The Snow Bunting.

Iceland Gull. SP.



A few brief notes with no photographs of the Snow Bunting but to add some interest to the post this image of the juvenile Iceland Gull currently either on Bourbles Pit or Cockers Dyke in the Knott End area is an excellent substitute with my thanks to SP.  

It only takes a glance at the 2009 LDBWS Annual Report to see the Snow Bunting (SB) is a scarce winter visitor to our area with just two birds - both male - seen in that year which actually could very easily have been the same one in both records nearly two months apart.

In Lancashire as a whole the bird is regarded as a 'fairly common winter visitor' with the average number recorded over 22 years to 2005 being 120 annually. However, the SB is a bird prone to wandering during the winter and some duplication is very likely. You have to search back in history to find numbers like the 200 SB's found at the West Lancashire coastal hamlet of Hundred End over 80 years ago in 1929.

The SB visits habitats along the coast in Lancashire and on moorland summits, during a notable influx in 1984 a sighting of 50 birds was recorded on Clougha Fell, this was in the days when I myself totally disregarded this area which - for over more than 12 years - has become one of my most favourite upland birding haunts. As far as the coast is concerned the only place I personally ever found the SB is at Cockersands.

Ringing recoveries in Scotland seem to suggest the majority of wintering SB's are of the Icelandic race insulae but some have the opinion that birds resembling the Siberian race nivalis are also thought to occur. The only ringing recovery was that of a bird found dead in Liverpool in 1990 which had been ringed in Kent in 1988.

I've always had a liking for a gamble but one thing for sure, I'm not having a bet on finding a SB anytime this winter, though thats not to say I won't do.

Three interesting reports I've seen today are those of a Velvet Scoter on the River Lune in Lancaster, 1,000 Brambings in Grange-over-Sands in Cumbria, and even more interesting to me personally, a male Stonechat at Fluke Hall yesterday, thanks for that one BD, much appreciated.

And finally....

Buzzard. Gary Jones
  

More variation in the post with an excellent in flight shot of the Buzzard with my thanks to Gary.

The Spoon-billed Sandpiper.

Spoony Needs Your Vote



The video below has been highlighted on Birds2blog in August this year, but it's worthy of showing again for three reasons....the first being in case you didn't see it last time round....second....it's the best video of it's kind you are ever likely to see....and third....there may well be no more than 400 Spoon-billed Sandpipers left in the world about which you can learn much more via the link above. Thanks for drawing my attention to this once again CB, it is much appreciated and something we all need to know about and - wherever we can - do something about saving this brilliant little sandpiper. 

And whilst I'm here....Here are three excellent pics I've come across/been sent....

Starling. John Bateman.

John seems to be getting as many photo opportunities from his home as he does when he's out and about, this is an excellent image of the Starling, no doubt taken from his living room....Thanks John, hopefully the weather will allow you to be out birding again with me soon.

Rook. Tim Crossley.

Tim sent me this pic, another surprise visitor to the garden. Thanks for this Tim, an excellent shot of this large 'corvid', I don't think you'd want too many stabs from this bird with a bill like that.

Song Thrush. Phil Slade.

I 'found' this lovely Song Thrush on Phil's Another Bird Blog just look at those brilliant 'arrowheads'....nice one Phil and thank you.

I'D SOONER BE BIRDING! 

The Red Kite.

Whilst I have never wanted Birds2blog to become a political platform and don't allow it to be, I make no apology for occasionally highlighting issues like the plight of birds of prey and the persecution they continue to suffer in the 21st century. 



If you would like to follow the link below you'll be able to read about a spate of killings by poisoning of Red Kites from an introduction scheme. You can see the choice of poison used by those targeting birds of prey as being that of Carbofuran,  banned in Britain, Europe, and the U.S.A. You can also see that the first of these birds found dead was on a shooting estate where I rest my personal case.

Red Kite. Copyright of Steve Ashton.

Please take a look at Friends of Red Kites. and follow the link to Breaking News on the Birdguides website to read about the latest tragic raptor persecution story.

For one reason or another my prospects of birding in the coming few days are not looking good which may result in some 'blanks' on Birds2blog, but I don't expect anyone's life to be changed in any way dramatically by that news!

Keep Moving....

....or freeze to death.

Freeman's Pools. Pete Woodruff.

