Crimbles!

I saw plenty of birds to see this morning, in fact it proved to be a really excellent and productive morning of birding but rather trying in the photography department with too few new pictures. Sometimes it’s good, mostly it is hard work to keep coming up with new pictures. 

A Barn Owl hunting near the A588 at Pilling gave the briefest of views as it sped across the fields and then out of sight behind hedges and buildings. The choices were, sit and wait for the owl to do a circuit, try in a fashion to follow the bird across roadless fields, or drive on. I drove on hoping that another Barn Owl might show between here and destination Glasson. 

 I stopped at Crimbles and waited for a while with no sign of Barn Owls, just a Raven heading out to the marsh and several Curlews and Lapwings on a pool fashioned by the recent high tides. I took a detour to a Crimbles farm where there are owls and a favoured wooden fence. Bingo, a Little Owl. 

“Crimbles” is a rather strange place name and nothing to do with cakes or Christmas. It is probably a very ancient Lancashire dialect description of the locality with origins in the Domesday Book. I need to do some research and get back to readers. 

Little Owl

Once again I decided that Glasson would get the early shift and Conder Green the post-breakfast going over. A Common Tern was hunting the basin and the dock where it plunge-dived with great efficiency and lifted small fish from below the water. 

I watched the tern swallow a whole fish while in flight but its next catch it kept hold of and then flew directly above the road on the shortest route to Conder Green where later on I saw the female waiting for breakfast and the male arriving from the direction of Glasson. As suspected a few days ago, the male travels a mile or two in the course of hunting at Conder Green, Glasson Dock and the River Lune, and there are at the moment but 2 Common Terns and not three. 

A Kingfisher put in a late and brief appearance by landing on the stern of a moored boat, taking a look around at the busy dock before then whizzing off elsewhere - no pictures of it today. 

On the water, a single Great Crested Grebe, 5 Tufted Duck, 22 Coot and 25 Mallard with along the towpath 2 Grey Wagtail, 2 Pied Wagtail, a Chiffchaff in song and 1 Grey Heron. 

Five Little Egrets flew over as they headed off the river and in the direction of Cockersands. Later I was to see another six at Conder Green, a goodish total of 11 for the morning’s effort. 

On scanning the creek at Conder Green there was another Kingfisher, 75 yards away, a tiny blue and orange marker attached to a mid-stream and lifeless remains of a tree. The Kingfisher dived from the bare limbs and splashed into the shallows several times without success before flying off towards the railway bridge; it was time for a count or two. 

These current higher tides make for low water levels in the creeks, just an inch or two of water in places and ideal for waders so giving a healthy count of 160+ Redshank, 15 Oystercatcher, 6 Common Sandpiper, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Curlew, 1 Greenshank and 1 Spotted Redshank. 

 

Redshank

Greenshank

There were the aforementioned 6 Little Egret plus 2 Grey Heron, plus a family party of 9 Shelduck, 3 Little Grebe, 2 Wigeon and a more than reasonable modern day count of 30+ Swifts. 

Grey Heron

It appears that we are in for record temperatures on Thursday and Friday quickly followed by thunderstorms and downpours at the weekend. Goodness, it looks like I may have to go out birding again tomorrow. 

Meanwhile, I’ll see what I can cook up about Crimbles.

Linking today to The Run a Round Ranch Blogspot.

Come Rain Or Shine

Well it’s been mostly shine for three or four weeks now so a bit of a bummer on waking up today with 100% cloud and grey skies. Then bang on cue at about 10am, rain with a strengthening breeze. 

Not before I’d done the rounds of Glasson and Conder though, a circuit which found little change from Monday or Wednesday. The highlight of a common enough Greenshank might give some clue as to the other birds seen. 

The Greenshank was in the tidal creeks with 150+ Redshank, 9 Common Sandpiper, 3 Curlew, 12 Oystercatcher, 2 Grey Heron and 2 Little Egret. 

A Greenshank Tringa nebularia is somewhat larger than the related Common Redshank Tringa totanus, and perhaps surprisingly, the Greenshank’s closest relative is the Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca, its North American cousin. Greenshanks are beginning to appear on their return journeys from their breeding sites of sub-Arctic Europe, although a number of pairs do breed in northernmost Scotland, a country which can be quite Arctic like. 

The Greater Yellowlegs does turn up in Britain occasionally but not yet at Conder Green.

Greenshank

Redshank

Greater Yellowlegs - Photo credit: Henry McLin / Foter / (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Common Sandpiper

On the pool, and this beginning to sound more than a little monotonous, 2 Little Grebe, 14 Tufted Duck, 4 Shelduck, 3 Little Egret, another 20+ Lapwings and a Grey Heron. 

