By Way Of A Change.

It was hardly to be called pleasant, overcast and a cold breeze, but by way of a change of scenery, a wander along the promenade at Morecambe seemed a good idea. 

But in fact I started at Heysham in the hope of catching some geese before the tide drove them off somewhere south, probably to Red Nab. For a change I had timed it right, and 52 Brent Geese - 21 in the video - were driven quite close in before taking to flight. It was also quite pleasing to see 4 Grey Plover before they too escaped the incoming tide.

Brent Geese Heysham. Pete Woodruff.

I drove along the promenade at Morecambe and pulled in at Broadway where I found a Grey Seal with its head bobbing above the swell, also a pair of Great Back-backed Gull alongside it at one point.

A raft of 55 Eider were diving, making the count a little challenging, also 4 Red-breasted Merganser, and between Broadway and Teal Bay I counted 8 Great Crested Grebe.

Roosting On The Groyne At Teal Bay. Pete Woodruff.

At Teal Bay a gathering of waders included a Knot retaining traces of its summer plumage on its breast nearing the end of December! Also of note, 11 Bar-tailed Godwit and 22 Wigeon.

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I wish everyone, visitors or dedicated followers of B2B for which I am very grateful....

A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS 🎅

A Little Reward.

On a visit to Heysham on Wednesday I found just 5 Mediterranean Gull, three were in the roost on Red Nab with 3 Whimbrel, and at the Stage 2 outfall, another two were seen as a 2nd summer and a juvenile. At least 120 Turnstone were on the old wooden jetty, and a Grey Seal was between the outfalls. 

Little Gull. Heysham Red Nab 9 August. Pete Woodruff.

On the return along the sea wall an hour later, lots of the gulls had been pushed off Red Nab, but I was rewarded by finding a lovely 1st summer Little Gull which also soon departed the nab as the tide pushed in, it follows another 1st summer Little Gull I saw  here last year on 8 July 2016.

On the pool at the nature trail, out in the sun was an Emperor Dragonfly, a Brown Hawker, and at least 2 Common Darter. Butterflies seen, 2 Red Admiral, a Gatekeeper, Common Blue and a Peacock. 

Redshank. Conder Pool. Pete Woodruff.

On Conder Pool 60 Redshank were roosting over the tide, with no doubt more behind the island. On the Lune Estuary, c.450 Golden Plover and 2 Black-tailed Godwit were to note. At Cockersand, 3 Wheatear seen, with 2 Whimbrel, and up to 450 Dunlin feeding on the mud between Plover Scar and Lighthouse Cottage. 

Edit 15 August.

The 1st summer Little Gull at Heysham Red Nab in this post has now been ID'd as a moulting adult from close study of photographs....See Here 

Apparently A Good Afternoon!

If you happen to like wet and windy weather, then you've probably been a very happy chappie this week. I hate wet and windy weather, and have been a very unhappy chappie this week, unable to pursue my birding. But it's looking good at the moment this morning and given half a chance....I'm off.

So I picked out at random one of my little black record books to discover quite a decent good afternoons birding I had 15 years ago to the day on 12 December 1999. Apparently it was a day I had decided to check out the birdlife along the promenade at Morecambe including a wander down the Stone Jetty to see a Velvet Scoter. The bird was first picked up flying south towards the jetty soon landing on the sea to give good views to facilitate identification of the bird being a juvenile. Also from here I saw a female Long-tailed Duck, a Red-throated Diver, and 2 Grey Seal making the visit along the jetty a well rewarded one.

Coming off the jetty to what was then called Bubbles Groyne - don't know what it's name is these days if it has one - to find a Purple Sandpiper, and Spotted Redshank there. Further along the promenade from the Town Hall slipway I saw a female Common Scoter to round of the visit nicely....That's what I call 'Apparently A Good Afternoon' at Morecambe.

Continental Crusaders.  

Swallowtail. Marc Heath.

There's an interesting article on the Birdguides website about an influx of exotic continental species into the UK this summer, in which my man from Kent has his excellent image of the Swallowtail butterfly well deservedly published to accompany the article Continental Crusaders  

Common Blue Damselfly. Marc heath. 

Another perfect example of Marc's excellent work is that of the Common Blue Damselfly at sunrise. Thanks for all this Marc, much appreciated.

The Short Post.

Not a short post as in fence post, but a short post 'cos it was little more than an hour long wander along the coast at Rossall Point yesterday following one of those compromises with KT, that if we went to Fleetwood for any other reason it had to include the aforementioned wander for me to have my necessary birding fix.

Eventually 3 Wheatear were seen on the golf course, but better still was to follow when I picked out one of those brilliant little gems the Whinchat which instantly made my day....well it would wouldn't it.

