Some nice Pink-footed Goose vismig Fishmoor Res, Blackburn this AM with 610 > SE (15 skeins) 07:05-07:45. 4 Gadwall new-in Rishton Res. No sign Grey Phal Parsonage Res, but unringed Osprey briefly then >SW, with another (ringed) Osprey seen by others 2hrs later. Great Egret Brockholes. #LancsBirding

The poor weather produced the goods at Fishmoor Res, Blackburn with an adult Red-throated Diver and Grey Plover. Both had departed by 08:20. Lingerers included the Grey Phal Parsonage Res, 2 Curlew Sand, 5 Ringed Plover & new-in Common Tern Dean Clough Res. 7 Shoveler Rishton Res. #LancsBirding

The Parsonage Res, Blackburn Grey Phalarope present for the fifth day and typically showing well. #LancsBirding

A check of Parsonage Reservoir, Blackburn late morning was rewarded with a fine 1CY Grey Phalarope. #LancsBirding

A check of a few local sites in brutal weather conditions was rewarded with a juv Curlew Sandpiper on Rishton Reservoir. #LancsBirding

A nice juv Black Tern, 2 Osprey, 3+ Hobby, long staying Great Egret at Brockholes today. #LancsBirding

This Manx Shearwater was a great inland find by Phil Rhodes at Lower Rivington Reservoir late afternoon. #LancsBirding

Perhaps only birders who patch truly urban sites will appreciate this… Today on my more rural primary patch, Brockholes, I saw 4 Osprey, 4 Hobby and Great Egret, but it was at Queens Park Lake in urban Blackburn where two ridiculously confiding site-first Teal became birds of the day! #LancsBirding

Cattle Egret in Lancs further inland than eg Martin Mere are still rare and in East Lancashire incredibly rare, so it was a shocker to receive news at 19:30 of 16 Cattle Egret at Belmont Res, 7mls south of home. Just got there in time before they departed low south. 16ad, 2 juv. #LancsBirding

The fifth Great Egret of the year at Brockholes showed very well from the Visitor Village today. Present in the area for the third day. #LancsBirding

Enjoyable Raptor fest at Brockholes today with two Osprey I haven’t seen previously. 3 Hobby (Ad, 2 juv) and ad Peregrine. A Great Egret seen by others. #LancsBirding

Osprey (blue 465) showed well for a time on the Ribble at Brockholes today. Known from the colour ring to be in the area for the 9th day. #LancsBirding

A good amount of sky watching in 9hrs at Brockholes produced min 3 prob 4 Osprey, juv Marsh Harrier, Peregrine and 2 Hobby. A juv Wood Sandpiper was most welcome. 3 Green Sandpiper, 2 LRP, 3 Snipe. 2CY Med Gull. 190 House Martin > S in 20 minutes mid-morning. #LancsBirding

At the end of my tether with both PhoneSkope lollipop adapters not gripping ATX eyecup despite being fine initially. Sides of eyecup perhaps greasy? Can anyone recommend a wipe/solution that won’t degrade the rubber eyecup before rattle gets thrown from pram & I look at other adapters! 🤞#BirdingGear

A juv Wood Sandpiper at Brockholes this morning. #LancsBirding

Better views of yesterdays blue ringed Osprey at Brockholes clinched it as 465 (2021 female from Esthwaite Water, Cumbria) first seen in area 22nd Aug. 3 Hobby, Med Gull, Yellow Wagtail best of rest. A surprise Gadwall during a spot of Gulling at Queens Park, Blackburn was a site mega. #LancsBirding

A few quality hours at Brockholes after a week of Covid misery raised the spirits somewhat with 2 Osprey (unringed juv and a blue darvic older bird), juv Peregrine, 3 Hobby (Ad, 2 juv), nice count of 30+ Little Egret, roost of 50 Cormorant, 5 Green Sandpiper, 11 Teal and a Mandarin. #LancsBirding

The run of good garden birds continues with this Yellow Wagtail, quite a scarce migrant in east Lancs, west at 06:42. Heard with mine own ears as well as by the PUC. 😎 #LancsBirding app.birdweather.com/soundscapes/...

My main target during this mornings visit to Brockholes was Tree Pipit, but no joy in a 5hr Vis session. A juvenile Osprey and another juv Marsh Harrier were fine compensation though. #LancsBirding

Skywatching in the garden late afternoon was rewarded with three sightings of a Hobby. Feniscowles, Blackburn. #LancsBirding

A Red Kite south over my home in Feniscowles, Blackburn this afternoon was my fifth record for the garden, four of the five being in the past two years since I started putting more effort into garden sky watching. A bonus Hummingbird Hawk-moth appeared on the Buddleia early evening. #LancsBirding

7 species of raptor at Brockholes y/day a/noon inc Osprey, Ad+2CY Hobby, juv Peregrine and a stunning juv Marsh Harrier. Other recents inc: Tree Pipit, Yellow Wagtail, 4 Green Sand and a locally scarce Brimstone. A Bittern was brilliantly photographed on Meadow Lake last week. #LancsBirding

Delighted with this first record for the garden… Old Lady. #TeamMoth #Blackburn

A smattering of drake Common Scoter on a few east Lancs reservoirs today; this adult on Fishmoor Res, one on Dean Clough Res and four adults on Alston Reservoirs. It’s days like this when one always wonders how many more may go unrecorded on the many unchecked reservoirs in the region… #LancsBirding

Managed to squeeze in a 1hr seawatch during a mini break in Whitby today armed with bins and camera only. Failed to find my target species juv Caspian Gull, but a Sooty Shearwater >N more than made up for it. Also Manx N, c250 Common Scoter N, c40 Teal N, and 2 close Bottlenose Dolphin. #UKBirding

