Common....Bird and Butterfly.

Common Gull Martin Lofgren 

Unfortunate that a bird as smart as this one is labelled 'common', though yesterday on the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock it was certainly the commonest gull with in excess of 500 Common Gull present when I returned there a couple of hours after the tide, though this number is nothing new to the Lune Estuary with 1,500 in the little black book thirteen months ago on 13 February 2013. Also of note, c.92 Black-tailed Godwit and 24 Bar-tailed Godwit counted. On the canal basin, a Little Grebe noted.

Eider Portraits of Nature 

A pair of Eider on the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock are at best irregular. Brilliant portraits of the drake Eider, many thanks Gary. 

At Cockersands, Plover Scar at high tide held, 82 Turnstone, c.60 Oystercatcher, and singles of Bar-tailed Godwit and Ringed Plover. A circuit produced nothing in double numbers with Linnet, Skylark, and Meadow Pipit seen. From Moss Lane I estimate up to 320 Whooper Swan in fields here still, and last Thursdays adult and immature Whooper Swan were off Slack Lane again with Mute Swans.

At Conder Green, 2 Spotted Redshank obliged in the creeks whilst I had to do a search for the Common Sandpiper, a Grey Plover was down the channel from the railway bridge, and on Conder Pool a Little Grebe, female Goosander, and 3 Little Egret, with a 'few' Tufted Duck and Wigeon.

Goldeneye are still hanging on with 21 seen in the area yesterday....

Conder Pool  8

Lune Estuary 8

Canal Basin  5

The Butterfly.

Common Gull. Copy Permitted.

Here's another Common Gull....the butterfly native to India, the broods of which differ dry season and wet season, and amongst other areas can be found up to 4,000ft in the N.W. Himalayas.

Save The Bog.

Lots of public money goes into the conservation of English uplands, yet only a small percent of peatland in our uplands are in good condition. In the past the wettest areas of upland were improved by drainage for sheep grazing, today they are burnt to provide the best possible conditions for Red Grouse.

Burning, drainage, and other practices of so called 'land management' on peat-covered hills are heading towards an environmental disaster. In good condition, England's upland peatlands hold large stores of carbon, and help hold back water, they are important for wildlife including supporting wader species like Golden Plover and Dunlin. In poor condition - when damaged by draining or burning - those benefits are lost, releasing carbon and peat-stained water. Across vast areas of uplands in northern England, vegetation is burnt to yield the best possible conditions for producing the largest number of Red Grouse for 'sporting' purposes.

The species these protected sites are intended to look after are clearly not protected at all simply because burning the vegetation on deep peat soils is preventing the recovery of the habitat they require. However, it seems there are organisations that are moving to restore degraded bogs including those in Bowland where you have to say....lets hope that 'moves' these organisations do make on this issue are more successful than any they might have made not only to protect, but to halt the extinction of the Hen Harrier in the Forest of Bowland which has been a resounding failure.

So here's the call to dowse the torches and block the drains, to turn this situation around and protect our uplands. Ending all this unnecessary nonsense the 'Guardians of the Countryside' call management will improve this important habitat, secure stocks of carbon which has been stored over millennia as peat, and help improve raw water quality.

Ring Ouzel.Marc Heath.

Ring Ouzel and Stonechat.

I'm reliably informed of a male Ring Ouzel and a pair of Stonechat at Whitendale, and a male Ring Ouzel and male Stonechat at Harrisend yesterday. A personal thanks to JW for contacting me on these four excellent records. 

Also thanks to Marc Heath for the brilliant Ring Ouzel image.

Nearly Fogged Off !

Looking upstream from Cockersands lighthouse, looks even worse if you 'clik the pik'.   

I escaped trying to be 'Husband Of The Year' at 1.30pm yesterday, and got to Cockersands in a slightly less pea soup fog than it had been since around 9.30pm the night before. But a pretty unpleasant day, following on from Wednesday which was more like 12 May than 12 March and shirt sleeve stuff....today more like 13 January and cold with it.

Golden Plover Brian Rafferty

Off Crook Farm I estimated 150 Redshank, counted 112 Black-tailed Godwit, 22 Curlew, and a solitary Knot, all quietly feeding on the mud flats. In an Abbey Farm field, c.135 Golden Plover with a 'few' Lapwing, 8 Linnet were in and around the cover crop field again. The surprise of the day was a Great-spotted Woodpecker which appeared to be going to fly out to sea until it did a U turn to go inland over Bank Houses.

