A Bad Case Of Wind

Storm Dudley is here, closely followed by Storm Eunice, the two courtesy of westerly gales  from the Atlantic Ocean. Thank you America, but don't send us any more, we have  plenty of wind generation from our UK politicians. 

Oh how we laughed when in Wales and at the first puffs of Dudley, a 2 megawatt 300 ft wind turbine fell over like a fading Welsh daffodil.   A two megawatt windmill is made of 260 tons of steel that require 300 tons of coking coal, all mined, transported and produced by hydrocarbons. A windmill could spin (but only on windy days) until it falls apart and not generate as much energy as that invested in building it. Some things never add up do they? 

Windless Turbines

Regulars will by now have guessed that bird ringing news is non-existent, waiting as I am for the weather to subside and for APHA/DEFRA to pull fingers from their collective backsides and allow us bird ringers to collect urgently needed data.  

There's little to report from this week's grey affairs. A trip with pal Andy to a new Linnet site down South and out of the 10Km zone centred on Pilling produced a whacking count of 500/600 Linnets and permission from the farmer to catch said birds whenever we liked. We explained that time is of the essence and that as early as 1st March many Linnets will be heading back from whence they came.  Andy followed up a day or two later by cutting rides through the seed plot for the day that warming sun-spots might allow us a visit. 

The day we visited there was a Kestrel targeting the field, perhaps not entirely for the Linnets which move pretty fast at the sight of any raptor. More likely is that the Kestrel sat motionless in the tree was on the lookout for mice and voles. 

Kestrel

Farmer P showed us the Barn Owl's barn and then pointed us in the further direction of low buildings where Swallows and even Little Owls return year after year. 

Barn Owl

Little Owl

Mr P shared our view that the cold spring of 2021 had resulted in less Swallows than normal but agreed that Spring 2022 could hardly be colder and more unsuitable for insect eating Swallows than the last.  

     

Swallows

This is a traditional farmyard with oily rags and rusty tractors where the daily traffic of cattle plus gallons of now standing rainwater creates an insect rich sludgy mess irresistible to wagtails.  Two or three Pied Wagtails and a single Grey Wagtail flitted around the yard, not minding our close proximity when so much food was on offer. 

Pied Wagtail

Tractor

A winter farm hereabouts pretty much guarantees Pied Wagtails will be around with the occasional bonus of a Grey Wagtail. As an early breeding species the Grey Wagtail will likely head off in March whereas Pied Wagtails will nest on the farm in more than one or two pairs.    

Grey Wagtail

Even now I’m reading of bird watchers, probably new to the game, who confuse Grey Wagtail with Yellow Wagtail. But while Grey Wagtails are present all year round in the UK, Yellow Wagtails spend the winter in deep Africa and not the cold wet windy days of Lancashire.   

There's a reminder here here of the differences in the two species. 

Back soon we hope. Stay tuned.

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

A Linnet Record But No Ringing

Months had passed since my last Barn Owl; maybe I’m not getting out enough or hitting the wrong spots? The lack of sightings was rectified on Friday by an encounter out Stalmine way as I drove across the elevated moss road towards Out Rawcliffe and a farm I know. 

Barn Owl 

 

There was some noise and activity from small birds, Tree Sparrows and Chaffinches, and a Blackbird alarm call as a Sparrowhawk shot through the jumble of buildings and out the other side. It’s impossible not to admire how Sparrowhawks hunt by the element of surprise, taking small birds in an instant with their gangling legs and razor sharp talons. During the catching and ringing of a Sparrowhawk it’s essential to know how quickly the hawk can pierce fingers. 

Sparrowhawk

 

Although the weather has been mainly wet and cold we’ve had very few frosts so it’s good to see the sheep bang on cue with their first lambs, the one below just a day or two old. 

Spring Lamb

I drove towards Pilling and Cockerham to mainly check out the set-aside ringing station that’s out of action for ringing purposes but not for additional feeding. There are still lots of birds and even an increase in the usual pack of Linnets today with three separate flocks totalling in excess of 450, a record count for this winter. I scattered another bucketful of seed in the net rides and left the birds to pick the winners.  

