Stonechat Records April-June 2022.

Staying home and keeping cool for a couple of days during the heat wave, and since the cooldown no opportunities for any freedom, has given me the opportunity to collate a selection of the second quarter of this years Stonechat records - 100+in total April-June - collected in the main from FBC sightings page. 

The records have shown a surprising number of lowland birds, with the Lancashire Bird Report 2020 claiming Stonechats to be fairly widespread in coastal areas. 

9 April Rossall School possibly late passage?

20 April Blackpool Airport male

20 April St Annes Old Links pair

25 April Blea Tarn 2 birds  

26 May Conder Green male *

12 June Winmarleigh Moss breeding record, adults seen carrying food

17 June Heysham Head female *

25 June St Annes NR 3 birds

25 June Starr Hills 2 birds

25 June Clougha 2 birds

* Stonechats at Conder Green and Heysham Head in May/June are extraordinary, in particular the Conder Green bird. According to my records, there's never been a Stonechat seen here during the breeding season, and almost certainly never at Heysham Head on 17 June.

April-June Records Pete Woodruff.

My Stonechat'ing days and where I go are much restricted now, so nothing comprehensive here, but....

14 April Birk Bank 2xpairs *

29 April Harrisend pair/4 male *

29 April Hawthornthwaite pair/female *

27 May Hawthornthwaite pair/2 male/2 young

16 June Birk Bank juvenile

30 June Birk Bank female/4 young 

* No evidence, but probably breeding

..................................................................

Lancaster Canal.

Since the recent pollution incident which had serious consequences for wildlife, including dead otters and fish, it was rewarding to find the canal at Garstang appears to be reaching some normality again. It was pleasing to find 4 Brown Hawker and 2 Emperor Dragonfly as evidence that it seems no harm had come to the Odonata of this affected section of the canal.

Garden Butterflies.

It was good to find two firsts for the garden, when a Small Skipper and Meadow Brown put in an appearance recently, also nice to see Holly Blue and Comma. 

I've used the word paucity a couple of times recently to describe my butterfly records recently. I'm claiming no more than 40 have been seen in our butterfly and bee friendly garden since the beginning of summer. This reflects the disaster that might be around the corner, that half of Britain's butterfly species are listed as Threatened or Near Threatened on a new Red List.

Wall Brown. Pete Woodruff.

It's 5 years since I saw my last Wall Brown, it was seen along the coastal path at Cockers Dyke in August 2017.

Tree Wasp.

The 22cm Tree Wasp Dolichovespula sylvestris was munching at the wood on the boardwalk fencing at Birk Bank to digest as paper for nest building. 

Moths.

Four Spotted Footman. Ian Mitchell.

The Four Spotted Footman featured in my header and above, is thanks to Ian who found it in his trap on Monday. It is a sexually dimorphic moth, only females have the spots which gives the species its name. They are more likely to be found in central and southern Europe, though they are resident along the south-west coast of England and parts of Wales, making Ian's individual a scarce immigrant found in the north of England....I've not yet found out what the disfigurement is on the moth. 

I've seen a couple of moths recently, nothing unusual but worth noting. 

Dark Arches. Pete Woodruff.

The Dark Arches came to rest on the pebbledash on our house....

Purple Bar. Pete Woodruff.

And the Purple Bar was hiding in the undergrowth at Grisedale Bridge.

I'D SOONER BE BIRDING!

I spotted a moth to photograph in the garden in the week, which at least gave me a little material to give the breath of life to Birds2blog until I get the green flag for birding again. 

It was The Vapourer, a caterpillar of which I had photographed in the garden a couple of years ago. Only the male has functional wings, the female rarely moves from her cocoon, and usually lays her eggs on the cocoon itself.

The caterpillar is easy to recognise with red spots on it's hairy body, four cream 'shaving brushes' and assorted hairy 'horns'.

--------------------------------------------------

The Great Escape.

Thanks to Lynn Woodruff I was released from my housebound prison for the first time since the incident of 2 September, and was escorted along with KT on a walk along the Stone Jetty at Morecambe where I was rewarded with an October butterfly, a Wall Brown basking on the sea defences.

