Early Garden Bird!

Four hours on a circuit of the Birk Bank area which had one or two nice surprises, not least of which was a Garden Warbler, the bird sang just once, but briefly obliged close by me in the tree. This is an early bird, the earliest Garden Warbler in Lancashire being 14 years ago on 6 April 2011, three days earlier than this bird on 9 April 2025.

I first went to check out the bog at Birk Bank in the hope perhaps the decent weather we've had the past two weeks, would have encouraged some early Large Red Damselflies out but hadn't.

Looking North Birk Bank Boardwalk. Pete Woodruff.

We will have to wait and see any results the new boardwalk will have had, but in a conversation with someone from the estate, I was encouraged by being told the welfare of the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary had played a major part in the project.

Stonechat Male. Pete Woodruff.

I counted at least 22 Willow Warbler on the circuit today, 2 Buzzard were over the bog soaring together, and 3 Greylag flew north over here. I soon came across 3 Stonechat, seen as a pair and lone male singing atop a distant tree.

More totals were, 4 Robin, with some coming in two's, 2 Red Grouse, 2 Wren, 2 Blackbird, and 2 Chaffinch, a Pied Wagtail, Nuthatch, Chiffchaff, and my first Swallow was overhead.

Meadow Pipit. Pete Woodruff.

A Meadow Pipit seen was surprisingly the only one.

Bee-fly. Pete Woodruff.

Insects seen were 2 Bee-fly, and my first of the year Red-tailed Bumblebee, also at least one Buff-tailed Bumblebee and White-tailed Bumblebee. Butterflies seen....4 Peacock, 3 Small White, 2 Large White, and a Green-veined White.

Coal Tit. Pete Woodruff.

With Pied Flycatchers reported at 4/5 locations in Cumbria, I had a look in at the Tower Lodge area to see if the Pied Flycatchers had arrived there with no success, but I did find a pair of Coal Tit checking out a nest box....Well there's a surprise, I had no idea the Coal Tit ever took to the nest box?

At Hawthornthwaite, 3 Wheatear and 4 Stonechat seen, it's my belief that there are possibly 3 pairs of Stonechat currently on territory here. 

In Cumbria, hatchlings in the nest yesterday 12 April, first egg date estimated at 24 March....John Callion

Ring Ouzel. Ian Mitchell.

Also in Bowland this week, I found a pretty smart male Mountain Blackbird. 

And Finally...

It was good to see a few butterflies around Birk Bank this week, and 3 Speckled Wood in the garden.

Thanks to Howard Stockdale for allowing his excellent SEO in Bowland to be my header image.  

Pleasantries Around The Estuary.

A nice little trio of waders at Conder Green on Monday were seen as the rapidly transforming Spotted Redshank in the creeks. On Conder Pool, an adult male Ruff is also transforming into breeding plumage, also present 2 Little Ringed Plover, with 2 Black-tailed Godwit. up to 10 Avocet were the only ones in view.

The Ruff was a little distant for footage of any quality, but there was entertainment provided by a male Redshank pursuing the female with no sign of any letup in the chase for several minutes.

At Cockersand, there was no sign of any Whooper Swan, but up to 2,500 Pink-footed Geese were distant in fields on the north side of Bank End Farm. A Raven was high over head, probably the highest I have ever seen a soaring Raven, a count of 52 Eider were on the estuary between Plover Scar and Crook Farm.

At Bank House I saw 2 Tree Sparrow, these were the first I have recorded at Cockersand since I saw 16 on 10 October 2023, they were in company with half a dozen House Sparrow. I don't recall ever seeing the two species literally side by side. Hybrids between the two are rare, the only record I know of, is that of a bird in Somerset probably 40 years ago, which showed mixed characters obviously intermediate between the two.

Do Not Disturb.

Four bodies with seven mutts decided a visit to the seaside was a good idea.

I'm really hoping this is going to be the only time they decide to trespass out on to Plover Scar. This is a known breeding site for the Ringed Plover, and today there was no chance of me seeing the odd Sandwich Tern plunge diving off here, which I did in early May 2018.

It's important to know, Plover Scar is an essential high tide roost for waders, and is within a SSSI - Site of Special Scientific Interest. 

A Little Upland Birding.

Bowland Wilderness. Pete Woodruff.

My last visit to Hawthornthwaite was 12 November 2024 when I found two wintering Stonechat. The only other records I have from this location in 2024 are, 2 Stonechat 24 April, and 7 Stonechat 10 May. This is a disappointing result from me, but the truth is, the dragonflies, butterflies and bees take over these days from late April and the chats suffer serious neglect.

