Bring On The Hawkers.

By way of a change, a ride on the bus to Conder Green, and a quick look over the creeks had me find an Avocet still there, with a Common Sandpiper and 2 Black-tailed Godwit. Then on to the canal towpath at The Mill to walk about 3 miles to Galgate to find 58 Migrant Hawker, an excellent count which exceeded the one I made on this stretch of the canal around the same date of 20 September 2021 when I found 47.

Migrant Hawkers. Pete Woodruff.

I had close encounters with some of these dragonflies including this pair, with 4 pairs in aerial mating circles, and a female seen ovipositing in the canal side vegetation. I also observed some interesting behaviour not picked up by me before, when a Migrant Hawker was seen continuously drooping and raising its abdomen in flight. 

Also seen, 10 Common Darter all males, and a stunning black/blue male Common Hawker. Bird notes were, 5 Grey Wagtail seen as two pairs and a singleton, also a mewing Buzzard overhead. Butterflies seen where just 3 Large White and a Green-veined White.

When I got to the canal junction at Galgate, a Grey Heron was preening on the railings....King of the castle lock!

Caddisfly. Pete Woodruff.

With 199 species of Caddisfly in the UK, some difficult to ID. Closely related to Lepidoptera, this individual doesn't go beyond Limnephilus sp in my book....Now I'm catching a bus back to Lancaster.

The winter thrushes are here already, with 6 Redwing reported at Gletsdale, Cumbria, 19 September. 

And Finally....How About This Then

Local Goodies!

Some good news I can't hold on to any longer. 

OK....So the pik is rubbish, but it matters not, as it's another first for the best garden in Lancaster LA1. A Chiffchaff took a liking to our plum tree this morning, briefly but long enough for me to get the grab shot through the kitchen window for evidence.

And a little further afield, Ian Mitchells egret fest continued as he found and photographed the dynamic duo of Great White and Little Egret at the Wenning/Lune confluence this very day.

Watch this space for more to come on B2B....Maybe a Baltimore Oriole next!!

Estuarine Pleasantries.

I count myself fortunate that I can leave home, and within 15 minutes can be enjoying the wildlife of places like the Lune Estuary, or maybe 30 minutes away from a day in the Forest of Bowland, the Yorkshire Dales and beyond.

On my latest visit to the Lune Estuary and surroundings, I made a decent count of 16 Mediterranean Gull, one was with Black-headed Gulls on Conder Pool, 8 in fields at the north end of Jeremy Lane, and 6 in a field north of Crook Cottage. As far as I could see, all these birds were adults except one distant bird on Jeremy Lane, which was a 2nd winter with small amounts of black on primaries, and one on the Lune Estuary at Glasson where there was a vanguard of up to 900 Golden Plover.

On Conder Pool, I made a count of 19 Greenshank which equaled my best count here in August last year, also 16 Little Grebe, 20 Tufted Duck, and 16 Canada Geese. Up to 6 Migrant Hawker and 2 Brown Hawker were over and around the pool. A Snipe and female Goosander were of note in the creeks, and House Martin have young still in the nest at River Winds, with two heads looking out and on the verge of fledging.

 

A Kingfisher came on to the outflow on Conder Pool a couple of times and obliged whilst I got some footage, the bird currently seems guaranteed to put in daily appearances on the outflow.

At Cockersand, decent views of a not very obliging Cattle Egret, which thought it was a wader on the tideline and denied me the chance of a classic pik with cattle. Also 7 Swallow flew purposefully north, 22 Linnet were around the abbey, and on Plover Scar, 6 Wheatear, 75 Dunlin, and 17 Ringed Plover.

Earlier in the week, along a short stretch of the canal in Lancaster between Haverbreaks and Deep Cutting, 15 Migrant Hawker seen, and a brief visit to Birk Bank, became a struggle to find a Common Darter female, a Black Darter male, and a Common Hawker.

Parasitoid Wasp.

Pimpla rufipes Pete Woodruff

I got engaged in a little entomology at Glasson Dock. This wasp on a wall disappeared into a cavity for a moment before reappearing. It is a predator, its main host being - but not limited too - the Large White butterfly. There is a huge amount of info on this insect of which there are vast numbers of species worldwide. Historically, parasitoidism in wasps is claimed to have influenced the thinking of Charles Darwin.

Thanks to Ian for his classic image of the Cattle Egret in the new B2B header.

Tom Wilmer.

I was saddened to hear of the death of Tom Wilmer yesterday. 

