Three Christmas wishes

The Safari's first Christmas wish came about when we learned of yet more sickening Bird of Prey persecution is still being discovered adding to the RSPB's list of known incidents

If you haven't signed the petition to bring England and Wales in line with Scotland and their recently introduced law of Vicarious Liability we would urge you to do so (UK rsisdents only) - it's easy and only takes a minute or two of your time. If the RSPB has a million members surely the petition can get well over the 100,000 required.

Our second wish is that lots of you dash over to Amazon and download our work of literature onto those new Kindle devices you're children have all asked Santa for. Please help make it a best seller, it won't make the Safari rich but it might go some way to protecting and conserving some very endangered species such as Numbats, Woylies, Chuddichs, Quendas and Red Tailed Black Cockatoos whose world populations number in the low thousands; low hundreds in some cases!

You are more than welcome to nick the pic and put on your Facebook page (other social networking sites are available)...who knows, if we get enough sales we might be tempted to write a sequel...already got the beginnings of an idea featuring a species currently very topical...

Our third wish is that all the safari's readers have a fantastic Christmas/winter solstice festival whatever you call this season in your part of the world. peace and goodwill to you all...even raptor poisoners - let's hope the see the error of their ways...SOON!!!

Where to next? Looks like Wifey will allow us a bit of a safari this arvo so we might be back later - there's that Iceland Gull to be found (why couldn't it have been a Glaucous Gull not had one of those this year?) and the Rangers  just phoned to tell us that they saw the Otter at the nature reserve yesterday.

In the meantime if you haven't already please sign the  petition....there's no time like the present although it would seen the perpetrators are still living in the Victorian past!

A seaful of scoters

The Safari hit the sea wall as soon as it was light enough, and dry enough, this morning. The tide was dropping but hadn’t reached the bottom of the wall so there was no beach. A quick scan north and south gave us numerous Common Scoters in flight, just small flockettes but plenty of them and mostly at a range. However, much closer in at not far beyond the low water mark there was a huge long thin line of them, difficult to count in the choppy conditions but well over 200 in all probability. We looked hard and hopefully at them but couldn’t find anything other than Common Scoters. After a few minutes the tide had left the beach uncovered beyond our southern boundary and there was a veritable gull-fest sadly just all a bit too distant, especially in light of CB’s observation of a white winger ‘round the corner’ in the Ribble yesterday.

As we checked through the gulls as best we could we picked up a bird in flight going out of the river and into the grey gloom over the sea – our first impression was that it was something a little different as it had broad rounded wings. We watched it continue out to sea at a steady speed and height. By the time it was probably about two miles out it turned north, parallel to the coast, maintain its height and speed. In the dreadful light we hoped it would drop below the horizon and we could get something on it as it contrasted against the sea but no it just kept on going without so much as a glide until it turned north west out to sea again and was lost to view in the oncoming rain...but what was it?...Who knows...at a guess maybe a Marsh Harrier but there again may be not...and if it was what was it doing out there and where was it going – 70 miles to the Isle of Man or just a daytrip and a look-see round the bay? Whilst concentrating on that mystery bird we noticed yet more distant scoters on the move and picked up a single Red Throated Diver going south. We wisely decided to give up as the first spots of what turned into a very heavy shower landed.

No gull-fest on the beach at lunchtime, hardly any at all and certainly nothing pulse-quickening amongst them. Best of the bunch was a flock of 50 Sanderlings and a Dunlin. A dozen Redshanks and two Turnstones were easily outnumbered by an uncounted 100+ Oystercatchers.

At sea almost all the Common Scoters had drifted/flown out of view and there was nothing else out there.

We very much doubt if we’ll get a white Christmas this year as the forecast for the weekend is giving temperatures into the low double figures and well above average for the time of year. For Christmas Day our daily minimum is forecast to be a mind bendingly globally warmed 6.5ºC above the long term average –well over that 4ºC ‘limit’ that everyone seems to be scared of doing anything about, and Boxing day is forecast to be even warmer. It’s all a bit academic though as this year’s warmth is only cancelling out last year’s ridiculously cold spell. All will be revealed in 2030 when the figures for the current trio of decades, 2001 – 2030, can be compared with those from 1961 – 1990 & 1971 - 2000...by which time if it has happened it’ll be far too late to stop it!

