A rewarding visit to give Marshaw - Tower Lodge - Trough Bridge a good five hour bash and note 26 species, began by finding a Common Sandpiper at Marshaw, the only one seen, a few Swallow here were also on the 'only one seen' list today.
The beauty about this area in Bowland, is that you can have the Marshaw Wyre in view the length of the near 3 mile route from Marshaw until going back out on to the moor east of Trough Bridge. I hadn't gone very far when a bird dropping on to the stream to have me muttering Grey Wagtail to myself as I Iifted my binoculars, but I was wrong, it was a Crossbill drinking all too briefly before flying into a conifer then quickly moving on never to be seen again. A Dipper was seen flashing past me downstream, a total of 3 Grey Wagtail noted on the visit. Also included in the species count, up to 8 Willow Warbler, 2 Blackcap, 2 Mistle Thrush, Redpoll were heard calling in the plantation behind Tower Lodge and elsewhere, House Martin are breeding again this year with three nests at the lodge. Of the 3 Pied Flycatcher, and 3 Spotted Flycatcher seen, three and a male Siskin are accounted for below.
Bonus Flycatcher.
It was great to find a male Pied Flycatcher, the bird turned out to be one of a pair nesting in a tree hole, by far much more rewarding than seeing them lured to a nest box a mile away.
Staking out for 45 minutes, I watched the male entering the hole obviously feeding a female sitting on eggs, she also came out to disappear briefly, before soon returning to take up her sitting again, this pair added to the male I had seen earlier at Tower Lodge. A Spotted Flycatcher also put in an appearance and added to the nesting pair seen earlier which were also at Tower Lodge, it was soon followed by a male Siskin....A decent worthwhile and rewarding stake-out.
Bowland Crossbills.
In 1997 there was an irruption of Crossbill, during which an amazing c.130 were seen at Tower Lodge on 27 June, but the status of the Crossbill in our recording area is that of a passage migrant, occasionally recorded from conifer plantations. Breeding record locations aren't published, but I did find one at an undisclosed location nearly 20 years ago in 1999, when a pair were seen with 3 young at a private plantation, and more up to date, three breeding records in 2015.
This was my fourth record of Crossbill found in Bowland, and was a juvenile bird, previously I have found 6 including 2 juvenile on 16 June 2011, a lone male on 16 May 2012, and 8 on 7 July 2016, all these were seen in the Tower Lodge area.
Many thanks to Antonio for the juvenile Crossbill, and to Howard for the header image of the Goosander and four young currently at Conder Green.
The beauty about this area in Bowland, is that you can have the Marshaw Wyre in view the length of the near 3 mile route from Marshaw until going back out on to the moor east of Trough Bridge. I hadn't gone very far when a bird dropping on to the stream to have me muttering Grey Wagtail to myself as I Iifted my binoculars, but I was wrong, it was a Crossbill drinking all too briefly before flying into a conifer then quickly moving on never to be seen again. A Dipper was seen flashing past me downstream, a total of 3 Grey Wagtail noted on the visit. Also included in the species count, up to 8 Willow Warbler, 2 Blackcap, 2 Mistle Thrush, Redpoll were heard calling in the plantation behind Tower Lodge and elsewhere, House Martin are breeding again this year with three nests at the lodge. Of the 3 Pied Flycatcher, and 3 Spotted Flycatcher seen, three and a male Siskin are accounted for below.
Bonus Flycatcher.
It was great to find a male Pied Flycatcher, the bird turned out to be one of a pair nesting in a tree hole, by far much more rewarding than seeing them lured to a nest box a mile away.
Staking out for 45 minutes, I watched the male entering the hole obviously feeding a female sitting on eggs, she also came out to disappear briefly, before soon returning to take up her sitting again, this pair added to the male I had seen earlier at Tower Lodge. A Spotted Flycatcher also put in an appearance and added to the nesting pair seen earlier which were also at Tower Lodge, it was soon followed by a male Siskin....A decent worthwhile and rewarding stake-out.
Bowland Crossbills.
Crossbill Antonio Puigg
In 1997 there was an irruption of Crossbill, during which an amazing c.130 were seen at Tower Lodge on 27 June, but the status of the Crossbill in our recording area is that of a passage migrant, occasionally recorded from conifer plantations. Breeding record locations aren't published, but I did find one at an undisclosed location nearly 20 years ago in 1999, when a pair were seen with 3 young at a private plantation, and more up to date, three breeding records in 2015.
This was my fourth record of Crossbill found in Bowland, and was a juvenile bird, previously I have found 6 including 2 juvenile on 16 June 2011, a lone male on 16 May 2012, and 8 on 7 July 2016, all these were seen in the Tower Lodge area.
Many thanks to Antonio for the juvenile Crossbill, and to Howard for the header image of the Goosander and four young currently at Conder Green.
Sounds like a quality birding trip there Pete. Wouldn't mind seeing a few of those species more regularly.
ReplyDeleteOhhh Just beautiful..
ReplyDeleteHayy weekend Pete..