Onward, here, there, and everywhere and even further afield

The Safari mentioned at the very end of our last blog that theres not much change in the local birdlife at this time of year, the birds are pretty much settled down in their favoured spots waiting for the winter to draw to a close, saving energy and staying warm are order of the day. Well that was about to change. As all UK based readers will know this winter has been a 'Waxwing Winter' and these birds do move around...some so quickly they've moved on before we'd finished reading the news of their whereabouts on several occasions so far. Then news broke of two not too far away but we couldn't go that day, panic was setting in, this looked like it wasn't even going to be our fourth dip of the winter.                                          We were mightily relieved to learn they had stuck overnight so picked up CR and off we went...arriving at the site, after a minor detour, we spotted a couple of birders who told us we should have been there five minutes earlier...ARRRRGGHHH. They pointed in the direction thwe birds had flown off in and we had a drive round the local housing estate being viewed with some suspicion by a few of the residents. Then we went up the lane we'd detoured down earlier (at least we were in the right area) but there was no sign of our quarry. It was indeed fourth time unlucky. Thankfully the birding gods were with us as again there was positive news the following morning so off we went again. This time as we approached we could see a birder on the other side of the road who looked to be looking at something...we waved and made a thumbs up and then a thumbs down sign...she replied with a thumbs up. Happy Days. A quick dash across the raod and two minutes later we were enjoying poor views of two Waxwings high up in the tree tops. #111

Better was to come, they stayed another night and we were able to go back with the intention of getting some shots of them feeding on the Guelder Rose berries down at eye-level like everyone else was putting on social media. (That puts paid to the widely accepted theory that nothing eats Guelder Rose berries). Anyway we arrived on site, the birds were still there...and when we say there they were still high in the tree tops. Guess what..yep, the birders on site told us they'd been down to feed on the berries and were now up there digesting them, should have been here ten minutes ago...AAARRRGGGHHH. Best hang around until they drop down again. In the meantime we took some more, slightly better, tree top shots.

Nearly two hours we stood by the roadside waiting for them to drop onto the berries. The Waxwings had other ideas, they started calling persistantly then flew off away over the houses... AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH. At least our dips had been broken, it would have been dreadful to be the only birder in the country not to have connected with them this winter.

For our nest safari we had been hoping to head up north to Leighton Moss again but the coninuing wet weather meant we'd be wading through knee deep water to see the same few birds as last time so we decided to head back to (the much drier underfoot) Martin Mere to see the same few birds as last time. 

As usual we met IH in the Discovery Hide were we tried our hand at getting some gull in flight shots. There were many more Black Headed Gulls than last week and they were in the early stages of their pairing/breeding behaviour so there was lots of noisy activity. We've got a beginners talk on gulls coming up later in the spring (all will be revealed in due course) so took the opportunity to get a load of hopefully useful shots.

A cold wet wind blew through the window of the hide so we soon decamped to the more sheltered feeders. It was fairly busy with the usual suspects but without the Great Spotted Woodpecker of our previous visit.

As you can see the ringing team have been very active, almost all the birds we saw sported brand new shiny bling. Including this Siskin which was a good spot, we've never seen one on the feeders here before.

The Reed Buntings were still glreaning from the surface of the water

And some had found the table top with its nicely positioned perch

All this excitement was proving too much so IH suggested moving on to nearby Mere Sands Wood just for a bit of a change...and there might be a Jay which we needed for our Challenge.

It was wet and grey in the woods with little to point our cameras at until we reached the first hide where in the gloom beyond gloom, through the heavy drizzle, at the farthest point away from us, a tiny orange spot sheltering under the dark branches of a huge Rhododendron bush was a male Mandarin, but could it be captured on digital film? The answer was yes - just - #112 but only after a lot of deleting absolutely dire shots that could have been nail varnish on Bigfoot's toe and some serious processing we ended up with this single useable identifiable pic.

The rest of our visit continued in the same gloomy veinbut there was some good stuff to be seen like several Goosanders.

IH found the first Toad we've seen this year and AH found what's probably a Geen Shieldbug but still in its winter garb.

So a wet but still fun day out with good mates. Only one new species was added to our Challenge tally but that now leaves just three more to reach our February target with half the month (and we get an extra day this year) to go.

A couple of days later we had an errand to run up Fleetwood way so took t'mutt for a walk along the prom to see if we could catch up with any waders, in particular the Purple Sandpiper that's been hanging around with the large Turnstone flock. No such luck and we've not had any joy with it at the high tide roost on the old boating pool wall close to Base Camp this winter either. The only waders we found were small numbers of Sanderlings and even fewer Ringed Plovers.

