Champion Moor Dotterels

Thursday 29th April

Had a walk around Bull Beck this morning. To be fair I spent most of my time watching the 150+ Sand Martins making nests and performing amazing aerobatics. Also here were 15 Goosanders, 2 Garden Warblers and 4 Common Sandpipers.
This afternoon I headed over to Champion Moor to look for the reported Dotterels. I love this enigmatic birds and have been envious of numerous birders I have met recently who had walked the mile up Fair Snape Fell. Champion Moor seemed a bit less stressful (and yes I am lazy).
I managed to find a route up from the south (map reading skills worked for once) and was soon watching a trip of seven Dotterels (3 females, 4 males) on the moor. I love these birds and can watch them for hours if permitted. Curiously I was alone up there for most of the time so I sat down in the grass and waited until the birds walked near. They could see me clearly but typically of this species showed no particular fear and settled into a feeding pattern around 30-40 feet away. Chuffed to bits I was. The only other bird I saw was a Wheatear – I wasn’t looking for anything else!

Butter Tubs to Barbondale

Photos:

Male Marsh Harrier at Leighton Moss

Redstart, Pied Flycatcher, Tree Pipit and Red-legged Partridge at Barbondale

Ring Ouzel, Grey Wagtail and Wheatear at Butter Tubs Pass, Swaledale with a couple of photos of the pass and also one from the road near Keld

Wednesday 27th April

Had a drive out to the butter tubs today. We had a picnic in the pass at the Muker Memorial and then I went and spent a couple of hours watching at least two Ring Ouzels busy flitting around the hill sides collecting food. Four Wheatears and a Grey Wagtail also provided entertainment.

At one point a female Ring Ouzel flew into one of the butter tubs while I was stood at the side of it. I noticed quite a few birds did this – maybe to drink or it’s a good place to find food. Later I headed off to look for a nearby site which is good for Black Grouse. I didn’t find any and later learned I was looking in the wrong place. I did find the world’s supply of Red Grouse and I did find my first House Martin of the year in Swaledale.

Thursday 28th April

Very enjoyable day today. I started off with a walk around Barbondale. This is an idyllic place for me – I love this little walk around the hill side. Lots of good birds with 5 male Redstarts (all heard and then seen), 5 Pied Flycatchers (3 males, 2 females), 2 Tree Pipits and a plethora of Willow Warblers. A Tawny Owl was very vocal – also had a pair of Reed Buntings plus 7 Lesser Redpolls. High on the hill side were a pair of Mistle Thrushes and a Blackbird which may go some way to explaining the absence of Ring Ouzels here.

Mid afternoon I wandered over to Leighton Moss. An Osprey had been reported nr the road above the reserve a short time earlier – there was no sign when I arrived and there followed a procession of birders rolling up, asking where the Osprey was and then leaving immediately they got a negative answer. I decided to stay there and watch events – two other birders did join me. Several Marsh Harriers were seen including one very tatty male which had a tiff with a Buzzard and followed that by catching a Blackbird! Eventually I spotted an Osprey flying in the distance and we watched the bird flying around the reserve before drifting away.

At the van earlier there had been 2 Ravens generally messing around in the field behind and annoying the local Rooks and Jackdaws. I think corvids spend their lives annoyed at something! At Halton this evening were 3 Common Sandpipers, a Kingfisher, a Garden Warbler and a Lesser Whitethroat.

Lazy days at the van!

Photos:

Awful record shot of the Fleetwood Marsh Short-toed Lark

Turnstones at Heysham

Marsh Tit and Lesser Whitethroat at Leighton Moss

Lapwings, Curlew, Red-legged Partridge and Redstart at Abbeystead

Sunday 24th April

This morning, when I could be bothered to get out of bed, I went for a wander over to Abbeystead. There were a few Red Grouse knocking around nr Jubilee Tower and a raven flew over Abbeystead Lane. Two Red-legged Partridges were also here and I rescued a Lapwing chick which had decided to play chicken in the road. At the car park there was no sign of the usual Pied Flycatchers though I did find a male singing elsewhere. A Garden Warbler gave some really good views out in the open though I never heard it sing. I walked along to the place I found Redstarts last year and found three males singing there, two were seen well. Plenty of the usual woodland species with Coal Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers all seen. Another pair of Red-legged Partridges were near the car park when I got back there.

Late afternoon I wandered over to Leighton Moss. I started at the Morecambe complex. Three Lesser Whitethroats were found on the way up the path, one singing nr the car park with one showing well nr the hides when another bird appeared and a Lesser Whitethroat scrap broke out. The pools held 12 Avocets and around 330 Blackwits – a pair of Pintail were also there along with a couple of Wigeon. On the way home I stopped at the view point above the reserve – while scanning a high flying raptor (Buzzard) I spotted around a dozen Swifts. These were my first of the year – they were constantly feeding above the reserve but always at height. Four Marsh Harriers (2 males, 2 females) were also seen.

At the van today I saw 5 Buzzards, a Blackcap singing near the van and 94 Lesser Black-backed Gulls in the field behind.

Monday 25th April

I eventually woke up today and thought about the Short-toed Lark at Fleetwood Marsh Nature Park. I eventually gave in and headed off down to see it. The bird was skulky and the light was harsh making viewing difficult, however good views were eventually had. I then drove back home and went back to sleep! Later in the evening I walked Bill by the river at Halton. 2 Common Sandpipers and 3 Dippers (including a pair mating) were the birding highlights.

Tuesday 26th April

This morning I decided to do a bit of seawatching at Heysham over the ebbing tide. Most birders I know seem to prefer a rising tide for sea watching – I always think there is a lot of activity which often goes un-noticed from around an hour after high tide. This morning I saw nothing for the first hour and was rapidly getting bored when a couple of Sandwich Terns flew past. After that it picked up a bit with the following observed:

Kittiwake 2
Arctic Tern 1
Sandwich Tern 16
Red-throated Diver 1
Eider 4
Swallow 6

I also saw an unidentified and distant Skua (prob Arctic but hard to be sure) and a Grey Seal hanging around near the wooden jetty. Next I drove up to Teal Bay where 5 Red-breasted Mergansers were fishing in the channel and 25+ Ringed Plovers were on the beach.

In the evening I did my usual walk at Halton. There were around 85 Sand Martins feeding around the fishermen’s hut and I stood and watched as they swirled back and forth in a little cloud. Must be an insect hatch or something. I saw a large flock of Goosanders fly past up river and found them later preening and generally loitering around the weir pool. There were 32 in this group, seven of which were drakes in adult plumage. I found two more further back too. A Garden Warbler was found singing plus 2 Dippers and 2 Common Sandpipers (these were observed mating).