The HBF.

No birding....No birds to blog.

But I'm sincerely hoping to get out on Tuesday for the first time since last Thursday. I'm also sincerely hoping the current blanket of fog for the past two days will have lifted by the morning, it hasn't added to the chances of migration getting off the ground, though large numbers of Meadow Pipits have been recorded passing through various local visible migration watch-points today.

There are also the prospects of catching up with butterflies as the weeks progress further into summer and I'm looking forward to this, and there's excellent news of one of the UK's rarest butterflies having had the best year in a decade.

High Brown Fritillary. Copies Permitted.

The critically endangered High Brown Fritillary (HBF) had it's best year in 2014, it's best season since 2004 and an increase in number by more than 180% compared to 2013, attributed to the warm spring weather to add to some brilliant work co-ordinated by Butterfly Conservation to restore it's habitat.  

The striking orange and black HBF once bred in most large woods in England and Wales, but habitat loss of this beautiful creature resulted in worrying declines which raised fears that it could be heading toward extinction. The HBF is one of only two critically endangered butterfly species in the UK, now restricted to a handful of colonies, one of which is up here in the North West, and also South West England and one in Wales. There are ongoing conservation efforts to reverse the long term decline of this butterfly which still have a long way to go reach this important reversal for the High Brown Fritillary.

A Party Political Broadcast....

....on behalf of the Migration Party. 

But nothing to broadcast as there has been little migration into the country yet, and I'll miss the start if it happens before Tuesday as I'm out of business until then. 

Meanwhile....Alleluia, I got out birding again on Thursday, first time in six days, but I haven't missed much as evidence showed today.

As far as I could see the Conder Pool winter Little Grebes and Goldeneyes have gone, though the faithful Spotted Redshank and Common Sandpiper both showed themselves again, accompanied by a small motley crew of 18 Tufted Duck, 2 Snipe, and a Little Egret, a 'pipit' had me jumping to attention for one second when it became obvious it was a Meadow Pipit. A Stoat took my place on the viewing platform as I stepped down from it.

The Lune Estuary was hardly riveting, but c.120 Black-tailed Godwit seen, some of which were in their resplendent summer plumes, also c.60 Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Red-breasted Merganser, and a Little Egret was the sum total of interest.

As I drove up Moss Lane towards Cockersands I saw at least 900 Golden Plover in the air over the fields, but in the three hours spent there I never saw them again. There are still at least 200 Whooper Swan in the fields here with the Black Swan still attached to the herd.

Turnstone Brian Rafferty  

On Plover Scar I estimated 80 Turnstone and saw 63 Eider off here. A single Stock Dove was in an Abbey Farm field, and a Small Tortoiseshell was my first this year.

Sparrowhawk Richard Pegler

The local Sparrowhawk took out one of our resident garden House Sparrows yesterday....BASTARD. The sparrow probably has a nest under the eaves of our house.

Migration as I post....Still waiting.

Thanks to Brian and Richard for the Turnstones and Sparrowhawk, and to Martin for the Black-tailed Godwit header....More excellent images on Birds2blog.

Failed The Driving Test!

Ban Driven Grouse Shooting

I've taken this link down and off my sidebar, it having attracted a little over a mere 22,000 signatures over a twelve month period, I'll just repeat that 'over a twelve month period'.

A write up about the petition ends....'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'.

So 78,000 short of the threshold for debate to try to move forward on this ban for driven grouse shooting. Where are the 1.1 million RSPB subscribers signatures then....obviously not that many people care about whether driven grouse shooting is banned or not, perhaps more to the point don't want it banned, even more to the point probably engage in it, so presumably don't think it has any relevance to the Hen Harrier issue. 

There are by far too many who don't oppose game shooting in particular Red Grouse shooting which is what all this is about, after all there are enough of them and they're not as majestic and attractive as the Hen Harrier which is on the verge of extinction, and although the grouse is an attractive looking bird, they make a silly bloody cackling noise when they fly off, whilst the Hen Harrier has so much charisma as it flies around the moorlands....So what, one bird species is as good as any other....ain't it!

