Another Flurry Of Excitement!

Most notable on my latest visit to Conder Pool, was the pair of Shoveler which were seen as nothing more than irregular here. Also of note, the lone Black-tailed Godwit, 6 Snipe, 82 Wigeon, 2 Little Grebe and a Little Egret.

On the Lune Estuary at Glasson, up to 3,250 Lapwing, 1,500 Wigeon, 325 Dunlin, 8 Black-tailed Godwit and a pair of Goosander. In the field north end of Jeremy Lane, 46 Whooper Swan, 78 Greylag, and 34 Canada Geese. As I drove down Jeremy Lane I saw a flock go down into a field to find them to be 15 Meadow Pipit.

At Cockersand, I estimate there to be up to 400 Whooper Swan, 50% of the count being in a field north of Hillam Lane at Cockerham, from where I saw c.1,250 Pink-footed Geese, these were seen as my best local count in our area this winter. In fields north side of Abbey Farm, 800 Golden Plover, 450 Lapwing, 14 Dunlin, and 6 Ringed Plover. Off Plover Scar, 32 Eider and 250 Wigeon, and as I reached the Caravan Park I saw 4 Reed Bunting.

There was a cold east wind in my face as I trundled along the headland, by the time I reached the car it had got the better of me and I had decided to call it a day. But hang on....all of a sudden, the wintering pair of Stonechat were foraging on and off the marsh, the Barn Owl again came out of the Caravan Park entrance as it had my last visit here, soon disappearing out of sight towards Bank End, soon followed by a female Marsh Harrier which disappeared in the same direction as the owl....Déjà vu

February 2024....Some of my sightings worthy of note.

Feb 7. 1st winter White-fronted Goose Conder Pool.

Feb 7. 700 Curlew Cockersand.

Feb 12. Spotted Redshank Conder Pool.

Feb 12. 8 Rock Pipit Cockersand.

Feb 19. 9 Avocet Lune Estuary Glasson.

Feb 26. 3,500 Black-tailed Godwit Conder Pool. 

Feb 26. 4 Cattle Egret Cockersand. Entering their 5th month stay in the area.

Two For The Price Of One!

I took advantage of decent days to get off my backside and get out again....Twice!

Wednesday 29 January. 

I covered the estuary starting at Conder Pool to note 5 Snipe, the same number of 5 Little Grebe and 3 Tufted Duck, but the best bird for my book was the Song Thrush below the hedgerow.

Notes from a 'relatively quiet' Lune Estuary at Glasson, up to 400 Golden Plover, 325 Wigeon, 3 Goosander, 450 Pink-footed Geese were at the south end of Colloway Marsh. Pick of the day was 4 Goldeneye seen as two drake and two female, these four represent my best count this winter....something wrong here!

I made a video of two Cormorant on the Lune Estuary today, but the birds were too distant for it to be any value for positive ID. But in a drastically cropped still from the video, one of the Cormorants was seen as suggestive to be a continental Sinensis, though good views of the gular pouch angle - not possible here - is the best way to be certain about this.

I have found Continental Cormorant twice on the canal basin at Glasson Dock, the first being seen 14 years ago in February 2011, when I was grateful to Stuart Piner for sending me this illustration for comparison of the gular pouch on both carbo and sinensis. The second almost to the day, was seen 5 years ago in February 2020. I was also grateful to Paul Ellis for his help in the 'suggestion' that my bird at Glasson was of the continental form.

En-route to Cockersand, at least 60 Fieldfare off Moss Lane, and probably up to 400 Whooper Swan were fragmented over five fields between Bank End Farm and Crook Farm. In fields around Abbey Farm, at least 1,500 Golden Plover were put to the wing with Curlew and Lapwing, probably by the wintering Merlin which I failed to latch on to. Eight Eider were off Plover Scar from where I saw 2 Greenfinch on a fence post.

Notes.

I make interesting notes about two species today. In my book, the Goldeneye is generally absent from our area this winter, the best count I've seen recently reported is of 17 Goldeneye on 12 January. My records reached a peak of 4 Goldeneye at Glasson this week on the Lune Estuary. 

As far as I can see, the winter thrushes are also in short supply in our area this winter too. My best count was of the c.60 Fieldfare seen along Moss Lane this Wednesday, my previous best was of 12 Fieldfare at Cockersand 9 January.

