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RIBCHESTER LIST DC

Northern Lapwings were a feature of the New Year weekend, brought to the riverbank by the recent snow

BACK TO THE BEGINNING ON THE RIVERBANK was much more fun than I was expecting. The weather has been transformed by a big area of high pressure, which has blocked the endless series of depressions and with it came snow, frost and ice. Wonderful stuff and just what was needed to cause birds to get on the move again. Things had slowed down in December and this weekend saw an influx of birds to the riverbank. It was also a great way to take my mind off the equally endless mental depression owing to Covid-19-related news. There is nothing like the natural world to put a smile on your face! New Year’s Day always marks the start of a new year list for birders and at 58, it took me two days to see more than half of the number of species I saw in all of last year (50 is usually my benchmark daily total in January but a good day could see 60).

The biggest feature of the weekend was bad weather-driven lapwings, with a tally of 131 on New Year’s Day and 91 on the 2nd, many of them were heading east for some reason, into even worse weather. Up to 25 Common Oystercatchers were gathered at Red Bank and up to 7 Common Snipe were on the riverbank itself, no doubt driven from frozen fields higher in the valley. A flock of 7 Eurasian Teal at Red Bank and 3 Eurasian Skylarks over our watchpoint behind the allotments were also bad weather related. A male bullfinch in the middle of village was unusual, a flock of 7 Redwings was in my street itself and a Treecreeper in Peter’s garden was his first there for 20 years apparently! However, the highlight of the weekend was a first winter Peregrine along the power lines, they are expert at using the pylons as cover and it sneaked out of the back a couple of times, so I have to resort to a collage again to show its markings. The absence of slurry on the meadows meant there were only a few gulls around this weekend, so starling became the commonest bird on the patch, followed by Mallard and lapwing! Great Black-backed even tied with Herring Gull at 9 a piece on the 2nd, I haven’t seen this happen before. One Little Egret clings on but we couldn’t manage a kingfisher at all this weekend.

Ice, snow and a little cloud usually means a nice sunrise on the riverbank.

Blue Pendle from Red Bank

Blue Red Bank. The once lovely woodland here is slowly dying/slipping into the Ribble.

Powerline Peregrines always slip out the back

Peregrine collage

Young Common Gulls are cool-looking birds

Well at least the tightly-cropped hedgerows can be used to create interesting effects

Treecreeper in the village on 1 January, rusty tinge to the flanks, long hind claw, uneven step in the primary bar, well what else?

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DULL

Mediterranean Gull, Ribchester 27 December 2020

DECEMBER HAS BEEN HEAVY GOING with mostly dull, overcast and very damp weather. That combined with bad news very close to home of the Covid-19 pandemic has meant a rather subdued Christmas in Ribchester. The leaden skies persisted but at least the throng of Black-headed Gulls attracted by the slurry spraying in the fields along Boat House Lane had up to two adult Mediterranean Gulls in tow. The green concrete is good for something, although the slurry is not great for the environment, the nearby brook ran dark and stank of it all weekend. Among the hundreds of gulls were a few Common Gulls and almost 100 Herring Gulls, which is way more than we usually see on the ground around the village. Two Great Black-backed Gulls patrolled the river on Christmas Day, maybe the same adult and second winter that have been around for a couple of weeks now and three Little Egrets on Boxing Day was another local highlight. An influx of lapwings has been noticeable over the holiday period too, with maybe as many as 37 on Boxing Day. A flock of 23 oystercatchers at Hothersall was also maybe very early returnees, encouraged upstream by the mild weather? There were several hundred starlings in the fields too, almost enough for a murmuration! However, we have yet to see a goldeneye this winter and Goosander is all but absent. Little Grebes continue on the river at Red Bank and a kingfisher was along the river at the ‘promenade’ in Ribchester today. I am stuck on 103 for the year as time runs out, maybe I will be able to add one more by New Year’s Eve? It has also been interesting to see that some folks lack the common sense not to mix at the moment. Seven cars was the maximum on one drive, the owners of the property usually have two on it. Maybe if they had family members in hospital they would change their minds? No wonder the pandemic rumbles on.

An old willow leans over the Ribble behind the allotments at Ribchester

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SLOW START TO DECEMBER

Little Egret, the only one around Ribchester today (Mike Watson)

THIS MORNING’S BTO BIRDTRACK WALK ALONG THE RIVER WAS BRIGHTENED UP BY FIVE SKEINS OF PINKFEET totalling 226 birds and all heading southeast. We often see them moving just after the weather improves but they are still going mostly southeast towards the beet fields of Norfolk at the moment. Phil had an early Goosander and happily cormorants appeared to be more or less back to normal. I wonder what happened last weekend? Seven Lapwings were logged and two Great Black-backed Gulls flew downstream but things were otherwise very quiet.

A single Little Egret was hunting widely in the fields between Lower Alston Farm and Red Bank but it did not settle, it was probably have difficulty finding anything to eat in the sterile ‘green concrete’ fields. On the other hand the thrush flock was still feeding in the recently sown field between Lower Barn Farm and Boat House. Fieldfares dominated with smaller numbers of Redwings, Song Thrushes, Blackbirds and two Mistle Thrushes.

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DISMAL

Great Black-backed Gull (second winter) collage, Ribchester 29 November 2020

A TYPICAL DREARY EAST LANCASHIRE MORNING, overcast and dull, silent and grey, ‘Everyday is like Sunday’ etc. I can’t remember such a quiet viz mig session, the only highlights being three separate Great Black-backed Gulls (one adult/near adult and two second winters), a single Little Egret and the only Linnet so far this month. There wasn’t even a single cormorant today. Something has obviously happened to them since yesterday. However, local residents like Grey Wagtail and Kingfisher were still around (one from the allotments and another downstream from Osbaldeston Hall, where there was still a small flock of Fieldfares).

There was quite a lot of disturbance today: lots of fishermen on the banks, dog walkers and a noisy chainsaw but there was generally very little happening anyway. There was an influx of woodcocks to the east coast in the last couple of days so we can probably expect some in the woodlands around Ribchester next week. I should make an effort to find one. We are still also waiting for Goldeneye for 2020, not having done any BTO BirdTrack walks in January/February this year.

Common Blackbird, females can look surprisingly Song Thrush-like. Reminds me of an old b&w BB mystery bird photo

Well the recently decimated hedgerows are good for something… unobscured images of Blackbirds

… and Song Thrushes

Just imagine if this was a rarity, like it is in Beijing? Or maybe when we have to sift through bluetails to find one in 2100?

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