A Bit More Like It.

Well five hours today was a bit more like a day's birding than yesterday's two. The female Scaup were off Broadway yesterday and for the benefit of my US visitors that's Broadway at Morecambe in NW England not New York City.

At Conder Green it was a pleasure to find the wintering Common Sandpiper once again, also a Greenshank was downstream from the railway bridge, 4 Grey Plover today is more than the average on a winters day at CG but there's always at least one each and every year. On Conder Pool 56 Tufted Duck, 11 Wigeon, and 26 Common Gull were all to note. I must make note here that it was a pleasure to see and have a few words with  PS of Fylde Birding fame....they're such a friendly bunch these birders from the south! 

I was a little surprised to find the canal basin at Glasson Dock 60% frozen again yet Conder Pool ice free....Mmmmm! I noted just 15 Tufted Duck and 4 Pochard drakes on here. On the Lune Estuary circa's 1,500 Bar-tailed Godwit and 140 Black-tailed Godwit, up to 90 Goldeneye, c.300 Wigeon, and a Little Grebe, otherwise there was a noticeable virtual absence of any other wader species particularly Golden Plover and Lapwing.

At Cockersands Caravan Park although very mobile I counted at least 6 Rock Pipits and watched something like 300+ Wigeon float by in good view on the incoming tide and of course hoped the AW was going to be with them, several hundred were offshore at considerable distance and in rubbish light, also to note were 12+ Pintail. With rain threatening a brief visit to the lighthouse end didn't allow me to give the area any justice but I did count a nice 37 Turnstones and 4 Red-breasted Mergansers before I swiftly left. 

On a flood in stubble on Fluke Hall Lane I counted a quite amazing at least 260 Whooper Swans and 2 Bewick's Swans. From Fluke Hall slipway I noted circa 45 Grey Plover and 1,500 Dunlin, 25 Pink-footed Geese flew south at a distance accompanied by at least 2 Barnacle Geese. A walk east below the sea defences gave me excellent views of Merlin and Peregrine Falcon both hunting with the usual mass panic of a four figure number of wader's. In the field behind the parking area 250 Pink-footed Geese were accompanied by 22 Stock Doves. Little Egrets were seen today at Jeremy Lane, Cockersands, and two from Fluke Hall Lane.

You can't help but have noticed I've used my usual terminology for the count figures in my post again, circa/up to/at least, one day I'll give an account of my accuracy for counts meanwhile, I'm never able to bring myself to believe in a count of 3,981 Dunlin (for example) by anyone.  

Spare Time!

Mediterranean Gull off Broadway Morecambe.

If you're going to have a couple of hours to spare at Morecambe and you want to be called a birder then you need to be sure you have some optics on you. I decided to cover as much of the promenade as I could in this two hour spare time and noted the following over the tide and even managing a half decent pic into the bargain.

At Teal Bay I counted at least 125 Black-tailed Godwit on the groyne and 7 Wigeon were of note as they don't appear here in the same numbers as yesteryear. Off Broadway an adult Mediterranean Gull and 2 Scaup female were excellent, also seen from here were at least 12 Great-crested Grebe, and in the area between here and the Town Hall slipway 160 Eider, 7 Goldeneye, and 5 Red-breasted Merganser.

Green-backed Kingfisher. Indonesia 2006.

And a couple of 'Golden Oldie Images' from Mike Watson above, and from Colin Bushell below. Thanks Mike and Colin.

 

 Plumbeous Kite. Peru 2006.

I have it on good and reliable authority that the wintering Common Sandpiper at Conder Green was seen there again on Monday, and 2 Song Thrush are still visiting our humble walled garden in Lancaster, an excellent record I assure you.

I sincerely hope all the visitors to Birds2blog have/are going to Sign The Petition linked from the top of the sidebar in the name of the birds we are all passionate about. 

Around Aldcliffe.

OK so whats a Jaguar got to do with today's - or any other days - birding....well absolutely nothing if you're birding around Aldcliffe like I did today but if you're somewhere exotic like Colin Bushell was when he photographed this beautiful creature then its got everything to do with your birding trip. I've viewed this image several times on Colins website and think its great....thanks Colin.

The weather wasn't up to much earlier in the morning but picked up a little towards noon so I decided to give the Aldcliffe Parish a bit of a going over for couple of hours. I left the car at the very far end of the quay and walked towards Freeman's Pools where I soon found the Smew red-head along with about eight Gadwall and a couple of drake Shoveler to note, also a Green Sandpiper and Little Egret on here were nice records.

