A Tern For The Better

Friday morning proved too breezy for ringing so with the little sun I headed for Knott End village and the viewpoints of the jetty and promenade. From here are vistas across Morecambe Bay to the English Lakes, Barrow and on suitable days, The Isle of Man. There are many birds to be seen in most seasons except for high summer when grockles appear. 

It was just here on Monday that a lady and her dog were rescued after getting stuck in mud off the end of the slipway. I’m on safe ground in saying that because she had a dog with her, the lady was probably not a birder. 

Monday 2 August - Knott End, Lancashire - @LancsLive

The poor lady was pulled unceremoniously from the sticky mud by members of Knott End Coastguard with help from the crew of the Knott End/Fleetwood ferry. She was fortunate that a fast tide was not rushing in and that local people spotted her plight, as without their help, the seemingly innocent  walk could have ended in tragedy. 

The tides and sands of Morecambe Bay are incredibly dangerous but there is no accounting for stupid when warnings are clear and abundant.  

Knott End slipway - "Beware of sinking sand and mud. Check tides and weather"

My own walk along the river path was less eventful but dictated by the incoming tide which flooded the mud, sand and mussel beds. As the land disappeared about 450 Oystercatchers flew upstream to their roost. There was a steady flow of 55+ Sandwich Terns, their breeding season at an end with many now journeying to winter off the south and west coasts of Africa. 

Out of our own UK season of Sandwich Terns from March to September I have seen the species in the winter warmth of Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Gambia, West Africa, but wherever it is, Sandwich Terns seem to always retain their fear of man and keep a safe distance. 

This fear is not surprising when many past recoveries of ringed Sandwich Terns are from hunting in West African countries like Ghana, Senegal, Angola, Ivory Coast , Liberia and Sierra Leone. Here the trapping of terns for food is carried out by children setting noose traps on the beach baited with dead fish. Although this practice may be less prevalent than say the 1960, 70 and 80s, it is apparently still widespread in some areas. 

 

Sandwich Terns

Sandwich Tern

Oystercatchers

 

The best and certainly the rarest birds I saw were two other terns, Little Terns, on the beach and close to a gang of a dozen or more Sandwich Terns. Soon, the two smaller terns followed their cousins out over the incoming tide. 

Little Terns used to be much more common in Autumn in the days before the familiar story of falls in their UK population.    

Factors contributing to this low productivity include predation of chicks and eggs by, Kestrels  Foxes and the crow family. other losses from nest loss due to bad weather, food shortage, and, most significantly, disturbance by humans. Most Little Terns nest along the east and south coasts of England, adjacent to some of the most densely populated areas of Britain, although many sites are now guarded in an attempt to limit disturbance.

Little Tern

Early August is the best time to see Little Terns in Lancashire. Many years ago I counted more than 100 gathered on the shore at Cockersands on a single August morning.  Sad to say it is highly unlikely such a high number will be seen again in these parts but instead the norm becomes a count by fingers of one hand. 

There seemed few other species alongside the river and the edge of the golf course except for a handful of Greenfinches, Linnets and that rarity the House Sparrow.  A good number of Collared Doves look as though they have enjoyed a successful breeding season. There's been up to a dozen around our local gardens this last week. And of course the shore and the river provide lots of gulls.  

Greenfinch

House Sparrow

 

Collared Dove

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Near Sea Dyke Cottage (1754) two Grey Herons flew upriver, croaking in flight as the tide engulfed their feeding patch. 

Knott End, River Wyre

Grey Heron

 

Our summer weather is looking pretty poor to at least Monday. I’m thinking that Wednesday 11th might be my next birding and/or ringing day. Fingers crossed the experts have got it wrong again. 

Wader Worries

Today I took a drive in the direction of Cockerham where a few wader chicks would be ready for ringing. There might be wader chicks at Conder Pool too, mostly Avocets, but Conder is another ringer’s domain. Ringers operate within geographical areas and specific sites so as not to tread on the toes of others or to complicate the wider ringing scheme. 

I found a brood of 3 Lapwing chicks alongside a ditch where they had become a little wet through feeding in the waterside grass. All three were of a good size, probably too big for avian predators, and therefore they should reach adulthood. 

Lapwing chick

 

Lapwing

 

Meanwhile a pair of Oystercatchers had just one fairly big youngster left from the original hatch with this single survivor also big enough to flourish; how and when the siblings vanished must remain a mystery. 

