'Dips'appointed - but not in the end

The safari had a change of plan and decided to have a bash at the local Smew which has been hanging around for a few weeks now. So northwards we went into unfamiliar territory, passing and briefly stopping at Birds2blog-land. On the way up we saw the flock of Pink Footed Geese that holds the two 'tundra' Bean Geese. But before we could even think about finding somewhere to stop and scan they went up on masse - a skydiver appeared in the field next to them! IDIOTS!!! At the estuary Frank was in super-sniffing mode and the tide was full so we didn't see too much. A lot of Curlews, Shelducks and a nice sized flock Black Tailed Godwits. Far more unusual was a Kittiwake coming from inland and then flying sort of back inland up river...lost???.

So with not much ado we set off for our target area, and got promptly lost. We took a wrong turning and ended up back where we started but a useful find for later to save going round the demonic one-way system of Lancaster on a Sunday afternoon.

Anyway eventually we found Freeman Pool, where we chatted to some very friendly locals. Birdingwise we had a few hundred Pink Footed Geese on the side of a hill by the path, a smattering of Shovelers on the pool with a couple of Little Grebes and seven Tufted Ducks. A female Goldeneye spent much time underwater, a male Wigeon gave us hope as it seemed to appear from nowhere, but we couldn't find the Smew - it had gone after all those weeks!

We tried moving round to the other vantage point and bumped in to a pair of Long Tailed Tits which refused to stay still enough to be photographed. A little easier to get a pic of was this pellet on the gate post. From which species?

A Little Egret in a small pool behind the hedge successfully avoided the lens.

Back at the estuary via our new found short cut the tide had dropped and birding a bit easier. Greenshank (116) was soon in the bag along with good numbers of Wigeon, Redshanks and a few nice Grey Plovers. No sign of the Spotted Redshanks or the Common Sandpiper unfortunately. Not a great day so far but far from a poor day's birding.

A quick look at the pool revealed two pairs of Mute Swans, a Little Grebe and a few Wigeon.

Off back home now along the lovely named Jeremy Lane. No geese here but at its junction with the more aptly named Moss lane there were about two dozen Whooper Swans. We then called at a farmland feeding station, where the birders were queueing for the top spot like the birds themselves! What a cracking little roadside stop. The hedge was crawling with birds like these Stock Doves and Chaffinch.

"Hello Stockies how are you today?" "Oh hi Mr Chaffinch, fancy seeing you here"
The Woodpigeons appeared by the hundred as if by magic.

Did you spot the Yellowhammer (117) and the Tree Sparrows?

Easier in this pic below - little stunners!!! But what a shame the hedge has been flailed so brutally - alright, tractors and stuff have to get down the narrow track and there is a deep ditch on the otherside but the top of the hedge could have been left a bit rough.

My uncles farm didn't have Yellowhammers but it did have Corn Buntings (118) of which there were three on the hedge. We also had Grey Partridges (119) which in my opinion are one of the most delicately marked birds in the book.

In those 'olden' days there was no such thing as Red Legged Partridge (120) but this one appeared out of the bottom of the hedge walked up the track and promptly disappeared again.Back home the note book showed a farirly successful safari...dips four ticks five...and interweb news confirmed that the Smew had in deed done a bunk...missed it - shoulda gone last week! News today (Monday)...the damn things back...aaaaaaarrrrgggghhhhhh...nightmare.

At home on Patch 1 there was a pair of Sparrowhawks lurking in Magpie Wood, the female was huge. this morning the wood was full of woodpigeons so I'd hazard a guess the Sparrowhawks hadn't put in an appearance today.

Patch 2 was pretty hopeless. more white horses than for a long time and only about 150 Common Scoters to show for a ten minute scan.

Where to next? more Patch work for the rest of the week.

In the meantime let us know what you've dipped in your outback this week.

Songstess

The safari's brother-in-law has made a bit of YouTube of wifey warbling.

