EAST LANCS MIGRATION

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Eurasian Curlew flying west up the Ribble Valley at Ribchester 

THERE IS A LOT OF MIGRATION TAKING PLACE ACROSS THE UK RIGHT NOW including reports of thousands of Redwings from watch points in southern England. A pre-dawn walk up Pendle Hill in a howling easterly wind was hard work in the low cloud but a single Fieldfare sheltering behind peat hags right at the summit was my first on the ground here. Martin Naylor managed to twitch it and told me later that he has occasionally seen them and Redwings in weather like today. I could hear Redwings going over Pendleside in the dark on my way up the hill and three Fieldfares were near the shelterbelt at Pendleside Farm. As I was watching a pair of Common Ravens skirting the hill a small passerine came into view in the sky, it gradually flew closer before diving into the bracken on the hillside, it was a greenfinch. Back in the valley I watched from the benches by the river at Ribchester for around 40 minutes and in that time five Whooper Swans flew east, 316 Redwings flew northeast over the town, two Eurasian Curlews flew east and a kingfisher and Goosander were on the river itself. Migration is an amazing spectacle, even on a small and local scale. 

PADIHAM...DIRTY OLD TOWN

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Yellow-browed Warbler, River Calder, Padiham 

I TOOK THIS PHOTO BY THE GAS WORKS WALL on the banks of the River Calder. Autumn 2013 has seen probably the biggest ever influx of Yellow-browed Warblers, refected in the flurry of records in the ELOC area. This was one of only two remotely sharp photos I took, at ISO2500, in several hours of a quite retiring bird - the warbler was very elusive, mostly calling loudly from within the shadows of the tall conifers by the riverbank path. Although a kingfisher and six Goosanders brightened up my time by the river here I don't much like Padiham either. Apart from the strong support for the BNP here I dislike having to pick my way through tens of dog turds on the riverbank path for instance. A rat scuttled away from the dumped rubbish bags that it was rummaging through next to the shut down and deserted gas works.

Manchester, so much to answer for...

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Bonxie at Audenshaw Reservoirs 

Mark Varley and I met at the Scottish Restaurant on the A59, discovering that Rocket was confined to his nest after a night on’t ale in Accy and Alan McBride had ended up in a pub somewhere in Preston. The previous day I had some time with the Great Skua at Audenshaw Reservoirs and managed a handful of frames while it dodged the RSPCA man with a net trying to catch it. On Saturday it had been zooming all over the reservoirs at full speed, harassing gulls but today it looked very sluggish and unwell. Great Skuas are rare inland in the northwest and I am still waiting for one in East Lancs but it was sad to see it looking ill today. As if the skua was not enough, a nice local birder asked ‘is it confirmed?’. It was - a juvenile Red-necked Grebe was not something we expected today but I heard later one was reported from here a couple of weeks ago. It is another local rarity so surely the same bird. Further north behind Bob's Smithy Inn, near Winter Hill, the four Glossy Ibises were still present digging up earthworms in the rough pasture and occasionally coming to within five metres range, their iridescent plumage shining in the afternoon sun. We even had time for a pint afterwards and all this without being shot at. Although it has produced some of my favourite artists like Morrissey and Buzzcocks I don't much like Manchester. CLICK ON THE IMAGES BELOW to scroll..

ANOTHER WINDY AUTUMN DAY ON PENDLE HILL

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Alan makes his way along the Downham slope, the site of last autumn's Lapland Bunting 

PENDLE HILL usually promises so much but generally delivers very little except for a good workout, especially in autumn. However, it does get good birds from time to time and that possibility is what attracted me and Alan McBride today. Ultimately three Northern Wheatears and a single Common Snipe were the only rewards for our efforts but watching the sunrise and the views of the Ribble Valley were magnificent... between the gaps in the low mist clouds that were rolling across the summit. We saw around 7 or 8 Red Grouse, 2 Common Kestrels, a couple of Eurasian Skylarks and several Meadow Pipits but as usual fell short of 10 species on the hill itself. We agreed that at least the walk counteracted our pre-dawn visit to the Scottish restaurant on the A59.