Another Gull First

There’s local news below but firstly, and after my news about the Herring Gull that likes to shop, comes exciting news about another species of gull – the Little Gull Hydrocoloeus minutus. It's a species which we don't see too often here in Lancashire unless there's a major storm in mid-winter.

Little Gull - Ekaterina Chernetsova from Saint-Petersburg, [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Chicks of the world's smallest species of gull have hatched for the first time in Britain at a bird reserve in Aberdeenshire. The hatching of two Little Gulls happened at RSPB Scotland's Loch Strathbeg site near Fraserburgh. This is the first time the species had been recorded raising young in Britain. A pair nested on a small island which is home to more than 130 pairs of Common Terns. 

Richard Humpidge, RSPB Scotland sites manager, said: "We were really excited to discover that the Little Gulls had successfully hatched. It wasn't long ago that the island was home to just 10 pairs of Common Terns that struggled to raise any chicks. Four years, hundreds of hours of help from volunteers and 10 tons of shingle later, there's more than 130 pairs of terns with lots of large tern chicks and now we've got two tiny Little Gull chicks as well - a first for Britain." 

As a contrast to the many reports of declining species it’s great to hear some positive news about a bird on the increase. 

Today I paid visits to Conder Green and Glasson Dock where I enjoyed a couple of hours of birding before the clouds rolled in. There are always birds to see at Glasson Dock where the unkempt nature of a working port coupled with the separate waters of the port itself and the adjoining yacht basin provide lots of opportunities for birds. Come the early morning quiet of late summer the vessels of all shapes and sizes provide lots of spots for Kingfishers to watch and wait.

Glasson Dock - Lancashire

Glasson Dock - Lancashire

It’s a fair stretch across the moorings where a tiny Kingfisher can be invisible against the dock sides or a dark hulled boat but where the single call or a sudden splash of water provides the evidence that a Kingfisher is around. This morning it was a tussle with a passing Swallow which drew my attention to the Kingfisher as it called in protest at a humble Swallow wishing to share the same spot. Having won the argument the Kingfisher sat for a while before flying across to sit along the rails which guard against pedestrians falling into the water after visiting the Victoria Hotel late at night.

I drove slowly to the far side of the dock from where the Kingfisher departed and to where it eventually returned - until it spotted my face and camera lens filling the car window. A Kingfisher is a genuine challenge to any budding photographer, a Swallow less so.

Kingfisher

Swallow

I found a decent selection of birds around the area, including 30+ House Sparrows, 8 Goldfinch, 1 Common Tern, 12 Swift, 4 Collared Dove, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Blackcap, 8 Blackbird, 2 Song Thrush, 8 Swallow, 4 Chaffinch, 4 Tufted Duck, 1 Great Crested Grebe and 1 Common Sandpiper. That’s pretty good entertainment for somewhere that many a birder might find uninspiring.

Goldfinch

 
As I drove towards Conder Green a Sparrowhawk performed a flap-glide across the road ahead before disappearing into the caravan site. Sparrowhawks should be more visible in the next few weeks, a typical sort of date when they have young in the nest and when adults spend more time hunting to feed a growing family.

Sparrowhawk

More Swifts were hunting above the Conder hawthorn hedgerow – about 30 or so. It seems to be a favoured morning feeding spot for the Swifts and Swallows and when insects take to the wing.

On the pool and in the creeks; 2 Common Tern + young, 3 Avocet, 7 Common Sandpiper, 3 Pied Wagtail, 1 Little Egret, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Teal, 3 Wigeon, 1 Shelduck and 1 Little Grebe.

Common Sandpiper

There was a single Teal today feeding quietly and apparently harmlessly along the muddy edge of the pool when an Avocet flew noisily at the duck and chased it out into the water. Avocets in a colony are known to be aggressively defensive and chase off any other species of birds that try to nest among or near them. Clearly one of the Conder Green pair also dislikes any bird which feeds along “its” stretch of water. No wonder then that the annoyed remark "Avocet - Exocet" is often heard from some British birdwatchers where Avocets have taken over similar wetland areas.

