Showing posts with label Bird Ringing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bird Ringing. Show all posts

Saturday, November 18, 2023

Standard Autumn Fayre

Surprise surprise. We survived Storm Debi, a “storm” hyped up by the usual suspects quoting 70 mph gusts from well-known exposed sites on cliff tops and unprotected coastal locations. Here in flat windswept Fylde the gusts turned out to be nothing more than the typical weather we experience for days at a time every autumn. Strong winds with bouts of rain, before everything returns to normal a day or two later.  

We know of course why they do it – to crank up climate alarmism for people who have yet to realise that the “climate emergency” is one big scam designed to part them from their money. 


Clearing our garden of neighbours’ sycamore leaves is a yearly event come rain or shine but inventive doom mongers have yet to claim that the late falling leaves of 2023 are due to global warming. 
 
Autumn Leaves

Early this week we pencilled in the only suitable day, of Friday for a ringing session at Oakenclough near Garstang. Will visited a week earlier with moderate success that included the catching of four Common Crossbills, a few Redwings and other bits and pieces. 

Yours truly, Will and Andy met up at 0730 to rain but forecasts of brightening skies and afternoon sun; before planning a ringing session we make it a rule to check at least two weather forecasts as they hardly ever agree. About an hour later the rain relented and we set to the job in hand and landed a good variety of species, 18 birds before packing in about 1100 when things turned suddenly quiet. 

We caught no more Crossbills, a rarely encountered species that would have enlivened the usual autumn fayre of 4 Blue Tit, 4 Chaffinch, 2 Goldfinch, 1 Coal Tit, 1 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Great Tit, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 1 Treecreeper, 1 Siskin, 1 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Goldcrest. 

Chaffinch

Great-spotted Woodpecker

Siskin
Siskin
 
Lesser Redpoll

As autumn turns effortlessly to winter, so do the birds, with little in the way of numbers that punctuate September and October ringing sessions. 

Noted today, small numbers of Jackdaws, Woodpigeons and Starlings. Otherwise let’s hope that some of the influx of Waxwings, & Short-eared Owls to Scotland and the east coast of England can find their way westwards. Both species pictured below from previous winters in the Fylde. 

Waxwing

Short-eared Owl

Enjoy your weekend folks. Stay safe, warm and sane then come back again to Another Bird Blog for news, views and photos.

Linking this Saturday to Eileen's Saturday Blog.


Thursday, September 7, 2023

Wheats About?

A wander out Pilling way on Sunday saw activity of mainly egrets, pipits and Linnets along the sea wall. Two identical looking Wheatears caught my eye so I stopped for a closer inspection.

The tidal defences here keep Morecambe Bay tides at bay with a high raised earth bank, (a bund) interspersed with sections consisting of large rocks and stones. The rockery is an attraction to migrant birds where crevices and holes out of prevailing winds provide a sanctuary to insects attractive to Wheatears and other insectivores. 

Over many years I have ringed over seventy Wheatears along Pilling shore, until taking a break in recent years when human and canine disturbance made the job impossible. Having recently found a new private spot, and even in the limited possibilities of September when their numbers decline,  the desire to catch Wheatears resurfaced with the appearance of these two Wheatears. I suspect the two were siblings so closely did they resemble each other and to follow in each other’s movements. 

Luckily mealworms were at hand together with a couple of spring traps that caught one bird quite easily as the other scooted into the distance upon seeing its companion compromised inside a tent of netting. 

Wheatear

Wheatear

Wheatear

Wheatear

After a few days off I met up with Will and Andy on Thursday at 0630 for a go at the Linnets and anything else linked to the month of September. Thirteen birds caught/ringed -  6 Linnet, 5 Meadow Pipit, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Robin. 

We have to remind ourselves that male Linnets are normally a touch larger than females but this is never the decider between male or female. The most reliable method is the amount of white on the outer web of the primary wing feathers numbers 7 to 9.  A gap of less than 5mm from the white feather to the centre shaft tells us the bird is a male, more than 5mm a female. In other words, males have more white in the wing, a feature that is sometimes discernible with Linnets in flight, more easily picked out ina large flock rather than isolated birds.

Very often autumn males show brown/rufous rounded markings on the breast, unlike a female which is more streaked. 

Linnet male September

Linnet female September
 
Linnet male September

Linnet female September

It is not surprising that about 80/90 % of autumn Meadow Pipits we catch are first summer/juveniles as the species is able to raise two broods of youngsters in a normal summer. The juvenile below is already part way through its post-juvenile moult. 

