Are We Surprised?

The answer is no. This happens more often than we know. All animal and bird lovers and those who enjoy the countryside should know what goes on when they are not around. 

Full marks to the RSPB and to the member of the public who realised what was going on.

   

I'm back soon. With positive news and no sickening, cowardly scumbags to spoil this blog.

 

Happy New Year

Too much food, too much booze and too few birds - that about sums up my last fortnight. It’s not for the want of trying when a number of trips out in less than ideal weather brought scant reward.  Or, from recent Australia but in England cricket parlance, “little to report and even less to trouble the scorers”. 

In recent days Buzzard, Kestrel and Merlin provided the raptors, but a few sightings only of Barn Owl or Little Owl where mild but windy weather with zero frosts meant no requirement to feed in daylight hours. 

Little Owl

Buzzard

Supplementary feeding areas gave counts of up to 180 and 80 Linnets at two places respectively while Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Reed Buntings and titmice added to the bulk.

Chaffinch

Redwings and Blackbirds provided the thrush interest while a single Fieldfare asked questions about where they all fled to during November.

Redwing

After five weeks we expect to be notified any day now that the 10km ringing ban is lifted; then  we can return to favoured ringing sites out Pilling and Cockerham way. In a previous post I remarked that shooters are also banned from their activities in Avian Flu areas. 

After this week seeing wildfowlers in our often shared haunts and engaging in conversation, it seems that I was mistaken. The guys were quite open about their shooting, two were not even aware of our local outbreaks of Avian Flu. This when Covid alone dominates news outlets and normal conversation.  

"BASC (British Association for Shooting and Conservation) is advising members that an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) has been implemented across the UK." 

“In addition to the requirements of the AIPZ, housing measures came into force on 29 November 2021. The Chief Veterinary Officers for England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have brought in housing measures across the whole of the UK to protect poultry and captive birds from avian influenza following a number of confirmed cases across Great Britain in recent weeks. The housing measures mean that it will be a legal requirement for all bird keepers across the UK to keep their birds indoors and to follow strict biosecurity measures in order to limit the spread of and eradicate the disease.” 

“Shooting is not restricted as part of the conditions associated with this Prevention Zone. Neither is shooting directly impacted by the implementation of 3km and 10km control zones at sites where Avian Influenza is currently identified. However, BASC urges members to be vigilant and aware of the symptoms of the disease and to follow the latest biosecurity advice and measures required in the zones.” 

"Anyone attending a shoot should follow good personal biosecurity and regularly cleanse and disinfect clothing, footwear and vehicles – this is particularly important if they have any contact with game birds, poultry or other captive birds. There is, however, a possibility – albeit remote - that wild birds shot or culled in pest and predator control could be infected with bird flu at any time of the year, so it clearly makes sense to avoid actions that could spread infection from killed wild birds into any kept birds, whatever their species. Do not use the same vehicles and storage facilities for shot and live birds without thorough cleansing and disinfection in between. Keep all shot or culled birds well away from any kept flocks. Likewise, wash or sanitise hands and wash clothing well after handling dead birds and before any contact with kept flocks to minimise spreading infection. Gundogs are not at any particular risk from bird flu but as a precaution do not allow dogs to eat any dead wild birds and do not feed uncooked shot or culled birds to animals." 

Just as witnessed in early 2021 UK wide lockdowns because of Covid, the rules applying to people following outdoor pursuits are different whereby shooting has a lower level of control than bird ringing, bird watching or even walking in the countryside. 

To paraphrase George Orwell, 'All countryside pursuits are equal but some countryside pursuits are more equal than others'.

Follow the money.

A Happy New Year to followers of Another Bird Blog, past, present and future.

Linking today to https://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com and http://id-rather-b-birdin.blogspot.com.

 

Scoring More

After Saturday’s disappointing foray into the hills Andy and I turned our attention back to the flat fields of Cockerham on Sunday morning. There was zero wind and a cold start until the sun rose to warm the air. We employed two nets only, one in the seed plot and one in the nearby trees, a fast job of setting up that took all of 15 minutes and so much quicker to pack away. And much closer to home for the drive back- for me at least! 

