Another Bird Blog

Lazy Day

2012-01-29T08:48:00.000-08:00

More than a week on I think I’m still suffering from post-holiday blues and lazyitis. So when Will said he wasn’t available for ringing, coupled with an overnight layer of ice on the car, I had a lie in until I felt like doing a spot of garden ringing to get back in the swing of normality.

All ringers know that the quickest way to clear a garden chockfull of birds is to put up a mist net, and predictably my previously busy garden went suddenly quiet as the birds took off to neighbours’ peanut and seed hoppers, neatly avoided my freshly filled Niger bait. I caught the usual garden fare, Goldfinch, Blue, Coal and Great Tit plus Blackbirds and House Sparrows old and new, but it’s good to see Goldfinch numbers building up in January and with luck they will bring along a few Siskin and Redpoll soon.

Coal Tit
Goldfinch
House Sparrow

And to fill the page, some final bird pictures from Lanzarote. There are also a few non-bird pictures which may raise a smile or provoke a few comments, especially since previous ones proved popular with some blog readers. After this no more pictures from Lanzarote, promise.

Spanish Sparrow
Best Of Pals - Teguise
Street Food - Teguise
Mother-In-Laws Lanzarote Style
Yellow-legged Gull
Audience - Teguise
Collared Dove
Street Entertainer - Teguise
Southern Grey Shrike
Shopping Bag- Puerto Del Carmen
Common Sandpiper
Famara

From Grey To Blue

2012-01-27T07:30:00.002-08:00

Goodness knows I tried today. I set off at 11am and got to Backsands Lane at Pilling where I counted up the waders on the flood, 260 Dunlin, 65 Redshank, 28 Curlew and 33 Oystercatchers, before the rain and clouds arrived. In Lane Ends car park I grabbed a butty hoping that in the meantime the rain might stop but it didn’t, it just got worse and I was back home by 1pm.

So in place of the planned Pilling post, here’s an account of a sunny day in recent Lanzarote, an island which is pretty difficult to bird, where in January not much vegetation grows through the dry volcanic soil, with small birds proving difficult to find. At least it stays sunny, with blue skies throughout and not a drop of rain in our two week stay.

Walks from the hotel through residential streets and out towards distant volcanoes produced plenty of Southern Grey Shrikes. The shrikes seem almost a garden bird in the Puerto Calero area, a habitat they share with the ubiquitous Spanish Sparrows and Collared Doves, small numbers of Chiffchaffs, together with ones and twos of difficult to see but constantly “tacking” Blackcaps. One morning I found a flock of 50+ Lesser Short-toed Larks, but this seemed to be a one off, unlike my occasional sightings of Linnets, but these in threes and fours only. I thought it rather strange that our common Starling is rather uncommon in Lanzarote with my sightings confined to three or four groups of 10/12 birds in 2 weeks on the island.

Chiffchaff

Often the shrikes seemed to be in pairs with the males singing from prominent perches, often TV aerials, and in late January the birds could be at the start of their breeding season. The Southern Grey Shrike Lanius meridionalis keonigi I saw on Lanzarote is closely related to the European Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor, the species separated in 1997. A couple of the most noticeable features of the southern species seemed to be the darker grey colouring and larger head, with a few individuals I saw having a very narrow, often indiscernible white line above the black face mask, or a hint of a coloured flush among the breast feathers. With the shortage of small birds I imagine the shrikes feed mostly on small insects, a probability confirmed by the ones I saw spending considerable time either on lookout posts or searching the dusty ground below.

Southern Grey Shrike
Southern Grey Shrike

A sign on a well-worn track hinted I might find Houbara Bustard, but searching across the barren ground in several areas on a number of days produced none, just Berthelots’s Pipits and Linnets. A local tourist guide told me that the bustard is virtually extinct on the island, confined to a few places I never reached.

Bustards About?
Berthelot’s Pipit
Linnet

Coastal walks north and south from Costa Calero harbour could be more productive, with lots of gulls patrolling the shore, Sandwich Terns, more shrikes and pipits, and a chance of a wader or a passing Kestrel, the latter the only bird of prey I saw on the island. The Kestrels on Lanzarote, Falco tinnunculus dacotiae are noticeably paler than our UK nominate race, although I think migrant Kestrels occur here too.

Yellow-legged Gull
Kestrel

In the harbour one morning we chanced upon a Common Sandpiper which posed quite nicely for my camera. This was the morning we found other Lanzarote birds posing for a fashion photo-shoot, the assembled yachts providing a colourful backdrop.

Common Sandpiper
Lanzarote Posers
Lanzarote Posers
There, I just knew those sunny scenes would cheer everyone up.

Wary Times

2012-01-26T08:30:00.000-08:00

It looked as if the afternoon might be the better part of the breezy day, so I delayed my trip out to Rawcliffe Moss until lunchtime; mistake, within minutes of arriving the showers began and I spent the next couple of hours warily studying encroaching banks of cloud or dodging bouts of rain and hail. In between I managed to see a few bits and pieces, details to follow.

As I drove onto the farm where we ring I saw 2 Kestrels in the vicinity of a several holey trees, one of which Kestrels bred in last year. The winds of the winter have done their best to finish off already damaged trees and come springtime I imagine there will be lots of suitable sites for hole nesting species like Kestrels, owls and Stock Doves. Talking of Stock Doves I saw a flock of 21 here today, the largest number I have seen for a while, with a slightly larger number of 40+ Woodpigeon. Unlike Wood Pigeon, the Stock Dove is not classed as a quarry species, but I find the dove is as equally wary of man as the well shot at Woodpigeon. I had to hide away in an old shed and be very quiet and unobtrusive to get the photograph below where the doves cautiously approach food put out for free range hens.

Stock Dove

At and near the feeding station were 220+ Tree Sparrow, 45 Chaffinch, 8 Reed Bunting, 2 Yellowhammer, 3 Goldfinch, 15 Long-tailed Tit and 4 Blackbird, with an overflying gang of 30 Linnets.

A walk north led me to find 2 Mistle Thrush, by now a certain pair, and that winter rarity a single Fieldfare. Just 3 Skylark up here, with 4 Grey Partridge and a gang of 200+ Jackdaw and numerous crows feeding in the stubble. Jackdaws from regularly shot farms are as hard to photograph as Stock Doves.

Jackdaw

I walked through the deserted plantation, flushing a Roe Deer from the depths of last year’s growth and sussed out a couple of new net rides for the forthcoming spring ringing. Birds in here at the moment are few and far between, just crashing off Woodpigeons, a few Blackbirds, a couple of Wrens and early singing Dunnocks.

The walk back south to my car gave a single Buzzard and a third Kestrel, two pairs on the farm then - that’s good.

Kestrel
The forecast looks better for Saturday, maybe even a welcome spot of ringing.

Foxy Finish

2012-01-25T05:23:00.000-08:00

Tuesday’s constant rain wasn’t an incentive for doing much, despite my not getting out much since the holiday. This morning dawned better, so it was good to get back to the local patch today where in a couple of hours I saw more species than in two weeks on Lanzarote, where although my birding was part-time, finding birds in early January proved difficult.

Not so at Pilling today where my walk turned into a good birding session even though the grey skies kept my camera in the bag. Apologies then for archive photos to illustrate today’s sightings.

On my way to Lane Ends I drove along Fluke Hall Lane to the din of 400+ Jackdaws feeding in the wet stubble field. Stopping to look closer all I could find extra were c15 Redshanks and a single Bewick’s Swan, although as I watched, 4 honking Whooper Swans flew over to the marsh. At Damside instead of the usual Lapwings were 65+ Oystercatchers and a few Redshanks probing the soft soil of the soggy fields.

Oystercatcher

I hadn’t done Lane Ends for weeks but I began to see familiar birds. Six European White-fronted Geese were in the field opposite Lane Ends, and when I checked the quiet pool the wintering Kingfisher flew low across the water to a safe distance but where partly obscured by the trees I could just make out the orange breast. Around the plantation about 15 Chaffinch fed, with at least 2 Dunnock in full song.

Kingfisher

I didn’t find any Goldeneye today, just a single Tufted Duck amongst the Mallards. A look for wildfowl on the marsh revealed 4 Pale-bellied Brent Goose, 320 Shelduck, and with the tide only partly in, 60+ Teal, 4 Wigeon and 6 Pintail. A walk to Pilling Water turned up 4 Little Egrets, with the sole concession to passerines 3 Skylarks, but give them a week or two and they will be in full song. I can’t wait.

Skylark

Back at the car park I tried to count the distant Curlews and Lawings, a couple of hundred at least of each. It became more difficult when a pair of Red Fox appeared, when as one sat and watched, the other, which appeared to be the larger dog fox, circled the group of by now very alert waders. The fox splashed through the marsh as it unsuccessfully tried to approach the birds, before running off towards the sea wall. By now the second fox had also set off in pursuit of a meal, making a wide arc around the birds, before heading off towards the Cockerham end of the sea wall. Naturally, the foxes caused some panic among the waders but a number of them stayed put, perhaps far enough away from the foxes but from where they could remain watchful.

The foxy encounter was a great finish to a fine couple of hours and it’s good to be back birding on home soil. I’m ending with a picture of a species I saw today, but unfortunately not in such good light or so close, a Little Egret in the Lanzarote sun.

Little Egret

More From Lanzarote

2012-01-22T01:52:00.000-08:00

I’m still catching up with emails, family and friends; it is still too windy for any ringing or much sensible birding so here are more pictures and stories from the recent holiday to Lanzarote.

With an average of 17 days of rainfall a year Lanzarote is a dry island, where the desalination industry provide most of the island’s water, a situation which provides for very little standing water for freshwater waders. One of the few places to look for wading birds is the working salt pans, Salinas de Janubio on the south coast of the island. As a trade-off with Sue for visiting the shopping resort of Playa Blanca I spent half a breezy day wandering over the paths of the salinas where I notched up a couple of species for the trip. In the strong breeze lots of birds hid behind the low walls of the salt beds, with others staying on the less windy side of the inland lagoon.

I found some familiar species, Dunlin, Sanderling, Redshank, Grey Plover, Greenshank and Common Sandpiper, with less frequent UK visitors like Kentish Plover, together with the impossibly bright pink, long-legged Black-winged Stilts. Also here were single digit numbers of Swallow, House Martin and Common Swift, with a few Cattle Egrets nearby plus a single Little Egret.

Black-winged Stilt
Turnstone
Sanderling
Black-winged Stilt and Kentish Plover
Common Sandpiper
Salinas de Janubio

At the mirador café visitors can sit and gaze out over the salt pans as Berthelot’s Pipits wander through the car park.

View from The Mirador Cafe, Salinas de Janubio
Berthelot’s Pipit

Near Janubio is the green lagoon of El Golfo, where subterranean sea water seeps through the volcanic Lanzarote rock, the process turning the water bright green from the minerals the water meets. Lanzarote has anywhere between 100 and 300 extinct volcanoes, the number depending upon which tour guide you consult. I parked the Astra hire car under a volcanic precipice hoping a bit more of the jagged cliff edge might fall and finish off the old wreck.

Green Lagoon, El Golfo
Volcano’s Edge
Volcano’s Edge

El Golfo is a pretty sea-side resort where fish restaurants gut their fish on the beach whilst the gulls wait expectantly. Yellow-legged Gull was pretty much the only gull I saw in two weeks in Lanzarote, with just the occasional Great Black-backed Gull or Sandwich Terns fishing offshore.

Yellow-legged Gull
Yellow-legged Gull
Little House - El Golfo
El Golfo

Back at the hotel was a quiet bar for a glass or two of Lanzarote wine after a thirsty day’s birding, or shopping.

Hotel Costa Calero
Stay tuned folks for more from Lanzarote or local birding soon.

Back to Blog

2012-01-20T02:13:00.000-08:00

“Welcome back to Manchester.” said the pilot’s voice as the 'plane taxied across the airport tarmac. “Please remain in your seats until the aircraft has stopped and the seat belt light is switched off.” the voice intoned. “The temperature outside is seven degrees, and it’s raining.” he advised, with just a hint of mischief and to the collective groans of 340 passengers. Effective come-uppance then for our daring to leave the January cold and spend two weeks in the 22 degrees sunshine of Lanzarote. I dozed in the back of the taxi to the swish of windscreen wipers, the blur of the rain spattered traffic of the M61, M62, M55 and then finally the calmer roads of the Fylde, until we unloaded the suitcases and back to reality.

After breakfast I’d taken a final stroll around the streets of Puerto Calero to the calls of Collared Doves, chattering Spanish Sparrows and the unmusical songs of Southern Grey Shrikes, making full use of the street lamps to proclaim their territories.

Southern Grey Shrike
Collared Dove
Spanish Sparrow
Lanzarote cactus
Lanzarote flowers

So home again, back to blogging and a quick post. I’ll catch up with friends and followers soon with more pictures and words from Lanzarote and try to get back into the real winter birding.

Getting Better

2012-01-02T11:26:00.000-08:00

It was only this morning that my new shiny notebook received the first entry for 2012, so that means I’ve already lost one day’s birding – must do better. The weather hasn’t improved though, with strong winds and rain forecast for several more days which looks like limiting my activity to birding only, consigning the pliers to recent history.

Today’s visit to Rawcliffe Moss was enhanced by a flock of Fieldfares, the first ones I have seen in any numbers since November. The summer and autumn of 2011 produced a poor harvest of hawthorn berries, leaving none on the winter hedgerows for thrushes, Blackbirds or marauding Fieldfares from elsewhere, turning up for the feast that never was. Although we associate flocks of Fieldfares with stripping our hedgerows of autumn berries they have a very catholic taste in food, taking a wide range of invertebrates as well as flying insects and they switch easily between feeding on berries, fallen fruit or like today, probing the sodden fields on the lookout for earthworms and beetles. At this time of year Fieldfares also associate with Starlings, a species which is just as adept at probing wet fields. For the record the mixed flock I found contained 60 Fieldfare, 200+ Starling and just 3 Redwing, the latter as scarce as Fieldfares since the autumn.

Fieldfare
Fieldfare

Despite the showers and blustery wind my walk north, west and south turned up good numbers of passerines, with 130+ Tree Sparrow, 30 Reed Bunting, 4 Yellowhammer, 120 Chaffinch, 40 Skylark, 2 Meadow Pipit, 1 Song Thrush, 5 Yellowhammer and 15 Corn Bunting. More distant and over towards Pilling I reckoned on over 1500 Lapwing, 400 Woodpigeon and hundreds more Starlings in almost constant flight back and forth over the moss.

Yellowhammer

But brief sunny intervals helped me find 2 Kestrel, 2 Buzzard and 2 Grey Partridge, and then on the way home I finished off with a pm Barn Owl perched alongside Union Lane.

Barn Owl

The day seemed longer, with a little light remaining at 1630. Now that’s what I call progress.

Where Did A Year Go?

2011-12-31T04:46:00.000-08:00

It’s time for recalling the past year’s highlights of birding, ringing and photography. Now is the moment when we choose to forget the low points, the empty pages in a sodden notebook, netting a handful of birds on a seemingly perfect spring morning, or discovering that you set the aperture wrong after all. So here we go in rough chronological order with a selection of photos and personal highlights of 2011.

In the early part of the year we holidayed in Egypt at a time when the country was undergoing a revolution, but the confiding birds hadn’t joined in the turmoil and just behaved naturally for a visiting Brit. Egypt proved to be a wonderful place for bird photography and so difficult to select just a few pictures, apart from the Kingfisher which is just about my favourite photo of the year, taken with a decent choice of aperture for once.

Kingfisher - Egypt
Cattle Egret - Egypt

I’d left Will counting Siskins building up by the hundreds in his garden, together with a dozen or two Brambling and Lesser Redpoll. Within days of returning from Egypt I joined him for some memorable ringing sessions and notable breakfasts.

Brambling - Garstang
Lesser Redpoll - Garstang
Siskin - Garstang
Bacon Butty

Spring and autumn were great for catching and photographing Wheatears at Pilling. With the help of sacrificial meal worms I caught fourteen “Wheats” and clicked the shutter button a couple of hundred times on the beautiful chat, passing Meadow Pipits or the occasional Linnet.

Wheatear - Pilling
Meadow Pipit - Pilling
Linnet - Pilling

The annual ritual came along, May in Menorca, the island where birds are hard to find but fortunately more numerous than birders. This year a ringed Audouin’s Gull at the poolside gave me an excuse to find that extreme rarity, a Menorcan ringer.

