Around The Estuary And A Trip Down The A6.

For starters, there was some bird behaviour to be see on my latest visit to Cockersand, nothing too surprising, but interesting just the same.

This silo is situated at Bank House Farm at Cockersand, and as I set off on the circuit, it came into view to reveal up to 60 Swallow. These birds took me by surprise, in that they were obviously feeding on the wing inside the silo, they kept appearing over the rim before dropping back inside. Something of a spectacle when 60 birds were up and down like a yoyos in and out of the silo.

When I returned 2 hours later, having walked along the headland to reach the spot again, in a similar number, Swallows were in the field behind the silo, this time they were feeding low and over Yarrow.

 

For a bird with a mammoth task ahead of it, opportunism at its best I thought, and a flight of c.8,000 to reach the continent of Africa after 6 weeks of virtually non-stop flying....Knocks y'er socks off dun'it!

The Cockersand Circuit.

Truth is, I'd been plodding along for an hour and had seen nothing of note, then all of a sudden 2 Wheatear dropped onto the kissing gate by the abbey. This was followed by another spell of nothingness, until I reached Bank House Farm again to make another check of the area. Well blow me over, there are 2 Yellow Wagtail on the rim of the 'Swallow Silo'.

Painted Lady Cockersand 20 August. Pete Woodruff.

A personally poor year for butterflies continues, though today I raised it to 'moderate', seeing up to 100 'whites' including 3 Green-veined White, 12 Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Red Admiral, a Painted Lady, Speckled Wood, and a Silver Y moth.

Conder Pool.

I was rewarded with my best - and probably everyone elses - all time count of 27 Greenshank on Conder Pool, with 13 Little Grebe counted.

Little Ringed Plover Juvenile Conder Pool 20 August. Pete Woodruff.

Also a juvenile Little Ringed Plover present, and 2 Wigeon were both female and the vanguards of things to come.

Also present, 2 Ruff and 4 Snipe....Not all in the video.

A Trip Down The A6.

Nine years ago on 13 September 2016, I made the same trip down the A6 to Heversham Moss, to see the same two species of birds at the same place as I did this time. That day I saw 2 Wood Sandpiper a Pectoral Sandpiper, a Green Sandpiper, and 22 Ruff.

Wood Sandpiper. Antonio Puigg.

On Fridays visit, I saw a Wood Sandpiper, 20 Ruff, up to 12 Pied Wagtail, and at one point a Sparrowhawk put up all and sundry from the flood, and eventually made one attack at Swallows before being lost to view.

With time on my hands and whilst in the area, I called at Leighton Moss RSPB Reserve and went to the Eric Morecambe Hide. Not the best time of day for birding from this hide if the sun is shining brightly in your face.

Putting in a bit of effort, I estimated the silhouettes to be at least 260 Black-tailed Godwit, 60 Redshank, 8 Knot, 5 Avocet, 5 Snipe, 3 Ruff, and 2 Dunlin. On the inner marsh, 2 Great White Egret and 18 Little Egret.

Migrant Hawker. Pete Woodruff.

Along the path to the hide, a male Migrant Hawker and 5 Speckled Wood, 2 Red Admiral, and a Small Tortoiseshell. 

And Finally.

With favourable weather, there have been opportunities to find and photograph some insects in the garden, particularly on the Alium.

Hoverfly Syrphus sp and Honey Bee. Pete Woodruff.

Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius Pete Woodruff.

Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum Pete Woodruff.

Comings And Goings At CP And Some Other Bits!

On my last visit to Conder Pool in the week, the comings were represented by 17 Greenshank accompanied by 14 Redshank, and building up to look more like winter numbers, were 12 Little Grebe.

The goings were represented by the last of the Common Tern, with a youngster being fed small fry by the adult like there's no tomorrow, it was fishing the creeks at high tide.

Avocet Juvenile. Howard Stockdale.

The last of the Avocet, the juvenile flagged C6 was accompanied by an adult, and the last of the Little Ringed Plover which put in an appearance just as I was about to leave, and showed close in as I filmed a clip of a Ruff.

As far as I'm aware, the last sighting of the lone surviving juvenile Little Ringed Plover, was in the creeks on Wednesday 13 August. Many thanks to Howard Stockdale for his unfailing updates for me on things Conder Pool related.

Other notes from the pool were, 24 Lapwing and a similar number of Pied Wagtail which included juveniles, some of which will no doubt be from underneath the tern platform where the wagtails bred this and in previous years. A lone Common Sandpiper was seen, and a Buzzard overhead was briefly attacked by a Common Tern. From the viewing screen I saw 4 Brown Hawker and a Migrant Hawker past, also 4 Gatekeeper.

A short 15 minute walk from Glasson Dock along the canal towpath, a Brown Hawker and Gatekeeper noted. And at Saltcote Pond, just 4 Common Blue Damselfly, 4 Small Tortoiseshell and a Peacock.

