Upland Wanderings....

....and some interest in the garden.

On a beautiful calm spring day, it was good to get myself on Harrisend for 3 hours on Thursday, to find 6 Stonechat, seen as two pairs and a lone male and female, almost certainly having mates which I failed to see and make four 'probable' breeding pairs to date on Harrisend.

At least 13 Meadow Pipit seen, 2 Wren, 3 Dunnock including a male displaying to a female, 3 Red Grouse, and a male Reed Bunting, which was initially tricky alongside a male Stonechat, both in the far distance, 10 Greylag overhead flying west.

Five of fifteen 7-Spot Ladybirds. Pete Woodruff.

I found 15 7-Spot Ladybirds in four small clusters on Gorse, and saw 2 Peacock butterflies.

Two hours on Hawthorthwaite, produced 3 Stonechat, seen as a pair and a lone male. Also, 8 Red Grouse, 7 Meadow Pipit, and 3 Wren. The bonus bird was a Woodcock, flushed and flew about 400m to go down by Catshaw Greave.

I was grateful for the report of 2 Barn Owls seen on Wednesday, one of which was reasonably obvious to have been the same one seen by me at and around the foot of Hawthornthwaite on 20 January, the other seen at the woodlands at the bottom of Cam Brow. Reasonable to suggest perhaps these two Barn Owls are a pair....Many thanks for this Simon.

   

Interest In The Garden.

There was a lot of enjoyment to be had in the garden this week, with visits by Bees, Butterflies, Birds, Hoverflies, and a colourful if nasty little critter.                          

 

With some video footage made, a visit to see the Reed Bunting in a Brookhouse garden was a success. A bit of a surprise, and not the bird to be found on your feeders on a regular basis, and not one I'm expecting ever on mine in urban Lancaster.

European Hoverfly. Pete Woodruff.

The Eristalis pertinax found in our garden, developed into something a little more interesting, in that I discovered the larva of this hoverfly is the Rat-tailed Maggot, one of which was seen in the garden pond last year....The larva's name doesn't conjure up anything of beauty does it!

Tree Bumblebee on Pussy Willow 

 

Buff-tailed Bumblebee. Pete Woodruff.

 

As the most familiar bumblebee, this Bombus terrestris was basking on Camellia in the garden, unfortunately giving a rear view only.

Yellow Dung-Fly. Pete Woodruff. 

And the nasty colourful critter which I couldn't miss, is the golden-furred male Yellow-Dung Fly on the branch of a Willow in the garden yesterday.

Footnote.

Hard to believe in the 21st century, but as my experience has clearly shown, you can spend 5 hours in the Forest of Bowland like I did today - often spending much more time than that - and not see a single bird of prey....Hen Harrier, Red Kite, Merlin, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Peregrine Falcon, Short-eared Owl, Kestrel.  

Highlights Around The Estuary.

Highlights started with a visit to Conder Pool on Friday, where 16 Avocet have now pitched up, and are equivalent in number to the eight breeding pairs in 2021. Also there, the Short-eared Owl performed, and gave excellent views on the ground and hunting around the edges of the pool. 

In perfect light conditions, I couldn't resist another attempt at some more footage of this brilliant owl that has entertained droves of happy birders and photographers for three weeks on Conder Pool now.

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The other highlight was that of up to 400 Black-tailed Godwit, most of which were at rest on the island, whilst others were feeding along the back terrace. Two male and a female Shoveler were also excellent, not a particularly common sight here, also 5 Snipe and a Little Egret completed a decent short list for Conder Pool.

At Cockersand, I was pleased to find my first 2 Wheatear, the first of which was on Plover Scar....Well, where else would I find my first Wheatear other than on Plover Scar. The c.250 Whooper Swan I saw from a moving vehicle, were concentrated in the fields off Moss Lane to the south of Gardners Farm.

At least 2,000 Golden Plover were in the air again as they had been on my last visit to Cockersand. The Skylark were singing their seemingly never ending flight song, with one fluttering over my head, also 3 Stock Dove noted, 6 Linnet in stubble, and around 20 birds distant in the air in the same field, were probably the same, but unable to rule out Twite.

