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Willow Warbler

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SUMMER SLIPS AWAY

A fresh juvenile Willow Warbler peers down from a hawthorn bush

WILLOW WARBLERS WHISTLING IN THE HEDGEROWS, A SIGN THAT SUMMER IS SLIPPING AWAY in Ribchester. As well as their subtley different calls, their bright orange feet, lemon-washed underparts and long wing points distinguish them from chiffchaffs, which usually reappear after the midsummer quiet a little later. Species diversity is still quite low in early August but other signs of autumn today included the first cormorant for weeks, a couple of Little Egrets and a major movement of 102 lapwings, flying downstream ahead of the thunderstorms to the east. There is no reason for them to linger. Typical birds of the riverbank were still around today including kingfisher, Grey Wagtail and Common Sandpiper by the school and several flocks of Sand Martins as far as Red Bank. Two jays flew over and landed in the hedge by Lower Alston Farm and several Gatekeeper butterflies were at Red Bank.

Willow Warblers are a very welcome feature of the early autumn around the village

Willow Warbler, a more typical view

Lapwings heading west, downstream towards the Ribble Estuary

The riverbank of the Ribble at Ribchester is quiet again with just a few fishermen now that the paddling and swimming day-trippers seem to have gone

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WELCOME BACK WILLOW WARBLER!

Willow Warbler singing at Red Bank, Ribchester on 2 April, back from Africa a couple of days earlier than usual.

THE LOVELY DESCENDING NOTES OF WILLOW WARBLER’S SONG greeted me at Red Bank today as more summer migrants return to the village, despite a drop in temperatures over the last couple of days. Red Bank is a regular site for Willow Warbler, which still breeds in a few spots around Ribchester. Swallows are more in evidence around the village now and there are also plenty of Sand Martins excavating their nesting burrows along the riverbank, albeit not in their traditional spots opposite the vicarage/school. A Blackcap was also singing at Red Bank today and a female was close in attendance.

We are lucky to have 5 or 6 pairs of Barn Owls within 5km of the village and they are very conspicuous hunting until well after dawn at the moment. Maybe they have hungry mouths to feed now? Sunny spring days usually also mean soaring birds of prey. Buzzards, kestrels and sparrowhawks have all been up high in the sky this week, a couple of the buzzards showing unseasonal wing damage, ‘Maltese Moult’ as it is known. I am still waiting for an osprey! March finished on 70 for 2021 and 80 species all time, making it the best month for numbers by far now but it also has the most checklists! The Rib yearlist moved on to 84 today as the commoner summer visitors appeared. April started with a pair of Mediterranean Gulls in breeding plumage that flew east along the river yesterday and a late Little Grebe was still at Red Bank today of note. At higher altitude another 12 Common Crossbills flew over in the early morning cold wind.

Barn Owls continue to delight. Everyone loves owls!

The Dell at Red Bank, Rib birding hotspot!

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SEPTEMBER SWIFT

A lone swift hawking for insects above Ribchester on 6 September. Note the Lammergeier tail shape (Mike Watson)

SEPTEMBER SWIFT is a term I learned from Steve Lister at Spurn in 1982. I think that was the first time I realised that most of them had already left the UK, bound for their winterting grounds in Africa by the end of August. Ever since, I have always been happy to see a swift in September, so imagine my delight when there was one wheeling over the village this morning! Our breeding swifts had all left a couple of weeks ago so I wonder where this one came from? Funny that the first four birds new for the month on my BTO BirdTrack walk today all began with the letter ‘S’ - the swift and then Sparrowhawk, Song Thrush and Siskin. Four nuthatches around the village this morning was also notable. Kingfisher and Grey Wagtail were both along the river by the school and the Tree Sparrow flock behind Lower Alston Farm has reached at least 61, with many juveniles. They obviously had a good breeding season. I didn’t walk from Old Park Wood to Lower Barn today owing to the amount of rain we had overnight meaning I would have got drenched cutting along the side of the maize field but instead spent about an hour with the Willow Warbler, which was still in the same riverside vegetation as yesterday and this time I was able to get some nice views of it in the early morning sunshine before the rain set in. There are fewer nicer birds around here than a lemon yellow juvenile Willow Warbler and I am making the most of them before they too have gone south for another year.

Willow Warbler juvenile by the Ribble at Old Park Wood, look at those orange feet! (Mike Watson)

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WILLOW WARBLERS RETURN

Willow Warbler singing in East Lancs

WILLOW WARBLER IS ONE OF THE EARLIEST RETURNING TRANS-SAHARAN MIGRANTS, with most arriving in the first week of April. They have poured back into East Lancs this week and are busy establishing territories. I stopped off at a regular site for them today to find four males singing in an area of young conifers. Eventually the trees will grow too tall, becoming unsuitable for the warblers and they will have to find somewhere else. Sadly they are declining across the UK but appear still to be very common in East Lancs.

ELOC year list: 100. Little Owl 101. Gadwall 102. Willow Warbler

 

 

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