Lancashire Bird Report 2015 EPORT 2015 R LANCASHIRE BIRD Lancashire & Cheshire Fauna Society £7.00 Lancashire & Cheshire Fauna Society Registered Charity 500685 www.lacfs.org.uk Publication No. 120 2016 Lancashire Bird Report 2015 The Birds of Lancashire and North Merseyside S. J. White (Editor) D. A. Bickerton, M. Breaks, S. Dunstan, K. Fairclough, N. Godden, R. Harris, B. McCarthy, P. J. Marsh, S.J. Martin, T. Vaughan, J. F. Wright. 2 Lancashire Bird Report 2015 CONTENTS Introduction Dave Bickerton 3 Review of the Year John Wright 3 Systematic List (in the revised BOU order) Swans Tim Vaughan 9 Geese Steve White 10 Ducks Nick Godden 14 Gamebirds Steve Martin 22 Divers to cormorants Bob Harris 24 Herons to Spoonbill Steve White 28 Grebes Bob Harris 31 Red Kite to Osprey Keith Fairclough 32 Rails and Crane Steve White 36 Avocet to plovers Tim Vaughan 37 Whimbrel to Snipe Steve White 42 Skuas Pete Marsh 52 Auks to terns Steve White 54 Gulls Mark Breaks 57 Doves to woodpeckers Barry McCarthy 63 Falcons to parakeets Keith Fairclough 71 Shrikes to Bearded Tit Dave Bickerton 74 Larks to hirundines Barry McCarthy 79 Tits Dave Bickerton 82 Warblers to Waxwing Stephen Dunstan 84 Nuthatch to starlings Dave Bickerton 92 Dipper, thrushes and chats Barry McCarthy 93 Dunnock to sparrows Stephen Dunstan 102 Wagtails and pipits Barry McCarthy 103 Finches to buntings Dave Bickerton 107 Escapes and Category D Steve White 115 Lancashire Ringing Report Pete Marsh 117 Satellite-tracking of Cuckoos Pete Marsh 134 Migrant dates Steve White 136 Rarities Steve White 137 Contributors 139 Front cover: Long-tailed Duck, Crosby Marine Park by Steve Young Back cover: Cuckoo, Cocker’s Dyke by Paul Slade Caspian Gull, Ainsdale bySteve Young Lancashire Bird Report 2015 Introduction Dave Bickerton Another year and another annual bird report comes off the presses. As you can tell, we’ve continued with the full colour format and yet kept the price the same for another year. No other annual report can offer such good value for money - full of informative accounts and excellent images, recording the avian comings and goings of 2015. Many thanks to all those who contribute their records whether it is individually or as part of a group or club. We obviously cannot include every last one; indeed, reams of Wren records, for example, are hardly illuminating, however they do help us put observations in context. Regular patch-workers tend to give us both their records and a species summary which can then be used to give a more accurate representation of the status of species in the area. They’re also a pleasant change to spreadsheet lists! This is all the more important where an area isn’t covered by a local report so I implore you to try and consider your local area and some of the commoner species, even if it’s “no change”. We do get copies of regional reports such as those East Lancashire, Chorley, Lancaster and District and Fylde as well as site reports like Brockholes, Heysham and Seaforth. It is rather surprising that similar reports seem not to exist (to our eyes) for Leighton Moss, Martin Mere, Marshside and other notable locations. We therefore rely a lot on individual observations from regulars at these sites - so keep up the good work! We also receive a plethora of records from the BTO/Birdtrack database that many of you use. There are some disadvantages with these data in that the records are not peer-reviewed and there is a lot of duplication however, for commoner species, the data can be analysed by grid reference or tetrad to give some view of distribution. A special thanks again to Steve White for his diligent work in co-ordinating all the submissions and editing the report but also to the other volunteer writers who give up a considerable amount of their time in analysing records and converting them into something well worth reading. The Lancashire and Cheshire Fauna Society continues to underwrite the publication of this annual review as well as publish newsletters for the Lancashire Moth Group and other reports such as the Dragonfly Atlas last year. A similar book covering the mammals, amphibians, reptiles and freshwater fish of Lancashire and North Merseyside is being prepared at the moment and once that has been published we hope to produce a similar atlas study of butterflies and day-flying moths. We are exploring joint-ventures with bodies such as Butterfly Conservation on other publications in the future. Review of 2015 John Wright January For much of the month, the county was under the influence of Atlantic depressions. A sequence of particularly deep lows between the 9th and 15th brought stormy conditions, as well as plenty of rainfall. The