It is still cold, and as I type this in the third week of April, insects are thin on the ground. My garden moth trap has been very quiet, and I have been catching, when I do catch, just a few moths of a couple of species. For example, on 2nd April all I had in my trap, were singles of Hebrew Character and Early Grey. We've had plenty of sunshine, with very little rain, but there has always been a niggling, cold wind from the east.
The same morning of the above poor catch in my moth trap, Gail and I had a walk along the Wyre estuary from the quay. It was lovely and sunny, but the wind was a cold easterly, and all we had insect-wise was a Buff-tailed Bumblebee, and a Buffish Mining Bee. The Buffish Mining Bee was a first record for the site for us. It isn't rare at all, it's just that we have overlooked it in the past. There was very little out on the mud of the quay, other than 148 roosting Redshanks.
Two days later, we headed north and visited one of our favourite reserves, Foulshaw Moss. It was a glorious morning in terms of the sunshine, but that cold east-northeasterly wind kept any insect activity to a minimum, in fact just to a handful of Buff-tailed Bumblebees!
A few migrants were singing their hearts out, despite the cool temperatures, and we recorded four Chiffchaffs, six Willow Warblers, and a Blackcap. A singing Song Thrush, 18 Lesser Redpolls, two Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a Siskin, and a Reed Bunting, all made it onto the pages in my notebook. And of course the Ospreys.
There were a few plants for us to look at including, Bog-myrtle, Greater Tussock Sedge, Lesser Celandine, Meadowsweet, and Marsh Marigold.
A couple of days later, we managed to record another species of butterfly for the spring, a glorious male Orange-tip in our garden. In fact, Orange-tip records from our garden remain in single figures. It's nice to see Herb Robert and Cowslip flowering in the garden as well.
The following day, I finally managed to nail a new species of bird for the house that I have failed to add in the past, although the behaviour of the local Herring Gull population previously have indicated some probable near misses. I had an Osprey head north-east late in the afternoon.
It was a tad warmer that afternoon, and a walk through our local woods during the afternoon produced singles of Comma, Peacock, and Red Admiral butterflies.
The following day, my moth trap was producing two moths of two species again, this time a Chamomile Shark, and Hebrew Character. Without checking, I think that Chamomile Shark is a new species for the garden.
A couple of weeks ago, I got a phone call from Ian to say that he was watching three, yes three, Black Redstarts in the cemetery. I headed up there, and within ten minutes of searching I located one Black Redstart, and when Ian returned, we found the other two. At one stage we could see all three at the same time. I can't remember ever seeing three together before.
They were female/second calendar year types, although one of them had quite a bit of grey in it, and I suspect that it was a second calendar year male. The only other migrants in the cemetery were a couple of Willow Warblers and Chiffies.
The following morning I headed to Larkholme for a sea-watch and count any vis mig. It was a beautifully sunny morning again, the easterly wind was south-easterly, a little warmer, but still cool.
Neither the seas or the skies were rocking, and on, or over the sea, I had six Cormorants, 19 Sandwich Terns, 28 Gannets, 69 Common Scoters, two Auk sp., 113 Knot, six Canada Geese, three Red-throated Divers, a pair of Shovelers, nine Eiders, two Greylag Geese, 43 Dunlin, and 99 Wigeon.Out on the stone groynes 96 Turnstones roosted.
Turnstones
On vis I recorded eight Linnets, 21 Meadow Pipits, three Carrion Crows, two Swallows, and two Lesser Redpolls.
I had a walk around the farm fields afterwards,and in the migrant category were three male Wheatears, and two Chiffchaffs. Prize for the most strange record goes to a Rose-ringed Parakeet, my first record for the site.
I had a look in the cemetery on my way home, and was surprised to see that one Black Redstart remained even though it had been clear the previous night. The only other migrant was a single Chiffchaff. Cow Parsley, Lesser Celandine, and Honesty were all flowering, but I didn't record any insects.
When I got back home I checked my moth trap, and I had doubled my species count of late, with single records of Hebrew Character, Herald, Light Brown Apple Moth, and Double-striped Pug.
Two weeks ago, Gail and I had a ringing session at the Nature Park. Sunrise is getting earlier now, and we were putting the nets up at 6:00 a.m. under 1 oktas cloud cover, with no wind, and a slight ground frost.
We had a quiet session, but it was a pure warbler session, and we ringed just seven birds (recaptures in brackets):
Chiffchaff - 3
Blackcap - 2
Sedge Warbler - 1
Cetti's Warbler - 1 (1)
It was a fairly quiet morning overall, and in addition to the ringed birds we recorded five singing Cetti's Warblers, a Sparrowhawk, a Raven, an unseen calling Whimbrel, two Willow Warblers, a pair of Stonechats, a Buzzard, and a pair of Teal.
Mid-month we had our WeBS count, and as expected it was quiet. On our Fleetwood Docks section, which includes the quay, we recorded 29 Redshanks, a Common Sandpiper, four Teal, an Oystercatcher, and seven Whimbrel. Walking along the quay we briefly picked up a Black Redstart, just before it took off, and flew round, dropping into the old ferry car park, where there is lots of habitat, but you can't access it. That was my fourth Black Red of the spring.
