on avocets nesting on Conder Pool in 2021. All pairs laid clutches of 3 or 4 eggs, and all clutches survived to hatching. There is currently a minimum of 17 live young (possibly 20) in the vicinity, some on the pool still, but most have moved to the Conder and the older ones are now on the Lune. The oldest young are fully winged and are on the verge of fledging, although I haven’t seen them fly yet. The youngest are still small and downy, and there are various grades in between. Some of the young have been ringed, as part of a wider Cumbrian/Lancashire study in collaboration with Natural England, and some have been fitted with colour rings so that we can find out where they go in winter and whether they return here in future years. In 2020, only two avocet chicks fledged from several breeding attempts by five pairs, both of those were ringed (metal ring only) and one returned this year and has successfully hatched 2 chicks. That was slightly unexpected as most avocets are thought to start breeding when they are two years old. So we can monitor fledging and immediate local movements, I’d be grateful to receive any sightings of individually identified birds – they have a yellow flag above the leg joint with a 2 number/letter code in black. To maximise the value of any sightings it would be really helpful to have the flag code, time, date, whether they were flying and a description of where they were seen (main sites are: Conder pool, Conder Green creek, or mouth of Conder on the Lune, but if elsewhere please give a clear description or a 6-figure grid reference). Even records from where they were ringed or of unfledged birds will be useful to help monitor survival and fledging success.

Conder Green Common Terns
A brief update. Eight pairs of common terns have attempted to breed, including one bird with a colour ring, which was born in the NE of England. Four nests are on the pontoon, and four were on the islands. All the nests on the islands have since been predated – with evidence pointing to fox as the culprit. Three of the four pontoon nests now have chicks (two broods of three and one of two) and are growing rapidly.

Ian Hartley