Twenty Ten Vision.

Hurricane Ian dropped a number of rare birds all over Britain and Ireland but it seems that not many came to this part of Lancashire - unless anyone knows different? 

After the wind and rain of last week and this Monday there appeared to be window of opportunity on Tuesday so I met up with Andy and Will for a spot of ringing. 

The morning calm of 0630 hinted that thrushes in the shape of Redwings might be on the cards. But came there none, not even a Blackbird, and certainly not a Song Thrush, as rare as anything that Ian might bring. 

We peered through the semi-dark and saw that a roost held seven or eight Little Egrets and bigger than the others, a single Great Egret. Before too long they all went their separate ways, croaking their good byes as they went to leave us setting mist nets alone. 

Great Egret

Little Egret

A quiet session ensued with an unlucky-for-sum 13 birds caught whereby the morning flight of Linnets saved us from an even more embarrassing total - 8 Linnet, 1 Greenfinch, 1 Robin, 1 Great Tit, 1 Chaffinch and 1 Grey Wagtail. Damn, I forgot to alter the focus point. And it’s not too often we catch a Grey Wag. 

Grey Wagtail

Chaffinch

The Linnets arrived in quite small groups of 5-15 and a morning total of 100+ in the niggling and increasing breeze of 5-10 and then 15 mph, all interspersed with bouts of drizzle. 

Maybe it was the cloud and mizzle with odd breaks in the grey that brought the many Skylarks pouring over from North and North East and heading relentlessly South? Most were very high, a height impossible to guesstimate other than some were in acute hearing range only and visible to 20/10 vision or better. When we packed in at a relatively early 1030 we estimated 90 and more Skylarks had passed our watch point. 

Skylark

There was just the one raptor today, a single Sparrowhawk that shot across the field towards the seed crop hoping to catch something unawares. We saw Reed Buntings, Greenfinches, Chaffinches and Meadow Pipits but not in any great numbers. It just wasn’t our day. 

Better luck next time. Thursday is looking a possible. Excuse me I have a phone call to make. 

 

August Time

After the relative quiet of birding of June and July, the first days of August sees many birders pick up their bins again. There’s hope that the new month will bring post breeding dispersal with signs of true autumn migration and a wealth of birds that may arrive with unsettled weather and cooling temperatures. 

Sunday morning at Cockerham was cool with a pronounced westerly breeze and ever changing bouts of sun and cloud. I had single panel nets in the four foot high seed plot where I hoped to catch the first Linnets of the autumn. Hidden in the lee of the car as protection from sun, the cool breeze and the threat of a shower I switched a couple of times from a shirt to adding a jacket and then back to jacketless as the sun returned.

All the while Linnets arrived from both west and east, individuals, small groups and even a flock of 25+ that eventually gave a count of 60 or more Linnets; a clear sign of the autumnal flocking behaviour of small finches. 

A couple of Linnets escaped as I walked to the net however I did capture six, 3 moulting adults and 3 juveniles of the year. There was also an adult female Blackbird. 

Linnet - adult male

Linnet - adult male

Linnet - juvenile/first summer

Blackbird - adult female

 

Perhaps and in view of the weather it was no coincidence that the morning produced a clear movement of Swifts heading south, singles and twos at first. And then rather suddenly about ten o’clock and directly above the nearby pool came a vortex of Swifts, 50 or more feeding below the billowing grey cloud. Within minutes they were gone, back on high and out of sight to continue their southerly flight. 

Swifts

 

Other species seen and heard – 190/200 Carrion Crow, 12 Curlew , 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 2 Tree Sparrow, 15 Swallow, 2 Goldfinch, 2 Little Egret, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Buzzard. 

The huge numbers of predatory Carrion Crows in recently cut fields suggests a very successful breeding season but does not bode well for small birds and breeding waders in 2022. 

Carrion Crow

In other news. It was here in Cockerham that a Great Egret lingered through May and well into into June 2021 and where earlier in the spring there has been two or even three individuals.  At one point I hoped that the egrets might join the Little Egret by becoming a breeding species of this part of Lancashire. It was not to be but now comes news of Great Egrets from the South West of England. 