Meadow Pipit

Other birds seen and not caught - 50+ Linnet, 50+ Meadow Pipit, 8/10 Tree Sparrow, 2 Blackbird, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Peregrine overhead.

Kingfisher

Fifteen Pink-footed Geese arrived from the north and landed on the salt marsh. The first of the Autumn.

Log in again soon everyone. 

There’s always news, views and pictures of The Real World on Another Bird Blog. 

Linking this weekend to Eileen's Saturday
.

 

Saturday, August 26, 2023

Wednesday Through Saturday

The forecast for Wednesday was looking like the best and only day for a spot of ringing. I met up with Will over Pilling way to a touch of westerly a breeze, a little cloud and a single jacket for the early cool. How the year has flown when the 0630 start seemed like half way through the day. 

We set a few nets in the usual ride and decided to have go in this year’s seed plot where some preparatory work in the last few weeks established an area that should catch a variety of finches and buntings, maybe even a warbler or two. This year’s plot is somewhat different since the farm’s on-the-ball owners enhanced the normal mix with a bird food concoction that’s grown like crazy in 2023’s ideal growing season.  

Sunflowers

Things looked good when small groups of Linnets began to arrive, some settling in a nearby hedgerow and others taking a peek at the seed plot without staying around. The seed plot caught a couple of Reed Buntings but none of the 50 and more Linnets that flew around and over without finding the single panel mist net in the middle of the plot of ground. We agreed, it’s early doors and the net ride will need a little widening together with some introduced bird seed until the sunflowers and the others produce seed in a few weeks time. 

Reed Bunting

Great Tit

Linnets

The congregation of Linnets has already captured the attention of  a Sparrowhawk with a determined female flying through and over the seed plot on three or four occasions in trying to flush out and then capture a Linnet sometimes with the not commonly seen slow flapping flight so reminiscent of a harrier species

Sparrowhawk

In other nets we caught two Reed Warblers, a Great Tit and a Wren. The six birds symbolise the fruitless year of 2023 when our summer migrants may have had a poor year, something highlighted by other fieldworkers. 

If certain migrant species have had a poor year, that will feed through into the data collected by all BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey volunteers and bird ringers plus others contributing to core schemes,.

Do we give up and have lie ins during unproductive times? No. In fact come Saturday morning we met up again at 0630 to have another go after Will spent Friday evening with his strimming device tidying the seed plot ride.

Another 7 birds ringed was nothing to shout home about - 1 Robin, 2 Blackbird, 2 Reed Bunting, 1 Wren and 1 Linnet. The single Linnet opened the autumn account for Linnets whereby our target for Linnet at the year end is 100 individuals. 

Linnet

Linnet

Other birds seen on Saturday - 18 Tree Sparrow, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Buzzard, 25  Swallows and 4 House Martins flying south. 2 Snipe.

Snipe

Come Back soon for more news and views on Another Bird Blog.

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday.


 

Thursday, August 3, 2023

Mips, Wags And Weather

Wednesday evening’s forecast looked hot to go for a Thursday ringing session so I met up with Will and Andy at 0630 out Pilling way, a week after our last get together since when it has barely stopped raining. 

“In July 2023 some parts of England set new rainfall records, with Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside all recording their wettest July since records began some 150 years ago. The succession of low pressure systems resulting in long periods of damp and windy weather in much of the country was in sharp contrast to July 2022, when there were heatwaves and temperatures as high as 40.3C.” 

Weather

Although hopes were high we didn’t do at all well with just 5 birds caught - 4 Reed Warblers and a Sedge Warbler. Always looking for an excuse we blamed the weather for the lack of birds and the rubbish catch.

Plan B came into play and I set off to another site a car ride away and our brilliant idea for Friday morning. Here are heaps of waste material from a bio plant where the rain of recent days has created muddy pools that hold thousands if not millions of tiny flies and other food items of the right size for pipits and wagtails. 

The sun was out, the gate posts and fences proving to be ideal places for the birds to pose. I grabbed a few photos of Meadow Pipits, Pied Wagtails and Yellow Wagtails and it seemed a shame that there were no Grey Wagtails around for the full set of common wags. 

Yellow Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail

Meadow Pipit

Meadow Pipit

Pied Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Meadow Pipit

Pied Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail

It’s arranged. Friday morning is a meet up with Andy and an attempt to ring a few of the species above. 

Look in again on Friday evening folks to see how we did. 

UPDATE. Friday morning was windy, breezier than the forecasted 6-8mph and although we turned out in hope, the wind proved too troublesome to continue. This frustration was intensified by the sight of 100 + Swallows, 25+ Pied Wagtails, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 3 Reed Buntings, 8 Goldfinch and a Great-spotted Woodpecker, none of which we could catch.