Audouin’s Gull - Menorca
Audouin’s Gull - Menorca

Summer was warm and wonderful, ringing Swallow chicks, finding Skylark nests and stumbling upon young Lapwings or breeding Redshank.

Skylark - Pilling
Swallow - Pilling
Redshank - Pilling
Lapwing - Pilling

Then at the end of summer came a chance to take photographs of a species rapidly becoming a rarity, the unfortunately named “Common” Cuckoo.

Cuckoo - Nateby

Autumn and early winter was given over to ringing pipits, buntings, finches and thrushes “on the moss”, the satisfaction of working a regular patch with a job well done.

Reed Bunting – Out Rawcliffe
Tree Pipit - Out Rawcliffe
Yellowhammer - Out Rawcliffe

Many Thanks to Another Bird Blog followers and visitors for looking in throughout 2011 - here’s wishing you a Happy and Bird-Filled New Year.

Soggy Session

2011-12-30T06:23:00.000-08:00

At last, a long-awaited ringing session when the BBC promised a drop in wind speed with a tiny window of dry weather, the first time Will and I had managed to get to Lee Farm since 20 November, when we caught 49 birds. In the meantime Will kept up the food drops for the local Tree Sparrows and for the Chaffinches which roost half a mile away.

The morning wasn’t nearly as good as promised, with heavy cloud from the off and little bouts of drizzle which turned to rain and then aborted the session at 10am. We caught just 14 birds, 11 new and 3 recaptures from 20 November. New birds: 8 Chaffinch, 2 Tree Sparrow and 1 Great Tit. Recaptures: 2 Chaffinch and a Blue Tit.

Tree Sparrow
Chaffinch

After the rain of recent weeks the track proved heavy going, even in wellies.

Wellies Recommended

On the way home I found 2 Buzzards sitting in the rain atop telegraph poles, so fired off a few shots - at ISO1600 again. One of the Buzzards had a comment about the less than ideal morning.

Buzzard
Buzzard

Sue tells me our friendly neighbourhood Sparrowhawk was back in the garden this morning, no wonder there are no small birds about.

Sparrowhawk

Saved By A Sparrowhawk

2011-12-29T07:40:00.000-08:00

No birding or ringing for me in the continuing bad weather but the local Sparrowhawk returned to the garden today. It must have caught prey in a neighbour’s garden and then still holding the meal, flown down onto our winter lawn to finish off the job. The prey wasn’t visible in the leaf strewn long grass but the hawk stood holding its lunch for a good five minutes, time enough for me to open the kitchen window and take a few pictures. Unfortunately the hawk was in the gloomiest corner of the garden, and the day so very dark that most shots are on ISO1600, the best available.

Sparrowhawk – adult male
Sparrowhawk – adult male
Sparrowhawk – adult male
I think the hawk was waiting for its prey to fully expire, and after a while it took off, carrying the victim, a by now lifeless Starling.

I last saw this carroty eyed adult male Sparrowhawk on 23rd and 24th November when it allowed me to walk down the garden towards it, most unlike a normally shy Sparrowhawk. At the time I assumed it wasn’t too well, especially with its plumage all fluffed up and the way it sat with one leg raised. I guess it must have been OK though and perhaps just having a bad day or a senior moment.

Sparrowhawk – adult male

The Sparrowhawk saved a potentially blog free day and if the wind ever drops I’ll get a net up and with luck catch the hawk as well as a few other birds.

Sparrowhawk – juvenile male
Sparrowhawk – juvenile male

Famous Footsteps

2011-12-28T07:28:00.000-08:00

I’m still busy with family things this week and birding naturally takes second place, but on a rough old morning Sue and I took some fresh air up at Knott End, with a walk along the Esplanade and up river.

There was no sign of the recent Black Redstart, however in its place at the slipway and near the Bourne Arms I found 6 Twite, 1 Rock Pipit and 1 Pied Wagtail. Shore birds: 220 Dunlin, 11 Turnstone, 20 Redshank and 1 Little Egret. Lots of Eider duck in the estuary, 41 in all, plus 3 Red-breasted Merganser braving the swell.

Eider
Pied Wagtail

Not everyone who reads the blog may know the following piece of trivia. The artist L S Lowry often visited Knott End and probably stayed in one of the boarding houses on the Esplanade, houses now turned into flats or private dwellings. There are paintings in existence which show that his favourite location for painting was a spot near the top of the ferry slipway, just where the Black Redstart hung about. It was from this spot Lowry produced typical scenes of crowds of matchstick people hurrying along the jetty to and from the ferry boat.

No more than a few of these paintings have ever been found but there must be more. If anyone has one of these canvases tucked away in the attic I am happy to swop it for a bird photograph of mine.

No crowds of matchstick people today, it was almost too windy to stand up.

Not “A Lowry”

Across The Moss

2011-12-26T08:15:00.000-08:00

I set out for Rawcliffe Moss this morning, hoping it would be less windy than the Pilling coast, but as I arrived at the farm the wind whipped over the open fields, holding out little prospect of a productive birding walk. From the comparative shelter of the barn I surveyed west and then east where in the distance flooded fields held many Lapwings, Black-headed Gulls and a few Common Gull interlopers.

I think it was the passing Kestrel that disturbed both Skylarks and Corn Buntings from the nearby stubble, as parties of each of the similar sized birds flew over, 11 and 30 respectively; fortunately the species have different calls as well as different jizz, and Corn Buntings seem to make bigger flocks into the new year when food becomes tougher to find.

Corn Bunting

I turned into the farm track from where in the distance I could see Pheasants, 3 or 4 Blackbirds and 100 or more Tree Sparrows dropping in turn to their breakfast on the ground. Then almost within seconds it appeared that some wary sparrows chickened out of this apparently dangerous manoeuvre, and as if tied by a piece of elastic they sprung back to the safety of the dense hedgerow, there to await their next dash for a piece of the action. I must admit that a couple of times of late I have seen the Hen Harrier also take an interest in this corner of the farm, so the sparrows are wise to feed with caution. As I watched the sparrows I counted 3 Yellowhammer, 3 Reed Buntings, 2 Blue Tit, 3 Great Tit and a Great-spotted Woodpecker heading towards the feed.

The wind was pretty strong, so like the Sparrows I chickened out, turned the car round and headed off the farm for a run across Pilling Moss to Lane Ends, where although it would be equally windy, there would be guaranteed birds.

From the road near Lousanna Farm I could see Rawcliffe Moss, the fields where in recent days I’d watched the wintering Hen Harrier quarter the fields as it drifted or deliberately headed west in pursuit of a meal. Right on the cue today the harrier appeared here at Lousanna Farm just a harrier's flap-glide from its other favoured feeding spot. Continuing over the moss I noted 2 more roadside Kestrels before I hit Pilling.

Hen Harrier

A blog reader asked me “where is Pilling Moss?”, a question which stumped me a little because although I know exactly where the moss is, I’m not sure I could draw the vague-in-my-head boundaries on a map. Those frontier limits are very imprecise and bound up in the ancient history of other Fylde mosslands, some of which abut Pilling Moss – e.g. Stalmine Moss, Winmarleigh Moss and Rawcliffe Moss.

The “Moss” of Pilling refers to the area of peat land more or less south of the village of Pilling, an ancient settlement, founded at the hamlet of Eagland Hill on what was essentially an "island" with the sea on one side and marsh on the others. From artefact finds, there is evidence of spasmodic human activity here dating back to the Neolithic period.

“Pilling Moss - a strange dark tract of land with a history full of curiosity and interest, situated on the western side of Lancashire, between the Wyre and the estuary of Cockerham.

It was in the year 1813 or 1814 that James Jenkinson and Joseph Isles, who were natives of nearby Churchtown and Nateby, selected sites for cottages and farm buildings at Eagland Hill, a portion of the (Pilling) Moss. Eagland Hill was a natural mound of sand, slightly elevated, but surrounded on each side by bog and deep, broad tarns. There was at that time no approach to Eagland Hill by any road, save and except such as a vigorous sportsman in quest for game might risk with fear of occasionally sinking to his armpits in a swampy bog.

Many people have an idea that Pilling is a barren, swampy, dim and unfruitful part of the country, worth nothing, full of the hardest headed of clod hoppers, and given up to seagulls, curlews and uncivilised turf getters. But they are mistaken. In the centre, nay all round that monotonously level region, with its long lines of white smoke, burning from heaps of peat refuse, there are busy souls contending successfully against the rude natural obstacles of a long neglected locality, and turning the peat swamp and the wild bog into a fruitful garden. Enterprising landlords and industrious farmers have transmuted the incoherent waste, the almost chaotic imbroglio of old Pilling into a charming agricultural arena, sending its produce into the busiest markets and towns of Lancashire, and competing with goods of more favoured places.

To be sure, there are still in the district uncouth and unproductive tracts of ground - patches here and there of boggy, rush-grown and heather covered land; but viewed generally, industry, with its potent alchemy, has changed the scene into one of fertility and use. Meadow, pasture and arable land are visible in all directions; smiling farm houses and homesteads are dotted over its surface; a new railway will soon bring them into sharp communication with more distant localities; in the very centre of the moss the plough is busy doing its work, slowly, but well, and creating a new life in quarters which Fate seemed to have reserved for sterility and unending waste”.

After two hundred years of agricultural and drainage activity the moss is hugely changed, the railway been and gone, but the peaty black soil is much in evidence when driving over the moss along the modern Lancaster Road running from Little Eccleston to the hamlet of Scronkey then on to coastal Pilling. Essentially then, Pilling Moss lies east and west of Lancaster Road, it’s still a reasonable birding spot despite the change to winter crops, with often more than Curlews and gulls. History lesson over.

Pilling Moss

I didn’t see a lot at Lane Ends, instead got button-holed by an old shooting sort who complained in turn and with equal ferocity about the RSPB and younger shooters, but he certainly knew his stuff about geese. I nodded in agreement then headed up to Pilling Water where my sometimes distant counts arrived at 1000 Shelduck, 1200 Pink-footed Geese, 41 Whooper Swan, 800 Teal, 240 Wigeon 55 Pintail, 8 Skylark , 5 Little Egret, 1 Merlin and 600 Woodpigeon.

Teal

Readers may have noted how today's birding was a little quiet; I hope the blog post proved a little more entertaining and instructive.

Going South

2011-12-25T02:07:00.001-08:00

Worry not blog followers, Another Bird Blog is alive and well but taking a winter migratory break in a warm, sunny location. Sue and I decided to grab a few weeks in Lanzarote, an island situated just 79 miles off the coast of Africa and the most easterly of the Canary Islands. The island is 37 miles (60km) long and 12 miles (20 km) wide, making it the fourth largest island in the Canaries.

Lanzarote to Home

The island enjoys a mild dry climate (hooray!) with average daytime temperatures ranging in January from about 21°C to 29°C - its 22°C today. With the coastline of Morocco only 100 kilometres to the east, Lanzarote is a regular port of call for many birds migrating to breeding grounds in the north, or returning to their southern winter locations in Africa. Waders and small passerines use the wetlands of the Al Janubio salt pans or the abandoned salt works beneath the high cliffs of Famara to rest and feed on their long journeys.

On Lanzarote the Houbara Bustard nests regularly in the sandy scrubland of the Monumento Natural de Los Ajaches– the oldest volcanic formation of the Canary Islands. An estimated three or four pairs of Barbary Falcons are resident in the Timanfaya National Park, breeding in the craters of the Montañas del Fuego and preying on rabbits, partridge and other small birds and animals which live in the harsh terrain of the volcanic lava flows.

Birds are not in abundance in Lanzarote and I am working hard to see a few, but it’s great to be out in the sun and hear of the rain and cold at home. There are a few Hoopoes about and hopefully I will have a few more bird pictures to post on return to the UK. Southern Grey Shrikes are common here, with 3 just near the hotel yesterday. I was on the sunbed Sunday and a Berthelot’s Pipit came trotting by, today's highlight proved to be a flock of 50 Lesser Short-toed Larks.

Maybe I’ll catch up with Houbara Bustard soon.

Hoopoe

The C Word

2011-12-24T08:50:00.001-08:00

Rain and then shopping for a turkey stopped birding play again this morning, but the sky brightened enough towards lunchtime to allow me a few hours at Pilling.

Just out of the village at Scronkey I came across a Kestrel perched on a telegraph pole, a regular enough spot, but the bird isn’t always so obliging as to stay while I mess with the camera. Pity about the grey light, plus the shot is overexposed 3 stops.

Kestrel

After the early showers Lane Ends was free from people and cars so I carefully made my way to the pool where the Kingfisher and I spotted each other at the same time. Just as a couple of days ago the bird flew to the other side of the pool, but this time sat partly hidden on the branch of a tree where I could just see it, but the next person circuiting the pool would not. I checked today’s single Goldeneye and left the Kingfisher to its fishing. The poor thing has picked one of the busiest dog walking spots for miles around, I can only think that the food rewards must be good for the bird as compensation for finding itself constantly chased back and forth across the pool by passers-by. Here’s that Egyptian Kingfisher again, doing what Kingfishers are meant to do, sit on the edge of a boat and watch the fishy world go by.

Kingfisher

At Pilling Water I was too late for the tide but numbers of Shelduck still loafed on the tidal edge with upwards of 1200 entered in the notebook today and well scattered Pink-footed Goose coming in at roughly 1200, Little Egret at 5.

My walk almost clashed with the Hi-Fly quad team again, allowing about 15 minutes for two counts of the Whooper Swans before the quad turned onto the track, panicking the swans into flight to the salt marsh. I couldn’t repeat my count of 600 of the 21st December however both of today’s tallies came in at 450 birds. Within half an hour the swans began to head back in small parties to Swan Lake, and whether they feed all through the dark hours I don’t know.

Whooper Swan
Whooper Swan

Yes, I know it’s C word time, and here’s my unoriginal contribution towards it, a Robin. Roll on next week and some ringing.

Happy Christmas

I’m Counting On It

2011-12-22T08:48:00.000-08:00

It was still breezy this morning but bright with it, perhaps the nicest morning we’ve had for some weeks; let’s hope it’s an omen for the New Year. I decided a tramp across Rawcliffe Moss would be both beneficial to me and productive for finding birds, an idea which proved to be fairly accurate although I didn’t need the calculator of Wednesday’s swan day, just the fingers of one hand this morning. My thanks go to Grace in Maine for that last piece of advice; over in Maine the folks are whizz at counting the depth of the snow in metres, and often need to use all ten fingers.

The first bird/birds of the day can be a pointer to what’s to come later: migrants overhead, thrushes in a dawn hedgerow, a hunting Barn Owl or a dawn chorus. Today it was a Buzzard, or rather a Buzzard and several Blackbirds in my field of view at once, the Buzzard perched motionless in a tree but watching the antics of the thrushes fighting over the few remaining berries along the hedgerow below. It was too early for the Buzzard to fly, and often they just sit and wait, so inconspicuous are they, despite their size.

Blackbird

Next in my notebook came Hen Harrier again, the now regular “ringtail” floating across the road ahead of me as it hurried across to Pilling Moss, its main hang out of the past month or so. Later I was to see the harrier make the return journey, helped this time by a convoy of corvids that chased it mercilessly until it was off their feeding stubble.

By now I was at the Tree Sparrow track, where I headed east along the hedge to see how many flushed off the seed. 180 was the answer, eight or nine flights of twenty heading for the safety of the next hedgerow and away from bird ringers. A number of Chaffinch were amongst the sparrows, as well as a few Yellowhammers, but on a return viewing an hour or more later the Chaffinch count increased to 30+, Yellowhammers to 16, and Reed Buntings to 10.

Yellowhammer
Chaffinch

Next came the big field and then a slog north over wet stubble where I came across a Merlin, a Kestrel, 8 Corn Bunting, another dozen or so Reed Buntings, 5 Linnet, 7 Grey Partridge, 15 Skylark and 7 Roe Deer. Although the birds scatter along the hedgerow, the deer never ever stay around, but just run and run to the safety of a distant wood.

Merlin

As the light burst through the sky and the sun hit the abandoned maize, I took a black and white photo that turned out ok, and then a colour one that isn’t nearly so intense.

Rawcliffe Moss
Rawcliffe Moss

A walk through and around the winter plantation yielded 6 Reed Bunting, 3 Blackbird, a Robin, a Sparrowhawk, and in distant trees 500+ Wood Pigeon. Hey Grace, I almost needed an abacus for those last ones.

