Vismig

Ropey digiscoped shots of Little Ringed Plover late evening at HGF

Common Sandpiper, HGF

Wheatear, Rixton Moss

Linnets, Rixton Moss

Black-necked Grebe, HGF

BNG in threat display - falling out with another pair

Redstart, Heysham Nature Reserve (still having problems getting my digiscoping camera to focus properly)

Reed Buntings and a Tree Sparrow in the garden

Dozy young rabbit, Crook O'Lune

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Saturday morning and the usual HGF morning visit. There were five Black-necked Grebes present this morning and the remaining five Wigeon but little else of note. The BNG's had split into 2 pairs which didn't seem to get on and threat displays were observed when the birds got too close. In the garden were 4 Reed Buntings, 3 Tree Sparrows and a pair of Bullfinches. Also had a quick mooch around Newton Lake this morning. No hoped for Common Sandpiper, however 5 Teal were still present along with two Mute Swans and 10 Tufted Ducks. A Willow Warbler sang from the bushes on the far bank, a Sparrowhawk joined a Buzzard spiralling up on thermals over the pool and a Jay screamed as it flew over.

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After a day of jobs we managed to get up to the van late evening. When we arrived the usual flock of Lesser Black-backed Gulls were present in the field behind the van. Sunday morning I didn't have too much time to play with so I headed off to Langden Valley to have a look at the Redpolls. Along the way I spotted five Roe Deer grazing in a field outside Caton. When I arrived at Langden there was just one other birder present and we stood on the far bank and scanned the larches for the little blighters. From the buzz-buzz-buzz sounds there were plenty of birds around, however they were pretty elusive to start with. Eventually birds started to visit the trees by the beck to feed and we managed to start scanning through them.

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I managed to get onto only one nailed on Common Redpoll during the morning - a pale greyish bird with white tramlines down its back and a white (streaked) rump. The wing bars also appeared to be broader and whiter than the Lesser Redpolls. I got good views of this bird for approx five minutes and didn't see it again. I also saw two other interesting birds. One had extensive and very white patches on the upper plumage (contrasting strikingly with brown plumage) and white unmarked underparts. Both Common and Lesser Redpolls can show these characteristics so god knows what it was. The other bird was very similar but more pale cream instead of white markings. All told I would guess at least 25 Lesser Redpolls were present - it was an interesting experience seeing the great variation in this species. The only other bird of note that morning was a Dipper flying down the beck.

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Early evening on Sunday I managed to escape for an hour or so and headed off to Heysham. The Hoopoe that had been found earlier in the day was long gone (apparently flushed by a car alarm), however three male Redstarts provided some entertainment, hawking for insects around the nature reserve. When I got back to the van the flock of LBBG's was in the field - there were 179 and a couple of Herring Gulls.

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This morning HGF was interesting for a change. Five Common Sandpipers were lined up along the south shoreline with a Little Ringed Plover. Can't remember seeing so many here before. On the water it was dead - no Wigeon (looks like no summering drake this year), no Tufted Ducks and only one Black-necked Grebe. The surface of the water was, however, buzzing with hirundines - at least 35 Swallows and 85+ Sand Martins. A Sparrowhawk flew over the pool while in the ploughed field by Midhops were 2 male Greenland race Wheatears. I returned late evening for another visit and found three Little Ringed Plovers together and the Common Sandpipers still present. This was a surprise - I had thought the endless stream of dog walkers would have flushed them. Perhaps more surprising was that four Black-necked Grebes were now present. I have noted that these birds do move around during the day time - more evidence of this today. The Wheatears had moved from Midhops to the lawn in the south field, however there has been no further sign of a Yellow Wagtail since last week.

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I had a mooch around Rixton mosses today too. In the first ploughed field on the left were 13 Wheatears together with 6 White Wagtails and a male Yellow Wagtail. 18 Linnets and a pair of Grey Partridges and a few Stock Doves completed the line up - a very busy field! Trawling round the various ploughed fields I found a further 9 Wheatears, a second male Yellow Wagtail (in a ploughed section behind a caravan nr the top of Holly Bush Lane), 6 more Grey Partridges, 4 Buzzards and a flock of 17 Skylarks feeding together. The usual big flock of Crows was also hanging around. In the garden today were 3 Reed Buntings, 2 Tree Sparrows and a male Bullfinch. Spring migration is definitely underway!!!

