Green sandpiper on the Wildfowlers' Pools and 1st w female scaup still on Freeman's Pools today - thanks to Steve W for keeping an eye on things down there!
Good to see a green sand back at the pools. Overwintering birds at Aldcliffe usually vanish for a while if the water levels get too high, then return once the pool edges become exposed. I wonder where it's been?
To see the rest of Steve's recent Aldcliffe postings click on the link to the LDBWS website below, on the right.
Welcome to Aldcliffe & Freeman's Wood, Lancaster - an area of the Lune Estuary in Morecambe Bay, North Lancs.
Thursday, 30 October 2008
Sunday, 26 October 2008
Scaup stays put...
The juv female scaup was again present at Freeman's Pools this morning. Glad to note that Steve W successfully 'twitched' it!
Also there: 4 mute swan, 3 little grebe, 7 wigeon, 3 tufted duck, 1 shoveler, 15 coot & 1 goldeneye plus the usual mallards & moorhens.
Pair of m swans on Frog Pond & 2 coot on Darter Pool.
The Wildfowlers' Pools continue to expand due to the incessant rainfall and are now at sever mid-winter levels with the cycle track being flooded for a good 100m or so. Good job the upper path is there, allowing you to bypass it if you don't have wellies. Not much there bird-wise though, just a group of 50ish feeding redshank, the usual moorhens, a few coot and a little grebe.
Just 1 little egret spotted on the marsh.
1 common snipe flushed from Snipe Bog.
Passerines pitifully quiet in general with just 1 flock of redwing and a few feeding blackbirds, song thrushes and 2 tit flocks in the hedgerows.
And finally...
Congratulations to my very good pal Adrian 'Ziggy' Dawson who today became a first-time dad. As a former Aldcliffe patch-worker this blog wishes him, Rachael and their newborn daughter Isobella our very best wishes.
Also there: 4 mute swan, 3 little grebe, 7 wigeon, 3 tufted duck, 1 shoveler, 15 coot & 1 goldeneye plus the usual mallards & moorhens.
Pair of m swans on Frog Pond & 2 coot on Darter Pool.
The Wildfowlers' Pools continue to expand due to the incessant rainfall and are now at sever mid-winter levels with the cycle track being flooded for a good 100m or so. Good job the upper path is there, allowing you to bypass it if you don't have wellies. Not much there bird-wise though, just a group of 50ish feeding redshank, the usual moorhens, a few coot and a little grebe.
Just 1 little egret spotted on the marsh.
1 common snipe flushed from Snipe Bog.
Passerines pitifully quiet in general with just 1 flock of redwing and a few feeding blackbirds, song thrushes and 2 tit flocks in the hedgerows.
And finally...
Congratulations to my very good pal Adrian 'Ziggy' Dawson who today became a first-time dad. As a former Aldcliffe patch-worker this blog wishes him, Rachael and their newborn daughter Isobella our very best wishes.
Saturday, 25 October 2008
Scaup scoop!
The combination of a bright day and a 5 o'clock finish on Friday allowed for what will certainly be the last post-work visit from me for quite some time... However, it wasn't exactly stunning.
2 little grebe, 2 tufted duck, 9 wigeon, 7 mallard, 14 coot & 4 mute swan the Freeman's Pools highlights.
2 further little grebe were on the Wildfowlers' Pools plus around 20 mallard and 60 or so redshank.
Another 2 little grebe were on the Flood along with approx 100 mallard.
Saturday
Didn't manage to get out until the afternoon when I spent spent a soggy spell trying to check the area.
Several hundred lapwing were in the fields with a few redshank and a solitary golden plover. A flock of approx 150 resting BH gulls held an adult Med gull by the Flood.
A shoveler and 2 little grebe were on the Wildfowlers' Pools.
The undoubted highlight was a 1st winter fem. scaup on Freeman's Pools with 3 tufted duck (this is personal first for Aldcliffe and brings my patch list to 177). Also present were 13 wigeon (finally made double figures), 2 little grebe and the usual mallard, coot, moorhen etc. No sign of any pochard.
2 little grebe, 2 tufted duck, 9 wigeon, 7 mallard, 14 coot & 4 mute swan the Freeman's Pools highlights.
2 further little grebe were on the Wildfowlers' Pools plus around 20 mallard and 60 or so redshank.
Another 2 little grebe were on the Flood along with approx 100 mallard.
Saturday
Didn't manage to get out until the afternoon when I spent spent a soggy spell trying to check the area.
Several hundred lapwing were in the fields with a few redshank and a solitary golden plover. A flock of approx 150 resting BH gulls held an adult Med gull by the Flood.
A shoveler and 2 little grebe were on the Wildfowlers' Pools.
The undoubted highlight was a 1st winter fem. scaup on Freeman's Pools with 3 tufted duck (this is personal first for Aldcliffe and brings my patch list to 177). Also present were 13 wigeon (finally made double figures), 2 little grebe and the usual mallard, coot, moorhen etc. No sign of any pochard.
