....And A Close Encounter In The End.

I had a bit of an extended search around Conder Green and Glasson on Friday, but didn't accumulate the points I had hoped for for my efforts. I legged it along the coastal path to Glasson, to return along the marsh edge to around 1/4 mile north of the picnic area at Conder Green....If I'm honest I was out looking for Stonechats today.

The only birds of note on Conder Pool, a pair of Shoveler are at best occasional here. The Common Sandpiper was again down by the iron bridge, and the rest of the birds on the trek were, 3 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Wren, a Dunnock, 86 Curlew in a sheep field, a Sparrowhawk and Kestrel.

With some dispersal from Cockersand apparent, of the 625 seen last Monday, up to 400 Whooper Swan remain in three fields, seen off Jeremy Lane, the east end of Moss Lane, and the junction of Moss/Slack Lane, from where I saw 2 Buzzard soaring overhead, a Snipe rose out of the ditch, and a marauding c.6,000 Starling were seen again. 

The wintering female Stonechat moved ever nearer to Bank End today, with all the other six passage birds I saw last Monday moved on, the perfect example of right place right time, or you miss'em 'cos they've been and gone. The 60 Twite flock were again in the Bank Houses area, though highly mobile today, 5 Tree Sparrow also seen here. 

With just 19 Dunlin seen on a flood at Abbey Farm, I had thought these were the only field waders at Cockersand, until I found an impressive 3,200 Golden Plover later in an adjacent field. As the tide came up there were few waders to be seen, but 2 Knot noted with a solitary Bar-tailed Godwit looking smart in it's advancing breeding plumage, were feeding on the tideline, 21 Eider were off Long Tongue. 

The Barn Owl.

Barn Owl. Cockersand 9 March. Pete Woodruff.

The day ended on a high for me, as I rounded the corner at Bank Houses, a Barn Owl was on and moving along the fence posts, and for a moment appeared not to care that I was pointing a camera at it.

Stonechats.

More good news on Friday, when another 7 Stonechat were in the Cockers Dyke area on the Fylde, five male and two female, all adult....Thanks for these AC.

Thanks to Noushka @ 1000-Pattes for some African exotica at the head of Birds2blog this week. The golden beauty appropriately named Yellow - throated Longclaw.

On With The Show.

Stonechats.

With 3 Stonechat seen Tuesday on the tide wrack at Aldcliffe Marsh, a male from the embankment behind the Wildfowlers Pools, and a male and female in the Snipe Bog area, they continue to show nicely for me, with a total of 14 Stonechat seen on three consecutive days this week looking good in my records....Bring 'em on!

I gave Aldcliffe - Stodday a four hour going over on Tuesday, making a start at Freeman's Pools as far as the back side of Ashton Golf Club before doing a U turn back to Freeman's Pools, where I had earlier noted, 14 Goldeneye, 5 Gadwall, and 4 Little Grebe. Also of note on Aldcliffe Marsh, 142 Golden Plover.

I'd have to refer to the condition of the flood at the bottom of Aldcliffe Hall Lane, as the best I've ever seen it, now covering almost a quarter of the field, it was crawling with up to 550 Dunlin feeding frantically with 138 Black-tailed Godwit, also 10 Snipe, 5 Pintail, and 120 Black-headed Gull. 

Snipe. Pete Woodruff.

On the Wildfowlers Pools, 2 Ringed Plover scarce here, 4 Snipe, 11 Shoveler, 4 Goldeneye, and 4 Little Grebe. I made no count of the Teal and Wigeon here, though the latter were few. From a distance I saw up to 650 Pink-footed Geese come up off the Frog Pond field, but I was distracted as to what happened next and I never saw them again.

Counts along the way, 24 Blackbird and 5 Robin, with a lone Long-tailed Tit, and a small mixed flock was of 8 Reed Bunting with Goldfinch. I watched a Kestrel drop into a field behind the hedge, then saw it flying low over the field to rise into the air with a vole in it's talons. 

Little Grebe.

The Little Grebe's on Freeman's Pools were very vocal, and I was treated to a chorus of resounding whinnying for long periods....Magic.


Footnote.

It was good to be sent news from the ever reliable AC, that he'd found seven Stonechat yesterday, with six on the Fylde, and the Cockerham Sands female seen again. 

7 Up.

A refreshing Lime & Lemon drink, but not as refreshing as the birds I saw yesterday, and yes, another Stonechat image, thanks to Richard O'Meara....Thanks also to Richard Peglar for his Jack Snipe. 

Stonechat. Richard O'Meara.

The Stonechats.

Seven Stonechat seen were, two male and two female at Conder Green, and two male and a female seen at Cockersand, presumably the female being the wintering bird here since 22 December. 

The Whooper Swans. 

