Gannets

Four of them!

I took a bike ride out to Bradley Fen this lunchtime but long before I got there I noticed four juvenile Gannets were circling low over me as I biked across the Frank Perkins viaduct. They headed off over Fletton and I rang Mike Weedon over at Lynchwood to get him to put the news out.

Ten minutes later I had a call from him to say they had just flown past his office heading west over the East of England Showground. At that moment I had a Crane flying over me. This drifted off over Stanground where it gained height and headed off west. Sure enough ten minutes later Mike had this go over the office too! Unknown to us at the time Matt Webb had seen the same bird from Ferry Meadows.

I'd seen one Gannet earlier this autumn from the car but this was the first 'green' sighting. This was taking the same route and was seen by Steve Dudley flying over the town bridge five minutes before I saw it crossing Nene Parkway and heading over Orton Mere.

159 Gannet

Rock Pipit

Two ticks in a day! Matt Webb found two Rockits on the rocky shore of Gunwade Lake at Ferry Meadows. One showed very well as I cycled past on the way home but I'm sure two more flew off. So perhaps there were three!?

158 Rock Pipit

Lapland Bunting

A long-awaited PBC tick and another top bird for the North Bank. For the full account see here.

157 Lapland Bunting