Miscellany.

My daughter has a stunning male Reed Bunting visiting over the past few days in Brookhouse. An urban Reed Bunting on garden feeders is a first for Lynn, and certainly is for me.

I saw my first butterfly, with a Small Tortoiseshell at Cockersand on Friday, and one in the garden yesterday. Also in the garden, a Tree Bumblebee, a 'social bee' known to be less represented in up to four areas of Lancashire, including my home town of Lancaster. A large bee escaped through the greenhouse window before I could get very much detail on it, but from what I did see, I thought it was a queen Buff-tailed Bumblebee which emerge in early spring from February onwards, as one of the most familiar of banded bumblebees. 

Out For The Count!

On the pretence of being a 'proper birder', I decided to do a stock count Conder Pool on Thursday, and arrived at the count of 177 birds of 14 species in view. The count included the long staying Short-eared Owl which gave excellent views, albeit that it spends most of the time around the east corner of the pool hunting for an obvious abundance of voles, being it still hangs around two weeks since it was first reported at Conder Pool 27 February.

Couldn't resist a second helping of footage of the SEO and the Cockersand Snow Bunting, best viewed Full Screen. 

There was an arrival of 7 Avocet, though there had been 9 here on Tuesday 8 March. Many thanks go to Howard Stockdale for the excellent header image.

Also in my notes for Conder Pool, 21 Tufted Duck, 18 Wigeon, 8 Teal, 7 Shelduck, 13 Redshank, 5 Black-tailed Godwit, 47 Black-headed Gull, 2 Little Grebe, and a Little Egret. 

On the Lune Estuary at Glasson, c.300 Dunlin, 30 Black-tailed Godwit and 2 Bar-tailed Godwit were accompanied by a lone Knot, 3 Goldeneye and a Goosander were also noted.

At Cockersand, a casual count of 23 species saw c.4,000 birds, the bulk of which was at least 3,500 Golden Plover in the air on the circuit, which I saw a few minutes after a female Merlin flew along Slack Lane to turn south and disappeared along the shoreline behind Lighthouse Cottage. I failed to relocate the grounded plovers again, but off Plover Scar, I counted 42 Eider, and strung along the shore south from here, at least 120 Shelduck noted.

The Snow Bunting was by the kissing gate north of Cockersand Abbey, and is one of the most confiding bird I ever saw, but not looking quite as exotic as it would have in the Cairngorms. There was at least 350 Whooper Swan over four fields today, including some in a field below and west of the A588, this was an increase in number of at least 150 since my last visit on 4 March. 

The day of the owl, the bunting, and although cloudy and windy, time checking Conder Pool, and another enjoyable wander around Cockersand....HAPPY DAYS.

    

The ferry leaves Heysham and out of Morecambe Bay into the Irish Sea, seen at 2.40pm. The far western Cumbrian landscape is in the misty background, with Plover Light off Plover Scar in the foreground.

Wheatear Banks Marsh 11 March Stuart Darbyshire

There's a claim to have found the first Wheatear for Lancashire at Banks Marsh on the mean arrival date of 11 March....I reckon Stuart is spot on.

Asio flammeus

I joined the merry band of owl enthusiasts at Conder Green on Friday to have excellent views of a Short-eared Owl which has been at Conder Pool since it was first recorded seven days ago on 27 February. 

The wings of the Short-eared Owl are proportionately the longest of any owl in the Western Palearctic, and when I first viewed this bird through the telescope, I noticed its right wing was hanging limp, but it lifted it to preen briefly, and soon took off to hunt when it appeared to have no problems, it was able to bank and make swift turns as it hunted as can be seen in the video.

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As I arrived at Conder Green, c.250 Black-tailed Godwit had been on Conder Pool, but up to 200 had taken off to leave and flew towards the Lune Estuary. It was good to see the arrival of 3 Avocet back on the pool. Also noted were, a few Wigeon and Tufted Duck with a lone female Goldeneye.