Wall To Wall Whoopers

2011-12-21T09:57:00.000-08:00

I grabbed a couple of hours birding at Pilling today, between lunchtime and with winter solstice imminent, the rapidly failing light of 3pm. So, longer days soon which can't arrive quickly enough for me.

At an unusually peaceful Lane Ends I got on to the winter Kingfisher sat in the waterside trees, but it quickly saw me and flew low to the opposite side of the pool where there are spots to sit and watch the water. A UK Kingfisher is one of the shiest birds imaginable, almost impossible to approach, with the slightest human movement enough to send them darting low over the water to a safer distance away and preferably out of sight. In Egypt I couldn’t believe how confiding the local Kingfishers were in comparison to our UK birds.

Kingfisher

Not a lot on the pools save for a pair of Goldeneye and the usual Mallards, but no Tufted Duck today.

Goldeneye

Scattered on the marsh between Lane Ends and Pilling Water I estimated 4000 Pink-footed Geese, and 900+ Shelduck, the main concentrations of both being on the tideline out from Broadfleet. Raptors along here were 1 Merlin, 1 Kestrel and 1 Peregrine, but very few passerines, 1 Pied Wagtail and 3 Skylark, but 4 Little Egret.

I got near Swan Lake just before the Hi-Fly guys on the quad arrived for an afternoon shift, emptying bags of wheat onto the flooded stubble. I had a phenomenal count of Whooper Swans at circa 600, just managing the rough count before the guys turned into the track and flushed the birds out to the marsh. I guess the swans will be back tonight and tomorrow for the free nosh. When the guys got to their pools just 110 Teal and a single Snipe came off.

Whooper Swan

It was a quiet couple hours, but nice to be out for a change.

Woody Morning

2011-12-18T09:13:00.000-08:00

The icy morning both began and then ended with a Sparrowhawk, but not the same one. The first, a female, flew across the road in front of the car just yards from home as I made for a few hours birding at Out Rawcliffe. On the way home through Hambleton village about 11am it was a male that sailed across my path via a garden wall to the right.

Sparrowhawk

Between those sightings proved fairly quiet, with one or two specialities plus a spectacular count of woodies to spice up the morning.

The noise from the Tree Sparrows indicated the numbers to be good, over 200 in fact and hard to pick out the Chaffinch when all the birds fly off to the far hedgerow together, but up to 20 finches. A walk up to the top field gave 20+ Reed Bunting, 8 Yellowhammer, 4 Corn Bunting, 2 Song Thrush, 6 Blackbird, 40+ Skylark, a Kestrel and a single Roe Deer.

Roe Deer
Yellowhammer

When I got to where the deer previously stood, the animal had vanished into the far distance, nowhere to be seen; such shy but knowing animals. As I looked north along the hedgerow I saw another crafty but less popular animal than a deer, this one a large dog Red Fox. It had clearly seen me because it sloped off down into the tree roots and the rabbit burrows in the soft, black, mossy soil. Last year we heard the dog barking from this likely spot for a den, where a pair will probably make home and then mate in January/February.

Red Fox - Vulpes vulpes
I hung around for a while but the fox didn’t reappear, not that I expected it to, but it gave me chance to scan the landscape where to the north and west I saw over 700 Woodpigeons in one large flock. There’s not been many around on the moss of late but almost certainly the cold and snow of recent days brought many more of them from elsewhere.

Over the woods today just 2 Buzzards in the cool of the morning and before the sun reached any height to produce decent thermals. A walk through woodland and back to the car produced the expected post-frost Woodcock, another Song Thrush and several Chaffinch.

From the track off the moss the Little Owl has been hard to find of late, but a frosty morning is often the best time to look for them, just as today when one sat partly hidden by the ivy, out in the warming sun but not so conspicuous as to be obvious to any passing prey or careless birder.

Little Owl

Common Or Garden

2011-12-16T07:31:00.000-08:00

The first snow fell today, so heavy at times that the large flakes settled, but by mid-afternoon it had more or less thawed when the clouds headed in a south-easterly direction.

It took an hour or more for the Blackbirds to pile into the garden, 16 at one time attracted in by the windfall apples deliberately left for such an occasion. Last week there was a single Fieldfare amongst them but not today. I hadn’t seen a Fieldfare for weeks and I don’t know anyone who has, even though their European population is reckoned to be close on 50 million with many supposedly wintering in more temperate Britain. They may be in other parts of the UK but they are pretty much absent from these parts for now.

So for an hour or two I made do with taking photographs of common garden birds in the less than ideal and grey, snowy light.

Chaffinch
Chaffinch
House Sparrow
Robin
Goldfinch
Blackbird

Blackbird

Chaffinch

Rapturous

2011-12-15T11:03:00.000-08:00

It was a half decent day at last, even a touch of sun and less wind, with the result that all the raptors came out to play on Rawcliffe Moss. I’d gone for a wander about and bumped into Seumus dropping seed for the sparrows, and then afterwards found myself watching mainly birds of prey. For the record and in rough order of appearance the raptor count stood at 1 Hen Harrier, 1 Merlin, 1 Short-eared Owl, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel and 1 Peregrine, with a total of 8 Buzzards appearing as four pairs over four separate woods.

The harrier looks like it was flying into the trees but it wasn’t, it just flew quite close at one point then kept a safe distance without giving any more photo opportunities.

Hen Harrier
Buzzard

Both the Peregrine and Merlin were a distance away, at one point the Peregrine stooping without success at a flock of Jackdaws. The “shorty” put in a brief appearance before it too disappeared into a ditch that looked suitable for a daytime roost. Plodding around the moss produced a good selection of other birds, especially the bunting family, with 24 Corn Bunting, 25+ Yellowhammer and 30 Reed Bunting.

Corn Bunting

Other birds seen: 14 Grey Partridge, 1 Goldfinch, 2 Greenfinch, 30 Chaffinch, 200+ Tree Sparrow, 40+ Skylark, 4000 Starling, 300+ Lapwing, 4 Snipe, 2 Song Thrush, 8 Blackbird

Greenfinch

A few readers commented about my new header, but I'm not happy as the picture should fill across the page, not stop half way. Seems there's a problem with Blogger (again).

Chaffinch and Reed Warbler controls

2011-12-14T06:13:00.000-08:00

After ringing almost 400 Chaffinches at Out Rawcliffe this autumn Will and I might have expected some return from our efforts. However today we received a couple of interesting Chaffinch controls from the BTO, both of them birds ringed not at Out Rawcliffe, but in Will’s Garstang garden. By definition the phrase “garden ringing” may conjure up thoughts of catching species that don’t move far or migrate at all, but Will’s garden at the foot of the Pennines in a well wooded location is well placed to catch migrant birds.

In Will’s garden during 2101 we ringed 183 Chaffinch, with another 133 so far in 2011, years to which the two recoveries below relate. The first Chaffinch L300882, a first year female was caught and ringed on 30 December 2010 and then recaptured the following autumn on 11 October 2011 at Calf of Man Bird Observatory.

The second Chaffinch, Y279256 another first year female was ringed on 4 September 2011 and then recaptured just 49 days later, again on Calf of Man.

Y279256 shows a classic on-going westerly autumn movement to Ireland of a juvenile female Chaffinch. L300882 is slightly more complicated by the recapture in a subsequent year, but it is highly likely the bird made the journey to ireland in both years, the Isle of Man a convenient stopover.

Will’s garden to Calf of Man
Female Chaffinch

In addition to the Chaffinches we received a recovery from Rawcliffe Moss, that of a Reed Warbler, a scarce enough species out on the moss where records always relate to juvenile dispersal or migration. In this case, L141538 a juvenile we ringed on 28 July 2010 was recaptured as a breeding male on 3 July 2011 at Mere Sands Wood, Lancashire a distance of just 26 kms and 340 days from Rawcliffe Moss.

Reed Warbler

We still wait for details of a Chaffinch caught at Out Rawcliife on 18 August 2011, R988282 anyone?

For more information on autumn Chaffinches, see this post http://anotherbirdblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/those-chaffinch.html

Windy But Birding

2011-12-13T07:23:00.000-08:00

Mindful of the BBC’s bad weather warnings for the next five days, I decided to brave the elements again for a spot of birding, but with rain and strong winds again, the watching would be mostly from the car.

I hadn’t been to Conder and Glasson for a while so gave those spots a try first. The wind howled across Conder Pool, the lake turned into a swelling sea where 20 Mallards sheltered on the island and 3 Little Grebe braved the rollers. Maybe the lunchtime tide was already moving in to fill the creek where the only birds I found were 4 more Little Grebe, 45 Teal, 1 Curlew and 1 Spotted Redshank, both the Teal and grebes tucked into the lee of the deep creek.

It was similar at Glasson Dock with 55 Tufted Duck and 30+ Coot congregating at the sheltered far side of the marina, 2 Goldeneye and the Black-headed Gulls dodging the breakers in the centre of the swell.

Spotted Redshank
Tufted Duck

Trying desperately to think of somewhere that might be at least partially sheltered I drove up to Thurnham where I was able to take a walk through the wood below the churchyard. It proved quite fruitful, if still a little breezy and also wet underfoot, but I found 2 Treecreeper, 2 Woodcock and 1 Tawny Owl. The owl sat in the middle of a dense holly tree, and as they do, both Woodcock flushed from close by before I could spot either. In the last two winters we caught one or two Woodcock, but none this year so far, and if the winds don’t drop there will be no birds of any species caught, never mind the buzz of finding a Woodcock in the net.

Woodcock
Woodcock

The tide was in at Lane Ends where I logged a few bits and pieces of 3 Little Egret, 55 Pintail, 80 Wigeon, 2000+ Lapwing, 155 Curlew, 340 Shelduck, 150 Starling, 3 Skylark, and 1 Merlin battling west into the headwind.

Pintail
I watched a Great Black-backed Gull check out a Little Egret which struggled against the wind, the gull waiting for a chance to pounce. Just a few weeks ago it was here that I watched a black-back kill and eat a Wigeon. It's a poor rushed shot I took, but the gull clearly shows evil intent.

Little Egret and Great Black-backed Gull

A quick check near Fluke Hall produced a good count of 93 Whooper Swan and 1500 Pink-footed Goose still on the potato field.

Whooper Swan

Grey, Black, Red

2011-12-10T05:25:00.000-08:00

The wind and rain relented just enough for a blast around the local patch this morning, although it was a far from ideal dull, grey and breezy day, with no chance of a ringing session.

A check at Lane Ends found 13 White-fronted Geese on the field opposite the entrance, and then from above, 3 Little Egret, 3 Tufted Duck and singles of Goldeneye and Teal.

White-fronted Goose

Fluke Hall Lane proved more a little more fruitful with 8 Reed Bunting and 15 Tree Sparrow feeding at the entrance to HiFly’s track, and 200+ Jackdaw, 250+ Woodpigeon and 16 Whooper Swan on the wet stubble.

Reed Bunting

Lots of Pink-footed Geese, grey against grey of the muddy potato field, more than 1500 and many hidden from view, but when horseback riders came by the whole of the flock erupted off the field, many going further inland. In the left foreground of the picture is the orange legged bird, but otherwise I saw nothing unusual. Also in the same field were 40 Lapwing, 6 Redshank, 2 Curlew and 11 Greenfinch.

Pink-footed Goose
Pink-footed Goose

With the tide due at 11am I checked out Knott End where I caught up with the elusive Black Redstart, still ducking in and out of the metal girders and the rocks on the shore. In the same area were 21 Twite, 2 Pied Wagtail and 1 Rock Pipit.

Shore bird counts: 12 Eider, 32 Turnstone, 1 Sanderling, 48 Oystercatcher, 400+ Dunlin and 25 Redshank.

Black Redstart
Turnstone

Instant Bird Art

2011-12-08T12:06:00.000-08:00

65 mph winds today but not as bad as Scotland with a rumoured 100mph. I found myself fooling around with FotoSketcher, a free software program that converts photographs to artwork. Some of the results are below.

It’s worth a try if your skill with pen and ink or a brush is as bad as mine.

Swallow
FotoSketch Swallow
Wheatear
FotoSketch Wheatear
You can add a picture frame, alter the paper texture, or do black & white.

Cuckoo
FotoSketch Cuckoo
Kingfisher
FotoSketch Kingfisher

Looks like the wind may drop slightly tomorrow.

A Touch Warmer Today

2011-12-06T08:25:00.000-08:00

This time last year Sue and I holidayed in Cyprus with the lovely warm, sunny climate of Paphos for company. I wish we could be there now to escape the cold, rain and the constant winds of North West England. In the absence of any birding, ringing or photography on which the blog optimistically promises but often fails to deliver, I decided to cheer myself (and perhaps others) up by posting a few pictures from a Cyprus archive. Just look at those blue skies and then double click the pics for a warming experience.

Collared Dove
Roman Ruins

The Collared Dove just happens to be perching on part of a World Heritage building at the ancient site of Nea Pafos. The main attraction of Nea Pafos is the collection of Roman mosaics that lay undiscovered under the headland until a farmer accidentally found them with his plough back in 1962. Since then archaeologists have been slowly unearthing the most amazingly detailed mosaics, along with the ruins of the magnificent buildings that used to house them.

Crested Larks and Black Redstarts were everywhere. So were multitudes of lizards, not always easy to spot against the rocks where they hid.

Black Redstart
Crested Lark
Cyprus Lizard
Cyprus Lizard

North of Paphos along the coast road is the stunning little port of Ayos Georgios, where a much photographed church stands on the cliff top. We lingered for a coffee at the Greek tavern next door whilst watching Blue Rock Thrushes dart about the crags.

Agios Georgios
Agios Georgios
Blue Rock Thrush

Even the crows look better on sunny days, while the local football team goalpost makes a handy perch for a Kestrel.

Hooded Crow
Kestrel

Here’s a view towards Coral Bay where I had a lifer of Cyprus Warbler close to the tiny vine terrace.

Coral Bay

Shades Of Grey

2011-12-04T07:40:00.001-08:00

A grey old morning saw strong winds, rain and then bouts of hail. Not the best conditions for birding or photography when a baseball cap is for keeping rain off specs, bins are tucked inside a jacket and the camera pre-set on ISO800 and then hidden in a dry shoulder bag.

But no excuses, I had to drive to the Myerscough ringing site and drop food for hungry but un-ringed Chaffinch and Tree Sparrows. Firstly I made a detour to Knott End where 14 Twite flew around the area of the jetty, but there was no sign of the Black Redstart, not surprising given the vicious wind that raged across the jetty and the shore where the redstart spent yesterday.

Myerscough was also in the grip of a hail and rain shower, but a number of Chaffinch and a couple of Tree Sparrow waited in the hedge for the food drop. They got the seed and a promise of shiny new rings someday soon, if and when the weather improves. The journey back took me through Out Rawcliffe where the sky seemed marginally brighter, so I stopped off for a dodging-the-showers look.

A pair of Kestrels had things to do as I watched them mate atop a hawthorn bush – it was a brief affair, but the conditions were more than a bit breezy and rather cold. Rather them than me! Seemingly, Kestrels are monogamous with pair-bonding retained long after the breeding season, and where pairs remain together the bond between them may last several years.

Kestrel

In a sort of bright interval I took a walk around the block - the hedgerow, the field, the wood, the road and then back to the car without getting too wet : 10 Reed Bunting, 9 Yellowhammer, 70 Tree Sparrow, 5 Corn Bunting, 8 Chaffinch and 5 Blackbird hiding in the hedge. In the wood a Tawny Owl sat camouflaged in the ivy as a Mistle Thrush chattered off ahead, while from the big field 4 Snipe and 6 Meadow Pipits splashed from the puddles.

Here are a couple of pictures from today – I said it was a grotty old morning.

Reed Bunting
Yellowhammer
Shades Of Grey

Black Red and Ringing

2011-12-02T07:12:00.000-08:00

A lady from Knott End rang me to ask why there was more than one bird watcher near the jetty. I had to explain about the Black Redstart there. That’s the most exciting thing to happen at Knott End for many years. The cafe should sell a few more bacon butties this weekend.

Black Redstart

It’s still too breezy for ringing at winter sites, and stuck in the box for almost two weeks my pliers complained about feeling unloved and redundant. After several weeks of nothing much, a few Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Blackbirds returned to the garden this week, so I put up a single net to see what came along.

