Natural Selection

Yesterday was a salutary lesson in always being tuned in to the nature around you. I had no space in the diary to go birding but made the best of the walk from the works car park to the office. It was a glorious day so it was surprisingly productive. There were several Robins ticking near Blackpool North station, a couple of Dunnocks and a few House Sparrows. A Grey Wagtail flew over, which was nice as they say on The Fast Show.

As I walked down Abingdon Street I could hear small birds going over calling. They were clearly something out of the ordinary for central Blackpool. Snow Bunting briefly went through my mind before I honed in on the ‘chip chip chip’ sound and realised they were Crossbills. These were only the second Crossbills I’d ever seen in Blackpool following a couple looking rather out of place in a small fir tree in Gynn Gardens. As far as I know they are also only the second record in the Fylde this year, following a couple last week in the United Utilities compound at Fairhaven.

Today I did a seawatch at North Shore before work, which was reasonably diverting and I had a very enjoyable chat with a fisherman who came over to talk and clearly knew his birds fairly well. A few Razorbills were moving past, some Red-throated Divers and a couple of Eiders. Rock Pipits were calling, after a quiet spell immediately after the breeding season they appear to have become more regular in winter now they breed near the Cabin Lift.

I had a speculative walk to check the wader roost on the perimeter of the go kart track. There had been no Purple Sandpiper sightings since my first of the winter exactly a month ago. It turns out there are now two birds – have a look at the picture at the top and see if you can work out which ones they are.