Churring Nightjar and local birding

23rd-24th July 2011 an evening visit to Upper Foulridge on the 23rd with Steve Duffield
and the first Dunlin of the autumn was sat with a few Little-ringed Plovers and
a Common Sand'. A lone Wigeon was with the Mallard and Tufted Ducks and
 little else.
On the Lower Res' a juvenile Little Grebe fed by the waters edge. Suprisingly,
these birds are quite scarce at Foulridge.

Later in the evening we drove to a well known Nightjar site in Yorkshire. Although
we didn't see the birds, a brief snatch of churring was heard at 21.55.

Another visit to Foulridge the following day and a very quiet afternoon.
Only a week to go, then it's a tour of Europe in the campervan........ at last
i'll see some birds!!

juvenile Little Grebe

Juvenile Lapwing

juvenile and adult Pied Wagtails

juvenile House Martin

Great-crested Grebe

Foulridge 19/7/11

After a couple of dissapointing visits last week, a little 'excitement' came in
the form of 7 Shoveler on the lower reservoir. Shoveler are annual at Foulridge
with ones and twos the norm but this group of seven, represents the highest
group seen there, well, by me at least. Anywhere else and i would barely give a
Shoveler a second glance but this is East Lancashire!

Wader wise there were 8 Little-ringed Plover and a single Common Sandpiper

Blacktoft Sands RSPB

10/7/2011 After two visits to Foulridge this week and a max' count of
8 Little-ringed Plover and 6 Common Sandpiper i took an afternoon trip
with Sean J to Blacktoft to actually see a variety of waders.

A group of 9 moulting adult Spotted Redshank were superb. Four Ruff,
all males that had also started their moult. Three Green Sandpiper,
10 Dunlin and large numbers of Black-tailed Godwit were on the reserve.
There were a small number of Avocets still incubating their eggs, very late!
A couple of Spoonbill and several juvenile Marsh Harriers were also
on the reserve.

Spotted Redshank

male Ruffs

Spoonbill

Sedge Warbler

East Lancs Birding 1st-3rd July 2011

Just local birding this weekend, with two evening visits to the Long-eared Owl
site and visits to Foulridge and Coldwell reservoirs.

The first real signs of return wader passage this weekend with a juvenile Ringed
Plover, 60 Lapwing, a single Golden Plover, 6 Common Sandpiper, several
Little-ringed Plovers and 2 Oystercatcher at Foulridge over the weekend.

At Coldwell, two broods of Little-ringed Plover chicks with attendant adults
and Common Sandpiper young there too.
A nice bonus, was a group of three Common Crossbill which came down to
drink from the reservoir.

The Long-eared Owl chicks are doing well now and actively flying in and
out of the nesting wood, allowing for some excellent views!

Adult male Long-eared Owl

Juvenile Long-eared Owl

Sparrowhawk mobbed by Swallows at Foulridge

Common Crossbill

Crossbill drinking

A late Lapwing brood at Foulridge

A text from a friend of mine who was fishing at Holden Wood Reservoir described

"a large white bird as big as a heron, fishing in the shallows"

It turned out to be a Little Egret!

Bempton 26/6/11

I spent a few hours snapping the seabirds from the cliff-top at Bempton
this afternoon. The light was intense and not the best for white-plumaged
birds!

Herring Gull

Fulmar

Kittiwake chicks with Guillemot

Herring Gull

Herring Gull

Gannet

Kittiwake

Kestrel

Tree Sparrow

Common Crane

19th June 2011 Paythorne, just north of Gisburn, played host to a Common Crane
today.The bird could be viewed near the crossroads north of the village, just
on the boundary of Lancashire/Yorkshire although the bird was actually feeding on the
Yorkshire side! So i couldn't really tick it within the ELOC recording area.

briefly in flight

The Crane twitch!

Long-eared Owls

More visits to the leo site this weekend (18-19th June) from 19.40-21.30 on
both nights. Lot's of activity, with three young birds seen and heard!
It always seems to be cloudy at the weekends when i'm there, making it frustrating
from a photography point of view. I did manage a flight shot of the male carrying prey
but against the light.

juvenile with prey

male with prey

male

The young are getting bolder now. This bird venturing

out onto the edge of the nesting wood.