Several Cygents Signal Successful Spring Season

Mute swan family at Freeman's Pools

Once again my 'weekend' happened on Monday and Tuesday this week. Unfortunately the long prolonged spell of warm, sunny weather decided to end on Sunday evening and as I headed down to Aldcliffe on Monday morning there was a decided chill in the air. It did warm up as the day wore on and today (Tuesday) certainly felt better.
Although little new has appeared in recent days (with the exception of a drake tufted duck back on Freeman's Pools) there is still plenty of activity going on around the patch.
Non-breeding large gulls continue to build in number on the river and yesterday up to 500 were roosting along the western shore. Also hanging around the Lune are around 30 or so non-breeding mute swans.
Juvenile robins and blackbirds are present in good numbers throughout the patch while blue tits, great tits, long-tailed tits, goldfinches, greenfinches and chaffinches are busy feeding multiple young.
Despite their late arrival, many migrant songbirds seem to making the most of the good conditions and chiffchaffs and both common and lesser whitethroat are fastidiously tending to growing chicks in the cycle track hedgerows.
However, the waders seem to be struggling to get anything out of the nest. I have yet to see any young oystercatchers, lapwing or little ringed plover despite the presence of nests, or breeding pairs on territory. In the maize fields, the 'second attempt' lapwing eggs should be due to hatch any day now, so hopefully some of the 11 nests (that I'm aware of) will get some young through to fledging stage.
The mute swans on Freeman's Pools left the nest last week, and on Wednesday evening I saw the proud pair escorting 3 very newly hatched cygnets around the reserve. (Incidentally, the pair on the canal along Aldcliffe Road also have 3 young cygnets, as seen today).
Also on Wednesday I noticed a very unseasonal drake goldeneye on the River Lune off St. George's Quay in the early evening. An escape or a genuine wild bird?
And on the subject of ducks, I also saw 2 female-type gadwall (1 adult, 1 fledged juv?) on the river toward Stodday. They flew in from inland and dropped on the water - have gadwall actually nested nearby this year? A pair certainly hung around Aldcliffe well into spring... 

Langden Valley, Bowland

On Wednesday of last week, I had the great pleasure of joining two of the RSPB's front-line Bowland staff for a walk up the Langden Valley.
I was accompanying a new member of my team, who will be working within the region in coming months, and who better to put her in the picture than Bowland Wader Project Officer (and killdeer finder extraordinaire) Gavin Thomas and Bowland Project Officer Jude Lane.
Gavin and Jude expertly put into context the struggles and successes of working within the Bowland area and answered all our questions with obvious passion and enthusiasm.

Adult dipper

Of course, we didn't see any hen harriers (Langden used to be my guaranteed year-tick site for this species along with short-eared owl but alas no more) but we did get ace views of a pair of another Langden speciality; ring ouzel - with the female in particular showing really well.
Add to that the spectacular landscape, plus up to 3 pairs of stonechat and a dipper with a recently fledged youngster and the time spent was not only educational but also genuinely exhilarating.
Sometimes I really, really love being back in Britain!

A Lakes Escape

The view from the osprey watchpoint at Dodd Wood

Everything came together just nicely earlier this week. We had a great forecast, Monday and Tuesday were my 'weekend' and I was off work, and it was Jenny's birthday week too.
So, we decided to head to the hills and drove the paltry hour and a bit to Keswick in the Lake District.
Jenny was keen to reacquaint herself with Catbells, a place she had walked frequently as a child, and I wanted to visit the Osprey Watchpoint at Dodd Wood.
Add to these obvious and wonderful attractions the lure of some excellent Cumbrian ales and food and voilà! - we have the perfect mini-break.

Jenny on the ascent

We headed first to Dodd Wood and from the vantage point overlooking Bassenthwaite we were able to see the osprey nest in the distance. Even at range we could see the female moving around as she sat low in the large nest and at one point the male flew in from the lake.
Having failed to spot any migrant ospreys at Aldcliffe this spring - there were very few seen locally on passage this year - I was delighted to finally catch up with an English osprey.
For some reason I had never visited this site before despite the fact that ospreys first bred here in 2001.
One of the greatest conservation stories of recent times, the Bassenthwaite birds were the first wild ospreys to breed in the Lake District for over 150 years.
Nice to hear good news concerning birds of prey for a change... 

After a plate full of excellent stodge at our B&B on Tuesday morning we got the boat across Derwent Water to Hawes End from where we proceeded to Catbells.
Blessed with glorious weather it was an enjoyable and easy walk up and along the ridge to 451 metres (1,480 ft). 
On the lower slopes a male yellowhammer was singing away, and as we climbed meadow pipits became increasingly conspicuous. We came across a pair of wheatear on the western slopes and a raven 'cronked' overhead but otherwise it was pretty quiet bird wise. 

