Before The Break.

The title of this post should have been 'Good Afternoon Part 3', but I thought that would have been too boring and repetitive, and perhaps would have lost me some visitors to B2B....Just saying!

But before the break in the weather, it was in fact my third good afternoon session, and although Conder Pool was a little underwhelming, the day was no less rewarding than the first two.

Conder Pool.

First to note, was that the Common Terns have deserted Conder Pool. I understand the last sighting was Friday 21 August, void of checking my records, this sounds like an average date for their departure.

Just four species of birds noted today, a Spotted Redshank, 8 Ruff, 3 Black-tailed Godwit, and 13 Little Grebe.

Speckled Wood. Pete Woodruff.

A Speckled Wood seen through the viewing screen.

Saltcote Pond.

The or another Common Hawker seen again, also an Emperor Dragonfly, Brown Hawker, and 6 Common Darter. 

Painted Lady. Pete Woodruff.

Butterflies, a Painted Lady and Common Blue. 

Birk Bank.

Black Darter. Pete Woodruff.

On and over the bog,  a Common Hawker seen again, one here 7 August. Also 4 Black Darter and 4 Common Darter were all male. 

Roe Deer. Pete Woodruff.

As I came away from the bog I saw a Roe Deer, it was staring me in the face within 15 metres through the branches, but a pity it decided to move off as I fired the shutter. Also seen, was a male Stonechat in the same area I found a breeding pair on 15 July.

Garden First.

A little something of interest in the garden recently. 

Scorpionfly. Pete Woodruff.

When I first clapped eyes on this one I thought I'd found a dragonfly in the garden, it was a Scorpionfly.

 

The Header.

I was struggling again for a decent header image of my own, but Marc Heath came to the rescue with some stunning Red-veined Darters which have had a good season and bred for the first time on his local patch in Kent this year....Thanks Marc much appreciated.

Briefly Around The Estuary.

When I gave Conder Green a look in this week, only the faithful 15 Greenshank and c.10 Little Grebe were on Conder Pool, and a wander on the circuit turned up a Ruff and Common Sandpiper in the creeks, and a Willow Warbler on the coastal path....

Red Admiral. Pete Woodruff.

....where there was the surprise of at least 8 Red Admiral together in the same tree. A bigger surprise came with up to 80 Goldfinch in a flock flighty on and off Glasson Marsh. Surprising because I didn't expect to see this number for another month yet, my last record of this kind of number, was of 120 Goldfinch here on 5 October 2019, although I note 80 Goldfinch here mid-September, per LDBWS Annual Report 2020.

Clouded Yellow. Ian Mitchell.

At Cockersand, the plan was a traditional circuit which fell apart when I decided to walk to Bank End instead, to find 3 Clouded Yellow, 4 Common Blue, and a Red Admiral. Along the path, there was a notable up to three figure number of Swallow >south over the marsh, also a similar 80 Goldfinch to the Glasson flock are early post-breeding movements in my book. 

I'm grateful to Ian for his image of the Clouded Yellow at Bank End, albeit the unfortunate individual has damage to its left wing.

When I got back to Cockersand, 2 Wheatear - guaranteed here in spring and autumn- were on the shingle in front of Bank Houses. But....times up, I'm off back to Lancaster!

There was a little drama on my visit around the area today, one natural, one definitely unnatural....

At the north end of Jeremy Lane, around 200m of hedge has been taken out. The violation of this hedge which included reeds, says goodbye to wildlife and conservation. This act of vandalism poses the question....Why do the so called Guardians of the Countryside need to do this.

An approaching thunderstorm was building up from the south, it took three hours to reach Lancaster. 

As the storm passed through Lancaster, a rainbow appeared over the rooftops viewed from our rear bedroom.

Garden Hovers.

I've been seeing and enjoying some decent hoverflies in our garden recently, including this impressively named Episyrphus balteatus....

....and the Helophilus pendulus. Both on the beautiful Chicory flower. 

I'm grateful to two of our neighbours Muriel and James, for sending me the header image of the Small Copper. An excellent record for their garden recently given the worrying decline in numbers of our butterflies.

Turned Out Nice Again!

