Shirt Sleeves In Bowland!

Nice wall to wall sunshine on Wednesday, I was off to Bowland and in shirt sleeves by noon.

But I was on my way to another disappointment on the west side of Hawthornthwaite Fell, though a slight improvement on the east side was to follow. I decided to do a count on the six hours spent here and arrived at 38 species which I'd say wasn't too bad for me on and around the Bowland uplands.

Ring Ouzel. Ana Minguez @ Naturanafotos 

The prize of the day managed to downgrade the chat for me this time, when I saw a silent black bird flying away from me on Hawthornthwaite's west side, to land a distance off and turn front on to reveal a blazing white crescent, a belting male Ring Ouzel, an excellent unexpected bird for me on this fell....entered in capital letters in the little black book. 

Also seen, a male Stonechat, almost certainly the same lone bird I found here on 31 March, 8 Sand Martin were on circuits of the banks at the bottom end of Catshaw Greave, I saw 3 Red Grouse, at least 11 Meadow Pipit, and a hovering Kestrel was one of only two raptors seen today, a Peacock butterfly was recorded.

Driving from here to Marshaw, 3 Wheatear were close together on a roadside wall, and from Marshaw I had a couple of hours on the east side of Hawthornthwaite to find 3 Stonechat which were seen as a pair and a lone male, 14 Meadow Pipit counted, 6 Red Grouse, a Snipe flushed out of a ditch, 2 singing Wren, 2 Curlew, and 2 Willow Warbler were in the trees by the shooting lodge, a Small Tortoiseshell and 2 Peacock seen. When I got back to the road at Marshaw 2 Mistle Thrush were seen. 

A couple of hours in the Tower Lodge area had a Grey Wagtail on the Marshaw Wyre, anything else seen was up the track from Tower Lodge, 7 Chaffinch, 2 Blackbird, a Goldcrest, Jay, a Treecreeper, Dunnock, and a Mistle Thrush, a Buzzard was seen distant soaring over Winfold Fell, and another Small Tortoiseshell seen.      

Many thanks to Ana for the excellent image of the brilliant 'Spanish' Ring Ouzel.