There was a somewhat slow start with 4 Linnets caught in the first hour. Fortunes bucked up quickly and then a good catch of 37 birds with some superb bird watching in-between. 

For once it was Greenfinches that topped the catching chart, not Linnets. All new birds no recaptures - 19 Greenfinch, 13 Linnet, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Wren, 1 Chaffinch. 

Greenfinch

Reed Bunting

Chaffinch

Thanks to watchful crows we’d had early but brief views of a Peregrine, an hour or so later bettered by the sight of a Peregrine chasing a Wood Pigeon across the open field in front of us. It all happened very quickly but the pigeon proved up to the challenge by diving into the nearby copse where the Peregrine would not venture. 

Later, the morning turned out so warm, inviting and spring like that we agreed “October 10th, it’s not too late for a Marsh Harrier”. Sure enough within 30 minutes a “cream top” arrived from the east, put on a gliding/hunting display and left quite quickly to the south and in the direction of the inland mosses. 

This is the Marsh Harriers’ usual route here; today’s the latest of four autumn sightings of the species. They arrive from the north or east after a journey around or across Morecambe Bay and then fly inland on a direct southerly or south west heading. Their slow but purposeful method of flight allows them to migrate while hunting over suitable landscapes of marsh, reedbeds, and farmland where they find favoured foods like frogs, small mammals and birds, such as moorhen and coot. 

Marsh Harrier

 

It’s virtually every Linnet catching session that a Sparrowhawk or two appears looking for a meal. The hawks are drawn in by the sight and sound of 200 and more chattering Linnets, in the air or feeding in the seed plot. This morning was no different as a young male Sparrowhawk appeared as if from nowhere to single out a Linnet but once again failed to catch. 

I’m not sure what the success rate is for hunting Sparrowhawks but imagine that here at least it is quite low. Sparrowhawks that hunt by surprise tactics in suburban gardens seem to do much better than these probably inexperienced youngsters. 

Not to be outdone and just as we were ready to leave the crows found us a Buzzard that circled above to give great views in sunny sky. After a couple of circuits the Buzzard too drifted off in a southerly direction. 

Buzzard

 

All three raptors, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and Marsh Harrier are migrants through this part of Lancashire, their numbers increasing in the autumn as young birds disperse and adults wander in search of consistent and good feeding. The Peregrine is a winter visitor to these lowland and coastal areas where concentrations of waders and wildfowl provide rich pickings for the supreme hunter. 

Peregrine

 

That's all for now. Back soon with more news, views and photos.

 

A Smelly Subject

Here’s a story with conclusions that may not be all that surprising to many bird watchers. It’s about birds’ sense of smell, a subject tackled here on Another Bird Blog in December 2014. 

https://anotherbirdblog.blogspot.com/2014/12/do-birds-smell.html  

The story below is from Science Daily of July 2021 - “The fine nose of storks." 

"The sharp eyes of an eagle, the extraordinary hearing of an owl - to successfully find food, the eyes and ears of birds have adapted optimally to their living conditions. Until now, the sense of smell has played a rather subordinate role. When meadows are freshly mowed, White Storks often appear there to search for snails and frogs. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behaviour in Radolfzell and the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz have now studied the birds' behaviour and discovered that the storks are attracted by the smell of the mown grass. Only storks that were downwind and could thus perceive the smell reacted to the mowing. The scientists also sprayed a meadow with a spray of green leaf scents released during mowing. Storks appeared here as well. This shows that White Storks use their sense of smell to forage and suggests that the sense of smell may also play a greater role in other birds than previously thought."

 

White Storks

"For farmers around Lake Constance, it's a familiar sight: when they start mowing their meadows, storks often appear next to the tractors as if out of nowhere. The White Storks live in the wet areas around the lake, feeding on snails, frogs and small rodents that find shelter in high meadows. If these meadows are mowed, the small animals are easy prey. However, the storks do not always appear when mowing takes place. Until now, it was not known how the storks locate the rich food source. "

White Stork

"Previously, it was believed that birds relied primarily on their eyes and ears rather than their sense of smell. "It was simply assumed that birds can't smell well because they don't have real noses," says Martin Wikelski, director at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. "Yet they have a very large olfactory bulb in the brain with many receptor molecules for scents." So birds have the best prerequisites for a fine nose. 

