What A Week

Another week goes by. There was more rain and wind with no chance of another ringing session and little in the way of productive birding. 

But Sunday dawned much better and a promise of sunshine so I set off birding over Stalmine and Rawcliffe Moss in the general direction of Cockerham. 

It wasn’t long before I met up with not one but two Barn Owls in the half-light of dawn. The owls hunted almost in tandem with at times both in the binoculars as they traversed the same stretches of grassland and hedgerows, probably an area of past success. I parked the car, wound the window down and hoped the owls might show better in the improving light, but after just a few short minutes of circling the area they flew into the farm buildings and out of sight. 

Barn Owl 

Something of a raptor hour ensued with 2 Sparrowhawks, 2 Buzzards and 2 Kestrels seen before any small birds of note. 

I stopped at Gulf Lane where 160+ Linnets was a welcome sight but I scattered a whole bucket of seed into our catching area on the basis that the heavy rain this week has either washed seed away or made it unpalatable to the finches. With luck we’ll fit a ringing session into the week ahead. 

Although Conder Green didn’t have a great variety of birds a count of 210 Teal was mighty impressive. There was a party of 60 Wigeon feeding on the far bank, with 6 Little Grebe, 2 Goosander and 2 Little Egret on the water. 

Little Egret 

Waders were less numerous, just 30 Curlew, 22 Redshank and 2 Oystercatcher; the reason I found later, many, many thousands are now feeding on fields saturated and softened by two weeks or more of often heavy and persistent rain 

At Glasson Dock the numbers of both Tufted Duck and Goldeneye proved quite high, probably because of the rising tide i.e. 70 Tufted Duck and 29 Goldeneye with a single Goosander. 

Tufted Duck 

 Goldeneye

Up on the hill above the village is a flock of at least 200 Linnets and down on the marsh at the incoming tide, 7-8,000 Lapwings. No wonder then that I saw a large female Sparrowhawk try its luck and then a Peregrine do the same. 

Linnets 

On the drive towards Cockersands I encountered another Sparrowhawk, a Buzzard, 3/400 Starlings and also 90 or so Fieldfares. Fieldfares are now feeding alongside Starlings in wet fields as there are very few berries to be had. 

Fieldfare 

I also met up with two species of swans that winter in the UK, Whooper Swan and Bewick’s Swan that are superficially alike and hence sometimes misidentified. From Moss Lane and Jeremy Lane and up to Cockersands were more than 450 Whooper Swan, while at the junction of Moss Lane and Slack Lane were 6 Bewick's Swan. While both species are winter visitors to this area, the Whooper is much more numerous than the Bewick’s with this ratio of c100/1 typical of their occurrence. 

Bewick’s Swans breed at high latitudes in Arctic Russia from the Fenno-Russian border east to the Lena Delta. They spend the winter mainly in Britain, the Netherlands and Germany, with smaller numbers in Denmark, Sweden, Belgium and France. 

Whooper Swans breed exclusively in Iceland and winter primarily in Britain and Ireland, with smaller numbers remaining in Iceland while low numbers winter on the near Continent. Whooper Swans undertake what is probably the longest sea crossing of any swan species, migrating 800-1,400 km between Britain/Ireland and Iceland. 

Whooper Swan 

 Bewick's Swan

Of the two, the Bewick’s has a more goose-like appearance but like the bigger Whooper Swan, an adult Bewick’s is snow white all over. Bewick’s has a shorter neck and proportionately bigger head than Whooper, as well as a smaller body and bill. However, this can be difficult to appreciate on lone birds or in single-species flocks and it is the bill pattern which can clinch a firm identification. 

A basal yellow beak patch is common to both species, but Bewick’s has the colour extending to less than half the length of the black bill and it generally has a squared-off appearance, always finishing behind the nostril. The beak itself is subtly more slender with a very slightly upturned shape at the tip. 

Whooper Swan’s beak is more of a Roman nose, with the yellow extending in a pointed wedge shape to the very front of the nostril. The beak shape itself is longer and more triangular than Bewick’s. 

Whooper is a larger species with a very long neck, often held erect, and a bulkier body and longer legs, making it stand out straight and tall when the two species are together. 

