At last! My first Northern Shovelers in East Lancs, at Upper Foulridge Reservoir
26 September 2009 East Lancashire. Another tour of ELOC sites in the hope of finding a migrant started at Lower Foulridge Reservoir at dawn. Unfortunately, although there is still a lot of mud here the wader passage seems to have petered out leaving only 165 Northern Lapwings. Also here were: Great Crested Grebe (five); Common teal (c.30) and Common Gull (one) but nothing else of note. The highlight of the day (if you can call it that) was a pair of eclipse drake Northern Shovelers on Upper Foulridge Reservoir, a long overdue and embarrassing new ELOC bird for me. Also here of note were three Grey Wagtails. Just o.o.a. at Hellifield Flash, were another 17 Northern Shovelers and 16 Eurasian Wigeon amongst the mass of Mallards and Common Teal. Eleven kilometres west at Stocks Reservoir, where shoveler remains a scarce bird, the water level had dropped a little and the Hodder inlet spit was starting to show again. However, in keeping with the rest of this unlucky day a huge red hot air balloon appeared from the direction of Kenibus and then flew low over the inlet, flushing every single bird from it. A count of 20 Eurasian Coots on the island was my highest here so far (Tony Cooper had 26 this week!) and I had just got to 235 teal and there must have been another 30 or so when they took flight and three Common Snipe were also flushed but with the inlet now empty I gave up and headed to Tosside. The clear-fell was very quiet and produced only a Common Kestrel. It does look great at the moment though and I have high hopes of finding something here this autumn/winter. Champion Moor was also quiet with only four Common Kestrels, a Common Raven over, calling and a Little Owl on the window ledge of Shays barn. A bacon and egg butty at the Riverbank Tearooms raised my spirits to the point that I walked up Pendle Hill in early afternoon, however, bird activity here was also at a low level with only c.20 Meadow Pipits at the summit and two Common Skylarks in fields near Pendleside. I also heard some Pinkfeet flying east at the summit but could not see them in the clouds. The most interesting sighting here was another butterfly at the trig point, this time a Red Admiral battling west into the wind. An even less productive attempt to salvage something from the day followed, with a visit to Alston Reservoirs but there were only a couple of Tufted Ducks of note here. There seem to be good birds appearing all over the place at the moment but not anywhere I go! In the evening Evi and I joined Pete and his family plus Phil from the LWT for some mothing at Crosshills Quarry in Clitheroe, a small LWT reserve, which has never had a trap operated before. It was rather cold and misty later being next to the Ribble but Pete and Jack caught a few moths, the highlight being a lovely Black Rustic, a small Noctuid with a black velvet texture and tiny comma on each forewing, like minute pieces of gold leaf. Also here Pete called in two Tawny Owls and we heard some Pink-footed Geese flying east in the darkness. It was also good to see that the regular Tawny Owl in Bowland was back at its regular daytime roosting site.
A bird scaring device appears over the Hodder inlet
26 September 2009 East Lancashire. Another tour of ELOC sites in the hope of finding a migrant started at Lower Foulridge Reservoir at dawn. Unfortunately, although there is still a lot of mud here the wader passage seems to have petered out leaving only 165 Northern Lapwings. Also here were: Great Crested Grebe (five); Common teal (c.30) and Common Gull (one) but nothing else of note. The highlight of the day (if you can call it that) was a pair of eclipse drake Northern Shovelers on Upper Foulridge Reservoir, a long overdue and embarrassing new ELOC bird for me. Also here of note were three Grey Wagtails. Just o.o.a. at Hellifield Flash, were another 17 Northern Shovelers and 16 Eurasian Wigeon amongst the mass of Mallards and Common Teal. Eleven kilometres west at Stocks Reservoir, where shoveler remains a scarce bird, the water level had dropped a little and the Hodder inlet spit was starting to show again. However, in keeping with the rest of this unlucky day a huge red hot air balloon appeared from the direction of Kenibus and then flew low over the inlet, flushing every single bird from it. A count of 20 Eurasian Coots on the island was my highest here so far (Tony Cooper had 26 this week!) and I had just got to 235 teal and there must have been another 30 or so when they took flight and three Common Snipe were also flushed but with the inlet now empty I gave up and headed to Tosside. The clear-fell was very quiet and produced only a Common Kestrel. It does look great at the moment though and I have high hopes of finding something here this autumn/winter. Champion Moor was also quiet with only four Common Kestrels, a Common Raven over, calling and a Little Owl on the window ledge of Shays barn. A bacon and egg butty at the Riverbank Tearooms raised my spirits to the point that I walked up Pendle Hill in early afternoon, however, bird activity here was also at a low level with only c.20 Meadow Pipits at the summit and two Common Skylarks in fields near Pendleside. I also heard some Pinkfeet flying east at the summit but could not see them in the clouds. The most interesting sighting here was another butterfly at the trig point, this time a Red Admiral battling west into the wind. An even less productive attempt to salvage something from the day followed, with a visit to Alston Reservoirs but there were only a couple of Tufted Ducks of note here. There seem to be good birds appearing all over the place at the moment but not anywhere I go! In the evening Evi and I joined Pete and his family plus Phil from the LWT for some mothing at Crosshills Quarry in Clitheroe, a small LWT reserve, which has never had a trap operated before. It was rather cold and misty later being next to the Ribble but Pete and Jack caught a few moths, the highlight being a lovely Black Rustic, a small Noctuid with a black velvet texture and tiny comma on each forewing, like minute pieces of gold leaf. Also here Pete called in two Tawny Owls and we heard some Pink-footed Geese flying east in the darkness. It was also good to see that the regular Tawny Owl in Bowland was back at its regular daytime roosting site.
A bird scaring device appears over the Hodder inlet
4 comments:
I call this 'struggling' and we all know all about that at times Mike, but done on the principal that you never know whats around the corner, predictable birds/birding would never work though would it.
You now have three 'interesting' and a comment to this entry in your diary, and I've taken a copy of your confiding Red Grouse on the assumption my permit isn't out of date yet. Enjoyed the read again Mike.
Regards
Pete.
Hi Pete, Thanks for the encouragement. Birding in the ELOC area can be hard going at times but Dave Bickerton proved this weekend that there is always a chance with his excellent double of Common Scoter and RtD! You're always welcome to lift any of my photos, no need to ask. BR, Mike
If this is the Virgin balloon of Wray origin, it has also had its good side with a previously unknown Grey Heron nest complete with chick located from the basket - the only breeding record for SD66!
If you are clever enough you can check its number to see who the owner is. They would have had to have found a Crested Ibis nest for me to forgive them for flying over the Hodder Inlet. No doubt just ignorant rather than idiots though? BR Mike
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