Iceland Gull starts off the new year nicely

Rishton Reservoir is still frozen, as are all the other water bodies, even though we're five days into the thaw. However today was much colder and horrible as murk and manc spread down through the county today. There is still a small open patch of water near the yacht club where there were nine Tufted Duck and eleven Coots along with a single Great Crested Grebe and four Mute Swans. Crows pecked at the carcass of a mallard on the ice, ignoring the dead Canada Goose close by. Nineteen Lapwings stood out on the ice still so goodness knows where they're feeding.

Siskins, Redpolls and Redwings all called overhead and, back at the house, there were more birds coming down to the feeders. In fact, a lot more than the last few days, perhaps sensing the return of the cold weather.

To get the year off to a good start, I nipped down the M65 to see if the Iceland Gull was still at Preston Docks. It didn't take long to find it on the ice in amongst a nice selection of other gull species. There were several dead Black-headeds and Commons lying around on the ice as well.





It was nice to meet Steve Riley, an old acquaintance from my Southport days as we reminisced about the changes in the bird populations and generally made ourselves feel really old!

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