Owls Top And Bottom

The regular Barn Owl wasn't too obliging this morning. It spent the whole time dashing across and around several fields, hunting on the wing without taking a breather whereby I might picture it at rest. Barn Owls seem to do that at times - whizz around in an almost random and unpredictable fashion rather than a logical steady and measured search of the available ground.  And then on the very next occasion you go the same bird will spend ages just sat around, moving occasionally from pillar to post and using the “watch, wait and pounce” method. 

I've never quite worked out why the techniques are so different and how they relate to prevailing weather conditions, prey availability, the degree of urgency to find food, or the layout and the irregularity of the habitat which owls hunt. 

Barn Owl 

I had a few hours in which to check Conder Green. A surprise awaited in the form of a pair of Avocets with four brand new chicks. This was something of a shock because the family were on the marsh, running through the tidal creek, and not on the pool where everyone expects to see this year’s brood. 

Avocets 

So the Avocets have shown the resident Redshanks and Oystercatchers how to beat the system in what apart from a few pairs of terns and gulls has been a poor year for productivity. With mostly casual records rather than detailed study it’s hard to explain the poor year. The very low water levels with increased disturbance and interference from gulls, crows, ground predators and grazing sheep could be factors. 

Otherwise, counts of waders and wildfowl included another pair of Avocet at the far end of the pool,  45 Redshank, 22 Oystercatcher, 5 Common Sandpiper, 1 Greenshank, 5 Little Egret, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Little Grebe and 2 Shelduck. At least two Shelduck have been present most of the season without any visible breeding success. Today gave a zero count of Tufted Duck, another species which so far, and  now so late, failed to breed this year. 

 Avocet

The season saw successful but limited breeding courtesy of both Black-headed Gull and Common Terns on the floating pontoon with both species now feeding good sized young. The fact that these successes came via a relatively safe construction that is surrounded by water was perhaps a deciding factor. The pontoon is now only partially floating due to the drop in water level and may soon become a muddy island. 

Common Tern 

Little Egret 

Small birds arrived in the form of 20 Sand Martin, 4 Reed Bunting 2 Whitethroat, 1 Reed Warbler and 1 Chiffchaff. 

Just the other day came news of a Tawny Owl we ringed in 2011. It was caught at 0710 hours during an early morning autumn ringing session of 28 October 2011 at Rawcliffe Moss. 

Tawny Owl GR26760 from 28/10/2011

Will and I aged it as an adult and fitted ring number GR26760. The morning was quite quite productive with 29 birds caught - 10 Chaffinch, 5 Reed Bunting, 4 Redwing, 4 Lesser Redpoll, 3 Goldfinch and one each Dunnock, Great Tit and the Tawny Owl. 

On 29th June 2019, over seven and a half years later the owl was found “Sick, Wounded, Unhealthy” in the same location and taken into care by a raptor rescue team. 

The typical lifespan of a Tawny Owl is five years, but an age of over 18 years has been recorded for a wild Tawny Owl, and of over 27 years for a captive bird. 

I hope our Tawny survived its mishap and old age but so far I have not been able to check out the latest news. Stay tuned for an update.

UPDATE.

The owl had an eye infection, is now doing well and will be released in the next few days.

Linking today to Anni's Birding and Eileens's Saturday Blog.

Almost Smartie Time

A week after our return from holiday and the necessary catch-ups completed it was time to check out a few local places. 

I started at Cockerham Quarry where the Sand Martin colony should be well underway. It was - many dozens of holes and a hive of activity as 140 or more Sand Martins flew back and forth to their excavations. The martins were still collecting dried grasses from the quarry floor for lining their chambers situated mostly at the very top of the quarry face. I saw no early fledglings, just adults. 

Sand Martin 

The quarry face is unstable and the entrance holes very high which puts it into the realms of a mountaineering expedition rather than a modest mist netting session. We plan another visit in early/mid June and when there are youngsters about and when the increase in overall numbers may present catching opportunities at lower levels. 