All assembled in one field at Clarkson's Farm, with only a few out of sight, an assessment of the number was made easier for the first time this winter and stood at 625 Whooper Swan, with just one Bewick's Swan seen.  

Jack Snipe @  Pegler Birding 

The Supporting Cast.

Around the high tide, a Jack Snipe came rising off the marsh, with it's characteristic silent, direct and short escape flight, 4 Snipe also seen. Off Plover Scar, 24 Eider and 2 Great-crested Grebe, a lone Grey Plover was with Turnstones feeding as the tide dropped, c.650 Pink-footed Geese were heading SW over Cockerham Sands. Up to 60 Twite were again in the rough field behind Bank End Cottage, quite mobile, and at one point went on to the cottage roof to be counted, 65 Golden Plover were the only field waders at Cockersand today, 3 Song Thrush and 3 Meadow Pipit, a Jay flew across Moss Lane as I drove away.

At Conder Green, 2 Goldeneye, 4 Tufted Duck and 3 Greylag were of note on Conder Pool. In the creeks, 6 Little Grebe, a drake Goosander, and 2 Black-tailed Godwit. Along the coastal path to Glasson Dock, a Song Thrush, 4 Reed Bunting, 2 Dunnock, and 2 Wren. I counted at least 150 Redshank feeding close in on the marsh as the tide rose. 

A Little Short, A Little Sweet.

Not least because of the weather, a break of six unwelcome days from birding hit the buffers with a brief spell yesterday afternoon.

Once again I talked KT into a walk, this time at Heysham to find 4 Stonechat, one of which was the wintering female again at Half Moon Bay, where we also saw the Chough in flight. The other three were two smart males and a female at the south corner of Ocean Edge saltmarsh, presumably three of the five reported to me on Friday.

Well, the man did say....Short and Sweet.

I'm also aware of at least six more Stonechat in two more areas I'm fast becoming aquainted with, and I'm off right now to find these and hopefully add some more to the list.

Thanks to Simon Hawtin for the Purple Sandpiper header. A rare and irregular winter visitor and spring passage migrant, of which I have no idea of it's 2017 status in our area, but just three records in 2016, all off Heysham Harbour North Wall, and all within 8 days in April.  

Weather Or Not!

I had reason to pay a visit to Lancaster University yesterday, and decided to do it on foot from Bowerham, via Hala Carr and Bailrigg Lane. Complete with bino's round my neck, to note, 7 Blackbird, 3 Meadow Pipit, 2 Robin, and a lone Long-tailed Tit.

Catching a bus at the University back to Lancaster, I paid a visit to Lancaster Cemetery - now there's a thought - via Williamson Park, which apparently has at least 131 nest boxes until I got fed up of counting....The ultimate of an ambitious and optimistic project it seems. 

Rewards in the cemetery were, a Great spotted Woodpecker, Jay, and Grey Wagtail, also 11 Blackbird, 5 Robin, 2 Blue Tit, a Coal Tit, Great Tit, and a Kestrel, On a short cut home through the University of Cumbria campus I found up to 10 Long-tailed Tit.

The Jay and the Magpie.

Jay. Simon Hawtin.

A man in the cemetery came up to ask me what I was looking at, I told him....'an attractive and colourful bird called the Jay'....to which he said....'oh they're all over the place in here'....I reckon he'd confused the Jay with Magpie of which there was a few in the cemetery.  I'm finding Magpies in good number at various locations, no less so in the Glasson/Thurnham/Cockersand area, where John Bateman often commented their presence here was always in large number, in fact I got a parliament of 15 there recently.

Spring Is Here....

Wheatear. Simon Hawtin

.....but not in the air, and definitely not on the ground. 

A Wheatear was reported Wednesday in sand dunes by Fleetwood Marine Lakes, only two days later than the earliest ever spring record of Wheatear in Lancashire 15 years ago on 26 February 2003, the mean arrival date being 10 March....I reckon being caught up with the Beast from the East and Storm Emma, this bird will be thinking it read the wrong script!

Stonechat. Mike Atkinson.

A text to tell me of 5 Stonechat - four new birds - at Ocean Edge saltmarsh this morning was very much appreciated, and an excellent excuse for yet another image of these little gems....Thanks Mike.

Thanks also to Simon Hawtin for his Jay and Wheatear images.

A Whooper First.

Little to inspire on the Lune Estuary at Glasson or at Conder Green yesterday, with 25 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Bar-tailed Godwit, and c.350 Wigeon to note. A Peregrine Falcon was on Colloway Marsh where there was 150 Pink-footed Geese at the south end, and another 325 over flying south, and at Conder Green, despite the usual good coverage, 4 Little Grebe in the creeks was as good as it got.

Whooper Swan Brian Rafferty

A Whooper First.

