Another First for Aldcliffe

Once the (un-forecast) rain stopped this morning I dragged myself down to the patch for a spot of Aldcliffe birding.
First, I made my way through Freeman's Wood noting good numbers of redwings, blackbirds and goldcrests around the place. A charming pair of bullfinch showed well and a female blackcap was seen gorging on blackberries.

At Freeman's Pools there was nothing out of the ordinary, although it was good to see numbers of classic wintering species still creeping up (14 each of wigeon, teal and gadwall plus 31 coot).
As mentioned several times on this blog in the past, rooks are relatively scarce visitors on the patch. We can usually expect a few in autumn and early winter but they rarely exceed double figures, so a total of 22 scattered around the fields to the east of the cycle track was cause for minor celebration.

Cetti's Warbler pic by Ron Knight

Stopping, as always, to check all the small flocks of passerines along the hedgerows I came across a modest tit flock made up of the usual bits and pieces; blue tit, great tit, long-tailed tit, wren and a couple of goldcrests. Then just a few metres behind, a 'large' warbler loomed into view.
My first naked-eye thoughts were of reed warbler but as soon as I got my bins on it it was clear that this was my long-awaited first Cetti's warbler for the patch.
The bird was feeding low down in a sparse hawthorn and gave brilliant views for several minutes before dropping down out of view.

So, if you were one of the 52% of participants who chose Cetti's warbler as probable next new bird for Aldcliffe (see the poll on the top right). please give yourselves a round of quiet applause. Now I'll have to think of another bird to replace it and keep the poll open... incidentally, the last new patch bird, pectoral sandpiper, wasn't even included in the options!

Close by, a party of at least 6 lesser redpoll were feeding on rosebay willowherb seedheads - presumably this is the same small flock that was in the same area nearly 3 weeks ago?

Jon  

A Week Away Works Wonders

Blimey, it's a been a while since I posted something on here.
That doesn't mean that I haven't been out birding, more a case of that I've struggled to find motivation to write anything about in what has been a very unusual autumn period.
Common migrants have been hard to find (nice clear September nights for clearing out with no off-passage stuff to speak of) and ongoing mild conditions means relatively few weather-induced arrivals from the north.

The influx of yellow-browed warblers had me hopeful but as yet not a single one has materialised on the patch. That said, I've been working away fair bit and also just spent a week on the Scillies so there may have been dozens of the wee sprites at Aldcliffe, but with practically no birders checking the area they could easily have gone unnoticed. It's a philosophical (phylloscophical?) conundrum: a yellow-browed warbler calls in the sycamore but there's no one there to hear it, does it still make a sound?   

Phone'scope pic of Hudsonian whimbrel

Anyhoo, I saw loads of yellow-browed warblers on the Scillies  along with an embarrassing glut of firecrests - always great to see. The Hudsonian whimbrel on Tresco gave me a British tick, as did the St Mary's Blyth's pipit and my third, if well overdue, 'first' was the dazzling (if a little tick infested) olive-backed pipit on St Martins.

'Fawn Yawn' at Land's End

Kev Kelly and I also found the islands' only Pallas's warbler of the season while on Tresco and we finished the week off with a look at a ridiculously approachable juvenile rose-coloured starling at Land's End. The pic of the starling here was taken with my phone. No 'scope, no trickery, just my phone.

Closer to home, here are a few of the highlights from the past few weeks around Aldcliffe...

Oct 4th: a few blackcap around plus 2 'new-in' tree sparrows

Colour-ringed grey wagtail

Oct 5th: common whitethroat, 5 chiffchaff (all but one silent), loads of goldcrests and a very showy party of 6 redpoll.
Colour-ringed grey wagtail at Stodday ETW (ringed at Middleton 27/9/15).

Sept 27th: few chiffchaffs found in the company of the local tit flocks. Small numbers of meadow pipit & swallow overhead.
A drake scaup on the Lune.

Sept 18th: 1 blackcap and common whitethroat this morning. A few swallows mainly in small numbers though one tight flock of 22, plus 4 meadow pipit and 6 alba wagtail over. Chaffinch, greenfinch and reed bunting numbers creeping up a touch. A couple of willow warbler and 5 chiffchaff.
A ringed adult Med gull at Gull Bank
Gadwall up to 6 at Freeman's Pools, plus 2 tufted duck, 6 wigeon, a green sandpiper and the usual little grebes, etc.

