Catch Up

Out of action for a few weeks I am only now beginning to catch up. Here’s a few pictures from Greece where we enjoyed probably our best ever holiday on the fantastic island of Skiathos despite the weather of 14/14 days of sunshine and very few birds. The island of Skiathos is simply not on a major migration route whereby it attracts a small number of waifs and strays and has a limited range of breeding species.

Click the pics for the best experience. 

For me after so many visits came the infrequent experience of a tick on the Skiathos list - 2 Cattle Egret sharing the tideline with hundreds of Yellow-legged Gulls, the egrets caught against the bright blue sky and the blue/green water. 

Cattle Egret

Yellow-legged Gulls

It’s always good to see the last of the Eleonora's Falcons before they head off to Africa in pursuit of the hirundines that make up some of their diet. Red-rumped Swallows put in an appearance, as did common Barn Swallows but neither of them in big numbers. 

Eleonora's Falcon

As usual Hoopoes, Spotted Flycatchers, Whinchats, Yellow Wagtails, Chiffchaffs and Red-backed Shrikes proved fairly numerous although both Scops Owl and Little Owl were usually heard and not seen. 

Little Owl

Red-backed Shrike

Yellow Wagtail

Whinchat

 

Seeing few birds is not a problem when we go back to our beloved island time after time. We have both May 2025 and September 2025 booked in the diary to revisit favourite birding spots, places to eat, relax and to say “Kalimera” to our lovely Greek hosts. 

Akrogiali - authentic taverna -The best Sea Bass in all of Skiathos 

Mari and Christos - Foodie Cafe - The best coffee in all of Skiathos

Our special friends Litsa and beautiful daughter Sofia.

Dad Makis

View to Skiathos Town

Most photographed in Skiathos Town

Fast Ferry

Slow Boat

Early clouds, stunning light Skiathos Town

Mylos Taverna

Aselinos 

Donkeys at Aselinos

Mylos with a telephoto

Plane spotters

Aselinos beach

Back home there would no ringing when sidekicks Andy and Will were indisposed with hospital and looking after elderly parents respectively. My own mobility issues limited outings to forays with a camera, so no birds in the hand, just birds in the frame. 

Is there anything more uplifting than a watching and listening to flocks of Lapwings tumbling across an autumn sky? I found a flock of 400+ feeding in a field of recently cut maize where rains had puddled the ground. Just perfect conditions for Lapwings that like to eat insects, worms and spiders, but also small amounts of seeds and grains, easily found following a maize harvest. 

Lapwings

Lapwings

 

Late September and early October saw a movement of both Reed Buntings and finches, they too found something to eat amongst the maize stubble. Best counts were of 160 Linnets, 15/20 Reed Buntings, 40+ Greenfinch, 8/10 Goldfinches and small numbers of Skylarks. Pretty quickly the farmer ploughed and drilled the field and the birds moved on to find new sources of food. It was good while it lasted. 

Upon playing close attention to the many Linnets I managed to single out a few likely looking “Scottish” types especially during one morning when the first Scottish snows and frosts were predicted. Scottish types are noticeably dark on the crown, ear coverts, nape and underparts than their more southerly counterparts but close views or in the hand is the best way of seeing these distinctions. 

"Scottish" Linnet

 

Linnet

Reed Bunting

Reed Bunting

Goldfinch

Linnets

Meadow Pipit

Greenfinch

Greenfinch

Greenfinches can be a feature of September and October mornings, some mornings none and then one morning when they seemed to fall from the sky and eager to mop up seed placed on photography fence posts.  Our Greenfinches don't travel far during the autumn and winter as ringing recoveries point to their moving up and down the west coast according to food availability and weather conditions. However it is good to see a revival in the fortunes of this often overlooked and/or ignored species.

And of course “mipits” will be around on most morning to happily pose for a picture and can hang around most of the day if there is food available. 

Meadow Pipit

 

Thanks for looking folks. Back soon with more views, news, pics and  more catch ups.

Shopping Or Birding?

Sue took the 5C bus to go shopping. I grabbed the car and went birding. Read on to discover who got the best deal. 

