<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> Lancaster and District Birdwatching Society Newsletter Recent Sightings
Newsletter of the Lancaster and District Birdwatching Society
Sightings in the LDBWS area – mid September 2003 to mid January 2004
Pete Crooks
Birdtours.co.uk
Worldbirder.com
Local Sightings
LDBWS Website
Newsletter Index

Highlights

Following the excitement provided by August's Great White Egret and White-winged Black Tern the remainder of 2003 proved to be somewhat of an anticlimax. No major rarities appeared and many of the more interesting scarcities proved to be short-stayers seen by few observers. In a rather poor autumn for seabirds, the highlight was an obliging Grey Phalarope on the Kent Estuary near Halforth on 7/10-9/10. The short period of unsettled conditions in early October also produced a total of 5 Leach's Petrels off Heysham North Harbour Wall on 8/10-10/10 and 10 off Jenny Brown's Point on 9/10. Other seabirds seen off Heysham North Harbour Wall at this time included a 1st winter Shag on 9/10, single Great Skuas on 9/10 and 10/10 and a female Long-tailed Duck on 10/10. Three records of Slavonian Grebe - off the Stone Jetty on 28/10 and 16/11 and off Heysham Wooden Jetty on 22/11 - presumably involved a single bird. Similarly records of a 1st winter Shag off the Heysham Wooden Jetty / Outfalls area on 18/11, 25/12 and 11/1 and off the Stone Jetty on 21/11 were thought to involve a bird that was roosting on one of the Morecambe Bay gas platforms during the intervening periods. A male Velvet Scoter that flew into the Bay past Heysham North Harbour Wall on 13/12 was the only other offshore scarcity.

Other non-passerine scarcities included an elusive Little Egret that remained on the Lune Estuary throughout the period under review. Its favoured feeding area appeared to be the deep tidal creeks on Colloway Marsh and it was usually only viewable as it flew to and from its roost site in the woods by Ashton Hall or when high spring tides covered the marsh. Single Little Egrets were also seen at Leighton Moss on 22/9, Morecambe Broadway on 2/11 and Hest Bank on 5/11. An Osprey flew south over the Claughton / Brookhouse area on 21/9 and presumably the same bird flew south over the Dunsop Valley about 1 hour later. Single Red Kites were seen over Gressingham on 12/10 and the Trough of Bowland on 29/10, before one took up residence in the south-east corner of the recording area from mid November onwards. It was initially seen in the Boarsden area between Dunsop Bridge and Newton on 20/11 and 25/11, then in the Brennand Valley / Dunsop Valley area from 1/12 to 8/12, before returning to the Boarsden / Fober Farm area from 14/12 to 16/1/04 at least. The only Glaucous Gull of 2003 - a 1st winter - made a one-day visit to the River Lune by Lancaster Tip on 30/11 and was subsequently seen at the Wyre Estuary and Fishmoor Reservoir near Blackburn during early-mid December.

The most notable passerines were a Firecrest at Heysham Nature Reserve on 17/10, a female / immature Black Redstart on the non-operational land at Heysham Power Station on 23/10 and a Richard's Pipit near Pilling Lane Ends on 16/11. A Snow Bunting flew south over Caton Moor on 11/10 and another was at Fishcarling Point, Kent Estuary on 9/11-13/11. Finally, a small influx of Waxwings from late October onwards included 1 at Pilling Lane Ends on 25/10, 1 at Whitbarrow Scar on 27/10, up to 4 at Tewitfield on 4/11-9/11, 1 at Heysham Nature Reserve on 6/11, 1 at Lancaster Priory on 5/12, 3 at Silverdale on 7/12 and 5 at Arnside on 8/12.

Kent Estuary

Notable September records included a juvenile Marsh Harrier at Sandside on 6/9 and a Guillemot at Halforth on 12/9, while a late September-early October influx of Barnacle Geese overshooting the Solway reached a peak of 34 at Halforth on 3/10. An adult Yellow-legged Gull was at Halforth 5/10 and 2 Common Terns (now very scarce during the autumn in the LDBWS area) fed in a nearby ploughed field on 7/10-8/10, while a Barn Owl and a Short-eared Owl were seen in the Heversham Moss area during mid December and on 13/1/04 respectively.

