Making Hay

Our nearby fields are awash with cut grass drying out in readiness for winter storage. Summer finally arrived for now. Hay and silage are two common methods of preserving grass for livestock feed. Hay is made by cutting and drying grass while silage is made by fermenting the gather cuttings in an airtight container. 

Tractors fly across local fields as local farmers enjoy a long spell of warm sunny weather after the tortuous winter and equally wet spring that stopped their work for days at a time and caused a redrawing of plans. At last, fields of stunted maize gain height towards their 8/10 feet goal. Temperature is paramount for maize where the seed needs soil temperatures above 10°C to grow, temperatures that we rarely reached throughout a long, cold spring. 

Silage field

 

Maize

This is a quiet time for ringing but since my last post I too have been out and about in the sunshine, camera, long lens and bins at the ready. 

Ready Steady, Go!

 

Another Marsh Harrier came along, a silent dip and dive across the fields, looking for that elusive prize, a mammal scurrying through layered green. On its way it went, almost reluctantly in a south westerly direction as if drawn by some unknown force of nature. 

Marsh Harrier

 

Mid week saw the first of the returning Yellow Wagtails, a single juvenile amongst the dozens of Pied Wagtails. 

Yellow Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

And now I wait for comments about the grey wagtail, a Yellow Wagtail that is quite grey but assuredly a Western Yellow Wagtail, Motacilla flava, a scarce breeding species of the Fylde area that is so scarce it cannot decline further but simply disappear into the annals of history. But, always good to see, hear and recall that soft “seep seep”.  

Water at the feeding station attracted Starlings in their juvenile variations, a mixed coat of pinky grey softness with a layer of spotted insulation that for all the world looked as if it had been stuck on a belly as an afterthought.  For students of bird moult a Starling is one to tax a ringer’s entry of “age” on the BTO's DemOn database. Good subjects for a camera lens but thank goodness we don’t catch any of the noisy, forever squawking things. 

Starling

Starling

Little Egrets begin to build in autumn numbers while Grey Herons subside into single sightings, two species which one might think can sustain their respective populations but seemingly not when the heron is now “scarce” and the egret “common”. 

Grey Heron 

The feeding station is well situated to exploit the bokeh of the telephoto lens, where shades of vegetation green, brown and ochre compete with a spot of blue sky for an out of focus backdrop. 

Meadow Pipit

Linnet

That’s me for a day or two. Thursday Friday we have Brett in to paint our kitchen diner - spend some dosh before our new Government,  “party of the workers” take it all from us. 

Politicians tell lies to win over gullible fools so as to win elections. Who Knew? 

See you soon folks. 

 

No Merlins Thank You

On Friday the catching and ringing of Sand Martins didn’t go too well; but then in 10 years of working this quarry site, a morning often doesn’t go to plan when Sand Martins have alternative ideas to combine with their instincts for survival. Before this latest visit and since 2015 we had caught 997 Sand Martins here, not a huge number considering that in most years the colony can hold up to 400 individuals on any given day at peak periods  April to August. 

The quarry and its exposed face is of varying degrees of often loose material – sand, gravel and stones of all shapes and sizes where the returning Sand Martins excavate in situations that suit their own requirements rather than those of bird ringers. Mostly the birds choose a high elevation to minimise disturbance and to deter predators. This year’s nesting chambers are high on the quarry face. The positioning of the holes is such that the ground yards below and upon which we have to erect nets is treacherous underfoot and not ideally placed to catch many of the 250+ martins returning to or leaving the nest holes some 20 yards above. Sand Martins also have incredible eyesight that combines with their unerring accuracy to fly above, below or parallel to a mist net placed to intercept a flight path. 

Sand Martin

Sand Martin

Sand Martin

 

After three hours we called it a day but delighted in just 5 new Sand Martins to take us over 1000 captures here. Hard work but someone has to do it. The bonus is a few photos when the martins rest up between bouts of hawking insects from the surrounding farmland. 

Sand Martin

 

We had visits from both Sparrowhawk and a Kestrel, the Kestrel hovering directly above the quarry face so as to spot unwary birds around entrance holes and thus vulnerable to attack rather than hiding in the darkness. The martins saw both raptors off by a noisy rush of wings and in the case of the hawk, chasing it into the near distance whilst giving out warning calls. 

Kestrel

Other birds seen consisted of Buzzard, 4 Common Tern, Pied Wagtail, Grey Heron, Tree Sparrow. 

Buzzard

 

Grey Heron

In other news and thought for the day I am told that the popular magic eye/ear of the Merlin App for lazy birders is not all it is cracked up to be. This piece of whizz-bang technology struggles to ID the quiet squeaky birds like Robins, Flycatchers, the Regulus family and probably others too. 