My visit to Cockersand was unremarkable, there was no show from the  Stonechats - probably back in Bowland by now - or Snow Bunting, though later I saw a report of the long staying bunting on the coastal path, in the FBC sightings page. There was a marked decrease in the number of swans, which now stands at no more than 200 Whooper Swan, with no search for anything accompanying them distantly. As the tide was rising, 3 Snipe came off the marsh.

On the circuit, it was good to hear the Skylark heralding early signs of spring, and Lapwing thinking of taking up territories in the fields, with 2 Kestrel hovering over the Caravan Park and Crook Farm, 52 Golden Plover were in a field to the north of Abbey Farm, and three large groups eventually formed up to 3,000 Starling.

Raven Cockersand 4 March. Pete Woodruff.

Four Raven off the headland flew by me close in at eye level. Zooming in on them, Heysham power station looks like it is on the shore at Plover Scar, Cockersand Abbey is on my right out of shot.

With too much water on the ebbing tide on the Lune Estuary at Glasson, 225 Black-tailed Godwit, and 70 Bar-tailed Godwit noted, with 550 Wigeon and 3 Goosander seen.     

On my way home to Lancaster four hours later, I called back to Conder Pool to have a second helping of the SEO, but finding the viewing platform crammed to the rafters, I abandoned the idea, thankful for my first sighting of this beautiful creature....Happy Owl Days!

Many Thanks to Paul Murphy for his excellent image of the SEO on Conder Pool Friday 4 March.  

News & Views.

This morning I was in receipt of some excellent news and images regarding some of the management work completed on Conder Pool.

Redshank/Oystercatcher Conder Pool 18 Feb. Howard Stockdale.

From a personal point of view, it was the perfect medicine for my cure of the wind and rain currently battering the country.  The weather has been in the main, the cause of my being off the road for another one of those depressing weeks of no birding. But the header image of the stunning Black-tailed Godwit on Conder Pool yesterday, instantly killed storm Eunice for me.

 

Sand Martin Bank Conder Pool. Howard Stockdale.

The new islands and the Sand Martin bank are completed, though the birds probably won't use the bank this year as the ground will need to settle to be suitable for nesting.

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Little Owl. Martin Jump.

Martin sent me a series of Little Owl images which I tried to produce as a slide show, but I failed as the file size was way over the limit of 100mb to publish with blogger. I decided on this as the best individual in the set.

Blackbird. Mike Robinson.

Mike sent me this excellent image of the leucistic Blackbird in his garden recently.

I'm grateful for the info and images from Howard. And for the images from Martin and Mike, they are all very much appreciated.

Early Days!

I was intrigued by the report of a Yellow Wagtail seen at Queens Manor, Lytham St Annes on 14 February. The earliest ever record of Yellow Wagtail in Lancashire, was of a bird seen 26 years ago on 23 March 1996.

Clinch The Finch!

Friday was something of a re-run of my visit to a different location in Bowland on 20 January, in that the day was in the main dire for birds....until the final furlong.

The visit to Harrisend was uneventful save 12 Red Grouse, and 8 Greylag in flight west over the ridge, though a Stonechat caught my eye flying across the road ahead. It was the only one seen all day, though to be honest I wasn't hopeful of seeing any when I next went to do the Birk Bank circuit, via Cragg Wood-Littledale Road-Rigg Lane.

On the circuit, a single Red Grouse seen at Birk Bank, and a couple heard with their barking call. At Cragg Wood, 8 Long-tailed Tit, and along Littledale Road-Rigg Lane produced 7 Blackbird, 6 Goldfinch, 5 Robin, 4 Mistle Thrush, and 2 Redwing.

Bullfinch Pair At Rushy Lee.

For the second time in a few weeks, the glimpse of a red breast had me muttering to myself....Robin. But hey, surprise surprise, when I raised my binos, a stunning male Bullfinch was soon seen to be accompanied by a female, both were feeding on Damson trees along the path to Rushy Lee. 

