Wednesday, 24 November 2010

Birding SW

First winter Iceland Gull, Preston Docks




American Green Heron, Helligan



Cirl Buntings, Devon

Dartford Warbler, Devon

Stonechat, Devon

Snipe, Rixton
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November 17th – 25th
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Been driving around a lot the last week or so and was also ill in between. Consequently I can’t remember half of the birds I have seen so here’s a brief summary.
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I spent some time working in the SW last week and I suspect the work which has allowed me to see all sorts of new places this year will shortly cease to provide these opportunities. Consequently I finally carried out a plan to go and see a couple of the region’s specialities and also twitch a couple of yank rarities.
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The American Robin turned out to be an elusive bird with quite a few birders looking for it without success for a while. I finally saw the bird briefly in flight – it was the only views I had. Shortly before I left a few birders entered the field where it was thought to be feeding and walked up to the hedges where it was skulking. I left at that point and surprise, surprise; the bird was not seen again after that day. The Green Heron was viewed in the middle of torrential rain – I managed to digiscope it during the only five minutes when the rain eased.
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I visited a feeding station down there which attracts Cirl Buntings. I didn’t know exactly where the food was placed, however by watching a flock of Chaffinches I soon found it. At least 9 Cirl Buntings were coming into feed with the Chaffies including at least 3 males with the rest being a mix of females and juveniles. The light and the weather were poor; coupled with the feeding flock very flighty (forcing me to keep my distance) resulted in poor digiscoped images. The views through the scope were good though and I thoroughly enjoyed watching these birds. Later I visited a nearby area of heathland and, having got out of the car and scanned the nearest gorse bushes, I found 3 Dartford Warblers. These proved to be difficult to digiscope for a different reason – they never stay still for a second. I soon gave up and just stood contentedly watching their antics.
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HGF has stayed relatively quiet. The Scaup is still there. Tufties and Wigeon have peaked at 44 and 38 respectively and all the grebes have now gone. A solitary wintering Redshank is present most days and the covey of 15/18 Grey Partridges is permanently in the south field. Teal have been observed on a couple of occasions – an uncommon bird for this pool.
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I am currently putting seed down at the feeding station every 4 days. I don’t want the birds too dependent on the seed and I tend to find that they hammer the place for the first two days and there is nothing left at all by the end of day four. Tree Sparrow numbers seem to be fluctuating quite a bit with peaks of 75 or so when fresh food is put down and 30-40 or so present at the end of this period. Encouragingly 18-20 House Sparrows are now regular – it is good to see these birds again after they seemed to disappear from the area this year.
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The various coveys of Grey Partridges are still around – I estimate around 30 birds are present in the fields around the feeding station. Few raptors around though. The Linnet flock relocated for a while to fields off Highfield Lane and while watching them last Saturday afternoon I spotted a flock of 20-25 Waxwings in the top of a nearby tree. They didn’t stay unfortunately and flew off – there is a distinct lack of berry trees here. A few nights ago on a clear moonlit night we had Pink-footed Geese flying over the house at around 9-45. It might have been moonlit but I still couldn’t see much and how the geese find their way is amazing.
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Tree Sparrows are also present in the garden now every day with the max seen being 15. A Grey Heron has also started visiting and seems intent on inspecting the feeding area at the back of the garden. The cock Pheasant remains a daily visitor, as does the small flock of a dozen or so Chaffinches. I did see a Sparrowhawk one day as well.
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The last couple of days the pools at Rixton have started to freeze – consequently there are no waders now. Last week on a visit the usual 3 Green Sandpipers were present – I also saw out of the corner of my eye some birds drop in behind the middle island. I found out that the back side of this island has an inlet which can only be viewed by walking through the jungle at the back of the pool. On arrival there I found 3 Snipe in that inlet – rare as rocking horse poo for this place. The water levels are gradually increasing and a few Teal and Gadwall appear to be present each day. The mosses are quiet and the tip pool partly frozen though Great Black-backed Gulls are starting to appear here.
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I did go and see the Iceland Gull at Preston docks – cracker! I also spent some time fruitlessly looking for the Firecrest nearby. Later after discussing it with Jonathan I found out that I had been looking in the wrong place! I did see a Chiffchaff. It had dark earthworm colour legs but all other features suggested Chiffer to me (stocky, short-winged, weak supercililum, dark buff colour) so I went for that ID. Also saw Treecreeper and 4 Goldcrests so the time was not completely wasted. Another bird there was a fly-over Green Sandpiper. Every year there is one bird species I seem to trip over everywhere and this year it has been Green Sandpiper.
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A brief trip to Moore produced an adult Yellow-legged Gull and an adult Med Gull. The gulls were restless and constantly flew off – in both of the above birds they went almost as soon as I found them. I did see an argentatus Herring Gull with yellow legs and also a very mangy dog fox with most of its fur missing which trotted underneath the hide. When I see animals like this it reminds me how cruel nature is.
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Late this afternoon while in the car park at work (Glazebrook) around 4000 Starlings flew over. No sound at all except a faint whisper from their wings but an amazing site in the darkening sky nonetheless. They were heading approx SE. I wonder where they roost?

