Blue-headed Parrots....

Blue-headed Parrots. Colin Bushell.

....but not where I've been today, though seen in their hundreds by CB on his recent trip to Peru. You can always link to Ribble to Amazon via the sidebar on Birds2blog. Thanks for the pic Colin, much appreciated.

With JB today we first visited Conder Green where 6 Little Grebe were noted on Conder Pool, though I made no serious attempt at counting them today where was the other ten, 4 Spotted Redshank seen, and 4 Goosander were in the channel, 35 Pink-footed Geese went over south as did 5 Whooper Swans appearing from the direction of Aldcliffe and which went down on to Jeremy Lane, they were seen later in the field with the sub-station at the entrance with 22 Mute Swans which incidentally have reduced in number dramatically on the River Lune at Glasson Dock....I wonder why.

On the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock, 2 Curlew Sandpipers were on the little exposed mud as the tide ebbed, also noted were yesterdays c.1,000 Knot intermingled with c.700 Bar-tailed Godwit, they were over at the opposite side almost out of sight on the bend of the river, this is the counters nightmare, especially at a distance like this and in poor light.

We drove off to Pilling Marsh to find 23 Barnacle Geese were with up to 10,000 Pink-footed Geese and included an uncounted number of Greylag one of which appeared to be a pure albino, also 11 Little Egret on the marsh. On Fluke Hall Lane another 7 Barnacle Geese were with c.4,000 Pink-footed Geese. At Fluke Hall 2 Little Egret and 7 Skylarks were the result of a wander down the coastal path to find the elusive Laplander/s in the stubble....no further comment on that one!

A drive to Knott End to see if a serious downpour would have ceased by the time we got there, which it did. I counted 850 Dunlin at close range off the esplanade accompanied by a 'few' Sanderling, a Sparrowhawk flew by going inland leaving the waders unaware of its presence.

No megas, rarities, or scarcities, but I call that a decent days birding and I reckon JB does too, in any case I personally don't have lists, lifers and all that jazz, just a plain and simple birder....with NO emphasis on the 'simple'.

And finally....

OK, so you know your waders....you won't need me to tell you what these are then!!

Definitely finally this time....

Barnacle Geese. John Bateman

Barnacle Geese in stubble off Fluke Hall Lane today. Thanks for the pic John, good to have your company on a good days birding yet again.

The Short List.

Whooper Swans. John Bateman.

Thanks to JB for the pic of the first Whooper Swans of 2010 in our area, found in stubble off Fluke Hall Lane last Tuesday 12 October eleven days later than last years three opposite Braides. A good days birding  with some good records collected for my book.

I have a feeling the title has been used on a previous post but we won't concern ourselves on that one, but it is a short list for the Monday four hour slot which started at Conder Green where 16 Little Grebe were counted on Conder Pool which at this rate will have to be renamed Grebe Pool, also of note on an otherwise quiet pool was 3 Black-tailed Godwit. The negatives here were no sign of the Common Sandpiper, or the four summering Wigeon which have perhaps now joined the relations on the Lune Estuary. In the creeks 3 Spotted Redshank, 3 Greenshank, and 8 Snipe.

On the Lune Estuary from Glasson Dock in excess of 1,000 Knot and 700 Bar-tailed Godwit were of note. At Cockersands a Ruff was in a field opposite the Lighthouse Cottage with c.85 Curlew, and there are now up to 50 Greenfinch in the area of the winter seed section of the same field, 9 Linnet also around this area, and the brief 'flash' of a small raptor was almost certainly a Merlin, 'almost certainly' being my way of claiming a 'possible'. And that was it....The Short List.

I was dead set on giving Cockersands a good going over for a couple of hours today, but a pick-up van and some men parked way out at the seaward end of Plover Scar, plus a pretty strong wind making the optics on a tripod behave like they were having a nervous breakdown all contributed to rhymes with 'missed' me off completely. These people do have the right to be out there on the scar with a van I assume, but what the bloody hell are they doing out there anyway....The rant ends here!

And finally....

Red Deer. Gary Jones.

Thanks to Gary for the pic of the stag Red Deer locked in combat on his recent trip to do A Circuit of Martindale where you can see some excellent photographs - both landscape and deer - of his day in this brilliant area of the Lake District.