Wikelski has spent many years observing storks and researching their migratory behaviour, among other things. When he talked to his colleague Jonathan Williams about the storks' puzzling reaction to mowed meadows, Williams had an idea. Williams works at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany, studying volatile organic compounds and their effects on humans and the environment. "My guess was that the storks were reacting to the intense smell of freshly cut grass," Williams says. This typical smell is produced by so-called green leaf odorants and consists of only three different molecules. "These are also added to perfumes, for example, to give them a fresh, "green" note," explains Williams. 

The researchers now wanted to find out whether the sense of smell actually leads the storks to freshly mown meadows. To do this, they monitored the birds' movements both from aircraft and via GPS sensors of tagged animals. "We first had to rule out the possibility that the storks could hear the tractor or see the mowing process," Wikelski says. Therefore, they only included storks in the observation that were more than 600 meters away from the mowed meadow and did not have direct visual contact. The researchers also made sure that the storks were not alerted to the mowing process by the behaviour of conspecifics or other birds. 

When mowing began, only the storks that were downwind flew to the meadow in question. The conspecifics that were upwind and thus could not perceive the grass smell did not react. To test whether the smell of the cut grass alone attracted the storks, the researchers switched to a meadow that had been mowed two weeks earlier. "The grass of this meadow was still very short. Therefore, it is uninteresting for the storks to forage," Wikelski explained. On this meadow, he and colleagues spread grass that had been mowed a short time before at a greater distance. A short time later, the first storks flew in and searched for food in the mown grass. 

The researchers finally mixed a solution of green leaf scents and sprayed it on a meadow with short grass. The meadow then smelled intensely of mown grass and also attracted storks from the surrounding area. "This proves that storks find their way to feeding sites via scents in the air," Williams says. This finding contradicts the previous assumption that storks primarily use their eyes to find food. Rather, the birds rely on their sense of smell to do so. "There have been storks that have flown more than 25 km from the other side of Lake Constance to mowed meadows," Wikelski says. The researchers suspect that the sense of smell may also play a greater role than previously thought in the foraging activities of other bird species." 

Birds of prey such as Buzzards, kites and falcons spring to mind. These species are regularly observed flying over or within striking distance of meadows where their sense of smell probably plays a part in their hunting prowess.

Buzzard

Red Kite

Buzzard

These scientists might be surprised to learn that experienced bird watchers already suspect that birds find their food by many methods, the sense of smell being just one of them. Birders have a nose for such things and are often ahead of the game. If only they were consulted a little more often by experts. 

Kestrel

 

Red-footed Falcon

 Story via - Max-Planck-Gesellschaft.  ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 12 July 2021. 

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

Branching Out?

Wednesday proved somewhat disappointing when a visit to the 180 strong Sand Martin colony resulted in a catch of just one juvenile. Our previous visit of 24 June saw a reasonable catch of twenty-three -24 June, but visits here are very unpredictable. 

The difficulty is in tempting the martins into a less than ideally placed net just too far away from the quarry face in both the vertical and horizontal planes. This will now be the final visit of 2020 but with luck the martins may choose a different part of the cliff face in 2021, one that makes the monitoring of them easier. 

Sand Martin - juvenile 

However, all was not lost. The hour and more we spent waiting for the martins to cooperate led to a few other sightings - Hobby, Kestrel, Common Tern, 2 Buzzard, 4 Oystercatcher, 2 Grey Herons, 2 Swallow, 12 Linnet, 2 Pied Wagtail, and over 120 Curlews flying to nearby pasture.  

We caught the first Linnet of the autumn period prior to restarting Project Linnet for 2020/2021.

Linnet - juvenile/first year male

Upon going to a nearby copse to investigate cries of “feed me, feed me”, flapping at the foot of a tree stood a young Buzzard of suitable age for a “G” ring. It may have been a Buzzard “branchie”, a young bird still fed by parents but one which leaves the nest, climbs onto outer branches of the tree, only to be then blown or fall to the floor before it is able to actually fly. 

