Not quite dipping out

The Safari has been out most days this week. Most mornings we've been round Patch 1 at the crack of dawn mostly counting the Blackbirds, Robins and Wrens we come across. The other day we had a 'good' count of three Moorhens although with two juveniles around there should really be at least four present, and a singing Chiffchaff was a nice bonus to the usual 'extras' of Goldcrest(s) and/or Coal Tit(s). 

Visible migration has been slow to get going, Patch 1 has only given us a single Chaffinch and a couple of Greenfinches which could have been local birds although we rarely see them in or over the park and these were quite high 'overs'. The same morning as the singing Chiffchaff we had one grounded at Base Camp too.

'Vis mig' over Base Camp has been limited to a solitary Meadow Pipit - where are they all??? - and a few skeins, up to a maximum of about 55 birds, of Pink Footed Geese. A Golden Plover flying over during an annoying Monty wake-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-take-me-out-for-a-pee-NOW was a bonus! We've probably had more Red Admirals migrating through the Patch than birds this week, there certainly seems to be a good number of them about.

After breakfast a morning saunter round Marton Mere reserve started at the lively Feeding Station. Good numbers of Chaffinches, Blue and Great Tits and an acrobatic Grey Squirrel doing its best to squeeze at least a nose between the anti-squirrel wires around the feeder.

Along the path a Rabbit crouched motionless on the recently cut meadow area hoping Monty didn't spot it - we were hoping that too and holding on tight just in case he did! Fortunately for the Rabbit and our arm he didn't we were able to walk right past it within only a few feet without it being noticed by the Monster. 

All pretty quiet around the reserve with only a lone Meadow Pipit and a couple of Skylarks heard passing overhead.  Down at the Viewing Platform we heard a Water Rail squeal and a the first of half a dozen Cetti's Warblers sing a quick blast.

A sneaky peek under the refugium gave us our third mammal species of the morning in the shape of our first Short Tailed Field Vole of the year not counting the one being carried aloft by a Buzzard at Leighton Moss earlier in the summer. Also under there were a couple of Great Crested Newts, always good to see and especially good to see a juvenile even if it was trying to do a runner.

We gently picked it up and positioned it on a leaf for a better pic. The adult is a male, told by the white stripe down the centre of the tail which they wave amorously in front of the females during courtship. Seeing the juvenile was good news as it means we've had some local breeding success especially as the surveys undertaken earlier in the year came back negative and with worrying news that most of the ponds looked at had been stirred up so badly by dogs that they were now unsuitable for the newts to breed in - if the water's too turbid the females can't see those frantically waving tails! 

A Sparrowhawk and a brief glimpse of a Reed Warbler at the Heron Hide broke the monotony but then as we were leaving we heard a rustle in the long grass to the side of the hide. We could see the grass being disturbed by something fairly large at times too. Crikey! A family of Stoats exploded in to full view for a few milliseconds before vanishing back in to the undergrowth - excellent views if so fleetingly brief. We've not seen a Stoat for soooooo long so to see at least three was great - and our fourth mammal of the morning. A Goldcrest called from a nearby Willow too.

At the Fylde Bird Club Hide the view is still a bit hindered by the summer's Reed growth, need a strimmer, a large flock of roosting Starlings and/or another good gale to knock them down a bit.

Not a lot about, the usual suspects of Mallard, Coot and a couple of Gadwall with a fly-over Snipe. But then what's that big duck asleep over the far side - blimey a Pintail, (MMLNR #80). It's been a while since we caught up with one of those here too it was turning in to a decentish sort of a day! Shame it slept motionless all the time we were there, probably only dropped in from Iceland or the far north of Europe, perhaps even further afield, earlier that morning.

Moving on it was good to see the Snake's Head Fritillary meadow had been mown, lots of Meadow Cranesbill and Agrimony are present too but the number of Cowslips seems to be declining a bit. Perhaps due to the meadow become inundated with Common Reed for much of the summer.

Nothing else of note - where is that Bittern when you want it?
The following morning dawned rather chilly, the coldest morning since the end of last winter.

