Pennington Flash

Drake garganey today on the spit, best viewed from the leaning posts opposite Horrock's hide.

Green Hairstreak

My first green hairstreak of the year was on the wing in the Pennines today, at the unearthly hour of 8am!  It must have been cold, it allowed me to take this photo with my phone.

Also today,and nearly as green, a nice patch of Sphagnum fimbriatum.

Houghton Green Flash, Winwick

Redshank and Yellow wagtail the only birds of note today.

This is common liverwort Marchantia polymorpha. The pale green "umbrellas" are the reproductive structures of the female plant called gametophores.The smaller, darker "umbrellas" are the male plants.

In this photo you can see the gametophores growing out of the female thalli (leaves).

Celery-leaved buttercup.

Stone Curlew, Little Woolden Moss

A Stone Curlew on Little Woolden Moss, just 8 miles from home, was an unexepected bonus today. I'd had a tough but enjoyable day setting up bat detectors in the Pennines when news broke and since it was on my way home it was no problem to call in on my way back.

In many respects the reserve is like a miniture Hatfield Moss (South Yorkshire), a long slog to get to the viewing point and lots of bare peat and pools. It was a nice sunny day but the wind was strong and the bird was quite distant, making viewing very difficult and typical of the species it spent most of its time standing or sitting motionless. In fact actually, the view wasn't any worse than many I've had at Weeting Heath in Norfolk. It did once have a short walk around at which time it showed quite well, but it was generally just a blob in amongst a clump of grass.

This was my second Stone Curlew in the North West following one at Leasowe on 30/04/2009.

Year: 213 (Stone Curlew)

Little Woolden Moss. The stone curlew is in this photo (honest!), in amongst the grass, a fraction left of centre.

Lowther, Cumbria

On the River Lowther today, 4 dippers, 3 common sandpipers and a single male goosander.

Hallinhag wood, Ullswater

Hallinhag wood is a magical ancient woodland on the south east shore of Ullswater, dominated by oak with an understorey dominated by bryophytes. The latter covers the rocks and the trees and is intermingled with wood sorrel and bilberry, whilst bird song is everywhere and in amongst the willow warblers, blackcaps, wrens and robins I counted at least 8 singing wood warblers, 2 singing pied flycatchers and 10 singing redstarts. What a place, I can't get enough one of the joys of spring.

Hallinhag wood and Ullswater.

A fallen tree covered in bryophytes and wood sorrel,

Aira Force, Ullswater

At Aira Force today, a pair of pied flycatchers showed well, also a few singing redstarts and tree pipits.

Year: 212  (Pied flycatcher)

Appleton Reservoir, Warrington

The garden warbler is still singing and occasionally showing well in the wood near the style in the SW corner of the reservoir. Also today about 20 swifts, 10 swallows, 5 house martins, 5 sand martins, 12 tufted ducks and a pair of gadwall.

A few more red-throated pipit photos

Torver Wood, Coniston, Cumbria

Wood warbler 2 singing
Tree pipit 10 singing
Redstart 1 singing

Year: 211 (Wood warbler, Redstart)

Houghton Green Flash, Winwick

A single dunlin was the highlight at the flash today.