Dipper

Back in North Lancs

Ribblehead valley

Med Gull, Heysham tempted by a butty!

Lesser Black-backed Gull, Heysham

Pink-footed Goose, Lancaster

Scaup, Morecambe

Teal Bay groyne, Morecambe just after high tide. Just a few rocks sticking up out of the water

Grey Plover, Bolton-Le-Sands

Bolton-Le-Sands salt marsh at high tide

Med Gull, Caton

Brambling, Halton. One of at least 13 birds - most of my digiscoping attempts just produced blurry orange shapes in the trees!

Dippers, Halton

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After what seems like an eternity we finally got access back to the van in Caton at the weekend following the statutory shut down. It was great to be back in N Lancs – we really did miss the place.
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On Saturday morning before leaving for the van I walked Bill down to HGF. Not much change though a couple of Lapwings could have been birds returning to territory plus at least 6 Skylarks in the south field and a couple of Grey Partridges. A single drake Teal was also on the water. I parked briefly on Waterworks Lane to watch the feeding station. There wasn’t much about, however my eye was caught by a flock of around 90 Linnets which flew over Waterworks Lane and headed off at speed in the direction of Highfield Lane. The cause of their haste appeared just a few seconds later as a female Merlin bombed across the lane and off over the fields after the Linnets. I never saw whether she caught any of them.
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Saturday 19th
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On arrival at the van virtually the first thing I did was put the feeders back up. In less than an hour a Nuthatch was on them plus a flock of various tits including 3 Coal Tits! A Jay was screaming from the nearby trees and a small flock of Redwings were feeding in the field behind the van. I didn’t get out birding today, however I did observe that the Greenfinch flock was still roosting at the site with 54 birds present this evening. I also spotted 4 Goosanders on the river while walking Bill. After dusk 2 Tawny Owls began calling somewhere on the site.
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Sunday morning I got up early and headed off down to the river at Halton with Bill in tow. We did the usual walk from the weir by the old mills. Interestingly here there is an eco-development going on with eco-friendly houses scheduled to be built. This is on a stretch of unspoilt river and to achieve this they are chopping down trees and removing allsorts of habitat from the banking. Meanwhile just 100 metres away there is a small housing estate with at least 20 houses uninhabited after the developers went bump presumably. So the answer to being eco-friendly is to ignore the houses which are already there and just need finishing off and instead tear up lots of trees, shrubs and other habitat to build new ones just 100 metres away. As the Americans would say – go figure!
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Anyway back to the birds which seemed to appear in threes this morning. Three Treecreepers, 3 Nuthatches, 3 drumming Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 3 Bullfinches (2 males) and 3 Goldeneyes (1 drake) flying up the river completed the set. To be fair there were birds everywhere this morning and despite being very cold this weekend there was still a spring fell about the place. I wandered into the small wood which follows the river up to Crook O’Lune picnic spot and I could hear birds which sounded like a subdued Starling roost. I eventually found them in some distant trees and realised they were singing Redwings! The local Buzzard pair kept gliding over the tree tops and seven Goosanders flew up river. I spent quite a bit of time watching the local pair of Dippers feeding together. No Kingfishers today though.
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After leaving the river I stopped to scan the Black-headed Gull flock which seems to always feed early in the morning in the fields west of the village. I soon found the bird I sought – an adult Med Gull. Next stop was Heysham, however the visibility here was poor and the place was lifting with fishermen. I threw the obligatory slices of bread onto the sea and sure enough the local Med Gull turned up. I had seen around 1500 Pink-footed Geese in the fields off the bypass – unfortunately there was nowhere to stop and scan them. I then headed off to Morecambe where I arrived at Teal Bay just in time to see 3 Scaup drifting away down the shore. Quite a few waders on the groyne though and the tide still pushing up – a few Eiders and a couple of Red-breasted Mergansers too. I came back here later on, briefly, to find virtually the whole groyne under water.
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I then moved over to Bolton-Le-Sands where the tide completely flooded the salt marsh. Lots of birds moving around though nothing special – it was good to just sit and chill watching birds instead of chasing a Ring-necked Duck at Fleetwood or something similar which is what I all to often do. Sightings at BLS were:
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1 Little Egret
400+ Shelduck
15 Pintails
45+ Wigeon
4000+ Oystercatcher
180+ Curlew
160+ Redshank
300+ Dunlin
80+ Knot
1 Grey Plover
8 Bar-tailed Godwits
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Bolton-Le-Sands was bitterly cold so I left early afternoon and headed back to the van. Late afternoon I ventured out again to Leighton Moss – noting that there were 62 Greenfinches hanging around the roost site in the holiday park. LM was quietish – I arrived at 16:40, parked up at the laybye on the road above the reserve and spotted that there were already 10 Little Egrets in the roost. No others turned up and almost immediately the Starlings began arriving. Tonight they almost all arrived from the opposite side of the valley and they also roosted at the far end of the reserve. They did show some spectacular shapes in the gloomy sky – I estimate I saw around 50-60,000 birds. Two Buzzards and a Peregrine were the only raptors seen – I also heard at least 8 squealing Water Rails.
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Monday morning I wandered back down to the river. As soon as I arrived I watched a flock of finches swirl above the river before alighting in trees at the top of the opposite banking. I set the scope up to view them and was delighted to find at least 13 Bramblings with 50+ Chaffinches. Four Goldeneyes were messing about on the river and the pair of Dippers entertained for a while. I didn’t do any birding for the rest of the day – instead Karen and I took a drive out to Muker in the dales. When we hit the Ribblehead area there was snow on the fells. On the road out past Hawes the weather closed in on the top road with thick cloud restricting visibility and snow falling heavily. Clearly winter is not quite done in some areas.
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This morning and back to reality and work. Nothing much doing at HGF first thing, however the garden was busy early on. I assume that the seed that I put down at the feeding station last Friday has gone – 7 Yellowhammers and 35+ Tree Sparrows were feeding at the back of the garden. Unfortunately 11 Jackdaws dropped in and scattered the flock. 13 Blackbirds emerged from the roost in the garden first thing.

