On Cue.

With JB today we sped (well I knew we were speeding but I don't think John noticed) to Conder Green as today was the day I was to be proved wrong about some birds arriving on Conder Pool....but I'm 'avin none of it and there they were two smart Little Ringed Plover on cue and bang on target on the same date as 2008. Excellent SP I'm not having it that anyone should think I found them in 2009 as we both know I didn't but you did....just don't do it again! 

Also noted here today, 4 Spotted Redshank, 2 Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, a Little Grebe, and 3 Goldeneye. At Glasson Dock a Swallow was my first of the year (another single over C'sands later) and a Raven flew NW over the basin where there are 5 Great - crested Grebe and a Little Grebe to note.

On the estuary of note, c.120 of Black - tailed Godwit and a similar count of Bar - tailed Godwit, 2 Little Egret, c.1,000 Knot, and 2 Greenshank. A drake Goldeneye may well be the last of the three figure number peak seen on here during this winter. From Jeremy Lane 2 Grey Partridge seen.

At Cockersands the ones qualifying for my book today were c.65 Black - tailed Godwit, 5 Eider, and the Little Owl seen again in its favourite tree behind you know where by now. Three Small Tortoiseshell were the first butterflies this year for me.

On Pilling Marsh there are still c.1,000 Pink - footed Geese, and 2 Little Egret seen today. A short walk in the direction of Cockers Dyke was rewarded with 3 Wheatear.

And finally......John and I had agreed the Short - eared Owl on Bradshaw Lane would surely have departed by now but were both convincingly proved incorrect when it put in the briefest of appearances.

For the record....The drake Eider pic was taken by me some time ago at Rossall Point.

Another Circuit Trio.

Started the day at Aldcliffe where as you can see the speed limit on Aldcliffe Hall Lane has been lifted. The 'little' boy racers have been out and about again with their marker pens....life must be full of excitement for them. Still, marker pens and racing cars don't generally hurt the birds so thankful for small mercies.

A Raven over the marsh was my first encounter of the day followed by a Little Egret, I had four sightings during the two hours here but not regarded as all individuals as they were highly mobile today, around 400 Pink - footed Geese were in the fields. On or around Freemans Pools, a silent Chiffchaff was feeding quietly on the saplings around the pool, 8 Sand Martin were over the trees on the far side but briefly before soon disappearing. I only counted 5 Gadwall today, 13 Snipe were all on the island, a Goldeneye, a Little Grebe, Song Thrush, Dunnock, and 4 Skylark were all noted.

At Conder Green the first bird seen here was a drake Pintail in the Conder channel, unusual and probably a first for me here until I check my records. On Conder Pool, 2 Spotted Redshank, 2 Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, a single Black - tailed Godwit, a Little Grebe, 2 Goldeneye included a smart drake, and 2 drake Shoveler another 'unusual' for the pool.

From Bodie Hill on Glasson Marsh a Little Egret, and 2 Grey Partridge in the field. On the estuary 28 Eider was a decent count here, and c.150 Bar - tailed Godwit included a well hidden 'white' bird amongst them appeared to be the same size and which I regarded - after a lengthy study as best I could - was an albino in which case I'd very much liked to have had a close look at that one.

At Cockersands as the tide dropped I estimated 400 Black - tailed Godwit, 550 Knot, and 800 Golden Plover were flighting around. Other notes on the circuit with no apologies for more estimates (which are accurate within reason) 45 Meadow Pipit, 50 Tree Sparrow, 130 Linnet (that was 130) and a male Reed Bunting. I counted at least 24 Brown Hare in this circuit today. I once counted 32 Brown Hare on a walk from Conder Green plus this circuit and reckon that record would have been easily broken had I done the same walk today....an excellent area for this animal. No sign of the Moss Lane Whooper Swan's today.

Its Friday Again....

....and anything other than birding this could become boring but birding in any of its many forms will not - and can never - become boring and if its Friday then its with JB/BT.

To be honest it would be really nice and rewarding to see the Little - ringed Plover's currently at Aldcliffe but yet again they evaded us though I note from the Birding Aldcliffe Blog [http://birdingaldcliffe.blogspot.com/] Steve had them again on the flood later in the day....I'm going to get really annoyed with Steve if this continues. By the gate at Freemans Pools a Mistle Thrush was in delightful full throttle, also noted stood here about 4 Long - tailed Tit, on the pool 10 Gadwall is an excellent record here for a species not found any old where, I only saw one Goldeneye here today but probably others still here. On the marsh c.500 Pink - footed Geese and a Little Egret was adjacent to the wildfowlers pool.