Tuesday, 16 November 2010

Cracking birding on the Fylde

Great Northern Diver (juvenile) at Fleetwood Marine Lake. Hard working digiscoping one of these birds!




Grey Phalarope, Lytham Moss


Whooper Swans, Lytham Moss

Part of the Starling flock (with Feral Pigeons) at Lytham Moss. Any ideas how many Starlings here? Being a saddo I counted them - for the answer go to the end of the post.
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On Saturday afternoon I headed off to a stubble field near Brereton Heath. Unfortunately the Woodlarks that had been present for several days did one during the morning and failed to return. Nice to see Ian Woosey though. A late afternoon divert to Astbury Mere (thanks for the directions Ian) did give me an opportunity to see a juvenile Great Northern Diver - it was rather distant and the light was fading so views were brief.
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Sunday morning I took Bill and wandered up to the Fylde. The Grey Phalarope was showing well in a flooded field at Lytham Moss and it was nice to bump into Tony and Maurice for a chat. I wandered further up the lane with them to view the Whooper Swan flock – I counted 168 birds. I failed to spot a Bewick’s Swan which was later reported though I did see a Whooper with a relatively small patch of yellow on its bill which briefly had me more interested. The markings still did not match Bewick’s though and size of the bird gave it away too. A very large flock of Starlings was also present. I estimated around 3500 birds were present. In the above photo which shows part of the flock there are 2696 birds or thereabouts!
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Next stop was Fleetwood Marine Lake to see a much more confiding juvenile Great Northern Diver. It was nice to see and chat with Riggers and John Rayner while I was there. The diver came close on several occasions and also chased off a Red-breasted Merganser. It didn’t appear to catch much while I was there – I wonder if there is enough food to sustain this bird for a while? Two female Goldeneyes were also present at the far end of the lake.