There were a few Sand Martins over the water at Conder Green, just a flap and a glide from the quarry. A few Swallows too, but sadly, no sign of Swifts. Each year sees a decline in Swallows and Swifts all around us but the success of the nearby Sand Martin colony has increased their numbers in the local area. 

Waders and wildfowl now consist of those either likely too or in the actual process of breeding, and counts of 10 Oystercatcher, 6 Redshank, 4 Avocet, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 10 Tufted Duck and 6 Shelduck. The 4 Little Egrets are not nesting but a pair or two of Common Tern seemed to be among the six individuals that I saw argue and display over the islands and nesting platforms. 

Shelduck - male 

 Shelduck - female

Avocets have at least two feeding methods. In clear water, they feed by sight by picking prey from the surface of water or mud. In poor visibility and when locating prey from within the sediments, they forage by touch, sweeping the long, up-curved bill from side to side through water or loose sediment to locate hidden prey. In deeper water they swim readily and buoyantly, up-ending like a duck to reach food below the surface. 

Avocet 

 Avocet

 Avocet

Passerines along the hedgerow were not many - 3 Goldfinch, plus singing singles of Common Whitethroat, Reed Bunting and Blackcap. Just today saw the first juvenile Goldfinches appear in my back garden, fluttering their wings and begging to be fed by accompanying adults. 

Along Jeremy Lane I found the only Reed Warbler of the morning, singing from the roadside ditch but with none in the usual spots in the dense reeds of Conder Green. As ever, it is not necessarily the species and/or numbers seen. It is those birds that are absent which provide clues about the ups but mostly downs of bird populations. 

Further exploration of the lanes produced good numbers of Sedge Warbler, twelve or more singing along the ditches of Moss Lane, Jeremy Lane and Cockersands. In contrast, Common Whitethroats were few and far between with just three songsters along the same circuit, although I did happen upon a Lesser Whitethroat. 

As the name suggests, this warbler is smaller than its cousin the Common Whitethroat. It has dark cheek feathers which contrast with the pale throat and can give it a 'masked' look. Lesser Whitethroats can be skulking and hard to see, often only noticed when they give their very distinctive harsh, rattling song. In contrast, the song of a Common Whitethroat is fast, scratchy and scolding, often delivered from a conspicuous song post for all to see and hear. Today it was a blossoming hawthorn bush.

Lesser Whitethroat 

Common Whitethroat 

Common Whitethroat 

I saw good numbers of Lapwings, Brown Hares and Stock Doves in the cut meadows near Cockersands where I chanced upon a young Lapwing. Just the right size for a "D" ring - the first and probably last of the year. 

 Brown Hare

Lapwing

Lapwing chick

Back soon with more news and views.

In the meantime, linking with Wild Bird Wednesday, Anni's Birding  and Eileen's Saturday Post.

Mayday, Mayday!

For the hills of Oakenclough one weather forecast predicted rain for Wednesday. The other promised 50/50 of showers and cloud. Both were sure of there being less than  5mph wind so we simply had to go for it. I met Andy at 0600 to a light drizzle that came and went for the next two hours. We had two hours simply because there were no birds to be had other than the 2 Lesser Redpoll and a single Willow Warbler that found the nets; the overnight 100% cloud and another easterly waft did us no favours. 

Willow Warbler

 Lesser Redpoll

Otherwise we heard and a few Siskins overhead and then a single Swallow that flew quickly north. This really has been a very unproductive spring up here where the temperature has been consistently lower than the coast some 10 miles downhill and where most migrant birds, perhaps with the exception of Swallows, appeared to arrive on time. 

This was probably our last post-winter/spring session here at Oakenclough with just 154 captures. Leading the tallies were respectable totals of 33 Lesser Redpoll, 28 Goldfinch, 20 Siskin and 12 Chaffinch. Much more disappointing were just 10 Goldcrest, 6 Willow Warbler, 5 Blackcap and 2 Chiffchaff for the spring period that was dominated by cold easterly winds. Just one of those Willow Warblers was a female, suggesting that the females are still on their way here.

As I motored down to sea level the distant coast looked much clearer and a little inviting so I called into Conder Green for a look. 

