One or two Wheatears on the Green Beach this afternoon - a female and a youngster, with 50+ Sandwich Tern and smaller numbers of Commons roosting out on the sands amongst the moulty gulls.
A nice juv Marsh Harrier, that looked suspiciously like the bird I've seen up at Marshside once or twice recently, was moving south down the Green Beach, getting serious Kestrel hassle, so it swung out over the beach, only to be battered by two GBBs - understandably it turned tail and disappeared over the dunes, fully aware of who the daddy is on the beach.
Not many hirundines today, but small groups of Mipits moving through, and good numbers of Silver Y moths joining the bumblebees on the gorgeous mounds of flowering Sea Rocket.
A lazy old Natterjack scowled at me while I picked litter around it.
After work a half hour seawatch from Ainsdale wasn't too bad - once it clouded over, visibility over the falling tide from 4.30pm to 5pm was okay, and what was presumably a shoal in the shallows brought in good numbers of Gannet, Manxies and feeding terns.
Some of the Manxies were gathered in feeding groups on the gentle swell about halfway out, while the majority were rollercoastering up and down the horizon.
I hoped the terns would lure in a skua, but no joy.
Gannet c35
Manx Shearwater 93
Common Scoter 8
Sandwich Tern 60+
Common Tern c20
Tide maybe worth another look tomorrow evening - if it's not too sunny.
Thanks before I forget to Phil Smith for sending me these two shots of Ruddy Darter from Freshfield Dune Heath.
"Thought you might like to see the first confirmed Ruddy Darter for Freshfield Dune Heath NR - found by Peter Robinson", says Phil.
"Always nice to see one of these beauties!"
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
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The RSPB is inviting farmers in the north of England to join a successful scheme that can boost farm incomes while helping the wildlife on their land.
The Volunteer & Farmer Alliance (V&FA) is organised by the RSPB and offers farmers a free survey of the breeding birds on their land, carried out by a local volunteer. Taking part is completely free with no-strings-attached, and itâÂÂs a great way for farmers to find out vital information about birds on the farm.
A trained volunteer visits the farm to survey the different species of birds present and the results are plotted on a unique âÂÂbird mapâ that can help farmers target their work to benefit wildlife. The information on these bird hotspot maps can help bring in new income, as the wildlife data can be used to help applications for agri-environment grants such as the GovernmentâÂÂs Higher Level Stewardship scheme.
In Yorkshire alone, RSPB advice following surveys has helped to generate ã2.8million of revenue for farmers through agri-environment funding.
The scheme was a great success this year, with 45 farms in the region being surveyed. RSPB farmland birds project officer Carol Coupe is now inviting 50 new farms to take part in the next round of surveys.
Carol said: âÂÂThe V&FA offers a great opportunity for farmers whether they want to increase their revenue, boost local wildlife tourism or are simply interested in learning more about the birds on their land. In previous years, up to 80% of farmers taking part in the survey have discovered species on their farm that they never knew were there.
âÂÂBy providing farmers with this free and confidential survey, we hope we can work together to support local agriculture and help conservation management for farmland birds and at the same time.âÂÂ
This year is the 10th national anniversary of the V&FA. The initiative originally started life in 1999 in central England and has since been made available across the whole of the UK. Over the past decade, more than 4,250 farms have been surveyed, helping many farmers to access new sources of income and enabling the RSPB to identify key bird populations of major conservation concern.
The surveys have been made possible by trained RSPB volunteers who have committed a total of over 77,000 hours of their time and walked the equivalent of 4.5 times around the world in the process.
The V&FA has become so popular that schemes modelled on the concept are now supporting farmers in Portugal and Sweden.
Farmers or potential volunteers who would like to find out more about the Volunteer & Farmer Alliance project can contact Carol Coupe on 01524 581 008 or e-mail carol.coupe@rspb.org.uk
Hi John,13.8 09 Found a male Ruddy Darter in one of the ditches on Hesketh golf course.This is my first record of this species at this location. Mike.