A Spanish Stopover

2023 was such a poor year for ringing birds that our site at Pilling yielded just 2 Common Whitethroats, one in July and one in August. Neither were caught after the initial day of ringing. They both moved on elsewhere. 

Imagine our surprise, a notification from the BTO this week told us that ACV6277 a juvenile we ringed on July 9th was caught in Spain later in the year. If only this particular recovery rate of 50% could be replicated with all ringed birds. 

Common Whitethroat ACV6277

 

ACV6277 was recaptured by Spanish ringers at San Roque-Darbo, Cangas de Morrazo, Pontevedra on September 1st 2023, some 54 days later. 

Whitethroat ACV6277 - Cockerham to Pontevedra

I looked up the place name of Cangas de Morrazo and discovered it to be a small coastal town in Northern Spain close to the city of Vigo and to the border of Portugal/Spain. It looks a great place for a September break, a traditional Spanish fishing village that is close to a nature reserve - Zonas de Especial Protección para las Aves (ZEPA). A pure guess but there is a good chance that ACV6277 was recaptured in this very place and soon afterwards set off to continue its first ever journey to Africa. https://www.mardeons.es/blog/observar-aves-en-cies-y-ons/ 

A summer visitor to the UK from Africa, the Common Whitethroat is small, brown warbler that frequents hedgerow and scrubby areas across Britain & Ireland from April to October. Its winter quarters in Africa occupy the dry Sahel just to the south of the Sahara. This area is subject to prolonged periods of drought which affect Whitethroat overwinter survival. Such conditions led to a crash of 90% in UK Whitethroat numbers in the late-1960s, from which this species is still recovering. 

Whitethroat

Whitethroat

Whitethroats breed throughout the UK and it can be found from Cornwall to northern Scotland, as well as across Ireland. The Whitethroat has suffered a 63% decrease in its population in the years 1967 -2020, hardly surprising given the way that the UK continues its desire to concrete over the entire landscape. 

No One Cares. Money speaks louder than wildlife.

For example.

“A holiday village and eco-park with up to 450 lodges, a hotel, market place, virtual reality wildlife experience and craftworkers’ pods is proposed for land south of Lancaster in a planning application.

Land at Home Farm, Ellel Grange, near Galgate, near the M6, is the proposed site for the scheme by applicants TNPG Sandeman Trust and Ellel Holiday Village Ltd.

But the outline application has prompted hundreds of objections along with some letters of support, according to Lancaster City Council planning reports”.

This really does beggar belief but many have seen for years where we as a nation are heading when wildlife and the countryside is to be destroyed and replaced by virtual wildlife and craftworkers' pods.

You really couldn't make this shit up if you tried.

Linking this week to Eileen's Blog.

 

Down To Zero

After yet another windy week our one out of seven days a week of ringing turned out to be Saturday. Overnight Friday/Saturday the temperature gauge dived to 0° whereby the Fiat’s heated seat and windscreen proved worth their weight in gold. 

I met Will at 0730 up at Oakenclough and where as I arrived he was already on with the mist nets. The sun stayed hidden behind the horizon as winter gloves made their first appearance. 

A quiet session ensued, highlighted by singles of Redwing and Lesser Redpoll included in our meagre catch of just 13 birds – 4 Chaffinch, 3 Robin and singles of Blackbird, Redwing, Lesser Redpoll, Coal Tit, Wren, and Blue Tit. 

Blackbird

Chaffinch

Lesser Redpoll

Redwing

More frustration followed by our failure to catch birds that we saw but which avoided our nets completely, e.g. Crossbill, Bullfinch, Siskin and Sparrowhawk. 

Loxia curvirostra, the Red Crossbill (North America) or Common Crossbill (Europe) is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. Crossbills have distinctive mandibles, crossed at the tips, an adaptation enables them to extract seeds from conifer cones and other fruits. Adults are often brightly coloured, with red or orange males and green or yellow females, but there is wide variation in beak size and shape, and call types, leading to different classifications of variants, some of which have been named as subspecies.