Wall Brown Marc Heath  

A species of conservation concern due to habitat loss and the resulting drop in population, reflected by my own records as the first and only one seen since 13 August 2017.

Thanks to Marc for the Wall Brown, and to Richard for the Iceland Gull header. I'm predicting one in our area before Christmas, probably at Heysham Harbour....Here's hoping I'm fit once again by then to able to go see it.  

Up The Wall!

On Thursday, I attended the funeral of a good friend at the Catholic Church of Ss Thomas & Elizabeth at Thurnham. After the service on a nice sunny day, there was going to be nothing more uplifting for me than a walk along the coastal path from Fluke Hall to Cockers Dyke, and at 1.30pm I was within a few miles of getting there from Thurnham down the A588.

Wall Brown. Pete Woodruff.

This was definitely a good idea, if only because I found my first Wall Brown butterfly in 6 years which was seen at Pilling Lane Ends on 2 September 2011. The irony being, today's butterfly was on one of the only three Ragwort stems left at the foot of the inland bank from the recent grass cut here on 25 July. Other butterflies taking an interest in the Ragwort and elsewhere along the path were, 9 Large White, 8 Common Blue, 6 Small Copper, 5 Gatekeeper, and 3 Meadow Brown.

Along the path, I saw a young Wheatear still sporting some downy feathering, and on Pilling Sands at Cockers Dyke saw up to 2,500 Dunlin, 350 Grey Plover, 45 Knot retaining some of their red breeding plumage, and 3 Sanderling, 6 Linnet  were on the marsh.

The Brown Hairstreak. 

Brown Hairstreak. Gait Barrows 9 August. Steve Graham.

I was grateful to Steve Graham for passing on to me both the news and image of a pristine male Brown Hairstreak found on Wednesday at Gait Barrows Nature Reserve in Silverdale, along with 14 other species of butterfly.

The jury is still out on whether this is an introduction, or a small relic population that has been previously overlooked as it is a former resident at Gait Barrows. The nearest colonies of Brown Hairstreak are in Lincolnshire and Worcestershire so well north of these, but so is Silver-washed Fritillary.

Thanks again for this Steve, it added nicely to my own Wall Brown find after a 6 year wait. 

Thanks also to Simon for the Hen Harrier header.

Land Management!

Fluke Hall-Knott End Coastal Path

When I got to Fluke Hall last Monday I was disappointed to find the inland side of the coastal path had been cut down presumably all the way to Knott End c.3 miles away, bad enough it had been cut, but the big question is....when and how long ago? 

This is excellent butterfly habitat, personal past records include 12 Clouded Yellow in 30 minutes on this very path on 7 August 2006, and more recently, 9 species of butterflies with at least 200 individuals seen in 1.5 miles along this coastal path to Cockers Dyke on 12 August last year.

OK, we're  talking late September here, and the records above were in August, and the Clouded Yellow record 10 years ago, but that's not the point, there are still plenty of butterflies around this year, and provided the weather and nectar sources last they can be around until October and maybe longer if the weather remains favourable.

 

Wall Brown. Pete Woodruff.

This coastal path was also a stronghold for the Wall Brown, a butterfly species I've not seen since my last sighting 5 years ago, this one at another butterfly hotspot at Pilling Lane Ends on 2 September 2011.

In some cases it seems councils are too keen to put the 'Keep Britain Tidy' plan into action and have verges and paths mown far too soon. But in the positive, I'm aware of a local issue where a site meeting was arranged, the result being that mowing is now in place on a twice a year instead of the previous multi-mow regime, and in excess of 100 spikes of Common-spotted Orchid are now a testament to the success of this change in mowing practices.

Many thanks to Nigel Jones for his Pectoral Sandpiper header, seen at Brigsteer on 11 September. Much appreciated Nigel, and good to meet you recently at Glasson Dock.

....And The Butterflies Came Too.