Aldcliffe Marsh was entirely void of any geese other than c.100 Canada Geese, as I walked south along the embankment I noted c. 20 Black-tailed Godwit, 5 Snipe, and 2 Meadow Pipit. By now the tide was at its height and just south of RC Lane where the track joins the marsh again there is an area of tide wrack renowned for Rock Pipit at this state of the tide and today I found at least eight and possibly ten. A return via the track produced 5 Reed Bunting together (unusual in my record's) 3 Dunnock and 2 Linnet. 

I take note of a count of 150 Woodcock at a single sighting in Norfolk during the 'ice-age' recently.

Four Hours....

....salvaged from my day today to dedicate to birding and tried to make the most of it but time runs away like hell when you try to be everywhere in a short time. Thank goodness BR has been out and about once again and has gone towards saving the day on the photograph front though I did make some effort to take one or two myself, all except the Grey Heron below have ended up in the bin....thanks Brian.

I managed four hours between 11.00 and 3.00 starting at Conder Green where the tide was one and a half hours from its height but was already pushing at least 23 Snipe out into the open, also a Greenshank, 2 Spotted Redshank, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Little Grebe, and 4 Rock Pipit. On Conder Pool 35 Tufted Duck and 9 Wigeon held on to the 50% ice free. I decided to skip the Lune Estuary from Glasson Dock and went to Bodie Hill to note, circa each 100 Bar-tailed Godwit and Curlew with lesser numbers of Redshank, Dunlin, Lapwing, and Knot, 2 Fieldfare were in one of the Hawthorns here. On Jeremy Lane I could count only 4 Whooper Swans today and a Sparrowhawk was patrolling the hedgerow.

At Cockersands the male Stonechat was seen and remains the wisest Stonechat in our entire recording area and beyond and can put its survival down to choosing to stay with the tide wrack where there is obviously an abundance of food and had also attracted 6 Meadow Pipit. All the waders had gone to wherever they go to on these 10mtr+ tides but I did note in one of the fields a mere 5 Turnstones and  2 Grey Plovers with a 'few' Oystercatchers. Brian Raffertys excellent image above is quite appropriate for this post as I found 5 Grey Partridge here today, also 9 Brown Hare.

To end on a non-birding note, I reckon the picture above of the full moon on Saturday evening qualifies for an excellent ad for my Leica Televid Apo Telescope to which I attached  my camera. 

American Wigeon.

Drake American Wigeon thanks to Paul Baker. 

A drake American Wigeon was found at Cockersands yesterday and I'm grateful to the caller/finder to my mobile to alert me of this, a clear case of 'not necessarily what you know but who you know'. The bird has had no mention today which makes me feel a little better as I've had no opportunity to visit Cockersands since last Tuesday and in all probability won't do so until Monday and no guarantee to that either.

The American Wigeon is one of the most frequently recorded Nearctic ducks in Britain today, it breeds across North America and moves in winter to the Atlantic coasts, the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico. Its first known mention in this country was in the winter of 1837/8 when a bird was purchased from a market in London, the second record was 57 years later in 1895 and was again a purchase from a game stall on a market in Leeds. As with lots of vagrant wildfowl recorded in the UK some will have been escapes, but there have been ringing recoveries including three from New Brunswick in Canada.

A red-head Smew recently and found again today on Freeman's Pools was a very welcome bird following the species absence from the area since 2005 when a red-head was at Hawes Water in Silverdale, but gone are the days when a drake returned each winter for something like a decade to the then Dockacres/Pine lake area. A maximum count of 109 across the UK in February 2008 was lower than the previous 5 year average probably due to the trend of milder winters and a shift in distribution towards the NE of the wintering range. 

The link to SIGN THE PETITION on the BirdLife Malta website is now in the left hand sidebar on Birds2blog and I'm sincerely hoping each and every visitor is going to sign to help make a difference to this tragic situation which is in breach of the EU Directive. I'm desperately trying very hard to steer clear of any controversial comments/opinions I make on this blog in keeping with a policy I have so far maintained in this regard, but whether or not I succeed remains to be seen.    

  

Penultimate '09 Snippet's.

Thanks to Stephen Gidley for the excellent Kestrel image which the sharp eyed ones amongst you will have noticed was posted on Birds2blog earlier in the week but turned out to be  an error on that occasion, and for those not sharp eyed enough to have noticed....well I needn't have said a word!

Some more 'snippet's' from my 2009 birding record's....

SEPTEMBER.

