Disconnect With Nature

A friend (Stewart) shared a link to a powerful poem on his Facebook page, and it is well worth a read. The poem is also a book, and it is by Tom Hirons, who is obviously a very talented 'Word Smith'. I read it to myself, and it got right into my soul. I read it aloud to Gail, and as I was reading it to her, I noticed that she had stopped what she was doing, and was transfixed listening. To me, the poem emphasises how we are part of nature, and perhaps how many of us in these troubled times, have lost that connection, and how important it is for us to immerse ourselves in nature, and try to repair those broken links. I hope Tom doesn't mind, but I have reproduced the poem in full below. Anyway, see what you think. And if you like it, maybe buy Tom's book.

Sometimes a Wild God

Sometimes a wild god comes to the table.
He is awkward and does not know the ways
Of porcelain, of fork and mustard and silver.
His voice makes vinegar from wine.

When the wild god arrives at the door,
You will probably fear him.
He reminds you of something dark
That you might have dreamt,
Or the secret you do not wish to be shared.

He will not ring the doorbell;
Instead he scrapes with his fingers
Leaving blood on the paintwork,
Though primroses grow
In circles round his feet.

You do not want to let him in.
You are very busy.
It is late, or early, and besides…
You cannot look at him straight
Because he makes you want to cry.

Your dog barks;
The wild god smiles.
He holds out his hand and
The dog licks his wounds,
Then leads him inside.

The wild god stands in your kitchen.
Ivy is taking over your sideboard;
Mistletoe has moved into the lampshades
And wrens have begun to sing
An old song in the mouth of your kettle.

‘I haven’t much,’ you say
And give him the worst of your food.
He sits at the table, bleeding.
He coughs up foxes.
There are otters in his eyes.

When your wife calls down,
You close the door and
Tell her it’s fine.
You will not let her see
The strange guest at your table.

The wild god asks for whiskey
And you pour a glass for him,
Then a glass for yourself.
Three snakes are beginning to nest
In your voicebox. You cough.

Oh, limitless space.
Oh, eternal mystery.
Oh, endless cycles of death and birth.
Oh, miracle of life.
Oh, the wondrous dance of it all.

You cough again,
Expectorate the snakes and
Water down the whiskey,
Wondering how you got so old
And where your passion went.

The wild god reaches into a bag
Made of moles and nightingale-skin.
He pulls out a two-reeded pipe,
Raises an eyebrow
And all the birds begin to sing.

The fox leaps into your eyes.
Otters rush from the darkness.
The snakes pour through your body.
Your dog howls and upstairs
Your wife both exults and weeps at once.

The wild god dances with your dog.
You dance with the sparrows.
A white stag pulls up a stool
And bellows hymns to enchantments.
A pelican leaps from chair to chair.

In the distance, warriors pour from their tombs.
Ancient gold grows like grass in the fields.
Everyone dreams the words to long-forgotten songs.
The hills echo and the grey stones ring
With laughter and madness and pain.

In the middle of the dance,
The house takes off from the ground.
Clouds climb through the windows;
Lightning pounds its fists on the table
And the moon leans in.

The wild god points to your side.
You are bleeding heavily.
You have been bleeding for a long time,
Possibly since you were born.
There is a bear in the wound.

‘Why did you leave me to die?’
Asks the wild god and you say:
‘I was busy surviving.
The shops were all closed;
I didn’t know how. I’m sorry.’

Listen to them:

The fox in your neck and
The snakes in your arms and
The wren and the sparrow and the deer…
The great un-nameable beasts
In your liver and your kidneys and your heart…

There is a symphony of howling.
A cacophony of dissent.
The wild god nods his head and
You wake on the floor holding a knife,
A bottle and a handful of black fur.

Your dog is asleep on the table.
Your wife is stirring, far above.
Your cheeks are wet with tears;
Your mouth aches from laughter or shouting.
A black bear is sitting by the fire.

Sometimes a wild god comes to the table.
He is awkward and does not know the ways
Of porcelain, of fork and mustard and silver.
His voice makes vinegar from wine
And brings the dead to life.

I was reminded again this week about our disconnect with nature via the words of Aldo Leopold, an American writer, philosopher, naturalist, scientist, ecologist, forester, conservationist, and environmentalist. In his A Sand County Almanac, he said:

 

 “One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. Much of the damage inflicted on land is quite invisible to laymen. An ecologist must either harden his shell and make believe that the consequences of science are none of his business, or he must be the doctor who sees the marks of death in a community that believes itself well and does not want to be told otherwise.” 