Jon

Spotted Redshank Spotted

The weather wasn't exactly conducive for common autumn migrants this morning so I wasn't too surprised to find nothing lurking in the bushes. I didn't even see a blackcap and only noted 2 chiffchaff - it was as if everything had cleared out overnight.
At least things are livening up at Freeman's Pools; I counted an impressive 10 little grebe on the main pool. Coot numbers have increased slightly with 32 present and along with the 6 wigeon there were 4 newly arrived tufted duck. A little egret was on the island along with a grey heron.
A greenshank, common sandpiper and adult Mediterranean gull were on the river off Marsh Point.
A calling spotted redshank flew over me as I walked toward the Wildfowlers' Pools - perhaps it had come up from there or the Flood? It continued on toward Freeman's Pools but seemed to drop onto the river somewhere near the old tip. We don't get too many 'spotshanks' on the patch so that was nice wee surprise.
Other than a dozen or so dunlin and 5 golden plover there was nothing among the many redshank and lapwing at Gull Bank.
The relatively warm sunshine had brought out the usual array of common dragonflies and butterflies.

Jon

Whinchat Saves The Day

With Dan sending a message yesterday saying that there were 4 whinchat on Heaton Marsh, and Pete Marsh texting this morning with news of a firecrest at Heysham, along with good numbers of other migrants, I couldn't wait to get out and see was waiting to be found at Aldcliffe.
I finally got out to onto the patch just before 9am (a little later than ideal but sometimes other things simply get in the way of birding). 

A slow stroll through Freeman's Wood revealed little more than a few chiffchaff and the odd 'tecking' blackcap. In fact it seemed eerily devoid of even common resident species.
Freeman's Pool hosted a kingfisher plus the usual bits and pieces. Six wigeon certainly lent an air of autumn to the scene.

The hedgerows were pretty quiet until I finally found a pair of male blackcaps along the upper cinder track. A nice whitethroat was also present along with a handful of chiffchaff. Then it started to rain and the sky filled with swallows plus a couple of dozen house martin. At one point I could see at least 300 swallows feeding low over the maize fields and marsh.
A green sandpiper called from the direction of the Wildfowlers' Pools.
The next bout of activity came from the hedge just beyond Walled Meadow where a small tit flock included two more whitethroat, a willow warbler and several chiffchaff.
As I headed back along the cycle track I came across a trio of female blackcap gorging on elderberries near the Wildfowlers' Pools.
Three grey partridge were picking their way through the grass in a nearby field.
Another tit flock in the track hawthorns was momentarily almost exciting as it contained 3 lesser whitethroat and 2 willow warbler, but sadly nothing more exotic.
A very small number of pied wagtail and meadow pipit passed over during my three hours birding on the patch.
The only real highlight was the last-minute discovery of a whinchat sat on the newly trimmed hedgerow near the flood defence bunds. It was in the company of yet another whitethroat.    

I have another day off tomorrow, so I'll doubtless be sporting my trusty optimism-hat and be heading down once more in the hope of finding something worthy of a message to RBA... wish me luck :-)

Jon    

Breezy Like A Friday Morning

Red darvic ringed Canada goose

Inspired by yesterday's impressive haul down the road at Fairhaven Lake, Lytham St. Anne's (two barred warblers and a wryneck!) I stepped out on to the patch with an air of über-optimism this morning. Who knows what might be lurking in the mass of Aldcliffe hawthorns and elders?
Who indeed. Not me, that's for sure.
The wind (although theoretically coming from a helpful direction) was pretty stiff and the vast majority of songbirds were keeping a low profile.
In some sheltered areas I was able to find a few birds, but alas my hoped-for scarce migrant remained decidedly scarce.
Here's the best I could do in a couple of hours:
Freeman's Wood - 2 Blackcap, 1 willow warbler, 2 chiffchaff.
Walled Meadow - redstart, 2 willow warbler, 3 chiffchaff and a common whitethroat.
Upper cinder track - 1 lesser whitethroat, 5 chiffchaff.
Small numbers of swallow were moving, plus a group of 6 sand martin passed through.

A green sandpiper and 3 little grebe were at the Wildfowlers' Pools while a greenshank was heard calling from somewhere out on Aldcliffe Marsh.
3 wigeon, 2 gadwall, 7 little grebe & 22 coot were on Freeman's Pools.

Common darter - immature male (I think!)

The large flock of Canada geese were grazing by Frog Pond and I was able to 'scope the letters on a few of the red darvic rings. As ever, a few had to remain unread thanks to them being mud-smeared or simply too deep in the grass to read. Oh, and the bloody wind didn't help either.
 
When the sun came out, good numbers of speckled wood were evident plus plenty of common darters, a few migrant hawkers and a couple of brown hawkers were seen. 

Jon