Yellow Wag

Very ropey digiscoped shot of a Yellow Wagtail - another of my welcome back shots!
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Started this morning with a walk around HGF as usual. Nice to see two pairs of Black-necked Grebes this morning - both displaying. The new pair takes the total to at least 11 so far this Spring. Nothing much else to report on the pool though - not even any hirundines. I then had a wander over to Midhops to see if I could relocate yesterday's Wheatear. I couldn't, however a male Yellow Wagtail was present at the far end - again good to see them back. Also here were 11 Linnets and 2 Grey Partridges.
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At lunch a quick wander around Rixton Mosses produced a Wheatear in a field opposite the farm on Prospect Lane (looked like a male Greenland type) and a couple of singing Whitethroats - one on Woodend Lane and another by the compressor station on Moat Lane. A couple of Grey Partridges were also around and two Buzzards flew over.
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This evening I took Bill for a wander around PF. Not much of interest to start with - then I picked up a Common Sandpiper from Horrocks Hide. To be honest I was more interested in walking round and didn't really attempt birding to start with. I arrived back at Horrocks as the sun descended and I spotted a tern on one of the buoys. Looking at it thorugh the scope I was convinced it was an Arctic and reported it onto the Manchester website using my phone. A LBBG shifted the tern and the ranger shifted me as she shut the hide. Outside I picked up the tern on a nearer buoy and realised it was definitely a Common Tern. Well I buggered that up, didn't I!

On the road again

Shapwick Heath

Ham Wall RSPB - with Glastonbury Tor in the background

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Monday morning and a quick visit to HGF. Nothing much new except for a new and distinctively marked Black-necked Grebe to join the resident bird. By my reckoning this makes at least 9 birds through this Spring.
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Working in Somerset on Tuesday and I managed to get down on Monday early enough for an evening walk around Shapwick Heath. I parked up as usual at Ashcott Corner and walked down to Noah’s Hide and then across the drainage ditch to Meare Heath Hide. I then wandered back to the car park and over to the identical reserve next door – Ham Wall RSPB.
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There was lots of noise on the way to the hides – mainly from warblers. In all I counted the following (all singing males):
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9 Cetti’s Warblers
7 Willow Warblers
6 Chiffchaffs
3 Blackcaps
2 Reed Warblers
1 Garden Warbler
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It was a superb, sunny and warm evening and just walking along by the drainage ditch with reedbeds and pools on either side was uplifting. On the wader scrape on the opposite pools (Meare Heath) were 19 Black-tailed Godwits, frantically feeding. There were lots of the usual wildfowl with Wigeon, Pochard, Teal, Tufted Duck, Shoveler and Gadwall everywhere.
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In Noah’s Hide, unfortunately, I was joined by two women who were there to see the Otters. They made so much noise it was unbelievable and then left in disappointment that the Otters had not shown! It was interesting to see the Long-tailed Duck which had wintered there was still present. A couple of Little Egrets flew over and all the Cormorants were nesting. Interestingly there were no hirundines around – I saw 1 Swallow all evening.
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When I left Noah’s Hide I got my best ever views of a Cettis Warbler when a male landed in the top of some brambles approx 20 feet away, completely out in the open, and burst into song. I knew I wouldn’t get a chance to digiscope it so I simply watched through the bins. I was struck by how smart these birds are in the open with the contrasting rusty red/brown and grey plumage and also how large they are. It makes you wonder how they manage to skulk so effectively. I got about 10 seconds worth of Cetti’s before it vanished.
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On the path to Meare Heath hide I spotted a Nuthatch quickly followed by a female Great Spotted Woodpecker. The pool in front of the hide was relatively quiet – the only interest was a male Marsh Harrier which I watched quartering the reed bed for around 10 minutes. On the way back to the car park I heard 2 booming Bitterns, one from the reed bed nr Noah’s Hide and another from Meare Heath reed bed and also a Tawny Owl calling. 2 Buzzards were also seen.
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Ham Wall is very similar to Shapwick/Meare Heath though it is not as large. I walked down to a viewing platform and remained there for a while and didn’t explore the far end of the reserve. Along the way I detected 2 Chiffchaffs, 3 Blackcaps, a Willow Warbler and a further five Cetti’s Warblers – again all singing birds. There were fewer birds on the pools here, however there were at least five booming Bitterns in the various reed beds. I had a natter with a local birder and then called it quits and headed off to my digs for the evening.
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Tuesday evening I drove up to Droitwich were I was working the following day. Unfortunately an overturned caravan on the M5 resulted in me sitting on the motorway for nearly 2 hours and killed any hopes of an evening birding session at Upton Warren near where I was staying. I did give it ten minutes before dusk, however it was cold, grey, wet and windy and no decent birds were around. A few Snipe, Curlews, Avocets and Redshanks were all that was present. Hopefully the Hoopoe which spent the day a few miles down the road will linger until after work tomorrow……
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The Hoopoe didn’t stay and I didn’t have a chance to see it anyway. Thursday birding started with my usual morning trip to HGF. It was dead – 3 Coots, 7 Tufties, 5 Wigeon and a few grebes including 2 BNG’s. Hardly any hirundines either though an evening visit produced a few Sand Martins, a Wheatear nr Midhops and a small flock of Linnets. In the garden today were 10+ Tree Sparrows and a Reed Bunting while a rare walk along Waterworks Lane this evening produced 5 Yellowhammers, a Sparrowhawk, a small flock of unidentified brown jobs (probably Linnets) and a couple of Grey Partridges.
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The two best best birds today were a Cuckoo and a Yellow Wagtail. The former was observed on some telegraph lines over a field while I was stuck behind a HGV on a minor road somewhere near Stoke. The latter flew past my car while parked on Hollybush Lane in Rixton early evening – not much else around though.

