Short Visit

Short-eared owl

I spent around 3 hours trundling around the patch this morning. As usual I checked out Freeman's Wood and Pools and then made my way along the cycle track towards the Flood.
From there I headed up to check to Lune from Cadaver Corner, bumping into Dan along the way. He'd seen much the same stuff as me, though added a short-eared owl which had flown upriver before gaining height and spiralling off (Dan's pic posted here).
After scanning the river and adjacent marsh I headed back along Dawson's Bank to Marsh Point and then back down through Freeman's Wood.

One of the most notable things this morning was the steady, if light, movement of swifts. Good numbers of swallows and house martins were seen too, along with a pair of sand martin.

Whitethroat

As has been the theme in recent days, common whitethroats (pictured) and lesser whitethroats were singing all over the place while blackcaps, willow warblers and chiffchaffs were occupying all available habitat.
A handful of sedge warblers were chuntering away in the undergrowth here and there. Dan mentioned he'd heard a feeble bit of sub-singing by a seemingly non-committal grasshopper warbler near Reedy Corner.
A few wheatears were scattered around on Aldcliffe and Colloway Marshes - most were robust individuals, presumably headed for Greenland and the like.

Whinchat

A single whinchat certainly brightened up the already sun-kissed morning (pictured).
There wasn't much going on on the river; a lone drake eider, a pair of gadwall and a single common sandpiper being the highlights.

Whimbrel

At least 3 whimbrel (pictured) were probing away on the marsh near The Creek while another was out on Aldcliffe Marsh.
A kestrel was hunting around the area while buzzard and sparrowhawk were both kicking around the Freeman's Wood area.
As is customary at this time of year, (bar the odd visit from garganey, etc) Freeman's Pools was pretty quiet. A trio of snoozing gadwall were on the island while coots were still sat tight on nests. A couple of little grebe were lurking in the poolside vegetation.

Jon
   

Taking Stock

A scan of Freeman's Pools this morning revealed no sign of yesterday's garganey. Mind you, these fabulous little ducks are masters of disappearing into even the smallest clump of waterside vegetation so who knows, maybe they're still around.
One thing I did notice as I trundled around the patch was the number of singing lesser whitethroat. It would appear that there has been something of an overnight arrival. Common whitethroat too were positively omnipresent in the hedgerows.

I finally scored my first on-patch whimbrel of the year (better late than never I suppose) on Aldcliffe Marsh, as viewed from the end of Aldcliffe Hall Lane. A further three were feeding in the traditional whimbrel hotspot near The Channel. What was presumably the overwintering greenshank was still present on the marsh flashes.
At least 11 eider and a trio of red-breasted merganser were on the river along with the expected flotillas of shelduck. 

A fine whinchat was bug-hunting from a stone wall and nearby hawthorn not far from the Walled Meadow.
Other stuff of note around the parish included a pair of grey partridge on the tideline and three little ringed plover. And, significantly I'm pretty sure I can confirm what I think is surely a patch first:  breeding stock doves. I wonder if it's the same pair that were paired up and prospecting for nests in the Fairfield Orchard / nature reserve area recently? I'll be keeping my eye on those.

As I walked home via the FAUNA reserve I clocked a corking male redstart near the allotment perimeter and I later heard that patch regular Jonny Scragg also had a whinchat there.

Jon

White Stripes

Garganey by Dan Heywood

A last minute decision to quickly pop down to Freeman's Pools before setting off for a meeting up at the Lake District Osprey Project this morning proved worthwhile.
The pools looked quiet but nonetheless there were a small number of birds on the water.
A couple of gadwall, a coot, little grebe, a couple of garganey... a swift double-take.
Yep, a smart pair of that loveliest of dabbling ducks was swimming alongside a gadwall pair. The drake's unmistakable white stripes dazzled in the morning sun.
I called Dan just in case he was in the area and sure enough he was. Within 5 minutes he had arrived at the pools and was soon snapping a couple of long-range record shots.
For a while garganey were seen annually around the Aldcliffe patch, both in spring and autumn, but as far as I am aware the two gracing the pools this morning are the first to be seen here since April 2009!
Other stuff around the pools included a couple of sedge warblers, lots of whitethroats and blackcaps and a female redstart plus the other usual bits and bobs.

