Do you remember where you where when...

The safari has no wildlife news for today other than the Peregrine was once again on its roost ledge early morniiong and this evening. We've been too busy attempting to teach our youngsters about sustainable agriculture, food miles, healthy eating, teeth and dentition - that took almost as long to explain as the lesson. I nicked one of Monika 's pics but she did get a mention in class. Hope you don't mind M!

I've been visiting this school doing talks and walks on a variety of subjects for nearly 20 years!!! Some of the children in those first classes will have children of their own by now...a scary thought; anyone know how to stop time?

Today is the 19th anniversary of this...

I posted it a couple of weeks ago when one was suspected at the same site. No further sightings but since the ice melted there have been very few sightings of any Bitterns, American or otherwise.
The day it was found (= properly identified, as it had been suspected for a couple of weeks or so by a few birders) it flew over my head whilst I was on the embankment and into the path of the vastly experienced PJM and others from Lancaster. It promptly landed in a side ditch and was identified as an American Bittern. A select few managed to see it that evening. Remember this is well before the days of mobile phones and pagers. The following morning I went to work early. I had a red Lada estate and zoomed along the motorway, if that is the right word for a Lada, I was the slowest car on the road and all those that overtook me had some sort of birding sticker in the rear window. I got to the work car park and found it more full than a sunny August Bank Holiday. Today was going to be a busy day! It was cold at first light, snow lay on the ground, but already the embankment looked like the East Bank at Cley on a mega twitch, felt like it too in the cold. It was freezing and with hindsight we should have been selling hot pies and drinks - we'd have made a fortune!

After an interminable age, or so it seemed, the bird appeared - at 11.30 and performed quite well. At the time I estmated that almost a million pounds worth of kit was pointed at it when it emerged from its reedy hiding place.

The rush turned out to be unnecessary as the bird stayed until to mid May in the end, regularly appearing to fly to a favoured willow tree at 11.30; you could almost set your watch by it!

The supporting cast included a Cetti's Warbler, Lancashire's first, Long Eared Owls, Short Eared Owls, and 'ordinary' Bitterns. Indeed I know of several birders who went home happy having seen American Bittern when in actual fact they had seen a Eurasian Bittern, they just assumed that only one of the species was present...ohh errr.
One group of travelling birders claimed a Buzzard. It was not accepted by the locals, it would have been only the fifth since 1945! They breed 500 yards from the site now...a couple of pairs even! A Glaucous Gull put in a brief appearance, the first since the rubbish dump the reserve is 'built' on was closed. The first of the 'modern' surge of Mediterranean Gull records were made at this time too. Lots of eyes = lots of good birds. I've had a trawl through Pauline McGough's excellent Birds of Marton Mere LNR which documents all the birds on the Systematic List seen at the site from 1859 to 2001.

Is Marton Mere the only site in the UK to play host to all three Bittern species on the British list? The Fylde has had two American Bitterns, the first in December 1845...shot as was the norm in those days...what's hit is history what's missed is mystery!

So happy memories - did you see it, do you remember where you where when you first heard the news.

Where to next? Still that lifer to knock off and still a big tide on the marsh tomorrow...wonder if we'll be able to dash out.

In the meantime let us know what you were doing when the biggy landed in your outback.

Bryter layter

Perhaps that should really be Bryter earlyer but either way you can’t beat a bit of Nick Drake.
The safari was a few minutes later than usual on Patch 1 this morning and had the Peregrine again on the water tower in the brightening light of early dawn. A Dunnock was singing its flat little ditty on the way back to breakfast…the first of the year at Base Camp…another one that successfully managed to avoid being spotted during the Big Garden Bird Watch.
On a cold Patch 2 there were exactly 330 Oystercatchers, all stood still; nice and easy to count for a change. A Redshank called from below our feet on the other side of the sea wall but none were seen. No Turnstones either but the Mussel-laden outfall pipe was almost fully covered by the tide so they were probably lurking on the wall with the Redshanks.
Plenty of gulls were scattered about the beach. Lots of uncounted Black Heads, a good many Herrings, maybe a couple over two dozen Commons, which is not a bad number for here, and single Great and Lesser Black Backs (1st winter and adult respectively).
Out on the sea three Common Scoters were close enough to be able to easily pick out the yellow patch on their bills, but nothing else out there at all…all quiet on the rising tide!
No lunchtime safari to the sea wall today, instead it was off to the warehouse to get a new scope – duly purchased. Not a branded monster at two grand or more, but a cheap and cheerful good as you’ll get for the money. So now we have one for the sea wall at work and one to take out on safari in to the wilds. Will it help us spot the good stuff, probably not but it will make whatever we find appear nearer. Next up is finding out which camera fits it best for digiscoping.
Where to next? Patch, patch, patch and patch again.
In the meantime let us know what you would like to get nearer to in your outback.
Sorry - no pics today

A light in the black

The safari says you can't beat a bit of Rainbow. On Frank's pre-dawn walk there was the first hint of light in the early morning sky. The days are drawing out and spriing is getting a little bit nearer.