Where to next? Hols so anything could happen in the next coupla days...

In the meantime let us know what was where it perhaps shouldn't have been in your outback.
Not quite stop press but we just had a call from AB who was at the nature reserve watching 'our' Iceland Gull - confirmed at last...now where does it hang out the rest of the time and is it going to a regular bather/loafer on the mere?

The Safari was dog sitting today and had to have a day off work which worked out nicely as we got the last of our Christmas shopping and wrapping done give or take a few little bits n bobs. it also gave us the opportunity to twitch the Long Tailed Duck (204) that was released after being picked up exhausted by a wildfowler's dog. It spent quite some time feeding, or at least diving - don't know if it actually found anything in the boating lake but has a damaged wing so probably isn't going anywhere soon.

The grainy pictures show what a grey and miserable day it was and the bird itself is quite wary - well you would be if a dirty great hound had grabbed you in its jaws.

 Pick of the bunch but still a 'going away' shot.

Also present were two female Goldeneyes and five Red Breasted Mergansers or at least there were five until CR pointed his long lens at them when three of them decided they were camera shy and flew off over the dunes to the sea.

With no real chance of a better pic of the Long Tailed Duck we took Frank for a mooch on the beach, as you can see it's a lot more shingly than our regular haunts a little to the south. We wander hither and thither across the various strandlines looking for whatever took our fancy. One thing we did note was there was a massive amount of plastic litter tangled up in the seaweed and 'free-floating' than there ever is on our beach - must be the way the currents run that dump it here...be far better if it wasn't thrown in the sea in the first place!!! Its everywhere and impossible to avoid in any wide angle view as in the pic of Kelp below - to Frank's right is one of the many onion/carrot bags we saw. Good piece of Kelp though - washed up from ??? in the recent storms. There is annoying raindrop on the lens from the very short light shower by the look of the pics.

Two young girls and their dad were doing a bit of beach-combing too, looking for shells - an excellent way to spend an afternoon with the kids even if the wind was a bit braw!!! We found a few small Native Oysters, all pretty old and worn, one was almost worn through and was translucent - this one was the youngest that we found and still has it's patterns and ridges quite well defined so was probably alive at sea until not long ago - don't really know how fast they wear down but we'd guess this one hasn't been dead more than five years possibly a lot less...could be horribly wrong though. There must be a small population still out there somewhere.

The tide line after storms is often a productive place to find dead birds and possibly one with a ring on but not today. We found the wings of an Oystercatcher and this bit of gull - gotta be Herring or Lesser Black Back - but which?

This is the dingy view across a chilly and desolate Morecambe Bay - circled, or more precisely ellipsed is Heysham nuclear power station home of the Heysham Bird Observatory .

Plenty of Oystercatchers were out on the mudflats along with a few Redshanks and were heard but didn't see Turnstones. With the cold wind we were feeling rather neche and didn't spend a lot of time checking over the beach. We were hoping we might bump in to a flock of Snow Buntings, not that any have been reported recently but with the weather over the last few days one never knows! There weren't any :-( so we've probably missed them for this year.

A last look at the Long Tailed Duck on the boating lake gave us a Little Grebe tucked tight under the far bank and well away from the radio controlled luxury cruiser yacht that was whizzing around and had flushed the last of the Red Breasted Mergansers and the Goldeneyes on to the larger lake. It would seem that the Long Tailed Duck can't fly; at first we couldn't find it and thought it might have flown off with the others but then we spotted it in the farthest corner well away from the disturbance.

Where to next? Back to work in the morning and hopefully Patch 2 will produce something interesting on our last visit of the year.

In the meantime let us know what a gundog has slobbered all over in your outback.