At Conder Green where the tide was rapidly heading towards the road the only place for birds was on Conder Pool where I can strongly recommend a visit at this state of the tide. If a rarity is going to get displaced from the creeks or the Lune estuary it's going to end up on here I'll tell you....but not today, nor have the LRP's arrived here yet but they will before the end of the month....anyone like a wager ? Today there were 3 Spotted Redshank, 2 Greenshank, 220 Redshank, a Grey Plover, Snipe, Goosander, Little Grebe, and a Goldeneye. The Lune estuary from Glasson Dock was nothing but water save 10 Goldeneye, probably all that remains of the species her now. Three Brown Hare were in a running battle from Bodie Hill, and on Moss Lane there was 12 Whooper Swan's to be seen today.

Though we tried a few location's from here on we found nothing of note and ended the day at the feeding station on Bradshaw Lane where at least some 'good' species can be seen giving some excellent photographic opportunities including 9 Yellowhammer, 10 Tree Sparrow, 2 male Reed Bunting, 2 Dunnock, 2 Stock Dove the male of which displayed on a couple of occasions, and a Buzzard seen from here.

The Black - tailed Godwit pic was taken at Cockersands but not today....I'm running out of 'birdy pic's' HELP !

Delayed Action.

By the time the weather improved and I got myself sorted it was 11.45 when I arrived at Aldcliffe where I did a circuit followed by another circuit at Conder Green and the trio of the day at Cockersands.

At Aldcliffe, it was never going to be a day of birdsong and discovery, apart from the odd Wren or two the place was silent but as I got to Freemans Pools one of the the first birds I saw was a distant, half hidden and resting wader but more on this later. I noted a Little Grebe, 4 Goldeneye and 8 Gadwall possibly nine but had to bolt from a heavy hail shower. Along the embankment 2 Wheatear m/f, a Little Egret, and a Green Sandpiper was on the wildfowlers pool. When I got back to the car at the bottom of Aldcliffe Hall Lane I met Steve who I told about the wader on the pool and said I was going to check the bird out armed with my telescope which I had left in the car for 'walking comfort', Steve followed on his bike. I had told him of my suspicion about this bird and by the time I got back here it was slightly more alert and through the scope it was what I had thought, a Greenshank. The LRP's which I had hoped to 'twitch' I 'dipped' on....well if I'm going to twitch I'll need to learn the language !

At Conder Green the Common Sandpiper obliged as did one of the four (yesterday) Spotted Redshank, also a Greenshank, 2 Grey Plover, and a Snipe. From Jeremy Lane a Little Egret was in a field here as it/one had been a few weeks ago on one or two occasions. On Moss Lane there are still 8 Whooper Swan's though one has detached itself and was in a field with Mute Swan's half a mile up the road opposite Gardners Farm.

At Cockersands between Crook Farm and Lighthouse Cottage I noted c.400 Dunlin, and a 'few' Knot. Also c.260 Golden Plover in a Abbey Farm field, up to 15 Linnet, a Skylark, Reed Bunting, Sparrowhawk, and counted at least 12 Brown Hare.

I note at 9.15 pm there are no more than 50 RBA pager messages today including just four in Lanc's - something of a 'low' national record I would think - indicating not a few birders out and about but that the spring has come to a grinding halt. That said there has been an arrival of some early Swallow's which will be thinking they went wrong somewhere along the way. The one in the pic is from last summer.

Another Diversion......

......well, from birding as I know it anyway. Grounded again today for reasons beyond my control, how long must this go on I ask myself. But a little time to do some 'surfing' brought me to this simply excellent and joyful news regarding the island of Malta, a place I insist on only visiting in the name of birdlife conservation and most certainly not for a relaxing holiday.

In the past few days BirdLife International, BirdLife Malta, and the RSPB have welcomed the news that the spring hunting of Quail and Turtle Dove will be banned on the island in 2009. The islands prime minister Dr Lawrence Gonzi said....no hunting could take place in Malta whilst a court case was pending so as not to prejudice the case at the European Court of Justice.

Well I don't know about you, but the fact he said this and that the hunting will cease remains to be seen....I know what I think will happen but my comments in this regard end here. Anyone who has any inclination about the hunting practices in Malta won't need - or indeed want - to read my rantings on a blog (I've been accused of such rantings before) as they will already be aware of whats been going on here for all time and if I can be allowed just one political comment here it would be....being a member of the EU, isn't it time the Maltese were made to honour the international bird protection laws (EU's Birds Directive)....I think so don't you ?

Take a look at the RSPB website on which you can view a short video showing a bird from millions shot annually - a Honey Buzzard - which was taken into care on the understanding it could be saved only to discover the bird was suffering from internal injuries caused by a hunters gunshot wounds and had to be 'put down'....strong stuff ehhhh.

