Good Afternoon....The Sequel.

Not only did Paul West find 45+ Little Egret on Conder Pool 13 August, but he also achieved an excellent image of this all time highest record of the species for this amazing location....Paul West Photography

Conder Pool. 

Conder Pool 19 August. Pete Woodruff.

I think it's possible the water level at Conder Pool is lower than I have ever seen before, but it took nothing away from the enjoyment of seeing a decent number of eight species of birds.

Although they seem to have favoured the backside of one of the islands on my last two visits, I counted 18 Common Tern on view, seen as 14 adult and 4 juvenile. Up to 450 Redshank were present this visit, 6 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Ruff and 4 Dunlin made a total of 463 waders today. Also 18 Little Grebe was my best count so far this period heading into winter, and 25 Greylag. Two female Wigeon were the vanguard of winter visitors I reckon. A Small Tortoiseshell put in an appearance.

Saltcote Pond.

Common Hawker. Pete Woodruff.

A Common Hawker was obliging and settled for pictures. Also an Emperor Dragonfly, a Brown Hawker, 5 Common Darter, and 2 Speckled Wood seen.

Glasson Canal Towpath.

A brief visit to the canal towpath was rewarded by a Clouded Yellow butterfly.

Clouded Yellow. Pete Woodruff.

Though the butterfly was in pristine condition, it wasn't at all obliging.

The minute I got close for pictures....we have lift off! 

Bank End.

A return to Bank End to meet AC and find 5 Yellow Wagtail was well worth the effort. Thanks for the Stonechat record at Cockers Dyke on Friday, I always love to find a Stonechat, and I know you do too Andrew.

Birk Bank.

Common Lizard Birk Bank Bog August 19. Pete Woodruff.

Best reward for the visit to the bog at Birk Bank was a Common Lizard. I have seen few reports from here since the new boardwalk was installed, and I've previously only had brief views of one. Only 4 Common Darter seen today was a bit disappointing.

Sundew Birk Bank 19 August. Pete Woodruff.

In seeing the tracks through the bog left by the heavy machinery during the erection of the new boardwalk, I had thought it was goodbye to the Sundew, so it was great to find several clusters of it today. 

Over the hour spent here, I saw 9 Buzzard, including a family of five soaring and mewing together, and a Peregrine Falcon picked up high and drifting, went into a stoop to disappear below Birk Bank ridge....A good afternoon Part 2

Lady In The Garden.

A stunning Painted Lady paid a visit to our garden yesterday, in pristine condition, it spent a long period on the Alium coming and going throughout the afternoon.

Painted Lady. Pete Woodruff.

Waders And Wagtails.

But first some news about the Conder Pool Common Terns, including some behaviour by an adult Common Tern towards a chick, and some other behavioral traits I've never observed before.

In the video below, the adult tern perched at the far left hand of the raft, suddenly pounces on the chick and appears to stab at it with its bill before it escapes and runs off. 

 

 

I made the following trimmed video at half speed where the aggression by the adult is more obvious.

This attack by the adult tern isn't the only odd behavior surrounding these birds. I met Ian Hartley who gave me some news about young chicks gone missing and some dead which he had removed from the raft earlier. This prompts the suspected cause to be starvation, or in the case of those missing from the raft, a Barn Owl which daily hunts Conder Pool, and has done for some time now.

There has been a lot of mayhem in the colony recently, with chicks fighting each other and various adults over fish. In one incident, the 'wrong' chick grabbed a fish and the adult snatched it back and flew off before the chick could spit it out. There's been some chick mortality recently, perhaps because of all the competition over food coming in. Some good news to follow all this, is that 16 Common Tern chicks were still alive as at Friday, so we can hopefully expect they can all make it from here on.

For providing me with the news about the state of play and the update regarding the Common Terns, I'm very grateful to Ian Hartley. 

Conder Pool.

  

I'm recording 34 Common Tern on Conder Pool Wednesday 29 July, seen as 24 adult and 16 chicks/young. Also here, in excess of 1,000 Redshank, 21 Greenshank, 14 Common Sandpiper, 7 Avocet, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Little Egret, and I made a count of 12 Little Grebe, this seems to be an early build up in winter numbers so early at the end of July. 