There's always something to see though and our attention was turned inland when the sky brightened up a bity and the Skylarks on the adjacent golf course started singing from their lofty song flights. Eventually one landed almost within range of our lens. #113

On the way back to Base Camp we had a quick stop at the old boating pool but there was very few waders in the roost. The next day we tried again but again very few waders were on the wall, where are they all going these days? Not to be outdone and ever hopefully we went again the following day. Yet again there were no more than a handful of waders but there was a small bird sat just beyond them...and one we wanted...a Rock Pipit #114.

A couple of Pied Wagtails mooched around the artificial rocks.

The Rock Pipit left just one more species to photograph for our February target of 15 and well over a week left in which to find it. What would it be...we put a plan together for it to be a biggy, but would the plan hold???

Our initial thought was to head back to Leighton Moss and see if there were any showy Water Rails along the causeway. Once again the weather had other ideas, heavy rain for 36 hours before meant that much of the reserve would be flooded so an alternative was quickly arranged. We were to meet IH at Sizergh Castle for a rendezvous with their elusive Hawfinches, where they had been very elsusive for the safai and CR over recent years being either unlucky, thwarted by deep snow and even turning up one year to find the car park closed for re-tarmacing - you couldn't write it! 

Today was different IH was there well before us and as we pulled into the car park he was sat on the cafe verrandah pointing excitedly skywards. From where the car was parked we could only see the low sun burning out our retinas so car doors were thrown open optics gathered and we dashed over to where he was sat to be shown a lone Hawfinch high in a Hornbeam tree in the middle odf the car park. Getting a pic of it was tricky with lots of branches and twigs in the way. CR managed this shot

but we couldn't get a way through to it so moved slowly to the other side of the tree. As we did so another car load of birders was diembarking their vehicle so we pointed it out to them...maybe we shouldn't have as no sooner had we got round to the other side of the tree withe the sun now behind us and far fewer twigs in the way it flew just as we began to lift the camera; those 60 seconds showing the new arrivals the bird cost us dearly...and worse most of them didn't see it when we asked them later. We hung around for a good hour more as IH had seen them coming and going all morning before we arrived, even a flock of five at one point but sadly we only got a couple more fleeting glimpses of fly-over birds and a couple of maybes that disappeared into the foliage never to be seen again. Ah well c'est la vie - no doubt we'll be back for another look before March is out.

Plan A failed but the day was young and we had another site or two to visit. From Sizergh we drove the few miles further to Fowlshaw Moss were the car park feeders were busy with a nice mix of finches, a few Tree Sparrows and a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

And then,while eating a tasty looking pasty, CR said there's a Water Rail under the end feeder. Stretching up on tippy-toes leaning on the car roof we could just about see it in the gloom of the ditch at far side of the car park.

Thoughts of nearly but not quite submitting the Hawfinch to the SD card were (almost) banished as we hit our target for February, and with the very same species we'd hoped but in a different location. 115 reached, now what? Do we stop for a few days or carry on and potentially eat into March's target which is only another six. That Law of Diminishing Returns is really biting hard now! At Fowlshaw there is another species that isn't on the 'list of potentials for March, Lesser Redpoll. So far we hadn't got out of the car park and we'd not seen one come down to the feeders nor heard any in the trees nearby nor flying over. Only one thing for it - go and have a look at their other feeding station a few yards away. That one wasn't so busy and again no sight nor sound of any Redpolls. The sun was out but the wind was cold as we hit the boardwalk trail. Last year we'd found our very first February Common Lizard at this site so it was deffo worth a look today particularly in any sunny sheltered spots. We searched high and low, well exclusively low, in sunny spots under sheltered bracken, along the sunny edge of the boardwalk, which we flet with the back of our hand and it had some warmth to it, and at the base of likely looking trees to no avail...but IH did spot a small group of Lesser Redpolls making their way through a copse of thick Hawthorn and Silver Birch, we struggled to get the bins on them in the deep cover and none of us managed to get a lens on them, another one for next time. We did find some likely looking lizardy/snaky spots that we'd not come across before that are worthy of further investigation in a few weeks time when the weather has warmed up a bit. Back at the not car park feeding station we had a chat with the Rangers while they had their lunch break away from boardwalk repairs. Still no Lesser Redpolls but a couple of Coal Tits and at least one Marsh Tit darted in and out.

Once the possibilities of Fowlshaw had been exhausted there was still plenty of time to do another site. IH really didn't want to do Leighton Moss so suggested we follow him to a nearby riverside walk he knew. Once off the road and over the stile we were in a different world, the river running wide beside us as we walked up the hill past some impressive veteran trees. Eagle eyed IH came up trumps again when he spotted a Dipper close to the river bank. It flew but a  bit of stealthy stalking found it downstream on the other side but now much more distant.