Oystercatcher

 

Oystercatcher

 

Another pair of Oystercatchers had two youngsters, the whole group so far out in a large field as to make them almost impossible to approach. I made a mental note to leave them for another day when they might be closer. 

There was a single Little Egret today, along with 3 young Grey Herons still sporting their stripy neck and chest markings. Two pair of Tufted Ducks remained wary as hell and undecided if to fly, drift upstream or hang around. They flew. A single Buzzard flushed from the base of a tree, most unusual – probably it had found carrion. 

Grey Heron

 

A Roe Deer stared me out for fifteen seconds, a humanoid head in a car window, but then it figured out the puzzle, leapt the fence and bounded off over the fields. 

Roe Deer

 

At Conder most of the chicks on view were those of Avocets with just one pair of Oystercatchers and two young. I watched the Avocets chase away any waders that got too close to their chicks, Redshanks, Little Ringed Plovers and Oystercatchers all had a dose of the Avocets’ aggressive ways. 

Redshank

 

Avocets are the frauds of wader world. They trade on their photogenic looks, the striking black & white, the gentle sweep of that shiny upturned bill and the trendy long grey legs. Fluffy little chicks with a tiny copy-bill. Butter wouldn’t melt in their innocents as they pose for the next photo to a phalanx of birders carrying the latest photo gear. All together now - “aaaah”! 

My friends, be warned. Avocets are the bullies of the bird world, con merchants in the pay of the RSPB so as to flog binoculars and telescopes to unsuspecting punters. Quite soon you will tap your credit card onto the machine at Minsmere or Leighton Moss. 

See what I mean? 

Avocet

 

Avocet

 

Avocet

 

Avocet

Don't say you haven't been warned!

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

 

Sunny Start, Rain Later.

We have 0900 starts for now until the days lengthen but amazingly or not, our garden Dunnocks and Great Tits are already in song? How do they know? 

Great Tit - CC-BY-SA-3.0

There was sunshine this morning so I kicked off at Linnet Square and dropped yet another bucket of seed at the catching spot where dummy poles mark the line of our whoosh net. Tracks and holes in the soil told me that our seed had been found by small mammals and deer.

Trouble is, the mild, wet weather and the Linnets themselves have conspired to make catching impossible since August. The past three winters have seen a number of counts around the 400/500 mark but this season’s average is around 130 only with and a total catch of just 28, way below our target. The count this morning was 150/160 very mobile Linnets and several Chaffinches, none of which stopped to use our seed while natural food seems still plentiful. The sowing mix the farmer uses is so good that the resultant seed seems to last right through the winter until the flock disperses in March. 

Linnets 

Linnet Square 

There was the usual Kestrel, 2 Stock Dove and a single Little Egret. 

When fifteen minutes later I stopped at Conder Green the effect of the continued mild weather was noted again by way of a female/first winter Marsh Harrier. A "Gold Top", circling over the back of the pool and behind the bund, pursued all the way by a complaining Magpie. 

Marsh Harrier  

It was roughly 20/25 years ago that Marsh Harriers were something of a rarity in this part of Fylde, central Lancashire. It was around that time that Marsh Harriers began to breed in the northernmost part of the county at Silverdale, since when the species has never looked back by increasing its spread and numbers into more southern parts of the county. 

In recent years the  harriers seem able to survive through the winter months by preying on the abundant wildfowl in their chosen wetlands. There have been sporadic attempts to breed on farmland here in Fylde but with very limited success. 

The harrier was the highlight of the pool with little else to cheer except the continued and consistent presence of 140+ Teal in the tidal creeks. Otherwise it was 15 Redshank, 4 Curlew, 24 Wigeon and singles of Little Grebe, Little Egret and Grey Heron. 

Little Egret

Grey Heron  

Teal 

There was a second Grey Heron at Glasson Dock along with 25 Tufted Duck but zero Goldeneye. The Goldeneyes tend to fly into Glasson Dock at the onset of ice and snow. Our wintry days with zero temperatures have so far been counted on one hand. 

I looked for the harrier in the fields beyond the pool with no luck except for two quite separate gaggles of geese, 20 Greylags and 19 Pink-footed Geese. Never the twain shall meet. 

Glasson Dock 

Greylags 

Pink-footed Geese

By 11am clouds rolled in and rain began to fall. I reluctantly headed home after an interesting few hours and a forecast for Tuesday of a decent day. 

Andy thinks we should try for a catch of Linnets but I’m not so sure. 

Smart Moves

The plan was to meet Andy at the Sand Martin colony at 0630. 

