MOORLAND MADNESS

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Darkness at Pendle trig point.

CONTINUING MY MOORLAND-MADNESS-MINI-LEAGUE-OF-ONE (thanks for the title Bill!) I hiked up and down Pendle in the dark on both days this weekend. Surprsingly I even got an ELOC year tick in the process, a Tawny Owl in the pines in the small plantation at Pendleside Farm. The first time I have seen one here! Sunday's walk was number nine this year and the worst yet by far in driving snow and sleet. Just perfect training for what is coming next month. A few stops on Saturday morning added a couple more species to my ELOC little year. See how it has taken me all month to overtake the Breaks's January 1st total! At Chipping Moss (there was no sign of the bittern again) three Eurasian Curlews on the moss itself were the first returning birds I've seen this year and a pair of dippers was on the brook by the road just downstream from the small stone bridge. Five Stock Doves and a lovely Barn Owl hunting on the moss were also notable here. A Redwing, several Greenfinches and a siskin also flew over and a Meadow Pipit, a Common Snipe and a pair of Canada Geese were on the moss. I couldn't find anything else of interest around Longridge and Alston and I gave up when it started to hail. It seems we're back to a succession of depressions again. Ugh.

ELOC year list: 85. Eurasian Curlew 86. White-throated Dipper 87. Tawny Owl

LOOKING FOR A BITTERN

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Ancient Hawthorn with an Alder in the background, Chipping Moss.

THERE WAS NO SIGN OF THE BITTERN at Chipping Moss this weekend despite many hours searching. Shame, it is a rare bird in the ELOC area. I did see a few interesting things, notably a treecreeper with a flock of Long-tailed Tits, in an alder on the moss itself. Probably quite a good record there? Two Common Snipe, 14 Common Teal, 83 lapwings (over, west) and a female sparrowhawk were also here as well as a couple of reed buntings, Meadow Pipits, Greenfinches and a cormorant, which flew over going west. A flock of around 100 Common Gulls also headed west, probably a daily movement from Stocks and small groups of starlings flew towards the plantations on the fells north of Chipping at dusk. Two Brown Hares also sought sanctuary here from the sound of shotguns that filled the valley on both days. It would be easy to convince myself that the bittern has gone but I guess it will probably reappear next week, having tucked itself away somewhere out of sight. There are plenty of places it could hide on the moss. I also hiked up Pendle Hill on both days but just to the trig point and back and mostly in the dark on Sunday. The only birds seen up there were raven and golden plover both times and a few Red Grouse on Saturday. That's seven times so far this year. I wonder if I can keep it going?

ELOC year list: 84. Common Treecreeper

SNOWY WEEKEND IN EAST LANCS

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Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Ribchester.

SNOW CAME TO EAST LANCS THIS WEEKEND turning the landscape white and creating some great hiking conditions on Pendle Hill. A couple of ravens and Red Grouse were the only birds of note on the summit there and a walk around the village on Sunday morning was more productive with a Little Egret flying downstream the highlight. A steady stream of lapwings heading west towards the coast totalled 153 and six Common Buzzards was unusual for the time of year. Around 15 tree sparrows were between Parsonage Farm and the churchyard and a Grey Wagtail on the river was my first this year. A second was at Barrow Upper Lodge where the drake Mandarin was waddling around on the ice of the lower lodge. Earlier in the week a Brambling on the feeders at work and a woodcock over the road on the way home were also new for the ELOC year list but I still haven't managed to see as many as the Breaks family did on New Year's Day!

ELOC year list: 80. Brambling 81. Eurasian Woodcock 82. Grey Wagtail 83. Little Egret

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Early morning light on Pendle Hill.

AFTER THE FLOOD

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Ribchester Bridge - the properties in this photo were flooded on Boxing Day and the River Ribble remains high after never ending rain.

THE EAST LANCS COUNTRYSIDE IS COMPLETLY SATURATED and every rain storm raises the level of the rivers. Fortunately the spells of heavy rain this weekend did not stop me from hiking up Pendle Hill twice. Saturday's walk was mostly in thick mist and rain and Sunday's was in deep slush. the overnight snow melting rapidly. A couple of ravens were the only birds of note. I've only added a single bird to my East Lancs yearlist this week too, a redpoll on the feeders at work on Friday. Alston Reservoirs on Saturday afternoon produced 8 Goosanders; 9 Common Goldeneye; 35 Eurasian Wigeon and 46 Common Teal of note. Even the regular Ribchester Grey Wagtails seem to be keeping a low profile but at least the escaped Trumpeter Swan was back on the riverbank this afternoon. Also Common Oystercatcher and kestrel were here too.

ELOC year list: 79. Lesser Redpoll.