Tales of the riverside

The Safari went to the beach yesterday and boy was it murky. Last time we were here there were Gannets diving just off shore they may have been there today but there was no way of knowing!

As we walked Frank on the beach we spottted a surfer! The water temperature is no more than a bone numbing 8C.

The beach was being moved - a storm had thrown up thousands of tons of sand against and over the wall so it was being taken back down the to the water's edge.

They've been shifting the sand for six weeks apparently. Each trailer load was about seven tons.

This morning we had a lovely early walk along the river. We were out by a couple of minutes after 05.00. The walk down to the river was cacophonous with birdsong. All your favourites were in full voice, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Robins, Wrens, Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, a Nuthatch and Stock Doves. Across the fields on the other side of the lane we could hear Skylarks and Yellowhammers...all very nice aswas the heady aroma from the Wild Garlic (aka Ramsons).

 Down at the river all seemed normal, the resident Gosaanders were as flighty as ever - really hard to get close to them. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary o we decided to amble downstream to the Sand Martin colony. Turned out to be a good move!
Sedge Warblers were numerous in the bankside vegetation and crossing the little bridge over the brook we chances]d upon a Roe Deer thrashing his antlers through a small sapling a mere 20 yards away - we were in the open and trying to raise the camera as sneakily as we could we weren't sneaky enough he saw us and for a moment stood his ground but then turned an ran barking fiercely in indignation.
A little further on there is an arch way beyond which the riverside becomes a little wilder. We passed under it and could hear some squeals above the water tumbling over the low wier. Scasnning the far bank we soon found the noisy little devils, a mother Otter with two cubs have a last play before bedtime...brilliant!!!

We rattled off a few shots which are far from the best pics of Otters you'll ever see but to be fair they were a long way off and it was still before the sun had climbed over the eastern hills. While watching their antics a Kingfisher flashed over the top of them. This was becoming a pretty good morning!
Eventually they disappeared into the overhanging vegetation and we moved on. The river was pretty quiet and we began to think that there were no Sand Martins this year as we hadn't seen any or even any Swallows hawking over the river. We needn't have worried. climbing over the last stile in to the sheep field which has the colony's sandy bank there they were in abundance high over the fields rather than over the river.
We stopped to take a pic of the river looking back upstream.

Across on the far bank we could hear Song Thrush, Sedge Warblers, a Whitethroat, a Blackcap, we hoped we might hear a Cuckoo but instead heard a Garden Warbler (161) singing from a dense patch of Willow scrub from who's cover a Heron stealthily fished the margins of a area of slack water.
All was as peaceful as it gets, until the anxious chitterings of the Sand Martins alerted us to a predator, we span round to see a raptor cruise against the backdrop of trhe far trees, Buzzard - not common in these parts, we're not far from 'Buzzardgate' land - but no wait a minute better views shows as it came over the river showed it wasn't a Buzzard at all - Osprey!!! (162). Seriously hitting the jackpot now! We fumble with the camera as it turned and disappeared round the bend in the river before we could press the shutter button.
The river is noted for its Salmon and the fishermens' boats were tied up at regular intervals. We hoped to see one jump at the weir but the only one we found was floating downstream pretty much deceased.

As you can imagine there was a very definite spring in our step on our walk back to temporary Base Camp. And there was more to come. At the old walled garden we saw a bird flit out of a hole in the crumbling stone work - it looked sort of sparrow like but there are no sparrows here - oh yes there are! Getting on it in a flower filled Wild Cherry (aka Gean ) tree it was nothing less than a Tree Sparrow!
A Brown Hare was in a different field to yesterday's two which were still in their field later in the morning when a Buzzard - shhhhhhhh don't tell the local Pheasant brigade - flew over being seriously mobbed by the local Rooks and Jackdaws.
After a light lunch we headed out to the seaside again, a different beach this time. Frank had a ball to play with for the first time in almost a year. We were cautious with his knee and didn't let him do too much but a splash in the breakers was a real treat for him!
Birdwise it was quiet. A pair of Pied Wagtails combed the beach while out at sea on the horizon Gannets dived and closer in in the swell several small flock of Eiders bobbed about.
Then we picked up a broad winged raptor well out to sea somewhere off Lindisfarne and watched intently as it drew nearer the coast, what was it? Too far to tell, Buzzard, Marsh Harrier, Osprey, Holy Grail (aka Honey Buzzard)??? Frank decided to flip out and have a bit of frutch about and taking our eye off it we lost it never to refind it!!!! A check of Birdguides back at tBase Camp showed nothing of note had been seen from Holy Island or the Farnes Islands at that time so probably not one of the latter two, or the watchers at those locations missed it. An immature Peregrine flew past us as we about to load the car and leave.
The beach had some impressive fossils in the rocks of something perhaps a bit like a Woodlouse or Sea Mouse.