Thursday 30 January.

My intention was to go on the Stone Jetty at Morecambe, but I swiftly had a change of mind, and made a U-turn when I saw this from the landward end of the jetty....

Off Broadway, up to 60 Eider and 2 Red-breasted Merganser seen. At Teal Bay, there was a nice variety of 8 species of waders roosting on the groyne, including 10 Bar-tailed Godwit and a lone Golden Plover, 2 species of wildfowl, 26 Wigeon, 4 Pintail, and 2 Great-crested Grebe.

It was good to be close up and see the birds come to feed as soon as the tide started to ebb.

In The Garden.

I found a Pygmy Shrew on Wednesday, a first for our garden, and a Buzzard was excellent low over the house, with great views of underwing plumage detail in the sunlight.

Pygmy Shrew (Deceased) Pete Woodruff

When it is active, the Pygmy Shrew has to eat every 2/3 hours to survive, it lives little more than a year, long enough for it to have two litters producing up to 6 young....Shucks!

Sluggish Start To 2025!

Sluggish and little to report, but never any less the pleasure of birding for me.

The tide was well advanced when I arrived at Glasson on Thursday and had driven most of the waders off the estuary. But I noted a pair of Goosander, and it was good I saw two drake and a female Goldeneye, seen as the only three individuals found here this winter, and looking like a scarce bird for our area now. This despite its status being recorded 3 years ago in the LDBWS Annual Report as....'a fairly common visitor to the Lune at Glasson'....I doubt that the Goldeneye will be recorded as 'common' in the next report!

I couldn't resist a video of the ducks on a cold but beautiful January day, on a calm river in an attractive setting....Pump up the volume to hear 17 secs of 22 delightful whistling Wigeon.

There was nothing to report at Glasson Dock, until a Kingfisher flew across the canal basin toward the marina. Neither was there much action at Cockersand, but over a couple of hours here, it did turn out to be something of a mini raptor fest.

Although the high tide was a little under 10m, 4 Rock Pipit were pushed off the marsh and were on the shingle. There was up to 1,500 Golden Plover in fields, with 150 Curlew, and possibly 180 Whooper Swan scattered over three fields.

The raptor foursome started with views of a Barn Owl followed by a Merlin soon followed by a Buzzard.

The Little Owl was again basking in the sun on its favoured girder on the farm building at Bank Houses with a horse appearing to be on guard duty.

The Cockersand Barn Owl.

I had the same experience with the Barn Owl today as I had at the start of the year on 7 February, the account of which is copied here.... 

The Barn Owl took off from Bank Houses at the same time I started my circuit of Cockersand. It was in view for up to an hour as I walked along Moss Lane until I reached the Lighthouse Cottage at 2.25pm. In the hour, the owl crisscrossed every field in the area, and hunted along every ditch and hedgerow, diving to the ground at least six times without success, and perched on fence posts about the same number of times.

Thursdays sighting ended with views of the Barn Owl flying south toward Abbey Farm, I then picked up a female Merlin rocketing south across the same field to cause up to 2,000 Golden Plover/Lapwing/Curlew and Starling to panic. I myself panicked when I saw the Merlin mobbing the Barn Owl, but the pair disappeared behind bushes. I didn't see the Merlin again, but was sure the Barn Owl escaped the attentions of the raptor to take refuge at Abbey Farm.

And Finally.

In my inbox I received two brilliant images recently, both of which represent my appreciation and respect for the ability to freeze a moment in time with excellent photography. 

Goosander. Martin Jump.

This one from Martin shows the Goosander with the catch of an Eel and lookers on, one showing anger, and one with envy.

Blue Tit. Ian Mitchell.

This one of a Blue Tit coming in to land on Ian's garden feeders. Thanks Martin and Ian....Amazing stuff. 

Brent Geese, Sea-Ducks, And The Diver That Wasn't!

Heysham Geese.

The geese numbers at Heysham have been picking up, with a three figure count nearly reached recently. So I decided to pay a visit on Thursday, parking up on Knowleys Road and walking down to the promenade, the high tide was around 1.50pm which was 90 minutes away when I arrived.

