Seen Anything Interesting?….

Posted on by Pete Woodruff - In Birds2blog
....said the man as he walked up to me at Glasson on Friday. I explained that everything in birding is interesting, but in varying degrees, in any case it turned out I had little time to find much at all, interesting or otherwise.Another of those quick checks around the Lune Estuary on Friday, and noted on Conder Pool, 8 Snipe, 11 Little Grebe, a Common Sandpiper, a Sparrowhawk was over, and 8 Ruff flew in from the estuary, looked like they would drop in somewhere on the pool, but continued on in the direction of Jeremy Lane.At Glasson, where you need to be there at least two hours pre high tide before everything gets washed away, I saw an adult Mediterranean Gull, up to 165 Black-tailed Godwit, 450 Redshank, 9 Curlew, and 4 Dunlin, all seen towards the Conder mouth from the bowling green.The plan then was to go to Cocke...
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Primaries Flash ‘Silver’ in Sunlight

Posted on by The Hairy Birder - In Fleetwood Birder
I birded the farm fields at the Obs this morning and sadly because of looming end of September deadlines with work I didn't have time to operate any mist nets. Although with the beauty of hindsight I wouldn't have caught much! The day dawned with a hazy single okta of cloud cover and a 10 mph southeasterly wind that would have troubled the nets if I had put any up!The vis was very slow to start this morning, and even when it peaked it was little more than a trickle, and then it was all over by 9:00 am. My meagre totals were twelve Alba Wags, four Reed Buntings, three Grey Wagtails, a Chaffinch, 21 Meadow Pipits, eight Swallows, a Linnet, four Carrion Crows and 50 Pink-footed Geese.Grounded migrants were equally as thin on the ground, although five Stonechats was nice, but just a single Goldcrest was best of the rest. A Fox brightened things...
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Sweet & Sour!

Posted on by Pete Woodruff - In Birds2blog
I spent a couple of hours at Cockersand on Tuesday, nothing new about that, but it was a pretty disappointing two hours with nothing more of note than a Stock Dove, and a Kestrel seen over Bank Houses, one later over Slack Lane could have been the same bird on wires with 22 Linnet close by at the cover crop. Whinchat. Ana Minguez @ NaturanafotosBut hang on....that's not a Linnet on the fence post is it, it's a Whinchat....nice one.More on the 'nice one' list followed a little later when 6 Ruff were on the Lune Estuary at Glasson, and on Conder Pool, 5 Greenshank, a Common Sandpiper, 2 Snipe, and a new peak of 13 Little Grebe ended what I'd call Tuesday's birding sweet and sour.Wednesday 20 September.Wednesday didn't shape up much better either, and Plo...
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Bearded Tit Gritting Season Gets Underway

Posted on by North Lancs Ringing Group - In North Lancs Ringing Group
This year has seen an early start to the visits by Bearded Tits to the grit tray at Leighton Moss RSPB Reserve. The first birds were seen on the 17th which is 6 days earlier than last year. On the 19th there were at least 9 birds at 10.25 including rather surprisingly 2 birds still in juvenile plumage. Of the colour ringed birds identified there was a female ringed as a nestling in May 2016. Another female from the same brood has been re-trapped earlier this year. To date we have identified 21 adult males and 11 adult female Bearded Tits but we have only ringed 22 juveniles as ringing has been restricted this year by bad weather and access difficulties and at the moment by high water levels.The birds need the extra grit in their gizzard for at this time of year they change their diet from insects to mainly the harder reed seed. John...
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Home from Home

Posted on by Phil Slade - In Another Bird Blog
Sorry there’s no recent news. Sue and I are in Skiathos, Greece for a few days. Back soon but in the meantime there are pictures from recent years in Skiathos. Enjoy, and don’t forget to “click the pics” of Skiathos and its birds.  Skiathos - centre rightRed-backed Shrike Hooded Crow Hoopoe Yellow WagtailSkiathos TownSkiathos TownSkiathos TownKechriaIsabelline Wheatear Whinchat Little EgretYellow Wagtail To The Beach Alonisos -Skiathos Skiathos - Kastro Skiathos Woodchat Shrike Eleonora's Falcon Red-backed Shrike European ShagKoziakis - Skiathos TownView towards Skiathos TownLet's finish with a video of Skiathos. It features the headland of Kastro where the Eleonora's Falcons spend the summer months . Enjoy.    Back soon. ...
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Monday’s Highlight Bird’s.