In excess of 1,000 Whooper Swan in the Thurnham/Cockersand/Bank End area, a record peak count first for this area of North Lancashire, counted in a wind chill of -6c from the east, and broken down as, 260 off Jeremy Lane, 435 in fields off Moss Lane, and 310 in fields NW of Bank End Farm, 7 Bewick's Swan were with the Clarkson's Farm herd.

The Cockerham Sands female Stonechat was again down at the east end of the caravan park where I had found it once before on 18 January, I also picked up a Merlin here as it zipped out of sight below the marsh and over the Cocker Estuary.

Stock Dove Richard Pegler

Field birds seen, 6 Stock Dove, 8 Skylark, 54 Dunlin were around a flood at Abbey Farm, and the Shoveler pair were again on the flood by Slack Lane/Moss Lane junction with c.60 Teal noted here, and 5 Snipe flushed out of the ditches, 2 Kestrel seen were at Bank Houses and Bambers Farm. Walking towards Crook Cottage, 4 Pied Wagtail, 4 Greenfinch, 2 Chaffinch, and a Wren seen. 

Cockersand Lighthouse. Pete Woodruff.

BIRDING TILL DUSK AGAIN....GREAT STUFF!!

A Wader Moment In Bowland.

Though it was a good sunny and windless day on Wednesday, it was a generally dull day for me in Bowland, not least because I found no Stonechat on my first venture of 2018 on to Hawthornthwaite Fell, though I reckon the two seen on my last visit on 27 December and previously 15 November, were keeping their heads down and in hiding from me this time.

Red Grouse Richard Pegler 

On the way up to the summit, the sum total of birds seen on this visit were 20 Red Grouse and 2 Wren. Driving away from here I saw a single Fieldfare in flight at Cam Brow, and a Kestrel perched was the only raptor seen all day. 

In three and a half hours between Marshaw and the foot of Whinfold Fell where I saw 8 Red Grouse, I found just 11 species, including a Dipper and Grey Wagtail on the Marshaw Wyre.

The other seven....

Blackbird

Chaffinch

Coal Tit

Lapwing

Mallard 

Robin

Wren

The Woodcock.

Woodcock. Noushka @ 1000-Pattes 

At Marshaw a moment of excitement came when a bird flushed just a few metres away from me, then just 30 seconds later a second bird also flushed and flew away....they were 2 Woodcock in a small damp woodland clearing.  As a bird of crepuscular habits, I was lucky to see these two daylight birds, but I recall going to Birk Bank with John Ledall one early evening before dusk many years ago to watch the Woodcock roding over the treetops.

By coincidence my last Woodcock seen was also two birds, and also in the same area of Bowland, one in the plantation at Marshaw, and later another in the plantation behind Tower Lodge 3 years ago on 18 March 2015.

Thanks to Richard and Noushka for their respective images.

Friday 23 February.

I escaped yesterday, but had only got to Conder Green before a call back home to attend a problem ended the day for me, but I had seen 6 Little Grebe, a Goosander, and the Common Sandpiper in the creeks, with a Kestrel hovering overhead. 

The Godwits Are Coming.

The Black-tailed Godwit.

Whilst I was at Conder Green yesterday, up to 500 Black-tailed Godwit flew over Conder Pool from the south and dropped out of sight on to the Lune Estuary where they had obviously joined ranks with birds already feeding on the incoming tide, upstream from the Conder Estuary to form an impressive conservative estimate of 3,750 Black-tailed Godwit. 

You would have to go outside Lancashire, to Marshside in North Merseyside, to exceed this number of BTG's, peak counts there were 5,000 in January, 3,000 in February....The Birds of Lancashire and North Merseyside 2016.

Other wader counts on the Lune Estuary at Glasson, 1,900 Golden Plover, 1,250 Dunlin, and 425 Curlew, also rans were 24 Goldeneye. 

Excitement was limited on Conder Pool, with a drake Goldeneye and 17 Tufted Duck holding the fort. In the creeks, the trusted and reliable Common Sandpiper was down by the iron bridge again, also 6 Little Grebe still holding on in the creeks.

Reed Bunting. Pete Woodruff.

The female Stonechat played hard to get again at Cockersand, I had to make three visits opposite Cockerham Sands CP to find the bird, today it had the company of a Reed Bunting. 

A Barn Owl was hunting over the rough land behind Lower Bank House, from where I saw 1,125 Pink-footed Geese in a field on the north side of the caravan park. One of 2 Kestrel seen was in this area, with the other over Slack Lane, at the junction of which I counted, 17 Pied Wagtail, 12 Meadow Pipit, and 4 Skylark in the 'Lapland Bunting' field. A pair of Shoveler had taken to the flood in this field again as they had on 1 February 2017, when they increased to five birds one day over the following weeks.

Twite. Richard O'Meara.

At least 70 Twite were again in the rough field behind Bank House Cottage, and 14 Eider were off Plover Scar. A few Fieldfare in flight caught my eye as I drove away from Cockersand along Moss Lane.

