Just Passing By...

Nothing stirs the soul more than the sight of some good visible migration, even if the hundreds of birds conducting the combined ground and air invasion of Talacre Dunes this morning were practically all humble Meadow Pipits.

It is hard to quantify precisely how many there were, but a conservative estimate would be 600 plus, whilst a widely ambitious forecast (I will call that a labour estimate) would be in excess of one thousand. A liberal approximation would probably be about correct, but I assume you have stopped listening now.

There were a few other species knocking about, most notably ten Wheatears behind the lighthouse - including eight on one single bush. A few Zilpzalps provided some background music, although they were mostly drowned out by the wheezing Greenfinches.

Buoyed by a decent fall I headed over to check the old colliery site where I was greeted with another four Wheatears, a pair of Stonechat and yes, you guessed it, even more Meadow Pipits.

Also probably just passing through was a rather scruffy looking male Merlin (Merlin Haggard? (one for C&W fans)), that was probably thanking its lucky stars at the steady stream of breakfast entrees passing before its very eyes!

On the way back home there was just enough time to pop into Connah’s Quay, where I bumped into Cohen Senior and KLJ. Scanning through the logbook, I was lamenting the lack of Twite on my radar this winter – especially as two flocks of forty and twenty birds had been seen only this week.

Someone was clearly listening up there today, because no more than a minute later a flock of eight birds was dispatched towards the west hide. After a quick bath in the stream they were off flying over the Dee and towards the marsh – Krishna must have been in a playful mood today!

Point of Ayr 25.3.10

Meadow Pipit – many
Wheatear 14
Merlin 1
Skylark 30+
Stonechat 2

Connah’s Quay NR

Twite 8
Wheatear 2

Until later.