Well That Was A Good Idea Mr Woodruff.

OK it's only mid-March but I decided yesterday was too nice a day for anything else but to get myself back to Bowland for some upland birds. Going up Hawthornthwaite on the west side for two hours, and the east side for two more hours, followed by a couple of hours from Marshaw to Tower Lodge I recorded just 16 species. 

Well there's a lot to be said about 'upland birds/birding' but I'll keep it brief this time as I've made comments on this Bowland experience at least once before, this time you can draw your own conclusions about 16 species and barely 60 birds - 30 of which were Red Grouse/Brambling - seen in 6 hours birding on the uplands of the Forest of Bowland....I've drawn mine.

Stonechat Marc Heath

It actually started off 'A Good Idea Mr Woodruff' to get back up here, if only because after not many minutes on the west side of Hawthornthwaite I found a pair of Stonechat....well Alleluia to that. But the elation didn't last very long and they were the only pair found in the entire six hours, and they - and 10 Brambling seen at Abbeystead - are the only birds to appear highlighted in this post, the other 14 species are listed below. It's worth noting how low some of the figures are, I saw no Lapwing or Curlew in the area covered on the west side of Hawthornthwaite Fell, and just 3 Curlew on the east side.

Red Grouse Brian Rafferty

Red Grouse 18

Mistle Thrush  6

Lapwing          6

Meadow Pipit 4

Curlew             3

Grey Wagtail  3

Snipe

Chaffinch

Great Tit

Coal Tit

Blackbird 

Robin

Nuthatch

Buzzard

Thanks to Marc and Brian respectfully for the brilliant female Stonechat and the smart male Red Grouse.