THE RSPB LANCASTER LOCAL GROUP NEWSLETTER

Welcome to the Autumn 2010 RSPB Lancaster Local Group Newsletter. Autumn is a special time

of year in our area as we look forward to the return of our winter bird visitors. Fieldfare and

redwings should soon be appearing in numbers, plus overwintering continental bitterns should

arrive at Leighton Moss. I have just spent an enjoyable afternoon at Pilling Lane Ends watching

(and listening) to the large gathering of pinkfooted geese as they fed on the saltmarsh and later

flew off inland to move into the mosslands. Will we have a ‚waxwing winter‛ this year? Hopefully

we will not have the prolonged cold spell of last year, which led to travel chaos and disrupted our

outings!

In this newsletter we say thank you to our retiring Local Group Secretary Jill Blackburn, and

welcome Michael Gardner as new Local Group Secretary. Jill provides us with details of

forthcoming events and also a report on her birdwatching holiday in the Spanish Pyrenees. Nearer

to home, John Webb gives us an insight into his alterative bank holiday Monday. We have our

usual update on the comings and goings at Leighton Moss RSPB Reserve, plus details of Jane and

Mike Malpass’s new local radio show.

We are hoping to send future newsletters by email where possible. This would save on postage

and printing costs and you would also have colour photos! If you would like to receive newsletters

by email, please contact Jennifer Rae on jennifer.rae68@btinternet.com

If you would like to contribute a short article, or have any interesting wildlife news from your local

patch, please email your contribution for the next RSPB Lancaster Local Group Newsletter to

kenharrison_1@yahoo.co.uk no later than March 31st 2011.

Ken Harrison – Newsletter Editor

Programme Notes October 2010 We have had three enjoyable outings this summer. The Borrowdale walk produced all the hoped-

for species, though the cuckoo was elusive. This was more than made up for however, in the

Langden Beck Valley where a cuckoo gave us a number of good sightings. Although we did not

find ring ouzels, a beautiful male hen harrier gave us a good display towards the end of the walk.

Our first visit to Gaitbarrows was a great success on a warm, sunny day. The Lady’s Slipper

orchids were still in flower and a number of other limestone flowers were seen, especially the Lily-

of-the-valley. Numerous moths and butterflies were about, including the Gaitbarrows speciality,

the Duke of Burgundy.

This autumn we look forward to outings to Walney Island, Flookburgh and Conder Green/Glasson

Dock. We meet at Walney Cumbria Wildlife Trust Reserve car park (SD225625) at 10.00am on the

10th October for a walk around this Cumbrian coastal reserve. There should be a good variety of

duck and waders, with possibly raptors and scrub passerines. Charge of £2 for non-members of

Cumbria Wildlife Trust. At Flookburgh on the 8th November, we meet at 9.30am in the road on the

right after crossing the railway bridge in Cark (SD364763) before walking out onto the tidal flats.

On 6th December we meet at Conder Green picnic site (SD457562) at 9.00am, then walk along the

estuary to Glasson Dock.

We have indoor meetings planned for the autumn, with a joint meeting with the Lancaster and

District Bird Watching Society on Monday 25th October when the talk will be on ‚Wildsnaps‛ by

photographer Phillip Tomkinson. This will be held in the Bare Methodist Church Hall at 7.30pm.

On 10th November we have an illustrated talk ‚About Scout Scar‛ by Jan Wiltshire in the Caton

Village Institute, Caton at 2.30pm. Jan has lived in the Kendal area for 11 years and during that

time she has been regularly walking on Scout Scar, a dramatic limestone escarpment west of

Kendal, an easy walk with spectacular vistas of the Lake District fells. Scout Scar itself is a

rewarding area for birdwatchers and for botanists with Sites of Special Scientific Interest and

varied habitat: limestone grassland, parkland habitat at Helsington Barrows, ancient woodland at

Brigsteer Park and the mosses of the Lyth Valley. During her walks Jan has taken every

opportunity to talk to farmers about how they manage the area and about the wildlife they see

about their farmsteads. In addition Jan has taken photographs through the seasons and has

recently had a book published which is a closely integrated read of her exploration and images.

Her talk is based on this book.

As you will see from your programme, next year starts with visits to Martin Mere, the Pilling area

and Dunsop Bridge. Don’t miss the talk by Gordon Yates in March at Skerton School.