 

These words resonated with me, and sums up perfectly how I feel. Our disconnect with nature saddens me every day. 

 

Since my last post two weeks ago, it has remained cold, and I have been particularly worried about our insect population, especially butterflies, as they have seemed very thin on the ground. On 2nd July Gail and I headed to the dunes at Fleetwood in the hope of a few insects, but it was overcast, with a cold north-westerly wind, so we turned our attention to the plants. One of my favourite plants, Sea Holly, was flowering profusely, and it was a joy to spend an hour wandering in its' company. In addition to the Sea Holly, other plants in flower included Sea Bindweed, Sea Rocket, Common Restharrow, Sea Spurge, and Biting Stonecrop. 

 

Mondays are the day that we look after our grandson, Alex, and if the forecast is okay, I run my moth trap overnight Sunday into Monday, and check the trap with Alex, in an attempt to get him interested in the natural world, and create that connection, sadly lost with most people now. Alex is 21 months old, and last Monday was the first time that he really showed an interest, urging me to turn over the egg cartons to see what we had caught.

We caught 24 moths, of fifteen species, as follows:

Riband Wave - 1

Bee Moth - 4

Grey Pug - 1

Dark Arches - 6

Common Rustic - 1

Heart and Dart - 1

Garden Carpet - 1

Lesser Yellow Underwing - 1

Light Brown Apple Moth - 1

Buff Ermine - 1

Rustic - 1

Eudonia lacustrata - 1

Codling Moth - 1

Bright-line Brown-eye - 1

Brown House Moth - 1

 

Buff Ermine

 

Dark Arches

Grey Pug

Riband Wave

 About a week ago, Gail and I had a walk along the Quay and the Wyre Estuary, again hoping for a few insects. It was mid-afternoon, but it was overcast, and that north-westerly breeze was there again, cooling things down. The only insect we had was a Yellow Shell, a sort of day flying moth, in as much as you can often flush them during the day, but they are more active at night. A Common Sandpiper and a Little Egret later, and we were back at the start.

 

 

Little Egret (above & below)
 

The following day we completed the sixth and final breeding bird survey of an arable site near Burscough. It was very quiet bird-wise, but we did record a few arable plants, and I've posted a few pictures below.  

Common Fumitory

 

Field Pansy
 

The humble spud

 

At weekend, we had our first ringing session of the autumn at the Nature Park. Gail and I got there just before 5:00 a.m., just as the Starlings were stirring from their overnight, reedbed roost. 

The birding was quiet, but the ringing was promising, with 41 ringed as follows:

Chaffinch - 1

Blackcap - 6

Reed Warbler - 7

Sedge Warbler - 5

Robin - 3 

Grey Wagtail - 1

Goldfinch - 1

Blue Tit - 1

Greenfinch - 2

Dunnock - 1

Great Tit - 1

Chiffchaff - 5

Willow Warbler - 2

Wren - 2

Lesser Whitethroat - 1

Blackbird - 3

 

Blackcap - male

 

Out of the 42 birds that we ringed, 31 were juveniles, which is what you would expect for this time of year. However, based upon how poor the breeding season has been in our boxes, we were expecting the worse, and thought that the ratio of juveniles to adults would be lower. It wasn't, which is good news, and fingers crossed that subsequent ringing sessions in August, when migrants from further afield move through, will show similar positive results. 

 

We were particularly pleased that out of the six Sedge Warblers we ringed, five were juveniles, as in recent years they have struggled at this site. The adult male Grey Wagtail was a surprise. We do catch them later in the autumn, but 13th July is probably the earliest that I have ringed one in the autumn. 

 

I've mentioned recently about the seemingly, alarming, lack of butterflies at the moment, and this morning was no different. As we were on site until late morning, I would have expected to see some butterflies on the wing, but all we recorded was a single Gatekeeper. We had another species of Lepidoptera, in the form of a gorgeous Drinker moth that Gail spotted in one of our net rides.

