Common Tern, Rixton
Grey Partridge, Rixton
Male Yellow Wagtail, Holly Bush Lane, Rixton
Pair of Yellow Wagtails in Holly Bush Lane (different male to the one above)
Little Ringed Plover, Moat Lane pool 2
Juvenile Common Terns, Moat Lane pools
Great Crested Grebe, HGF
Juvenile Little Ringed Plover, HGF
Adult Little Ringed Plover, HGF
Common Blue Damselfly, Moat Lane pools (male)
Mating Common Blue Damselflies
Female Blue-tailed Damselfly, Moat Lane pools
Male Blue-tailed Damselfly
Birk Bank with Littledale in the background
Juvenile Common Sandpiper, Halton Mills Weir
Juvenile Wheatear, Barbondale
Dodgy digiscoped shot of a Tree Pipit, Barbondale
Very dodgy digiscoped shot of a female Redstart, Barbondale
Barbondalexxx
Forgot to mention – last week I made two visits to look at the Little Owls in Lady Lane. On the first visit an adult was in the tree to the right and an owlet was perched above the hole on its usual branch. Next day there were no adults in sight, however three juveniles were visible – one sticking its head out of the hole, another almost sitting on top of it and a third in the hollow in the tree trunk.
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Saturday after a lazy lie in I took Bill for my first wander around Barbondale. What an absolutely stunning place – it seems the perfect place for birding. The views are spectacular – in some ways it is a bit like Blorenge though the views are better at Blorenge in that you can see more terrain while Barbondale was more spectacular scenery. I settled down by the brook for some lunch and just sat and watched a family of Wheatears flitting up and down the nearby dry stone wall. Two juveniles and two adults were seen – they were occasionally coming down to the beck to drink while a couple of Grey Wags were also in the beck. A Tree Pipit was also flitting around in an Oak tree, carrying food by the beck. I walked down the path until I reached the conifer plantation – all told I estimate to have seen or heard 6 or 7 Tree Pipits by the time I got there and a Green Woodpecker flew across the path. I also saw at least 4 GSW’s, four Nuthatches and the world’s supply of Willow Warblers.
Xxxx
As Jeff had told me I picked up a pair of Redstarts by the gate to the plantation. I briefly saw them fly off with a third bird which could have been a juvenile though it was hard to be sure. The conifer plantation was pretty quiet and I soon turned round and walked slowly back along the path. I had just been watching a male Redstart when someone came along the path towards me – it turned out to be Jonathan. We spent a while having a chit chat while more Redstarts and Tree Pipits appeared (probably a lot of duplication) and we then found an adult and two juvenile Green Woodpeckers. At least 2 Buzzards and a Kestrel patrolled the skies and around half a dozen Lesser Redpolls flew over. No Whinchats today though and no flycatchers either.
Xxxxx
Sunday morning I made my usual trip to the Lune at Halton Mills Weir. A family of Grey Wagtails were by the car park (2 adults and 3 juveniles) while 2 or 3 Grey Wags were further up by the weir. Two Kingfishers were fishing in pools on the far side and the Dipper put in a brief appearance. Also by the car park was a family of Common Sandpipers – 2 adults and 2 juveniles. They were making a lot of noise and it soon became apparent why. One of the juveniles still had a lot of down sticking out of various bits of plumage and did not appear able to fly. It had attracted the attention of a family of Crows which kept pursuing it – fortunately it was mobile enough to keep out of their way.
Xxxxx
Sunday, early afternoon, I went for a non-birding walk to Birk Bank with Karen. No dogs allowed so Billy had to stay home and sulk. It was a nice enough walk up to a little cairn on Windy Clough though very few birds were seen. Half a dozen each of Willow Warbler and Meadow Pipit, a calling GSW and a hunting Kestrel were about it. At the cairn I looked over to the slope leading to Clougha and saw a couple of birders there watching something – it turned out to be a Stonechat. I was quite pleased with even very distant views, however on the way back down I spotted a female flying with food to a nest site and then picked out a male nearby. Nice one! Back at the van a Lesser Redpoll was buzzing over the feeders, while a drive through of Morecambe produced 10 Bar-tailed Godwits in Teal Bay.
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Monday early evening a male Bullfinch was on the feeders while a flock of Swifts, around 90-100 or so, circled over Waterworks Lane. After mowing the lawns I collapsed onto the ground (it was hot and I don’t do hot!) and looked up to see the Swifts right over the garden. I just lay there and watched them for around ten minutes as they twisted and glided through the air, several of them coming into the garden. Very relaxing and mesmerising.
