Our first post-operation safari

The Safari was very kindly taken up to Leighton Moss by CR for our first day out after jour recent surgery. 
Our first stop was at Tim Jackson hide where a noisy pair of Oystercatchers were on and off the Sand Martin nest bank/box, they must have had a youngster somewhere but it was out of sight from our vantage point. The obligatory check for Red Deer under the trees to the right was negative - again! A family of Mute Swans cruised around the back of the pool but there wasn't really enough going on to keep us interested for long. having seen all that was on offer we soon moved round the corner to Grisedale Hide. Here a Heron and a Great White Egret were having a preen-off in the large tree across the pool, if you look closely thesere's a Cormorant up there too.

Below them in the pool was another Heron fishing in quite deep water.

Hardly anyone was about, the early morning rain keeping people tucked up at home, but that did give us the rare opportunity to get into 'Photographers' Corner'. last time we were sat here a Reed Warbler was singing from very close by but deep in the reeds, this time, probably the same bird was singing from the Willow bush a bit further back.

A very late addition to our Challenge tally coming in at #153. While scanning over the reedbeds for any Marsh Harriers that might be up now the rain had stopped and maybe a distant Osprey hovering beyond the tree line over the Causway/Lower Hide pool we spied something in the field on the far hillside that didn't look like cattle, two Fallow Deer were in 'Fallow Deer Field', so named as decades ago the Safari and IH (who couldn't be with us today) saw a herd of Fallow Deer in there. Closer scrutiny revealed there were three, if there were any more hidden by the large Ash tree we never saw them. It's a long way from here to there and any sensible photographer wouldn't have bothered to press the shutter but hey-ho if you squint hard enough you'll see them.

While continuing to scan for raptors and check if any more Fallow Deer had emerged from behind the aforementioned tree we ddi get a big brown bird in flight circling not too high over the reedbeds in the middle distance - not a raptor but a very welcome Bittern...#154. Not the best pic- we should have upped the shutter speed a bit...but when it all happens in a moment we'd didn't get a chance to think to do  that before it had descending into the reeds never to be seen again.

With no Marsh Harrier activity this morning - where were they all? - we trundled off back down the path to Lillian's Hide. From there we saw numerous Coots and a Great Crested Grebe with an almost independent youngster doing its own thing and another Heron or two. So far today Herons were easily out numbering egrets. A few Swifts scythed through the air above the pool but nothing like the numbers we've seen in the past. Are we going to be able to reverse this dramatic loss of wildlife or are we just going to document its inexorable decline to almost nothing, hopefully not the latter but if it's not to be that then a lot of people have got to do make serious changes starting with governments doining joined-up thinking across all departments and policies to include nature in their thinking....and more impotantly DOING.

One species that is sort of thriving and making a comeback from being extirpated from the British Isles is the Osprey, and we saw one briefly from the Causway Hide while chowing down on our pies and butties. From tentative nesting attempts in the 1950's and then protection in the late 50's followed by more recent re-introduction schemes there are now maybe 300 pairs and a good number of non-breeding individuals around the country. 300 pairs might sound quite a lot but there's more people than that in our street!

Sadly it didn't hang around and do some fishing like they seem to do for everyone else but flew over our heads towards Lillian's Hide but didn't stay there more than a few minutes either according to other birders. 

With butties munched it was time to take the path down to Lower Hide, all quiet along there now that putting seed down has been discouraged. The only thing of note we saw was a juvenile Cetti's Warbler skulking along the pathside ditch. In the hide it was good to catch up with KL and his mates and while chatting we spotted more deer on the far hillside, not more Fallow Deer but a pair of Roe Deer in the field to the left of where the Fallow Deer had been, they'd moved on by the time we'd got down here. Once again too far away for a sensible photographer but you get the gist and it's always great to see them no  matter how far away.

The chat and banter continued as did the Heron's annihilation of egrets with a Heron doing a balancing act on a stick taking the biscuit.