There has been snow in the hills not far away and also in Scotland, both of which provide numbers of our wintering Linnets here on the relatively warmer Gulf-streamed coast. If only we could have ringed a more Linnets in the last two months; for sure many will be back to Scotland very soon. 

I noted the usual Kestrel, 20 or more Chaffinches, Greenfinches and also a couple of fence hopping Meadow Pipits. Meadow Pipits have been absent of late but this too is a species subject to moving south and west during colder weather. In just three to four weeks the longer distance migrants will pass through as they head back to the uplands and their breeding areas. 

Kestrel

Meadow Pipit

I stopped to chat to a couple of wildfowlers, the chaps incredulous that our ringing is still not allowed while their own pastime is unaffected by the same 10km control zone. One told of an hour or more before seeing on the marsh a Shelduck in distress that he could have reached but did not want to handle for fear of Avian Flu.  Neither would he be allowed to put the duck out of its possible misery. He'd also seen a Marsh Harrier, possibly two, out on Pilling Marsh. 

I have no problem with wildfowlers and their pastime. Wildfowling is an ancient feature of the countryside, one that arose long before the relatively modern sports of bird watching or twitching. Almost without exception I find wildfowlers are knowledgeable about birds simply because many are involved in active habitat conservation and improvement. 

As regular readers will know from this blog and other reading, there is a real distinction between “wildfowlers” and “shooters”. My opposition to the rearing of millions of wildfowl and game birds for driven shoots and its effect on the countryside features here on a regular basis; some might say too often! 

I drove up to Cockerham and a pootle around the lanes where the well scattered winter swans remain the major attraction pending springtime. Twelve Bewick’s Swans, over 300 Whooper Swans and uncounted Mutes are still impressive even though after spending four months in the same fields they keep a distance from birders in cars and birders out of cars. 

Whoopers and Mute

 

I stopped at Gulf Lane and the other seed plot - another 80+ Linnets. Blimey! 

And I am still waiting for a reply to the request for an exemption to local restrictions so as to catch and ring a Red-listed, declining species of farmland bird.

Linking today with Eileen's Blogspot and Anni in Texas.

 N

Reasons To Be Cheerful

Yay. We’ve gone beyond the shortest day with many reasons to be cheerful. From now on each and every morning and evening will see increased daylight as temperatures climb and winds subside. Birds will sing and flowers bloom. We will say goodbye to news & media doomsters and their visions of apocalypse around every corner. The viruses avian and human will fade into distant memory. My gold shares will rocket as crypto crashes, again.

Happy 2022 everyone. May all your days be bird filled.

Here’s a post I knocked up earlier while waiting for the rain to stop.

It was quite recently and not for the first time that a reader in the US thought that a UK Coal Tit was one and the same species as the North American Black-capped Chickadee. Their  respective scientific names are Periparus ater and Poecile atricapillus, two related species of the same bird family known in the US as "chickadees" and in the UK as "tits". The two species are remarkably similar but where similarities occur in other species of animal or bird, confusion is avoided by understanding and/or investigating the respective scientific or Latin names.

Black-capped Chickadee

Coal Tit

For many birdwatchers the use of scientific names is boring or inconsequential, at best a riddle and of interest only to ornithologists who speak Latin. But as well as a means of allowing people throughout the world to communicate unambiguously about birds, the name give an insight into the origins of the scientific nomenclature and hence the bird itself. Here are some examples and a few pictures from Another Bird Blog archives.

There’s a question that often crops up on TV quizzes, one designed to trap the unwary. Which bird has the Latin name Puffinus puffinus? The correct but perhaps perplexing answer is of course Manx Shearwater. In days gone by the word “puffin” was a synonym for a shearwater and not the unrelated seabird Atlantic Puffin, hence it was the shearwater and not the puffin which earned the Latin title of Puffinus puffinus. 

The “manx” refers to the species’ former abundance on the Calf of Man a small island lying to the south of the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, while "shearwater” describes the birds’ mode of flight which skims or shears the water. 

