Lancashire

Pink-footed geese, Banks Marsh

I reminded myself that I still had travel vouchers from Transpennine Express to use up then remembered how many of their cancellations I saw listed yesterday and that the Northeast had weather warnings for this week and decided to go on a wild goose chase in Lancashire instead.

I got myself an old man's explorer ticket and was shocked that the price had gone up a pound. Then I realised that was "only" a 6% rise and all the other rail prices will have done similar. The plan was to get the train to Preston, get a Stagecoach Day Rider on the number 2 bus to Southport, get off at Longton Brickcroft for a wander, get the next number 2 and go and have a stroll along the Ribble Estuary, get the bus into Southport for to get the train and, time and light permitting, get off at Burscough Bridge for the 2a bus back to Preston (I want to check out routes to a couple of sites) and train home from Preston. An ambitious itinerary but worth a go.

Longton Brickcroft 

The bus driver reminded me that the maximum single fare at the moment is £2 so it would be cheaper to buy single fares for my journey. It was a bright and sunny, and very cool, morning as I got off at Longton Brickcroft for a toddle round. There weren't so many ducks on the big lake this time, just a dozen mallards with a few Canada geese and coots, a pair of mute swans and a lone great crested grebe. Robins, wrens and nuthatches sang, moorhens, blackbirds and dunnocks fossicked in the undergrowth, and blue tits, great tits and goldcrests fidgeted through the trees. 

Great crested grebe, Longton Brickcroft

Crossing the road and walking through to the North pond, chaffinches and goldfinches added to the mix and every ivy-covered tree had a crowd of woodpigeons and blackbirds after the berries. There was more variety of wildfowl on the North pond though by no means a crowd scene. Mallards loafed on the banks with a few Canada geese, there were half a dozen each of tufted ducks and coots, a pair of shovelers dabbled in one corner while a pair of dabchicks hinnied in the reed margins. Half a dozen black-headed gulls made an entrance, made a noise and made an exit.

Walking up from Hundred End 

I wandered back to the bus stop, giving myself a good five minutes' grace for the next bus (it's an hourly service). I decided to get off at Hundred End and walk up to Banks; if I still had the legs in me by then I could walk on to Crossens. As I got off the bus at Hundred End I noticed the wind immediately. I had worried that wearing a fleece-lined shirt and a body warmer might be overdressing it a bit. Dear reader, I keep that body warmer zipped up to my neck. 

Starling and sheep, Hundred End

I walked along the raised path through the flock of sheep. Robins sang, rooks and jackdaws cawed. A flock of starlings divided its time between fossicking around the sheep and loafing in the trees by the farm road. I did that thing where you scan a couple of hundred starlings to make sure none of them were pink. None were. In the distance thousands of geese wheeled around the estuary. As I approached the bank by the estuary there were lapwings and shelducks in the fields and a lone wigeon dozed by a pond. Three or four fields away, towards Hesketh Outer, a hundred or so whooper swans could be heard as much as seen.

Looking over the Ribble Estuary towards Warton 
(The water in the foreground is a land drain)

The wind hit hard as I joined the path on top of the bank. It wasn't so much strong as icy cold and I would be walking into it all the way. The geese had settled back on the estuary, thousands of pink-feet stretching out into the distance with a handful of greylags nearer by. (It didn't strike me until I got home that I didn't see any Canada geese along here today). Herring gulls and lesser black-backs flew overhead and a buzzard soared over the rough by the river. There were small groups of shelducks nearer the bank and large flocks of skylarks. Skylarks always look chunkier birds when they're in a group than they do in ones and twos. It's not something I can explain. A small flock of linnets twittered by and the grassy banks were littered with meadow pipits.

Pink-footed goose, Banks Marsh

I walked on towards Banks Marsh. As the marsh got wetter the shelducks were joined by curlews and pink-feet. Aside from the curlews there weren't many waders about, just a handful of oystercatchers and redshanks. All the lapwings were in fields inland. Further out in the estuary a couple of marsh harriers kept disturbing groups of pink-feet and skylarks. I scanned my way through the pink-feet looking for anything exotic, looking twice at a few with a bit of white feathering at the base of their bills and a couple whose legs glowed orange in the sun but we're bubble gum pink when they walked down into shadows. Small groups of wigeon and teal had more sense than me and kept to the shelter of the drains and creeks out of the wind.

Walking along, there were more pipits, fewer skylarks and a couple more flocks of linnets. A flock of a dozen dark finches flew out of one patch of tussocky grass and quickly disappeared into another. For all that the grass was like a badly-kept school football pitch it was hard work finding them and confirming they were twites. No wonder I can't find them in the tall grass on the salt marsh at Southport!

Pink-footed geese, Banks Marsh

Every so often a Tornado would pass over and bring thousands of pink-footed geese up into the air, a risky thing to do, I'd think. This was an opportunity to scan through for anything different but as far as I could see they were all pink-feet.

I walked into Banks and decided I hadn't the legs to walk into Crossens. I got the bus into Southport, just missed the train back and had to wait half an hour for the next so I knocked any further exploration on the head and went off home. I hadn't quite got the value of my old man's explorer ticket today but there's always another day for milking one dry. There were more whoopers on fields just after Bescar Lane. Not far beyond we entered the golden hour as the setting sun lit up the landscape. It struck me that it would be lovely to see a barn owl quartering the fields in this light. I obviously wasn't wishing hard enough.

Banks Marsh