Stonechat Data July - September.

The status of the Stonechat in our recording area, is that of 'a breeding bird on the lower slopes of the Bowland Fells'....The Birds of Lancaster & District 2020, and 'a fairly common, increasing breeding bird in upland and coastal areas....Lancashire Bird Report 2021.

In 2022 I have continued to collect Stonechat records as a personal interest. The data through the third quarter July - September is sourced in the main from the Fylde Bird Club (13) LDBWS (6) Andrew Cornall (4), and to a lesser extent these days my own (4), and amounts to 27 records.

The records excluding two, are from breeding territories, some of which I find to be lowland breeders, the most interesting of which was a male and female Stonechat carrying food on Winmarleigh Moss in June, and an adult Stonechat with 2 juvenile at Blackpool Airport in July. 

But two records in the breeding season to intrigue me the most were....

A male at Conder Green 26 May. 

A female at Heysham Head 17 June.

I've never seen Stonechat at Conder Green or Heysham Head in the summer months, neither have I ever seen records from these two sites. 

I've been off the road this past 11 days and had more time to study the history of the Stonechat in our recording area and be reminded of some startling facts about this and some other birds in our area between 1959 - 1998 LDBWS Annual Reports, and to note some dramatic changes and losses over the years.

Although these records start 63 years ago, by todays standards, I find some of them verging on the unbelievable, in particular the Stonechat records just 25 years ago up to 1997. 

Stonechat.

1959. A rare visitor, no evidence of breeding.

1964. No birds seen during the summer months.

1970/72/73. Bred successfully at Heysham.

1975. Pair at Halton Park, 5 pairs Clougha, pair at Marshaw, male at Sizergh Castle, female at Bailrigg.

1978. Four males and females with four juveniles at Heysham Harbour appeared to be migrants.

1979. No breeding records, a few winter period records.

1987. No reports from anywhere in the region.

1988. Irregular breeder at one site.

1989. Pair bred at Heysham.

1990/91/96/97. No breeding pairs discovered.

1998. Males in the Trough of Bowland and at Langden suggest breeding.

It is hard to believe, this last record above reads, these two males were the only Stonechats recorded, and that no other records were received in 1998. The following year in 1999, saw the beginning of a dramatic upturn in the fortunes of the Stonechat, which I started to monitor in that year, and which continued for up to 12 years, until the Stonechats endured two severe winters, which sent them back to the kind of depressing numbers of 1998.  

Some other bird species from the archives make interesting reading, and if you are a local birder, three of them again verge on the unbelievable* 

Nightjar. 

*15/20 pairs on Warton Crag 1959. Breeds at Quernmore, Warton, Yealand, Silverdale, Bentham, several Arnside Knot 1960. After 1991 the Nightjar was never mention again in the reports.

Yellow Wagtail.

*With 32 Yellow Wagtail per hour passing Arkholme Viaduct and 30 at Heversham sewage works in 1978....Sounds like a printing error by todays status of a 'scarce and declining breeding bird' in the 2020 report, which reads 'yet again no breeding pairs in our area'.

Whinchat.

*In 1989 a large concentration of up to 40 Whinchat, seen as 20 pairs in the Langden area of Bowland.

Ortolan Bunting.

In 1965 a pair of Ortolan Bunting at Conder Green was not verified. 

Cirl Bunting.

In 1968 up to 4 Cirl Bunting seen at Conder Green was not verified.

Little Egret.

An adult Little Egret on 25 May 1970 was the first record for the area.

And Finally.

Comma. Pete Woodruff.

I don't recall ever seeing a Comma butterfly in October, but this one was initially found in the house on Wednesday. I suspect it arrived in a bunch of garden flowers brought for KT. Having captured it in cupped hands, it remained on her finger by the kitchen door for a few minutes before flying off.   

Dale And Moor.

On my third visit to Barbondale on Monday, I found 5 Pied Flycatcher though I saw not a single male, and the same number of 5 Redstart, these were all male. Three Treecreeper included a young bird being feed, a Jay and Mistle Thrush were also of note. 

Green Woodpecker Jan Larsson

A Green Woodpecker was the first bird I saw on this visit, short of a records search my first one in probably two or even three years. I've so far not seen nor even heard a Tree Pipit here this year.

I did little lingering at Barbondale this time and was gone in two hours as I wanted to pay a visit to the Newby area near Clapham from where I left very disappointed to find no Stonechat despite a three hour search. This was another Stonechat stronghold from the beginning of 2000 after I started to see them here in the late 1990's, until the harsh winter saw them off, my last record was on 9 April 2010. Five years on and still no return.

As another species always to be seen here, I was also disappointed to find no Sedge Warbler today, but noted 10 Meadow Pipit, 5 Reed Bunting, 4 Willow Warbler, 2 Song Thrush, and probably up to 30 Lapwing were in one field. At Clapham railway station, a Spotted Flycatcher was in trees overhanging the River Wenning, a Grey Wagtail and Coal Tit seen, and a 'few' House Martin always around here annually. 

Nightjar. 

Nightjar Simon Hawtin 

On last Friday evening 5 May, a Nightjar was reported singing NW of Clitheroe at Bashall Eaves near Blackhill Wood but there has been no sign/sound since....Excellent and some record.

Thanks to Jan for the Green Woodpecker, and to Simon for his image of a bird he found on his garden fence one summers evening some years ago....WOW!!  

Along came the spider.



The Ladybird Spider (LS) was for many years thought to be extinct in the UK, but in the 1980's a colony was discovered still clinging on. It is a truly amazing creature not only because of its bright red body and four black spots giving rise to its name of LS, but also because it is a creature which leads a fascinating life, not least because they spend most of the time underground where they create silk canopies decorated with the remains of other spiders, ants, and beetles they have previously eaten.