Sanderling Martin Jump 

At least 130 Sanderling were on the shingle at high tide, with probably 50 Ringed Plover and similar Dunlin, with a 'few' Turnstone, all unmercifully disturbed by too many people with too many mutts running riot. But by now I was a happy man, I'd seen one of my most favourite of birds the Whinchat, and one of my most favourite waders the Sanderling....Thanks for the image Martin. 

Grey Seal Arkive 

As a bonus two Grey Seal were close inshore off the Observation Tower. 

If it's birds it doesn't take much to please me....and all I needed was an hour!!

The Conder Common Terns.

An adult feeding two juvenile Common Tern were reported at Cockersands yesterday, almost certainly the Conder Green birds.

Saturday Birding....Who Me?

With an adult and three young Little Ringed Plover seen on Conder Pool on Friday, and a text message on Saturday morning from a Fylde birder to tell me they were showing well....I had to see this for myself.

But the Little Ringed Plover at Conder Green continues to cheat me and I found only one juvenile.  But Conder Pool has been invaded big time with 14 Little Egret having taking a liking to the area and present today. Also noted on the pool, Spotted Redshank, Goldeneye, 2 Wigeon, a female Tufted Duck with five ducklings and the threat of a Grey Heron close by. In the creeks I could only find 7 Common Sandpiper and a female Mallard with 12 ducklings, there was at least 25 House Martin around River Winds.  

Bonaparte's Gull ARKive 

So whilst I'm out and about I may as well have another go at the Bonaparte's Gull at Heysham....to no avail, but a Mediterranean Gull moulting to 2nd winter was seen, though hardly an excellent result as double figures are currently being seen here, with 36 Turnstone and 10 Ringed Plover on the seaward end of the old wooden jetty.

 

Grey Seal. Pete Woodruff.

The biggest surprise had to be the sight of a Grey Seal below the seawall, though according to conversations with the local fishermen it seems this individual has been around a while, it plunged at a Sea Bass as it leaped out of the water, it also hauled itself out and onto the sea wall for just 30 seconds.

Little Egret Ana Minguez  

On Monday an overnight roost at Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB in Cheshire held a staggering 380 Little Egret.

And finally....  

Large White. Pete Woodruff. 

I thought you may like to see my latest attempt at photography with this Large White butterfly feeding on the Inula hookeri in our garden recently. 

....and a bonus bird too!

I got a couple of hours in on Thursday and collected a nice bonus into the bargain.

Twite Geoff Gradwell  

The walk from Fluke Hall to Cockers Dyke was worth the effort if only to find 55 Twite there. This area is usually excellent particularly for observing gulls but they had deserted here today and my only other notes were of a single Bar-tailed Godwit and single Knot a little unusual on both counts, a Little Egret was also here. Thanks for the Twite on the railings at knott End Geoff.

Now the bonus bird was about to appear....

Chiffchaff Ana Minguez

Back at Fluke Hall I went behind the car park area hedgerow and immediately noticed half a dozen birds, amongst them a Dunnock, Robin, and Blackbird, but wait a minute what's this....its a 'warbler'. The bird gave me the run-around for 45 minutes during which time - although it was a flighty thing - I did get some good views and in the end I decided it was a Chiffchaff, though to be honest I tried a couple of times to make it something otherwise. Thanks for the Chiffchaff Ana. 

I didn't really have much time on my hands today, but couldn't resist calling in at Cockersands for a half hour or so but only managed a Little Egret on Plover Scar, and a solitary Fieldfare on the wires near the Lighthouse Cottage, and the Whooper Swans were still in the field off Moss Lane as I drove past. 

Ex Seal. Pete Woodruff.

On Wednesday I found another corpse at Cockersands, last time a Porpoise, this time a Seal. Until someone wants to correct me if necessary, I see this as a young headless Grey Seal. 

Starling Warren Baker  

I reckon this excellent photograph of the humble Starling makes the bird a much more attractive creature than we really give it credit for, the light reflected off the snow enhances this birds plumage to good effect. Thanks Warren.

And the non-bird pic for this post....

Who Dares Wins Gary Jones  

GJ's excellent image of the Tiger getting its teeth into lunch watched by this super brave Robin. Thanks Gary, I hope you don't mind my caption which I thought quite appropriate.

Truly Amazing....

....some Grey Seals, and a Crossbill.



Zitting Cisticola. Copyright Farash Samat. 

I don't think I've ever been more amazed at any photograph of birds like this one ever before. The image depicts a pair of Zitting Cisticola, having mated they are photographed in this amazing 'post-coital trapeze act' having dropped into this inverted position the female clings on to the grass stem, with the male - also upside-down - holding on to her at the shoulder. Apparently this is a post-copulation behaviour normal to the species whereby the male grips the females back tightly after coition, perhaps in a bid to increase the likelihood of fertilisation.

The first record of the Zitting Cisticola in Ireland was a bird found in Co. Cork in 1962 by an observer who had already seen the species in Spain only a few months previous. The first record for Britain was in Norfolk in 1976, then five days later at another location in Norfolk and regarded then as being almost certainly the same individual. It is interesting that despite the close proximity of breeding birds to Britain, the Zitting Cisticola appears to be reluctant to cross the North sea.