I'm off now, to see if I can find any Stonechats in Bowland....Back soon.

Wading In!

Waders were back in the fields at Cockersand in their thousands again on Friday. On the day I saw up to 4,500 Golden Plover, c.3,000 here and 1,500 at Glasson. An estimated 2,500 Dunlin were with the Golden Plover, and the uncounted Lapwing, Curlew, and Redshank created an impressive total of c.7,000 waders in the Cockersand fields today. 

There was also an exceptional count of at least 90 Meadow Pipit in one field today, with an absolute minimum of 8,000 Starling, and to add to the wader spectacle, the 5,000 Wigeon count of 5 February were again strung out along the tide between the lighthouse at Cockersand and Bank End. 

On Plover Scar, 550 Oystercatcher, 82 Turnstone and 3 Redshank, with 11 Eider seen off here, 3 Red-breasted Merganser drake were seen as one south past the lighthouse, then 30 minutes later two north.

I had to do a triple take of the area, but the female Stonechat eventually put in an appearance on the tide wrack at the CP, and at least 70 Twite were in the rough field behind Bank House Cottage again, with the Kestrel around too. I saw just 8 Skylark today, but somehow feel I probably missed seeing many more.

On Conder Pool, 2 Goldeneye, 5 Tufted Duck, 2 Greylag, and 8 Oystercatcher probably prospecting for breeding accommodation. In the creeks, Common Sandpiper, 3 Little Grebe, and a Kestrel hovering....long time no see a Kestrel at Conder Green.

The canal basin at Glasson Dock, 4 Goldeneye and a Great-crested Grebe noted, and on the Lune Estuary, 1,500 Golden Plover made up the days 4,500 total, last Monday's 1,500 Black-tailed Godwit again, 4 Bar-tailed Godwit, 45 Teal, 7 Goldeneye, and a Great-crested Grebe, 52 Pink-footed Geese went over south.

The Meadow Pipit.

Meadow Pipit Antonio Puigg

Though the estimate of 90 Meadow Pipit at Cockersand today was exceptional, weather dependent, the birds may return to the moors in early February, conversely, if the weather is severe this may not be until mid-March. Movement of Meadow Pipit on a small scale on the coast can begin around today's date, but 90 birds seen on 16 February can hardly be called 'small scale'.

The Wheatear.

The earliest migrant Wheatear seen in Lancashire was on 26 February 2003. I'm hoping to have found my first by this time next month....Nice thought. 

By the way....The header Wheatear photograph was taken 6 September last year.

Up With The Lark.

Following a damp start, by mid-day on Monday the day came good with wall to wall sun, though the wind took the edge off it and was strong and very cold along the headland at Cockersand. 

Seen as at least a decent count, up to 65 Skylark were in the field to the north of Bank Houses........

Skylark Eagland Hill. Barry Dyson.

....But an even more exceptional count was made on 7 February, when BD achieved an amazing 470 Skylark at two locations in the Eagland Hill area, making my count at Cockersand look paltry by comparison, but a grand total of at least 470 Skylark is an inspiring sight, even seeing 65 in my case at Cockersand, and the perfect example of 'right place right time' to see a gathering of large scale cold weather movement of a bird like the Skylark. 

The female Stonechat was around it's chosen area of tide wrack by the CP with an endless supply of grubs keeping this bird here since 18 December, it had the company of a Reed Bunting. A Kestrel was at Bank Houses with 6 Linnet seen. 

I pulled in on Moss Lane to check out a group of 210 of the c.500 Whooper Swan still in the area which have remained fragmented far and wide more than any other winter spent here, another small group seen later were accompanied by 13 Greylag. Approaching the junction of the A588 from Moss Lane, at least 2,500 Pink-footed Geese were in fields, but despite 30 minutes, I found nothing 'odd' amongst them. 

As I stood by the bowling green overlooking the Lune Estuary at Glasson, a flock of waders created a loud whoosh as they flew full throttle low overhead, they went down onto the bank upstream of the Conder mouth and counted as 1,250 Black-tailed Godwit. Also of note, 550 Wigeon, 6 Goldeneye, and a Great-crested Grebe. The two drake Pochard were notable in their absence again on the canal basin.

Common Sandpiper. Conder Estuary  12 February. Pete Woodruff.

At Conder Green, the Common Sandpiper was down the channel seen from the iron bridge, and 6 Little Grebe were in the creeks.

Cormorant. Pete Woodruff.

Apart from this Cormorant taking a liking to the pontoon on Conder Pool - as a pair of Oystercatcher weighing up the accommodation, and a pair of Lesser Black-backed Gull have done recently - 82 Curlew were the only other birds present.

My birding has been at zero since Monday, as has Birds2blog'ing, and doesn't look good for any change as I see it at the moment....This is not good for my morale.