On the way back home and at well flooded Braides Farm I noted several thousand each of Lapwing and Golden Plover with hundreds of both Redshank and Curlew. But time was short. I’d had a good morning and a hot coffee beckoned.

Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

Oh dear, the blog stats don’t look too good today after a week without a post. But Blogger tells me that “Page View All Time History” passed the one million mark at 1,008,401 from 1428 posts since August 2009, so all is not lost. Someone deserves a medal, probably faithful readers, a number of whom have followed the blog from day one. 

Migration time is pretty much finished here in Lancashire so unless something extraordinary takes place, for the next month or two it’s winter birds until the days lengthen in February and March. Birders forever wish their lives away to hurry along the next season and all that it brings, but somehow, winter seems to be the least favourite month for many birders. Or maybe even summer for those who take little interest in the breeding season? 

Saturday morning, and although there was a biting wind from the east a spot of welcome sunshine held out possibilities for a picture or two. I hit the lanes of Moss and Jeremy early, hoping for a few pictures of thrushes while the hawthorn berries are almost into their last days. Our winter thrushes consume the haw berry in huge quantities and if the weather turns very cold the hedgerows will very soon be stripped entirely of their already low yield of our dry summer. 

I found about 40 Fieldfares along the exact same stretch of road as a week ago, a handful of Redwings and the same of Blackbirds. Suddenly this week there are more Blackbirds around, even in our modest garden, as Blackbirds from Europe and Scandinavia move into the relative warmth of the UK. 

Fieldfare 

Fieldfare 

Fieldfare 

Blackbird 

It was watch and wait as passing cars sent the shy thrushes back and forth to escape the danger they sensed. While our garden Blackbirds can become used to humans, even in many cases, persuaded to trust us, the Blackbirds that live out in the sticks are as retiring as the very wary Redwing or reclusive Song Thrush.  If anything the larger Fieldfare is bolder than any and does occasionally let someone take a photograph. 

Redwing 

Redwing 

Blackbird 

The two Buzzards of a week ago were in the exact same spot, using a vantage tree to good effect in locating food in the adjacent field. 

I looked at Conder Green where following recent excavations and management, birds are beginning to return. Although returnees seemed to be mainly gulls I was in time to see a Great White Egret fly across towards the canal and to then count a raft of about 65 Wigeon against the far bank. Just recently a Great White has been seen at both nearby Aldcliffe and Cockersands, so possibly the same bird. 

Great Egret

Also here at the pool and in the creeks - a single Kestrel, 140 Teal, 22 Redshank, 8 Oystercatcher, 6 Curlew, 3 Little Grebe, 2 Little Egret and 1 Snipe. 

Redshank 

Redshank 

Oystercatcher

Excuse me now, I have to go to the shops and buy the Saturday night Lottery ticket. You just never know.

Linking this post to Anni's Birding Blog.

Daylight Robbery

I've been robbed of a number of days birding lately by our November weather, the month that invariably brings gloomy, wet and windy days across the Atlantic from the direction of North America.  I blame Donald Trump. There’s no other feasible explanation. 

It wasn't much different on Saturday morning after a bright start that quickly went downhill, until by 11 am there was rain and I was back home. After soup and a sandwich I sat at the keyboard only to see the sky lighten once more. Too late. 

Our Pink-footed Geese aren't playing ball with birders yet. They are shot at every day and prove hard to find, even harder to watch. At Lane Ends, Pilling was a flock of several hundred, maybe a thousand and seemingly entirely “pinkies” - unsurprising when the odds of finding the oddity goose is several thousand to one.  A large tractor drove slowly past, followed by a brightly clad jogger as the geese peeled off from their brief feed and gradually flew inland in tens, twenties and thirties in search of peace and quiet. 

Pink-footed Goose 

Out on the marsh were about 800/1000 Starlings in a tight flock, a Buzzard, a Grey Heron, plus a good number of Skylarks - perhaps 40/50 but most of them distant. 