Interesting larids

Interesting first winter Herring Gull which looks a bit faded but look at those primaries! Having queried the guru probably an extreme argentatus bird. Richmond Bank.

Caspian lookalike. Looked good for a while but is very pale, head a bit too rounded, a touch short-winged, bill maybe a touch too chunky and shock, horror - no bar on P5 or silver tongues on the underwings. Glad I was with some good gullers when this turned up.

First winter Iceland Gull - different bird from last weekends first winter.

One of eight adult Yellow-legged Gulls

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Richmond Bank - Pete Berry and Tom McKinney also in attendance. Lots of gulls and intermittent sun and cloud giving good viewing conditions. The first winter Herring Gull I found was a corker - I really like this gull and those striking primaries. From discussions with more informed people than myself I get the impression there are two competing views for this sort of bird - Glauc hybrid or extreme argentatus. Nothing about this bird other than possibly the primaries said Glauc to me on reflection.

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The Caspian look-alike had us going for a while with Pete and Tom finding it at the same time. Slowly the ID started to unravel and it didn't help by calling without dropping its wings. Another argentatus or a hybrid? Makes finding a genuine Casp a bit of a sod. I also found a nice two-tone first winter Iceland Gull and an adult Yellow-legged Gull which looked like it was on stilts. No sign of the pale juvenile Glauc today though. Peregrine also seen.

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Risley Moss was a nice round off. I was the only person there - the birds seen were:

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10 Woodcock. First appeared in daylight at 17:25, rest between 17:56 and 18:03. I should add that I discounted a couple of birds as obvious returns. It is difficult to determine exactly how many birds are here. Some could be duplicates, on the other hand there could be birds elsewhere on the moss which are flying in different directions etc so there could easily be more.

60 Redwings and 18 Blackbirds plus 5 Reed Buntings, 5 Yellowhammers and 3 Redpolls all into roost.

Quite a few unidentified LBJ's dropped into roost too. 5 Snipe, 2 Tawny Owls calling, 1 GSW, 15 Canada Geese, 1 Water Rail.

