End Of The Road

We're near the end of our Linnet winter. To some, it may seem odd that wintering flocks are breaking up during the cold days of early March, but that's how it is just now. Spring starts early in the world of birds. About the same time as daffodils and crocuses poke their heads through the winter frosts. 

Daffodils

At Gulf Lane this morning the once tight Linnet flock is now down to twenty or so individuals where the gathering is loose and fluid. There are males in song too, a sure sign that spring has replaced winter and when a Linnets' thoughts turn to priorities anew. 

With the early and then late lockdowns, plus the uncooperative weather of 2020 and early 2021 our catch of birds here for the winter period stands at 78 Linnet, 3 Reed Bunting, 2 Stonechat,1 Skylark and 1 Chaffinch. Those numbers include our somewhat poor showing this morning of just 4 birds ringed – 3 Linnets and 1 Reed Bunting. 

But better still, our Project Linnet total now sees 819 Linnets ringed over the last five winters commencing in October 2016. We also have assurances from Richard the farmer that his field will soon be drilled ready for the next crop in time for our winter of ringing in 2021/22. 

This morning began with a local Barn Owl, a fly past only, but a welcome sight while preparing the catching area.  

Barn Owl

 

Our task may sound easy. Hide in a a car and drop a net over a few dozy birds. A piece of cake you might say. Well no, it's a little more complicated than it may appear. 

For starters those Linnets are hot wired for an instant take off should danger threaten. After all, they spend half their tiny lives on the lookout for Sparrowhawks and Merlins, the two most deadly predators of small birds. And then there's the occasional opportunist Kestrel that passes above their head or the Magpie or Carrion Crow looking for an easy meal of Linnet chicks. Or the likelihood that their nest or night time roost may be discovered by night raiders like owls, stoats or weasels. 

A couple of bleary eyed ringers trying to literally catch them out is just another hazard of a Linnets' existence. If only they knew that we are actually trying to help? 

With so few Linnets around this week we'd already decided that we would go for small numbers rather than wait for a larger flock that would probably not materialise. And so it was, with just 2 adult male Linnets, a first year female Linnet and an adult Reed Bunting to show for our efforts. 

Reed Bunting 

Linnet

Linnet

Other birds this morning included a Kestrel, 2 Little Egret, 3 Reed Bunting, 4 Skylark, Barn Owl, 3 Stock Dove. 

Kestrel

Come back soon for more news, views and photos. 

Linking on Saturday to Anni in Texas and Eileen's Saturday Blogspot.

Stay Alert Birding

There’s good news. Ringers in England may go ringing again subject to following the constraints which apply to the public as a whole. It’s bad luck for ringers who live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, whose devolved governments have taken a tougher line on releasing folk from house arrest. 

Andy tells me that via cameras in each box, the Kestrels of 2019 have five eggs while the Barn Owls are in situ but yet to lay any eggs. Mid-June should see more progress with both species and a then a spot of ringing when the youngsters are big enough. 

Barn Owl 2019

 Kestrels 2019

I was due to meet Andy later for a foray to a private site that has ringing possibilities. But first came a trip to Conder Green with the heated seat switched firmly “on” and the cabin heater to “max” when the dash said “-3°C” and I saw the layer of ice on the windscreen. 

A quick check of Conder Green’s pool and creeks revealed a few changes but nothing extraordinary. Both Avocet pairs appeared to be on eggs, one of the females is shown in the picture below sitting in her depression in the ground while her mate feeds closely by. There were still two pairs of Common Tern finding food here on the pool or out on the near estuary and where the tiny fish soon become presents to sitting a mate. 

Avocet 

 Avocet

Common Tern

A pair of Great Crested Grebe put in a brief appearance before they flew off in the direction of Glasson Dock where the species breeds in most years dependent upon disturbance and suitable water levels. A pair of Canada Goose have success by way of 4 tiny goslings. 

In the creek Godwits continue to fluctuate with today 44 Bar-tailed Godwit and 4 Black-tailed Godwit. There was a single Greenshank and a lone Dunlin. Four Swift was my highest count of the year so far on this the fourteenth of May. 

That completed the lightning visit to Conder Green because I was due to meet Andy at a local farm. The farmer, let’s call him Tom, Dick or Harry, emailed last week to ask if I would spend time on his little piece of heaven and make an inventory of the birds seen so as to help with his green credentials. “No more than two people”, he stressed. 

 “OK Boss”, I replied. 

 “I will take a look once lockdown is ended.” 