In the video, the farmer on his quadbike was ahead of the sheep on the Hawthornthwaite track. It was an amazing sight to see up to 300 bleating sheep running off the fellside from all directions to form an orderly procession and claim their turn for a portion of the cake.

Can't Have Your Cake And Eat It!

The visit produced five sightings of Stonechat, but my records read 4 Stonechat seen as 2 pairs, I regarded one of the females seen alone, to be one from a pair. Other notes made, a Pied Wagtail was on Cam Brook, a Lapwing was on territory and was the only one seen, a Curlew was heard only as was a Red Grouse, 2 Wren seen, and a Raven overhead, 5 Meadow Pipit was a shock result, but I decided as it was only the 2 April, maybe early days.

Two hours on the east side of Hawthornthwaite from Marshaw, had me find 2 Stonechat, seen as a pair in a area of Bowland that my records have never highlighted to be a Stonechat mecca. The only other sightings were, 8 Meadow Pipit and a Jay was seen as I arrived back off the fell.

That's a total of 9 species in a 5 hour period....Well that's upland birding in'it!

Wilfred The Cuckoo

    

There had been no signal from Wilfred's transmitter since 20 March when he was in south-east Guinea, but good news eventually came through in the past few days, that he had made remarkable progress and was in fact now in Spain. Currently just north of Guadalupe, having covered at least 2,174 miles since leaving Guinea, and in excess of 4,350 miles since he departed his wintering grounds in Angola. 

It's worthy of note, that of all the tagged Cuckoos, Wilfrid was the one that wintered the furthest south, and that he is now by far the most northerly of all the satellite tagged Cuckoos.

Rock on Wilfred....I think you are one truly amazing bird!

All Quiet Around The Estuary.

On Conder Pool, not only was it good to find 2 Little Ringed Plover there, but it was interesting to see the female reject the males advances and fly off when it was posturing....But love at first sight it seems! 

Also on the pool, no count of Avocet today, but certainly didn't see a double figure of them. In the creeks, a Greenshank and Spotted Redshank, which according to my records is the first at Conder Green since one there on 26 July 2024 with plumage black as the devils waistcoat. All quiet on the Lune Estuary at Glasson, with just 48 Black-tailed Godwit and a Greenshank seen at low tide.

To be honest it was all quite at Cockersand too, but Mondays 120 Linnet were seen again, and I guess the count was of c.220 Whooper Swan in inland fields. Plenty of pre-breeding activity, with good numbers including at least 40 Lapwing tight-knit in a field off Slack Lane.

I made a vain attempt for a pik of the White Wagtail, seen on the rim of a silo as I set off on the circuit, but had a little better luck for a pik when it was seen again 2 hours later in the field by Bank House.

White Wagtail Cockersand 26 March. Pete Woodruff.

Early Migrants.

I've yet to find my first Wheatear and Sand Martin. Last year on 29 March a Wheatear was seen at Cockersand, and on the 24 April Sand Martin were seen on territory at Catshaw Grieve on Hawthornthwaite.

Interesting dates for earliest migrants in Lancashire.

Wheatear. 26 February 2003. Mean Date 10 March.

Sand Martin. 24 February 1990. Mean Date 9 March.

March Stonechat.

Female Stonechat Cockers Dyke 22 March. Paul Ellis.

My records for March stand at 76 Stonechat at 36 locations collected from FBC sightings page, with no duplicate counts. To keep it simple I've noted the records as passage birds, though by now some will be on territory, and April records are to be noted as territorial/breeding. However, I have limited knowledge of lowland breeding sites in the Fylde and on the Sefton Coast, although I do know that breeding along the Sefton Coast was widespread in 2023....Lancashire Bird Report 2023   

A Large White was in the garden this morning, my fourth butterfly of the year. Here's hoping they have a better year than the last one. 

Poor In Number Good In Quality.

Mediterranean Gulls Conder Pool. Pete Woodruff.

It gave me much pleasure to find 2 Mediterranean Gull on Conder Pool Monday morning. 

Adult Mediterranean Gulls Conder Pool 24 March

Also on Conder Pool, I finally caught up with the Little Ringed Plover having been found here a week ago, 14 Avocet were in view today too.

Not much reward for my efforts of a 2 hour circuit, but the infamous Cockersand Barn Owl was waiting for me just 3 minutes out of the motor, it was on a fence post at Bank Houses horse paddock, before taking off to soon disappear from view. Notes around the area, probably 6 Skylark heard in full never ending flight song, up to 600 Golden Plover still in the field south side of Abbey Farm. A Raven fooled me briefly into thinking I was watching a Buzzard flying away over fields, and a White Wagtail looked forlorn on a flood.