Me on the first peak

At the foot of the fell we followed a dry stone wall bordering a classic lakeland oak wood which was alive with the sound of singing willow warblers, chiffchaffs, blackcaps and other common breeders.
I kept my ears and eyes out for redstart, pied flyctacher and wood warbler but I didn't have any luck locating any.

Tawny owl

I did however spot a smart tawny owl checking us out from its daytime roost, allowing a quick snap.
We made it back to the boat launch and caught the ferry back to Keswick in time for a late lunch, after which we headed back home having had a great time re-familiarising ourselves with this beautiful part of the world.
Jon  

  
 

Here, there and everywhere...

Blimey - I can't believe that I haven't posted anything here for over 3 weeks! That isn't in any way a reflection of the amount of birding that I've done, but more perhaps a reflection of the quality...
It's been a pretty crappy spring as far as Aldcliffe's concerned, or at least it has been in my experience (bar the odd corncrake, otter, etc).
Add to that the fact that my new job has had me all over the place and I've really struggled to find the time to actually sit down and write a post.
The great thing about my peripatetic lifestyle is that I do get to see a few birds here and there that are ordinarily pretty tough to find in North Lancashire. While on the East coast I have seen yellow wagtails, little terns, yellowhammers and puffins amongst other things.

Joining in the Puffin Fest fun...

Talking of puffins, I had the great pleasure of attending the Amble Puffin Festival in Northumberland. Celebrating the nearby colony of the ever-popular auks on Coquet Island, this event was organised by the town in conjunction with the RSPB, who manage the island reserve.
Unfortunately the day I arrived the weather prevented me from taking a trip out to the island, and the following day I was too busy to find the time. Given that the island hosts a remarkable 90% of the UK's breeding roseate terns, this was something of shame!
In recent weeks I've also paid visits to the RSPB's Saltholme reserve in Teeside, Fairburn Ings in West Yorkshire and the newly opened St Aidan's reserve just outside Leeds.   

Courting common terns at Preston Dock

Last weekend I was at Preston Docks where I joined members of the Fylde Bird Club to help raise the profile of the common tern colony there.
These dainty seabirds first bred at this location in 2009 and following the provision of some artificial nesting sites the colony had grown to an impressive 30 pairs in 2012. Over 80 birds were present while I was there on the Saturday but up to 165 had been counted earlier in that week.
An amazing urban wildlife success by any standards, the volunteers from FBC really deserve to be praised for their efforts in Preston.  

When able, I have continued to get down to Aldcliffe pretty regularly but my visits haven't coincided with anything much of note. Another patch worker Dan, did bag a fine adult hobby at Freeman's Wood on May 14. This dynamic falcon can be expected annually in the Aldcliffe area these days but their appearances are at best erratic and unpredictable.  
A few personal noteworthy mentions include an off-passage whinchat on May 20, the reappearance of a pair of drake tufted duck on 28th and the first coot chicks a week ago, while the Freeman's Pool island pair finally hatched 3 young on May 31.
Of course swifts are all over the place now, and sedge warblers are much in evidence around the patch. 

Broad-bodied chaser

Yesterday I dropped by the Allen and Eric Morecambe hides at Leighton Moss for the first time since they were rebuilt and re-opened. Other than the many breeding avocets and black-headed gulls it was pretty quiet. What wasn't so quiet was the Cetti's warbler that was blasting away just outside the Allen Hide! It even showed well, if briefly before disappearing over the railway line to continue its clamorous activities.
On the main reserve I came across my first odonata since returning to the UK. Up to 3 female-type (or newly emerged males?) broad-bodied chasers were showing well alongside the path near Tim Jackson hide. I couldn't resist taking a couple of snaps.
 

Spotted flycatcher

On my way home from Leighton, I dropped by to see my folks at their home in Hornby. They had told me of a pair of spotted flycatcher that had been visiting the garden and as I hadn't yet seen one this year I thought I'd take a peek. We watched one bird as it repeatedly brought nesting material to one area, so fingers crossed we will be able to observe the successful raising of a brood of these 'red' listed migrants. 

Now that I have finally updated this blog, I will endeavour to keep posting...

