It ain't alf hot, mum!

Lesser Black-backed Gull, Heysham

Sedge Warbler, Leighton Moss

Speckled Wood, Leighton Moss

Yellow Shell Moth, HGF

Heron, Pennington

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Sunday and for some obscure reason I decided to visit Pennington Flash on a scorcher in the middle of the afternoon. Stupidio! I quickly came to my senses after a chat with John Tymon and left to visit HGF. The ploughed up bit that was formerly a bed of reedmace nr Midhops Farm is now attracting birds. 59 Lapwings, 50+ Woodies, 2 Stock Doves, 6 Mistle Thrushes (2 adults, 4 juvs), 2 Skylarks, 2 Linnets (juveniles), 1 Corn Bunting, 2 Grey Partridges and 2 male Yellow Wagtails were all present here!!! On the pool the usual stuff with the Black-necked Grebe still there but only one Little Grebe again. Later on a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew through the front garden. I went back to HGF in the evening - over 500 Starlings had congregated on the wires. I watched fascinated at the shapes the flock made as they swirled around. Suddenly a female Sparrowhawk appeared and made a grab for a bird....and missed. I bet she wished she had never bothered as the flock turned on her and forced her away very quickly!

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This morning nothing much on the former reedmace bed except one male Yellow Wagtail. The usual stuff by the pool but an adult Ringed Plover was patrolling the east bank. Funny how birds seem to visit regularly certain patches around the pool - Yellow Wags mostly visit the west bank and are rarely seen anywhere else - waders always prefer the east bank and northern tip. Two Oystercatchers flew over heading SW.

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At lunch today I got in my car and the temperature gauge read 33°C - it was 20.5°C at 07:30 this morning! Only one Corn Bunting was present on the wires on Holcroft Hall Lane in Culcheth today - going home I saw a large raptor carrying prey fly over HH Farm but it had gone from sight by the time I managed to stop the car for a look. The Little Owl was playing out on Lady Lane though this evening.

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Back to HGF late evening and the return of an old friend - the male Channel Wagtail was flitting around the ex-reedmace bed. He was still present after I had walked around the pool and back. On a sadder note, the pool was packed with people having picnics, walking dogs and swimming tonight. Consequently every bird on the water except the Swans was pressed into a narrow strip at the north end - all were extremely agitated. People will destroy this place before much longer.

Wader fest in Lancs

Wood Sandpiper, Leighton Moss

Peregrine, Warton Crag

Spotted Redshank, Leighton Moss

Little Egret, Leighton Moss

Black-tailed Godwit, Leighton Moss

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A cracking days birding with Jonathan in North Lancs produced 17 waders for Jonathan (15 for me) and a range of other good birds too including six species of raptor. One of my better birding sessions recently.

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We started out at the Morecambe/Allen complex at Leighton Moss. Having been discussing the sparcity of Sedge Warblers this year it was great to see at least 14 birds (probably more) along the track to the hides - several showing very well. A Lesser Whitethroat was singing in a bush between the two hides and showed briefly when he flew out. There were also plenty of tits, reed buntings and finches and a couple of Curlews flew over. It was also nice and sunny!

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At the Morecambe hide we found a couple of birders watching a Wood Sandpiper - it showed very well to the left of the hide before being flushed by some cows. It flew to the back of the pool where it promptly got its head down and went to sleep. Approx 30 mins later the bird woke up and flew back down to the left of the hide where it was soon flushed again by the cows. This time it flew off towards the back pools and out of sight! One of the issues with this hide is that good lighting for photography is only often available in the afternoons (weather permitting) when the hides are usually full. Well this is my excuse for the crap digiscoping!

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Also present were three Greenshanks and 2 Spotted Redshanks - Jonathan commented on how similar these two species are in shape and structure! On silhouette you would be hard pushed to differentiate them without the Greenshanks upcurved bill versus Spotshanks straight bill. Over 50 Redshanks on the pool with 22 Black-tailed Godwits and 2 Dunlin. Seven Little Egrets and seven Little Gulls were also present. A Kestrel hovered over the marsh and a female Marsh Harrier gave good views in the same place a little later on. From mid morning the weather clouded over and we had a quick trip to Warton Crag. One adult Peregrine was present on the rock face but no sign of the other adult and 2 juvs though Jonathan had seen all four earlier in the week. Approx 240 Jackdaws were also there making lots of noise before flying off. A Sparrowhawk also circled through the quarry but attracted no interest from the Peregrine.