I personally think it a bit of a sickener to hear Alistair Gammel - who is the director of the RSPB's International Division - saying 'This hunting ban if implimented will benefit the conservation of wild birds across Europe during their breeding and migration periods and therefore there will be more birds in the autumn when the hunters can shoot legally'....sorry, could you repeat that Mr Gammell.

For the Record.

A record shot of the first ever wintering Common Sandpiper at Conder Green until someone tells me different. A pity this bird hadn't been a little more obliging in mid winter when the pic would have had a bit more meaning as the bird has survived not only the entire winter period but the coldest December for c.30 years......Well done 'sandy' you've pleased me no end every time I visited Conder Green and clapped eyes on you.

Viewing the Lune Estuary from Glasson Dock made it perfectly clear that it was now late March. I doubt if there was any more than 200 birds of any species to be seen as far and as wide as the eye could see, and in terms of reasonable accuracy there were no more than 30 'gulls' in total.

With JB today we went first to Aldcliffe to see if the LRP's were still on the flood....they were not but c.700 Pink - footed Geese were to note on the marsh.

In a mix of mid morning and mid afternoon visits to Conder Green 2 Spotted Redshank, and a Greenshank were seen, and on Conder Pool the Common Sandpiper, a Little Grebe, and 4 Goldeneye were of note. On the Lune Estuary from Glasson Dock 10 Goldeneye, 5 Red - breasted Merganser and a Goosander were the only birds to enter my book.

From Moss Lane there was just 8 Whooper Swan's remaining in the field's they have occupied for a few weeks now. And at Cockersands an excellent count of at least 475 Black - tailed Godwit between Crook Farm and the Lighthouse Cottage. Also noted here, at least 800 Golden Plover went up with everything else in the area but as is often the case no reason/raptor seen, also a solitary Grey Plover, Ringed Plover and 2 Red - breasted Merganser.

The day seemed to come to a grinding halt from here on even though we did do some 'searching' as far as Knott End though c.1,500 Pink - footed Geese were on Pilling Marsh. A detour along Gulf Lane produced the ever faithful Little Owl which today stood posing at the entrance to its nest box.

JB's 'sightings' on the LDBWS website will add many more to this list for today as I continue to be more than a little remiss in my recording habits.

Two of a Kind.

I made what turned out to be a rash decision this morning when I gave up on the weather before setting out at 9.00 and got stuck into a house maintenance job which I couldn't leave unfinished once started when the weather improved. But later in the day I touched on birding when I had a good root through my old records and amongst quite a lot of good reading came across these reminders which I am posting on the blog void of any names save one.

I had entered the Eric M'cbe Hide at Leighton Moss in the afternoon of 18 October 1995 and was asked by two birders already in the hide, if I could help with a wader they were watching which was posing some difficulty. Well it initially posed the same difficulty for me too as it was resting with its head tucked in and legs fully submerged in water. It was roosting with a Greenshank and several Redshank which helped considerably for comparison purposes and with which it was noticeably smaller than both. We were looking at something different here, and at something probably rare. Eventually the bird made the move we were hoping for and almost instantly I suspected we were looking at a LESSER YELLOWLEGS and blurted out this thought in my excitement. However, before the bird had 'come to life' a fourth birder had arrived on the scene and had obviously decided to kept quiet on the subject for the time being but did in fact very soon produce from his pocket the only mobile phone in the hide and made the necessary call/s which for me was confirmation that my ID had been correct.

Two years later I was in the very same hide on 13 September 1997 but this time I was in the excellent company of my friend and mentor John Leedal. Earlier in the afternoon I had seen a wader from the Jackson Hide on the reserve which - to frustrate me and by something of a coincidence - was resting as the bird in 1995 had been. However, this time I seem to have convinced myself this was a Wood Sandpiper with what I could see of the bird and after some time in the hide left it at that. With hindsight I don't ever recall any conversation in the hide about this bird but many years of visiting Leighton Moss has proved beyond any doubt this is often to be the case here. So now I'm in the Eric M'cbe Hide once again and after a while a very interesting wader came down and I instantly thought this was the bird seen earlier on the reserve but in a matter of a few minutes I realise I was again looking another Lesser Yellowlegs in the face and was almost certainly the bird which was at the reserve earlier in the afternoon and which I had wrongly identified then. 

Bluebell Wood. Pete Woodruff.

This pik - which has no relation to the post but adds a little colour to it - was taken in Gibson Wood which is situated between Rigg Lane/Littledale Road and held Wood Warbler which I watched for 4/5 consecutive years in the late 90's early 2000 but not since.

Clougha/Birk Bank.