I stopped at Gulf Lane hoping to see a good number of Linnets but best estimate was 40+ birds and none especially interested in the bird seed crop. About half a mile down the road at Braides Farm I noted that a flock of 150 or so Linnets fed along the weedy track and in the extensive fields there. It seems that the lack of Linnets at our own project site, probably as result of the good summer, mild autumn and warm-wet, early winter, has produced an abundance of food. The Linnets can pick and choose where they eat most times, more so this year. 

Linnet 

Braides Farm produced some exceptional counts of waders. The aircraft from the nearby parachute centre was around and about, often overhead at very low altitude upon which the massed waders would all take off into panic flight mode. Mostly they settled down again and I was able to achieve good but approximate counts of 2800 Lapwing, 2000 Golden Plover, 200 Redshank and 120 Curlew. Throughout all of this a Kestrel sat unperturbed along the fence line, waiting I guess for an opportune meal. 

Lapwing 

Of late there has been much disturbance at Conder Green with both habitat improvement on the pool and major construction around the old road bridge and the A588 road to and from Lancaster. That explains the relatively poor counts here of 130 Teal, 22 Black-tailed Godwit, 12 Redshank, 5 Little Grebe and just one Little Egret. 

I was about to spend an hour at Glasson, viewing the dock waters from the car, waiting for the wildfowl to come sailing by as they mostly do on quiet mornings. But then I saw that, where parking on this huge expanse of land has been free for as long as anyone can remember, folk are now expected to cough up via shiny new "Pay Here" machines.  In the village 50 yards away the little shops that sell bacon butties and ice cream to summer tourists are unhappy at the greedy tactics on display.   

Daylight Robbery 

Worse still the Canal and River Trust have sub-contracted the job to a company based in the south coast town of Brighton! Trendy Brighton, where (I'm told) bars like WTF and Naked Day fleece the sheeple punters, shops have names like ‘Vegetarian Shoes’ and ‘Choccywoccydoodah’, and kids have laughable names such as Lettuce, Rainbow and Daisy Boo. 

No, I can’t see birders paying for fancy parking here in Lancashire where folk are careful with their brass and where in the not too distant past in-your-face constructions demanding cash have been chopped at the knees during the darkest of winter nights. 

So instead I took a freebie ride in the direction of Moss Lane and Jeremy Lane and spent time watching a pair of Buzzards, about 150 Fieldfares and a dozen or more Redwings. 

Both Buzzards used a hawthorn hedgerow as a vantage point from which to watch the adjacent field. The Buzzards totally ignored the many Fieldfares that flew back and forth along the line of hedge as they scattered for no reason and then returned in unison. The Buzzards showed no interest at all in three Pheasants that walked along the hedgerow below them. No, the Buzzards were after small prey in the alongside field as one after the other they flew to ground where if necessary they ran to pounce upon the morsel they had spotted from their vantage point. 

Buzzard and Pheasants 

Buzzard 

Buzzard 

Noted many times on this blog. Buzzards principally eat small rodents, but also take birds, reptiles, amphibians, larger insects and earthworms. Buzzards do sometimes take game birds but such items make up only a tiny proportion of the diet. Buzzards are more likely to feed on carrion. 

Buzzards use three main hunting techniques. They locate prey from a perch and then fly directly to it. They may also soar over open terrain, occasionally hanging in the wind before dropping on to the prey and following up the attack on the ground. Alternatively they may be seen walking or standing on the ground looking for invertebrates. The photos are as close as we can get to Buzzards in this part of the world where the species is persecuted for any excuse and little reason. 

It was interesting that as I watched the Buzzards, the many dozens of Fieldfares using the same stretch of hedgerow displayed no fear of the Buzzards and at no time flew off because of the Buzzards’ feeding activity. 

Fieldfare 

Another thing. The fine, dry summer of 2018 produced little in the way of hawthorn berries and even now in early November, there are few berries left for wintering thrushes. Anyone who has yet to connect with a Fieldfare will find that they become scarce very soon if there is no food. 

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday and Stewart's World Bird Wednesday. 

Different Day, Different Birds

Monday saw a catch of 33 birds up at Oakenclough. Domestic commitments meant I couldn't make it on the next suitable morning, Wednesday, even though I was raring to go. Andy went alone and caught 60 birds, including another 15 Redwings and 8 more Lesser Redpolls. 

