The Best of Bodie.

Bar-tailed Godwits thanks to Brian Rafferty.

The birds on display today on Glasson Marsh from Bodie Hill were by far the best I ever witnessed at this location and my wish was that John Bateman could have been with BT and I to see the spectacle for himself. When we arrived here at about 11.45 we were confronted by what was eventually estimated to be up to 20,000 birds mainly - of course - waders which included reasonably accurate circa numbers of 7,500 Knot, 6,200 Lapwing, 3,100 Golden Plover, 2,000 Bar-tailed Godwit, 160 Redshank, 120 Curlew, with 135 Shelduck, 125 Wigeon, 4 Goldeneye, and 3 Red-breasted Merganser, the other c.660 were represented by swans, gulls, and any small waders I may have 'missed'.  This spectacle was made all the more spectacular by the arrival of a female Merlin which drove the amazing mass into a thoroughly mind boggling synchronised eruption into the air followed very soon after by the approach of a Peregrine Falcon which brought about a repeat performance of 20,000 birds activated into mass panic, later both these raptors were observed 'stood' on the marsh just 20 mtrs apart for several minutes, truly amazing......you really don't need the BBC and Autumn Watch.

Knot thanks to Brian Rafferty. 

But before all this BT had gone to Aldcliffe though I'm as ever not sure why, we stood at the gate at the bottom of Aldcliffe Hall Lane for a few minutes and saw 2 Little Egret, walked the top path North for a few mtrs, went back to the car and off we went, not to be seen as a complaint or criticism you understand......Mmmmmm!

At Conder Green 8 Little Grebe were on the pool - I reckon the other two were in hiding - 2 Goldeneye were seen before we had to make a hasty retreat to the car to escape a shower which looked like it may last for ages but actually blew over in several minutes by which time we were now at Bodie Hill and the above observations.

At Cockersands I walked the headland to the caravan park to achieve a resounding zero but 18 Greenfinch around the CP area has to be regarded as a major find these days. At Pilling Lane Ends a Little Egret was in one of the fields, and on Fluke Hall Lane two adult and five juvenile Whooper Swans were in a stubble field.

So, although after leaving Bodie Hill just after high tide the day became something of a dull event, seeing today's spectacle will remain one of the many aspects of birding I could'nt do without.

Washed Out.

Well the weather is dominating the scene again just now and like everyone else I was washed out again today and am in serious danger of becoming a victim of SAD (Seasonal Adjustment Disorder) but have so far managed to fight it off. Still, my living room isn't under two foot of water.

So perhaps we should take a look at four more excellent examples of superb photography to brighten things up a little, the first two of which are courtesy of Colin Bushell who is away at the moment in foreign parts and allows me to post some of his photographs......Thanks very much Colin. The bird above is the Grey-breasted Parakeet one of a long list of species no doubt Colin will return to the UK with firmly held in his memory card.

                                                 

And this one is the amazingly colourful Red-necked Tanager.

I had cause to contact Simon Hawtin today and during our conversation couldn't understand why I had never approached Simon to ask permission to use any of his pictures from his website, so today I put the situation right and was told it was perfectly OK for me to use any of his images for which I am truly grateful......Thanks very much Simon.

So what about the Nightjar which incredibly took a liking to Simons fencing in his garden one day a while back. Amazing that it chose to locate in the very place a man and camera could record this once in a lifetime occurrence......WOW!

A positively superb image - and one of many Simon has in his library - of the stunning Short-eared Owl posing nicely on a stone wall in some upland area I probably visited on many a days birding.

I just watched the latest weather forecast......anyone know of a rowing boat for sale!

Back on the Road.

It was good to be out today having not been so since last Thursday but the day 'fizzled out' after I left Fluke Hall but that becomes apparent later.

