Fast Food

Another cold but clear morning enticed me down to the west hide at Connah’s Quay NR early doors for the high tide.

With its gleaming white belly a Spotted Redshank stood out like a sore thumb in a flock of Commons and they were soon joined by larger flock of Dunlin eyeing nervously a circling male Peregrine.

The flock of six thousand Blackwits present in October looks like it has dispersed now – one solitary bird was in the channel this morning with no sign of any other birds near Flint.

The Ash Pool was relatively quiet; a Jack Snipe was reported from the reserve on Monday and given this is the most likely spot I had a search through the vegetation. No joy, but there was a rather dapper drake Pochard.

Driving to the field studies centre I nearly had the opportunity to dine Hugh Fearnley-Whittinghall style on fresh roadkill, as I narrowly avoided running over a speedy Red-legged Partridge that has been knocking around for a few weeks at least now.

A walk through the nature trail was quite productive with a large number of Chaffinch feeding on the perimeter of the marsh – no Brambling with them sadly…

Bird of the day was saved until last – a Common Sandpiper feeding along the riverbank underneath the bridge that sits at the very top of this website. How apt!

Connah’s Quay NR 02.12.09

GC Grebe 3
Little Egret 4
Pochard 1 (drake)
Peregrine 1 (male)
RL Partridge 1
Oystercatcher 700
Dunlin 930
Lapwing 650
Common Sandpiper 1
Spotted Redshank 1
GS Woodpecker 1
Chaffinch c450

A whistle stop tour of Shotwick boating lake revealed a few Goldeneye, but otherwise it was quiet. I had to dodge workmen laying speed bumps on the way. It’s only a small thing, but making roads harder to drive on seems to best symbolise how profligate developed nations have become. If you told a local person struggling to drive on potholed roads in a remote part of India that we spend money making roads less flat they would look at you as if you were insane – and they would be right!

Until later.