A lovely sunny morning saw 14 of us leave for Silverdale. A brief stop at Kirby Lonsdale produced a good start to our birding day when the eagle eyes of Sue spotted a pair of treecreepers attending a nest. With such a good sighting under our belts we resumed our journey and arrived at our destination at midday. Julia then led us to The Lots where she welcomed our two new BEES, Angela and Lesley, before asking us to take care where we walked as the green-winged orchids were just emerging. Lunch having been taken, again in the beautiful sunshine, we set off in search and were very quickly rewarded with the sight of numerous newly emerging green-winged, as well as early purples. Much time was spent by some on hands and knees inspecting the finer points of these enchanting orchids whilst others searched the bushes for birdlife.
A group decision was then taken to move sites, Jack Scout being our favoured choice. A group of us walked on the lane to rendezvous with the minibus at a suitable parking spot near the Wolf Hall cafe (sadly closed). Following the lane we passed the farm and entered an extensive area of varied habitats. At this point we divided up and used our remaining time to explore. Over our two sites much birdsong was heard all around. A buzzard was seen being mobbed by a crow and a sparrowhawk unsuccessfully pursued a feral pigeon. Swallows were present and the sound of song thrushes, great tits and chiffchaffs were all around, the melodious blackcaps adding to this spring chorus. Sue spotted, and photographed, a linnet which brought our total count for the day to 25. The sighting of a marsh harrier later as we did a brief stop at Leighton Moss was a bonus.
The flowers were a joy to behold particularly the orchids, which I thought looked absolutely stunning even though they were only in their early stages of growth. Of note besides were field wood-rush, spring sedge, cuckoo flower, rue-leaved saxifrage and coralroot, which was found by Alice and Amanda. In all a total of 30 species were seen. Butterflies present were small tortoiseshell and a white butterfly (unidentified). Julia also noted a beefly at the Jack Scout site.
A thoroughly enjoyable day, ably led as ever by Julia. Thanks to both Kevin and Julia for getting us there and back safely.
See the photos here.
Sally Tetlow