Baby It's Cold Outside (And Inside)

“Minus 4° - potential for ice on roads” read the dashboard. I’d already decided that sunny and dry Wednesday would be a birding day of warm fingers, and hopefully one that might include a few photographs. I set off into the frosty landscape and headed for the A588 towards Lancaster. 

Pink-footed Geese were on the move high, south and east, to escape the inevitable guns, although a couple of hundred had stopped off in a relatively safe field bounded by a sparse hedgerow that gave a semblance of peace & quiet.

Each year becomes more difficult to both to see and to hear our wild geese on the ground as the disturbance to traditional haunts becomes more intense and threatening to feeding geese through "development", traffic - large & small, walkers, shooters, and yes, birdwatchers.

Pink-footed Geese

Approaching Lapwing Lodge and glancing left I couldn’t help but see a large raptor moving very slowly, almost hovering above a reed-fringed ditch that runs north towards the coast. The deep-v profile became more obvious upon closer approach, as did the size. But for the following traffic on the dangerous fast bend, a stop would have confirmed a Marsh Harrier, probably the same bird that has frequented this locality for several weeks now. 

The Marsh Harrier is no longer a spring and autumn migrant bird to our Fylde coast: it is now a year round resident that can be seen during the winter months, albeit in smaller numbers than at the peak the species’ autumn migration August to October. 

A stop at Gulf Lane found seven or eight Snipe hiding in the furrows of a ploughed field that has yet to dry out from the rains of August through to November. At the approaching car a few “snipped” away to hide elsewhere. A number of Lapwings were easier to spot than the crouching and immobile Snipe using their cryptic plumage to best advantage.

Snipe

 

Lapwing

More Lapwings graced the field from here all the way to Braides Farm, Cockerham where more distant birds gave approximate counts of 490 Lapwing, 150+ Golden Plover, 80 Curlew and 40 Redshank. A single Pied Wagtail pottered along the pooled track. 

This has been a poor autumn for seeing Fieldfares but I caught up with some today on the road to Cockerham Abbey where they were feasting on the now dwindling hawthorn berries. Also a few Blackbirds and one or two Redwings.

Fieldfare

Hawthorn

Fieldfare 

A single Kestrel hunted alongside the road and spent time loitering at lookout spots in the hope of spotting a small mammal meal.  At minus 4 degrees a Kestrel needs to spend more time in search of food. 

Kestrel

Kestrel

Here's that familiar song Baby It's Cold Outside. A new version dedicated to people struggling to pay gas & electric bills and to that eminent scientist recently in the news for expressing very unpleasant views. 

i

Here we come with another masterpiece by @crom_oliver and @shillitz, dedicated to that long-awarded, eminent scientist! pic.twitter.com/TDedeQ7aUb

— Despicable Miguel "Ruz" ™ (@Feldegar) April 10, 2023

Enjoy the rest of your week good people and then come back soon to Another Bird Blog.

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday.

 

What’s Birding?

Birding? What’s that? I’d done virtually none during Fearsome February when all we had was rain, more rain and constant strong winds. 

Today I set off over the moss into the rising sun, past the farmer’s still steaming muck heaps and on the way north for a spot of birding.  

Rawcliffe Moss 

Good thing I stopped for a picture because yards away and along the fence line was the now almost obligatory morning owl. The Barn Owl was looking for breakfast while I had to shoot at ISO1600. 

Barn Owl 

A little later about a mile away I stopped to witness a mixed flock of Redwings and Fieldfares feeding in a still wet field. As the car stopped both species flew to the nearest hedgerow and mostly out of sight.  Fieldfares and Redwings are on their way north now; it will be a faster trip than their leisurely autumn migration. 

Fieldfare 

A single Yellowhammer called out from overhead wires. I hope he finds a mate soon because there aren’t too many Yellowhammers around nowadays. 

Yellowhammer 

By the time I arrived at Gulf Lane there was enough light to see and count the arriving Linnets at 45 and to note a single Blackbird and a male Reed Bunting in the bramble bushes. About 20 Linnets soon fed on our recent seed so I topped up with a fresh half bucket and left the birds alone. At the moment Saturday looks marginal for another ringing session but a series of Internet weather forecasts will record countless hits tonight.  

The whole of February with its horrendous weather saw no visits from me to Conder Green. By all accounts, due to continuous winds and record water levels, any birding here was “pretty grim" with very few birds on view. 

