Preston Docks

Quick mid-week visit to Docks on my usual round-town bike ride saw an Increase in the number of Common terns back on site, there was around c35 individuals on site (Great views of the terns at the minute however i am still using my compact camera therefore cannot achieve pictures good enough to really show just how good a view you can get on site).

A couple of Great crested grebes were displaying as well which was nice and a Common sandpiper was on the jetty too.

A day later an Adult Gannet appeared on site, presumeably blown in by the strong winds, however it was apparently showing signs of illness. Myself and my dad went to visit the Docks to see the Bird via the Shops and sure enough it was still there however just resting on the jetty doing nothing, very un-Gannet like. A day later it was reported dead. I did not manage any pictures unfortunately.

Pretty Pigeon

Some of the Terns

Pair of Great crested grebes

Pair of Common terns

Common tern in flight

It would be raining...

After the last couple days of glorious sunshine and extreme summer temperatures (for Preston!) me and my dad decided to take a trip a bit further out to do some spotting today. We visited Barbondale (nr Kirby Lonsdale) and Birk bank bog (nr Lancaster). But of course for us it would be the day it chucks it down..

First stop was Barbondale. Visited here last year for the first time in late summerand was not disappointed with the variety of Birdlife and the sheer amount upon arrival so we thought we ought to try our luck this year in Spring. We did the full walk this time, up and down the valley and saw an array of things, regardless of the weather, however not as much as last time, although still a great walk.

Highlights of Barbon included; a good number of Common Redstarts (best place for them by far), a single Pied flycatcher, Tree pipits, Meadow pipits (galore), Green woodpeckers and Wheatears. No Ring ouzels this time however. Flora on the walk was good, plenty to see out on the hills, in the woods and by the river's edge. Photographs below.

Rush sp.

Male Redstart

Female Redstart

Wood Sorrell

Bluebell

Bluebell carpet

Dog violet sp.

Wild primrose

Next up was Birk bank bog, which is a great place and this was our second time visiting. Main targets for here were Cuckoo (had them here last time), Green hairstreak and the ever elusive Emperor moth.

Weather was slowly improving at our second destination but it was still windy and cool, not particularly good weather for insects. Surprisingly after not much time of scanning the Heather and Bilberry i spotted my first Green hairstreak of the year (always a joy to see these annually) but this view was brief as the wind blew it away. A walk to the top of the hill proved a worthy trip up as at the top we were greeted with a good number of Red grouse, a Peregrine hunting and a pair of Raven displaying.

On the walk back down i spotted another Green hairstreak which sat up nicely on the Heather showing it's brilliant green sides in the minimal sunshine, lovely.

We didn't end up seeing any Emperor moths on our visit this time, however we've spent good time at various suitable sites in past years, in May and June to try and see them but we've always come up out without seeing any so we're starting to question their existence..

Arriving back at the car park Dad came across a Common lizard and i found a Slow worm slowly making its way across the path, which obviously it being a Slow worm and me being me, i just could not resist handling, such a beauty though.

Bilberry - one of Green hairstreak's larval foodplants

Gorse - another of Green hairstreaks larval foodplants

Gorse

standard Sheep shot

Meadow pipits on Heather

Rubbish shot of the 2nd Green hairstreak of the day, got much better shots on the computer from the past, must dig them out....

Slow worm

Slow worm

Slow worm

Woodland flora is great in Spring. It's all starting to come into bloom right now that the warmth of Summer has arrived. Carpets of various flowers fill the woodland floors. Look out for some of the commoner usual species this week, such as the following (these pictures are taken on my iphone hence the lack in quality): 

Lesser Celandine

Wood anemone

Lords and Ladies

Dog violet

Dog's mercury

Also what else was nice to find was a small collection of flowering Snakes-head fritillary plants in the middle of Preston. These particular plants are no doubt self-sown plants from a garden variety however in the setting i found them and not actually having any wild ones up in Lancs they still proved a nice treat to find on my bike ride in the busy centre of Preston.

Snakes-head fritillary - Preston - 03/05/13

Centerparcs, Whinfell forest

Last weekend i was at Centerparcs with my family for my 21st.

