Slow Burn

The spring has been Slow Burn rather than Fast Track North. A couple of weeks of cold weather put a damper on northerly migration and at some point these birds have to get a rush on to bag the optimum breeding spots. 

Local bird and WhatsApp news tell of ones and twos only of Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps, all species that normally arrive in a rush in early April. Hardly anyone has reported Swallows or Sand Martins or even Wheatears. House Martins are a distant dream and Swifts a Lottery Prize. 

Thursday morning and at last warms winds from Atlantic West Africa might well deposit both variation and numbers in the hills above Garstang where Oakenclough became the destination and a meet up with Andy and Bryan at unearthly 0615. 

Birds caught: 8 Willow Warbler, 3 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Chaffinch 1 Goldfinch, 3 Coal Tit, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Blackcap, 1 Blackbird. 

At last then, a few Willow Warblers caught, some from previous seasons and as we might expect for mid-April, mostly males and one female. Female LDL516 had been first ringed at Oakenclough 4 June 2020, male LDL808 first ringed on 11 May 2021. 

Blackcap

 

Willow Warbler

Goldfinch

 

Lesser Redpoll

 

One of the Lesser Redpolls came with a ring from elsewhere. APN5870 was not one of our rings and may have been ringed north or south of our recapture. After the holiday break we will find out where it was originally ringed. 

Visible migration was nil except for two Swallows while a total of 20 birds caught is better than recent efforts as we await the arrival of species such as Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat and the two flycatchers, Pied and Spotted. 

The holiday weekend will be family time with probably no birding or ringing until Tuesday next. Log in then to Another Bird Blog for the latest news on Spring 2022. 

Next week will also see a book review here on the blog, a new book that will interest many birders and wildlife enthusiasts. And it’s a ten quid bargain! 

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

 

Double Jobbed

I was out ringing on Tuesday morning but an urgent phone call sent me scurrying back home with just 5 birds ringed. 

The morning began with a blanket of mist. Brightness above the grey indicated the sun would quickly break through. The yellow blob cleared the mist in no time and a look in the nearest net showed a Chiffchaff and a male Blackcap side by side. 

 

Blackcap

 

Chiffchaff

Linnet

 

This excellent start continued with 3 more Linnets from a flock in the bright blue that quickly built to upwards of 150 Linnets with ten or more hangers on in the shape of Goldfinches. This was looking good. With 48 Linnets in the bag so far this autumn (42 first years and 6 adults), a half century was certain. A few other birds enlivened proceedings, the best of those being a double whammy of two Great Egrets and a male Sparrowhawk. 

And then the phone calls. The local Post Office had mislaid the packet of Euro currency ordered for our Greek holiday and I needed to retrieve paperwork from back home. After a swear word or three nets were stashed away and off I went.  Fortunately everything turned out OK when our Euros were found in the main office where an unnamed operative had stored the package for “safe keeping”. 

Fast forward to Thursday when the Doom & Gloom Forecast said “rain”, but I was not convinced so set off towards Cockerham village. At 0600 there was a light shower followed by much brighter skies and a very decent morning of zero wind. The mobile was switched to “off” and I switched on to where I left off on Tuesday. 

The Linnet flock was now more than 200 strong plus smaller groups and singles that became attached and then broke off, behaviour which makes for counting difficulties. The counting was even harder when Sparrowhawks appeared, tried to grab a Linnet and scattered the flock in several directions. Definitely two Sparrowhawks today, a female and then a noticeably smaller and more agile male, both of which came in low and fast in the element of surprise, but neither connected with a meal.

Sparrowhawk

 

Linnets

The overall number of Linnets in the area must have improved the catch with 19 new ones today. There was another Chiffchaff, this one a male with a wing length of 64mm compared to Tuesday’s 56mm female. At this time of the year wing length is the only way to sex a Chiffchaff unless a wing measurement falls half way between the two extremes when the bird becomes of unknown sex. 

Chiffchaff

 

Linnet

 

Other birds today - Buzzard, Great-spotted Woodpecker, 20+ Goldfinch, 2 Chaffinch, 3 Stock Dove, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Little Egret.

Back soon on Another Bird Blog. Don't go away.

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

 

Change Of Scene

A number of weeks had gone by since the last visit to Oakenclough. A look here on the blog revealed it to be 2 July when we halted ringing until pal Andy would feel fit enough to return after his knee op of 15 July. Seven weeks later he returned to the fray and well on the way to full mobility. 

In the meantime I had pottered alone at Cockerham ringing mainly Linnets and Reed Warblers but looked forward to returning to the edge of the Bowland Hills and a change of species. 