With so many millions of birds on a migratory push through the UK and Europe at this time of year there is a guarantee that each visit brings new birds to our nets. 

So with yet another excellent forecast we arranged to meet up again at Oakenclough on Thursday. We were joined today by Bryan H. At 0700 there was a slight breeze from the east with nil cloud and a temperature hovering around 2°C. 

The lack of cloud meant that migration might at the least prove hard to pick up or even non-existent if birds had found their way through the clear starry night. We needn't have worried too much as although small passerines were scarce there was a huge rush of northern thrushes and we kept busy throughout. 

By 11 am we had counted a minimum of 900 Fieldfare and 400 Redwing passing overhead. The thrushes were arriving from east and south-easterly directions and not from the north as we perhaps thought they might. This is suggestive of east coast arrivals with subsequent travel over the Pennines on west and south-westerly headings. 

Although Fieldfares easily outnumbered Redwings in the overall count, we caught proportionally more Redwings. This is due to the larger size of the Fieldfare and its ability to escape from a mist net, but also to its overall wariness when man is around. We also think that Fieldfares have superior eyesight to Redwings and are less likely to find themselves in a mist net, even in the half light of morning. In many countries of Europe, Fieldfares are hunted mercilessly, as are Redwings.  

Totals today: Redwings made up 50% of the catch - 42 birds of 10 species: 22 Redwing, 3 Fieldfare, 1 Blackbird, 5 Goldfinch, 3 Great Tit, 2 Chaffinch, 2 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Coal Tit, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Wren, 

Field Sheet (Part)

The below Fieldfare is a first year male - amount of black in crown feathers, contrast in primary and secondary coverts. Tail feather shape. 

Fieldfare

Fieldfare 

Fieldfare

The Redwing below is a classic first year. Note the “pointy” tail feathers and the whitish notches on the tertial feathers. 

Redwing 

First year tail - Redwing 

Adult tail - Redwing 

Wing Tracts 

Unlike the last two visits here, Lesser Redpolls proved hard to come by. Their visible migration was zero, likewise Chaffinches, even though we caught two of each species. 

Lesser Redpoll 

Out of interest, and to remind ourselves that the Common Redpoll and the Lesser Redpoll are now lumped together (again). 

The taxonomy of redpolls remains unsettled, part of an ongoing debate that recognises several different but very closely related forms of redpolls, considered as anything from one to five species. After a number of attempts and changes of mind by “experts”, the UK/European Lesser Redpoll is now assigned as a geographic sub-species of Common Redpoll by recent genome wide analyses that found differences in gene expression but no genetic divergence. This gives credence to the idea that the essentially plumage forms (like our own rather brown Lesser Redpoll) originated quite recently within a single interbreeding lineage and do not represent species boundaries. 

Well, what do you know? The forecast is good again for Friday. Looks like we are in for more different birds.

Linking this post to Eileen's Nature Blogspot.

Wednesday 7th February

Tuesday was cold and snowy, the first snowflakes of the winter. Thankfully by midday the snow stopped, the sun came out and by evening all the white stuff was gone. Wednesday began with quite a frost on the by now ice free roads.

As noted on the blog before, a cold weather snap brings out the owls and the Kestrels. So on the drive over Stalmine Moss I wasn’t too surprised to spot a hunting Barn Owl. The owl stayed out along the frosty fence before taking off into the distance.

Barn Owl

 
At Lancaster Road at Pilling Moss was the first of four five Kestrels I’d see during the morning. The Kestrel was on watch across a stubble field where a good number of small birds alternated between feeding on the deck and flying into the hedgerow. I counted 95+ Chaffinch together with, 10 or more Meadow Pipits, several Skylarks, and at least one Reed Bunting and one Yellowhammer. This is the largest Chaffinch flock I have seen this winter and probably last winter too. The days of 200/300 strong Chaffinch flocks seem to be a thing of the dim and distant past.

