Chat None....Rock On!

I'D SOONER BE BIRDING!....Not since last Thursday, but tomorrow....hopefully.

Stonechat Antonio Puigg 

Negative news on the status of the Stonechat in areas of Bowland it seems. A text this morning from a reliable contact and regular visitor to Bowland - more regular than me and that's something - was to say 'No Stonechats seen in visits to Bowland over the last two weeks'.

Rock Pipit Phillip Tomkinson

The Rock Pipit (RP) is an uncommon if regular passage migrant and winter visitor to our area in North Lancashire, and is a bird I always welcome sightings of and which generates an interest for me.

Two sub-species of RP occur in Britain, nominate petrosus and littoralis from Fennoscandia and the Baltic. It is only in recent years that most birders have been led to believe that the vast majority of Lancashire records are in fact of littoralis due to habitat preference, migratory behaviour, and relatively large numbers of passage and wintering birds. A little support of this is of a bird found dead on the Fylde in 1998 which carried a ring that recorded it as being marked in Sweden four years earlier in 1994. Another Scandinavian colour-ringed bird was also seen at Bank End Point in 1998. Previous to this kind of evidence it was common that the vast majority of records were thought to be of the British RP petrosus. 

The Scandinavian RP had always been seen in Lancashire as a scarce spring passage migrant actually seen at a less than annual occurrence, which arose from the fact that the two species are indistinguishable until late winter, when Scandinavian birds start to attain a distinct breeding plumage, which - as if to make complications even more so - in turn renders them confusable with the Water Pipit Anthus spinoletta. 

And so, the British RP is known to be exceptionally sedentary, the only significant dispersal being of birds that move from Shetland to Orkney and north-east Scotland, whilst the Scandinavian birds are migratory, with large numbers wintering on the English east coast. All this taken into account, surely there can be no reason why the British RP doesn't occur perhaps from Cumbria or western Scotland.

Thanks to Antonio and Phillip for the excellent images.

....But Still No Wheatear.

Swallow Brian Rafferty

On Thursday it was good that I saw my first Swallow of the year, three in fact flew along the headland before heading off inland over Cockersands Abbey. I couldn't help but ponder the amazing journey they've almost completed as I watched them go by.

Stock Dove. Copy Permitted.

Also noted at Cockersands, on Plover Scar the estimated total of waders was 117, with 55 Turnstone, 22 Ringed Plover, 36 Redshank, 2 Oystercatcher, and a single Knot, off the scar 8 Eider. At least 320 Golden Plover were resting but alert in one of Abbey Farm fields and most in their smart breeding plumage with 2 Stock Dove close by. I saw 2 Raven over Lighthouse Cottage before doing a u-turn inland. The Whooper Swans are still present in the area, though distant and in a much reduced uncounted number now. 

Black-tailed Godwit Martin Jump  

On the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock, as Mondays count, c.300 Black-tailed Godwit and 240 Bar-tailed Godwit at high tide distant in the gloom, with c.220 Redshank in view close by. 

And at Conder Green, another amazing journey nearly completed, with 7 Sand Martin over the pool was a welcome sight, also 2 Raven over was good, but which I suspected were the earlier marauding Cockersands pair. The two faithful Spotted Redshank seen, with one much more advanced towards summer plumage than the other. Also noted, Common Sandpiper, just one female Goldeneye seen, one Little Grebe, a Little Egret, a Snipe, Goosander, 7 Goldfinch, a male Reed Bunting. A single Black-tailed Godwit on Conder Pool has had me concerned, it having been alone on the same island the past three visits and always asleep, but today it decided to up and away flying off apparently healthy.

Wheatear Findlay Wilde  

Still no Wheatear for me....But young Findlay has photographed these two males perfectly from the point of view they are pictured in their natural rocky habitat. Well done Findlay and thank you for allowing it on Birds2blog. Also thanks to Brian for the Swallow, and to Martin for the BTG.

The Rant.

If you have no interest in reading about someone going into their latest 'rant' I'd strongly recommend you terminate your visit to Birds2blog right now as I'm about to launch into my latest one.

