Goldeneyes reappeared on the river again this weekend at Ribchester, probably owing to the hard weather
AFTER A WEEK OF HARD WEATHER ON THE RIVERBANK goldeneyes were back! Both females, one of them had a particualrly bright orange bill tip. Terrific stuff! Great Black-backed Gulls have been conspicuous too, showing a lot of interest in a spot where I suspect there is a dead salmon. Identificable even by the naked eye from far away, owing to their massive wingspan compared to the other gulls along the river, one of them even had a pinkish flush around its bill! Sadly one of the young birds also has a c3m fishing line hanging from its gape. Thanks to some careless fishing person. It was interesting to see that the other Great Black backs were harassing it. I have seen this behavoir with gulls that had plastic bags caught around their legs etc. Maybe they spot a sign of weakness or it just triggers some other kind of instinct?
Other hard weather movements included another small influx of lapwings, with 138 logged on Saturday but the hard weather has also cleared out most of the fieldfares, I had my first blank for ages on Saturday and only 18 on Sunday. There is still a handful of redwings around though. Predictably other birds have moved on, like most of the Pied Wagtails but I was surprised to see a flock of 51 Meadow Pipits near Boat House. I didn’t see a kingfisher this weekend and both heron and gull numbers were well down, other products of the freeze. However, despite more than a week of subzero temperatures and a severe wind chill there is a still a curlew around and up to 47 oystercatchers, I think they are relying on daylight hours if not temperatures as a sign that spring is on its way. I do not think I have ever looked forward to a spring more than this one. We are all desperate to get some freedom back, not to mention some uplifting birds and birdsong!
Finally it is worth mentioning another effect of hard weather, if birds do not move on then they often get hungry and tamer as a result. I haven’t been so close to a buzzard around here before. Happily I haven’t seen any signs of persecution of them locally and they are doing very well. Even the corpse that Gary found on the riverbank a couple of weeks ago came back with a 'failed to thrive’ PM verdict. Meanwhile the search for woodcock and Water Rail OFFH (‘on foot from home’) continues.
A rather tame Common Buzzard (streaked breast = first winter)
Common Buzzard take-off
It is great to see that at least three Little Egrets cling on despite the cold weather.
Total beast! Great Black-backed Gull as usual patrolling the riverbank looking for something dead tasty.