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A couple of Buzzards were viewed from the Public Hide but other than a Nuthatch, not much else so we then headed off towards Heysham, calling in at Teal Bay at the north end of Morecambe on route. Nothing much there either - 97 Curlews on the mud flat and a lone Little Egret. At Heysham the visibility was poor and the sea like a mill pond. A couple of Eiders provided a token interest though Jonathan picked up a fly by Whimbrel which I missed while on the phone to Karen and he also heard a Ringed Plover which I also missed due to being deaf!

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Next stop was Sunderland Point where it briefly started raining. The tide was coming in fast and 24 Eiders (mostly females) and 4 Red-breasted Mergansers floated up the river. A lone Bar-tailed Godwit was feeding on the far bank and 2 Knot were briefly on the near bank. One of the latter was a stunner in breeding plumage - easily the most aesthetically pleasing bird of the day. A wader flew relatively fast along the shoreline and looked good for Whimbrel but was not seen well enough for a positive ID.

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Finally on the way home we dropped into Brockholes Quarry. We soon spotted a Common Sandpiper, minutes later a Hobby flew over giving good, if brief, views. We then latched onto a Green Sandpiper at the back of the pool giving us the Sandpiper hat trick! Two Little Ringed Plovers then appeared, an adult and a juvenile. All in all a very satisfying day.

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The list of waders was:

1. Common Snipe
2. Ringed Plover
3. Little Ringed Plover
4. Black-tailed Godwit
5. Bar-tailed Godwit
6. Curlew
7. Whimbrel
8. Dunlin
9. Knot
10. Common Redshank
11. Greenshank
12. Spotted Redshank
13. Common Sandpiper
14. Wood Sandpiper
15. Green Sandpiper
16. Lapwing
17. Oystercatcher

Late evening and a walk around HGF with Billy. It started with a large white van crashing through the barrier on the M62 slip road and landing on the banking in the SE corner. Fortunately a coach was right behind and a group of people were soon on the scene calling for help. I thought a bomb had exploded! A large group of kids had set up tents and a gazebo at the north end, consequently more disturbance for the birds. Approx 480 Starlings were on the wires this evening - it was great to watch the flock swirling around Midhops farm. A male Corn Bunting called but was not seen, 4 Grey Partridges made their presence known and a Yellow Wagtail flew over the field nr the farm. On the pool were the drake Wigeon, 33 Coots, 12 Tufties, 5 Pochards and 3 Swans. The grebe count was 2 Little, 10 Great Crested and 1 Black-necked.

Plovers

Adult Ringed Plover, HGF

Juvenile Ringed Plover, HGF

Fox, Moore NR

Coot, Moore NR. This bird is setting of in pursuit of a rival.

Juvenile Grey Heron, HGF. They seem to be regular visitors at the moment with at least 3 juveniles and a couple of adults hanging around.

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Some more of those little things. During a recent visit to Moore I heard a rustling sound beneath the Birchwood hide and watched a fox come down to the pool to drink. Unfortunately the undergrowth and dense shade prevented decent pics -the fox simply stared back for a few seconds when it became aware of my presence! Four Black-necked Grebes were also present on the pool.

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This morning having spotted a couple of small waders on the far side, I walked round to investigate and found an adult and a juvenile Ringed Plover. They were both extremely wary and kept a distance - they eventually bumped into two adult Little Ringed Plovers. Oddly though LRP's are regularly recorded here in summer, the presence this morning of their larger cousins constitutes a patch tick! The single Black-necked Grebe is still present along with two other grebe species. The drake Wigeon is now starting to moult. In the garden today the Jay was also back.

It's the little things...

Digiscoped shots of Little Ringed Plover at HGF.

Ploughed field nr Midhops Farm. This used to be a reedbed!

