The proverbial wild goose chase...

Barnacle Geese, my favourite geese, at Anthorn, Cumbria. I have always been fascinated by leucistic birds and this Barnie shows this trait off extremely well...

American Golden Plover, Anthorn

European Golden Plovers

Sunday 18^th November

This morning found decent weather conditions so I decided to head over to North Cumbria for what turned out to be a wild goose chase. Last winter I spent quite some time pursuing a Red-breasted Goose around the Fylde without ever seeing the damn thing. Given a bird has been present in Cumbria for a few days; I thought I would have another go. The weather got progressively worse as I headed north and by the time I landed in the nondescript village of Whitrigg (just a few houses and farms etc) I found nothing but empty fields and no sign of the Barnacle Goose carrier flock with which the RBG was associating. I hung around for a bit and toured the area to no avail.

Next stop was Campfield Marsh RSPB, just down the road from Bowness-on-Solway. Nothing much here either unless you are extremely fond of Wigeon and Teal – there were lots of these ducks but even then they were distant. I sat in the hide and stared out at a featureless marsh which contained nothing much. Several other birders were present and eventually one cried “Hen Harrier” and so my head went up. This was followed by “perched in a tree” and my head went back down again. It was a Buzzard. I stuck out staring at nothing for a while and then left, calling in briefly at the salt marsh pool down the road where at least the Great White Egret was showing well if distantly.

I then headed over to Anthorn where an American Golden Plover had been seen recently. On arrival I found lots of birders scanning a Barnacle Goose flock. Apparently the RBG had been seen with this lot here earlier that morning. Around 70 geese were present on this side of the estuary and with them was one of the leucistic birds. These are my favourite geese and just watching these birds here made up for all the earlier disappointments. On the far side of the estuary, quite some distance away, were 4400 other Barnacles  and I started scanning these. After an hour or so and several sweeps through the flock, I couldn’t see any sign of the RBG. The other birders had all got fed up and drifted off by then but me, being stupid, carried on searching for another hour. All this time, the bird in question had been feeding in a field in Whitrigg where it had arrived around 30 minutes after I had left the village. I didn’t find out this until I got home. ***&&&%%^^&**R!

I did see a Guillemot perched lethargically on a mud bank (most unusual and I suspect a bird not in the best of health) and around 3000 Golden Plovers which remained over the far side until high tide. Then the plovers flew over and landed in the fields inland. I got in the car and dashed round to a good viewing point where 20 or so assembled birders were already watching this flock. Great I thought, someone is bound to pick up the AGP. Not a chance – I quickly found that not one of the other birders knew what an AGP looked like. The guy next to me waffled on about it being more brown than white on the upper parts but highly distinctive in flight. Was he confusing AGP with an Eider?

Eventually after some trawling I did find the AGP, right at the back of the flock. 3000+ Golden Plovers take some trawling through! Having found it, I tried to digiscope the bird but it was just too far away for anything decent, plus the uneven folds in the ground kept making my focussing system go bananas. I put the word out to the nearby birders and bizarrely no one was interested. I guess they didn’t believe me – the sick look on one or two faces when I showed them the poor digiscoped shots after the bird had flown sort of gave this away. The large flock of Golden Plovers did put on a spectacular flight display very reminescent of Starlings.

It was getting a bit on the late side and I decided it would be nice to get a good way back down the motorway before it got dark. I was pootling along when I suddenly realised I was about to run out of fuel – I had just enough to get me over to a petrol station at Milnthorpe. Having refuelled I thought I may as well nip over to Leighton Moss for the last 20 minutes or so of daylight. Most of the Little Egrets were in the roost by then. The GWE also flew in last as usual. The Cetti’s Warbler called and again the Peregrine (probably tiercel) flew in and perched in the dead tree by the egret roost. And with that I headed off home.

Aldcliffe revisited

Lesser Yellowlegs (left) with Redshank at Aldcliffe Marsh.

Wood Sandpiper, Aldcliffe Marsh

Knot, Morecambe

Curlews, Morecambe

Oystercatcher, Morecambe

Saturday 17^th November

This morning I kicked around locally, initially without much enthusiasm for doing much. I had forgotten to put any seed down at the feeding station during the last week and consequently it was quiet when I turned up. I duly placed them a good supply down, I’m sure the Tree Sparrows will quickly find it.