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Yesterday 1 Green Sandpiper on Moat Lane pools plus a Sparrowhawk soaring over. This evening at the feeding station were 3 Buzzards, 5 Yellowhammers and 30+ Tree Sparrows. Two pairs of Grey Partridges were there yesterday evening.

Signs of Spring

Moat Lane pool 1, Rixton

Some of the Tufties on the pool

Green Sandpiper, Rixton

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Had a nice bit of odds and sods birding local yesterday. I was chuffed to see the first Oystercatcher back at HGF on Sunday (13th). Previous return dates have been 15th (2006), 4th (2007), 10th (2008), 19th (2009) and 26th (2010). Yesterday morning three birds were present. For the first time in a while I walked up to the pool via the south field and found two Ravens loitering there before heading off SW. Although I have seen them several times in nearby Waterworks Lane, these two were a patch tick for HGF and the first of this species I have seen in the area this winter. Also present in the south field were at least 8 Skylarks with 3 males flying high and singing their hearts out. Spring has to be here, surely!
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On the way to work in Culcheth I saw 9 Corn Buntings on the wires opposite Hanging Birch Farm. For the first time in several years I have failed to find the local wintering flock so it’s good to see some back on territory. Moat Lane pool in Rixton held 2 Green Sandpipers with one being a little sod and hiding in the inlet on the blind side of the large island.
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Waterworks Lane feeding station held 55 Tree Sparrows with 7 Yellowhammers and 14 House Sparrows plus a pair of Grey Partridges. I also saw three single male Grey’s calling at dusk off Lady Lane – clear signs that the coveys are breaking up. One of the Little Owls was perched on a fenceline here with 2 Brown Hares gambolling in the field behind. Finally after taking Bill to the vets I drove back through Rixton mosses in the dark hoping to see a Barn Owl. No such luck though I did get a Woodcock fly across the front of the car on Holly Bush Lane!

Richmond Bank gulling

Adult Caspian Gull, Richmond Bank.

The Caspian Gull and the first winter Iceland Gull in the same shot

Pale, juvenile Glaucous Gull

First winter Iceland Gull

2nd winter Iceland Gull

Yellow-legged Gull (adult)

Yellow-legged Gull (different individual to the above bird)

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Saturday morning (12th) I headed up to Richmond Bank for a spot of gull watching. There were quite a few birders up there today which I suppose made finding gulls easier though the bright sunlight created a glare and didn't help matters. Anyway I walked up with Robert Adderley and we arrived to find another birder watching the sleeping Glaucous Gull. It was a presumed Glaucous at this point because we hadn't seen its head and bill and thus couldn't rule out the adult leucistic Herring Gull that has been kicking around. While we waited for it to wake Rob spotted a second winter Iceland Gull at the back and then shortly afterwards we confirmed the Glauc. Various other birders arrived and some were already there, hidden by the bushes.

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Shortly afterwards the first winter Iceland Gull was found and then Tony Conway spotted the adult Caspian Gull which appears to be the same bird Ian McKerchar found here in December. The Casp hung around a bit and even showed the typical displaying posture of a Casp. Stunning bird! Yellow-legged Gulls seem to be hard to come by - eventually I saw three adults. Also around was a Peregrine and 2 Buzzards with a Dunlin flying past calling and on the way back to the car park a Jay and a female Sparrowhawk being mobbed by a Crow. Around 4-5000 Starlings also flew over, off the tip, and briefly gave some swirling displays.

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HGF this morning had 48 Wigeon, 38 Tufties, 8 Pochard, 27 Coot and a Great Crested Grebe. In the garden were 11 Goldfinches and 20+ Tree Sparrows plus a cock Pheasant and a male Reed Bunting. In Waterworks Lane were 4 Grey Partridges and 30+ Linnets.

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Late afternoon I had a wander over to Rixton. A single Green Sandpiper was patrolling the muddy fringe on Moat Lane pool while 5 Bullfinches (2 males) were loitering in the bushes. Nothing much on the mosses though one of the fields off Woodend Lane has now flooded and looks superb for waders. Unfortunately it is next to the new fishing pools so any waders will probably get flushed by the anglers.