At Conder Green the high tide today was unavoidable but the marsh here is as good a place as any in the area for Snipe and today 4 Jack Snipe came off as the incoming tide displaced them. At low tide - if you want to risk breaking your ankle or ending up to your kneecaps in a small hidden channel - its always worth a wander over to flush out the birds, but that's not my favourite pastime and the birds don't like it either. A Greenshank was on the pool as were 10 Little Grebe after about 6 counts, 2 Goldeneye were also noted. With Glasson Dock and Cockersands pretty hopeless until the tide dropped I went off to Fluke Hall stopping en route were a single Whooper Swan was with 17 Mute Swans in a field opposite Sand Villa. A walk from Fluke Hall to Cockers Dyke turned out to be a good idea if only to find two smart adult Mediterranean Gulls on Preesall Sands, not the one in the pic above of course which I took some time back and is a good comparison picture......should'nt Black-headed Gulls be called Brown-headed Gulls? The dyke was a little quiet today save 4 Little Egret, 9 Grey Plover, and circa 125 Lapwing, 53 Shelduck, 15 Redshank, and a single Knot and Pink-footed Goose.

And this is where the day came to an abrupt end in relation to birding because I went to Cockersands with enough time to checkout Abbey Farm to see if the BR was still around, it didn't appear to be though I had to cut the visit short to beat some pretty horrible 'stuff' in the sky and heading towards Cockersands which I regret caught up with me before I reached the shelter of my car and I ended up drenched and boy do I mean drenched, not happy......but eventually got over the unhappiness!

I heard mention on the television the other day of a round Britain coastal path, but it was only a mention I heard so don't know the details but sounds excellent to me. I couldn't help wondering - when I reached the fence which confronts you on the marsh behind Fluke Hall Wood telling us 'NO PUBLIC ACCESS BEYOND THIS POINT' - what will the man who had the rights (didn't he?) to put up the sign have to say when they arrive in time to come armed with the equipment to remove the fence!

Off The Road!

Filling the gap again as birding has taken a back seat and I've been off the road once more since Thursday last and although my desire is to get on out there again tomorrow the weather may well dictate otherwise. So a couple of excellent images of the Surf Scoter from my friend over the pond in BC Canada are the order of the day. This species was removed from the BBRC Rarity List in 1990 by which time over 460 birds had been recorded the bulk of which were in Scotland with the Firth of Forth and Moray Firth being the most popular sites.



And as something of a slight relief from the birds two more images from another friend of mine - Richard Shilling - who's creative thinking never ceases to amaze me as I have said many times before and you can see for yourself via the link in the column on the left of this post. The title of this piece of artwork is 'Floating Red Oak Leaf Squares'. Great stuff Richard, keep up the good work and many thanks for allowing me to brighten up Birds2blog occasionally with your creations.

Plugging away again......

......for the third time this week at Conder Green/Glasson Dock and Cockersands where I may as well have never bothered going as the weather once again put paid to the day following another of those 'sit in the car and see what happens' sessions and nothing did except it rained and rained some more rendering it unsuitable for me to try to see - amongst other things - the Black Redstart for the third time, apparently the bird has made a move to the abbey area at Cockersands for its fourth day.

So I achieved just two hours today starting at Conder Green - well where else - where two of the 'specials' showed today with the Common Sandpiper on the pool, and a Spotted Redshank in the creeks, this bird can be identified a mile away, slightly larger than its commoner relation and its brilliant white underparts, longer legs and bill, it's hard to believe this bird transforms to its unique black breeding plumage in the summer, 2 Goosander were also in the creeks, 3 Goldeneye were on the pool, and I managed 10 Little Grebe almost enjoying the challenge of counting them several times before eventually getting them whilst they were all on the surface but needs determination......try it sometime.

On the Lune Estuary it was a large number of waders day here with minimum circa numbers - and no apologies for nice cosy round figures - of 3,000 Knot, 2,000 Bar-tailed Godwit, and 1,750 Golden Plover, 5 Red-breasted Merganser were of note, and an adult Mediterranean Gull is obviously 'always' here but doesn't jump out at you to make the announcement it is, and is invariably at some distance. A Raven was going west over Lancaster City centre at 9.05 this morning.

A couple of points about birding the estuary from Glasson Dock. I've always suggested the necessity of being here at least 2.5 hours before high tide and I was quite surprised when I was here recently and witnessed the bore rushing past me more or less precisely 3 hours before the high tide on that day. The other point is, how unfortunate that there appears to be little - if any way at all - to get nearer to the birds to sift through them which consumes a great deal of time and taxes the eye, as a consequence there must surely be many a 'goodie' escapes the attention of birders at this excellent wader rich location.

I couldn't resist the excellent images of the immature Ring-billed Gull courtesy of Paul Baker......thanks a lot Paul for the superb photographic quality of this equally superb quality bird.