   

Two parties of Crossbills, a gang of five then a larger party of 7 or 8 made their way and calling overhead as we watched a number drop into the area of a mist net. 

We failed to catch any but as the breeding season for Crossbills approaches we hope that some will stick around for the next several weeks. Common Crossbills nest very early in the year in English pine plantations, hatching their chicks in February and March to take advantage of the new crop of pine cones. 

Linking today to Eileen's Weekend.

Back soon with more pics, news and photos. Stay cool but stay warm and come back to Another Bird Blog on another day.

Half Day Wednesday

A 0730 start is as late as it gets now. Next weekend we turn the clocks back an hour and head into winter. At seven-thirty Thursday it was still pretty dark and we hoped to catch a few early morning Redwings. 

We got the nets up in double quick time with the help of headlamps however the Redwings didn’t arrive and we settled for a couple of migrant Blackbirds. In fact the whole morning’s ringing turned out quiet with just 11 birds caught – 3 Blackbird, 4 Linnet, 3 Chaffinch, 1 Goldfinch. 

Chaffinch

Goldfinch

Our four Linnets proved disappointing when the combined count of a number of flocks totalled over 250 finches, a count that included a number of Goldfinches and Greenfinches, the latter not easy to pick out amongst fast flying gangs of small birds. 

All four Linnets showed features of Scottish birds and as usual all new birds, with a slim chance only of capturing a recent Linnet or a Linnet from elsewhere.

"Scottish" Linnet

  

Goldfinch

Linnet

There was a Sparrowhawk in attendance and then brief views of a “ringtail” Hen Harrier over the nearby marsh. 

 

Hen Harrier

 

Female and juvenile Hen Harriers, are known colloquially as “ringtails”, both look very similar, with brown on top, almost checkerboard brown and beige underwings, a white rump and a bearded tail. However, females are larger than males at 400-600g, compared to 300-400g. They're smaller than buzzards, but larger than crows. 

Storm Babet made little impression here on the west coast, a few windy days and nights but we are rather accustomed to that scenario and take it in our stride.

Keep an eye on the weather folks. And then come back here to Another Bird Blog for the latest news, views and photographs.

Linking today to Eileen;s Saturday blog.

 

 

Finches On The Move

Monday’s weather didn’t disappoint with a start of zero wind, zero rain, and a hint of a sunny morning to come. I met up with Will at 0715 and we set just a couple of nets, single panels for finches in the seed plot together with a 60 footer alongside a hawthorn hedge. 

We didn’t wait long for the first Linnets to arrive from the north and east, following their trajectory that is inevitably the same north to south direction as the set-aside seed plot. The route became busy as many small groups and larger flocks passed through and eventually totalled over 450 finches when we packed in about 1030. 

Not all were Linnets in the catch of 30 birds and the good mix of species - 16 Linnet, 5 Greenfinch, 2 Robin, 1 Great Tit, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Wren, 1 Reed Bunting, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Redwing. 

The percentage of Scottish type Linnets is increasing at each visit now with our 16 Linnets today almost exclusively of that type. If and when “ferocious” storm Babet hits Scotland it will surely send more Linnets our way. 

Redwing

Greenfinch

 

Reed Bunting

 

Linnet

Chaffinch

 

The concentration of finches brought in a Sparrowhawk on at least two occasions and although we didn’t see a kill, the hawk would not be without a meal for long when so many birds were on the move. A cream top Marsh Harrier flew around hunting for a while where it disturbed Teal and Mallards from their shallows haunt before it too set off to try its luck out on Pilling Marsh. 

Other birds seen in our 3+ hours included 10 Redwing, 8 Skylark, 10 Chaffinch ,2 Cetti’s Warbler, 20+ Reed Bunting, 3 Pied Wagtail, 6 Meadow Pipit, 4 Whooper Swan.