Thanks and congrat's to Howard Stockdale for his fourth header image in as many weeks.

Grisedale Brook.

Golden Ringed Dragonfly Male Grisedale Brook. Pete Woodruff.

In the end, Fridays dragonfly hunt wasn't to be called riveting stuff, but I was keen to see what the situation was downstream on Grisedale Brook to Holme Wood. After a pleasant hour spent, I had to be satisfied with just 3 Golden-ringed Dragonfly and a Common Hawker.

Common Darter Male Grisedale Brook. Pete Woodruff.

I also found 2 Common Darter, and having never seen these here before, they were a species first for me.

Hawthornthwaite Fell/Catshaw Pond.

The visit to Hawthornthwaite was a bit of a non-starter, apart from anything else it was chat'less and therefore - the chat fanatic that I am - very disappointing. But throughout the hour spent here, I did see what could only be described as mid-autumn movement, when a total of at least 30 Meadow Pipit, including 10 as a flock, exploded out of the heather. Otherwise, a Buzzard was seen soaring high overhead. 

Hawthornthwaite Fell Viewed From Catshaw Pond. Pete Woodruff.

For the sake of recording, I christened this small waterbody Catshaw Pond, perhaps it will stick! It has hosted Emperor Dragonfly for the past two years, but I didn't see the Emperor this time, although AC recorded it here last Wednesday 13 August.

Black Darter Birk Bank Bog 13 August. Barbara Southward.

This is Britain's smallest dragonfly, and I reckon the 2 Black Darter seen today, were no more than 30mm in overall length, and were my first for the site.

Thanks to Barbara Southward for permission to publish on B2B this excellent image.

And Finally.

I can't resist ending this post with a splash of glorious technicolour in our garden.

 In full bloom, the stunning Dahlia....Sincerity Rose

Dragons, Butterflies, Raptors And A Couple Of Caterpillars.

An enjoyable wander on a circuit of Fairfield NR Monday afternoon. A well designed and managed reserve with ponds and scrapes to explore, deserving of congratulations to all involved. 

One of the good points about the reserve, is that most of the ponds and scrapes are inaccessible. Obviously a good point, in that it's designed to keep Joe Blogs from trespassing in the area....Well it kept me away!

Emperor Dragonfly. Pete Woodruff.

Dragonflies.

But the first pond I found was called Alder Pool, appropriately named as there was a lone Alder to the north of it. Viewable over a fence through a gap in the hedge, and where I found an Emperor Dragonfly pair, with the male patrolling the pond, and the female eventually ovipositing.

Common Darter. Pete Woodruff.

Also seen were 6 Common Darter, seen as five male but included a female coming close to settle on a twig for a picture. Leaving the reserve, I walked along a short stretch of the canal to find 3 Brown Hawker including a female ovipositing, also a Blue-tailed Damselfly seen.

Common Darter. Pete Woodruff.

I soon rejoined the reserve at the east end, to find another 4 Brown Hawker and 8 Common Darter, these were all seen basking on the fence line.

Raptors.

As I was leaving the reserve, a Buzzard was overhead being mobbed by a Sparrowhawk, an excellent sighting for size comparison and a soaring Buzzard with the flap-flap-glide flight of the hawk.

Butterflies.

Give the perfect weather conditions today and in the near future, my butterfly records continue to be sparse, with just 4 Speckled Wood, a Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell seen in 3 hours here today.

Caterpillars.

I spotted two on the grit track just a couple of metres apart.

Red Admiral Butterfly. Pete Woodruff.

White Ermine Moth. Pete Woodruff.

Garden Butterflies.

Peacock. Pete Woodruff.

Two stunning Peacock were in our garden yesterday with a Red Admiral....

Comma. Pete Woodruff.

....and the Comma - also stunning - in our garden recently was memorable.

....But First The Bad Bit!

Based on the weather being not as good as forecast, although it was bright, there was cloud most of the day, with an annoying cool breeze which wouldn't bode well for dragon hunting. I was tempted to title this post Another Wrong Day, but decided that would be a little too boring for three posts in a row....So here goes.

Let's get rid of the bad bit first....The only Keeled Skimmer I saw in two 30 minute visits to Birk Bank bog was a deceased male.

Keeled Skimmer Male (Deceased) Pete Woodruff.

OK, everything reaches the end, but there's no way I wanted to see a dead dragonfly today, and certainly not a Keeled Skimmer, a species that has only colonised Birk Bank bog since it was first discovered here 10 years ago in August 2015 by local birder Steve Graham. I've seen them every year since then, but there's no question I was gutted at seeing this one having expired today.

Now here's the good excellent bit....I saw 3 Golden-ringed Dragonfly, including a 'buy one get one free' moment, when two settled together for a photo-shoot.

Golden-ringed Dragonflies Birk Bank 6 August. Pete Woodruff.