It wasn't easy to initially get to grips with the count, they were weaving through the stones and boulders on the north shore.

But a couple of times disturbed and split, and the tide pushing the geese ever closer, I checked through at least four times, I eventually arrived at the count of 112 Brent Geese....'the highest count so far this winter'. Thanks to Malcolm Downham for some info regarding Brent Geese movement in the area earlier in the day.

Broadway Ducks.

My next move was to Morecambe to see if there was any sign of last weeks sea-ducks, but this time as opposed to flat calm sunny weather, there was a cold wind and a swell to contend with, and it wasn't going to be as easy to search, but I eventually latched on to 8 Common Scoter.

Common Scoter. Malcolm Downham.

My sighting was much further out into the bay than these, and with a bigger swell on the sea on Thursday, but almost certainly the same birds as MD's on 17 December off the Stone Jetty.

I later picked up a 1st winter female Scaup, again almost certainly my Wednesday 8 December bird.

Pine Lake Diver.

Great Northern Diver. Brian Rafferty.

My quest to find the Great Northern Diver at Pine Lake was a failure, the bird had moved on, but a little compensation came with a lone adult Whooper Swan, 5 Goldeneye, and a drake Goosander.

All in all a decent couple of hours, resulting in the best count this winter of Brent Geese at Heysham, and 8 Common Scoter, regarded as an erratic visitor to our recording area, and in my book, verging on a rarity to the inner Morecambe Bay.  

Of Geese And Swans....And A Skipper.

A bit depressing when I stepped onto the viewing platform at Conder Pool on Thursday, there was precisely five birds to be seen on the pool, and more noticeably not a Little Grebe in sight. Three Mute Swan were accompanied by a pure white farmyard goose and a Goosander, 2 Blackbird and a Robin were along the hedgerow. But a female Stonechat around the long grasses at the east end, pulled the experience out of the gloom for me.

Goldeneye January 2024. Pete Woodruff.

On the Lune Estuary at Glasson, it was good that I found my first 2 Goldeneye drake of the winter. Waders to note were, at least 2,500 Lapwing, 1,550 Golden Plover, 450 Dunlin, and 4 Black-tailed Godwit. Miscellany, 560 Wigeon, a Little Grebe, Great-crested Grebe, a drake Goosander, and a small flighty flock of 18 Goldfinch.

Geese And Swans.

Up to 900 geese in the field off Jeremy Lane by Saltcote Bridge pumping station, they were seen as 750 Greylag, 116 Canada Geese, and 34 Pink-footed Geese. At Cockersand, 425 Whooper Swan was the best count this winter, the bulk of which was in the field behind Crook Cottage, and they were in company with 2 Bewick's Swan.

Bewick's Swan Cockersand 12 December. Pete Woodruff. 

A sight we should relish and appreciate as a bird seen today as an uncommon and declining winter visitor in Lancashire. This bird seemed determined not to face me for a portrait, the other one was asleep to its left.

And A Skipper.

This is a copy from The Lancashire, Manchester and Merseyside Butterfly Report 2023....I have highlighted the relevant section. 

In some parts of the UK there has been a significant decline in the distribution of the Dingy Skipper and a moderate decline in its abundance, although recently this trend has in some cases been reversed. In Lancashire its distribution seems stable although the species is almost confined to the limestone pavement around Silverdale where it favours open patches of sparse vegetation and bare ground. It also continues in low numbers at Birk Bank and at its sole known site in Greater Manchester, a location unfortunately without public access, on a former coalfield. There have been no further reports from the location near Burnley where a single example was seen in 2018.

Dingy Skipper Janice Sutton (Butterfly Conservation Lanc's Branch)

With a mutual interest in Birk Bank and the surrounding area, Steve Graham and myself had a conversation about this report in 2023 and thought it was doubtful.

Below is a copy from the Lancashire Butterfly Conservation latest magazine, which carries proof that our doubts were well founded....Again I have highlighted the relevant section at the end.

Erratum.

The Lancashire, Manchester and Merseyside Butterfly Report 2023 reported the presence of Dingy Skipper at Birk Bank. However, concerns were raised over the validity of these records, and following a number of visits to the site and an appraisal of the habitat it has not been possible to verify the records of Dingy Skipper at this site and the records have been deleted.