This was my third 'Bowland Bullfinch' record away from traditional sites, mainly in the south-east of Cumbria, at Arnside and Silverdale, and the Lune Valley. The Rushy Lee record of Bullfinch, follows a pair seen in the plantation up from Tower Lodge on 6 November 2020, which I claimed to have been the first of the species here to my knowledge, though Brian Townson who I was with at the time, claimed whilst we were separated, a pair in the same area at Tower Lodge on 25 June 2010.

Other Bullfinch seen in Bowland in the past have been at Birk Bank in 2004, 4 seen 1 November, and 4 seen 22 November, the 8 seen 18 December were claimed to have been part of an exceptionally high number invasion of 'Northern Bullfinch' in 2004, and were identified by hearing the 'toy horn' call.

My other records away from traditional sites, a female Bullfinch from the coastal path between Conder Green/Glasson Dock 9 January 2017, 5 seen 30 October 2014 Lancaster Cemetery, and a male seen Lancaster Cemetery 17 December 2021.

Inside information tells me the Bullfinch has been around Rushy Lee on the fringe of Bowland for at least ten years, but no evidence has ever been found to prove breeding....Well there's a revelation!  

Conder Pool.

The Common Terns Champion

Ian Pinkerton turned golfer to birder overnight the day he discovered Conder Pool, and soon became The Common Terns Champion, virtually moving in to live at the pool where he spent endless hours at the viewing platform monitoring the birds.

Ian would have been pleased to see the development being currently carried out at Conder Pool, but sadly he isn't around anymore to enjoy this and the terns he loved so much.

I have dedicated this post to Ian who died in August 2019.

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I'm grateful for having had the details forwarded to me about an update on some work to be carried out by the RSPB to further develop Conder Pool and improve this already excellent site for wildlife, in particular the birds.

Conder Works 7 February 2022. Howard Stockdale.

I have no entitlement to put too much detail on B2B into this project, but machinery is already in place and hard at work, including that to be carried out to reduce the height of the breeding islands, and some reshaping of the current layout, as well as remedial work on the inlet sluice.

A Dangerous Combination. Pete Woodruff.

A trio of dedicated individuals - Howard Stockdale, Ian Hartley and Paul Ellis - formed a working party to push for improvements at the site since the livestock disturbance during the 2020 breeding season. In 2021 livestock was prohibited between March - July, the result was immediately seen with 8 pairs of Avocet successfully hatching their broods. The same year also saw the introduction of colour ringing of the Avocet and Common Tern to support the very important research group activity. 

Photographic evidence of Redshanks with 3 chicks at Conder Pool 10 June 2021. Howard Stockdale. This was another excellent breeding record for Conder Pool in 2019.

 

Female Stonechat Conder Pool 6 Feb. Howard Stockdale.

Included in his message, Howard sent me this excellent image of the Stonechat within a few metres out from the viewing platform at Conder Pool. On seeing this picture, a sickly green feeling came over me....Stonechat, Conder Pool....WOW!

Rock On!

A pretty strong howler from the north and cold with it, took the edge off a decent day, but came nowhere close to ruining my enjoyment at the sight of 14 Rock Pipit and a Water Pipit at Cockersand on Friday. 

A female Stonechat was again in the long grasses and marsh by the parking area at high tide, and a male seen again at the far end of the rough field behind Lower Bank Houses, seen twice previously, but always distant and busy.

I didn't linger at Cockersand after a couple of hour of pipit watching, but pulled up as I drove away to count c.130 Pink-footed Geese in the same field by Abbey Farm as found 14 January, also a few uncounted Golden Plover. I didn't pull up on Moss Lane, but as I drove by, at least 300 Whooper Swan presumably accompanied by Bewick's Swans in a field west of Gardener's Farm, and on Jeremy Lane 122 Greylag and a Kestrel hovering overhead.

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On the Canal Basin at Glasson Dock, 12 Goldeneye were ruling the waves, with 18 Tufted Duck, and 2 Goosander noted.

