Truly Amazing....

....some Grey Seals, and a Crossbill.



Zitting Cisticola. Copyright Farash Samat. 

I don't think I've ever been more amazed at any photograph of birds like this one ever before. The image depicts a pair of Zitting Cisticola, having mated they are photographed in this amazing 'post-coital trapeze act' having dropped into this inverted position the female clings on to the grass stem, with the male - also upside-down - holding on to her at the shoulder. Apparently this is a post-copulation behaviour normal to the species whereby the male grips the females back tightly after coition, perhaps in a bid to increase the likelihood of fertilisation.

The first record of the Zitting Cisticola in Ireland was a bird found in Co. Cork in 1962 by an observer who had already seen the species in Spain only a few months previous. The first record for Britain was in Norfolk in 1976, then five days later at another location in Norfolk and regarded then as being almost certainly the same individual. It is interesting that despite the close proximity of breeding birds to Britain, the Zitting Cisticola appears to be reluctant to cross the North sea.

Well, I've often been seen to quote on Birds2blog....'Birds, they fascinate me in a thousand ways'....but never quite like this before.

Grey Seal. Gary Jones.

Grey Seals. Gary Jones.

Gary has been on a recent trip to the Farne Islands and brought home a 'bag full' of images to share with us. Please visit Gary's Website to see an excellent selection of photographs of these wonderful creatures with the promise from him of an upload of sea birds at the Farnes sometime soon.

Two-barred Crossbill. Gary Jenkins. 

Gary went to see THIS BIRD in Yorkshire in 2008, but I don't think it would be a good idea for most of us to hold our breath until we find one for ourselves. The first record of this species in Ireland was in Co. Antrim in 1802, the first for Britain was in North Yorkshire in 1826.

First the good news.

Whether or not you live in the same area of Lancashire as me - but especially if you do - you'll love this. Maybe you'll also see the mention of someones name you know/recognise. It's excellent news and you will welcome what you read about HERE

Now the bad news....

....which is something you won't enjoy reading - I didn't either - but you must. This country is a member of the EU and for this reason alone something could/should be done to at least try to halt THIS appalling 'sport' once and for all. The EU Birds Directive has created a far-reaching protection framework for all of Europe's wild birds. There are a number of components to this scheme which Member States have to transpose and enforce through their national system.
Having seen for yourself yet again, as one example from hundreds of them year in year out, Malta appears to make little if any progress in halting this terrible business of blasting birds from out the sky. This is the 21st century we live in and it's time the hunters of Malta - and elsewhere - moved into it too and to hell with what their 'dads and grandads' did....but they obviously love it anyway and the traditions live on and thrive in 2011.

All in all....

....yesterday was an excellent and rewarding days birding, but I got way laid and prevented from posting on Birds2blog by those 'other things' I mention on here from time to time, quite honestly a bloody nuisance but I have to deal with them as a priority over my birding interests.

Willow Warbler. David Cookson

I was on Harrisend for 2.5 hours and to say I found no Stonechats is both a forgone conclusion and a mere formality I mention it. One of the most notable things about Harrisend today was the number of 23 Willow Warblers encountered, at least 23 Meadow Pipit also counted, though this species is much more difficult to count with accuracy as they are a very flighty bird as opposed to the less so Willow Warbler. Also noted, a single Linnet, Reed Bunting, Dunnock, 2 Mistle Thrush, 2 Blackbird, 2 Red Grouse, and a Buzzard.

Small Heath. Steven Cheshire

More interest was generated by 8 Redpoll, two pairs of Redstart, a Green Woodpecker, and a Cuckoo heard somewhere in the Grisedale area. It was also good to see a couple of decent butterflies on Harrisend today in 2 Small Heath. Driving past Street Bridge on the way here I heard a Blackcap and Chiffchaff. The idea that I should call in at Stoops Bridge in Abbeystead was one of my best in recent times as I found the female Pied Flycatcher in and out of the tree hole obviously feeding young, this despite eluding me on previous visits into thinking they had failed to return this year. 

I now had to make haste to Barbondale where I was to meet a man who needed to observe some more details about the 10 Pied Flycatchers I saw on Tuesday 24 May....he wasn't disappointed and I reckon Pied Flycatcher numbers will be inflated by up to 28 birds this year at Barbondale, in itself an all time record, but some way to go yet, so....hopefully.