Now by mid-May we hoped to find active Skylark nests on his land and better still, ring a few youngsters before the season ends. Initially, and somewhat rarer than finding Skylarks were 2 pairs of Corn Bunting. 

It was pretty hard work as the males were very mobile around a number of song posts both fence and bush. It’s likely that females were sat on eggs or even tiny young but Corn Bunting nests are notoriously difficult to locate. It’s probably 20 years ago that I last ringed nestling Corn Buntings so it would be nice to reacquaint with them when they have become so very scarce. 

Corn Bunting 

Corn Bunting 

Skylarks were fairly thin on the ground with at least 5 singing but little sign of activity at ground or fence post level. We’ll take another look soon when there may be more action if the larks are late or failed on first attempts. 

There’s a small copse and a few nice stands of phragmites reed where we found 6 singing Reed Warbler, 4 singing Reed Bunting and 2 Sedge Warbler. In the copse that surrounds a tiny pool we discovered Little Grebe, Grey Heron, 4 Tufted Duck, an overhead Buzzard and a patrolling Kestrel. 

Reed Warbler 

Sedge Warbler

Reed Bunting

We were surprised by a small flock of Linnets that numbered 12-15, a little late in spring for Linnets to be in company rather than paired up for breeding. In other areas we found 3 Pied Wagtail, 3 Little Egret, 4 Tufted Duck and 8 Stock Dove. While not spectacular, and local birding rarely is, we found a good variety of birds and I guess more visits are on the card for the coming weeks. 

Back home in the garden there are Greenfinches feeding chicks. Trouble is, the nest is high in a conifer where I would need a ladder and sky hooks to reach.  Probably better to stay safe at ground level?  

Back soon with more from Another Bird Blog where the messages remain much the same – Enjoy All Birds, Stay Alert, Stay Safe, and Control Your Urge to Watch the BBC, C4, ITV or Sky. 

You know it makes sense.

Linking this post to Viewing Nature with Eileen and Anni in Texas.

At A Distance

An Oakenclough winter at 200 metres is often harsh where few but the hardiest birds stay over. Garden bird feeders hold the usual suspects but otherwise the landscape can be bare and silent until the first signs of spring. 

As short days shift to long and temperatures slowly climb the Pennine Hills provide a visible and established route north for migratory birds. In mid-March, and if conditions are helpful, a ringing session can often produce birds newly arrived from the distant English Channel, France, Spain or North Africa. 

I set off for the 15 mile drive up to Oakenclough for the 0630 appointment. There was light soon after 6 o’clock, bright enough even to see 3 Barn Owls, a pair at one farm, a single at another; and even a roadside Buzzard that flew as soon as the car slowed.  

Not the best picture, but there was no time to linger. 

Barn Owl 

I had to meet Andy at 0630 and set up the ringing station. Andy had been on Monday and caught the first Lesser Redpolls and Meadow Pipits of the season but neither a Goldcrest nor a Chiffchaff, the other species considered as omens of spring. 

The morning was slow at first, not helped by the dull sky and minus degrees that little resembled the forecast of sunshine. However as soon as sun broke through the clouds, our catching rate increased. 

We finished the morning with 22 birds of 9 species - 6 Lesser Redpoll, 5 Goldfinch, 3 Chaffinch, 2 Meadow Pipit, 2 Wren, and one each of Goldcrest, Blue Tit, Coal Tit and Chiffchaff. 

March is one the best months to see older (but not necessarily adult) birds in immaculate plumage. Soon the rigours of nesting, breeding and feeding will take a toll on their feather tracts. 

Lesser Redpoll 

Chiffchaff 

Chaffinch

Lesser Redpoll 

Goldfinch 

Goldcrest

Lesser Redpoll 

Meadow Pipit 

Guys and gals, tread with care this week and also for the foreseeable future. “Social distance” is the buzz phrase for birders too. Even if you have no symptoms, others might. Don’t all head for the same target bird and then stand around nattering in close circles as you normally do; and don’t even think of sharing telescopes and Mars Bars. 

Instead, go bird watching alone, and if you crave company, limit your bird buddy to someone with clean hands and no coughs, sneezes or sniffles. 

Keep your birding distance but also your sense of proportion and natural optimism. Public Health England estimates that on average, in a good year, bog standard flu kills 17,000 people, while the new virus has mild symptoms for most people. "But it may be more severe for elderly ringers."

Back Soon. I hope.

Linking today to Eileen's Blog and Anni's Birding.

