Three Hour Slot

Bird ringers must grab every opportunity on offer in these windswept weeks even though such times may not be ideal. And so it was that we pencilled in Tuesday morning’s forecast of a three hour slot and a strengthening breeze as perhaps the only chance of the week. 

When soon after six I opened the house door to the morning air I was greeted by the unmistakeable staccato of a rare bird - a Song Thrush no less. 

It was too dark to photograph the thrush but I noted that it sang from the same part of hedge where a number of years ago a pair bred successfully. That must be eight or more seasons ago so while it’s very unlikely the thrush was a survivor of that brood, a bird of any species always picks their ideal habitat in which to set up home. Let’s hope he soon finds a mate and nests again in the hedge we share with a neighbour. 

Song Thrush

 

Another rarity was soon to follow with a Grey Partridge very close to the entrance to our ringing site. I am fairly sure that in this area of Fylde, Lancashire the Grey Partridge is rarer than a Song Thrush. 

Grey Partridge

 

I met Andy at 0630 and nets were soon up to a 5mph southerly, so far so good. Even better were the first migrants of the year caught early on as a Chiffchaff and 2 Goldcrests, all three males out to stake their claim wherever they were headed. As early morning migrants all three tipped the scales at less than 6 grams. When later inputting details into DemOn, the system prompted a check of the Chiffchaff weight as below the species' expected range.

These birds were a great start to a morning, one that petered out when the wind increased to 10 and then 15mph.  At one point we could see a Grey Wagtail balanced on a branch directly next to a blowy net. There was no way the wagtail would be caught, even Grey Wagtails aren’t that dozy - 10 o’clock it was time to pack in. 

Chiffchaff

 

Reed Bunting

 

Goldcrest

All was not lost when upon neutralising the wind-socked nets a female Sparrowhawk decided to fly directly into the nearest one. Had we not been quick off the mark it would surely have escaped from the billowing mesh with a flap or two of its wings. 

The second year female could best be described as “feisty”, with legs and sharp talons lashing out at every opportunity. It was ringed and released pretty quickly but not before it had drawn blood from pierced fingers. 

Sparrowhawk talons 

Sparrowhawk

So ended an eventful if not very productive morning of just seven birds – 2 Goldcrest, 2 Reed Bunting, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Sparrowhawk. 

Andy is off with Sandra to the winter sunshine of Egypt on Saturday and is keen to fit in more ringing on Friday. Pencilled in once again.  

Fingers crossed. We shall see. 

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

 

Finding The Rares

May 3rd with once again a zero count of House Martins over the weekend, not even a fly by as often happens when early arrivals stop off and examine last year’s breeding sites under the neighbours’ eaves. The lack of martins is very noticeable because Sue and I have spent so much time in the garden recently without seeing and hearing the twittering arrival of House Martins. 

There was nothing for it but to check this out elsewhere on Monday to see if martins had arrived at other regular spots, even though there isn’t much information around during these stay at home times. After all, House Martins are not seen in too many gardens. 

I set out for my Monday stroll from one of my long-time workout spots at Cockerham. But first a spot of stood-still birding with lots to see on Conder Pool where most birds are now paired up but still a number of migrants. 

There are a decent number of pictures today so please “click the pics” for a closer look. 

The Avocets were both active and noisy with 5 pairs for sure and maybe an extra one or two individuals. Some are clearly sat on eggs while one pair spent time on the marsh clattering loudly as the tide rose to their feet. They were precisely where a pair bred last year, as if these two were weighing up the tidal rise and fall. 

 Avocet

 Avocet

Four pairs of Oystercatcher appeared to be on eggs with probably one pair of Redshank and 3 pair of Shelduck. Otherwise wildfowl – a pair of Canada Goose, a single drake Gadwall and 8 Tufted Duck. 

 Shelduck- female, male

There was no sign of recent Spotted Redshank or Little Ringed Plover today but 76 or more Black-tailed Godwit came in many shades from grey/brown to the dark brick red of the Icelandic race. A little distant but you get the picture. 

Black-tailed Godwit 

Bang on cue Common Terns are back on site, four today, where as usual they compete with the Black-headed Gulls for the likeliest spots. 

Common Tern 

Two Yellow Wagtails stayed but briefly where at one point they shared the outflow wall with a White Wagtail and a Pied Wagtail. Apologies for the poor picture; it’s an attractive but small bird some 35 yards away. A single Grey Heron and five Little Egrets seen - one or two of the latter in full summer adult plumage. 

Yellow Wagtail 

Little Egret 

I wasn’t seeing any House Martins and just 15/20 Swallows fed briefly before they too flew off into the distance. Zero Swifts too, but as one might expect, lots of Sand Martins (100+) at the quarry half-a-mile away. 

