Redwing Surprise

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and after a slow ringing session this morning I knew that after my 2 weeks holiday followed by just a week of dropping food at the feeding station, it would have been better to leave the ringing for a few more days to let birds find the food again. 

Just 7 birds caught - 2 Chaffinch, 2 Blackbird, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Coal Tit and 1 Redwing. 

Finding a smart looking adult Redwing in a net came as a nice surprise, although a small movement of c 30 Fieldfares heading north-west throughout the morning hinted at thrushes on the move. 

Redwing

Blackbird

Coal Tit

Goldfinch

The Goldfinches weren’t interested in the nyger feeders today with about 30 of them sticking to feeding on the ground in a nearby meadow; goodness knows what seeds they find to eat in February. There were 20+ Reed Buntings around today, none finding their way to the nets. Chaffinches were pretty thin on the ground today, the large flock of recent months now having dispersed, with just 20 or so birds around and at least one Brambling, possibly four together overhead and flying north-west. 

If the ringing was quiet, the birding was much better and something of a raptor morning with 6 Buzzards (3 pairs), 3 Kestrel, a juvenile Peregrine, a pair of Sparrowhawks and of course a Little Owl. Other birds seen: 8 Corn Bunting, 40+ Tree Sparrow, 2 Yellowhammer, 600 Woodpigeon, 1 Woodcock. 

I saw the Sparrowhawks from a good distance away as they sat just feet apart, sunning themselves in a clump of bare willows, the bright breast of the male in particular drawing attention to them. As my car drew up the female turned and disappeared into the trees behind, the male continuing to sit on the exposed branch. It was a good distance away and the picture is heavily cropped and taken through a tiny gap in the vegetation: fortunately the bright sunshine allowed the crop. From the orangey eye colour it looks to be a fully adult male and the birds are in the same location they bred last year. Fingers crossed for a better year than the one youngster reared last season. 

Sparrowhawk

Birds were singing too - Skylark, Mistle Thrush, Reed Bunting and Great-spotted Woodpecker. The winter sunshine brought out the Brown Hares today with some running about the fields but no actual “boxing” yet. 

Brown Hare

Little Owl

Log in again soon for more news and views from Another Bird Blog. This week the blog is linking to Stewart's Photo Gallery and to Anni who would rather be birding most any time, and also to  Weekly Top Shot .

Chilly Ringing

A Jack Frost morning saw me return to Rawcliffe Moss after yesterday spotting a good number of Reed Buntings feeding on wheat spillage near the plantation. Today I counted 30 or so Reed Buntings dodging in and out of the field, so put up a couple of nets close by in the hope of catching a few. At the moment it seems to be mainly Reed Buntings showing an interest in the abandoned crop, with otherwise a small number of Chaffinch. 

After a couple of hours I’d caught 9 Reed Bunting, 3 Chaffinch, 1 Blackbird, 1 Wren and also recaptured a Coal Tit first ringed here 30 September 2010. 

Apart from one, all the Reed Buntings appeared to be first year birds, the tail below still showing fault bars caused by the poor feeding opportunities of the wet and cold summer. 

Reed Bunting

"Fault Bars" - Reed Bunting

Male Reed Buntings show a greyish white neck collar, a feature which females lack. 

Reed Bunting

All three Chaffinch proved to be females. 

Chaffinch

Chaffinch

Wren

Coal Tit 

A number of other birds were seen nearby: 6 Snipe, 4 Skylark, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 8 Goldfinch, 12 Corn Bunting, 40 Tree Sparrow, 60+ Chaffinch, and then 2 Kestrel and a single Buzzard. 

Corn Bunting

On the way home through Town End, Out Rawcliffe I chanced upon a mixed flock of Redwing and Fieldfare, circa 120 and 80 respectively. After seeing mere handfuls of each species of late the sudden appearance of bigger numbers may be the result of the severe frost of Wednesday night. Along the same road, another Kestrel and Buzzard. 

Looks like another woolly hat, warm scarf and thermal gloves day tomorrow for Another Bird Blog, so no early morning heroics, just a trip out someplace. Log in soon to find out just where and when.

Late Night, Late Start, Useful Gen

Sampling the heady nightlife of Knott End on Thursday evening meant an early start for ringing was unlikely this morning, and in fact I arrived out on Rawcliffe Moss decidedly late at 0930. 

I’d gone to top up the feeders and as there was virtually no wind I put a single net up for a couple of hours and had quite a reasonable catch of 16 new birds: 5 Lesser Redpoll, 4 Coal Tit, 3 Reed Bunting, 2 Goldfinch, 1 Goldcrest and 1 Dunnock. In addition another Lesser Redpoll, a juvenile male bore a British ring from elsewhere in the UK - Y310191. Redpolls were the dominant species this morning, with upwards of 40 birds going over in a couple of hours, with for comparison the Chaffinch passage distinctly poor yet again. 

