SPRING IS HERE!

View fullsize

Sand Martin, River Ribble at Ribchester

SEVEN SAND MARTINS AND A SINGING CHIFFCHAFF were the highlights of this weekend's walks along the riverbank and are a sign that spring has finally arrived. Pied Wagtails seem to be back in the breeding areas and a couple of flyover Meadow Pipits were another sign that birds are on the move north again. A pair of curlews has taken up residence in their usual fields and there are five pairs of lapwings around the village. Despite the BBC Weather forecasting a 97% chance of rain from 1000 today (it still hasn't started yet as I write at 1300) it remained dry this morning long enough for another 40+ species walk around the doorstep patch. It is interesting as I do more walks this year that the count is usually around 40, ranging between 37 and 45. I try to keep more or less to the same route but I did wander much further north than usual yesterday. Common Moorhen was new for the year and Little Grebe made another appearance today while my first two nuthatches in Ribchester came within a day of each other. The Ribchester year list now stands at 62, which makes me wonder what might be possible? You can see the total on Ebird here in bar chart form, another great visual feature of their recording site.

THE DRIBBLE VALLEY

View fullsize

Eurasian Bullfinch, Ribble Valley

A WET MORNING OF INTERMITTENT RAIN AND DRIZZLE dampened my enthusiasm for photography but as a result I managed my highest total so far for a walk on my doorstep local patch, at 45 species. There was nothing new for me in Ribchester but a Mediterranean Gull in fields below Flashers (really!) Wood with a large flock of black-headed gulls was only my second here and almost three years since my previous sighting. It was primarily gulls that made the difference compared to yesterday with six species instead of one but other birds of note included: Common Goldeneye (two pairs, the males displaying on the river); Goosander (at least five) and Eurasian Tree Sparrow (five again around the feeders at Parsonage Farm). There seem to be three pairs of Northern Lapwings in the fields between the church and the Boat House but no lingering curlews today unfortunately. A dash around the village produced the missing Great Tit and siskin before it was time to come home. Full Ebird checklist here - I am up to 55 species for this walk now, not bad considering how poor the intensively-farmed habitat is. I added a Common Buzzard in the late afternoon over Manor Park as well as a nice flock of Bramblings together with a couple of bullfinches, a nuthatch and a Great Spotted Woodpecker at a feeding station further upstream well away from Rib. A coot at Barrow Upper Lodge ended the day on 50.

A HINT OF SPRING ON THE RIVERBANK

View fullsize

Green Sandpiper, River Ribble, Ribchester

A GREEN SANDPIPER LIT UP A WALK ALONG THE RIVERBANK. It is the first one I have seen since I moved here and made the effort today worthwhile. However, Bill Aspin tells me that up to four have been seen downstream at Brockholes this winter so I should not get too excited. It was also lovely to see Northern Lapwings displaying over the fields down by the river and also to hear them! Five curlews were new this morning, one of them calling in the usual fields where they try to breed. It is interesting to hear that this seems to have sparked the local starlings to start imitating them again. I am so lucky to be able to hear them flying over where we live at the moment. The walk produced an average 37 species and included Common Goldeneye (three), Goosander (five) and at least five tree sparrows of note. I have been trying to photograph the cormorants on the river and the two I got a good look at today were both predictably of the 'continental' ssp sinensis. The full species list from today can be seen here on Ebird.

View fullsize

'Continental' Great Cormorant, Ribchester

View fullsize

River Ribble at Ribchester

OMANI OWL

View fullsize

Omani Owl (above the right edge of the acacia, Mike Watson)

OUR FINAL OWLING SESSION saw us back at the new Omani Owl site early on our last morning with Johnny Mac again, who had sped back from the east coast the previous day. Teasingly it started to rain as we approached our destination but to our relief the drizzle subsided and we could have one last crack at the owls. Following our usual routine we played the hooting call for some time and continued until after the time of the sighting of a couple of days earlier. We did not hear anything, however, subsequent events suggest that the owls probably did respond very softly and inaudibly beyond around 100m. I usually end each effort with a torch scan just in case anything came in silently… and bingo! Two pairs of eyes looked back at us from the cliff face, occasionally flying short distances as they changed perches. To our delight they remained in view as it got lighter and we eventually managed some daylight scope views as well as some tiny image photos from the track below. Even better was that we saw one bird, now known to be the female, disappear into a hole in the cliff face, its partner sitting on lookout for a few minutes more. This time we could see the vertical flank streaking and even the rusty tinge to the side of the breast as well as gaining a good impression of the owl’s facial disk, its size and round-headed Strix form. A couple of Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse flew over as it was time to leave for yet more shiny airport concourses – I have seen a lot of the latter over the last few years. Needless to say it was a relief to have some more substantial evidence as we passed the baton to the Sound Approach guys, they can now study the first nest site of this enigmatic bird!