Greet'ings!

I was at the top of Cross of Greet yesterday morning at 9.00am and legged it at a 'stop-start' snails pace with some detours down to Greet Bridge to cover a section of the bottom half of Bloe Greet and returned by the same route to arrive back at the motor six hours later at 3.00pm. 

With an hour of free time left, on the way back to Lancaster I called in at Bull Beck to take a look upstream on the River Lune to find 4 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Common Sandpiper, uncounted Sand Martin, and a young Robin.

A Bit Of Class In Bowland. Pete Woodruff. 

Some nice machines passed me in the afternoon in the Cross of Greet area when about 12 vintage motors like this one were heading towards Slaidburn. Only around 30 cars drove over this brilliant remote pass in the entire six hours I spent in this area of outstanding natural beauty.

I counted an absolute minimum of 50 Meadow Pipit, an abundant species which outnumbers all other upland birds several times over. Conversely I saw just 5 Wheatear compared to good double figure numbers in previous years here, 2 Reed Bunting, and 5 Black-headed Gull were noted heading towards Stocks Reservoir. At and around Bloe Greet, 4 Whinchat, a solitary male Stonechat, and the rewarding sight of 2 Cuckoo which passed me in flight, about two hours later I heard one of them - or a third bird - calling from the old quarry. At the plantation, a Great-spotted Woodpecker and 3 Robin noted. I was also rewarded by the brief view of an Adder, a young individual which disappeared in a matter of seconds at the same speed it had appeared before me.

Curlew Brian Rafferty  

A pair of Curlew were flying around calling and agitated all the time I was on Bloe Greet, presumably with young like the one in BR's brilliant image for which I am grateful.

The Young River Hodder. Pete Woodruff.

The abundant clear running waters of the River Hodder and its tributaries were just what the thirsty towns along the Fylde coast were in need of a century ago, and these emote uplands were eyed up by the city fathers of Blackpool for something other than their natural beauty, and this land was among nearly 3,750 hectares of water-gathering land bought up by the then Fylde Water Board to create the nearby Stocks Reservoir. Some 105 million litres of Stocks water goes cascading through pipes to places like Blackpool and Fleetwood every day.

Not a thousand birds seen again today, but in this stunning area which - along with the birds I did see - took my breath away once more.

Plover Scar....

....is going to the dogs!


Crossbills, Stonechats, and a couple of reptiles.

Plover Scar. Pete Woodruff.

I was at Cockersands on Thursday and apart from enjoying myself doing what I like to do most, it was quite a nice day compared to what the summer months have been so far this year. I met and had an interesting conversation here with someone - a local who visits on a daily basis which is even much more regular than me - who told me he had noted an increase in people taking it upon themselves to wander out on to Plover Scar, in particular those accompanied by dogs. At this point I'd like to highlight the 'in it for the business woman' who is nearly always accompanied by up to 18 of these 'other peoples' animals all off the lead when I see her here at Cockersands.

Our conversation went along the lines that neither of us had any objections - business woman aside - to people or their dogs, but perhaps we should pursue some way of drawing attention to the fact that Plover Scar is the haunt of many birds, sometimes in their several hundreds, and that its not a good idea to wander off onto the scar to cause unnecessary disturbance to these birds. In this regard this person told me he had thought of contacting 'a society' with a view that they may agree a sign to this effect could perhaps be erected by them, what a thoughtful and very good idea I agreed, but with the society he named we won't hold our breath, but we have an issue here about people, dogs, and places like Plover Scar which I think needs to be addressed.... we'll see!  

Crossbill.Richard Bailey.

Richard sent me an e-mail the other day to tell me about his visit a couple of miles SW of Kendal to Helsington Barrows a week ago where he found 20 Crossbills, in his message he attached some photographs he took and a smart red male is shown above. 



The Crossbill populations of Fennoscandia and Russia occasionally erupts southward and westward, and the largest and most widespread of these took place from mid-June in 1997 and the best count of these birds within our recording area was in the Marshaw-Tower Lodge area when 130 were seen on 27 June, I've also seen Crossbills in this area a couple of months ago on 16 and 25 May.  

View from Scout Scar. Unknown.

Richard also filled me in with the news he'd seen two pairs of Stonechat on Scout Scar, both pairs had two young, so at least I'm hearing about some isolated breeding success with the Stonechat thanks to birders who kindly pass this on to me....Thanks for this Richard and  for e-mailing it all to me, it is much appreciated.

And the reptiles....

Adder David Cookson    

Another one of those 'Cookies Crackers' this one of the Adder....thanks DC.

Ocellated Lizzard Ana Minguez 

The Ocellated Lizzard isn't a creature you're going to see soon, unless you live or are maybe going to go to Spain on holiday sometime. It's the largest member of it's family, an adult can grow to at least 60cm and can sometimes reach 90cm. It is found in various wild and cultivated habitats from sea level up to 2,100 metres in southern Spain, the female can lay up to 22 eggs in June/July. Thanks for the image AM much appreciated.  

More on the Adder.



Adder. David Cookson

Although I've actually never been on the hunt for Adders I've been lucky over the years to have found them on occasions. I'm not about to advertise where on Birds2blog as I've decided to adhere to a request made to me some time ago not to do so. That said, I do strongly object - with rare exclusions like this one - to people taking on the role of dictator having any part in birding. There are of course always those who necessitate the need to dictate in order to attempt to control their objectionable attitude in being non-conformists causing unnecessary disturbance - and often much worse - to wildlife.

The Adder is the only venomous snake native to Britain though it has the most highly developed injecting mechanism of all snakes, but it is not an aggressive creature if treated with respect. They are relatively common in areas of rough open countryside and are best seen in early spring when they emerge from hibernation. By mid April - if you're lucky - you might see the males wrestling for supremacy for the females whilst writhing around each other at times covering the ground at great speed in combat....

 

Births take place around this time of the year in August and early September, but unlike most reptiles the Adder doesn't lay eggs but gives birth to young, quite small but perfect miniatures of the adult. Young Adders tend to hibernate in the area where they were born, their survival throughout the winter following their birth is dependant on the severity of the weather.

Adders usually eat small rodents but can go for long periods without feeding, in fact an adult can survive on eating the equivalent of only nine voles in a year. If the opportunity arises they will also take young from the nests of ground nesting birds. They strike swiftly, injecting a lethal dose of venom, then wait until the prey is dead before eating the victim whole as all snakes do. The Adder itself has its own predators including birds of prey like the Buzzard, the young Adder is also at risk with adult snakes. It is protected by law against being killed or injured by human activity, but as we all know these protection laws are pretty flimsy when it comes to protection from those less inclined than you and I to respect the countryside and its wildlife around us.

There's a cautionary tale about the Adder towards the end of a posting which I'd suggest is a good idea to heed....Look for the pic of the Adder and start to read just above it in Butterflies and A+E