This one on Friday was a re-run of the previous Fridays birding with BT in Bowland.
Not enough time is spent in these areas with BT - a fact rather than a complaint you understand - but my intention is to give this area a good going over come some decent weather, hopefully the Spotted Flycatcher, Redstart, Crossbill, Redpoll, and Siskin can be found here....areas like this should be alive with these and other bird species....but aren't.
Pied Flycatcher Brian Rafferty
The experience was worryingly quiet, but 2 Pied Flycatcher both male at Tower Lodge moved the day up a notch.
Goldcrest David Cookson
Otherwise the area was thin on birds, though 2 Willow Warbler, a Song Thrush, Chaffinch, and Robin were all in good voice, with 2 Mistle Thrush and a Goldcrest seen, all up the track from Tower Lodge.
Bowland Conifer Plantation. Pete Woodruff.
I have no idea what the problem is with the plantation which runs north behind Tower Lodge, but as this close up....
Bowland Conifer Plantation. Pete Woodruff.
A drive through the Trough of Bowland road to Langden Brook and walk to the pumping station and back produced a Dipper, Common Sandpiper, Song Thrush, and a Peregrine Falcon over. House Martin were noted to have returned here to Sykes Farm.
....and this long shot shows, the conifers are dying/dead. In previous years I've made it essential that I took a close look at this plantation along its front and rear edge to find Spotted Flycatcher and Redstart along the wall and fenceposts in the image above.
Dipper Geoff Gradwell
A drive through the Trough of Bowland road to Langden Brook and walk to the pumping station and back produced a Dipper, Common Sandpiper, Song Thrush, and a Peregrine Falcon over. House Martin were noted to have returned here to Sykes Farm.
Four Buzzard were soaring high over our house in south Lancaster this morning.
Thanks to BR/DC/GG for brilliant photographs as always, to add some much needed colour to Birds2blog.
Thanks to BR/DC/GG for brilliant photographs as always, to add some much needed colour to Birds2blog.
I was there on Thusday as was Maurice Jones and friends and no sign of any Pied Flycatcher all day! Or Spotted. Cuckoo was heard in the distance. Maurice had 3 Crossbill in the plantation, I had Buzzard and Kestrel over, Mistle Thrush, Dipper, Grey Wagtail and usual Curlew and Oystercatchers, 2 Wheatear, Red Legged Partridge, Red Grouse near the road! (no heather?), Nuthatch late on, Common Sandpiper, 2 Pied Wagtails, plenty of Meadow Pipits, Swallows, a few Sand Martin and a few Chaffinches, otherwise very quiet!
ReplyDeletenice dipper
ReplyDeleteIts a very worrying trend Pete, all these reports I'm reading about birds being thin on the ground :-(
ReplyDeleteStrange the pines are dying or dead and sad.
ReplyDeleteMaybe this due to a caterpillar invasion and not enough birds to eat them or to an over-treatment with pesticides and roundup in the field close by.
Nearly all birds are in decline for these reasons, poisoned or not enough insects to feed on.
And this weather does not help nature...
Keep well Pete!