A few hours later I had caught a good selection of 15 birds; 6 Goldfinch, 2 Blackbird and one each of Dunnock, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Robin, Blue Tit, Song Thrush and Starling. Not bad really as I don’t normally ring many Starlings, or even Song Thrushes now they are so scarce. I'd forgotten how good looking Starlings are, but only when they behave well.

Starling
Song Thrush
Coal Tit
Blue Tit

Goldfinch can be tricky, especially now that some first year birds moult primary feathers, but the one below still has brown primary coverts.

Goldfinch
Goldfinch

The Chaffinch was a first calendar year male – pale, worn tertial feathers, worn and thin central tail feathers.

Chaffinch
Chaffinch
Chaffinch

It’s No Secret

2011-11-30T07:21:00.000-08:00

It’s just birding at the moment with constant blustery weather making a ringing session out of the question at our wind-sensitive winter sites. The November totals will be dire but Will tells me he added one Robin to the figures when one flew into the van through an open door.

I wanted to go to Out Rawcliffe for a look around this morning before I realised today is a shoot day. A local told me there’s yet another feasibility study taking place into the siting of a “farm” of 125 metre high wind-turbines on the moss. On several occasions in the last year or two Will and I had seen the bird surveyors, birders who do the leg work of the consultants by spot counting every month. If you ask, they claim they don’t know why they are counting and what the final counts will be used for! It’s all too political for me, but I hope the same individuals have declared possibly conflicting interests to in turn, their employee and local natural history groups they represent.

This grandiose scheme is the latest attempt after an earlier proposal was chucked out a couple of years ago on the grounds of harm to the area's huge wintering flocks of Pink-footed Geese, wildfowl and breeding birds in general. Rawcliffe Moss is also a Biological Heritage Site. Don’t these companies ever give up in wanting to cover the countryside in concrete and visual eyesores? In the last month up to 15,000 geese have flown in to the moss to feed in the half light of early mornings, some of which were murky, misty, even foggy, the type of morning when geese in particular are known to lose their bearings. Fresh minced Pinkie anyone?

Pink-footed Goose
Goose Mincing Machine

There was time for a look at Pilling this morning where I found my glove from last week without finding a lot different on the bird front. Pink-footed Geese were to the fore, the foreshore in fact with circa 1500 at Fluke Hall and c2500 at Lane Ends.

Passerines proved difficult to find again with 8 Tree Sparrow, 6 Greenfinch, 11 Linnet and 22 Twite at Fluke Hall, the latter two species in separate flock as ever, but also separated by their jizz and their habitat choices. Rarely if ever do I see these closely related species together. On this occasion the Linnet were along Ridge Farm hedgerow, the Twite on the salt marsh.

Twite
Linnet

Just 18 Whooper Swans behind the sea wall with a Merlin giving a splendid fly past, but it was a Peregine that constantly spooked a couple of thousand Lapwing and 600 Teal at Broadfleet. Just 4 Little Egrets today, with 2 Goldeneye and 2 Tufted Duck on the pools.

Teal

Do You Need A Euro?

2011-11-27T06:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday’s south westerly gales blew overnight, but this morning was at least bright if still windy. It wasn’t a morning for walking, more like trying to stay upright against the strong blasts of cold air. It was warm enough in the car so I checked Fluke Hall Lane first where 45 Whoopers were still on Swan Lake and then close by, about 50 Pink-footed Goose with 2 White fronted Geese of the European variety.

In the UK, two races of White fronted Geese (Anser albifrons) overwinter, generally Greenland birds in Scotland and Ireland, with Russian/European birds in England and Wales, with this winter seeing an as yet unexplained, and greater than normal influx of the euro birds. In North America where the Greenland race occurs, it is known as the Greater White-fronted Goose, so named for the patch of white feathers bordering the base of its bill. But even more distinctive are the barred markings on the breast of adult birds, which is why the goose is called the "Specklebelly" in North America.

The 2 whitefronts separated off and flew inland, but just up the road near Lane Ends I was to see 3 others. Jackdaws and Woodpigeons crowded in the stubble, panicking off occasionally to allow a rough count of 300 each. 4 Skylarks here too. There was nothing doing at Fluke hall itself except for the unusual sight of a drake Pintail on the wooded pool, perhaps a casualty of last week’s shoot.

Pintail

The fields adjoining Backsands Lane were full of mainly Lapwings and Golden Plover with a small number of Redshank, probably 2000 Lapwings, 1200 Golden Plover and 50 Redshank. I guess the severe overnight winds had driven them all off the marshes to seek shelter behind the sea wall, but the accompanying rain also brought food near the surface of the now puddled fields.

Lapwing and Golden Plover
Lapwing

In the field opposite Lane Ends were 3 more White-fronted Goose, one limping quite badly, a feature which may serve to keep track of it in the next week or two. I chanced a walk to the pools where 2 Goldeneye and 2 Tufted Duck remain, but no wind-blown waifs and strays. In the trees near the car park were 1 Treecreeper, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 4 Chaffinch and 8 Long-tailed Tits.

White-fronted Goose

I drove up to Knott End to see what the tide had blown in. No unexpected seabirds or gulls, but the usual fare of Eider, but 29 a good count, 40 Turnstone, 22 Sanderling, 120 Oystercatcher, 19 Twite and 12 Red-breasted Merganser.

Sanderling

Happy Haircut

2011-11-24T06:50:00.000-08:00

It’s OK this not working lark but the problem is that there aren’t enough days in the week. What with family, birding, ringing, blogging and writing a monthly column for the Green Book, I never have time for a haircut; until today that is, so I made tracks for Roger’s at Norbreck, then for afters planned an hour or two with the camera at Fleetwood.

Before I left home I checked the garden for yesterday’s Sparrowhawk, and there it was again in the same damson tree, trying to look inconspicuous. The bird let me get really close, too close for my 400mm, until it hopped across to next door’s fence but hidden by a holly tree. It’s obviously a male, and probably a fairly old one judging by the eye colour which verges on red. Maybe it’s a little sick or like me just slowing down in old age, but there’s few garden birds about, and it may just be playing a crafty game waiting for dozy Long-tailed Tits to come by.

Sparrowhawk

The birding was quiet along Rossall and then the Marine Lake, and with the high tide reaching the sea wall many waders may have flown elsewhere: 360 Turnstone, 60 Sanderling, 2 Oystercatcher, 1 Dunlin, 4 Pied Wagtail, 4 Meadow Pipit, 13 Red-breasted Merganser. As ever, double click the pic for a larger version.

Turnstone
Oystercatcher
Sanderling
Turnstone
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Sanderling
Turnstone

What an enjoyable morning, and just as well I got those jobs done today; the forecast for the next few days is not good for birding, ringing, photography or getting a haircut.

It’s Persecution.

2011-11-23T04:58:00.000-08:00

In Scotland the authorities recognise that those who persecute birds of prey frequently do so at the direction of their employers or others with vested interests, and so introduced an offence of vicarious liability, the purpose of which is to bring those parties to justice.

A petition (link below) calls on the UK Government to introduce an offence of vicarious liability to bring to justice those who direct or turn a blind eye to raptor persecution in England.

As an indication of how bad thing are, in the last year only four pairs of Hen Harriers successfully reared chicks in England, fourteen Peregrine Falcon territories failed on grouse moors in the Lancashire Forest of Bowland, and only one successful Goshawk nest was recorded in the Derwent Valley, Derbyshire. Current legislation is not enough to deter those who break the law and destroy our heritage; the introduction of vicarious liability would hit those directing the slaughter.

Sign the petition here

Hen Harrier

I didn’t get out today, but acquired this shot of a Sparrowhawk in the back garden. It didn’t appear too well, maybe it has been in the Forest of Bowland.

Sparrowhawk

Lost And Found

2011-11-22T09:09:00.000-08:00

There’s not much from me or Pilling today, and with the tide well out, just the steady stuff again for a couple of hours graft and an invigorating walk along you know where.

There’s now 2 Goldeneye and 2 Tufted Duck on Lane Ends pool, no flashy drakes, just the dowdy brown things to pick out amongst the Mallards. Lane Ends to Pilling Water and Fluke Hall gave me 13 Little Egret, 27 Whooper Swan, 1 Black Swan, 1 Peregrine, 7 Meadow Pipit, 11 Linnet, 4 Skylark and 3 Barnacle Goose. I’m fairly sure someone lost the Barnacles, they don’t seem very wild.

Goldeneye
Barnacle Goose
Whooper Swan

I lost a glove somewhere past Pilling Water, but found instead 2 Green Sandpipers, 1 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 300+ Woodpigeon, 475 Jackdaw, 600+ Teal, 1500 Lapwing, 15 Shelduck and 11 Redshank.

I’ll just have to go back soon and look for that glove, maybe I’ll find some new birds soon?

New Horizons, Old Friends

2011-11-20T05:53:00.000-08:00

There was no Rawcliffe today for Will and me; instead we decided to try our luck at the winter feeding spot at Myerscough where in the last few weeks Will did the hard preparatory work by snipping overgrown hawthorn branches adjacent to net rides, regularly dropping a little bird seed, and on his visits making sure that birds had found the free grub. The targets of our efforts are set to be Chaffinches and thrushes, with perhaps a few wary Tree Sparrows, but the latter may not oblige after the first one or two visits literally catch them out.

The site was disgustingly muddy, the track churned up by the many tractor and farm vehicle visits of autumn, but we set just a couple of nets in the half-light then waited for birds to arrive.

The farm track is less than half a mile from a long established Chaffinch roost at nearby Myerscough College. The grounds of the college are so busy with people and vehicles on a daily basis that it is not feasible to ring there, so putting feed out nearby is more effective than attempting to catch Chaffinches in a large, widespread roost. There is scope here for a couple of keen young ornithologists to count how many Chaffinches arrive at the roost in the late afternoon, from which directions, and maybe even the birds' choice of tree or shrub in which to spend the night. If only young birders were as keen on finding out about birds as they are on seeing new or “exciting” ones.

Muddy Waters

Targeting the Chaffinch proved very successful in a four hour session, with a total of 49 birds, 46 new and 3 recaptures. New birds: 36 Chaffinch, 3 Tree Sparrow, 3 Robin, 2 Blackbird, 1 Blue Tit, and 1 Dunnock. Recaptures: 1 Chaffinch, 1 Blue Tit and 1 Tree Sparrow. The Chaffinch and Blue Tit were first ringed here on 12 December 2010, with the Tree Sparrow dating from January 2009.

Our observations suggest that 100+ Chaffinches came to the feed at the hedgerow, our count probably a severe underestimate given the number arriving but not necessarily caught. Also, it’s early days yet but compared to our autumn catches of predominantly juvenile Chaffinches at Out Rawcliffe, it was quickly evident today how many of the birds handled were adults, 18 of the 37, or virtually 50%.

Mainly Chaffinch
Chaffinch
Chaffinch – broad tail of an adult
Blue Tit

The rather enclosed nature of the site limits the bird watching somewhat, but in addition to the birds ringed we noted 2 Bullfinch, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Snipe, 1 Kestrel, 1 Tawny Owl, 7 Redwing, 6 Fieldfare.

Perseverance……

2011-11-18T23:36:00.000-08:00

Persistence, Resolve, Doggedness or just plain Obstinate? Call it what you like in the face of not much happening in the bird world in recent days, but if there’s half a sunny morning and Sue goes off Christmas shopping, what’s a man to do but go birding?

Pilling Lane Ends to Fluke was even quieter today with an embarrassing lack of entries in my notebook and even less images in the camera.

From the car park both the Peregrine and Merlin were about but distant. The Peregrine remained on the edge of the marsh but as I walked to Fluke Hall the Merlin perched up a couple of times on the gates of the sea wall or sit atop fence posts which line the inland ditch. After a while the bird tired of me walking its beat and flew off to sit on the remains of the washed up tree on the marsh. There was a Buzzard along the sea wall too, one of the Fluke birds, harassed out to the marsh and up into the clouds by the persistence of Carrion Crows and Jackdaws.

Jackdaw

On the wildfowler’s pools today, 15 Shelduck, 150 Teal and countless hundreds of not very wild “mallards”.

It’s the lack of passerines which is rather strange at the moment with counts today of 6 Skylark, 1 Meadow Pipit, 2 Reed Bunting and 8 Linnet. The exception to this current November rule is the number of Starlings about, with large, even huge flocks in many parts of the Fylde. Along the sea wall today I met another resolute birder heading east who stopped to theorise that the incursion of Starlings could be associated with the current influx of White-fronted Geese, as many of the UK’s wintering Starlings also originate from Eastern Europe and Russia. A good notion there, so nice to see a University education not wasted.

I achieved a whopping count of 14 Little Egrets today, with 1 Grey Heron amongst them, so the heron family almost eclipsed my count of small birds.

It’s just as well there’s a regular Little Owl spot nearby to practice a spot of now rusty photography.

Little Owl

Solo Stint

2011-11-17T09:35:00.001-08:00

A fine, bright morning beckoned, so with everyone else at work I tried a few hours solo ringing at Rawcliffe Moss from 0915 to 1115. I didn’t catch many birds but there was a nice mix of species with some immaculate looking individuals.

I caught 15 birds with a couple of nets but packed in when a gang of Long-tailed Tits gathered near the net, prepared for an assault when my back was turned. New birds: 4 Lesser Redpoll, 3 Goldfinch, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Reed Bunting and 2 Blackbird. The 4 recaptures were singles of Blackbird, Goldfinch, Dunnock amd Lesser Redpoll. It’s unusual to recapture a Lesser Redpoll here and today’s returnee had been first caught on 20th September, suggesting that it and other Lesser Redpolls belong to a regular little group that feed in the plentiful birch and alders.

Lesser Redpoll
Dunnock
Goldfinch
Chaffinch
Blackbird

Things were quite good on the birding front with 1 Tawny Owl, 1 Woodcock, 1 Kestrel, 3 Buzzard, 45 Skylark, 5 Corn Bunting, 80 Woodpigeon, 5000 Starlings, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker and 3 Yellowhammer.

Yellowhammer

While on the subject of Goldfinches it appears that one I ringed in my garden on 13th June 2010 took a trip to Manchester, Orrell Reservoir to be exact, where it was caught by another ringer on 4th September 2011. Interesting, I’ll bet that Goldfinch was headed further south for this winter, but I don’t have any recaptures during the 448 days from original ringing then recapture in Manchester.

Goldfinch-Stalmine to Manchester

Still Balmy

2011-11-16T11:03:00.000-08:00

Driving up to Pilling this morning I listened to a radio programme where the presenters discussed how this November is set to be the warmest on record. So until the UK sits receives cooler air from the east or north, birding will stay a little quiet with some species in low numbers and yet others apparently absent altogether.

That synopsis is my justification for a quiet couple of hours with amazingly similar notebook entries to recent days, together with an absence of new sightings or additional species. However it was an agreeable morning, and for the record here are the sightings.

Ridge Farm and Fluke Hall Lane: 45 Linnet, 8 Greenfinch, 9 Reed Bunting, 14 Blackbird, 2 Little Egret, 2 Snipe, 8 Skylark, 6 Meadow Pipit, 12 Tree Sparrow, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Treecreeper, 400+ Jackdaw, 300+ Woodpigeon and a herd of 32 Whooper Swan. On the drive from Lambs Lane, I’d already counted 15/20 Blackbirds, so although there are plenty of those around, there are no Redwings or Fieldfares to be found. Even if the coloured thrushes turn up now there is also a distinct lack of hawthorn berries for them to feed on, and with the benefit of hindsight 2011 has not been a very berry year.

Whooper Swan
Reed Bunting
Tree Sparrow

Lane Ends/Pilling Water: A Stoat ran across the road stayed hidden under the hawthorns when I stopped the car, but as I parked up for a few minutes waiting for the animal to show I spotted the regular Merlin crossing Backsands Lane then perching up on the inner embankment. Looking from the car park the Peregrine was 500 yards out, immobile on the same bit of marsh it has occupied all week, likewise 6 Little Egrets walking in and out of the familiar tidal channels. A walk to Pilling Water revealed just 2 Skylarks and the regular Kestrel.

At Pilling Water the Hi-fly bloke bemoaned the lack of wildfowl, with just 150 Teal and a handful of Pintail on their pools, plus his one and only Woodcock sighting of the autumn. As we chatted he related how there may have been up to 30,000 Pink-footed Geese in recent times, an extraordinary number if correct, but counting or possibly duplicating restless geese can be a more inexact science than counting birds that pass by just once. My count today of the many overhead skeins of geese heading in various directions, in and out of the marsh, and beyond the tide line was in comparison a miserable 3,500.