By the time I got out to Conder Green on Friday the tide was high at 11.15am, and so I left the area under water until later in the day when the tide had fallen.

Whinchat. Warren Baker @ Pittswoodpatch

I went on to Cockersands where it was excellent that I found a Whinchat on a fence post south of the abbey as I walked along the headland where I found 5 Wheatear, c.55 Linnet, a few Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit, up to 50 Wigeon were off Plover Scar. At and around Bank Houses, at least 60 Tree Sparrow, 3 Great Tit, Goldfinch and a Wren seen, a male Sparrowhawk moved everything in sight here, 15 Greenfinch were along Slack Lane.  

On Jeremy Lane en-route for Conder Green, 3 Snipe went over flying inland, and at Conder Green an adult Spotted Redshank was seen as a different bird than the adult I saw here last Monday, also a Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, and 3 Little Egret all in the creeks. On Conder Pool, 8 Little Grebe sees the species on the increase, with a Kingfisher perched quietly on a stone just in view behind 'Tern Island'.

Butterflies.  

Red Admiral. Pete Woodruff.

All my butterflies were at Cockersands, with at least 15 Red Admiral seen, 14 Small Tortoiseshell were counted on thistles in Bank Houses horse paddock with at least as many again seen elsewhere, 2 Painted Lady, and a Green-veined White. I noted 24 Silver Y moth seen with many more no doubt missed. 

Butterflies in our garden recently have been a Red Admiral  - photograph above - and 3 Painted Lady.

The Wall Brown.

Wall Brown. Pete Woodruff.

One butterfly I've not seen this year yet is the Wall Brown, which gets its name from the characteristic behaviour of resting with wings open on any bare surface, like this one I found appropriately on a wall at Cockersands one day some time ago.

This species was once found throughout England, Wales, Ireland and parts of Scotland. Today is a very different picture, with the species suffering severe declines over recent decades. It is now confined to primarily-coastal regions but has been lost from many sites in the UK, and time is running out for me to find one in 2015.

Thanks to Warren for the Whinchat, and to Paul for the header Wryneck, found earlier in the week at Lytham St Annes and still there yesterday.

Missing the Migrants.

On the JB/BT day yesterday (Friday) we missed the migrants - Curlew Sandpipers and Little Stint - on the Lune Estuary, but thanks to a very reliable and obliging contact at least I knew they were there and where.

With no appropriate pics again for today's post I thought I'd put up a couple of my miserable attempts at photographic skills with two 'Coming Soon' shots of the Pink-footed Geese.

And....

The Whooper Swans....both species will be in an area near you soon, even in maybe 5-6 weeks time.

Yes you guessed it, we started at Freeman's Pools where I noted up to 6 Little Grebe, as always JB will have comprehensively noted much more both here and elsewhere HERE. Conder Green - including Conder Pool - was a depressing deserted place today and we soon moved on to Glasson Dock where I left the finer details to JB but noted myself,  3 adult Mediterranean Gulls and c.110 Golden Plover. From Bodie Hill 2 Little Egret seen.

What turned out to be at the minimum 2,500 birds in a field off Moss Lane were estimated as 900 Black-headed Gull, 950 Lapwing, and 600 Golden Plover. At Cockersands on Plover Scar I made notes of 980 Oystercatcher, 55 Ringed Plover, 55 Dunlin, and 4 Turnstone, 21 Eider were off here, c.20 Goldfinch were seen near Bank Houses, and a Sparrowhawk dashed through, at least 22 Small Tortoiseshell were on nettles in pristine freshly emerged condition, with a Common Blue noted.

The routine tour along Gulf Lane produced a solitary Grey Partridge, and at Pilling Lane Ends where the 10m + tide was at its height there was little inspiration save a Little Egret, 5 Great-crested Grebe and 3 Red-breasted Merganser, a solitary Wall Brown and 2 Speckled Wood rounded the session off.

Note. 