A pleasant stroll along the Glasson Arm of the canal to Galgate resulted in a disappointment at not seeing a single dragonfly. So no points scored in this department this year as yet, but I was compensated by seeing - and photographing some - large numbers of Blue-tailed Damselfly, and a male Large Red Damselfly along the length of this nice stretch of the canal.

The taxonomy of the Blue-tailed Damselfly is quite complex, making life too difficult for my liking. Some variation was found, this example is of an immature female of the form Rufescens.

An immature male Blue-tailed Damselfly....

....and a teneral male Blue-tailed Damselfly.

All these damselfly records are up for debate, and the one above has already attracted a comment regarding the complexities of the Blue-tailed Damselfly, and which offers the opinion that 'this is a mature female of the rufescens obsoleta form which is what the pink 'rufescens' ones mature into'....Now I'm even more confused!

Common Blue. Pete Woodruff.

Butterflies were scarce too, with 8 Large White, 2 Orange Tip, a Common Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, and Speckled Wood seen. 

I started the walk at Saltcote ponds where I saw a male Azure Damselfly. A Raven came to ground and hung around the lock at The Mill at Conder Green, also a Buzzard seen overhead. Along the stretch of the canal, 5 Sedge Warbler, 2 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler, a pair of Reed Bunting, a lone House Martin, Reed Warbler, and Song Thrush. Three pairs of Mute Swan had 4-5-6 cygnets.

Tadpoles Early June.

I'm told I didn't need to be so surprised to see tadpoles in the canal first week in June....But they did have a kind of calming effect, and the singing Chiffchaff in the background added to that.

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Conder Update.

Avocets Conder Green 8 June. Howard Stockdale.

Not for the first time, 13 Avocet young have crossed the busy B5290 to go into the creeks on the River Conder. The bad news is, that one has been recorded 'lost', it being one of the five ringed birds. 

Thanks to Howard for the news and image, gratefully received.

Gulls, Dragons, And Flutterby's.

I had other plans on Thursday, but they fell apart and I ended up at Heysham to check the gulls on Red Nab as the tide came in.

When I arrived at Heysham the tide was around 2 hours short of high and there was c.500 gulls on the seaward edge of Red Nab, so plenty to keep me interested for a while I thought. But the birds were restless and a few soon started to disperse and were flying off south, it soon became obvious they were not going to be pushed towards me by high tide at 1.00pm and there was only c.50 gulls left now. But I did manage to find 12 Mediterranean Gull including three juveniles. Worthy of note, a staggering 107 - possibly up to 117 - Mediterranean Gull were recorded at Heysham on 27 July. 

There was some added interest in the gull search, as one bird bore a green darvic ring and was probably the previously seen individual in July marked in Germany as an adult in 2012, and seen at Heysham in 2017/18/19, the bird was too distant for me to read the ring today. A second gull was also ringed, but frustratingly was again too far off to be read. This bird had a white darvic ring, and is established to have been marked in the Netherlands as a nestling in June 2019, it was seen in Wales later that year, and again in Wales February this year, before being seen again on the Heysham outfalls in mid-August.

As I came away from Red Nab, on the pond I saw, 2 Emperor Dragonfly, also a male and female Common Darter, and 2 Migrant Hawker. Though the weather was suitable, an hour at the west end of the reserve gave a small number of 7 species and 20 butterflies, 5 Common Blue, 4 Small Tortoiseshell, 3 Meadow Brown, 2, Red Admiral, 2 Speckled Wood, 2 Gatekeeper, and 2 Small White.    

The Southern Hawker.

Southern Hawker Male. Pete Woodruff.

I watched a male Southern Hawker flying around the trees on the reserve, it appeared to never be going to settle, but it eventually did come to rest at the height of about 6 meters on a not very healthy looking conifer. I managed to locate the hawker with my camera steadied on a tripod and got a half decent shot. 

The Southern Hawker was first recorded in Lancashire in 1940, although it appears that they were not recorded for another 50 years in North Lancashire in the 1990's, and in fact not in East Lancashire before 2000.

The Spotted Flycatcher.

Spotted Flycatcher. Pete Woodruff.

I hear from a reliable source....The Spotted Flycatcher appears to have had a poor season this year at regular sites visited in Bowland including the area around Tower Lodge which is a stronghold in my records for the Spotted Flycatcher. 

