Bird Watching Lancashire

Andy and I returned to Oakenclough this morning for a 0600 start and another go at catching migrant birds. We were joined today by Bryan. After two recent catches of 40 and 47 birds respectively, we hoped for a triple hit in the forties. In con…

The early hours had seen bouts of thunder, lightning and torrential rain as Andy and I met up at 0600 to very overcast conditions that threatened more rain. After last week’s 40 birds we hoped for a repeat performance at Oakenclough. After The De…

On Tuesday I met Andy at 0600 for our first ringing session at Oakenclough since early spring, an unproductive period for ringing when the weather was predominately cool and wet.  We don’t normally head up to the hills until a little later when re…

The regular Barn Owl wasn’t too obliging this morning. It spent the whole time dashing across and around several fields, hunting on the wing without taking a breather whereby I might picture it at rest. Barn Owls seem to do that at times – whizz arou…

Andy and I went back to ring the runt Barn Owl of 11 days ago – Boxing News. It was good to see the four Kestrels we ringed then had now fledged, flying free but still partly dependent upon the adults. The young Barn Owl was now big enough…

The Sand Martin Saga continues. Even though our catches this year have been very poor, we don’t give up that easily. So I met Andy today for another go at the Sand Martins that live on the high cliffs of Cockerham Quarry. We thought there to be …

Local birders are currently animated by the arrival in our area of a number of Common Quail Coturnix coturnix, late migrants from Southern Europe and Africa. With streaked and barred brown feathers and a prominent white eye-stripe, a Common Quail …

We’re already planning the autumn Linnet ringing so with that in mind I set out to check Richard the farmer’s bird seed plot at Cockerham. Although we like to complain about the weather the year has been a good one for plant growth with a good mix of …

A few weeks ago I mentioned how Andy’s contacts had invited him along to see progress in two nest boxes installed at their home. At that time a pair of Kestrels occupied a box located on a building and a pair of Barn Owls occupied a box not too far aw…

There was 30 minutes to spare before the meet with Andy at the Sand Martin colony so I stopped off at a place I know. Barn Owl Barn OwlBarn OwlRegular readers will be familiar with our Sand Martin dilemma. “How do we catch martins when the ti…