The cold hadn't brought anything new to Patch 1 though. After breakfast we set off east down the country roads to a little river we know. Looking downstream from the bridge it looks like this and moments later a Kingfisher sped through and straight under the bridge and out of sight. 

Our gaze followed the Kingfisher and fell upon our hoped for quarry for the day. A Dipper was feeding a few yards beyond the far side of the bridge - a little distant but hey ho at least Dipper (YBC #151) makes it on to our Year Bird Challenge tally doing what they do best - dipping!

Perhaps we might get a closer shot downstream so off we went passing a few Robins and a small flock of Long Tailed Tits as we walked along the river bank.

We got all the way to the end and only managed to flush another distant Dipper. On the way back we spotted another, quite likely the same one, that hadn't spotted us so we secreted ourself behind a tree and waited for it to walk/swim up the stream a bit and in to view. Thankfully it obliged.

Back at the bridge our first Dipper was nowhere to be seen but a Grey Wagtail flew down and had a bob around on a rock mid-stream.

A short but productive morning out.

This morning we went back to the nature reserve but it was desperately quiet. Looking under the refugium again had us disturbing the Short Tailed Field Vole again but now there were three juvenile Great Crested Newts - nice. As we hadn't made a note or taken a pic of the underside of the one the other day it was impossible to tell if one of these was that one or if none of these three were that one.

The best of the rest was a passing Mistle Thrush and we didn't even see a Blackbird all morning - told you it was quiet!

So quiet the next best thing we found was a fresh Shaggy Ink Cap fungus.

It didn't help when later we discovered we didn't quite stay long enough to see the Otter and a couple of Ravens, a species which has become much more numerous in the local area but which we've still not seen there.  Dohhhhh!!! can't win em all!

Where to next? We'll be out somewhere tomorrow but we're not sure where yet -0 could well be weather dependent.

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

The Mars Bar is still up for grabs

The Safari has had two hats on today, this morning we teamed up with another Fylde Amphibian and Reptile Group member and got an hour or so's clearing work done at a local pond. we think, and could be totally wrong, that the lack of Frogs and spawn there could have been due to the weather warming up a bit and then going quiet cold overnight, some chilly frosts in the small hours here on recent nights.

Anyway despite there only being two of us we got the necessary work done and had a look round so with time on our hands we took the tools back to nature reserve and set off on a wander round.

With our FARG hat still on we had a look under the refugium here too but again it was devoid of life below. 

In the distance we could hear a motorbike being razzed loudly and had a bit of a shock when this pillock came round the bend at breakneck speed - really glad we weren't closer to the corner.

An intimidating little scrote, did he stop?...Only just!

Think the bike decal ends in 'ermann'  - any mini-moto afficionados out there?

He came back a few minutes later with his friend also on the bike, again they came straight along the path at at speed straight towards us this time whizzing past so close they knocked the camera from our hand, not sure if he was trying to grab it. After a mouthful of abuse for standing in his way - on a Public Footpath! - we started to phone the Police and that was their cue to leave and thankfully not come back. We later heard that two motorbikes were on the reserve yesterday evening.

With the noise machine gone peace reigned again and we continued our walk, noting the many Cetti's Warblers strident bursts of song.

As usual there was no sign of any Bullfinches, they're probably long gone by now, nor was there any sound from the possibly still around Dusky Warbler, although that too may have moved on to pastures new a good while ago.

Rather than go down the embankment we thought we'd try our luck on the path that runs outside the reserve for a change and head back towards the feeding station. Was it a wise move, perhaps not as it was horrifically quiet, hardly a bird sound was heard and other than overhead gulls none were seen until we reached the horse stile. There we watched a Goldcrest at very close range and then it was joined by another - great to watch these tiny birds working there way through the scrubby trees. A Bumble Bee of unidentified species buzzed past them, a huge queen almost as big as the Goldcrests it seemed. We hoped she'd land on some of the open Willow flowers for a photo opportunity but alas she kept on going.