As for the RSPB, well the Royal Charter makes things a little more than difficult for them to oppose legal shooting for sporting purposes and they sit there quietly on the fence on the subject neither supporting or condemning the blood sport, as indeed do The National Trust who also own large swathes of upland land and do little shouting about it to join another silent witness The Wildlife Trusts, they appear to have no voice to shout with either. But I've always been an advocate for removing the 'R' in RSPB, throw out the charter and the royals too and into the bin.

So, the 'Ban Driven Grouse Shooing' petition is a resounding failure....I signed it, but where does the call 'We Will Win' stand now, at best it won't make it any louder, and there's no April Fool here either!

And yes you guessed it....

I'd sooner be birding....But unfortunately haven't been since last Friday, but tomorrow is looking reasonable for the movement north of migration. If you've seen a Wheatear, Sand Martin, Osprey, you can count yourself lucky, not all that many others have. 

And Finally....

Stonechats. Sharon Whitley The Rambling Artist 

I have to give Sharon W a plug for the excellent studies of the Stonechats in her latest work. 'Clik The Pik' it's even more excellent, and you can read the text too. It also brightens up an otherwise dark post albeit with a serious subject.

Hard Work Little Pay.

I have to keep reminding myself were still in the last week of March, and though the calendar says it's spring the birds don't think so, at least the migrant ones don't, and won't be moving much in our direction until the weather improves and becomes more favourable for them. 

Spotted Redshank. Conder Green. Stuart Piner.

I drew a blank on lots of birds on Friday - migrant or not - with little reward for some hard slogging. I've got to be honest, I need to be seeing some 'new' birds with no disrespect to the Conder Green Spotted Redshank - which is showing moult into breeding plumage as the image above shows - and the Common Sandpiper both of which showed well again on Conder Pool, the former at rest with 35 Redshank, and the latter hiding away in a corner and seen from the fence at the west end. Also on the pool, 2 Goldeneye, with a Snipe put to flight upstream from the road bridge. A circuit almost produced a blank saved only by a Dunnock....this is serious!

I spent an enjoyable 3 hours at Cockersands, but not attributed to the birds I saw, though the days count of at least 2,500 Golden Plover was impressive, even if they spent almost the entire visit wheeling around on the wing for some reason or other and never settling at all, really frustrating because at one point I picked out a small wader in the air with them, and it would have been rewarding to grill them on the ground if only to find it had been a Dunlin maybe.

Black-tailed Godwit. Howard Stockdale.

The count still stands at c.200 Whooper Swan at Cockersands, all viewable off Moss Lane and with the Black Swan still present with them. Off Crook Farm, c.195 Black-tailed Godwit....And that was my lot for Friday 27 March 2015.

Clik the pik....and spot the ringed BTG. Yes it has a white flag on it's right leg and a ring above the flag hidden from view. It could be any one of six Black-tailed Godwits ringed in Iceland....how frustrating!

A Blackbird sang full voice in our garden this morning at 4.45am 

Thanks to SP/HS for the excellent images, including the new header, another 'pic with a difference' and much appreciated.

The Mutt Brigade. 

I make no apologies for reporting the 'Mutt Brigade' at Cockersands on Friday once again, three handlers and 15 mutts this time, a mile out into the bay and probably responsible for the disturbance of the 2,500 Golden Plover when they first set out on the shingle if the truth be known. 

Buzzin Up Clougha.

Another decent day weatherwise on Wednesday got me buzzing, and although the Lune Estuary magnet had a strong pull on me again, in the end Clougha was the winner and off I went. 

I managed a 26 species count in the six hours I was away from the motor. Though it was upland birding I can't say that's a good count, never the area to 'get a bag full', though that's a pretty sick pun.

Stonechat Marc Heath  

Hard to believe I've not been on Clougha since 20 June 2014, but good news on Wednesday was of 5 Stonechat found, seen as two pair and a lone male, so possibilities of three pair here in the last week of March with hopefully more to come. Also of note, a Great-spotted Woodpecker was in the car park, and 4 Jay were in the area of the bog. Also seen before I reached the moor, 5 Robin, 3 Wren, 3 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Coal Tit, 2 Great Tit, and a Song Thrush.