Although I hadn't seen Tom for many years now, I used to bump into him occasionally often at a twitch, the one that stands out in my memory the best - though many years ago - was the Great Grey Shrike in the Levens area.

It was always a pleasure to meet Tom on the road whilst out birding, he was a birder who 'knew his stuff' and was modest about it, he was never seen to be above anyone about his knowledge. 

Tom Wilmer will be greatly missed by all who knew him....R.I.P. 

Briefly Around The Estuary.

When I gave Conder Green a look in this week, only the faithful 15 Greenshank and c.10 Little Grebe were on Conder Pool, and a wander on the circuit turned up a Ruff and Common Sandpiper in the creeks, and a Willow Warbler on the coastal path....

Red Admiral. Pete Woodruff.

....where there was the surprise of at least 8 Red Admiral together in the same tree. A bigger surprise came with up to 80 Goldfinch in a flock flighty on and off Glasson Marsh. Surprising because I didn't expect to see this number for another month yet, my last record of this kind of number, was of 120 Goldfinch here on 5 October 2019, although I note 80 Goldfinch here mid-September, per LDBWS Annual Report 2020.

Clouded Yellow. Ian Mitchell.

At Cockersand, the plan was a traditional circuit which fell apart when I decided to walk to Bank End instead, to find 3 Clouded Yellow, 4 Common Blue, and a Red Admiral. Along the path, there was a notable up to three figure number of Swallow >south over the marsh, also a similar 80 Goldfinch to the Glasson flock are early post-breeding movements in my book. 

I'm grateful to Ian for his image of the Clouded Yellow at Bank End, albeit the unfortunate individual has damage to its left wing.

When I got back to Cockersand, 2 Wheatear - guaranteed here in spring and autumn- were on the shingle in front of Bank Houses. But....times up, I'm off back to Lancaster!

There was a little drama on my visit around the area today, one natural, one definitely unnatural....

At the north end of Jeremy Lane, around 200m of hedge has been taken out. The violation of this hedge which included reeds, says goodbye to wildlife and conservation. This act of vandalism poses the question....Why do the so called Guardians of the Countryside need to do this.

An approaching thunderstorm was building up from the south, it took three hours to reach Lancaster. 

As the storm passed through Lancaster, a rainbow appeared over the rooftops viewed from our rear bedroom.

Garden Hovers.

I've been seeing and enjoying some decent hoverflies in our garden recently, including this impressively named Episyrphus balteatus....

....and the Helophilus pendulus. Both on the beautiful Chicory flower. 

I'm grateful to two of our neighbours Muriel and James, for sending me the header image of the Small Copper. An excellent record for their garden recently given the worrying decline in numbers of our butterflies.

Hardly Exciting!

Harrisend Stonechat Records 2022.

24 March 6 birds, 2xpairs, female, male

29 April 6 birds, pair, 4xmale

21 June 3 birds, 2xmale, female

1 Sept  male and female, a pair?

Only my fourth visit to Harrisend this year - too much chasing dragonflies - produced just 2 Stonechat found at the top of the ridge, a male and probably a female as opposed to a juvenile too distant to ID. This was just about as disappointing as it could have been, because a) just four visits is a positively depressing number, b) I have had no hard evidence of breeding here this year, though I would suggest four pairs have done so.

During this visit to Harrisend, I was surrounded by hyrundines the entire time spent there, at least 100 birds at one point, the large majority were House Martins with Swallows in the air hawking. In the end, I reckon 1,000 hyrundines were over Harrisend during the 3 hours there. Up to 10 Meadow Pipit, and similar 10 Linnet. Butterflies seen, 3 Red Admiral, 2 Small Tortoiseshell, and a Small Copper.

I decided to call in at Birk Bank to check for dragonfly left-overs to find a Common Hawker - barely 2mm in total length smaller than the Emperor Dragonfly - patrolling the rear of the bog, also 4 Black Darter males, 2 Red Admiral, and a Small Copper.

Conder Update.

With much thanks to Howard Stockdale, it was a pleasure and most rewarding for me to receive some illustrated news from Conder Green. 

Avocet Conder Green. Howard Stockdale.

The last three of Avocet young fledged earlier this week, some of the birds on Conder Pool have been colour marked again this year.

Juvenile Common Tern Conder Pool. Howard Stockdale.

All the terns had departed the Lune Estuary by the time I got to visit last Tuesday 30 August, but it gave me great pleasure to see this colour marked bird on Conder Pool courtesy of Howard.

I'm expecting a good haul of Migrant Hawkers before September is out....Here's hoping!