There's a pond adjacent to the golf course fairway here, just through the trees from the Goldcrests, one we only very rarely visit or even take much notice of, but today our interest was peeked when we heard a Cetti's Warbler fire up form there. Maybe we'll have to take more notice of it in future and it's good for amphibians so is worth a nocturnal survey over the coming weeks.

From there we headed back round to the reserve gate and spied PL coming from the viewing platform so instead of going straight to the feeding station we decided to catch him up for a chat. We got slightly side tracked near the gate to the viewing platform when we're pretty sure we heard the Firecrest call a couple of times but couldn't see anything moving in the scrub at all.

eventually we did meet up and stopped for a chinwag, whereupon he saw that the local 'friendly' Buzzard was sat at the top of the Hawthorn bush across the 'paddock'. With the motorbike, a multitude of unleashed dogs and a Buzzard in the tree there was no wonder there weren't any Wheatears in the paddock so the Mars Bar remains unclaimed.

We've seen this youngster many times before but never had the camera with us when (s)he's been this close.

The Buzzard flew of away from us so that was our cue to follow slowly in its wing-beats. We looked for the Bullfinches and listened for the Dusky Warbler again without any joy but did hear more Cetti's Warblers and a Water Rail. A look across thee scrape and the parked diggers gave us a pair of Oystercatchers probing the silty mud although there's probably not much for them to find it yet. In the distance we could hear the Little Grebe trilling away for fun.

In the thickest Willow two more Goldcrests searched for their miniscule prey, again giving superb views but no photo opportunities.

This time we did do the embankment and had a few unsuccessful stops to see if the Stonechats were about. A Kestrel teased the camera lens before getting bored of the game and flying too far away before we could get a shot off. More Cetti's Warblers were heard - just how many are there here and roundabouts??? Might be worth doing a coordinated count soon.

At the end of the embankment we had planned to sneak across the bridge but no can do the works have left it in a rather precarious position. You can sneak over but then there's a sheer drop on the other side. We opted for sensible and just had a look from our side below the embankment.

The works are coming along nicely and you can now see the shape of the new 'river'.

The right hand (northern) bank will eventually meet up with the vegetation on the bottom right of the pic probably just ti the left of where we were stood. The original watercourse will be blocked off and the concrete structure collapsed and perhaps removed off site. Going to be interesting to see the finished product.

Behind us we saw the Buzzard again on the top of one of the pylons that rum across the field, wonder if it had its eye on the dead sheep in the corner of the field on the other side of the dyke.

From the Buzzard we retraced our steps to the spillway and noticed there was a lump of something below the bridge in the old concrete channel. Time for an investigation...

A tidy lump of prehistoric Bog Oak, might well be worth saving for the new visitor centre - OK just outside it, it's a bit too big for inside.

By now we were out of time for Mother's Day stuff and had to scurry as fast as our little legs would take us back to the Land Rover and thence to Base Camp.

Where to next? The shop to but that blessed Mars Bar before someone claims it! And then Patch 2 for a look at what should be a fairly calm sea after the recent days of  light offshore winds.

In the meantime let us know who's finally deigned to pose for the camera in your outback.

River crossing as promised

Pics from our outback adventure last week.

We are stopped on Kingfisher Island...not that there is any where for Kingfishers to perch - apart from the wing mirrors! But they are seen quite regularly on this stretch of river.

The red tie isn't recovery equipment it's holding the waterproof camera to the bullbar for the next bit of the crossing...the deep bit. This is a bona-fide road...wouldn't like to try it in the safari's other car -a Toyota Corolla good as they are.

About to go in!

It really is an island.

The safari took delivery of the new vehicle yesterday...more news later.

Heres a pic of the new leaf we found last week on a small Hawthorn...only 4 months too early, but possibly a response to a Roe Deer nibbling the end of the twig off.

Where to next? The new vehicle has to be kitted out and 'prep'ed for the outback, so we won't be adventuring til later in the week.

In the meantime let us know where you have been on your outback adventures.

The wild Wyre outback

Before we start the main news I have managed to identify the small fish mentioned in the blog of 10th August as a Sand Smelt....on with the show....