Avocets - The Crossley Guide to Britain & Ireland

We’ll have to keep a close eye on those Avocets. We don’t want them taking over Conder Pool to the exclusion of every other species do we?

Linking today to World Bird Wednesday,  Anni's Birding and Eileen's Saturday Blog. 

A Birding First For Britain – Greggs Gull

I usually enjoy a few hours of birding on Saturday mornings when the rush of commuters is less frenetic, allowing me to stop and stare alongside busy roads when necessary. Even other birders seem to take a day off on a Saturday to collect their brownie points by taking a spouse shopping or other such mundane responsibilities. Not me. 

Although the morning started out dry the cloud and rain of June and now July spread in quickly from the North West. This time there was a blustery feel to it, a double scenario which led to nothing much to report. 

But here goes; and there’s a bonus later by way of a true story for lovers of gulls, large or small. 

I stopped at Braides Farm to hear a Raven in full voice, a deep and majestic croak echoing across the fields. The Raven had taken exception to the resident Buzzard sat along the fence where it spends the short summer nights. I’m betting the Buzzard was in situ before the Raven chanced along that way but the huge black beast was having none of it and chased the Buzzard further away. Just 20 or so yards away proved enough to placate the Raven for now. All went quiet as the Raven occupied the spot the Buzzard vacated. 

Raven

“The intriguing Common Raven has accompanied people around the Northern Hemisphere for centuries, following their wagons, sleds, sleighs, and hunting parties in hopes of a quick meal. Ravens are among the smartest of all birds, gaining a reputation for solving ever more complicated problems invented by ever more creative scientists. These big, sooty birds thrive among humans and in the back of beyond, stretching across the sky on easy, flowing wingbeats.” All About Birds.

I could hear Skylarks calling from across the fields where post-breeding Curlews fresh from the uplands have begun to gather in numbers. A couple of fields contained 100+Curlew and small gatherings of Carrion Crows.

Conder Green often provides one or two agreeable moments such as this morning when I watched two Kingfishers hurrying by a foot or so above the choppy water. As usual it’s the unique call that alerts a birder to the presence of a Kingfisher, a shrill but short single or double whistle before the flash of a blue bird appears (or more likely disappears). I’m certain that the two today would be an adult accompanied by a juvenile. Like so many other species of birds Kingfisher families stick together to some extent until the youngsters become fully independent.

Kingfishers

The Kingfishers were the highlight of my visit but other notables included 10 Common Sandpiper, 130 Lapwing, 90+ Redshank, 16 Oystercatcher and 4 Little Egret plus the resident and breeding Avocets and Common Terns, both of which have yet to present flying young.

Common Sandpiper

Otherwise - 2 Tufted Duck, 2 Wigeon, 12 Curlew, 2 Sedge Warbler, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Whitethroat, 2 Linnet and 1 Blackcap. Yes, it was a quiet hour or two of birding.

But now for aficionados of the much maligned family of gulls comes news of a new skill recently acquired - going shopping. Watch the video; it’s hilarious. 




From The Metro newspaper - "A Herring Gull was spotted “swaggering” into a Greggs (a UK chain of fast food bakery shops) in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, on the morning of 30th June by customer Gordon Lindsay.

He reckoned the gull had definitely formulated a plan of attack to get some Greggs goodies. Gordon, 41, said: ‘I’ve never seen anything like it. The seagull knew exactly what it was doing. I’d stopped in to get a bacon sandwich on the way to work. The gull knew how to open the automatic doors by flapping its wings and then it headed straight for the crisps. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It then wandered around and pinched a packet of crisps off the bottom shelf. It had absolutely no shame and certainly didn’t hang around once it had got what it wanted.’

Gordon added that the bird ‘flapped again to open the doors and off it went’."

