Cabin fever!


Geez! its pretty boring being stuck indoors all the time. I'm up an hobbling about now, but cant return to work or even go outside much.


Heres a pic of my 3 broken tootsies
















I have managed to see over 20 species from the bedroom window, but thats kinda par for the course for my "usual suspects garden list". Tyrone came round and we fixed up the wind-damaged kestrel box, the day before I went into the hospital. I was hoping the tawny owl box might have seen some interest by now but it still seems empty.

I spotted the robins trying to mate yesterday, and the coal tit pair seem interested in the box that I put up (low in a conifer) especially for them.

Anyway birdfans, I thought I'd share one of my other hobbies with you, being that I'm not out birding. Having my feet-up has given me plenty computer time to edit our Xmas holiday dive trip video. It shows what I get up to when I'm not birding, working, sleeping or propping-up-the-bar. Enjoy.

South fylde tour

I'll be going into hospital on Wednesday to have my toes broken and straightened, so this was a last chance to get out and about whilst still mobile.

I started off at Barrow lodge, near to home. Only about 6 pairs of mallard left now and the big white dosmestic duck too. 2 pairs of coot, 2 pairs of moorhen and a pair of canada geese! We dont often get geese on the lodge. Plenty grey wagtails and pied wagtails flitting about too, but no kingfisher present.



I moved on down to Brockholes quarry where I've seen Little ringed plover and sand martin reported recently. Lots of reed buntings, a large roost of BH gulls and a big flock of canada geese. There was the odd greylag goose and some juv mute swans too.

No luck with the LRPs; redshank, oystercatcher and lapwing being the only waders present. Just as I was leaving, 3 sand martin flew over the ribble way path a few times, new for my UK08 list.


A visit to the entrance pool at newton marsh, yeilded this very accomodating lapwing and all the usual suspects. Grazing wigeon, teal, shoveller, mallard, coot, moorhen and a pair of mute swans.

















I drove round to the Freckleton side to search for the Glossy Ibis at the Naze pool. No joy again! Blackwits, shelduck and lots of "MAD MARCH" brown hare in the fields being the only sightings of interest.



















Down at the estuary were 10 whoopers and 10 mutes keeping distinctly separate, zillions of redshank, cormorant, more blackwits but no pipits or raptors to be found.

I drove onwards to Grannies bay, next to fairhaven lake in Lytham.
2 new scores for the UK08 list.
3 ringed plover and 5 red knot amongst all the redshank and gulls.








































































I stopped at nearby Lytham crematorium to look for the nesting ring-necked parakeets but nothing seen or heard apart from a GS woody drumming.

So, over Lytham moss without stopping cos it was too busy and on to Marton mere for a last ditch attempt at Long-eared owl.

Absolutely nothing of interest here. Zillions of families with screaming kids etc at the holiday park for Easter probably scares off most birds.
Just when I was leaving, I thought I'd found 2 early whinchat amongst the reeds but on viewing my dodgyscope shots later, they turned out to be female stonechat.









































So this will be the last post for March but hopefully I'll be able to hobble about enough by mid-April to get back out birding.

RSPB Vane farm, Fife

I was in Edinburgh at the weekend for the rugby at Murrayfield. I managed a short visit to RSPB Vane farm at Loch Leven on Sunday morning. My luck continued after Scotlands win at rugby and I scored a SMEW for my yearlist. Well 2 actually, a redhead and a drake. They didnt stay-put very long and flew off 5 minutes after my arrival. Below is the only record shot that I could manage :( Dodgyscoped from about half a mile away.

















In the fields between hides were lots of curlew, oystercatcher and woodpigeon, with skylark singing and buzzard calling overhead.




























The sun came from behind the cloud for short spells giving me good light to dodgyscope teal, northern pintail, shelduck and GBB gulls.


































































Goosander was another sawbill missing from my 08 list too, until today.


















I dropped in to visit my mate Phil in Hamilton on the way back down to England. His neighbour had a good flock of siskin on his niger seed feeders.

Bad start for my Blackstart, on Pendle hill

I attempted to photograph this drab little robin (as Jill would describe it) on Saturday. The weather wasnt great and my body protested against this being a bit too much like exercise. However, with my own dodgyscoping snapper back at the repairers, I borrowed Jills mums compact digital for the job. What I forgot was that Ann likes to leave all her batteries flat until needed!!??!! Yep, I found that out in a 60mph gale just below the peak of pendle hill with a black redstart just coming into focus. I must have looked like Basil Fawlty when he attacks the car. "Right thats it! I'm going to give you a damn good thrashing...."

Got very angry and gave up, but being a stubborn bastard, I vowed to return to get the shots.

Also saw 6 golden plover (in the air), 2 stonechat and 2 raven on the Saturday.

Anyway, this morning my body didnt complain too much, although the background noise was more likely to be my asthmatic wheezing than the ravens croaking.

Got up to the point and there he was, waiting to have his photo taken.

Click on pics to see larger version -

here's the blackstarts location and my circular route over the top.....








HHHMMMMmmm looks a bit steep!

























Some frogspawn in a pool at the first style to the pendle path from pendleside farm.



















Lovely sunrise views from the hill


































Look at this little poser!











































































































I felt really invigorated after the climb and my reward, so I decided to go over the top to see if I could get shots of the goldies, red grouse or even some snow bunting.

No joy with any birdlife (apart from a lone Mipit) on the top, but I did see and hear 3 skylark in full song flight just up from the pendleside layby. My first skylark sightings this year.


Other weekend news
22 grey heron flew over our car at the swallow hotel, Samlesbury. Clearly en route to brockholes quarry.

14 avocet seen flocking during a very breif visit to Marshside

4 huge leopard slugs climbing the garage wall in the rain.

Click this link to see David Attenboroughs "Life in the undergrowth" for a video link of mating leopard slugs.