Lesser Redpoll

Y310191

The Goldfinch numbers are dropping now with less than a dozen birds around the feeders. 

 Goldfinch

Reed Buntings have variable plumage at this time of year, and although as a species they don’t seem to travel huge distances, ageing them makes for an interesting few minutes.

Reed Bunting

Reed Bunting

Four Coal Tits caught, with at least another eight or ten about at one stage as the irruption continues.

Coal Tit

Other birds this morning: 8 Meadow Pipit, 5 Pied Wagtail, 1 Jay, 3 Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, 20 Tree Sparrow, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 1000+ Pink-footed Goose.

Kestrel 

I drove home via Stalmine Moss where 16 Whooper Swan were on a still flooded field, so flooded that there’s not much chance of it drying out now that winter is almost here. Back home I put my soggy walking boots outside in the sun, then looked up and west to see 4 Buzzards circling nearby fields - a fine end to a morning of birds. 

Whooper Swan

Regular readers will know that Another Bird Blog is not averse to recommending a noteworthy place to go birding, a useful bird book, or with a glance to the right hand column, an informative blog. Occasionally we even make mention of a place to eat after a hard day’s birding, today’s tip-off being that readers should find time to visit The New Village Steakhouse in Knott End. That’s where Sue and I enjoyed a lovely meal in their newly refurbished and agreeable surroundings, with friendly and impeccable service plus a bottle of Grenache thrown in - and all for less than £40. 

Al last, some useful information from a bird blog. Tune in soon for more.

Where’s Tonto When You Need Him?

Yes, The Lone Ringer would have welcomed an extra set of eyes plus an additional pair of hands to help out on Rawcliffe Moss this morning. Just as the BBC promised, there was a layer of white frost on the ground when I arrived, and when heading off to the net rides I found the resident ropes and mist net poles with an unpleasant coating of ice. 

It was a slow, cold start but the morning soon warmed up, both bird and temperature wise into on an eventful, busy morning for ringing and watching bird migration in action. It’s at times like this when the ringing must take priority, with counts of overhead birds and those obviously passing through becoming approximations or missed entirely when hands and eyes are fully occupied with processing birds. 

More of the “vis” later, but first the ringing which comprised mainly finches - 38 birds of 6 species, 16 Chaffinch, 17 Goldfinch, 2 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Greenfinch, 1 Coal Tit and 1 Great Tit. Of the Chaffinches there were just 2 adults today, both of them males, with the remaining 14 juveniles split 11/3 in favour of males today. Of the Goldfinches all 17 birds proved to be first year birds in varying degrees of progression to first winter plumage. 

Goldfinch

I hope today was the start of the redpoll passage as they are infinitely more catchable than autumn Siskins. 

Lesser Redpoll

 

Coal Tit

Even as I arrived at 0630 and in the half-light there were Song Thrushes dodging along the farm track and then within minutes the first sounds of Siskins overhead. Soon after dawn 2 Mistle Thrushes came from the north before they too headed south. Mistle Thrushes have got really scarce in these parts, these two the first I have seen in months. 

Frosty Start

Siskins were to dominate the morning calls, eclipsing even the normal preponderance of Chaffinch here. By 1130 my approximation of both came to 100+ Siskin and 70 Chaffinch, with Lesser Redpoll trailing in third place at 10+. 2012 has certainly been a “Siskin Autumn” so far, a scenario which doesn’t necessarily translate into a Siskin winter if birds continue too far south and out of the UK. The Goldfinches caught today came from a flock of 120+ birds feeding nearby, and as ever on this site at this time of year, it is impossible to separate out any Goldfinches that may be on migration. 

There was a reasonable passage of Meadow Pipits overhead, c90, but they were moving on a broad front with many west of my vantage point when I had a rare quiet moment to look through binoculars. Skylarks were on the move this morning, all seemingly from the east and heading west, 15+ individuals. Other overheads: 2 Grey Wagtail, 2 alba wagtail, 1 Yellowhammer, 2 Reed Bunting, 3 Blackbird. 

Other birds: a singing Chiffchaff which I heard just once before it probably moved on, 2 Jay,1 Kestrel, 140 Pink-footed Goose, 1 Buzzard and 30+ seemingly local Swallows. Halfway through the morning I received a text from Will who was working near Claughton. His message told of a heavy passage of Meadow Pipits underway, together with a “phenomenal” movement of Swallows. Interesting that the Meadow Pipits I had seen and heard just 7 or 8 miles away probably tallied with Will’s observations, but there was no sign of a sizeable movement of Swallows here on the moss. 

On the way home I called to see if my pal the reliable, approachable and easy-going Little Owl was having a sun bathe. He or she was there in the usual spot, just snoozing in the midday sun until the shutter clicked as if to rouse the bird. There and then I decided to christen the owl Tonto even though it could be male or female, and while Tonto won’t be able to help out with my ringing, it’s always around when I need a photo or two. 

 

Little Owl

 

"Tonto"

Tune in soon for more news, views and photos from Another Bird Blog.

