Just a few of the photos from a year on the Ribble. They're not great photos and most aren't even of particularly rare birds. Indeed I saw better birds than some of these (Great Grey Shrike, Honey Buzzard, Richard's Pipit and Pectoral Sandpiper spring to mind), but each one marks a birding phase in the year on the Ribble to me.
The beginning of the year will undoubtedly be remembered for the harsh weather and an influx of Short-eared Owls to the estuary. Double figures were easily reached on the saltmarsh near Marshside and there were certainly several on the Fylde at Warton Bank at the same time. Although most of the RSPB reserve was frozen over Marshside was the focus of most birder's attention for much of the first winter period of 2010.
Short-eared Owl at Crossens Outer Marsh, January / February 2010.
Bittern on Crossens Outer Marsh.
With so many birders gathering at Crossens in the late afternoon for the "Shortie-fest" it was inevitable that something else would be discovered. Raptors were of course one of the main attractions but the geese were providing good entertainment too with some "scarce" birds in amongst the Pink-feet. I remember one February afternoon when I was counting on the Solway and the phone went. Graham Clarkson, then the RSPB Ribble Reserves warden, called to say there was a couple of Red-crested Pochards on the Marine Lake at Southport. Grateful for the call as always, but quite relaxed, I carried on with my Solway WeBS comfortable with the thought of a short trip out to see the RCP's the next day. By the time I got home the news of THIS had been posted on the Ribble Facebook Page:
What a crippler! So I'll associate RCP with my first Ribble Bittern.
Winter slowly gave way to the spring and one blustery un-spring like afternoon I decided to go to the most unlikely spot for good birding, given the weather conditions you could imagine. RSPB Hesketh Out Marsh is a pretty bleak place in windy conditions but as I popped my head over HOM East in the shelter of the seawall I flushed a huge bird that immediately took to the air. Panic set in and I called Graham Clarkson and RBA announcing the presence of a Common Crane at HOM. Hold on; how well did you see that? Common Crane became crane sp. for a while until we relocated the bird at Banks Mash East on the NNR.
Determined to be difficult it flew off and we failed to relocate it, despite searching the rest of the afternoon. Fortunately it was back in what is now known as "The Crane Field" the next morning, where it stayed most of the morning before heading off northeast. That was a mighty fine day I seem to remember with 400+ White Wagtails and a singing male Twite out on the marsh as we walked the reserve for a BBS.
I missed much of the Ribble Spring due to work in Scotland but this fine Glaucous Gull was a real treat.
What was presumably one of last autumn's Long-billed Dowitchers reappeared on Banks Marsh in the winter, but the distant views of the bird at Old Hollow (above) were bettered when it turned up at Marshside "all summered up" in the company of Black-tailed Godwits.
Spring and summer trips to the Ribble were few and far between from my temporary home in Perthshire but I made up for it at he end of the season with frequent visits to RSPB Hesketh Out Marsh between tours abroad. Yellow Wagtails are scarce in Lancs nowadays but became a regular feature of HOM trips in August and September.
It was a fairly good year for the passage of Curlew Sandpipers and Little Stints too, both at Hesketh and Banks.
Spoonbill at Banks Marsh, September 2010.
Heaven knows what we missed on the Ribble during those strong westerly winds in September when none of the regulars were available to find those Leach's Petrels and Sabine's Gulls but as the Merlins returned an influx of Lapland Buntings was evident on the inner Ribble a least.
Whooper Swans at Hesketh Out Marsh, November 2010.
Ducks gathered once the weather turned again as Chrstmas approached. This Scaup took up residency on Southport Marine Lake and although it has yet to produce a Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Duck or even a Smew; this Iceland Gull was a nice bonus on a freezing December afternoon.
And it's not over yet. We still have plenty of Bramblings, Hen Harriers, Merlins and lots more to look through. And there;s still a few days left of 2010!
Last day of the year and a last look of 2010 at RSPB Hesketh Out Marsh. We managed to get quite a few species despite the pretty murky conditions including a good range of raptors: ringtail Hen Harrier over Warton Marsh, 2 immature Marsh Harriers, 2 Buzzards, 3 Merlins (at least), 3 Sparrowhawks and a Peregrine on its usual perch on Banks Marsh East.
At least 31 Whooper Swans in the recording area this morning and better still some Bewick's Swans. Graham Clarkson and Martin McDerby and I watched 4 adults fly in from the north near Hundred End and I photographed these 3 in a field a little later before they headed east.
I relocated them with the Whoopers Swans at the end of my walk so let's hope they stay a little while. Pink-footed Geese are returning to the South Ribble Marshes with the thaw but most seen today were heading south. I counted 270 in all but there were others over Banks and Crossens on the estuary. Looking forward to some settling in the New Year for further scrutiny.
Otherwise just a nice selection of species fully "BirdTracked" today including 9 Jackdaws heading north, 16 Bramblings, 20 Tree Sparrows, 9 House Sparrows (rare here), 5 Corn Buntings and a superb Woodcock as I walked the footpath back to the car park through the farm fields. Two flocks of Cormorants numbering 52 and 18 were quite a sight too.
