The Bog Is Alive And Well....Just!

Well at least the weather bucked up, and by Wednesday to some small degree, so did the bog at Birk Bank, although on my first of two visits today, I struggled to find much life other than a couple of Azure Damselfly and Large Red Damselfly. 

On my return visit 4 hours later, I eventually found a male Keeled Skimmer, along with an even bigger surprise of another of those 'upland' Emperor Dragonfly, 4 Four-spotted Chaser, a Black-tailed Simmer, and up to 10 Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, which were the only butterflies I saw in 5 hours, save 2 Small Heath and a Speckled Wood.

A saunter to Cragg Wood was definitely worth it as I found 2 Golden-ringed Dragonfly on the River Conder, and a Spotted Flycatcher as a nice little bonus. Other birds were represented by a male Stonechat, a Linnet....

....and a Tree Pipit which was singing....Pump up the volume!

Bilberry Bumblebee 26 June. Pete Woodruff.

As I approached the east side of Ottergear Bridge, I found another 2 Bilberry Bumblebee, my seventh this year, and when I got back to the car park to end the day, a Garden Warbler was singing.

Norfolk Hawker.

Little more than 30 miles from Lancaster, and a species slowly expanding north.

Norfolk Hawker. Frank Bird.

When Fylde birder Frank arrived on the scene at Birk Bank I heard some excellent news. In an interesting conversation, Frank told me of the Norfolk Hawker he had found in his garden on 2 June. This was a news story I had somehow missed, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear about it today. 

The image is much appreciated Frank, many thanks for allowing it on B2B, and congratulations on this amazing find in your garden....Hope to see you again soon, when maybe you will be telling me of a Hairy Dragonfly you found in your garden!

Patient Perseverance.

On Monday, a couple of hours patient perseverance at Grisedale Brook from Grisedale Bridge downstream to Holme Wood, eventually resulted in finding 3 Golden-ringed Dragonfly. Something of a disappointment, as I had seen 12 GRD here on 14 June 2023, and by coincidence the same number of 12 the previous year on 11 July 2022.

Not part of any Odonata strategy that I'm aware of, but this one was well camouflaged as it set down on the stone. 

Golden-ringed Dragonfly. Mike Atkinson.

Not only did Mike Atkinson find the first GRD of the year at Birk Bank on 9 June, he found this one freshly emerged and drying out....Great stuff Mike.

It was another of those days that started off in fine style for me, when I got out of the car to be greeted by a pair of Stonechat on gorse by the side of the road. I've seen Stonechat here last year, and as I recall, also the year before. It was interesting to see a continuous stream of at least 60 Carrion Crow flying north over Harrisend. Also on Grisedale Brook, 2 Grey Wagtail and a Large Red Damselfly, with butterflies represented by  2 Small Heath and a Speckled Wood.

I looked in on Catshaw Pond to find a male Emperor Dragonfly, and saw a Broad-bodied Chaser too brief and distant to sex. With Ian Mitchell's Emperor Dragonfly at Birk Bank 6 June, this is the second one found in Bowland and is a species regarded as 'remaining absent in the uplands', though this reference is 9 years out of date!

On to Hawthornthwaite, where in little more than an hour I found 8 Stonechat, having my records to read possibly 4 breeding pairs here in 2024, though this lacks evidence of young.

 
                 

But having seen a female leaving the ground nest whilst its mate was close by, I took the opportunity to record the male which, having perceived danger at my presence, was alarm calling whilst on guard duty.                     

I found 2 Golden-ringed Dragonfly here, and made a count of only 8 Sand Martin and 3 Meadow Pipit, with another 4 Small Heath making my total of seven butterflies on the day.

Swifts.

We had the pleasure of up to 30 Swift over our house in Bowerham yesterday evening at 9.00pm, also c.20 Swift in the Fairfield colony on Monday evening.

Bombus monticola.

Bilberry Bumblebee Harrisend 25 June. Ian Mitchell.  

A visit to Harrisend yesterday paid off handsomely with Bilberry Bumblebee seen, also Stonechat as in my header image. Thanks Ian, your records and pictures are much appreciated.

Dragons In The Night!

Drawing the curtains on the patio, I was amazed to see a dragonfly patrolling the garden in the near dark of 10.15pm. It spent several minutes here, but the best I could get on the creature as it darted around the garden, was that it was dark in colour. In the end I was convinced we had a visit by a male Common Darter....Impressed! 

More Mixed Fortunes.

On a trek around the Birk Bank area, on the one hand I find the Bilberry Bumblebee again, on the other it was another step in the direction of a disappointing and increasingly worrying visit to the bog for dragons.