Jill Blackburn – Retiring Local Group Secretary

Your new Local Group Secretary – Michael Gardner I feel privileged to have been accepted as the Secretary of the RSPB Lancaster Local Group. This,

the start of my tenure, is an opportunity to express my gratitude to our retiring Secretary, Jill

Blackburn. Over the past few years we have all benefitted from Jill`s stewardship and efficient

administrative skills, and I am sure that you will all wish her a well-earned rest from her duties.

However, Jill intends to remain as a Group committee member, so her knowledge and sound

guidance will continue to be appreciated. So there we are - a `new era` for me and I shall look

forward to hearing from you.

I can be contacted either on 01524 65211 or by e-mail: mgardner511@googlemail.com

The 2010 A.G.M. Talk: `Raptors` by John Loder After the business part of the 2010 A.G.M. was over, members enjoyed an illustrated talk by John

Loder the RSPB Talks Officer for the north of England. John gave us some historical background

describing how various species of British raptors have fared over the years. Sadly, many of these

birds had over the centuries fallen foul of various forms of persecution whether it be illegal

trapping, poisoning or egg collecting. It was interesting to see a present day map of Britain`s

uplands and observe a correlation between the dearth of hen harriers and areas where game birds

are managed, - thought provoking stuff indeed.

John was pleased to point out that not all was `doom and gloom`as there have been several success

stories due largely to the endeavours of the RSPB - notably the return of the osprey to Loch Garten

and other parts of Britain and the re-introduction of the white-tailed sea eagle in western Scotland.

John nicely illustrated the size of the latter when he and John Wilson unfurled a life-size line

drawing of this bird which has an eight foot wing-span. We now realised why this magnificent

bird is referred to as the `flying barn door`! Likewise, it was interesting to look back with nostalgia

and a little amusement to photographs of the visitor facilities at Loch Garten – in 1960 the visitor

centre seemed little bigger than the average garden shed and was kitted-out with improvised war-

surplus binoculars! Times may have changed in respect of the latter but nesting raptors still

require the upmost vigilance with regard to their protection.

John Wilson expressed his thanks to John Loder for providing us with an interesting and

stimulating talk.

Michael Gardner - Group Secretary

Not just for the birds (or - An alternative Bank Holiday Monday) Bank Holiday Monday, 30th August.

Got up at 4.00, and was parking by the far gate at 5.15. Initially, silence, but as I approached the

reed-beds mallard and gadwall were audible from the pool. A tawny owl swooped out of a tree

where it overhung the path, a silent shape disappearing rapidly into the gloom.

From the hide there was enough light to identify the duck on the near shore, a mist hung over the

back of the mere, 3 mute swans floated about near the perching posts in the water. 10 minutes later

their apparently directionless meanderings were replaced by rapid purposeful swimming with

heads looking over backs. The female otter was out, swimming rapidly across the pool. 10 minutes

later the mallard at the end of the reedy spur in front of the hide were on the move. The otter

showed briefly, and was gone. There was now time and light to scan the fields. 2 roe were out on

the edge of Trowbarrow plantation, but there was more disturbance where the bitch had last been

seen. 2 young otters were swirling in the water, wrestling, submerging, tumbling together, and

slowly moving out into the centre of the pool. Then they split. One made for the perching posts,

and resting its paws on one of the posts pulled itself half out of the water. The other followed its

example on the next post. Briefly they were up together, both faces towards the hide. I reckoned

they'd given me 8 minutes of their time, but the pool was now left for the birds.

Water rails squealed, and the first of the little egrets was up on a tree above the roost. Others

followed, and at 6.03 the first 19 flew off over the reserve. Counting them out should have been

easy, but the bitch otter coming back across the mere provided a distraction, as did the water rail

running about in front of the hide. Nevertheless, by 6.35 a minimum of 81 had been counted out.

Whilst the majority flew south-west towards the salt marsh, a couple of dozen headed north-north-

west in the direction of Arnside Marsh, and another smaller group due west towards Silverdale

village. By now 3 roe were out in the fields. A water rail flew into the nearby reeds, uttering a

strange squeaky call, and the 2 great crested grebes had come in close in front of the hide.

More disturbance, this time among the coot, drew attention back to the otter cubs, playing in the

water just beyond where they had first been seen. 5 minutes more of tumbling in view of the hide

before they once again disappeared. A couple more water rail sightings before I left at 7.30. On the

way back to the car there was a crashing about in the reeds, and a strong animal smell, but only 1

hind had stayed to inspect the intruder, while the rest of the herd remained invisible.

