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.

North Lancashire 31st May 2008

An early start saw us at Warton Crag Quarry before 8 O'clock. arriving at the car park and opening the Land Rover's doors we staight away heard the yik yik yik of the Peregrine Falcon. A quick scan of the cliff face revealed the female resting on a ledge close to the nest. A view through the telescope revealed two fluufy white chicks, technically known as eyas'. Totally unphased by their illustrious neighbours the large Jackdaw colony 'chacked' its way through its daily routine, perhaps enjoying the safety of having such a powerful predator in their midst. A Little Owl called from the right hand side of the cliff face but we were unable to locate it.

The morning was warming up and we had sightings of Common Blue and Green Veined White butterflies and a really bright Speckled Yellow moth. Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs sang from the bushes.
On the verge of the car park was a single specimen of Early Purple Orchid.

The next site visited was Woodwell. In the well itself Greater Spearwort was in flower. A Chiffchaff was heard singing and a Nuthatch called from the woods. The information board at the start of the path declared that some of the Small Leaved Lime trees were actually older than Stonehenge! There was the strong scent of Wild Garlic under the canopy of the woods. A fallen log had an impressive collection of unknown species of bracket fungus (any ideas anyone). A pair of Large Red Damselflies were in tandem by the well.

Back at the Land Rover a very hopeful and daring Robin hopped under the open door waiting for crumbs to be thrown from our breakfast. As (s)he was pecking at her titbits a Green Woodpecker was heard 'yaffling' in the distance.

We then moved from the woods down to the estuary. whilst we were manoevering the Land Rover in to a suitable car parking space (it doesn't fit under the low bridge) a Kingfisher flew right over the bonnet.
The estuary was more like southern Europe than north Lancashire. 3 Spoonbills, 2 Little Egrets and several Avocets graced the pools. 2 huge Ravens were out on the marsh. back along the track to the car park Sedge and Willow Warblers were watched taking food to hungry nestlings.

Our nest stop was the RSPB reserve, Leighton Moss. Here the feeding station was a little quieter than usual but still amnaged to give us fantastic close up views of a pair of Bullfinches and 3 Grey Squirrels, one of which had sussed the squirrel proofing on the bird table and was happily sat with a fine male Chaffinch munching the
sunflower seeds..

The rest of the reserve was also fairly quiet, which is typical for mid day at this time of year. But we couldn't fault the show the 5 Marsh Harriers put on for us, gently wafting their elegant way over the reed beds. Making our way down to the Tim Jackson hide we had a couple of brief sightings of Bearded Tits as they shot overhead to and from nest sites. Looking out from the hide we saw a magnificent set of antlers looking like a giant hat stand, but as the reed is so tall we didn't see the owner. However we did connect with two of his younger brothers lurking under the bushes. A the same time a Kingfisher, perhaps the same one as earlier, gave a masterclass in diving from height. It was difficult to watch the nearby patrolling Emperor Dragonfly for fear of missing the Kingfisher's next dive. we were able to make a younsters day by showing him a lifer - Reed Bunting - how times have changed now that the under 10's are seeing Marsh Harriers before 'common place' birds like the Reed Bunting, good luck to him - may his life list grow ever longer!
The walk back to the Public Hide gave us more and better views of the Bearded Tits.

The Public Hide was very quiet, a few Tufted Ducks and Pochards and the ubiquitous Coots, but little else. A Great Black backed Gull broke the tranquil scene sending the few nesting Black Headed Gulls into a state of raucous panic as it popped in for a snack - on their chicks! We waited patiently hoping that we might fluke a sighting of the Otter but fluked a brief flight view of a Bittern instead.
A Red Deer hind made her way out of the woods and across the fields to the reed bed in the distance.

All in all a great day with over 75 species of birds and good views of Red Deer.

Where to next?