Godwits And Plovers Hit The Fields.

Best sight of the day for me, was the Stonechat perched briefly on the post close to the viewing platform at Conder Pool....It says in my book, if you see a Stonechat get some footage if it!

Also on Conder Pool, 46 Mallard, 32 Wigeon, 4 Little Grebe, 3 Goosander, and a Snipe.

To note on the Lune Estuary, 348 geese were seen as last weeks 252 Greylag on Jeremy Lane, and 96 Canada Geese. Also, at least 300 Dunlin, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit, 450 Wigeon, and 2 Goosander.

Another great sight was c.500 Black-tailed Godwit in a field south end of Jeremy Lane, with a 'few' Curlew/Redshank/Lapwing/ and a lone Golden Plover.

Little Owl Cockersand. Pete Woodruff.

At Cockersand, nice to find another Stonechat behind Lighthouse Cottage, and nice to see the Little Owl sunning itself behind the barn at Bank Houses. 

In excess of 1,000 Golden Plover were scattered over three fields north and south of Abbey Farm, and by Cockersand Abbey. A wonderful sight, which would have looked even more wonderful in the sun, but waiting for it to come from behind the clouds didn't happen, so the ones with backs to the light, look more like Lapwing in the video!

A healthier number of c.113 Whooper Swan again at Cockersand and surrounding area, with 7 off Slack Lane, an uncounted estimate of a distant 50 from a moving car Thursland Hill area, and 56 Jeremy Lane.

Bird Of The Year.

Barred Warbler Conder Pool. Howard Stockdale.

I received some interesting data about the Barred Warbler on Conder Pool 19 November, including that it is thought to be the first ever to be photographed in the county of Lancashire. From a selection of images taken by Howard, one is to be used on the front cover of Lancashire Bird Report 2024....Many thanks for information from Howard Stockdale.

Little Owl.

My header of the Little Owl at Cockersand is the best I can manage at the distance with my standard Sony camera at 30x zoom. As a bird in serious decline, I know of no other Little Owl currently to be found in our recording area.  

Here & There!

I took advantage of the high pressure sitting over us recently, with a few sunny spells, and lot of murky damp days thrown in, for a little birding here and there.

A couple of hours on the lower slopes of Hawthornthwaite had me find 2 Stonechat, seen as a pair chasing flying insects, my first recorded wintering chats on the fells. Also, 8 Red Grouse were seen as an indication of a healthy stock, and fodder for the shooting industry with their sick Victorian attitudes towards game birds and wildlife as a whole....No apologies for my brief two-liner rant.

On my customary wander around the Lune Estuary on Thursday, notes from Conder Pool included 12 Wigeon, 6 Little Grebe, 2 Goosander, 2 Snipe, and a Little Egret. 

On the Lune Estuary at Glasson, up to 1,750 Golden Plover were a sight for sore eyes, they were lined up below Colloway Marsh and put the comment in my last post in to context, when I saw two forlorn plovers on the north side below the bowling green, 'it would have been more expected to have seen at least 1,000 Golden Plover across on the north side below Colloway Marsh'.

At Cockersand, 136 Whooper Swan in the field off Slack Lane were 110 more than my last count of 26 here, and with 110 seen at Braides (AC) the same day, brings the total in the area to 246 Whooper Swan looking more like the expected for mid-November.

Flying south, 25 Pink-footed Geese, and later as I joined the coastal path at Lighthouse Cottage in brilliant sunshine, up to 250 Pink-footed Geese were flying north over the estuary.

Just 15 minutes after I saw the geese flying north in the sunshine, this was the scene at Cockersand which got progressively worse as I trundled along the headland, and remained so until I arrived back in Lancaster an hour later.

Cockersand Mystery.

This photo was featured in my last post, it was taken on 29 October and depicts the Hawthorn hedge laden with berries waiting for the winter thrushes to arrive.

This photo was taken 16 days later, and shows the same hedge void of berries. Perhaps a few hundred undetected thrushes have visited in the space of 16 days, and striped the entire length of fruit!

And Finally. 

I found this impressive looking Fungus in Bowland last week.

The Blusher Amanita rubescens Pete Woodruff

Common throughout much of Europe and Asia, and not quite the status I was hoping for....

