The new Birds of Lancashire book will be published in February 08 and there’s an exclusive pre-publication offer through Subbuteo Natural History Books.
£30 instead of £40 (plus £1.99 p+p), until 1st February 2008.
A shameless plug I know, but if the book meets expectations, everyone is going to want one....and it is the brainchild of the Lancs and Cheshire Fauna Society after all.
Not much time left if you want to get the book at the pre-publication price...
Meanwhile, I've blagged John Bannon's pre-publication quiz below for a bit of in-office entertainment. Quite surprising....
What do you know about the birds of Lancashire?
Test your knowledge of the county’s birds.
All the answers and much more are in the new Birds of Lancashire & North Merseyside. (If you can’t wait, they are also at the bottom of this page.)
1. This relatively common resident of southern European and Russian steppes was last seen(and shot) in Lancashire in 1858.
2. 2,929 were ‘accounted for’ in one day in 1915 – a British record.
3. Our first was found dead on the tideline at Morecambe in April 1960, the second hitched a lift to Liverpool on the Cunard liner Carinthia in January 1965.
4. Now very scarce in Wales and declining rapidly everywhere, this wader remains an abundant breeder in Lancashire, one of its national strongholds.
5. First recorded in the county in 1968, the first breeding record was in 1978. It has become much scarcer since, though not necessarily of its own choosing.
6. Once a common farmland bird, one of only very few recent records was found dead at Liverpool’s Pier Head, probably killed by a Peregrine.
7. Name the four Wheatear species on the Lancashire list.
8. During the first of two major national ‘invasions’ in 1863, a flock of 15 was seen near Scarisbrick, feeding on spring oats.
9. Which regularly occurring British shearwater has not yet been added to the Lancashire list.
10. The first record for Britain & Ireland was shot at St. Michaels-on-Wyre, way back in the 1860s, but has not been seen in the county since. Despite its ‘friendly disposition’, another record seems very unlikely as it heads towards global extinction.
11. First recorded near Rawtenstall in 1917, this continental native is now well established as a breeding species in the county.
12. Until 2000, this was a county rarity, requiring a detailed description. Around 50 pairs are now breeding in Lancs.
Answers:
1.Little Bustard
2.Red Grouse
3.Brunnich’s Guillemot
4.Lapwing
5. Ruddy Duck
6.Corncrake
7.Northern, Black Eared,Desert and Pied
8. Pallas’s Sandgrouse
9.Great Shearwater
10. Sociable Plover
11. Little Owl
12. Avocet
And that's about it, Tawny Owls still calling away around Dempsey Towers in the early morning, more and more Song Thrushes singing...days getting longer....
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
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Chris Felton wrote...
Visit to Sands Lake, Ainsdale, mid-January produced 70+ Tufted Duck, 2 Pochard and 5 Shovelers.
Nearby on the shore, 150 Cormorant, half of them immatures.
Posted by: Chris Felton | January 30, 2008 9:30 AM