Piper and Fare!

Purple Sandpiper. David Cookson.

I've seen Purple Sandpiper (PS) at only three locations in Lancashire in my entire birding days and even at these sites have personally never seen more than one/two birds at Heysham Harbour, roosting on the groyne by the Stone Jetty at Morecambe, and at Rossall Point near Fleetwood.. So you've gathered the PS is a rare bird in Lancashire and that's by no means an overstatement, though I am aware of other locations in Lancashire holding past records of the PS but none of which I've visited, for example Lytham/Fairhaven, Blackpool, Freckleton, and Seaforth but I don't pretend to know the situation in 2010 without doing some more reading.

In Oakes days he considered it to be a scarce and infrequent bird on the Lune Estuary and Morecambe Bay. Today one or two can still be seen on occasions at Heysham Harbour and one bird on - or in the area of  - the groyne near the Stone Jetty at Morecambe, but overall recent decades have seen a decline in numbers of the PS.

There's no doubt Heysham Harbour in the past was always the most reliable county site for the PS and records can be found of up to 20 birds recorded in both March 1974 and November 1980 after which time the numbers began to decline, and by 2000 'regular' wintering at Heysham Harbour had ceased. Rossall Point and Knott End at the mouth of the River Wyre were also regular wintering sites but I'm not aware of any birds here since the very late 1990's/2000.

I found both of the only Lancashire ringed PS recoveries, those of a bird ringed at Seaforth in March 1978 and was on Hilbre Island on 22 September of the same year, and that of one ringed at Heysham in April 1977 which returned there every winter until 1989 and actually stayed the summer in 1987.

So....if you're lucky enough to see a PS this winter you may well be the only person to do so if you don't report it!

Fieldfare. David Cookson.    

I've not found my first Fieldfare this year yet but reckon I probably will do this week, possibly along Moss Lane on the way to Cockersands to find a Merlin, Twite, Stonechat perhaps, with the odd Lapland Bunting thrown in for good measure!! 

Thanks for the pic's David....'Coming in to land' and 'An apple a day'....excellent as ever.

The Merlin.

Kestrel. Phil Slade.

No not a Merlin but as good a photograph of the Kestrel that you could wish for, you won't need me to tell you this is a female with thanks to Phil who's website is HERE

I'm hoping a Merlin will take up winter residence at perhaps Conder Green/Glasson Dock or Cockersands where it has done in past years. This favourite of mine of all the raptors - along with the Peregrine Falcon - never fails to have its presence made known by thousands of waders and gulls taking to the wing en-mass and in sheer panic, if you were a wader or a gull amongst these masses and you fell victim to one of these impressive hunters in an attack you'd have to be regarded as being the ultimate of misfortune, just imagine being the one taken from 20,000 birds....Oh dear!!

It's pretty depressing when you read the history of this smart little raptor to see that the breeding population in Britain steadily declined during the 20th century, all down to persecution, egg thieves, habit loss, and general disturbance. In the early 1950's the decline was accelerated by the effects of pesticide poisoning, and as I see it the Merlin doesn't appear to have benefited from the withdrawal of these substances to the same extent as other raptor species have.

Today the status of the Merlin is still understandably shrouded in secrecy, like all raptors the bird continues to suffer the attentions of people - do they deserve to be called people - like the very nice Mr Aaron Kisiel who made his claim to fame with a lucrative business in stolen eggs and got away with it with no more than the equivalent of a slap on the wrist with our inadequate justice system.

Merlins can begin to appear in coastal Lancashire as early as the end of July/early August - though I'm not sure I ever collected a record on the coast at that time of the year - they winter regularly in south Fylde and around Morecambe Bay, whilst Marshside - Crossens has had up to four birds annually since the early 1970's, it is thought likely that some wintering birds on the coast of Lancashire come from other parts of the north of England and from Scotland and Wales, Icelandic birds are also thought likely to be fairly frequent. A couple of interesting ringing recoveries were those of a bird ringed in Bowland in June 1989 and was found dead in Brittany in January 1990, and another ringed in the Pennines in July 1995 was also found dead in Calais in October 1997.