The 0630 start saw me driving along a bumpy farm track at an easy going 10mph where I met up with Andy for our planned ringing session. Zero wind and a slightly misty start suggested sun, warmth and clear skies ahead. 

Birds were on the move from the off with Meadow Pipits in abundance and one or two fellow travellers. Out of the first net round we picked 3 Meadow Pipits, a Sedge Warbler and a Reed Bunting 

Sedge Warbler

Meadow Pipit

Reed Bunting

 

We had more Meadow Pipits but the initial surge of post-dawn birds did not continue in any huge way. We ended with a slightly disappointing 14 new birds – 12 Meadow Pipits, 1, Sedge Warbler and 1 Reed Bunting. 

Major disappointment came when we saw a female Sparrowhawk heading for and then landing in a mist net 30 yards away from where we sat drinking coffee while putting the world to rights. A few flaps of those wide wings together a little panic and the hawk freed itself, gone before we could get a hand on her.  

A bad-tempered Sparrowhawk out to dig its talons into your fingers always livens up a slow ringing session. 

Sparrowhawk

 

We didn’t see the hawk again and settled for views of other raptors, a Marsh Harrier and a Kestrel. The Marsh Harrier was the fifth or sixth sighting of this autumn when it arrived from an easterly direction and then continued in deep V profile as it flew purposefully west and out of sight. 

The Kestrel crossed our line of sight rapidly with typically strong and consistent wing beats, quite unlike the pumping wings and flat glides of a Sparrowhawk. 

Kestrel

Andy had an appointment and left at 1030. I sat in the car hide for a while and grabbed a few pictures in the morning light. Along came a few Linnets, Pied Wagtails and a single Yellow Wagtail – nice! 

Yellow Wagtail

Linnet

Pied Wagtail

Back home I had a short nap until woken by the Happy Shopper returning home home and handing me a dog-eared debit card.  Today's financial advice - buy shares in Marks & Spencer. 

Back soon folks. Enjoy your days whatever you do. 

Autumn Arrives

Friday produced my first autumnal Kingfisher of 2024, whizzing back and forth across farmland drainage ditches, enough stimulus to inspire another visit on Sunday morning where I hoped for more pictures. At the same place, and if the wind speed stayed low as predicted, maybe catch and ring a few other species. 

Kingfisher

 

As an early season  breeding species of inland waters the Kingfisher is a surprisingly early returnee to coastal Fylde where the tiny and seemingly fragile fisherman is able to make a winter living wherever there’s a spot to watch, wait and then plunge. 

August and September can be an ideal time to look out for their arrival. Warmed by The Irish Sea our coastal waters here remain ice and snow free during most winters when just 15/20 miles away near Preston or Garstang the reverse can be true. 

Almost four hours later there was neither sight nor sound of a Kingfisher; such are the vagaries of trying to predict migration or to second guess a species like Kingfisher, its habits or whereabouts. 

At first, and for an hour or so, the wind was non-existent. A single net in the open except for the minimal background of vegetated fence posts remained unwavering and strangely still, quite unlike our frequently blown away ringing sessions. It wasn’t to last but in the meantime I caught in double figures, 9 Meadow Pipits and a single Willow Warbler. 

Meadow Pipit - first summer

Willow Warbler - first summer

As the wind speed increased so did the birds with a rather sudden but splendid arrival of dozens of Meadow Pipit, Linnet and wagtails, as if they had all waited for a breeze to give them lift off from the runway. Bright morning sunlight gave photo opportunities whereby the strengthening breeze mattered not. 

By now Meadow Pipits poured through with a rough count of 100+, joined in their arrival with mainly Pied Wagtails (30+), Linnets (45+) and even a couple each of Great-spotted Woodpecker and Sedge Warbler. 

Click the pics for close-ups.

Pied Wagtail

Meadow Pipit

Pied Wagtail

Stock Dove

Linnet

Linnet

 

Great-spotted Woodpecker

Linnet

Meadow Pipit

Sedge Warbler

Back soon folks. Take care out there, it's a funny old world at the moment.

Another Bird Blog.