Quick catch up with spring now springing

The Safari yet again has had only a few opportunities to get out this week and even when we have its been very much time constrained during the day. We've added Swallows to all our various patch lists now (P1 #33) P2 #45 & Garden #25) with the last one being over the garden this arvo while waiting for a delivery. A Willow Warbler (Garden #24) quietly sub-songing at the bottom of the garden at Base Camp before work yesterday was a bit of a bonus; the first here since 2012! There must have been a bit of an overnight arrival as there were two on Patch 1 too (P1 #32). Patch 2 yesterday gave us our first Manx Shearwaters (133) of the year when two sped northwards almost at the horizon, not entirely sure how we're going to get these on our Year Bird Challenge. The sea has been mostly very quiet.

We've been reminded to record some of the plants on Patch 1 but rarely taking the camera with us we have been having to rely on phone-pics. Nothing really outstanding...yet...

Cowslips

Cuckoo flower and Cowslip

Common Figwort

Ploughman's Spikenard - pick of the bunch as there's no others nearby

Sweet Vernal Grass - one of our favourite grasses, tastes like American Cream Soda you know. Quality phone-pic...NOT

 There's also several Yellow Meadow Ant mounds, a couple are about a foot high and two in diameter and must have some age about them.

We took the camera on Monty's walk this morning and came across several Speckled Wood butterflies, only of of which settled for a pic.

One of the smaller species of white butterfly was the first seen there this year but remained unidentified. We took the camera in the hope of coming across a Blackcap or a Willow Warbler or even a Greenfinch but there were two very shy singing males of the former and not a sniff of either of the latter. The only bird we could point the camera at was a Collared Dove sat atop the butchered remains of a formerly nice mature Ash tree in a roadside garden.

Back at Base Camp with having to wait in we had a look at what was on the cards from the Stealth Cams...Nothing of note again and still barely a cat - where are they??? The best is our female Blackbird with the little bit of leucistic mottling.

Where to next? A big day out on Safari up north tomorrow.

In the meantime let us know who's building mounds in your outback.

 

A much better day but only poor pics

The Safari went a few miles north to meet up with GB and JH for a mooch along the prom again.

The tide was well down and there were two ferries at anchor waiting for the tide to rise before they could get into Heysham dock, they have a 5.5m (18ft) draught, with our very long lens we couldn't get both of them in frame together.

In front of the ship and stretching to the left is the 'new' shingle island King's Scar which has arisen about a mile offshore since the dredging of our smaller port has stopped. Looks good for nesting sea/shore birds like Ringed Plovers and terns (hopefully to include Little Terns). It isn't totally covered by most high tides now but how much higher can it get? Maybe that's what the ancient village of S(h)ingleton Thorpe was built of that was a good way off the current coastline. The village was lost in a storm in the Middle Ages the residents surviving but becoming refugees  and given a plot of land to relocate too, now known as Singleton.

All the while during our walk we were listening to the exhaulting songs of Skylarks, we kept looking up waiting for a photo opportunity. At the same time a flock of about 50 waders was continually disturbed by a multitude of dog walkers as they tried to settle to roost as the tide rose.

Most were Dunlins and Sanderlings with a few Ringed Plovers thrown in for good measure. What a shame, these birds need to conserve their energy for their imminent long migrations to higher latitudes, not waste it every two minutes as yet another dog walker comes along. Maybe they should have headed out to the new island but even that gets over-run by jet-skiers if the sea is calm enough for them to get that far.

As the tide rose they were forced closer to the promenade.

Swallows were moving through both out to sea and behind us over the golf course all afternoon. Never in bog groups but by the time we got back to the car we must have had well over 50 and a small number of Sand Martins too.

Concentrating on the golf course we did eventually get a pic of a Skylark (YBC #112) both singing and on the ground although the latter was too far away.

Surely we'll get better pics than this before 31st December

There was a wagtail briefly on the mound too, which had a hint of White Wagtail about it but it disappeared over the back before we could get a proper look at it.

One of the reasons we went up that way was to look for Harbour Porpoises seeing ass how the sea was calm enough to spot them. We didn't manage to find any but did see a Grey Seal not too far offshore. We were very surprised to learn that it was the first local lad GB had ever seen here especially seeing as how he more or less grew up on this beach as a nipper - he did say it was far too polluted in those days to support creatures like the porpoises and seals.

Our pic but GB's processing

This morning we were out early with Monty when about 200 Pink Footed Geese flew over on their way to Iceland.  When we put them on the website we saw that Young Un AB had seen them over his house some 20 minutes earlier and then probably the same flock was counted at 230 at the coast we were at at the weekend.

This evening we took Monty round the new woodland where we found some Cuckoo Flowers blooming.