I made this comment in a post two weeks ago....'I don't recall the last time I saw as many 'gulls' on the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock with in excess of 5,000 mainly Black-headed Gull'....and the numbers came a close second again today, a quite amazing sight. On the canal basin just 2 Goldeneye today.

Goldeneye Simon Hawtin

Looking in on the way home from the viewing platform at Conder Pool, 5 Goldeneye, a Little Grebe, and a pair of Lesser Black-backed Gull which seem to appear on here annually and are a real handsome pair of brutish beauties. A Little Egret also looked elegant in the creeks.

The Cockersands Whooper Swans. 

The Moss Lane Whooper Swans were even further inland today and mostly disappearing into the murk. Two Whooper Swan - an adult and immature - were with Mute Swans off Slack Lane, and up to 60 Whooper Swans were in flight heading towards the River Lune. An hour later when I reached Crook Cottage they had gone down on to the bank opposite at Sunderland Point.

Thanks as always to Brian/Simon for the images of Golden Plover and Goldeneye....Excellent. 

The plan was for more of the same today, but not when I saw this view from our window this morning and still lingering as I post.

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.

All Twite In The End!

The title is just about as bad as they come....

But the last sighting I had yesterday was of c.50 Twite in stubble at Fluke Hall. On the marsh I noted 8 Meadow Pipit on the wing, also 2 Reed Bunting, and 2 Little Egret. Off Fluke Hall Lane, at least 55 Golden Plover in another stubble field, and on the marsh at Pilling Lane Ends c.450 Pink-footed Geese.

Mute Swans/Whooper Swan. Pete Woodruff.

At Cockersands this lone Whooper Swan was with 28 Mute Swan off Slack Lane, and the count still stands at c.265 Whooper Swan off Moss Lane. Also of note, up to 20 Linnet were good in and around the cover crop section of the field by lighthouse cottage, 8 Tree Sparrow, 2 Reed Bunting, and a Kestrel. A Peregrine Falcon livened things up and caused a murmuration of several hundred Starlings.

Skylark Martin Jump.  

There was signs of a good number of Skylark around at Cockersands, in stubble and difficult to get to grips with on numbers.

Brown Hare.Martin Jump. 

I was reliably informed in a conversation with two visiting photographers that a count they made from Glasson Dock to Cockersands resulted in 30 Brown Hare being seen. Thanks to Martin Jump for the Skylark and the 'boxers', just two from a set of several excellent images.

On the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock, c.75 Black-tailed Godwit, just a remnant of 45 Wigeon and a pair of Red-breasted Merganser. On the canal basin, a Little Grebe and Great-crested Grebe were both in fine summer plumage. At Conder Green a Spotted Redshank seen, but most notable was the complete absence of Little Grebe and just one Wigeon.

The number continues to dwindle with only 23 Goldeneye seen....

15 Lune Estuary

  6 Conder Pool

  2 Canal Basin

The Moss Lane Whooper Swans.

There have been Whooper Swans in fields off Moss Lane at Cockersands since 14 January when I estimated 100 birds, this figure soon built up to around 265 as seen again today. But it is reasonable to suggest they moved on to the Lune Estuary off Plover Scar where they had been seen some time after I left the area at 1.45pm....See Here 

Another Quiet Tour.

I don't willingly make negative comments about birds/birding, but as is to be expected in early March the whole thing has 'gone off the boil'. On the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock for example, you'd be hard pushed to find any Lapwing or Golden Plover now, most have left for breeding grounds, and summer visitors have yet to arrive. But there's a good time coming, and for the first time in 3 months this island is about to be sitting under high pressure with more settled weather, and the first Wheatear and Sand Martin will be here - or just south of here - any time soon and a multitude will follow.

Meanwhile on Friday with only a couple of hours spare, I had a another brief and quiet tour, actually deciding to drive through Conder Green - committing a mortal sin in doing so - but I did see 2 Spotted Redshank in the creeks with their shiny white underparts glaring at me. On the Lune Estuary,  estimates of 450 Redshank, 320 Black-tailed Godwit, 120 Curlew, and 22 Goldeneye counted. On the canal basin I could find just 7 Goldeneye.