Things had definitely picked up today with hints of spring territories and much better numbers of birds on the water and surrounding areas. On the far island I counted over 120 Black-headed Gulls and 2 Mediterranean Gulls. 

Mediterranean Gull 

I have a feeling that the Black-headed Gulls will begin to dominate Conder Pool and that the year will see a good number of breeding pairs; perhaps to the detriment of other species? More so if the boisterous Greylags also stay around. We’ll soon see. 

Black-headed Gull 

Water birds and waders: 4 Shelduck, 30 Greylag 14 Tufted Duck, 42 Teal, 22 Wigeon, 18 Oystercatcher, 8 Redshank, 8 Curlew, 5 Black-tailed Godwit. Bringing up the rear: 2 Little Egret, 1 Grey Heron and 1 Little Grebe. 

At the far island a Cormorant flew in, a very striking individual with an all-encompassing white head. The Cormorant had a very distinctive appearance, a sign of full breeding plumage and imminent departure. The literature states that such striking birds may be from the Continent or South East England but that it’s difficult to assign one to either of the two races Phalacrorax carbo carbo or Phalacrorax carbo sinensis. 

Cormorant 

Cormorant - Britain's Birds 

That was me done for the morning. 

The afternoon had been assigned to making two trays of onion bhajis. 

Onion Bhajis

Let me know if you need a good recipe.  Or see any good birds.

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

Cream Top Etc.

Conder Green was quiet as quiet can be this morning. I was a little late as I waited for the rain to stop, but even so, rarely have I seen the water and the immediate area so devoid of birds. There was a solitary Lapwing on the island and the usual handfuls of Cormorant, Little Grebe and Little Egret, but no sign of the regular Kingfisher. 

A dozen or so Pied Wagtails skittered around the margins, joined briefly by two loudly calling Green Sandpipers. The sandpipers flew off towards the canal and in the direction of Glasson Marsh.

Cormorant

Little Egret

I followed the Green Sandpipers and stopped overlooking Glasson Marsh where I hoped to see a Marsh Harrier. There have been good numbers about in recent weeks and one of my contacts tells me that a pair bred successfully in The Fylde. That’s the River Lune on the horizon. 

Glasson Marsh

Out on the marsh I could see a couple of Little Egret and Grey Heron, 2 Ravens, a Kestrel and a gang of about 30 Swallows. I found many Lapwings in the fields adjoining Jeremy Lane with upwards of 600 where the pastures are still sopping wet after the rain of recent weeks. One field had 5 Stock Dove as well as wagtails, gulls galore and a Grey Heron. 

I was side-tracked by a large bird flying inland, a Marsh Harrier. It stayed very distant as Marsh Harriers tend to do. As strong and fast flyers they have a knack of avoiding roads and people as the two pictures long-range of the female “cream top” show. For almost an hour the harrier stayed distant or completely out of sight and I think that at some point it flew out to Cockerham Marsh. 

Marsh Harrier

Marsh Harrier

The Marsh Harrier is typically illustrated in field guides as a sexually dimorphic species, with several age classes identifiable by differences in plumage pattern and colour. In some populations however it is known that the species can show extreme plumage variability in adult males and, to a lesser extent, in adult females. Populations may be markedly polymorphic with highly distinct patterns of coloration and almost continuous individual variation between those different morphs with few adult males resembling a typical ‘field-guide male’. Since this plumage variability is independent of age and sex, it is almost impossible to age birds solely from their plumage. This contradicts the established view and questions the claims of birders who age and sex Marsh Harriers from hundreds of yards away. 

Marsh Harriers are a still scarce, possibly declining breeder in Britain with just a few dots on the map in comparison to Europe. Their UK stronghold is East Anglia with a few pairs in NW England and others in locations withheld. 

Western Marsh Harrier - Circus aeruginosus 

At home Goldfinches are back in the garden with a good number appearing to be recently fledged youngsters. Goldfinches have been absent for weeks now as they feed on the plentiful seeds in the countryside. I will catch and ring some very soon. Last evening a young hedgehog paid us a visit. 

As with most small mammals living around humans, vehicles pose a great threat to hedgehogs. Many are run over as they attempt to cross roadways. It is suggested that peaks in road deaths are related to the breeding season and dispersal/exploration following independence. 

Hedgehog

From Wiki – “In 2006, McDonald's changed the design of their McFlurry containers to be more hedgehog-friendly. Previously hedgehogs would get their heads stuck in the container as they tried to lick the remaining food from inside the cup. Then being unable to get out, they would starve to death.” 

McDonald’s have a lot to answer for.  I went there once.