This isn't about being on the lookout at this time of the year for your first Wheatear, Sand Martin, House Martin, Swallow, the odd Osprey in the skies above, or Meadow Pipits over your head, this is another aspect of birds/birding, and not just about farmland birds.

Driving along the same route around 100 times in a year, I thought it time to check out what I miss from a car, so on Tuesday I spent 4 hours walking - dawdling and lingering actually - with eyes in every direction for 7 miles from Glasson Dock to Cockersands and return, I ended up with another of my 'where are all the birds' feelings, where are all the Robins, Wrens, Tits, and Finches. 

Bearing in mind we all know the situation today regarding our farmland birds, twenty years ago when I started touring around the Out Rawcliffe/Pilling/Eagland Hill prime farmland areas on a regular basis - it gelled with my job - I soon built up a personal picture about the plight of farmland birds, and many is the time I left the area after one of these tours feeling pretty depressed about what I hadn't seen, having felt like I'd been on a trip through a desert, twenty years on and nothings changed. 

OK, so on Tuesday I did see c.80 Meadow Pipit grounded in a field on Jeremy Lane, and saw a 'few' Tree Sparrow taking advantage of mans intervention with the helping hand of nest boxes between Haresnape and Gardeners Farms, saw c.40 Linnet in a stubble field, and best of all, at least 500 Golden Plover on the wing over the fields. 

But here are the bare facts....Over the 4 hours/7 miles I notched up just 16 bird species, none of the other twelve species below went over a count on one hand, some were in singles....

Goldfinch

Chaffinch

Skylark

Wren

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Reed Bunting

Tree Sparrow

House Sparrow

Blackbird 

Robin

Kestrel

I don't really wish to go much further down this road, its a long road anyway, but the best example of just one reason why we are loosing our farmland birds - in some cases lost them - can be seen in the Cockersands area where the Lapwings are on territory in fields, and where - if past years and my observations are anything to go by - they stand little if any chance of successfully rearing young on account of intense agricultural practices, I've already seen one field slurried over Lapwings, and if the half dozen Skylark I saw choose the same area to breed in, the same fate awaits them too.

The End....Rant over. 

  Wot No Pics

Wheatear....What Wheatear!

Black-tailed Godwit Martin Lofgren 

The Black-tailed Godwit in breeding plumage must rank amongst the most attractive of all our waders. The male with its mantle and scapulars blotched pale red, black and grey, wing-coverts a dull grey-brown, and its throat and upper belly a superb chestnut....a wonderful sight, and to see them in their hundreds as they have been lately on the Lune Estuary is even more wonderful. 

I had another decent count again yesterday and estimated 412 Black-tailed Godwit on the Lune Estuary....

300   Glasson Dock
  85   Cockersands
  27   Conder Pool

On Conder Pool and in the area, the trusted 2 Spotted Redshank, and Common Sandpiper obliged yet again, 5 Goldeneye still hanging on here, 2 Little Grebe included the smart one in summer coat, a Little Egret, a 'few' Meadow Pipit on the far grass bank, 2 Snipe, a female Goosander, and 3 Dunnock.

Of note on the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock, c.240 Bar-tailed Godwit, and 9 Goldeneye seen, with 4 Eider hauled out at the Conder mouth.

Reed Bunting. Bob Bushell.

Most of my time at Cockersands was spent around a 10m plus tide, but later as it dropped 6 Bar-tailed Godwit and 4 Knot were noted off Crook Farm. Up to 60 Linnet counted in flight but mainly hidden in stubble was the best count of the species for some time here or anywhere else, 4 Skylark, a Wren, Dunnock, a one handed count of Tree Sparrow, a pair of Reed Bunting, a Snipe, and 2 Stock Dove. A Little Egret in the ditch north of Bank Houses Cottage again was followed by one seen on Plover Scar an hour later, possibly the 'ditch' bird. 

The Whooper Swans in the Cockersands area since the beginning of January were spread out distant, far and wide, and over several fields, impossible to assess with any accuracy, but the number remaining is probably down by more than a half with maybe 100 birds still here.  