I set off at 0600 as an HGV accident on the M6 near Garstang on Thursday resulted in closure of the motorway overnight, gridlock on the alternative A6 and local congestion on the A588. One accident and the whole of the North West ground to a halt. Luckily, no one was hurt and I heard that one side of the motorway was opened early morning. 

Following our last visit to the colony on 3rd July 2018 I paid a few visits but looked from the road above so as to not directly trouble the nesting birds. The visits were mostly inconclusive but I suspected that after the first broods of June and early July many birds had already left as numbers seemed not to exceed one hundred birds. 

Getting up close this morning showed the numbers present to be about 180 and possibly more as suggested by the catch of 72 Sand Martins. 

Out of that overall total, 52 were new birds and 20 recaptures from this and previous years. The 72 comprised 29 juveniles and 43 adults; it was quite illuminating to find that on this our third visit, we are still catching new adults amongst the expected juveniles. 

Sand Martin 

Sand Martins are members of the swallow tribe, and one of the few British birds that nest in sometimes tight colonies; it’s a type of sociable living afforded to them by their preference for nesting in sandy or gravelly banks. 

But Sand Martins are subject to the whims of nature when they return to a colony each year. The riverine bank or quarry face may erode or disappear completely during the birds’ six-month winter absence. In March and April the early returnees have first choice of existing holes that are in good shape when all they have to do is tidy up last year’s nest and add a few new feathers to protect the eggs from the cold sand and gravel of the tunnel. 

New members of the colony may have to compete to find a suitable excavation, but if they can’t they have to set to and make a home. A Sand Martin has claws adapted for clinging, the beak short, rigid and pointed, the two a useful combination for excavation tasks. They grasp the perpendicular surface of their chosen spot with their claws and steady themselves by means of their tail and then make a small hole with their bills. They gradually enlarge the hole by moving round and round, edging off the sand with the side of their bills. Their progress is slow at first but after they have made room to stand on the excavation they intensify the work and push out the sand and gravel with their feet. Both sexes take their turn at the labour until the hole is three to four inches in diameter and up to three whole feet in depth. 

Sand Martin 

The building work is so expert and practised that the terminal nesting chamber of up to five or six inches is situated above the level of the entrance so that no rain water lodges where the eggs and chicks will be. 

The picture below shows how the holes become worn, damaged and eroded throughout the season but if you look closely (click the pic), there are Sand Martins at hole entrances. 

Sand Martin colony 

Processing 72 birds for age, sex and biometrics kept us rather busy but we managed to see 2 Grey Heron, 6 Linnet, 2 Pied Wagtail and 2 Oystercatcher. 

Pied Wagtail 

Grey Heron 

Take a look soon for more birding, ringing and photos in Another Bird Blog.

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

Three Of A Kind

We had a drop of rain on Friday; the first here for several weeks, just a few showers that barely wet our parched, straw coloured lawn and briefly dampened the roof tiles. By Saturday morning we were back to sun and blue skies but I rather hoped that the scattered showers had produced a different bird or two as the birding of late has been rather predictable.

So I hit Micawber Road at the usual unearthly hour in the hope that something might turn up.  Naturally I headed for Conder Green, one of the most productive of local birding sites and where a couple of extra places are but a stone’s throw away to make for an often satisfying circuit.

It was good to see up to 20 Swifts hawking insects over the surrounding hedgerows this morning. That’s probably as good a count as anyone has had this year.

July sees the first Kingfishers returning to the pool. They breed close by along the canal or the associated River Conder. “River” is something of a misnomer since the waterway resembles the final throes of a babbling brook rather than a mighty river. I was more than pleased to see three Kingfishers today, a family group that stuck close together but stayed distant from the camera. Sorry for the poor images. Today wasn't the most productive in the picture stakes but you get the idea.

Kingfisher 

Kingfisher 

Kingfisher and Common Tern

Kingfishers

Like many other species, Kingfisher families stay together for a week or two after the youngsters fledge so that the inexperienced birds learn from the parents about growing up and how, where & when to feed. It’s rather like a human family except that kids and teenagers are very slow to learn, always think they know best, and if they ever leave home will likely be back.

The single pair of Avocets still have three good sized chicks ably looked after by their aggressive parents. In turn I watched both adults chase off a Grey Heron, a Little Egret and any number of Redshanks and Oystercatchers.

Avocet 

Grey Heron 

Other waders noted as 120 Redshank, 18 Oystercatcher, 15 Lapwing, 4 Common Sandpiper, 4 Curlew, 2 Snipe, 2 Greenshank. Smaller stuff – 6 Pied Wagtail, 2 Blackcap, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Whitethroat and 2 Reed Warbler.