Sunday, 14 November 2010

Local stuff

Green Sandpiper, Rixton

Scaup, Houghton Green Flash

Wigeon, HGF


Tree Sparrows at the feeding station


Rook at the feeding station

Magpie at the feeding station

Sparrow cousins at the feeding station


Buzzards in field at HGF

Dunnock at the feeding station

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November 11th – 16th
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Thursday mornings wander around HGF didn’t produce anything exciting. A covey of 18 Grey Partridges were in the south field. Funny how this covey varies from either 15 birds or 18. I know from watching the Winwick coveys that they regularly change number with coveys sometimes merging and odd birds switching between coveys from time to time. At HGF I have not yet seen a covey of 3 but have seen the 15 birds on several occasions. The Redshank was back again feeding around the muddy fringe and the Wigeon flock had increased to 22 ducks.
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I had a quick look at the feeding station on my way into work – around 80 Tree Sparrows were present. Not much else visiting though which maybe indicates lots of natural food still around. Three Corn Buntings were on the wires outside Hanging Birch Farm in Culcheth while a mid afternoon wander to Moat Lane with Tom produced 3 Green Sandpipers on pool 1.
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Friday I didn’t visit HGF until dusk. The Wigeon flock now numbers 23 and the Scaup is still mooching around the pool – as usual for Scaup here having nothing to do with the other aythya ducks. The feeding station has been hammered the last few days and as a result there was not much in the way of birdlife this morning. As a consequence, 8 Tree Sparrows were feeding in the garden this morning. The cock Pheasant continues his daily visits – apparently he was in feeding for hours today. The flock of 80+ Linnets put in an appearance in Waterworks Lane too.
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Saturday morning in the sun – not much doing at HGF though the Wigeon flock had increased overnight to 32. I scanned the fields to the west and did pick up a large flock of Lapwings – 261 to be precise. A couple of Buzzards were also here grubbing for worms. A covey of 9 Grey Partridges were also there – presumably from the fields around Townfield Lane. In the garden a single Fieldfare was present in one of the Ash trees while a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a single Tree Sparrow and the usual corvids were all feeding. The feeding station held around 40 Tree Sparrows with a few Chaffinches and a couple of Yellowhammers being welcome additions.
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Sunday morning started with a Goldcrest flitting around in the Sycamore in the garden. Nice one! A male Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Mistle Thrush joined the various tits, finches and sparrows – the garden seemed to be permanently busy this afternoon. 46 Tree Sparrows were at the feeding station with coveys of 6 and 7 Grey Partridge and a male Sparrowhawk flying over. The latter was casually flying over the field when it suddenly side-slipped and plunged into some long grass. I could see him stood there with his head poking out of the grass where he stayed for several minutes. I thought he must have caught something, however he flew off with nothing.
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Monday morning the Scaup proved to be elusive at HGF – it took me quite a while to find it. The Redshank was present while a significant overnight increase in Tufties also brought in a Little Grebe, a Pochard and also a juvenile Moorhen. Not seen the feeding station today. In the garden first thing were 22 Collared Doves – the first signs that the usual winter flock is starting to build up. Moat Lane at lunch produced a single Green Sandpiper on pool 1. Three Corn Buntings on the wires on the way to work.
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This morning had a bit of a cold bite to it. The Tufty flock at HGF has increased to 38. A dead rabbit was floating in the middle of the lake and the Scaup is still there – otherwise quiet. In the garden this morning 11 Chaffinches and 21 Collared Doves were feeding at the back of the garden.
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I also called in briefly at the feeding station on my way to work. Large numbers of Tree Sparrows were present based on the loud chattering noises, most of the birds were out of sight in the hedge though. The flock was strung out in a line further down the hedge and they performed an act I have seen numerous times before. The few birds nearest the feeding area will move up by approximately 2 bushes and then stop to see if anything happens. Then the rest of the birds in fits and starts all move up by the same distance like people shuffling forward in a queue. After a while just one or two birds reach the feeding area and have a good look around looking for trouble. When they finally decide it is safe they fly down to feed and then the rest of the flock turns up en masse.

Wednesday, 10 November 2010

Waxwings at the van!

Waxwing, Crook O'Lune HP, Caton. I achieved a single digiscope shot before this small flock flew off.

First winter Mediterranean Gull, Heysham


The Czech-ringed adult Med, left, with his friend!







You might already have spotted but I love Med Gulls!

