Trip reports
ABBEYSTEAD ADVENTURE
Saturday, 28 June 2008
Meeting on the car par by the River Wyre, the party had views of Spotted Flycatcher and Grey Wagtail before moving off on a circuit of Abbeystead Lake. A narrow path - part of the Wyre Way - and jungle-like vegetation made birdwatching difficult but, with birds such as Blackcap, Willow Warbler and Goldcrest still singing and giving brief views, and feeding groups of Long-tailed Tits more obvious as they flitted through the branches, there was, at least, something to search for.
Most of the early part of the walk was spent trying to pin down the source of a raucous laugh emanating from trees in a nearby field. It was obviously a Green Woodpecker, not quite in full yaffling mode, but very vocal as it moved around. A high wall between us and the bird didn't help either but finally all but the most vertically challenged managed reasonable views!
Large family groups of Greylags floated down the river towards the lake alongside our group but, once we reached a spectacular viewpoint over the water, alongside a raging torrent of a weir, it became obvious that most waterfowl, apart from common species, were keeping low.
Crossing the river below the weir we then began the walk back to the village in more open surroundings and had good views of a Buzzard, scruffy in its summer moult, circling above us.
Taking lunch at the cars - where one lucky member glimpsed a Kingfisher flashing down the river - we then walked across the road to follow the Wyre upstream for half a mile in a complete change of habitat. Trees overhanging the river afforded excellent views of a Nuthatch feeding two juveniles, Spotted Flycatchers catching midges, and Grey Wagtail families everywhere, becoming the most familiar bird of the trip.
The climax to this interlude, though, was an unusually prolonged view of a Dipper, taking a rest from its search for food as it preened on the far bank.
A short drive east along the Trough road took us to a parking area near Marshaw farm and the chance to walk up a well-surfaced track into the heart of the Bowland grouse moors. Meadow Pipits and a large family of Stonechats seemed to be the only small birds around but at least one Buzzard, several Kestrels and an inquisitive Peregrine sustained our interest until the arrival of what, for most, was the highlight of the day.
A ring-tailed Hen Harrier, first seen a good mile away, flew slowly up the valley towards us, passing within a couple of hundred yards as it headed for the heights, and it was then seen intermittently hunting along the ridges to provide a dramatic ending to the day.
By Allan Rimmer
Library Photograph: Long-tailed tit