Manx Shearwater - Puffinus puffinus

The scientific/Latin name for Wigeon is Anas penelope. I’m somewhat disappointed that the Anas part of the name for such a creature should simply mean duck-duck. It’s from the Latin anas and the Greek respectively, a duck that in Greek mythology was reputed to have rescued Penelope when she was thrown into the sea. 

Eurasian Wigeon - Anas penelope

Would anyone who has slept under a duck down duvet that contains feathers plucked from an Eider duck Somateria mollissima disagree with the Latin meaning “very soft woolly body”? 

Eider -  Somateria mollissima

Now for an easy one, Barn Owl. Tyto alba simply means white owl. I think we can all agree on that one for the often ghostly apparition that will sometimes allow a photograph or two.

Barn Owl - Tyto alba

One might think that the rustica element of the Latin name Hirundo rustica refers to the reddish forehead, throat or the often pink underparts of our common Swallow. In fact it means a rural or rustic swallow. The Swallow is a bird which graces our countryside for a few short months of the year. Long may it continue to do so until the politicians succeed in concreting over the entire landscape of England. 

Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica

I’ve not heard of any Bohemian Waxwings Bombycilla garrulus finding their way to the UK this autumn and winter but if they are around soon I’ll be looking out for the “chattering silk-tails” that their Latin name describes. The Bohemian part of their common name tells us the species’ wandering habits were reminiscent of tribes of gypsies or Bohemians. The silk tail is self explanatory when an observer or lucky bird ringer receives close views of this beautiful species. 

Bohemian Waxwing -  Bombycilla garrulus

The Phylloscopus collybita of Chiffchaff translates as Phylloscopus a leaf-watcher, and collybita originating from a word meaning money-changer. The clicking, repetitive sound of the Chiffchaff’s song "chiff-chaff, chiff-chaff" was thought to resemble the sound of coins being clinked together. 

That’s a really interesting if somewhat esoteric explanation which may or may not be the truth. Readers should think about that one in the Springtime while watching and listening to a Chiffchaff in the tree canopy.

Chiffchaff -  Phylloscopus collybita

There was a Jay Garrulus glandarius in my garden just this this week, taking a break from raiding the young oak tree in a neighbours garden. Jays are often silent but “acorn-eating chatterer” would apply on many occasions. 

Jay - Garrulus glandarius 

Please excuse my bout of name dropping today. It's not something I normally do or even like to hear from others, but hopefully there will be more posts and news soon. 

In the meantime here's wishing readers, new or old a very Happy Christmas.

Good Morning

I set off in the dark and drove towards Lancaster. The temperature hovered around zero under a clear starry sky that hinted at a sunny day. As it does so often, the morning began with a Barn Owl, but not in the usual spots. 

The owl was at Conder Green where it hunted over the areas of rough grass areas that surround the pools. I watched the owl for a while as it played hide & seek with the camera until it flew off towards Glasson Dock’s roadside barns. 

Barn Owl

The light wasn’t perfect yet but good enough to clock the wildfowl and waders where scans and counts revealed 28 Wigeon, 4 Little Grebe, 1 Goldeneye, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Little Egret and 48 Teal. There was no sign of the recent Green-winged Teal but my overall count of teal species was below recent averages whereby Teal are good at hiding in the reedy margins with the result that some remained unseen. 

Goldeneye

Waders were the expected handful of species that rarely changes in winter composition but fluctuates in numbers. Today all of them proved to be in a flighty mood - 65 Lapwing, 22 Redshank, 6 Curlew and a single Oystercatcher. 

Curlew

 

A Kingfisher obliged by sitting at the water spillway but briefly. Within a few seconds it was gone, skimming across the flat water to an unknown spot at the other end of the pool. 

Kingfisher

 

The few passerines around numbered 11 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Blackbird, 1 Dunnock, 1 Wren along the hedgerow, hawthorns that hold few birds, probably because there is constant disturbance from vehicles large, small and inevitably noisy in using the parking spot. 

Perhaps local birders can answer this question – where are all the unglamorous Dunnocks this autumn and winter? I have seen, heard and ringed very few all year. The species is even absent from the garden, most unusual. Theories please.