I was concerned to hear the compound at Tower Lodge has been cleared of up to 60% of the trees, as a consequence the Pied Flycatcher nest boxes have suffered a near death, with little if any more than four now left from at least ten originally put up. The small woodland has been developed into some sort of mini safari and picnic area, with ducks, an odd looking turkey, hens, a trampoline, and table and chairs. 

Nothing Ventured Nothing Gained.

On my latest visit to the Lune Estuary, 11 Greenshank remain faithful to Conder Pool, with 11 Little Grebe steady since the first week in August. Also, 3 Common Sandpiper on the pool, with 2 Stock Dove, and up to 160 Lapwing. Just as I was about to leave, an impressive at least 40 Swift were seen in a wide sweep of the skies above Conder Pool, the most Swift I ever saw in one sighting.

Ruff Conder Green. Stephen Dutton.

On the Lune Estuary, a Ruff was with barely a three figure of Redshank feeding close in, 6 Goosander were also noted. Over the canal basin, c.50 Sand Martin hawking, and on the canal by Christ Church, a Brown Hawker.

Butterflies seen in my time around the Lune Estuary, 90 Painted Lady (405), 11 Common Blue, 6 Small Tortoiseshell, and a Speckled Wood.

I'm grateful to Stephen Dutton for sending me the image of a Ruff in the creeks at Conder Green last weekend. I also made a video of the Ruff on Conder Pool, though not very successful as it was made looking into the sun, rendering the Ruff and three Redshank a semi silhouette.

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Encore!

I think we can all look forward to three excellent breeding records to come off Conder Pool this year. With one pair of Common Tern already having fledged two birds and departed, and another pair with two fledged young, having survived a near fatal attack by gulls, and well on their way to a hopefully full recovery. And a pair of Avocet which took four day old chicks over the bank from Conder Pool, across the busy B5290, and into the creeks, to survive to within a few days of feldging. Nature....truly amazing.

On Conder Pool, six Common Tern including two young, one of which was fed a large sized fish. Also on the pool, 2 Greenshank and 11 Little Grebe. The two fledged Black-headed Gull were loafing on the small island right of the viewing platform. Six Avocet including the four young, looking good and all set to fledge before the week is out, 4 Common Sandpiper also in the creeks.

The man at River Winds tells me in a conversation, of seven House Martin nests this year, at least 30 birds were milling over and around with one seen to enter a nest. Down the channel, up to 120 Redshank noted.

On the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock, 2 juvenile Common Tern were a big surprise, they were on the tide-line below the south end of Colloway Marsh, the only other bird was a Bar-tailed Godwit.

Common Darter on canal tow-path. Pete Woodruff.

Butterflies seen in the Conder/Glasson and Saltcote Pool area, at least 70 Painted Lady, 11 Gatekeeper, 2 Common Blue, a Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell and Meadow Brown. Also on Saltcote Pool, a singing Willow Warbler, and 2 Brown Hawker, and on the canal tow-path, an Emperor Dragonfly and Common Darter. 

In the video, the two young Conder Pool Common Tern Wednesday 7 August, preening and looking good.

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Dock And Green Day.

On Friday, with little activity on the outfall, I gave a couple of hours to Red Nab, to sit and watch the gulls and anything else that might be around, being pushed ever closer by the incoming tide. In the end, I noted 16 Mediterranean Gull and 5 Whimbrel.

On the pond returning from Red Nab, a Brown Hawker seen ovipositing, also a male and female Common Darter in tandem were seen in flight, constantly pausing to oviposit. Butterflies seen in 45 minutes at the south end of the reserve, 34 Painted Lady, at least 30 Gatekeeper, 18 Meadow Brown, 5 Common Blue, and 4 Peacock.

By now the Conder Green magnet had got a hold on me, and there I was. It was good to see 6 Common Tern, which included the two young birds seen in flight together. A peak count reached a double figure when I found 10 Little Grebe on Conder Pool today, also 7 Greenshank, 5 Dunlin and c.150 Redshank, I never did get around to counting them....too much Common Tern/Avocet distraction!