#116, we watched it for a few minutes before it flew further downstream and was lost to view. A top spot by IH again! He was certainly earning his Spotters Badge today. Now Dipper was on our list of March potentials so we've made our meagre target of just six perhaps a wee bit harder. What else could we find on this wander through riversides and woods? We'd not gone far when a herd of Fallow Deer came into view as we came to the crest of a rise along the path. Not unexpected as we were in a deer park and these are captive animals but not really domesticated as cows or sheep. Their dark colour took us aback at first and we thought they may be Sika Deer but no they are in fact a 'black' form of Fallow Deer and have been on the estate for about 300 years.

Many of the trees were planted at that time too and some of them have been damaged by big the storms of recent years. There's certainly some weird and wonderful shapes.

Continuing on along the footpath we came across another group of deer lazily chewing the cud taking it all very easy. You can tell they're used to people as they hardly bothered to look up as we stopped to get some snaps.

A few yards further on we got a better angle on him

Another one looked bizarrely Kangaroo like.

After leaving the estae and crossing a rather wet and fruitily scented field - looking at the tractor tyre marks we surmise it had recently been slurried, we ended up on a track leading back down to the river where the patch would take us under the main road on a ledge buit into the bridge stanchions. Above the track before we reached the bridge a pair of Buzzards circled over our heads.

Passing under the bridge we came out on a lane looking down into a bit of a gorge in the river which looked vaguelly familar. IH consulted his map telling us we were about to cross a bridge in a 100 yards or so and whe nit came into view we recognised it as the place we really ought to spend some time looking for leaping Salmon, Sedgewick Force. Now that is east of Sizergh Castle, it didn't feel like we'd walked that far but now we were at the furthest point all of a sudden the way back on the other side of the river felt like a bit of a hike.

Our route back was fairly uneventful other than for passing some very impressive Oak, Beech, Lime and Sweet Chestnut trees until we neared the road where our cars were parked. There we found another group of the balck Fallow Deer.

Again they went about their business oblivious to our presence and we were able to get some really close full frame shots. 

In the distance from the trees close to where the cars were parrked we could hear a Jay calling repeatedly, a species that's eluded our lens so far this year, in fact we've only had one fleeting glimpse of one. It is on the Potentials for March list but it was slightly annoying that it kept itself hidden all the while we walked back to the cars. Wonder if we'll get it in March??? And so ended a fabulous and diverse day out in south Cumbria.

Back at Base Camp the following morning we caught sight of the Snow Bunting on the dunes while out with t'mutt again. As per usual we didn't have the camera with us and it was way to far away for even contemplating as phone pic especially after our previous 'Weasel' attempt. There ws no sign of it on our late afternoon dog walk, however the next morning there it was again. This time we cut the dog walk short and went back for the camera only to walk up and down the prom for an hour or more without so much as a glimpse of the darned thing...where does it go??? Lunchtime saw us do another hour or so, again without any joy. The sun was more or less still out for our late afternoon dog walk so again we took the camera and this time after only half an hour we struck gold after seeing it being fluched by another dog walker. Unusually this time it didn't disappear to who knows where but stayed low down on the dune edge and began feeding. It was still very flighty having a little feed here before either flying or running mouse-like through the vegetation to start feeding in a new spot. Keeping up with it while dragging a reluctant 30+kg dog was easy but we did at long last manage to get some shots off. #117

With two species now crossed off our 'Wanted for March' list we've reduced our target to 6 out of the 10 remaining potential 'victims'.

Where to next? Another further flung safari is coming up but one that is still within our 75 mile Challenge radius - just.

In the meantime let us know who's finally fallen in your outback.

Lockdown week 6 brings a little belter to the garden

The Safari was struggling with the poor weather early in the week especially in the garden. On Monday only a Buzzard low over the chimney pots made it into the garden notebook and Tuesday's only entry was of a Blue Tit collecting dog hair for its nest again. We made no further entries until Sunday! The camera didn't see much action most of the week either.

Highlight of Day 1 was four high flying Whimbrels heading seawards early morning and a few minutes later a Sparrowhawk flew across the main road heading to the park with prey in its talons. 

On our exercise walk round the park - about a dozen times - we had a Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat on the rough field but otherwise it was quiet.

Tuesday was a bit of a better day and we took our exercise walk the other way along the North Blackpool Pond Trail. It was lively enough.  Pick of the bunch were two Lesser Whitethroats, three Whitethroats and a showy Sedge Warbler but we hadn't taken the camera - dohhhh. A shed load of butterflies too, don't think we've ever seen so many Orange Tips in one place in Blackpool before, we also got our first Speckled Woods of the year too.

