LANCS: A bit of a grouse.

Another fine afternoon for surveying yesterday so I set off after a morning in the office for some evening fieldwork. My first squares were not too inspiring to be honest, mainly treading gingerly over blanket bog and farmland pasture. I did have the privilege to have lengthy chats with a few local people though, one a gentleman of eighty with a lifetime in Bowland to recount. I realised in the course of conversation how one man's conservation issues are not necessarily anothers. Too much emphasis on the protection of birds of prey was the general opinion, apparently at the cost of the smaller birds which were considered of little importance to conservation bodies. Stories of a handsome brace of Red Grouse maybe revealed the underlying issue, something all too rare apparently since the harriers began to prosper on the moors. Later in the evening I was invited into a farmhouse (Bowland folk have been very hospitable throughout my contract out here) where the residents were singing from much the same hymn sheet, with a respectable tolerance for raptor conservation policies, but little more. I did sense a great concern for the well being of all other forms of wildlife though as we spoke of the recent troubled plight of our resident and migrant species: "What's happened to the [House] martins?"

Anyway yesterday's birds were dispersed at fairly regular intervals throughout the late afternoon and evening starting with a drake Teal on a boggy section near Bowland Knotts where I sat for a while watching Large Red Damselflies and a Four-spotted Chaser. In fact a couple of the more interesting birds were just off my survey squares, namely a Tree Pipit and the first of the evening's Green Woodpeckers. The woody is a bird I rarely find in Lancs and the Stocks Reservoir area of Bowland is probably the most reliable I know for this species. A ringtail Hen Harrier scattered Curlews as she quartered an area of grazing near the farm where I'd been chatting earlier with one of the residents. Funny how when he'd mentioned harriers I'd thought "Well, they won't trouble you down here until winter at least". Just goes to show how wrong you (well, I) can be!
In keeping with my usual form for seeing other people's birds I thought I'd take a look at Stock's Reservoir as a break from clipboard birding. From the hide I could confirm quite quickly that I had indeed managed to miss the previous day's Spotted Redshank quite successfully and returned to work content with yet another pathetic effort. Waders are starting to congregate in flocks on the in-bye now; Oystercatchers and Curlews feeding in flocks of 7 and 16 respectively in the evening sunshine yesterday.

I decided to return via Waddington Fell for a change and noticed the sign of the pub near the top. My chances of seeing Black Grouse in Lancs are long gone as they are extinct in Lancs unfortunately with the last Lancashire birds possibly present until 1997. Reading through the species accounts in the excellent 'Birds of Lancashire and North Merseyside' there appears to be some doubt that Black Grouse ever occurred in the county in a truly wild state, their status clouded by introductions for shooting purposes. Indeed the name 'Moor Cock' may well refer to Red Grouse and 'Heath Cock' was used to refer to Black Grouse.

Anyway, I didn't see any so I needn't worry too much!

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