What next for the opportunistic, intelligent and adaptable gull family you might ask? Well there is a Marks and Spencer just along from our local Greggs where the gulls might find some slightly more upmarket products than crisps and pasties. And the shopping baskets are handily placed at the entrance door.

Herring Gull

Well a Greggs Gull is a definite first for me even if I didn’t see it live. But stay tuned for the best and most up-to-date bird news with Another Bird Blog.

Linking this post to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday and Anni's Birding Blog. 

Early Doors Birding

The forecast promised three or four hours of sunshine. So there was just enough time to get some birding in before the day’s babysitting at 9am. Mid-day and it's raining.

I hit the road north in the direction of Pilling and Conder Green. 

Conder Green, Lancashire

I had lost track of the tide times so found myself at the creek just as the tide filled, an outcome with both good and bad points, depending upon the depth of the water caused by the tidal bore, the speed and height of which can vary considerably. Many of the birds that feed in the shallow water of the creeks find themselves flooded out so then head off to roost on the higher sandbanks of the Lune or on Conder Pool just yards away. 

A Barn Owl took advantage of the situation and spent thirty minutes or more searching a wide area of marsh and field for a meal, stopping only briefly to take a look around. Barn Owls are surprisingly fast fliers for anyone looking to take an action shot, with a single bird spending a good time on the wing. They pause or rest less than one might imagine from the many and varied photographs which often show them using fences or similar objects. 

Barn Owl

The tide worked in my favour today when many waders found their way to the pool, including 13 Common Sandpipers, 100+ Lapwing, 40+ Redshank, 15 Oystercatcher and 2 Curlew. Common Sandpipers have returned with a vengeance, the breeding season finished for many of those which arrive in the UK in early spring. They raise just one brood and then head back to Africa with little delay. 

Lapwings have not bred here on the pool with their present numbers swelled by fairly local birds from the many marshes and fields nearby. Autumn and Winter will bring a much larger influx from Scotland and Europe. 

Common Sandpiper

Lapwing

Lapwing

The resident Common Terns still feed their dependant young on a distant island but rarely come close enough for a picture. Likewise the breeding but shy Avocets, strangely quiet today. From a start of four chicks I fear there may be one or even none of the fluffy youngsters left. 

Avocet

The road here at Conder Green is badly potholed and damaged due to passing heavy traffic from nearby Glasson Dock coupled with the occasional high tides that wash over it. The local Oystercatchers don’t mind too much. There’s usually a morsel or two of food to be found in the broken, bumpy and uneven surface of what passes for a road. 

Oystercatcher

The usual Grey Heron and Little Egret obliged with wildfowl represented by 3 Wigeon, 2 Tufted Duck and a healthy but uncounted number of Mute Swan and Mallard. 

It was good to see Swifts this morning with 40+ feeding over the hawthorn hedge at early doors, together with 15+ Swallow and a handful of Sand Martins. This is the highest number of Swifts I’ve seen at home this year, a tiny number compared to the many thousand I noted migrating through the island of Menorca in early May. Let’s hope that our declining Swift is doing rather better in other parts of Northern Europe than here in Great Britain. 

Along the hedgerow I found 3 Reed Bunting, 2 Pied Wagtail, 2 Sedge Warbler, 4 Goldfinch, 4 Greenfinch, 2 Linnet, 1 Whitethroat and 1 Song Thrush. 

Young Swallows were about today, fresh from a nearby nest but taking a rest along a five-barred metal gate. Who can resist taking yet more pictures of our handsome Barn Swallow? Not me. 

Barn Swallow

Barn Swallow

Barn Swallow

Please join in again soon. And now go back and “click the pics” for a closer look at those Swallows.

Linking today to Viewing Nature with Eileen,  Run A Round Ranch  and  Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.