The Merlins begin to leave their wintering grounds in Lancashire in March and all have usually left by the end of April, but some late migrants are recorded in the lowlands up to the middle of May. I'm now looking closely across the marshes and fields of Glasson, Cockersands, Cockerham, and Pilling and feel guaranteed I'll find one of these charismatic creatures once again this winter.

Sparrowhawk. David Cookson.

No this isn't a Merlin either but is another excellent photograph with thanks to David who's website is HERE  

And how about this then....My latest flag which I collected yesterday on the counter is from CHILE.

Shortie!

Andean Cock-of-the-Rock. Colin Bushell.

This has to be one of the most bizarre birds you'll ever see and is one of the many species seen by Colin on his latest trip to Peru....Thanks as ever for the pic Colin.

And this is probably one of the shortest posts I'll ever do. Not enough hours in the day today, I almost ran out of them, and especially in the case of Birds2blog I nearly did.

But I must give the east coast - and south coast for that matter - another plug to put the west in the shade again, though during my 'trawling' I've come across comments like 'who needs the east coast' and 'the west coast isn't all that bad'....Well in fact I never did called it 'bad' and could never bring myself to call it such, but lets get real and consider a couple of records I came across yesterday, those of 4,500 Goldcrests and 3,200 Robins over Holme Dunes in Norfolk - and by the way these are not typing errors - and 200+ Mediterranean Gulls at The Fleet in Dorset....anyone for the west coast!

But at the end of all this I'll always remember sights like the 200+ Sanderling at Knott End yesterday, and my first six Whooper Swans for 2010, not to mention eleven Stonechats on Harrisend recently when I thought nearly ALL was lost, and many hundreds of others over the years and all mainly in the west. My passion still gains momentum west coast birding and all.

And by the way, a Red-backed Shrike at Rossall today.

I'D SOONER BE BIRDING!   



Switched On!

The title is pathetic but I couldn't come up with anything original and it relates to the fact we turned on our central heating this evening as it's getting 'a bit cold now' and I'm getting 'a bit old now'....anyway who cares about a title, lets get on with the birding.

Knot. Brian Rafferty.

Brian Rafferty has been doing some coastal photography recently whilst JB and I have been doing some coastal birding today with some nice rewards for us all. Brian's photograph shows a fraction of the mass of Knot at high tide at Southport, a place I used to go regularly with John Leedal, happy days, happy memories, and if you love to see thousands of waders on good 10m tides then Birkdale/Ainsdale beaches are the places to be...Thanks for the pic Brian, excellent as ever. If you wish you can keep up to date with BR's website HERE

At Conder Green I was pleased to find at least 12 Little Grebe (I think there may be 14) on Conder Pool today, so we now stand with an equal record to 2009 and I reckon there are more to come. Also noted on the pool, Common Sandpiper, Kingfisher, 3 Tufted Duck, and 3 Wigeon. In the creeks 2 Spotted Redshank and 7 Snipe seen.

At Glasson Dock on the Lune Estuary, even smaller numbers of waders today with only 8 Golden Plover to be seen, 75 Bar-tailed Godwit and c.40 Dunlin, at least 220 Wigeon and a Little Egret were over by Waterloo Cottage. At Cockersands, never prepared to leave JB for hours on end I walked as far as Plover Scar and noted 20 Eider, c.45 Wigeon, and leaving JB to count the rest of the waders I noted yesterdays 3 Turnstone again and a Little Egret was also on Plover Scar.

From Fluke Hall Lane 6 Whooper Swans were in the stubble field are twelve days later than last years three opposite Braides on 1 October. From Fluke Hall slipway counts of at least 320 Dunlin, 40 Sanderling, 30 Grey Plover, and a Wheatear on the sea wall. On Pilling Marsh at least 6,000 Pink-footed Geese.

A visit to Knott End was well rewarded off the Esplanade by c.2,000 Oystercatcher, a good count of 220 Sanderling, 7 Knot, 16 Bar-tailed Godwit, and 5 Eider on the sea, 2 Teal on the beach seemed a little out of place here, and yet another Little Egret.   

And finally....

Scarlet Oak Leaf Fire Star. Richard Shilling.

There was no way I could ever have ignored this latest piece of landart excellence by RS. Thanks for this Richard, in the first place red is my favourite colour, and this simple yet stunning creation of yours lights up 'just another birding blog' to unbelievable proportions in my opinion....shuks!! Keeping up to date with this man and his art is highly recommended HERE

MEGA NEWS.