Bank End.

I had messaged Andrew (Wagtail) Cornell earlier to ask if he was at Bank End, and arranged to meet up with him around 1.00pm. It was a pleasant meeting with Andrew, and resulted in my seeing 6 Yellow Wagtail off Bank End Farm.

And Finally....

Some lovely bees, butterflies, moths and hovers in the garden recently, and an uninvited and unwanted gate crasher....All images Pete Woodruff.

Common Carder Bee

Comma

Silver Y

Volucella zonaria

The Volucella zonaria is a Hornet Mimic Hoverfly, migratory from the Mediterranean, and is the largest hoverfly to be found in the UK. 

NOT TODAY THANK YOU!

Reviewing 2025.

I enjoyed flicking through the little black book for some highlights of birds found or seen through 2025. It was never going to be regarded as a spectacular year, but at least it resulted in getting much more of a fix from my birding than anything else.

* Excellent species and or location records....Photos & Video Pete Woodruff.

January

15  Bullfinch pair Lanc's Cemetery *

17  Common Scoter Stone Jetty M'cbe

17  Scaup Broadway M'cbe

25  Blackcap male home garden *

February

13  Hen Harrier male C'sand

18/ 27 Marsh Harrier female C'sand

March

6  Tundra Bean Goose with c.5,000 Pink-footed Geese C'sand *

12  Barnacle Goose Conder Pool *

12  March Harrier C'sand

12  Whooper Swan c.500 C'sand *

19  Hen Harrier in flight N>S over Moss Lane C'sand

20  Bullfinch 2xmale/female Lanc's cemetery *

24  Mediterranean Gull adult/Little Ringed Plover Conder Pool

26  Spotted Redshank Conder Pool

April

9  Garden Warbler Crag Wood early record *

11  Ring Ouzel female Hawthornthwaite *

29  Willow Warbler at least 50 Birk Bank circuit

29  Bullfinch 2/Cuckoo 2 Birk Bank *

May

7  Crossbill 15 Tower Lodge Bowland *

18 Cetti's Warbler Glasson

28 May Little Gull 2 x 2nd summer Conder Pool *

June

25 June 7 of 17 Mediterranean Gull Conder Pool *

July

9 Swift at least 20 Fairfield Lanc's

August

6 Green Woodpecker Birk Bank *

20 Yellow Wagtail 2 Conder Pool * 

22 Ruff 20/Wood Sandpiper Heversham Moss

28 Ruff 19/Green Sandpiper Conder Pool *

September

5 Greenshank 32 Conder Pool *

9 Curlew Sandpiper Lune Estuary

25 Crossbill pair Ottergear Bridge *

October

8 Oct 9 of 18  Whooper Swan Conder Pool *

30 Merlin male C'sand

November

12 Snow Bunting 2 C'sand

20 November Bewick's Swan 2 Slack Lane C'sand *

24 Pintail drake Conder Pool

24 Pink-footed Geese c.3,500 Slack Lane C'sand

25 November Barnacle Goose Lune Estuary *

December

23 Brent Geese 52 Heysham

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

Hoping you have good birding in 2026....

A Very Happy New Year 

All Things Bright And Beautiful!

I've been off the road and side-lined since my last outing on Tuesday 9 September, with tomorrow being my next chance, that's going to be a 12 day break from birding. Over this period and a little before it, our recording area and beyond has produced some impressive records, some of which are first or peak counts taken from the LDBWS and FBC WhatsApp groups....I've not catalogued them in date order.

Glossy Ibis Conder Pool. Paul Ellis.

Conder Pool has claimed two 1st records and peak counts, with 39 Greenshank and 19 Ruff recently on Conder Pool, also 2 Glossy Ibis put in a first time appearance here. The Little Stint previously posted on B2B, is also included in this list of Conder Pool records.

Curlew Sandpiper Conder Green. Gary Coulburn.

Curlew Sandpiper have been appearing in good number - some in double figures - at several locations including Conder Pool and on the Fylde, where a staggering 57 Buzzard were over Preesall in a vis mig watch. Another staggering record, was that of 24 Yellow Wagtail seen in the Bank End area. Even more amazing about this record, was that a Kestrel on a fence post was surrounded by the spectacle of these wagtails. 