 

Gatekeeper (above & below)

 

Drinker

 

This overdue catch-up finishes with the results of a moth trapping session overnight last night. This morning when Alex, and I checked our garden light trap, we recorded 29 moths, of 12 species:

 

Riband Wave - 7

Small Dusty Wave - 1

Codling Moth - 5

Single-dotted Wave - 1

Scalloped Oak - 1

Dark Arches - 4

Lesser Yellow Underwing - 1

Cabbage Moth - 1

Miller - 1

Common Rustic - 4

Dot Moth - 2

Common Plume - 1

 

Miller

 

We also recorded a Cinnamon Sedge caddisfly. 

 

The forecast is a bit mixed this coming week, isn't it always, but I'm sure I'll be out somewhere. 

 

Over on the right, you will see that I have updated the ringing totals for Fylde Ringing Group up until the end of June. Four new species for the year were ringed during June, and these were Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Willow Warbler and Kestrel.

 

Below you will find the top 2 ringed in June, and the top 7 'movers and shakers' for the year.

 

Top 2 Ringed in June

 

1. Blue Tit - 22

2. Reed Warbler - 11

 

Top 7 Movers and Shakers for the Year

 

1. Siskin - 112 (same position)

2. Blue Tit - 78 (same position)

3. Tree Sparrow - 34 (same position)

    Goldfinch - 34 (same position)

4. Chaffinch - 29 (same position)

5. Great Tit - 27 (same position)

6. Reed Warbler - 11 (straight in)

Summer

I try and keep my blog posts as positive as possible, celebrating the joy of nature, but as time goes on, I am struggling. Trying to keep my eco anxiety in check gets harder all the time. Our beleaguered wildlife is under constant attack, and I am of certain age where I can remember how relatively bountiful biodiversity used to be. It shocks me to think about the sheer number and species that have vanished from the pages of my notebooks. In comparison to my notebooks from the 1970s and 80s, the pages of my recent notebooks are empty. It is as if somebody has erased all the wondrous wildlife from the pages, and they are now blank. And this just in my lifetime; depressing... 

We have a general election next week in the UK, and the usual political parties are touting for votes, including a new political party called Deform, sorry, Reform UK, led by the racist, narcissist, compulsive liar, and all-round environmental hooligan, Nigel Farage. A quick look at their manifesto, and it is obvious that a vote for this fascist party, is a vote against our wildlife. Not a single positive environmental pledge, but plenty of negative ones!

It reads as though it has been written by a teenage schoolboy, high on a sugar rush, from eating too many Haribo's! 

They pledge to:

- scrap net zero targets

- start fast-track licenses of North Sea gas and oil

- grant shale gas licences and enable major production

- explore clean coal mining (an oxymoron, if I ever did hear one!)

- productive land not to be used for rewilding

- replace current farm subsidies with direct payments (oh dear!) 

- stop Natural England from taking action that damages farmers 

 

I don't think the above needs any further explanation, it is quite clear that a vote for Reform, is a vote to further damage biodiversity in the UK, in a very measured, and purposeful way. I was particularly alarmed at the last pledge above, regarding Natural England. It is clear that under Deform (that is a far better name for them), if a landowner wants to damage a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for example, to increase production on their land, no action will be taken against them. 

 

Put simply, a vote for Deform UK, is another nail in the coffin of our wildlife. 

 

Now, on to the more positive stuff!

 

I've talked about this before, the fact that there isn't really a summer in the bird world, or perhaps just a couple of weeks at best. Spring starts in early March, and lasts until early June, and then autumn begins in late June, when the first returning waders (failed breeders) appear. So, in the avian world, summer is that small window between early and late June, the exact period that this blog post will cover.

 

My last post was on 10th June, and to be honest, it has been fairly quiet over the last couple of weeks or so, but there have been a few highlights. 

 

Mid-month we had two back-to-back breeding bird surveys, necessitating two 4:00 a.m. alarm calls! Our first survey site was south of the Ribble near Burscough, and we had virtually full cloud cover with a brisk north-westerly wind. 

 

At this time of year, there are lots of young birds about (nowhere near as many as they used to be), and I love the antics of young Rooks with their parents. We were watching several young Rooks with their parents in an arable field this morning. The adults were busy trying to find food for their now fledged chicks, and I suppose I should technically call them juveniles, and the juvs in their desperation to be fed, were continually badgering Mum and Dad, and being more of a hindrance than a help. Lovely to watch. 

Anecdotally, I think Long-tailed Tits have had a good breeding season, as I am seeing flocks of adults and juveniles every time I go out, and this morning was no exception with a flock of at least nine. 'Lotties' are early breeders, and it is likely that they managed to fledge their chicks before the wet weather that has seriously hampered the breeding success of other passerine species. 