Autumn Beech Tree. Pete Woodruff.

....but made a pretty picture on the carpet of autumn leaves below a stunning Beech near Tower Lodge.

And Finally....An Owl At Cockersand.

It was good to find 2 Grey Wagtail on Conder Pool yesterday, they were collecting insects on the tern raft for several minutes, and according to another birder had been doing so earlier in the day when he called in. A rare sight, I don't recall the last time I saw Grey Wagtail on Conder Pool. Other notes from a stock taking exercise, 112 Mallard, 45 Wigeon, 2 Tufted Duck, 5 Goosander, 10 Little Grebe, and a Grey Heron.

On the Lune Estuary, up to 2,000 Black-tailed Godwit, half the number disturbed and flying downstream, with a 'white' individual amongst them but not discernible in the video. An adult Mediterranean Gull was ringed on the left leg, unreadable at the distance, but looked white or possibly very pale green with a metal ring on the right leg, otherwise gull and wader numbers were low.

At Cockersand, despite the effort made for a circuit, there was little to report, and the 13 Whooper Swans of 10 October obviously decided to move on. However, I did manage to log 3 raptor species, with a Buzzard atop of a telegraph pole, a Kestrel which thought it was a Merlin zipping at a metre height over a stubble field before hovering, and a Sparrowhawk. As I left Cockersand, a Barn Owl flew across the road in front of the car and over the Bank Houses paddock.  

Little Owl.

In company with Andrew Cornall on Monday, Ian Mitchell had good views of the Little Owl in residence at Cockersand, and in the circumstances with poor light, achieved a decent image of the bird....Thanks for this Ian, it is much appreciated.

Little Owl. Ian Mitchell.

According to my records, this is the first record of Little Owl at Cockersand for 10 years, with one last seen at Bank Houses 10 November 2014. I also found a Little Owl at Abbey Farm on 31 October 2014, at the time I thought this was the Bank Houses bird having a day out as I had never found one at the farm ever before or since.

Little Owl 10 July 2020. Pete Woodruff.

This Little Owl was a surprise find at the junction of Green Lane and the Kirkby Lonsdale Road 4 years ago. I managed this grab shot from my car with traffic behind me....I've not seen a Little Owl anywhere else since.

Short List High Counts....Well Two Counts!

I managed a couple of decent estuary counts this week in an area I'm slowly becoming familiar with.

Conder Pool.

With the usual difficulty of counting birds on the surface one minute and diving the next, after several attempts I eventually arrived at 20 Little Grebe. This is not an all time personal highest count, last year I had 22 Little Grebe here 24 September. But both my records pale into insignificance, with 32 reported at Conder Green 3 years ago on 25 September 2021, a record I'm not holding my breath to be beaten by anyone any time soon.

Other notes from Conder Pool, 8 Greenshank, 2 Snipe, and 2 Wigeon were my first of the winter, also c.50 Swallow flew through with some taking on water.

Not many opportunities for piks today, so I grabbed the chance of 6 Greenshank with one of the vanguard Wigeon putting in an appearance.

Lune Estuary.

From the bowling green at Glasson Dock, I picked out 11 Mediterranean Gull in reasonably close proximity. This was certainly a personal best ever count here on the Lune Estuary and was followed by the decent count of up to 550 Golden Plover which can be compared to the Morecambe Bay WeBS count of just 205 Golden Plover in September 2023....Lancashire Bird Report 2023

Also in my notes from the Lune Estuary, 2 Greenshank, 12 Wigeon, and 2 Goosander.

Two Peregrine Falcon were at the south end of Colloway Marsh - two distant dots in the video - one of which took to the wing to fail miserably at taking out one of two Lapwing as an easy choice for a meal, before returning to the spot in the video where I first found it.

A short walk along the canal to Saltcote Pond and return to Glasson, had me see a surprise Migrant Hawker on the coastal path, it was patrolling trees at a height of 6 metres in 14°c and dull, cloudy, and breezy conditions, probably my last of the year.

Mystery bird in my kitchen?

On Tuesday afternoon, Lynn Woodruff walked into her kitchen at Brookhouse to be confronted by the surprise of a lifetime. I subsequently received an e-mail with a phone photo attached, the title being 'Mystery bird in my kitchen?'....No mystery to me as it was instantly recognisable as a Wheatear.

