Hitting the Headlines.

This is certainly worth viewing.

I did a bit of digging into my records again today and found some of interest hitting the headlines from the past which I either found or observed, but first....

Ringed Plover. Cliff Raby

A brilliant photograph of the Ringed Plover coming in to land....great stuff.

1996.

Ferruginous Duck. Skerton Weir 23 April.

Wood Warbler. Gibson Wood 1 May. *

Dotterel. (13) Ward Stone 6 May.

Wood Sandpiper. Conder Green 5 August.

Painted Lady. Path to Eric Morecambe Hide at Leighton Moss 11 August. A three figure number in excess of 100.

Black-winged Pratincole. Carnforth Marsh 25 August.

Little Stint. (70) Eric Morecambe Complex 21 September. 130 here during Sept 24-28, an all time record.
Black Brant. Pilling Marsh 21 December. **

1997.  

American Wigeon. Heysham Harbour 25 January.

Rough-legged Buzzard. Whitendale 12 April.***

Glossy Ibis. (2) Pilling Marsh 23 April.

Sanderling. (10,000) Ainsdale Beach 24 May.****

Crossbill. (30) Langden Brook 28 June.

Lesser Yellowlegs. Eric Morecambe Complex 18 October 1995 and 13 September 1997.*****

Crossbill. (50) Helsington Barrows.

* The Wood Warbler returned to Gibson Wood for five consecutive years, but not since to my knowledge.

** The Black Brant - Eastern Siberian/North American - on Pilling Marsh from 17 December 1996 until 22 February 1997 at least, is the only Lancashire record for the species.

*** This - or another - Rough-legged Buzzard at Whitendale was observed on several occasions by many birders here between February 1996 until March 1998 at least, albeit with long periods of absence. 

**** I think it may be some time - if ever - before I see the amazing sight of 10,000 Sanderling on Ainsdale Beach - or anywhere else - again.

***** The Lesser Yellowlegs were both found on the Eric Morecambe Pool at Leighton Moss and is my best 'double' to date. 

And finally....

Red Kite. Chris Raby

Another of CR's brilliant photographs, this one of the Red Kite....Appreciate these Chris.

The Brent Goose.

Dark-bellied Brent Goose. Courtesy of Stephen Foster.

On Tuesday I found two Dark-bellied Brent Geese Branta bernicla bernicla  (DBBG/BG), the first one at Knott End and another on Pilling Marsh later in the day. The Knott End bird surprised me for two reasons, firstly this bird was roosting on the beach at Knott End with Shelduck which I found rather odd if only because, like all other scarcer species of geese the BG are often to be found with Pink-footed Geese - as the Pilling Marsh bird was - though the least tied to them because of their more coastal distribution, and secondly, I hadn't realised the BG was actually smaller than the Shelduck....learning something new every day! 

The DBBG breeds on the Arctic coasts of central and western of Siberia, it is a long distance migrant with arguably the most energetically costly migrations of any other waterfowl species. The largest flock ever recorded in Lancashire was of up to 300 birds at Hundred End on the S.Ribble Marshes in late January 1929 with nothing remotely comparable to this record since. This remarkable record can be found in the notes of Clifford Oakes, and there appears to be no real indication that the status of the BG in Lancashire has changed much since the days of Oakes whose assessment of it was that of a 'sporadic visitor', an average of around 25 birds have been seen each winter since 1978/79 though this figure includes several sizable influxes the largest of which came in the winter of 1978/79 when 40 birds were recorded half of which were Pale-bellied Brent Geese Branta bernicla hrota, whereas the influx of 1990/91 involved 50 birds most of which were DBBG.

There is just one record of Black Brant Branta bernicla nigricans found in Lancashire, that of a bird on Pilling Marsh in mid December 1996, it stayed there until at least late February 1997.

And finally....

Brambling. Brian Rafferty

An excellent photograph of the smart Brambling to end the post with a splash of colour....Thanks for this Brian, much appreciated.