What’s Birding?

Birding? What’s that? I’d done virtually none during Fearsome February when all we had was rain, more rain and constant strong winds. 

Today I set off over the moss into the rising sun, past the farmer’s still steaming muck heaps and on the way north for a spot of birding.  

Rawcliffe Moss 

Good thing I stopped for a picture because yards away and along the fence line was the now almost obligatory morning owl. The Barn Owl was looking for breakfast while I had to shoot at ISO1600. 

Barn Owl 

A little later about a mile away I stopped to witness a mixed flock of Redwings and Fieldfares feeding in a still wet field. As the car stopped both species flew to the nearest hedgerow and mostly out of sight.  Fieldfares and Redwings are on their way north now; it will be a faster trip than their leisurely autumn migration. 

Fieldfare 

A single Yellowhammer called out from overhead wires. I hope he finds a mate soon because there aren’t too many Yellowhammers around nowadays. 

Yellowhammer 

By the time I arrived at Gulf Lane there was enough light to see and count the arriving Linnets at 45 and to note a single Blackbird and a male Reed Bunting in the bramble bushes. About 20 Linnets soon fed on our recent seed so I topped up with a fresh half bucket and left the birds alone. At the moment Saturday looks marginal for another ringing session but a series of Internet weather forecasts will record countless hits tonight.  

The whole of February with its horrendous weather saw no visits from me to Conder Green. By all accounts, due to continuous winds and record water levels, any birding here was “pretty grim" with very few birds on view. 

Things had definitely picked up today with hints of spring territories and much better numbers of birds on the water and surrounding areas. On the far island I counted over 120 Black-headed Gulls and 2 Mediterranean Gulls. 

Mediterranean Gull 

I have a feeling that the Black-headed Gulls will begin to dominate Conder Pool and that the year will see a good number of breeding pairs; perhaps to the detriment of other species? More so if the boisterous Greylags also stay around. We’ll soon see. 

Black-headed Gull 

Water birds and waders: 4 Shelduck, 30 Greylag 14 Tufted Duck, 42 Teal, 22 Wigeon, 18 Oystercatcher, 8 Redshank, 8 Curlew, 5 Black-tailed Godwit. Bringing up the rear: 2 Little Egret, 1 Grey Heron and 1 Little Grebe. 

At the far island a Cormorant flew in, a very striking individual with an all-encompassing white head. The Cormorant had a very distinctive appearance, a sign of full breeding plumage and imminent departure. The literature states that such striking birds may be from the Continent or South East England but that it’s difficult to assign one to either of the two races Phalacrorax carbo carbo or Phalacrorax carbo sinensis. 

Cormorant 

Cormorant - Britain's Birds 

That was me done for the morning. 

The afternoon had been assigned to making two trays of onion bhajis. 

Onion Bhajis

Let me know if you need a good recipe.  Or see any good birds.

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

Highs And Lows

The morning ended on a high note following a rather disappointing ringing session. On the drive back home from Oakenclough via Garstang Town and Eagland Hill, I spotted a day-hunting Barn Owl. 

Barn Owl 

Barn Owl

Barn Owl 

Barn Owl 

Barn Owl

On Wednesday evening a check online told me that our last visit to Oakenclough was 10 November 2019, almost three months ago. At 700 feet above sea level Oakenclough can be desolate in winter, even more so given the wet and wind that continually overwhelmed plans to return. Only now, part way through February 2020 did the weather relent enough to allow a return to this our most productive of ringing sites. 

The ringing database DemOn showed that 2019 produced 867 captures at Oakenclough. Willow Warbler, Blue Tit and Redwing were the most ringed species at 85, 85 and 84 respectively, these three followed by 82 Goldcrest, 78 Meadow Pit and 70 Lesser Redpoll. Not many complaints there other than an unprecedented lack of Siskins (just 20) and far too many Blue Tits, a by-catch species that gives little return. 

As an early year exploratory visit we rather hoped that Lesser Repoll, Siskin and Goldcrest might be on the cards this morning but apart from a single Goldcrest, there was little evidence of early spring migration. We caught just 12 birds - 4 Blue Tit, 2 Chaffinch and singles of Dunnock, Coal Tit, Goldcrest, Wren , Blackbird and Great Tit. 

Goldcrest 

Chaffinch

Dunnock 

Chaffinch

Never mind. We’ll try again after Storm Ciara has passed. 

