Find One Get Two Three!

Stonechats.

On the marsh in front of Lighthouse Cottage at Cockersand yesterday, it was good to see the 11 December 1st winter male Stonechat again. I saw this bird again twice 15/18 December, but if this really was the same bird again yesterday, it's been very successful in avoiding me despite three visits since 18 December. I also had excellent views yesterday of the 1st winter male and female Stonechat at Cockerham Sand. So three Stonechat again, and four in two days....In my book that's excellent.

Stonechat Female. Half Moon Bay 7 December. Pete Woodruff.

And on the same theme, having collected a tasty morsel, the female Stonechat at Half Moon Bay also showed well on Sunday, having tolerated a few hundred dogs and a few more hundred people since it's arrival here, it was accompanied by a Rock Pipit at one stage.

Barn Owls.

Also yesterday, as I arrived back at the Lighthouse Cottage about 4.00pm, a Barn Owl was quartering the field behind the cottage. A local who I saw minutes later, told me the bird has been around all year, and hunts all over the place, and with the home range of a Barn Owl extending up to 4km outside the breeding season, this Lighthouse Cottage bird, the Cockerham Sand bird reported, and my two records on Moss Lane, could well all be the same bird.

Interesting, that around the same time in early January 2016, a similar situation with the Barn Owl was happening in this same area See Here ....The harsh weather seems to be building up the same picture again in January 2018.

Thanks to AC for his contribution to this post.

After The Rewind....Fast Forward.

Fast forward into 2018, but not that fast, with my first day's birding on Friday.

Stock taking on Conder Pool was a little mundane, yet again more like Conder Lake since the current high tides. I noted 105 Mallard, 6 Teal, 2 Shelduck, a drake Goosander, 25 Black-headed Gull, and 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 3 Little Grebe were seen in the creeks.

On the canal basin at Glasson, a scarce if not rare drake Pochard took the prize by a mile, but the basin did contribute to 15 Goldeneye being my best count this winter, with nine on here, and six on the Lune Estuary where everything had already been driven off by the incoming 10.07 tide, but I noted a lone Whooper Swan and a 'pale' Pink-footed Goose on the south end of Colloway Marsh.

Ducktacular.

Wigeon. Martin Jump.

On a mainly sunny day with calm conditions and clear visibility, on the sea from the Lighthouse at Cockersand, along the headland, into the Cocker Estuary, and out toward Lane Ends as far as the eye could see until it wasn't possible to tell what the dots on the sea were, I saw an impressive conservative estimate of at least 9,000 wildfowl, with up to 4,000 Wigeon off the length of the headland in dense rafts, with 20 Eider off Plover Scar.

A bit of interesting if odd movement, with c.350 Pink-footed Geese over south, soon followed by 75 south, then 55 north, with presumably the same returning 10 minutes later going south. Waders in the fields here were in lower numbers than of late, but noted were 175 Curlew, 65 Turnstone and 120 Dunlin. Two separate finch flocks 10/40 in bouncing flight appeared to be all Linnet, also a small group of 10 Pied Wagtail, 6 Skylark, 4 Reed Bunting, 2 Greenfinch, and a Song Thrush. 

The Whooper Swan herd are again settled down towards Bank End, and from the distance appear to be still in the same number, and on Moss Lane at Clarkson's Farm, 6 Bewick's Swan remain since first reported 27 December.

The Barn Owl. 

  
As I drove along Moss Lane at dusk, a Barn Owl was hunting a ditch a half mile away from my last sighting of one over the lane on 30 November. My two sightings, three other reports, and recent conversations I've had with farmers and residents, lead me to know there are currently up to five Barn Owl locations in the Thurnham/Cockersand area. 

Thanks to Martin for the Wigeon, and to Brian for the Pink-footed Geese header.

The Rewind.

I've been perusing through my 2017 records, and pulled out some random finds and seen, and included my breeding records of the Stonechat which sadly doesn't make such good reading. In fact the records don't even mention Clougha, which - rightly or wrongly - I have abandoned as our once local stronghold in the same way the Stonechat has. I also visited Barbondale three times and found not a single Stonechat there. The Dalton Cragg record (*) credited to Bryan Yorke.

Eight Stonechat breeding records - 20 young - in 2017....Disastrous.

17 May Hareden, a pair and 2 young.
19 June White Greet, a female and 2 young.

03 July Foulshaw, a male and 4 young.

12 July Birk Bank, a pair and 2 young, a male, and a female. Four visits May - August.
12 July Harrisend, 2 male, a female, and a young.