Chaffinch

I called at Gulf Lane to see very few Linnets in the now flattened field. Tuesday’s blanket of snow and this morning’s solid ground won’t have helped the Linnets to stay around. A Kestrel hovered directly over our net ride and where I guess, a rodent or two have helped themselves to the mountain of bird seed. A ride around the edge of the moss revealed huge numbers of Pink-footed Geese, 15,000 or more but too distant to grill in a satisfactory manner. Also, 2 Little Egret and 60 or more Fieldfare scraped a living from the frozen pastures.

Fieldfare

When I arrived at Conder Green a flock of circa140 Black-tailed Godwit flew around the back of the pool and then landed out of sight in the field beyond the canal. These wet pastures often hold very large numbers of godwits, Lapwings and Curlews but both viewing and access are difficult with the risk that every single birds flies off at the sight of a human.

The pool was pretty much frozen solid but in the few patches of open water, 2 Little Grebe, a Grey Heron, a drake Goosander, 2 Tufted Duck and the pair of now resident Oystercatchers. In the creeks, a dozen or two Redshank plus lots of Teal dabbling in the unfrozen brackish water. A trip around Jeremy Lane produced two more Kestrels on the lookout for food with one particularly hungry looking female reluctant to leave the gatepost even as cars sped by.

 Kestrel

Things were pretty quiet due to every field being frozen solid but there was activity along the tree-lined roadside ditch where I found another 45+ Fieldfares, 15 Redwing and 15 Blackbirds, and even a Song Thrush in full voice.

It looks like we're back to rain tomorrow but there’s more news, views and birds soon from Another Bird Blog.

Sunday Best

After one of the few overnight frosts of the winter Sunday began with a layer of ice. I set off with a couple of tail slides and the dash showing 0°C. 

The raised road over Stalmine Moss catches any overnight ice and frost and where one false move over the roller coaster road can see a vehicle plunge into one of the roadside ditches that lie either side. There must have been a layer of ice in the ditches because three Little Egrets stood around on the roadway wondering where their open water feeding had gone. The nearby flash flood had a film of ice with now a small patch of open water with just 20 Lapwings and a single Black-headed Gull. 

Little Egret - Stalmine Moss

At the junction of Lancaster Road was another Kestrel, the third of my so far short journey and all of them sat atop roadside posts watching and waiting for movement on the whitened ground below. Later, and by midday the morning proved to be good for Kestrels with at least six observed throughout the four hours. 

Kestrel

I drove towards Cockerham and Wimarleigh where I checked out the latest ringing/birding site where the owners have given permission for both ringing group members and their vehicles to access their private land. Very soon we hope in return to give the owners lots by way of birding/ringing data together with an understanding of the bird species that use their land throughout the year. This should keep us busy, enhance the land owners’ existing environmental policies and help towards their future plans. 

There was a lively start when I heard Fieldfares close by and then through a handy gateway spotted what appeared to be a dozen or two amongst a flock of Starlings. In fact as I settled down to watch, the numbers feeding in the undulating field seemed closer to 250 Starlings, 250 Fieldfares and 15/20 Redwings. Once or twice the whole lot took to the air when both a Sparrowhawk and then a Buzzard came by. These birds may be new arrivals from the near Continent as both Redwings and Fieldfares have been rather hard to come by around here throughout December.  But with no berries left the hedgerows open fields and treetops are the best places to find the shysters with their bills now darkened by soil rather than berry juice.

Redwing

Fieldfare

Along nearby woodland edge was a large mixed flock of titmice, 50 or more strong with a large contingent of both Long-tailed Tits and Blue Tit but not so many of Great Tit and Coal Tit. It has been a mild winter where survival of this bird family has been for me at least, undocumented until now. 

Long-tailed Tit

Also along the woodland edge, 8/10 Blackbirds and a solitary but welcome Song Thrush. I checked out a marshy pond, a reedy ditch and a meagre looking but newly planted hedgerow. 30+ Mallards, 1 Reed Bunting, 1 Kestrel, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Buzzard and countless Starlings were to be expected but perhaps not the single Stonechat which worked the fence line and the ditch where it seemed to find food-a-plenty. 

In the distance and closer to Winmarleigh I could see hundreds of Pink-footed Geese feeding in extensive pastures with not a road in sight. Those geese are expert at finding quiet fields in which to feed in between avoiding the morning and evening gun rush. 