Reed Bunting

Reed Bunting

Linnet

Fingers crossed that Storm Babet is another figment of the weathermen’s imagination and that we can enjoy another excellent morning of birding and ringing very soon.

Storm Babet - Wednesday night

 

Stop Press. I studied several weather charts. You heard it here first.

Already I am downgrading Storm  Babet to a bit of a blow. They are trying to frighten us again! 

Linking at the weekend to Eileen's Saturday blog

 

Food For Thought

One of these days I will get around to a blog post about Sue & I and our 14 days in sunny Skiathos, our second home.  How we survived the aftermath of horrific storm Daniel and the accompanying floods that almost destroyed yet another Skiathos season. How the stoical, independent-minded, enterprising and hard working Skiathans returned their island to almost normal in less than a week while welcoming travellers to their magical island as if nothing had happened.  How we felt humbled and amazed that in the face of more disasters, their spirit, generosity and welcoming nature never faded a jot.  

Skiathos. Not My Picture.

 

For now it’s another ringing morning, this time on Monday at 0700 with Will, Andy and Bryan (not forgetting Barney) at our Oakenclough site on the edge of the Pennines above the market town of Garstang.  

The rather gloomy start did not faze us because over to the north just 12 miles away over Morecambe Bay the sky promised a bright, even slightly sunny morning that would part any clouds and propel birds through to our waiting nets. We were not disappointed when very quickly began an almost constant flow of migrant birds from the north; above and at eye level, heading south and west, hirundines, finches, wagtails, pipits, larks and even geese.  

Periods of processing and ringing birds by all four led inevitably to an incomplete and somewhat scratchy estimate of the species moving through and passing overhead – 220 Pink-footed Geese, 200+ Meadow Pipits, 60 + Swallows, 35 Siskins, 50 Chaffinches, 10 Lesser Redpolls, 60 Goldfinches, 15 Skylark, 20 wagtails, 35 Long-tailed Tits, 1 Reed Bunting, 1 Sparrowhawk. And goodness only knows how many there really were!  

Meadow Pipit

 

Pied Wagtail

Reed Bunting

Meanwhile a single Blackbird and no other thrushes felt rather strange amongst the rush and totals of species and numbers on the move - food for thought. In the meantime Redwings, Fieldfares and Northern Blackbirds will be with us very soon on their trajectory to warmer climes.  

Birds ringed 0730 to 1130 – 53 of 12 species – 14 Goldfinch, 9 Chaffinch, 6 Meadow Pipit, 6 Lesser Redpoll, 4 Coal Tit, 3 Long-tailed Tit, 3 Great Tit, 2 Blue Tit, 2 Robin, 2 Bullfinch, 1 Treecreeper, 1 Goldcrest.  

Bullfinch

Lesser Redpoll - indeterminate sex first autumn

Treecreeper - first autumn

Meadow Pipit - first autumn

Siskin - first autumn male

Meadow Pipit- adult autumn

Meadow Pipit - adult autumn

Food for thought. In between the worry and expense of clearing up after Storm Daniel, and while caring for quests, our hosts Makis and Litsa of Hotel Ostria came to us in the garden one day with a freshly made Cheese Pie. Filo pastry with goat’s cheese filling, the pastry then glazed over with Greek Honey. Home made, simple yet divine.  

Skiathos Cheese Pie

"Philoxenia" - φῐλοξενῐ́ᾱ meaning "friend to a stranger” is about much more than a warm welcome; it is a complex moral code with deep roots in Greek culture and Greek daily life. 

Meanwhile in Western Europe and seemingly also in the US, led by media, big business and government there is an epidemic of cultural dementia coupled with a desire to obliterate our history and values. The Greek people don’t fall for such nonsense. and remain true to their beliefs.

Back soon folks with more tales, news, views and photos on Another Bird Blog. Stay safe, stay sane, stay strong.

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday.

A Boiling Kettle

Saturday 2 September with the full team out at Pilling, Will, Andy and Yours Truly. Better still, and after another breezy week, the wind had dropped and the sun shone bright for our 0630 start. 