Earlier this year the app caused a local frenzy by telling a user that a Blackbird was a much rarer Golden Oriole. The AI software will surely struggle with bird mimicry from species like the Common Starling, thrashers, catbirds and the aptly named mockingbirds (family Mimidae, Latin for mimic). I also doubt that the technology is advanced enough to analyse a song/call in conjunction with the relevant season of the year and/or a location's habitat  so as to give useful advice or reach meaningful conclusions.  

The “magical” Merlin app requires access to a user’s location and to a phone's microphone where the software employed may be more advanced than the listening device already installed, rarely turned to "off" on most Smartphones. 

I know of people who take their Smartphones literally everywhere, allowing the machine to track and listen in to their sometimes very personal daily activities and conversations wherever they may be. Go to “Settings” and click your buttons to “off”, preferably "FO". 

Rather than signing up to more of Google’s Big Brotherly love it may be better for budding birders to learn their birds another way. Find the bird then ID it through watching & listening in conjunction and comparison with the entries in a book? 

Books, remember those? 

Back Soon. Don't go away. I will be tracking you.

 

Back To The Future

Yes, it’s true. Following public demand Another Bird Blog is back. Click the Pics. You know the drill.

Four months later and following a number of stuttering, lethargic attempts I hit the keyboard to bring an update on the trials and tribulations of an ageing ringer, birder and photographer. 

It all began in December last with arthritis of a dodgy ankle that kicked in during a brutal morning at Oakenclough, unsavoury conditions that continued into 2024 with the wild and windy weather of January to May inclusive. Weather “experts” paid to promote dodgy data told us that May was “dry and very warm” but high energy bills and nearby flooded fields advised otherwise. 

Seeing again our Greek friends and experiencing Philoxenia in early May became Priority Number One. The pain, hurt and sheer torment of TUI and Terminal Two of Manchester Airport is not something to recommend but the thought of two weeks of Greek hospitality, Greek food and Ouzo saw us through the anguish as we finally landed at JSI, Greece some seven hours after leaving FY6. 

TUI

Our Jimny awaited whereby a detour from the airport to Slaventis Supermarket provided the essentials for the first afternoon and evening in Skiathos - orange juice, 6-pack water, ouzo and Metaxa, not necessarily in that order. 

Slaventis, Skiathos

Slaventis' Ouzos

Room Number 4 at Dream House was ready as our hosts the charming Efie and dad Kostas poured us a glass of ice-cold Fix, a brew that tasted like beer, not gnat piss. We swapped hugs and kisses then unpacked for tomorrow. 

Efie and Kostas

Fix

Dream House (Spiti Oneiro)

It was early May, when many migrant birds have already passed though Greece on their way to Northernmost Europe. March and April is the peak but as in Britain some linger while waifs, strays and residents entertain the few birders in evidence - one whole and a partly reluctant sun-loving Sue in our case. 

The list is not huge but included a number of mouth watering possibilities for birders struggling back in wet and windy UK – Bee Eaters, Hobby, Marsh Warbler, Red-rumped and Common Swallows, Nightingale, Scops Owl, Little Owl, Little Bittern, Night Heron, Tawny Pipit, Red-backed Shrike, Yellow Wagtails, Wheatears and Spot Flys etc, etc. 

Bee Eater

Black-crowned Night Heron

The travelling laptop tells a mixed tale of sunny, lazy days and recalcitrant birds. Not in any particular order but a taste, a feel of Skiathos.

Skiathos Town

Skiathos Town

The Greek flag together with symbols of Greece its culture and history are widespread. To mock Greece is to invite public opprobrium and worse.  "Philoxenia" - φῐλοξενῐ́ᾱ meaning "friend to a stranger” is about much more than a warm welcome; it is a complex moral code with deep roots in Greek culture and Greek daily life. 

Meanwhile in Western Europe and seemingly also in the US, there is an epidemic of cultural dementia coupled with a desire to obliterate our history and values. The Greek people don’t fall for such communist inspired claptrap. 

Mylos Taverna

A quiet coffee morning in Papadiamantis Street

 

Early May at The Bourtzi 

Feeding ducks

The Bourtzi

From The Boatyard

The Boatyard

The Boatyard

Mylos Taverna

From Mylos

Sleeping in Skiathos

European Shag

Grey Heron

Yellow-legged Gulls

Out and About

Out and About

Red-backed Shrike

Red-rumped Swallow

Whinchat

Night Heron and Little Bittern

Night Heron

It was three weeks later when deleting rubbish photos that I found the two herons just yards apart. I caught up with secretive Little Bitterns at other locations.

Little Bittern

Yellow Wagtail

Red-backed Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Local goat. The source of creamy feta cheese.

Morning Flight

Skiathos Town

Skiathos Town

Street Art Greek Honey Bees

Ferry Arrivals, foot passengers first.

Ferry Arrivals, cars and wagons.

Queue Here

Skiathos Cat - Yuk

We arrived back in the UK mid May and found the weather had improved, even warming up, but not yet up  to Greek temperatures.

A little birding, a spot of ringing became more appealing - after tidying the garden and catching up with family and friends.

Back soon. Maybe.