A modicum of excitement was had in the garden when a female Blackbird dropped in for a quick dip in our little waterfall. It was very wary keeping tabs on us as we raised the camera cautiously from behind the kitchen window's blinds.

The following day we had another change of scenery with a visit to the prom. It was cold and blustery with very little on offer either out to sea or along the cliffs. Out to sea was marginally better half a dozen Gannets and a male Eider versus a couple of flighty Wheatears along the cliffs.

We were back there again on Thursday, not entirely sure why it was always going to be pretty dire. Easily the best sighting was of four Gannets diving for fish just beyond the low tide water's edge, four Sandwich Terns were there too. Again no camera but they would have been too distant anyway. Along the cliffs we had another Wheatear and a Swallow heading north as well as one in the side street where they nested last year.

May arrived on Friday and once again we were up at the cliffs. Slightly better today with a flock of 11 Gannets followed by a few others. On the return leg we stopped for a scan and hit a bit of jackpot - way out on the horizon we spotted the unmistakable cruciform shapes of careening Manx Shearwaters. In the few minutes we stood watching we counted over 50, there could have been many more out there we couldn't see with just our bins.

In the afternoon we broke the rules a bit and went out again with Wifey and the mutt, we made sure we kept well away from anyone else, we prefer five metres rather than two anyway. This time we went up to the North Blackpool Pond Trail and came across our first brood of cutesy Mallard chicks.

A Robin was 'cock of the rock' singing from the top of the tallest tree in the area. We didn't have much opportunity to point the camera at anything else but as you can see from the colour of the sky it was a very pleasant hour out.

Saturday saw us having an earlier start down at the park. Not taking our phone was a mistake as when we got back to Base Camp we learned we'd missed a couple of Hooded Crows only 200 hundred yards away over the road. Found by the same lad who found the Redstart we dipped for the very same reason. Once is unlucky, twice is a bad mistake, thrice is just plain stupid - there'd best not be a third time!

The afternoon was warm and sunny and saw us in the garden at Base Camp hunting down whatever invertebrates we could rummage out.

There's still a few a few Gooden's  Nomad Bees about.

While watching the bees we spotted a Green Shieldbug, then another then another, four in all.

Their underside is pretty impressive - don't think we've ever noticed it before

Also out n about were the first Honey Bees we've seen this year, that's bees plural we did see a solitary one a few days ago.

Other solitary bees included this long thin dark Andrena species - as yet unidentified. Any one got any ideas.

Much easier to identify, especially now we've got used to them, are these bonny male Blue Mason Bees.

The only bird to report wasn't seen by us but 'discovered' on a friend's Facebook page - a Cuckoo calling at the crem along the North Blackpool Pond Trail - - that'll need further investigation next week for sure. Fingers crossed it sticks around.

The morning started cool but it warmed up just before lunchtime and while out in the garden we spotted a row of faces peering out of the Bee Hotel. We dashed inside to get the camera but by the time we got back out they'd all left bar one.

Red Mason Bee checking the coast is clear before launching in to the clear blue beyond

The compost heap is a good place to watch spiders, mostly Wolf Spiders, but further inspection had us looking at a dangly thing which when we touched it the spider shot out to defend its nest or at least check it wasn't damaged by the huge lumbering oaf of a human. The dangly thing looks like it's made from a Nettle leaf, the spider is most likely to be Tetragnatha extensa, quite a beauty when inspected closely. 

In the dark so not so a bit too grainy even with the flash

The other spiders out in the light don't hang around for their pics to be taken they're always on the move.

Some looking for prey, some looking for mates.

Judging by the way this one is signalling it would rather be the latter than the former.

After getting the pic of the tiny Ichnumeon Wasp last week we've been keeping our eye out for some more. We'd seen a few tiny flies when we saw another that looked a bit different so we fired a few shots off, but without our specs couldn't really see what it was on the screen. Downloading the pics on the laptop we saw it was a beetle, indeed a Longhorn Beetle, but which? CR offered an ID Grammoptera ruficornis. Turns out to be quite a little find - emphasis on the little - not recorded in the Fylde before (or if it has it's not reached the NBN maps yet) and there is quite a big hole in Lancashire away from the Morecambe Bay limestones.

We're confident C has got the ID right but have put it on iNaturalist to see if we can get a confirmation or two. Not a bad (but very lucky) find in a small garden that's just been left a little to wilderness. 

Where to next? Lockdown continues so it'll be more close inspection of what's on offer at Base Camp and the same three walking sites where something is bound to turn up, after all it is May and anything can turn up anywhere.

In the meantime let us know who's turning up in odd places in your outback

Stay safe - stay socially distant - enjoy the wildlife on your doorstep, it's out there for you to find all you need to so is look..and have a bit of luck.