I also saw 2 Small Tortoiseshell as my 2nd/3rd butterflies of the year, and 2 Buff-tailed Bumblebee.

Right Place Right Time.

On a visit to the nest site was a million to one chance, when I observed the Nuthatch spring cleaning and disposing of the debris out of the hole in the tree. I was truly fascinated to have witnessed this behaviour by the Nuthatch, and with no apologies for the second consecutive Nuthatch header image.

....And Another Double Bonus.

I made no accurate count of Avocet on Conder Pool this visit, I reckon more where hidden from view than in view, but 6 were in the creeks, and a count of 10 on the Lune Estuary has my records reading up to 24 Avocet seen. My only other notes from Conder Pool were, 48 Greylag, and at least 225 Black-headed Gull which looks like breeding might reach in excess of 100 pairs.

At Cockersand, 220 Golden Plover were in their favourite field south side of Abbey Farm, and I regarded distant finches to be a grounded spring flock of c.60 Linnet, similarly distant were at least 24 Meadow Pipit. A Snipe erupted out of a ditch on Slack Lane, also a Sparrowhawk seen. A relatively small roost on Plover Scar consisted of c.200 waders, 120 Dunlin, 75 Oystercatcher, 4 Grey Plover, and 2 Ringed Plover.

Driving along Moss Lane leaving Cockersand, a male Hen Harrier flew over fields from the north, across the road to disappear from view south over fields. This was my fifth sighting of a Hen/Marsh Harrier in visits to Cockersand over a five week period since February.

Rookery Fenham Carr 20 March. Pete Woodruff.

A wander through Williamson's Park had me count eight Rook nests at the entrance to Standen Park, down 50% on a count I made of 15 nests at the rookery on the very same date of 20 March 2024.

A Double Bonus.

In Lancaster Cemetery, Goldcrest, Jay, Coal Tit, and 2 Buzzard together in the air. But a very pleasant surprise and double bonus awaited me when....

I heard a Bullfinch probably contact calling in the Pine, it calls six times in the video before it flies to the tree next to me on the left, then 3 Bullfinch fly out of the tree - two male in pursuit of a female - and back to the Pine. 

This is my ninth sighting of Bullfinch in the cemetery, always in the same area, my last was 17 January. With the exception of a pair seen 1 May 2023, all sightings have been during the winter period, this is only the second time I've seen them during the breeding season....Must try to find out where these are nesting!

Bonus No2.

Another tree another bird, a male Nuthatch sings six times as I walk down the path to view another Pine to find 2 Nuthatch, one of which is checking the area around the nest hole, whilst the other is clawing its way up the tree.

Prospecting Pair Of Nuthatch. Pete Woodruff.

This is the same tree the Nuthatch has bred in for the past 3 years.

Garden News.

Peacock. Pete Woodruff.

A Peacock - not the one in the image above - was my first butterfly of 2025. Another first for the garden was a Rook which took just 2 sec's to realise it couldn't land on the feeders and took off!

  

Moorhen. Martin Jump.

I was sent this image of the Moorhen in flight, it is a first for me and has me wondering how many are as surprised as I was to see the Moorhen with such underwing markings/colour....Thanks Martin much appreciated.

There are no such underwing colours in the illustrations in my comprehensive Birds of the Western Palearctic reference book. 

Barnacle Double Bonus.

It was good to find a Barnacle Goose on Conder Pool, the bird is yet another first here, and I must search my records to get the full picture of firsts for Conder Pool. 

Barnacle Goose Conder Pool Wednesday 12 March

The Barnacle Goose was accompanied by 44 Greylag Geese which maybe puts the provenance of the BG in some doubt, but it is a marked bird with a blue ring which - at the time of publishing this post - has yet to be read. 

You can never tell with Barnacle Geese, there are many feral bird species in the country these days, with Lincolnshire alone having an estimated 2,000 individuals. Barnacle Goose with Greylag Geese get labeled feral, with Pink-footed Geese they get the thumbs up. An interesting note about the recent Lesser White-fronted Goose on Jeremy Lane, was that everyone was happy about this bird being wild....Thanks to Paul Ellis for his help with my query 'maybe puts the provenance of the Barnacle Goose in some doubt'.    

Other notes from the pool, 11 Avocet, 12 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Tufted Duck, a Little Grebe, and a Kingfisher which put in two appearances, the second being a brief pose on the sluice.

By the time I got to the coast and Cockersand Abbey, I had a distinct feeling I was going to get a soaking, but with the exception of a cold wind from the north, my circuit was a pleasure, albeit there was little to rave about, though up to 900 Golden Plover were in the field on the south side of Abbey Farm, and an estimate of 550 Whooper Swan were in multiple fields including Jeremy Lane.