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Monday I managed a late evening visit to HGF. Despite the several tonnes of litter all around the shoreline the place is starting to get busy. Around 240 Starlings were feeding in Midhops paddock, on the water were 18 Coots, 7 Tufted Ducks, 6 Pochards and 5 Great Crested Grebes. I saw two juvenile Little Ringed Plovers over the far side and decided to walk round to have a closer look at them. On the way I was distracted by a birder named Chris who has started birding HGF along with Rixton and Woolsten. Chris seems to be a knowledgable birder – he has been watching the Rixton terns (so have a few people quietly) and states he has been seeing a Tree Pipit on the clay pits reserve where some sheep are grazing. Will need to look into that one! Xxxxx
The next distraction was watching a pair of Great Crested Grebes building a nest (a bit futile I think) and then I got around to the plovers. By now there were three adults and no juveniles so I stopped and watched them for a while. Eventually I began to realise several LRP’s were coming and going – all told there were at least seven birds with a pair and two juveniles and a second pair with a single juvenile present. Looks like they have been more successful in breeding than I thought – good to see two pairs there!
Xxxxxx
Tuesday in the evening I managed a quick trip to Rixton again. One adult tern was going banana’s as usual while one chick was in the water alongside a small islet. I saw no sign of the other chick though it could easily be hiding. A couple of Little Ringed Plovers flew off the pool and headed over towards the clay pits and almost immediately I found a third bird in the far corner which stayed around. After leaving Rixton I had the pleasure of a drive down to Droitwich so I called briefly into Upton Warren flashes. Four Green Sandpipers, 9 Little Ringed Plovers (6 adults and 3 juveniles) and three Avocets were the main highlights – otherwise it was a bit quiet.
Xxxx
As Jeff had told me I picked up a pair of Redstarts by the gate to the plantation. I briefly saw them fly off with a third bird which could have been a juvenile though it was hard to be sure. The conifer plantation was pretty quiet and I soon turned round and walked slowly back along the path. I had just been watching a male Redstart when someone came along the path towards me – it turned out to be Jonathan. We spent a while having a chit chat while more Redstarts and Tree Pipits appeared (probably a lot of duplication) and we then found an adult and two juvenile Green Woodpeckers. At least 2 Buzzards and a Kestrel patrolled the skies and around half a dozen Lesser Redpolls flew over. No Whinchats today though and no flycatchers either.
Xxxxx
Sunday morning I made my usual trip to the Lune at Halton Mills Weir. A family of Grey Wagtails were by the car park (2 adults and 3 juveniles) while 2 or 3 Grey Wags were further up by the weir. Two Kingfishers were fishing in pools on the far side and the Dipper put in a brief appearance. Also by the car park was a family of Common Sandpipers – 2 adults and 2 juveniles. They were making a lot of noise and it soon became apparent why. One of the juveniles still had a lot of down sticking out of various bits of plumage and did not appear able to fly. It had attracted the attention of a family of Crows which kept pursuing it – fortunately it was mobile enough to keep out of their way.
Xxxxx
Sunday, early afternoon, I went for a non-birding walk to Birk Bank with Karen. No dogs allowed so Billy had to stay home and sulk. It was a nice enough walk up to a little cairn on Windy Clough though very few birds were seen. Half a dozen each of Willow Warbler and Meadow Pipit, a calling GSW and a hunting Kestrel were about it. At the cairn I looked over to the slope leading to Clougha and saw a couple of birders there watching something – it turned out to be a Stonechat. I was quite pleased with even very distant views, however on the way back down I spotted a female flying with food to a nest site and then picked out a male nearby. Nice one! Back at the van a Lesser Redpoll was buzzing over the feeders, while a drive through of Morecambe produced 10 Bar-tailed Godwits in Teal Bay.
Xxxx
Monday early evening a male Bullfinch was on the feeders while a flock of Swifts, around 90-100 or so, circled over Waterworks Lane. After mowing the lawns I collapsed onto the ground (it was hot and I don’t do hot!) and looked up to see the Swifts right over the garden. I just lay there and watched them for around ten minutes as they twisted and glided through the air, several of them coming into the garden. Very relaxing and mesmerising.
Xxxx
Monday I managed a late evening visit to HGF. Despite the several tonnes of litter all around the shoreline the place is starting to get busy. Around 240 Starlings were feeding in Midhops paddock, on the water were 18 Coots, 7 Tufted Ducks, 6 Pochards and 5 Great Crested Grebes. I saw two juvenile Little Ringed Plovers over the far side and decided to walk round to have a closer look at them. On the way I was distracted by a birder named Chris who has started birding HGF along with Rixton and Woolsten. Chris seems to be a knowledgable birder – he has been watching the Rixton terns (so have a few people quietly) and states he has been seeing a Tree Pipit on the clay pits reserve where some sheep are grazing. Will need to look into that one! Xxxxx
The next distraction was watching a pair of Great Crested Grebes building a nest (a bit futile I think) and then I got around to the plovers. By now there were three adults and no juveniles so I stopped and watched them for a while. Eventually I began to realise several LRP’s were coming and going – all told there were at least seven birds with a pair and two juveniles and a second pair with a single juvenile present. Looks like they have been more successful in breeding than I thought – good to see two pairs there!