Also, a stunning male Emperor Dragonfly was patrolling close to the boardwalk.

Common Darter. Pete Woodruff.

Six Common Darter male were all basking on the boardwalk as they do, and 2 Blue-tailed Damselfly seen.  

Whilst watching the dragonflies I spotted some interaction between two raptors which kept coming in to view over the ridge above Birk Bank. Difficult to keep up to, but managed some brief record footage of 2 Peregrine Falcon. Later in the same area, a soaring Buzzard. 

Also seen from the boardwalk, a bird flew out from a Mountain Ash, to my great surprise and pleasure, it was a Green Woodpecker. This was my first since I last found one here 4 years ago in April 2021, previously a Green Woodpecker was found here in July 2020....Three in a row at Birk Bank.

Sundew Birk Bank. Pete Woodruff.

It was good to find the Sundew still thriving here, with several clusters found below the north end of the boardwalk.

Common Darter. Pete Woodruff.

Sightings on a wander from the bog to Ottergear Bridge. A Common Darter female seen from the path up the bank on bracken was difficult for an image for ID. 

Did you know, bracken is thought to be the most common plant in the world and is found on all continents except Antarctica. 

A Roe Deer was seen in a field off Rigg Lane, and it was great to find the breeding record of a family party of 4 Stonechat. A male Common Darter was on Ottergear Bridge, and butterflies noted along the way, a Painted Lady, 2 Small Copper, a Holly Blue, and Meadow Brown.

Another Wrong Day....Definitely not, quite the opposite actually, it developed into more like an excellent day in my book.

Conder Pool.

An update from Conder Pool has me gutted once again, when I learn that just the one young from three Little Ringed Plover has survived. Just the one piece of good news out of this is, all being well the bird should fledge in the coming week....Here's hoping!

Little Ringed Plover Conder Pool 30 July. Howard Stockdale.

Assuming this young bird is the sole survivor from the same pair, it is the result of 5 attempts to breed, and that's from a species which usually lays 4 eggs in the breeding season, which although not likely this year - though she did lay 3 eggs this last attempt - would make it a pitiful 20 eggs laid from this female.

I'm grateful to Howard Stockdale for regularly keeping me up to date with matters relating to Conder Pool. 

The Wrong Day....Again!

Two birding days in a row being the wrong one. This time the plan was Birk Bank for an update on the state of the dragons there, but hey'up, it was a dreary start to the day, with cloud and low mist over Clougha as I gazed out the bedroom window, which is where Plan A went out of to be switched to Plan B to get an update on the birdlife of Conder Pool.

Little Ringed Plover Conder Pool 30 July. Pete Woodruff.

As I soon found to my great pleasure, this turned out to be an excellent switch of plans, the Little Ringed Plover pair had a trio of chicks surviving to at least 10 days old.

I had only been present at the pool about 10 minutes, when an adult dropped in front of me below the tern platform, then within another few minutes, one, then two, then three chicks....Alleluia!

In the hour I spent at Conder Pool, the three chicks never once came together, but this was the best of days for me at Conder Pool, and after the disasterous year for the LRP's and Avocets, this was an uplifting sight.

Thanks to Howard Stockdale who, with the delightful LRP family, claims a hat trick of recent header images on B2B.

With an update on the terns, I counted 10 Common Tern adult, with seven roosting on an island and two young still on the platform, and in a perfect line for easy counting, at the back of the pool, 17 Greenshank, up to 500 Redshank and 2 Little Grebe. Interesting, that unless they were in hiding, I saw not a single Avocet today.

Conder Pool.

Conder Pool has never failed to come up with at least some surprise for me over the many years I've been visiting this amazing location.

If I picked out just three of these memorable records, I would first choose the White-winged Black Tern which I found quartering the marsh on the Lune Estuary at Glasson 22 years ago on 14 August 2003, when Conder Pool was in its infancy, and where this brilliant bird visited on more than one occasion. The second choice would be the Black-necked Grebe which I found 1 September 2008, and the third would be the Common Scoter seen 27 October 2008.

Fast forward 22 years on, to add to the excellent record of the Little Ringed Plover pair, having made five attempts at breeding on Conder Pool, we have the success of 3 chicks still surviving when I last saw them on Wednesday.  

Common Tern. John Wallace.

And finally, we have the excellent record of a Common Tern bearing a white darvic ring CR3, ringed in Ireland, and if my information from a reliable source is correct, another Common Tern was seen on Conder Pool bearing a green ring, ringed in Germany.

Thanks to Ian Hartley for help with the info re the white ringed Common Tern. Also thanks to John Wallace for the use of his excellent image of the Common Tern.

Conder Pool....What next 😃

Garden Robin 2 August. Pete Woodruff.

The Woodruff family were delighted to see a juvenile Robin arrive in the garden yesterday 2 August. An adult Robin returned to the garden last year on 28 August, and the year before on 18 July 2023.