More From The Hills

I’m not exactly an insomniac, more a light sleeper so these mid-summer mornings often find me awake at 4 in the morning. The kettle was on as I munched a breakfast banana. Through the kitchen window I could see the pipistrelle bats flying around the garden. We seem to have a lot this year as witnessed by the top of the recycle bin and the hundreds of droppings beneath the spot where the bats enter and leave the roof space. No problem, the bats are more than welcome to the many insects they consume. 

Bat Droppings

It wasn’t the brightest morning but I decided to head into the hills and try and bit more photography before the breeding season ends. 

The Bowland Hills

The bird list was much as last week although there was a definite increase in the number of Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails, more than a hundred pipits and dozens of Pied Wagtails. I saw both species carrying food whereby I imagine by mid to late June the adults will be on their second broods. 

Meadow Pipit

Meadow Pipit

 Pied Wagtail

A juvenile Lapwing wasn’t for moving from the roadside. The poor light and occasional drizzle needed ISO1600. Maybe there will be a sunny spell for the next visit? 

Lapwing

I saw at 4 or more Snipe this morning with at least two of them in “drumming” mode but none would pose on a fence like the one last week. “Drumming”(or “winnowing”) is a sound produced by Snipe as part of their courtship display flights. The sound is produced mechanically in the slipstream of a power dive (rather than vocally) by the vibration of the modified outer tail feathers held out at a wide angle to the body.

Snipe

I saw three Red Grouse in exactly the same patch of ground as a week ago but no Grey Partridge today. 

Red Grouse

Taking care not to scare them prematurely the local Oystercatchers are pretty amenable to a photograph, especially if they have young around and need to keep an eye on them. 

Oystercatcher

Oystercatcher

Once very common in Bowland the Redshank seem pretty scarce up here nowadays, a casualty of the overall decline in upland birds like Curlew, Lapwing, Golden Plover and Dunlin. A Redshank came to see me off from its patch before flying back to where it had youngsters some 30 yards away. 

Redshank

Along the stream were two or three pairs of Common Sandpipers, one pair protesting loudly when the car stopped alongside their patch. It was a clear sign of youngsters about, so I left them in peace. The picture is more than a little blurred in the poor light coupled with not enough ISO. 

Common Sandpiper

Other birds today – Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Greenfinch, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, House Martin, Sand Martin, Swallow, Swift, Blackbird, Siskin, Linnet, Woodpigeon, Stock Dove, Collared Dove , Chaffinch, Reed Bunting, Willow Warbler, Grey Wagtail.

Linking today to Anni's Birding.

Productive Birding

I was looking to go ringing this morning but a stiff easterly put a stop to that plan. Instead there was some good birding to be had on the local circuit. 

Heading north I stopped off at Cockerham to see the wintering flock of Linnets still very flighty over the weedy set-aside field but holding firm at 70/80 individuals. Half-a-mile away at Braides Farm there’s lots of water in the fields where I found 2 Little Egret and 30 Lapwing seriously outnumbered by a feeding and bathing flock of some 1500 Starlings and several hundred gulls. The gulls were mainly Black-headed Gulls with a couple of dozen Common Gull and one or two Lesser Black-backed Gulls in the mix. There was a Kestrel hovering over the roadside verges. 

Lapwing

I made my way to Conder Green to be greeted by a Barn Owl quartering the marsh. No sooner had I lifted the camera than the owl flew towards its daytime roost and swooped out of sight into the building. It was almost 0900, a time when Barn Owls should be tucked up for the day. 

I turned my attention to the creeks and the pool where I quite quickly found the wintering Spotted Redshank and similarly long staying Common Sandpiper. My now old “Atlas of Wintering Birds in Britain and Ireland”of 1986 shows that both species wintered in the UK at the time of the fieldwork I took part in during 1981 to 1984). As one might expect both were concentrated in the warmer south and west of England (and Ireland for the Common Sandpiper), but the Common Sandpiper was represented here in NW England by a number of dots on the map. 