In the week I dropped additional seed and windfall apples into the varied seed plot where I thought the natural is not quite ready. A flock of more than 70 Goldfinch testified that their favourite sunflower seed needs more time but that they are well prepared by warming up on the lesser stuff. 

Goldfinch

 

Along the sea wall were eight Little Egrets, two Grey Heron, a couple of Pied Wagtails, a single Kestrel and 2 Wheatears. The chats avoided the steady north westerly wind and found hiding insects by ducking in and out of the sea defences.

Wheatear

Wheatear

The Saturday session came with a small mixed bag, one that once again lacked both numbers and the warbler species that are simply not around this autumn. The Experts have no evidence as yet but there is a real possibility that avian flu virus has passed in some degree to passerines via the known and now well documented death toll upon many sea bird species during 2022 and 2023. 

Our catch of 14 birds comprised 3 Linnet, 2 Goldfinch, 2 Blue Tit, 2 Wren, 2 Reed Bunting, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Blackbird and 1 Sedge Warbler. 

Goldcrest

Sedge Warbler

Linnet

Reed Bunting

During the morning we saw 20 or more Swallows on the move south but little else obvious in the clear blue sky save for a couple of Meadow Pipits plus a number of finches we didn’t catch. 

As we packed up the ringing gear about 1100 hours Richard, Eyes-Like-The-Proverbial, drew our attention to a number of Buzzards at great height and slowly moving west. 

In all we counted sixteen, yes 16 Buzzards taking advantage of thermals of the warm morning by “kettling” together, swirling and spiralling like objects being stirred or boiled in a pot. 

Such a large number of Buzzards together represents an autumnal dispersal of sorts. Some Buzzards, probably younger and less experienced individuals, move south and west from their northern strongholds into more favourable areas for the winter before returning north in the early part of the following year. 

Buzzard

A few minutes later a Marsh Harrier flew west, spotted by six Ravens who drew noisy attention to the large predator in their midst. It was a good morning for raptors and where we had seen both Kestrel and two Sparrowhawks during our ringing session. 

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday

 

Mips, Wags And Weather

Wednesday evening’s forecast looked hot to go for a Thursday ringing session so I met up with Will and Andy at 0630 out Pilling way, a week after our last get together since when it has barely stopped raining. 

“In July 2023 some parts of England set new rainfall records, with Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside all recording their wettest July since records began some 150 years ago. The succession of low pressure systems resulting in long periods of damp and windy weather in much of the country was in sharp contrast to July 2022, when there were heatwaves and temperatures as high as 40.3C.” 

Weather

Although hopes were high we didn’t do at all well with just 5 birds caught - 4 Reed Warblers and a Sedge Warbler. Always looking for an excuse we blamed the weather for the lack of birds and the rubbish catch.

Plan B came into play and I set off to another site a car ride away and our brilliant idea for Friday morning. Here are heaps of waste material from a bio plant where the rain of recent days has created muddy pools that hold thousands if not millions of tiny flies and other food items of the right size for pipits and wagtails. 

The sun was out, the gate posts and fences proving to be ideal places for the birds to pose. I grabbed a few photos of Meadow Pipits, Pied Wagtails and Yellow Wagtails and it seemed a shame that there were no Grey Wagtails around for the full set of common wags. 

Yellow Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail

Meadow Pipit

Meadow Pipit

Pied Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Meadow Pipit

Pied Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail

It’s arranged. Friday morning is a meet up with Andy and an attempt to ring a few of the species above. 

Look in again on Friday evening folks to see how we did. 

UPDATE. Friday morning was windy, breezier than the forecasted 6-8mph and although we turned out in hope, the wind proved too troublesome to continue. This frustration was intensified by the sight of 100 + Swallows, 25+ Pied Wagtails, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 3 Reed Buntings, 8 Goldfinch and a Great-spotted Woodpecker, none of which we could catch.

Reed Bunting

 

Linking this weekend to Eileen's Saturday Blog.