Waders are pretty numerous there now that there is exposed mud and lots of places for nests. I counted 6 Avocets as three pairs, one pair of Little Ringed Plover, 22 Oystercatcher, 14 Redshank, 12 Black-tailed Godwit , 1 Greenshank, 2 Little Egret and 1 Grey Heron. While both Black-tailed Godwit and Greenshank are migrants, the Redshanks and Oystercatchers are pretty much paired for breeding. 

Little Ringed Plover  

Eurasian Avocet

At least one pair of Shelduck are about to breed as I watched a male vigorously chase a second male off a prime spot from the island habitat. Likewise the Tufted Ducks are mostly paired up with 14 counted. 

Shelduck 

As I stood at the viewing screen a Blackcap sang in my left ear with both Dunnock and Robin present. Further along the coastal path I found Common Whitethroat and a lone Willow Warbler, but very few Swallows or House Martins on the move. 

We are due cold northerlies this weekend. Luckily I will be somewhere slightly warmer by Friday lunchtime.

Blown Away

The morning proved mostly frustrating. I’d met up with Andy again at Oakenclough on a forecast of an 8 mph easterly wind that would drop during the morning until by 3pm it would be no more than 5 mph. Another Fake Forecast from the Brussels Broadcasting Corporation! 

From a very cool and steady 10 mph the wind actually increased to something like a bitterly cold 20 mph. For a while we sat in the car with the heater at full blast and the heated seats switched to “on” just to keep warm as the nets produced nothing. I tell a lie, a single Lesser Redpoll was all we had to show for our labours and the 0630 start. We’ll save our efforts for another day soon. 

There came recompense in the form of yet more news of the Lesser Redpolls we ring here at Oakenclough . A juvenile male number S800767 ringed here during autumn migration time on 26 September 2017 was later recaptured by other ringers.  The redpoll, by now an adult male, was caught again on 25 March 2019 at a garden centre near Kingswinford, West Midlands.  Almost certainly it was migrating north, the likely destination Scotland, our Oakenclough site a stop-over.   

S800767 probably spent the winters of both 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 many miles south of the West Midlands, perhaps near the south coast of England, or in a region of France or Belgium.  

Lesser Redpoll

Lesser Redpoll - Kingswinford to Oakenclough

Because we finished early this morning I took a detour home via Garstang, Cockerham and then Pilling. 

Although pretty bare vegetation wise the now enhanced Condor Green was stuffed full of Oystercatchers and to a lesser extent Redshanks, both looking for territory in which to breed. I counted 58 Oystercatchers, 18 Redshanks and 2 Avocets, many already paired up, and from the Oystercatchers more than a few “piping parties”. 

There have been a number of Avocets passing through here recently but as far as I have seen none yet on territory – not a bad thing for a bird whose eye-catching looks belie an aggressive nature. 

Avocet 

There were still 8 Teal, 2 pairs of Tufted Duck, 3 pairs of Shelduck, 10 Greylag and a pair of Canada Goose. 

At our ringing site for Sand Martins at Cockerham I counted 60+ martins around last year's holes but it is far too early to disturb them; best for now to let the birds settle in and repair/excavate their new homes for 2019.

Sand Martin colony    

At Braides Farm - a lone Wheatear, 40+ Golden Plover in the grassy field and the pair of Pied Wagtails around the buildings where a Starling examined a nesting cavity. 

Wheatear 

Pied Wagtail 

Starling 

At Lane Ends Pilling I noted 4 Little Egret, the resident Little Grebes, a party of 5 Wheatears close together on the marsh. In the trees, song from 2 Chiffchaff and a single Willow Warbler. 

At Damside a pair of Kestrels is in residence, and seen from the gateway, another Wheatear along the fence line that heads to the marsh.

The weather next week suggests more moderate to strong easterlies, not the best wind direction to help returning migrants or one that might help our ringing.  But as ever our focus will be on the weather forecasts to find those windows of opportunity for birds, birders and ringers alike.

Linking this post to World Bird Wednesday and Anni's Texas Birding.