He's called it Trained for the Street and the vid features the crocuses of the lovely St Chad's churchyard in Poulton-le-Fylde and a Bee-eater - if that was in his garden he kept it very quiet! We can't hear it on this puter cos it hasn't got any speakers so we don't know which song it is - enjoy anyway.

TTFN

Left overs and breakfast

The safari was having trouble with Blogger last night but has now discovered that it was some of our pics that hadn't saved properly and wouldn't upload so you only got half the tale.

So below are the missing elements...Coltsfoot first up, so called because the leaves look (allegedly) like a horses hoof, also called son before fathers as the flowers appear before the leaves.

Down on the beach following the receeding tide we noted shed loads of Redshanks...the only decent pic of the dozens taken...really glad we not using slide film anymore...long live digital!
If we thought the Redshanks were hard to photograph because they wouldn't keep still then the Sanderlings were an absolute 200mph mightmare. Fortunately this one stopped for a micro-second to have a little shimmy.
It doesn't help that on the cheapo camera there is a delay between the action and when yuo see it on the screen and the camera doesn't come with a multipicture facility, just gotta point, press and hope...then delete a lot.
Here's a lovely portrait of a Black Headed Gull - note it is unringed.
Here's a lovevly portrait of the correct gull but no chance of reading the ring without an X-ray machine and a mirror!
Shoveler numbers build up on the park lake at this time of year and in the past have reached Nationally Important numbers. Recent milder (hahaha) winters have meant that fewer have been seen here so it will eb interesting to note their numbers this spring. Another species that won't keep still - that gyrating feeding frenzy is soooo annoying!

That's the lot from yesterday.

This morning on patch 1 we didn't see the Peregrine on the way out but he had appeared on our return. Straight upstairs and opened the bathroom window. The scope was balanced precariously between the sink and the bath. I was like a contortionist leaning over the bath with camera in one hand trying desparetely not to nudge the scope out of position and trying not to drag the net curtasins off their rail to keep them out of the way of the lens with the other. Results aren't brilliant but at 225 yards with a 200 quid Chinese wonder-scope and a 40 quid happy snappy camera they'll do for blog purposes.

Woulda been a lot easier if the window's hinge was on the opposite side.

Despite the best efforts of the Peregrine, there were about 16 Woodpigeons in the park hard to count as they scattered off the ground in to the trees and away when we arrived. Not much else in there this morning. The usual Song Thrush blasting away and a few Dunnocks. a pair of Long Tailed Tits was notable for being a pair and not a flock. No sign of the Great Spotted Woodpeckers which bred here last year - still need them for my 'Walking Tick' list.
Where to next? Still undecided about the weekend's safari - Leighton Moss for the chance (slim to remote) of Otter, Great White Egret (still there?) and Snow Goose (feral? tickable? banker?) or Bolton for the Waxwings (lovely little chaps with a tuft). Now if I was Simon Cowell I'd lead you all in to a very expensive and lucrative telephone vote.

In the meantime let us know what raptors are perched up in the bathroom in your outback.

Too early, too late, too much north

The safari nearly succumbed to manflu yesterday! Wasn't quite sure we were gonna make it through the night to this morning - really felt like we were a gonner! Much better today - thanks. A longer Patch 1 early walk provided much needed fresh air and gave us a Kestrel, not common here anymore, a huge female Sparrowhawk, breeding nearby? - but no sign of the Peregrine. Our usual Song Thrush was going hell for leather and a Mistle Thrush seemed to be overwhelmed by it. just before we got back to Base Camp about 65 Pink Footed Geese went over along with wave after wave of Starlings but only in smallish flocks today, no mass aggregation.
Hossy appointment first thing to diccover that the surgeon will be wielding his weaponry just after Easter - could really interfere with migration time. But it's gotta be done - worst and most aggressive case of the condition he's seen in his worldwide travels - just knew we were good for something!