Back at Base Camp the sun was shining and Frank wanted to dry off outside which gave us the opportunity to miss a really nice pic of a Green Veined White butterfly although we did get the trickier shot of this Common Dog Violet(?).

Can you tell the species from the sepals?

Just chillin

Where to next? Boaty ride to the Farne Islands tomorrow and with no Frank we can actually land and have a mooch about on them.
In the meantime let us know what no-one else seems to have seen in your outback.

A nothing much appnin sort of a day

The Safari’s early morning venture forth from the front door still has no hint of daylight in the eastern sky. A Blackbird was first bird heard today with the usual Robins here and there. At Magpie Wood the light (or lack of it) was again poor and we could only see 38 and some uncounted Woodpigeons. As we tried to count the Magpies we heard the Peregrine calling but again it was out of sight ‘round the back’ of the tower.

The only Song Thrush heard this morning was the one at the entrance to the park.

The morning Patch 2 safari was a gloomy mizzly affair, in fact it was so gloomy that we didn’t get out until about a couple of hours after our normal pre-cuppa boot-up-the-puter time. We couldn’t see far through the gloom and only found a few Common Scoters and nine Great Crested Grebes. There was little on the beach either just a few gulls and Oystercatchers with a handful of Redshanks and two Turnstones.

The mist hadn’t lifted by lunchtime and there was only about the same to report from the beach and sea.

By way of something different to regale you with a Great Black Backed Gull and a Carrion Crow were taking it in turns to rip strips of flesh of the remains of a large fish. Looked as though it was either an ex Cod or Salmon. Nothing for it but to grab the wellies and camera and get onto the beach to investigate!

And on the beach there was plenty more to investigate once the fish had been identified as a probably a Salmon by the look of those teeth on the tongue.

Confirmation may well come from our marine biologist friend and/or her fisherman hubby tomorrow.

A bundle of seaweed was wrapped around what looked (and felt) like engineering swarf but also had a Mermaids Purse – the egg case of the Small Spotted Cat Shark – attached. The opening on the left-hand side bears witness to the successful hatching of the baby fish.

Nearby a Carrion Crow investigated likely looking items as it patrolled the sands. 

Further along the beach was another runnel with a few Redshanks and gulls probing about but surrounded by resting Oystercatchers – a fine photo opportunity we thought. As we approached they kept flushing a little further down the beach always just out of range. However we did notice some smaller waders on the far edge of the runnel and in the bad light at first assumed them to be Sanderlings but as we got closer it became evident they were six Dunlin (111) and were so engrossed in feeding that they allowed a quite close approach. Despite our proximity to them and small items were being swallowed at a rate of knots we couldn’t make out what it was they were feeding on....perhaps we should have taken the bins as well as the camera.

On the walk back to the office another Patch 2 tick (#39) was added to the tally when we heard a Curlew calling from out of the grey.

So not a very promising day turned out to be far more interesting than we first imagined...proving if you look long or hard enough you’ll always find something worth looking at.

A quick Big Garden Bird Watch update now :- our hour’s watch was easily eclipsed by former RSPB Conservation Director Mark Avery who had more Goldfinches than we had birds in total. His ‘unusual’ visitor was a female Brambling while ours was the Coal Tit. (Bet he didn’t have real exotica like Herring Gulls either!). All this pales into insignificance when compared to our friend’s youngest daughter’s watch. She’s only eight and sat there diligently watching their tiny back yard in the depths of inner-‘city’ Blackpool for just one single solitary bird...but what was it?...dunno yet her dad had forgotten to fetch her completed sheet in to work.

Finally a reminder that Thursday (we have to present a talk on the coastal wildlife tomorrow night so might not be here) is World WetlandsDay and we hope to be organising a survey  of a small wetland not far away with the aim of recording the presence of Water Voles there – can’t see them disappearing over the winter and it would be nice to actually see one rather than relying on latrines and nibbled vegetation to prove their presence...you never know...just how long is it since we last heard that diagnostic ‘ploppp’ – 25 – 30 years; more???!!!  Talking of coastal wildlife if anyone reading this rubbish is booked on the Shoresearch event with LB this weekend we’ll see you there.