Three Of A Kind

We had a drop of rain on Friday; the first here for several weeks, just a few showers that barely wet our parched, straw coloured lawn and briefly dampened the roof tiles. By Saturday morning we were back to sun and blue skies but I rather hoped that the scattered showers had produced a different bird or two as the birding of late has been rather predictable.

So I hit Micawber Road at the usual unearthly hour in the hope that something might turn up.  Naturally I headed for Conder Green, one of the most productive of local birding sites and where a couple of extra places are but a stone’s throw away to make for an often satisfying circuit.

It was good to see up to 20 Swifts hawking insects over the surrounding hedgerows this morning. That’s probably as good a count as anyone has had this year.

July sees the first Kingfishers returning to the pool. They breed close by along the canal or the associated River Conder. “River” is something of a misnomer since the waterway resembles the final throes of a babbling brook rather than a mighty river. I was more than pleased to see three Kingfishers today, a family group that stuck close together but stayed distant from the camera. Sorry for the poor images. Today wasn't the most productive in the picture stakes but you get the idea.

Kingfisher 

Kingfisher 

Kingfisher and Common Tern

Kingfishers

Like many other species, Kingfisher families stay together for a week or two after the youngsters fledge so that the inexperienced birds learn from the parents about growing up and how, where & when to feed. It’s rather like a human family except that kids and teenagers are very slow to learn, always think they know best, and if they ever leave home will likely be back.

The single pair of Avocets still have three good sized chicks ably looked after by their aggressive parents. In turn I watched both adults chase off a Grey Heron, a Little Egret and any number of Redshanks and Oystercatchers.

Avocet 

Grey Heron 

Other waders noted as 120 Redshank, 18 Oystercatcher, 15 Lapwing, 4 Common Sandpiper, 4 Curlew, 2 Snipe, 2 Greenshank. Smaller stuff – 6 Pied Wagtail, 2 Blackcap, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Whitethroat and 2 Reed Warbler.

Greenshank 

Pied Wagtail 

Six Common Terns still around as they vied with the Kingfishers for the prime launch pad into the water below. Three Little Grebes on the water and now just 8 Tufted Duck and another mostly unproductive year for the persistent tufties.

Common Tern

There's still a pair of Common Terns hanging around Glasson Dock and here’s where I found a flock of 18/20 Goldfinches and a healthy number of House Martin nests right in the village centre. The martins fly down towards the dock gates for their building materials and where the tidal flow leaves exposed mud in this driest of summers.

Common Tern

House Martin

I called into Gulf Lane where a small party of 6/8 Linnets plus 2 Whitethroats suggested it will soon be time to cut that ride for project Linnet.

That’s for another, cooler day.

Linking today to World Bird Wednesday and Anni's Birding Blog.

Out At Last

What with half-term, car service & MOT and pretty poor weather, I’d been out of birding action for a week. 

Thursday morning and as is often the case I wasn’t sure where to go on my local patch while allowing sufficient time to spend at each. There’s nothing more annoying than birding at one place and seeing not very much to then hear later of birds seen in the same spot soon after. It’s a form of Sod’s Law that applies to birders and probably other obsessives. 

Through Pilling village was the first Chiffchaff singing from an annual location but as I drove past I spotted a hunting Barn Owl ahead. The owl was on a fast, large circuit that took it over fields, behind tall hedgerows and through farmyards so I quickly lost sight. 

Barn Owl 

I drove up to Conder Pool, the first time for a couple of weeks. Very evident here was that the water level here is tremendously high after the autumn and winter rains with very little in way of margins for waders. I counted 8 Shelduck, 6 Tufted Duck, 22 Teal, 2 Little Egret, 1 Grey Heron and a good number of Mute Swans. There was a single Kestrel knocking around. Waders consisted of 2 Avocet and 8 Oystercatchers. 

Two Avocets have taken up territory on one of the far islands in exactly the same spot as last year. 

Avocet 

Having bred successfully both adults and offspring Avocets are faithful to a site in subsequent years. And with an average life span of 10-15 years there’s a more than a reasonable chance that either or even both of these birds were here last year. But more’s the pity as Avocets are not the friendliest towards other species. 

