Birding Group Visit to Brockholes : 24th June 2014

Birding Group Visit to Brockholes : 24th June 2014

We started off with a quick look at the Meadow Lake from the visitor centre. There were Swallows and Sand Martins flying overhead in good numbers and on the islands there were Oystercatchers, Canada Geese and Mute Swans. A small group of Cormorants collected at the end of the near island. A look through the scope at the far side of the lake threw up two or three Common Snipe and there was a good smattering of Lapwing and their chicks. From the cafe we got very nice views of a Great Crested Grebe family with four stripey fledglings. When we were all collected we decided to take a walk up to the River Ribble and look for Kingfishers.

As we walked up the hill towards the river we could hear birds in the shrubs and trees and eventually located a nice Whitethroat that gave us good views. Almost as soon as we got to the river we could see, first one, and then two, Kingfishers fishing from the usual exposed tree roots on the far river bank. They flew off and returned to the same spot a few times before flying down the river. We decided to take the direction they flew off in to see if we could catch up with them.
As we walked along the river the Sand Martins and Swallows were flying very low over our heads giving us really close views and a Kestrel showed well for us. On the water there were Black-headed Gulls and a small group of Redshanks were wading in the gravelly shallows. We stopped off at the “bird hide” along the river and the Black Swan was sailing along gracefully there. A few Mallards and a Grey Heron was about it though. We walked down to the entrance back onto the reserve and walked up to the hide overlooking the Number One Pit. As we did so we could hear Sedge Warblers and as we reached the hide a Cetti’s Warbler burst into song.
On Number One Pit there was a Common Sandpiper and the more we looked the more we could see Ringed Plovers – perhaps a dozen in all; these seemed to be breeding. A few Redshanks patrolled the margins. There were probably many more birds on the island but the flowers and plants are so overgrown that you can’t see half of what is going on. In fact, it is starting to be a problem using a scope on the path because it is hard to see over the tops of the plants. On the other side to the water it appears to be a huge field of mainly nettles. There are a few other plants and plenty of those plants that appeal to the Burnet Moth and this site is one of its strongholds.
Down by the Ribbleton Pool and the Nook Pool there were no birds on the water at all and although you could hear a few birds it was not easy to spot them. We walked into Bolton Wood and here there were young Song Thrushes and Robins and a lot of Wrens and Chaffinches. Others in our group apparently saw Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch and Blackcap but I didn’t !
Coming out the other side of the woods we scoured the marsh to see if we could spot Short-eared Owl but to no avail. Walking back towards the visitor centre we were on the lookout for Tree Sparrow but I cannot say with conviction that I managed to see any, which was surprising.
We returned to the cafe for lunch and we arranged the destinations for our next birding group term. When the others left we walked back to the area where they are building the new “Lookout” because we had been told that the Avocets had been relocated to here. It seems that they were trying to breed on the Meadow Lake but were being predated and the wardens decided to move them. I can’t imagine how this is done but when we looked out towards the side of the island that you can’t see from the path we took earlier, there they were. Well, a pair anyway. Me may possibly have seen a chick but it ran off into the high undergrowth so quickly that we couldn’t be sure. From this vantage point we could also see Ringed Plover and their young and another – or the same ? – Common Sandpiper. We walked along this path between Number One Pit and Meadow Lake and then walked back along the river. We caught sight of one of our Kingfishers again but by the time we got back to our original starting point it was getting late and time to leave before the weather changed and the rain started.

Bird Sightings : Brockholes