4th    A Wood Sandpiper had been at Conder Green and I caught up with the bird today.

9th    About twelve Sand Martins were still around River Winds at Conder Green.

10th  Two Whitethroat were at Harrisend, and a Whinchat as an excellent find off the Hawthornthwaite track from Marshaw. 

12th  A Whinchat was another excellent find on Newby Moor, N York's. And yet another two Whinchat were at Barbondale.

14th   Three Green Sandpiper at Aldcliffe. 

15th   Nine Wheatear were on Clougha.

17th   Adult Mediterranean Gulls at Glasson Dock and Cockersands.

18th   Spotted Flycatcher still behind Tower Lodge on the edge of the plantation.

21st   Adult Mediterranean Gull at Cockersands.

22nd  Tawny Owl from Lower Hide path at Leighton Moss. 

24th   Three Jay at Conder Green were unusual.

25th   Black Darters seen in 'good number' at Foulshaw Moss.

OCTOBER.

1st     Three Whooper Swans at Braides were my first this winter.

5th     A Guillemot on the River Lune at Glasson Dock was unusual.

8th     Nine Barnacle Geese on Pilling Marsh.

12th   Circa 40 Redwing and 20 Fieldfare were my first of the winter over the Clougha track.

13th   A juvenile Long-billed Dowitcher was at Cockersands.

16th   A Ruff frequented Conder Green around this date.

22nd  A drake Scaup was off Plover scar a Cockersands. 

26th   A Whooper Swan on the River Lune at Glasson Dock, also two adult Mediterranean Gulls. A juvenile Curlew Sandpiper was at Cockersands.

Thanks to Paul Baker for this excellent image of the Shoveler, well they're all excellent on Birds2blog with the exception of any that are mine.

As I said on the blog in yesterdays post I am currently adding a link to Birdlife Malta at the end of my posts in the hope every visitor to Birds2blog will SIGN THE PETITION on the website, please find out for yourself why....and be prepared to be shocked.

http://www.birdlifemalta.org/petition/   

Mission Accomplished....

....but not with any success for the reason I undertook it.

Stonechat thanks to Brian Rafferty.

Well it had to be a Stonechat pic today and Stonechat pic's don't come any better than this one....and that's official.

Despite four hours searching the routine areas on Clougha and Birk Bank - including the customary four diversion's from the main track's - I found not a solitary Stonechat for the second time this week. With Harrisend/Clougha/and Birk Bank combined these records represent no more than three- possibly four- occasions this has happened here in more than 12 years coverage since the Stonechat started an upturn in its status. Perhaps not conclusive evidence to claim the species has gone from here but certainly looking like this is the case. I have more to do yet with other places I need to visit to establish whether or not we've lost them in our area until the breeder's arrive back on territory.

Well at least I doubled the number of species seen here today compared with Harrisend on Monday with six species (33 birds)  in my book being....4 Buzzard, 3 Kestrel, a Peregrine Falcon gave an excellent ariel display including two stoops at goodness knows how many mph, 6 Ravens together also gave me a show of ariel dance which is a delight to watch, 18 Red Grouse, and I flushed a Woodcock almost from under my feet.

For the time being I intend to put a link at the foot of all my posts on Birds2blog which I implore everyone who visits the blog to sign. You will see the link is to the Birdlife Malta website and if you click on 'Sign the Petition' you will be adding your name to hopefully at least help put a stop to the endless slaughter which takes place on this island annually by an estimated 12,000 mindless hunter's. As the Flag Counter on this blog indicates there are 'one or two' visitors here on a daily basis and I believe we can make quite a mark on this petition if we really try. Please pass the message on to family, friends, and relations.

http://www.birdlifemalta.org/petition/   

In the picture!

I can think of a hundred ways to fill the gap on a birding blog but I reckon one of the the best way's is to flag up some more images from three of my contributors to Birds2blog starting with an excellent one of the amazing Bare-throated Bellbird  taken by intrepid globetrotter/birder Colin Bushell on his trip to Brazil in 2008.

This image of the Isabelline (Daurian) Shrike was taken by another intrepid globetrotter/birder Mike Watson on his trip to Bahrain in 2009. Mike refers to this bird in his diary as 'lovely' to which I readily agree.

 

And last - but definitely not least - the Barn Owl is one from the archives of Brian Rafferty Wildlife Photographer blog. Brian won't have to mind my noting on Birds2blog that he holds the distinction of having achieved two first record photographic images in my opinion, those of a Hobby at Leighton Moss during the summer in 2009, and that of the recent Stonechats feeding through an ice-hole as a unique act of cold weather survival as previously reported both on Brian's blog and on here.

