Friday, June 26, 2020

Caption Contest

I couldn’t make it on Thursday so Andy sent me a picture of three young Kestrels he ringed. It’s deserving of a funny caption. All entries to Comments section please. The winner will receive a copy of the photograph. 

Kestrels 

Friday morning, and prior to meeting Andy I had an hour spare for a look at Conder Pool. 

Late June and singles of both Greenshank and Common Sandpiper are back. There was an increase of Redshanks too with a count of 30+, with maybe a slight increase in Oystercatchers and Curlew in the creeks where 2 Avocet fed. On the water, 4 Shelduck, 6 Tufted Duck and 3 Canada Goose - of the latter, two adults and one gosling. The Canada Geese would seem to be the single wildfowl success this year with the winning waders a single pair of Oystercatchers; but even they reduced now to a single chick. 

Oystercatchers 

There may be an inquest into what has gone wrong with the breeding birds of Conder Pool in 2020. Animal predators like Mink and Fox, overgrazing of both cows and sheep, or human interference appear to be the favourites. My own observations suggest a mix of all three. 

While 2020 has been a disastrous year there remains too much focus and emphasis on the two recent colonising species, but there is memory failure, inexperience, and a lack of awareness of those species lost as breeding pairs in recent years. 

As might be expected nowadays, star billing is given to the ‘celebrity’ species of Common Tern and Avocet. Meanwhile the less glamorous but equally important ones like Lapwing, Little Ringed Plover, Little Grebe, Tufted Duck, Shelduck, and Redshank are shoved down the memory hole. 

With the right habitat suitably managed and protected from interference by man and/or predators, those lost species will surely return to breed at Conder Pool with the terns and avocets? 

There might be a few hours before rain would arrive where Andy and I might catch a few warblers and to update our farmer pal on his breeding birds. We ringed 3 Reed Warbler and 2 Sedge Warbler before ever darkening clouds rolled in from the west. 

Sedge Warbler

Sedge Warbler 

Reed Warbler

Birds seen, including the five ringed: 1 Blackcap, 2 Sedge Warbler, 8 Reed Warbler, 7 Reed Bunting 

Around the fields and the small pool - 2 Grey Heron, 2 Little Grebe, 3 Mute Swan, 4 Corn Bunting translated as 2 breeding pairs. 

Seven Reed Bunting, 400+ Starling, 65 Curlew, 12 Lapwing, 10 Oystercatcher, 4 Stock Dove 6 Woodpigeon, 12 Swallow and 1 Sparrowhawk. 

By ten o’clock the dark clouds turned to rain so we ran for cover.

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday Blog and Anni in Texas.



32 comments:

Gill Arbuthnott said...

"come on then, if you're man enough..."

Lincsman. said...

Me and my two mates are well 'ard!

Ludmiła Jabłońska said...

Lubię tu zaglądać! Zawsze pokazujesz ciekawostki! Gratuluję kolejnych obserwacji i obrączkowanych gatunków!

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

I'm no good at thinking of captions but those Kestrels certainly deserve one.

Stevenson Q said...

"Not me. Not me. Not me."

Oh brother Phil these are so cute and very funny! It's like a movie poster hahaha Happy Weekend to you my friend!

Mike Attwood said...

Someone at the door. You go I hold your coat.

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

I am standing straight and smiling! Great photo Phil My knee this week has improved a lot but yesterday I did too much in the garden and it is not as good again. So not more heavy work in the garden. Stay safe and have a wonderful weekend.

Anu said...

"You talking to me?"
or
"You talking to us?"

eileeninmd said...

Cute photo of the Kestrels, I am not good at captions. Love the warblers and the Oystercatchers. At least the rain held off for you to do some ringing. Thank you for linking up your post. Enjoy your day, wishing you a happy weekend!

italiafinlandia said...

Hello Phil, needless to say the kestrels are lovely!
My caption will be: "Here come the Men in Black..." as the famous movie goes.
Happy weekend!

Dr. Vandana Sharma said...

Those Kestrels look cute. My caption is :
"Hey! there we are the new definition of 'Bewilder'. "

Mae Travels said...

"Well, that's YOUR story!"

good birding!... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

italiafinlandia said...

Hello again,
Another caption for your shot: "Baby gang".
Ahah! I feel inspired...they are too cute.
:)

Jean said...

I'm at a blank for a caption but the photo is fantastic! Too bad all the birds can't get the equal billing. The little warblers are very cute. Hope you are enjoying your weekend so far!

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

Step away from the seed bag and no one gets hurt! hahaha! Now I'll go read what others have written. This was fun! Thanks!

RedPat said...

I love the shot but can't think of a great caption!

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

I notice my caption was not there so here goes again.
" I am standing straight and smiling"

Anni said...

Meet the Ringed Bros...P.T., Barnum, and Bailey!

Your post today is a treasure. I enjoyed every minute here and want to thank you for participating at IRBB this week. I loved the oyster catcher image.

Shiju Sugunan said...

Love the shot! Really funny. Actually doesn't need a caption.

NCSue said...

My caption:
"Good grief, I hate elevator music!"

Thanks for sharing at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2020/06/sink-drink.html

Karen said...

"Stand and deliver"

I am still giggling Phil!

Carol @Comfort Spring Station said...

No caption - they are cute though

A Bit of the Blarney said...

I'm not good at captions but I did enjoy your photos! Thank you! Have a grand week!

Tanza Erlambang said...

3 Kestrels look so funny, it seem they are aware that they are on camera...
Unfortunately, I do not know the best caption for them

Veronica Lee said...

Love your photos, Phil but I am no good with captions.

Happy Tuesday!

Sandra Nachlinger said...

"Back off... and put on a mask."
Beautiful photos.

The Padre said...

That First Photo Is Too Cute - Amazing Feathers There - Pleasant Photo For Sure

Cheers

Wally Jones said...

Again, it's heartening to read through your post and feel like our lives are returning to a welcome routine!

Since I'm woefully ignorant about ringing (as well as most other things), I can say it appears you had a successful outing. Your comments on management struck a sour chord with me. Our wildlife management efforts have ranged from dismal failure to some truly outstanding successes. However, a disheartening trend I've noticed, especially at local levels, is to "over" manage natural resources in what seems to me an attempt to attract human visitors (with money).

More and more, we see lake shore lines closely cropped, water vegetation sprayed regularly to "control" its growth, clearing of any dead trees or broken branches, etc. All of this contributes to decline of natural occurring species and we'll soon have to remove such locations from our places to visit.

I'm late to the caption effort: "One more step, Twitcher, and you'll be missing a nose!"

Have a great week!

Angie said...

Phil - fab pic of the kestrels! As for a caption, how about "ANOTHER four years? We can't take it!" Enjoy the rest of your week.

Rhodesia said...

I am useless at captions but what a great shot. Looks like they are being held up, now if only they could put their wings in the air. LOL Cheers Diane

Chris H said...

I've ringed a few of these in my time and I'm always amused by the look in their eye - and other birds of prey for that matter - looking like they could rip your head off. So, that's one of my captions 'Come any closer and we'll rip your head off'
As the youngster at the front has already been ringed (not sure about the other two) perhaps another caption could be - 'That's me done. Good luck with the older two at the back. PS. Got your first aid kit handy?'

Lowcarb team member said...

I'm late to this post but I enjoyed reading the comments above and I certainly enjoyed your post and photographs.

All the best Jan

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