Peak Number of Adults seen :- 41
Total Number of Nesting Pairs :- 0
Nests Predated/Abandoned :- 0
Chicks Hatched :- 0
Chicks Surviving :- 0
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Perhaps the Avocets will try again next year, the peak number of adults i.e (41) suggests there were plenty of passage birds in the Spring. I will publish another webpage in 2011!

25th August:- Well the Pools have been flooded by several 10 metre plus tides now but very few waders have taken advantage of the situation! I think there may have been eggs laid this year but the abundance of predators made breeding impossible!!! The same thing happened to the BH Gull Colony earlier in the year ( they just decamped to Leighton Moss).

16th July:- The high tides have now gone and left the Allen Pool flooded with water, however the EM Pool is still dry. This is by design as the Islands on the EM Pool are to be reconstructed using Mechanical Diggers in the next few weeks to provide more Nesting spaces! The reconstruction job has been postponed till next year.

21st June:- At Martin Mere the first Avocet Chick fledged today! There does not seem to be any hope of a similar event at LM (there is no water).

9th June:- One Avocet on the Allen Pool (LM Log). This is the only Saltmarsh Pool with any water now (It seem unlikely that the remaining water will survive to the next 10m plus tide)!

4th June:- 9.30am, One Avocet on The Allen Pool. Is this one of yesterday's birds or a third bird? Plus Ten Little Egrets.

3rd June:- 10.15am, Two Avocets on The Allen Pool. Probably the same Two seen on the 30th May, I could not find them at 2pm!

30th May:- Two Avocets seen briefly at 10.30am by A.N Other. They were not there at 12pm! They are probably feeding in the Saltmarsh Gulleys and roosting on the Allen Pool.

29th May:- 2pm, Two Avocets on The Allen Pool, both birds sleeping!

27th May:- 9.30am, Yet again the Avocets have departed ( I know not where), and so has most of the water in the EM, Flood and Allen Pools. The next 10 metre plus tide is in the middle of July when there may? be some relief of the Drought!

26th May:- A day away in The Trough of Bowland.

25th May:- 8.30am, Two Avocets on The Allen Pool accompanied by non breeding BH Gulls and Shelducks. Breeding Avocets at (this site) seem very unlikely at the moment!

24th May:- 1.30pm, Three Avocets on The Allen Pool, (seen from the viewpoint). I'm not going down to the Hides due to the extreme heat! There may be more, perhaps it will be cooler tomorrow?

23rd May:- A day away with Lancaster Fellwalkers However John Wilson saw Six Avocets on the EM pools.

22nd May:- 9am, Six Avocets on The Allen Pool! Good to see, But where have they been and why have there been no reports of Avocets in the Morecambe Bay Area since 13th May???

21st May:- 8am, Two Avocets on the EM Pool. This Pool has almost dried up due to lack of rain and no sufficiently high Tides!

20th May:- 10.30am, Two Avocets on The Allen Pool, both feeding well. However I could not find them at 1.30pm! Meanwhile at Martin Mere on the 16th they have Avocet Chicks, see link.

19th May:- A day away on The Fylde, however I was told that there were Two Avocets on The EM Pool today!

13th May:- 9am, The Cows have arrived and have churned up The Allen pool and frightened off most of the birds. The Electric Fence appears to have failed! 1.30pm, The Farmer had rounded up the miscrient Cows and put them on The Salt Marsh.

12th May:- A day away on The Fylde.

11th May:- 8.30am, Three Avocets on the Allen Pool. All the Saltmarsh Pools are drying up rapidly! But there are Twenty Five breeding pairs at Martin Mere.

10th May:- 9am, Two Avocets on The Allen Pool and a Farmer on The Saltmarsh. Looks like there will be Cows on the Marsh soon!

9th May:- A day away with Lancaster Fellwalkers

8th May:- 9.am, Four Avocets on The Allen Pool. Looks like a pair and Two singles.

7th May:- 9.00 to 10.00am, No Avocets on any of the pools, I will continue with this if and when there are more sightings.

6th May:- 9.30 to 10.30am. 9.45am, One Avocet on The Allen pool. 10am, Another Avocet flew in from the Flood direction. The Two birds then avoided each other and when they did meet there was a fight! 2pm, Both birds now seem to be friendly (they both looked like males). The Pools are rapidly drying up, the little rain we have had seems to have had no effect

5th May:- One Avocet on the Allen Pool (LM Log).

1st May:- 9.30am, No Avocets on any of the pools, I will continue with this if and when there are more sightings.

30th April:- 9am, No Avocets on The Allen pool or any other Pool that I could see! (I suspect A Fox) Will "any" Avocets return? Watch this space.