Buzzard 

Buzzard

The word “branchie” is an old name applied to other species, very often young Rooks who quickly explore the surroundings of their treetop nests where they nest in large colonies. The term is the probable origin of the ancient verse, “Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye, four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie”. Young Rook meat is said to be very savoury with a similar taste to Wood Pigeon meat. 

In Olde Englande a visit to a large Rook colony after a spell of strong winds might easily yield a catch of two dozen black birds for a tasty pie.  

Rookery - by John Petrov 

If the forecast is correct Friday morning will see us in the near Pennines at Oakenclough again. Not so much the hills alive to The Sound of Music as the sight and sounds of birds we hope.

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

A Gentle Stroll - Stop And Stare.

We count ourselves fortunate that we live in Stalmine, a village less than a mile from the partly tidal River Wyre. A walk along country lanes leads directly to the Wyre salt marshes with paths that head south inland to Eccleston or north to the mouth of the estuary where the village of Knott End looks across to the once prosperous fishing port of Fleetwood. 

River Wyre, Lancashire 

There is little of the fishing industry left in Fleetwood. Fish now comes overland by truck and van where it is gobbled up by large wholesalers rather than fish landing by local trawlers that in turn provide jobs to town folk. Perhaps in 2021 when Britain regains its rightful fishing waters we may see a revival in the fortunes, finances and lost skills of the many coastal towns like Fleetwood. 

Fleetwood from Knott End 

After a number of weeks with little birding I headed towards the river, where I hoped to avoid crowds and vigilantes who might report me on social media for stopping occasionally and not walking briskly. I strolled alongside hedgerows, trees and farmland where I knew there would be birds to watch. For goodness sake, what is a walk without a stop and a stare? 

Just down the lane I found my first young Blackbird of the year as it scuttled noisily along neighbours’ fences. And it sat there until a male Blackbird came along to investigate the clicking of the camera. The youngster was so recently out of the nest it still had the remains of the egg tooth. The egg tooth is a small, sharp, protuberance used by youngsters to break or tear through the egg's surface during hatching. 

Blackbird 

Blackbird  

Buzzards are common over our house as they nest most years less than half-a-mile away. Without fail their circling flights above attract Buzzards from surrounding areas both from their calls and through their phenomenal eyesight. It’s not uncommon to have seven, eight or nine Buzzards overhead whereby if their calls don’t make me look up, the calls of the tormenting gulls surely will. This morning was three, yesterday seven. There was a Sparrowhawk too when a Starling gave the game away with a warning call as the hawk circled once or twice then flew off towards another copse. 

Buzzard 

Sparrowhawk 

Dunnocks, Wrens and Blackbirds were everywhere but just a single Whitethroat along lanes lined on both sides by trees and hedgerows, an ideal habitat for the usually noisy summer migrant. I’m hoping it’s just the northerly winds of the last few days that have held up the Whitethroats rather than a wholesale loss on their perilous journey. 

At New House there are always House Martins where seven or eight pairs nest every year without fail. As yet no martins and passing Swallows have been few with just six or eight today. Willow Warblers too are strangely missing, a species that often sings from local gardens on first arrival until they find their preferred place along the lanes. There was a singing Chiffchaff in the same spot by the old damson trees and where I’ve heard one in past years but rarely follow up as the season progresses. 

Compensation came with an obliging Sedge Warbler alongside a reedy ditch. It sang from inside the tree, at the very top and from down in the ditch as I followed it up, down and around about. This proved a morning of Sedge Warblers and a count of seven along the way. 

 Sedge Warbler

Sedge Warbler 

Further down the lane are gorse bushes and fields that once grew crops of vegetables but now grow grass. There’s no winter stubble with now zero counts of Yellowhammers or Tree Sparrows and very few Chaffinches but there are a few Lapwings that scrape a living on marginal land before the first cuts of silage. There was another Lapwing sat on eggs and the one below acting very much like the concerned parent. 