Well, I've often been seen to quote on Birds2blog....'Birds, they fascinate me in a thousand ways'....but never quite like this before.

Grey Seal. Gary Jones.

Grey Seals. Gary Jones.

Gary has been on a recent trip to the Farne Islands and brought home a 'bag full' of images to share with us. Please visit Gary's Website to see an excellent selection of photographs of these wonderful creatures with the promise from him of an upload of sea birds at the Farnes sometime soon.

Two-barred Crossbill. Gary Jenkins. 

Gary went to see THIS BIRD in Yorkshire in 2008, but I don't think it would be a good idea for most of us to hold our breath until we find one for ourselves. The first record of this species in Ireland was in Co. Antrim in 1802, the first for Britain was in North Yorkshire in 1826.

Hardly Exciting!

Dull-capped Attila. Colin Bushell.

A little exotic thing to start with from one of CB's trips to Peru, though the birds name hardly matches the beautiful rustic colour of it's plumage. But the birding today with JB/BT was anything but colourful, I don't think dark and grey can ever be called colourful, and the dark and grey turned to rain soon after lunch so....hardly exciting! 

As ever BT's car seemed to head off to Aldcliffe of it's own accord and as we drove down Aldcliffe Hall Lane we saw a female Kestrel perched on a fence post, a smart little falcon which I love to see, also noted were at least 10 House Sparrows. Down the lane at the gate overlooking Aldcliffe Marsh which was awash with the high tide, 6 Little Egret were over on Colloway Marsh with another just north of the gate we were stood by. As we drove through Stodday a Buzzard was overhead.

Wigeon and Little Grebe. John Bateman.

At Conder Green 2 Little Egret here, also of note were 7 Little Grebe on the pool with a single Wigeon and the Common Sandpiper showing too. Definitely no circuit today and we were off to Glasson Dock where - if you'd like a little advice - there's little  point in attempting to observe birds on the Lune Estuary from here up to 2 - 2.5 hours either side of a high tide. From Bodie Hill another 3 Little Egret on Glasson Marsh with another over by Bazil Point. At Cockersands - where by now we had to put up with some typical November damp turning to rain weather - we struggled to note 20/10 Greenfinch/Linnet in the 'set-aside' flock, and noted a single Grey Plover from the car park. The most interesting sighting here was that of a Grey Seal which some people had told us at Glasson Dock we had just missed by minutes, but the creature obligingly showed well here, close in eating a quite large fish, great stuff....who needs Autumn Watch! 

Whooper Swans. Gary Jones.

On Pilling Marsh it was pretty hopeless trying to count but estimates of at least 3,000 Pink-footed Geese, 300 Greylag, and 50 Whooper Swans were all distant in the murky grey yonder and no apologies for nice round figures, also up to 3 Little Egret seen. In the stubble field off Fluke Hall Lane 5 Whooper Swans were a family party of two adult and three juveniles. Thanks for the Whooper Swans in flight Gary, and for the Wigeon and Little Grebe John....both excellent photographs and much appreciated.

Bits of Interest.

Large White. Pete Woodruff.

Well for starters a butterfly came to our humble little garden this evening, a reasonably regular event under normal circumstances but this summer hasn't been 'normal circumstances' to date and butterflies have been few and far between in my book though three Painted Ladies I found earlier in the summer appear to have been excellent records . I quickly grabbed my second rate photographic equipment and just had the opportunity to catch this image before the Large White departed resulting in this barely acceptable picture.

Marsh Harrier. Gary Jones.

I decided to contact Gary about this photograph to ask if he would mind if  I posted it on Birds2blog, thankfully Gary agreed that I could. It is the result of some creative editing I did of two of Garys images of a juvenile Marsh Harrier taken at Leighton Moss....Thanks for this Gary, I think it looks good and hope you do too.

And finally, well for pictures anyway....

Grey Seals. Paul Foster.

A nice shot of the Grey Seals which Paul encountered on a recent visit to the Farne Islands....Thanks for this Paul it is much appreciated.

Common Sandpiper.

On Thursday 22 July - amongst the many Common Sandpipers always present at Conder Green each year at migration time - I found a ringed individual and am please to have received the following feedback....

Rings: White above the tibia/Yellow below the tibia and carried the number NV33816.

Ringing Location: Conder Green. 

Date ringed: 3 August 2003.

Age: 3 years.

Wing: 111mm

Weight: 56g

Previous sightings: Nil

Another Common Sandpiper also aged 3 years and ringed on the same date at the same location  was subsequently seen on 17-21 July 2004.

I am extremely grateful to John Wilson, Phil Holland and Richard du Feu for looking into and forwarding this information to me and did so in the space of five days....many thanks to you all.