Wheatear. Lynn Woodruff.

In Lynn's absence, the bird had flown in through the open kitchen door. In a panic Lynn also opened the windows, but the bird eventually escaped flying back out through the door to freedom. But the bad news about this little tale, the bird appears to have a length of string attached to its leg. How come you ask yourself, and why on earth did a Wheatear find itself trapped in a house and perched on a pressure cooker on a shelf in Brookhouse?

The Breeding Pool!

It was my first visit to Conder Green in a month, and good to get my eyes in on Conder Pool again to find breeding activity on an industrial scale....At least 350 birds on here today.

It's difficult to priorities my observations, but with a personal count of 18 Avocet, a pair with three chicks little more than a day out of the nest took the prime spot, soon followed by a pair of Avocet mating, also noted 4 colour ringed birds.

My count was 15 Common Tern back on Conder Pool, with as many as 18 recorded recently including ringed birds, I also observed a mating pair. Five Little Ringed Plover seen, with more mating seen between these little beauties.

A 1st summer Mediterranean Gull, which was seen collecting nesting material, at one point I saw it with a twig up to a foot long in its bill. In the video, watch the Little Ringed Plover fly into the upper right of the frame.

There are at least 130 nests occupied by Black-headed Gull, a pair of Redshank were also added to the list of 5 species of mating pairs seen today. A lone Wigeon was worthy of note, a drake which appears to be going to summer on Conder Pool.

I've recently managed to get three videos of Mediterranean Gull on Conder Pool, including one on 12 April and two this visit, when 2 Little Ringed Plover came into view....Watch for this one in centre frame.

A wander around the area produced a Goosander with seven chicks which nearly escaped me as they swam upstream and out of view on the River Conder. A Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler were from the canal towpath, from where I saw 6 Large White and 5 Orange Tip.

Common Tern.

Some interesting data about four of the Common Terns currently on Conder Pool. 

One was ringed in Senegal in 2005 as an adult, this bird bred at Conder Green in 2023, and at Preston Dock before that. One was ringed as a chick at Shotton, Flintshire in 2017, and two were ringed as chicks in Teeside 2016 and 2021....Ian Hartley LDBWS

Canal Interest.

Banded Demoiselle Marc Heath

A short walk along the canal towpath at Barton yesterday produced 3 Banded Demoiselle, average first appearances in Lancashire 17 May, seen as 2 male and a female, also up to 20 Blue-tailed Damselfly, average first appearance noted to be 7 May, though in favourably warm springs they can emerge in late April, with one seen 24 April 2011.

Garden Interest.

14-Spot Ladybird. Pete Woodruff.

The Ladybird spectacularly named Propylea quattuordecimpunctata in the garden yesterday. The insect below left is presumed to be one of the leaf beetles of the family Chrysomelidae.

The Birds And Bees!

Pintail Williamson's Park. Pete Woodruff.

Having been surprised to find a drake Pintail on the pond in Williamson's Park on 6 March. I was later reliably informed of one being seen recently on the canal in Lancaster. Thinking this was almost certainly one and the same bird I went off to take a look, but was disappointed not to find the bird where it had been reported.

As a bit of compensation for dipping on the Pintail, a pair of Goosander were on the canal in the Moor Lane area.

A mosey around Williamson's Park was rewarded by my first 2 Chiffchaff of the year, also Nuthatch, a Goldcrest, and several singing Robin. The Standen Park Rook colony have built at least 15 nests, and I found my first Red Admiral of the year.

I'm grateful to Howard Stockdale for his header image of the Spotted Redshank which is currently being being seen in the creeks at Conder Green. I have seen this bird at least three times over the past weeks but always on the Lune Estuary, which is where I repeatedly keep seeing the Avocets, but not on Conder Pool where the best count to date has been twenty five.

Also interesting on Conder Pool, 2 Mediterranean Gull reported including a colour ringed bird. The two beauties in the video are an adult and 2nd summer that I found here 25 June 2019.

..............................................................

Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum. Pete Woodruff.