He told me how last winter during the snow, frost and days of 600 Teal he saw a Bittern, stood bolt upright trying to merge into the background of maize as the loaded quad chugged past. “Not much chance of a Bittern or more wildfowl just yet” we agreed, as we had a good old moan about the British weather.

The wind should drop overnight; let’s hope there are a few birds at the ringing sites.

Those Chaffinch

2011-11-15T05:06:00.000-08:00

We ringed lots of Chaffinches at Out Rawcliffe this autumn, but most of the time Will and I were too busy on a daily basis to look in detail at the age/sex ratio of the birds we caught, other than mentally note how many were both females and first calendar year/juveniles.

The ringing site on Rawcliffe Moss is approximately 6 miles from Garstang, a town on the very western edge of the Pennines. In North West Lancashire during autumn mornings there is a marked but mainly inland movement south of Chaffinches, a phenomenon which is often very pronounced in the first few or occasionally several hours after dawn. The visible passage begins in August, peaks during September, declines somewhat during October to then virtually fizzle out in November. This dispersal of Chaffinches has been described by several observers recording the visible migration of many bird species in the Pennines area of Lancashire.

I looked at our captures made between the months of August to October in the two years 2010 and 2011. During 2010 we caught 332 individuals, and then 375 in 2011, a total of 707 captures in the two autumn periods.

Chaffinch

The BTO Migration Atlas states that Chaffinches involved in autumnal movements are thought to be 90% first year birds, predominantly females. Our data from Out Rawcliffe supports the idea that the Chaffinches passing through there are largely juvenile/1st Calendar Year (1CY) females. The wing lengths of the birds involved also show that the same Chaffinches are probably entirely from the UK population.

Chaffinch wing lengths occur in the range of 81mm to 98mm for males and 73mm to 89mm for females, so although there are overlaps in biometrics, plumage differences make separating the sexes easy. Birds from northern and eastern populations can be slightly larger, often with a longer wing length, whereby males with a wing more than 93mm or females with a wing length greater than 86mm may originate from more migratory Scandinavian or Eastern European populations.

Chaffinch

Of the 707 Chaffinches captured during the autumns of 2010 or 2011 none could be positively identified as of Scandinavian or continental origin. In the Autumn of 2010, there were 2 Chaffinches caught on 1st November each with a wing length of 93mm which might be considered none-UK birds, but not definitely so as both were large adult males. In the autumn of 2011 there were 2 Chaffinches both on 28th October 2011, with wing lengths of 92 and 93mm respectively which might be considered non-UK birds. The timing of these 4 captures fits well with the suggestion of continental birds reaching the north west of the UK in the later part of autumn via south east England when more migratory continental Chaffinches spread north and west.

Table: Age/Sex ratios of Chaffinches

Month	Total Captures	Adults (% of Total Captures)	1CYs (% of Total Captures)	1CY male (% of 1CYs)	1CY female (% of 1CYs)
Aug 2010	27	9 (33%)	18 (67%)	5 (28%)	13 (72%)
Aug 2011	44	5 (11%)	39 (89%)	17 (43%)	22 (57%)
Sep 2010	263	48 (18%)	215 (82%)	71 (33%)	144 (67%)
Sep 2011	228	35 (15%)	193 (85%)	88 (45%)	105 (55%)
Oct 2010	42	16 (38%)	26 (62%)	8 (31%)	18 (69%)
Oct 2011	103	17 (17%)	86 (83%)	37 (43%)	49 (57%)

From the 700+ Chaffinches the number of recaptures was very low, supporting the idea of onward dispersal. If anything the low number of meaningful records of birds first ringed in 2010 and then recaptured in 2011 without recapture in-between, suggest that some experienced Chaffinches use exactly the same dispersal route and stop overs each year.

Chaffinch

Double Pegging

2011-11-13T11:05:00.001-08:00

A fine, warm but somewhat breezy Sunday morning meant a few hours birding and breathing space around local spots before the hordes hit the streets.

Conder Green lost its attraction to me in recent months, but I called in for a quick look this morning to see what I’d been missing. Not a lot it seems, the pool as deserted as ever it was with just a single Little Grebe on the whole expanse of water. There were 5 more Little Grebes in the creek, along with 95 of my favourite duck the diminutive Teal. Whatever a Teal may lack in size it certainly makes up it in character, flying ability, wildness and simple beauty. A quick look on the Lune revealed 22 Goldeneye.

Teal
Teal

I tried my luck down Hillam Lane, where an improvement on CG saw 375 Curlew, 1 Pied Wagtail, 2 Little Egret, 15 Chaffinch, 8 Tree Sparrow, 5 Blackbird, 1 Sparrowhawk and 1 Kestrel.

At the old faithful sites of Lane Ends, Pilling Water and Fluke Hall where there was a bit more activity. On the outer marsh at Lane Ends were 4 Barnacle Geese of dubious origin, well apart from several thousand Pink-footed Geese and 22 Whooper Swans of impeccable pedigree, with at least 9 Little Egrets and 2 Grey Heron. Also out on the marsh was a big, bright male Peregrine which sat unmoved for at least an hour, even as I walked to Pilling Water then back to Lane Ends. At one point an even larger Peregrine, this one a female flew close to and above the male before then flying over the sea wall and south west towards Preesall, but it’s not unusual to see two or even three Peregrines here given the abundance of food.

Peregrine courtesy of USFWS
Small stuff in the planation - 1 Jay, several Blackbirds and 1 Reed Bunting.

Pilling Water produced 1 Buzzard heading off towards Fluke Hall plus the now inevitable Green Sandpiper. Also, 1 Kestrel, 1 Meadow Pipit, 2 Skylark, 2 Snipe and 2 Linnet.

At Fluke Hall, a single Goldcrest and a silent Chiffchaff.

Chiffchaff

The Final Curtain?

2011-11-12T06:31:00.000-08:00

After the last couple of sessions Rawcliffe Moss is definitely running short of autumn birds, but after the overnight rain cleared and with a half decent forecast, Will and I decided to have another go this morning, mainly in the hope of connecting with the elusive thrushes of 2011.

There was a suggestion of a few or more at dawn, perhaps even locally roosting ones, but no true visible migration which could increase a pathetic count of 12 Fieldfare, 8 Redwing, 2 Song Thrush and 8 Blackbirds. Chaffinch numbers were similarly low with less than 50, coupled with 3 Lesser Redpoll and 40+ Goldfinch, the latter all local feeding birds.

We finished a short session with just 11 new birds, 3 Redwing, 3 Blackbird, 4 Chaffinch and a Wren. No recaptures today.

Redwing
Wren

Other birds and animals today: 1 Tawny Owl, 2 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 6 Snipe, 50+ Skylark, 5 Meadow Pipit, 10 Reed Bunting, 4 Corn Bunting, 9 Roe Deer.

Looking west towards Pilling Moss this morning we saw the most enormous, dense flock of Starlings which when they took to the air, we estimated at up to 20,000 birds wheeling around, but there may have been many more.

Starling

Will has been putting feed out at a site near Myerscough in readiness for a switch to winter ringing. He reports over 50 Chaffinch and several Tree Sparrows already coming to the seed, so we may switch allegiance soon and return to the moss next spring.

Chaffinch

Can It Be Magic?

2011-11-10T07:12:00.001-08:00

There’s always excitement at Knott End, but not always in the birding line. This morning three police cars arrived to deal with a stolen van, doors left-open and abandoned on the beach; so much for my quiet walk along the esplanade when half the village turned out to see what all the fuss was about. So I clocked the 18 Eider, 4 Pied Wagtail, 8 Turnstone and the 1500+ Oystercatcher then headed off to Pilling for a walk.

Lane Ends turned up 4 Little Egret, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Jay, 2 Meadow Pipits and three falcons in the similar but different shapes of Peregrine, Kestrel and Merlin. The Peregrine was dashing over the edge of the marsh scattering everything in sight, including 1500+ Lapwings while the Kestrel patrolled the embankment without causing so much as a stir.

Normally I see a Merlin in high speed aerobatic pursuit of prey, ducking and diving, dashing about trying to catch small passerines or waders, but the one I watched today spent a long time fence hopping and then ground feeding by walking about searching for food. If this is the same Merlin which has been around Lane Ends for a week or two there aren’t many small passerines about for a hungry soul at the moment, but Merlins are known to consume insect prey, for instance beetles and moths, although they need a lot in numbers as substitute for the weight of a single small bird. As they always are, the Merlin was pretty distant and the picture well cropped, but I think it’s a juvenile female if that’s relevant.

Merlin

In the car park I chatted to a couple of wildfowlers who also thought that 15,000 Pink-footed Geese was a near enough estimate for recent morning and evening gatherings, but unlike me they didn’t hear the Siskin that flew over - It’s very worrying when people with guns can’t identify birds. A single Jay and several Blackbirds were the only additions to my Lane Ends list.

Siskin

Up to Pilling Water where I added 3 more Little Egret and 3 Grey Heron, 30 Whooper Swan, 22 Teal, 3 Wigeon, 4 Linnet, 1 Meadow Pipit, 1 Goldfinch and 1 Skylark. As I remarked, not many passerines about today, so that poor little Merlin needs to pull something out of the hat.

Linnet

Lightning Never Strikes Twice

2011-11-08T05:12:00.000-08:00

I couldn’t make it Monday, but on the very cold, frosty morning Will went to Out Rawcliffe on his own and caught thrushes, 18 Redwings, 4 Fieldfares and a single Blackbird from a cast of several hundred. It was the only morning for weeks when the early morning movement proved hefty enough for a good catch.

So with a less than perfect forecast we hoped to do the same today. But as we all know from the age old saying but which is actually based on a long-standing myth, “lightning never strikes twice in the same place”. But the maxim proved accurate this morning, the difference possibly due to the 100% cloud cover which provided a dank, dismal and occasionally drizzly morning when our sightings of Redwings and Fieldfares were counted at about 30 of each in the hour after dawn.

However we did manage a few bits and pieces of 13 new birds and 5 recaptures. New: 4 Reed Bunting, 3 Goldfinch, 3 Chaffinch, 1 Goldcrest and 1 each of the elusive thrushes Redwing and Fieldfare. Recaptures: 2 Goldfinch, 2 Great Tit and 1 Robin.

Goldcrest

Redwing
Reed Bunting

This morning’s bird watching, or more exactly goose watching, proved more enthralling than our quiet ringing session as wave after wave of Pink-footed Geese made their way from the Pilling direction and towards the surrounding stubble fields of Rawcliffe. From 7am to 11 am we counted approximately 15,000 geese heading our way then landing in several areas of the moss, and watched as at least five birds were brought down by forewarned shooters with expectant freezers.

Pink-footed Goose
Pink-footed Goose

In the overcast murk, other birding was predictably poor, but we saw our first Woodcock of the autumn, 1 Barn Owl, 4 Snipe, 2 Song Thrush, 3 Lesser Redpoll and 14 Reed Bunting.

When Will It End?

2011-11-06T07:53:00.000-08:00

Before I could set off this morning I had to clear the windscreen of a little frost, the first real bite of the winter. Then as Will and I met up at 0630 on Rawcliffe Moss we saw the ground was white and crunchy underfoot.

It’s been a busy and successful year in the plantation, with over 1550 new birds ringed since 8th March, together with 230 recaptures, but in the last week or so migration has slowed to a virtual halt, with no second wave of thrushes to occupy our mornings. We thought today’s session might be the last of the year before we move to winter ringing sites, but we added another 49 birds, 40 new and 9 recaptures, including favoured target species. So we may just have another crack in a day or two before moving on to pastures old.

Today’s new birds: 15 Goldfinch, 10 Chaffinch, 8 Reed Bunting, 3 Blackbird, 1 Fieldfare, 1 Dunnock, 1 Blue Tit and 1 Wren. Recaptures: 6 Goldfinch and 1 each of Great Tit, Dunnock and Reed Bunting.

The main features of the morning were the number of Goldfinch coming to Nyger feeders, plus the continued passage through the site of Reed Buntings. The sudden cold snap may have induced the local Goldfinches to visit our feeders and/or there are other Goldfinches moving through the area as they head south. Our Reed Bunting count for the morning was 20 individuals, a figure which includes the nine captures.

Once again thrushes were noticeable by their absence with just a dozen or so each of the two main culprits Redwing and Fieldfare in the hour after dawn. The three Blackbirds caught were quite large, long-winged individuals so we mentally assigned them to migratory status rather than back garden dwellers.

The juvenile Goldfinch shown immediately below was an early 0730 catch, momentarily reluctant to leave the relative comfort of our ringing station to head back into the cold morning air, the other a fine adult male.

Goldfinch
Goldfinch
Reed Bunting – first calendar year male
Reed Bunting – adult male
Fieldfare

Other sightings 0630 to 1130: 1 Barn Owl, 2 Tawny Owl, 2 Kestrel, 8 Whooper Swan, 7000+ Pink- footed Goose, 80+ Skylark, 8 Snipe, 2 Siskin and 4 Lesser Redpoll. The sight of 5 Roe Deer running across the pastures added to a fine morning's work and pleasure.

Roe Deer

Hot Spots

2011-11-05T08:51:00.000-07:00

I decided to hold fire on the ringing until tomorrow when Will is available and the two of us can get more nets up. A spell of dry weather today and overnight means less chance of both our cars and our wellies getting bogged down on the sticky peat too.

So rather than working with nets in the dark I took a leisurely breakfast, waited until daylight then set off on a tour of the hot spots of Knott End, Ridge Farm and Lane Ends.

A count from the jetty at Knott End came in at 140 Redshank, 60 Knot, 40 Turnstone, 1 Eider, 2 Grey Heron, 18 Curlew, 1900 Oystercatcher and 5 Pied Wagtail, with a fly past of 10 Whooper Swans heading east towards the concentration of Whoopers at Pilling.

Turnstone

I followed the Whoopers east towards Pilling where I found the swans out on the marsh off Fluke today, and while I didn’t get to count the flock there were lots of birds. Fluke Hall and Ridge Farm were pretty good this morning, with a nice mixed flock of finches and buntings to look through, 50 Linnet, 10 Greenfinch, 14 Chaffinch and 10+ Reed Bunting. Also along the hedgerows I saw 8 Blackbird, 2 Song Thrush and several Tree Sparrow. I walked back along the sea wall to see 4 Snipe and a Short-eared Owl flushed from the marsh grass by a dog off-lead. A Carrion Crow quickly latched upon the owl, but I was surprised when the owl headed high out towards the shore, next stop Heysham, rather than gliding over the sea wall to relative safety.

Lane Ends to Pilling Water produced in no particular order, 40+ Skylark, 18 Whooper Swan, 12 Meadow Pipit, 1 Kestrel, 1 Merlin, 1 Green Sandpiper, 350+ Teal, 12 Wigeon and 1 Reed Bunting.

Kestrel
Teal

As I watched a large flock of several hundred Lapwings 500 yards out on the marsh they were spooked into flight by the Merlin. I then watched the Merlin in hot pursuit of a flying Meadow Pipit, the pipit evading all the Merlin’s many dives and passes, eventually making it to the safety of the trees at Pilling Water. I don’t mind admitting that I wanted to see a successful outcome to that pursuit – in the Merlin’s favour. Other points of view to Another Bird Blog please.

Meadow Pipit

Short And Sweet

2011-11-03T08:37:00.000-07:00

There’s just a short post today with a few bits and bobs to report together with a couple of photographs.

At Knott End: 5 Little Egret, 3 Pied Wagtail, 4 Meadow Pipit, 1 Rock Pipit and 4 Eider. I put some Nyger out for the Twite which appear to have gone missing for now unless the black stuff can tempt them back.

Meadow Pipit

At Lane Ends there appeared to be an influx of 8 to 10 new Blackbirds, plus an accompanying Song Thrush, but I saw the now silent Jay.

Lane Ends to Fluke Hall via Pilling Water: 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Grey Wagtail, 12 Meadow Pipits, 8 Little Egrets, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Reed Bunting, 7 Skylarks and 1 Buzzard. Less Whooper Swans today with circa 140 plus the incongruous Black Swan. 20+ Chaffinch at Fluke Hall with the normal titmice and 1 Goldcrest, and it’s another non-show for the latter species again this autumn.

Great Tit
Robin
Grey Squirrel – “Tree Rat”
Black Swan and Whooper Swan

The forecast looks a little better for weekend with a possibility of a spot of ringing.