I had little time to spare for Cockersands but went to Moss Lane to see at least 265 Whooper Swan still present in the fields, they are still accompanied by the 'Aussie' Black Swan. Whilst in the area I saw a Buzzard mobbed by 2 Carrion Crow, a Little Egret, and noted 6 Brown Hare which I must make my business to get some accuracy on the numbers in the Cockersands area next visit.

The Black Swan Puzzle. 

The Black Swan at Cockersands has been in the company of Whooper Swans for several weeks now, moving from field to field with them. You can't help wonder what this bird does when these Whooper Swans eventually decide the time is right for a move north and this time the move shouldn't include one to be made by the Black Swan. How does this individual know that this time it stays put and does'nt end up on a flight with 265 Whooper Swans heading north to Iceland.

Courtesy of the RBA pager service, a Wheatear yesterday north of Billinge on the Lancashire/Greater Manchester border.

Coming soon to a location near you.  

Wheatear Ana Minguez 

Thanks for the Wheatears Ana....brilliant as always.

  

A Quiet Tour.

Generally a quiet and relatively shorter tour on Wednesday around the estuary at Conder/Glasson. The time of year when most of the winter birds have left to return to breeding quarters, and summer visitors still to arrive. 

A bit of a reversal of the usual when I parked the motor at Glasson Dock to leg it to Conder Green and return. On the canal basin at Glasson Dock I could only find 4 Goldeneye today, and the Great-crested Grebe doesn't appear to have found a mate yet. The Lune Estuary here has taken on it's quiet summer appearance with little more than c.30 Black-tailed Godwit and a 'few' Bar-tailed Godwit. Wildfowl totals were 35 Wigeon and 30 Goldeneye, with a Great-crested Grebe of note, perhaps a mate for the basin bird. Two soaring Buzzard were seen from here distant over the Scorton area.

Rock Pipit Martin Lofgren        

At Conder Green, 2 Spotted Redshank, a Common Sandpiper, 6 Goldeneye, 4 Little Grebe, and a Goosander were all on Conder Pool. I spent an hour here watching the tide reach its height to see if it pushed anything out of cover off the marsh and came across a Snipe and a distant Rock Pipit with two more seen later on the marsh below the coastal path. 

Conder Pool.

Little Ringed Plover Antonio Puigg

The water level on Conder Pool is higher now than it has ever been, as a result one bird I reckon we won't be seeing on here this spring is the Little Ringed Plover. One thing for certain, if one does turn up on here in the next few weeks it won't be staying to breed.

Thanks to ML for the Rock Pipit race littoralis, and to AP for the Little Ringed Plover.  

Harbour & Bay.

On Tuesday I decided to give Heysham Harbour another visit and on getting out of the motor it was good to hear the first bird in song being the Song Thrush. Most birds seen on my way to the sea wall were in song....

Robin Noushka Dufort

Robin

Blackbird

Dunnock 

Wren

Greenfinch

As I approached the outfalls I was disappointed to see them void of birds even though the high tide was three hours away. But I spent a good hour at the south wall to see a Red-throated Diver flying into the bay some distance off the harbour mouth. However, this bird obliged and came down on to the sea hopefully for me to get a better look, but it then behaved unobligingly and promptly dived to soon disappear behind the north wall.

Guillemot at Heysham Harbour. Janet Packham.

In the harbour I saw a Guillemot around the power station water intake, and watched a Kittiwake flying around the harbour mouth.

Scaup at Middleton. Janet Packham.

I decided it was time I went to see for myself the long staying drake Scaup on Middleton Pond. I doubt if I'm on my own in thinking this is likely to be the same individual present on the canal basin at Glasson Dock in November/December 2013. In my brief visit I also noted 2 drake Pochard.

A walk along the promenade from Broadway to Teal Bay at Morecambe was healthy and very pleasant on a good sunny day, but it was a struggle to find a pair of Red-breasted Merganser, 2 Great-crested Grebe, and probably the only 2 Goldeneye anywhere in or around Morecambe Bay to the exclusion of the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock. I made a decent count of 56 Eider.

And finally....Stonechats again. 