I decided the best bet was to do the walk from Skerton Bridge to Glasson Dock, the alternative was to stand around counting waders/gulls/geese and freeze to death and I wasn't really up for that. Above was the view over the 100% frozen Freeman's Pools obviously a no go birding area until we have a thaw. On the perimeter fence I saw a Wren and couldn't help but wonder how long these tiny birds could survive this continuous frost. 

Herring Gull. Pete Woodruff.

This brute was on the River Lune at Green Ayre and I grilled a few hundred other 'gulls' between here and Marsh Point to no avail but found 4 Little Grebe, 26 Goldeneye, 3 Goosander, a Tufted Duck, and 4 Grey Heron. On Aldcliffe Marsh I found a similar number of 1,000 'geese' seen on Thursday 25 November, being c.650 Greylag and c.320 Canada Geese, 12 Barnacle Geese are also still here having decreased in number since sixteen were reported a week earlier on 18 November. Before I had any chance to grill these birds any further two 'tankers' with dogs decided to exercise them out on the marsh with the obvious result, c.10 Fieldfare were seen, and  from here I saw an estimated 2,000 Pink-footed Geese in the air over fields between the A683 by-pass road and Oxcliffe Road.

Between Aldcliffe and Conder Green I noted at least 54 Blackbirds, 6 Blue Tits, 5 Robins, and 3 Song Thrush, 2 Wren, c.160 Wigeon were on the river, and c.120 Dunlin noted below Nansbuck Cottage. At Conder Green, the Common Sandpiper put in an appearance, with 2 Greenshank, 4 Little Grebe, a Goosander, Snipe, and 10 Dunlin feeding in the creeks, 5 Long-tailed Tits were by the old railway bridge.

A healthy walk taking in the birds which will continue to struggle as this weather looks set to continue in which case it may well become more serious than a struggle for them.

And finally....

Jackdaw. John Bateman.  

I readily rate this photograph of the Jackdaw as a winner. Thanks for this John....excellent.

The Polar Bear Problem....

Polar Bears. Copyright Angela Plumb.

There's some interesting reading on the WWF website - linked from my sidebar - on the plight of the Polar Bears directly linked to global warming. The photograph above is a way of conserving energy for the young bear during their ever increasing travels to find food, an amazing image. 

1st winter Grey Wagtail. John Bateman.

Well if the harsh winter weather keeps us indoors at least you can continue to get your photographs if birds  keep visiting your home like this Grey Wagtail does at JB's. This is the only urban Grey Wagtail I know which often appears in this residential area of Lancaster far from its usual habitat of fast/slow flowing rivers and streams with plenty of exposed rocks in and alongside the water.

Waxwing/Redwing. Mike Watson  

A rare opportunity for Mike to have these two Scandinavians together on the same berry supply recently at Preston.

Aythya Hybrid. Colin Bushell

And here's the odd one out, the Aythya hybrid on Southport Marine Lake and is a probable Pochard x Ferruginous Duck....I think I would be inclined to agree with that.

Thanks to JB/MW/CB for the photographs and for helping me out with my latest 'gap filler' until I can get out birding once again.

The Quick Dash!

Well not exactly quick but I didn't hang around too much, nor did I get too far either, the wind chill was something else again today. No pictures associated with today's efforts - nothing new there then - but....

Striolated Puffbird. Colin Bushell.

One of CB's Puffbirds from his recent birding trip to Peru. Thanks for this Colin, a new bird to me, and to Birds2blog....luvit!

I did the circuit again at Conder Green knowing well the pool would be frozen over when I got round to it, though there was a couple of small 'free' areas with just two Mute Swans holding on to one of them. In the Conder Channel below the railway bridge 2 Spotted Redsank, a Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, 2 Little Grebe, 2 Snipe, and c.320 Wigeon, a Song Thrush and c.30 Chaffinch noted along the coastal path, a Kingfisher flew out of the small pool as I approached it on the west side of the A588 opposite the Galgate Road junction, I wish I had a pound for every time I've seen a Kingfisher flying of this pool.