Great Egret - Fylde, Lancashire

 

From Bird Guides.“Great Egrets have enjoyed a record-breaking year on the Somerset Levels, as the species continues its rapid colonisation of Britain. An estimated 50 chicks fledged this year on the Avalon Marshes. Nesting took place at 10 separate locations across Shapwick Heath, Ham Wall and Westhay reserves, with 25 of the 37 nests found going on to successfully fledge young. "

"Great Egret joined the list of breeding British birds as recently as 2012, when a pair nested at Shapwick Heath Somerset – the epicentre of the current population in the country. For much of the 20th century the Great Egret was restricted to the wetlands of Eastern Europe but, since the 1990s, the species made a comeback, nesting in increasing numbers across Europe and then spreading west." 

"Since 2012, numbers of breeding birds in Somerset increased steadily. In 2017, a pair of Great Egrets fledged three chicks at Holkham Nature Reserve Norfolk, marking the county's first successful breeding attempt.” 

In 2019, a single pair nested in Cheshire for the first time, at Burton Mere Wetlands, a flap and a glide into to Lancashire for a Great Egret. 

More news and views soon. Stay tuned to Another Bird Blog. 

Martin And More

Information arrived from French ringers of ring number 8998514 we caught at Cockerham on 5 June 2021. 

https://anotherbirdblog.blogspot.com/2021/06/a-french-bonus.html  

8998514 - Museum Paris

“Here are the details of a ringed bird you have reported.” 

Species: Sand Martin (Riparia riparia)

Scheme: FRP

Ring no: 8998514 

Ringing details: Age: 3 (juvenile) 

Ringing date: 19 Aug 2020 at 23:30:00 

Site name: Tour aux Moutons, Donges, Loire-Atlantique, France Ringer: Paris, -11 

Finding details Age: 4 (adult) 

Sex: F 

Finding date: 05 Jun 2021 at 08:00:00 

Biometrics: Wing: 102.0 mm. Weight: 11.9 g. 

Time: 08:00:00hrs 

Subsequent Capture: - Duration: 290 days Distance: 740 km Direction: 356deg (N) 

Sand Martin

So not too many surprises there with a first year Sand Martin being caught in France whilst on migration to North Africa. 8998514 may have been born in Lancashire, possibly at Cockerham Quarry to where it returned to breed in 2021 as an adult female. 

Donges, (as named above) is a site of major natural significance on the Loire Estuary where a large part of the 200 hectares site is protected in an “original natural state.” The area contains the single biggest bank of reed beds on the Loire Estuary. 

Since 2003, the Loire Atlantique Association for Ornithological Knowledge and Research (ACROLA) has been carrying out bird ringing operations every summer in the reed beds located to the south of the East Donges facility, to study post-breeding migration of birds which use the zone as a staging area. 

Loire Atlantique, France. 

 

Swallows and Sand Martins use the reed beds as a night time sanctuary during migration time. The reeds also hold large populations of small passerines such as Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler and Aquatic Warbler, as residents and migrants. The latter species Acrocephalus paludicola, Aquatic Warbler is a critically endangered species. 

Back at Cockerham today I found again the Great Egret that went missing for a few weeks. Of course this bird could be a different one as its habits are different by spending 90% of each day in secluded trees, out of sight out of mind.  It’s nearest companions were a single Grey Heron and two Little Egrets. 

Great Egret

Near there, a Skylark at last feeding young. And both Oystercatchers and Redshanks with young in tow. 

Back soon with more news and views. Stay Tuned.

Linking this post to Eileen's Blogspot and Anni in Texas.

Over To You Padre

Blogger friend The Padre over in Grand Junction Colorado requested “more Barn Owls please.” Ever one to please I found another Barn Owl this morning. 

In broad daylight at nine am I guess the owl hunted for its mate and/or young owlets so after a few pics, I let it be. 

Barn Owl

 

Local birders are pretty much OK in realising that disturbing nesting Barn Owls is a no no because the owl has Special Protection as a Schedule 1 species. Other casual birders and/or toggers either don't know or don't care and often continue to be a nuisance, even in the breeding season.  

