The Chats Have It....Again!

Thanks to Martin Jump for the excellent and appropriate header image for this post about the Stonechat. It is the view looking NE from Hawthornthwaite Fell to the eastern edge below Ward's Stone, with Mallowdale Fell taking centre stage.

I was in touch with John Callion regarding the 'Ward's Stone Chat', to ask if he had any wintering records for Cumbria that might dispel my claim that this was the highest altitude bird in our area if not England. If John didn't have the answer to this question, nobody else would....

'Many of the Stonechats that breed in the high fells tend to nest in the steep angular valleys that,  after the autumn and the onset of the low arc of the sun, become sunless and unsuitable for survival during the winter.

There are however some of the wider and shallow valleys that offer 'full sun' during the winter and retain territorial birds; to my knowledge they include the upper Mosedale valley near Skiddaw House, and upper Borrowdale at Dock Tarn. Both of these sites are around 400m asl, so not as high as the one you have in Bowland. There may be others, perhaps higher, but l have no knowledge of them, so l think it's fairly safe for you to suggest your bird is likely to be the highest that we have information for?' John Callion.

Map Courtesy of Simon Hawtin

During the summer, keen fell runner Simon had seen two Stonechat (Green) in the same area as the January Ward's Stone bird (Red), one of which may well have been a female to the male, thereby making an excellent 420m wintering pair. Perhaps if Simon can find a pair in the shadow of Ward's Stone on Tarnbrook Fell during this winter, we can then put an end to conjecture.

Stonechat Male. D.G.M'cGrath

Since 1 January, to date I've noted 35 Stonechats, recorded at 18 locations and mainly found on the FBC website, including an excellent 6 Stonechat at Lytham Moss 3 January. You just don't usually see six Stonechat at any one time in winter, and certainly not lowland/coastal birds. Thanks to Dave for this little beauty he found at Marton Mere. 

Wood Mouse.

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I've previously paid little or no attention to the Wood Mouse - sometimes referred to as Long Tailed Field Mouse - and had no idea it was probably the most common mammal in the UK.

From the B+W File.

Brown Hare in the long grass at Cockersand....Well, being I took the photograph, where else!

Stonechats Through The Roof.

With birding off the cards now, the March passage of Stonechat is almost certainly over, but there has been an excellent and unprecedented passage through Lancashire this year. I have noted up to 160 Stonechat in records collected throughout the month from the FBC website alone, which include a truly remarkable 91 Stonechat seen by AC as at 24 March, I reckon with this result he's the happiest birder in the UK. 

Looking back through the LDBWS Annual Reports over the past 10 years, the best counts of spring passage was of 74 Stonechat in 2015, and 54 Stonechat in 2018, both records to the end of March. The other 50% of records show no passage figures at all in these reports.

Stonechat. Paul Foster. Clik the pik

A few people have been in touch with me in the past few days, including Paul Foster who sent me this image of the Siberian Stonechat maurus, seen on his recent visit to Cyprus, Thanks Paul. Also thanks to Martin Jump for the header image of the displaying Great-crested Grebes. 

Garden Update.

Two Small Tortoiseshell and a Peacock. KT and I were treated to excellent views of not one but two Wood Mouse together, they were feeding on spilt bird seed for 15 minutes, watched from the patio window as we ate our tea....Great Stuff. 

Elton John is gifted with a singer/song writer talent ranked as one of the best in the world. He performed Yellow Brick Road with Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden, New York in 2000, in front of a capacity of almost 20,000. 

It follows Mr Blue Sky in it's attempt to get us all out of the black hole which is Covid-19....It did me, and this 4.45 mins did too....Music to uplift the spirits.

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