All day deluge

The Safari managed an unusual double yesterday. After seeing the Fox at the nature reserve we then saw one at the Golden Triangle whilst out with Frank on our late night constitutional. it's not often we see two of these in different locations in one day! No Peregrines could be seen roosting on the tower though.

This morning we didn’t get far on Patch 1 as we did a swift about turn and successfully dodged the rain.

Once it was light enough we got out onto Patch 2. The tide was low and there were many hundreds of gulls on the beach taking advantage of the morsels left in the strandline. Probably somewhere in the region of 2500 stretched out in front of us along the water’s edge. Also out there were about 200 Oystercatchers, guesstimated rather than counted with any degree of concentration, similarly there were about 50 Sanderlings and a couple of dozen Redshanks. The reason for the lack of commitment to the waders was all down to the large numbers of gulls, no time for waders when there were that many gulls to peruse.

Peruse we did and eventually found two ‘argentatus’ type Herring Gulls and a cracking adult Yellow Legged Gull.

All the while we were stood there the rain became heavier and heavier until we were forced to abandon our gullathon. What a good decision that turned out to be as it continued to rain heavily for the rest of the day.

No chance of seeing anything out at sea as we couldn’t see out to sea! By lunchtime there had been no improvement, worse if anything...so we dashed out to do a bit of Christmas shopping and got absolutely soaking wet dodging multitudes of slow old people who seemed to have the perfect knack of getting in the way just because we were short of time. And if people can’t drive in the wet don’t go out in the rain!!! Crikey a total traffic nightmare cos of a few puddles, alright some of them were bigger and deeper than normal but there’s no need to drive like you’re waiting for Noah’s Ark to come hurtling round the next corner – sheeeezzzz – we got back to the office totally fraught – almost chewed our back teeth right down to the roots!!!

There was no news of the Long Tailed Duck but we wouldn’t have had time to get that far north even though we were  over half way there.

Where to next? Day off tomorrow so who knows.

In the meantime let us know if Noah was spotted in your outback

No reward for cold fingers and toes - not true really

The Safari was dragged round Patch 1 this morning by an enthusiastic Frank, We hadn't anticipated going that far but it seemed as though he was on a sniffing mission and just had to get there. We're glad he did as one the way we watched the male Peregrine drift lazily southwards over the school grounds upsetting the numerous local Feral Pigeons as it went, good to hear what sounded like a good number of House Sparrows in the school's roadside bushes - no doubt the Works Dept will be along now we've mentioned those and floor them next week. At the park we counted a dozen Blackbirds and heard a Goldcrest, possibly two but we couldn't see it/them in the depths of a tall conifer tree. On our return trip a Peregrine was enjoying sitting in the sun as it peeked above the houses and a little later back at base camp whilst enjoying our traditional Sunday morning bacon butty a Sparrowhawk took over where the Peregrine had left off and upset all the local Feral Pigeons.

Before we could go out safari-ing we had the inconvenient matter of a very flat tyre to attend to. Mysteriously the little black cap was missing. 300 or so presses of the footpump later we were on our way to the nature reserve enjoying the sunshine but not the cold wind.

After several trial runs we eventually we counted 47 Wigeon, at least 400 very mobile Teal, 22 Gadwall - a very good count for the site - 18 Shovelers, at least 25 Pochard and a single female Goldeneye. All the Tufted Ducks must be on the nearby park lake, where there are 50 - 60, as we could only find three - surely there must have been more than that! Didn't count the Mallards, weren't many visible for much of the time but as dusk fell quite a few emerged from the depths of the reedbeds, or the Coots. A Pair of Moorhens showed nicely in the sunshine in front of one of the hides. Also here we heard a Cetti's Warbler blasting away.

Gull numbers were very low and only two Great Black Backs, on at different times, were of note.

A flight of nine Snipe was good for recent years but then we were told of a flock of about 130 earlier in the week! At dusk more Snipe were heard leaving the cover of the reedbeds but remained unseen.

