Finch It!

My Bowland records made another forward surge this week when I found 3 Bullfinch, seen as two male in the trees at the car park on Rigg Lane, and two hours later, one in flight towards Cragg Wood. These birds represent 7 sightings of 23 Bullfinch in Bowland, with 16 at Birk Bank - eight of which were Northern Bullfinch - on three dates in Nov/Dec 2004, a pair at Tower Lodge Nov 2022, a pair at Rushy Lee Feb 2022, and 3 at Birk Bank/Cragg Wood Oct 2022.

The Bullfinch is regarded as a partial migratory bird, those that migrate make short to medium distance movements. So are these Bowland birds wintering, or do they actually breed in Bowland. I reckon they don't breed, but if they do, having never seen a Bullfinch in Bowland during the summer months, I've yet to discover where. 

Other sightings included Siskin seen in mini groups flighty around Rigg Lane, woefully small numbers of no more than 6 Fieldfare all on the wing, and 8 Red Grouse.

No apologies, but the following section of this post starts with my third video footage of 2 Ruff at Conder Green, the species being well up the list of my favourite waders, also in the creeks, a Greenshank.

The purpose of this outing was to get to Plover Scar for the high tide, to find it relatively quiet, but with peak counts of 120 Oystercatcher, 95 Turnstone, and 42 Dunlin. 

Twite Cockersand. Martin Jump.

A count of 28 Twite were flighty and spent a little time on the scar. There was an obvious presence of Skylark in and over the stubble field by Lighthouse Cottage, with 16 >south. A male Reed Bunting seen, and a Kestrel hovering over the marsh off the Caravan Park before diving to take out a small rodent.

In the field south of Clarkson's Farm, I counted 32 Whooper Swan, though they were in a dip in the field and certainly a few more with heads down as they fed.

Thanks to Martin Jump for his Oystercatcher header and Twite at Plover Scar.

THE DRAGONFLY.

Vagrant Emperor Heysham Harbour 25 October. Kevin Eaves.

When Kevin visited Heysham Harbour last week on 25 October, he must surely have had what he might find in the back of his mind. What Kevin did find could only have made him amazed and elated in equal measure when he came across his second Vagrant Emperor at Heysham 15 days earlier than his first seen on 9 November 2020.

Thanks to Kevin Eaves for the image of the Vagrant Emperor, and his permission for the must post news of this Lancashire rarity on Birds2blog.

October Chats.

Being the last visit to Hawthornthwaite Fell was on 11 July, I hadn't realised my birding had made such a dramatic nosedive, but I was here on Tuesday, and also back on Harrisend again to find 15 Stonechat on the day.

I was only on the track up Hawthorthwaite for 15 minutes before I found 6 Stonechat, all in this small area of heather looking east in the picture. The birds were mobile, and moving generally south east. Walking on for about 50 metres, when I looked again there was no sign of the birds.

Other than the chats, I saw just 4 Red Grouse and several airliners in the couple of hours spent here.

Whilst spending a few therapeutic minutes by Cam Brook, I was reminded of the smart male Ring Ouzel I saw here on 27 May. This was my fifth consecutive year of finding the mountain blackbird on Hawthornthwaite, only one sighting of which I ever had evidence of breeding here and was a female in flight with food in its bill. 

There was also a pleasant 3 hours spent on Harrisend, where I found 9 Stonechat. As with the Hawthorthwaite birds, five were together in a small area of gorse. Also 4 Raven over and 3 Red Grouse seen.

Clougha Pike From Harrisend. Pete Woodruff.

Wish I had a pound for every Stonechat I've ever seen atop of this remnant of the Hawthorn. I reckon I could get myself a couple of bottles of Jack Daniel's in for Christmas!

The Gannet.

There was a little sadness about a walk along the promenade at Sandylands last week, when I found the corpse of an adult Gannet on the shore, seen as a possible victim of avian flu.

Only a vagrant Albatross in the Western Palearctic is a larger seabird than the indigenous Gannet. Of the worlds breeding population, 48% are found in Scotland. This year there was a 90% breeding failure of Gannet on Bass Rock.

Turtle Dove.

Turtle Dove Hest Bank. Howard Stockdale.

A 1st winter Turtle Dove has been at Hest Bank since 13 October. There has been a mix of opinion about the bird, some seeing it as a sickly bird, dicing with death at the hands of the mutt brigade and their charges, others saying the bird looks well as it does in Howards image, it feeds well, and is a tame individual. Whatever....the bird would be better advised to stay put at Hest Bank, up to 100,000 Turtle Dove are shot annually on migration over Malta.  

Bearded Tit.....Another one of those must see images.