I must admit the bird I was 'after' yesterday was my first 2014 Wheatear and I wandered around Cockersands - I was birding actually - for 4 hours like someone possessed....Wheatear....what bloody Wheatear....are these people making it up they've seen 'em....a conspiracy to deceive, mass stringers I reckon!  

Nothing Ventured Nothing Gained.

Well on Friday I ventured out for a brief spell and gained little save an update on birds I already know about, like the ones on Conder Pool, 2 Spotted Redshank, 15 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Goldeneye, 3 Little Grebe one of which was in breeding plumage, a Little Egret, and c.20 Meadow Pipit which came down onto the grassy bank. On the Lune Estuary I counted only 240 Black-tailed Godwit today, with 30 Bar-tailed Godwit, and 13 Goldeneye noted.  I was only able to put in a brief appearance on Moss Lane at Cockersands to find 200 Whooper Swan still there.

The Rock Pipit. 

Scandinavian Rock Pipit littoralis. Marc Heath.

Iv'e been quizzed - the audacity - on how I identified the Scandinavian Rock Pipit seen on Conder Pool last Wednesday 26 March. So I sent this person the pic above and asked what he thought the bird was....I know what mine was!

The Scandinavian Rock Pipit breeds in Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway, wintering from south-western Sweden to Portugal, although the main wintering areas appear to be in Britain and the Netherlands to Northern France.

British Rock Pipit petrosus. Geoff Gradwell.

Unlike the British Rock Pipit petrosus which are similar throughout the year, the Scandinavian Rock Pipit littoralis acquires a distinct summer plumage which enables them to be identified with some certainty before they depart in the spring, although confusion still often reigns, especially with the subtle variability of petrosus and the often similar spring plumage of littoralis to Water Pipit spinoletta which readily lends itself to identification problems.

The Wheatear.

Wheatear. Marc Heath.

Apparently the Wheatear are here in our area though I've yet to connect with one. 

Thanks to Marc Heath for his birds in Kent, and to GG for his bird on the Fylde....excellent on all counts.

The Stork....

....and some other birds.

White Stork Isidro Ortiz 

Yesterday morning I gratefully received a text to tell me of a White Stork heading SE towards Conder Green. I was soon able to pursue the possibility the bird had made landfall somewhere in this area but to no avail. Thanks to the RBA pager service there was three follow up reports of White Stork later that day, one north over Seaforth in Liverpool, followed by one north over Fleetwood on the Fylde, followed by another NW over Thornton also on the Fylde. An interesting turn of events regarding the White Stork which moved about quite a bit over the space of four hours and I think has yet to be seen on the ground.  

Avocet. Artwork Sharon Whitley 

Well I missed the White Stork but didn't miss the Avocet on the Lune Estuary which I found at the mouth of the Conder Estuary soon after setting up at Glasson Dock. Another record here yesterday was the excellent increase in the count of up to 520 Black-tailed Godwit at least 200 of which were on the east bank at Sunderland Point. Also of note on the estuary, c.30 Bar-tailed Godwit, 84 Curlew, Mondays drake Pintail with a pair of Pochard equally unusual on the River Lune here, 15 Goldeneye, c.120 Wigeon, 6 Greylag, a Goosander, and 3 Red-breasted Merganser. 

Pink-footed Geese. Howard Stockdale.

On Colloway Marsh, at least 1,500 Pink-footed Geese, and whilst looking over the canal basin a Kingfisher flew the entire length and disappeared up the canal. At Conder Green, in excess of 100 Meadow Pipit went over the marsh seen off the coastal path, and excellent views of a Scandinavian Rock Pipit on Conder Pool, also in the area....

2 Spotted Redshank   

4 Black-tailed Godwit 

5 Goldeneye                

11 Tufted Duck            

4 Wigeon                     

3 Dunnock                   

Little Grebe

Little Egret

Snipe

Many thanks to Isidro for the silhouetted White Stork, Howard for the PFG, and to Sharon for the Avocet artwork.  

