Owl Time

When I spoke to Andy a day or two ago he told me of two nests in man-made nest boxes, a Barn Owl and a Kestrel. The Barn Owls had produced eight eggs and also a pair of Kestrel sitting on five eggs. Both boxes have remote cameras so as to monitor the timing and extent of any breeding attempts and to minimise visits. 

We can inspect the Kestrels under a general Ringing Licence, but for visits to Barn Owls we must have our Schedule One Licenses to hand, permits which also cover other species in our geographical area - Cetti’s Warbler, Little Ringed Plover, Kingfisher and Avocet. 

For the interest of readers I reproduce here just a few of the many conditions attached to having a permit to disturb nesting birds. 

• "While engaged in work permitted by this Permit the Permit holder shall carry a copy of the Permit and produce it to any Police Officer or any Country Agency officer on demand 

• Permit holders are expected to exercise the utmost care to avoid undue disturbance to wild birds, and in particular to avoid any action which might endanger breeding success. Failure to do so may result in revocation of the Permit. 

• Any wild bird taken under this Permit shall be liberated at the site of capture immediately after examination and/or ringing or marking 

• The Permit holder should contact the landowner prior to exercising this licence in order to avoid duplication and minimise disturbance to Schedule 1 birds. 

• Eggs or chicks may be handled (by ringers) or moved (by nest recorders) for brief nest examination purposes only. Any chicks or eggs must be returned to the nest immediately after examination unless the eggs are addled or from nests which are known to have been deserted." 

I was on the way to Cockerham this morning when I stopped on Stalmine Moss to watch another Barn Owl. This one clearly had young to feed as it was hunting at 0600 and still at it when I returned the same way.

Barn Owl 

At one point the owl dived into the grass and caught something very small, so tiny it was probably not even a mammal, and then flew immediately into a nearby building. Ten minutes later it was back and allowed some fair distance photography. Clearly, this is an owl on a mission to feed both youngsters and a partner. 

Barn Owl 

Barn Owl

Barn Owl 

Barn Owl

Barn Owl 

Spending time with the Barn Owl rather delayed my visit to Conder Green where the water levels are very low following three weeks with almost zero rain. 

Conder Green 

Tufted Ducks 

There was little to add to the visit of Friday last but some joy in discovering four singing Reed Buntings, a shy bird that is easily missed. And at last a number of Swifts fed over the hawthorn hedgerows, twenty or more in total. 

The small nesting platform is rather crowded with single pairs of Black-headed Gull, Oystercatcher and Common Tern vying for space and where one or more may lose out come hatching time. 

Maybe the Common Tern I saw circling the basin at Glasson Dock is one of the returning pair that laid eggs here in 2018 but failed to progress. Worth keeping an eye open. 

Glasson,  Near Lancaster City

 Common Tern

 More news, views and photos soon.

Linking today to https://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com.

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. 

Mostly Kingfishers

It’s always a good morning’s birding when there’s a Barn Owl in view and even better when there are two. Better still to follow this up with three or four Kingfishers! 

The first surprise this morning was Pink-footed Geese, a party of 23 birds flying strongly south soon after dawn. At just the 3rd of September I’m pretty certain these are the earliest returning Icelandic “pinkies” I have ever seen. The earliest ones of the autumn often arrive in South West Lancashire a week or so before the ones seen here in West Lancashire. 

I’d driven over the quieter part of the moss to look for some recently ringed Barn Owls which should be on the wing by now. I found two youngsters along the same stretch of road and one of them let me get fairly close via the open car window. An adult bird would be most unlikely to allow such close scrutiny. 

Barn Owl

Barn Owl

I was on a roll because when I arrived at Conder Green there was a Kingfisher sat waiting at the usual spot on the sluice wall. Unfortunately the Kingfisher didn’t stay around for more than a few seconds so I turned my attention to other things, and although I didn't know it, more Kingfishers were to come at Glasson. 

Kingfisher

After recent high tides the water level on the pool is somewhat high. Little wonder then that apart from the Kingfisher there was just the usual 4 Little Grebe, 1 Wigeon, 1 Grey Heron and 6 Pied Wagtail. 

Grey Heron

 

The creeks proved better with good numbers of Redshanks to study, 28 Teal, 4 Common Sandpiper, 3 Little Egret, 1 Snipe and then 1 Green Sandpiper. 

A walk along the old railway track towards Glasson Dock found a flock of Goldfinch numbering 40+ and about 35 House Martins over the bridge and near the café. Along the pathway - 2 Whitethroat, 1 Chiffchaff, a number of Robins in autumn song and an overflying Kestrel. 

Robin

River Lune at Glasson

The dock at Glasson was still and quiet but I wasn’t expecting two Kingfishers to be sat there. After a while they flew off, one after the other, towards the far reeds and out of sight. 

