Let's make like a tree and leave them! We have had a really spectacular year for blazing, autumnal colours, branches festooned with berries and a plentiful supply of nuts and seeds. In ecological terms, this is known as a mast year. The trees have decided to maximise their potential for producing seedlings. It's a great survival strategy, and it has implications for our feathered friends too. All this abundance means there is a plentiful supply of natural food for the birds and other wildlife. However, not all land managers and gardeners consider the importance of this food source when they ar ..read more

Another dry day with a light mainly south to SE wind. Heysham skear - low water 07:50 (MD) Red-breasted Merganser 1 female - no sign of any males Great Crested Grebe 1 Eider 3 Little Egret 6 Knot c450 - one flock split as they passed me. Not a great shot, but it does give a sense of what it's like being in the middle of a Knot Flock (and this is only a small flock!) Knot racing past Dunlin 15 Common Snipe 9 flushed from inner skear Plus: Oystercatcher, Curlew, Redshank and Turnstone  Later Steve Brown was on Heysham Head, there was only one Great Created Grebe showing from the ..read more

A couple of visits for some birding around the Lune Estuary - where else - soon ended on a sour note on Thursday, but not until I had found 2 Bewick's Swan with a few Whooper Swan at the north end of Jeremy Lane. In the same field, up to 850 Lapwing and 300 Curlew. I then drove to Cockersand to find myself sitting out a downpour whilst wondering when the tap would be turned off, but it wasn't so off I went back to Lancaster....Sour! Although the weather was much improved on Friday, birding started off sluggish, with little to note at Conder Green, so away I went to my intended destination at C ..read more

A relatively light south wind freshened during the day. Mainly overcast and dry with a few glimpses of the sun. Report from Pete: 15 minutes seawatch awaiting the noon ferry: Kittiwake 1 adult out Razorbill 1 out Greylag Geese 2 out Behind Ben my Chree 12:05 Kittiwake 1 adult Mediterranean gull  one 2cy with more black than usual on primary tips and not the 2cy which was on ocean edge grass briefly yesterday I escorted a field trip organised by Deborah Woods (The Bay – Community & Engagement Officer (Morecambe)) (MD) We started at Heysham Nature Reserve, along the dog walk path to R ..read more

A quite fresh west to SW wind. Some sunshine with the odd shower. Report from Pete: Heysham seawatch: 1100-1205hrs Kittiwake 47 Little gull 1 adult in Red-Throated Diver 1 out    A check behind Ben my Chree 1200hrs Kittiwake 14 Little gull 2 adult type Mediterranean gull 1 adult Also: Mediterranean gull 1 2cy ocean edge on grass Shag 1 immature wooden jetty high tide roost I set off along the wall as Pete was leaving, just after high water (MD) Reed Bunting 1 on saltmarsh  Linnet 10 on saltmarsh  Rock Pipit 1 on Red Nab Wigeon c100 out from saltmarsh and Red Nab Kitt ..read more

This is a short post because there's not much news. And once again the culprit is the lack of decent weather in which to get outdoors for serious birding.  Let’s start with a request to regular readers to take a look at a recent photographic competition. The same readers will know that The Forest of Bowland features occasionally in Another Bird Blog.  “Hi Phil”  “Many congratulations, your image 'Redshank' has been shortlisted in the Forest of Bowland photo competition. The prize allocation will be decided by the public and voting will run from Monday 28th November to Monday ..read more

 A blustery south wind.mainly overcast with some showers around lunchtime.  Report from Steve Brown: A walk from Heysham Village across the Barrows to check the Head and the Heliport wall roost. Half moon bay 10 Turnstone, 5 Meadow Pipits, 2 Rock Pipits, and a pied Wagtail. Rock Pipit with what looks like a small pupa Pied Wagtail  The Heliport roost was a mix of mainly Oystercatchers, Redshank and Turnstone, also present were  a small number of Knott, at least 7 Dunlin and 2 Snipe. Some of the waders on the old Heliport wall Then the rain ca ..read more

A slightly fresher south - SW wind, some sunshine plus heavy showers Report and pictures by Steve Brown: I started at the nature park just before high tide. 5 Greenfinch. 2 Goldcrest, 1 Bullfinch calling( not seen), 12 Goldfinch, 4 Long~tailed tits Greenfinch  Red Nab to the Saltmarsh tide was in by now, 150+Oystercatchers resting on red nab, 4 black-headed gulls on the water, on the salt marsh c100 wigeon, 5 Linnet, 2 Greenfinch, 1 Chaffinch, 2 Goldfinch  North shoreline out from the children's play area on the ebbing tide. Shag flying low towards Heysham Head, 10 Bar~tai ..read more

I wouldn't be getting out at all of late!    I have never known an autumn like it, and I know I've said that before recently. I have two wintering bird survey locations, with two survey areas at each site, and depending on the tide, it might be just four days to do two surveys at each, or if the tide isn't right it might take between four and eight. What I'm getting at, is that I should have plenty of time for my voluntary birding and ringing, but I'm not. Since late September there has only been a handful of days per month when the weather has been good for anything outdoors, and ..read more

In October, we held our first official ‘River Blitz’ as part of the Catchment Systems Thinking Cooperative (CaSTCo) project. This project sees the Rivers Trust working alongside Ofwat to implement a national, standardised approach to water quality monitoring through citizen science by testing methodology and data management with 10 local Rivers Trusts across England. Read more>> The post The RiverBlitz; ranking river robustness! appeared first on Ribble Rivers Trust ..read more