Great Crested Grebe(present all week)15 Canada Geese,30 Mallard,33 BH Gull,6 Common Gull,130 Lesser Black Backed Gull,5 Herring Gull,Great Black Backed Gull(1st winter,1st one I have ever seen on the water! ) Amazing amount of gulls for Cowm with gulls leaving & arriving whilst I was there,quite a gull fest,
Great Crested Grebe,4 Canada Geese,48 Mallard, Common Gull, 12 Lesser Black Backed Gull(all adults) Must be some kind of passage going on with the LBB Gulls,maybe going up to Walney Island to breed?
Most of the LBBG that we get in the spring and summer in Rossendale appear to nest in Bowland with some possibly nesting around the Ribble. They tend to head out in the morning southwards from Bowland to Whinney Hill and Pilsworth Tip. At the moment they are probably roosting and have not ventured to their breeding grounds. They must roost at Alston, Stocks and Fishmoor and wetlands in Greater Manchester of course too. There does appear to be quite a lot coming to Cowme. It does not even fall on the Whinney Hill to Pilsworth route as well.
Ta for that Sarfraz, it's great to see them using the res instead of flying right over.It also gives us a chance to find something a bit more unusual amongst them.The closure of the waterskiing facility at Cowm has also helped with little or no disturbance!! Dave Ousey
I am no expert on gulls, but I would guess that a lot of the lesser black backed gulls currently being seen in our area are Scandinavian breeders. If I recall correctly these are darker winged birds of the race Fuscus and the birds that breed in Bowland are slate grey on the wings instead of black and are of the graelsii race