No more Ospreys turned up and the only Marsh Harrier was very distant and not very active on the far side. A prominent wake disappearing behind a reedy island had us going, was this to be our first Otter of the year...no -  a Cormorant appeared at the other end of the island a minute or so later. The best of the rest was a female Emperor dragonfly ovipositing among the Water Horsetails in front of us but although we had good views through the bins she was too obscured by intervening vegetation for a decent pic.
Heading back to the car we'd not gone far when we saw a group off photographers pointing their lenses at something close by in the bushes. It turned out to be a trio of juvenile Cetti's Warblers waiting patiently for the/an adult to come back  with a  beak full of delicious grub(s). One of them was probably the one we'd seen earlier as they weren't far from where we'd seen that one. Getting a pic through the jungle was far from easy, the could have done the decent thing and sat a foot or so higher where the vegetation was much thinner.

You might ask if we didn't bother with the ovipositing Emperor why did we bother to get a pic of these? Well you do see Emprerors egg-laying fairly often if your out n about along the water's edge but a trio of Cetti's fledglings is a whole differrent ball gane - a once in a lifetime event! 

Our next stop was the Allen Pool out on the saltmarsh but it was deserted apart from looking far left against the light. So straight to the  Eric Morecambe Hide it was. KL had told us where he'd seen the Wood Sandpiper, a good bird for us it's a feair few years since we've seen one. It had moved since he was last in the hide but it didn't take us long to find it although it was now quite a bit further away than he'd seen it. A good one for the Challenge, a 'Bonus Bird' taking us to 155

After a while it left the sanctuary of the fringing reeds on the far side of the pool and joined a few Black Headed Gulls on the slightly nearer island.

With our boots filled with Wood Sandpiper and helping get several other birders onto it we turned our attention to the other side of the hide where rumour had it a Greenshank was somewhere to be found. While scanning around for it we saw plenty of Avocets and Redshank, a few Little Egrets (at last!), more Herons(!) and some Shelducks. The large flock of Black Tailed Godwits which has recently held several of the needed for our Challenge Bar Tailed Godwits was miles away and didn't even flinch when everything else was put to flight by a passing Sparrowhawk. Eventually we did come across the Greenshank just about close enough for a pic #156 - only 9 more species to photograph to reach our target!

For several minutes it worked its way back and forth along that far bank.

Once it had flown off we turned our attention back to the other side of the hide where a couple of well grown Avocet chicks were swidhing their growing bills through the shallow water.

On the loppy exposed mud a flock of Lapwings loafed about, one got hungry and went to get a snack.

A young Pied Wagtail was close by scampering about picking off hatching flies.

An adult Avocet flew in and landed among the Lapwings and showed the young Avocets how to use their bill once it had grown to its full length.

Guess who blew the highlights - is it really the cardinal sin of photography? Darn not having time enough to check and change those settings!

for much of the afternoon birds had been walking round a bit of wood stuck in the mud close to where they  were feeding. When a Lapwing walked very  close to it we saw there was an eggshell caught on it. Looks like either an Avocet's or Black Headed Gull's and if you look at the full size image you'll see a hole in it which may be from predation or it didn't hatch and got damaged floating into the stick.

Meanwhile a Little Egret flew past prompting a check of the area for any more but we couldn't see any 'new' ones so the day ended with a narrow but very welcome victory for Herons 11-10.

Back on the mud more lapwings were pulling out worms, through the bins it appeared there were two or maybe even three species involved - how the Lapwings saw them is another matter, they can't have been deep cos a Lapwing's beak isn't very long but when we scrutinised a particular Lapwing until it caught one we couldn't see anything on the surface that would suggest a worm  was present, the Lapwings must be able to detail down to almost individual grains of mud moving 'in the wrong direction'. They were almost 100% successful, rarely bending down for a peck without coming up with a worm.

That one with the wind-blown curly tuft is my favourite shot of the day

We finished the day with a fly-by Black Headed Gull

A reflective Oystercatcher

And a gaggle of Avocets

It was a grand day out on safari which on the face of it appeared to be a quiet day but then looking back you can't sniff at Bittern, Osprey, Marsh Harrier, 2 species of deer, egg laying dragonfly, Cetti chicks, Avocets and much much more. Add in the fresh air, craic and banter and you've got the makings of a proper good day out on safari. Big thanks to CR for sterling work behind the steering wheel too.

Where to next? We're out on safari  again tomorrow, somewhere we don't visit perhaps as often as we should.

In the meantime let us know who's the not so early bird catching all the worms in your outback.