 

Long-tailed Tit
 

It was nice to see a pair of Whitethroats carrying food, and I hoped that they would be as successful as the Long-tailed Tits. A singing Yellowhammer was noteworthy, and it is sad to think how much they have declined in my lifetime, somewhere in the region of 62%, and their range has contracted by over 20% as well!

 

The only other highlights of this particular survey, was the 'sea' of humble, not so humble, Red Dead-nettles that we came across, and a group of six confiding juvenile Swallows. 

 

Red Dead-nettle (above & below)

 

 

Swallow
 

The following day I was closer to home, on a gloriously sunny morning, although at 5:00 a.m. it was cool in the light north-westerly wind. The number and range of birds singing drops off at this time of the year, as summer is in full swing, but on this morning, I still had two Blackcaps, two Song Thrushes, a Lesser Whitethroat, two Whitethroats, and two Chiffchaffs singing. 

 

A few days before the Solstice, Gail and I had a late morning wander around Marton Mere, and it is at least a couple of decades since I was last here. Singing warblers were the order of the morning, with five Chiffchaffs, five Whitethroats, four Sedge Warblers, two Reed Warblers, three Cetti's Warblers, two Lesser Whitethroats and a Grasshopper Warbler. Very few insects were on the wing, except a few bee and hoverfly species, and a pair of Broad-bodied Chasers. Absolutely no butterflies!

Just after mid-month we had a breeding bird survey to complete on the coast in north-west Cumbria, not far from Whitehaven. It was a cool, overcast morning, but we had good views across the firth to Scotland, and across the Irish Sea to Ireland and the Isle of Man.

 

The highlights of our survey were the Northern Marsh Orchids, a couple of Slow Worms, and a pair of Stonechats with food, waiting for us to walk past them, before they fed their chicks. 

 

Northern Marsh Orchid

 

Slow Worm

Stonechats (above & below)

 

The day after the Solstice, I headed to the Nature Park to clear the net rides, and put the ropes on, in preparation for the forthcoming autumn ringing programme. In one of the net rides was an Early Marsh Orchid, and a Southern Marsh Orchid, and elsewhere I found some Bee Orchids that had gone over. 

 

Early Marsh Orchid

 

Southern Marsh Orchid
 

A moth trapping session over the night of 23rd/24th June with my garden light trap, resulted in the following catch:

 

Common Emerald - 2

Willow Beauty - 3

Evergestis forficalis - 1

Carcina quercana - 2

Bee Moth - 4

Riband Wave - 1

Dusky brocade - 1

Codling Moth - 2

Light Brwon Apple Moth - 1

Setaceous Hebrew Character - 1

 

Common Emerald

 

Riband Wave
 
 

I also trapped a Water Boatman. 

 

I was back at the breeding bird survey site close to home near Poulton-Le-Fylde, just less than a week ago, and I had another encounter with a number of Long-tailed Tits. Again, mainly juveniles with some adults mixed in, and this time I had 20!

 

Gail and I were carrying out some judicious pruning of the Privet hedge, and some Willows, in our front garden, and we disturbed a Lunar Hornet Moth. I would need to check, but I think this is about the 5th or 6th record for our garden. Willows and Sallows are the food plant for the caterpillars, of which we have both in our front and back garden.  

 

Lunar Hornet Moth
 

A positive note, to end this not so positive blog post on.

Fylde Nature Notes

An odd title for a blog post I can hear you say, but it is to remind me, to remind you, that I have set up a Facebook group called Fylde Nature Notes. Influenced by a Facebook group called 'West Lancashire Nature Notes', started by Graham C in 2019, I thought I would start something similar for the Fylde area of Lancashire. With Graham's blessing, I basically replicated the West Lancs group, and adapted it for the Fylde area. 

 

The main purpose of the group is to enable members to celebrate, enjoy, promote, and share information about the wildlife, nature and landscapes of the Fylde, and adjacent areas. This includes wonderful nature reserves like Marton Mere, and nationally and internationally designated areas and habitats such as Winmarleigh Moss, the Lune, Ribble and Wyre estuaries, and Liverpool and Morecambe Bay. Equally as importantly, it includes our gardens, open spaces, farmland and countryside. This group will aim to let others know about issues and problems facing our already beleaguered wildlife and countryside, including planning issues, illegal land management activity, illegal persecution of wildlife, or simply where to ask for help.