Dunnock

 

I took a drive up to Cockersands and picked up a few extra species that included a small flock of mixed Redwings and Fieldfares, about 30 birds in all that flew between tall trees and a single hedgerow. Near here and Gardner’s farm a Kestrel sat atop a roadside pole and approximately 130 Whooper Swans stayed noisy and distant. There are very few berries left now following a quite average berry crop this autumn. 

Redwing

Fieldfare

On the way back home a stop at Braides Farm found a rather decent if somewhat approximate number of Lapwings (500), Golden Plover (750) and 40 or more Redshank. I wondered why all were so difficult to count, very flighty and taking to the air for “nothing”, flying around and then dropping back into the fields. It was a Sparrowhawk, a large female sat on a broken down post in the centre of the mayhem where it watched for the opportune moment and a meal. 

I let the birds be then drove to Gulf Lane and the feeding spots we cannot work for ringing purposes because they are close to a case of Avian Flu in Preesall/Pilling. 

I dropped more seed on the ground for the count of 125 Linnet, 12 Chaffinch, 4 Blackbird, 1 Fieldfare, 1 Great Tit, 1 Robin and 1 Moorhen. It's very frustrating that we are barred from catching and ringing these small passerines. Let’s hope we can return to our ringing quite soon.  

Linnets

Back soon with more news, views and photos on Another Bird Blog. 

Linking this weekend to Eileen's Blogspot and Anni in Texas. 

 

Better Luck Next Time

Friday was on flat coastal fields at Cockerham, just south of Lancaster. Saturday a change of scene in the hills at Oakencolugh on the edge of Bowland Forest, the two places 15 miles apart and a good way from each other in their respective landscapes and the species they support. 

We have a number of ringing sites from which to choose and to juggle for maximum effort and a concentrated catch but it’s far from an exact science where birds and the weather pool their resources and frustrate our best. The forecast for Saturday was reasonable enough at 8 mph and dry until early afternoon when rain would move in from the west. 

The journey across the early morning moss roads was enlivened by a Tawny Owl that flew across the road ahead and then not 200 yards more, a Barn Owl alongside the road. As a strictly nocturnal animal local Tawny Owls are rarely seen in comparison to the Barn Owls that frequent. 

Barn Owl

 

This was a good start to anyone’s day and heightened expectations when Andy and I met at dawn in in readiness for the arrival of early October Redwings. To catch the first ones of the autumn always brings a thrill. 

The potential problem was that even at this time of the morning the breeze was close to 15 mph and as soon as it became light we could see from our elevation that a good deal of cloud sat over the Fylde coast to the west and into Morecambe Bay to the north. The rain was on the way three or four hours before the expert predictions of Friday evening and even Saturday morning.  

West Lancashire

We caught the "first" Redwing at about 0745 and then no more, even though in the next three hours we saw approximately 90 Redwings in small groups, most of them arriving from east or south east and then flying west without stopping. 

Redwing

Redwing

 

A niggling wind and increasing cloud to 100% did little to help our cause as small flocks of finches, mainly Chaffinches and Goldfinches flew from north to south in opposite conduits to Redwings. The light was so poor that many a finch could be positively identified by close call only. We settled on roundish figures of 100 Chaffinch, 35 Goldfinch, one or two each of Siskin & Lesser Redpoll and 3 Pied Wagtail. 

Lesser Redpoll

 

The Redpoll and the Redwing were just reward for our efforts, the remaining Wren, Blue Tit and Great Tit (2) a somewhat embarrassing result. 

Drizzle rolled in slowly at first until 0945 when it became persistent. The wind dropped to near zero but too late and it was time to pack in and hope for better luck next time. 

 

Over To You Padre

Blogger friend The Padre over in Grand Junction Colorado requested “more Barn Owls please.” Ever one to please I found another Barn Owl this morning. 

In broad daylight at nine am I guess the owl hunted for its mate and/or young owlets so after a few pics, I let it be. 

Barn Owl

 

Local birders are pretty much OK in realising that disturbing nesting Barn Owls is a no no because the owl has Special Protection as a Schedule 1 species. Other casual birders and/or toggers either don't know or don't care and often continue to be a nuisance, even in the breeding season.  