Onward, here, there, and everywhere and even further afield

The Safari mentioned at the very end of our last blog that theres not much change in the local birdlife at this time of year, the birds are pretty much settled down in their favoured spots waiting for the winter to draw to a close, saving energy and staying warm are order of the day. Well that was about to change. As all UK based readers will know this winter has been a 'Waxwing Winter' and these birds do move around...some so quickly they've moved on before we'd finished reading the news of their whereabouts on several occasions so far. Then news broke of two not too far away but we couldn't go that day, panic was setting in, this looked like it wasn't even going to be our fourth dip of the winter.                                          We were mightily relieved to learn they had stuck overnight so picked up CR and off we went...arriving at the site, after a minor detour, we spotted a couple of birders who told us we should have been there five minutes earlier...ARRRRGGHHH. They pointed in the direction thwe birds had flown off in and we had a drive round the local housing estate being viewed with some suspicion by a few of the residents. Then we went up the lane we'd detoured down earlier (at least we were in the right area) but there was no sign of our quarry. It was indeed fourth time unlucky. Thankfully the birding gods were with us as again there was positive news the following morning so off we went again. This time as we approached we could see a birder on the other side of the road who looked to be looking at something...we waved and made a thumbs up and then a thumbs down sign...she replied with a thumbs up. Happy Days. A quick dash across the raod and two minutes later we were enjoying poor views of two Waxwings high up in the tree tops. #111

Better was to come, they stayed another night and we were able to go back with the intention of getting some shots of them feeding on the Guelder Rose berries down at eye-level like everyone else was putting on social media. (That puts paid to the widely accepted theory that nothing eats Guelder Rose berries). Anyway we arrived on site, the birds were still there...and when we say there they were still high in the tree tops. Guess what..yep, the birders on site told us they'd been down to feed on the berries and were now up there digesting them, should have been here ten minutes ago...AAARRRGGGHHH. Best hang around until they drop down again. In the meantime we took some more, slightly better, tree top shots.

Nearly two hours we stood by the roadside waiting for them to drop onto the berries. The Waxwings had other ideas, they started calling persistantly then flew off away over the houses... AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH. At least our dips had been broken, it would have been dreadful to be the only birder in the country not to have connected with them this winter.

For our nest safari we had been hoping to head up north to Leighton Moss again but the coninuing wet weather meant we'd be wading through knee deep water to see the same few birds as last time so we decided to head back to (the much drier underfoot) Martin Mere to see the same few birds as last time. 

As usual we met IH in the Discovery Hide were we tried our hand at getting some gull in flight shots. There were many more Black Headed Gulls than last week and they were in the early stages of their pairing/breeding behaviour so there was lots of noisy activity. We've got a beginners talk on gulls coming up later in the spring (all will be revealed in due course) so took the opportunity to get a load of hopefully useful shots.

A cold wet wind blew through the window of the hide so we soon decamped to the more sheltered feeders. It was fairly busy with the usual suspects but without the Great Spotted Woodpecker of our previous visit.

As you can see the ringing team have been very active, almost all the birds we saw sported brand new shiny bling. Including this Siskin which was a good spot, we've never seen one on the feeders here before.

The Reed Buntings were still glreaning from the surface of the water

And some had found the table top with its nicely positioned perch

All this excitement was proving too much so IH suggested moving on to nearby Mere Sands Wood just for a bit of a change...and there might be a Jay which we needed for our Challenge.

It was wet and grey in the woods with little to point our cameras at until we reached the first hide where in the gloom beyond gloom, through the heavy drizzle, at the farthest point away from us, a tiny orange spot sheltering under the dark branches of a huge Rhododendron bush was a male Mandarin, but could it be captured on digital film? The answer was yes - just - #112 but only after a lot of deleting absolutely dire shots that could have been nail varnish on Bigfoot's toe and some serious processing we ended up with this single useable identifiable pic.

The rest of our visit continued in the same gloomy veinbut there was some good stuff to be seen like several Goosanders.

IH found the first Toad we've seen this year and AH found what's probably a Geen Shieldbug but still in its winter garb.

So a wet but still fun day out with good mates. Only one new species was added to our Challenge tally but that now leaves just three more to reach our February target with half the month (and we get an extra day this year) to go.