This is I think my 6th winter of putting food down here for these birds and I still struggle with statistics like 93% of all Tree Sparrows present in 1980 have disappeared. It is sometimes worth pndering this when I am sitting watching what I often, wrongly, consider to be my own personal flock. A reminder of how lucky I am to have these birds so close to home....

Eventually I decided to head up to North Lancs and in particular Aldcliffe Marsh. This place is still largely under water and when I arrived there were no other birders present. I wandered up and down the lane leading to the wildfowlers pool, continually scanning the flooded fields which are sandwiched between the lane and the saltmarsh to the west. Eventually I spotted a few waders and, squeezing between some hawthorn bushes, I was soon watching the juvenile Lesser Yellowlegs. The bird was initially distant but flew around with the Redshanks and soon dropped in directly opposite my viewing position. The light isn’t good in this direction and it alternated between harsh glare when the sun was out to dark gloom when the clouds obscured the sun. I did get a few digiscoped record shots though.

After a while three other birders (a pleasant couple and another guy who just happened to arrive at the same time) turned up and, unaware I was in the hedge, started talking about the bird and not seeing it, so I popped out to tell them I had found it. The lone guy immediately decided I was in his way and barged in and decided to use my scope to watch the wader. I though fair enough if he hasn’t seen one before. Next thing I know he was climbing over a nearby gate and stood in the field in plain view, wondering why all the waders had flown off. Selfish di**head. The other couple were none too impressed having yet to see the bird.

The three birders then stood staring at an empty flooded field, no doubt hoping that the Lesser Yellowlegs would miraculously reappear in front of them. I know I have no patience whatsoever at the moment but I can’t help but wonder why some birders just stand and stare at empty fields, trees, pools etc instead of getting up and going looking for a bird. Which is what I did and I re-found it a few fields away. I let the others know plus some other birders who had turned up in the meantime and they were soon watching it though at some distance. Also here was a Green Sandpiper but I couldn’t see the Wood Sandpiper for love nor money.

More info on Lesser Yellowlegs here:

http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/427/articles/introduction

I had never previosuly bothered to check up on this species before and was intrigued by the distrubtion map i.e. this species summers largely in Canada and winters laregly in Central America. I suspect the Aldcliffe bird is missing Barbados right now...

After fruitlessly looking for the Wood Sandpiper I decided to head off back. While walking back along the path at the top end of the lane, I suddenly heard a Wood Sandpiper making the distinctive chiff-iff-iff call from somewhere over the salt marsh (so that’s where the little skulker had been) and the bird duly flew over and landed in a flooded field to the east of the lane where it gave good views.

More info on Wood Sandpiper below:

http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=3025

Like the Lesser Yellowlegs, this bird should be in warmer climes (Africa) right about now, a flooded field next to a salt marsh in North Lancs just doesn't really compare...

Next I trawled up the seafront at Morecambe, checking the groynes. Disappointingly there were very few birds around with only 7 Eiders seen on the sea. I also checked out the salt marsh at Bolton-Le-Sands but there was not much there other than Oystercatchers and Curlews. Finally I headed over to Leighton Moss and parked up at the laybye on the road overlooking the reserve.

The Starlings this evening were disappointing – the roost site has clearly moved some distance and very few birds were actually seen from my viewpoint. I did hear a Cetti’s Warbler call from the nearby reed bed and a Peregrine perched in the dead tree by the egret roost for over half an hour. Eventually I counted 78 Little Egrets into roost with the Great White Egret last in. Also here were 2 Marsh Harriers including the 2cy male and a calling Green Woodpecker.

Messing about

Female / immature Long-tailed Duck on the River Lune at Lancaster.

Digiscoped shots of Waxwings in Warrington. The grey, overcast skies of November (how I hate this month in the year) don't do these spectacular birds justice.

The usual Buzzard loafing around on a pylon in Waterworks Lane, Winwick

This is the Pink-footed Goose that was recently on Moat Lane pools, Rixton. Very grainy and poor digiscoped record shot - it was going quite dark by then...

Monday 12^th November

Off work for most of this week and had planned to disappear somewhere distant. A cock up by the garage fixing my car combined with the failure of the central heating system put paid to that idea. I had no hot water or heating for 4 days so maybe I should just have disappeared off somewhere....

Messed about locally today and writing this a few weeks later, I can’t remember much of what I saw (or where I went for that matter). There were 49 Tree Sparrows at my feeding station plus a decentish flock of 52 Linnets in the field opposite. Near dusk I popped over to Rixton where I found a single Short-eared Owl flying high over Holly Bush Lane, being mobbed by Crows. Presumably one of the birds that Jonathan saw leaving Risley Moss.