This fat fella was nowhere to be seen yesterday when the Big Garden Bird Watch was in full swing. But can you see a line of white on the top of the fence? Yes we had another smattering of snow overnight.

Pic is a bit hazy due to dirt and reflection through the kitchen window. Well it is winter and our window cleaner is probably living it up on the Costas!

A posh pub lunch in the countryside with some good mates was followed by a gentle stroll up the valley. We were hoping to get a few new ones for the year and had a comprehensive target list to take us well over 100. But we ended up clinging to Frank as there were sheep everywhere - he'll get himself shot one day if we're not careful! So we didn't see a single bird all the way up the hill apart from a Kestrel and the Pheasants which haven't been stopped any lead yet.

At the top the stream had a wacky ice formation sat right in the middle of the flow.
The way down was even more bird-less and negative thoughts of no new ticks started to creep to the fore. Stuck on 99...nooooo. When all was just about lost with only a few more minutes walk back to our cars (no Land Rover today) we caught a flash of movement over the stream...Dipper; the 100 is up...phew! Then it was joined by another. The last bit of the walk goes past a bit of a conifer plantation and we think we heard a Tawny Owl. After a few pathetic attempts at hooting and it answered back...(101). Job done.
Plenty more out there in the local area for the rest of the winter, including the lifer, but we might have to wait until the next high tides to go for that one.
A hundred in the bag after only one month but what of the whole year? The 'easy, should be able to get without too much trouble and we'll be miffed if we don't reach' target is 175. Then there is the should reach with a bit of luck 190 and finally need some twiching and some luck target of 200. Wonder where we'll end up?
Where to next? Back to the patches I expect.
In the meantime let us know if there are targets in your outback.

Small garden birdwatch

The safari spent a frustrating hour participating in what our American cousin's call 'citizen science'. Gotta be done though - tens of thousands of people recording at the same time yields exceptional coverage and lots of work for the statisticians.

Base camp's garden 'includes' somewhat cheekily the Pear tree over the fence on the left, the evergreen bush and small tree on the right of the garage as well as the tree whose outer twigs you can see by the water tower. Still a small garden but with a bit more habbo and as long as the same patch is counted year after year matters little. I don't think anyone else nearby participates. The people who used to live in the big white house had feeders but the new occupants have disposed of them..not cut their trees down ...yet. Behind our back fence is an access road so we don't back on to other gardens which makes the access/egress to the garden less attractive to wildlife. Further to the right almost all the gardens have lost their trees they had only five years ago. Not only that the massive car park surounding the office complex further still to the right have removed almost all their big trees which where the biggest in the area, their small bushes have gone too, habitat destruction on a (locally) collosal scale - reason??? Your guess is as good as mine - sticky goo falling on the cars in the summer probably or some other nonsense.

So what did we get. The wind was in the wrong direction for the gulls, as they came in to land on the garage roof for the bread they could see me lurking in the bedroom window...and it put the off..now there's a thing! A Black Headed Gull had a brave attempt but didn't qouite touch down so wasn't counted. A full adult Herring Gull was more persistant and got a beak full of the doughy stuff.

A pair of Mistle Thrushes perching in the big Sycamore (top right) was a god tick. Greenfinches and Goldfinches are regular visitors but today only passed overhead at height...swines. A Starling laso landed in the Sycamore, then surprisingly a second one whizzed past the window and had a quick look in our Swift box...might need to put a sign up Swifts only! Starlings Keep Out..but that would be a bit unfair as Starlings are having a bit of a bad time of it as a breeding species at the mo.
Owt else? Oh yes two each of Blue Tit, Great Tit and Chaffinch. Plenty of Magpies, Collared Doves and Blackbirds buzzing around the gardens in the top of the pic but they couldn't be tempted on to our estate.