In the creeks, more sightings of the Avocet family of six, with two adult birds at the east end of the creeks, one of which was squat on the stony area, possibly brooding a chick I thought, also seen 3 Common Sandpiper. Butterflies, 4 Speckled Wood, 2 Painted Lady, and 2 Gatekeeper.

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The video of the juvenile Common Tern on Conder Pool 2 August, has had to be trimmed. I can't download more than 100mb to Birds2blog...Blogger restrictions.

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There's no telling if any lasting physical or mental damage has been inflicted on this bird during the violent attack by the Black-headed Gull, but things appear to be going well for it. AMAZING....there, I said it again.

And The Winner Is....

7 June. Ian Pinkerton. (Clik The Pik)

This image shows the cramped style the birds are enduring on the pontoon at Conder Green, with two pairs of Common Tern and a Black-headed Gull all sitting on eggs. Already the week old Oystercatcher chicks have been dealt with, little doubt by the Common Terns, with two corpses in view as evidence, the Black-headed Gull and whatever it's nest produces will have been marked as the next. All this, and with tolerance tested to the limit between the terns when young are involved. There's only going to be one winner here....watch this space. 

Three breeding pairs of Common Tern seen, with just 2 Avocet and none seen sitting, adds to the negative news from Conder Pool. Up to 140 Black-headed Gull had assembled here again, and 2 Dunlin seemed out of place here. There are a healthy number of Swallow around Conder Green Farm, and I counted six active House Martin nests at River Winds. Elsewhere, the Lesser Whitethroat continues to sing from the coastal path, and a Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler noted.

Common Blue. Pete Woodruff.

On the headland, I saw 6 Common Blue as I walked to Plover Scar where I spent a pleasant 45 minutes to find up to 160 Ringed Plover, the bonus of which was three day old chicks, also 130 Dunlin present, and 2 Linnet dropped in briefly. 

Cinnabar. Pete Woodruff.

A Cinnabar was at Conder Green. A fairly common moth which is usually nocturnal, but easily disturbed from long grass during the day.

And Finally!

After several failed attempts over a long period of time, I finally succeeded to upload a video I made on to Birds2blog. I'm not able to edit the film, and the small size is out of my control, so it's best viewed on Full Screen, it shows a sustained attack on the Oystercatcher by the Common Tern, a situation which will only get worse.

 

News from Conder Pool.

Thanks to Ian Pinkerton for his update of three eggs in the Common Tern nest, and three Black-headed Gull chicks seen Friday 30 May. Also, thanks to Ian Mitchell for letting me know about his Painted Lady butterfly seen around the Lighthouse Cottage area at Cockersand, where he also saw several Common Blue along the headland.

The Estuary Terns et al.

Not easy to be accurate about the number around the Lune Estuary yesterday, but I reckon over a five hour period 6 Common Tern were seen in five sightings. When I arrived at Conder Pool, two birds were present, whist I was there four joined the two and flew around the pool briefly before heading off towards the River Lune. In the afternoon a bird was patrolling the canal by Christ Church, later I presumed the same bird was leaving the canal basin towards the estuary where I found two birds plunge diving, both to return to the same area of the river bank before soon taking off to plunge again, they returned to the bank together three times. I went back to the car to get my telescope to see if I could make out what this behaviour was about, I thought perhaps a male was feeding a female, but when I returned the pair were heading back off the river towards Conder Pool. I drove straight to Conder Green to find 3 Common Tern on the pool, two on the pontoon and one in the background on the island.

There's no telling what will happen on the pontoon, having beaten the Common Tern to it, the Black-headed Gull is obviously sitting by now, and a Common Tern was creating a scrape yesterday and looking intent on nesting there. I think I know the outcome....watch this space.

Stock taking on Conder Pool, 6 Common Tern, 6 Avocet, a Little Ringed Plover, 28 Black-headed Gull, 13 Oystercatcher, 10 Tufted Duck, 2 Shelduck, 2 Wood Pigeon.

Turnstone Plover Scar 20 May. Pete Woodruff.

At Cockersand high tide, Plover Scar held up to 550 Dunlin, 80 Ringed Plover, and a single Turnstone, a Whimbrel was on the marsh off Lighthouse Cottage, and a Whitethroat was singing on the wires. The only butterfly was my first Common Blue at Cockersand, with 3 Orange Tip at Glasson Dock.   