29th April:- 9.15am, Four Avocets on the Allen Pool. There seems to be Two Pairs but there is no definite breeding activity! It looked like there was a sitting bird on the 27th but I was mistaken.

28th April:- A day away in The Craven Dales. Five Avocets seen by LM Staff.

27th April:- 7.45am, Five Avocets on The Allen Pool. Met a Photographer today who had been in The Hide since 6am and he had not seen more than Five Avocets Today! It looks as though there is One Pair about to start sitting!!! The male is vigorously defending his mate from the attentions of the single bird (obviously another male).

26th April:- 12.30pm, Six Avocets on The Allen Pool. I cannot confirm any Pairs sitting! JW is seeing more birds in the evenings which probably means there are Avocets Feeding away and just roosting on The Pools

25th April:- A day away with Lancaster Fellwalkers

24th April:- 8.30am, Four Avocets on The Flood plus Four on the Allen Pool. 12.30pm, Two Avocets on The Flood plus Eight on the Allen Pool. I am almost certain there is One sitting Pair! I will try to verify this on the 26th.

23rd April:- A day away in the Kent Valley.

22nd April:- 11am, Eleven Avocets on The Allen Pool. No definite breeding sites!

21st April:- 1.45pm, Ten Avocets on The Allen Pool, Twelve were seen earlier in the day (LM Log). No definite breeding sites. (There were Five breeding Pairs on the 12th April last year)!

20th April:- 8.15am, Twelve Avocets on The Allen Pool, One Pair feeding the remainder in a tight group doing nothing!

19th April:- 10am, Eighteen Avocets on The Allen Pool. Where have all the Avocets Gone?

18th April:- 8.30am, Four Avocets on The EM Pool plus Seventeen on the Allen Pool. The Total was the same at 12.30pm! Twenty Avocets appear to be missing? perhaps they were just passing through but if so there have been no reports of this number of birds in the area (there has been a sighting of Two Avocets in the Sunderland Point area).

17th April:- 9am, Twenty One Avocets on the EM Pool plus Two on the Allen Pool. The Allen Pool was almost devoid of birds today, somebody or something seems to have frightened the birds off! There seemed to be many birds feeding elsewhere today!!

16th April:- 1.30pm, Four Avocets on The Flood plus Two on the EM Pool plus Twenty on the Allen Pool. Poor viewing conditions due to the strong sunlight! There seemed to be many birds feeding elsewhere today!

15th April:- 9am, Thirty Two Avocvets on the EM Pool plus Four on The Flood. The birds had obviously been disturbed (probably the Peregrine that was perched on a Fence nearby)! There was no sign of any birds sitting. John Wilson again saw Forty One Avocets today!

14th April:- 1.15pm, Twenty Avocets on the Allen Pool plus Thirteen on the EM Pool. There appears to be Two Pair sitting? I can't be sure just with One sighting (I will look again tomorrow)!

13th April:- 7.15am, Eight Avocets on The Flood plus Eight Avocets on the EM Pool plus Fifteen Avocets on The Allen Pool. It looks like there are several birds feeding elsewhere, perhaps on the nearby estuaries!

12th April:- 9.45am, Fifteen Avocets on The Flood plus Fifteen on The EM Pool plus Three on The Allen Pool. Leighton Moss staff have been working in the vicinity of The Allen Pool and have frightened most of the birds away! On the Tenth it looked like there were Six Pairs about to breed but there are no definite sitting birds as yet! (In the Evening John Wilson saw Forty One Avocets coming in to roost) a Record Count!

11th April:- A day away with Lancaster Fellwalkers

10th April:- 8.30 to 9.30am, Nineteen Avocets on the Allen Pool plus Six on the EM Pool plus Six on the Flood.

9th April:- 7.30am, Ten Avocets on the Allen Pool plus Five on the EM Pool plus Seven on The Flood. Two pair were showing interest in nesting sites!

8th April:- 9.20am, Twelve Avocets on the EM Pool plus Seven on the Allen Pool. Looks like a substantial influx at last. The birds are very mobile and the count is only for this time and day. Are there more Avocets in the area???

7th April:- 1.30pm, Ten Avocets on the Allen Pool. All the birds are feeding today, warmer weather. At least Two Pairs, but I'm not sure how many others will arise from the scrum!

6th April:- 9am, Seven Avocets on the Allen Pool. Very cold and windy, more like Winter than Spring. John Wilson saw Two Pairs mating yesterday!

5th April:- 10 45am, Eight Avocets on the Allen Pool; 11.10am, all the birds had flown to the EM Pool and were sheltering from the strong winds!

4th April:- 7 40am, Six Avocets on the EM Pool. Seven Avocets on the Lune estuary at Glasson Dock (Birdguides), at last there seems to be a significant increase in numbers!

