Tuesday, June 5, 2012

After The Jubilee

It was “cool” start today, but here I’m not referring to Cool Brittania, my state of mind, behaviour or general feeling of well-being, but as usual on Another Bird Blog, the poverty of the British weather. It was so unwarm this morning I reverted to a bobble hat and three layers on the top half of my body’s rapidly fading ex-Mediterranean tan. 

Thirty plus House Martins at Lane Ends kicked off the morning as they fed in the lee of the plantation and over the sea wall where they had found a glut of insects. Maybe the insects were leftovers from last night, where the creatures found themselves drawn to the flame of a beacon lit by the people of Pilling for Her Majesty. 60 years of travelling the globe to exotic destinations; what a bird list she could have by now if only she had taken her bins and a good set of field guides: as usual I digress to matters less important than birding, but 4 days without proper news on TV is enough, without the added affront of 30 minutes of Paul McCartney. 

June is when the Starlings begin to flock, and there must have been 170+ of a herd of those brown, unlovely things, squawking for food from parents too slow to send their kids off to fend for themselves. Two Reed Warblers singing this morning, with a Blackcap and now silence from the Willow Warbler. More squawking came from the Jays busying themselves in making trouble for the nesting birds. 

Up towards Pilling Water I got a trio of surprises in the shapes of 2 singing Corn Buntings and an unseasonal Grey Wagtail. In other Junes I’ve seen singing Corn Buntings along here and I reckon they are loser males from elsewhere that either failed to find a girl, or refugees from nests destroyed in early cut silage fields; trouble is they don’t seem to get a lot of joy along here and pretty soon they move on. Can’t explain the appearance of a Grey Wagtail but nice to see all the same, as was a singing Meadow Pipit, the first here since the migrants sang briefly in April. 

Grey Wagtail

Corn Bunting

This was as good as it got, so I made my way up to Cockerham, Braides Farm and the high tide. Lots of Skylarks here, with at least 8 singing males with 3 birds seen feeding young, unfortunately for me all of those in rough, cattle-filled fields where ringers fear to tread. 

 Skylark
 
Many of the young Lapwings are now large enough to run and even break into flight, with the first signs of post-breeding flocking being a gang of 15-20 birds doing so. A good count of Curlew here with a count of 45 birds, probably all adults as any young will still be on the fells or fields. A couple of oddities here too with a single Wigeon on the sea and 2 drake Teal hiding in the ditches until the tide moved them. I hardly ever count the Shelduck here, but looking through them in the distance revealed the Wigeon and also a posse of Eider, 2 males and 4 females, the colourful males displaying to more brown, unlovely things. 

Eider 

After the celebrations most folk go back to work tomorrow. I’m afraid that for me for me it’s just more birding, but someone has to do it.

20 comments:

Unknown said...

Gosh that Wagtail is a beauty!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

HansHB said...

A great WBW post! Lovely photos!

grammie g said...

Hey Phil...Before I say anything about today's ...I want to say that was a lucky cracking good shot of the Spotted Flycatcher!!
Well for some reason the Us is fascinated with all this royal stuff to!!
We got all that stuff of the Diamond Jubilee too...I am glad I am not a TV nut..good heavens what a hoop-tee-la that was!! Paul McCartney dear heavens take that wrinkle pot smoking cocaine sniffing face home and leave it there ..your not a teen heart throb anymore!!
Anyway whew..quite descriptive today aren't we..Loser male Corn Buntings,who failed to find a girl!! Herds Of Starlings,and squawking trouble making Jays, oh rare mood...so stay away from those places where you fear to tread, tomorrow is another day ; } lol
Great one of the Wagtail!!
Your old cool buddy
Grace

mick said...

The Wagtail in the water is beautiful! Even out here - and listening to replays! - it's obvious that some commentators can't do unscripted comments!!

theconstantwalker said...

A lovely tread and a stunning image of the Grey Wagtail... a lovely bird I struggle to get close to.

eileeninmd said...

Must be fun to watch the young Lapwings taking off. I love the pretty wagtail and the shot of skylark with its dinner. Great post and photos, Phil!

news said...

Hi Phil: Its just more birding but someone has to do it Oh lucky you All the best JWB.

Stewart M said...

Hi there - great set of pictures. I'm surprised you were able to do anything at all after 30 minutes of Mr. McCartney!

Really like the wagtail.

Cheers - Stewart M - Australia

Mary Howell Cromer said...

The Gray Wagtail with the water reflection is so lovely Phil. The Skylark looks like it is about to get rather busy.
I so adore your Queen, and while she has it was too good compared to so many whom do not, it is still fun viewing all of that pomp from a distance;')
Take care~

Modesto Viegas said...

Very good post, with great shots!!!

Adam Jones said...

Love your Grey Wagtail shot.

Gail Dixon said...

Ha, I didn't know a skylark was a bird--always thought it was a Buick. lol Love all the shots. It's really amazing when you can capture one with a meal. Wonderful job!

TexWisGirl said...

love that wagtail and its reflection! beautiful!

Linda said...

What great shots - they are beautiful!

Snap said...

Beautiful feathered friends in your world. Love the Wagtail!

Chubskulit Rose said...

Wow, they are beautiful!

My Critter post. Have a great weekend.

Roan said...

Lucky you! I would rather be birding than working. Love the wagtail, but they are all awesome! Rubbish by Roan

Pia said...

A lot to translate for me.... but worth :-)
Great bird photos! My favorite is the Skylark!

El rincón de Ceditas said...

Una serie fantastica!! Me gusta aprticularmente la primera con ese hermoso reflejo.
Saludos

Carole M. said...

Loving that dash of yellow on the grey wagtail. The skylark; a fabulous photo, new to me.

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