As ever we went up to the top end of the reserve to wait for the Bittern/Otter combo. Just as we got towards the bench we disturbed a Kestrel tucking into a vole on one of the fence posts, it took off taking its dinner with it. A Great Tit acted like a flycatcher catching Winter Gnats in the last of the afternoon's warm sunrays. From somewhere to our left a Water Rail squealed and a Cetti's Warbler sang with a second bird heard 'chipping' nearby. A Fieldfare flew out of the scrub and got half way across the mere before turning back - apparently there were about two dozen feeding on windfall Apples on the other side but we didn't go Long Eared Owl  bothering today so get get round that side.

The Kestrel came back and sat in a Poplar tree behind us silhouetted against a darkening sky - we didn't see the small flock of Starlings heading to their roost on the pier as we pressed the shutter!

Our attempt at sneaking a little closer for a more frame filling shot failed miserably as it saw us coming and was off.

The we saw two swans winging in, one larger than the other, something made us look at them...one was a Black Swan! We're not going to include it on our list but it is a species we've not seen this year or at the nature reserve ever. What a fine looking bird in flight with its white primaries and secondaries and when it landed its bright red bill was obvious at long range - a little stonker even if the resident pair of Mute Swans weren't too happy with it being on their lake.

Also unhappy were the 150 or so Canada Geese and what had upset them you ask...a Fox was prowling around on the island and in true 'duck decoy' fashion they were following its every move. After a while the Fox settled down and put its nose under its tail but within a few minutes was scampering around trying to catch a vole it must have heard scuttling around in the grass behind it.

A single Pink Footed Goose that came out of the reedbed as dusk fell, probably a shooting or recent weather casualty.
The last entry in the notebook was two Little Owls sat out on the barn roof picked out by the eagle eye of PE.
A Woodcock as we were loading Frank into the Land Rover was the last bird seen in the darkness but failed to get written in the book.

While we were on site we got a call about a Long Tailed Duck which was on a boating lake a few miles up the road but decided to stay put and wait for the Bittern/Otter - neither showed and the duck would have been an addition to our year list competition with Monika; maybe it'll stick around a couple of days and we'll have a chance to catch upon with it...apparently it was picked up by a wildfowler's dog obviously unwell, he then put it in box and released it on the boating lake.

Where to next? Patch 2 should have a good bit of beach to cast a beady scope over in the morning.

In the meantime let us know what's been put in a box in your outback

The weather outside is frightful

The Safari has always had a more than a passing interest in astronomy, beginning of the universe, quantum mechanics (not that we understand any of that!) etc and was interested is this recent observation The thing is we're not sure why they had to look for the black hole in the very centre of the galaxy. We know for a fact it's passed by Base Camp some time this year and swallowed up a variety of objects namely a hoover nozzle, a travel Buddha (including cosy travel case - reckon he's more powerful than St Christopher) and a hand carved nativity scene Baby Jesus (Never noticed Herod's henchmen lurking in the spare room - possibly because there never were any henchmen - well he had henchmen by the hundred but the 'incident' probably never happened). All objects were present and correct this time last year but now are compressed to an infinitesimally small but super massive blob of stuff thousands of light years away - suppose we'll never see em again!
Duff day today didn't get on safari, didn't really get light all day and those showers were best avoided. Tried to go Christmas shopping this arvo but didn't see anything worth wrapping, so much expensive tat and so few affordable items of real quality.
Where to next? Two year birds out of range and 'NO Franks Allowed' to the north and two to the south also 'NO Franks Allowed'; still those elusive Bean Geese out there somewhere...we'll probably end up at the nature reserve for the afternoon tomorrow.
In the meantime let us know what the passing black hole swallowed from your outback

More weather woes

The Safari opened the door to a real wintery scene this morning; a thin layer of snow coated the world outside. It hadn’t stopped the local Robins from singing nor the Blackbirds from clucking.

We didn’t go far choosing to dash back to base camp for a warming cuppa.

The dawn never really broke so we left the scope in the draw and headed out onto the beach with just the camera – and a big plaggy bag for any coal we might come across. In the gardens we spotted a real rarity...a Wren and then a second - yeah hey patch tick #73.