On Thursday at Glasson Dock I observed an Oystercatcher with a bill deformity in that it was the same size and shape as that of a Curlew. I had thought at the time this creature was unable to preen in order to keep its plumage in good healthy condition, were the Curlew has the advantage of a long neck. However, the Oystercatcher definitely appeared generally uncomfortable about the predicament it was permanently in for life and I felt its chances of survival was limited....An amazing sight if unpleasant for the unfortunate bird. 

Bottom of the League.

Well I will be at the rate my birding went today with few points scored on a day when I gave it my all but found it very heavy going, though the Ruff at Cockersands clawed a little back for me, few and far between in our area and I reckon its possibly the bird I saw in flight with 80 Redshank at Conder Green a week ago on 15 August. Today the bird was with estimates of 800 Dunlin, 630 Redshank, and 200 Ringed Plover. A Sparrowhawk and the 2 Wall Brown butterflies don't add up to a double figure count in my book for the entire summer.

Ladybirds. Pete Woodruff.

A circuit produced little save 2 Wheatear, up to 50 Swallow noted around Bank Houses, and these two 7-Spot Ladybirds appearing to be engaged in some multiplication activity, the 7-Spot is one of our commonest and is abundant in all kinds of habitat. There are 46 species in the UK of which only 26 are readily recognisable as Ladybirds. 

I had started the day at Conder Green where the pool was once again deserted save the 2 Wigeon drakes which - for the whole hour I spent in the area - remained in close company with a Mute Swan recently resident on here....presumably some feeding behaviour. Other notes here, up to 40 Mallard were on the River Conder between the road bridge and Bush House, a Grey Wagtail was of note, also at least 12 House Martin around River winds, and it was nice to find 2 Whitethroat still in the area.

Wheatear. David Cookson.

Not your average image of a Wheatear - but well above it - of which two were at Glasson Dock. The Lune Estuary here was unimpressive today and although Lapwing numbers remain at c.1,000 other wader numbers were low though I had no intention of having today as a wader counting one. A Greenshank and Little Egret were the only other notes. A birder  - unknown to me - who was already in position when I arrived pointed out a 'gull' he claimed to be the resident YLG....on this occasion I decided not to enlighten him of his error!

It was good to see AR/JR today at Glasson Dock and put a few things in the 'Birding World' to right. I know you look in on Birds2blog and hope to see you again soon, meanwhile....Kind Regards to you both.

And finally....

Sedge Warbler. David Cookson.  

This time, not your average Sedge Warbler image with its catch of a deceased Orthoptera. Two stunning photographs of which you can always see more HERE

The Latest News....

....and a couple of pics from the currently absent PS the first of which is an excellent mugshot of the lovely Linnet, and the second a Red-throated Pipit from a trip abroad.

You will have noticed I'm struggling again today for a title with at least a little originality and as you see failing miserably!!

Linnet. Phil Slade



With JB/BT as is the norm we first went to Aldcliffe and Freeman's Pools where we observed two Little Ringed Plover, it was something of a worry to see these two little creatures running around in a panic as two Carrion Crows appeared intent on finding the eggs one of the birds had only moments earlier been sitting on. So unfortunate that these birds have enough natural predation to contend with in order to succeed in their breeding attempts without the inconsiderate people using the pool and island as a place to 'have fun' as of late. At Aldcliffe Whitethroat and 2 Swift of note.

At Conder Green, a Lesser Whitethroat gave me excellent - if brief - views, also Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Greenshank, and a Little Ringed Plover seen in flight only. A pair of Great-crested Grebe are nesting on the canal basin at Glasson Dock. On Jeremy Lane a Wheatear in the field was presumed with brief views as  'Greenland' given the date.

At Cockersands, another Wheatear, 3 Whitethroat, a male Reed Bunting, 4 Skylark, 2 Stock Dove, and a Black Swan which posed the question....is this the same bird as seen at Glasson Dock and off Moss Lane in November 2010/January 2011. On Gulf Lane yet another Whitethroat, and c.150 Carrion Crows were noted feeding in a field presumably not to the pleasure of Mr Farmer.