Tuesday 13^th November

A further increase in Tree Sparrows at the feeding station today with at least 60 birds present. When I arrived, there was just one bird in sight (the look out) but lots of noise from the thick hedge which suggested the Tree Sparrow flock was all in residence. I find it fascinating that these birds will just chatter away to each other when they are not otherwise engaged in finding food...I wonder what they talk about? I think we still have a lot to learn about bird communications and I also t hinkthat these communications are far more complex than most people suspect.

The Linnet flock was still present in the fields opposite the entrance to Highfield Farm. I later headed off to Milner Street in the centre of Warrington to view the Waxwing flock that has been present for a few days. Nice to bump into Brian Baird again and had very good views of up to 66 Waxwings though the lighting conditions were appalling for photos. Couldn’t be bother going anywhere else afterwards – still very much in disinterested mode.

Wednesday 14^th November

This morning I headed up to Richmond Bank and spent 2 hours or so viewing the gull flock prior to high tide. The lighting conditions were perfect, there were large numbers of gulls and the birds were evenly spread out all over the bank and were quite settled. I was rubbing my hands in expectation. The result 2 hours later when high tide pushed the last birds off the mud – nothing! A big fat zip! Not even a single Yellow-legged Gull.

Time to cut my losses, I then  headed north and arrived at the River Lune in Lancaster and soon found the female / immature Long-tailed Duck which was showing very well. A quick mooch around the Caton area looking for Meds proved fruitless.

I finally headed over to Leighton Moss, stopping briefly to scan Warton floods on the way where good numbers of Pintail were in residence. Next stop was the Morecambe / Allen complex. On arrival at the Morecambe Hide I could see the pools were full of ducks and waders and I settled down in expectation of finding some decent birds. Sadly a couple of minutes later the pools were empty, courtesy of a local farmer who was rounding up his (presumably stray) sheep which had hidden, previously unseen, beside the hide. Sod’s law. I did see a female Sparrowhawk as I walked back to the car, not much consoltation though.

Next stop was to park up on the road above the reserve for the last hour. Good numbers of Starlings failed to really perform, preferring instead to drop straight into roost and not budging even when a Sparrowhawk glided directly over the roost. A Peregrine and two Marsh Harriers were also seen. 76 Little Egrets and a single Great White Egret came into roost.

Thursday 15^th November

A day of messing around today. Not much at the feeding station and HGF was equally quiet so eventually I headed off to Burton Mere. On arrival I found the main hide packed with picnickers and not much on show in the bird world. I then remembered that I don’t like this place so I left without exploring the other hides and parked up at Denhall Lane. From the usual parking area I walked up towards the Decca Pools. Although the light was good back home when I set off, at Burton Marsh there was a weird haze which made viewing virtually impossible after 150 yards or so. Also a strong wind got up out of nowhere which made the likelihood of owls or harriers being out somewhat remote. This was not going to plan.

I then headed back home and after more messing about (my favourite phrase at the moment) I wandered over to Risley Moss for a lock in. Dave Beetham was already there and we watched the moss for the last 90 minutes or so of daylight. Quite a few birds about, two Short-eared Owls being the highlight. Both got up, 30 minutes apart, and headed high towards Rixton while being mobbed by Crows. A Merlin also appeared and flashed across the front of the viewpoint. Two Kestrels were also seen and a calling Tawny Owl heard. As usual there were lots of small brown jobs flitting around which didn’t call and stayed distant. A flock of 11 birds were most likely Linnets, the rest probably a mixture of Yellowhammers, Chaffinches, Reed Buntings and Meadow Pipits. As dark descended (Dave had left before the second owl appeared) around 22 Snipe flew off calling and three Woodcock were seen.

Caspian Gull, the holy grail...

Adult Caspian Gull at Richmond Bank. This bird ticks all the ID features for this species very nicely!

Adult Yellow-legged Gull, Richmond Bank (second left)

My old friend, Mute Swan JP4. I saw him almost daily on Moat Lane pools, Rixton for 2 years before he disappeared with his mate in April. Great to see him back.

A family of Mute Swans in the canal nr Fiddlers Ferry Tavern.