Members of our own Fylde Ringing Group are all covered by a Schedule 1 Permit to cover Barn Owls and other species but would never abuse that privilege for a photograph. 

Close by was a Common Whitethroat, a male Reed Bunting and a pair of Skylark. 

Common Whitethroat

 

A walk took me to fields where I found a Lapwing pair with three fluffy youngsters, spaced out behind mum. Give it a couple of days and the chicks will be large enough to find in the short sward and have legs suited to take a D ring. Another two or three adult Lapwings hunkered down in the crop while their mates chased off crows, a sure sign that these Lapwings at least are still on eggs. 

An Oystercatcher posed up for me while a pair of wild Tufted Duck looked for all the world as if they would fly off any second. Tufted Ducks in the local park become tame as mice. Here in shooting country the tufties don't much like human company and may prefer to take their chance in life with natural food and sportsmen rather than live on a diet of white bread and greasy crisps. 

 

Tufted Duck

Tufted Duck 

Oystercatcher

I found the regular Great Egret and 3 Grey Heron and just a single Little Egret rather than the eleven of last week. 

Great Egret

 

There seemed to be good numbers of Skylark with at least 6 singers and potentially 8/10 pairs once they sort themselves out.   At last, the slightly warmer weather of the last few days has spurred the Skylarks into action. 

Around the areas of reeds, water and woodland edge - 1 Swallow, 1 Pied Wagtail, 2 Goldfinch, 2 Chaffinch, 2 Mute Swan, 2 Little Grebe, 6 Reed Warbler and 7 Sedge Warbler. 

Back home I found a micro moth hiding against my pure white car. From a yard or two away it looked like a strand of vegetation had stuck itself onto the paintwork. Closer inspection revealed it to be White Plume, a ”micro moth” Pterophorus pentadactyla. 

White Plume

Fairly common I imagine and I'm not normally “into” moths but I have just been reading a new field guide to insects to be published in June by Princeton Press - Britain's Insects – a bargain buy of 600 packed pages £25 if ever I saw one.

Britain's Insects

Log in soon you insectophiles, There's a review of this book from a strictly neutral birder.

Too Few Birds

Last week saw a combination of rain, northerly winds and cold temperatures that conspired to prevent early migrants moving our way.  Internet bird news confirmed the paucity of birds - a flurry of Chiffchaffs, the occasional Wheatear, and a smattering only of pipits and wagtails. Excitement arrived in the form of a few high flying Ospreys headed for Scotland. 

Tuesday's forecast looked likely to break the deadlock with southerly winds and temperatures forecast to be in the teens. If only.  I arranged to meet with Andy at Oakenclough at 0630 but stopped briefly for the obligatory Barn Owl. 

Barn Owl

The morning was 100% cloud with gradual clearance into a sunny but still chilly morning. Birds were few and far between and a miserly catch of just 6 birds, about as bad as it gets with neither rhyme nor reason to explain our disappointment. 

Visible migration seemed nil apart from a handful of Meadow Pipits and a high-fly flock of either Redpolls or Siskins that numbered about 25. Our catch comprised 2 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Robin, 1 Wren, 1 Dunnock and 1 Blue Tit. 

By 1100 hours we'd called time on the morning. 

Lesser Redpoll

Lesser Redpoll

Other birds seen - 2 Sparrowhawk, 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Nuthatch, 1 Buzzard, 15 Oystercatcher, 4 Lapwing. 

On the drive home back home via Rawcliffe Moss I stopped to watch a Kestrel and then spotted the pair of Highland Cattle, many miles from Scotland. 

Highland Cattle

Kestrel

Back home we have a regular Grey Squirrel looking for food and nest building Collared Doves, Woodpigeons and Greenfinches.

Grey Squirrel

Collared Dove

 

Greenfinch

More news soon I hope. "Things can only get better" for Another Bird Blog.

On reading the latest news back home it appears that migration was much more obvious in coastal locations with Sand Martins, Wheatears, Siskins and Willow Warblers in evidence.