Saturday, 18 October 2008
Winter thrushes arrive...
Late morning, early afternoon prowl around revealed the following 'highlights'...
Freeman's Wood - 50ish redwing tazzing around and feeding in the hawthorns, plus 2 fieldfare and few song thrushes. No tit flocks of note.
Freeman's Pools: 3 little grebe, 2 shoveler, 2 tufted duck, 2 pochard, 1 goldeneye, 5 wigeon, 21 coot, 4 mute swan.
Also 1 stoat and a roe deer.
Frog Pond - 2 mute swan & 1 brown hare.
Darter Pool - 1 little grebe, 2 coot.
Wildfowlers' Pools - 6 coot & a peregrine.
The Flood - 1 little grebe.
Snipe Bog - 4 common snipe
Aldcliffe Marsh - 3 little egret.
Cycle track - 1 LT tit flock contained 2 blue tit and nowt else.
Freeman's Wood - 50ish redwing tazzing around and feeding in the hawthorns, plus 2 fieldfare and few song thrushes. No tit flocks of note.
Freeman's Pools: 3 little grebe, 2 shoveler, 2 tufted duck, 2 pochard, 1 goldeneye, 5 wigeon, 21 coot, 4 mute swan.
Also 1 stoat and a roe deer.
Frog Pond - 2 mute swan & 1 brown hare.
Darter Pool - 1 little grebe, 2 coot.
Wildfowlers' Pools - 6 coot & a peregrine.
The Flood - 1 little grebe.
Snipe Bog - 4 common snipe
Aldcliffe Marsh - 3 little egret.
Cycle track - 1 LT tit flock contained 2 blue tit and nowt else.
Thursday, 16 October 2008
Aldcliffe annex?
Dan again..
I will shortly be in talks with Jon Carter to extend the ancient Aldcliffe parish boundary to include Milking Stile Lane, which is only about 250 metres from Freeman's Wood.
I was hobbling home down Milking Stile early this afternoon when I heard loud firecrest calls emanating from the bushes adjoining Jon's street. A couple of minutes and a bit of pishing later the culprit flitted out from deep cover and gave me a mean look.
Over the next twenty minutes I caught a few more glimpses of this splendid female as it motored around this unpreposessing patch of planting.
A secondary surprise was the number of migrant songbirds alongside this busy stretch of pavement-- with a minimum of four chiffchaffs, 5 goldcrests and up to 10 coal tits rubbing shoulders with the posh kinglet. A few redwings were knocking about too.
Two chiffchaffs looked rather like the continental abietinus race.
This suburban firecrest is the only one I've ever found in Lancashire (glad Ray Hobbs got a look too)-- what a shame it wasn't quite inside the parish patch--or was it?!
Jon's tuppenyworth...
Given that I start birding the minute I leave my house to walk to Freeman's Wood and on to Aldcliffe (as I'm sure you do, Dan), I suppose we could include it... only problem is, where does it end? I recall taking the p*ss out of Mark Prestwood and John Reddish a few years back 'cause they raced to Teal Bay in order to 'scope a razorbill I'd found off the Jetty and they wanted to get it on their Leighton Moss list! By that logic we should be able to count stuff in the Trough of Bowland and Conder (well, you can see both sites from Aldcliffe) :-)
I will shortly be in talks with Jon Carter to extend the ancient Aldcliffe parish boundary to include Milking Stile Lane, which is only about 250 metres from Freeman's Wood.
I was hobbling home down Milking Stile early this afternoon when I heard loud firecrest calls emanating from the bushes adjoining Jon's street. A couple of minutes and a bit of pishing later the culprit flitted out from deep cover and gave me a mean look.
Over the next twenty minutes I caught a few more glimpses of this splendid female as it motored around this unpreposessing patch of planting.
A secondary surprise was the number of migrant songbirds alongside this busy stretch of pavement-- with a minimum of four chiffchaffs, 5 goldcrests and up to 10 coal tits rubbing shoulders with the posh kinglet. A few redwings were knocking about too.
Two chiffchaffs looked rather like the continental abietinus race.
This suburban firecrest is the only one I've ever found in Lancashire (glad Ray Hobbs got a look too)-- what a shame it wasn't quite inside the parish patch--or was it?!
Jon's tuppenyworth...
Given that I start birding the minute I leave my house to walk to Freeman's Wood and on to Aldcliffe (as I'm sure you do, Dan), I suppose we could include it... only problem is, where does it end? I recall taking the p*ss out of Mark Prestwood and John Reddish a few years back 'cause they raced to Teal Bay in order to 'scope a razorbill I'd found off the Jetty and they wanted to get it on their Leighton Moss list! By that logic we should be able to count stuff in the Trough of Bowland and Conder (well, you can see both sites from Aldcliffe) :-)
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