Well my birding has been very patchy of late, in fact it's been non existent to be honest, but I'm working on getting myself out of the hole I find myself in. Meanwhile, there's some resurrection on the horizon in some areas starting with a fledged c.6 week old juvenile Tawny Owl seen in Bowland.
This is the best image available, a phone shot for the record. I've decided to keep my mouth shut about details on this one....Schedule 1 birds and all that!
The Lancaster Orchids.
It was good to find the orchids again this year east of Lancaster.
Southern Marsh Orchid June 2026. Pete Woodruff.
This time I found at least 120 spikes of Southern Marsh Orchid, a slight improvement on last year, when I made a count of up to 100 spikes.
My count this year, was of 48 Common Spotted Orchid, better than last year when it was 25 spikes.
Garden Birds.
Our birds have had a good breeding season so far this year.
I managed to get some footage of the Blue Tit feeding young, also Great Tit, Goldfinch and Dunnock all have young, and a Blackbird with a juvenile. The House Sparrow has done well with a total figure of at least 40 adult and young.
Who knows how many adult and young Starling have visited us over the past few weeks, it could have been a three figure number, and included this bully juvenile on the apple.
Garden Bees.
The garden bees were busy on Sunday with the weather warming.
The Mason Bees were back and forth to the hotel....
The Blue Mason Bees were filling in the holes, with an upstairs neighbour having a nosey!
Blue Mason Bee. Pete Woodruff.
....this one was resting on the roof. I think these will leave later than their red cousins, but both will have gone by the end of July.
A Common Carder Bee was nectaring on Viper Bugloss.
Conder Pool.
It's good to see the Common Terns have taken control of the platform, and even better to hear they have started to produce this years chicks. The news from Conder Pool gets better by the day, when two new Common Terns arrived yesterday.
The Avocets are also having a good season, and adults have already succeeded to guide chicks off Conder Pool, to cross the busy B5290 to the River Conder. I have no accurate figures, but I get the impression there are at least 20 Avocet chicks with 5 nests to hatch.
There seems to be no end to the good news from the pool this year, when a new Avocet arrived here to breed. This is a bird ringed at Boulais in France 20 June 2008, according to its history, a much traveled 18 year old Avocet.
I am grateful to Howard Stockdale for this update with news and images from Conder Pool.
Wat mooi om allemaal te zien Pete.
ReplyDeleteBij het bijenhotel is het druk zo te zien, hier hadden ze ook al veel dicht gemaakt.
Maar de specht had het ontdekt en veel gaatjes weer open gemaakt ;-((.
Prachtig om de orchideeén te zien.
Dat je de bosuil met rust laat heb je helemaal goed.
Groetjes Tinie
Thank you Tinie. The owl, the orchids and the bees are really special aren't they, but a pity the woodpecker predated your bees.
DeleteRegards....Pete.
Hello Pete,
ReplyDeletehow cool that you saw a young Tawny Owl and were able to photograph it reasonably well. I love owls :-) The young birds in your garden are doing just fine with all that food hanging there for them :-)
Also beautiful insects and flowers. I also see a very beautiful Avocet there in the last photo, and it would even be 18 years old!! That is quite something for an Avocet. Very beautiful.
I'm going to check out your blog below soon because I missed it.
PS I indicated in my answer to my "round trip through the polder" that you should specify which photos you would like to have, and then just send me an email.
Warm regards,
Helma
So I hadn't missed your blog below, but luckily I had already seen and read it :-)
DeleteThank you Helma. I enjoyed reading your comments with interest as much as you did my post it seems. I will be in touch if I see any images with an appeal for use on B2B.
DeleteThanks again Hema....Pete.
Pete - I am in the same boat as you regards not getting out due to weather and garden jobs but it is some consolation that you can find much of interest in your own back garden as in your videos. I have a families of both Blue and Great Tits along with Blackbirds visitings.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear all is now well at Conder Pool, must visit if I can remember where it is!
Cheers for the post.
Ian Mitchell
Thanks Ian.....'must visit if I can remember where it is'....your good sense of humour prevails Ian!
DeleteRegards....Pete.
Hello, Pete: I hope the hole you are in is not so deep that’s it’s difficult to climb out. Judging by these pictures I would gauge that you are already clambering up the sides. Any sighting of an owl, and especially a juvenile, is a cause for great joy. You are wise to mask the location. Over zealous birders and photographers can do great harm in a hurry. Take good care of yourself, and as Richard Pegler used to say, of nature. Best regards - David
ReplyDeleteI too remember Richard with much affection.
DeleteThanks for your contributions on B2B David....Pete.
Hi Pete,
ReplyDeleteIt’s great to hear good news about Conder Pool; the bees are enjoying the sunshine. The weather here is very bad, making it difficult to go out with the camera. You should definitely keep an eye on that tawny owl fledgling—you might just get a few more nice photos.
Best regards, Frank
Always good to hear from you Frank, and I'm looking out for the next post from Germany.
DeleteRegards...Pete.
Welcome back Pete! Beautiful photos and the little owl is gorgeous. I can report from here that I saw 2 "stripgås" in swedish "anser indicus". Never seen before...it was together with hundreds of canadagees in a field in my home area. All the best, Lasse
ReplyDeleteThere's a very interesting and comprehensive article on facts and figures about the Bar-headed Goose here https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Anser_indicus/
ReplyDeleteThanks for looking in Lasse....Pete.
That owl is really amazing. Thanks for the great post.
ReplyDeleteAll owls are amazing, a pity my photo of this one isn't.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sami....Pete.
Mooie foto's Pete. Mooi die geringde kluut en al zo oud. Wij zijn net terug uit Denemarken. Daar ook minder vogels dan andere jaren. Dankjewel voor je berichten. Fijn weekend. Groeten Caroline
ReplyDeleteThank You Caroline....So pleased you had a good holiday in Denmark, albeit you saw fewer birds than your last visit there.
ReplyDeleteKind Regards to yourself and to Puck!....Pete.
It's 36 degrees celcius, to hot for doing anything. I feel not well with that temperature. Next friday 38 degrees, they say on the weather news.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear the temperature is making you feel unwell, but good news that it is moving on soon.
ReplyDeleteTake Care Caroline....Pete.