The Re-Run.

A re-run of Tuesday, and as then a check at Conder Green, followed by one at Heysham where - unfortunate for me - three goon's arrived on the scene, one with a mutt which ran down the sea wall - quite a steep drop by stage two outflow - and on to the beach, in pursuit of a ball the minder had lobbed, to cause a dread to the hundred gulls I was searching through to quit the area en masse. 

The other two decided to spend some time on an invasion of Red Nab to disperse another hundred or so gulls from the area....So the result of a goon induced short visit to Heysham was 6 Mediterranean Gull which were all adult.

Redshank Conder Pool 19 July. Pete Woodruff.

On Conder Pool, up to 150 Redshank noted, a young bird was probably one of four I saw 9 July, also a new peak of 8 Little Grebe. A Snipe was in the creeks with 7 Common Sandpiper and 3 Dunlin, 2 Sedge Warbler were in the reeds upstream from the road bridge. Butterflies along the coastal path, 10 Gatekeeper and a Common Blue.

I've not seen or heard reports of any of the Conder Pool Avocet since Sunday 15 July when two young were seen in the creeks with an adult.

The Conder Terns.

Common Tern Conder Pool 18 July. Ian Pinkerton.

Four adult Common Tern were seen as two on the pontoon, where I observed some interesting behaviour clearly illustrated in IP's image, and involved one bird returning from the estuary to present the other with a fish, drooping wings, and signs of one bird behaving as if to create a scrape. One of the 'pontoon' juveniles was on the back terrace, the other two adult were on Tern Island where one was sitting for it's 20th day to hopefully hatch eggs this weekend.

Yesterday evening at least 40 Swift were screaming high over Bowerham in Lancaster. 

Thanks to Ana Minguez for the header image of the stunning Audouin's Gull.

The Rewind.

I was back on Plover Scar an hour before the high tide on Tuesday, for a re-run of Mondays birding, and pleased to find the count looking more like 3,000 Dunlin today - though not pleased to find no hangers on with them - with up to 150 Ringed Plover, 5 Oystercatcher and 3 Grey Heron. On my way to the scar I saw 4 Wheatear.

The Sanderling.

Sanderling with Dunlin on Plover Scar 22 August. Pete Woodruff.

Best bird on Plover Scar was the lone Sanderling. You can't find a Sanderling on Plover Scar and take it for granted, it's a uncommon passage migrant anywhere in our area in both spring and autumn, and another declining wader species at that, though a truly amazing 152 on the scar 17 April 2015 might appear to contradict that, but it's at best scarce here. 

You can get more out of the sight of one of these little gems as I do, if you consider this small shorebird is returning from the High Arctic, stopped off briefly on Plover Scar, to continue probably just a few miles down the coast, to winter on the Fylde....This bird made my day. 

A wander to Bank End from Cockerham Marsh was rewarded by 3 Yellow Wagtail juvenile with a slight risk of duplication on one of the sightings. The area is the best place to find them in autumn anywhere in our recording area and beyond as AC will testify.

Butterflies.

Red Admiral Cockersand 22 August. Pete Woodruff.

It was a good day for butterflies on Tuesday, if only that I found 44 Large White, but a more interesting 17 Red Admiral, with 6 Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Peacock, a Common Blue, and my eleventh Painted Lady.

Strangers in the night....Crept in, crept up, and crept out again.

Someone's been and taken the cork out of Conder Pool and drained off a few gallon of water to leave some nice muddy edges....what a good idea. But whether or not that's the sole purpose for this exercise is anybody's guess, I'd say probably not. 

Perhaps planning permission has been submitted for student accommodation to be built there!! 

Butterflies, Bird's, and a Gull.

Some leisure time on Sunday at Heysham had KT with me on Heysham Barrows for an hour or so to find 4 Meadow Brown, 2 Small Copper, 2 Common Blue, 2 Gatekeeper, and a Small Tortoiseshell. The only birds seen were 2 Whitethroat, with a Blackbird, Linnets and Goldfinch in flight. 