Grey Heron

Quiet and breezy at Glasson where a walk along the canal towpath and the yacht basin produced a tiny flock of 14 Goldfinch, 5 Reed Warbler, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Blackcap and 1 Grey Wagtail. In the cool of the morning Swallows were restricted to 10+ and Swifts to just two.

The Lancaster Canal at Glasson

Glasson Dock

Let’s hope for shine tomorrow when Another Bird Blog goes birding again.

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

Sunday Shanks

First off and for all my blogging pals especially Wally in Florida who knows a good British pub when he sees one, here's a picture of The Stork at Conder Green with their sign depicting a heron. Confused? - Read the last post on Another Bird Blog or click the pics below for close-up views of The Stork and this morning's first Grey Heron spotted just yards away from the inn. 

The Stork at Conder Green

Grey Heron

Yes I was there again this morning hoping for pictures and more than a few birds in the bright sunshine. That dusky stunner Spotted Redshank was still in the creek, the naked eye all that was needed to pick it out from the centre of a gaggle of 20+ Redshanks. At least 8 Common Sandpipers noted today as the birds moved up and down the creek according to pedestrian traffic over the bridge or vehicles heading to the car park. Oystercatchers still have two young, the chicks now very mobile in exploring all parts of the pool edges. 

Less obvious was a single Greenshank hiding away at the back of the pool, sometimes in view, mostly not. 

Greenshank

The Canada Geese have quite big youngsters now, the goslings looking for all the world like tiny versions of their parents. The young Shelducks are getting there and it is obvious who they belong to especially when the female is so attentive because dad has done a runner. The drake Goldeneye still there with 8 Tufted Duck, 2 Wigeon and now 1 Little Grebe 

Canada Goose

Shelduck

The warm sun definitely helped but there appeared to be more passerines about this morning with small groups of calling finches, mainly long the old railway line. Into the notebook went 15 Linnet, 12 Goldfinch and 10 Greenfinch as a clear improvement on recent counts and hopefully the start of larger flocks of each. Good numbers of Whitethroats too with 3 singing males, a couple of family parties and additional churring adults lifting the morning count to 15. Others – 3 Sedge Warbler, 3 Reed Bunting, 2 Tree Sparrow, 3 Stock Dove. 

Greenfinch

Linnet

Also along the railway path, 2 Pied Wagtails and a Grey Wagtail flying over. It was from the old railway line that I saw a Roe Deer out on the marsh, the animal crossing from north of Conder and heading all the time to Glasson until it bounded up the embankment and disappeared from view; it's quite normal to see cattle out on the marsh or river mud at low tide, but not wild deer. 

Roe Deer - River Lune

Cattle - River Lune

I made it to Glasson where as I shaped to photograph another Grey Heron a Kingfisher flew up and landed on the jetty beyond the heron. It was good to see a Kingfisher after such a hard and prolonged winter even though the tiny bird was too distant for a photo. I settled for yet another heron shot, a Black-headed Gull and a juvenile Starling. 

Grey Heron

Black-headed Gull

 Starling

A blog reader asked where my bird ringing has been lately. The explanation is that after ringing over 25,000 birds home and away during 20+ years I decided to wind down a little from general mist netting to concentrate on smaller ringing objectives, bird watching and photography.

So stay tuned to Another Bird Blog for the same mix as before with perhaps less frequent ringing news and views.

There’s A Surprise

Yes I know the best birders get up early to catch the worm but sometimes a lie-in just seems a good option, especially after a run of icy mornings with not much doing. So waiting until lunch time I set off for Pilling hoping to see a freshly arrived Wheatear, perhaps hear a Chiffchaff, or watch a Sand Martin or Swallow hurrying north - anything really which might indicate the arrival of Spring. 

Not much at Lane Ends itself, just a pair of Canada Geese and a pair of Greylags seeing who could make the most noise above the trilling of the Little Grebe pair on the smaller west pool. The morning must have warmed up. I disturbed a Peacock Butterfly from the grass and it rested on the path momentarily before flying off; my first butterfly of the year before my first Wheatear or Swallow - now there was a surprise. 

Little Grebe

European Peacock 

All the bird action seemed to be nearer Pilling Water with several Meadow Pipits, leftovers from the morning rush hour I’d perhaps missed. There was no sign of any Wheatears ready for the pepper pot of meal worms stashed in the camera bag. The pools proved quite rewarding with singles of both Greenshank and Spotted Redshank, two species which could be the most unapproachable bird species on the planet, bettered only by our Common Redshank. 

 Spotted Redshank

Spotted Redshank

Greenshank

There was a good selection of wildfowl too, refugees from the shooting season but still as wary as ever and giving a sporting chance of a picture when they flew about the pools expecting a volley of shots from guns not a camera. I counted 18 Teal, 8 Pintail, 6 Shoveler, 4 Shelduck and just 2 Mallard. 