Bryan joined us this morning at 0600 to a clear dry start and the promise of a trifling easterly in sunny skies. The £zillion Met Office computer programmes got it wrong again when the morning was way off the forecast of warm, sunny skies but instead produced zero sun, an occluded sky and a naggingly cold easterly breeze. 

By 1030 we had packed in with a mixed bag of species and a total of 18 birds in all - 3 Wren, 3 Blue Tit, 2 Bullfinch, 2 Goldcrest, 2 Coal Tit, 1 Great Tit, 1 Robin,1 Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Blackcap. 

In June and July there had been no evidence of Bullfinches here, a site where they once bred but not in recent years. Catching a moulting adult female and a juvenile together today signified that the species may have returned to breed in the height of summer, and while we cannot be certain, it’s a species to look out for next spring. Most of the time all birds present ringers with puzzles that they are unable to answer, part of the reason that ringing remains an essential tool of conservation research. 

The short, stubby beak of the Bullfinch is specially adapted for feeding on buds and they are particularly enthusiastic eaters of the buds of certain fruit trees. Due to their bud-eating habits, many thousands used to be legally trapped and killed each year in orchards mainly in south and central England. There are few if any commercial orchards in this part of Northern England. 

Bullfinch

Bullfinch

Bullfinch

 

With a single one caught the lack of Willow Warblers this year was again evident when many more should be around by late August/early September. There’s little doubt that the icy mornings during the whole of May put paid to the Willow Warblers’ ground nesting lifestyles. 

Willow Warbler

 

Goldcrests have probably fared OK this year as they nest in the comparative warmth and shelter of conifer trees. The two caught today may represent the beginnings of a noticeable September and October migration.

 

Goldcrest

 

Blackcaps appear to be in short supply with a single adult male caught today. 

Blackcap

 

Our birding was uneventful except for a noticeable movement of Swallows heading south and fairly high but not lingering as the morning “warmed” slightly. In all approximately 90 Swallows with several or more Sand or House Martins in the mix against the grey skies. 

There's more news and views soon. Stay tuned to Another Bird Blog.

Linking this weekend to Eileen's Saturday Blogspot and Anni's Blog.

 

A Touch Of Summer

Late May/early June can be boom or bust for bird ringers and birders alike. In early 2021 unpredictability became the norm when unseasonal cold air, regular frosts and nagging northerlies played havoc with springtime migration from Africa to Europe. Late arrivals, non-arrivals and delays to the start of breeding put question marks over what we might see in our first ringing session of June at Oakenclough. 

On Tuesday I met Andy at 0630 not knowing what to expect in the way of numbers of birds, let alone the species or their ages. It was a warm sunny morning, time for us and the birds to grab a touch of summer. 

Although as expected we didn’t catch too many birds, just ten, we learned a thing or two from the few we did see.  Perhaps more importantly it was the species we didn’t catch that led to more questions.  For instance, although we saw and heard 8 or 10 Willow Warblers, we caught none, at a time of year when we might expect to catch both adult birds collecting food for nestlings and/or recently fledged juveniles. We were left with the conclusion that late arriving male Willow Warblers continue their territorial songs while their even later mates sit tight on eggs yet to hatch. 

Birds caught - 2 Garden Warbler, 2 Robin, 1 Blackbird, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Coal Tit, ! Treecreeper, 1 Blackcap , 1 Goldcrest. 

We derived satisfaction from our two Garden Warblers, a male and female both caught in the same net and both in prime breeding condition. The female with a whopping brood patch, the male a whopping cloacal protuberance (don’t ask). These were just two of the four or more Garden Warblers on site, three in loud and sustained song. At last, and after a gap of many years, we have proof that Garden Warblers are breeding on site again rather than simply spring and autumn migrants. 

Full marks to site owners United Utilities for showing their commitment to conservation by spending money and revitalising this site in favour of birds. 

The two Robins, the Blackbird, Treecreeper, Coal Tit and Goldcrest were all fresh juveniles that bred on site. The adult male Blackcap was also in breeding condition and almost certainly paired with a female that we did not see or catch. 

Garden Warbler

 

Robin

Treecreeper

Chaffinch

Other than our ringing the morning produced little in the way of birds except for Pied Wagtails carrying food to their stone wall nest, young Mistle Thrushes, many dozens of Greylags and the occasional flyover Siskin. Siskins breed in the nearby conifer belt and rarely stray towards our nets until winter when our Niger seed feeders are on site. 

Local anglers told us of Ospreys on more than one occasion during May, most likely the birds on their way to Scotland rather than taking their chances in the game keeper raptor free zone of nearby Bowland. But we live in hope of both Ospreys and Red Kites taking up residence in nearby hills and dales. 