On Parade And On The Prowl....

....but it didn't get me very far on Monday, though a trickle of c.30 Meadow Pipit moving along the marsh at Conder Green was as sign of the season, another sign of which was last Wednesdays c.275 Black-tailed Godwit on the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock being present here again, most of which are well advanced into their resplendent breeding plumage though today 34 of them had moved in on Conder Pool where the Common Sandpiper was found lurking in a corner, also 4 Goldeneye, 12 Tufted Duck, 8 Wigeon, a single Little Grebe and Little Egret. A Spotted Redshank was in the creeks.

Pintail Astland Photography 

Also on the Lune Estuary, a single drake Pintail accompanying c.50 Wigeon was at least unusual here, with 17 Goldeneye seen. 

The visit to Cockersands was a 2.5 hours relatively birdless affair - 'birds what birds' - but more on that another time perhaps.

Little Egret David Cookson

A Little Egret was in the large ditch to the north of Bank Houses Cottage where it is seen regularly. The Whooper Swan numbers here had fallen dramatically, probably 200 of the long stayers had departed and it was interesting to note on the same day - Monday - a record of a 'sizeable' flock of Whooper Swans on the sea off Heysham. Thanks to DC for the excellent Little Egret.

Brown Hare Brian Rafferty

Any visit to the Cockersands area will produce sightings of the Brown Hare, though not in the numbers of recent years according to my observations. Thanks to BR for the excellent images of the Brown Hares he saw early on a frosty Monday morning in Bowland. 

A Message From Above!

I'm struggling for time to do a post about my birding efforts on Monday. Meanwhile, here's the gap filler.... 

Any comments from me below are in bold type, or in blue where I think some notable statements are made within the message which was in my Inbox this morning.   

As this e-petition has received more than 10,000 signatures, the relevant government department - DEFRA - have provided the following response.

The Government is aware of incidences of illegal killing of birds of prey and ministers take the issue very seriously. To address this, senior Government and enforcement officers in the UK identified raptor persecution as a national wildlife crime priority. Raptor persecution is subject to a prevention, intelligence, enforcement and reassurance plan led by a senior police officer through the Raptor Persecution Delivery group. The National Wildlife Crime Unit, which is funded by the Government, monitors and gathers intelligence on illegal activities affecting birds of prey and provides assistance to police forces when required. Shooting makes an important contribution to wildlife control and conservation, biodiversity and to the social, economic and environmental well-being of rural areas, where it can provide a supplement to incomes and jobs. The overall environmental and economic impact of game bird shooting is therefore a positive one and it has been estimated by the industry that £250 million per year is spent on management activities that provide benefits for conservation. When carried out in accordance with the law, shooting for sport is a legitimate activity and our position is that people should be free to undertake lawful activities. There are no current plans to restrict sport shooting in England. This Government encourages all shoot managers and owners to ensure they and their staff are following recommended guidelines and best practice to reduce the chances of a conflict of interest with birds of prey. We acknowledge that crimes against birds of prey are abhorrent but it should be noted though that, despite instances of poisoning and killing of birds of prey, populations of many species, such as the Peregrine Falcon, Red Kite and Buzzard have increased. While a small minority is prepared to kill birds of prey, and where possible these people are brought to justice, this demonstrates that the policies in place to conserve these species are working. This e-petition remains open to signatures and will be considered for debate by the Backbench Business Committee should it pass the 100,000 signature threshold.

A lot to say about all this garbage but I'll keep it brief....

This could well have been written by the Countryside Alliance....But in a nutshell, DEFRA thinks that conservation policies for birds of prey are working well - they appear to have forgotten about the Hen Harrier - and thus they have no intention of restricting sport shooting in England, or doing anything about those in the industry who kill anything which gets in the way of it's success. 

Take a look at the government’s wildlife policies of late....Badgers, Buzzards, Bees, Fracking….Time to start thinking about the elections in 2015 and who your vote goes to.