I'm told the village was full of visitors during the day, but our gardening project kept us happily

occupied until a return to Leighton Moss for the last of this year's ‚Red Deer at Dusk‛ walks. We

had good deer sightings from Griesdale Hide, and the female marsh harrier seemed to follow us

round – Lilian's, Jackson, Griesdale; even landing on the far bank at Jackson for 5 minutes. Egrets

were seen flying towards the roost, but this evening the conditions were ideal for bats.

Fortunately, prediction of noctule was realised as we made our way back from Jackson Hide. Then,

it seemed that a mass of bats had arrived over our heads. Whiskered bats went up and down the

line of the path, low over our heads. Pipistrelles darted around the willows and over the reed beds.

The bat detectors tik-tiked and chop-chopped, confirming their identities, but as we went through

the trees towards the visitor centre it was apparent we were finding soprano pipistrelles, our most

common species on the previous deer walks this year.

John Webb

Spanish Pyrenees, 2010 Spain in June! We packed our shorts, T-shirts and sun cream, luckily throwing in the odd fleece

and plastic mac for the mountain tops. Luckily, because it rained part of every day in the Pyrenees!

Not all day, however, which was a good thing but gave the leaders a few headaches, working out

where to take us and when.

We flew to Barcelona and had one night in the tiny

village of Loporzano going and returning, which gave

us two sunny days and a chance of some steppe birds

(crested lark, bee-eaters, hoopoe, lesser kestrel, etc).

White storks were nesting on the church. Then on to the

Hecho Valley and a small hotel in the middle of

nowhere, where the welcome was really warm and

remained so throughout our stay. The first thing we saw

was a spectacular Spanish moon moth on the wall by the

door.

Vultures could be seen from the garden; griffon vultures

were common, Egyptian vultures less so and

lammergeiers if we were lucky. Our best sighting of

lammergeier, however, was on our last day when we

drove up towards the head of the valley and on the

mountainside opposite there was a pair, first sitting,

then flying. They were near enough to get some good photos. For wallcreepers we had to drive up

another small valley, then walk up further for about an hour. On our first try we had just settled to

look for them when the heavens opened and hail, snow and heavy rain drove us back down. It

took days for our boots to dry! Another attempt 2 days later was very successful, as we saw a pair

after waiting only 10 minutes and they gave us a fine display for some time (in sunshine, too).

In the rainy spells we turned our attention to flowers and found more species of orchids than I

knew existed. One day we drove up to the French border and discovered behind the shops at the

summit a fantastic flower meadow with spring gentians,

Fritillaries and orchids in abundance.

In the sunny spells, as well as birds, we looked for

butterflies. In some of the flower meadows in the

mountain gorges there were huge numbers of blues and

fritillaries of every kind, black-veined whites and large

copper, etc., etc. There were moths too, notably narrow-

bordered bee moth. Finally, the mammals we saw

included Alpine marmot, Pyrenean chamois, roe deer,

red fox and red squirrel.

All 8 of us who went thoroughly enjoyed this superb holiday and our thanks go to Robin Griffiths

who arranged it (and was unfortunately unable to go) and to the leaders, Gina and Steve of

Sunrise Birding.

Jill Blackburn

Spanish Moon Moth © Ken Harrison

Lammergeier © Ken Harrison

News from RSPB Leighton Moss nature reserve With the winter waders and wildfowl returning and the red deer preparing for the rut it seems a

good time to reflect on the last few months at Leighton Moss.

Our male bittern kept us on tenterhooks and was late to boom this year. Normally this bird is very

romantic and starts booming on Valentine’s Day, but it wasn’t until Easter Sunday that the first

boom was heard. Attempts at booming continued for a couple of weeks but then stopped after

that. Despite extensive monitoring, no evidence of any feeding flights was seen. There was great

news for bitterns throughout the UK with 87 booming males this year (82 in 2009). Robin Horner,

the RSPB’s Reserves Area Manager said: ‚The bittern population in the North West of England is

not showing the same growth as seen in other parts of the country. This is partly due to the

fragmented nature of the bittern population, with North West birds being isolated from bittern

strongholds in East Anglia and the South West, but also because of the lack of suitable habitat for

bitterns to breed and to disperse to in winter‛.

Leighton Moss is an ageing reedbed, being over 80 years old, and is

naturally becoming less suitable for bitterns. Continual management

of the site has slowed but not halted this ageing process. Robin

added: ‚We are looking at ways of re-invigorating the bittern

population in the North West. As part of our Futurescapes

programme, the RSPB along with other partners in the Morecambe

Bay Wildlife Network, hopes to encourage the restoration and

creation of reedy pools, reedbeds and watercourses on farmland and

the improvement of water quality, to support an increase in the

bittern population in the Morecambe Bay area. The creation of new

reedbed sites can have a significant positive impact on bittern

populations as seen by the success at Ham Wall in Somerset and

Lakenheath in the Suffolk Fens.