Kingfishers

Glasson Dock

I walked up the towpath to watch and count the Swallows sat amongst the tops of a few boats. About 250 was the estimate. 

Swallows at Glasson

As I walked back to the car yet another Kingfisher flew across the water, veered off as it saw me but then landed on a nearby boat. I’m pretty sure this was a different one from the two I’d seen five minutes earlier, but can’t be certain. 

Kingfisher

Kingfisher

Kingfisher

Kingfisher

September is a peak month to see Kingfishers, a time when the species tends to gravitate towards coastal waters. In a disastrous season for most breeding birds let’s hope that Kingfishers at least have had a good one. 

What an exciting and productive morning of birding. And with the weather set fair and perhaps less windy for a few days there’s a good chance of a ringing session or two at weekend.

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday Blog and Theresa's Run A Round Ranch.

Early Autumn

No Barn Owl pics for the umpteenth time. Yet again this morning there was a Barn Owl hunting not far from the roadside but I was on double white lines along a twisty road where stopping is not recommended. I motored on and then notched up two Kestrels along Head Dyke Lane in the usual spot. 

At Lane Ends I stopped to count a field of exclusively Lapwings, a post-breeding gathering of 160+ birds. Scanning through the flock there didn’t seem to be too many youngsters although the nearest one to the car was a well-fringed juvenile with a spiky hair cut. 

Lapwing

At Braides a distant Buzzard sat atop a plastic wrapped bale of silage from which to watch and wait. At this time of year both Buzzards and Kestrels use these ready-made 360⁰ vantage points to launch attacks on unsuspecting mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects and worms. 

Buzzard

Following an earlier post this week I alluded to the trials and tribulations of our UK Common Buzzard. In a comment on the post my friend and fellow blogger David Gascoigne drew my attention to a passage by the nineteenth century naturalist David Henry Thoreau. 

Thoreau writes about the demise of a Red-tailed Hawk from a farmer’s gun. “But alas for the youthful hawk, the proud bird of prey, the tenant of the skies. We shall no more see his wave-like outline against a cloud, nor hear his scream from behind one. He saw but a pheasant in a field, the food which nature has provided for him, and stooped to seize it. This was his offense. He, the native of these skies, must make way for these bog-trotters from another land, which never soar. The eye that was conversant with sublimity, that looked down on earth from under its sharp projecting brow, is closed; the head that was never made dizzy by any height is brought low; the feet that were not made to walk on earth now lie useless along it. With those trailing claws for grapnels it dragged the lower skies. These wings which swept the sky must now dust the chimney-corner, perchance. So weaponed, with strong beak and talons, and wings, like a war steamer, to carry them about. In vain were the brown spotted eggs laid, in vain were ye cradled in the loftiest pine of the swamp. Where are your father and mother? Will they hear of your early death before ye had acquired your full plumage, they who nursed you and defended ye so faithfully?” 

Alas David, these words are all too relevant in this the 21st Century. 

The farmer missed the foxes though, the family I found searching through a recently cut field at Cockerham. They too were after unsuspecting mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects and worms. There were three foxes at first before one sloped back into the trees leaving me to get a picture of just two of them. I have mixed feelings about seeing Red Foxes in hearing and reading what damage and destruction they can wreak upon other wildlife, but at the same time rather admiring their looks and apparent charm. Am I alone? 

Red Foxes

Red Fox

Stopping for the Buzzard and then watching the foxes made me late for Conder Green where the incoming tide had partly filled the creeks. 

Conder Green

Common Sandpipers reach an early peak here, often in July, so a count of 13 flicking around the margins was not totally unexpected but still good to see. Apart from extra sandpipers the species and counts of the waterside were as normal by way of 70+ Redshank, 40+ Lapwing, 20+ Oystercatcher, 1 Greenshank, 2 Common Tern feeding young, 15+ Swift, 10+ Sand Martin, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Little Egret and 2 Pied Wagtail. 

Pied Wagtail

“Brown jobs” amounted to 3 Reed Bunting, 1 Blackcap, 2 Whitethroat, 2 Reed Warbler and 2 Greenfinch. 

I drove back to Fluke Hall for a walk along the hedgerows and the sea wall. There are still 2 Blackcap in song while 2 pairs of Whitethroats with their obvious alarm calls advertised the fact that youngsters are nearby. Along the sea wall another pair of Whitethroats fed young while 2 Reed Buntings were still in good voice. 

Feeding amongst the farmer’s midden was a single Wheatear, a fairly obviously plumaged juvenile. Occasionally they arrive on the coast from the uplands in June but early July is the norm - autumn’s not far away! 

Wheatear

 

Look in soon for more autumn birds with Another Bird Blog.