Touring the Trough!

Langden Valley

Meadow Pipit, Langden Valley

Wheatear, LV

Tawny Owl, Halton

Roe Deer, Caton

Common Sandpiper, Halton

Snipe, PF

Little Ringed Plover, PF

Little Owl, Croft. My digiscoping camera started mis-focusing again when both owls were perched up side by side - it suddenly fixed itself just in time to capture the second owl returning to its hole. Bloody technology!

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Saturday was technically a non-birding day though I did see some good stuff. In the afternoon I walked along the prom from Heysham village to Morecambe (lots of money spent on the prom - it's a bit good) at low tide. Around one of the rocky outcrops around 95 Eiders had congregated while just off shore a single Sandwich Tern was fishing. At the van the usual stuff was in evidence - a flock of around 40 mixed finches flew over and disappeared before I could determine what was there!

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Late evening I had a wander with Billy down by the Lune at Halton. I love this stretch of river - always something to see and very pleasant to walk around. There is something very calming about this kind of river. The usual Chiffchaffs had been joined by a Willow Warbler while an immature Heron fished a small pool at the side of the river. A drake Goosander was loafing around nearby while on the opposite shoreline were 2 Common Sandpipers. I wandered up to the small wood and was immediately struck by the racket from several thrush species. I knew they had to be mobbing something - the something turned out to be a Tawny Owl. The owl eventually tired of the racket and moved - curiously to a more visisble perch though the thrushes then left it alone.

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Wandering back down the river I spotted five Goosanders flying up river, the usual Grey Wags and then a pair of Dippers that were preening on rocks just below the weir. It was a very pleasant walk - when I got back to the van the resident Tawny Owl flew over - my second of the evening!

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This morning I woke up, looked out of the window and saw a small flock of Meadow Pipits in the field behind the van. I trawled through them looking for something rarer but to no avail. I then loaded Bill into the car and headed off for the Trough, collecting a Roe buck and several Red Grouse along the way.