Members of our own Fylde Ringing Group are all covered by a Schedule 1 Permit to cover Barn Owls and other species but would never abuse that privilege for a photograph. 

Close by was a Common Whitethroat, a male Reed Bunting and a pair of Skylark. 

Common Whitethroat

 

A walk took me to fields where I found a Lapwing pair with three fluffy youngsters, spaced out behind mum. Give it a couple of days and the chicks will be large enough to find in the short sward and have legs suited to take a D ring. Another two or three adult Lapwings hunkered down in the crop while their mates chased off crows, a sure sign that these Lapwings at least are still on eggs. 

An Oystercatcher posed up for me while a pair of wild Tufted Duck looked for all the world as if they would fly off any second. Tufted Ducks in the local park become tame as mice. Here in shooting country the tufties don't much like human company and may prefer to take their chance in life with natural food and sportsmen rather than live on a diet of white bread and greasy crisps. 

 

Tufted Duck

Tufted Duck 

Oystercatcher

I found the regular Great Egret and 3 Grey Heron and just a single Little Egret rather than the eleven of last week. 

Great Egret

 

There seemed to be good numbers of Skylark with at least 6 singers and potentially 8/10 pairs once they sort themselves out.   At last, the slightly warmer weather of the last few days has spurred the Skylarks into action. 

Around the areas of reeds, water and woodland edge - 1 Swallow, 1 Pied Wagtail, 2 Goldfinch, 2 Chaffinch, 2 Mute Swan, 2 Little Grebe, 6 Reed Warbler and 7 Sedge Warbler. 

Back home I found a micro moth hiding against my pure white car. From a yard or two away it looked like a strand of vegetation had stuck itself onto the paintwork. Closer inspection revealed it to be White Plume, a ”micro moth” Pterophorus pentadactyla. 

White Plume

Fairly common I imagine and I'm not normally “into” moths but I have just been reading a new field guide to insects to be published in June by Princeton Press - Britain's Insects – a bargain buy of 600 packed pages £25 if ever I saw one.

Britain's Insects

Log in soon you insectophiles, There's a review of this book from a strictly neutral birder.

Mayday, Mayday.

Saturday morning. The First of May began bright and cold again. I waited an hour or two until the sun burnt off the frost and then drove north, hoping for a quiet walk in the warming sun and fresh air. 

They came along the private track, four adults and two dogs against the skyline. Urbanites on their May Day weekend. The egret saw them coming and flew off with loud protests. 

Hunkered down in the car and concentrating through the viewfinder, I'd not seen the intruders headed my way. Thankfully the townies took the other direction and left me in peace. Such are the joys of trying to bird now that lockdown is all but over when the countryside become a free for all again. 

Great Egret

 

I disturbed a Buzzard from the fence line but it made no sound as it slipped away perhaps thinking I'd not seen it in the exact same place for a couple of weeks. The local Carrion Crows gave the Buzzard a noisy send off . 

Carrion Crow and Buzzard

Along the track two pairs of Redshanks showed all the signs of having nests nearby. Oystercatchers too, piping and wary.  And a Lapwing called to youngsters to get their heads down - “Mayday, mayday”, and then circled and flapped to make sure the danger had passed. The young Lapwing were in the longer grass of a ditch, safe enough and hidden from a ringer's view. 

The sun came from the wrong direction. Overexpose the only way to get some sort of picture. 

Redshank

  

The Wheatear on the other side of the sun made for easier viewing even though it kept a safe distance.

Wheatear

 

The ditches also held 3 Little Egrets and a Grey Heron. On and in the reed fringed edges of nearby pools came 2 Pied Wagtail, 4 Sedge Warbler and the snapping song of 4 Reed Warblers. A couple of Swallows whizzed by; so good to see a few at last. No House Martins seen but the farm hand reported seeing House Martins and a Whitethroat on Friday. 

Pied Wagtail

 

On the water - 4 Greylags with young, 2 Canada Geese with young, 2 Shelduck, 4 Moorhen, and then 2 Coot with their early brood. 

Coots

And now on Sunday morning we have a hailstorm. No kidding!  Help.