Christmas Quacker.

Ribble Rapid Response Twitching Unit goes into overload!

Drake Ring-necked Duck, Preesall, Lancs 31 December 2009.

Long-eared Owl (1 of 3 seen) at Marton Mere, Lancs 30 December 2009.

It's been pretty good birding locally lately with plenty to see. As if the huge flocks of estuarine birds on the Ribble, Bewick's Swans, raptors. Short-eared Owls and a fine selection of geese weren't enough there's been some scarcities around too. Yesterday I ended up north of the Ribble on the Fylde with Graham, Steve and Andy from the RSPB Ribble reserves and we were treated to 3 fine Long-eared Owls at Marton Mere near Blackpool.

Another good local bird is this drake Ring-necked Duck currently on the north-western Fylde. It turned up on the west side of the Wyre Estuary on Tuesday and relocated to Preesall yesterday. Ring-necked Ducks are mighty attractive beasts in my mind, so this afternoon I drove out "up norf" to have a look at it. I guess that given its new location it means I technically saw it on its second day which is pretty good for me. So when I arrived and my nose had stopped bleeding the RND was pretty easy to locate in the raft of Coot, Tufted Ducks and Pochards on the pit.

Drake Ring-necked Duck at Preesall, Lancs 31-12-09.

The light was pretty crap but it showed very nicely (when it wasn't asleep). First record for the Fylde and my first since the Rivington Reservoir bird in East Lancs just after we moved here in 2001 (I think).

A good bird as the festive season and 2009 comes to an end. Cheers and a very Happy New Year to everyone!

Got shorty.

Popped out down the estuary at dusk this evening and managed to see 3 Short-eared Owls over Crossens Marsh from the Marine Drive near Marshside RSPB. I was a little bit late due to a quick dash to the local nature reserve on the edge of the village, in the hope that the thaw had brought a few ducks in. This "inspiration" derived from the news of a nice drake Ring-necked Duck on the Fylde today near Fleetwood. No such luck so maybe the Ribble Rapid Response Twitching Unit (a coiled spring at present) may be called into action in the next fortnight or so. Status: Amber!

Apart from the Shorties that were very much appreciated by the way, there were at least 3 Merlins, a Peregrine and at least 12 Barnacle Geese on the saltmarsh near Marshside. Single Ruddy Duck, 22 Shoveler, drumming Great spotted Woodpecker and a nice party of Long-tailed Tits were the only birds of note at Longton Brickcroft, but it was nice to meet Robin Shenton there. Robin is a Brockholes Quarry regular, indeed it's the first time I've seen him without a pile of gravel in the background!
The photo above clearly has nothing to do whatsoever with Short-eared Owls, Ruddy Ducks or any birds seen today. I photographed this snake on the recent trip to NE Brazil in Murici Reserve in the state of Alagoas. I don't know its name yet (it's probably endemic to the reserve I'm told), but I'm pretty sure it's venomous.

This snake was pretty hard to see on the forest floor (it s in the photo above too) and most of us had walked past it when someone heard a rustling in the leaf litter as the tail vibrated against some of the dry leaves. Murici is a strange place. North-east Brazil has been largely deforested and this 4,000 hectare reserve is probably the best tract of forest in the whole state of Alagoas! Murici forms an "island" in a sea of sugar cane with some of the world's rarest birds confined within its boundaries; some of which (Alagoas Foliage-gleaner for example) are down to a known world population of about 4 pairs.

OK, so I'm short of photos for today's post, but food for thought .........

Shanks's Pony.

Mrs B at Longton Marsh looking across the Ribble towards Freckleton Naze Point, 28 December 2009.

Mrs B and I left the car behind today taking a local walk to Longton Marsh. We walked from the village out to Old Grange and on to the banks of the Ribble, returning via Ribble Way and the Dolphin PH. Highlights (apart from the couple of pints by the fire) included Raven, Green Sandpiper, 9 Corn Buntings, 2 Whooper Swans, 5 Kestrels, 2+ Tree Sparrows, Grey Wagtail, 90 Greylag Geese, 1 Pink-footed Goose, 250+ Golden Plover, 30+ Curlew, 100+ Fieldfares, 30+ Redwings, Mistle Thrush, 10 Song Thrush and 8 Brown Hares (including some "boxing").

It was particularly pleasing to see the Corn Buntings today and hopefully the fields behind the Dolphin Pub where we saw them today and on our last walk here, will become a regular site for this declining species.