Stonechat Martin Jump 

The Stonechat passage moves on apace, and I was more than a little pleased to find This Record And no less pleased to find a record of six Stonechats on Lytham Moss Monday 3 March on the Fylde Bird Club website. A personal thank you to JR/FB for reporting these sightings. This years local migrant Stonechat records stand at 14 and that represents a good spring passage in my little black book.

My thanks to Noushka for the Robin, and to Janet - Heysham Observatory - for the Guillemot and Scaup images, and Martin for the Stonechat, they are all excellent photographs and much appreciated.

Nine2five.

Not exactly the early bird - I rarely am these days - but I was on parade yesterday at 9.00am and did a full eight hours, starting in the locality before a trip down the A588 to Fluke Hall.

There was an impressive 200+ Black-tailed Godwit on Conder Pool when I arrived, a Spotted Redshank was at rest with Redshank, the Common Sandpiper was 'bobbing' away in the creeks, but not long before we won't know this wintering bird from its relatives when they arrive in the coming weeks. Seven Little Grebe and 4 Goldeneye are dwindling numbers of these two species here.

On the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock, a gathering of up to 300 distant waders appeared to be in a descending ratio of Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Curlew, and Dunlin. Two Red-breasted Merganser, 18 Goldeneye on the estuary, and 7 Goldeneye on the canal basin continues the dwindling winter numbers theme. 

Meadow Pipit Phillip Tomkinson 

The Whooper Swans off Moss Lane are still present in a 200 plus number from a moving car. Off Slack Lane 3 Whooper Swan were an adult and 2 immature.  Cockersands was hard work and little to show for it, with 12 Eider off Plover Scar which was beneath the 10.50m tide. Also at least 20 Meadow Pipit, a Kestrel, and c.150 Pink-footed Geese flying purposefully north.

Twite. Copy Permitted.

The trip to Fluke Hall was well rewarded by my second spring Stonechat and c.30 Twite, up to 250 Pink-footed Geese were put to flight when Mr Farmer came along in his tractor to empty a slurry tank in the field. A Small Tortoiseshell on the coastal path was my first this year. 

The Sand Martins are here.

Sand Martin Simon Hawtin

Three Sand Martin yesterday over Rimmers Marsh at Marshside RSPB Reserve Southport.

Hints Of Spring.

Spring is just around the corner and Friday was as close to it that we've been so far with some good sunny spells and the wind almost disappeared, and with a path which runs along the south side of Freeman's Pools lively with birds it was certainly beginning to sound and look like it. 

Wren Marc Heath

Activity along the tree lined path included....

Wren two displaying

Blue Tit investigating a hole in the side of the old Black Poplar tree

Long-tailed Tit 

Great Tit 

Chaffinch

Goldfinch
Robin  

A mixed flock of c.50 Fieldfare and Redwing came into the tree tops and promptly departed so not allowing me to get any ratio on them.

On Freeman's Pools, no more than twenty birds in total....

Goldeneye 2

Little Grebe

Gadwall 

Wigeon 

Teal

Shoveler drake

Little Egret  

A Buzzard came overhead and crossed the river to soar over the old tip, a single Goldeneye was on the river off Marsh Point, and on the marsh, c.250 Pink-footed Geese, and 2 Little Egret. On the wildfowlers pool, less like a lake than of late, 18 Redshank noted, and 6 Tufted Duck had taken to the flood which still resembles a lake though considerably smaller in size.

From here I went south on the coastal path which to be honest was rather uneventful, but on the walk from Aldcliffe - Glasson Dock the totals were....

Dunnock Warren Baker  

13 Blackbird

  7 Robin

  5 Wren

  4 Long-tailed Tit

  2 Dunnock

  2 Greenfinch

Thanks to MH/WB for the excellent images.

WOT NO BLUE BIRDS IN THE POST 

And a couple of pics taken on Friday....

 

One of many scourges of the countryside. 'Human Remains' kindly dumped at the bottom of Aldcliffe Hall Lane, all bundled into bags....how thoughtful!

And one causing me to be puzzled about what this object is set up on the wildfowlers pool. A cylindrical object, appears to be made of hay bound in chicken wire, open at one end possibly both, and placed on a post. I'll reserve my thoughts on this until I find out what it really is....anyone?