Freedom!

Off Cockersands. Pete Woodruff.

I managed an escape to freedom yesterday for a few hours  - not that I achieved very much - on a much improved day weatherwise, though as the pic above shows there were some threats around whilst I was at Cockersands, birdwise not to much advantage, but.... mustn't grumble, birding throws up lots of surprises, not all of which are heart pumping but none of which are negative. 

At Conder Green having met PG, talking on the old railway bridge 2 Kingfisher flew together under the bridge and downstream towards the Conder mouth, albeit a brief one, the proverbial 'sight for sore eyes'. A few minutes later c.40 Goldfinch went overhead on their bouncing way, 3 Spotted Redshank in the creeks, and 4 Little Grebe were the only birds of note on Conder Pool which is at its highest water level ever recorded at the moment. I saw at least 12 Small Tortoiseshell here today.

If you'd have gone to Glasson Dock today to view the Lune Estuary on my recommendation as a prime birding hot-spot you would have been justified in telling me I don't know what I'm talking about, but I noted an adult Yellow-legged Gull, c.400 Golden Plover, 3 Black-tailed Godwit, and a Little Egret. 

There are some seriously flooded fields along Jeremy/Moss Lane and a Wheatear was noted on one but I found no evidence of any waders.

Knot Martin Jump 

I saw no Knot at Cockersands today - not a wader which frequents the area in any number - but MJ achieved this excellent image on one of his recent trips to Rossall Point, the bird loosing its breeding red underparts.

Turnstone Martin Jump

To be honest I wasn't very inspired by Cockersands today apart from the fact I was running out of time and went nowhere beyond Plover Scar, and noted c.16 Turnstone and a Little Egret. But at least 300 Wigeon off as well as on Plover Scar was evidence that winter approaches.

Thanks to MJ for the image of the Knot, and for the Turnstone, a brilliant bird to see in flight showing off its superb plumage detail as one of the finest of all our waders.

And finally....

Swallowtail. Peter Guy.

This stunning Swallowtail - the European race Papilio machaon gorganus - was photographed in Italy. The British Swallowtail - restricted to the Norfolk Broads - is the most enigmatic and largest of our butterflies....What a brilliant end to the post!

My next adventure into the world of birding won't be until next Monday at the earliest I regret to have to say.  

This is overdosing!

I got out birding again on Friday, this represents a total of something like 18 hours in one week and is a bit of an overdose when compared to my birding availability over the past 10 months....God, how much longer is this going to go on!

If the weather would settle down a little more I'm desperate to get off up into the uplands somewhere but I'm not up for getting soaked in the middle of nowhere. In particular I need to satisfy myself about the situation regarding the Stonechats on Clougha and Birk Bank, though the last time I checked out the area on 26 March just one pair was found, and if they had any intention of breeding up there I doubt they will have had any success given the worst summer since....when.

Red Admiral. Pete Woodruff. 

So the magnet pulled me once again to Conder Green where I decided to give this Red Admiral the 'Gold Award' for the days efforts. I can count the number of this species seen this year on one hand and it was a delight to watch this little beauty today. The birds noted here, 2 Spotted Redshank, 2 Greenshank, 4 Common Sandpiper, with a Little Grebe on Conder Pool. I heard this 'meuuw' overhead a couple of times before the penny dropped and I looked up to see the Buzzard....something to do with my 'sell by date'.

Spoonbill Colin Bushell

This Spoonbill was on Banks Marsh when it was photographed....thanks for this Colin. 

The Lune Estuary Spoonbill was seen again where I also took note of the Ruff found on Tuesday with c.500 Redshank again, also c.220 Golden Plover, and an adult Yellow-legged Gull gave excellent views across from the bowling green at Glasson Dock. By the way....one of Thursdays five Mediterranean Gulls here was ringed on the left leg, frustratingly the bird was far too far away to read the ring which appeared to be a pale blue or green....Arggggh!  

Sanderling Martin Jump 

On a relatively short visit to check out Plover Scar at Cockersands I found no Sanderling today - thanks for the photograph Martin - but noted estimates of 320 Oystercatcher, 60 Dunlin, 20 Ringed Plover, 3 Turnstone, and c.35 Linnet was a good count. I saw a single butterfly here, another species I could count on one hand this summer, a Peacock.

And finally....

Peregrine Falcon Martin Jump 

In the hope no pigeon fanciers see this (whoops), an excellent image of the juvenile Peregrine Falcon which appears to have soon 'learned the trade' with the pigeon held firmly in its talons....Thanks for the pics Martin, much appreciated.

Med up not fed up!

Sanderling. Brian Rafferty.

No accurately appropriate pics today, but an excellent mug shot of the delightful Sanderling is good enough for me to head the post. JB and I had a good look at the coastal areas of Conder Green/Glasson Dock/Cockersands today but the day was cut a little shorter than planned for more reasons than one, not least of which was the clock, and a road diversion if we wanted to go south beyond Cockersands.

