A very good morning though battling a mild headache. several birds of interest included grey wagtail, a flock of linnets, reed bunting, little egret dunlin, knot, common Snipe and the star.... Jack Snipe (about 8 i saw escaping the tide) yeehaa! I must admit Jack snipe are slightly bigger than what I expected thought still smaller than the common Snipe. To watch out for Jack Snipe here, walk a stones throw from the lake along the beach and wait for the high tide. Off to look at preston docks next......

Black-necked Grebe showed well albeit distantly today. One fracas with Little Grebe was interesting.

Phil

Today 14th Sept 0830 - 11am Cool, cloudy, some spots of rain


After a fairly lengthy wait the assembled group of about 15 birders had good views of the Wryneck from the main road side of the pumping station around 10.30 to 11am today. It was quite flighty and wasn't showing for more than about 45 seconds at a time before dropping to feed on the ground, but while up on the bushes it showed well.

Loads of Swallow activity at the beach end of the pumping station, with one late swift flying about too.

Plenty of greenfinch, goldfinch around the pumping station too, as well as 2 chiffchaff being seen.

Sunday 13th Feb.
Couldn't resist another visit to see the Wryneck, with Simon Gough and later joined by Steve Burke. Some other familiar faces turned up too!

Arrived before 3pm and the Wryneck was picked up at 3.05pm. It showed well and for lengthy periods up until around 6pm. It dropped down out of sight for a few minutes then appearing again, slowly making its way up branches in what was seemingly becoming its favourite tree near the pillars.
It soon became a battle of wits as we had pitched ourselves near the roadside opposite the usual viewing point and both parties of birders were trying to second guess who had it in their sights.
Well we were certainly not disappointed as we had excellent views, in the tree, in the Gorse (where at one point it was in full view to us but out of sight to the birders opposite), we had it feeding on the floor which was quite high up level with the UU building roof at one point.
(Just to clarify...the ground is level with the roof of the UU building, there were Rabbits on it)
It then went one step further and came onto the UU roof but it flew off pretty sharpish. We saw it from all angles showing off its brilliant plumage, blending in with its surroundings, and we even got a view where it was feeding using its long pink tongue.
Fantastic!

Other birds of note...
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Chaffinch
Chiffchaff
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Whitethroat
Blackbird
Dunnock


-- Edited by Rob Creek on Monday 14th of September 2015 02:36:15 PM

-- Edited by Rob Creek on Monday 14th of September 2015 05:55:57 PM

Great views of the Wryneck at around 12.15pm today showed really well for about 10mins , a lifer for me!!!! Also a s/pl Grey Plover on the beach too

Rob Creek wrote:

---

Arrived here at 4.30pm due to work and everyone has now gone, the Wryneck apparently hasn't shown since about 11am, but it's just been showing really well and nobody else here but me to enjoy it. I'm gonna stay a bit longer now.

A Lifer for me, well chuffed!!!

---

Only a quick post before mainly as a heads up for anyone who may have been I n the area that the Wryneck was showing.
Little did I know it would keep showing, from 5.17pm right through til gone 6pm. I took some shots periodically to prove the time and that I wasn't seeing things. Last photo taken was 5.51pm as it had moved again slightly and was slightly obscured so camera kept focusing on the twig in front of it.

The bird appeared near the gorse around the pillars, it flew to another tree a few feet away and decided to show well there too. It moved about a cm then started preening, then moved back and preened some more. I was joined by a couple of birders who were overjoyed that I'd located it, and a Fylde birder turned up just as it disappeared but he glanced at my photos for time proof as he wanted to post it on the Fylde Sightings Forum.

This is probably one of the best birds I've ever seen!

Other birds of note...
1 female Sparrowhawk (seen twice)
1 fem/juv? Linnet
2 Siskin over
2 Meadow Pipit
Usual Gulls over
...then a stream of a few hundred Corvids over one of the Lytham back roads dropping down into farmland





-- Edited by Rob Creek on Saturday 12th of September 2015 09:56:43 PM

A visit today for my first ever Wryneck. After a wait of over an hour it showed well at 10.30 for a couple of minutes in the top of bushes in the middle of the compound, disappeared when a shower came in, then I managed to pick it up again just after the rain stopped. So distinctive, hopefully I'll get a bit closer to the next one. No sign again before I left at 12.30

The tide coming in meant a big roost of Oystercatchers and Gulls on the beach and plenty of Shelduck, it didn't flush anything but there were some Knot and Dunlin about and also some nice Grey Plovers moulting out of their summer plumage. A Whitethroat and a busy flock of Goldfinch were within the compound too

Wryneck & 2 Barred Warblers (1 ringed) in willow tree inside pumping station grounds, just W of the lake. Showing occasionally - well what do you expect ! View from sand dune to S of grounds. Note, parking attendants active, but you could park on the road instead.

Drake Greater scaup showing well at the west end of the lake (i.e. Blackpool end) right in the corner between 08:45 and 09:15 . Very confiding and spent most of its the time preening.

Phil

A visit to Fairhaven Lake today with John Rayner brought excellent views of the scaup and a black-tailed godwit in nice but not pristine plumage, understandably. Both at the Blackpool end of the lake.

Phil

-- Edited by Phil Hampson on Monday 10th of August 2015 07:14:34 PM

3 common sandpiper today and a nice brood of tufted ducks (minus 1 by way of lesser black-backed gull though!)

Scaup on Fairhaven Lake today, Blackpool end of the lake.

No sign of the Red-throated Diver. I searched the whole lake and the coastal area but couldn't locate it.

Lots of usuals including...
Canada Geese
Tufted Duck
Black-headed Gulls
Lesser Black-backed Gulls
Also...
Oystercatcher
Redshank
Shelduck
Plenty of Goldfinch about

Thanks for the report Bernard... Where these seen from the area of the lake and shore?