A Crake's Progress

Sunset over the maize fields

I chose to make my post-work visit to the patch a late one yesterday.  The main reason for this was that I hoped to see whether the barn owl that has been present throughout the winter was still in the Aldcliffe area. And of course May is a pretty good month for finding off-passage short-eared owls here too.
Due to the glorious sunshine, it remained light well past 9pm and I had a good couple of hours checking a few choice spots around the site.
As it happens I didn't see any owls but I did have two rather amazing experiences - one simply confirmed something that I had suspected for some time while the other was a complete and utter surprise.
The unexpected discovery involved hearing a bird, calling from across the fields around 8.45pm. I was stood on the cycle track having just checked Darter Pool when I heard a distinct but distant rasping call coming from toward Dawson's Bank. Now, I don't have the best hearing these days and so trying to figure exactly where it was coming from wasn't easy but I cupped my ears and heard what sounded exactly like a corncrake!
It went on for around half a minute allowing me to guess that it was likely coming from the hedgerow or the area of vegetation around Bank Pool. I racked my brain trying to figure out what else it could be. After all, I hadn't heard a corncrake for a few years and I didn't want to be too hasty in identifying it as such. It wasn't a grey partridge (they had been calling earlier in an adjacent field), and although I couldn't recall what red-legged partridge sounded like off the top of my head I was pretty sure they didn't have a two-part sawing-action rasp like that!
I tried to get a little closer to figure out just where the bird was and to hopefully get a recording of it, but over the next 20 minutes or so it never vocalised again. 
When I got home later I checked out recordings of corncrake calls to see whether I was totally off the mark or not, but it just confirmed my thoughts. Oh, and for the record, red-leg partridge sounds absolutely nothing like that.
So in conclusion - a new bird for Aldcliffe but not under the most rewarding circumstances... it would of course have been fantastic to have seen it but like most birders, I heard more than a few before finally laying eyes on one even in that corncrake hotspot of the Outer Hebrides.

An otter's head

The other first of the evening concerned a mammal. As I was scanning over Freeman's Pools in the fading light (yes, still looking for barn owl) I noticed a splash, and as I got my bins on the rippled water I saw a thick tail disappearing beneath the surface. Otter!
Over the nest 15 minutes or so the otter surfaced several times, much to the annoyance of the local mallards and coot who kept a wary eye on it. I have long suspected that otters must visit this site from time to time and have seen signs to suggest as much. They have been seen in the nearby canal and at various spots along the Lune estuary, so it was quite a treat to see one so well on my local patch (and just a few minutes from home!).
As you can see I did manage a photo of sorts, but for all you know it could be discarded Carlsberg can or a dead moorhen...

Earlier today I had a quick trawl around the area but there wasn't too much going on apart from the thoroughly depressing sight of the maize fields being ploughed, putting a certain end to any lapwing broods that may have escaped last week's muck-spreading.
Heaven only knows if any pairs will get to raise any young this year, but there is at least still plenty of time for further attempts.

The only passage migrants concerned a whinchat and 3 large wheatears (no doubt Greenland-bound) plus a handful of swifts and a slow trickle of swallows.
Little ringed plover pairs were on Freeman's Pools and the Wildfowlers' Pools - the Flood having all but completely dried out, I couldn't see any there. A common sandpiper was also on Freeman's Pools.
The track hedgerows were alive with the songs of whitethroat, blackcap, chiffchaff and other common species. Lesser whitethroat seem a little on the scarce side still with just a couple heard.
A single whimbrel was near the Creek, a lone little egret was at Stodday and 5 eider were on the Lune.
Kestrel, sparrowhawk, common buzzard and peregrine were all seen and a little owl was trying its best to avoid detection at the Admiralty Wood (pictured).
Jon

A Linnet In The Dung Pile

Yesterday, it was glorious for much of the day and so after work I hoofed it down to Aldcliffe for a mooch around the patch.
Freeman's Pools were unusually quiet with just a few mallard, coot and moorhens present on the water. The mute swan pair have now constructed a formidable nest in the reeds, let's hope that they can raise a brood.
On the island, a surprise came in the form of 4 smart black-tailed godwit. Not exactly unusual in the Aldcliffe area, but they scarcely visit these pools.
A couple of singing sedge warblers were my first of the year, and one in particular showed brilliantly.
Along the cycle track I came across a neat male whinchat near Darter Pool and the linnet flock in the stubble fields had increased to a rather impressive 44 birds. I carefully scanned through just in case some odd interloper might have joined them... it hadn't.
On the Flood there were still 8 white wagtails, along with 2 pairs of little ringed plover.

Brown hare tries to avoid eye-contact...

With a day off scheduled for today, I was optimistic for a good early birdy start based on the forecast. Overnight southerly winds with drizzle in the morning - what could be better? Unfortunately our friends at the Met Office were a little off and the day started bright with the wind having switched to something more south-westerly and of course the lack of precipitation had me abandoning any ideas of hoopoes, woodchat shrikes and lesser short-toed larks.
As it happened I really struggled to find anything worthy of mention, and even the white wagtail convention at the Flood had completely cleared out.
At least 20 linnet were still kicking around, including a few rummaging around in the piles of horse manure currently occupying the stubble fields.
A lone wheatear and the on-territory common and lesser whitethroats did all they could to keep me interested but I didn't even pick up any notable vis; meanwhile stacks of redpoll and a trio of tree pipit graced nearby Heysham Obs airspace...  and let's not even mention Walney's bee-eater!
Oh well, I did see my first peacock butterfly of the year and a brown hare crouched fearfully as I passed by (pictured).