As we crossed the road we noticed a dark blob right on top of the Mirror Ball, with cold fingers we fumbled the camera out from under our jacket but it was playing up and wouldn’t turn on and when it did the lens wouldn’t zoom – darn it big style!!! The blob was a Carrion Crow which was ‘hitching a ride’ on the rotating sculpture. It sat there for two or three minutes while we cussed at the camera, as soon as the camera’s malfunction was over come and video mode chosen – yes...you’ve guessed it – the flamin bird flew...AAAARRGGGHHH possibly a photo/video opportunity of a lifetime lost...really hope this is a temporary malfunction as we could really do without having to dash out and get a new camera...been looking at  this one  but Wifey probably needs new jewellery more than we need a new camera

On the beach the tide had moved round a lot of the flotsam and jetsam on the strandline from yesterday and interesting finds proved harder to come by although we did pick up about 20lbs (10kg) of coal, or about two weeks worth of burning – great when it’s free. Much of it had been washed into the gap at the bottom of the steps along with hundreds of Pod Razors. 

Musta been cold as there was snow lying on the beach - you'd have thought the salt would have melted it straight away.

Eventually we came across an only slightly damaged male Masked Crab, check out the length of those chelipeds! 

There were shed loads of Common Sand Stars in the lowest ‘rockpools’ many were still alive but sadly they will probably succumb to the cold over the next few days as they will be unable to crawl back beyond the low water mark where the water temperature is more constant and a little warmer, currently 11° C  

Snow showers continued intermittently all morning some of them heavy but it didn’t stick so no chance for Frank to play with a snowman...yet! No we didn’t make the cake, not that artistic...but we did try to get some arty-farty shots of the Mirror Ball with The Big One behind...could have done with a bit of sun rather than thick dark clouds.

 

No lunchtime safari as we had a site visit in the north of town to look at a site which is going to become a brand new woodland.

Due to being prompted by Stu the other day we stopped on the way at the memorial to the Policemen who lost their lives attempting a sea recue a few years go, 28 years ago to be precise. The sea is a dangerous place when it’s rough and yet people still play chicken with the waves or let their dogs run loose and at risk of being washed in despite all the warning notices. Even on lovely calm summer days the beach can be a dangerous place as the tide comes in behind you very quickly and cuts you off if you aren’t keeping a close eye on what’s happening around you; some of the gullies are deep enough to be over head height!.

Thankfully the snow and rain had stopped and it turned in to a bright and sunny afternoon – just right for a traipse round a soggy field.

The plans look good with a nice mix of tree and shrub species and with it being so close to the coast it should pull in some interesting migrants as it matures. The site already has a few little copses but they seem to attract little other than the local Goldfinches and House Sparrows, there is a reasonable population of the latter (for the 21^st C at least). Over the years we’ve seen a handful of grounded Meadow Pipits there but nothing to set the pulse racing. The majority of the existing trees on site are Blackthorn bushes – hence the sparrow roost – and Alders, both native and Italian (don’t know why they were chosen), which are currently showing their catkins. 

While we were there a medium sized slender winged raptor flew over the site heading inland, it was a bit too far away and we had no bins with us – at a guess Short Eared Owl would be top of the list of possible suspects.

A wet walk across the low-lying central section revealed our wellies have a hole to let the water out if it should go over the top – soggy freezing cold feet...not pleasant...but we did come across this piece of wood, practically tripped over it hidden in the grass,  which we assume is an ancient piece of Bog Oak, probably not oak at all but that’s what it gets called generically. The area probably hasn’t been wooded with large trees for many centuries. This one is about a foot in diameter and far thicker than any in the current plantations.

On the drive back to the office we had a txt from AB who was still there saying a male Kestrel had put in an appearance.

Where to next? Alas more Christmas shopping rather than safari-ing is likely.

In the meantime let us know how white it got in your outback.

How's this for a bit of fun - a Frank and snowman cake brilliantly made by a good friend of ours - too good to eat?