A Dump Too Late!

With apologies to anyone who looks in on Birds2blog for more interest than what follows will generate. I'm in possession of information regarding a post on 'another' website yesterday which apparently referred to my 'handling' of the news regarding the current Black Redstart found at Cockersands on Monday.

Whilst I'm still intent on maintaining my 'no names' policy on Bird2blog (with the exception of the photographers who permit me to post their images, and others who I'm fully aware won't be affected by my naming them) and whilst the 'controversy' policy goes out the window, I'm not prepared to sit back and allow unacceptable criticisms about me and the running of this blog by someone who doesn't know what they are talking about, it's worth remembering......a little knowledge is dangerous.

Unfortunately the 'dump' on the other website wasn't quick enough off the mark and I am now aware of what was said albeit not perhaps word for word. It seems this person thought it a poor way for me to release the news about this bird, being that because I had indicated on the other website that 'details could be found here' then made a link to Birds2blog which in this persons view - and possibly/probably others - meant a trawl through a load of rubbish before arriving at the important bit......well thanks a lot Mr Person.

Well......the fact of the matter is, that I reckon most - if not all - visitors to the other website and the group it represents also visit this blog so there's not much point in distancing ourselves from this unpleasant attitude to what in the end is 'supposed' to be an interesting and learning pleasure/informative/scientific/hobby/pastime......call birding what you will.

So......here endeth the first lesson but wait a minute......is my informant given to lying? Perhaps the accused 'Mr Person' will come on the blog and tell us that the informant certainly is here.

Of course if you got to the post on the other website smart enough before the 'dump' you know who I'm talking about......I do.

Doing it......

......all over again.

I reckon KT wanted rid of me for the day as she kept on saying the weather was going to brighten up in the afternoon, nothing new there then so off I went to do a re-run of yesterday although the plan was to get some fresh air into my lungs on Harrisend/Hawthornthwaite but not in weather like this thanks very much.

At Conder Green just one of the 'specialities' showed today in the form of the Common Sandpiper, I gave up on counting when I reached 8 Little Grebes on the pool where there was also 3 Goldeneye. I noted at least 50 Goldfinch, 25 Chaffinch, and a Dunnock by Cafe 'd Lune.

At Glasson Dock on the Lune Estuary an adult Mediterranean Gull was - as always - a nice find, wader numbers were on an unimpressive day and in fact I committed the sin of ignoring them for once as I wanted to move on, but I did note a Little Egret with another on Colloway Marsh, also it was a change to see up to 160 Wigeon here today.

I went off to Pilling to see of there was any Swan/Geese interest but saw just 6 Whooper Swans over my head at Fluke Hall and on to Pilling Marsh, c.600 Pink-footed Geese were in a field here but the count was irrelevant as there were many more than this figure well and truly hidden in a field much further back, also many birds were mobile in this and the surrounding area all the time I spent here.

Having left Cockersands to the last I went straight to the caravan park end and eventually found the Black Redstart on the roof of Bank Houses where it remained until I left at dusk. I also noted 2 Little Egret from here and estimated at least 1,000 Wigeon between here and the lighthouse.

Thanks to David Cookson for his excellent image of the Red Kite he saw yesterday at Altcar.

By the way......the annoying lack of spaces between paragraphs - resulting in the one untidy large block - is apparently something I cannot rectify and which as I see it nobody has come up with the solution as yet.

Blue Sky....Black Day!

An excellent days birding well rewarded for my six hours serious legwork around Conder Green/Glasson Dock/Cockersands. A wintering male Stonechat was found at Conder Green one day earlier than last year, the bird was the best start I could have hoped for here. If I'm honest it was quiet here today with all the specialities absent from view but I did count 10 Little Grebe again but gave up on trying to 'nail' the twelve here last Friday, 2 Goldeneye and a single Snipe were the only others to enter the book.

At Glasson Dock on the Lune Estuary birds noted were, c.2,000 Bar-tailed Godwit again, but lesser numbers than last week of c. 750 Knot, and c. 80 Golden Plover, 2 Goosander, 2 Little Egret, and at last a little increase in c.55 Wigeon here today.