Roe Deer faun, Brockholes Quarry

Drake Scaup, Neumann's Flash

Juvenile Coal Tit in the garden

Billy relaxing in the garden

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At this time of year the local patch can often resemble the dead zone with very few new birds around the place. Opportunties to twitch cracking birds like the Royal Tern have been non-existent, consequently I concentrate on taking positives from "little things". A good example is yesterday evening when I spotted a family group of 4 Corn Buntings at HGF - the first confirmation of successful breeding this year at this site. As always the positives are offset by the bits we don't like. A friend who walks HGF regularly watched a Heron pull the head off a well grown Mallard youngster leaving the body and still paddling feet on the bank.

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The Midhops farmer, having cut down the reedbed nr his farm earlier, had then done nothing with the result that the reeds regrew and birds moved back in. Unfortunately the b***ard decided to repeat the act last week with plenty of birds nesting in there. For some reason he has left one clump of tall flowers - a sad male Reed Bunting who has probably seen his efforts wasted twice this year is still perching and singing on the top of these flowers in the forlorn hope that a female will take a liking to his reduced empire!

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The drake Wigeon had departed last time I wrote - fortunately it was just a weekend break and he was back as normal the following Monday morning. A single Black-necked Grebe was present this morning and also last Friday. The single Little Grebe disappeared yesterday - as did a bunch of Tufties, Coot and Pochard overnight. The Little Ringed Plover was present for a couple of days but only one sighting of a Yellow Wagtail in the last 10 days or so. On the lawn in the south field 3 pairs of Lapwings had set up home with several well grown juveniles and had been present for some weeks. Late last week they all simply disappeared - haven't a clue where they have gone!

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In the garden last night was a Jay - only the third time in the five years I have lived here that I have seen one. A Spar also flew through and plenty of juvenile birds around, including a few Coal Tits. Yellowhammers are singing away in Waterworks and Highfield Lanes and the odd Grey Partridge showing briefly - they are hard to spot in the fields full of wheat and barley.

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I did have a brief stab at twitching the Brockholes Quarry Red-backed Shrike - typically I wasn't able to go on the day and it was gone the next. Is it me or have quite a few interesting birds this spring been just one-dayers? While walking around the pool here I heard a noise like a rusty bicycle wheel and spotted a Roe Deer faun in the grass - I managed to get a quick snap before it disappeared.

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Everywhere I have been seems to be full of warblers and not much else. I did however get stonking views of a female (presumably) Garden Warbler at Neumann's Flash (the male was singing in the bush behind me at the time). A drake Scaup was also present on the pool and a single Sedge Warbler was singing - I think there seems to be a large reduction in the numbers of Sedges this year. Alas no Cuckoo or Green Sandpipers, the reasons I went in the first place.

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A wander down Silver Lane on Monday evening was a pleasant walk - nice and suuny and lots of Rabbits. 2 Buzzards were hanging around the tip and a female Sparrowhawk got too near to a family of Mistle Thrushes - the youngsters scarpered while the parents dealt with the Spar! On the way home the Little Owl was prowling around in long grass off Lady Lane. I also had a mooch around Culcheth Linear Park recently. At the back there is a wildflowe meadow with lots of little bushes - typically a good place for warblers. A Jay seemed to follow me around as though keeping an eye on me and a Common Tern was an intersting sight as it flew through.

South Lancs

Roseate Tern, Seaforth

The Roseate Tern appears to be paired up with this Common Tern

One of the tern nesting rafts

The terns frequently spooked and all lifted up - this time caused by an overflying flock of Feral Pigeons!

Bar-tailed Godwits in flight at Seaforth.

Speckled Wood, Houghton Green Flash

Marsh Orchid, Houghton Green Flash. It seems to be a good year for these flowers - I seem to see them everywhere I go.

Four young Mallards head for the water at HGF. This bunch were the first brood to appear this year.

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Today birding constituted a wander up the south Lancs coast. The best part of the day was the visit to Seaforth. The Roseate Tern is still present, showing well and engaging in courtship displays with a Common Tern. Approx 80o+ of the latter were present, along with single Arctic and Sandwich Terns. Impressive was the large congregation of waders on the back pool. At least 1500 Bar-tailed Godwits milled around with 400+ Black-tailed Godwits, around 30 Knot and a few Redshanks and a single Curlew. An adult Ringed Plover took exception to the pair of Little Ringed Plovers and harassed them while the latters three juveniles hid in some thistles.