Thought you may like to see a bird of prey named Bowland Betty, a young satellite-tracked Hen Harrier found shot dead on a North Yorkshire grouse moor in 2012.

The Falcon And The Swan.

Amur Falcons Await Their Fate. Photo Credit Unknown.

I can only assume whoever took this horror photograph did so prior to release of these unfortunate falcons after apprehending the barbaric bastards who put them in the net in the first place....'Clik the pik' and see the horror big time.

But now the good news.

 Amur Falcon. Tom Lindroos.  

I remember posting an article on 23 November 2012 about the plight of the Amur Falcon (AF) in India. The news in 2012 of the massacre of AF in India shocked the world, but the news about them in 2014 is looking better. BirdLife’s Indian Partner BNHS moved immediately to mobilise a response. The trapping was stopped, nets destroyed and arrests made, although not before terrible damage had been done.

 Amur Falcons Over Doyang Reservoir. Ramki Sreenivasan.

This year, the generous response to an international appeal has enabled BNHS - with the support of the BirdLife Partnership - to organise a comprehensive programme to keep the AF safe around the Doyang Reservoir, where they roost during their stopover. The programme has mainly been implemented by a local NGO, Nagaland Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation Trust, working with the Nagaland Forest Department.

As a result, brilliant news....not a single AF was trapped during the 2013 autumn migration....and attitudes have changed so much in the space of a single year that the AF's are now treated in the words of Nagaland’s Chief Minister as....'esteemed guests'.

Amur Falcon in Britain.

The only record in Britain of an Amur Falcon is that of a 1st summer male found at Tophill Low NR, Yorkshire in October 2008.

Whooper ZCK.

Whooper Swan. Howard Stockdale.

Whooper Swan ZCK is the only marked Swan/Goose I've seen this winter, though in the case of the Pink-footed Geese I've done absolutely no 'wild goose chases' this winter and so have seen no birds with collars to read. As for this Whooper Swan, it was found amongst the peak count of c.275 on Moss Lane since 14 January, they were still present on my last visit to Cockersands on Wednesday 19 March though by then in a lesser - uncounted - number. On submitting the reading to WWT I was eventually grateful to Julia and Kane for forwarding me the birds history. The bird was ringed as an adult male at Martin Mere WWT Lancashire in February 2013 and returned there this winter to be last seen there on 11 January to be found 19 February at Cockersands. As such this bird does'nt have a long interesting history of re-sightings, though many marked birds often do have and it's always good to find one.

Thanks for the photograph Howard, much appreciated.

....And Some First Migrants.

Green Sandpiper Antonio Puigg 

A decent 'birds' day yesterday on which I wandered into the Aldcliffe parish to find the Green Sandpiper showing it's gleaming white rump as it flew away from me on the wildfowlers pool. The flood is looking good again and a Little Ringed Plover and 'several' Redshank appeared to think so too. Sheltered from the cold howler in the cutting near Stodday the benefit of the sun could be felt and it was much more like the first day of spring than it had been on the embankment on Aldcliffe Marsh, 3 Chiffchaff were seen here including one briefly breaking into song. On Freeman's Pools I had noted 2 drake Gadwall, 3 Goldeneye, and 8 Wigeon, another 2 drake Gadwall were on the wildfowlers pool.

I legged it from here to Glasson Dock, a good old dismantled rail route which produces - amongst others - good numbers of Blackbird in winter though I saw just six today, also noted were 6 Robin and 2 Long-tailed Tit. Though I was uninspired by this section today, undeterred you can bet I'll be doing it all again sometime soon. A quick circuit of Conder Green with little time to linger I saw 4 Black-tailed Godwit feeding on the water line in the creeks, and c.80 Pink-footed Geese went over going south. 

Sand Martin Simon Hawtin

And the Grand Finale came - I quickly excite when it comes to birds - with 3 Sand Martin over the canal basin, and yes you guessed it....the bus is coming! 

Thanks to Antonio/Simon for the excellent 'clik the pik' Green Sandpiper and Sand Martin.

Would you like to consider helping the Bee by Signing The Petition