17 July Hawthornthwaite, a male, two female, and 7 young. 

14 Sept Dalton Cragg, a pair and 2 young *

15 Sept Hawthornthwaite, a pair and one young. Five visits May - Sept.

Five December Lowland Stonechats.

10 Dec Heysham Half Moon Bay, 1st winter male and female.
11 Dec Crook Cottage Cockersand, 1st winter male.
22 Dec Off Caravan Park Cockerham Sands, 1st winter male and female.

Other notable birds found in 2017, and (*) not my credit.

20 Jan Conder Pool, Great White Egret. *

27 Jan Pilling, Red-breasted Goose and 10 White-fronted Geese. *

27 Jan Knott End, Black Redstart. *

03 Feb Conder Channel, Conder Green, Little Stint. 

17 Feb Moss Lane, 22 Bewick's Swan.

17 Feb Lune Estuary, Glasson, 46 Goldeneye peak count.
24 Feb Cockerham Marsh, 2 Shorelark. * (Andrew Cornall)

27 Feb Plover Scar, Snow Bunting. 

06 Mar Jeremy Lane, 6 Stonechat.

23 Mar Deep Cutting Lancaster Canal, 2 Little Owl. *

24 Mar Cockersand, Lapland Bunting.

10 Mar Conder Pool. 2 Avocet.

08 May Conder Pool, 2 Common Tern.
25 May Barbondale, 11 Pied Flycatcher.

25 May River Lune Bull Beck, 6 Little Ringed Plover including 3 chicks.
31 May Sykes Farm Bowland, 15 House Martin nests.
31 May Langden Brook, pair Ring Ouzel.
14 Jun Tower Lodge area, 6 Spotted Flycatcher.
19 Jun White Greet, 3 Stonechat, Bloe Greet 3 Stonechat.
12 July Birk Bank Bog, 3 Keeled Skimmer.

04 Aug Conder Pool, drake Scaup.

26 Sep Lune Estuary Glasson, 18 Ruff.

06 Oct Cockersand, 14 Ruff.
23 Oct Cockersand, adult male Stonechat.
02 Nov Crimbles, 2 Ruff on flood.

A decent selection of records, and if my birding this year is anything like as good as the last was, I'll be well happy.

Chat Finale.

Grey Heron Conder Pool. Pete Woodruff.

A Grey Heron and 16 Mallard were the only birds present on Conder Pool on Thursday, and noted on the circuit, a Grey Wagtail in the creeks, and a male Sparrowhawk seen flap-flap-gliding across the marsh. On the Lune Estuary at Glasson, with the exception of several hundred Lapwing, there was no other three figure counts of Redshank, Dunlin, Curlew, Wigeon, Common Gull, or Black-headed Gull, but 8 Goldeneye were my best count to date here this winter, and a drake Goosander was noted.

At Cockersand, I estimate the 245 Whooper Swan still in fields here, and in other fields checked, probably in excess of 2,500 waders of which were 1,750 Golden Plover, 250 Curlew, with good numbers of Lapwing, Redshank and Dunlin. Finches seen, up to 40 Twite in a mix with a few Linnet in the rough field behind Bank House Cottage, with 12 Goldfinch and 3 Greenfinch seen. I saw a total of 9 Brown Hare, eight of which were together in the same field not 50 metres apart.

Chat Finale....

My last birding day in 2017 on Thursday ended nicely for me with the 1st winter male Stonechat seen again off the Caravan Park, though no sign of the female seen with this male on 22 December. Hopefully the New Year will start with a Stonechat, that would be good enough for me if it did.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE.

Birdwatching Walks In Bowland!!

WELL I'LL BE FUCKED....THE PLACE IS CRAWLING WITH SHITHEADS!

Ian had wanted to join me on Wednesday, not a birder but interested in what we might see and any questions he might have about them. So on my suggestion we went into Bowland and did the Langden Brook walk, from my point of view an opportunity to see if any Stonechat might be wintering up there. 

But on arrival at the car park, although not a soul in sight, with the type and number of vehicles parked up, it was blatantly obvious to me that a shoot was taking place up the valley. By the time we reached the pump house 10 minutes later, at least 30 shitheads were taking a slurp between shoots....I put on a pair of blinkers, looked ahead to avoid eye contact and save myself from becoming embroiled in abuse and violent disorder, and off we went on our walk.