On the way to Cockersands at least 20 Fieldfare seen from Moss Lane, another male Stonechat was at the lighthouse end, this bird appeared here three days earlier than last years bird though I did find one on 6 October at the caravan park end where a male eventually wintered. The only waders I noted around the lighthouse/Plover Scar area were, a good count of 42 Turnstone, and 2 Grey Plover, wildfowl noted were just 5 Eider today, 3 Shoveler I can only refer to as at least unusual here, but in excess of 300 Wigeon was encouraging, 3 Meadow Pipit and a Kestrel were also noted. I saw 3 Little Egret on Cockerham Marsh from the entrance to the caravan Park.

As I came through the kissing gate walking south east towards the concrete ramp heading for the caravan park I saw a bird movement which made me 'jump to attention' but it turned out to have been a Meadow Pipit, however about five seconds later another movement put me into alert mode once again, this time it was a smart 1st winter/female Black Redstart in the field with the red brick building, it was quite mobile and went on to the shingle several times and also perched atop of one of Bank Houses farm buildings, the bird was still mobile in this area two hours later in fading light when I returned to check it out. So......if you plan a days birding tomorrow and would like to get off to an early good start I'd suggest visiting Cockersands to search either side of the concrete ramp i.e. the shingle and the field with the aforementioned red brick building as a Black Redstart was about to roost there when I left at 4.40pm this early evening.

I'm really grateful to Ian Tallon for permitting me to post the excellent image of his male BR at Linskeldfield in Cumbria.

Butcher Bird!

Having decided to visit Dalton Crag again this year for his third in a row Jeff Butcher struck lucky with the bird partially named after him when he found the Great Grey Shrike with a group he had taken up there in the hope of seeing it and probably thinking he was living in the land of dreams as they made their way on to the crag......Excellent stuff Jeff.

Jeff is obviously making a habit of finding 'shrikes' as he was also in the right place at the right time on 29 May when he found a female Woodchat Shrike in/around the plantation behind Tower Lodge in the Trough of Bowland.

Back to today's find......is this in fact the Alston Moor GGS come to winter on Dalton Crag having having raised three young there at an undisclosed location. The species has had a presence in winter on the moors at Alston for many years, this year two birds stayed on to breed......interesting!

Many thanks to Jeff for allowing me to post his two images of this exciting find on Dalton Crag......again.

Early Bird!

Up before daylight this morning, a lot on my mind you understand. I was at Conder Green by 8.00am, by the way the pic is of the canal behind Conder Pool - but not today - where I counted 12 Little Grebes which may be a record on here but I need to check this out. Also 2 Goldeneye, the Kingfisher flew across the pool, and a Dunnock by the screen appeared to be oblivious of me as it behaved like a car park Robin and came within inches of me, a Greenshank was in the Conder channel and an unexpected/surprising c.250 Wood Pigeon flew over going south as did at least 85 Fieldfare, 2 Tree Sparrows were with House Sparrows at the caravan park, a Little Egret came from the estuary heading towards Jeremy Lane.

At Glasson Dock on the Lune Estuary another Greenshank, circa figures of 4,000 Knot, and 2,000 Bar-tailed Godwit, with an unimpressive number of 85 Golden Plover, and figures of up to 120 Redshank, 65 Dunlin, and 350 Lapwing, 9 Goosander were seen here again as 22 October, 4 Goldeneye, and still low a low number of 32 Wigeon.

At Cockersands a Little Egret flew south as did 45 Pink-footed Geese, only 9 Eider seen by the lighthouse today and a Brown Hare at the tip of Plover Scar seemed more than a little out of context. A circular returning via the road had an almost nil result save a Reed Bunting and a Little Egret in one of the fields was possibly the one seen earlier going south, initially seen at a distance it had me hoping for a CE. From the lighthouse car park I watched one of those amazing aerial displays by 'several' thousand Knot over Middleton Sands around high tide.

So now its 12.30pm and if you've been in this area today you'll know what happened next and I found myself sat in the car yet again waiting for it to stop, to make matters even worse it did ease off a little and going against the grain I decided to be positive for once and headed off towards Pilling muttering to myself 'why are you doing this' but by the time I arrived at Pilling my inner thoughts had become more offensive and not for publication. I did actually drive up on to the the car park at Lane Ends then on to Fluke Hall and its pouring down now, I think I was trying to prove to myself that I really do need psychiatric help......I left for Lancaster and home sulking once more.