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Fantastic though it is in winter, I normally avoid Marshside like the plague during the summer months and for some reason I decided a visit was in order this morning. I shouldn't really have bothered - hardly and birds and hardly and birders! 20 adult and 4 juvenile Avocets are still present, eight of the former currently incubating. Approx 150 Black-tailed Godwits and 8 Dunlins were on the fresh water pool. And that was about it!

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At Martin Mere, it was hardly any better. No sign of the recent American Wigeon or yesterday's Red-necked Phalarope. 35 Avocets here (6 juveniles) with 10 Black-tailed Godwits and 25 Teal. There are also 4 summering Whooper Swans and around 20 Tree Sparrows were flitting around the path. And that was it. One birder in the Ron Barker hide walked off muttering that a ditch would be more interesting. Another exhibited mock excitement when a Swift appeared.

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Yesterday, for some obscure reason, I decided to park on Southworth Lane and walk to HGF through the little wood that runs alongside the M6. Walking through to the pool there was, predictably, no sight of anything interesting and the only noise that of hundreds of vehicles driving up and down the motorway.

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At the pool the drake Wigeon has disappeared, though 2 Yellow Wags visited (male and female) and the Little Ringed Plover was briefly present. 31 Canada Geese flew over heading NW. Otherwise nothing much different, though it is clear that the water level is still dropping. The muddy fringe around the edge is ideal for waders, however the place is inundated by dog walkers, kids going swimming and people having picnics. The large patch of reedmace in the corner has largely been flattened - very sad!

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On the way back through the wood I struck gold! A male Redstart flew up from an old oak tree and away through the wood. I searched for half an hour but couldn't re-find him. The wood is the ideal sort of habitat for these birds, being quite old woodland with plenty of oaks etc. It is on the small size, however there are several similar stands along a mile or two stretch down the M6 which are all easily within flying distance of each other. It is also difficult to hear anything singing due to traffic noise at all times of day so birds like Redstarts could easily go undetected. 2 Nuthatches were also picked up in the wood on the way back, plus a male Blackcap.

Nothing doing.

Ruddy Duck, PF

Common Tern, PF

XXX

Bit of a quiet week due to work and the bloody weather - anyone would think it was October rather than June at times.

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The male Bullfinch appeared in the garden again on Tuesday. Following his attempt to eat Cornflowers at the weekend, I have also noticed both adult and juvenile Goldfinches doing the same thing. Otherwise it is as was with the feeders being hammered.

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At HGF the Pochards have numbered between 10 and 14 all week. Single Yellow Wags seen most days with a Little Ringed Plover today. Also this morning the Little Grebes had swanned off (pun intended) while a pair of Black-necked Grebes had arrived overnight. The Starlings have started to congregate on the wires nr Midhops Farm in the evenings - 217 were present yesterday.

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Had a brief trip to Pennington on Tuesday - nothing much to show for it. Missed the drake Garganey from Ramsdales by about 30 seconds. Even the Lesser Whitethroat had shut up and resumed skulking! On he way home tonight a quick look at Frodsham - again no waders on No. 6 tank - where have they all gone? The pool was full of Shelducks, the usual pair of Yellow Wags were present and a second pair arrived only to be shown the door by the resident male!

Quiet day

Not much to report today - couldn't be bothered to go anywhere even though I was a bit tempted by a Pectoral Sandpiper and a Temminck's Stint at Leighton Moss.
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At HGF this morning the Pochards had decreased to seven. Two Little Grebes were on plus a pair of Grey Partridges on the "lawn". Otherwise not much moving. Late morning and I decided on a third trip in the last few weeks to Risley Moss - unfortunately the Hobbys decided they couldn't be bothered either. A couple of Buzzards was the best sighting. On the way home I popped into Silver Lane pools. On pool one were four Little Grebes and 21 Coots (including four juveniles and one bird incubating). On the second pool, at the far end of the narrow channel, was a male Kingfisher, perched on a stick protruding out of the water. A Jay and four Linnets flew over the tip, at least six Meadow Pipits were flying around the base of the tip and a number of warblers were singing - 4 Willow, 1 Whitethroat, 1 Sedge and 1 Blackcap.
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In the garden the birds are continuing to hammer the food - in 48 hours they have gone through 3Kg of sunflower hearts, 5Kg of wild bird seed and 1Kg of peanuts. Juvenile Great Tit and Robin today plus 29 House Sparrows and 9 Long-tailed Tits. While I was driving back from Silver Lane, Karen was watching a bird on the path trying to eat Cornflowers. She photographed it through the kitchen window - it was a male Bullfinch!
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This evening I went for a quick mooch around Newton lake. The Mute Swans appear to have failedin their breeding attempt again. Six Canada Geese and 10 Gadwalls were on the pool, a pair of Jays were loafing about on the church roof and a total of nine singing Song Thrushes was produced. Back to work tomorrow - not looking forward to it!