Where to next? A safari to the wilds of the east tomorrow - will we get that 100th species for January? There are only a couple of target species which may or may not be nailed.

In the meantime let us know what's been counted by citzen scientists in your outback.

Vague ramblings on no theme at all

The safari today has been sat at the puter typing minutes - a dire job but someone's gotta do it. I really wish I could read my own scrawl.

On the way home from said minutes the Starling flock was throwing incredible shapes over North Pier I scrabbled the camera out of the bag but was thwarted in photographic attempts by the traffic lights stopping us at the most in opportune moments, ie behind signs, fences, buses etc. By the time we got to a more open vista the lights sequence had us constantly on the move and the scary raptor had gone!

From yesterday's trip to the big smoke - aka Liverpool - home of the best football team in the world that will never win anything Everton and the best skyline in the world even including Dubai, Manhattan and Chicago! no new ticks - too dark on the return train journey to see any Grey Partridges or Barn Owls in the fields along side the track so still on 99 for the year.

Had a quick look at the sea wall at lunchtime but freezing cold wind combined with horizontal snow meant it was the quickest five minutes of my life and nothing seen...it had to be something good to keep me out there and there was b*gger all. My colleague from the other office had another Harbour Porpoise yesterday (you really can go off some people - sorry S) when we were living it up with government ministers...very disappointed in the nosh provided by a 5* hotel/conference centre though...copious but so poor your daren't have seconds.

Fox on Frank's last walk tonight I saw it he didn't smell it...ner ner ne ner ner!

RSPB's Big Garden Bird watch is tomorrow - large quantities of bread will be thrown on the garage roof, mouldy old sunflower hearts are in the feeder and a couple of soft apples will be on offer for the feathered throngs...not.

For those wanting to see a proper bird I haven't got any new photos but have a look at JD's first pic on this post...a stonker - pure feathered gold even if it is mostly white.

Where to next? Off to buy a new scope for the safari, nothing fancy I haven't traded the Land Rover in but better than none at all.

In the meantime let us know what's big in your garden outback.

Wind and a wind up.

The safari has not been out so much – too much to do…Patch 1 last night held the Peregrine again but he wasn’t there at 06.30 this morning. Plenty of birdsong in the mild conditions. Patch 2 this morning was a grey dead loss. Windy, for the first time in ages and a choppy sea with sea mist seriously reducing the visibility. Little to report other than our Great Crested Grebe has been reunited with its two chums and a fourth one was sat in the waves a few hundred yards away. A dozen or so Common Scoters were all we could find. Poor!
Last night we attended a meeting of the NW 4x4 Response group. A voluntary organisation whose aim is to use their vehicles capabilities to assist the authorities when requested and do other good turns for those in distress. For example in the recent harsh weather one member has been using his Land Rover to deliver Meals on Wheels to the elderly and infirm as the regular delivery vans and drivers were struggling on the ice-bound streets.
The meeting was at a country pub and there was a good chance of spotting a Barn Owl along the lanes. None seen!
One topic of conversation was the vitriolic denunciation of 4x4 users in the countryside on climbing and mountain biking forum – to the point where some members of that forum were seriously considering blocking a legal road track (a BOAT - Byway open to all Traffic). Now I am the first to admit that no one hobby is perfect and there are countryside users in all interest groups who have their mavericks and down right irresponsible contingent – but vandalising the Queen’s Highway because of a few (alleged) numpties in 4x4s is not the answer. But neither is tarmacing every unsurfaced byway in the land. Recent legislation closed 98% of the green lanes to motorised traffic – the irony is that many of these are farm tracks and continue to be used by tractors and other farm vehicles, some rarely see a rambler, but we as 4x4 drivers are still denied them. In fact the Ramblers Association (our biggest critics and not only of 4x4’s but mountain bikes etc etc as well) (Thought about refusing to put the link in, but in the interests of fairness I have) themselves had a mass trespass in 1932 to put their point that people should have access to open countryside, that it was not just for the rich, upper classes or elite – six of them were eventually jailed for their part in the protest. My, seemingly, minor disability prevents me from walking far (bonkers that, as it’s my hands that are bad), I can barely ride a bike now, am not confident on a horse – if I could still hold the reins and my climbing days are long since past but I can still drive, so why do some people want to stop me enjoying the great British countryside – I’m not about to go ripping it up I just want to get away from the tarmac bound hordes enjoy some solitude, have a picnic, challenge and practice my driving skills (although I also go to Pay and Play quarries to further this aim) and see some wildlife too – a vehicle makes a good hide. But what about all the able bodied Land Rover drivers should they not be able to enjoy those tracks too. However if I was more disabled, in the leg or heart department for instance, I could use one of these Trampers perfectly legally on Public Footpaths What's the difference, it's still a motorised vehicle? If you think walkers don’t damage the countryside then think again as you can see some of the hikers tracks up to the summits in the Lake District NP from my mates’ new place 10 miles and more away.