Though I was a little preoccupied on this visit to Barbondale I was pleased to find a pair of Whinchat this time having only found a female previously, also Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Dipper, a Buzzard, and uncounted Redstart and Tree Pipit. I also had excellent views of the Tawny Owl which I had seen on my last visit here on 24 May, today it was unintentionally and unfortunately flushed from its roosting perch.

Birds....they fascinate me in a thousand ways!  

And finally....

Swallow. Brian Rafferty  

Everybody's favourite is the Swallow, known and recognised by even the least interested of people in birds. Thanks to DC/SC/BR who all give me permission to use their images on Birds2blog with many thanks.

The BTG.

Bar-tailed Godwit at Conder Green 27 May 2011. John Bateman.

It was a pleasant surprise to find c.150 Bar-tailed Godwits (BTG) in the creeks at Conder Green last Friday 27 May, an unprecedented record as far as I'm concerned at this location or any other in our recording area on this date. With the exception of just one bird, this flock all were 'grey' 1st summer birds.

In Oakes time he recorded the BTG as abundant on the Ribble Estuary, but less numerous - though still plentiful - in Morecambe Bay. Oakes interestingly refers to the BTG as summering flocks to be first noted in 1918, and further refers to them as being in 'grey dress' and not usually in more than 100 birds. In 2009 peak numbers in the month of May - including WeBS counts - in Morecambe Bay and the Lune Estuary combined totalled just 31 birds.

The Arctic breeding BTG is a long distance migrant, the birds in our area of Lancashire and North Merseyside are thought to originate from the Fennoscandia and W.Russian breeding population. Although I'm suggesting a first record of 1st summer non-breeding in this number anywhere in our recording area of Lancashire in May, summering flocks are a feature of the south-west including Seaforth where up to 700 birds regularly roosted in June during the late 1990's, with another flock of a similar number in non-breeding plumage on Warton Bank in 2003.

Two interesting BTG's ringed in N.Merseyside in 1980 were both re-trapped at an African wintering quarter in Guinea-Bissau eight years later in 1988. Also of note is that of a long-lived bird which was marked in 1972 and was found dead 21 years later in 1993.

Bar-tailed Godwit. John Bateman. 

It was a very pleasant experience observing the BTG at Conder Green again yesterday 31 May when at least 220 birds - I've seen one report of up to 300 - were counted in the same spot as last Friday, the birds gave a excellent display in flying around the area whilst calling, something not easily achieved with a bird known to be a very mobile species in where it settles and usually seen at a distance rather than the close quarters these birds afforded us here.

Thanks for the photographs John, and for another pleasant and rewarding days birding for us both.

Beauty and the Beast....

....and some records.

I thought I'd start the post today with a beauty and the beast pic. Well, I don't know about you but I soon get fed up to the back teeth with too much scientific stuff connected with birds or anything else for that matter.... 

  

Blue Tit. Warren Baker  

Representing the beauty, if you can't say Ahhhh!....at the sight of this delightful young Blue Tit then I reckon you've lost all sense of feeling in your life.

Lammergeier. Mike Watson.

Representing the beast, this brute of a Lammergeier which Mike encountered on his recent Catalonia in Spring trip.

Bar-tailed Godwit. Pete Woodruff.

I was in the good company of JB today and we were both pleased to see the c.220 Bar-tailed Godwits in the Conder creeks again, this is a new experience for me with the species being here almost at the beginning of June, also Common Sandpiper and Greenshank noted. JB enjoyed the BTG's whilst I did a quick circuit to find 3 Whitethroat - a good year it seems -  2 Reed Bunting, House Martins nesting at River Winds and now apparently at Cafe d' Lune. From the old railway bridge I could see 9 Eider and 2 Wigeon on the Lune Estuary, and watched a Tree Sparrow - not a species in my book as seen very much here - feeding a single young, and a Buzzard overhead. On Conder Pool the pair of Lesser Black-backed Gulls are nesting here, and a solitary Black-tailed Godwit flew on to here. 

At Cockersands which was looking more than a little deserted today, at least 40 Eider seen, also noted c.60 Dunlin. A Whitethroat sang close by whilst - with a little persistence in a stake out - the singing male Quail was heard in the field behind the lighthouse car park. A brief look in at Aldcliffe produced a Little Ringed Plover on the flood.