3rd April:- 9.30am, One Avocet flew over from the EM Pool to the Allen Pool, it was still there at 1.30pm.

2nd April:- 9am, One Avocet on the Allen Pool. Two Avocets seen earlier by John Wilson. Will the wanderers ever return???

1st April:- 9.45, Two Avocets on the Allen Pool. All the pools have a raised water level and the Salt Marsh is badly flooded.

31st March:- A day away setting up my new Computer!

30th March:- 9am, Four Avocets on the Allen Pool plus Three on the EM pool. John Wilson saw a total of Eight Avocets earlier! The Saltmarsh is flooded and is likely to be so again today (10.35 metres Tide). The Avocets are still very flighty so are dificult to count, there may possibly be more in the area!

29th March:- Rain-Rain-Rain

28th March:- A day away with Lancaster Fellwalkers

27th March:- 12pm, Only Three Avocets on the Allen pool???

26th March:- A day away in the Kent Valley.

25th March:- 11am, Seven Avocets on the Allen Pool, however John Wilson saw Ten Avocets on the EM pool earlier in the day!

24th March:- 1.45pm, Six Avocets on the Allen Pool

23rd March:- A day away on the Lake District Silurians, However while I was away a Female Marsh Harrier turned up at Leighton Moss (Birdguides).

22nd March:- 10.30am, Six Avocets on the Allen Pool, they seem to spend most of the time feeding. A record number of Ninety Five Avocets at Martin Mere today! The Marshside sightings page is out of date (the most recent sighting is the 7th of March)!

21st March:- 10am, Two Avocets on the Allen Pool plus Four Avocets on the EM Pool. Where have the four returning birds been since the 11th of March???

2th March:- 12pm, Two Avocets on the Allen Pool, perhaps they are Commuting.

19th March:- 11.30am, Four Avocets on the Allen Pool.

17th March:- Three Avocets on the EM Pool (LM Logbook)

14th March:- A day away with Lancaster Fellwalkers , however Two Avocets reported on the EM Pool (LDBWS website)!

13th March:- 9am, One Avocet on the Allen Pool. The Avocets in this area don't seem to have settled down yet and the situation is in flux! However 50 Avocets at Marshside and 22 at Martin Mere. (Birdguides)

12th March:- 10am, No Avocets found, 1pm again no Avocets, very few birds on the pools. Were the Six Avocets yesterday on passage? If so were have they gone???? Two Avocets at Heysham, Off Ocean edge Caravan Park (Birdguides)

11th March:- 10am, Six Avocets on the Allen Pool, they later flew to to the EM Pool but had returned to the Allen Pool by 1pm. There seemed to be much socialising among the group when first seen on the Allen Pool, otherwise the group concentrated on feeding!

10th March:- 1.30pm, Again no Avocets in sight and very few birds of any sort, about Forty birds in total on all the pools.

9th March:- 8.30 to 9am, No Avocets on any of the pools, 2.30pm still no Avocets. Small pools on the Saltmarsh searched no Avocets found.

8th March:- 11.25am, No Avocets in view, only Twelve Ducks on all the Pools! The Electric Fence to keep the Cows from the Nesting sites is being erected! As in previous years nobody was told this was about to happen!!!

7th March:- 9am, Two Avocets on the EM Pool. 3.30pm Two Avocets on the Allen Pool. Fifty Two Avocets at Marshside (RBA) some of these birds will probably arrive at Leighton Moss!

6th March:- 9am, One Avocet on the Allen Pool, still present at 4pm.

5th March:- 8.15am, One Avocet on The Flood, still present at 3pm. The bird was in the right hand bottom corner of The Flood as seen from Crag Road (Probabably not visible from the EM Hide)!

4th March:- 9am, One Avocet on 'The Flood'. Not found at 1.30pm but recent tidal flooding of the Saltmarsh means there is a huge area of suitable feeding areas!

28th February:- Twenty One Avocets at Martin Mere, no reports from Marshside (there are probably more Avocets there).

27th February:- Fourteen Avocets at Martin Mere. (This is a significant influx)! (R. B. A.)

26th February:- Four Avocets seen Briefly at Martin Mere. (Martin Mere sightings Page)

24th February:- Two Avocets at Martin Mere plus? One at Marshside. Two reports at different times, could be the same Two birds Commuting between the two Sites! (R. B. A.)

21st February:- Two Avocets at Marshside, from Sandgrounders Hide (Rare Bird Alert). A movement north?

2nd January:- One Avocet reported on Preesall Marsh opposite Coniston Avenue! There have been reports of a single Avocet in the Cockersands area on the 31st October, 11/12/15th November and 2nd December 2009. An over wintering bird???

 

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