The safari ventured up in to the wild headwaters of the river Wyre this weekend. There were some specific target species in mind. The path winds its way along the river bank through an interesting damp woodland, although there is a massive invasion of the pernicious Japanese Knotweed which shades out the native wild flowers. Keeping our eyes glued to the floor due to the rough nature of the path we saw a good number of deer slots (footprints) probably from Roe Deer, but although it was early evening and very quiet unfortunately we didn't see any of them.

Some of the trees are real old beauts. Many are multi-stemmed from being coppiced in the past. Coppicing means trees are cut down and allowed to grow again. The timber being used for all sorts of things such as fencing, tool handles, furniture making, building. Allowing the trees to regrow meant that in a few years time another crop was available. The length of time between cuts depending on the species of tree and the size of wood required. The word coppice comes from the French 'couper' - to cut.

The tree below is a Beech, a good wood for burning and chopping boards and wooden spoons.

This next tree is a Small Leaved Lime and the single straight trunk shows that it has not been coppiced.

The following picture shows a Hazel coppice. Hazel was very important. The thin branches grow quickly and are very springy. It was used for hedging stakes when hedges were laid to keep animals in the fields, it was woven in to hurdles, ie fencing panels, pegs for the washing line, tool handles, and fighting sticks such as those used by Little John, Robin Hood's right hand man.

Below is a Rowan, or somewhat incorrectly Mountain Ash. It has Ash like leaves but is not related, so Rowan is the better name for this tree. Amongst its most important properties is its ability to keep witches, ghosts and ghouls at bay. If you are troubled by any of those be sure to plant one in your garden. Not being a very large tree they are suited to urban situations. This one is a particularly large and venerable specimen as can be seen from the size of the two rotten stumps on either side. I would not like to guess how old this tree might be.

Finally we have an Alder, not to be confused with Elder from which Elderberry wine is made. Alder is the typical tree of Lancashire river valleys and wet areas, and supplied the clog soles for the millions of mill workers in the Victorian factories of industrial Lancashire. When freshly cut the wood turns a beautiful orange colour. Alder is one of the few deciduous trees which has cones but these aren't quite the same as the cones from a conifer tree.

The last tree picture is of a small species of fungus growing out of the moss which is gowing on a Sycamore. I am no expert on fungi nor mosses so can't tell you what they are. Over to you readers, can anyone out there help?

Sycamore has been maligned over the years by conservationists as not being a native species and having the tendancy to overrun native woodland. Its 'helicopter' seeds spread easily and germinate and grow quickly when light is available on the woodland floor, for example when large trees are cut or blown down. It also supports far fewer insect species than native trees such as Oak, Hawthorn, or Willow. However, a single tree can have a population of Greenfly numbering tens of thousands, an important food item for a large variety of predatory insects including Ladybirds. It does have one very impressive saving grace though, because it does not splinter it was traditionally used for loo seats!

At the end of our safari is this spectacular weir. Here we had brief views of two of Britain's most colourful birds, Kingfisher and Green Woodpecker. To the side of the dam is a Salmon ladder to allow the king of fish to pass upstream to the spawning 'redds', shallow gravel patches in the small mountainside tributaries. We watched from the bridge but did not see any Salmon jumping up the rapids or starting the long exhausting climb up the ladder.

The recent heavy rain and high water levels shouldn't have posed any problems for the Salmon but the water is very peat stained as you can see. If the upland drains were stopped up the peat bogs would absorb more water and there would be less erosion preventing this heavy colouration from happening. It also makes the water acidic which can have an adverse effect on the invetebrate life downstream which obviously has consequences for fish and the rest of the food chain.

Enough of the ecology lesson, what were the target species mentioned at the start, and did we see them? Well one was the Salmon, which we didn't see. neither did we see any of the very elusive Otters known to be present in the area. despite not getting the target species we saw huge selection of interesting wildlife culminating in the Kingfisher and had a trip to one of Lancashire's (almost) hidden gems.

Where to next? I can feel a beach safari coming on.

In the meantime please let us know what you have found in your 'outback'.