It was good to see a Holly Blue on Cotoneaster in our garden yesterday afternoon. 

Little Gull.

Little Gull. Heysham Red Nab 9 August. Pete Woodruff.

I was pleased to have found a Little Gull on Heysham Red Nab last Wednesday which I recorded as a 1st summer bird. But on closer viewing the moderate photograph of the bird, it was thought that, what I regarded as the dark wing tips of the bird, could well have been a deceptive view of the rocks on Red Nab appearing to look like the tail end of the bird giving the impression that it was the blackish primary marks of the then named 1st summer Little Gull.

Little Gull. Heysham Red Nab 9 August. Pete Woodruff.

However, since I viewed this murderously cropped image of the bird, I've had to change my views as it now appears more clearly to be the rocks joining the tail end which initially gave the impression it was an immature bird, but now looks more like a moulting adult Little Gull.

Up The Wall!

On Thursday, I attended the funeral of a good friend at the Catholic Church of Ss Thomas & Elizabeth at Thurnham. After the service on a nice sunny day, there was going to be nothing more uplifting for me than a walk along the coastal path from Fluke Hall to Cockers Dyke, and at 1.30pm I was within a few miles of getting there from Thurnham down the A588.

Wall Brown. Pete Woodruff.

This was definitely a good idea, if only because I found my first Wall Brown butterfly in 6 years which was seen at Pilling Lane Ends on 2 September 2011. The irony being, today's butterfly was on one of the only three Ragwort stems left at the foot of the inland bank from the recent grass cut here on 25 July. Other butterflies taking an interest in the Ragwort and elsewhere along the path were, 9 Large White, 8 Common Blue, 6 Small Copper, 5 Gatekeeper, and 3 Meadow Brown.

Along the path, I saw a young Wheatear still sporting some downy feathering, and on Pilling Sands at Cockers Dyke saw up to 2,500 Dunlin, 350 Grey Plover, 45 Knot retaining some of their red breeding plumage, and 3 Sanderling, 6 Linnet  were on the marsh.

The Brown Hairstreak. 

Brown Hairstreak. Gait Barrows 9 August. Steve Graham.

I was grateful to Steve Graham for passing on to me both the news and image of a pristine male Brown Hairstreak found on Wednesday at Gait Barrows Nature Reserve in Silverdale, along with 14 other species of butterfly.

The jury is still out on whether this is an introduction, or a small relic population that has been previously overlooked as it is a former resident at Gait Barrows. The nearest colonies of Brown Hairstreak are in Lincolnshire and Worcestershire so well north of these, but so is Silver-washed Fritillary.

Thanks again for this Steve, it added nicely to my own Wall Brown find after a 6 year wait. 

Thanks also to Simon for the Hen Harrier header.

A Little Reward.

On a visit to Heysham on Wednesday I found just 5 Mediterranean Gull, three were in the roost on Red Nab with 3 Whimbrel, and at the Stage 2 outfall, another two were seen as a 2nd summer and a juvenile. At least 120 Turnstone were on the old wooden jetty, and a Grey Seal was between the outfalls. 

Little Gull. Heysham Red Nab 9 August. Pete Woodruff.

On the return along the sea wall an hour later, lots of the gulls had been pushed off Red Nab, but I was rewarded by finding a lovely 1st summer Little Gull which also soon departed the nab as the tide pushed in, it follows another 1st summer Little Gull I saw  here last year on 8 July 2016.

On the pool at the nature trail, out in the sun was an Emperor Dragonfly, a Brown Hawker, and at least 2 Common Darter. Butterflies seen, 2 Red Admiral, a Gatekeeper, Common Blue and a Peacock. 

Redshank. Conder Pool. Pete Woodruff.

On Conder Pool 60 Redshank were roosting over the tide, with no doubt more behind the island. On the Lune Estuary, c.450 Golden Plover and 2 Black-tailed Godwit were to note. At Cockersand, 3 Wheatear seen, with 2 Whimbrel, and up to 450 Dunlin feeding on the mud between Plover Scar and Lighthouse Cottage. 

Edit 15 August.

The 1st summer Little Gull at Heysham Red Nab in this post has now been ID'd as a moulting adult from close study of photographs....See Here