After the hossy the Land Rover had to go in to its hossy to get the split and leaky fuel lift pump fixed so we had an hour to kill without Frank. As the mechanic's place is just off the cliffs a walk northwards along the coast seemed the sensible thing to do on a nice sunny mid March morning. secretely we were hoping for something 'chatty'.

But by the time we got out it was probably too late in the day and although the wind was light it still had a lot of north in it. Probably too early by a week or ten days, but Wheatears have been seen along the North Wales coast this week.

So off we set cool but gentle breeze in our face and our first Coltsfoot flowers of the season were enjoying the sunshine. Once collected a gallon of these from an old railway siding and made a bucket of rather potent wine!

Big Bertha was over the shoulder and the little cheapo camera fits it just right - nice one ang good sunshine too. The tide was just past full and there was a good count of Redshanks roosting in the old boating pool, 195 of them but only 19 Turnstones. The only passerine seen on the whole walk was a Rock Pipit. By the top end of the walk we hadn't seen anything out at sea until we found a nice summer plumaged Great Crested Grebe, they'll soon be back on fresh water. A flock of around 500 Knot steamed southwards - yer going the wrong way Canada's over there...we pointed to the northwest. Two male Eiders did a brief fly past.

Time to turn back and inspect the fallen tide. Lots of gulls, almost all Herrings, only three Great Black Backs and hardly a Black Headed. Redshank numbers seemed to be greater than the roost count, maybe as many as double that but we didn't count them on the way back so hard to tell with any accuracy but 50+ were seen in the final pool. Similarly there were definitely more Turnstones, 28 in that last pool before headed off to get the Land Rover.

With time still to play with we went to the big park for a target species we haven't bumped in to yet.

Scanning through the gulls we found a Black Headed with a ring, but when we downloaded the photos we'd taken the wrong one! What a plonker. We did get the right bird in the end but couldn't read the damn thing the numbers were round the back. Awkward flippin' thing.

Other stuff on the lake included some gyrating Shovelers - doh they wouln't keep still...and a cracking Great Crested Grebe.

Still couldn't find our target and we started losing the light. We nearly tripped over this little chap - well not so little about the size of a duinner plate and by the looks of the mud on his eyes he's only just dug his way out of his hibernation burrow. Don't know what you think about Red Eared Terrapins being on the British list but York Groundsel certainly isn't after the only colony in the world was sprayed with council weedkiller a few short years after it was discovered - nice one - gone forever!

Sorry went a bit overboard on the grebe...

A last look at the gulls in the fading light gave us nothing out of the odinary - no way we could turn this in to a Ring Billed Gull.

Where to next? Could be a safari for some Waxwings at the weekend if they're still doing their shopping in Asda.

In the meantime let us know if spring has sprung in your outback yet.

Here kitti. kiiti...

The safari has just been watching the Peregrine on the tower demolish a pigeon.

Earlier thhis morning on Patch 2 a minimum of 62 Kittiwakes (115, 60) were finally within ID range and confirmed our suspicions of the last couple of days. Apart from an incredibly brave Pied Wagtail skipping over the waves about a mile out there was nothing of note in the cold, cold northerly wind.

Sorry folks that's it - short and sweet today.

Where to next? Another layer of thermals and back to Patch 2 for Sandwich Tern...hahahah

In the meantime let us know what's bouncing around in your outback.

Spring has sprung – has it?