 

Members are encouraged to share their local wildlife, nature and natural landscape photographs, videos, updates, sightings, and news. It all helps to promote a greater awareness of biodiversity and our environment. I hope people will discuss land management, wildlife gardening and how to attract species, or improve the diversity of their patch. We'll give it a go, and see what happens. So, if you fancy having a look, or even joining, head over to Facebook and search Fylde Nature Notes.

 

Now to catch up on the last couple of weeks...again!

 

Since my last post, Gail and I have checked our boxes in Bowland and near Garstang twice, and the outcome has been bleak. Our Pied Flycatchers in the Hodder Valley have not done very well at all. If you remember, we had four boxes occupied (2023 = 5, 2022 = 4, 2021 = 7, 2020 = 10), and the mean over the last 5 years is 6 occupied boxes, so we have been struggling this year. The outcome of our 4 occupied boxes is as follows:

 

Box 1 - Predated (female and eggs)

Box 2 - 6 young dead in box

Box 3 - 6 dead young, and one poorly looking chick, just about surviving

Box 4 - 6 healthy chicks

 

Pied Flycatcher
 

The outcome has been similar for Blue Tits, with any successful boxes only managing to get between two and four chicks to the fledging stage. It would seem that timing has been key, with breeding attempts started earlier having been more successful, than later attempts. The weather has been poor (very wet) throughout the later stages of the breeding cycle, hatching onwards, resulting in adults struggling to find food. Let's hope they all bounce back next year. 

 

At our good friend's farm near Nateby, the Kestrels have now hatched, or should I say five out of the six eggs have. However, when we checked them again yesterday, there were only three chicks left. These three were all healthy, so they were duly ringed. We suspect that the adult Kestrels have been struggling to find food with all this wet weather, and that is why there was only three chicks left. Usually, this box is littered with the corpses of small mammals and birds, but not this year, further evidence that the adults have been struggling. Fingers crossed for the remaining three little ones! 

 

Kestrel

Towards the end of May, Gail and I were south of the Ribble near Burscough carrying out a second breeding bird survey (BBS) for the site. The forecast hadn't been too great, but the rain held off just long enough for us to complete the survey. Nothing amazing, with the highlights being a singing Yellowhammer, at least 16 Blackbirds, three Stock Doves, a Buzzard, three Chiffchaffs, two Song Thrushes and a Whitethroat. 

 

The following day, we were looking after our Grandson, Alex, and we had gone into the garden to feed the Frog tadpoles in our little garden pond, and out of the corner of my eye, I spotted an Eyed Hawk-moth 'perched' on the bottom of a fence panel. It was a cracking beastie, and I picked it up and showed it Alex.

 

Eyed Hawk-moth
 

The following day, Gail was pottering around the garden and shouted me to come outside, as she had found two mating Eyed Hawk-moths at the bottom of our garden. Not rare by any means, but what cracking beasties they are! 

 

Eyed Hawk-moths
 

At the end of the month, we had a walk along the River Wyre at Jubilee Quay, and it was quiet. We were hoping for a few invertebrates, but there wasn't anywhere sheltered from the cold north-westerly wind. The only insect we did find was a beetle, Oedemera lurida/virescens, which was new for us. 

 

Oedemera lurida/virescens...probably
 

I have not had my moth trap out very often for one reason or another, but mainly the cold, blustery, wet weather, and a session overnight on 1st/2nd June produced only a handful of moths:

 

Heart and Dart - 2

Lychnis - 1

Angle Shades - 1

Green Pug - 1

Carcina quercana - 1

 

Angle Shades (above & below)

 

Green Pug

 

Lychnis
 

Later in the morning, I noticed a large Bumblebee mass hanging from a Meadow Buttercup, and it was a male and female Buff-tailed Bumblebee mating. Something that I have never observed before.

 

Buff-tailed Bumblebees
 

Last Friday, I was at my client's farm near Slaidburn in Bowland, to complete the third and final breeding wader survey of the year. It was a mixed morning weather-wise, with a hefty shower mid-morning, and there was a cool westerly wind. But the sun did make an appearance now and again, and when it did it was warm.