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Conder Pool was hosting a nice 84 Black-tailed Godwit until there was some disturbance and they departed west. A Little Grebe, 2 Goosander, 35 Wigeon, and a Snipe noted.

Rock Pipit at Cockersand.

Fourteen Rock Pipit, probably the best count at Cockersand in recent times, certainly a personal best ever, 10 here 12 years ago LDBWS Annual Report 2010.

A pint of lager and a packet of crisps please....Rock On!    

....And The Sunday Brents

Bowland Best Bits. 

Confined to barracks this past week, but I managed to keep myself occupied, including stitching some footage together to create a compilation of a few of the best bits to come out of Bowland in the past twelve months.

 

The Marshaw Wyre at Marshaw

Grey Wagtail towards Tower Lodge on the Marshaw Wyre

Common Sandpiper at Marshaw on the Marshaw Wyre

Catshaw Grieve falling down Hawthornthwaite Fell

Wheatear on Hawthornthwaite Fell

Barn Owl hunting the foot and surrounds of Hawthornthwaite 

Dipper at Stoops Bridge, Abbeystead

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Brent Geese.

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A walk along the promenade Sandylands to Heysham gave excellent views of 58 Brent Geese.

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Unfortunately there was much disturbance from the 'walkies fraternity' but my delight in seeing them overrode my annoyance. 

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Aberrations in Dragonflies.

Migrant Hawker. Pete Woodruff.

Taken on the Lancaster Canal at Conder Green in September 2021, despite viewing this image of the male Migrant Hawker several times, I've not noticed until recently, it has blue markings missing on S4.

Southern Hawker. Copyright John & Carol Hurd.

I was given a link to another aberration, this male Southern Hawker has a blown headlight.

Mid-Winter Bowland.

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On a beautiful sunny if cold day on Thursday, the purpose of a trawl around Marshaw - Tower Lodge - Trough Bridge, was to give me some mental and physical well-being, this clip certainly contributed to that....but not a bag full of birds. In fact in the 4 hours I was there, a count totaled a pretty depressing 9 species....yes NINE! 

OK, so this is upland birding in January, but c'mon, 9 species being a classic example of recording what you don't see, being as important as those you do.

My list was, 4 Mallard, with not a Dipper in sight on the Marshaw Wyre, 2 Red Grouse, 8 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Dunnock, 6 Blackbird, a Robin, Kestrel, and a Pheasant. Well if that's not depressing....I give in!

But with a couple of hours decent daylight left, I gave Hawthornthwaite a look in, brief by usual standards. The brilliant sunlight on the fell did me a favour, when I spotted a pair of Stonechat on the top of a ridge, I found a pair here on my last visit on 11 November. Also seen, 6 Red Grouse, a Buzzard, and a Snipe, on take-off with it's 'muffled sneeze' soon dropped to ground again.

Stonechat 20 January. Pete Woodruff.

When I came back down, a male Stonechat was silhouetted against the light on the wall opposite and soon disappeared. But the day that had offered me few birds, soon turned positive when a Barn Owl came on the scene to give me several minutes of pleasure when it hunted the lower moor of Hawthornthwaite, before making a dive opposite me on the other side of the road.

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Barn Owl. 

The Barn Owl is recorded as a scarce resident breeder in our area, with no breeding reports in The Birds of Lancaster & District 2019 

Ten pairs of Barn Owls nested successfully in monitored boxes in Bowland in 2020. The East Lanc's Ornithological Club received 136 records, with confirmed breeding at 17 sites. Sightings from 8 locations in the LDBWS recording area were published...Lancashire Bird Report 2020 

I don't recall ever seeing a Barn Owl in Bowland, so an excellent first for me. I've obviously been going to all the wrong places in Bowland all these years, but Thursdays bird put an end to that, and gave me another Grand Finale.

The header image of the PFG at Cockersand, in the same field I saw them in on 14 January, is to show my appreciation to Ian Mitchell for sending it to me.