There's news of a Sand Martin in the next post of Another Bird Blog. 

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

 

A Tale Of Two Halves.

Wednesday morning produced yet another icy start at Oakenclough. After a few dire days of catches and thinking along the lines of that old upbeat Howard Jones song, we imagined that “Things could only get better”. 

How wrong we were as we failed to even reach double figures. Just 5 birds caught and once again, virtually zero visible migration of note in the bright blue skies above. Throughout four hours we noted three or four Swallows heading north. Luckily the four (2 x 2) Siskins overhead drew our attention by their distinctive piercing flight calls or may have missed them too. 

Our catch - 1 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Blackcap, 1 Wren and 1 Willow Warbler. 

The second year male Blackcap was the first to be caught this year when normally we might expect to be in double figures by early May. 

Blackcap

Lesser Redpoll

 

The single Willow Warbler was a recapture from the week before, so new birds numbered four. In the plantation ten or twelve Willow Warblers sang from their now established location without us catching any females. From this, and the lack of chasing around, we deduced that female Willow Warblers had yet to arrive to our site. This is a natural enough lag in timing for Willow Warblers and many other species, accentuated in 2021 by the icy spring. 

Although by 1030 temperatures had climbed to the dizzying heights of 11 degrees, we knew to call it a day. 

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Friday dawned bright but slightly breezy with the decision not to go ringing already made. I headed off Pilling way for a spot of birding alone. 

Swallows were more obvious with a number of them seen to fly north and quickly out of sight. In my two plus hours I counted more than 20, a vast improvement on recent days. But still no Swifts or House Martins, the latter still absent from their breeding eaves in our semi rural location and now two weeks behind schedule. 

I searched a stretch of land I'd not done in weeks and found 3 Lapwings sitting while their mates chased off gulls and crows that showed too much interest in the very obvious nesting pairs. In the same area were two or more pairs of Skylarks, a single Wheatear, a male Pied Wagtail and ten to twelve Linnets. 

Pied Wagtail

Skylark

Linnet

 

In wetter areas came 11 Little Egret, 2 Great Egret, 1 Grey Heron, 3 Tufted Duck, 4 Shelduck, 5 Mute Swan, plus both Canada Geese and Greylags with youngsters in tow. Also, 6 Reed Warbler, 4 Sedge Warbler, 8 Oystercatcher, 6 Redshank. 

Sedge Warbler 

Back home today we sat with a coffee and watched a male Sparrowhawk sat on a neighbour's garden wall. After a while the hawk dropped to within inches of the ground, accelerated like a rocket and crossed into another garden.

Sparrowhawk

That's all for now folks. The forecast for Saturday is rain and wind so it looks like a day doing nothing but chores. Don't go away, see you soon.

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

Business As Usual

Three mornings in the same week must be some sort of record for Oakenclough. The forecast of zero wind and a dry morning dictated a start at 0600 for Andy, Bryan and yours truly. Off we go again – Three Go Ringing 

Moody Morning 

Although the clouds looked threatening, showers stayed away, the sun shone briefly and we caught migrants in the way of more Willow Warblers, Blackcaps, and yet another Garden Warbler. Towards the end we had our first Tree Pipit of the autumn. 

We packed in soon after 1100 with 43 birds of 13 species as follows :- 7 Willow Warbler, 6 Chaffinch, 6 Coal Tit, 6 Blue Tit, 4 Blackcap, 4 Goldcrest, 2 Goldfinch, 2 Treecreeper, 2 Great Tit and one each of Dunnock, Robin, Garden Warbler and Tree Pipit. 

The titmice numbers were unusually high because the normally well-stocked feeders at the house just thirty yards away were empty this morning. Earlier in the week we noted how local Chaffinches, Blue Tits, Great Tits and Coal Tits enjoyed fulsome meals as the container levels dropped. Only today at the sight of empty feeders did those birds stray into mist nets 50 yards away from their regular snacks. 

Although it is very difficult to see in the picture, the Tree Pipit had already started its post juvenile moult in the crown feathers. 

Tree Pipit 

Treecreepers often travel with tits in search of food. We seldom catch one, never mind two in a morning or three in a week as we have this time. The one below is a juvenile. 

Treecreeper 

A juvenile Blackcap shows how post-juvenile moult makes the sex easy to determine as the summer progresses. 

Blackcap 

juvenile Robin  

A wing length of 81mm and the sheer bulk of this Goldfinchs’ bill strongly suggest a male even though it does not look like one just yet. 

Goldfinch 

Today’s seven Willow Warblers brought our total to 39 "WILWA" captures for the month of July. 

Willow Warbler 

Looks like we are back to normal tomorrow and over the weekend with yet more rain. Fortunately we made hay while the sun shone with 156 birds caught here in the month of July.  