It's very quiet now in terms of breeding waders, with just Curlews left guarding their broods. Our RSPB friends have been radio tagging the chicks, and a couple of adults, on the farm this year, and I'll report back at a later date as to the outcomes of the tagged broods when we finally know them. Four broods were tagged, with 3,4, 3 and 2 chicks being tagged out of each brood. Unfortunately, the two chicks tagged were the complete brood for this pair (3 eggs laid and only 2 hatched), and sadly both chicks have found their way into a Buzzard nest! Not completely unexpected. However, the remaining chicks are still surviving, so fingers crossed for the next couple of weeks. 

 

We have numerous feeders up at the farm, and we feed throughout the summer to give adult birds a much needed protein boost. Every feeder I went past during the morning, was hooching with Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Linnets and Siskins, so pleasing to see. 

 

Chaffinch

 

Linnet

Siskin
 

A few warblers were singing as I walked round, and I had six Willow Warblers, a Garden Warbler and three Sedge Warblers. Talking of a singing, a male Cuckoo was very vocal, although I couldn't see him, and he was moving around the farm a lot, particularly in the area of the farm that backs on to the fell. I did see a female however, so that was great. 

 

Along the hedgerow next to a restored hay meadow, I had a Broad-bodied Chaser, and it was probably the most sheltered, and warm bit of the farm that morning. An adult Orange-tip butterfly was also making use of the sheltered conditions. 

 

Broad-bodied Chaser

 

Orange-tip

One of our recently restored hay meadows looking nice and flowery
 

 

Down by the central wetland, Common Sandpiper and Oystercatcher were alarm calling, so they obviously had chicks, and I noted that the pair of Mute Swans that nested here had five recently hatched cygnets. 

 

Mute Swans
 

Over weekend, Gail spotted an unusual looking spider on our garage door. I took a few shots, and then spent some time looking at Britain's Spiders - A field guide by Lawrence Bee, Geoff Oxford and Helen Smith, and I thought it was one of the Long-jawed Orbweb spiders, Tetragnatha montana. However, spider guru, and all round great Naturalist, Anno, tells me that to get it to species level I would need good lighting and a microscope. So Tetragnatha sp. it is! 

 

Tetragnatha sp.

 

I've got a few breeding bird surveys to complete this coming week, so fingers cross the weather the holds out.

 

Over on the right, you will see that I have updated the ringing totals for Fylde Ringing Group up until the end of May. Two new species for the year were ringed during May, and these were Pied Flycatcher and Jackdaw. 

 

Below you will find the top 2 ringed for the month, and the top 5 'movers and shakers' for the year.

 

Top 2 Ringed in May

 

1. Blue Tit - 21

2. Tree Sparrow - 13

 

Top 5 Movers and Shakers for the Year

 

1. Siskin - 112 (same position)

2. Blue Tit - 56 (same position)

3. Tree Sparrow - 34 (up from 5th)

    Goldfinch - 34 (same position)

4. Chaffinch - 29 (same position)

5. Great Tit - 21 (up from 6th)

More Breeding Birds and Those Pesky Norhern Lights

It has been two weeks since I last posted, and I apologise for that, but I have been very busy with more breeding birds. This means lots of time in the field, early starts, and not a great deal of time to sit in front of a computer writing my blog! 

Over two weeks ago now, Gail and I were back at our BBS site near Poulton-Le-Fylde, and we were carrying out an evening survey as part of the new bird survey guidelines that were introduced last year. We didn't record anything particularly unusual, and if I was to pick out some highlights from the 23 species that we recorded, these would be three Song Thrushes, three Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap, and that would be it. 

 

Three days later, I was back at my clients' farm near Slaidburn, carrying out the second breeding wader survey with a couple of RSPB friends/colleagues. It was a nice morning, with 4 oktas cloud cover, and a light southeasterly wind. As always at this site, there are quite a few Willow Warblers and on my survey area I had eleven singing males. Other warblers recorded were two Sedge Warblers, a Blackcap and a Garden Warbler. 

 

As usual, Raven and Siskin were present, with individual birds moving around, and I had two singing Cuckoos, although I suspect that it might well be just one male moving about. Lots of Brown Hares were a feature of the morning, and I counted at least fifteen different animals, and I know I saw others that I didn't record in my notebook. 

 

Tufted Ducks nest on site, and I had a pair on a quiet pool, tucked out of the way. I had my first Swifts of the year, with two birds slowly (or as slowly as a Swift can) drifting across the farm. Lots of male Orange-tip butterflies were on the wing, and a couple of male Reed Buntings complete the non-wader highlights.