Our other WeBS section was even quieter, with just three Moorhens, two Mute Swans, five Coots, two Shelducks, and a Little Grebe on the reservoir alongside the estuary. On the walk to and from the reservoir we logged a Song Thrush, four Chiffchaffs, a Cetti's Warbler, two Willow Warblers, and two Blackcaps. Along this sheltered walk, we had at least four Speckled Woods engaged in an aerial dog-fight.
A couple of days later I was back at the quay, and it was still cold with the wind from the east. The tide was running in and pushing the Redshanks to the higher ground close to the dock channel, with 129 roosting. As I walked towards the estuary, I picked up an adult Yellow-legged Gull on the last remaining shore where the dock channel feeds into the river. I had a couple of minutes in its company, before the incoming tide pushed it off.
A few more plants are now flowering here with blooms of Smooth Sow Thistle, Red Valarian, Wood Forget-me-not, and Bird's-foot Trefoil.
Gail and I were back at the quay again a few days later, and at a similar state of tide the adult Yellow-legged Gull was in the same place, and again we had just a couple of minutes watching it, before the tide pushed it off again. The only additions were three Sandwich Terns on the river, and we had our first Common Carder Bee for the spring.
On Good Friday we did a Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) on a site in the West Pennines, not too far from Oswaldtwistle. The site is predominantly made up of broad-leaved woodland, with some pools in more open scrubby habitat. Highlights of the survey were a pair of Gadwall, 15 Tufted Ducks, a Buzzard, two Jays, 12 singing Willow Warblers, 10 Chiffchaffs, 14 singing Blackcaps, two singing Whitethroats, three singing Goldcrests, 25 Wrens, five Song Thrushes, a singing Mistle Thrush, 18 Robins, and nine Roe Deer. We also found a freshly dead Common Shrew.
Just under a week ago I was back at Larkholme for a sea-watch, and a walk around the farm fields. I had six oktas cloud cover, and the wind was a, you've guessed it, a cold east-southeasterly. The sea was a little better than last time and I recorded two Whimbrels, five Auk sp., 88 Sandwich Terns, seven Gannets, a male Eider, 11 Cormorants, an Atlantic Grey Seal, eight Red-throated Divers, a Common Scoter, a Shelduck, and 15 Dunlins. Out on one of the rock groynes 115 Turnstones roosted.
I had a walk along the hedgerows of the farm fields and two singing Whitethroats were new in, as was a Sedge Warbler and Cetti's Warbler. The only vis I had was a handful of Meadow Pipits, Alba Wags, Swallows and a Sand Martin north.
I called at the Quay on my way home, and it was still really cold, and there was nothing new in, other than a couple of singing Whitethroats.
A couple of days later Gail and I were at my client's farm near Slaidburn in Bowland, undertaking the first breeding wader survey for the season, and we were also doing part of Gav's patch as well. We had four oktas cloud cover, with a bit of ground mist early on, and a light south-westerly wind.
I'll jump straight to the results, with the total estimated pairs, based on sightings and activity, as follows:
Curlew - 8
Lapwing - 13
Oystercatcher - 4
Redshank - 2
Snipe - 2
We found one pair of Lapwings with at least two chicks, and I have since heard that there is another pair with at least three chicks.
As I have mentioned in posts previously about this site, the management at the farm is all about producing waders, and the habitat management that we carry out benefits other species as well, including the 14 Brown Hares that we had within our survey area.
It's probably one of the best areas I know for Willow Warblers and we had 20 singing males on our patch. Throughout the morning a Cuckoo calling was the constant background sound to our survey, and he was backwards and forwards across our patch. You can see a very poor photo below that was taken on full zoom from a long way!
We had our first singing Redstart of the spring in the place that we always record them, and the best of the rest were four Ravens, a Jay, seven Siskins, a female Wheatear, two Reed Buntings, four Buzzards, two Kestrels, and 49 Rooks.
Two days ago we had a ringing session at the Nature Park. Again it was cold, with a stiff south-easterly breeze. The wind was stronger than was forecast, and it was a little troublesome in one of the net rides.
We ringed 10 birds as follows:
Wren - 1
Dunnock - 2
Reed Warbler - 3
Sedge Warbler - 2
Goldfinch - 1
Blackcap - 1
A few new arrivals were in and singing since our last visit, including three Grasshopper Warblers, four Sedge Warblers, four Cetti's Warblers, two Whitethroats, and three Reed Warblers. We had very little vis other than a Whimbrel, and a few Swallows heading east.
Out on the pools were 150 Herring Gulls, a Grey Heron, 17 Coots, 12 Mallards, six Moorhens, five Tufted Ducks, a Little Grebe, three Mute Swans, and six Canada Geese.
All the Gulls got up at one stage, but they weren't reacting enough for it to be an Osprey or a Marsh Harrier, and it was a Buzzard. Driving off site along the access track we noted a pair of Stonechats in an area that they nest most years.
In our garden pond we have lots of early stage Common Frog tadpoles at the moment, and the pond is being visited by Tapered Drone Fly, and Tiger Marsh Fly, that chases off all comers! Our insect hotel is once again being occupied by Red Mason Bees, and two are inspecting the tubes at the moment.
I'll hopefully have news of some garden moth trapping and sea-watching in my next post.