With a slowly developing interest in bees, in particular the Bombus Bumblebees. I was drawn to an interesting and worrying article in the Lune Valley Beekeepers January Newsletter, from which this is an extract....  

Cruiser SB.

Ban use of bee-killing pesticide in the UK, business chiefs tell government. The UK government should stop ignoring the science and block a bee-killing pesticide from being used, business leaders have said. 

The neonicotinoid pesticide Cruiser SB is used on sugar beet and is highly toxic to bees. It is banned in the EU but the UK has provisionally agreed to its emergency use every year since leaving the bloc. In 2017, the then environment secretary, Michael Gove, promised to use Brexit to ban all neonicotinoids. 

Government scientific advisers said in September they were not able to support an authorisation for Cruiser SB, because the “potential adverse effects to honeybees and other pollinators outweigh the likely benefits.”

Now a group of businesses that depend on pollinators, including some farmers and those who use botanicals in their products, have said the government must heed their advice and not allow bee-killing pesticides to be used. 

In a letter to Mark Spencer the farming minister, Anabel Kindersley the chief executive of Neal’s Yard Remedies, Tim Mead the head of Yeo Valley, as well as the boards of Lush and the Body Shop have all asked him to block Cruiser SB from use. “We need to listen to the scientists. Excessive pesticide use is killing our bees and other essential insect species that we rely on for a healthy, safe and clean environment,” they wrote. 

A single teaspoon of neonicotinoid is enough to deliver a lethal dose to 1.25bn bees. One-third of the UK bee population has disappeared in the last decade, and since 1900 the UK has lost 13 out of 35 native bee species.

New Arrivals....Long Stayers.

Monday wasn't quite the day I was hoping for weather-wise, with grey skies and a chilly wind, because of which I abandoned my planned traditional circuit of Cockersand, to backtrack to Glasson for my second look at the Lune Estuary and Conder Pool.

On the Lune Estuary at Glasson, three sightings in particular grabbed my attention, 1) 9 Avocet were feeding in a tight group with bills sweeping side to side, before flying off upstream to disappear from view, 2) the huge number of up to 3,500 Black-tailed Godwit seen on the Lune Estuary today, seems to continue increasing apace, with an all time record of 4,600 reported here on Sunday 18 February LDBWS, 3) a leucistic Dunlin was seen briefly with a few other waders before soon flying off, unfortunately no camera at the ready to record the little beauty. Also to note, at least 350 Redshank and 75 Golden Plover. 

With a hair cut and other management work since my last visit 7 days ago, on Conder Pool a good record was of a pair of Shoveler at best irregular here, c.120 Black-headed Gull have certainly taking a liking to the new look landscape, no doubt in due course many of them will take over and dominate the islands to breed. Also noted, 45 Teal, 36 Redshank, 24 Snipe, 4 Curlew, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Little Grebe, a Greenshank and Goosander.  

Garden Birds.

Robin. Pete Woodruff.

Best news from the garden, we had 2 Robin yesterday 20 February, with much interaction between them, 2 male/2 female/a pair....who knows! A Siskin has made three appearances since the first female seen 9 February, and we also have 2 Dunnock and a Wren visiting regularly.

Young Garden Dunnock. Pete Woodruff.

Hoping the Dunnock breeds again in the garden this year as they have in the past.

Stonechat.

To add to the 6 Stonechat seen at Fairhaven Dunes on 13 February FBC, it's beginning to look like the spring passage has taken off, and I agree that 4 seen at Fluke Hall by AC on Monday were definitely a start to the spring passage of the Stonechat.

The Header.

The 4 Cattle Egret found in the field opposite Lighthouse Cottage on 25 October 2023, are still being seen in the area and are now 4 days short of their 4 month stay. Many Thanks to Howard Stockdale for the excellent header image of one of them.

Conder Pool Shank Day!

Over the hour I spent at Conder Pool, up to 650 Redshank assembled there to escape and seek refuge from the high tide surge. I was chuffed to have found another personal all time record on Monday, and I became even more chuffed to find the Spotted Redshank and a Greenshank in the pack, a lone Black-tailed Godwit was also present. Also to note, 75 Wigeon, 4 Goosander, 5 Little Grebe, 3 Snipe, and 3 Tufted Duck. An Oystercatcher appears to have taken a liking to the old square pontoon, early days but perhaps planning on breeding there as it has in the past.