Linking today with Anni's Birding Blog.

Sunday Times

Saturday was rubbish for birding so I odd-jobbed, blogged and saved my energy for Sunday. I didn’t get many photos this morning but right at the end is a video that everyone will like. 

Braides Farm was first stop this morning where a roadside Buzzard flew off as soon as the car slowed. Our resident Buzzards don’t like being looked at, even less being pictured on bird blogs. Many of our native farmers and country folk have very established opinions about birds with “hook bills” and there’s not much doubt that the local Buzzard population suffers as a result. Hence the aversion to man. 

There’s been a large influx of Continental Starlings this week with substantial flocks noticeable. So much so that at Braides/Sand Villa I counted a minimum flock of 1000+ swirling around the cow sheds and the open fields. 

Starling

Of course the large autumn and winter flocks that visit the UK do not represent the overall status of the Starling. The following paragraph from the BTO  (British Trust For Ornithology) website may surprise anyone who thinks Starlings are abundant. 

“The abundance of breeding Starlings in the UK has fallen rapidly, particularly since the early 1980s, especially in woodland, and continues to be strongly downward. The map of change in relative density between 1994-96 and 2007-09 indicates that decrease has been widespread across England and eastern Scotland but that some increase occurred in Northern Ireland, western Scotland and Cumbria. Recent data suggest a populations decrease in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where the trends were initially upward. The species' UK conservation listing has been upgraded from amber to red as the decline has become more severe. Widespread declines in northern Europe during the 1990s outweighed increases in the south, and the European status of this species is no longer considered 'secure' (BirdLife International 2004). There has been widespread moderate decline across Europe since 1980” 

Starling abundance in England - BTO

The Kingfisher was about at Conder Green. It flew around the pool a few times and eventually landed on the sluice wall but didn’t stay more than a few seconds. 

Kingfisher

Kingfisher

 Other fishermen around this morning were 4 Cormorant, 2 Little Grebe and 3 Little Egret. 

Cormorant

The pool water is way down at the moment and it appears that the level is being managed via the sluice for some reason, perhaps to encourage wading birds. If so, it hasn’t worked just yet with my counts remarkably similar to recent ones - 140 Lapwing, 14 Curlew, 32 Redshanks, 6 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Snipe and 1 Common Sandpiper.  Pied Wagtails seem to like the margins with a count of 18 today. 

The female Tufted Duck still has four youngsters. At one point I watched her angrily chase off a Cormorant that came too close to the island where the youngsters were hiding up. I noted a few passerines today in the shape and sound of 10 Goldfinch, 8 Linnet, 4 Reed Bunting and 1 Willow Warbler. 

A “quickie” at Bank End revealed a flight of 19 Black-tailed Godwit dropping into the wet fields, an overhead Jay, plus a Grey Heron and 20+ Sand Martin on the quarry pool. On the marsh and living up to its name, a Marsh Harrier and lots of Pied Wagtails.

Black-tailed Godwits

I stopped off at Gulf Lane and the 120 strong Linnet flock. More than 50 fed quietly in our net ride until I walked in to leave more seed for them. There’s lots of natural seed now but the Linnets obviously like the rape seed too. Looking ahead, Tuesday and/or Wednesday may be OK for a ringing session on the tail end of Hurricane Gert.

On the way home I stopped off to see another Marsh Harrier, 2 Kestrels and a single Buzzard, this time over farmland.

Meanwhile as a change from gulls that steal ice creams, here’s a video of a town in Alaska with Bald Eagles that like to play Bingo. Enjoy.

Sunday’s Plan

They do say the British weather is unpredictable. Well not this year because there’s a definite pattern emerging in this the worst one for many a year. There’s a day of dry, then the next day of rain, and then a mixed up day when there’s sun for half of the daylight hours and rain during the remainder. Mostly it has been breezy or windy come rain or shine. 

So in a strange way, it is possible to plan birding, ringing and a spot of photography by looking out for the good days, ignoring the rest and planning accordingly. Luckily Sunday’s forecast of wall-to-wall sunshine looked to be one of the better days so I set off early with camera and bins at the ready. 

The regular as clockwork Kingfisher opened the account at Conder Green. The bird wasn’t for hanging around though and after it quickly flew off I soon saw it again going in the opposite direction. This time it carried a small item of prey. Kingfishers can have more than one brood of chicks. 