At Glasson Dock on the Lune Estuary I noted just 7 Goldeneye at a location void of anything at all of note, quite amazing how you can visit an area holding thousands of birds one day and virtually deserted the next. On Jeremy Lane 3 Bewick's Swans with 15 Mute Swans, the Little Owl was on the roof despite the bitter wind which must have been blowing into it's face. The big surprise on this lane for November was at least 6,000 Pink-footed Geese which despite scanning through twice I found no 'hangers on' with them. I'd have been much less surprised to find these birds here in January, more likely in February or even March, but November and particularly in this number....very unexpected. 

Well I suppose you'd have to call that a....'Quick Dash' wouldn't you!

And finally....

This is such poor taste it hurts, and I think I may well loose some 'customers' through it's weak humour, but I just cannot resist this photograph I took today of....wait for it....Carr Bank.

This and that!

I didn't even get my four hours birding in today....woe is me!

Ice Cubes. Richard Shilling  

But I had an excellent chance to do some searching through 'This and that' including - as a brief diversion from the birds -  finding that RS has been out and about into the great unknown and come up with some more stunning and creative landart. I think this guy gets better as he goes along, click on his name below his 'Ice Disc's' - being Norwegian Maple at the top, Red Oak on the left, and Rowan on the right - and see for yourself how amazing he really is. Thanks for this Richard, brilliant as ever. I also dug out my 'Bird Behavior and other oddities' book and thought the following - chosen at random - might be of interest....

At Leighton Moss on 10 October 1998 I saw a female Ruddy Duck with four downy young, nothing spectacular about that if you didn't note the date.

A few years ago at Out Rawcliffe I observed and took note of a Yellowhammer singing for twenty minutes at the rate of eight times per minute, this individual sang a truly amazing 160 times in the twenty minutes I spent with it....some songster which I'd guess probably holds some sort of record at such vocals.

Two species I've encountered over the years doing mimicry have been, a Whinchat  - a particular master at mimicry - at Borrowdale in June 2005 which fooled me into thinking I'd heard a Whitethroat. And a Starling - another master at mimicry - was once outside our house on telephone wires and 'did' the Curlew to perfection.

At Barbondale on 7 May 2004 I observed the only female Redstart I ever heard in song, something it is only ocassionally known to do in the breeding season.

This is an excellent and interesting sound recording of Twite singing in the snow by Hugh Harrop....the higher your volume the better it sounds.

The Little Grebe.

Little Grebe. Phillip Tomkinson

On Friday 6 November I found 12 Little Grebes (LG) on Conder Pool, their numbers had been increasing on here since the end of the breeding season, this year I found 16 birds on Conder Pool on Monday 18 October - a little later than in 2009 - with the same build up in numbers after the breeding season as last year. This is an interesting observation, in the first place you have to ask, 1) where do all these LG come from, 2) do you suppose off the canal, 3) why do they choose Conder Pool to assemble in such relatively high numbers, 4) where else would you find 16 LG in one place. Last winter they disappeared from Conder Pool associated with the onset of the 'big freeze', this year no big freeze but again they have disappeared though one or two can still be seen in the Conder channel....intriguing stuff! 

As far as I'm aware the LG hasn't bred a Leighton Moss since 1988, but Oakes reported them as nesting regular here in the early 1950's. In the last 30 years there appears to have been a slight increase in the breeding range of LG in Lancashire. The National situation appears to be a not very clear one, but some consider there to have been little change in the population of breeding LG over a period of 55 years. Once again global warming comes into the reckoning with some suggestions being that over the coming years there could be an increase in breeding LG's if the 'warming' continues, but human disturbance with the use of water for recreational purposes could play significant part in halting this advance with other factors to be taken into account.

I've seen comments made about species like the Pied-billed Grebe - recently on Hollingworth Reservoir in Greater Manchester - amazingly having the ability to cross the Atlantic Ocean, two ringing recoveries of LG also show the ability for long distance movements with one bird ringed in Essex in 1956 was found dead in Liverpool two year later in 1958 with a movement of 315km, but there's an even more amazing record of a bird ringed in Latvia in 1983 which was also found dead, this one at Pilling almost two years later in 1985 having made a movement of something like 1,650km, whenever I've seen LG's in flight they always give the impression they couldn't achieve much more than a few metres....I've obviously always been wrong on that one!

Many thanks to Phillip for the use of his image of the Little Grebe which is much appreciated.

I'D SOONER BE BIRDING !   

The Long List...

....but first.