On Pilling Marsh c.300 Pink-footed Geese still, a Wall Brown and at least 8 Common Blue butterflies around the car park. At Fluke Hall, 5 Whitethroat brought the days total to at least eleven seen/heard, also Skylark and 5 Wall Brown. At least 8 Swift were high over Bowerham in Lancaster this evening.

And finally....

Red-throated Pipit. Phil Slade  

The Cockersands Kentish Plover I suspect has not been seen today and not since yesterday as reported at 10.40am. 

Probably the best....

....lager in the world!

Clougha Pike From Little Fell Lane. Pete Woodruff.

Not connected with lager at all but probably the best visit to Clougha in the ten years plus I've been observing birds on here, including a first record here for me when, just ten minutes away from the motor I found 2 adult Spotted Flycatchers in trees twenty paces short of the bog - no lavatory jokes please - and twenty minutes later found 2 Whinchat. I need to address the negative side of the visit which came with just a single young Stonechat in the five hours spent here today, this was an even more worrying sight as I'm not acquainted with young Stonechats seen on their own but despite a search of the area I found it in I could see no other bird/s accompanying this fledgling of no more than a week....strange.

Good numbers of Meadow Pipits were lingering and I easily counted 85 birds during the visit, a count of 25 Red Grouse was also a good record, conversations with gamekeepers in Bowland indicate no shooting of RG taking place again this year. Another good record was that of 14 Wheatear, and to make up the nine species seen on Clougha/Birk Bank today, a Blackbird and just two raptors, a Buzzard and Kestrel.

Butterflies seen were only my seconds of Wall Brown and Red Admiral this year, 2 Small Skipper, 7 Small Tortoiseshell, and 3 Peacock. 

NOTES.  

Spotted Flycatchers and Whinchats are two species on the 'going down' list and it pleases me no end to find them. With regard to the Spotted Flycatcher - void of searching through my records - I've found up to 20 this year, and the Whinchat 23, so for birds heading for scarcity status that's excellent. As for the Stonechat, my maximum August counts over ten years on Clougha/Birk Bank were 27 birds on 26 August 2004 which is 26 birds up on todays result to add to the number of locations I visit were the species has virtually been lost. It was also notable that in the entire five hours up here today I saw not a solitary 'corvid'.

Butterflies....

....Alleluia butterflies that is.

Painted Lady (open/closed) Pete Woodruff.

At last I found two pristine Painted Lady today at Cockersands along with a Wall Brown, five Common Blue, two Peacock, and at least 100 'whites' mainly Large White. It's been quite worrying that I've not been seeing butterflies anywhere/anytime, it's interesting to note that I found 150 Painted Lady (yes that's 150) on 30 May on Clougha/Birk Bank during the 'explosion' last year.

Surprise bird of the day was my first bird of the day which was at Conder Green where a Greenshank was in the creeks, last year the first return bird was on 30 June. It was good to find a Little Ringed Plover - not seen since 24 May - on Conder Pool where the muddy edges are looking pretty inviting now for any passing rarity or any common wader for that matter, the LRP's didn't present any young for viewing until 16 June last year so with fingers crossed there's still time yet, the only worry today was the big ugly Grey Heron preening it's big ugly self on the island, 2 Brown Hare were also around the pool. The Reed Warbler just upstream from the road bridge was heard again, and c.6 House Martins and 3 Swift were over/around River Winds. On the canal basin at Glasson Dock 2 Great-crested Grebe were noted but I've seen no young with them yet and I suspect a breeding failure here.

At Cockersands c.50 Eider were in low water early afternoon and I found little else of note off the headland. From the road I found 7 Tree Sparrow posing the question....where are all the Cockersands Tree Sparrows, 4 Linnet, 2 Skylark, 2 Dunnock, a male Reed Bunting, and deadly silence from the seven Sedge Warblers seen/heard on recent visits here.

Birding can be hard work for a few weeks now but I just felt a rarity coming on today but my doctor having increased my dose is perhaps having me hallucinating. It's my four hour day today which started at 11.00am and ended at 3.00pm this afternoon....part time birding!