They're still coming in and today's news is of a Common Nighthawk in Co.Durham yesterday. This bird breeds in Southern Canada and the USA, south into Central America and the West Indies. It winters in South America, south to central Argentina. The first UK record is of a bird on the Isles of Scilly in September 1927. Several of these unfortunate creatures have been found in poor condition or dead but one individual gained some popularity and publicity when it was found exhausted at Moreton on Merseyside in October 1985, was taken into care and in due course gained itself an airlift to Belize where it was released back into the wild.  

   



East is East....

....and west is west, and that's the way its always gonna be. I've just had a look at one or two east coast birding blogs and well....it's just never going to compare and the sooner I/you accept, this is the west coast you're on and that's the east coast you ain't on, the better.

Eider. Pete Woodruff.

Could almost be a mystery pic, but it's a drake Eider at an intermediate stage of adult plumage off Plover Scar at Cockersands today.

Mmmmm!

OK, so you knew the other was a drake Eider....but what about these two which certainly were not off Plover Scar at Cockersands today and probably won't be tomorrow either.

I had the now customary Monday four hours to spare today and just got on with the time available. At Conder Green 'the' Common Sandpiper was on Conder Pool along with 9 Little Grebe and 3 Wigeon of which neither count was accurate as I'm quite sure as with recent visits here the numbers are 11 and 4 respectively. In the channels 2 Spotted Redshank, a Greenshank, 5 Snipe, a Goosander, and c.60 Teal all seen on the circuit which I did a little quicker than is the norm to get to Glasson Dock before the tide took over the estuary. As it happens there was nothing spoiling and the area hasn't yet accumulated anything like it's winter numbers with c.650 Golden Plover, c.60 Bar-tailed Godwit, and a solitary Black-tailed Godwit to note, along with a distant Little Egret. Two pristine Red Admiral were feeding on a 'blossom' tree I was unable to identify in my ignorance.

At Cockersands where the tide had by now almost taken over, I counted 16 Eider, and a Great-crested Grebe on the sea, and on the rapidly submerging Plover Scar, 5 Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Turnstone - always a difficult bird to find in number- 4 Snipe, circa 550 Redshank, 85 Oystercatcher, and 60 Dunlin....Come in PW you're time is up!

The Mega's and Rarities continue to drop in with examples like a Solitary Sandpiper at Seaton in Devon, Buff-bellied Pipit Esha, Shetland, and Isabelline Wheatear at Lowestoft in Suffolk to add to the already impressive list. 

Mega Time!

Rufescent Tiger Heron. Colin Bushell.

With thanks to Colin Busell for the photograph of the Rufescent Tiger Heron in Peru where he is currently searching out the birds/wildlife.

Its MEGA TIME now and the RBA pager is going nuts and the list - including some omissions - at the moment in the UK stands like this....

Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler 1908 Dublin.

Yellow-breasted Bunting 1905 Norfolk.

Black-eared Wheatear 1875 Lancashire.

Hermit Thrush 1975 Shetland, Fair Isle.

Green Heron 1889 Cornwall.

Of course all these birds carry with them an interesting history and first UK records are noted above. The Green Herons (GE) first record is obviously interesting in that it was recorded in the very same county as the one there at the moment, that of Cornwall way back in 1889, but the record was later removed from the British List as the birds ability to cross the Atlantic Ocean was doubted, but apparently four days after this bird had been seen on 27 October 1889 two American Bitterns were seen in Ireland and regarded - in connection with the GH - as 'surely not just a coincidence'. The record of the GH had to wait until 1971 before it was resubmitted to the BOURC who subsequently accepted it onto the British List.

Another old record is that of the Black-eared Wheatear the first of which was in 1875 near Bury in Lancashire. Another bird of this species was that of one in Sussex on 28 May 1902 but this individual was involved in the famous 'Hastings Rarities Affair' and was therefore later dismissed. 

It is interesting - though sad - that many of these old records involve birds having been shot in the days when we obviously had a need to become more civilised and caring for our birds and wildlife, even more sad is the fact we still need to rid ourselves of some people who are remnants of the days when wildlife didn't seem to count as important....like the very dear MR KISIEL who I think you should read about, and about who and what I made a comment, on which I have a feeling you may agree with.