A couple of days later we had an errand to run up Fleetwood way so took t'mutt for a walk along the prom to see if we could catch up with any waders, in particular the Purple Sandpiper that's been hanging around with the large Turnstone flock. No such luck and we've not had any joy with it at the high tide roost on the old boating pool wall close to Base Camp this winter either. The only waders we found were small numbers of Sanderlings and even fewer Ringed Plovers.

There's always something to see though and our attention was turned inland when the sky brightened up a bity and the Skylarks on the adjacent golf course started singing from their lofty song flights. Eventually one landed almost within range of our lens. #113

On the way back to Base Camp we had a quick stop at the old boating pool but there was very few waders in the roost. The next day we tried again but again very few waders were on the wall, where are they all going these days? Not to be outdone and ever hopefully we went again the following day. Yet again there were no more than a handful of waders but there was a small bird sat just beyond them...and one we wanted...a Rock Pipit #114.

A couple of Pied Wagtails mooched around the artificial rocks.

The Rock Pipit left just one more species to photograph for our February target of 15 and well over a week left in which to find it. What would it be...we put a plan together for it to be a biggy, but would the plan hold???

Our initial thought was to head back to Leighton Moss and see if there were any showy Water Rails along the causeway. Once again the weather had other ideas, heavy rain for 36 hours before meant that much of the reserve would be flooded so an alternative was quickly arranged. We were to meet IH at Sizergh Castle for a rendezvous with their elusive Hawfinches, where they had been very elsusive for the safai and CR over recent years being either unlucky, thwarted by deep snow and even turning up one year to find the car park closed for re-tarmacing - you couldn't write it! 

Today was different IH was there well before us and as we pulled into the car park he was sat on the cafe verrandah pointing excitedly skywards. From where the car was parked we could only see the low sun burning out our retinas so car doors were thrown open optics gathered and we dashed over to where he was sat to be shown a lone Hawfinch high in a Hornbeam tree in the middle odf the car park. Getting a pic of it was tricky with lots of branches and twigs in the way. CR managed this shot

but we couldn't get a way through to it so moved slowly to the other side of the tree. As we did so another car load of birders was diembarking their vehicle so we pointed it out to them...maybe we shouldn't have as no sooner had we got round to the other side of the tree withe the sun now behind us and far fewer twigs in the way it flew just as we began to lift the camera; those 60 seconds showing the new arrivals the bird cost us dearly...and worse most of them didn't see it when we asked them later. We hung around for a good hour more as IH had seen them coming and going all morning before we arrived, even a flock of five at one point but sadly we only got a couple more fleeting glimpses of fly-over birds and a couple of maybes that disappeared into the foliage never to be seen again. Ah well c'est la vie - no doubt we'll be back for another look before March is out.

Plan A failed but the day was young and we had another site or two to visit. From Sizergh we drove the few miles further to Fowlshaw Moss were the car park feeders were busy with a nice mix of finches, a few Tree Sparrows and a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

And then,while eating a tasty looking pasty, CR said there's a Water Rail under the end feeder. Stretching up on tippy-toes leaning on the car roof we could just about see it in the gloom of the ditch at far side of the car park.

Thoughts of nearly but not quite submitting the Hawfinch to the SD card were (almost) banished as we hit our target for February, and with the very same species we'd hoped but in a different location. 115 reached, now what? Do we stop for a few days or carry on and potentially eat into March's target which is only another six. That Law of Diminishing Returns is really biting hard now! At Fowlshaw there is another species that isn't on the 'list of potentials for March, Lesser Redpoll. So far we hadn't got out of the car park and we'd not seen one come down to the feeders nor heard any in the trees nearby nor flying over. Only one thing for it - go and have a look at their other feeding station a few yards away. That one wasn't so busy and again no sight nor sound of any Redpolls. The sun was out but the wind was cold as we hit the boardwalk trail. Last year we'd found our very first February Common Lizard at this site so it was deffo worth a look today particularly in any sunny sheltered spots. We searched high and low, well exclusively low, in sunny spots under sheltered bracken, along the sunny edge of the boardwalk, which we flet with the back of our hand and it had some warmth to it, and at the base of likely looking trees to no avail...but IH did spot a small group of Lesser Redpolls making their way through a copse of thick Hawthorn and Silver Birch, we struggled to get the bins on them in the deep cover and none of us managed to get a lens on them, another one for next time. We did find some likely looking lizardy/snaky spots that we'd not come across before that are worthy of further investigation in a few weeks time when the weather has warmed up a bit. Back at the not car park feeding station we had a chat with the Rangers while they had their lunch break away from boardwalk repairs. Still no Lesser Redpolls but a couple of Coal Tits and at least one Marsh Tit darted in and out.