Extremely ropey shot of the Pine Lake Slavonian Grebe

Little Egret, Bolton-Le-Sands

Whooper Swans from the bridge at Hornby


Cormorant, Teal Bay Groyne, Morecambe

Dunlins, Teal Bay

Lapwing, Teal Bay

Ingleborough seen from Thrushgill

November 6th – 10th
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Saturday on a very sunny morning I pootled off to HGF early doors. Quite a few birds around but nothing special. In the south field was a covey of 18 Grey Partridges with plenty of Meadow Pipits and Skylarks also buzzing around. The field opposite the kennels held a large Lapwing flock with a Buzzard also there grubbing for worms. The Scaup was also still present on the pool and a Grey Wagtail was new. The garden was also busy with 8 Blackbirds in the roost and various corvids and other common stuff. A small flock of Fieldfares also flew over. I only had a brief glance at the feeding station as we drove past north to the van – around 40 birds Tree Sparrows were present. The Peregrine was again on its usual pylon.
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On arrival at the van I parked in the usual space for the vacant plot near ours. I opened the car door and immediately heard some familiar calls. I looked up to see Waxwings in the tree next to the car. Awesome! There are no berry trees here to hold them so I knew they wouldn’t stay long. They actually flew off after 2 minutes or so while Karen was watching them through my scope – I counted 12 birds departing west. Later in the afternoon I saw a flock of around 40 birds fly over the van heading north. From the flock formation they had to be one of two species – my immediate gut instinct was Waxwing. I then spent the rest of the day talking myself out of this theory!
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Around the van today were a couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a Treecreeper and various tits and finches. Large numbers of Redwings flew over with a small flock staying around the van until dusk. That night the Tawny Owl was calling near the van again.
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Late morning Karen and I took Billy to Bolton-Le-Sands at high tide. This is fast becoming one of our favourite places to go, partly because the food and coffee in Archer’s cafĂ© is a bit good! The salt marsh had only partially flooded and as the tide receded the birds moved over. Little Egrets seem to pop up from hidden channels all over while good numbers of waders were seen including sizeable flocks of Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits plus Oystercatchers, Dunlins, Redshanks, Curlews and a few Grey Plovers. A few Pintails were mixed in with the large number of Wigeon and larger numbers of Shelducks floating offshore. At one point I found a male Merlin perched on a dead bush – it flew off and later returned. A Green Woodpecker and a Raven were also picked up. A very enjoyable couple of hours!
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Sunday, early morning I decided to take Billy and go for a recce to Thrushgill – a place I have read about but never visited. There was not much to see on the way up except a couple of coveys of Red-legged Partridges. As I arrived at the plantation I heard some Crossbills – they seemed to have scarpered by the time I got out! I stood on the road and suddenly heard a rabbit screaming in the nearby rushes. Said rabbit suddenly emerged, saw me and changed direction and headed directly toward me. It stopped a few feet away just stood there trembling in fear. I stood still and watched it, after a minute or so it seemed to calm and lolloped off. I then saw the cause of the rabbits fear – a rather large Stoat. I tried squeaking my hand – this caused the Stoat to jump on top of a dry stone wall to see what was making the noise. It didn’t come any closer though. The fact that the rabbit changed direction and ran toward me is something I find interesting. Could it have reasoned that the Stoat would not approach me and I was the lesser of two evils?
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A few birds did start moving about with Siskins and Lesser Redpolls in small numbers and finally 3 Crossbills flying around the tops of nearby trees. Large numbers of Fieldfares passed through or hung about in the valley below. Buzzard and Kestrel and a fly over Cormorant were also seen. The place looks good for Crossbills, however the fact that the access is restricted and you can only view part of the plantation from the road is somewhat limiting. I wonder if there are Goshawks in there?
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I didn’t stay long at Thrushgill and headed into Hornby to Lloyn Bridge. The fields to the north of the bridge are seriously flooded and alsorts of birds were present. The stars here were the 23 Whooper Swans which apparently winter here each year. Plenty of Wigeon and a few Pintail were also present with large numbers of Black-headed Gull and Starling – I estimate around 3500 of the latter species. I was only too happy to watch the Starling flock. A few Goosanders were fishing below the bridge and a Nuthatch called from the trees at the side.
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Next stop Pine Lake – just to see the Slavonian Grebe. Unfortunately the grebe was hemmed in by water skiers and anglers and was restricted to a small patch of water on the far side. I watched it for a short while and then left to go and meet Karen at Bolton-Le-Sands. The spectacle here was ruined by several dog walkers going out to the tide line and flushing everything. A few distant Red-breasted Mergansers and an over-flying pair of Ravens were the only consolations. Later on that afternoon I nipped over to Heysham where the world’s supply of anglers seem to be in residence on the north harbour wall and one guy had parked his van across the road, completely blocking it. I stayed long enough to get a few snaps of the two adult and single first winter Med Gulls and then left.
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Not much happening at HGF the last few days. The Scaup is still present and the covey of Grey Partridges in the south field. A Redshank was also present this morning and the Wigeon flock had increased slightly. At the feeding station the Tree Sparrows have numbered around 70 birds the last two days though only brief visits had. Several coveys of Grey Partridges still around and at dusk yesterday 4 Brown Hares in a nearby field.
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Rixton today – flying visit. 3 Green Sandpipers on Moat Lane pool 1 with 10 Mute Swans, 3 Teal, 6 Gadwall, 6 Mallard and a couple of Coot also there.