Seakale. Pete Woodruff.

I was grateful to JB for pointing out the Seakale to me at Cockersands this afternoon. The species is listed as being in need of protection having been noted by botanists and other scientists as requiring the need to preserve. The Seakale is a member of the Mustard family, its habitat is on sand or between rocks on the beach, and on primary dunes as far north as Central Scotland, it likes salt and can survive flooding and burial in shingle.

Learning something every day....I luvit!

A couple of 'pipers!

There are a couple of 'sandpipers' currently in the country which interest me, one of which is quite close to home at Brockholes LWT Reserve in Lancashire and is....

Spotted Sandpiper

The Spotted Sandpiper (SS) is a North American wader which winters in the USA south to Uruguay and is now an annual visitor to these shores, in Lancashire the SS have always been found on reservoirs. A pair was found with a nest on Skye in the Highlands in 1975 but the breeding attempt failed. Another point of interest is that only four records exist in GB prior to 1950, there are also several records of birds wintering. The adult SS is a striking bird, but juveniles are much more subtly different to the closely related Common Sandpiper. I've personally only ever seen one bird at Stocks Reservoir on 18 May 2010. The first record of SS in Britain goes back to 1849 in Whitby, N.Yorkshire. As is usual with old records like this one the unfortunate individual was shot in the company of Dunlin.

The other 'sandpiper' is....

 Terek Sandpiper

A Terek Sandpiper (TS) is currently at Hauxley NWT Reserve in Northhumberland. The TS ranges Northeast Europe and Siberia and winters in S.Africa, S.Asia, and Australia. It is curious to note that there are no records in Britain prior to the 1950's, curious in that it is an easy bird to identify and is not likely to have been a bird overlooked. In Lancashire the only record of TS is that of a bird at Seaforth in June 2000, whilst the first record for N.W.England was at Frodsham in Cheshire in April 1999....the same individual? 

The first record of TS in Britain was of a bird found in 1951 at The Midrips in East Sussex. A couple of notes of interest about this bird was that it walked down a mud bank to wash every food item before eating it, and the second record of TS was that of a bird seen in Suffolk three days later which was thought to have been the Sussex bird.

I'D SOONER BE BIRDING....but I could see these three absent days coming last Friday, hopefully things will change tomorrow Tuesday. I take note of a Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper reported yesterday. Today a singing male Quail in a field by Lighthouse Cottage, and 2 Avocet on a pool south of Crook Farm, all four records at Cockersands.  

The Sanderling....

Sanderling. Brian Rafferty.

....is one of my most favourite waders, its habit of persistently chasing the ripples like a clockwork toy is both endearing and unique.

The Sanderling is a long distance migrant which breeds in the high Arctic tundra, the Ribble Estuary holds internationally significant numbers during the winter along with the Wash and the estuaries of the Thames and Alt. Two groups use the beaches of GB, one of which comprises of migrants which stage here for two to three weeks in August and May on their way between breeding and wintering grounds, data suggests that most of these birds originate in Greenland and some continue as far as South Africa, although others remain here throughout the winter. The second group are primarily winter visitors originating from W.Siberia, although many of these remain in W.Europe, some continue south into W.Africa. However, this is certainly not the case in our recording area of N.Lancashire where it is regarded as a rare winter visitor, for example in 2009 the species count didn't reach a three figure number in both spring and autumn counts combined, the winter WeBS counts rarely reach three figures either, though one in February 1991 did reach almost 300 birds. As for passage birds, well you've just got to be at the right place, at the right time, on the right day/s.

On a personal level I can recall at least two excellent experiences with the Sanderling, one of which I had with John Leedal when, on the 24 May 1997 at Ainsdale we estimated 10,000 birds, to be honest I never expect to have this experience ever again. The other observation was at Cockersands when one or two counts over a couple of days peaked on the 31 May 2007 when I counted 120 birds, a number not seen here since and I do wonder when will the Sanderling favour Cockersands in such a good numbers again enroute to the high Arctic.

Whilst all too rare a bird in our area in Lancashire, the Sanderling is known to be a site-faithful species which returns to the same wintering areas year on year, they are also long lived, the current record being of a bird over 17 years old, one individual ringed on the Wash was recaptured 13 times over the course of 12 years.