"Bugger Corn Buntings - where's me pie 'n' a pint?".

Lanky's back.

Great White Egret at Marshside, Lancs 27 December 2009.

Mrs B and I took a drive along the Ribble coast this morning. A Woodcock flushed from one of the hedgerows by the A59 was a bit of a surprise and as we neared the coast quite a few Little Egrets were obvious in the saltmarsh after the thaw. One egret in the pools close to the road was appreciably bigger, even from the moving car.

The wind was a bit biting to scan the marsh for geese and raptors from the sandplant rubble so we spent a bit of time photographing the Great White Egret. This is the colour-ringed bird seen here a couple of weeks ago, present on the Ribble Estuary on-and-off since about October.

The sun did come out briefly. Geese were flying around over the marsh and we did see 3 Barnacles plus the strange hybrid in one flock. Merlin, 6+ Kestrels, 100+ Golden Plover, 50+ Black-tailed Godwits, Pintail, stacks of Teals and Wigeons and single Snipe were at Marshside RSPB. The sandplant lagoons was free of ice so 41 Pochard were back.

Great White Egret, Marshside 27 December 2009.

Being a bit soft and wanting to get back to watch the footy, I decided that a quick look at Southport Marine Lake was in order. Couldn't see any rafts of duck but one of the Shags from Christmas Eve was swimming on the choppy lake.

Crossens Outer Marsh, 27 December 2009.

Boxing clever?

Ist winter drake Velvet Scoter, Barrow Lodge near Clitheroe, Lancs 26 December 2009.

Walked off a bit (a very small bit) of the Christmas over-indulgence at the local nature reserve this morning. Still mostly frozen-over, all the Tufties had deserted Longton Brickcroft but the small open patches held a single Cormorant, 2 Mute Swans, 175 Mallard, 2 Teal, 26 Shoveler and a single Ruddy Duck. The crisp weather soon gave way to some showers but Bullfinches could be heard as well as a Gt sp Woodpecker and Redwings and Fieldfares foraged in the wooded borders with Blackbirds and Chaffinches.

Immature drake Velvet Scoter (asleep) with Mallards and Black-headed Gulls at Barrow Lodge this afternoon.

During my twenty years or so of birding in and around the London area I saw a few Velvet Scoters, mostly distant birds on the large reservoirs in the Thames Valley. This would be my usual view of a Velvet Scoter; distant on an ice-free patch of water and just about "'scopable". I'd never seen a Velvet Scoter in Lancs. This is slightly more forgivable than the Shag saga shamefully corrected on Christmas Eve as Velvets are only really regularly seen in the huge scoter flocks off Blackpool and inland ones are extremely rare. So when, much to the delight of all East Lancs birders, a Velvet Scoter turned up on Barrow Lodge near Clitheroe on 22nd December (only the third inland record for Lancs I believe) the Ribble Rapid Response Twitching Unit went to see it four days later.

I could see the scoter as soon as we pulled up at the lodge, sitting out in the middle. I jumped out, bins up, "There it is". Can't be too safe.


Ribble Rapid Response Twitching Unit Secretary, Mrs B 'scopes the scoter.

This is what she saw.

Velvet Scoter and mates ......

Most of the time the scoter was too close for dodgy-scoping (it's the bird about ten foot from the bank in the photo below), but every now and then it would make its way a bit further from the bank.

Most of these pics were taken by Mrs B who kept up with the Velvet Scoter as it fed on freshwater mussels. Eventually it settled down, floating around in 'scoping range.

Not the first time I've enjoyed close-up views of a quality bird at Barrow Lodge; remember the Slavonian Grebe in January 2008? Two additions to the Lancs list that I definitely don't keep either side of Christmas Day. Not bad.

A snow-covered Pendle Hill from the A59: Snow Bunt's up there at the moment.

Two Shags!

Er ...... And a partridge in a pear tree.

Shag, Southport Marine Lake 24 December 2009.

Popped down to Marshside this morning for a couple of hours. Spent over an hour scanning from the sandworks but the overcast conditions made picking out anything quite tricky. I was hoping for Short-eared Owl but no joy. The geese were a little distant but I did manage to pick out 10 Barnacles, Dark-bellied Brent and the presumed Ross's x Pink-foot hybrid in the 1000+ Pink-feet on the salt marsh. Two Merlin and a Peregrine on the posts, 500+ Skylarks and a few Black-tailed Godwits popping out of the marsh every now and then.