Gaffe Time

2011-11-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

Every picture tells a story. In this case it’s how I made the wrong decision to head out to the moss and put up a couple of nets. I had just caught a couple of Chaffinches when the heavens opened, not the scattered showers that Heather promised on BBC North West, but instead a couple of downpours which saturated both the nets and me. So I took the nets down, dried off a lot with the car heater and then drove out to Pilling for a spot of birding.

Rain On the Moss

A drive down Lambs Lane is rewarded by noise and spectacle of over 200 Whooper Swans at the junction of Fluke Hall Lane, 210 today plus the Black Swan from last winter. I don’t think the black one went back to Iceland with the Whoopers, but I haven’t seen it around during the summer and autumn until now. If the swans are spectacular then the Pink-footed Geese are doubly so at the moment with many birds out on the marsh; my count of 12000+ distant birds can be an approximation only, and my photograph a telephoto portion of the massed flight when a microlight aircraft came by.

Whooper Swan
Pink-footed Goose

At Lane Ends car park, Blackbirds were mobbing a Tawny Owl, while on the marsh a Merlin moved along the line of posts and then took a fly around to flush all the Lapwings, over 2000 of them. One of the best ways to find raptors is to watch corvids or just listen out for to their complaints when they come across a bird of prey. On my walk up to Pilling Water crows put me onto three raptors today, a Buzzard, a Sparrowhawk and then a Short-eared Owl. Apologies for the well cropped shots, as all the action was distant, but it illustrates the point.

Short-eared Owl
Sparrowhawk
Buzzard

Not many passerines about today, 5 Meadow Pipit, 3 Linnet, 15 Skylark and 2 Goldfinch. Herons obliged with 1 Grey Heron and 5 Little Egret while 250+ Woodpigeons are fattening up on Hi- Fly’s wildfowl bait.

Back at the car park a man with a telescope kindly pointed out the Merlin hovering over the embankment, whilst out on the marsh I watched a dashing little raptor that could only be a Kestrel.

Kestrel

Sunday Times

2011-10-30T06:47:00.000-07:00

The end of British Summer Time and reversing the clocks on Saturday night meant meeting Will at 6am Sunday on Rawcliffe Moss, and not “an extra hour in bed”. Birds don’t stick to human timetables and we still needed to get the nets up in the dark. Nets were set before 0630 by which time we had either seen or heard at least 4 Tawny Owls, but no Barn Owl today.

Our varied catch was similar to recent times, with several thrushes at first light followed by a selection of finches interspersed with Reed Buntings until we packed up at 11am. We totalled 38 birds, 32 new and 6 recaptures. New: 12 Chaffinch, 11 Goldfinch, 4 Reed Bunting, 2 Fieldfare, 2 Blackbird and 1 Song Thrush. Recaptures meant 3 Goldfinch from recent days, 1 Robin and 2 resident Dunnocks; both were in the net together today and were first ringed in 2009, recaptured in 2010 and also earlier in 2011.

The adult Robin L141888 was ringed here in the autumn of 2010, but interestingly and despite many visits through spring summer and autumn since then we have no record of it in between times.

Fieldfare
Robin
Reed Bunting
Chaffinch

Thrush migration was almost non-existent this morning with just 20 Fieldfares and 10 Redwings heading south before 9am and then none, although we did see 6 Song Thrush in ones and twos, then later a party of 4 Mistle Thrush.

Chaffinches appeared somewhat down in number, but taking into account the twelve caught, the 100+ which headed noticeably south east throughout our 5 hours may be an undercount. Our Lesser Redpoll and Siskin count came to 18 and 2 respectively, with 10+ Reed Buntings throughout the morning.

Other birds seen: 15 Whooper Swan, 2 Buzzard, 9 Snipe, 6 Corn Bunting, 2 Yellowhammer, 1 Peregrine.

There were huge numbers of Pink-footed Geese flighting inland today, Sunday being a traditional day for the Over Wyre sportsmen, out in force on the coastal marshes and fields. To the nearest thousand we estimated at least 5000 birds heading south and east looking for fields to drop on out of harm’s way.

Pink-footed Goose

Early Owl But No Lottis

2011-10-28T06:56:00.001-07:00

Out Rawcliffe 0645 - as usual Will and I had set nets before first light to await the thrushes, but we soon found something other than early Redwings.

The Tawny Owls have been calling to each other for a week or two, usually further away from our nets, but one got a surprise this morning when in the almost total darkness the bird’s flight path was interrupted by a 60ft net. There is an overlap of Tawny Owl measurements, and although from its plumage characteristics we could tell it was an adult, the weight and wing length meant it could be a male or a female. Whichever sex the bird was it proved pretty feisty with the talons, so we took a leg out of the bird bag for ringing before looking more closely at the bird itself.

Tawny Owl
Tawny Owl

We had a quite productive morning of ringing with 29 birds caught, 28 new and one recapture, a recent Goldfinch. New birds: 10 Chaffinch, 5 Reed Bunting, 4 Redwing, 4 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Goldfinch and one each of Tawny Owl, Dunnock and Great Tit.

Redwing

The early thrush movement was probably the quietest of the autumn so far, with seemingly no more than 50 Redwing, 12 Fieldfare, 5 Song Thrush and a couple only of Blackbirds on the move soon after dawn, then virtually none during the remainder of the morning. The Chaffinch passage was similarly down with our estimate of c80 only during four hours. The trapped Chaffinches included a couple of larger males, perhaps a sign that more northerly individuals are beginning to spread from the south and east of the UK.

We noted an increase in both Siskins and Lesser Redpolls this morning, with small parties and numerous calls of both species, at times intermixed or accompanying Goldfinches. Our estimate came to 40 Siskin and 35 Lesser Redpoll, but the Lesser Redpolls are more easily caught than the Siskins. We added 5 more Reed Buntings to our autumn total and estimated the species throughput this morning at 10 or 12 in addition to the 5 caught.

Lesser Redpoll

Apart from the endless flights inland of approximately 2000 Pink-footed Geese, this morning’s birding was quiet: 1 Kestrel, 1 Buzzard, 11 Snipe, 1 Corn Bunting, 12 Whooper Swans and an uncounted number of Grey Partridge calling invisibly before dawn. Thankfully a roving flock of 26 Long-tailed Tits did not find one of our mist nets.

Long-tailed Tit

KE, Recaptures And Fingers Crossed

2011-10-27T06:47:00.000-07:00

An hour or two at Knott End (KE) this morning proved very rewarding for seeing a good selection of birds, but not for photography on the grey, overcast morning.

A walk up river and then near the jetty produced 9 Red-breasted Merganser, 15 Eider, 30+ Wigeon, 4 Grey Heron, 2 Little Egret, 6 Pied Wagtail, 1 Rock Pipit, 4 Cormorant and 1 Kestrel.

The incoming tide pushed waders and wildfowl to the shore, with 1900 Oystercatcher, 1400 Knot, 145 Redshank, 28 Turnstone, 140 Dunlin, 40+ Curlew and 35 Shelduck. A Peregrine dived once or twice at the assembled Knot before the tide ran in so quickly that I didn’t get to accurately count the many birds which flew either up river to the Wyre roost or along the sands to the Preesall/Pilling roost.

Turnstone
Rock Pipit
Shelduck

It rained later so I turned my attention to trying to answer a question from a blog reader from the US who asked about ringing recaptures.

I keyed WILWA into our Fylde Ringing Group IPMR database and came up with the example below to illustrate how full life histories are gleaned from multiple recaptures of the same individual, in this case a small migratory warbler, the Willow Warbler. British Willow Warblers spend the summer here before migrating to central Africa for the winter.

IN1795 was first captured as a juvenile (age code 3) in July 1990, almost certainly a bird whose parents bred within the ringing site. It spent its first and subsequent winter somewhere in Africa, returning to exactly the same UK location in years 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, and 1997, when we recaptured and identified it as a breeding male (code 4M) in most years. The bird was almost certainly present during the summers of 1993 and 1996, the reason for the non-recapture being that it simply escaped us ringers that year. In 1997 it went off the radar and may have died from old age, an unknown cause, or possibly on migration south during the autumn of 1997, in its Africa winter, or even on the way back to the UK in the spring of 1998. Willow Warblers, indeed most small birds are not especially long lived, but in its 6+ years the recapture history of IN1795 provided lots of valuable data.

Age 3, First ringed - 14/07/1990 Inskip, Lancashire
Age 4, Recaptured - 20/04/1991 Inskip, Lancashire - 280 days
Age 4M, Recaptured - 18/05/1991 Inskip, Lancashire - 308 days
Age 4M, Recaptured - 14/05/1992 Inskip, Lancashire - 1 year 305 days
Age 4, Recaptured - 01/05/1994 Inskip, Lancashire - 3 years 291 days
Age 4, Recaptured - 14/04/1995 Inskip, Lancashire - 4 years 274 days
Age 4M, Recaptured - 06/05/1995 Inskip, Lancashire - 4 years 269 days
Age 4M, Recaptured - 03/05/1997 Inskip, Lancashire - 6 years 293 days

Willow Warbler
The forecast isn’t looking too bad for a ringing some new birds tomorrow, and maybe even a few more recaptures. Fingers crossed.

Another Morning Mix

2011-10-26T06:56:00.001-07:00

This morning Will and I made it to the moss again with nets up in the dark and then time to spare before any thrush arrivals. Although there was no large scale appearance, we picked up a few more of the target species.

The first mixed flock of Redwings and Fieldfares arrived soon after 8am but between then and 0930 we saw less than 175 of both species, split 140/35 in favour of Fieldfares, with 6+ Song Thrush, a single Mistle Thrush and 4 Blackbirds only. The Chaffinch movement that started in late August continued through this morning with a total of 170+ heading south east into the 10mph light wind, the good number of birds not reflected in our catch of six. Reed Buntings continue to be obvious migrants through the site with 10+ over this morning in addition to the six caught, which pushes our autumn total for the species to 38 individuals.

Today’s total reached 24 birds, 21 new and 3 recaptures. New birds: 6 Chaffinch, 6 Reed Bunting, 2 Song Thrush, 2 Redwing, 1 Blackbird, 2 Goldfinch, 1 Wren and 1 Blackcap, the latter a first calendar year/juvenile female. Recaptures were 1 each of Robin, Goldfinch and Coal Tit.

Blackbird
Redwing
Reed Bunting
Song Thrush
Blackcap
Wren

Our birding was interesting, steady but unspectacular - in rough order of appearance dawn to 1130am: 1 Barn Owl, 2 Tawny Owl, 20+ Meadow Pipits and 2 Alba wagtails heading south, 5 Whooper Swan, 1 Raven, 19 Snipe, 1 Grey Heron and 1 Peregrine. During the morning there was a light overhead movement of small finches, mainly Siskin and Lesser Redpoll, less than 5 audible records of each call, but an additional and rare sighting here of 2 Bullfinch. Also uncommon here inland, 2 early morning overhead Greenfinch.

I hadn’t seen the Little Owls for weeks, but today one was back in the winter tree.

Little Owl

News And Twos

2011-10-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

A quick run around the patch at Pilling this morning produced a few notables for a mini-posting of news.

Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus are back from Iceland in some numbers with the now regular congregation building up on the Fluke Hall stubble fields to 115+ today, so densely packed, mobile and quite distant that it is difficult to obtain a precise count. The picture below shows one part of this morning’s flock.

Whooper Swan

The swans can be heard whooping it up from hundreds of yards away, even down in Pilling village half a mile from Fluke Hall, but there’s nothing quite like their calls to set you up with anticipation for a morning’s birding.

The North American counterpart of Whooper Swan is Cygnus buccinator, which goes by the very descriptive name of Trumpeter Swan, with a call quite different from the Whooper. Trumpeter Swans also have an all-black bill.

Trumpeter Swan

I managed a walk from Lane Ends to Pilling Water and bumped into a couple of twos, 2 Wheatear, 2 Buzzard and 2 Green Sandpipers, the latter disappearing as noisily as ever into the wildfowler’s pools. Now well into October Wheatears are getting a little late now, although I have seen them in November some years.

Wheatear

Other small stuff around: 26 Skylark, 2 Reed Bunting, 13 Meadow Pipit, 15 Snipe.

Meadow Pipit
The forecast for tomorrow looks slightly better, with more spaced-out isobars and chance of a ringing session – amazing!

A Different Circus

2011-10-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

They say a change is as good as a rest so this afternoon I set off for Pilling Moss and a walk around a farm I wander over now and again. The spot has a few sheltered fields and woods and is a useful standby when everywhere else is a more than a bit breezy, as it was today.

This year I’ve seen plenty of Marsh Harriers, both spring and autumn, but one of the first birds I saw this afternoon was a Hen Harrier, Circus cyaneus, now probably the rarer of the two closely related harriers. Crows chased the harrier off towards Union Lane whereby it flew fast with the wind and I lost it against a background of trees.

Hen Harrier

The couple of hours turned into a raptor fest with 3 Kestrel, 1 Peregrine, 1 Merlin, 3 Buzzards and a Tawny Owl. I found the owl huddled up out of the wind in the densest part of an ivy covered tree, the greenery so impenetrable that I tried this way and that to get more than a half photo of the bird but couldn’t. So as they also say, “Here’s one I did earlier”.

Tawny Owl
Buzzard

There was lots of passerine food on offer for the raptors, 60+ Skylark, 70 Chaffinch, 130 Linnet, 5 Reed Bunting, 25 Goldfinch, 11 Pied Wagtail, 15 Snipe, 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker and 20+ Tree Sparrow. I almost forgot, 1 Fieldfare and 2 Song Thrush, but a number of Blackbirds.

Peregrines count Columbidae into their food category and there were plenty of those today with 32 Stock Dove and 80+ Woodpigeon. Other “bits and bobs” seen, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Raven and 260 Pink-footed Geese trying to hide in a barley stubble field.

Woodpigeon
Stock Dove
Pink-footed Goose

Still Waiting

2011-10-22T07:09:00.001-07:00

The early morning text exchanges made the decision. Yes, it was a bit breezy but Will and I could go to the moss for a “vis mig” count, top up the feeders, and then if anywhere was sheltered, try and catch a few more thrushes. Any day now there should be a wave of northern thrushes heading over the mosslands, all we have to do is hit the right morning.

Saturday Sunrise

We set nets in the only two rides undisturbed by the south-easterly breeze, then listened and watched out for Redwings and Fieldfares, but also Song Thrushes and Blackbirds, both very much migrant species here in October. There was an initial flurry of mainly Redwings, about 130, with smaller number of less than 30 Fieldfares, both species heading slow, low and south into the headwind, but in the less than ideal conditions the burst of activity stopped quite quickly. So we still await a large push of birds, hopefully we will be there when it eventually takes place.

The sheltered “Niger” net caught most of the 12 birds, 2 Song Thrush, 1 Redwing, 8 Goldfinch and 1 Chaffinch.

Song Thrush
Redwing
Goldfinch

Despite the stiff breeze a number of Chaffinches in ones and twos toiled steadily into it, with less than 100 overall, but the Chaffinch numbers have been dropping recently, a sign their autumnal dispersal may be nearing the end. As Will and I both ring birds on their right leg let’s hope we can catch this left-footer before the Chaffinch dry up completely.

Chaffinch

On last night’s BBC Autumn Watch there was a question from a viewer who recently saw lots of “black-billed Blackbirds”, but the query didn’t seem adequately answered by the programme. In October migrant Blackbirds, especially the first calendar year males have distinctly dull and dusky plumage which lacks the gloss of adult males. These young males also have dark brown to blackish bills, and often pale grey throats, so maybe the viewer had simply seen a number of immigrant Blackbirds? We saw a few “blackies” this morning, but didn’t catch any this time, just the brown thrushes above.

Blackbird

Birding wise we counted the following notables: 11 Grey Partridge, 4 Yellowhammer, 26 Corn Bunting, 75+ Linnet, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 1 Barn Owl.

Corn Bunting

Where Were You?

2011-10-20T07:39:00.001-07:00

Yes, the blog is back after several more days’ forced inactivity thanks to the good old British weather.

Will and I had high hopes this morning that the many birds held up in the past few days would head south over Rawcliffe Moss with some urgency this morning. With the first autumn frost crunching underfoot we erected nets in the dark, grabbed a quick coffee, and then waited for birds to arrive at first light. The anticipated flood of birds appeared to be less than a trickle of thrushes, with just 25 Redwing and 12 Fieldfare arriving soon after dawn before drying up completely, leaving us wondering where they are.