Shapwick Heath

Bewick's Swan, Shapwick Heath

Roosting Redshanks, New Brighton

Ringed Plovers, Leasowe

Purple Sandpipers, New Brighton

Yellow-legged Gull, Richmond Bank

Pintail, Houghton Green Flash

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Last weekend was a quietish one on the birding front. I did get a wander out to the Wirral for a couple of hours. I first rolled up at Hoylake – the incoming tide was being lashed by very strong winds which were also blowing my scope around. Consequently I couldn’t pick anything much out though I did see 30+ Brent Geese lift off nr Hilbre Island and head off towards West Kirby. I didn't stay long here, instead moving over to Leasowe where conditions were no better. I walked Bill along the embankment - there were plenty of Dunlin and Ringed Plovers flying past at high tide and lots of gulls on the water. Next stop was New Brighton where 19 Purple Sandpipers were roosting on the pontoon in the marine lake with 400+ Redshanks, 230+ Turnstones, 120+ Dunlin and a few Knot.

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HGF is still relatively quiet though I did manage to see a pair of Pintail which had been found by John Tymon. Only my second record of this species here. Two and then three Goldeneyes have also been present plus the first Great Crested Grebe of the year. Three Buzzards flew out of a roost together nr Myddleton Farm one morning. No opportunities to watch the garden or the feeding station this week.

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I did manage a brief session at Richmond Bank one morning - Ian McKerchar et all arrived shortly afterwards. It was low water and few gulls were around, I found one adult Yellow-legged Gull and also a Herring Gull (argenteus probably) with yellow legs. That was about all I managed though and later in the day I received a series of text messages from Ian " Iceland Gull just dropped in" and "Caspian Gull found". Typical!

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Wednesday late afternoon I rolled up at Shapwick Heath on a nice, sunny day with very much a Spring-like feel about it. Not much from Noah's Hide except two Bewick's Swans. One of the Great White Egrets was skulking in the reeds at the viewing platform in Ham Wall RSPB. There have been five or six of these birds wintering in this area though they are rarely seen together. I didn't have time to wait for it or any of its friends to come out as the Starling roost had moved and was down near the Decoy Hide in Shapwick Heath, around a mile away.

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I timed the arrival there perfectly as the first Starlings started to arrive. They gave spectacular performances with an estimated 2-3 million birds in the roost at the moment. On three different occasions I saw Buzzards literally surrounded by thousands of Starlings! Also here was a juvenile Marsh Harrier and a female Sparrowhawk plus a Peregrine which had a tiff with one of the Buzzards. A Bittern also boomed briefly. As usual I stayed until well after sunset when it was too dark to see and all of the observers had gone (I estimate around 200 people were present this evening - about half the weekend total) and was rewarded with a Woodcock flitting past. There is no way to adequately describe this experience but for me watching this event is like being in a cocoon of joy and it remains my favourite birding spectacle! Birds picked up this evening were:

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1 Great White Egret

1 Bittern - had a brief half-hearted boom as though clearing the pipes ready for spring

1 Little Egret

2 Bewick's Swans

1 Marsh Harrier (juv)

1 Peregrine (prob male

4 Buzzards

1 Sparrowhawk (dive bombed onto a tree full of Redwings)

2 Tawny Owls

4 Cetti's Warblers

5 Water Rails

1 Woodcock

1 Snipe

7 Lesser Redpoll

1 Great Spotted Woodpecker

130+ Redwings

40+ Fieldfares plus a Roe Deer

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The next evening I came back to Shapwick Heath but this time I parked up at the far end and wandered down towards Decoy Hide. It was a somewhat colder and much greyer night. A small flock of 14 Redpolls plus a couple of Goldcrests in a Long-tailed Tit flock got the evening started. There was not much on Decoy pool though a flock of 13 Pied Wagtails was notable. I had less time to spare on this occasion so I headed off back for the roost.