Homework!

Another forced four days 'off the road' with 'Homework' of sorts to be done. No wall to wall birding seven days a week for this birder I'm afraid. So take a look at these three subjects I chose at random, I hope you find them interesting as I certainly did, and by the way, my comments are not to be read as patronising, just plain facts in plain English.

Willow Tit. David Cookson.

I've met some great people - birders and photographers - over my birding years and David Cookson is one of 'em and I appreciate the fact I'm able to liven up and show some brilliant photographs of his on Birds2blog. This one of the Willow Tit which he had the good fortune to visit his garden recently....lucky him, a bird extinct on our area in North Lancashire and beyond, go out and find one today for yourself and become famous overnight to prove they've all be wrong and that the Willow Tit is alive and well in the Lancaster and District Birdwatching Society recording area. Please take a look HERE  if you'd like to see some more stunning photography....Thanks David.

Meadow Pipit. Phil Slade.

I look in on Phil's website on a daily basis and came across this photograph of the Meadow Pipit. This picture takes the bird a step beyond it's status of a very common, widespread, and abundant species and lifts this individual to a higher plain thanks to this stunning photograph, and there's more HERE ....Thanks Phil.   

5 Colour Weave Wheel. Richard Shilling.

Richard Shilling has been out in the great outdoors again and created his latest masterpiece. One or two  visitors to Birds2blog have thanked me for pointing them in the direction of Richards art and I'm pointing you once again to this brilliant creation. Whether or not you know of this mans work I strongly recommend you take a look at 5 Colour Weave Wheel and not only his art but on this occasion his words which accompany it....quite a revelation I found. Thanks for this Richard you continue to amaze me and I know you'll do it again soon.

TODAYS MEGA NEWS (RBA)

Bobolink on Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire at 9.15am with no boats today....can I borra yer helicopter mister!



Nothing to write home about....

....but an enjoyable tour of Leighton Moss just the same.

View from Public Hide. Pete Woodruff.



The outlook from any RSPB hide doesn't come any better than this and if - like me - you live within a short drive from Leighton Moss you can count yourself very fortunate, and by the way if the Bearded Tit is on your 'list' you can almost be guaranteed to make contact with them from the causeway where they visit the grit trays provided for them at this time of year and where I found John Wilson collecting ring details as they fed this morning, I told John I was going to propose the birds were renamed the Wilson Tit such has been his work and enjoyment over the many years as reserve warden and beyond, undoubtedly his most favourite bird surely.

I myself enjoyed excellent views of 6 Bearded Tits if a little zoological. From the Public Hide 7 Greenshank were on the island, but the mere was notably void of wildfowl and I noted only 27 Coot, a single Tufted Duck, Shoveler, and 6 Great-crested Grebe. From the Lower Hide a Black Tern was patrolling the mere for food which I can't believe was proving anything other than difficult for the bird, also a female Marsh Harrier came on the scene, but as with the rest of the area it was void of bird species save in excess of 100 Coot and 32 Mallard.

Migrant Hawker. Brian Rafferty.

A few Migrant Hawkers were patrolling the reed edges at both Public and Lower Hides. Thanks for the photograph Brian....nice one.

In an Alder close to Lillians Hide I managed to pick up a male and female Siskin but despite some time they were the only two I could find with Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Blue Tit and Great Tit. At the Grisedale Hide I was surprised to find up to 520 Redshank, the number of which is certainly a first here for me in more years than I care to recall, but a Sparrowhawk shifted the lot and they appeared to return to the saltmarshes from whence they came having been put up by a Peregrine Falcon there by all accounts. Also noted, 5 Black-tailed Godwit, a Buzzard, and at least 2 Jay seen over the wood opposite, 2 Little Egret and a young stag Red Deer.

UK MEGA NEWS (RBA)  

A Myrtle Warbler found yesterday at Cape Clear in Co.Cork is still present there today. Co.Cork has an excellent record for the species with nine of  the twenty eight records in the UK since 1955. And a Green Heron was found today in Cornwall at Pentewan at the Lost Gardens of Heligan, and if you're thinking of making the trip make sure you have plenty of money in your pocket 'cos it's a tenner to get in!!