A Christmas short

The safari had a short trip out today before turkey and all the trimmings. More a case of getting out of the way while dinner was being prepared.

We found ourselves at Marton Mere nature reserve again. Unfortunately there were more dogs out than wildlife and the numpties above spent ages encouraging their mutts to jump into the wildlife ponds. I just hope they hadn't been in any of the nearby ponds that are contaminated with the invasive alien plants Crassula and/or Azolla otherwise the sterling efforts of the Nature Watch group will have been to no avail as it is almost impossible to eradicate these plants once they have taken hold. 'Ignorance is bliss' - so this lot must be very happy!




Over the mere itself the light was grotty and these are the best I can do with Photo Editor. Plenty of Common Gulls were on the water. A couple of Goldeneyes and a smattering of Tufted Ducks and Pochard but we couldn't see the recently reported female Ferruginous Duck - or is it some type of Aythya hybrid, no-one seems quite sure yet.

Down in the scrub the Long Eared Owls were disappointingly absent too. However there were a few Blackbirds about and the odd Fieldfare. Roll on the January sales and I can bag a bargain in the dslr camera with a bit of a telephoto lens line rather than rely on this little compact.

With the weather going to be cooling down again the few remaining apples are a vital food supply for the thrushes on the reserve.

At the reserve gate this male Kestrel come in from the west and in the still air decided to hunt from a perch high in a Poplar tree.

That was all we had time for - a turkey was beckoning.

Where to next? The weekend looks go for a safari but in which direction will we be heading?

In the meantime let us know what have you been seeing in your outback. Has any one in the USA seen real live backwoods Turkeys?

Short but sweet

This morning's safari was about the shortest ever, fortunately we got back to the Land Rover before the heavens opened.

There was little around but this sulphury yellow fungus was spotted growing on a rotting Willow stump. I've no idea what species it is but the top picture taken from above is a more accurate colour, in the other pics the flash has made the fungus look more golden than it was in life.

These apples haven't been eaten yet and will be an important source of food if the weather turns cold again. The reason they are still on the tree is because trunk is surrounded by dense Brambles keeping them safe from human pilferers.

The Gulls on the mere were twitchy; a Cormorant fishing underwater kept coming up for breath in between them giving them the heeby-jeebies. All the usual gull suspects were there, again Black Headed and Herring were the most numerous followed by Commons. There was just one of both Lesser and Greater Black Backs.

Where to next? Christmas shopping is now getting urgent - only a week left but there may be a chance of a new and much fancier Land Rover, so the next safari might be a long time coming but travelling in a little more style and comfort.

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

Monika at Orca Watcher (see blog links on right) has challenged me to come up with 6 random facts about myself...hmmmm - thinking cap is on...random facts tomorrow.

Morning 0 - 1 Afternoon

This morning the safari set off for he coast on the off chance that there may be some (or a) Harbour Porpoises about as one (perhaps two) was seen a little to the south a couple of days ago. The sea was choppy and you wouldn't want it any rougher to stand a chance of seeing that little black fin, but worse than choppy was a sea mist with visibility down to no more than half a mile. We have seen them nearer than this but it doesn't help having most of the sea out of sight.

All we could muster was the usual gulls, plenty of Black Headed and Herring Gulls, a few Common Gulls and only two Lesser Black Backs, although many of he latter will have migrated south by now.

The old boating pool held a decent wader roost of about 200 Redshanks and 61 Turnstones. A Grey Wagtail flew in but landed out of sight. There is a colour ringing scheme on this species - see Heysham Bird Observatory blog on right for details.

A fly over Pied Wagtail and a solitary Meadow Pipit were all the cliffs could manage.

Later in the afternoon the safari managed a trip to the superb Marton Mere nature reserve. We arrived just as the sun was going down and the reeds on the far bank were glowing. There were reports of 6 Long Eared Owls, apparently not showing particularly well, a Peregrine Falcon and a Buzzard. We set up in position with some friends and waited to see if the Bittern was going to put in appearance. Conditions were perfect but the bird was a no show!

A Sparrowhawk came belting out of the bushes and veered past us at the last minute before swooping unannounced into the Feeding Station. A few small flocks of Starlings made their way to the coast but none decided to roost at the reserve, maybe that's why the Bittern didn't show; we have seen them trying to catch Starlings as they dive into the reed bed to roost.

There was good selection of waterfowl on the mere; something spooked about 200 Teal from the shelter of the reedbeds but scanning through them diligently revealed no American Green Winged Teal. There is one not far away at Marshside RSPB reserve on the other side of the river.

The temperature started to drop once the sun had set and the grass underfoot became crispy with frost. A chilly mist rose over the water. The photo below is an attempt to capture the ethereal essence of the evening.