At times the session was slow, but we persevered and the 4 hour stint ended up with a good selection of 25 birds of 8 species, 23 new and 2 recaptures. New: 11 Chaffinch, 5 Reed Bunting and 3 Goldfinch, with 1 each of the target thrush species, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Redwing and Fieldfare.

Reed Bunting - male
Reed Bunting- female
Song Thrush
Fieldfare
Redwing

Compared to recent weeks even the movement of finches was lighter this morning, with less than 150 Chaffinches throughout the morning, approximately 10 Siskin, not a single Redpoll, but 2 or more Brambling. Reed Buntings were again conspicuous with 12 or more birds overhead or lingering on site, but the Meadow Pipit passage may be over with less than 20 birds over and south today. Eleven new Chaffinches pushed our site total for new captures of this species to 350 this autumn.

Chaffinch
Chaffinch

The other birding was pretty quiet too: A Barn Owl and 3 Tawny Owls at dawn, 13 Alba wagtail, 15 Tree Sparrow, 8 Linnet, 8 Snipe and 9 Whooper Swans, the latter our first ones of the beckoning winter.

Whooper Swan

Keen As Mustard

2011-10-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

Last night’s weather forecast was highly marginal for ringing, but being full of enthusiasm for more migrant thrushes Will and I met up at 0645 on Rawcliffe Moss, taking a chance that any early rain would clear quickly. Our optimism was somewhat misplaced and we spent an hour or more waiting for the drizzle to clear, the clouds to lift and a chance to open nets.

The 360 degrees overcast sky kept the thrushes back, with just small parties of Redwings and Fieldfares finding their way through the murk as dawn broke. We quickly caught six thrushes but had to close nets as rain closed in. The initial thrush movement totalled only 50+ Redwing, 35 Fieldfare, 12+ Blackbird, 3 Song Thrush and 1 Mistle Thrush. We caught finches later as the cloud broke from the west or headed north, but the corresponding increase in wind speed probably put a block on more migration through our immediate location.

Today’s new birds: 7 Goldfinch, 7 Chaffinch, 3 Redwing, 2 Blackbird, 1 Song Thrush. We also recaptured 2 Goldfinches and a Robin.

Robin
Goldfinch

Redwing
Redwing
Blackbird
Song Thrush

“Birding” birds noted this morning in addition to the above mentioned thrushes: 20+ Siskin, 9 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Brambling, 80+ Chaffinch, 50+ Goldfinch, 10 Reed Bunting, 12 Alba wagtail, 20 Meadow Pipit, 8 Golden Plover, 8 Snipe, 800 Pink-footed Goose, 4 Magpie, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker.

The weather for the next three or four days doesn't look too good for either birding or ringing, but if there's half a chance watch this space for news and views.

Thrush Rush

2011-10-15T11:30:00.000-07:00

The venue today was Rawcliffe Moss, where despite the slightly “iffy” wind direction that restricted net choice, Will and I hoped for a catch of early morning thrushes fresh in from Northern Europe. We set the nets in the dark and then waited for dawn and the arrival of Redwings, Fieldfares and perhaps a few Blackbirds and Song Thrushes.

There was just a short interval before the birds arrived in droves at 0715, mainly Redwings but with a good proportion of Fieldfares. Within the next hour we estimated the overhead passage at 800+ Redwings and 200+ Fieldfares, although we almost certainly missed many more whilst checking nets and ringing the ones we had. But the constant stream of birds stopped as suddenly as it started, and by 0830 all was quiet except for small parties of stragglers. After 0900 we switched our attention to Chaffinches and bumped up our numbers of that species together with a few other finches.

In all we captured 39 birds of 9 species, 36 new and 3 recaptures. New: 16 Chaffinch, 10 Redwing, 2 Fieldfare, 2 Blackbird, 2 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Coal Tit, 1 Great Tit and 1 Goldfinch. Recaptures: 2 Chaffinch and 1 Robin

Redwing
Fieldfare
Coal Tit
Redwing
Lesser Redpoll

Visible migration was difficult to gauge in the bright,blue, morning sky but in addition to the northern thrushes we estimated 200+ Chaffinch, 20+ Siskin and 9+ Lesser Redpoll, circa 10 Reed Bunting, 5 Greenfinch, 1 Yellowhammer, 1 Swallow.

Other birds: 1 Barn Owl, 1 Tawny Owl, 1 Kestrel, 1 Buzzard, 750 Pink-footed Goose.

Redwing

Mostly Chaffinch

2011-10-14T08:44:00.000-07:00

Sue and I had been for a meal at the curry joint last night, and then walking back home in the quiet darkness there seemed to be a number of Redwings flying over. It doesn’t always follow there will be birds left on the move by morning or that after a fine, clear night any will be grounded. When I peeked out of the door this morning in preparation for a spot of birding the trio of Fieldfares high in next door’s Sycamore followed by a gang of 20 or so overflying Redwings seemed a good omen.

Motoring down Lambs Lane I could see more Fieldfares going over, but with nowhere to stop I carried on to Fluke Hall and jumped from the car where a reasonable amount of movement was apparent. There was a steady movement of birds from the west and north-west to Fluke Hall and beyond, where the actual wood was jumping with Chaffinches plus the calls of at least 2 Bramblings – what a crying shame that no one is interested in mist netting this autumnal Chaffinch hot spot.

Chaffinch
Chaffinch

I walked to Ridge Farm and then back where the main feature was the continual west to east movement of Chaffinches following the sea wall and then disappearing into the trees at Fluke. Fieldfares with just the occasional Redwing kept going south and I can honestly say I didn’t see a single grounded one of either thrush among my count of 200+ Fieldfare and 45 Redwing. Very noticeable today were Reed Buntings with 11 along the route, 3 parties of Alba wagtails numbering 24+, three or more very mobile Blackbirds, and numbers of Tree Sparrows being either less shy than normal or more noticeable because they were part of the on-going movement.

Fieldfare
Redwing

I didn’t really count the shore stuff, it wasn’t where the action was, but I did note a pretty huge flock of pinkfeet, several Snipe and the usual jamboree of noisy Lapwings. By the time I got back to Fluke I’d counted over 200 Chaffinch and another Brambling, not a big tally for October but pretty good for an hour and a bit.

No visit to Pilling is complete without a walk from Lane Ends to Pilling Water where by now the Fieldfares and Redwings had tailed off completely, but Chaffinches and Reed Buntings were still on the move, if now a lot higher in the clearing sky. Counts from here: 20+ Chaffinch, 3 Reed Bunting, 8 Skylark, 7 Meadow Pipit, 5 Linnet, 2 Little Egret, 1 Raven, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Merlin, 2 Snipe, 1 Wheatear.

Wheatear
I hope it’s less breezy for the moss tomorrow to give us a crack at the thrushes and more Chaffinches.

We Finally Made It

2011-10-13T06:21:00.000-07:00

At last, the wind and rain relented and Will and I met up at Out Rawcliffe and the first ringing session for 11 days since the last rain aborted session of October 2nd. The dark, cloudy filled morning gave us a fairly slow start, but quickly picked up to provide a very steady, varied and interesting morning of ringing and birding, the overhead birds being particularly diverse.

We continued where we left off in early October by targeting finches, buntings and Meadow Pipits, ending up with a catch of 48 birds of 6 species, 44 new and 4 recaptures. New birds: 13 Chaffinch, 12 Goldfinch, 11 Meadow Pipit, 6 Reed Bunting, 1 Robin and 1 Treecreeper. The 4 Goldfinch recaptures were from recent weeks.

It took almost 30 minutes after dawn before the Chaffinches and Meadow Pipits began heading south, parties of less than 10 for the pipits, with bigger groups of Chaffinch, sometimes 10-15 together. By the end of our 5 hour session we had counted 350+ Chaffinch, 250+ Meadow Pipit and 25+ Reed Buntings. It’s pretty impossible to count Goldfinch migration here as there is still a local roost of Goldfinch, a gathering that translates into a feeding flock of 130+ later in the morning. Other finches were less numerous with just 8 Siskin and 5 Lesser Redpoll over.

Chaffinch
Meadow Pipit
Goldfinch
Reed Bunting
Reed Bunting

In the first hour or two after dawn there was a very strong movement of Alba wagtails heading south, at one point a party of 18 birds passing over, then later other smaller groups and individuals. Our 5 hours gave a total of 60+ Albas with at least 1 Grey Wagtail. Skylarks were also conspicuous with a minimum of 120 birds arriving from the west and north-west and then heading south-east. Our first Redwing of the season flew south early on, followed by a party of 5 Fieldfare much later in the morning but also going south. 3 Song Thrush were scattered throughout the five hours, with 3 late Swallows together about 11am.

A couple of unusual birds for out here on the moss came in the shapes of a party of 7 Crossbill heading north-east, and a single Common Sandpiper flying south.

Crossbill- naturespicsonline.com

Raptors today: 1 Kestrel, 1 Tawny Owl, 1 Buzzard, 2 Sparrowhawk, and 1 Peregrine briefly chasing a Lapwing. Others: 800+ Pink-footed Goose, 2 Raven, 45 Lapwing, 2 Jay, 11 Snipe.

Wow! What a great morning’s birding, shame we had to wait so long.

I Don’t Believe It

2011-10-11T02:57:00.001-07:00

Unbelievably we are now into our fifth consecutive wet and windy day, a sad state of affairs requiring no comment other than today’s blog title. So in place of birding or ringing I’m digging into the archive yet again for a few pictures of a favourite bird.

Photographs of Lapwings are guaranteed to provoke positive comments from Another Bird Blog readers, mostly from folks who either don’t have Lapwings in their own countries, have very small numbers of them, or who perhaps see them just at migration times.

Northern Lapwing

The proper name for Vanellus vanellus is Northern Lapwing, but most UK birders name them simply Lapwing. Older generations of farming families even today still use colloquial or local names according to where in the UK they live e.g. Peewit, Green Plover, Tewit/Chewit, Flopwing or Hornpie to name but a few. Up here in the soggy north there are places with historical names that clearly refer to the previous abundance of Lapwings, e.g. Tewitfield, Peewit Hall, or the many homesteads adopting the descriptive Peewit Farm. More recently, there are modern developments with names like Lapwing Drive and Lapwing Avenue, where as they pocketed the cash, town planners, developers and builders had a wry laugh at the Lapwing’s misfortune. Luckily we do have a few remnant Lapwings in this Fylde part of Lancashire but even those are now a tiny chunk of the Red Listed UK population.

Northern Lapwing

The Lapwing is probably one of the best-known birds indigenous to the UK, and certainly one of the most beautiful. A description of its lengthened crest feathers and overall black and white colouration with tints of iridescent greens and purples hardly does the bird justice. Their peculiar sort of flight, a series of wide slow flaps on rounded wings is highly characteristic, enabling them to be recognised from a great distance, and their typical high pitched sometimes screaming “peweet” call cannot be mistaken for the note of any other bird. These features gave rise to their numerous descriptive local names.

Northern Lapwing
Northern Lapwing

Any day now, and after the recent rains, we will start to see huge numbers of Lapwings feeding on the Fylde plains as many more wintering Lapwings arrive from Northern and Eastern Europe; the Lapwing migration is so regular and marked in Kamchatka, Russia that the month of October is known there as “Lapwing month”. The UK provides the northernmost regular wintering area of Lapwings and is particularly important for Scandinavian birds. But if we get a cold spell where marshes and fields are frozen the Lapwings move west to Ireland, often in a very visible fashion on particularly cold mornings. They will stay there until normal spring passage in February and March. On occasions westerly weather movements lead to some Lapwings overshooting Ireland during strong easterly airflows and crossing the Atlantic, where they become a twitchable bird for a few fortunate US and Canadian birders.

Northern Lapwing
Northern Lapwing

In the spring I get to ring a few youngsters, not as many as I would like, not nearly as many as there should be, and certainly not as many as there used to be as recently as the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Maybe next year will be a better Lapwing year, but don’t bet on it.

Northern Lapwing
Northern Lapwing
Northern Lapwing

Where Shall We Go Today?

2011-10-08T07:06:00.000-07:00

What to do on another non-birding, non-ringing, windy, dismal, grey, drizzly morning and afternoon?

I turned my attention to sorting through the folders in Photoshop, where I dumped a number of inferior images in favour of some newer, sharper, and brighter versions. It’s much like the world of birding, where grumpy old birders droning on about “common” birds are best ignored, ditched in favour of superior, up-to-date versions with all the essentials for birding street cred – a permanently switched on pager and a Western Palearctic list containing Atlantic island endemics.

Here is a very significant list.

“August 2011 - The Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme has compiled population figures for 145 common and widespread bird species in 25 European countries between 1980 and 2009. Amongst those species covered, farmland birds are the most threatened group, with 20 out of 36 species in decline, and overall numbers at an all-time low, down by 48% since 1980. Some of the species that have declined the most over the last three decades include familiar farmland birds like Grey Partridge Perdix perdix (–82%), Skylark Alauda arvensis (–46%), Linnet Carduelis cannabina (–62%) and Corn Bunting Miliaria calandra (–66%).”

Here are a couple of images Photoshopped from this morning’s task.

Linnet
Corn Bunting
Skylark

“The results of the European bird population survey suggest that after missing its 2010 biodiversity conservation target, the EU will go on to miss the 2020 biodiversity conservation target unless decisive and urgent action is taken.”

And again. ”According to the State of Europe's Common Birds report, the European Turtle Dove population in Europe fell by 62% in recent times. This is partly because changed farming practices mean that the weed seeds and shoots on which the dove feeds, especially Fumitory, are more scarce, and also partly due to shooting of birds in Mediterranean countries during their migration.”

Turtle Dove

From the BTO, October 2011 – “It is six years since the inception of Environmental Stewardship (ES), England’s second generation agri-environment scheme. Although the formal target to reverse the declines was abolished by the present Government, the commitment to agri-environment funding remains. However the CAP which funds such schemes in Europe faces renewal in 2013, at a time of growing competing demands for land and agricultural production. Agri-environment policy in Europe is therefore at a crossroads. Sound evidence for the efficacy (or otherwise) of AES provision, coupled with the need to provide value for taxpayer’s money is more important than ever before. Across Europe, policy- makers will ask whether farmland bio diversity conservation is worth the expense and whether AESs are the best way to spend the money”.

Yellowhammers in Europe
Yellowhammer
Where shall we go tomorrow?

More Food For Thought

2011-10-06T06:23:00.001-07:00

Readers of Another Bird Blog will know of the intermittent mention of culinary things, bacon butties, fish and chips, even the occasional reference to curry. So dear reader, stay tuned for more gastronomic delights and even a history lesson sandwiched between today’s meagre bird news.

With rubbish forecasts for the next five days I headed into the face of today’s wind at Knott End determined to do a little birding, even though the tide at 0730 was only medium height and the wind too north westerly.

A mass of grey told me of Red Knot huddled together against the biting wind, and it was only when the tide turned that the Knot started to move around a little, before they went for a flying circuit and then settling again. I estimated 1700 of them, with 14 Redshank, 3 Turnstone, a few wind battered Curlew and 18 Shelduck. Out on the distant water I came up with 11 Eider, 4 Cormorant and 9 Red-breasted Merganser. The latter species always appear in the bay as if by magic after a blowy spell.

Knot
Turnstone

John James Audubon, in The Birds of America, began his description of the Knot this way: “The Knot, good reader, is a handsome and interesting species, whether in its spring or in its winter plumage, and provided it be young and fat, is always welcome to the palate of the connoisseur in dainties. As to its habits, however, during the breeding season, I am sorry to inform you that I know nothing at all, for in Labrador whither I went to examine them, I did not find a single individual.” The Knot’s nest went undiscovered to science until June, 1909, when Admiral Peary photographed one in the high arctic after his dash to the North Pole.

But Audubon was a man of his time, and even scientists studied wildlife for their “usefulness” to society - in the Knot’s case, as a delicacy. Its taste on a plate may even explain its name. One account of the Knot’s name has the Danish King Canute, or Knut, dining on a strange coastal bird. His compliments to his chef led his courtiers to dub the bird, Knuts, or Knots.

An alternative account of the origin of the Knot’s name also features King Canute. This one notes that the Knot often feeds in the water, even as the tide is coming in. Where the Sanderling chases the waves, running to and fro with the coming and going of the tide, the Knot seems to hold its ground, as though trying to hold back the tide itself. A legend associated with King Canute has the Danish monarch futilely attempting to hold back the tide, hence the association of the Knot and Knut.