Back soon with Another Bird Blog. Stay as normal as possible my friends. 

But don't go shopping to The High Street, it ain't there. Boris just killed it.

Pied Surprise

It’s a week since my last posting. In between has seen rain, rain, then more rain, and no chance of birding, ringing or lifting a camera. Given all the foul weather I was not surprised by news from Chris at Cockerham where after two days of relentless wind and rain he found a dead Avocet youngster, one of the chicks ringed on 24th June. 

Avocet chick 

It appears that during the bad weather the adults moved the chicks from open water to a more sheltered part of the farm but at least one succumbed. Let’s hope there are no more fatalities. Fingers crossed too that the Avocets return here in 2021. 

Avocet 

On the strength of different forecasts Wednesday morning was pencilled in as a “maybe”, and Oakenclough as the venue. The previous visit of July 1st saw the first real hints of autumn migration. 

This morning I met up with Andy and Bryan at 0630 to a 15-20 mph easterly wind, far stronger than several forecasts that all suggested 6-8 mph. After each of us had driven 40 minutes or more we decided to continue in the less than ideal conditions in the hope the wind would drop. 

As the morning wore on the wind dropped slightly and allowed us a reasonable catch of 24 birds – 21 birds of the year and three adults: 5 Willow Warbler, 4 Great Tit, 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, 2 Chaffinch, 2 Greenfinch, 2 Goldcrest, 1 Wren, 1 Dunnock, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Pied Flycatcher. 

Oakenclough springs a few surprises on most days. Our surprise today was the juvenile Pied Flycatcher. It’s a species we never catch in mist nets despite the fact that Andy rings many nestlings from boxes a quarter of a mile away. 

Pied Flycatchers are notorious for arriving unseen on their breeding sites and then leaving in autumn equally undetected. This one, AKE3941 was ringed at the nest box along with three siblings on 28 May 2020. 

Pied Flycatcher 

 Pied Flycatcher - juvenile/first summer

Greenfinch - juvenile/first summer

Chiffchaff - juvenile/first summer 

Willow Warbler - juvenile/first summer 

Strong early winds didn’t help our birding, a highlight being a passing Peregrine Falcon as it dive bombed a local Buzzard. Otherwise a few Swallows, a Great-spotted Woodpecker, Pied Wagtail and the arrival of autumnal Goldfinches around the feeders. 

Back soon. Don’t go away.

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

The First Of July

Last weekend saw hints of an early irruption of both Siskins and Crossbills from their summer breeding haunts in Scandinavia. So far, the migration had occurred on the east coast, the part of England closest to Scandinavia. 

“24 June - After an amazing 327 Crossbills at Scarborough, South Cliff, Yorkshire yesterday (23 June) blown away by an incredible 610 Crossbills between 0430-0700 this morning together with a supporting cast of 601 Siskins” 

“25 June - Another day on Scarborough South Cliff dawns & incredibly, even more Crossbills on the move! Over 1200 flew south this morning (with 1100+ in first two hours)." 

Would the change to July bring some of these birds here to the west of the Pennine Hills that divide Yorkshire and Lancashire? As expected we’d had a couple of low number catches during June but with a definite autumnal feel to the week gone by we felt that July might bring change.

This morning I met Andy at Oakenclough to a dull, mizzly morning. Full of optimism and imaginings we added Crossbill to our autumnal bird callers and laid a tray of water in the net ride nearest the confer plantation. It’s said that because Crossbills feed mainly on dry conifer seeds, they are always thirsty and that a good supply of water is really important to their survival.

Gradually the mist and drizzle cleared before the sun finally arrived around eleven o’clock. Needless to say, we caught no Crossbills but we did enjoy an unseasonable adult male Siskin amongst our catch of 17 birds - 5 Willow Warbler, 4 Blackcap, 2 Robin, 2 Great Tit, 1 Blackbird, 1 Garden Warbler and 1 Siskin.

Apologies for the not so good pics today, most taken at ISO1600 in the drizzly light of 0630 to 1000 hours.

Siskin - adult male 

Willow Warbler - juvenile 

Garden Warbler - adult female 

Blackcap - adult female 

Meanwhile, the captions for Caption Contest continue to arrive for my last post of Friday 26th June. 

Kestrel chicks 

Thank you everyone for your topical, inventive and funny captions. And for those readers yet to enter the competition, it is not too late.

Read the captions so far and just enter your suggestion in the comments box of this or the last post of Another Bird Blog.

Back soon with more news and views. And ......................

Crossbill 

Crossbill

............... keep eyes and ears open for those Crossbills.  You just never know.

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