Harrier Wins The Day....

....and some other goodies!

On Conder Pool, a Greenshank was my first since I found four here on 19 October last. Also noted, 85 Wigeon and a similar number of Teal, 55 Mallard, 5 Tufted Duck, 22 Redshank, and 2 Goosander. When I looked towards the marsh I saw a male Stonechat, probably one of the pools wintering birds.

Pulling in at Saltcote Brow Pumping Station, there was a good number of geese in the field, I eventually counted up to 180 Greylag, and saw they were accompanied by the 1st winter Russian White-fronted Goose and 2 Pink-footed Geese.

As I passed the field at Clarkson's Farm I could see 3 Cattle Egret, which appear to have lost one of their number, first seen 25 October when four were opposite Lighthouse Cottage. At Cockersand, up to 30 Twite were flighting around Bank House, probably the same flock first seen on Plover Scar 19 October. The Barn Owl seen briefly, initially it was grounded in the field. I saw just one male Stonechat by Lighthouse Cottage, but AC reported a pair on Moss Lane. 

  

A lone Twite was looking lost on the shore below the abbey. Difficult to stay firm in a mini howler and the camera set to zoomed in. I've silenced the wind in the short clip. 

There was three high number records on the day, at least 380 Whooper Swan were spread over four distant fields including a herd off Jeremy Lane. Up to 3,000 Pink-footed Geese were in the air, but the most impressive count was of up to 500 Curlew as an absolute minimum estimate, they were at rest on the mud south side of the Cocker Estuary. I've seen this kind of number here before, but as yet have failed to trace my record....I note the entire January WeBS count for the Lune Estuary in 2021 was 307 Curlew, which was well down on the 5 year average, suggesting a continuing decline of the species...The Birds of Lancaster and District 2021

And Finally.

When I was leaving Cockersand, in fields opposite Abbey Farm on the east side of Moss Lane which is narrow with no passing places and ditches on both sides. A pale grey harrier with white underparts, and contrasting black primaries, it was a stunning male Hen Harrier, but by the time I found somewhere to pull up it was lost to view....N'er mind, my day was already made.

Thanks to Simon Hawtin for his header image of the male Hen Harrier.

Stonechats.

If last year is anything to go by, it gives me much pleasure to think in just four weeks time Stonechat passage will have taken off. By the end of February 2023, I had collated 53 records of 102 individual Stonechats on passage. These records were followed by even more unprecedented records of the Stonechat on spring passage in March. 

During the past four weeks of January, I have collected 37 records of 76 wintering Stonechats. Three of these were of lowland records in the LDBWS recording area not known to be breeding territories, and not known as wintering territories either.

Stonechat spring passage is coming soon....Bring it on!

Redpoll In The Garden.

Mike Atkinson has struck gold - well red actually - when he had Lesser Redpoll visit his garden feeders, including this brilliant full frame portrait of the male....

....and the equally brilliant female.

Thanks for these Mike, much appreciated, and very envious. Lucky you!

Barn Owls In The Spotlight!

I'm a bit cheesed off at getting it wrong again, but in my defence I never hide behind my errors. My claim at Conder Pool on 12 January....'the vegetation has been cut down, so no doubt goodbye to the wintering Stonechats of several weeks here'....proved to be a hasty and unjustified one. 

I had excellent views of the Stonechat pair at the east end of Conder Pool. The result of the rest of the stock taking exercise was, 6 Little Grebe, 10 Canada Geese, 4 Mute Swan, and a Wren in the hedgerow. 

On the canal basin at Glasson Dock, 4 Goosander seen, and in fields off Jeremy Lane, up to 350 Pink-footed Geese, 175 Greylag, and 125 Golden Plover.

 

Best surprise whilst watching the geese, was the appearance of a Barn Owl which spent a few minutes hunting along the hedgerow around Saltcote Brow pumping station....Perhaps this was the bird seen at Conder Pool 10 November.

At Cockersand, the Barn Owl flew over my car whilst I was watching the Stonechat pair on the marsh where I saw 2 Rock Pipit, 2 Meadow Pipit, and 4 Reed Bunting. Up to 380 Whooper Swan were seen a distant north from behind the Caravan Park.

Sunderland Point from Cockersand with snow on the Lakeland Mountains. Pete Woodruff. 

The circuit was a pleasant walk and resulted in a lone Stonechat just short of the Moss and Slack Lane junction, from where I saw 3 Bewick's Swan, seen as two adult and a juvenile. Also a Snipe came up and out of a ditch, a Song Thrush and 420 Curlew were in two fields with 6 Pink-footed Geese.

 

A pity the footage of 21 Eider off Plover Scar, was taken against the light, but it was a great opportunity to see them on a calm sea. The sighting proved to be quite interesting as I was able to observe some unexpected behaviour with display not normally associated with mid-January. In my experience, the Eider is very vocal during courtship, usually silent at other times, and doesn't start to think about breeding until April....Pump up the volume to hear the Eider 'cooing/crooning'. 

Kingfisher at Cockersand.

There was a remarkable report of 2 Kingfisher flying north past Plover Scar on Wednesday 17 January. 

The Kingfisher isn't known to take to open water like an estuary, more likely to avoid it, and I'm intrigued to hear from anyone able to explain what they thought two Kingfisher were doing flying over the sea and past the lighthouse on a estuary in mid-winter? 

Barn Owl at Cockersand.