Jon

Three Is The Magic Number

A couple of hours spent bumbling around Aldcliffe this morning was a little more productive than of late.
Now, don't get me wrong; I love a bit of sunshine and time spent on the patch on glorious spring days are hard to beat but there's a lot to be said for cloud and drizzle at migration time.
Things seemed much the same around Freeman's Wood and the Pools. Blackcaps, willow warblers and chiffchaffs were all in fine voice while a great spotted woodpecker hammered out its territorial claims.

With the annual lapwing nest annihilation having got underway on Thursday, it was heartening at least to see the muck-spreading going on today, before any birds have had chance to re-lay. Even so, I'm sure the seeding will be implemented just in time to trash a few more eggs yet.
So far I hadn't seen any lapwing chicks in the fields; they must have been so close to hatching. This is a clear demonstration of the kind of appalling farming practice that's at the heart of massive national declines in so many farmland birds. And all for some shitty cattle-grade maize...

Along with the distressed lapwings, there were also several linnets and a single wheatear in the area. Then came my first patch-year tick of the day, a cracking male whinchat on the hedge. Lovely!
The drizzle stepped up a notch and within seconds dozens of house martins and swallows, along with a few sand martins, descended.

I made my way to the Wildfowlers' Pools where the highlight was a pair of dazzling summer-plumage black-tailed godwits.
In the nearby hedgerow I heard my second patch year-tick of the day; sedge warbler. About time too!
The Flood was bereft of birds bar a couple of pairs of shelduck. Where are all the white wagtails this year?
As I walked along the path past Walled Meadow my third and final patch year-tick zoomed into view. A swift bombed by at eye level heading toward Stodday.
For me, the sight of a first annual swift is about as enthralling as birding gets. I actually gasped out loud and my pulse notably raced as this scythe-winged master of the air shot by. Pure magic. 

I detected a distinct increase in common whitethroat activity around the Aldcliffe area this morning, yet oddly didn't hear a single lesser whitethroat.

Jon 

The White Stuff

Chiffchaff

A very pleasant couple of hours in the morning sunshine today was certainly good for the soul, even if the birding was, on the whole, a bit dull.
It started out rather encouragingly with what appeared to be a significant influx of blackcaps - birds were singing all over the shop. Freeman's Wood was positively hopping with them and both males and females were seen in good numbers. The now-familiar strains of willow warbler and chiffchaff also filled the air but I couldn't detect anything 'new'.
I checked the pools for garganey (ever hopeful) but drew a blank. Even yesterday's drake goosander had moved on. On the plus side two pairs of gadwall remain along with a little ringed plover...
The migrant-friendly perimeter hedges were bereft of anything notable and there weren't even any hirundines over the water.
The Lune was almost birdless although there were still 4 lingering pink-footed geese on Aldcliffe Marsh.

Wheatear

Checking the stubble fields I came across a couple of wheatear, 2 stock dove and the flock of 50-60 linnet. There are plenty of sitting lapwing but no sign of any early young yet - the fields haven't yet been ploughed but I'm sure it's just a matter of days before the egg-smashing machinery arrives on site.
Four more little ringed plover were on the Flood.
Another wheatear was on the tideline by Walled Meadow.
A couple of high-drifting buzzards had me hopeful for the briefest of moments and a grand total of 3 northbound swallows further emphasized the lack of overall movement.

Just as I'd given up hope of seeing anything 'new' I heard the soft mutterings of a whitethroat in subsong, and after a minute or two of hedge-scanning I found the culprit. It was soon followed by another, barely 50 metres along in the same hedgerow. Nice!

Jon