*Common Scoter (female), near Waterside Farm, Ribchester in a golden sunrise.*

THE KEY WORD IS ‘IN’… RIBCHESTER! I said ‘Hi’ to Phil on the riverbank this morning. ‘No luck with otters so far’ and then…’BAM!’. ‘Female Common Scoter’ on the river right next to us off the allotments. I hadn’t really expected we could get one actually on the river here as it isn’t that wide but there it was. No nocmig sound record or infrared-night-time-flyover-dot this one! But instead prolonged views of this terrific sea duck, pausing for some reason at the start of its trans-Pennine migration. Recent studies have shown that they migrate almost exclusively at night from the Irish Sea to the east coast and this one did not get very far. I wonder if it could possibly be the Brockholes bird last reported on the River Ribble there on 27 March? It was well-behaved enough to wait for Kris and Rachel to arrive as well.

We don’t get many interesting duck species on the patch in Ribchester so two in one day was exceptional when a drake Red-breasted Merganser appeared on the river below us at Red Bank. It afforded some great views as it slowly swam upstream towards Boat House. I am guessing that, in view of its genuine rarity in the lower valley area, it was the same bird as on 8 April.

Other interesting sightings today included a Little Ringed Plover song-flighting along the riverbank, one Common Redshank over Lower Alston Farm, a flock of around 30 Fieldfares in oaks north of Red Bank (it is getting late for this winter visitor now!), two singing Eurasian Skylarks (one of which was paired up), several Meadow Pipits, at least four singing Willow Warblers on the same circuit as last Sunday and flyover Linnet and redpoll. All on a glorious sunny spring morning that warmed up nicely after the overnight frost.

So April presses ahead as the best month of the year, now on 85 bird species (all time)/78 (2021) and my Ribchester patch list moves up to 117 (all time)/89 (2021). It’s all good fun!

*Red-breasted Merganser (drake), Boat House, Ribchester.*

*Common Scoter complete with Ribchester riverbank evidence!*

*The regular Tawny Owl had switched perches today!*

*Eurasian Skylark still clings on in the farmland around Ribchester.*

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A ‘grey male’ Hen Harrier powers north across the fell in the late afternoon sunshine CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LIGHTBOX — *A ‘grey male’ Hen Harrier powers north across the fell in the late afternoon sunshine* **CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LIGHTBOX**

WHAT A WELCOME BACK TO GANNOW FELL! A lovely walk in the evening sunhine with Phil in ‘High Altitude Ribchester’ was further lit up by a grey male Hen Harrier (we didn’t see it well enough to rule out a 3CY bird - thanks to my ID guru Pete Morris). It appeared over the main bog and simply flew north towards Bowland without changing course. Although they do not breed far away Hen Harriers are rare on Longridge Fell and never seem to hang around even though it looks like they ought to! Also here raven, stonechat and Red Grouse were all new for the year. This is the highest I’ve been in the valley so far but it is still less than 3 miles from home. It was also lovely to hear both skylark and curlew singing here too this afternoon and some of the grouse were quite bold, with inflated red combs and lots of clucking display flights. As I got out of the car back at home a pair of curlews flew over there too, I am lucky to live somewhere this happens!

*I wasn’t expecting this male Red Grouse to fly onto a wall in front of me! Err Willow Ptarmigan. No chance of me getting used to that name!*

My morning walk around the village was also quite productive after a cold start. There was a definite push of gulls upstream with 33 Common Gulls being the most I’ve seen here in a morning. Black-headed Gulls exceeded 500 and there were a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls, newly returned from points south. A couple of Mediterranean Gulls flew east among the Black-headeds. Their call reminds me of Frankie Howerd ‘s ‘Ooh’ as in ‘Ooh Matron!’ . Curlews were in double figures again with several singing in the fields around the village and lapwings were also very active, songflighting along the lane to Lower Barn Farm. It is so uplifting to have them back again! Groups of insanely noisy oystercatchers chased each other at the river, where there are now three pairs of Stock Doves which appear to all be squabbling over squatting rights to the stone barn of Waterside Farm. There was still a small flock of Fieldfares along the lane today but no Redwings again, they pushed off in the cold weather and have not returned. There may stil be a few hanging on in the woods but I didn’t see any. The day-roosting Tawny Owl I have been watching lately was back on its usual perch deep in ivy and a few other interesting birds like bullfinch and Little Grebe helped me over the 50 species mark. February now stands at 75, the highest total of any month so far, partly thanks to Phil’s Black-tailed Godwit in the week!

*The regular Tawny Owl could be bothered to look at me today! Well, squint at least.*

*A (Northern) Lapwing in display flight, with club-shaped wings spread and whirring through the air. We’ere lucky to still be able to hear its lovely song in Rib!*

*One of today’s Med Gulls, its black hood still far from complete.*

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