As I approached the junction of Jeremy Lane/Moss Lane, 3 Cattle Egret and 4 Little Egret were in the field accompanied by several hundred gulls.

 

At Cockersand, only a small patch of Plover Scar was visible above the high tide, and little joy on the circuit especially in a bit of a howler on the headland. I was surprised to find the fields deserted of waders at the height of a 10.30 metre tide, and I found not a single Stonechat, but it was good to find 8 Rock Pipit on the shingle as the tide dropped.

Sand Hopper.

Sand Hopper. Pete Woodruff.

Following on from finding Rock Pipits on the shingle at Cockersand, I made an interesting discovery when I found an abundance of Talitrus saltator on and around the same area of shingle. With some afterthought I'm convinced the 8 Rock Pipits, which were in close proximity of each other, were feeding on them.

Summer Visitors.

The first migrants have arrived on UK soil with a Wheatear seen 6 February in Shropshire, and a Sand Martin seen 10 February in Kent. And I have a suspicion that the Stonechat spring passage has taken off with 6 Stonechat seen at Fairhaven Dunes on 13 February....Thanks to AC for passing on to me this excellent news.

And Finally.

Didn't get any piks today, so struggling for a header I thought the ferry 15 minutes out of Heysham and into the Irish Sea, made a cool shot.

....And More Spectacular Numbers!

Following my disappointing last visit to Conder Green on 30 January. Conder Pool reclaimed its first place in the title race for best local birding site of its kind on Wednesday when I found the 1st winter Russian White-fronted Goose there with 82 Greylag.

The Conder Pool grebes are dispersing, with just 3 Little Grebe seen today. They usually start to move off the pool and into the creeks in January, then on to the River Lune before disappearing for the summer. Also to note, 17 Wigeon, and 12 Tufted Duck. As a note of interest, the hedge along the canal towpath between The Mill and Glasson, which in part runs along the back of Conder Pool, is being laid. 

Notes from the Lune Estuary at Glasson, at least 3,250 Black-tailed Godwit, a Greenshank, a relatively low count of 120 Golden Plover, 5 Goldeneye, and a drake Goosander. 

From a moving car along Moss Lane, c.25 Fieldfare. At Cockersand, everything I found today was seen at the caravan park end, and included just one female Stonechat seen on the marsh, but Ian Mitchell reported a pair by Lighthouse Cottage.

Together with excellent views of a Barn Owl, I had the pleasure of a Merlin rocketing over the marsh, and later a Hen Harrier ring-tail. A flighty flock of c.50 Linnet, 4 Reed Bunting, and a lone Greenfinch. My best ever count of at least 700 Curlew were seen, with 250 in the field behind Lower Bank House, and at least 450 on the mud south side of the Cocker Estuary. 

I have repeatedly said, this is by far the best area to find large numbers of Curlew, and doesn't reflect the Red Listed status of the species around the Cockersand/Cocker Estuary area. My other best ever count of the day, was of the 3,250 Black-tailed Godwit on the Lune Estuary....Seen as another magical moment for me. 

Garden Siskin.

Siskin. Mike Atkinson.

It was a pleasure for the Woodruff's to see a female Siskin on a feeder in the garden on Thursday. Only the fourth such sighting in 14 years living here....Yes it's a bit scarce in Lancaster!

Thanks for Mike Atkinson for the image, which added some interest and colour to B2B.

Disturbance.

A site of SSSI is a formal conservation designation. Usually it describes an area that is of particular interest to science due to the rare species of fauna and flora it contains.

I initially decided not to publish this picture of a man out on Plover Scar, complete with camera and mutt. But following conversations I've had about unnecessary disturbance, including the Barn Owl/s at Cockersand which have attracted much attention from people who should know better. I'm prompted to publish it now to give some publicity to bird disturbance. 

This 'photographer' was joined on Wednesday by someone with two more mutts, all trampling across the recent Snow Bunting territory on Plover Scar, and much worse was followed by 'two people' with a 4 wheel drive and trailer with a Punt Gun almost at the foot of the lighthouse, a positively vile weapon capable of killing large numbers of wildfowl with a single shot....This area is in one such SSSI.