The rangers have recently put up a new Barn Owl box and we hung around in the cold to see if any were about without success. While we were waiting a Peregrine Falcon flew overhead and then low across the fields nearby. We also heard a Little Owl 'peeeoooo-ing' in the distance, a few Snipe left the reserve for their nocturnal feeding areas in the fields and a lone Lapwing 'chewit-ed' in the darkness.

We left in the pitch black with ice starting to form on the windscreen of the Land Rover.

Where to next? Still need to catch up with those Waxwings; but there is an awful lot of Christmas shopping that needs attending to too.

In the meantime let us know what you have found in your tropical paradise or snowy waste or even windswept temperate area.

Mists of mellow (un)fruitfulness

The safari received two tip-offs this week. The first was of a Long Eared Owl, the other, from the incomparable Anno, of a mysterious Red Kite. So two targets for the safari to aim for....AND there was a morning high tide after a couple of days of offshore breezes....promising....very promising.

First off we hit the Prom. It was draped in a thick mist. Meadow Pipits were going over in some numbers and the 'chisick' calls revealed Pied Wagtails in amongst the Skylarks.

Out on the flat calm sea we scanned hopefully for Porpoises without any luck. There were a few Common Scoters in the distance, a female Eider was much closer in; only a few feet offshore with a Great Crested Grebe. With the tide in there were the usual flock of Redshanks and Turnstones was on the seawall, obviously oblivious to the racket of the neighbouring go-karts.

As we watched a flock of about 75 Pink Footed Geese going south to Martin Mere WWT Reserve we heard the familiar screech of Sandwich Terns, there won't be many more of these this year.

One of my biggest bugbears is litter. This plastic bag could be floating round the currents for years before a turtle or some other marine animal mistakes it for a jellyfish and eats it - with dire consequences....TAKE IT HOME.

On a lighter note but still sort of serious if you're ever at the Gynn in Blackpool have a look at our superb fossil collection. There's all sorts of creatures poking out of the ornamental rocks. It's just a shame that these rocks were someones best Limestone Pavement at one time - now a really rare and precious habitat!

Next stop was the brilliant (but misty) Marton Mere Nature Reserve.

(Not to be confused with Martin Mere mentioned above) The early morning mist was lifting and it started to feel more like midsummer than autumn. The sun brought out a good selection of insects. The dragonflies included many Common Darters and Migrant Hawkers (pictured - look for the 'wine glass' just behind the wings).

The butterflies included a Wall, a surprising find as these seem to have become very scarce in recent years, a couple of Peacocks, Speckled Woods, and a Red Admiral - not a bad haul for mid October and better than most of the summer!

A Buzzard eased itself overhead and a flock of about 30 or so Pintails circled above the mere. Despite a thorough scan of the usual suspects we were unable to find the reported Long Eared Owl. Never mind; if they're not there yet they will be soon - a sharp frost is needed to drop the leaves for a better look into the bushes.

Looking over the water I managed to pick up a first winter Mediterranean Gull, supporting cast included Wigeon, Little Grebe and a rather disturbing crashing deep in the reeds nearby accompanied by a low croaking grunt - was it a Bittern? We'll never know - whatever it was didn't show.

Tufted Ducks look fine at this time of year.

Most of the plants have finished flowering now but the Evening Primrose is still going strong. This is a great plant for attracting moths as it releases its fragrance at night.

I'm no expert at fungi etc but this cup fungus on its bed of moss with a Liverwort close by caught my eye.

As for the Kite, well sadly we ran out of time. We hope to get more information and nail the fella down next week.

If anyone is interested in the birds of Marton Mere I still have a couple of copies of Pauline McGough's excellent book which gives details of the 216 species recorded to the end of 2001. Only £5.00 each including p & p. If you would like one drop me an email or contact me at the Solaris Centre.

Where to next? The Kite is currently top of the list! Superb birds - effortless fliers, good looking and charismatic - great to have one in our area - lets hope we can track it down.

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

The teddy bear's picnic

I thought I'd post this Mediterranean-like picture of a very sunny Marton Mere Local Nature Reserve at Blackpool to remind everyone (or just myself) what blue sky used to look like.

Yesterday at Marton Mere nature reserve the Rangers held a 'teddy bear's picnic' and bug hunt for budding young naturalists. With the Ranger's help they found a fair whack of stuff. Included in their finds were 3 species of damselflies; Common Blue, Azure and Blue Tailed, 3 Dragonflies; Emperor, Common Darter and Brown Hawker, a selection of moths; Burnished Brass, Silver Y and Flame Shoulder. Best of all was a butterfly that has become extremely scarce in this part of Lancashire in recent years, Small Heath.

Where to next? Don't forget the Rock Pooling event on Sunday afternoon (17th). Meet at the Mirror Ball at 4.00pm, bring your nets, buckets and wellies.

In the meantime let us know what you have spotted in your own 'outback'.