A few bits and pieces

Over a month ago I spent a quiet hour with a Dipper up in Bowland, unfortunately I chose the wrong time of day and the sun was against me, while I took a number of photographs all are in shadow, gloomy and frankly not very good. Nevertheless I thoroughly enjoyed watching these engaging birds. Wonderful. While I was there a male mallard came along not twenty feet away and started feeding underwater. Mad!

I'm hopeless at most things (including birds), become dyslexic and type all sorts of nonsense, so if you do see any errors or mistakes, please do advise.

On the way out of Bowland, the sun had set and the grouse were just settling down for the evening and there was quite a lot of activity (where's my twelve bore?), I managed to catch one male and then surprised myself by capturing two males together. I do need to practice my Grouse call!

What I think is a Green-Veined White pigged off a male Orange Tip by not disappearing when 'attacked'; an early start at Newton Marsh was quiet apart from the regulars, except 32 Whimbrel that didn't hang around too long unfortunately.

As for the Oystercatchers, again I don't know what it is about these birds – were they a Friday afternoon job, something go wrong in the planning or somebody having a 'larf? When you look at them, they do look 'odd' but great.

Dipper in shadow

Male Mallard feeding

male Red Grouse

two male Red Grouse

Green Veined White

Lapwing

Redshank

Shelduck

Whimbrel

Oystercatchers

Dan de lion and Goldfinch

Another early visit in poor light.

A male Chaffinch, a pair of Blue tits, two or three Goldfinch, a Whitethroat, a pair of Linnet, a pair of Gadwall, a pair of Shelduck, 27 odd Herring Gulls of various ages, Coot and Moorhen, a Mute Swan on a nest and a Mallard with 11 young. They looked they had only just hatched and she was walking them across the field to the water, so the nest must have been well hidden, and just in time with those marauding gulls about.

One or two Goldfinches were feeding on dandelions in the roadside verge, see photos. You can see the yellow nectar on the crown of the bird. The bright yellow on Goldfinch has always been a wonder, yet when feeding on the ground on dandelion, the perfect camouflage.

Later that day, over at St Annes a Dunnock popped up as I was parking the car at the tax office! The Whitethroat pic is only so you know, I know what one looks like and it was still about on the way home later in the afternoon!

Hghi in the sky, I thought there was a Swift but on closer(!) inspection it wasn't a Swift. A couple of brief snaps at considerable distance, and not big enough for a Peregrine I am leaning towards a probable Hobby. What do you think? (see below)

Newton Marsh

A Bit Quiet

But that might have been because of the dog walkers.

A Common Sandpiper on Newton Marsh, while in the field to the east were a pair of Wheatear, a pair of Chaffinch and at least 6 what I think were Pied Wagtails. Later sightings in the week by others suggested White Wagtails but I couldn't be sure. A pair of Mallard and Shelduck were feeding before being disturbed, along with everything else by said dog and companions. A couple of record photos.