Red Grouse. Pete Woodruff.    

At least 16 Red Grouse seen, including the one pictured which was the most confiding one I ever saw, a couple more paces closer and I could have grabbed the bird. Although hard to come by yet on the coast, 3 Wheatear were at least 400m up on Clougha Pike, two seen as a pair with the male chasing the female around, and 16 Meadow Pipit noted. Not a single raptor seen in the entire six hours.

Birk Bank.

Land Management. Pete Woodruff.

This is what I found Birk Bank looking like on Wednesday....a wasteland burnt to the ground by the 'Guardians of the Countryside'.

When Clougha/Birk Bank was in its prime as a stronghold for the Lancashire Stonechat just a few years ago, and I surveyed the area in the images above, I walked through shoulder height bracken and other suitable ground nesting bird habitat. 

Please 'clik the pik' and see the bigger picture of the damage these people do to the uplands in our area and beyond. They can legally continue to do this until 31 March - and into mid-April in some cases - which is beyond the first egg laying date for the Stonechat, a past nest record of which had eggs in it on 13 March. 

If it's wildlife you're looking for - and in particular the Stonechat - you can delete Birk Bank from your list....I've deleted it from mine.

Whooper Swan.

With little time for blogging, but good news from Wednesday on Clougha when I do.

Whooper Swans David Cookson

This is the history of only the second Whooper Swan I've had the opportunity to ring read this winter. I received the sightings history for the marked Whooper Swan BN3 which I found at Bank End on 16 March. 

This bird will be 8 years old come 8 August 2015 and before it departs Cockersands for Iceland it will have already flown an amazing almost 50,000 miles on migration, carrying as an adult a weight of around 14kg, a huge creature for such an annual undertaking.

Ringed Cygnet  Holmavatn S-Thing Iceland 8 August 2007 

Dunkirk, Near Little Downham Cambridgeshire United Kingdom 28 October 2007 

Great Dams Fen, Wardy Hill, Coveney Cambridgeshire U.K 22 January 2008  

Ringneill Bay, Srangford Lough Co. Down Northern Ireland 18 March 2008 

Ringneill Bay, Srangford Lough Co. Down Northern Ireland 18 March 2008

Beechwood Farm, Christchurch Cambridgeshire U.K 24 January 2011

Bank End, Cockerham Lancashire United Kingdom 16 March 2015

I am grateful to Kane Brides once again for this information, and to DC for the Whooper Swans image.

Swan Song.

Having been in touch with the right people at the lab and at WWT, an interesting telephone conversation yesterday regarding the outcome of post mortems on dead Mute Swans found in North Lancashire and sent for examination, wasn't conclusive as far as I'm concerned, though in making that comment no suggestion is being made that anything I was told about the results was in any way short or withheld.

Mute Swan Warren Baker  

So no final result for me in why 12 Mute Swans found over a three week period - including two last week - and all within 2 miles of each other were to be deemed as victims of starvation. 

But if you are about to suggest that I've been watching at least 400 swans - the vast majority Whooper Swans - in the area around Thurnham/Cockersands for several winter weeks now, all tugging at blades of grass all day long in the same fields, yet twelve have succumbed to starvation, then you have to consider that these twelve were probably already suffering from malnutrition for whatever reason and that towards the end of the winter period in February/March is the time when these birds are most likely to die.

Again, no suggestion is being made in bringing the subject into play, but I want to highlight this.... 

Some European countries use only non-toxic shot for all shooting, in Denmark this has been the case since 1996, but certainly hasn't in the UK. A debate has been ongoing for many years over the use of non-toxic shot, an issue which remains controversial. 

The shooting press try their best to make it quite clear that there is a misconception that lead poisoning of wildlife is not a problem. It's understandable that some people might underestimate the importance of lead poisoning as birds die regularly and in small numbers and are rapidly removed by predators.

The twelve birds dead through starvation in North Lancashire were not removed by predators or scavengers, and my understanding is that no Avian Flu or Lead Poisoning was found in these 12 Mute Swans....In the case of the former being the cause of death I doubt if I would have been made privy to such findings.

