Visit to Brockholes Nature Reserve 17th May 2013

Visit to Brockholes Nature Reserve 17th May 2013

The weather forecast looked like giving us one day this week where it probably wouldn’t rain so we decided to go out for the day and since Anne had not yet been to Brockholes nature reserve near Preston, we thought we should go there. The last time I was there was with the birding group and that was in winter so I was interested to see what it would be like in spring. Previously we started out from the visitor centre and walked up to the river and managed to see a Kingfisher so we hoped we would be lucky again.Just as we left the visitor centre a pair of Oystercatchers flew overhead and the reed beds were full of Reed Buntings and Sedge Warblers. We walked up to the River Ribble but instead of turning right along the river, we turned left towards the weir where we heard that the kingfisher sometimes hung out. As we walked along we could see a few Swallows but lots of Sand Martins and this was confirmed when we came across a whole colony of Sand Martin nests excavated from the sandy banks of the river. We watched for s some time as the birds came and went. Clearly they already had young to feed. Unfortunately we did not see much at all on the water and no Kingfisher. We walked from the weir back towards Boilton Woods by which time it had warmed up quite a bit. As we walked through the woods we could hear several Song Thrushes and other usual woodland birds. As we walked through the woods we could see through the trees a couple of Crows mobbing a Buzzard.

As we emerged at the far end of the woods we could hear several Sedge Warblers holding forth and as we tried to see one of them if it emerged to sing from the top of a reed, a pair of Whitethroat gave us a little display. Over the motorway a Kestrel hovered before setting down on the top of one of the motorway lamp posts saving itself all that hovering but still getting a good arial view. We walked down to the new hide – a massive all-metal container type hide presumably intended to be a vandal-proof as possible. This overlooks No 1 Pit where I had heard reports of s Black Tern being seen. Well, we didn’t see a Black Tern but there were lots of Lapwings with their chicks and half a dozen or more Little Ringed Plovers and even a Whimbrwel washing and preening, determined to show every aspect of its plumage as it did so. Overhead a few Swifts flew and on the island there were Cormorants, Grey Heron and Mute Swans. A single Redshank mooched about.

We turned left at the end of No 1 Pit and walked back along the cycle track and headed back to the visitor centre where we hoped the cafe would be open now. When we arrived it was closed because of a water problem so we were desperate for a cup of tea.

As we sat in the cafe, we looked out onto the verandah and saw a Pied Wagtail and out on the island we saw our Whimbrel again and this time a Black Swan was also roosting. I had actually heard of Black Swans int he neighbourhood the previous time I came and I looked on the Ribble for them then – unsuccessfully, We also had close views of another Redshank.

Time was getting on but we wanted to try again for the Kingfisher so, after tea and scones, we walked back up to the Ribble and walked along the bank in the direction of the motorway. Unfortunately we were out of luck so we decided to go back to the car and returned along the river bank until we reached the end of the small fenced-in woods on your left. We walked up the rise and, instead of walking round to the steps to the visitor centre we walked up the small hill that gives you a view of the whole site. From here we could see that we could take a shortcut back to the car park but as we took this path a large bird of prey flew in front of us about 20 feet up and about 100 feet away from us. Flat faced and with huge cream and white coloured wings it was clearly an owl and, as it turned out, a Short-eared Owl. We watched it as it flew over the reserve and started quartering Boilton Marsh. It occasionally dropped down out of sight but it came up again. We raced off to the path nearest to the marsh where a birding group had also seen it. We got the scope out and when it eventually landed on a post we got very good views – enough to be sure it was a Short-eared Owl. However by far the best part of the experience was watching the bird quartering over the field and – even better – flying right in front of us. The closest I have ever been to an owl in the wild. Fantastic, and a year tick as well. So, although we did not get our Kingfisher we got two really good year ticks and the Owl was just fantastic.

Bird Sightings : Brockholes Nature Reserve

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Map of Brockholes nature reserve environs

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