There have been several sightings of bitterns at Leighton Moss this

September, so hopefully we’ll see them more over the winter months

and that next year is a better year for them breeding.

Easier to spot were the marsh harriers with 4 females and 3 males present all summer which

provided some spectacular entertainment. There were 4 nests on the reserve which produced 11

young between them. It has been another good year for bearded tits and to date John Wilson has

ringed 77 juveniles so far (and 29 adult males have been caught or sighted but only 12 adult

females). At the end of September the occasional bird has already been seen using the grit trays

along the Causeway.

The numbers of little egrets on and around the reserve have been increasing and up to 118 birds

have been counted at their evening roosting sight at Island Mere. Perhaps it is only a matter of

time before they start breeding here. Also taking up residence here throughout September were up

to 4 black terns.

It’s been a good year for other wildlife as well with great views throughout the summer of red

deer. Our evening red deer walks throughout July and August were a particular success. Although

elusive, otters were regularly seen at dusk and dawn but serious otter watching requires time and

patience with the reward often being distant glimpses of a brown back arching in the water.

Waders have been starting to gather in large numbers at the saltmarsh pools. These dried up over

the summer due to the lack of rain but after a couple of high tides they have been replenished and

the water levels are being managed to expose the mud scrapes. In recent weeks several hundred

black-tailed godwits have been seen, along with large numbers of redshanks. Other waders of note

have been curlew sandpipers, spotted redshank, little stint, curlews and greenshanks. A spoonbill

has also been seen on several occasions.

Juvenile Marsh Harrier

© Mike Malpass

Morecambe Bay Futurescapes

In September we officially launched the RSPB’s Morecambe Bay Futurescapes initiative which

aims to restore and create wetlands rich in wildlife extending from Morecambe Bay and along the

river valleys of the Duddon, Leven, Kent, Keer, Lune and Wyre. The RSPB is working with local

farmers to restore wet grassland and reedbeds and reduce agricultural pollution in order to

improve the quality of the water. We hope that such a project will help support wetland species

such as bitterns, water voles and dragonflies.

Wardens Update

Phil Henderson, one of our residential volunteers, has given an update on recent work on the

reserve. In July work to remove reed pens from the new reed beds at Silverdale Moss, one of our

satellite reedbeds, continued and was finally completed at the beginning of August. Ragwort

pulling began on Warton Crag at the beginning of August, with other forms of scrub clearance

work also being undertaken there. Most time was spent on the summer reed-cutting. A

programme of willow coppicing has started in September to remove a lot of the willow from the

reed beds around the public pool.

Jen Walker & Michael Wilson ( RSPB Leighton Moss Nature Reserve)

Tune in and have a Wild Autumn This Autumn you can hear what’s happening in the

wildlife world in the Lancaster and Morecambe area by

tuning in to your local radio station for a new weekly

show called ‘Wild Autumn’ on Diversity FM. You can

tune in to 103.5 FM from Wednesday 22 September at 12

noon and then every Tuesday from 11.30 am to 12 noon

for the following 8 weeks to hear the latest local nature

news throughout the season.

Jane and Mike Malpass, the presenters of ‘Wild Autumn’

are longstanding volunteer guided walk leaders at RSPB

Leighton Moss nature reserve in Silverdale and have a real passion for birds and wildlife. They

will be interviewing a range of local wildlife experts, chatting to nature lovers and giving you

ideas of ways to find out more about the natural world on your doorstep.

Jane said ‚We’re really excited at having the opportunity to share our enthusiasm about wildlife

and can’t wait for the show to begin! We hope you’ll tune in and get involved too.‛

The show will include topics about bird spectacles, rutting red deer, bats, moths, wildlife

conservation and loads more depending on what’s been seen in the area that week.

Diversity FM is Lancaster and Morecambe’s Community Radio Station and is a YMCA project that

is largely run by volunteers from the local community.

The opinions expressed by the contributors to this Newsletter are not necessarily those of the RSPB or of the

RSPB Lancaster Local Group.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/groups/lancaster/

The RSPB speaks out for birds and wildlife, tackling the problems that threaten our environment.

Nature is amazing - help us keep it that way.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity:

England and Wales no. 207076, Scotland no. SC037654

Jane & Mike Malpass