Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Taking Part In Birding

The preferred destination was an early look at Conder Green and Cockerham. As often happens there was a delay caused by roadside birds to view, today a Barn Owl. Luckily there was a handy gateway in which to park. 

It gets pretty busy with traffic along Lancaster Lane and once or twice my heart was in my mouth as the owl flew across the road in what appeared to the path of oncoming vehicles. 

Barn Owl

Barn Owl

Barn Owl

Needs must I suppose when the bird’s best and regular feeding spots are either side of the road. After twenty minutes or more I couldn’t bear watch the Barn Owl put itself in such danger so started up the engine and set off north. 

Conder Green is pretty quiet in now mid-June but I hoped for an early returning Common Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank or Greenshank, three species very much on the cards any day now. No such luck, however there was an obvious influx of common Redshanks by way of a count of 52, way above recent numbers and a whole gang of 30 or more very noisy individuals sticking close together. 

Redshank

The nesting Common Tern was taking a break from incubation and at one point took a quick flight around the pool before returning to sentry duty at the island nest. Oystercatchers don’t appear to have done as well as other years with as far as I could see just one well-grown chick amongst the still 3 or 4 pairs. 

Oystercatcher

Otherwise - 8 Tufted Duck but no sign of youngsters, 1 lonesome Wigeon, 2 Little Egret, 1 Grey Heron and 3 Curlew. 10 Swifts fed over the hawthorns with 3 Pied Wagtail in the creeks and 2 singing Reed Bunting. There are young Starlings around now but in any great numbers just yet. 

Starling

Andy and I have been following the fortunes of the Skylarks along Pilling way. Two nests we located failed in mid-May during a period of wet and windy weather by way of one saturated nest containing 3 dead and very wet chicks and in the other nest 3 cold eggs. Both pairs are still close to their original nest sites although today I could find only the one nest despite both pair of adults being very active. 

Skylark

Skylark nest

With good weather forecast for the next week the chicks will provide data for the BTO and others by way of a Nest Record Card and ringing information when they are slightly bigger. 

Nest Record Card

Nest Record Card

Through the efforts of volunteers participating in BTO surveys, the bird populations of the British Isles have been monitored more effectively and for longer than those of most other parts of the world. This has produced a uniquely rich and detailed body of scientific work. Read about some of this Citizen Science and how to get involved at The British Trust for Ornithology website.

Linking today to Anni's BirdingRun-a-Roundranch and Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.



33 comments:

Vandana Sharma said...

The Barn Owl seems fond of posing for the photographs!! and the little chick is so hungry for food,nice shots!!

eileeninmd said...

Hello Phil, I love your Barn owl shots. I hope the owl remained safe from the vehicles. The Redshank is a pretty bird and I love the Oystercatcher and chick! Great post, happy birding!

TexWisGirl said...

the barn owl is a perfect fence-shower-offer! :)

Jo said...

Beautiful shots of the Barn Owl, Phil. And the Redshank and Oystercatcher with the one young, are so special. Have a great day. Jo

Linda said...

The barn owl is a great model! Another lovely series, Phil, thank you so much for sharing.

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

yes my heart would have been in my mouth for that Barn Owls feeding habits Loved seeing the baby Oystercatcher as I have never seen onebut good shots of it. Great pose of the Starling. Good to see the Skylark's nest and shot of the parent.

Adam Jones said...

In a post with a Barn Owl in it's hard to better that bird, but I do really like the Skylark in it's nest. Not something you see every day. Great stuff Phil.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Oh I hope the barn owl is safe. Our" bald eagle was hit by a car and is still in rehab . Poor thing did not get to see his eaglet fledge. The other birds are lovely and you ( your whole country) really know how to do things right when it comes to birds. Probably other things as well, but I don't read those blogs ;)). Thanks for sharing the good work you do!

Silver Parrot said...

Love the shot of the owl in flight - I hope he's good at dodging and stays safe!

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

I love the barn owl shots and am always surprised when I see them on blogs because around here they are super shy and rarely seen. Super shots!

Gayle said...

The Barn Owl wins the prize for me. Such soothing coloring.

David M. Gascoigne, said...