“A Met Office yellow warning about Storm Ciara has been brought forward to midday on Saturday. It is set to bring a deep low pressure with strong and possibly damaging winds, with widespread travel disruption expected.  Coastal areas may be affected by large waves and potential flooding. 

Met Office 

The warning is in place until midnight on Sunday. The forecast is of gusts between 50-60 mph across inland areas that could reach speeds of 70 mph and possibly 80 mph in exposed hills and coasts.” 

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

Having A Barney

It had been months since I’d seen a Barn Owl after something of a bonanza in 2019 when almost every outing had produced one. So what could be better than to start Saturday morning with a Barn Owl and a good one at that? 

A drive over Stalmine Moss on Saturday morning in the half-light of 0730 saw the owl as almost the earliest bird and the first to make me stop and then lift the camera. It was snap decision time - the light was poor. I clicked on F7.1 at ISO 1000 and crossed fingers. A few snaps and the owl detonated off the tree stump and out of sight. So it goes, all of fifteen seconds with the ghostly apparition. Barn Owls are not there for our human ephemeral delights but to simply grab a meal without worrying how long their pose lasts. 

Barn Owl 

Barn Owl

That’s all very well but how does one follow a splendid creature like a Barn Owl? Well how about a major rarity, a Corn Bunting? There were two along Union Lane that flew from a straggly bush and into the rough field beyond and where I struggled to see them again. It’s a location I have seen Corn Buntings in the past and where a couple of years ago one sang from the same roadside post for a week or two. 

Corn Bunting

Corn Bunting 

Recent WhatsApp forums report more Corn Buntings, up to 100, not far away at Eagland Hill in recent weeks. These may be addition to these two on Saturday plus the five to ten I’ve seen on Rawcliffe Moss in the last ten days or so. 

It's likely that all of these Corn Buntings are of the same ilk, ones that at times congregate together at scattered feeding sites or form overnight roosts. This is very much a mystery invasion because no one knows where these Corn Buntings come from. They have not returned as a precursor to the breeding season but more a visitor who arrives in deepest winter and then departs very soon after. 

As discussed a number of times on Another Bird Blog, the Corn Bunting is more or less extinct as breeding species in this flat Fylde of Lancashire. For a number of years now it is a winter visitor only. 

As a species the Corn Buntings is known to be home loving with its movements and migration on a small scale. However both the 1998-91 Atlas and the Winter Atlas suggest that some breeding areas are abandoned in winter as birds move to coastal areas. My own theory is that the Corn Buntings we see in winter are part of the fragmented population of the most northerly and eastern parts of the UK, whereby some individuals move west during the coldest part of the year. 

The Bird Atlas of 2007-2011 shows the English population of Corn Buntings consists of small scattered populations along the South Coast from Dorset to Cambridgeshire and then Kent to Suffolk, plus arable farmland on the East coast from Norfolk and up towards Durham. Almost certainly, the larger population of England has declined again since 2011, just as in the Fylde. 

Meanwhile, the Corn Bunting is now probably extinct in Ireland and almost so in Scotland where a tiny relic population clings on in the Uists of the Hebrides. 

If only we could ring some of these winter birds, both BTO ring and colour ring, a relatively easy way of learning more about a species; unfortunately Corn Buntings are notoriously difficult to catch in both the breeding season and the winter during times of bare cover. A search of BTO data reveals the number of Corn Buntings ringed in recent years as:

34 in 2014 

90 in 2015 

36 in 2016 

52 in 2017 

56 in 2018 

These figures include nestlings ringed, just 53 for the five years above 

Corn Bunting 

In other words, a pretty poor data set from which to work to discover just what is happening to our Corn Buntings. I fear we may be past the point of no return for this most iconic species but I hope not. 

I managed to resist the lure of Eagland Hill on Saturday, the now long lost Purple Heron, the subject of millions of digital images. 

Purple Heron 

It seems the local farming community are fed up of countless tickers parking in their single track passing places. One such farmer, sick of the daily stream of ne'er-do-wells has decided to cut his field of heron-friendly long grass in mid-January. It’s a task normally left for the warmer, dryer days of March. But now in an effort to kill two birds with one stone, he fettled the field so as to encourage the heron to find another source of animal matter many miles away. That job might at the same time inspire selfish and inconsiderate tickers to follow suit.  Perhaps go birding instead? 

I think Plan B may be to shoot the heron and return Eagle Land to rural peace and quiet of Old Lancashire where eagles, kites, harriers and buzzards soared all day and the sheep knew the rules.

Sheep at Eagland Hill 

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