Three Black Tern were on Conder Pool, and a Black Tern was reported flying downstream on the Lune Estuary, and multiple sightings of Hobby have been seen at Conder Green and through Conder Pool.

7 of 29 Mediterranean Gulls Conder Pool 26 June. Pete Woodruff.

Away from the Lune Estuary, two spectacular records were made, 216 Little Egret were noted going to roost at an undisclosed site, and 208 Mediterranean Gull were recorded at Heysham where Grey Phalarope was seen, also seen off the Stone Jetty at Morecambe, and two at Leighton Moss RSPB Reserve.

Last But Certainly Not Least.

If I'm going to draw up a list of amazing events in and around our area, this one has to be included.

Sabine's Gull Off Star Gate Blackpool. Ashley Cooper.

Along with many other seabirds during the recent stormy weather, this juvenile Sabine's Gull flew through Ashley's viewfinder to give him the perfect opportunity to capture it on film. 

My header image is of the same Sabine's Gull, and for me is the photograph of the year....Thanks Ashley, much appreciated. Thanks also to Paul Ellis and Gary Coulburn for the use of their excellent images, they too are much appreciated.

All Things Birds Bright And Beautiful!

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.

Invading AC's Territory For Starters!

I messaged AC on Monday morning to ask if he was on territory at Bank End today, he replied he was and off I went to meet up.

It's quite an easy task to find and observe the birds at Bank End, all you have to do is to check out the sheep on the marsh, though that's a task in itself as there are a quite a few of'em. But having spent a pleasant hour here, I racked up 8 Yellow Wagtail, all entered in the book as juvenile, none being close enough to be noted as female, and certainly not a male in sight.

Worthy of note, AC recorded 10 Yellow Wagtail at Bank End yesterday Tuesday 22 July, seen as  a stunning male, 2 female and 7 juvenile. 

I went off to pay my first of two visits to Conder Pool, to find 16 Common Tern, including juveniles, one of which was exercising its wings lifting itself a few inches of the ground with every flap. Avocet seen were one adult and the juvenile marked C6. Also 4 Greenshank, a Common Sandpiper, and 2 Little Grebe. But the mega triple surprise was 1) the sight of a pair of Little Ringed Plover 2) accompanied by 2 chicks no more than a few says old, and 3) the report of a juvenile seen on Conder Pool recently....Well, work that one out if you can!

On the Lune Estuary, another 16 Common Tern here, brought the total on the day to 32 Common Tern estuary and pool. 

The count on the estuary included an adult with juvenile, the adult had a yellowish ring bleached to near white on the left leg, metal on the right. Also noted, 5 Mediterranean Gull, a Greenshank, and 2 Avocet adult. 

On a short walk along the canal towpath, an Emperor Dragonfly, Brown Hawker, and a Sedge Warbler.

Brown Hawker. Pete Woodruff.

On Saltcote Pond a Brown Hawker, in my experience the species doesn't readily settle very often, though this male did oblige if briefly. A female Broad-bodied Chaser went to oviposit briefly, also 5 Common Blue Damselfly and a Speckled Wood butterfly.

Thanks to Paul Ellis for the header image. I struggled to find one, I've never taken a photograph of Yellow Wagtail in my life. 

And The Winner Is....

Hard to pick a winner from Friday's bag full of sightings at Conder Pool. A female Yellow Wagtail I found in the morning was looking good to take first place, but a Hobby seen later on my second visit to the pool, won by a small margin over the wagtail.

The Falco subbuteo came on the scene and zipped over the pool, putting every bird in sight to the wing, including at least 900 Redshank which were roosting with 20 Greenshank, and a Spotted Redshank.

My attempt to get some decent footage of the Spotted Redshank was in vain. Too far off, and in poor light. But good to see some behavior of the Common Terns, and the Little Egret in the background.

Spotted Redshank With Redshank. Pete Woodruff.

Other waders mixed with the shank's, a male Ruff, 75 Lapwing, 3 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Common Sandpiper, 2 Dunlin, and a Snipe. When things settled down after the Hobby panic attack, I found 5 Little Ringed Plover which were seen as an adult with 4 juvenile, certainly not the Conder Pool birds, I would guess from somewhere on the Lune Estuary, Aldcliffe perhaps?