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The Starlings started to arrive at 16:20 and the first half a million birds or so gave superb aerial displays. Typically the birds decided to move roost this evening and started going down in a far reed bed which was partially screened by willow scrub. I still managed to see some spectacular movements of birds through the scope and birds were still coming in to roost when I left at 17:40.

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Three Buzzards appeared and had a pop at the Starlings. Also of note was a distinctively marked female Marsh Harrier and a ring-tail Hen Harrier. These two had a brief grappling session which I think was more about getting in each others way rather than any genuine antagonism. It was interesting to see the relative sizes of these two harriers though with the Marsh being a much larger bird. A Sparrowhawk also appeared and when darkness descended at least 6 Tawny Owls were heard calling around the reserve.

The Starlings of Shapwick Heath

A crude attempt to video the Starling roost this week using my little digiscoping camera and scope. I estimate between 2 and 3 million birds roosted - these are just a few of them!

A mooch around the Fylde

First winter Iceland Gull, Preston docks

First winter Red-necked Grebe, Fairhaven Lake

Black-headed Gulls, Newton Lake

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Last Sunday I had a wander out to Starr Gate, Blackpool. I arrived around an hour after high tide to find a very calm and flat sea and also a distinct lack of a car park due to the construction of the new tram terminal!

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The sea watching was good with numerous Common Scoters (870+) around - many of them close in. Also out there were 2 Red-throated Divers, 2 Red-breasted Mergansers and 19 Eiders. No Velvet's though. I also wandered over to Fairhaven Lake to have a look at the Red-necked Grebe and then to Preston where the Iceland Gull was showing nicely.

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Later that afternoon I managed to get a pass out and wandered over to Risley Moss where Ian Woosey, Jonathan and Ste were already in residence. Four Woodcocks were the highlight at dusk with plenty of Redwings and Blackbirds flying into roost and a couple of Goldcrests calling nearby. I went back to RM on Tuesday evening and met Pete Welch there. It was one of those really clear evenings with plenty of birds around. A small flock of nine Lesser Redpolls flew around the mosses in an apparent circuit for three or four laps before dropping into roost - a couple of Yellowhammers joined them. Interesting that the redpolls went to roost very early - at least 25 minutes before the first Redwing appeared. The latter species appeared in numbers with 134 birds and 44 Blackbirds flying into roost. The Woodcocks were even better with at least 16 birds being seen. We discounted 2 or 3 as repeats and we there is the possibility there was some we missed. A great evening with several of the Woodcocks flying past just feet away in the semi-darkness.

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I hadn't been near the feeding station (except to put food down at night) until late yesterday morning. I briefly called in on my way past - around 40+ Tree Sparrows were present at the time. After a few minutes a single Jackdaw dropped in and I immediately realised this seemed to be one of the Nordic race birds with a partial collar which was thin around the back of the neck and more flared and much brighter above the shoulder. There were no other Jackdaws or any Rooks around. The bird was eventually flushed by some Crows. With the bird being on its own I wonder if it is in the process of migrating back north?

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Today at the feeding station around 80 Tree Sparrows were present in the rain. A single male Yellowhammer was there with 9 Grey Partridges and the usual Buzzard in the field opposite. The Tree Sparrows seemed to relocate en mass into my garden mid afternoon. Also in the garden were 30 Collared Doves - the highest count this winter but a long way off the 80+ birds I had several years ago. Yesterday a flock of 120+ Starlings briefly descended into the garden - 18 Fieldfares were with them.

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HGF remains quiet with 40+ Wigeon and a similar number of aythya ducks. Some decent gull numbers though with 375+ BHG's and several larger gulls last weekend. The Green Sandpiper was present at Moat Lane pools Rixton this afternoon. 6 Cormorants and 29 Tufties were also present - good to see the water levels rising again though this will eventually push off the waders. 14 Lapwings were on the mosses (birds returning to territory?) while a pair of Grey Partridges in Holcroft Lane may be a sign the coveys are starting to break up? Earlier this week I saw my first Corn Buntings of the year - two birds in Culcheth on the wires opposite Hanging Birch farm.