There are Oak leaves unfurling all over the place but we only saw one Ash tree with anything like open buds, some had a hint of green showing but most were still fast asleep. A drier summer coming up?

Not much on the sea at Patch 2 today in a time constrained lunchtime watch, just three Shelducks going south and a lone Sandwich Tern until we started trying to count the Cormorants lined up on the dry outer sandbanks. It was then we saw two flying out to sea, one was distinctly smaller and didn't look as black as the other, we'd like to say it was a Shag but it was just too fr away to be positive. In the end we didn't count the rest of the Cormorants.

Where to next? Little chance of doing any safari-ing tomorrow but there's always Friday.

In the meantime let us know been avoiding the limelight in your outback.

The swifts are back - proof the world is stil turning as it should

The Safari didn't get out until lunchtime today. Early morning rain was promising but didn't ease up all day. We thought there might be a Whinchat or a Pied Flycatcher or a even Woodchat Shrike (we should be so lucky!) somewhere once the sun had come out and livened them up out of their hiding places away from the weather. 

A look across the wetland soon had our bins coated in raindrops but of Whinchats there was no sign, no sign of much at all really. It was positively murky.

We met a soggy IMcC who'd was on his way back having not seen much other than two Grasshopper Warblers in a new place but he did think they could have been the pair from further up the track that had moved. While we chatted we saw a small number of Swifts (MMLNR #93) in with the huge number of hirundines, mostly Swallows. There were a few House Martins too.

We went our separate ways, he went home for lunch and we went to the viewing platform. We didn't stay long in the wet, the very close views of a male Blackcap was nice though. The rain had us retiring to the adjacent hide to enjoy the hirundine spectacle. These days we seem to find a Wren in every hide we enter.

From there we continued in the wet down the  main drag passing not a lot on the way. Even the Cetti's Warblers were a bit subdued today. Crossing the bridge we stopped at the east end viewing platform to watch the Swallows catching midges and drinking right in front of us.

There were a few Swifts here too. When the rain increased many of them went to roost/rest in the reed beds at the bottom of the mere.

From the hide we watched them some more and waited for the very close Cetti's Warbler to show itself...they rarely do! This one did, at the very moment we'd looked away. Never mind it would come round again on its circuit. Meanwhile we watched the comings and goings of a pair of rather wet Great Tits.

Reed Buntings were about the only lively birds around today zipping hither and thither and singing their simple little ditties.

Even the gulls weren't enjoying the weather today, not even bothering to bother a passing Heron usually they mob them or at least get upset by them. Today one decide to challenge it to a race.

Then we heard a Grasshopper Warbler but we thought it came from the reeds which could well make it something else. We retraced our steps and eventually heard the Gropper again, in the place IMcC had told us. Strange we could hear it from so far away and against the wind but it is a strange sound that does strange ventilocuistic things.

Nothing of note was on the scrape today, not even any Teal. At the side of the path there there was a Cuckoo Flower in flower, the first we've seen this year - bring on the Orange Tip butterflies!

Heading back to the car we stopped under a spiral of several swarming Swifts, even hearing some half-hearted screaming.

A little further on we heard another Gropper, then a third in its usual place behind the Raspberry canes and then a fourth at the wetlands so not a bad haul at all!

And so back to Base Camp we went more than a little damp.
Where to next? Tomorrow is a Bank Holiday so we've got an extra day's on safari to look forward to.

In the meantime let us know who's getting the wettest in your outback.

Very quick update for you

The Safari has been and still is busy but we have been able to get out a bit over the last couple of days.

A morning watch on Patch 2 gave us the long awaited Sandwich Terns (132, P2 #48), a bonus Arctic Skua (133, P2 #49) and one we didn't realise we'd not had yet this year a passing Lesser Redpoll (134, P2 #50).

Later we did a Porpoise and Seal watch for families to join in and saw not a lot but we did get a Harbour Porpoise and a Grey Seal along with good views of drake Eiders, a Guillemot and a Sandwich Tern catching a fish, the families enjoyed the session too which is always good.

A Great Crested Newt hunt on the way home was unsuccessful though.

This morning we did a guided walk round the nature reserve in lovely sunshine but an increasingly chilly wind. Missed a couple of sitters but did rack up Sedge Warbler (135, MMLNR #77), Lesser Whitethroat (136 MMLNR #78) and Reed Warbler (137, MMLNR #79). The Reed and Sedge being fresh overnight arrivals, we found the Sedge but were beaten to the Reed by regular birder TS.

There were plenty of Small Tortoiseshell  and Peacock butterflies out in the sunshine.

No Orange Tips on the Cuckoo Flower yet

Where to next? Got the kids staying but we'll be out somewher with them tomorrow

In the meantime let us know who's fresh in in your outback.