Bearded Tit Leighton Moss. Martin Jump.

Many Thanks to Howard and Martin for sending me these excellent images.

And Finally.

Hummingbird Hawk-moth. Peter Rhind.

Couldn't possibly end this post without mention of the brilliant Hummingbird Hawk-moth which gave us about 60 seconds of pleasure as it checked out the Verbena in our garden yesterday afternoon.

Pity I didn't get a pik of the moth, but I did get 30 seconds of comic relief with these two ponies at Heysham in the week....You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours!

FULL SCREEN....SOUND ON

Sidelined Again!

Off the road again for five days, but although pleasant if cloudy there was good birding around the Lune Estuary in the week. 

Conder Green.

Starting at Conder Green with my first Whooper Swan this winter, it was accompanied by 2 Mute Swan on Conder Pool. Also of note, 3 Greenshank, 4 Wigeon, and 7 Little Grebe on Conder Pool was my best count of the day here.

The customary circuit turned up an adult Ruff preening alongside a Redshank in the creeks, with 2 Black-tailed Godwit and a snorkeling female Goosander.

Lune Estuary.

Viewing from the bowling green, there was much more life on the Lune Estuary than my last visit here on 28 September. I picked up 8 Mediterranean Gull, seen at a distance, all adult save one 2nd winter bird. Godwit numbers were at around 350 birds, estimated to be 260 Black-tailed Godwit and 90 Bar-tailed Godwit, also c.550 Knot, 8 Snipe, and a Great-crested Grebe. Two adult Avocet were by the Conder mouth, two seen in the creeks at Conder Green when I returned there after the high tide were possibly the same two.

On the canal basin, 45 Tufted Duck and a Great-crested Grebe. Noted in a field on Jeremy Lane, 120 geese in a pretty even mix of Canada Geese and Greylag Geese 

Cockersand.

It was an enjoyable hour at Plover Scar, made all the more enjoyable with the appearance of a smart Little Stint still retaining much breeding plumage.

High Tide Waders Plover Scar. Martin Jump.

There was much coming and going of waders for the hour up to high tide. Just as I arrived at Plover Scar, 3 Grey Plover were departing south along with a swathe of other small waders. As more birds flew in and settled, I estimated at least 350 Dunlin, with 55 Turnstone and 45 Knot at the peak.

I walked along the headland back to Bank Houses, from where I could see 15 Whooper Swan some distance in a field to the north. I reckon this group had been joined by the 6 Whooper Swan which flew by me inland over Cockersand C.P.

Right Place, Right Time....A Leighton Moss Treble.

Cetti's Warbler. Martin Jump.

Thanks to Martin Jump for the 'rare to be seen out in the open' Cetti's Warbler checking out the grit trays.

Bearded Tit. Martin Jump.

And the Bearded Tit, doing the splits.

Bittern. Martin Jump.

The Bittern 'we have lift off' from Leighton Moss, up and away into the blue out yonder.

Thanks to Howard Stockdale for the Little Stint in the header, seen on Plover Scar about a month ago in mid-September.

Stonechat Data July - September.

The status of the Stonechat in our recording area, is that of 'a breeding bird on the lower slopes of the Bowland Fells'....The Birds of Lancaster & District 2020, and 'a fairly common, increasing breeding bird in upland and coastal areas....Lancashire Bird Report 2021.

In 2022 I have continued to collect Stonechat records as a personal interest. The data through the third quarter July - September is sourced in the main from the Fylde Bird Club (13) LDBWS (6) Andrew Cornall (4), and to a lesser extent these days my own (4), and amounts to 27 records.

The records excluding two, are from breeding territories, some of which I find to be lowland breeders, the most interesting of which was a male and female Stonechat carrying food on Winmarleigh Moss in June, and an adult Stonechat with 2 juvenile at Blackpool Airport in July. 

But two records in the breeding season to intrigue me the most were....

A male at Conder Green 26 May. 

A female at Heysham Head 17 June.

I've never seen Stonechat at Conder Green or Heysham Head in the summer months, neither have I ever seen records from these two sites. 

I've been off the road this past 11 days and had more time to study the history of the Stonechat in our recording area and be reminded of some startling facts about this and some other birds in our area between 1959 - 1998 LDBWS Annual Reports, and to note some dramatic changes and losses over the years.

Although these records start 63 years ago, by todays standards, I find some of them verging on the unbelievable, in particular the Stonechat records just 25 years ago up to 1997. 

Stonechat.

1959. A rare visitor, no evidence of breeding.

1964. No birds seen during the summer months.

1970/72/73. Bred successfully at Heysham.