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First stop was Marshaw. A single Lesser Redpoll was climbing around in a tree by the car park. I then walked up through the small conifer stand and stood by the gate to the grazing land. It was deserted at first - then a Raven started cronking so I stood there for a while to see what would turn up. A few Willow Warblers and a Chiffchaff began singing, then three Lesser Redpolls landed in the nearest conifer. I watched them and followed them through the bins as they flew off -scanning right of their tree I noticed a bird perched in the top of the next tree. It was a cracking male Redstart. I watched this bird for about a minute before the option of digiscoping occurred to me. By the time I had set my scope up it had gone and I couldn't relocate it.

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A female Sparrowhawk flew over shortly afterwards and then four pipits began flying around. Curiously they were not calling. They eventually landed on a distant fenceline and I managed to scope them and confirmed they were Tree Pipits. Marvellous start to the day!

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I then headed off to my main destination for the day - Langden Valley. It was a beautiful morning by the time I arrived. I walked down the path through the larches and at least 10 Lesser Redpolls were buzzing around the tops of the trees. I also found a Goldcrest and a Kestrel flew over. Eventually the path emerged out into the valley - the place is stunning! I watched a Wheatear on some rocks by the stream, a male Stonechat showing off and a Coal Tit building a nest in a dry stone wall. Meadow Pipits were everywhere and at least 6 Willow Warblers were singing. On the way up I saw no sign of my target bird, Ring Ouzel, though at the "castle" I found quite a few birders already line up and watching something.

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The something in this case turned out to be a pair of Hen Harriers. They had disappeared by the time I arrived, however a Peregrine (probable male) flew over and then a male Hen Harrier gave a good flying display at the head of the valley. One lady called a Kestrel flying along the hillside. I got onto it and immediately thought Merlin - the little falcon came closer and the ID was confirmed. I had a natter with a nice bloke from Accrington called Andrew Bates and headed back down the valley with him. Andrew had seen two male Ring Ouzels on the way up.

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Approx half way down a larger Peregrine (probable female) flew low over and then I heard an unfamiliar call and we both turned round to see a male Ring Ouzel fly over and then round the hillside in front. It appeared to drop into the gulley where Andrew had seen the birds earlier so we were both optimistic on re-finding it. Unfortunately the mountain Blackbirds had other ideas and that was my only sighting for the day. Beautiful day and breathtaking countryside - can't wait to go back up there for another mooch!

A week in North Lancs

Greenshank, Meols

Redshank, Meols

Black-tailed Godwits, LM

Red Deer, Leighton Moss

Drake Teal

Redshanks, LM

Pintails at Leighton Moss

Warton Crag Peregrines

Lune valley Whoopers from Lloyn Bridge

Wigeon at HGF shortly before they left - bon voyage!

Lloyn Bridge at Hornby

The Lune from Lloyn Bridge

The Lune through Lancaster

View of Lancaster from Ashton Memorial!

Halton Weir

Twite at Heysham - just for comparison with the other finches!

Pair of Siskins

Another Lesser Redpoll - there were at least eight

Lesser Redpoll on the feeders

Greenfinch on the feeders - they tend to bully the other finches and hog the feeder

Goldfinch on the feeders

Chaffinch on the feeders The dry stone wall is literally right outside the van.

View from van window!

First summer Glaucous Gull at Meols - honest!