Baby boom!

Drake Garganey, Teal Hide at Pennington Flash

This Lapwing sat next to a dead Black-headed Gull in the rain like a priest delivering the last rites!

Stock Dove feeding at the back of the garden

Juvenile Blackbird and Collared Dove with some juvenile House Sparrows

Juvenile Collared Dove in the garden

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Juvenile birds everywhere in the garden today - probably because of the incessant rain the garden was busy. In 24 hours the birds have flattened around 2Kg of sunflower hearts!

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At least 25 House Sparrows were present today with around two thirds being young birds. A juvenile Collared Dove was with three adults and of six Blackbirds present, one was also a youngster. Three juv Goldfinches were with five adults, three adults Greenfinches plus a juvenile and four adult Chaffinches plus a juvenile. The young Magpies have started to leave the nest - two young birds were staggering around in a flower bed this afternoon like a pair of drunks. The adults were continuing to feed young remaining in the nest. Three young Blue Tits and two young Dunnocks were being fed by their parents and a juvenile Tree Sparrow was briefly in the Silver Birch outside the conservatory. A couple of Jackdaws and a Stock Dove completed the line up.

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First thing this morning, due to the rain, I decided that sitting in a hide was not so bad and thus visited Pennington Flash. As soon as I landed in the Horrocks Hide John Lyon announced he was watching four Black Terns. Having set up my scope the four quickly became six and later on seven! Not a bad week for terns! A single Common Tern was also around along with approx 400 Swifts feeding over the water.

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Also present at PF was the drake Garganey, five Bullfinches and a pair of Willow Tits feeding a juvenile at the Bunting Hide, 2 Dunlins on the spit and a singing Lesser Whitethroat from Horrocks Hide. A single Chiffchaff and a Blackcap were the only other birds singing. 13 Little Ringed Plovers were scurrying around including two broods of two juveniles and an adult bird incubating. The rain is quite welcome at Penny as it keeps the kids out of the hides.

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At HGF the drake Wigeon was back with 10 Pochard still present. A Little Grebe was feeing at the north end and a singing male Corn Bunting was on the wires opposite the kennels. A Kestrel was hunting over by Midhops and 2 male Reed Buntings were flitting around. Not much else about though. A single Grey Partridge was in a field off Waterworks Lane - 2 Brown Hares were here yesterday.

Back home

Little Ringed Plover, Houghton Green Flash

Pochard, HGF

Little Tern, Seaforth

Arctic Tern, Seaforth

Common Tern, Seaforth

Common Tern

Common Blue, Seaforth

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Bit of a wrench leaving Northumberland, however now that we are back I couldn't wait to visit HGF this morning to see if there had been any changes at my local patch. The first thing I noticed was the four broods of Lapwings. The pair with the 3 juveniles on the lawn were still present (and juvs now quite big) - they had been joined by a slightly younger juvenile and a very young brood of four. Also by the pool was another young brood of three - 11 juveniles in all. It will be interesting to see how many survive.

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Continuing the juvenile theme were wagtails. There were four broods of Pied Wags (2,2,2, and 3) and also a brood of three Grey Wags which spent most of their time perched in the top of the east hedge. A Little Ringed Plover and a Redshank were patrolling the edge and 13 Pochards (12 drakes) had joined the Tufties. A pair of Yellow Wags were feeding on the west bank, a male Whitethroat was singing from the east hedge and a Buzzard flew low over the pool. Nine Great Crested Grebes there, however conspicuous by his absence is the summering drake Wigeon. There was no sight or sound of either of the male Corn Buntings either.