Sanderling. Brian Rafferty.

At a cursory glance this photograph could almost be a 'whats that bird' picture. Thanks to Brian Rafferty  for the photogaphs....excellent as ever.  

A bit of this....

....and a bit of that, including two - unrelated to today's birding - photographs of a couple of birds you may need a little luck to see in the UK....and the picture of a church.

The Sardinian Warbler. Phil Slade.

With JB/BT as its Friday....BT's car seemed apparently to make its own mind up once again to head of first to Freeman's Pools which we found to be almost deserted save a drake Wigeon not remotely inclined to want to breed but spend the summer here. On the flood at Aldcliffe I found a Little Ringed Plover and heard 2 Whitethroat. 

At Conder Green one of the days nice surprises was that of c.150 Bar-tailed Godwit in the Conder creeks making a pleasant sight as they appeared in a relaxed mood in the shelter from the unusual cold wind of May 27 whilst either feeding or preening quietly. The only other two birds to enter my book here was a Whitethroat and Linnet almost side by side in the bush. Noted on the canal basin at Glasson Dock was a pair of Mute Swans with the poor breeding result of just three cygnets, and on the Lune Estuary I noted 8 Eider. Along Jeremy Lane, a Skylark seen with three more on Moss Lane, also at Cockersands, 12 Eider, c.100 Dunlin opposite Crook Cottage which were put to panic by a passing Peregrine Falcon, a Sedge Warbler and a 'few' Tree Sparrows also noted. 

Christ Church Abbeystead. Pete Woodruff.

So....with the 'bit of this' dealt with we headed off for a 'bit of that' in the Tower Lodge area of Bowland. On a crawl in the car through Wellington Wood at Dolphiholme a Blackcap seen. At Christ Church in Abbeystead home of up to sixteen House Martin nests mainly and worryingly unoccupied in 2010, eight birds seen around the church today. At Stoops Bridge I found a female Pied Flycatcher being another of the days nice surprises, though the tree nesting pair appear to have failed to return this year, also a Spotted Flycatcher seen, a Chiffchaff and Blackcap were both heard. I may also have seen a Coal Tit with a full brood flying from one tree to the next some distance ahead of me but only saw the adult feeding a couple of young by the time I caught up. In the Tower Lodge area, up to 3 Spotted Flycatcher seen, and a Grey Wagtail, five distant and high soaring raptors were almost certainly Buzzard.

And finally....

The Audouin's Gull. Phil Slade.

The excellent Sardinian Warbler and Audouin's Gull photographs are courtesy of and thanks to Phil Slade 

READ THIS.

My first ever post without a picture and the shortest one too, but just couldn't resist an immediate publication.

Every birder - let alone everybody - should READTHIS and the comments too. These are the kind of people the powers that be are approaching on a 'softly softly' basis....Make up your own mind on that one. 

Taking pics!

I'm not out birding again today making me the usual miserable bugger I am in these circumstances and I'm in danger of finding myself in the divorce court if I can't take control of this situation. So whilst I wait to see what happens next....Whether or not you were on DC's side re the recent photograph 'thing' with Birdguides you may be interested in an update on both sides of the matter and read THIS

Now take a look at a couple of DC's latest photographic achievements which fill the gap on Birds2blog until tomorrows JB/BT/PW hopeful Friday birding.

Black-tailed Godwit. David Cookson.

You can take it from me, you'll be hard pushed to find another photograph of its kind to equal this one of the stunning Black-tailed Godwit in its summer finery at Marshside recently, and....

Swallow. David Cookson.

Another one of those photographs with the 'brilliant' tag of the Swallow in flight. I'm worried about these insect feeding birds in the weather we've been/are having during the month of May....struggling to say the least I'd say. 

Whinchat. Paul Foster  

I was delighted to find seven Whinchat on Bloe Greet last Thursday 19 May and in contact with PF to enquire where he'd seen them in the area too he kindly forwarded me not only some useful info but also this photograph of the smart little male, and....

Whinchat. Paul Foster

This one of the smart little female, a favourite passerine of mine which runs a very close second to the Stonechat and not an easy bird to find these days, I try to keep a close eye on its status in our area. Thanks for the info and pics Paul....excellent stuff.