All this triggered me to remember how outdated a book published in 2005 had become. On this walk, the book suggests lingering an hour or two at Langden Castle - nothing more than a barn with a pretentious-sounding name - to enjoy raptor watching....Now there's a joke, unintended, but a joke all the same, and although the book isn't pointing at the month of December when it makes the claim for enjoying a raptor watch, the time of year doesn't matter anymore in Bowland, the opportunity to see Merlin, Buzzard, Peregrine Falcon, Kestrel, and - wait for it - Hen Harrier, from this or any other watchpoint, simply doesn't exist anymore, and in the 5 hours Ian and I spent in Bowland today, we saw not a single raptor.

The birds seen on this particular walk in this stunning part of Bowland amounted to nine birds in 2.5 hours. In order of seeing, a Grey Heron, a Red Grouse, a Cormorant, and 5 Carrion Crow, all in flight, and a Mallard on Langden Brook....Depressing.

On the west side of Hawthornthwaite Fell, it was excellent to find 2 Stonechat, my seventh in 17 days since the two at Heysham on 10 December, makes good reading in my records, also here, a minimum of 40 Red Grouse including two flights of 15/8.

WELCOME TO THE FOREST OF BOWLAND.

Peregrine Falcon trapped in a Pole Trap banned in the UK for over a century.

Make no mistake about it, this kind of wildlife crime has a link to the people I have highlighted in this post. 

My New Year wish is that the killing of protected birds of prey on Red Grouse moors is soon brought to an end....it won't be....and that those responsible be brought to justice in the courts....they won't be.

So let's try to get all Driven Grouse Shooting banned - the RSPB won't - as I see it it's the only other road we can go down, our only other option.

PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION

The Final Scuttle.

I managed a final scuttle around the Lune Estuary last Friday before Christmas took it's hold, but I've been unable to find the time to get anywhere near my computer since. 

Stonechat. Ana Minguez.

The day had the best ending in my book that I could have hoped for when I found 2 Stonechat on the tide wrack on the edge of the marsh opposite the entrance to the Caravan Park at Cockerham Sands, they were a 1st winter male and female, also interesting here was a lone Twite which had latched on to 14 Goldfinch and moved around and fed with them. 

The down side of the visit to Cockersand was that I had no sign of the male Stonechat that had been around and seen three times since 11 December between the Lighthouse and Crook Cottage's, but I did see 22 Tree Sparrow at Crook Cottage.

Quite a spectacle was the sight of at least 900 Black-tailed Godwit which zoomed out of the fog to create a whoosh as they flew low over my head and out to sea before a U-turn back to land briefly on the headland. On Plover Scar, 45 Turnstone, with up to 550 Wigeon off here. In the field north of Bank Houses where I saw a Kestrel, 10 Stock Dove and 2 Skylark, a Dunnock in the hedgerow. There are probably still c.250 Whooper Swan over three fields down to Bank End, and a Merlin seen was concealing itself in a bush from Slack Lane.

It was pretty hopeless looking over Conder Pool through the fog, but when I returned an hour later it had lifted enough to reveal 115 wildfowl including 3 Goldeneye, otherwise predominantly Mallard, with Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Teal, and 2 Shelduck. A Greenshank was with Redshank, also a drake Goosander and a Snipe seen. On the canal basin at Glasson Dock, I just managed to pick 3 Goldeneye drake out of the gloom.

I'm grateful to Ana@Naturanafotos for the 'Spanish' Stonechat images sent to me in a Christmas e-mail, including at the head of this post, the portrait of a brilliant male. 

 

SENT TO ALL.

NO DOUBT I'LL BE OFF THE ROAD A DAY OR SO NOW AND GOODNESS KNOWS WHEN I'LL GET BACK AMONGST THE BIRDS. BUT BE ASSURED I WILL BE APPLYING FOR A PASS OUT THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY THAT ARISES.

IF YOU ARE READING THIS YOU PROBABLY VISIT BIRDS2BLOG REGULARLY, MAYBE OCCASIONALLY, OR EVEN FOR THE FIRST TIME. 

WHATEVER, I'M GRATEFUL FOR THAT AND WOULD LIKE TO WISH YOU ALL....

A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS 

Gorillas In The Mist!

Birds in the mist actually....Tuesday was hardly the best day for a murky trek along the coastal path to Glasson Dock, but that was the plan so off I went.