More Of The Same

Will and I turned out for a 6am ringing session at Rawcliffe Moss this morning hoping for a better catch than of recent weeks. During our 4 hour session we achieved a decent variety of species we expect in August but once again the catch proved short of the hoped for numbers. Just 16 birds of 10 species, a figure which included 3 recaptures. 

New birds: 3 Robin, 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Chaffinch and 1 each of Coal Tit, Goldfinch, Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Chiffchaff and Wren. Recaptures; 1 each of Wren, Blue Tit and Willow Warbler. Except for the recaptured Blue Tit, every other bird proved to be a juvenile. 

Chiffchaff

 

 Willow Warbler

Coal Tit

Goldfinch

Chaffinch

Whitethroat

The Garden Warbler had very pronounced fault bars in the tail. Fault bars are transparent bands in the feathers of birds which are produced and grown under the stressful conditions induced by poor weather/lack of food. 

Garden Warbler

Fault bars - Garden Warbler

Birding today: 8+ Siskin, 1 Yellowhammer, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 1 Kestrel, 1 Little Owl, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Golden Plover, 170+ Lapwing. A rather distant flock of circa 160 finches contained both Goldfinches and Linnets, the majority of the flock probably the former. 

Tune into Another Bird Blog soon for more birding, ringing or photographs. 

Around Robins

“Scattered showers” meant no proper birding, ringing or photography and soon I may have to change the blog title to “An Ex-Birder Reminisces”. But in between cutting the rampant hedge and the verdant grass and after oiling the oxidized pliers, I opened a garden net.

I have yet to see any young Goldfinches in the garden this year. I’m sure they are about, but just a couple of adults today. To catch two unwary House Sparrows is most unusual, one an adult male, the other a juvenile. Not much else before the wind sprung up again, a Blackbird, a Robin, and juveniles of Coal Tit and Blue Tit.

House Sparrow

Coal Tit

Goldfinch

Robin

When I post pictures of our UK Robin, properly known as Common Robin or Eurasian Robin, (Latin name Erithacus rubecula) I inevitably receive a few comments from US readers about the fact that it doesn’t look much like the robin they know. So for my friends in the US unfamiliar with the following, here’s a tiny bit of a history and science lesson all in one. I will even throw in a spot of poetry.

When settlers from the UK reached America sometime after the year 1600 and came across the red-breasted bird which bore a similarity to the robin left back home on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean they naturally christened the unfamiliar one “robin”.

The American Robin Turdus migratorius is a migratory songbird of the thrush family which is not closely related to the European Robin, the robin instead belonging to the flycatcher family. The American Robin is more closely related to the Eurasian Blackbird/Common Blackbird Turdus merula, so closely related that both belong to the same genus of Turdus, true thrushes. I guess that after the American and European continents split apart all those millions of ago the thrush families also went their separate ways and after all that evolutionary change there are now some 65 Turdus thrushes in the world. 

 American Robin – Turdus migratorius http://kenthomas.us/

Blackbird - Turdus merula 

An old English word for thrush is “throstle”

And hark! how blithe the throstle sings! 
He, too, is no mean preacher: 
Come forth into the light of things, 
Let Nature be your teacher. 

William Wordsworth

Finches And Fieldfares

It’s been a slow start to the finch season with even Goldfinches hard to come by lately, but this morning’s ringing on the moss made amends with a sudden increase in the King Harrys and the start of the redpoll passage.

With recent quiet visits and the cold, misty start today I wasn’t too adventurous with the number or positioning of nets but caught fairly well until about 10am. New birds, 12 Goldfinch, 5 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Chaffinch and a single Coal Tit. The two recaptures were a Blackbird and a Goldfinch.

As the sun burned off the mist a few Siskins and more Lesser Redpolls flew north, however there was no sign of either Goldcrests or Chiffchaffs in the plantation, species we might expect by now. Otherwise the birding was subdued with 7 Yellowhammer, 45 Curlew, 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 3 Skylark, 1 Corn Bunting, 2 Buzzard and 1 Kestrel.

In the autumn it’s not always possible to sex Lesser Redpolls - no doubt about one of this morning’s males.

Lesser Redpoll
Lesser Redpoll
Chaffinch
Coal Tit

This Goldfinch is a female – the red on the face does not extend beyond the eye and the nasal hairs are greyish.

Goldfinch
Goldfinch

Fieldfares have used a nearby field for weeks now, all through the wet spell and even now as the soil dries out completely where the bird's brown tones merge in with the dry terrain. I stopped today to take some photographs of birds in a flock of about 130 as they intermittently picked over the earth than flew to the tops of nearby trees when passing vehicles spooked them. Take a good look, it may be November before we see them again. I saw a single distant Redwing amongst the flock but could have missed others.

Fieldfare
Fieldfare
Fieldfare
Fieldfare
Fieldfare
Fieldfare
Fieldfare
Redwing