June is normally a quiet month where I can get on with writing up the Lancashire Bird Report but with being away in America for two weeks and a very busy time at work moving all the IT to a new site things haven't been as quiet as would have liked.
The only birding I've done has been some Sand Martin ringing on the Lune last week and a couple of brief visits to the very quiet Rishton Reservoir. I've had the moth trap out a few nights too but missed the 'biggest' night of the year so far last Tuesday: I haven't had large numbers of any species but quite a variety in the small number of moths in the trap. So when I got the news of a Greenish Warbler singing in a copse on a golf course at Turton (in Blackburn with Darwen, just yards from the border with Greater Manchester) it was too good an opportunity to miss.
It took a while to find the golf course, let alone the bird but once there, a dash up the bridlepath and a yomp over the fairway had me within hearing distance of this lovely phyllosc. I was also fortunate in that I jammed in on it with my scope within the first few minutes - it had been rather elusive and continued to be as the passing squally showers whipped up the branches on the woodland edge. However the bird sang constantly and patience was rewarded with some smashing views. Chris Batty has let me use a couple of his video-grabs here.
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| Greenish Warbler, Turton June 13th |
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| Greenish Warbler, Turton June 13th |
This species is regular on the east coast in autumn but virtually unknown in the Northwest. This was the first one available to Lancashire birders and they continue to lap it up today. It's all down to the perceptiveness of the green-keeper who knows his birds (and knows when he doesn't know one).
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