All ready for the big trip now. My new hiking boots arrived yesterday. Should do nicely in the Ecuador jungle.
I built an tawny owl box on Sunday from some old wood...got the plans here,
And today we made fat feeders.
















Apologies for the photos...took them with Jills phone.















Got a kilo of beef dripping from the supermarket - (£0.92) melted it, and mixed-in some peanuts and seed that we buy in sacks from Whalley corn mill.
So each feeder works out at about 12p!!!! Just hope the birds like it.

Now I need a big ladder to get the owl box up b 4 we go on holiday.

Lovely day weatherwise but its a Sunday and that brings the problem of where to go birding.
Its a nightmare with Sunday-drivers in their "chelsea tractors" and motorbikers using country lanes as racing track. I decided to go up Stocks reservoir and Champion moor but by the looks of it....so did everyone else!!! Kids running around screaming, ramblers in groups of 20 that you can hear coming 2 miles away, and my personal favorite....the ubiquitous couple that drive out to the countryside to sit in the car park with the engine running, radio on, chain smoking and arguing!!!!! Theres one in every quiet spot, every Sunday!!!! WHY DON'T THEY JUST STAY HOME????
And why do some find it necessary to put on their Sunday best, plaster themselves with make-up and drown themselves in perfume, to take a walk in the country????
Wish it was raining so at least it'd be quiet and I'd get some peace.

Glad I got that off my chest.

On the upside more signs of spring. The frogs are getting vocal up stocks but not in our garden yet.
Didnt see the Mergansers on stocks or the short eared owls on Champion.
Also met a nice couple from Bolton RSPB who had just seen a Stoat still wearing full white ermine.

Heres the full list of the day

Champion moor
circa 45 lapwing on floodpool
kestrel
starling
wren
meadow pipit
stonechat 1m
little owl



















Heres the little owl at Shays barn

Stocks Feeding station
brambling 1 male
chaffinch
greenfinch
great tit
blue tit

On reservoir
mallard
teal
tufted duck
pintail - circa 10
goldeneye -1 pr
wigeon - 3
pochard - min 15
canada goose - min 50
greylag goose - min 30
barnacle goose 1
cormorant min 15
coot
GBB gull - 3 ad 2 juv
bh gull
lapwing - min 25
oystercatcher 3

Also
GS woodpecker - drumming
robin
dunnock
blackbird
song thrush
mistle thrush
woodpigeon
jackdaw
carrion crow
magpie
house sparrow

40 species total

Oh...and a dead badger by the road at Downham.

Took Treakle a long walk round my whole patch (route marked in red)















Of note today

GC grebes started dancing (I must go and film them.)
No kingfisher seen at Upper lodge
No dippers in Barrow brook.
Jay at printworks.
2 Nuthatch calling near railway.
Male sparrowhawk hunting at railway.
GS woodpeckers drumming.
Long tailed tits breaking up into pairs.
Lesser Redpoll at railway in Alder trees.
Flushed a fox a railway.
No sign of little owl at cow shed.

Just about prepared for the Bonaire, Ecuador and Galapagos trip next week. Cant take the scope and tripod as KLM will only allow us 20kgs including our dive gear!!! So binoculars only.
I've printed out my birdlists for Bonaire and Galapagos
but I'm not too sure what to do about Ecuador ......1663 species!!!!
and only a short time in the jungle. I might recognise a few species from Brazil last year eh?
Bananaquit....check
Crested caracara....check
1661 to go!!!
Greater Flamingo.....

Popped up to Moor piece this morning to see if I could find any of these woodcock reported on EastLancsOrnithologists .
No joy though. 2 male tawny owls calling (females "toowit" and males "toowoo" to tell them apart by sound) to each other even though it was daylight, a pair of buzzards circling and my first nuthatch of the year.
Stopped at Great Mitton to look off the bridge over the Ribble. 20ish brambling in the big beech trees, 1 heron, 1 pr moorhen and 20 odd mallard.
Took a quick look in at Barrow lodges. 1st kingfisher of the year and 7 GC grebes on upper lodge, nothing of note on lower lodge.

Too busy on the computer to have gotten out proper birding recently. But still take Treakle out the back fields every day.
Flushed 2 snipe and 4 Lapwing this morning, which arent usually there but the cold weather must have them looking for more sheltered areas.
A few tree-creepers and mistle thrush seen in the hedgerows and the goldcrest has been frequenting the single conifer outside the kitchen window.


Heres a pic of the goldcrest that bred here a couple of years ago.

Geez its February already! What a beautiful day though. I was just about to go up to stocks reservoir when Jills dad needed some chainsaw oil delivering to Preston. So I took the bins and scope and stopped off at Brockholes quarry on the way. Brockholes was a working quarry until the end of '06 but now its been bought by the Lancashire wildlife trust. Heres a link showing LWT plans and a great ariel photo of the site.
(You'll need adobe reader to view, its a PDF.)

I was hoping for a water rail for this years list but no luck.

Heres a list of todays species

BH gull - 500 min
LBB gull
Cormorant
Coot - fighting
Moorhen
Mallard
Gadwall
Teal
Wigeon
Shoveller
Goldeneye
Shelduck
Pochard
Tufted duck
Mute swan
Canada goose - 150 min
Pink footed goose - approx 20 with the Canadas
Buzzard - 1 over
Kestrel - 2 males
Grey Heron
Lapwing - 100 min
Curlew
Magpie
Carrion crow
Robin
Wren
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
Pied wagtail
Blackbird
Blue tit
Great tit
Coal tit
Collared dove
Wood pigeon
Song thrush
Dunnock
Starling

Also 1 brown hare seen at pit 1.

Another skein of approx 100 PF geese over the house approx 4pm, on their way back north and a surprise Siskin today in the Alder tree next to the Tawny owls favourite tree. Still havent seen the tawny this year....dont know where its gone.


Heres a pic I got of him at the end of '06.

Anyway, that brings todays total species to 39.