Once the possibilities of Fowlshaw had been exhausted there was still plenty of time to do another site. IH really didn't want to do Leighton Moss so suggested we follow him to a nearby riverside walk he knew. Once off the road and over the stile we were in a different world, the river running wide beside us as we walked up the hill past some impressive veteran trees. Eagle eyed IH came up trumps again when he spotted a Dipper close to the river bank. It flew but a  bit of stealthy stalking found it downstream on the other side but now much more distant.

#116, we watched it for a few minutes before it flew further downstream and was lost to view. A top spot by IH again! He was certainly earning his Spotters Badge today. Now Dipper was on our list of March potentials so we've made our meagre target of just six perhaps a wee bit harder. What else could we find on this wander through riversides and woods? We'd not gone far when a herd of Fallow Deer came into view as we came to the crest of a rise along the path. Not unexpected as we were in a deer park and these are captive animals but not really domesticated as cows or sheep. Their dark colour took us aback at first and we thought they may be Sika Deer but no they are in fact a 'black' form of Fallow Deer and have been on the estate for about 300 years.

Many of the trees were planted at that time too and some of them have been damaged by big the storms of recent years. There's certainly some weird and wonderful shapes.

Continuing on along the footpath we came across another group of deer lazily chewing the cud taking it all very easy. You can tell they're used to people as they hardly bothered to look up as we stopped to get some snaps.

A few yards further on we got a better angle on him

Another one looked bizarrely Kangaroo like.

After leaving the estae and crossing a rather wet and fruitily scented field - looking at the tractor tyre marks we surmise it had recently been slurried, we ended up on a track leading back down to the river where the patch would take us under the main road on a ledge buit into the bridge stanchions. Above the track before we reached the bridge a pair of Buzzards circled over our heads.

Passing under the bridge we came out on a lane looking down into a bit of a gorge in the river which looked vaguelly familar. IH consulted his map telling us we were about to cross a bridge in a 100 yards or so and whe nit came into view we recognised it as the place we really ought to spend some time looking for leaping Salmon, Sedgewick Force. Now that is east of Sizergh Castle, it didn't feel like we'd walked that far but now we were at the furthest point all of a sudden the way back on the other side of the river felt like a bit of a hike.

Our route back was fairly uneventful other than for passing some very impressive Oak, Beech, Lime and Sweet Chestnut trees until we neared the road where our cars were parked. There we found another group of the balck Fallow Deer.

Again they went about their business oblivious to our presence and we were able to get some really close full frame shots. 

In the distance from the trees close to where the cars were parrked we could hear a Jay calling repeatedly, a species that's eluded our lens so far this year, in fact we've only had one fleeting glimpse of one. It is on the Potentials for March list but it was slightly annoying that it kept itself hidden all the while we walked back to the cars. Wonder if we'll get it in March??? And so ended a fabulous and diverse day out in south Cumbria.

Back at Base Camp the following morning we caught sight of the Snow Bunting on the dunes while out with t'mutt again. As per usual we didn't have the camera with us and it was way to far away for even contemplating as phone pic especially after our previous 'Weasel' attempt. There ws no sign of it on our late afternoon dog walk, however the next morning there it was again. This time we cut the dog walk short and went back for the camera only to walk up and down the prom for an hour or more without so much as a glimpse of the darned thing...where does it go??? Lunchtime saw us do another hour or so, again without any joy. The sun was more or less still out for our late afternoon dog walk so again we took the camera and this time after only half an hour we struck gold after seeing it being fluched by another dog walker. Unusually this time it didn't disappear to who knows where but stayed low down on the dune edge and began feeding. It was still very flighty having a little feed here before either flying or running mouse-like through the vegetation to start feeding in a new spot. Keeping up with it while dragging a reluctant 30+kg dog was easy but we did at long last manage to get some shots off. #117

With two species now crossed off our 'Wanted for March' list we've reduced our target to 6 out of the 10 remaining potential 'victims'.

Where to next? Another further flung safari is coming up but one that is still within our 75 mile Challenge radius - just.

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