I thought to take a look at Lane Ends again where in the last few days I’d seen lots of egrets in the plantation sheltering from the incessant winds. There were 12 today, huddled into a small area hidden from general view but where they could take a break from just ducking down in the salt marsh ditches as a way of avoiding the blustery weather.

Little Egret

I came across this information on good old Wiki – “The Little Egret was once present, and probably common, in Great Britain, but became extinct there through a combination of over-hunting in the late mediaeval period and climate change at the start of the Little Ice Age. The inclusion of 1,000 egrets (among numerous other birds) in the banquet to celebrate the enthronement of George Neville as Archbishop of York at Cawood Castle in 1465 indicates the presence of a sizable population in northern England at the time, and they are also listed in the coronation feast of King Henry VI in 1429”.

Little Egrets had disappeared by the mid-16th century when the court chef had to “send further south" for more egrets.

Little Egret

“Further declines occurred throughout Europe as the plumes of the Little Egret and other egrets were in demand for decorating hats. They had been used for this purpose since at least the 17th century but in the 19th century it became a major craze and the number of egret skins passing through dealers reached into the millions. Egret farms were set up where the birds could be plucked without being killed but most of the supply was obtained by hunting, which reduced the population of the species to dangerously low levels and stimulated the establishment of Britain's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in 1889. By the 1950s, the Little Egret had become restricted to southern Europe, and conservation laws protecting the species were introduced. This allowed the population to rebound strongly; over the next few decades it became increasingly common in western France and later on the north coast. It bred in the Netherlands in 1979 with further breeding from the 1990s onward.

In Britain it was a rare vagrant from its 16th century disappearance until the late twentieth century, and did not breed. It recently became a regular breeding species and is now common, often in large numbers at favoured coastal sites. The first recent breeding record in England was on Brownsea Island in Dorset in 1996, and the species bred in Wales for the first time in 2002. The population increase has been rapid subsequently, with over 750 pairs breeding in nearly 70 colonies in 2008, and a post-breeding total of 4,540 birds in September 2008. In Ireland the species bred for the first time in 1997 at a site in County Cork and the population has also expanded rapidly since, breeding in most Irish counties by 2010. The population is now spreading through English and Welsh counties.”

I took another look, and the forecast is much the same, so stand by for more archive photos and other menu delicacies in the next day or two.

Breezy Birding

2011-10-04T10:58:00.001-07:00

The stiff westerly wind meant any ringing was definitely off the cards this morning, but I needed to top up the bird feeders at Out Rawcliffe so took a drive out there to do a spot of birding as well.

The Goldfinch haven’t taken much seed lately, mainly because there’s still plenty of natural food about, but today I disturbed 10 or 12 Goldfinches and a Lesser Redpoll from the 6 feeders before topping up with more than a litre of Nyger. Another 30 or more Goldfinches, 7 Linnets and 2 Reed Buntings were feeding in the nearby maize patch so maybe soon we’ll begin to find a few more finches and others in the nets.

As I continued down the farm track the perpetual Marsh Harrier flew across the road in front of me but by the time I stopped the car in a gateway and took hold of the camera, the bird had become distant above the drying hay bales.

Marsh Harrier
A Moss Morning

The overcast, windy morning probably wasn’t the best sort of weather for Buzzards but for whatever reason I saw seven in a short time and without really looking for them. Maybe the freshly harvested but now wet fields had exposed lots of suitable foods, as I noticed a couple of birds hovering rather than their habitual soaring and riding the thermals of sunnier days. A Kestrel was doing the same, spending what seemed ages just hovering above one area before its dive to the floor produced nothing and so it sped off elsewhere. From the wood I heard the raucous Jays and the “chick” calls of Great-spotted Woodpeckers, but didn’t linger to actually see how many of each.

Buzzard

A walk to the big wet field produced a good selection of birds with 18 Tree Sparrow, 3 Meadow Pipit, 5 Linnet, 20+ Snipe and over 150 Skylark scattered across the barley stubble, the latter a good September count but also a tremendous sight and sound when they all took to the air. So were the 400+ Pink-footed Geese which when they spotted me took to the air but then wheeled around and then landed again but further away.

Skylark
Pink-footed Goose
Snipe

From the area of the farm buildings I spotted another 2 Buzzard, 2 Pied Wagtail, a Grey Heron, counted 120 nearby Woodpigeons and then watched as 2 Swallows flew quickly though before continuing on their southerly path. They could well be the last Swallows I see this year, especially if the latest weather forecast is correct, but despite the blowy morning it was an enjoyable couple of hours with a good selection of birds.

Doing Solitary

2011-10-02T08:43:00.000-07:00

This morning there were spits of rain on the conservatory roof. But optimistic as ever I headed to Out Rawcliffe for another solitary ringing session and hopes of a decent catch. On the moss it wasn’t quite raining, just very cloudy, so I put up three nets and kept fingers crossed for early morning migrants.

Meanwhile just a mile or so away at Nateby a birder I know had found a longer distant migrant, a Solitary Sandpiper which had traveled a bit further than any Meadow Pipits I might catch. It’s not my photograph of Solitary Sandpiper, and it’s a number of years since I saw lots of them in pre-digital camera Canada. Thanks to Dario Sanches for the picture taken in Brazil, the country where the Solitary Sandpiper should be right now.

Solitary Sandpiper by Dario Sanches (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/(CC-BY-SA-2.0)

Drizzle came in fits and starts but within an hour I had to abandon ship having caught just 6 birds, 3 Meadow Pipit, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Goldfinch and 1 Goldcrest. The pipits were on the move this morning, coming in from the west and north-west then heading off south and I counted 60+ in the hour. Meadow Pipits may have been still on the go from yesterday’s huge movement but Chaffinches were not, with less than 20 birds perhaps due to visible cloud cloud to the north that would impede their progress.

Goldcrest
Chaffinch

But now for a more disturbing topic about birds. I saw Colin the gamekeeper this morning who gave me yet another ring taken from a dead Greenfinch in his St Michael’s garden, the third casualty in recent weeks; this latest bird was picked up from directly under the garden feeder. I have emailed the BTO with the information as it is another ringer’s set of rings.

Greenfinch

It is sad to see our Greenfinches or indeed any wild bird dying in this way, but since summer 2005, trichomonosis, a disease caused by a microscopic parasite has been reported in finches in gardens. Since then, outbreaks have been seen every year during the late summer and autumn. Greenfinch populations have been recorded dropping by a third, and Chaffinch populations by a fifth in those parts of the country that suffer the most serious outbreaks, Because of the lack of Greenfinches locally it appears that the North West of the UK and the Fylde may be one of the seriously affected areas. Chaffinches appear to visit gardens less than Greenfinches around here, a fact which may have spared their local population from suffering the same fate as Greenfinches.

Chaffinch

The trichomonad parasite lives in the upper digestive tract of the bird, and its actions progressively block the bird’s throat, making it unable to swallow food and the bird dies from starvation. Also, birds with the disease show signs of general illness, for example lethargy and fluffed-up plumage, but affected birds may also drool saliva, regurgitate food, have difficulty in swallowing or show laboured breathing.

Transmission of infection between birds happens when they feed one another with regurgitated food during the breeding season, and through food or drinking water contaminated with recently regurgitated saliva. If trichomonosis is suspected, it is recommended to temporarily stop putting out food, and leave bird baths dry until sick or dead birds are no longer found in the garden. This discourages birds from congregating together, which although a natural enough phenomena may actually increase the potential for the disease to spread between individuals.

Greenfinch

Good hygiene practice, specifically the regular cleaning of all feeders, bird baths and feeding surfaces, is an essential part of looking after garden birds and will help to lower the risk to birds of diseases in general.

Going It Alone

2011-10-01T08:16:00.000-07:00

With Will in Scotland I had to go it alone for this morning’s ringing session on the moss. So I dropped one of the net rides to save the leg work and as a safeguard against a rush of finches hitting the nets all at once as they sometimes do. It’s not necessarily the taking the birds out of nets that takes the time, but the processing and documentation of each bird’s age, sex, wing, weight and fat score.

It worked out fine as steady catching kept me busy but not rushed. My session lasted 5 hours by the end of which I had caught 39 birds of just 5 species, 38 new and 1 recapture. New birds: 25 Chaffinch, 10 Meadow Pipit, 2 Blackbird and 1 Chiffchaff with 1 Goldfinch recapture.

The overhead Chaffinch passage was quite strong this morning but the Meadow Pipit numbers less than earlier in the week, or the week before. There seemed to be banks of cloud to the west and north but the moss was bright and sunny if a bit breezy this morning, with wispy clouds early on which made it again difficult to see high-up birds. “Vis Mig” numbers 0645 to 1130: 400+ Chaffinch, 45 + Lesser Redpoll, 30 Siskin, 8 Greenfinch, 10 Reed Bunting, 200+ Meadow Pipit, 3 Swallow, 3 Song Thrush, 30+ Alba wagtail.

Chiffchaff
Meadow Pipit

The juvenile female Goldfinch below is now attaining colour and beginning to resemble an adult Goldfinch.

Goldfinch

Ringers tuning in to the blog will note the large proportion of juveniles (age code 3) today, not unusual of course in autumn. Also today, of the 25 Chaffinch ringed, 15 were juvenile females, another not uncommon occurrence in September/October a time when UK Chaffinches from northern regions head south and west.

Field Sheet - today
Chaffinch

Other birds today: 2 Tawny Owl calling from nearby woods at dawn, 10 Snipe, 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 1 Peregrine, 2 Buzzard, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Jay.

Tawny Owl

Haddock, Chips and Mushy Peas

2011-09-29T10:52:00.000-07:00

Another bright and breezy birding morning started with a quick look at Knott End where I killed the 20 minutes or so before Damien’s fish shop opened with a spot of birding. In the car park I took a few pictures of a Pied Wagtail with a gammy leg whilst the other 12 wagtails flew off towards the golf club before I could grill them; they also took 2 Grey Wagtails along with them. On the shore were 35 Goldfinch and as I walked up river alongside the golf course, several Chaffinch and at least two Siskin called from high overhead.

It was a very bright sky so I decided to save the my “vis migging” for the next ringing session on the moss on Saturday, with today’s sun demanding instead a bit of “no excuses” camera work.

Pied Wagtail

I detoured home then chucked the fish in the fridge before setting off for the Pilling tide again.

And this is going to sound like a re-run of yesterday’s birds at Pilling, but the Fluke Hall count was much the same: 450 Lapwing, 55 Redshank, 12 Skylark, 15 Meadow Pipit, 17 Linnet and 6 Goldfinch, but several Chaffinch in the wood today and a party of 10 Swallows heading east. A gang of 17 Magpies heading off from Ridge Farm was rather scary as well as unexpected, given that much of the land around Ridge Farm is well shot.

Lapwing

My count of birds from the sea wall was similar to Wednesday, so I’ll ditch the latest list of more wildfowl and wader counts, the exception being today’s count of approximately 1200 Lapwing. But I found time for the few pictures below, and less words means there’s more time to get stuck into that Haddock, chips and mushy peas.

Linnet
Wheatear
Little Egret
Wigeon
Pink-footed Goose
Redshank
Lapwing
Very tasty, I enjoyed that.

The Other Patch

2011-09-28T08:40:00.000-07:00

The bright and breezy morning dictated a birding morning on the other patch at Pilling, a spot neglected of late, when several decent, wind-free mornings meant we could catch finches and pipits out on Rawcliffe Moss. I began at Fluke Hall looking and listening out for overhead birds but where little was happening, perhaps odd Chaffinches, Meadow Pipits, and Skylarks, but no obvious or substantial movement. If there is a morning diurnal migration taking place at Fluke it is usually quickly apparent, and in a south-easterly like today can sometimes involves a heavy movement of birds flying west to east along the sea wall.

Out on the marsh I counted over 400 Lapwing, 40+ Linnet and a Little Egret but the woodland was pretty quiet apart from a Great-spotted Woodpecker and a party of titmice. The Carrion Crows found a couple of Buzzards in the tops of the trees and they proceeded to harry the raptors until they left the woodland to head off towards the sea wall but still pursued by the persistent crows.

Buzzard
Buzzard and Carrion Crow

The walk from Lane Ends then back towards Fluke Hall began quietly, picking up as I persevered and then improving as the tide ran in. From the stile I counted 11 Little Egret, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Kestrel, 140+ Linnet, 60 Goldfinch, c2500 Pink-footed Geese, 2 Wheatear, 1 Peregrine and 2 Sparrowhawks.

Sparrowhawk
Pink-footed Goose

The incoming tide shifted lots of pipits and Skylarks from the by now flooded marsh, and I ended up with counts of 70 Meadow Pipit and 32 Skylark, many finding their way onto the inland fields via the countless fence posts along here.

Meadow Pipit

High water revealed more waders and wildfowl: 900 Shelduck, 40 Redshank, 70 Pintail, 600+ Teal, 2 Snipe, 40 Golden Plover and 35 Dunlin, with 17 Swallows also arriving with the tide and then heading quickly south-east.

Swallow

On the subject of Swallows, we have only just heard of a Swallow recovered during the early part of 2010. Ring number V971589 was first captured on Rawcliffe Moss as a juvenile bird of the year on 8th August 2009. On April 27th 2010 the Swallow, now sexed as a female by the length of its tail streamers, was caught by other ringers in Canton Magistris, in the Alpine region of Italy; the young bird had managed to journey to Africa and was now on its way back to the UK.

While British Swallows migrate to and from Africa through the area of the Mediterranean Sea in both autumn and spring, many take a more easterly route for the April/May journey, a direction which can take some through the Alpine regions of Italy. The interval between ringing and finding in Italy was 262 days and the distance involved 1198 kms.

Out Rawcliffe to Italy

There looks to be more breezy days ahead but amazingly it’s almost a shirt sleeves Indian Summer for a few days more.

500 Up

2011-09-27T06:08:00.000-07:00

After the busy days of the last two weeks, Monday was a bit of rest day, apart that is from inputting the many records from recent ringing into the Integrated Population Monitoring Reporter (IPMR) database. Will worked on Monday, but borrowed a few hours “flexi” this morning for another morning of ringing on Rawcliffe Moss before he heads off or a break in Scotland and a bit of lazy salmon fishing.

So after the IPMR task we began today with a running September total of 442 new birds of 22 species here, which included 135 Meadow Pipits, 188 Chaffinches and 39 Goldfinches. Our recent catches have been very consistent in terms of numbers and species, a trend which continued this morning with another 63 new birds, the majority of which proved to be even more of those diurnally migrating Meadow Pipits and Chaffinches.

New birds: 37 Chaffinch, 15 Meadow Pipit, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Dunnock and 2 Blue Tit with 1 each of Great Tit, Blackcap and Reed Bunting.

Blackcap
Dunnock
Blue Tit

One of the juvenile Lesser Redpoll looked particularly young and speckle faced, perhaps from a late nest, as a pair of adults can have three broods.

Lesser Redpoll
Lesser Redpoll

Although we counted 12 + Reed Buntings over today, it was slightly disappointing to catch just one. Reed Buntings are very much a bird of visible autumn migration, with the annual movement through Rawcliffe Moss probably related to their withdrawal from upland areas of the Pennines and Scotland as a preparation for the winter period.

The visible diurnal migration of Reed Buntings is less obvious than other species e.g. Chaffinches or Meadow Pipits, both of which use lots of contact calling to stay in touch with other individuals during their overhead flights. In contrast Reed Buntings call less and although they travel or join in with other species movements and feeding parties, often Chaffinches and Meadow Pipits, the less numerous buntings can easily be missed by observers not tuned into their calls.

Reed Bunting
Reed Bunting

Our visible migration counts today, all from the north but heading south from 0700 to 1145 came in at 160+ Meadow Pipit, 400+ Chaffinch, 70+ Lesser Redpoll, 30+ Siskin, 12+ Reed Bunting, 3 Yellowhammer, 25+ Alba wagtail, 2 Song Thrush and 1 Mistle Thrush.

Other birds this morning: 1 Barn Owl, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrel, 4 Buzzard, 15 Snipe, 1 Corn Bunting and 2 Magpies. We rarely see Magpies out here, but for a week or two a couple of birds have escaped the attention of the gamekeepers. I can’t see them lasting through the winter shoots – the birds that is.

Magpie

Today cracked the 500 mark in September here but with a couple of “iffy” weather days remaining in the month, that could be it until October.