Lapwing 

At the river I surveyed the undulating marsh that has dozens if not hundreds of tidal channels, ditches that are both deep and dangerous to the unwary or inexperienced. The bund allows a glimpse in some of the closer channels where I found several Redshank, a Greenshank, several Curlew, two Whimbrel and a Reed Bunting. 

Burrows Marsh, River Wyre 

The Whimbrel flew quickly away with their characteristic and unmistakable call of seven rapid whistles. Why the Whimbrel always gives seven calls but not five, six, eight or nine is not entirely clear but is a unique call that once learnt is never forgotten. 

Whimbrel 

I retraced my steps back home with a Kestrel, Buzzards still above but no new Whitethroats. 

Back soon with more stop and stare. And there’s rain in the forecast, following an April that may be the driest on record.  There’s a novelty. 

Little Surprise

Birders with eyes on the skies and ears to the ground will not be surprised by a RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) report that raptor persecution shows no signs of slowing down across the UK.  Are we also shocked to learn that while the figures are scandalous enough, they simply scratch the surface when many incidents go undetected and unreported? 

Another Bird Blog has alluded to this in the past when in this part of Lancashire the Common Buzzard mysteriously disappears from regular locations where countryside folk love their shoots.  Exchanges with such folk reveals a huge distaste for Buzzards, Sparrowhawks and Peregrines. In many cases the same people have little or zero knowledge of each species other than their own ingrained prejudices and misconceptions about "hook-bills". 

Buzzard 

Peregrine 

Sparrowhawk 

The RSPB revealed this week that 2018 saw 67 incidents of bird of prey persecution confirmed in England alone, equalling the previous highest in the country noted way back in 2007. These figures come as the RSPB’s Raptor Persecution Hub, originally launched in 2018, and now for the first time depicting a full 12 years' worth of confirmed raptor persecution incidents back to 2007. 

There’s an interactive map where a user can filter and search for incidents in their own locality.  The visual map makes for a better appreciation of a problem that will not go away.

RSPB - Raptor Persecution 

Over a 12-year period, 22 species of bird of prey were targeted. Species of highest conservation concern include Hen Harrier (13 incidents), Northern Goshawk (24), White-tailed Eagle (4) and Golden Eagle (14). 

Common Buzzard is the most frequently persecuted, with 428 incidents involving the species. Red Kite is in second place with 189 incidents and Peregrine Falcon - 131 in third. 

Red Kite 

Other victims include Eurasian Hobby, multiple Long-eared and Little Owls and singles of Red-footed Falcon and Eurasian Eagle-Owl. The Red-footed Falcon was well documented at the time, a well-twitched bird seen in Staffordshire and Lincolnshire before being found shot in Cambridgeshire. 

Red-footed Falcon 

There are several clear black-spots, where persecution is highly prevalent with little surprise that the majority are in areas of upland habitat, often used for driven grouse shooting: 

•  North Yorkshire accounts for more than 10% of the 1,200+ incidents over the 2007-18 period,   with   132 at an average of 11 per year. 
• Highland Scotland with 71 incidents (5.6%)
• Scottish Borders at 58 incidents (4.6%) 
• Angus at 44 incidents (3.5%) 

Shooting is the most common form of persecution with 484 confirmed such instances. Poisoning was close behind on 472. A further 194 were due to trapping of which 104 were pole/spring traps, while 30 findings were of nest destruction. 

The figures above are simply the number exposed and will have little bearing on the actual number of birds of prey targeted in the year while detection rates remain low. Mounting evidence shows that crimes against raptors are more covert as the perpetrators become more secretive in their movements. This follows the enactment of vicarious liability legislation and the increased use of satellite tags to monitor raptors and a reduction in poisoning incidents, presumably because such crimes become increasingly easy to detect. 

Buzzard 

The figures show that few areas of the UK are unaffected. It is also obvious that the highest concentration of these incidents tend to occur where the land is managed for intensive driven grouse shooting. 

The RSPB - “This data underpins the need for urgent changes which must be made to protect our magnificent birds of prey, and put an end to this appalling slaughter once and for all."

Linking today to  Anni's Birding and Eileen's Saturday Blogspot.

A Better Day With No Buzzards.