It’s not like me to be controversial but I'm far from certain we should be encouraging too many Avocets on Conder Pool, a piece of real estate that for many years was home to more common species. I would much rather see several pairs of species that co-exist rather than pairs of aggressive Avocets that allow no other birds on “their” patch. 

Surely several pairs of declining Redshank, Lapwing, Oystercatcher and maybe one or two Little Ringed Plover would be preferable? There now, naughty me, I've gone and upset the whole of the RSPB and the band of birders who judge a species by rarity value rather than taking a holistic view. 

A tour of the Jeremy Lane and Cockersands found a good selection of species but little in the way of migrants. Even the many hares I saw appeared lethargic, mainly sitting around and uninterested in the fact that it was April 12th and their mating season. 

Brown Hare 

There was a huge Peregrine hunting the marsh where it made several passes but caught nothing. Lapwings are mostly all paired up now with much dashing display, frantic calling and chasing off the crows so I suspect some are on eggs. Not so the Golden Plover, wintering birds only with a loose flock of 180+ birds, but many resplendent in their black& gold summer plumage. It is mostly impossible to get close to this species and as I've mentioned here before, to the UK’s eternal shame that this species is allowed to be shot by hunters. 

Golden Plover 

On the fields here – 40+ off passage Meadow Pipits searching the soggy fields, 8-10 Skylark and 20+ Linnet still flocking. 30+ Sand Martins at our ringing quarry looks promising and where with luck we’ll begin ringing after the first fledglings are on the wing. 

Meadow Pipit 

I was out birding all morning but still didn't see or hear many migrants. A handful of Swallows and two singing Chiffchaffs was the sum total of my summer birds. 

We’re promised warmer weather soon. Not soon enough where migration so far has consisted of a small flurry of early birds while everyone waits for the big fall that hardly ever takes place. 

Saturday looks promising for ringing with a light southerly of 5 mph and no rain. Believe it when we see it!

Linking today to Eileen's Blog.

Martin Morning

2016 was a year without ringing at the Cockerham Sand Martin colony because the martins’ nest holes were too high up the quarry face for us to catch them. It’s the same this year with the birds mostly out of reach of the mist nets. But with so many being around Andy and I decided we’d experiment with catching some down at ground level today. 

We met up at 0700 and set to with a single mist net in the base of the quarry where the martins had been feeding and flying through on their way to and from the quarry face. We had only partial success with a catch of 9 birds, 4 adults and 5 fresh juveniles. 

We reckoned on something like 200 individuals milling around the colony and upwards of 60 occupied nest holes, even though counting those is subject to interpretation. 

Sand Martin

There are Sand Martins in my picture below taken from 50 yards or more; a closer approach sees the martins into the air en masse. For readers who have never witnessed a Sand Martin colony the photo which gives some idea of the density of holes and nests, bearing in mind that not every hole is occupied. 

Sand Martin colony

Sand Martins - Nabu of Germany

Also on site - 1 Grey Heron, 4 Oystercatcher, 1 Kestrel. 

We’ll have another go at the “smarties” in a week or so when the weather permits. 

Before I met up with Andy I’d spent an hour a mile away at Conder Green to catch up with recent changes. The Avocets are down to two pairs now and I saw only one youngster. It’s tempting to think that the adults spend so much time chasing off other birds that they somehow or other neglect their own young. 

There are still at least 4 pairs of Oystercatchers but only one of those pair with 2 well grown young as other adults sit it out. Otherwise, 8 now summering Black-tailed Godwits, 6 Tufted Duck, 15 Redshank, 6 Shelduck, 2 Common Tern, 1 Common Sandpiper and 1 Little Egret. 

Common Tern

In the passerine department - 3 Reed Warbler, 2 Reed Bunting 2 Whitethroat and 2 Pied Wagtail. And in “miscellaneous” – 1 Stock Dove, 4 Swift, 4 Swallow, 12 House Martin.

Linking today to Anni's Birding.