Today conservationists are giving the LS a helping hand by releasing some into one of the most diverse insect and spider habitats in the country at Arne RSPB Reserve in Dorset. These creatures will be yet another addition to a reserve which already plays host to a number of rare insect and spider species which includes....

Silver-studded Blue. Steven Cheshire

The threatened Silver-studded Blue butterfly, and....

Roesel's Bush Cricket. Nick Gadenne 

The Roesel's Bush Cricket which was only discovered at Arne last year, it is quite rare and formerly found only in coastal areas of the south east.

The most interesting and intriguing aspect of all this is the method being used to transfer the LS's which is in empty plastic mineral water bottles, they are apparently the right shape and size for the spiders to make their nests in, they were captured in the heather and moss filled bottles, and having settled in and made their webs, they will be buried in holes in the ground at their new home at Arne.

Being the heathland specialist it is, the LS - along with birds like the Dartford Warbler and Nightjar - has suffered over the years from the loss of its heathland habitat through destruction. More than 90% of lowland heathland has been lost to such things as commercial forestry, development, and agriculture.

So....lots of fingers crossed at this project and the attempt to save the LS.

Last week will go down in my book as the worst for some time and for one reason or another I've done no birding since the exceptionally good and rewarding day I had last Tuesday in the Marshaw/Tower Lodge area in Bowland. I have a feeling if I continue to have these spells of no birding - five days now - and follow the trend of non-bird related posts, there's going to be the need to change the title of Birds2blog to maybe....Wildlife2blog!!

Moorland Fires.

Twite. Phil Slade.



With the recent moorland wildfires - and the risk of more, especially if this dry weather continues - we're finding more and more open access areas closed in the attempt to minimise the risks. These fires will have undoubtedly affected many species including the Nightjar, Dartford Warbler, and Woodlark. Heathland in the South of England is important for these birds and fires in other parts of the UK will without doubt have affected lots of ground-nesting birds.

One bird to single out of all this is the Twite which could have seen a large percentage of this species affected in the North of England where nesting Twite are confined to the South Pennines, where around 100 pairs nest in small colonies. These birds used to occur much more widely in England, but for varying reasons they have declined, but have hung on to this area because of the abundance of hay meadows rich in seeds. It is thought that these recent fires could have affected more than a third of the English population, and this a bird seen as one of the most threatened species in the country even without these devastating fires.

We've been having some rain in the past couple of days, lets hope this has dampened down the tinder dry moorlands, grasslands, and heaths and that the breeding season can continue in the safety of fire free areas like these.

And finally....

Common Flameback. Kah Wai

A pretty smart looking woodpecker with a name which does the bird no justice in my opinion, seen on a recent visit by Kah Wai to Malim Nawar in Malaysia, with an excellent video below in which Kah Wai describes the bird seen nest excavating as 'cool' and quite rightly so. 

 

Cumbria Birds....

....of thirty years ago, but first....

Steam Crane. Peter Guy.

Another remarkable and interesting photograph of the old steam crane at Lamb Hill Quarry on the moors of the Forest of Bowland and all that remains of the stone extraction for the construction of the dam at Stocks Reservoir. I'd wager the average birder/visitor to Birds2blog didn't know about this piece of history....I certainly didn't. Thanks for this Peter, the second the the two B/W photographs you sent me recently for which I'm truly grateful.

Well, they say something good comes out of everything in varying degrees and I suppose my currently being 'off the road' gave me the opportunity to do some searching through old records to come up with something of interest from our neighbouring county of Cumbria thirty years ago. I know little detail of the birds of Cumbria today but was intrigued to find the following records/notes from 1979 when Cumbria was broken down into five areas for the purpose of recording. Randomly but systematically chosen with varying degrees of interest some of which can be regarded as 'very interesting' making you realise how things have changed both locally and nationally.

Black-throated Diver. Five records one of which stood out as being seen 2 March on the River Kent at Watercrook, Kendal inside the town boundary.

White Stork. At Brocklebank, Wigton, 3-6 June regularly seen roosting on a chimney.

King Eider. A male seen 10-23 June, South Walney B.O.

Hen Harrier. Bred at two sites in Cumbria for the first time in many years.

Black Grouse. Breeding recorded in all districts with single birds in possibly new sites.

Dotterel. A pair bred successfully on a Cumbrian site.

Temminck's Stint. At Hodbarrow 17 May. The record also reads, quote....'The last Cumbrian record quoted in R. Stokoe's 'The Birds of the Lake Counties' was September 1891.

Baird's Sandpiper. Arnside Marsh 25-30 September. The bird - a first for Cumbria - was seen by many observers and was flushed by a male Peregrine Falcon one day.

Nightjar. One seen in May at Heversham Marsh was the only record.

Yellow Wagtail. On 17 April, 25 seen at Tarn House Tarn, on 5 May, 20 at Kendal Sewage Works, on 29 August, c.30 at Killington Reservoir roost.

Stonechat. A note reads....The hard winter produced a notable decrease in most areas especially on inland sites where many were deserted in the breeding season.

Ring Ouzel. Breeding recorded in all five districts.

Willow Tit. A note reads....Still regular in woodland around Carlisle e.g. High Stand. No records from the south of the county.

Nutcracker. Two records one of which was accepted by BBRC and was seen on 22 October 1978 at Fallow Park, Bowness-on-Windermere and was the first record for Cumbria. The second record is of a bird seen on 1 December 1979 by the warden and four other observers at South Walney B.O.

Two-barred Crossbill. A female seen on 10 August at the southern end of Lake Thirlmere by an observer with experience of this species.

All interesting stuff and I personally wonder just how much things will have changed with at least seven of these fifteen records in the thirty years since they were collected in Cumbria in 1979.

I'D SOONER BE BIRDING!