I made no attempt to count the Conder Pool Common Tern population, but noted fledged young and counted 5 chicks on the platform. At least 2 Linnet and a Stock Dove seen. A Red Admiral was the only butterfly seen during the time spent at Conder Green and Glasson Dock where 2 Raven were over the estuary. Two Emperor Dragonfly were seen from the canal towpath.

Saltcote Pond.

Clik The Piks....It Looks Even Worse

A visit to Saltcote Pond had me find the result of some bad management. All the pondside vegetation had been taken out, and the edges trimmed like a bowling green in 'Keep Britain Tidy' style. In performing this mis-management, they will have excluded a number of aquatic creatures and dragonflies from using this excellent little pond which hosted a Ruddy Darter, found by Martin Jump on 20 July last year. The Ruddy Darter is one of the rarest of our areas breeding dragonfly, second only to the Golden-ringed Dragonfly....I found no dragonflies here on Friday.

Thanks for the header image Martin....Much Appreciated.

The Conder Godwits....Again!

The plan on Thursday, was to visit the Lune Estuary at Glasson to see if anything was going to be pushed close in by the incoming tide, then go to Conder Green to see if anything had been displaced by the tide and on to Conder Pool.

The Lune Estuary.

Numbers on the estuary were comparatively disappointing, but I was eventually rewarded by mid-distance views of the Spotted Redshank, it was on the tideline with up to 250 Dunlin and 175 Redshank downstream from the Conder mouth.

Drake Goldeneye. Pete Woodruff. 

Also to note, 6 Goldeneye, c.450 Wigeon, and a lone Greenfinch singing atop of a tree by the bowling green.

The Conder Pool Godwits.

There have been two recent reports involving all-time high counts of Black-tailed Godwits on the Lune Estuary, those of 4,500 and 4,600, both seen 18 February....LDBWS

It was immediately apparent why the numbers of waders was low on the Lune Estuary today, and also apparent that the number of Black-tailed Godwit on Conder Pool today was higher than I have previously seen which was 3,500 here on Monday 26 February. 

Black-tailed Godwit Conder Pool. Pete Woodruff.

My records for Thursday 29 February read, at least 4,000 Black-tailed Godwit on Conder Pool....Definitely the most spectacular show ever witnessed on Conder Pool, and all for free!

Williamson's Park.

I decided to give the park and cemetery in Lancaster a couple of hours, primarily in the hope of Bullfinch, but that part of the plan failed, but it was good that I found a Song Thrush which was accompanied by 5 Blackbird close by....Note the Blackbird mugging the Song Thrush and stealing its lunch!

A male and female Siskin showed on the feeders at Fenham Carr, a Treecreeper was in the cemetery, and up to 6 Robin and as many Nuthatch were heard in song.

Crocus Lancaster Cemetery. Pete Woodruff.

Stonechats.

I have collected 26 Stonechat records throughout February, but so far spring passage has been nothing like that of 2023, and only 12 Stonechat in these records can safely be regarded as passage birds.

And Finally.

Off Knowleys Road at Heysham last Sunday, a count of 75 Wood Pigeon in the field by the children's play area. And how about this one, a Yellow Wagtail seen at Grange in Cumbria Friday 29 February....A Cumbrian birder agrees with me, the first ever Yellow Wagtail in Britain in February, or more probably a Grey Wagtail!

Leucism.

Organising my images, I came across these two leucistic waders from the archives, the Knot and the Oystercatcher. Probably taken 30 years ago and buried beneath several hundred other images.   

Good Rewards Around The Estuary.

Yellow Wagtail.

The Yellow Wagtail no longer breeds in our LDBWS recording area of Lancashire, and any evidence of breeding attempts is largely restricted to the south of the River Ribble, and the nearest site for breeding Yellow Wagtail to the north as far as I'm aware of, is in South Cumbria. That taken into account, Andrew Cornall dedicates the entire month of August to monitor the Yellow Wagtail on autumn passage moving south through Bank End, his peak count in 2022 was 14 on the 15 August.