This very brief Common Tern on the Ribble at Brockholes on 28th July highlights the value of colour ringing in a nutshell. #LancsBirding

Interesting titbit received in a reply regarding a colour ringed South Cumbrian Osprey I reported; the resident incubating female at the private nest site was taken by a Goshawk this year. #UKBirding

News of 65 diurnal Common Scoter through an inland Yorkshire site this morning prompted a 3hr Brockholes VP scanning the sky to the east, but no joy. Two good birds for the patch were had; A Yellow Wagtail > NE and juv Marsh Harrier > SW, the latter being the 55th individual 1999-2025. #LancsBirding

Short-eared Owl, 3 Peregrine, Golden Plover and 4 singing Grasshopper Warbler the best from an evening walk over local moorland earlier this week. #LancsBirding

A healthy population of Red Eyed Damselfly discovered on my local stretches of Leeds-Liverpool Canal in the Blackburn area are the 1st records for east Lancs. Still described as rare in the county, this and a record in the Preston area are as north as currently known in Lancs. #Odonata #Dragonflies

If you are craving some more live Falcon nest action now the Sheffield Peregrines have fledged then check out this Hobby Cam from Dorset. Thought to be the only live Subbuteo nest cam in Europe this year #ukbirding camstreamer.com/redirect/j4D...

The second Hummingbird Hawk-moth of recent weeks in the garden galvanised me into action as I stared bleary-eyed through the kitchen window this morning. #TeamMoth

Queens Park, Blackburn: We’ve recently discovered a thriving colony of Small Red-eyed Damselflies here, so it was to my total dismay to find the Council have dredged the pond weed out of the main lake! 🤷‍♂️ #Lancs #Odonata #Dragonflies #Invertebrates

News of Common Scoter moving west over Winter Hill, 7mls south of where I live in Blackburn, had me rushing outside where I got lucky in the first 5mins with this flock of 38 west at 22:10. Even better, it was still light enough to see them with the naked eye. A vismig sight to behold! #LancsBirding

Heard/saw some westbound Common Scoter movement over Lancs airspace night of 17th/18th July: Flock heard only over Lytham Moss on the Fylde at c22:45, and this flock of 6 over my home in Blackburn at 01:15. #LancsBirding

7 Yellow-legged Gull have been recorded in the Blackburn/Darwen area in past couple of weeks, 5x3CY and 2 adults, the bird in the pic being one of the two adults at Fishmoor Res on 15th July. #LancsBirding

Perhaps my final post on the local Wood Warblers. The pair were very regularly bringing food to the nest on 10th July & it seems (🤞) the brood fledged sometime between 11th-13th. I did hear the male give 4x2 second bursts of song notes in the wider area when next visited on 14th July. #LancsBirding

A few local miscellaneous over past three days: 3 drake Common Scoter Fishmoor Res, 9th July and Osprey high SW down the Ribble at Preston, 7th July. Considered well overdue, Small Red-eyed Damselfly has at last been recorded at Brockholes, the 21st species of Odonata for the reserve. #LancsBirding

An educational moment on this mornings dawn mooch was the calls from a pair of Grasshopper Warbler. Quick bit of iPhone footage, then moved on. #LancsBirding

Absolutely thrilled to confirm, with zero disturbance, the Wood Warblers I’ve been periodically monitoring have young! 💥 #LancsBirding

A peak count of 75 Mediterranean Gull at Brockholes this morning, inc 4 juvs. A striking lack of colour ringed birds noted over past couple of weeks with only three bearing white darvics seen, two of these clinched being of Dutch origin. #LancsBirding

51 Med Gull at Brockholes this morning and a 3CY Yellow-legged Gull at Lower Eccleshill Ind Est, Darwen. A check for Yellow-legged Gulls at Queens Park, Blackburn drew a blank but did lead to the discovery of a healthy colony of Small Red-eyed Damselflies. #LancsBirding

The daily fest of my favourite Gull species continues at Brockholes with a new record count of 68 Mediterranean Gull yday inc the first juvs; 1 on 1st & 2 on 2nd July. True number of Meds involved over recent counts undoubtedly more given differing ratio of ages. #LancsBirding

Yesterday afternoon at RSPB Middleton Lakes saw 67 species recorded with highlights of obligatory Bittern (haven’t dipped in five visits), superb views of 2 juv Water Rail, 3 Black-tailed Godwit, 2+ Red Kite, Green Woodpecker and excellent views of Red-eyed Damselfies on the adj canal. #UKBirding

My first visit to Brockholes today since the record count of 23 last week and there was an amazing 67 Mediterranean Gull this afternoon!! 🤯 #LancsBirding

23 Mediterranean Gull at Brockholes this afternoon: 4x2CY, 4x3CY, 15Ad. A record count for the site 1998-2025. Previous highest count in period: 14 on 29th June 2022 with other double figure counts of 11 on 27th June 2022 and 12 on 20th March 2016. #LancsBirding

Thrilled this morning to confirm a second Wood Warbler alongside the singing male I have been periodically monitoring since 16th May. #LancsBirding

Multiple Bittern flights at RSPB Middleton Lakes a highlight from visits over the past couple of days. #UKBirding #MiddletonLakes

Have been loyal to Aigle Wellies for 11yrs, but pictured is a boot from my past two pairs and both have perished in the same area. First pair lasted 2 years, 2nd pair since March ‘24. Not good enough, so I’ve opted for my first pair of Muckboots. At £135 let’s see how long these last! #BirdingGear

Intended to visit RSPB Burton Mere whilst on the Wirral this morning, but as it was 3hrs until reserve opening time I took in the Daresbury Woodchat Shrike on way home, and what an obliging individual it was. No doubt a nice WTF moment for the finder on presumably a routine local walk. #UKBirding