In my last post, I made the suggestion that I suspected there might be 2 Barn Owls at Cockersand. Today it seems to be common knowledge that there are indeed 2 Barn Owls here. I met five people on Wednesday who all told me of the roost here. 

I get great pleasure in sharing and reporting the Barn Owl anywhere, but don't agree with any kind of freely published information about any species of Schedule 1 birds that gives even a hint of where they might be holding territory to start breeding by early April.

Picture Gallery.

Howard Stockdale sent me an image of the long staying Snow Bunting on Plover Scar.

Ian Mitchell's image of Long-tailed Tit on his garden feeders.

Martin Jump observed some excellent aerobatics by no less than 7 Buzzard and 3 Raven over the ridge at Harrisend recently.

Thanks to Howard, Ian, and Martin for the excellent and much appreciated images which add some interest and colour to B2B. 

Better Than....

....an average day at the office, and a bit of enjoyment with the camera for some piks!

Nothing to excite at Conder Pool, and the vegetation has been cut down, so no doubt goodbye to the wintering Stonechats of several weeks here.

As a bit of a contradiction to my 'nothing to excite' comment, there was a first record on Conder Pool, with a Buzzard spending a considerable time in a tree by the canal. A quick stock take produced 15 Mallard, 12 Wigeon, 10 Tufted Duck, and 9 Little Grebe. A Wren was in the hedge by the viewing platform, and a Kestrel mobbed the Buzzard when it took off, the Kestrel was in turn mobbed by a Black-headed Gull.

On the Lune Estuary at Glasson, in fading light and at a distance, a conservative estimate was of 2,500 but probably more like 3,000 Black-tailed Godwit upstream from the Conder Estuary, with up to 450 Dunlin and 300 Curlew, also 2 Goosander to note.

On the canal basin, 6 Goldeneye were all stunning drakes....Follow me!

On Jeremy Lane, an even mix of c.150 Greylag and Pink-footed Geese, with 2 Whooper Swan, c.40 Dunlin on the flood. On Moss Lane, in the field at Clarkson's Farm, 6 Bewick's Swan were with a total of 350 Whooper Swan in fields on the north and south side of Moss Lane. Also a Cattle Egret appears to have been separated from the other three present in the area since 25 October.

At Cockersand, AC alerted me to the Barn Owl disappearing out of sight towards Bank End, it soon returned with a catch in its talon's to disappear behind Bank House. Four Stonechat were seen as a pair on the marsh, and another pair along Moss Lane heading to Slack Lane. On the circuit, a Song Thrush, 220 Golden Plover, and 72 Curlew in fields.

Barn Owl at Cockersand.

On Friday as I walked along Moss Lane, AC pulled up to tell me he had seen the Barn Owl again behind Bank House. Five minutes later and only a few metres walked, l watched a Barn Owl flying towards me from the direction of Abbey Farm. It flew along at the height of the hedgerow to within a few metres of me, before veering off and on towards Bank House. 

I rang AC on Saturday to tell him about my encounter with the owl, and suggested there is now the distinct possibility of 2 Barn Owl at Cockersand. During our conversation, AC told me of 11 Bewick's Swan in fields at Jeremy and Moss Lane on Saturday, including three 1st winter birds.

Siskin.

Siskin. Mike Atkinson.

I am grateful to Mike Atkinson for the image of a male Siskin from five in his garden on Friday. Mike's garden is just around the corner from ours. 

The last Siskins we had on the feeders were a pair on 30 April 2022. Not to be expected in urban gardens in Lancaster.

Seventeen Days Later!

When I finally got out on Friday, it had been 17 days since my last wander around the ranch....That's depressing. What started as a snail trail, slowly built into a bit of a crescendo which culminated in another one of my successful return visits to a site covered earlier in the day.

If I was going to get the ball rolling five days late into the New Year, I had to note the routine stuff on Conder Pool to get something in the book. There was a up to 90 Mallard, 42 Teal, 9 Tufted Duck, 8 Little Grebe, a lone drake Wigeon, a Snipe and a Little Egret....Stock taking complete.

It was a day of large numbers of waders on the Lune Estuary, and in what was essentially a brief visit for me, I noted at least 1,500 Black-tailed Godwit, up to 100 Dunlin, and 120 Golden Plover. A male and female Wigeon hauled out together were marked with a green ring right leg, and metal left. Frustratingly too distant to read, they were my first ever ringed Wigeon.

I drove past Clarkson's Farm fields to see 4 Cattle Egret, almost certainly the same four I found along Slack Lane over two months ago on 25 October. As I set out on the circuit, a pair of Stonechat were on the marsh opposite the Caravan Park, they were the only two I saw on the day. In the hedge at Bank House, 15 House Sparrow, to be honest I don't recall the last time I saw this number of House Sparrow at Cockersand. Noted along Moss Lane, 9 Blackbird were within 20 metres of each other, 4 Goldfinch, a Reed Bunting and a Song Thrush.

In a field off Slack Lane, 138 Whooper Swan, were the only ones seen at or from Cockersand today.

On Plover Scar, I finally caught up with the Snow Bunting, amazingly camouflaged on the tidewrack. Arriving back at the Caravan Park, I briefly saw the Barn Owl in fields behind Bank House.

When I made what turned out to be a successful return to the Lune Estuary at Glasson, the tide was in flow and was pushing a good number of waders on to the shore. I eventually picked out a mid-distance bird with unmarked white underparts and clear cut white fore-supercilium. It was the Spotted Redshank ending my day nicely thank you very much!