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This afternoon I nipped over to Seaforth. Unlike Northumberland where I had watched hundreds of Arctic Terns with Common Terns being anything but up there, at Seaforth around 870 Common Terns were making lots of noise. Also present were 1 Little Tern, 1 Arctic Tern and 1 Roseate Tern. The latter was hard to pick as it kept sleeping - on two occasions I got onto the bird only for the colony to flush seconds later. Still makes up for dipping them on the Farnes though. A Little Ringed Plover and around 40 Black-tailed Godwits also there - I then nipped round to Crosby Marina to have another look at the Pallid Swift which showed with around 60 Common Swifts just ahead of a thunder storm.

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In the garden today a Stock Dove was feeding with the Collared Doves. Five Long-tailed Tits and a Coal Tit on the feeders along with a juvenile Goldfinch - the first this year.

Birding in Northumberland

Spoonbill, Budle Bay

Spoonbill

Female Eider, Seahouses

Herring Gull taking Eider duckling, Seahouses

Murder!

Eider duckling, sibling of the deceased youngster.

Sanderlings, Beadnell beach

Newton pool

Little Tern, Beadnell

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To be honest there was not much birding done in Northumberland this time. Unfortunately we arrived late and had to leave 2 days early and most of the time we were there was spent scoffing glorious food at the Beadnell Tower hotel or just mooching on the beach. This is the fifth time we have been here in the last couple of years and we really love the place - it is fabulous. Fortunately we will be back in September for another week.

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The highlight of the birding that did take place was on Tuesday night. After dinner at the Tower hotel (where a Spotted Flycatcher was feeding in the trees) we went for a quick drive up the coast. More as an afterthought than anything else I decided to stop at Budle Bay - a large mud flat just north of Banburgh. The tide was well out and all that was apparent was a group of gulls washing in the channel. Plus a big white thing. I quickly got the scope out and was chuffed to bits to find the big white thing was a Spoonbill. It was just after 9pm by this point so a few dodgy digiscope shots were all I could manage. The bird was seen earlier in the day flying over Low Newton by Gary Woodburn (aka Newton Stringer) - see his blog and website for more details of the area.

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On Sunday I spent a couple of hours at the tern colony at Beadnell beach. Lots of Arctic Terns there - I would estimate at least 350 with around 30 Little Terns and an odd Common Tern. A few Sandwich Terns were also feeding just off shore. A Peregrine (probable male from size) flew over the colony and terns shot all over the place. It took them approx 30 mins to calm down afterwards, not helped by the resident Crows continually sneaking in.

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Wednesday morning was spent doing a circular walk with Billy. I started off at High Newton where I spotted a Yellowhammer and a Tree Sparrow in the hedge by the road. After parking up at Low Newton, I walked by the tin church to the National Trust station, did a bit of seawatching, then along the cliff (little one) path to Newton pool and back to the car park. Nothing stupendous but I did clock up 56 species. The weather was sunny but windy and lots of seabirds were on the move up the coast. In 30 minutes approx 340 Gannets and 150 Fulmars passed along with large numbers of auks and a few terns. No Skuas or Manxies though. By Newton pool I saw Willow and Sedge Warblers along with a cracking male Stonechat. In the afternoon a large Greenland type Wheatear loafed around in the garden where we were staying - pity it wasn't an Isabelline's!

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Thursday morning saw another trip to Beadnell tern colony. 10 Ringed Plovers (9 adults, 1 juv) were present along with 2 Dunlin and 4 Sanderlings. The latter I followed across the stream called the Long Nanny and all the way back up the beach to Beadnell harbour. Unfortunately the light was crap and photography difficult. In the afternoon the sun came out and Karen and I had a trip to Seahouses. Watching the Eiders being fed (approx 45 birds present) I noticed 2 young ducklings. One of these, sadly, decided to wander off on its own and was soon picked up by a Herring Gull. It was not pleasant to see the gull wandering around with the head of the eider in its bill and the eiders feet paddling like mad. The duckling was swallowed whole.

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Out on the Farnes I felt that the number of Puffins was down compared to last year though it is obviously difficult to determine accurately. A couple of Turnstones and a female Red-breasted Merganser provided a bit of variety. There were also quite a few black-billed first summer Arctic Terns around to provide a nice pitfall for the unwary when searching for Roseate Terns! Can't wait for September and coming back for some serious birding.