Female / immature Black Redstart, Longridge
River Lune at Crook O' Lune
Sleeping Wigeon at HGFXXX
Birding has been sporadic in the last week or so due to work commitments and also the appalling weather. November is my least favourite month of the year and generally I can’t wait for it to end. Wind, rain and going home in the dark seems to be the sum total of a typical November day – Axel Rose got it spot on! To be fair though there has been the odd bright spell in the last week.
Xxxx
HGF has remained relatively quiet though this morning the Wigeon flock had crept up to 27 birds and also a second wintering Redshank appeared this morning. The main plus point has been the reappearance of the Linnet flock with up to 120 birds hanging around on the wires near Midhops. Up to 21 Meadow Pipits have been in the south field with at least four Skylarks while on Thursday 24 Fieldfares were flying around here too. Odd Jays, Grey Wagtails & Herons have also been present.
Xxxx
Winwick has been a bit more interesting. I have made several visits to the feeding station but have so far failed to find longer than ten minutes to stay there. The Tree Sparrow flock, when seen, has numbered between 35 and 45 birds. I say see because on several occasions I have rolled up to listen to lots of birds chattering away but have failed to see a single one so dense is the bracken in the hedge! On one morning I stared at the hedge for ten minutes and heard not a peep. When I got out of the car to out some seed down at least 45 birds suddenly erupted out of the hedge!
Xxx
A few Chaffinches, Greenfinches and Chaffinches have been around plus over flying Skylarks. The usual covey of 8 Grey Partridges has been joined by a pair of Pheasants with an additional covey of at least ten Grey Partridges up by the farm. On Sunday morning while watching a flock of around 110 Pink-footed Geese flew over heading north. The Sparrowhawks have also been regular visitors – male and female were seen here on Saturday while the male perched on the post by the car one morning – he looked magnificent!
Xxxx
In the garden the Collared Dove flock has increased to 25 birds with up to 15 Woodpigeons also around. A Great Spotted Woodpecker visited the feeders on Saturday and finches and tits have been common including a gang of 15 Long-tailed Tits on Saturday. This particular morning was very interesting. Karen was sat in front of the window overlooking the back garden while she put on her makeup. A Collared Dove and a female Sparrowhawk both flew into the window right in front of her and frightened her to death! The hawk quickly recovered and grabbed the dove – I arrived just in time to see her fly away with her prey. The male made three visits to the garden after the female left – on the last one he simply bombed past the feeders at lightning speed while the Long-tailed Tits were present. It happened so fast I didn’t see clearly but I think he took a LTT in mid-air. The tit flock didn’t start alarm calling until after he had gone.
Xxxx
On Saturday evening, on my way home from the vets, I diverted down Lady Lane and watched a Little Owl in its usual tree. Typically as soon as the owl came out the rain started bucketing down. A few Corn Buntings have been seen on the wires along Holcroft Lane in Culcheth this week while up to four Buzzards are regularly seen walking around fields in Glazebrook. Saturday I also made a brief visit to Newton Lake where the water level was higher than I can remember seeing it. The usual pairs of Mute Swan and Canada Goose were joined by 9 Tufted Ducks and at least 85 Teals. The latter were all hidden in the roots of trees at the back of the pool and would have remained out of sight if something hadn't spooked them into flying out in a panic. The something turned into a large brown lump in the trees - it was eventually flushed by corvids and turned out to be a Buzzard rather than the Harris' Hawk I was expecting.
Xxxx
On Sunday we spent most of the day in Caton and birding opportunities were restricted to a couple of hours after lunch. I consequently decided to have a look at the Longridge Black Redstarts. I arrived at 1-30 to see Bill Aspin and another birding (just leaving) there with the news that the female type had been last seen at 1pm. As no one was around to look for it I decided to wander down Berry Lane checking the roofs. Sure enough I soon found the female type perched on the roof of a converted church. We watched the bird for around 20 minutes before an aggressive Robin decided enough was enough and had a pop – the Black Redstart then disappeared!
Xxxx
HGF has remained relatively quiet though this morning the Wigeon flock had crept up to 27 birds and also a second wintering Redshank appeared this morning. The main plus point has been the reappearance of the Linnet flock with up to 120 birds hanging around on the wires near Midhops. Up to 21 Meadow Pipits have been in the south field with at least four Skylarks while on Thursday 24 Fieldfares were flying around here too. Odd Jays, Grey Wagtails & Herons have also been present.
Xxxx
Winwick has been a bit more interesting. I have made several visits to the feeding station but have so far failed to find longer than ten minutes to stay there. The Tree Sparrow flock, when seen, has numbered between 35 and 45 birds. I say see because on several occasions I have rolled up to listen to lots of birds chattering away but have failed to see a single one so dense is the bracken in the hedge! On one morning I stared at the hedge for ten minutes and heard not a peep. When I got out of the car to out some seed down at least 45 birds suddenly erupted out of the hedge!
Xxx
A few Chaffinches, Greenfinches and Chaffinches have been around plus over flying Skylarks. The usual covey of 8 Grey Partridges has been joined by a pair of Pheasants with an additional covey of at least ten Grey Partridges up by the farm. On Sunday morning while watching a flock of around 110 Pink-footed Geese flew over heading north. The Sparrowhawks have also been regular visitors – male and female were seen here on Saturday while the male perched on the post by the car one morning – he looked magnificent!
Xxxx
In the garden the Collared Dove flock has increased to 25 birds with up to 15 Woodpigeons also around. A Great Spotted Woodpecker visited the feeders on Saturday and finches and tits have been common including a gang of 15 Long-tailed Tits on Saturday. This particular morning was very interesting. Karen was sat in front of the window overlooking the back garden while she put on her makeup. A Collared Dove and a female Sparrowhawk both flew into the window right in front of her and frightened her to death! The hawk quickly recovered and grabbed the dove – I arrived just in time to see her fly away with her prey. The male made three visits to the garden after the female left – on the last one he simply bombed past the feeders at lightning speed while the Long-tailed Tits were present. It happened so fast I didn’t see clearly but I think he took a LTT in mid-air. The tit flock didn’t start alarm calling until after he had gone.
Xxxx
On Saturday evening, on my way home from the vets, I diverted down Lady Lane and watched a Little Owl in its usual tree. Typically as soon as the owl came out the rain started bucketing down. A few Corn Buntings have been seen on the wires along Holcroft Lane in Culcheth this week while up to four Buzzards are regularly seen walking around fields in Glazebrook. Saturday I also made a brief visit to Newton Lake where the water level was higher than I can remember seeing it. The usual pairs of Mute Swan and Canada Goose were joined by 9 Tufted Ducks and at least 85 Teals. The latter were all hidden in the roots of trees at the back of the pool and would have remained out of sight if something hadn't spooked them into flying out in a panic. The something turned into a large brown lump in the trees - it was eventually flushed by corvids and turned out to be a Buzzard rather than the Harris' Hawk I was expecting.
Xxxx
On Sunday we spent most of the day in Caton and birding opportunities were restricted to a couple of hours after lunch. I consequently decided to have a look at the Longridge Black Redstarts. I arrived at 1-30 to see Bill Aspin and another birding (just leaving) there with the news that the female type had been last seen at 1pm. As no one was around to look for it I decided to wander down Berry Lane checking the roofs. Sure enough I soon found the female type perched on the roof of a converted church. We watched the bird for around 20 minutes before an aggressive Robin decided enough was enough and had a pop – the Black Redstart then disappeared!
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