What about all those CO2 emissions? Well many of my 5000 miles a year are fuelled by recycled cooking oil and what about the thousands of ramblers who head out of the towns and cities at the weekend, they don't walk to the hills do they?
Rant over head is well and truly above the parapet – hard hat and flak jacket donned…Look out…here come the repliesssssssssss…
Where to next? More patch work – on foot, if Frank is up to it, he’s pulled a muscle playing with his rugby ball. Out of town all day indoor meeting tomorrow - wonder if we'll get anything from the train window.
In the meantime let us know who’s been trashing your outback (allegedly).

Look no ramblers! Not even a boot print. Don't get me wrong I'm not against rambling I walked up hill and down dale conquering most of the Lake District's and Yorkshire dales highest peaks, it's bigots and the unfairness of it all I object to.

Patchy patch news

The safari was on Patch 1 for nearly an hour before going south of the river yesterday and very spring like it was too with birdsong issuing from every bush, or so it seemed. In fact the first bird heard, as we closed the front door and ventured in to the brightening light of dawn, was a Blackbird, tuning up rather than singing properly but still the first of the year. The Peregrine was still asleep on his ledge high on the water tower, while below him Robins twittered all around. In the park proper there were more Robins, at least nine chuntering away. A Song Thrush sang from the copse area, several Wood Pigeons and Collared Doves were giving it plenty of welly too. It almost sounded like spring.
This morning we were our more normal hour earlier and it was back to the usual quiet, with no Peregrine either, although with a cold easterly breeze it could have been round the other side.
Patch 2 before work had 53 Redshanks and very little else, a flurry of Cormorants passed by, all going south, not counted but certainly more than ten. A single Great Crested Grebe seems to have lost it’s two mates from last week; and where are all the Common Scoters this winter? No more than two dozen were seen in a small raft way off shore. Very, very slow and in the perfect conditions somewhat disappointing. Well actually more than ‘somewhat’, ‘definitely’ disappointing, not even a Sanderling on the beach!
Lunchtime on Patch 2 was no better, worse even! ‘Only’ three bait diggers this arvo, barely a gull in sight and the Redshank had dropped to 32 but in recompense there was a grand total of two Turnstones on the outfall pipe. Big wow! And still no Sanderlings! Conditions out a sea were even better than this morning absolutely silky flat calm and totally shadow-less – not a sea mammal to be seen and hardly a bird either. All was not lost however. You will note that we have been seeing enough Cormorants to be bothered to report them; well, a way down the beach to the south there were between 110 and 125 sitting on an island sandbank looking all Jurassic and all. All jumbled up, wings out obscuring each other and a long way off, so difficult to get an accurate count. Never seen this sort of number concentrated on our stretch of beach before – normally you would expect numbers like this to be roosting at the north end of the Fylde on the Wyre Light off Fleetwood. A scaly backed gull on the outfall pipe with a very pale face, bit of a shawl and eye smudge and very dark primaries looked reasonable for a 1st winter Yellow Legged Gull but at that range in poor light without a photo we’re never going to be brave enough to claim it, but it’s out there for someone else to try to connect with if they so desire.
News came from a colleague from another office watching the same patch of sea just before we got out – he’d had a Harbour Porpoise…bob on low tide too…unusual as most sightings along this coast are made around the high tide (paper in prep) although today’s low tide wasn’t actually that low, not far off the highest a low tide can get if you get my drift. Strangely the Cormorants weren’t there when he was, he only reported about ten. When we were there the tide had just started rising so the sand bank wouldn’t have been there much longer and while he was there the sand bank would have been part of the beach and not an island so probably much less inviting (i.e. safe) to the Cormorants, it just shows how ephemeral some of these sightings can be.
Where to next? Only patch stuff this week I’m afraid
In the meantime let us know what’s turned up in huge numbers in your outback.
No pics again today – far too grey and gloomy - sorry