I don't want to make any other comment on here, but I intend trying more enquiries about the mysterious death of this number of birds of the same species in a relatively small area.

Small Fry!

Nothing to hit the headlines yesterday with just small fry seen, but I did get out birding and that's all that matters to me.

Redshank With Turnstone Roost Findlay Wilde 

Conder Pool was quite lively with waders seeking a roost over the high 10.40m tide, with an estimated 220 Redshank and 150 Dunlin on here. Also 10 Snipe and a 'few' Curlew, the resident Spotted Redshank and Common Sandpiper, with 2 Goldeneye and 5 Tufted Duck. A male Reed Bunting appeared in the road and began feeding on spilt grain off a passing lorry. The Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock continued with an unimpressive streak and produced just 45 Black-tailed Godwit of note, with 2 Goldeneye, and a mere 8 Wigeon, seen as left overs from the wintering hundreds here.

Ringed Plover Brian Rafferty

At Cockersands the count of 185 Whooper Swan was something like 50% down on recent numbers. The Black Swan remains here, and the estimated 2,000 Golden Plover is an increase in the flock here for several days now, with a single Ringed Plover in the same field on a flooded section, c.30 Linnet were highly mobile, and up to 400 Black-tailed Godwit were off Crook Farm....Nothing small fry about them!

Migrants....still waiting and not even another Wheatear to be seen today.

Thanks for the images Findlay/Brian, much appreciated.

Anyone interested in a Music Festival!

Down....

....and out of pocket!

Thought you might like to read this until I get some time to blog about a few birds I saw today.

There was an excellent article in a local newspaper recently which had me jumping for joy on behalf of the Natural World.

Image Pete Woodruff.

This woman asked a man if he would take on the job of felling 27 trees. This whilst knowing the trees were under a Tree Preservation Order (TPO), she had sought to obtain financial gain by this terrible act of vandalism as the removal of the trees in a woodland area would open up a view to the estuary resulting in the value of her property for sale on the housing market being much higher.

But hey....this lady wasn't as bright as she might have thought she was, she ended up in court and was fined the grand sum of £15,000 plus a quid or two in costs. As for the lumberjack....well, he wasn't as bright as he thought he was either, he got lumbered with a fine of £3,000 plus a quid or two in costs.

Well as they say, it doesn't bring the trees back, but long live the TPO's....

Hope your'e still trying to sell yer 'ouse missus!

Fast Forward.

I suffered a carjacking again on Friday causing some derailed plans. But back on track later meant if I carried out the plan at 1.30pm to leg it from Lancaster to Glasson Dock the time allowance would be reduced to no more than three hours. 

To note on Freeman's Pools, 6 Goldeneye, a pair of Gadwall, 3 Little Grebe, a 'few' Wigeon, a Little Egret, and at the footpath crossroads at least 50 Fieldfare. On Aldcliffe Marsh c.500 Pink-footed Geese, and the red ringed Whooper Swan seen and previously reported here. The flood at Aldcliffe was totally void of birds, with a Little Ringed Plover having been on here Thursday/Friday and again Saturday.

Chiffchaff Antonio Puigg

At this point I almost decided to abort the plan, but in the end I struck out to complete the route, though unable to do my birding full justice I heard a Chiffchaff at the cutting south of Aldcliffe where I watched a Goldcrest scurrying through the branches, saw a Raven at Stodday, a pair of Long-tailed Tit almost certainly planning on nesting, and notched up 12 Blackbird en route.

Thanks to Antonio for the Chiffchaff, and David for the Grasshopper Warbler header.

Mute Swans.

Despite three phone calls to the lab performing the autopsy's on the recent dead Mute Swans I found and retrieved from the Conder Green/Thurnham/Cockersands area, I still have no info on the cause of death, but by arrangement I'm giving them a bell again this week. 

Meanwhile, another two dead Mute Swans have to be added to the list now standing at twelve birds, as one was found on Friday in the Cockersands area, and another in the Thurnham area on Saturday. 

Certainly something of a mystery to all this, you have to wonder if all these Mute Swan deaths are connected in any way in such a short space of time and close proximity to each other.