Posted on by Pete Woodruff - In Birds2blog
Up and down like yoyo's, there's no easy way to get to grips with the number, but after a few attempts I eventually arrived at 12 Little Grebe again on Conder Pool, with 4 Snipe seen, 14 Redshank, and up to 120 Lapwing. In the creeks, the Kingfisher showed, as did the Common Sandpiper both down by the bridge, also 2 Snipe and a Sparrowhawk over. On the Lune Estuary at Glasson, 2 Greenshank, 13 Snipe, 2 Goosander, and a Great-crested Grebe.At Cockersand from the coastal path, I watched a group of up to sixty birds flitting around the field and bushes, of which there was at least 40 Reed Bunting by far a personal best ever count in one sighting of the species, with Meadow Pipit and Skylark around.Rock Pipit. Pete Woodruff. I found my first Rock Pipit of the winter, with 4 Wheatear off the headland. On the circuit, c.5...
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Pintails and Pinkies

Posted on by The Hairy Birder - In Fleetwood Birder
It was chilly yesterday morning at the Point with a 15 mph northeasterly wind, nearly full cloud cover and occasional showers. Ian and I took shelter on the western side of one of the buildings overlooking the dunes.The first bird I recorded before I got to the buildings was a Kittiwake that flew along the tide line as I walked along on top of the dunes, and this was the only Kitti of the morning. A Grey Wag over calling was the first of four, and due to the weather conditions (blocking cloud to the north) the vis only consisted of two Skylarks and five Meadow Pipits!I purposefully left out the arrival of Pink-footed Geese from the above vis totals as they were the main feature of the morning, besides some limited action on the sea. Pinkies were continually moving south and southwest all morning in generally quite small skeins. Some were ve...
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Mid September Bowland.

Posted on by Pete Woodruff - In Birds2blog
On a more settled day, with some sunny spells and little wind, a visit to Bowland on Friday wasn't without some rewards. On Hawthornthwaite Fell I found 3 Stonechat, seen as a pair and a juvenile, something of a surprise was a lone Wheatear still up here, with 4 Raven seen in three sightings, 14 Meadow Pipit, and high overhead at least 30 House Martin hawking, 2 Red Admiral and a Small Tortoiseshell seen.Spotted Flycatcher. Simon Hawtin. A Marshaw - Tower Lodge - Winfold Fell saunter started with a late Spotted Flycatcher which beats my previous latest in Bowland of 3 Spotted Flycatcher seen 7 years ago on 2 September 2010. Unexpected was 4 House Martin at Tower Lodge including entering a nest. Also of note, a Great-spotted Woodpecker, 5 Coal Tit, 3 Robin, and 2 Grey Wagtail on the Marshaw Wyre.Red Grouse....
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August’s Ringing Totals

Posted on by The Hairy Birder - In Fleetwood Birder
Over on the right you will see that I have updated the ringing totals for Fylde Ringing Group up until the end of August. At 1523 birds ringed we are 690 down on this time last year. Let's hope for a good autumn to catch up!Four new species for the year so far were ringed in August and these were Kingfisher, Redstart, Grasshopper Warbler and Garden Warbler.Below you will find the top 5 ringed during August and the top 10 'movers and shakers' for the year.Top 5 Ringed in August1. Linnet - 1452. Swallow - 943. Goldfinch - 634. Reed Warbler - 425. Goldcrest - 21Top 10 Movers and Shakers for the Year1. Linnet - 209 (up from 6th)2. Goldfinch - 153 (same position)3. Swallow - 145 (up from 7th)4. Blue Tit - 103 (down from 1st)5. Reed Warbler - 90 (up from 8th)6. Pied Flycatcher - 79 (down from 3rd)7. Sand Martin - 67 (down from 5th)8. Great Tit - ...
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Woe Is Me!

Posted on by Pete Woodruff - In Birds2blog
Any birding plans I might have had have gone out of the window over the past few days, but on Tuesday I found myself returning via the A588 from a non-birding trip to the Fylde, I gave myself the time to call in at Fluke Hall and find an adult Mediterranean Gull, preening just west of here on Preesall Sands, with a Wheatear on the sea defence boulders.Calling in at Conder Green on my way back to Lancaster, I found Conder Pool had resurrected itself from the dead, with 5 Greenshank, a Common Sandpiper, and 12 Little Grebe all breathing life back into it, whilst saving me from a total blank for birding since last Friday. The Common Sandpiper at Conder Green is presumed to be this winters bird here, but the returning Spotted Redshank has yet to appear and had done so by this time last year on 12 September.With birding prospects ...
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