Where to next? More of the chilly gloomy same probably.

In the meantime let us know who's got teeth on their tongue in your outback.

The wild Wyre outback

Before we start the main news I have managed to identify the small fish mentioned in the blog of 10th August as a Sand Smelt....on with the show....


The safari ventured up in to the wild headwaters of the river Wyre this weekend. There were some specific target species in mind. The path winds its way along the river bank through an interesting damp woodland, although there is a massive invasion of the pernicious Japanese Knotweed which shades out the native wild flowers. Keeping our eyes glued to the floor due to the rough nature of the path we saw a good number of deer slots (footprints) probably from Roe Deer, but although it was early evening and very quiet unfortunately we didn't see any of them.

Some of the trees are real old beauts. Many are multi-stemmed from being coppiced in the past. Coppicing means trees are cut down and allowed to grow again. The timber being used for all sorts of things such as fencing, tool handles, furniture making, building. Allowing the trees to regrow meant that in a few years time another crop was available. The length of time between cuts depending on the species of tree and the size of wood required. The word coppice comes from the French 'couper' - to cut.

The tree below is a Beech, a good wood for burning and chopping boards and wooden spoons.

This next tree is a Small Leaved Lime and the single straight trunk shows that it has not been coppiced.

The following picture shows a Hazel coppice. Hazel was very important. The thin branches grow quickly and are very springy. It was used for hedging stakes when hedges were laid to keep animals in the fields, it was woven in to hurdles, ie fencing panels, pegs for the washing line, tool handles, and fighting sticks such as those used by Little John, Robin Hood's right hand man.

Below is a Rowan, or somewhat incorrectly Mountain Ash. It has Ash like leaves but is not related, so Rowan is the better name for this tree. Amongst its most important properties is its ability to keep witches, ghosts and ghouls at bay. If you are troubled by any of those be sure to plant one in your garden. Not being a very large tree they are suited to urban situations. This one is a particularly large and venerable specimen as can be seen from the size of the two rotten stumps on either side. I would not like to guess how old this tree might be.

Finally we have an Alder, not to be confused with Elder from which Elderberry wine is made. Alder is the typical tree of Lancashire river valleys and wet areas, and supplied the clog soles for the millions of mill workers in the Victorian factories of industrial Lancashire. When freshly cut the wood turns a beautiful orange colour. Alder is one of the few deciduous trees which has cones but these aren't quite the same as the cones from a conifer tree.

The last tree picture is of a small species of fungus growing out of the moss which is gowing on a Sycamore. I am no expert on fungi nor mosses so can't tell you what they are. Over to you readers, can anyone out there help?

Sycamore has been maligned over the years by conservationists as not being a native species and having the tendancy to overrun native woodland. Its 'helicopter' seeds spread easily and germinate and grow quickly when light is available on the woodland floor, for example when large trees are cut or blown down. It also supports far fewer insect species than native trees such as Oak, Hawthorn, or Willow. However, a single tree can have a population of Greenfly numbering tens of thousands, an important food item for a large variety of predatory insects including Ladybirds. It does have one very impressive saving grace though, because it does not splinter it was traditionally used for loo seats!

At the end of our safari is this spectacular weir. Here we had brief views of two of Britain's most colourful birds, Kingfisher and Green Woodpecker. To the side of the dam is a Salmon ladder to allow the king of fish to pass upstream to the spawning 'redds', shallow gravel patches in the small mountainside tributaries. We watched from the bridge but did not see any Salmon jumping up the rapids or starting the long exhausting climb up the ladder.

The recent heavy rain and high water levels shouldn't have posed any problems for the Salmon but the water is very peat stained as you can see. If the upland drains were stopped up the peat bogs would absorb more water and there would be less erosion preventing this heavy colouration from happening. It also makes the water acidic which can have an adverse effect on the invetebrate life downstream which obviously has consequences for fish and the rest of the food chain.

Enough of the ecology lesson, what were the target species mentioned at the start, and did we see them? Well one was the Salmon, which we didn't see. neither did we see any of the very elusive Otters known to be present in the area. despite not getting the target species we saw huge selection of interesting wildlife culminating in the Kingfisher and had a trip to one of Lancashire's (almost) hidden gems.

Where to next? I can feel a beach safari coming on.

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