Pintail 

Teal and Pintail

Pintail

Shoveler

On the marsh there are still 300+ Pink-footed Geese perhaps reluctant to head north without a following wind. More Shelduck too, another 40+. 

One singing Skylark, 1 Little Egret and a few more Meadow Pipits highlighted the stroll back to Lane Ends, otherwise little sign of true April. 

More news and surprises on Another Bird Blog soon. In the meantime take a look at Anni's Skimmers .

Back To Pilling

There’s been a lot to do Rawcliffe way so it has been weeks since I went in the direction of Pilling, especially since the road was closed and the sea wall out of bounds from Boxing Day until the end of the shooting season. This morning was too breezy for ringing so with a couple of hours to spare I turned left at the main road, Pilling bound. 

The berry-laden bush at the Fordstone Road junction has lain untouched by birds most of the winter. The hawthorn is smack bang on the corner of the busy junction, where pedestrians and/or cars are virtually non-stop, enough to scare off the local Blackbirds, and now into March the berries have nearly all dropped to the ground with any that remain turned now to a dark red colour. There must be some goodness left in the berries because there were two Waxwings there this morning, even as the local kids trooped noisily past on their way to school; the children could almost have reached out and touched the birds had they noticed them. I grabbed a couple of shots of the Waxwings as they moved around the other side of the hawthorn, intent on staying near their breakfast. 

Bohemian Waxwing

Bohemian Waxwing

Lambs Lane had 2 Kestrels, so more pictures to add to my recent run of Kestrel shots. The local population of Kestrels seems very high this winter and things are looking good for the breeding season. 

Kestrel

From Backsands Lane I walked up to the sea wall, just to check it was still there after my enforced absence. Out of sheer habit I peered down at the Wheatear rocks where in two or three weeks the Wheatears will be; none today and no passerines either but there was a Greenshank, a Redshank and an Oystercatcher on the wildfowlers pool. There was a Greenshank in December, and I’m guessing it’s the same one wintering here. 

Greenshank

The flood at Backsands held a good number of geese and waders: 900 Golden Plover, 350 + Lapwing, 40 Curlew, 45 Dunlin, 14 Redshank, 5 Teal, 1500+ Pink-footed Goose and 10 Greylag. Overflying or in the United Utilities compound I noted 4 Goldfinch, 4 Chaffinch, 2 Mistle Thrush and 2 Pied Wagtail. 

Pink-footed Goose

Synchronised Landing - Pink-footed Goose

Greylag Goose

Not a bad result for a couple of hours work. Log in soon to Another Bird Blog for more news and views of birds and birding. 

Today the blog is linking to Stewart's Photo Gallery .

News On The Rocks

A quick visit to the feeding staion today relocated the Chaffinches, about 60+ of them together with 5+ Bramblings, although in the raging wind I couldn't find more than 2 Reed Bunting and 20 Goldfinch. A couple of the feeders were half full, probably as a result of the wind emptying the contents rather than any Goldfinches. Looks like the wind may subside later in the week allowing me to do a spot of ringing.

I haven’t quite finished with Fuerteventura, and during the currently wet and wintry weather, combined with the lack of local news and pictures, I’m posting mop-up pictures from the holiday of 12th to 26th January. As the post title implies, these pictures were taken along the rocky shores close to Costa Calma. 

There was a Greenshank around for a day or two, an individual that allowed a slightly closer approach than the wary birds we see in the UK. 

Greenshank

Greenshank

Greenshank

Ringed Plovers were sometimes around but never particularly accommodating. 

Ringed Plover

Daily stars were the Sanderlings and Turnstones, in some spots the birds had become almost totally fearless of man. 

 Sanderling

 Turnstone

Sanderling

One or two Whimbrels could be seen most days. More Whimbrel pictures soon when Another Bird Blog will devote a full post to the species based on a number of pictures. 

Whimbrel

The Common Sandpipers I saw were just as wary as our UK ones, never allowing a close approach. 

Common Sandpiper

Here’s a Fuerteventura rarity, an Oystercatcher, quite a way from its normal range.  It was just a single bird seen on one day and not a very good picture into the sun. 

Oystercatcher

It wasn’t all waders on the rocks. The Spanish Sparrows used the shore too, but just for a change on a foreign holiday, I didn't see any House Sparrows.

Spanish Sparrow

Yellow-legged Gull

Here's the Raven stealing monkey nuts from the ground squirrels.

Raven

Barbary Ground Squirrel

There's much more about Whimbrels soon from Another Bird Blog. Stay tuned to read all about it.