Cold Calling

When I opened the back door this morning a Fieldfare greeted me from next door’s garden, chuckling from the top of the highest sycamore before flying off east. When I made it to the shore at Knott End I knew why the thrush chortled - it was bitterly cold from a blast of Arctic air, and in comparison to recent days this morning’s biting, northerly wind brought out the woolly hat and gloves in double quick time. After the excitement of Friday’s thrush-rush it looked like today might be something of an anti-climax. 

Fieldfare

Not much doing near the jetty, a couple of Meadow Pipits and a Pied Wagtail the sum of my efforts, with the walk up river yielding little except for about 70 Redshanks 

Redshank

Cutting my losses I decided to try a few sheltered spots and so ended up at Pilling. At Damside/Backsands Lane the partially wet fields held 180 Lapwing, 65 Golden Plover, 1 Snipe, 15 Curlew, 3 Redshank, 2 Skylark and 15 Meadow Pipit, the pipits swapping between feeding in damp patches and sitting up on the roadside fence, especially when one of the local Kestrel pair appeared. 

Meadow Pipit

At Lane Ends, a number of Fieldfare were on the move, flying over the plantation and heading north east into the wind just as those of yesterday, but just 70 birds today. Not many wildfowl on the pools, 2 Tufted Duck with the Mallards, 9 Little Egret and 2 Grey Heron scattered across the marsh, and 15 Whooper Swans making their way from Cockerham and west to the usual spot off Fluke Hall. 

I spent a while trying to locate a very vocal and active “phyllosc” with a shrill and persistent contact note, a call totally unlike UK chiffs and more like those of eastern races of Chiffchaff. When the bird finally showed for a moment or two it proved to be a quite brown and plain Chiffchaff. I found a call on Xeno Canto which sounds very similar. 

Chiffchaff

Other birds in the trees here, 4 Robin, 12 Chaffinch, 6 Blackbird, 2 Jay. The forecast doesn’t look too good for Sunday, rain and then more rain so more suitable for a lie-in and a rest after the week’s exertions. But if there’s news be sure to read about it soon on Another Bird Blog.

This week Another Bird Blog is linking with Anni who'd rather be birding and Stewart an ex-pat who lives in Australia -  Stewart.