In the meantime linking to Anni's blog and Eileen's Saturday Blog.

Sunday Survey

A sunny start was promised so I set off early for a run round the usual spots before heading into the hills. With Andy in Brum it was my turn to top up the feeding station in preparation for a much delayed ringing session now planned for Monday. 

Crossing the moss roads I noted a hovering Kestrel and then had tantalising views of a Barn Owl, the bird stopping briefly on a fence post before flying off towards the open-fronted barn where it spends the day. The weather has been very mild of late, so much so that Barn Owls don’t need to spend extra daylight hours hunting for food as they often do in cold and frosty conditions. There was little point in waiting for the owl to reappear so I headed north west towards the coast.  

Barn Owl

I made my way to Glasson Dock where the Kingfisher flew right to left across the dock. On quiet Sunday mornings the Kingfisher often spends time fishing from the ropes and moorings at the far end of the dock and away from the busy road bridge. All the sevens, 77 Tufted Duck was a good count on the yacht basin where 9 Cormorants lined the distant jetties but little else of note. 

 Glasson Dock

Kingfisher

A flying visit to Conder Green gave the customary teens of Little Grebe, 110 Teal, 1 Little Egret, 1 Red-breasted Merganser, 1 Spotted Redshank and 1 Common Sandpiper. Near the café - 1 Pied Wagtail, 1 Reed Bunting, 8 Goldfinch, 1 Meadow Pipit, 15 Chaffinch and 8 Linnet. 

Time waits for no man and now was time to motor into the hills and stock the birds’ pantry. Thirty minutes and a couple roadside Jays later I stopped to survey the feeding station. 

Oakenclough

As already indicated the weather of late is so mild that even up here on the fringes of the Pennines and the Bowland Hills the feeders are still dominated by two essentially lowland birds, Goldfinch and Greenfinch, with lesser numbers of Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Great Tit and Blue Tit. Singles of both Pied Wagtail and Grey Wagtail were close by but unlikely to find their way into the nets. 

 Blue Tit

On the nearby reservoir was a family party of 5 Whooper Swans, two adults and 3 still quite brownish juveniles. 

Whooper Swans

I hope they don’t hit the mist nets tomorrow or whenever we manage a ringing session.

Linking today to Run-A-Round Ranch and Stewart's World Bird Wednesday. 

Birding Black Friday

Thursday morning’s mizzle and drizzle put paid to the planned ringing session and made for a day indoors; the ringing is scheduled for Sunday now. 

Black Friday began more like Grey Friday with yet more dense clouds overhead. I set off birding on the usual circuit hoping to bag a bargain bird or two, spending time rather than money to find what I was looking for. 

I made for Damside, Pilling hoping for geese in the fields but there were none, just the male Kestrel sat at the top of the usual post. 

Kestrel

A stop at Braides Farm found 150 or more Curlews scattered across the several fields. There was a Kestrel here too, this one working the fields and then alongside the distant ditch a Little Egret. 

All seemed fairly quiet at Conder Green with the pools and creek giving the expected 95 Teal, 12 Little Grebe, 8 Wigeon and one each of Spotted Redshank, 1 Common Sandpiper, Little Egret and Grey Heron. Towards the car park I found the recently elusive flock of 30ish Chaffinches feeding on the tide wrack together with 2 Meadow Pipits and then very briefly 15 Linnets. As soon as a car drives along the road the birds scatter in all directions, the Chaffinch to the tree tops, the others back to the marsh. There was a Pied Wagtail and also a Grey Wagtail near the farm entrance. 

Meadow Pipit

Against the odds and the weather forecast the sun suddenly appeared so I went for a walk along the towpath at Glasson Dock. I don’t know the origin of the name Glasson but under certain light conditions the waters in both the yacht basin and the actual dock can be very glass like. 

Glasson Dock

Starling

I stopped near a couple of the local Mute Swans, one with a few battle scars on its bill; I wondered if it had been involved in a Black Friday fight for bargains at the local shops? Just then a Kingfisher sped past and I stopped daydreaming and watched the blue streak disappear towards the dock and out of sight. 

Mute Swan

Along the canal - several Blackbirds, 2 Reed Bunting, 3 Goldfinch, 1 Grey Heron and rather strangely I thought, a single Redwing. 

There was time for a look at Fluke Hall where wader numbers were somewhat reduced with just 220 Lapwing, 18 Redshank, 15 Oystercatcher and a Grey Heron. In the woodland - a Great-spotted Woodpecker and a Nuthatch, and then along the shore 4 Whooper Swans, 65 Shelduck, 4 Skylark and 5 Meadow Pipit. 

Back home it started raining again and after the excitement of Black Friday I’m hoping for a Sunny Weekend.

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