Reed Bunting
 
Linking this weekend to Eileen's Saturday Blog.

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Fifty Up

It’s ages since a ringing session hit the fifty birds processed mark.  When I met up with Will and Andy at the Sand Martin colony at 0700 this morning it didn’t seem likely that this day would be any different. Tuesday had seen downpours with inches of constant rain between midday and midnight but where weather forecasts still confirmed that Wednesday would be a “goer”. 

Early cool and 100% cloud cover saw very few Sand Martins around; we really thought we might struggle into double figures given the lack of activity at the nest holes. As the morning warmed and the sun appeared, things began to look up with Sand Martins on the move, joining in with the activity around the nest holes and over the feeding area of the fishing lake. 

By 1110 hours when we tallied up and packed in we had caught 50 new Sand Martins from an estimated count of 150-180 individuals. That would mean a catch of at least 33% of those birds seen, an unlikely ratio and therefore more likely that the number of martins around was actually above 200.

Sand Martin

Field Sheet. First Page.

The field sheet showed 12 new adults, an equal split of 6 males and 6 females, plus 38 juveniles. Interestingly, we had zero recaptures from earlier in 2023 or from previous years, another indication of post breeding dispersal from other sites. 

Sand Martin

Sand Martin

Other activity saw a juvenile Kestrel trying its luck around the martin nest holes, an unsuccessful ploy that also failed for the adult Kestrel we caught here on 14 June. 
 
When we arrived just before seven Will spotted a small flock of 15/20 Black-tailed Godwits flying some distance away, perhaps looking for rain soaked fields in which to feed. About mid morning we realised that two of the godwits had landed a field away from our processing point. The two appeared to be of the Icelandic islandica race by way of their very strong brick-red colouration. 

Black-tailed Godwit

Black-tailed Godwit

April produces the largest flocks of Black-tailed Godwits which correlates well with the bulk of breeders arriving in Iceland between mid April-mid May. The second half of May and early June is considered late for islandica to be in England and it is presumed that these birds are non breeders that may spend the summer here. 

Other birds seen - 4 Common Tern, 1 Common Sandpiper, 6 Tree Sparrow, 2 Pied Wagtail. 

A good morning was had by all.  Come back soon for more news, views and photographs.

Linking on Saturday to Viewing Nature With Eileen.




Monday, July 10, 2023

Testing Times

The thunderstorm of Saturday moved north and east from here in coastal Lancashire and headed across the Pennines to disrupt the Headingley Test Match. There was less cricket to watch on TV but the Sunday forecast was unimpaired; a dry, bright morning with 2-5 mph and the prospect of a ringing session following weeks of inactivity. 

The rain was gone when I met up with Will for a brutal 0600 start but high hopes of catching a few warblers. Viewing visits in recent days saw seven or eight singing Reed Warblers and pairs of both Reed Bunting and Sedge Warbler with plenty of feeding activity around their reed bed of choice. Surely by now, early July there would be fresh juveniles aplenty? 

Our own scoreboard saw an improvement with 16 birds caught – 2 recaptures (Wren and a Reed Warbler from 2021) and 14 new birds. 6 Reed Warbler, 2 Blackbird, 3 Great Tit, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Robin and 1 Whitethroat. 

Score sheet
 
Of the seven Reed Warblers just two were juveniles, the other five adults, numbers that meant we had scratched the surface, with more juveniles yet to fledge following the very slow start to breeding during the cold weeks of May. Reed Warblers need dense and tall reeds in which to hide their nests suspended between solid reed stems, growth that was sluggish and not to anyone’s liking. 
 
Great Tit

Wren

Blue Tit

Reed Warbler

A single Whitethroat was the other representative of the warbler family with no sight or sound of hoped for Blackcaps, Willow Warblers or Chiffchaffs, never mind more exotica like Lesser Whitethroats or Garden Warblers. The singing Reed Bunting stayed out of range and we never got to see the female buried somewhere in the edge of the reeds on her precious eggs,  

Reed Bunting

Whitethroat

It looks as though we will have to wait a week or two more for post juvenile wanderings to begin in earnest. 

Bird watching in between the ringing provided scant rewards with handfuls only of Goldfinches, Linnets and Swallows plus flybys of Grey Heron and Little Egret. 

Later,  I caught up with the cricket. England beat the Aussies in the Third Test. Now it’s all to play for in the following two games, Old Trafford next and then The Oval for the decider. 

It’s a little like ringing. Playing to win and not giving up. You can’t keep a good team down. 

 

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