A look in before the tide at Conder Green, and another five hours later at high tide produced an excellent count of 11 Greenshank, and another one of 18 Common Sandpipers which JB reckons is his highest count of the species at this location, I'd need to check my records to know if this applies to me too. Also an adult Spotted Redshank, 82 Redshank, 3 Wigeon, a Red Admirable was the only butterfly seen on the day. On the Lune Estuary from Glasson Dock, a 2nd summer Mediterranean Gull, up to 300 Bar-tailed Godwit, 275 Lapwing, and 200 Redshank all had the area beginning to look like autumn in terms of a small build up of numbers.

From Bodie Hill an adult Yellow-legged Gull gave nothing like the excellent close views I would have appreciated being the worlds number one novice when it comes to tricky or immature gulls. On Jeremy Lane a single Grey Partridge had its head just above the long grass for JB to see it in the field as we drove by. At Cockersands an adult Mediterranean Gull was off Crook Farm with c.150 Black-headed Gull, 25 Eider, and 2 Red-breasted Merganser noted, Plover Scar was unusually void of birds.

And finally, another excellent photograph....

Kestrel. Phil Slade.

....of the female Kestrel. Thanks to BR and PS for the photographs. I use the word every time I post on Birds2blog without fail, and always mean it when it comes to the images I use....Excellent.

A Gull, a Woodpecker, and a Bunting.

Yellow-legged Gull. Chris Batty.

Not remotely connected to the post but another of those excellent pics of the Yellow-legged Gull, this one a 1st winter bird to help you on your way to identifying this difficult subject of immature gulls. This individual appears on occasions in the Knott End/Cockers Dyke area if you're that way anytime....Thanks for this Chris, a great picture of a great bird.

I note with interest good numbers of Wryneck and Lapland Buntings into the country at the moment with one individual Wryneck having been at Cley in Norfolk for most - if not all - of the week in the area around the East Bank which brings me to recommend you getting your hands on a copy of the book above, about an amazing man and an equally amazing place, both of which I couldn't agree more, the East Bank has some good memories for me. The books author Moss Taylor - who was a GP - came under Richard. A. Richardson's spell on his early birding trips to Cley and in time became a member of the medical team who nursed Richard in Kelling Hospital near Holt in August 1977 during the last few weeks of his life.

So some brief notes on these two 'desirable birds to see' species....

The Wryneck.

Its hard to believe the Wryneck - a rare passage migrant from continental Europe -  was once a common breeder in Lancashire but even as far back as the 1850's the bird was already in decline, and by the beginning of the 20th century it was scarce if not rare, a nest found at Winmarleigh in 1883 is the last 'published' breeding record in Lancashire. I once read of a Wryneck turning up in a garage basement in 1973, an extreme example of a species regarded to be likely to 'turn up almost anywhere' though they do have a strong affinity to coastal watch-points with up to five at Heysham being a good example of this. I reckon Cockersands to be as good a place as any to search for the Wryneck and is the very location for a record of the species nearly 15 years ago on 19 October 1995.

The Lapland Bunting.

The Lapland Bunting is an uncommon passage migrant and winter visitor from Fennoscandia - and possibly from Greenland - is also currently appearing in the country in notable large numbers, in terms of 'locally' I have seen a report today of one bird on the sea wall at Hesketh Out Marsh. However, this area is no stranger to the Lapland Bunting and nearby Crossens held a flock of 31 birds in January 1980, and again nearby six were at Marshside in 1986, all these three areas are excellent coastal birding hot-spots. Cockersands also comes into the reckoning with this species as with the Wryneck and wintering birds have been recorded in the past on the saltmarshes and coastal grasslands of coastal Lancashire and North Merseyside, so I'll certainly be doing some 'circuits' here if and when I can in the coming days/weeks.

The Gull Problem.

Yellow-legged Gull (juvenile) Stuart Piner.

If your anything like me - and I reckon there are more of you out there that are than aren't - you will for the most part ignore gulls and just enjoy all the other species of birds we can find and see in this country. I myself find mature gulls an attraction and play as big a part in my passion for the birds as any other species, but the gull problem starts at the juvenile stage and continues right through the age of immaturity up until the birds become adults.

The juvenile Yellow-legged Gull in the photograph above which has recently been found on Preesall Sands is the perfect example of confusable and difficult plumage's the juvenile/immature gull wears, and it is here that I should make the comment that I have every admiration and respect for birders in the class that can readily identify such birds as these and I can tell you there aren't many of them around but I do know most, if not all of them.

In the ageing of gulls, the smaller species like the Black-headed Gull reach maturity within two/three years and exhibit less individual variation than the larger species and can usually be aged reliably. The Common Gull for example has three age groups, the Herring Gull has four. But there is more variability in immature plumage's of the larger species and some are difficult to age with certainty. As far as I'm concerned life becomes intolerable when you realise an 'advanced' 2nd year gull could look very much like a 'retarded' 3rd year one and in some cases you will read in reference books that the advice is to refer to 'tricky' birds as '2nd year types' or '3rd year types'....Oh dear, is birding really this difficult and complicated! 

The 'nightmare' for me is - for example - when you consider the four years it takes a Herring Gull to become a mature adult and changing its plumage detail something like seven times in the process of being a juvenile to becoming an adult. I give up....well I would because I'm a defeatist born and bred. Still....I do know as much about birds as most birders, but can never hope to know as much as others. 

I'm off to study the plumage details of a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull now!!