-- Edited by peterpimlico on Friday 17th of April 2015 06:11:35 PM

Keith Williams wrote:

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Red-Throated Diver showed very well at the Blackpool end of Fairhaven Lake yesterday.

---

It was today as well despite the wind.

Managed to catch up with the GG shrike at 9:30 today on scrubland opposite Eastleigh animal sanctuary after searching last week in the wrong area :/ The bird showed well for 15 minutes then caught prey and disappeared behind some brambles for a short while.

As Rob says the Scaup and GG Shrike were both lifers for me, so with my first Shorelark the weekend before that's 3 top birds on the Fylde in a week. Thanks to our taxi driver as well, a nice luxury for Steve and me to get driven around. I'll head back to Lytham I'm sure, it looked like some cracking birding could be had there, hundreds of birds up in the air and some great habitats.

Reading some posts below about a trek to see the Shrike, I feel quite lucky to have seen it so easily. We avoided 2 hours of steady rain by about 15 minutes too. I bet I break a mirror tomorrow though, I'm never that lucky normally...

RSPB Fairhaven Lake and coastal area (with Steve Burke + Simon Gough)

2 x female Red-legged Partridge ran across the country lane as we approached Fairhaven.
1 x Drake Red-breasted Merganser on main lake infront of car park.
1 x Drake Greater Scaup also on main lake constantly diving.
(Seen more easily from the main road)
1 Drake Pochard
Tufted Ducks and Mallards in abundance.
Great Crested Grebe
Common and Black-headed Gulls around
1x Redwing over main lake calling

On the coastal area...
2 Curlew
Oystercatchers
Pintail in several groups swimming and flyovers
Knot in a flock of around 150 low over the sea
Sanderling around 50-75 not far behind the Knot
Herring and Black-headed Gulls

Next to Lytham Moss







-- Edited by Rob Creek on Saturday 3rd of January 2015 09:36:50 PM

-- Edited by Rob Creek on Saturday 3rd of January 2015 09:49:21 PM

11.00am -12.15pm Great grey shrike again showing well in the rain, just 50 yards down the path, very active and obliging with great views.

12.30
Great Grey Shrike showing well in the rain in scrubland opposite the entrance to Easterleigh Animal Sanctuary entrance road on Queensway.
Take careit's a busy road!!
Many thanks to the various birders at Rossall Point giving me directions
Cheers
Nev

Sunday 7th December

Great Grey Shrike showing well @ Lytham Moss
Drake Greater Scaup showing well @ Fairhaven Lake

Hi all

Thanks for your help! Got there easily and drove around the area bit to see if it could be spotted from the car but no. I had read on the Fylde Bird Club website that it as seen to fly to Division Lane area, which I drove down but no luck. I parked up opposite the road that leads to the sanctuary. It is surprising how busy that area is. I did not pull out my binoculars until I got to the path and down I went. There were lots of brambles which of course is a good thing. I don't think I have ever seen that many before. At first I thought I heard a Shrike and then as I scanned across the tops of the scrub there was one perched and flicking it's tail. Luckily I did not have to walk 5 miles! It perched and one dropped into the scrub but nothing. Flying straight at it from a distance was a Magpie but the Shrike spotted it and dropped out of site. It disappeared out of view but came into sight 20 metres further down where I got fairly close to it. I wish it had bee sunny as I could have taken photographs which I could have been happy with!

I missed the post on the Starlings sadly but it may have been too far. There was a Shore Lark at Rossal and Snow Buntings on the dunes near Lytham but sadly no time for them in the end. Oh well felt happy enough to see the Shrike- especially with one sighted in Rossendale on the 28th of September this year and then most likely the same bird photographed on the 21st of October. People did look for that but no luck. This one makes up for it! I was with the Shrike from 2.30-3.30

Sarfraz

I stopped off at the McDonalds in Warton for a festive pie and from the scrub I heard a brief song which sounded like a Whitethroat but I guess was a sub-song. I have never heard Whitethroat sub-song and it would be too late for them now although I know a few have been recorded still in the country over the last few weeks. I suppose it could be a Blackcap as I have never really heard them in sub-song too. I did not even bother to make the effort to look for it. Too busy eating!

-- Edited by Sarfraz Hayat on Thursday 4th of December 2014 09:55:56 PM

-- Edited by Sarfraz Hayat on Thursday 4th of December 2014 09:56:39 PM

The shrike spent all day on Wednesday in the scrub on the land opposite to the road to Easterleigh Animal sanctuary. Park on the side road that leads to the sanctuary, next to the large hoarding, cross the main road and go down the path which is 50 yards to the right. It was flying around that (not very big) area all day. The starlings roost on the North pier is also worth a visit. approx. 100k + birds, although split into several flocks. They start arriving around 3.30pm.

-- Edited by Mark Battersby on Thursday 4th of December 2014 01:11:35 PM

-- Edited by Mark Battersby on Thursday 4th of December 2014 01:19:29 PM

Sarfraz Hayat wrote:

---

Hi all,

Might be in the area tomorrow for work won't have long. The area the shrike covers, are you allowed to drive around? With work I may have limited time.

---

Hi Sarfraz,
The area the GG Shrike was covering when myself and Steve Burke were there and taking into account the sightings as a whole, unfortunately is not the best for driving around. Most of it is footpaths and a bit of off-roading so to speak around the Animal Sanctuary so although there is some access, it would be limited in my view to staff and farm vehicles. It does seem to show quite well though on the opposite side of the road in the brambles near the traffic lights, and could well be visible just yards from your vehicle. Good Luck!
Hope this helps.
Rob