I found nothing to record on the River Lune between Skerton Bridge and Freeman's Pools, where 15 Wigeon, 5 Goldeneye, 5 Gadwall, and a Little Grebe were in view through the mist. 

I was soon regretting not having my telescope with me when I arrived at the Wildfowlers Pools which is now a brilliant wetlands and was host to at least 450 Black-headed Gull and 150 Teal, also 3 drake Goldeneye, 2 drake Gadwall, and best in my book a drake Shoveler, seen as a bird in line with the Pochard in it's scarce resident breeding status at Leighton Moss RSPB Reserve, and irregular at any other waterbodies in our area.

Bullfinch. Richard Peglar.

The best birds of the walk were seen along the upper track at Aldcliffe, when I came across a stunning male Bullfinch accompanied by two female. Notable along the route to Glasson, 43 Goldfinch were seen in two small flocks, and at least 32 Long-tailed Tit were also seen in two flocks in procession through the trees, 23 Blackbird, 8 Robin, and 3 Song Thrush. At Stodday, c.225 Carrion Crow were in a field with a few Rook and Jackdaw seen.

 Glasson Dock. Pete Woodruff.

I had enjoyed the birds and the walk as always, but by the time I got to Glasson Dock the weather had worsened, and the EEMS SPIRIT was tied up, unloading, and fogbound.

With thanks to Richard Pegler for his excellent Bullfinch images, and to Ana Minguez for the header image of the Blue Rock Thrush. An extremely rare vagrant to Britain, of which the last was of one found in Gloucestershire on 14 December 2016.

Monday's Notables.

Can't keep up with all this birding and blogging, though it hasn't completely taken over my life it's certainly closing in on it....The risk of divorce on the grounds of desertion creeps ever nearer!

Anyhow, better late than never, a quick look in on Conder Pool and the Lune Estuary at Glasson, as I wanted to spend some quality time around the tide at Cockersand, so here's Monday's notable birds.....

A Little Grebe and 26 Tufted Duck were just about the sum total on Conder Pool. With the south side still with it's head above the tide, the Lune Estuary held c.550 Golden Plover, 110 Curlew, 3 Snipe, 3 Goosander drake, and 2 Goldeneye drake. Around 40 Goldfinch were in flight, a Merlin perched on driftwood on Colloway Marsh couldn't possibly ever fail to excite, and c.350 Pink-footed Geese flying towards Aldcliffe Marsh I found odd, I wouldn't have expected any movement northwards into this area until Jan/Feb. In a field on Jeremy Lane, 125 Curlew, 92 Black-tailed Godwit, 80 Redshank, and a lone Golden Plover.

Grey Plover. Pete Woodruff.

At Crook Cottage, I noted a few Tree Sparrow with House Sparrow and 12 Greenfinch. I watched a total of 28 Snipe come off the marsh, and Plover Scar held c.350 Oystercatcher, 38 Turnstone, and 2 Grey Plover, with 450 Wigeon, 18 Eider, 3 Red-breasted Merganser off here.

At least 2 Twite were with up to 45 Linnet in the rough field behind Bank House Cottage, and in the field north of Bank Houses, 9 Stock Dove, also 12 Skylark which would have probably proved to have been more given some time and effort on my part, 10 Meadow Pipit were over Slack Lane.

Kestrel. Pete Woodruff.

Of 2 Kestrel seen, one was at Bank Houses, the other Lighthouse Cottage, both were female. 

On Tuesday I did the Lancaster - Glasson coastal path trek, but as is this post that one's running late, like the train I went to catch the other day.

Perfect Timing.

I had my third sighting of the Cockersand 11 December male Stonechat, still there on Monday.

1st winter male Stonechat. Crook Cottage 18 December. Pete Woodruff.

Talk about perfect timing....As I arrived at Crook Cottage the bird was flitting here and there, and promptly went atop of a fencepost by the cottage and obliged perfectly whilst I fumbled with my thirty quids worth of camera to achieve at least a second rate image of this stunning little bird....You can keep yer Siberian Rubythroat!

I had seen and spoken with AC on Moss Lane, and fifteen minutes later he contacted me to ask if I was near the Lighthouse Cottage, and could I see the Stonechat in the area. I was soon able to reply that the bird was in fact on the roof of Crook Cottage, to which AC was able to confirm that two male Stonechat were now present at Cockersand as he was looking at another 1st winter male on the shingle near the Caravan Park....Nice one AC.

To be continued....