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. 

Bird News, Book News

Early rain gave way to a breezy, bright morning, with time to visit the birding patch at Pilling. No sooner had I arrived at Fluke Hall than I saw SP readying himself for a walk along the wooded road. On Sunday afternoon he located a Yellow-browed Warbler here, a species which is now found almost annually in this part of Lancashire, in some years there are three, four or more records, but it’s still a worthy find and one which requires good birding skills.

Stuart moseyed off east to look in the same place the bird was last seen. I wandered off east towards Ridge Farm where the best I could muster in 15 minutes was cracking views of a male Merlin, 20+ Greenfinch, 12+ Skylark, several Linnets and 15+ Meadow Pipits. The phone rang, he’d re-found the warbler, still about the same spot three days later, so I strolled back to the trees to see and hear the bird in the ash and sycamores next to the road. The warbler was very vocal, calling almost constantly as it moved through the trees, the distinctive call somewhere between a Coal Tit and a Pied Wagtail to my ears. Knowing the call is as good if not the best way to locate a yellow-browed.

There’s a very old pre-digital photograph here from Bardsey Island sometime in the dim and distant past.

Yellow-browed Warbler

I decided to head up to Lane Ends for the incoming tide. If anything the tide was too high, with no obvious roosting spots, causing most of the waders to fly constantly around. For what it’s worth a few observations and a couple of counts: 1 Peregrine, 1 Kestrel, 40 Snipe, 420 Dunlin, 180 Redshank, 250+ Lapwing, 8 Little Egret, 12 Whooper Swan, 800 Wigeon, 700 Teal, 110 Pintail, 15 Meadow Pipit, 15 Linnet and 2 Rock Pipit.

Pintail

Rock Pipit

And now for some interesting book news, more especially for blog followers in the US but also UK birders who travel to North America and/or those who like to twitch the occasional US bird on this side of the Atlantic.

Readers of Another Bird Blog may remember the review here of Richard Crossley’s ID Guide to Eastern Birds (North America), a book acclaimed for its pioneering approach to bird identification. And here’s the good news, Princeton University Press are preparing a new Crossley guide for release in April 2013, The Crossley Guide to Raptors, this latest volume co-authored by Jerry Liguori and Brian Sullivan.

The Crossley Guide to Raptors

For the new volume I’m quoting from a sneak preview sent to me by Princeton University Press.

“Part of the revolutionary Crossley ID Guide series, this is the first raptor guide with lifelike scenes composed from multiple photographs - scenes that allow you to identify raptors just as the experts do. Experienced birders use the most easily observed and consistent characteristics - size, shape, behaviour, probability, and general colour patterns. The book’s 101 scenes - including thirty-five double-page layouts, provide a complete picture of how these features are all related. Even the effects of lighting and other real-world conditions are illustrated and explained. Detailed and succinct accounts from two of North America’s foremost raptor experts, Jerry Liguori and Brian Sullivan, stress the key identification features. This complete picture allows everyone from beginner to expert to understand and enjoy what he or she sees in the field. The mystique of bird identification is eliminated, allowing even novice birders to identify raptors quickly and simply. Comprehensive and authoritative, the book covers all thirty-four of North America’s diurnal raptor species (all species except owls). Each species is featured in stunning colour plates that show males and females, in a full spectrum of ages and colour variants, depicted near and far, in flight and at rest, and from multiple angles, all caught in their typical habitats. There are also comparative, multispecies scenes and mystery photographs that allow readers to test their identification skills, along with answers and full explanations in the back of the book. In addition, the book features an introduction, and thirty-four colour maps that accompany the plates. Whether you are a novice or an expert, this one-of-a-kind guide will show you an entirely new way to look at these spectacular birds”. 

I’m told this book will sell for about $30 only, so all I can suggest is that you visit your bookstore and reserve a copy now or keep watching the Princeton University Press Blog for more info and regular previews of plates from the book.

 The Crossley Raptor Guide

Another Bird Blog will review the book as soon as a copy is received; in the meantime stay tuned for more bird news and bird pictures whether home or abroad.