My visit to the area started and ended at Birk Bank bog, a site of interest to Odonata enthusiasts, one of whom I hear had the same experience as me when he visited this week, and referred to the bog as 'dead'. In the long run, I'm hoping both of us are wrong, but the truth is we're looking toward the end of June and this prime site has little if anything on offer.

Azure Damselfly. Pete Woodruff.

My records at Birk Bank bog read, 2 Azure Damselfly, and up to 6 Large Red Damselfly. The records also have to read, No Keeled Skimmer, Four-spotted Chaser, Golden-ringed Dragonfly, Common Darter or anything else.

Green Oak Tortrix. Pete Woodruff.

Some compensation came in the form of a single and immaculate Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, and a Green Oak Tortrix moth. Quite unbelievably, the fritillary was the only butterfly I saw on a sunny warm day towards end of June....Yes the only one!

Although I did notch up 3 Stonechat, also quite unbelievable that I otherwise saw just one Buzzard, 2 Meadow Pipit, a Siskin, and heard a Blackcap half-heartedly singing in the car park. That's seven birds in 5 hours....yes only seven!

Now The Best Bit.

Birds-foot Trefoil Birk Bank. Pete Woodruff.

I found the grand total of 5 Bilberry Bumblebee in this visit to Birk Bank, two amongst the patches of Birds-foot Trefoil, and three on Ottergear Bridge.

Not the easiest of creatures to capture on film, but this one did make life a little easier for me as it worked its way around the brambles and other plants.

Swifts Finally.

Two records brought to my attention. The first one prompted me to investigate, and resulted in up to 14 Swift seen just around the corner from our house in Bowerham, with one bird seen to leave a nest under the eaves. The second record was even more amazing, that of a number of Swift during the week, observed over the summit of Ingleborough.

At an elevation of 723m, Ingleborough is the second highest of the Yorkshire Three Peaks, and you have to ask yourself, why are a number of Swift over the summit of Ingleborough in mid-June!

The Header.

I took the photograph at Marshaw on 12 June, it is of a small number from two groups of up to 60 students in parties scattered along the length of the Marshaw Wyre between Marshaw and Trough Bridge.

This is an annual occurrence, and according to a leader of the group they are surveying in the name of Geography. I pointed out this should not be happening, giving the example that I was monitoring birds and had seen several pairs of Grey Wagtail, Common Sandpipers with young, and a pair of Dipper, all of which were breeding on the stream were the students were doing their surveys. I went on to suggest that the organising of this exercise should be made at a more appropriate time of year to avoid this unnecessary disturbance during the breeding season.

....And The Pied Flycatchers Tale.

I spent the traditional 5 hour on my trek around the Tower Lodge area and came away with a mix of good and bad feelings. 

But the day started out in good style, when 2 minutes after I arrived at Marshaw I picked up three birds in a line in flight which soon disappeared from view, but two returned over my head a minute later, then one of the two returned another minute later. A lot of 'cu-coo' calls heard throughout this several minutes spectacle which I regarded as some sort of dispute. This sighting resulted in my recording 5 Cuckoo on the day, but it has to be a possibility the two heard later were from the three seen earlier in the day though 1/2 mile away.

On the Marshaw Wyre, 6 Common Sandpiper seen, including two young having soon gained independence and able to fend for themselves.

According to my observations, probably three breeding pairs of Common Sandpiper here this year, also a decent count of 10 Grey Wagtail, and just the one Dipper. A Song Thrush was behind Tower Lodge, where 2 Siskin were noted.

One of the downside of things today was, there are No House Martin at Tower Lodge, though I'm aware that Swallows and House Martins didn't arrive back in the country in their normal numbers during May. So perhaps summer isn't here yet....Not too difficult to believe given the inclement weather.

I found my first 4 Spotted Flycatcher seen as 2 pairs, and the 6 Pied Flycatcher seen, which brings me to the bad feelings....

The Pied Flycatchers Tale.

On a day that was nothing like I expected or was forecast, by the time I left for Lancaster, I had spent the day here in cloud at little more than 11°C and no sunlight.

Although the 6 Pied Flycatcher I found where seen as three pairs within a distance of 80 metres, with two pairs frantically attending nests, and one male seen to take out an insect in flight, in itself an excellent sighting, but I think this area may have suffered the same fate as one in Cumbria.

I was in touch with John Callion a ringer of note in Cumbria. John has been dismayed at the high levels of mortality in some of the Pied Flycatcher nests. A few have had full broods dead, others part broods, sometimes just an individual. The persistent winds have been the result of reduced numbers of invertibrates available resulting in the high level of failure. I note ringers in Durham have had similar findings.