Greenshank 

Pied Wagtail 

Six Common Terns still around as they vied with the Kingfishers for the prime launch pad into the water below. Three Little Grebes on the water and now just 8 Tufted Duck and another mostly unproductive year for the persistent tufties.

Common Tern

There's still a pair of Common Terns hanging around Glasson Dock and here’s where I found a flock of 18/20 Goldfinches and a healthy number of House Martin nests right in the village centre. The martins fly down towards the dock gates for their building materials and where the tidal flow leaves exposed mud in this driest of summers.

Common Tern

House Martin

I called into Gulf Lane where a small party of 6/8 Linnets plus 2 Whitethroats suggested it will soon be time to cut that ride for project Linnet.

That’s for another, cooler day.

Linking today to World Bird Wednesday and Anni's Birding Blog.

This And That

Last summer, autumn and now the current winter will be memorable for all the wrong reasons. A series of storms and hurricane remnants battered the west coast of Britain. Our garden developed a sponge like consistency that became a no-go area; not that there were any birds to see or catch. Even the normally resilient band of Goldfinches seemed to depart, and birds which might otherwise winter with us were displaced elsewhere. 

Only now with the lengthening days and the first signs of are some birds beginning to return. I had net up for a few hours and caught 5 new Goldfinch, a Chaffinch and a Collared Dove to kick off the garden ringing for 2018. 

Goldfinch

Collared Dove

Chaffinch

Today I took a run out to some local spots and to drop seed at two ringing spots. Gulf Lane held about 90 Linnet, 6 Skylark, 5 Stock Dove, 1 Little Egret and 1 Grey Heron. 

There’d been an overnight frost and the heron was waiting for the ditch to clear of ice. 

Grey Heron

The flood at Rawcliffe Moss had muddy if slightly frozen margins edges to accommodate 16 Pied Wagtails, 6 Meadow Pipits, 2 Shelduck and 15 Lapwing. Later I would see Lapwings in display; a sure sign that spring is here at last. 

Alongside the road a Chaffinch was in full song. I didn’t realise until I looked at the picture but the Chaffinch has diseased legs and feet, a condition known as Chaffinch Viral Papilloma (CVP). 

Chaffinch

CVP is thought to affect around 1% of the Chaffinch population at any given time and can affect both sexes. Cases usually occur in clusters and quite high proportions of local populations may be affected in outbreaks. In my experience the disease is associated with Chaffinches that feed in farmyard, and smallholdings and where chickens roam freely. 

The disease causes wart-like growths on the foot or tarsometatarsus, the bare part of the leg. The growths vary from small nodules to large irregular shaped and deeply-fissured masses which almost engulf the entire lower leg and foot. Affected birds usually seem in otherwise good health but some may show signs of lameness and hop mainly on the unaffected foot and digits may be lost. The disease can spread to other ground feeding birds like Dunnock. 

At Conder Green I counted 80 Teal, 42 Wigeon, 24 Tufted Duck, 4 Shelduck, 28 Oystercatchers (inc 4 pairs), 26 Curlew, 18 Black-tailed Godwit and 14 Redshank. A visit to our second Linnet site found 90+ Linnets still around together with 3 Meadow Pipit and 2 Reed Bunting. A Raven croaked overhead heading down to the Lune marshes – the species is now a common sight and sound in this area. 

I saw a number of Brown Hares sitting out in the early sun and they don’t yet appear ready to start their boxing courtships. The hare is a beautiful and intriguing creature that against the odds of agricultural changes has managed to maintain a strong presence in this part of Lancashire. Unlike rabbits, hares do not make an underground warren but nest in a depression in the ground where their young are active as soon as they are born. I know a local farmer who swears that come summertime the local Buzzard population takes a heavy toll on the young hares (leverets). 

Brown Hares

Brown Hares

The wintering Whooper Swans are now well spread across a couple of miles of fields, unlike early winter where for a few weeks after their arrival they stuck together like glue. There are probably still a couple of hundred Whooper Swans, up to 10 Bewick’s Swans and many Mute Swans but today I spotted an unusual interloper that seems to have escaped attention, a Black Swan. 

Black Swan

Whooper Swan

We’ve had some pretty strange weather but I’m certain the Black Swan is not a wind blown vagrant from down-under Australia.

Linking today to World Bird Wednesday, Anni's Birding and Eileen's blog