1975. Pair at Halton Park, 5 pairs Clougha, pair at Marshaw, male at Sizergh Castle, female at Bailrigg.

1978. Four males and females with four juveniles at Heysham Harbour appeared to be migrants.

1979. No breeding records, a few winter period records.

1987. No reports from anywhere in the region.

1988. Irregular breeder at one site.

1989. Pair bred at Heysham.

1990/91/96/97. No breeding pairs discovered.

1998. Males in the Trough of Bowland and at Langden suggest breeding.

It is hard to believe, this last record above reads, these two males were the only Stonechats recorded, and that no other records were received in 1998. The following year in 1999, saw the beginning of a dramatic upturn in the fortunes of the Stonechat, which I started to monitor in that year, and which continued for up to 12 years, until the Stonechats endured two severe winters, which sent them back to the kind of depressing numbers of 1998.  

Some other bird species from the archives make interesting reading, and if you are a local birder, three of them again verge on the unbelievable* 

Nightjar. 

*15/20 pairs on Warton Crag 1959. Breeds at Quernmore, Warton, Yealand, Silverdale, Bentham, several Arnside Knot 1960. After 1991 the Nightjar was never mention again in the reports.

Yellow Wagtail.

*With 32 Yellow Wagtail per hour passing Arkholme Viaduct and 30 at Heversham sewage works in 1978....Sounds like a printing error by todays status of a 'scarce and declining breeding bird' in the 2020 report, which reads 'yet again no breeding pairs in our area'.

Whinchat.

*In 1989 a large concentration of up to 40 Whinchat, seen as 20 pairs in the Langden area of Bowland.

Ortolan Bunting.

In 1965 a pair of Ortolan Bunting at Conder Green was not verified. 

Cirl Bunting.

In 1968 up to 4 Cirl Bunting seen at Conder Green was not verified.

Little Egret.

An adult Little Egret on 25 May 1970 was the first record for the area.

And Finally.

Comma. Pete Woodruff.

I don't recall ever seeing a Comma butterfly in October, but this one was initially found in the house on Wednesday. I suspect it arrived in a bunch of garden flowers brought for KT. Having captured it in cupped hands, it remained on her finger by the kitchen door for a few minutes before flying off.   

Mustn't Grumble!

An enjoyable wander around the Lune Estuary in the week is best described as quiet, but as always had it's rewards in varying degree. But it must be said, I find it amazing how bird numbers can fluctuate dramatically at places like the Lune Estuary at Glasson, with the few seen this visit, then maybe in their thousands the next. But....mustn't grumble.

On Conder Pool, 2 Greenshank and 10 Little Grebe counted, and a limping adult Avocet remains there.

I have no idea of latest departure dates of Avocet from Conder Pool and the surrounding estuary, up to seven seen recently, and 11 Avocet were at Lytham on 26 December 2020....Perhaps the limping lone ranger is planning on spending the winter around the Lune Estuary.

On the circuit, 2 Ruff in the creeks, with 3 Black-tailed Godwit, a Greenshank and Snipe. A lone Sand Martin was the latest one ever in my book, it was over the creeks with a 'few' lingering Swallow, a Red Admiral was the only butterfly seen on the day.

On the estuary at Glasson, little of note to be honest, but an adult Mediterranean Gull picked out, 15 Wigeon, a Snipe, and 52 Canada Geese flew in from the south. 

I wanted to check Plover Scar up to the high tide, if I said the scar was also quiet it would be a contradiction when I note up to 550 Dunlin, 45 Turnstone, 24 Ringed Plover, 3 Grey Plover, a single Knot and Redshank. A few Swallow hawking around Lighthouse Cottage, c.25 Skylark erupted out of the stubble field behind the cottage to fly around and return there.

Migrant Hawker.

Despite the sun disappearing behind the clouds and a cool breeze blowing by the time I arrived there. I found 18 Migrant Hawker on a walk along the canal towpath for about a mile from Glasson Dock to Conder Green.

 

Whirligig Beetle.

Couldn't resist a bit of footage of a few hundred beetles swirling around in the canal.

Interesting little critters, they have two pairs of compound eyes, one looking upwards over the surface of the water, the other pair looking down and under the water. Aptly named Whirligig for their unmistakable circling behaviour, they belong to the Gyrinidae family of which there are c.1,000 species worldwide, they are the only beetle to spend their entire life in a watery environment.

Red Admiral. Pete Woodruff.

A Red Admiral was in our cloudy and windy 14°C garden yesterday.

Thanks to Martin Jump for the brilliant Kingfisher header. This bird - often two - are guaranteed daily on Conder Pool given patience and time spent.