Thursday 8^th November

Nipped out of work for five minutes of fresh air at lunch and to check on Mute Swan JP4 at Moat Lane pool, Rixton. He’s recently turned up at the pool with his mate after going missing since April. Another highlight was a family group of 3 Whooper Swans - rare to see them here other than as fly over birds on route to the Lancashire mosses etc! I later found out that Jonathan had seen an adult and a juvenile fly past Risley Moss while David Spencer saw a lone adult on Moat Lane pools later. It looks like this family group had, at least temporarily, broken up. I suspect they were probably knackered after the trip down from Iceland. My view is that the lone bird is probably the male, tempted into some peace and quiet after a summer of bringing up the kid and constant nagging...

Saturday 10^th November

I headed off to Richmond Bank this morning. Parking up at Fiddler’s Ferry I was a bit disconcerted to see hardly any evidence of gulls on the Mersey. On arrival at the viewpoint overlooking the bank I was happy to see the bank almost completely covered in settled gulls. I had no sooner set up my scope though when a Buzzard moved in and perched up at one end of the mud flat. This spooked the gulls and most disappeared, leaving around 1000 nervous birds strung along the back edge of the mud. I trawled through the flock for an hour or so but didn’t pick out anything other than a few argentatus Herring Gulls. Four birders from Burnley arrived and we carried on searching.

Eventually I got onto what I thought was an adult Caspian Gull on the far left of the flock. No sooner had I found it then the bird flew. Fortunately it simply moved towards the right of the flock and landed again and I managed to keep my scope on it. From this point the bird simply ambled around through the flock for well over an hour, showing off all its key ID features very nicely indeed. A cracking bird and lifer number 400 for one of the Burnley guys, certainly the same bird seen here several days earlier.

I can't be bothered going through the ID features of Caspian Gull and don't even pretend to have any expertise in this field, I'm just glad I can pick one out occasionally. For anyone interested in such things, the article below by Ian McKerchar is as definitive as it gets:

http://manchesterbirding.com/caspianrichmondbankdoc.htm

I texted Chris to let him know and he decided to call over when he finished work at 1pm. I then tracked the gull for around an hour as it ambled back and forth. Unfortunately Chris was about half way up the hill to the viewpoint when the Casp decided it was time to go back on the tip for a feed. Bl**dy typical but Chris took it in good spirit. An adult Yellow-legged Gull was all we could pick up afterwards plus a fly over Sparrowhawk. Four Little Grebes were also feeding in the channel behind the mud bank.

Note to self - I really, really must get a camp chair or something similar for gulling. Several hours stood up and hunched over a scope is not much fun on the back and shoulders and at my time of life, falling to bits every time I turn round, I need to look after myself a bit more.

Later there were just 15 Tree Sparrows at my feeding station in Waterworks Lane plus 4 Yellowhammers. A small flock of Fieldfares and Redwings were feeding in the hawthorns and a mixed finch flock held a decent number of Greenfinches. At HGF there was not much to note – the Coots and Great Crested Grebes have all bu**ered off as the water level continues to fall. 55 Wigeon were present.

Sunday 11^th November

Messed about locally this afternoon. My feeding station was better – 34 Tree Sparrows present today. In the field opposite were 13 Linnets and 8 Skylarks. A Sparrowhawk flew over the field and had a pop at one of the Skylarks and missed by some margin. Where have all the Linnets gone by the way? I would normal expect to see flocks of well over 100 here, at HGF and also on Rixton moss. None of these sites currently holds any significant numbers. Also of concern is the almost complete lack of Grey Partridge in Winwick. Anyway a flock of 120+ Pink-footed Geese flew over, heading SW and 55+ Fieldfares flew over Myddleton Lane.

I briefly checked out Barrow Lane (Newton-Le-Willows) which had a mixed thrush flock including 49 Fieldfares and 6 Redwings but sod all else. It seems quite bare here at the moment and generally devoid of life. At Newton Lake many of the Teal were typically asleep under the tree roots at the back of the pool. I counted 71 out in the open, 4 Little Grebes and Mute Swan CT6 is still here.

I then nipped over to Rixton. My old friend, Mute Swan JP4 is still here with his mate, more interesting was a Pink-footed Goose mixed in with the Canadas. This is a patch tick for me and very unusual to see one on the deck here. A drake Wigeon was also present.

Later I parked up at the junction of Holly Bush and Prospect Lanes to watch for owls. I wasn’t disappointed, with plenty of daylight left (contrast with experiences at Risley Moss!), two cracking Short-eared Owls flew out of the bracken to the west and began hunting the fields. Nice end to a good weekend.