Xxxxxx
Tuesday in the evening I managed a quick trip to Rixton again. One adult tern was going banana’s as usual while one chick was in the water alongside a small islet. I saw no sign of the other chick though it could easily be hiding. A couple of Little Ringed Plovers flew off the pool and headed over towards the clay pits and almost immediately I found a third bird in the far corner which stayed around. After leaving Rixton I had the pleasure of a drive down to Droitwich so I called briefly into Upton Warren flashes. Four Green Sandpipers, 9 Little Ringed Plovers (6 adults and 3 juveniles) and three Avocets were the main highlights – otherwise it was a bit quiet.
xxxxx
Wednesday evening I diverted down Holly Bush Lane in Rixton while on the way home from work. Almost immediately I picked up a juvenile Green Woodpecker perched on a telegraph pole – great to see the evidence that these birds have bred! I later picked up an adult calling around Moat Lane pool 1. On the way down HB Lane it was a bit quiet – a few overflying Goldfinches and a pair of Yellowhammers but that was pretty much it until I got to the bottom end. I spotted a Grey Partridge on a small track off to the right and parked the car to watch it. Almost immediately I heard a Yellow Wagtail calling – a male perched on the fence at the side of me! I got out and scanned the fields and eventually picked up at least 2 pairs of Yellow Wagtails, both of which appeared to be dropping into nest sites in a wheat field to the left of the road. There was also possibly a third female present. One of the males and the other pair were a bit showy for a short while. Also in this field were at least 6 male Reed Buntings while 2 Corn Buntings were heard singing nearby.
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I next headed onto Prospect Lane – a couple of singing Whitethroats and 3 Buzzards were picked up. It’s interesting that one of the differences between the area around Caton and Halton and the Trough and down here in Cheshire is the warbler distribution. Up in North Lancs Garden Warblers seem to be common as muck while Whitethroats (by no means rare) are much harder to come by. Down in Cheshire the reverse seems to apply.
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At the pool at the base of the tip were four Grey Herons (3 juveniles and an adult) while another juvenile and an adult were on the fishing pools opposite. A Redshank and 2 Little Ringed Plovers were also present on the pool along with 90+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls having a bath. The LRP’s presumably were commuting between the Moat Lane pools and here – I certainly didn’t pick any up at the former location later on. They also appeared non too pleased with the presence of the large gulls. At pool 2 both tern chicks were present in the water and both adults were mobbing from above. One bird is clearly much more aggressive than its mate – presumably the female? The pair of Great Crested Grebes are still on pool 1 – no sign of incubating or any youngsters. The young Mute Swan Blue JP4 is also still around.
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Later Wednesday at dusk I took Billy for his constitutional to HGF. Three Little Ringed Plovers were present – a pair and a juvenile. The water fowl numbers seem to be building up slowly – tonight there were 21 Coots, 11 Tufted Ducks and 9 Pochards along with the usual five Great Crested Grebes. One pair seem to be still building a nest – they were extremely unhappy when a juvenile Mallard stood on the nest. The results were quite predictable. At home Tuesday evening the male Bullfinch was present in the garden.
Xxxxx
I next headed onto Prospect Lane – a couple of singing Whitethroats and 3 Buzzards were picked up. It’s interesting that one of the differences between the area around Caton and Halton and the Trough and down here in Cheshire is the warbler distribution. Up in North Lancs Garden Warblers seem to be common as muck while Whitethroats (by no means rare) are much harder to come by. Down in Cheshire the reverse seems to apply.
Xxxxx
At the pool at the base of the tip were four Grey Herons (3 juveniles and an adult) while another juvenile and an adult were on the fishing pools opposite. A Redshank and 2 Little Ringed Plovers were also present on the pool along with 90+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls having a bath. The LRP’s presumably were commuting between the Moat Lane pools and here – I certainly didn’t pick any up at the former location later on. They also appeared non too pleased with the presence of the large gulls. At pool 2 both tern chicks were present in the water and both adults were mobbing from above. One bird is clearly much more aggressive than its mate – presumably the female? The pair of Great Crested Grebes are still on pool 1 – no sign of incubating or any youngsters. The young Mute Swan Blue JP4 is also still around.
Xxxxx
Later Wednesday at dusk I took Billy for his constitutional to HGF. Three Little Ringed Plovers were present – a pair and a juvenile. The water fowl numbers seem to be building up slowly – tonight there were 21 Coots, 11 Tufted Ducks and 9 Pochards along with the usual five Great Crested Grebes. One pair seem to be still building a nest – they were extremely unhappy when a juvenile Mallard stood on the nest. The results were quite predictable. At home Tuesday evening the male Bullfinch was present in the garden.
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