After almost two weeks of unseasonable wind and rain there was just a chance the weather might ease slightly and allow a spot of ringing.  The dark of Tuesday night and into early Wednesday saw more pouring rain and then en route to Oakenclough the car splashed through fresh pools of water to confirm that August 2019 is the wettest ever recorded; and another week to go! 

I met up with Andy to 100% murk and to cool, threatening cloud but we reassured ourselves that the pourcast for the morning was 5/10 mph wind plus the chance of a fleeting shower only. 

And so it was but the overnight downpours had done us no favours with a poor catch of just 14 birds and minimal obvious migration: 5 Willow Warbler, 3 Blue Tit, 2 Goldcrest and one each of Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Great Tit and Chaffinch. 

Today’s five new Willow Warblers, all first year/juveniles, increased our total here to 74 for the year, a much higher figure than normal and almost certainly due to a good productivity during the settled weather of June and July. 

Blackcap 

Willow Warbler 

Chiffchaff 

There was little in the way of other birds, the cool, damp start had done for that. We saw a small movement of Swallows heading south in parties of 5-10, in total about 60 individuals. Otherwise, a flock of 20/30 Goldfinch, 2 or more great-spotted Woodpeckers and a single Nuthatch. 

On the way home via Pilling and Rawcliffe Moss there was a flock of 80/90 Swallows on overhead wires, the most I have seen all year. This is a sure sign that Swallows are preparing to migrate. They flew about restlessly, and gathered on telegraph wires. 

Most Swallows leave the UK during September, with early broods of youngsters being the first to go. A few stragglers may hang around into October.  

Swallows 

The return journey to Africa takes about six weeks. Swallows from different parts of Europe fly to different destinations. Our UK Swallows end up in the very south. They travel down through western France and eastern Spain into Morocco, before crossing the Sahara Desert and the Congo rain forest – finally reaching South Africa and Namibia. 

Swallows migrate during daylight, flying quite low and covering about 320 km (200 miles) each day. At night they roost in huge flocks in reed-beds at traditional stopover spots. Since Swallows feed entirely on flying insects, they don’t need to fatten up before leaving, but can snap up their food along the way. Nonetheless, many die of starvation. If they survive, they can live for up to eleven or twelve years but such an age is very exceptional with most surviving less than four years. 

It is very sad that this much-loved species, and like so many others, is in such a downward population spiral. 

Swallow 

As a further aside, I’m not seeing many Buzzards this year. Normally by late summer and on the regular 15 mile journey from Oakenclough to home at Stalmine via Garstang, Nateby, Skitham, Rawcliffe and Pilling, stopping now and again, there would be 10-15 in the air. This morning - none. 

This lack of Common Buzzards has troubled me all year. 

Buzzard 

Unfortunately, in this part of quiet countryside where the rearing of non-native game birds followed by the winter shooting of the same in the name of “sport” is very widespread, the Common Buzzard, both innocent and occasionally guilty, is now very much an Avian non grata. 

I’m not accusing anyone, just to note that all of a sudden, Buzzards have become very scarce. Bird watchers - be on the alert, and if necessary report to the authorities any suspicions you have.

Linking today to Eileen's Blogspot.

Daylight Robbery

I've been robbed of a number of days birding lately by our November weather, the month that invariably brings gloomy, wet and windy days across the Atlantic from the direction of North America.  I blame Donald Trump. There’s no other feasible explanation. 

It wasn't much different on Saturday morning after a bright start that quickly went downhill, until by 11 am there was rain and I was back home. After soup and a sandwich I sat at the keyboard only to see the sky lighten once more. Too late. 

Our Pink-footed Geese aren't playing ball with birders yet. They are shot at every day and prove hard to find, even harder to watch. At Lane Ends, Pilling was a flock of several hundred, maybe a thousand and seemingly entirely “pinkies” - unsurprising when the odds of finding the oddity goose is several thousand to one.  A large tractor drove slowly past, followed by a brightly clad jogger as the geese peeled off from their brief feed and gradually flew inland in tens, twenties and thirties in search of peace and quiet. 

Pink-footed Goose 

Out on the marsh were about 800/1000 Starlings in a tight flock, a Buzzard, a Grey Heron, plus a good number of Skylarks - perhaps 40/50 but most of them distant. 