I turned my attention to the water where 10 Little Grebe ducked and dived for the same thing the Kingfisher wanted. Four Cormorant were after bigger stuff to eat but they quickly come and go from the estuary 100 yards away where they find the bigger prey. The grebe count should double before the year is out on this a very regular winter gathering place. Meanwhile a Tufted Duck still chaperones 4 growing youngsters - quite an improvement on recent years of zero success. 

Cormorant

 Little Grebe

 

I saw my first Snipe of the autumn with 2 in the creeks and a single on the island. Redshank numbers are on the increase with 65 today, a single Greenshank, a couple of Curlews and 4 Common Sandpiper. Most of the Curlews and Lapwings are on the estuary and inland fields, exampled by a later count of 270 Lapwings in a single field on Pilling moss. 

Apart from the above the pool and margins are very quiet with 4 Little Egret, 6 Pied Wagtail and 3 Stock Dove to add to the above. I found a good flock of circa 50 Goldfinch along the hedgerow where a couple of Whitethroat can still be heard churring. I did a circuit of Jeremy Lane to get a male Sparrowhawk, a few Swallows, a good flock of juv Starlings, a very tatty Kestrel and a very obliging Wheatear.  Don't forget to "click the pic".

Don’t you just love ‘em when they perform so well? 

Wheatear

Wheatear

Wheatear

Kestrel

Swallow

Swallow

Juvenile Starlings are comical this time of year in their mix of adult and baby feathers. They behave in a rather strange way as if they are partly lost, looking around for where to go and what to do without a guiding adult. Then all of a sudden they spook for no reason and off they go in a blur of noise. 

Starlings

I stopped off at the moss where for the third time this week I saw a Marsh Harrier; a little distant as usual. Also, the aforementioned 270 Lapwings, 2 Buzzard and 12 Pied Wagtail. 

So what's in store next week on Another Bird Blog?  Well Monday is baby sitting. After that it's anyones guess but I dare say there will be birding or ringing soon, so stay tuned.

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.

Avian Dilemma

It was 0600 and still fairly dark. The sky was overcast, there had been a recent shower and a cold northerly rippled through the garden trees. 

Birding or ringing was the predicament. Birding takes no effort and starts as soon as the car hits the road and ends when the car is back on the driveway. A ringing session entails a 30 minute car journey followed by setting nets, checking equipment, and then slogging around the nets every 20/25 minutes to process the birds. And then at the end of the session it's time do everything again but this time in reverse order. Although rewarding the many physical tasks involved in ringing make for hard graft when compared to a spot of leisurely birding. So I postponed the ringing until a day or two when the isobars are due to open out, the sun is promised to shine and I may be more motivated. 

By the time I reached Glasson Dock the clouds had thinned and the sun was out. But the temperature felt more like November than September, even with three layers up top and a woolly hat. I parked up and waited for a Kingfisher to appear. One duly arrived from nowhere, landed on a nearby boat but didn’t hang around for more than a couple of clicks of the shutter button. 

 Kingfisher

The Swallows have increased and I counted upwards of 450 of them milling around the boats, sitting along the rails and rigging and feeding over the yacht basin. Take a close look at the picture below, where believe it or not, there are about 200 Swallows scattered across various parts of the assembled boats. 

Swallows at Glasson

Fish were literally jumping out of the water, hence the Kingfisher, Grey Heron and several Cormorants, all looking for a meal. Tufted Ducks now number nine as we await more autumn arrivals, likewise the Coots, steady at less than twenty. Along the towpath and around the bowling green I counted 3 Pied Wagtail, 1 Grey Wagtail and upwards of 60 House Sparrows. 

Cormorant

Pied Wagtail

It was time for a look at Conder Green where, yes you’ve guessed it, a Kingfisher sat in waiting. This one was not so accommodating and before I could request a “cheese” the bird was off across the pool like a rocket. Lest anyone should think our local Kingfishers are easy to photograph, they are not, it is simply that there are lots of Kingfishers about at the moment; it’s an infrequent situation which increases the chances of getting pictures of what is by common consent, a shy species. 

Conder Green

Although not numerous this morning’s waders and wildfowl revealed a good selection consisting of 32 Teal, 6 Curlew, 4 Common Sandpiper, 2 Greenshank, 1 Ruff, 1 Snipe, 1 Oystercatcher and the first of the autumn here, 2 Spotted Redshank. 

Spotted Redshank

On the pool were 7 Little Grebe, 1 Little Egret and 4 Pied Wagtails.

Dilemma over and a good morning of birding was had by all. Now where’s that alarm clock?

Linking this post to Anni's Birding Blog.