I called at Gulf Lane where Linnets numbered 150+ and still feeding on the natural stuff close to the fence - unlike the 8 Stock Doves that lifted from the line of rape/millet seed I dropped two days ago. 

Linnets

Linnets

 

I waved goodbye to the ungrateful Linnets but warned them we’d be back soon - with nets.

Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.

Mix And Match

Today’s forecast was a little over the top windy for ringing at our exposed sites so I indulged in a few hours birding, camera at the ready. It turned out to be a day of mixed fortunes with both sunny and cloudy periods, showers, and even a spot or two of sunshine. At the end, a few photos to share. 

The drive across Stalmine Moss found three Kestrels, a hunting pair and then at the junction of Lancaster road a third one in flight. I slowed to scan the fields where a Barn Owl might be seen but none emerged from the post dawn light, just three chattering Fieldfares. The thrushes carried on south but I would see a number of others soon. 

I stopped at Gulf Lane to count the Linnets and drop food. Still 130+ Linnets, plus a number of Tree Sparrows at the farm 50 yards away. We don’t include the sparrows in our counts as they do not visit our seed even though it is a very short flight for them. I guess there must be lots of natural around at the moment and no need for them to sign in to our free food bank. 

Further around Gulf Lane were another 40 or so Tree Sparrows. They fed in a roadside stubble field and when spooked by a passing vehicle flew up to a handy tree or hedgerow until the danger passed. 

Tree Sparrow

Following this very wet summer and autumn herds of Whooper Swans, small and large, are scattered across many areas of Pilling, Cockerham, Cockersands and Eagland at the moment. There are so many swans that if on a morning flight the lot were to try and feed in one field they might struggle to do so; even more when both Whoopers and the many dozens of Mute Swans seem not to mind sharing their largesse of abandoned crops. 

So it was that out on Moss Edge I watched a herd of 20 Mutes and 30 Whoopers as they fed untroubled in yet another morass of mud and corn stubble. I even managed to single out a family group for a picture. What fine animals they are and aren’t we so very honoured to welcome them to our local landscape each winter? Two Little Egrets fed in the adjacent grass and looked slightly out of place, somewhat exotic in comparison to the Icelandic swans.

Whooper Swan

Whooper Swan

Little Egret

The hawthorn berry crop was poor this year. Following the October/November invasion of Fieldfares, Blackbirds and other thrushes this already low food resource is now almost gone. On Moss Edge the hawthorns are pretty much depleted and it was noticeable that a flock of approximately 130 Fieldfares searched both the ground and the hedgerows for something to eat. In normal years the hedgerows provide bird food for a few more weeks. 

Fieldfare

Fieldfare

I stopped at Conder Pool more out of habit than expectation. Old Faithful really struggles to provide any birds at the moment so I was not surprised with the regular counts of 190 Teal, 14 Wigeon and about 30 each of Lapwing, Redshank and Curlew. The customary 3 Little Grebe, 1 Goosander and 2 Little Egret. 

I found nothing of note on the circuit of Moss Lane/Jeremy Lane with none of the thrushes of late except for a Mistle Thrush into the light. 

Mistle Thrush

 

It was time for a coffee near the Lune. As luck would have it a flock of Linnets flew by and some landed on the nearby fence. Even better there was a single and perhaps one or two more Twite plus a curious Wren. 

Wren

Linnet

Twite

Linnet

 

Twite

The Twite Linaria flavirostris and the Linnet Linaria cannabina are similar in looks but are two separate and quite distinct species. The genus name Linaria is the Latin for a linen-weaver, from linum, "flax" and flavirostris means yellow-billed; cannabina comes from the Latin for hemp. 

The Linnet is a mostly farmland bird at all seasons of the year but one that can be found at higher elevation on moorland edge in the summer and autumn. In contrast the Twite sometimes known as “mountain linnet” favours treeless moorland for breeding and frequents lowland and mainly coastal haunts in winter only. It is in the winter when both species are more likely to seen using the same coastline areas in which to feed. 

Time passed quickly and my time was up. It had been a good morning with a rather nice mix of species.

Linking today to Anni's Birding Blog and Eileen's Saturday Blog.