On my visit to Bowland this week, I didn't experience any dead birds in nests like John did, but with the possibility of up to eight breeding pairs here this year, two pairs this time not previously seen, and no activity seen today through 15 nest boxes. I think this area may have suffered the same failure as those in Cumbria.

With all this negativity behind us, and as a self confessed Stonechat nerd, I found it heartening that JC has recently had four pairs of Stonechat, all with healthy full broods of five....Alleluia! 

The Header.

Although obligingly posed, it's a pity the Spotted Flycatcher was on barbed wire for some pictures....N'er mind, you can't win'em all! 

One For The Orchid Buff's....

....and a moth, a dragonfly, and some flycatchers.

I've had an interest in orchids for a few years now, especially any to be found in the Lancaster area, an interest that increased when I found the Bee Orchid here some years ago now with my good friend and mentor John Leedal. 

Bee Orchid. Pete Woodruff.

The Bee Orchid is seen as one of the best known and loved of its kind, its flowering is sporadic, which accounts for failures to find it at the same location year on year, and contributes to why I've not seen it for 4 years since June 2020.

But my visit here this time turned out to be a bit of a revelation when I found what I regarded to be a good count of Northern Marsh Orchid. 

Southern Marsh Orchid. Pete Woodruff.

I can't claim the record of orchids found at this site east of Lancaster to be the first, but I can certainly claim it to be the first record of up to 100 spikes of Southern Marsh Orchid here as opposed to any records in previous years of misidentified Northern Marsh Orchid. 

Southern Marsh Orchid Detail

This is the link to an end piece I wrote following the discussion that ensued on Wild Orchids of the UK website Orchids

Small China Mark.

Small China Mark. Pete Woodruff.

A nice Small China Mark on the canal towpath. Fairly common around still and slow-moving water, the larvae are semi-aquatic feeding on duckweed, and building floating cases from fragments of the food plant.

Emperor Dragonfly.

Emperor Dragonfly Birk Bank 6 June. Ian Mitchell.

The Emperor Dragonfly is referred to in The Dragonflies of Lancashire and North Merseyside Steve White and Philip H. Smith, as....'remains absent in the uplands'....though this reference was published in 2015, and I await a reply from Steve see if this is still the case with the species in 2024.

Pied Flycatcher.

I was grateful to AC for confirmation of up to 6 pairs of Pied Flycatcher in the Marshaw-Tower Lodge-Trough Bridge area, with five boxes taken, and a tree nesting pair as I had suggested a couple of weeks ago. On a trip into Bowland on Thursday, it's a pleasure for me to report on his behalf, evidence of possible breeding Spotted Flycatcher Tower Lodge area, and a pair of Redstart at both Marshaw and Abbeystead both with breeding evidence....Great Stuff AC. 

I was grateful to Ian Mitchell on three counts, 1) for forwarding me the record and image of a male Emperor Dragonfly at Birk Bank, 2) for info that the record of Bilberry Bumblebee at Birk Bank has been officially accepted, 3) for the excellent header image of the same Bilberry Bumblebee.

The Birk Bank Bombus.

I was struggling to make a decision on Friday, but my mind was instantly made up by a call from Ian Mitchell who told me about a find he'd made.

I was off hot foot to Birk Bank, to find an area gifted with a small carpet of Common Bird's-foot-trefoil, one of the food plants of the 2 Bilberry Bumblebee Bombus monticola I found, having foraged the Bilberry, then moving on to other food sources such as the bird's-foot-trefoils, thistles and heathers.

Large Red Damselfly. Pete Woodruff.

A visit to Birk Bank bog produced at least 20 Large Red Damselfly with a few mating pairs seen. Any other dragons to be seen here will have to wait until my next visit, even though the conditions were good today, the season has yet to take off at this excellent acidic site....I'm increasingly getting worried here!

On a couple of hours wander I noted a relatively low number of up to 10 Willow Warbler, a Garden Warbler, Tree Pipit, 12 Meadow Pipit, and saw Raven and Buzzard over the ridge.

Common Lizard. Pete Woodruff.

Although I noted 4 species of bees, the insect count otherwise was poor, with just 2 Small Heath butterfly, a Little Emerald moth, and 2 Common Lizard on the boardwalk at the bog.

Forest Cuckoo Bee Bombus sylvestris. Pete Woodruff.

And Finally.

Green Tiger Beetle. Pete Woodruff. 

I was struggling for a header pik, but Ian Mitchell came to the rescue with his Hooded Crow found on the return journey back to Lancaster from Walney NR last week....Much appreciated Ian.