Westerly movement

The last few days have been spent on the western side of the Pennines.  7 male blackcock with a few red grouse was a good start to Monday.  The afternoon was spent walking a limestone ridge, east of Cartmel.  Many of the plants were tucked up for the winter but salad burnet, yew and blue moor-grass were all very visible  On the way back down we went through an area of native woodland that produced a couple of ravens and a hawfinch.

I ventureed furtther south into Lancashire to sepnd a night in the company of Seumus Eaves (October speaker).  The following day we spent a very cold morning scanning geese, duck and wader flocks on Morecombe Bay.  Highlights included good numbers of snipe and rock pipits pushed up with the high tide, a jack snipe, peregrines and large numbers of black-tailed godwits and pintail.