If you are planning a visit to this area in the near future the map on the right might be of use to you. As can be seen the boardwalk over the bog is being replaced but worked has not yet started and I was able to continue on my way using the boardwalk which in fact is in better condition at the moment having dried out and not under water as it has been for the past four months.

A good sunny if windy day for the monthly 'tab' on the Stonechat's which today totalled eight birds seen as four pairs, a good start to the season being only mid March. However, the stewards of the countryside are out and about with their boxes of matches as the smell of burning heather was in my nostrils during the visit here today. Well the uplands management is OK, I just wish the cut off point for these burns was made to be sooner.

The notes ended up a bit sparse as was to be expected but the sighting of two male Wheatear was excellent one of which had already found its way to about 400m above sea level two days earlier than the one I saw up here on 21 March 2007. Meadow Pipits were few and far between and I saw just six which is the same number of Wren noted, the Red Grouse beat these counts by one, and I noted one Mistle Thrush in flight beyond Ottergear Bridge. But the big surprise was the last sighting of the day when I went on to Rigg Lane from the car park to check out a field which held an excellent double figure count of Wheatear on a date around this time last year to find at least 70 Fieldfare there.

Wot No Wheatear !

Well yes....five actually.

With JB today as ever we started at Conder Green where we had to miss Conder Pool (what....and LRP expected any day now) as RSPB staff have apparently made a start to erecting a screen and planting a hedgerow which will obviously restrict viewing - as we know it today - considerably, a small price to pay in order to give the birds protection they need and deserve from disturbance....well I'm all in favour of that. Despite all this a Spotted Redshank, and a Greenshank were noted in the creek.

On the canal basin at Glasson Dock 2 pair of Great - crested Grebe were noted. And on the estuary for the note book, another Greenshank, and a Little Grebe, whilst wader numbers were around 11 Black - tailed Godwit, 15 Bar - tailed Godwit, and 20 Knot. Unless he saw more than I did, JB's sightings on the LDBWS will indicate a solitary Goldeneye and a 'handful' of Wigeon here today.

The undoubted highlights of the day were 2 male Wheatear off Bodie Hill. On the sight of these two birds a thought ran through my mind, that the day I stop getting a 'buzz' from the first Wheatear of the year I'll take up stamp collecting....but I won't be holding my breath on that one.

At Cockersands another 3 Wheatear were in the field behind the now rebuilt derelict building opposite Bank Houses. This is the place I usually find my first bird of the year but Glasson Marsh took that prize this time. Also to note, a male Merlin put up 95 Golden Plover in a field and glided over the hedge at around 50mph in front of the car, also c.20 Tree Sparrow, and 9 Eider drifted past the lighthouse on the incoming tide. From Moss Lane 32 Whooper Swan's remain in the field whilst the Bewick's Swan's were 'absent'.

On Pilling Marsh c.3,500 Pink - footed Geese and a Little Egret seen. A walk for me towards Cockers Dyke from Fluke Hall surprisingly didn't produce a single Wheatear nor anything else for that matter and from here on the Little Owl on Gulf Lane was the only bird to find its way into the book. This bird incidentally poses like no other Little Owl poses so if you 'do' photography and need Little Owl in your album pay this little blighter a visit for a result.

Well at least todays pic is appropriate as it is of a few of the 95 Golden Plover put up by the Merlin at Cockersands.

Upland'ing.

Still only mid March and I didn't need reminding about that with a stiff cold wind today but at Harrisend a count of 6 Stonechat was a reasonable one and included some interesting interaction between two males and was obviously over a female which was in close company. I saw just one Red Grouse on here and a conversation later in the day with the gamekeeper I see almost every time I visit a particular area indicated a long way to go before the 'tic' battle is won with young dead within days of hatching last year if they are unfortunate enough to collect one. Also noted here, 2 Buzzard, very few Meadow Pipit yet with only about eight seen today, and 2 Brown Hare.

At Hawthornthwaite I found just one female Stonechat and never heard let alone seen a single Red Grouse.

From the Hawthornthwaite access track at Marshaw I found another 6 Stonechat four of which were found when I decided to wander off the routine course. This has always been a problem for me as I will now have to spend even more time and do more searching over a wider area if I want to keep tabs on these two extra pair and if I'm not careful I'll be spending the entire summer in the Trough of Bowland. Also noted here were 7 Red Grouse, a Buzzard, and a Red - legged Partridge which is a bird I normally don't take seriously, but this one today is the first I ever saw in this area. A Green Woodpecker was over the access gate when I arrived back there.

In the pic is the female/immature Black Redstart which I found at Fluke Hall on the sea defences behind Fluke Hall Wood four years ago 24 March 2005 and which I had at first thought was a Stonechat when seen at a distance......Nice !