I sure hope that Barn Owl stays safe and is able to deliver food to its young until they are ready to fledge and hunt for themselves. Carnage on the roads is awful to see, but it really doesn't seem to get much better does it?

Karen said...

Always such great birds to see here. That owl is spectacular!

Stewart M said...

Wonderful bird the Barn Owl - we used to have a pair that lived in the trees behind a house in Ulverston in Cumbria; but the ones in Australia are proving much harder to see!

Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne (for a couple of days!)

Mary Howell Cromer said...

It is really daunting when one must watch such behavior, which to the Barn Owl is now it's norm and us realizing it is in harm's way and it being pretty much oblivious to the dangers. I saw a Golden Eagle last September eating a dead animal in the middle of 4 lanes of traffic and the area was no wider than 8 to 10'. Diesel trucks were flying by. We ended up turning the car round by driving extra miles. I waited until there were no large vehicles coming and made my way toward the Eagle, so that it could fly upward and miss being hit. I then had a bag and removed the dead animal, to which I knew the Eagle would return to. I felt a wee bit better for that day. Beautiful images of all~

A Colorful World said...

Brave owl! How exciting to see him, but I really hope he stays out of harm's way. He's beautiful! So sad about the loss of some of the Skylark nests, but it was wonderful seeing the chicks in the one.

Janet Shaw said...

The barn owl looks so graceful in flight.

Isidro Ortiz said...

Buenas capturas Phil,.Un abrazo

Rose said...

Wonderful captures, specially of the barn owl. But the others are super, too.

Buttons Thoughts said...

Gorgeous bird shots I especially love the Owl in flight. Great fences too. B

Celestina Marie said...

Awesome shots. Love the barn owl. Great fence captures too.
Have a nice day. cm

21 Wits said...

Lovely captures. I'd really like to capture a photo of an owl from around here, someday. I hear them at night, but have yet to see one in the day time!

Rohrerbot said...

NICE NICE NICE! I love record keeping like this! It's so much fun to find out information. I'm still sitting on a Burrowing Owl tag. I sent it in to the right people but the right people have not done a follow up with me or are not around.....most of the banders I know get back to me within a week or so. Anyhow, Barn Owls scare the crap out of me. It's how they fly and where they fly. I get so stressed out watching them. They are not great at adapting to human presence. In fact, I was helping someone monitor one of the Barn Owls in our area to make sure it was not hit by a car. Hopefully they will have good news for me today. Beautiful shorebirds!

SeaThreePeeO said...

Fantastic. Fascinating post and such beautiful pictures.

Ida said...

Amazing shots of the Barn Owl. Loved the one where it's posed on the fence post. I noticed it's leg has been "banded" so I wonder if they keep track of this particular bird. - Some wonderful shots of all the birds. That baby bird was so cute.

Anonymous said...

Magnificent shots.

NatureFootstep said...

I love the Barn owl and teh Oystercatches with a young. Or rather, they are favorites :)

I wonder if you could visit my blog and help me with an ID? I would be very grateful. It
is a bird from Queensland. :
http://nfaubird.blogspot.se/2015/06/macleays-honeyeater-orplease-help-with.html

Thanks!

1990's Free Radio Listener said...

Sad to see a Barn Owl today in broad daylight - at 1115 - dodging traffic close to the notoriously busy Shard Road/Mains Lane junction. Hopefully it will live to fight another day.

Bob Bushell said...

Great images of the Barn Owl Phil.

Hannah said...

I would love to be able to photograph an owl in the daytime, such a pretty bird! Oystercatchers are a favorite of mine, so fun to see the chick. You are blessed to have a place to see so many birds. We went to the beach and there were hardly any birds at all, I don't know why,

Janice said...

All really delightful shots. The barn owl in flight is splendid.

NatureFootstep said...

Tahnkd Phil for helping out :) I had not seen that image. It seem to prove the ID :)

Anni said...

I have never EVER seen an oystercatcher chick...tho they're known to 'nest' on our beaches. Awesome Phil.

And the barn owls....my goodness, those are superior images...love the one in flight.

You did good this week! I'm in awe.

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