I stopped at Gulf Lane hoping to see a good number of Linnets but best estimate was 40+ birds and none especially interested in the bird seed crop. About half a mile down the road at Braides Farm I noted that a flock of 150 or so Linnets fed along the weedy track and in the extensive fields there. It seems that the lack of Linnets at our own project site, probably as result of the good summer, mild autumn and warm-wet, early winter, has produced an abundance of food. The Linnets can pick and choose where they eat most times, more so this year. 

Linnet 

Braides Farm produced some exceptional counts of waders. The aircraft from the nearby parachute centre was around and about, often overhead at very low altitude upon which the massed waders would all take off into panic flight mode. Mostly they settled down again and I was able to achieve good but approximate counts of 2800 Lapwing, 2000 Golden Plover, 200 Redshank and 120 Curlew. Throughout all of this a Kestrel sat unperturbed along the fence line, waiting I guess for an opportune meal. 

Lapwing 

Of late there has been much disturbance at Conder Green with both habitat improvement on the pool and major construction around the old road bridge and the A588 road to and from Lancaster. That explains the relatively poor counts here of 130 Teal, 22 Black-tailed Godwit, 12 Redshank, 5 Little Grebe and just one Little Egret. 

I was about to spend an hour at Glasson, viewing the dock waters from the car, waiting for the wildfowl to come sailing by as they mostly do on quiet mornings. But then I saw that, where parking on this huge expanse of land has been free for as long as anyone can remember, folk are now expected to cough up via shiny new "Pay Here" machines.  In the village 50 yards away the little shops that sell bacon butties and ice cream to summer tourists are unhappy at the greedy tactics on display.   

Daylight Robbery 

Worse still the Canal and River Trust have sub-contracted the job to a company based in the south coast town of Brighton! Trendy Brighton, where (I'm told) bars like WTF and Naked Day fleece the sheeple punters, shops have names like ‘Vegetarian Shoes’ and ‘Choccywoccydoodah’, and kids have laughable names such as Lettuce, Rainbow and Daisy Boo. 

No, I can’t see birders paying for fancy parking here in Lancashire where folk are careful with their brass and where in the not too distant past in-your-face constructions demanding cash have been chopped at the knees during the darkest of winter nights. 

So instead I took a freebie ride in the direction of Moss Lane and Jeremy Lane and spent time watching a pair of Buzzards, about 150 Fieldfares and a dozen or more Redwings. 

Both Buzzards used a hawthorn hedgerow as a vantage point from which to watch the adjacent field. The Buzzards totally ignored the many Fieldfares that flew back and forth along the line of hedge as they scattered for no reason and then returned in unison. The Buzzards showed no interest at all in three Pheasants that walked along the hedgerow below them. No, the Buzzards were after small prey in the alongside field as one after the other they flew to ground where if necessary they ran to pounce upon the morsel they had spotted from their vantage point. 

Buzzard and Pheasants 

Buzzard 

Buzzard 

Noted many times on this blog. Buzzards principally eat small rodents, but also take birds, reptiles, amphibians, larger insects and earthworms. Buzzards do sometimes take game birds but such items make up only a tiny proportion of the diet. Buzzards are more likely to feed on carrion. 

Buzzards use three main hunting techniques. They locate prey from a perch and then fly directly to it. They may also soar over open terrain, occasionally hanging in the wind before dropping on to the prey and following up the attack on the ground. Alternatively they may be seen walking or standing on the ground looking for invertebrates. The photos are as close as we can get to Buzzards in this part of the world where the species is persecuted for any excuse and little reason. 

It was interesting that as I watched the Buzzards, the many dozens of Fieldfares using the same stretch of hedgerow displayed no fear of the Buzzards and at no time flew off because of the Buzzards’ feeding activity. 

Fieldfare 

Another thing. The fine, dry summer of 2018 produced little in the way of hawthorn berries and even now in early November, there are few berries left for wintering thrushes. Anyone who has yet to connect with a Fieldfare will find that they become scarce very soon if there is no food. 

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday and Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.