second half of the month was colder. There were some sharp frosts with temperatures lower than at any time earlier in the winter or during the whole of last winter The year began with a Snow Goose amongst Pinkfeet at Glasson on the 2nd and then on Colloway Marsh from the 5th to the 20th. The Fylde coast then stole the show with a handsome Great Grey Shrike at Lytham Moss and the confidingShore Lark continuing to draw admirers to Rossall Point. Purple Sandpipers roosting on the drained Fleetwood Marine Lake also proved popular as did a juvenile Glaucous Gull on the Wyre, which was often to be found looking for an easy meal at Fleetwood Docks. An immature Pomarine Skua which appeared at Preesall on the 10th was attracted to all manner of tideline corpses during its stay between Knott End and Pilling. Unfortunately it was in poor health and was later picked up dead. Marton Mere had a wintering Firecrest as well as Long-eared Owls, Barn Owls, Water Rails, Cetti’s Warblers and a regular adult Iceland Gull. The icing on the cake was the finding of Lanca- Lancashire Bird Report 2015 shire’s third Dusky Warbler there on the 16th; only seen by the finder it disappeared into the reedbed and was not seen again. Elsewhere, six delightful Waxwings trilling around the Whitehall area of Darwen on the 17th was the highest count of the year. Another species which appears in variable numbers is the Bewick’s Swan and in a reasonable winter, by recent standards, 27 were at Hesketh Out Marsh and 19 at Cockersand. February At the start of the month the county was under the influence of cold northerly winds, but from the 5th to 12th high pressure became established bringing largely quiet, dry weather. The second half of February saw typical westerly weather, with fluctuating temperatures and some heavy rain and strong winds. An upland feeding station in Rossendale attracted the onlyLapland Buntings of the year with a peak of two on the 3rd. They must have made a lovely sight alongside twelve Snow Buntings. Winterers remaining from 2015 included a Long-tailed Duck at Crosby Marine Lake and a Great Northern Diver at Rishton Reservoir. Another long-stayer was a drake Scaup at Fairhaven Lake which was joined by a Red-throated Diver mid-month. This diver appeared to have an injured leg but was otherwise in good health. Both these birds would fly off to feed on the Ribble Estuary but regularly returned and delighted many visitors. Unusual geese were in short supply amongst the Pinkfeet but a family party of five European White-fronted Geese joined the Greylag Geese on the Eric Morecambe Complex. They soon became quite confiding and could often be found in roadside fields. Very unusually the first Gannet sighting of the year came from the Ribble Valley when an exhausted individual was found at Dinckley and later taken into care. March At the start of the month unsettled Atlantic weather brought rain and strong wind at times. This continued with a succession of active depressions from the 5th to 12th, after which pressure built and the weather was more settled. The final week was again rather unsettled with rain or showers and some very strong winds. Winter was still hanging on with Snow Buntings remaining on top of Pendle Hill, peaking at 30 on the 10th, and an impressive 777 Eider could be found off Heysham. The longer days did encourage a wintering Great Grey Shrike to start singing at Grindleton Fell. Black-headed Gulls returned to their breeding colonies with massive roosts of 22000 at Belmont Reservoir and 10500 at Stocks Reservoir. Meadow Pipits also poured through from mid-month with 9000 birds over Fleetwood with the highest day count of 2053. Perhaps the most remarkable movement started with the arrival of a male Ring Ouzel at Croasdale in Bowland on the 23rd. The numbers of migrant Ring Ouzels that followed delighted observers across the county. At least 50 were seen in the south-west, with a peak of twelve at Cabin Hill. In addition at least 60 were widely distributed across east Lancashire with a maximum of 25 on Pendle Hill. Whilst seventeen pairs settled to breed in Bowland the destination of the rest remains a mystery. Hawfinch records were very scarce again this year so one at a garden feeder in Worsthorne on the 28th was a real surprise. April At the start of the month the weather was rather unsettled but within a few days a much more settled pattern became established under the First-winter Laughing Gull, Seaforth, 5 April influence of high pressure. This was interrupted (Steve Young) Lancashire Bird Report 2015 5 for a few days towards mid-month, followed by more fine weather with some very warm days and plenty of sunshine across many areas.