When I arrived back at the Caravan Park, the stormy weather had drifted south over Bowland and I had escaped the downpour. 

A female Marsh Harrier was seen at the outer edge of the marsh, flew out of sight left in the picture towards Bank End, across the Cocker Estuary, and over Cockerham Marsh centre of the picture, disappearing from view over Pilling Marsh in the right edge of the picture.

Aldcliffe - Glasson Dock.

I decided to leg it on Friday, not one of my best decisions ever, and didn't create any excitement for the 5 mile hike, but after all it's only mid-March so what was I to expect. 

But I did collect my best count of the winter when I found 18 Goldeneye on Freeman's Pools, and noted 2 Black-tailed Godwit, soon followed by the wonderful sight of a pair of Long-tailed Tit nest building in brambles. There was up to 5,000 Pink-footed Geese on Aldcliffe Marsh, unsettled and soon departed to the opposite side of the river on Heaton Marsh.

The only other notes I made were of a Chiffchaff at Stodday, a Buzzard over, 16 Blackbird along the length of the walk, and a Jay was in the woodland by Christ Church at Glasson Dock.

Wednesdays Barnacle Goose was in the west corner of Conder Pool out of view from the viewing screen and the blue ring under water, this was a double bonus for me.

Stop Press.

It was excellent news that I learn a Little Ringed Plover arrived on Conder Pool yesterday 15 March. My prediction is, that the Common Tern will have also arrived back here in c.3 weeks time....Watch this space. Many Thanks for the info Howard Stockdale.

News From The Garden.

Buff-tailed Bumblebee on Hellebore. Pete Woodruff.

Found my first bumblebee in the garden on Tuesday 11 March, a huge queen Bombus terrestris. I found two more since then, one of which was at Cockersand.

Geese At Last!

It's been the poorest winter I can recall for Pink-footed Geese in our recording area, of no more than 3 sightings, it took me until 18 February to see 1,250 Pink-footed Geese in the air over Hillam Lane.

On Thursday up to 5,000 Pink-footed Geese where in a field at Cockersand with a Tundra Bean Goose. Also up to 1,800 Golden Plover in two fields south and north side of Abbey Farm, with 8 Meadow Pipit and 4 Skylark noted. Six Eider were off Crook Farm, with Sparrowhawk and Kestrel seen.

On the Lune Estuary at Glasson low tide, 22 Avocet were feeding at the mouth of Conder Estuary, 320 Golden Plover, 124 Black-tailed Godwit, and 425 Wigeon which were mostly hauled out on the mud.

Viewing Conder Pool was hopeless in the afternoon sun, but I managed to find a Greenshank which was my first on Conder Pool since 29 October, also 8 Snipe were hunkered down, and 9 Black-tailed Godwit dropped in on the creeks.

Disturbance Of Pink-footed Geese.

This is my post Geese and Chats 2 years ago on 2 March 2023 and is relevant to the event below.... 

Pink-footed Geese 2 March 2023

Off Moss Lane on Thursday, along with two other birders, I was observing up to 5,000 Pink-footed Geese from the gate into a field. Two 'farmers' came on the scene and claimed sheep would soon be coming down the road, a third person then arrived on a quad bike, went through the gate and promptly drove towards the geese putting them to flight en-masse....When I left Cockersand 3 hours later, driving past the field again which was void of sheep and geese!

Wheatear.

The first Wheatear for our recording area was at Fluke Hall yesterday 8 March, a male found by A.C. The earliest spring Wheatear in Lancashire was recorded on 26 February 2003, and an interesting record of a late Wheatear at the other end of the season, was one seen at Cockersand on 25 November 2022.

Wheatear Cockersand 25 November 2022. Pete Woodruff.

The Cuckoos Are Coming!

This is Wilfred the Cuckoo, he was satellite tagged as an adult in June 2024 at Worlingham Marshes, Suffolk. Here is the BTO update on his progress back to the UK and hopefully Suffolk.

Of the 14 tagged Cuckoos that successfully departed the UK in 2024, the biggest mover on the return journey has been Suffolk Cuckoo Wilfred. Having spent the last few months deep in the forests of north-west Angola - furthest south of all the tagged Cuckoos - and largely in radio silence, we feared the worst for him. But, over the past week he has made a massive leap, covering multiple African countries, passing through Gabon and western Cameroon before arriving in Nigeria a few days ago. From here, he has continued his journey, sweeping past a further four countries until arriving at his current location in south-eastern Guinea. He has already covered approximately 3,700 km (2,300 miles) since leaving his wintering quarters in Angola.