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Am struggling to keep up to speed with the blog at the moment so a brief summary of the last 2 weeks.
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Spent last week at the van on holiday though the reality was that I was recovering again from illness so I did little birding. A lot of the birds I did see were from the van itself – the windows overlook a couple of large fields which slope upwards towards the moorland. On any given day a couple of Oystercatchers and two or three Curlews are present in the field with various other birds. There are usually a few Buzzards around – one day I saw 12 in the air in various directions. Every evening a flock of up to 200+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls appears in the field – it seems to be the last feeding stop on a circuit before they fly off east to their roost site. Also plenty of rabbits, the odd Hare and three or four Roe Deer which ambled across the field from time to time.
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On the feeders I have put up were the world’s supply of Goldfinches and also 3 Siskins and 8 Lesser Redpolls. The latter two species were present daily until April 1st – after this date they disappeared. A few walks down by the Lune at Halton Weir towards CO’L produced the usual wagtails, Goosander, Dipper and plenty of Sand Martins and the odd Swallow. The Chiffhcaff numbers gradually increased to 5 singing males while in the narrow stretch of woodland along the river were the usual species – Treecreepers, Nuthatches, Great Spotted Woodpeckers and Coal Tits.
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Had a couple of visits to Leighton Moss – on one day I spent the entire day on the reserve. This is the first time I have done this for a while and it was much more relaxing than my usual style of birding here for an hour and then dashing off to somewhere else. Usual species through the day with 1800 Black-tailed Godwits swarming like Starlings being the highlight – and just because a Sparrowhawk appeared. Five Marsh Harriers (3 males, 2 females) were busy hunting, sparring and courting. Heard a few Bearded Tits calling but didn’t see any – likewise no Bitterns. One evening I went back for a dusk vigil from Lower Hide. No Otters but a couple of flyover Woodcocks and stonking views of three Red Deer made up for it. At least 13 Little Egrets came into the roost site – there could have been more but I wasn’t concentrating on them.
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I also had a couple of brief visits to Heysham, however the wind was horrendous and made viewing very difficult – the scope was blowing all over the place. On the one day I persisted I had 5 Red-throated Divers and a Guillemot – the usual Twite flock was also still present.
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The only other dedicated birding day was on Monday when, being back home, I decided to take Billy for a wander around the Wirral. I started off with a quick trip to Moore where I finally caught up with a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. I didn’t set off for the Wirral until relatively late by which time Hoylake Red Rocks was swarming with people and dogs and any chance of a vagrant had vanished. I decided to wander out to Hilbre Island – on arrival there a flock of 95 pale-bellied Brent Geese (plus one dark-bellied) were feeding around the island. Unfortunately the island was also swarming with people and dogs so I soon left. I then wandered over to Meols where a Greenshank was showing very nicely with a flock of around 380 Redshanks and a few Turnstones. A birder here told me about a Glaucous Gull which had been seen so I decided to stick around until high tide to see if it turned up.
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There were thousands of gulls along the shoreline feeding on a starfish wreck – on the walk out to Hilbre I had noticed hundreds of dead Starfish littering the beach. As high tide approached I started scanning the gulls, however the strong winds didn’t help much. A Seaforth birder then turned up and started to help me and he eventually found a distant white-winger nearly a mile away on the water! Gradually the bird flew nearer and nearer as the tide pushed it up and revealed it to be a first summer Glaucous Gull – oddly my first of 2010. Cracking end to the day – and another day where I a) didn’t waste it driving all over the place and b) got some exercise!
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HGF has been a bit more interesting this week. Last Sunday someone had reported three Black-necked Grebes present – on Monday morning they were gone. However on Tuesday a distinctive individual turned up (just for one day) and the next two days four birds were present. This morning we were back down to one. The number of Tufted Ducks has increased to nearly 30 birds while the Wigeon flock has gradually whittled down to just 7 birds this morning.
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The Coot numbers at HGF have also, worryingly, declined again – there are only three birds present today. Contrast this with the 125 birds that were present 14 months ago! Six Oystercatchers were present on one day and a mass scrap ensued! I have only been able to make early morning or late evening visits – consequently I have seen no hirundines with the exception of Tuesday when loads of Swallows, Sand Martins and a couple of House Martins were present. A single Chiffchaff has been singing for several days, this morning it was joined by a couple of Willow Warblers. A Common Sandpiper was also present this morning.
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Haven’t been near Waterworks Lane for 2 weeks. In the garden at least 2 Reed Buntings and up to 8 Tree Sparrows are present most days. I have had 2 quick visits to Rixton. On Tuesday 4 Wheatears were still present on the mosses – none there this morning though. There were plenty of Willow Warblers singing today, three Corn Buntings on the mosses and the juvenile Mute Swan ringed at Dunham Massey is also still present on Moat Lane pool though it is regularly bullied by the resident cob.