Leighton Moss / Eric Morecambe Pools area

Up to 5 Bitterns were seen together on the reserve during the autumn, while wildfowl records included a juvenile Scaup on 17/9, female and male Garganey on 18/9-19/9 and 21/9 respectively, a female Ruddy Duck on 26/10 and 9/11, a record count of 175 Gadwall on 9/11 and a redhead Smew commuting between Leighton Moss and the Eric Morecambe Pools on 18/12-24/12. Marsh Harriers continued to be reported to mid October, though some observers felt that some of the later records may have referred to Common Buzzards flying low over the reedbeds. Following a ringtail Hen Harrier at the Eric Morecambe Pools on 12/10, a ringtail regularly roosted in the reedbed from 20/11 to 10/1/04 at least. Waders in the Eric Morecambe Pools / Barrow Scout Fields area included a Wood Sandpiper on 16/9-28/9, an Avocet on 3/10 and a record count of 310 Black-tailed Godwits on 10/12. Other notable records included a Dark-bellied Brent Goose at Jenny Brown's Point on 14/11, a Barn Owl at Barrow Scout Fields from late December to 12/1 at least and 1-2 Water Pipits at Leighton Moss from 11/12 onwards.

Morecambe area

Both colour-ringed Mediterranean Gulls were present throughout the period under review. The Polish-ringed adult (White darvic 5HR) favoured the Clock Tower / Lifeboat Station groyne area while the Belgium-ringed 2nd winter (Green darvic 36W), though seen more irregularly, tended to prefer the Town Hall groyne area. In addition, occasional sightings of at least 1 unringed adult Mediterranean Gull were also noted. Birds off the Stone Jetty included a Coot ('a spectacular Jetty megatick' according to one regular visitor) on 23/10, up to 5 Common Scoters from 29/10 onwards, a female Long-tailed Duck on 31/10 and a Razorbill on 13/1/04. Notable 'fly-overs' included a ringtail Hen Harrier that circled over the Stone Jetty, before heading off north towards Hest Bank on 12/10 and 5 Bewick's Swans that flew south-east over the Stone Jetty area on 28/11. The regular wintering Spotted Redshank returned to the Stone Jetty on 26/11 and was also seen at the Strathmore groyne on 7/12 and a female Scaup was at Teal Bay on 10/1/04.

Heysham area

A Czech-ringed 1st winter Mediterranean Gull remained in the Heysham Harbour area from 28/10 to 11/1/04 at least, though in retrospect it was almost certainly the same bird as the ringed juvenile noted at Heysham Outfalls on 24/8. An adult Mediterranean Gull appeared at the North Harbour Wall on 13/1-16/1, while a long-staying adult Little Gull remained at Heysham Outfalls throughout much of the period under review, with up to 4 other Little Gulls also present following periods of strong onshore winds. Passerine migrants at Heysham Nature Reserve included a Nuthatch on 21/9 (the site's fifth record and the first to be ringed), a Hawfinch south on 15/10 and Chiffchaffs showing characteristics of one of the eastern races on 15/10 and 6/11. For the second successive winter a feeding station was established on the North Harbour Wall in order to ring Twite and an early success involved 106 mist-netted on 7/11 - 84 new birds, 21 retraps and 1 previously ringed in the Inner Hebrides. Finally, the possible Northern Cardinal seen briefly at Heysham Head on 7/9 was seen at Heysham Nature Reserve and Red Nab on several occasions between mid October and mid December and was positively identified as a male Red Bishop - a West African species commonly held in captivity.

Lune Estuary

The regular adult Yellow-legged Gull remained in the Glasson Dock area until 18/9. The regular wintering Spotted Redshank remained at Conder Creek into 2004, with 2 Ruff there on 10/11-19/11. The gull flocks on the River Lune by Lancaster Tip included an adult Mediterranean Gull on 1/12 and up to 3 argentatus Herring Gulls in early January, while Aldcliffe Marsh held a group of 9 European White-fronted Geese on 3/1-16/1 and 2 Bewick's Swans on 4/1-11/1. Single Water Pipits were noted at Aldcliffe Marsh / Heaton Marsh on 23/11, 25/11 and 24/12.

North Fylde

Wildfowl records included 97 Whooper Swans near Sand Villa on 7/11, up to 12 (but usually 7-8) Bewick's Swans in fields by at Jeremy Lane from 29/11 onwards and 9 in fields north of Bank End Farm on 14/12, a Dark-bellied Brent Goose at Pilling Lane Ends on 7/11, a Long-tailed Duck off Cockersands on 22/11, with 3 Scaup there on 23/11. The Cockersands area also produced a Swallow on 8/11, a Short-eared Owl on 1/1/04 and a Barn Owl on 5/1/04.

Other sites

Other notable records included a Barn Owl found dead by the A6 south of Lancaster on 25/10, 7 Whooper Swans near Claughton from 13/12 to 14/1 at least, a female Ruddy Duck at Pine Lake on 20/12-28/12 and a 1st winter Mediterranean Gull in fields near Dunsop Bridge on 11/1/04.

Pete Crooks




Birdtours.co.uk
Worldbirder.com
Local Sightings
LDBWS Website
Newsletter Index