Great Northern Diver. Brian Rafferty



Two more cracking photographs of the long staying Great Northern Diver at Fleetwood Marine Lake. If this bird can maintain this kind of eating, drinking, and sleeping on this lake then it's never going to move just yet. Thanks once again for these Brian, the only problem you have with this level of photography is....you have to keep it up and I for one know you will.

With JB/BT again today and as ever, if you think my records and JB's are going to 'line up' you'd be wrong, his are here at LDBWS

On Aldcliffe Marsh 14 Barnacle Geese seen again and a male Bullfinch seen briefly in flight. At Conder Green, the pool was almost deserted but noted elsewhere, 2 Greenshank, a Spotted Redshank, Grey Plover, Little Grebe, and yesterdays c.180 Wigeon were in the channel again. At Glasson Dock as I watched the tidal bore approaching, life was made a little easier for me as it took with it a string of at least 60 Goldeneye past, I'd loved to have been on the water with them....riding the bore looks good fun, also noted, 4 Bewick's Swans were an excellent sight, c.12 Black-tailed Godwit were as distant as ever, and at least 100 Dunlin noted.

On Jeremy Lane, 3 Whooper Swans were in a distant field, and on Moss Lane c.60 Fieldfare from the moving car. At Cockersands the 'set-aside finches' appeared to comprise of 30/20 Greenfinch/Linnet, 22 Greylag came down on to the estuary, with 2 Red-breasted Merganser, 5 Eider, and a Great-crested Grebe, c.620 Oystercatcher were on Plover Scar, a count of 6 Grey Plover was high for this location, and the count of 84 Turnstone was an even higher count for here or any other location in our area in my observations, the Bank Houses Little Owl was seen again today, and 3 Snipe in flight over fields as we drove away from here.  

In fields heading towards Pilling Lane Ends, c.250 Golden Plover and 170 Curlew. On Pilling Marsh, 2 Whooper Swans and c.950 Pink-footed Geese noted. A decision was made to go back to Lancaster via the feeding station on Bradshaw Lane where I noted, 9 Corn Bunting, at least 35 Tree Sparrows, a Yellowhammer, and a Little Owl. On the day Little Egrets were seen at, Glasson Marsh, Crimbles Lane, Pilling Marsh (2), and Fluke Hall (4).

Greenfinch. John Bateman.



Thanks for the pic John, great stuff and a fair tour of the coast, with a fair number of species, a fair number of birds, and a fair good time was had by all....Another 'Good Friday'.

Plan A.

It was always going to be Plan A today whilst the weather is good, though the wind chill factor was something else. The plan was to walk from the River Lune at Green Ayre in Lancaster to Glasson Dock whilst thoroughly checking out the bird life on the way. I had another one of those welcome e-mails today with some pics attached two of which are on show in today's post....Thanks for these Tim, the photography is looking good.

Robin. Tim Crossley.

I noted 29 species along the coastal path and at Conder Green with one or two silent in flight silhouettes which escaped me. The first bird to catch my eye was a Grey Wagtail below Greyhound Bridge, a 'few' Redshank had found their way up river here, 5 Goosander and 5 Goldeneye were also on the river as was a Little Grebe. On Freemans Pools there was no sign of yesterdays reported 10 Goldeneye, but I noted a Little Egret, 9 Gadwall and a similar number of Shoveler.

On Aldcliffe Marsh 14 Barnacle Geese are down two in number from the original sighting of sixteen, with one down from yesterdays fifteen. I counted my best ever of up to 650 Greylag, also 320 Canada Geese and 3 Little Egret. Over the distance from Aldcliffe to Conder Green, 10 Golden Plover were in the flood field at Aldcliffe with Lapwings, 22 Blackbirds, 3 Song Thrush, a Dunnock, solitary Goldfinch, Pied Wagtail, and my first lone Redwing of the winter, 5 Robin, 2 Wren, and a flock of at least 30 Chaffinch, a Red-breasted Merganser was on the river.

Red-breasted Merganser. Brian Rafferty.

With not much time left for anything serious at Conder Green I did find the wintering Common Sandpiper, a Greenshank, and 2 Little Grebe. In the channel below the railway bridge c.180 Wigeon and a drake Red-breasted Merganser, a Raven went over going northeast. On the canal basin at Glasson Dock I counted 74 Tufted Duck and noted a Goldeneye, 6 Pochard, and a Little Grebe....here endeth Plan A.