March 4, 2012:
Another Great Grey Shrike (or possibly the same one) has reappeared not far away from Marl Hill (see earlier) and Stocks Reservoir where one was seen on several occasions about a month ago. Today, it hunted from various viewpoints on scattered hawthorns some distance away in farmland. Poor dull light made photography difficult.





At one point, a 'mad' March Hare galloped across the same field.

March 1, 2012:
A beautiful warm sunny day with distinct signs of Spring approaching had at least two pairs of Great Crested Grebes displaying on No.1 lake. With the pair immediately facing each other in the water there were sessions lasting up to one minute or more of head twisting and nodding, usually with the male's crest raised.







There were pairs of Goldeneye and Gadwall also on the lake and at least one Mediterranean Gull was preening amidst a large flock of Black-headed Gulls on the main island.





The Mediterranean Gull is towards the centre.

February 14, 2011:
Another visit to the Dene today was rewarded with much better views of the birds. Within a ninety-minute period Northern Long taileds (caudatus) were seen on five separate occasions and usually down to quite close range. There appear to be at least two present, one always with the small flock of resident birds (rosaceus), the other always solitary. It's also possible that a continental bird (europaeus) is here as there is at least one individual with a narrow black crown stripe and very pale underparts. More photos are below, including our normal resident rosaceus and the (possible) europaeus.










[Above, a possible europaeus and (both below) typical rosaceus]



[Looking up Luddenden Dene to the north-west]

February 7, 2012:
Another visit today appeared unfruitful until I managed two separate sightings of a Northern in mid-afternoon. The first bird, strikingly prominent with its white head and underparts, appeared suddenly in a flock of about eight of the normal race and rapidly foraged amongst the branches of a leafless tree in search of insects. A little later, a second (or perhaps the same) bird appeared. Recently, one with a shortened tail had been seen here but both today's were normal indicating that at least two of the Northerns are still in the area. As the mist swept up this remote valley in late afternoon, I withdrew, satisfied.

February 1, 2011:
Since January 10, up to three individuals of this northern European race (caudatus) have been recorded intermittently near the head of this small remote Pennine valley. Scattered houses here have well-stocked garden bird feeders which attract tits and other small birds. Our native Long-tailed Tit race (rosaceus) is present here in small fast-moving, flocks and it is to these that the recent northern arrivals have attached themselves. However, a high degree of patience was required to gain sight of one of these stunning birds but once located they are unmistakeable with an all-white head and underparts and, especially when seen face-on, appear as a small ball of white fluff.


They are native to Scandinavia, northern Europe, and eastwards across northern Asia. Scarce visitors to this country, when they do occur it is usually on the eastern side in very small numbers. A few were seen in Kent late last winter but apart from the occasional doubtful sighting elsewhere, these seem to be the only birds present in the UK at the moment.


The Northern race caudatus (both above), our UK race rosaceus (below)


Luddenden Dean is a very pleasant upland valley with a good number of bird species. Today, amongst the commoner tits there was a surprisingly large number of Coal Tits and Great Spotted Woodpeckers (both below). Raptors seen here include Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and Peregrine. Let’s hope that the tits are aware of this!

January 13, 2012:
For each of the past few years a Great Grey Shrike has been reported within this general area of Bowland (from Stocks Reservoir to Waddington Fell), often arriving here before Christmas.



Perhaps due to the mild weather in early winter, a first sighting was made only yesterday at Marl Hill where a bird was seen in an isolated private garden where feeders are put out for tits and finches. No doubt this was the attraction for the Shrike. After an hour’s unsuccessful watch here on what was a beautifully bright and calm sunny morning today, a move further east along the road was rewarded with a sighting, the bird perched high in typical shrike-fashion on the tip of a roadside tree. It was possible to view it and photograph it down to about 25 metres before it was disturbed by an oncoming vehicle and was lost from sight. It made a brief return later but a further 3 hours of watching proved blank. Here, there is a large area of suitable but rather inaccessible terrain into which the bird presumably vanishes for long periods of time. A small flock of ten Crossbills, a very distant view through the 'scope of a Ringtail Hen Harrier over the moors to the north, and a Stoat in ermine in a nearby field, greatly added to the interest.

January 8, 2011: Several small flocks of Tundra Bean Geese have been reported at various places in the north-west of England over recent weeks and for them to be present here in such numbers is quite unusual. One small flock of five birds had been seen on stubble fields at Lytham Moss for almost a week now and so today's task was to attempt to locate them. The Moss is a large area of flat agricultural land, much of it waterlogged at this time of year, and not always readily accessible by road in the remoter parts.

A search for these birds in heavy drizzle and poor light took quite a while but they were eventually located on wet stubble surprisingly close to a major road, although the birds themselves were well concealed from the passing traffic by a large hedge. There were five Bean Geese in the group and as they fed amongst the short residual growth, their bright orange legs were clearly evident. A sixth bird had attached it to the group but this had a very much paler back than the others and when a clearer view was finally obtained the bright pink legs of this Pink-footed Goose contrasted strongly with the orange legs of the five Beans'.

[Pink-footed beween the two Bean Geese]

December 1, 2011:

Two adult Greenland White-fronts arrived here overnight on a field adjacent to the reservoir. There has been a large influx into various part of the country over the last week or so but to have some here is quite exceptional.

The birds kept together and could only be viewed at long range (400 metres or more) on the field beyond the western bank of the reservoir. For a while they were resting, asleep, but soon began to graze in the pasture. One of them remained especially alert but neither appeared disturbed by the noise of a passing train. This is another good record for the site following the Red-throated Diver present here (see below) a few weeks ago.