On Monday, I first shot off to Bank End to immediately find 3 Yellow Wagtail amongst the sheep, seen as a female and two juvenile. 

Next stop Conder Pool, to find 10 Greenshank accompanied by 2 Ruff, also a Common Sandpiper, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Stock Dove, and a Kingfisher which came briefly to perch on the sluice. If you really need to see a Kingfisher, patience and a little time gives you a 75% chance of seeing one, especially during the winter months.

As I was about to leave Conder Pool, things began to 'hot up' when Andrew Cornall pulled up to tell me a goodie had been found just down the road on the Canal Basin at Glasson Dock. I hot footed it there to find an adult Black Tern in winter plumage. It was great to watch the tern with its lazy flight, hawking and dipping down to the surface to take insects.

From the canal basin, I crossed the road to view the Lune Estuary from the bowling green to find 8 Common Tern, including 2 juvenile one of which was fed by an adult which had been seen hovering and plunge diving. Following good numbers seen on the estuary recently, I counted at least 10 Mediterranean Gull in view distant, certainly there was more hunkered down, with 3 Back-tailed Godwit to note.

American Golden Plover With Lapwing Glasson Marsh 21 August. Copyright Paul Slade.

Bodie Hill was the next stop, the Golden Plovers had started to create a pattern, seemingly moving from Cockersand in the morning, and relocating to Glasson Marsh to roost over the high tide, from where a smart adult American Golden Plover had joined the small group of up to 60 Golden Plover.

Thanks to Paul Slade for his image of the AGP, much appreciated. Also thanks to Ian Mitchell for his header image of the Canary-shouldered Thorn. The connection to B2B and this post, being its beautiful yellow colours to match the Yellow Wagtail.  

March Migrants.

Having had one of my worst weeks for birding in many a year, Birds2blog came close to having a seven day blank, but it was salvaged by an attempt to see a few birds on Wednesday along the coastal path between Aldcliffe and Glasson Dock.

The day turned into a near flop, but I did see my first Wheatear of the year on the flotsam at high tide, a stunning male, though not a Rock Pipit in sight. Also scurrying across the floating flotsam towards me, was what I regarded to be an unmistakable jet black Water Shrew, which unknown to the unfortunate creature, turned out to be heading towards its demise. The shrew disappeared below the bank, but 15 seconds later it reappeared between the teeth of a Weasel to disappear once more below the bank on the other side of the footpath.

I aborted my plans and wandered back to Lancaster via the embankment along Aldcliffe Marsh, to see 8 Snipe along the way, exploding into the air ahead of me. As I walked along the path parallel to Freeman's Pools, a stag Roe Deer was resting by the central reeds.

Ring Ouzel Cockers Dyke 23 March. Paul Ellis.

In addition to the early arrivals of Sand Martin, Swallow, and Wheatear in the March Migrants in my last post, a male Ring Ouzel was found on Thursday. This bird was seen one day after the first spring arrival of a Ring Ouzel at the Verne, Portland Bill on Wednesday 22 March, where the first spring Willow Warbler was seen on Tuesday 21 March the day before.

Some other interesting early arrivals and on the waiting list in our area....

28 Feb Little Ringed Plover Hampshire.

1 Mar Osprey Hampshire.

2 Mar Whinchat Isles of Scilly.

12 Mar Yellow Wagtail Norfolk.

12 Mar Hoopoe Cornwall.

18 Mar Sedge Warbler Hampshire.

19 Mar Hobby Dorset.

20 Mar Common Tern Cornwall.

Conder Pool Common Tern.

An interesting record to be noted, the first ever Common Terns on Conder Pool, didn't arrive until the late date of 2 July 2014, they successfully raised two young and were last seen at Cockersand on 14 September.

Conder Pool Avocet.

On Friday *30 Avocet were present on Conder Pool, a record which developed into an interesting discovery. The book of wisdom, and papers written about the age of Avocet before breeding is 2 years. However, last year on Conder Pool two Avocet chicks were colour marked with flag codes in 2021. These birds were both female, and were paired up to breed on their return to Conder Pool as yearling's in 2022, both pairs hatched 4 chicks each....Maybe time to update the literature!

*A report of 39 Avocet on Conder Pool Saturday per FBC.