Thanks again Colin/Mike/Brian, this blog would have been virtually void of picture's had it not been for your allowing me access to your photograph's. I'll try to showcase some more of my photo contributor's next time, and please remember they can all be linked to via my sidebar.

Back on the Road.

It was good for me to pick John up this morning for a day on the patch for the first time in an unbelievable four month's plus a day or two. I'm sure JB would feel a little more than good about this and we had a most enjoyable day....as always.

But first - and with a good start to the post - my thanks go once again to Mike Watson for the image of the female Black-throated Thrush which has been/is still present west of Whitby at Newholm in North Yorkshire. Please visit Mike's website here http://mikewatsonsdiary.blogspot.com/ to read the latest account of his trip to see  this excellent record.

And now for today....At Conder Green the first bird's we saw were 2 Greenshank, a Spotted Redshank, and better still a male Stonechat which represents another survivor of the ice-age the result of which I'm reading some pretty disturbing reports of mortality rates. Also noted here, on Conder Pool 7 Snipe, 9 Wigeon, and just one Little Grebe which is the sole returning one to the pool which held 12 on one count in December before the freeze. At Glasson Dock on the canal basin I noted a Goldeneye and 3 Pochard drake's which poses the question....why are the Pochard on the basin at GD virtually (99%) always drake's?

On the Lune Estuary I noted - not as comprehensive as JB - at least 1,150 Bar-tailed Godwit, c.550 Knot, just 6 Goldeneye, and 4 Little Grebe, a Merlin was distant on Colloway Marsh. From Bodie Hill, 16 Goldeneye, 140 Black-tailed Godwit, and a Little Egret was on the marsh. From Jeremy Lane 6 Whooper Swans and spread over about six fields in the area at least 300 Mute Swans were the highest count I ever made.

At Cockersands I would express myself as 'delighted' to find another ice-age survivor in the male Stonechat here again having failed to do so on the last two visits, though otherwise quiet here I noted c.55 Dunlin, just 3 Eider, 2 Goldeneye, a Song Thrush, and a Little Egret in a ditch here again. A drive to Pilling Marsh resulted in a bit of a non-event with just c.350 Pink-footed Geese and 3 Little Egrets of note.

                                    

 Thanks to John Bateman.

I can only hope the sign's of today were....its business as usual John!

Harrisend....

....deadend actually as the 2.5 hour visit here produced the handsome total of four bird species which included an unfortunate Carrion Crow which I presumed had a broken wing though the evidence didn't appear all that obvious but it's left one did seem to fold oddly but wasn't dragging on the ground, in any event the bird couldn't fly away from me and just kept hopping ahead all the time.

I set off for Harrisend this morning with much apprehension, realistically thinking I would find the Stonechats had deserted the area, but realistic thinking isn't good enough to achieve accurate records and I needed to gather the evidence so....onward christian soldiers. The result was that my thinking was in fact accurate enough and I found not a single Stonechat for only the second time in something like 12 years visiting Harrisend in just about every month of every year. I now need to cover as many known Stonechat area's in the coming week's before the returning bird's arrive to try to establish some sort of documentation of just how much the recent ice-age appears to have affected this upland bird.

The record's I gathered today makes it difficult for them to qualify for a birding blog but were....a Coal Tit which surprised me somewhat and seemed a little out of context feeding on a moorland gorse bush, 7 Red Grouse, and 6 Greylag went over NE, a Brown Hare was noted which brings me to comment that I have seen very few this year so far in the Cockersands area where they are usually numerous and have always been so in recent years representing the best area I know for seeing the creature.

The image of an adult Caspian Gull above is posted with my thanks to Mike Watson who captured this bird on the coastline of Muharraq during his 2009 birding tour of Bahrain.  I've noticed a good number of Caspian Gulls reported in the UK recently presumably as observers have become more familiar with the species....not including me I hasten to add. It is only just over 14 years ago that the first record of a Caspian Gull in GB was accepted, and it was more than 2 years later before the first record in Ireland. If you're anything remotely like me with 'gulls' and ever hope to ID one of these birds I'd suggest a long study of this photograph as a good idea to be in with a chance of success if it's an adult you happen to find.

                                      

I'm not sure you're likely to see one of these handsome brutes in the UK soon, this is the Steppe Gull which is another of MW's Bahrain 2009 record's. Thanks for allowing on to Birds2blog these two excellent images of these two equally excellent birds Mike.