Common Sandpiper

The pool was pretty crowded with both waders and wildfowl, albeit most of them at long distance and away from the busy, noisy road. A few of the counts and bouts of activity, especially from Oystercatchers, Shelducks and Tufted Ducks, suggested that a number of birds have arrived back with a view to taking up summer residence. Here are the counts – 95 Teal, 65 Curlew, 15 Shelduck, 12 Wigeon, 10 Lapwing, 12 Redshank, 5 Little Grebe, 4 Tufted Duck, 2 Canada Goose, 1 Little Egret, 1 Grey Heron. 

Tufted Duck

 Shelduck

A single Skylark flew over and there were a few Chaffinch and a singing Greenfinch along the hedgerow. 

A quick look at Glasson found no Goldeneye on the yacht basin so I settled for 21 Tufted Duck, 24 Coot and 16 Cormorant. Of the latter, two were fishing the others lined up along the far jetty drying out from their own earlier fishing expeditions. 

Cormorant

The route back home took me past flooded fields at Pilling where I stopped awhile to count 400+ Lapwing, 350 Redshank, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Ruff and many more Black-headed Gulls. 

Dunlin

That was a pretty good morning of birding I hope everyone will agree. Look in soon for more birding, ringing or photography.

Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday and Anni's Birding.

Birding Home And Away

After arriving back from holiday late on Sunday it’s been hard to find the time or even the motivation to go birding. But om Wednesday morning I dug my hat, gloves and birding jacket out of the car boot in the sure knowledge that the feel of a Lancashire winter at 5⁰ is in stark contrast to two weeks of Lanzarote’s wall-to-wall sunshine and 23⁰. 

Wednesday was my turn on the Oakenclough rota. It was time to top the feeders and check the numbers of birds feeding there in case the weather should relent and allow a ringing session - a week from now looks a possibility after yet another stormy weekend ahead! 

Andy topped up last Saturday and reported decent numbers of Chaffinches, Goldfinches and Coal Tits, concentrated as usual in the least windy spots. Three feeders were barely touched, another three close to empty. So it was a minimal top-up in the more exposed feeders and a heftier dollop of nyger in the others. There was nothing in the way of extra species apart from at least two Mistle Thrushes in full voice. 

Goldfinch

Mistle Thrush

That was the extent of my birding, so for this post I’m including a few pictures from the Lanzarote of late January. 

Lanzarote had enjoyed the driest, warmest November, December and January on record with virtually nil rainfall and endless sunny days. This historic and glorious weather continued during our two week stay with barely a cloud to be seen. We took many coastal walks in the immediate area venturing out in the hire car on just three or four days. 

Puerto Calero, Lanzarote

Puerto Calero, Lanzarote

The dryness of the landscape can be seen in the picture above but few walkers ventured from obvious paths to look for birds like Berthelot’s Pipit, Lesser Short-toed Lark, Trumpeter Finch, Desert Grey Shrike or Linnet. A number of Berthelot’s were feeding young but judging by the large numbers of larks around in groups and even small flocks, their breeding season was more advanced. The larks hugged the ground so much in their cryptic brown plumage that it was almost impossible to get close before one exploded into the sky and took many more along. On one walk 40 or more Lesser Short- toed Larks took to the air upon spotting my approach.

Berthelot's Pipit

Lesser Short-toed Lark

Lesser Short-toed Lark

Berthelot's Pipit

Desert Grey Shrike- Lanius elegans koenigi

Trumpeter Finch

From the coastal paths could be seen Sandwich Tern, Kestrel, Yellow-legged Gull, Whimbrel and Common Sandpiper.

 Common Sandpiper

On a couple of days and very close to the hotel we found a party of three Hoopoes. In parts of the Mediterranean I’m used to Hoopoes being very approachable but this trio proved hard to close. 

Hoopoes

Hoopoe

Fortunately the dry and dust of the coastal paths would often lead to a watering hole or two for thirsty travellers like ourselves. 

 Puerto Calero, Lanzarote

There’s more home or away birding soon on Another Bird Blog. Don’t miss it.

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