 

Tufted Ducks
 

From a breeding wader perspective, it felt very quiet, and that's probably because the Curlews were busy quietly incubating eggs, but the Lapwings were more of a worry, and I suspect we have lost a few through predation. I only had four adult birds on my patch, and that included a late displaying bird. Two Snipes drumming was good to hear, and I also had two Common Sandpipers, eleven Oystercatchers and a single Redshank. 

 

Common Sandpiper
 

This was also the day that those pesky northern lights made an appearance. I say pesky, mainly because every social media outlet was swamped with photos of this amazing spectacle, as if half the population of the northern hemisphere wanted to show people their photos, which were just the same as everybody else's photos! There were some exceptions, and some people posted some amazing photos, but others not so good. I resisted posting any of mine until now, and I think mine are leaning towards the not so good! It was great to experience though. 

 

 

The following day, Gail and I were at our good friend's farm near Nateby checking the Tree Sparrow boxes. We had six boxes occupied by Tree Sparrows, and we ringed 13 chicks, four occupied by Blue Tits and nine by Great Tits. We checked the Kestrel box and found 6 warm eggs, so that's great news!

 

Tree Sparrow chick 

 

Kestrel nest
 

We didn't record much else on our walk round the farm, but a singing Willow Warbler, Whitethroat and three Blackcaps all made it into my notebook. 

 

A week ago, Gail and I returned to a survey site in north Cumbria, near Whitehaven, that we have surveyed on and off since 2019, with 2021 the last time we were there carrying out breeding bird surveys, and it was the first of three breeding bird surveys that we undertook last week.

Even though it takes about two hours to get there, it's quite an enjoyable drive once you get to the Howgills on the M6, and then through the north Lakes along the A66. We called at Tebay services for a coffee at about 5:00 am, and it was nice that the staff remembered me from when I was regular here for several years, at stupid o'clock picking up a coffee!

We started our survey under full cloud cover, with a light north-easterly wind. The first section of our survey is along some cliffs, and although surveying any passing seabirds isn't part of the survey brief, we did have a look on the sea and had a Red-throated Diver and a couple of Gannets.

It is a good site for Stonechats, and we had three males spread across the site, and this probably does mean three pairs. The main species waving the warbler flag was Whitethroat, and we had eight singing males. Is it me, or does there seem to be more Whitethroats around this summer? Other warbler species were two Willow Warblers and a Blackcap. The only raptor species we had was a Sparrowhawk that upset the local Goldfinches, Linnets and Swallows, and three singing Skylarks was noteworthy. 

The following day we were back in the Hodder Valley in Bowland checking our Pied Flycatcher boxes, and we still only have four occupied by Pied Flycatchers, but the number of singing males would suggest a shortage of females. It will be interesting to see what others are recording in the area. All of the Pied Flycatchers were on eggs, and only one female was sitting when we inspected the boxes, and we lifted her off the nest and ringed her. 

 

The woodland where our Pied Flycatcher boxes are located

 

Pied Flycatcher nest with a complete clutch
 

We had one box occupied by a pair of Nuthatches, nine with sitting/brooding female Blue Tits, and four with sitting/brooding Great Tits. One box had a roosting Pipistrelle sp. bat in it, so that will be missed next time. 

 

Nuthatch in residence. Note the mud under the lid and 

around the hole!
 

As we walked through the woodland checking our boxes, we also recorded two singing Blackcaps, a singing Garden Warbler, two Brown Hares, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, and a  singing Chiffchaff.

 

I have been running my moth trap sporadically, and catching a few bits and pieces, with Alder Moth and White Ermine being the highlights. It's more breeding birds for Gail and I tomorrow, as we return to check our Pied Flycatcher boxes, with hopefully a few more females. 

 

Alder Moth

 

White Ermine
 

Following on from reporting on here about the discovery of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) being found in subantarctic mammals, I read in British Birds May 2024, that it has now been found in penguins on South Georgia. The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) reported that several hundred penguins have tested positive for HPAI, including five Gentoo Penguins and five King Penguins. 

Thankfully, the mortality this has caused for Gentoo Penguins has been localised and brief, but BAS are worried about Macaroni Penguins as they gather in large concentrations to moult. In addition to the penguins, HPAI has now also been found in Antarctic Terns and Snowy Albatrosses, but so far, the effects of the infections appear to remain highly localised so far. Let us hope it remains that way.