The safari is now out too late – it’s well light! The Peregrine(s?) on the tower has(ve) woken up and is/are long gone before we get out on Patch 1, still only partial Patch 1 walks. Frank gets the last of his stitches out tonight so normal service may be resumed later this week, but he's got an infected poorly foot from somewhere now too.
Wrens were notably vocal this morning; more than we have heard singing for a long time – glad the little fellas haven’t perished in the freezing conditions, plenty of Dunnocks singing too – its like Dunnock city, they seem to have taken over from where House Sparrows left off. The Spadgers might not have disappeared if the local school’s gardeners hadn’t pruned their shrubbery to within an inch of it’s life. Pruned – looks more like Indonesian rain-forest the day before palm oil plantation planting season begins – leave the bushes alone, just snip off the ends of the branches when they overhang the footpath – no need to do any more than that!!! Oh, and any gardener worth their salt ought to know that you don’t prune Forsythia the week before it flowers – do gardeners not learn basic plant ID anymore just how to floor the wrong thing with a big petrol-powered flooring thingy - I despair sometimes!!!!!!
On a lighter note a Pied Wagtail drew attention to itself by calling as it headed north at height over Base Camp, the only evidence of ‘vis’ this morning. We actually managed a picture of the back end of a giant 5,000+ flock of Starlings – very low over the rooftops today and from a slightly different and more obscured angle so they didn’t actually come overhead.

Marks out of 10 please…if you give anything over a ‘2’ you’re being toooo generous.
Patch 2 was much better than of late! First up were two Gannets (114,59) drifting south; summer visitors - things are looking up at long last! Later three more passed southwards too. Eleven Eiders were sat on the sea doing their cooing display thing as four Shelducks winged past. Well out at sea a string of white dots moving north glinting brightly in the morning sunshine; many, if not all, were probably Kittiwakes, but they were just too far away to clinch. Three Red Throated Divers passed northwards much closer in and we picked up another three at various points of the compass sitting on the water.
The weather has gotta change away from the freezing conditions we’ve been having but there is still no sign of any warm southerly winds. But things are now deffo on the move, the Cetti’s Warblers on our local reserve are singing – oh please, please stick – the resident Buzzards are doing their sky-dancing display and a Blackcap has been seen in a nearby garden. It’s on its way…
Or is it?...By lunchtime a gentle but horribly cold northerly breeze had picked up…and it was back to bitter cold. After a few minutes peering down the scope it felt like my eye had frozen solid, AND there were no birds to be seen on the beach at all. Nothing on the beach but a plague of humans with their dogs, rendering hundreds of acres of lovely gull habitat totally useless – flamin’ numbnuts. People are like a virus, make you sick and hard to get rid of...oh, for 40 million less people (why not 50 million) on these tiny islands. The USA is over forty times larger yet has only 5x our population, Australia is 32x our area but only has a mere 1/3 the number of people – lucky blighters - - - rant over…sorry I digressed.
Out at sea a string of 17 Cormorants flew north, one of their mates was lost, hadn’t been told about the party or had been sent to Coventry as it was going in the opposite direction. Other than those the only thing we found were four Common Scoters which circled around and landed in the distance – quickly running out of time now for that bogey white winger…
Where to next? Suitably enthused we are looking forward to Patch 2 tomorrow morning.
In the meantime let us know what’s on the move in your outback.

Low tide blues

The safari has nothing to write home about from Patch 1 apart from the glorious sunrise, still flippin cold though, then we missed a photo oppotunity with a huge flock of Starlings – AGAIN - you've gotta be alert and quick and it doesn't help having a mugful of tea in yer hand at the time they go over.
Patch 2 wasn't much better. 2 drake Eiders, 2 Turnstones, 2 Oystercatchers, Noah? A Grey Wagtail going north was Walking Tick number 58. 7 Cormorants on beach was unusual and probably meant no one had been down there up to that time.
Low tide at lunchtime was disappointing. There was nowt about except for the cold, cold breeze. The bright blue sky was definitely a red herring; it was freezing and with the wind in the south west we were looking up the gull’s backsides against the light – not an easy thing to do, almost fortuitously there weren’t many to work through – certainly no Meds :(
Out on the sea the sunlight produced a billion twinkling, dancing specks of light – again not easy to look in to. A hundred or so Common Scoters and the obligatory Cormorant were all that troubled the note book. Five minutes later we were back inside chilled to the bone.

Where to next? It will be better tomorrow...won't it?

In the meantime let us know what didn't appear in your outback today.

Sorry no pics...damn Starlings.