LANCS: Chat Room.

Male Whinchat, Bowland 26 May 2009.

Another fine morning to be out and about on the moors. I can't deny it was a bit slow at first - low cloud base and pleasant breezy conditions, but few birds moving around apart from Meadow Pipits (which was lucky as that's what I was counting). A few singing Skylarks lifted spirits a little until I came across my first Stonechats of the morning. In fact I found a single male, then a pair with two young and then a male with one young.
With the clip board safely stashed at the end of the last survey it was time for a bit of birding on the way back to the car. Canada Goose (I've seen a few of these nesting in the damper areas here), plenty of Red Grouse with young and Buzzard kept me amused (not much though), if not satisfied. The soft "wheu-tack" call of a Whinchat had me scanning the bracken and I was delighted to find first a female and then, just behind her, a male plus two young. Proof of breeding Whinchat at last.

Juvenile Whinchat, Bowland 26 June 2009.

Having seen Whinchat previously on a nearby slope and suspected they were breeding, I thought I'd check to see if maybe they were the same birds on a bit of wander. So it was a pleasant surprise to find the male still in place here and, even better, another juvenile.

Bowland is the Lancashire stronghold of this attractive species. They were extinct as a breeding species in the 'lowlands' (mirroring a national trend attributed to the loss of marginal farmland habitats) and on the coast by the end of the 80's. Birds of Lancashire estimates the county population as low as 100 pairs with BTO Beeding Bird Surveys indicating a 15% national decline between 1994 and 2002. Whinchat is amber listed in Birds of Conservation Concern by virtue of this decline.


It's of no scientific value, and of little comfort (given their recent change in status) that I've encountered more Whinchats than I expected in Bowland this spring. After all I've trudged over some areas I've never visited before and covered familiar sites (to me) far more thoroughly due to fieldwork. But it's been great to see them (maybe a dozen pars) and get to know the Whinchat a little better.

Finally back at the car I was greeted by another male Whinchat. Definitely a favourite of mine and hopefully the downturn in fortunes of yet another of our summer visitors can be arrested.


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