The cold got the better of me after an hour or so and I headed for the car and a quick trip down to Southport for a look at the marine lake there. A nice raft of duck to sift through was a welcome sight. I counted 77 Pochards and 220 Tufted Ducks with 10 Goldeneye the only birds feeding actively.

Goldeneyes and Tufted Ducks, Southport Marine Lake 24 December 2009.

A quick scan along the lake revealed a Shag standing on one of the walls and another at the far end.

Here's one with Herring Gulls.

And here's the other one, Billy No Mates Shag.

Now, Shag is a Lancs tick for me on the Lancs list that I don't keep (dangerous thing listing). Pathetic I know but Shags are quite rare in Lancs and although there's been a few "twitchable", even long-staying Shags of late I just couldn't be arsed to go. So, nice to find a couple today.

Happy Christmas.

LANCS: Hesketh Out Marsh RSPB.

An afternoon spent birding on the Ribble Estuary was very enjoyable if not particularly memorable for anything unusual. Taking a walk to the east of the reserve towards the Douglas made a nice change and the fields behind the seawall were littered in birds. I counted 660 Golden Plover before reaching the Douglas with 30+ Snipe, 10+ Redshank and 250+ Lapwings out there too. Small groups of Fieldfares, a few Redwings and at least 10 Song Thrushes were rummaging around the softer ground beginning to thaw in the sun, but most Little Egrets were still feeding in the ditches. Still only small numbers of Skylarks and Meadow Pipits but with at least 3 Merlin seen during the afternoon meant there must be enough small birds out there to prey on. Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and 2 Peregrines were the only other predators seen today.

The Douglas as smothered in Wigeon as usual for this time of year with 100+ Dunlin and a single Grey Plover feeding in one of the creeks. The Longton Marsh Canada Goose flock held a single Greylag and a Barnacle Goose. The Canadas are up to 740 now and 60 Pink-feet were feeding with them most of the time I was there.


The reserve itself was pretty quiet apart from 50 Teal and 46 Mallard but a Stonechat was a nice surprise. The wild swan herd behind the seawall held 47 Whoopers and 6 Bewick's Swans.
Today's birds:

Hesketh Out Marsh - River Douglas
100 Pink-footed Geese (300+ overhead as well)
10 Teal
4 Little Egret
250+ Lapwing
660 Golden Plover
30+ Snipe
10 Redshank
12 Curlew
2 Peregrine
2 Merlin
1 Kestrel
12 Stock Dove
30+ Fieldfare
10 Redwing
10 Song Thrush
20+ Skylark
1 Stoat

R. Douglas / Longton Marsh
740 Canada Geese
1 Barnacle Goose
1 Greylag Goose
800+ Wigeon
100+ Teal
100 Dunlin
1 Grey Plover

Hesketh Out Marsh RSPB
50 Teal
10 Wigeon
46 Mallard
47 Whooper Swan
6 Bewick's Swan
4 Little Egret
1 Merlin
1 Peregrine
1 Sparrowhawk
1 Kestrel
8 Stock Dove
1 Stonechat
16 Reed Bunting
1 Brown Hare

LANCS: Bean and gone!

Very seasonal this morning when I pulled back the curtains. We've just started getting a few common birds in the garden in our new home in Longton but they needed the encouragement of the new feeding station put up late morning today with this weather.

Lunchtime I was duty bound to go to a pub. No drinking, just business you understand. Trouble is bins and 'scope are always in the car and while you're out anyway ....... Well.

Crossens Marsh on the Ribble Estuary looking across to Lytham 21 December 2009.

Crossens Marsh was pretty frozen still with distant Wigeon, Pink-feet and a few Little Egrets so I made my way down to Marshside RSPB for a quick look off the Sandplant. I could see about 500 Pink-feet on the salt marsh (there were undoubtedly a lot more in there) and suddenly a few Barnacle Goose heads popped up. I counted 9 at first and then a white blaze on one of the grey geese caught my eye. Gaining a bit of height to scan the geese I picked out 13 Greenland White-fronted Geese, 11 Barnacles and best of all a Taiga Bean Goose. Very nice. There may have been more than one Bean (although I have no proof), but unfortunately a couple with their dog spooked the whole lot and all the geese flew off towards Crossens Outer.
Peregrine, Kestrels, 2 Merlins, a pair of Stonechat and a flock of 200+ Skylarks rounded off the day (sorry, lunch hour) nicely.

Lucky you told me!