An amazing place, not just for the family fun activities but great ecologically too. Lots of common Birds about, a video has been added to show the dawn chorus at 4.45AM at Centerparcs it was breathtaking at the time, but the quality of the video probably doesn't do it justice. After about 5AM they started to quieten down and sing further apart. A few Birds heard at the time of the video include; Blackbird, Song thrush, Robin, Dunnock, Great tit, Blue tit, Coal tit, Chaffinch, Mallard and even a Tawny owl!

 
The biggest treat, ecologically, of going to Whinfell forest though is the Red squirrels there. Whinfell forest is officially the best place in England to see these little creatures. So funny to watch and cute as well. We had a resident pair right in the garden behind our lodge we were staying in which was lucky. They even sat on plastic chairs outside. The last time i saw these scarce mammals was last summer in Oban and that was a brief view and before then it was over 3 years ago so to get such great views this time was special.

Common terns at Preston docks

Ten years there were no terns that summered at the Docks, then a few years ago a few came and bred. The following year there were a dozen or so, then last year 60-70 were present. A massive increase in just a few years. The terns have just started arriving back from Africa this week, i counted 14 present today and this will no doubt increase over the next week or so.

Fylde bird club, Lancashire County Council and RSPB have been working together to encourage the Terns at the docks by putting tyres filled with gravel on the disused jettis at the docks. These are used highly successfully as a nesting point and more have been put on site this year.

Awesome birds and such great views of them displaying and courting can be seen at the docks, definitely recommend it.

Cheeky 'little' thing

This grey heron has been frequenting the garden recently, albeit flying away as soon as it sees any of us. It is after the Koi, Stickleback and Newts/Frogs in the ponds. It's persistent i'll give it that

Spring migration kicks up a gear!

Apologies for the lack of posts recently. The main reason can be put down to the fact that there has just been so much going on, particularly in the Bird world!

The first couple weeks of April were just awful and the weather was too cold and windy for anything to migrate far enough into the country into it's normal summer breeding grounds, however after the last two weeks or so's mild and sunny weather, the migrants have started to flood in, fast and in big numbers. I've never seen such an obvious and evident migration of Birds taking place in such a short space of time.

For example take the Hirundine family (Swallows, Martins and Swifts). If we look at Sand martins, i normally see my first of the year each year around 15-20th March and just single birds. This year because of the hold back due to the weather conditions, i saw my first at the start of April and this was c35 birds at once.

In the last couple of weeks, as things have started to pour in from Africa and Europe, i have tried to get out as much as possible to try and witness the movement when i can. This has meant on my days off cycling out to the river, spending time in the garden before and after college (afterall even if you can't get out, your back yard can still be a great place to do a bit of visible migration spotting!), and spending time on the reserve before and after work. Sometimes even doing a bit of cheeky spotting during lunch breaks at work haha

So i have spent good amounts of time in various places, but mostly the River Ribble, Brockholes nature reserve and at Home.

Significant sightings i have made in the last two weeks include:

River Ribble: A good few White wagtails and many Northern Wheatears, probably numbering about 40-50 (the most i've ever seen at once), returning singing warblers such as Willow warblers, Chiffchaffs, Whitethroats and Blackcaps.

Brockholes: Arctic terns (7 were at the reserve yesterday and gave awesome views, even better than views i've had at breeding grounds in the past!), Little ringed plovers, lovely male Yellow wagtail, c10 Northern Wheatears and many Hirundines and Warblers returning.

Garden: 6 Siskin still frequent the feeders, the pair of Bullfinch show themselves every morning, 2 Nuthatch are frequent to the fat feeders.

Also it looks as the insect world is also beginning to wake up (albeit much later than normal), with recent insect records including: Peacock butterfly in the garden, 5 Small-tortoiseshell and 2 Comma by the Ribble, and plenty of Bees, Hoverflies and Bee-flies beginning to show up in the garden.

Below are a few random pics from the last week or so. Sorry again for the lack of togetherness of posts recently, hopefully in the next few weeks as i'm off on a few trips i'll have a few more better constructed posts to put up, until then....

2 Wheatear and 3 Sand martins at Brockholes - 15-04-13

White wagtail (montage) - Ribble - 15-04-13

Male and Female Bullfinches - Garden - 21-04-13

Arctic tern - Brockholes - 21-04-13

Arctic tern - Brockholes - 21-04-13

2 Arctic tern - Brockholes - 21-04-13