Good Birding....Perfect Start....Perfect End.

When I arrived at Conder Pool on Thursday, I was greeted by the rewarding sight of 13 Avocet. But the surprise was tempered by the fact that I had seen my first 8 days earlier when I found 9 Avocet at Glasson on the Lune Estuary 19 February 2024.

To be honest the 13 Avocet were demoted into 2nd place for the star award by that of at least 900 Black-tailed Godwit, these were seen a day later than an amazing 3,500 Black-tailed Godwit on Conder Pool 26 February 2024. Other notes today were, 4 Little Grebe, 2 Meadow Pipit and a Snipe.

Soon after I had walked past Cockersand Abbey, I witnessed 4-5 large waves of at least 3,250 Golden Plover flying from inland fields to go down onto the shore and the perfect camouflage, 32 Eider were off Plover Scar. Remaining distant and inaccessible in the Cockersand area, but I estimate no less in number than recently at 200 Whooper Swan.

As I arrived at the Caravan Park, I decide to walk on towards Bank End which eventually resulted in a first for me. In the many years of my passion for the Stonechat, I have never before seen 5 adult Stonechat in the same view through a pair of binoculars, seen as my first small share of the spring passage of these little beauties.

I'm tempted to say today ended with yet another flurry of excitement, when a female Marsh Harrier appeared on the scene as the previous two harriers had done, coming into view from Bank End, then took little more than 3 mins to disappear again from whence it came.

February Stonechat.

It's good to be able to highlight what seems to be a continuing story of success for the Stonechat, in particular with regard to upland populations expanding, and more birds overwintering during milder winters. 

This year I regard the spring passage of Stonechat to have started early in the first week of February, something more to be expected to happen the first week of March. This has resulted in my recording 106 individual Stonechat records - no duplicates - during February and mainly collected from the Fylde, with AC accounting for 46 Stonechat records in the month at no more than 12 locations.

Stonechat. Jim Wacey @FBC's Flickr Site

This image of a Stonechat appropriately credited, struck me as unusual to say the least, it is a bird far darker than any other, plus the supercilium and forehead are bolder than any other individual I have ever seen in up to 40 years.

With some much appreciated help from a ringer and someone far more experienced in the finer details than myself. This bird has more intense colouring than younger birds, and we have concluded that this is a 4 year old female. One other point taken into account, was the relatively un-abraded tail and primary feathers, juveniles would have well worn feathers at this time of year.

The Header.

There are at least 300 Golden Plover in the header image, perfectly camouflaged on the shore at Cockersand.  

Another Flurry Of Excitement!

Most notable on my latest visit to Conder Pool, was the pair of Shoveler which were seen as nothing more than irregular here. Also of note, the lone Black-tailed Godwit, 6 Snipe, 82 Wigeon, 2 Little Grebe and a Little Egret.

On the Lune Estuary at Glasson, up to 3,250 Lapwing, 1,500 Wigeon, 325 Dunlin, 8 Black-tailed Godwit and a pair of Goosander. In the field north end of Jeremy Lane, 46 Whooper Swan, 78 Greylag, and 34 Canada Geese. As I drove down Jeremy Lane I saw a flock go down into a field to find them to be 15 Meadow Pipit.

At Cockersand, I estimate there to be up to 400 Whooper Swan, 50% of the count being in a field north of Hillam Lane at Cockerham, from where I saw c.1,250 Pink-footed Geese, these were seen as my best local count in our area this winter. In fields north side of Abbey Farm, 800 Golden Plover, 450 Lapwing, 14 Dunlin, and 6 Ringed Plover. Off Plover Scar, 32 Eider and 250 Wigeon, and as I reached the Caravan Park I saw 4 Reed Bunting.

There was a cold east wind in my face as I trundled along the headland, by the time I reached the car it had got the better of me and I had decided to call it a day. But hang on....all of a sudden, the wintering pair of Stonechat were foraging on and off the marsh, the Barn Owl again came out of the Caravan Park entrance as it had my last visit here, soon disappearing out of sight towards Bank End, soon followed by a female Marsh Harrier which disappeared in the same direction as the owl....Déjà vu

February 2024....Some of my sightings worthy of note.

Feb 7. 1st winter White-fronted Goose Conder Pool.

Feb 7. 700 Curlew Cockersand.

Feb 12. Spotted Redshank Conder Pool.

Feb 12. 8 Rock Pipit Cockersand.

Feb 19. 9 Avocet Lune Estuary Glasson.

Feb 26. 3,500 Black-tailed Godwit Conder Pool. 

Feb 26. 4 Cattle Egret Cockersand. Entering their 5th month stay in the area.