[Pete Crooks]

in reply to: Copridding Wood, Arnside #3666

Hi Steve,

Yes, totally agree – plenty of tempting buddleia at the moment, but not many butterflies on them.

Pete C

[Pete Crooks]

in reply to: Lune– Green Ayre and Aqueduct area #3599

Hi Dan,

Just spotted the photo on Twitter – its J8LA. Ringed at Nybroa, Oslo, Norway on 3/4/2009.

Pete C

[Pete Crooks]

in reply to: Lune– Green Ayre and Aqueduct area #3598

HI Dan,

Are you sure about that Norwegian colour-ringed Black-headed Gull? I’ve seen J8LA there on several occasions, but not JL8A.

Pete C

[Pete Crooks]

in reply to: Feral Snow Geese – Stodday #3403

Hi Sue,

I’m not sure if either of the people I spoke to were fishermen. One of them was someone who regularly walks his gang of c.10 dogs of various sizes at Aldcliffe.

A flock of 33 feral Snow Geese were seen on the Northumberland coast this morning.

Pete C

[Pete Crooks]

in reply to: Condor Green Spotted Redshank. #3103

A quick check in a downpour at 4.00 pm:

Conder Pool – 7 Avocet, 1 Spotted Redshank (later flew to Conder Creek), 11 Tufted Duck, 1 Pink-footed Goose

Conder Creek – 8 Greenshank, 80 Black-tailed Godwit, 15 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Whimbrel

Pete C

[Pete Crooks]

in reply to: Conder and Cockersands #2971

Greenfinch Cafe – Glasson Dock – Conder Green this afternoon:

Salt marsh between Conder Creek and Glasson Dock – 2 Raven (mobbed by 2 Carrion Crow)
Glasson Church – 18 Tree Sparrow on feeders in garden next to church
Conder Pool – 4 Avocet
Conder Creek – 2 Avocet, 2 Greenshank, 1 Common Sandpiper

Pete C

[Pete Crooks]

in reply to: Glasson Dock – Thurnham Mill #2889

Another walk along the canal from Glasson Dock to Thurnham Mill produced:

7 Tree Sparrow in the garden next to Glasson Church
9 Avocet, c.100 Black-tailed Godwit and 2 Shoveler at Conder Pool
1 Greenshank at Conder Creek

Pete C

[Pete Crooks]

in reply to: Aldcliffe #2811

16 Goldeneye on Freeman’s Pools this evening.

Pete C

[Pete Crooks]

in reply to: Aldcliffe Marsh #2740

Also 3 Small Tortoiseshell and 1 female Brimstone along Dawson’s Bank between the parking area and the Wildfowlers’ Pools.

Just the ‘resident’ flock of 8 Ringed Plover and 1 Dunlin on the Wildfowlers’ Pools.

Pete C

[Pete Crooks]

in reply to: Eric Morecambe from Viewpoint, Holmere & Hare Tarn #2667

36 Avocets from the Crag Road viewpoint this morning – 19 on the Flood, 4 on the Eric Morecambe Pool, 13 on the Allen Pool.

Also: 1 Great White Egret on Barrow Scout Fields, 200 Pink-footed Geese on the salt marsh beyond the Eric Morecambe Pools and 500 Black-tailed Godwit on the Eric Morecambe Pool.

Pete C

[Pete Crooks]

in reply to: Colour-ringed Black-tailed Godwit #2576

So my Bl-t Godwit estimate was out by c.11.5% – not good!

I forgot to add: 15 Ringed Plover on the Wildfowlers’ Pools which have been nicely topped up by the recent rain and are looking good for early spring waders – LRP, Avocet and more cr Icewits (as I believe they are now called) hopefully.

Pete C

[Pete Crooks]

in reply to: Neck-collared Pink-footed Geese at Aldcliffe #2408

After a quick internet search I came across the following comment in the Lincolnshire Naturalists’ Union on-line newsletter (22/1/20): “The two Pink-footed Geese seen at Elm House Farm (near Saltfleetby – Theddlethorpe Dunes NNR) on 17th December 2019 were ringed at WWT Martin Mere. A male, neck collar VCN, on 22/3/2018 and a female with the GPS tag number 6 and a white darvic leg ring with black 74, on 1/12/2016.

So presumably not the birds I saw at Aldcliffe Marsh on 19/2/19, but certainly the pair from yesterday. Hopefully the female’s GPS data has an interesting story to tell.

Pete C

[Pete Crooks]

in reply to: Aldcliffe #2372

Interestingly another cr Black-tailed Godwit also ringed at Snettisham on 1-9-19 (O-YW//W) was at Aldcliffe on 14th and 25th March last year.

Pete C

[Pete Crooks]

in reply to: Lesser White-fronted Goose Aldcliffe #2360

The pattern of barring on the belly suggests that the Lesser W-fG is the same bird as at Piling recently.

The Pink-footed Goose flock in the pasture fields north of ‘the Flooded Field’ also contained an adult Tundra Bean Goose (a monster of a bird), while the Flooded Field held 23 Black-tailed Godwit, including 1 colour-ringed bird (Right leg: Green / White // White / metal. Left leg: Orange).

Pete C

[Pete Crooks]

in reply to: Pine lake #2339

If you stand by the ‘Biffa’ bins by the entrance roundabout to ‘scope the Ring-necked Duck in the NE corner it could be up to 850 metres away from you. (I’ve got access to an Ordnance Survey website for schools which has a really useful measuring tool on it.) At that distance the contrast between the white on the fore flanks compared with light grey on the rest of the flanks is probably the best feature to look for.

Pete C

[Pete Crooks]

in reply to: Aldcliffe #2070

Some numbers for the Aldcliffe goosefest:

Fields between Freeman’s Pools and Wildfowlers’ Pools – c. 2500 Pink-footed Geese and c.270 Greylag Geese (including 5 with orange neck collars – PSA, PSI, PPC, SFJ and SNB).

South end of Aldcliffe Marsh – 2 Russian White-fronted Geese (much closer views than yesterday confirmed the bill colour as pink), 2 Barnacle Geese, 130 Greylag Geese (including orange neck collar PXL) and 252 Canada Geese (including 2 with red darvic rings on their left legs, but too distant to read).

Flooded Field at the end of Aldcliffe Hall Lane – 93 Teal and 10 Shoveler

Pete C

[Author]

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