Other small birds arrived as 1 Wheatear, 1 Blackcap and 2 Whitethroat only, the early Wheatears now mainly moved on inland. Seemingly Whitethroats have yet to arrive in any numbers. 

Along Jeremy Lane I found a few Swallows hanging around the usual farms, waiting to be let in the buildings, and where yet again the Swallow numbers are severely depleted. 

Swallow 

Swallow 

It was soon after taking a picture of an obliging Pheasant that I found what may prove to be the rarity of the month - a pair of Grey Partridge. 

Pheasant 

 Grey Partridge

A little distant I know but a good find. 

If only the WhatsApp Rare Bird Forum was up and running I could post it on there, together with a zero count of House Martins. 

Saturday Sortie

Almost three weeks of cold easterly winds has meant not much ringing. There have been a few migrants arriving but not in any great numbers. Until today I had seen a single Swallow and just two House Martins, the latter back on territory at the big house on the corner on 12th April. 

Saturday morning and the dashboard read 1°C as I set off birding in winter woollies. 

There was a fine start at Pilling by way of a couple of rarities followed by the customary Barn Owl. At Lane Ends, Pilling I watched a couple of Little Egrets on the marsh just as a larger egret flew east towards Cockerham. Something made me lift my bins to look closer at the Grey Heron sized bird, upon which it turned out be a Great White Egret – same jizz, same size as a grey, but definitely all over white and with a large yellow bill. Four Swallows flew east as both Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler sang from the trees. 

Great White Egret 

Not far away a pair of Grey Partridge fed in a weedy field where the mild winter has produced a second crop of oilseed rape. As noted here on the blog many times, the Grey Partridge is now exceedingly uncommon in this part of Lancashire, so scarce that it is difficult to see how even with environmental schemes designed to help the species can ever reach its former status as a common farmland bird. 

Grey Partridge 

Compare the sad state of out native partridge with the introduced and now ubiquitous Red-legged Partridge. This is now the common partridge of the UK courtesy of the shooting fraternity who release many millions into the countryside each winter for “sport”. The birds left from the winter slaughter go on to breed in the same countryside that is now devoid of our native partridge and many other farmland birds. Such is the topsy-turvy way that we in the UK are governed by hopeless politicians and disinterested administrators whose loyalties are given to anyone but the people who pay their wages. 

Red-legged Partridge 

The Barn Owl, a poster boy for Wyre Council, was one of two I saw this morning, the other around Jeremy Lane when on the way to Cockersands. 

Barn Owl 

Barn Owl 

At Braides Farm there was a Merlin, a single Wheatear, 8 Linnet, 4 Pied Wagtails, 1 Little Egret, and three more Swallows flying into the easterly breeze. 

At Conder Green the principal species at the moment is Oystercatcher and where just as a week ago I counted 50+, most of them still in the throes of sorting out their forthcoming family life. If these numbers stay the same we should end up with 10-12 pairs breeding on habitat now highly suitable to their requirements. No Avocets today, or at least none in sight or heard, so perhaps the dozen or more individuals seen this year have all gone elsewhere. Otherwise - 12 Greylag, 4 Canada Geese, 12 Shelduck, 8 Tufted Duck and 2 Little Egret. No Swallows, Sand Martins or House Martins seen but there was 1 Willow Warbler in brief song. 

Oystercatcher 

A drive up to Cockersands proved uneventful apart from a single but elusive Barn Owl that twice escaped closer inspection as it hunted a wide expanse of fields. Barn Owls are pretty easy to see just now if you know where to look. I suspect that a good number of hunting birds are feeding young, their sitting partner, or both. 

I found a lonely Swallow on the way to Cockersands. A single bird was sat above a traditional farm’s doorway, waiting for someone to open the door. The poor thing had not long arrived from scorching Africa to a familiar UK greeting of cold easterly winds and daytime temperatures of less than 10° C. 

Swallow 

There was a lovely flock of about 800 Golden Plovers on the fields at Cockersands. A flock has been thereabouts all through winter but it is only now that many begin to show their black and gold-spangled plumage. The Golden Plover is a truly beautiful bird that unbelievably, in 2019 and for the foreseeable future, can be legally shot in this country and many others. 

Golden Plover 

It is very difficult to get photographs of our Golden Plovers, hunted as they are throughout Northern Europe by homo sapiens.  

I watched as the flock spread out across two large fields, feeding as they went, stopping occasionally to crouch in unison as an unseen threat emerged. Their spangled plumage serves them well, even in the winter when they might become the target of an overhead Peregrine.  

Gradually, after a minute or more and when the coast was clear, they would stand one by one, two by two, and then continue feeding at a walking pace until all were at 80 yards or so from the field edge. And then soon after, at some unknown signal or perhaps when they sensed they were too close to the road where people and vehicles pass by, they would rise and fly as one back to the far edge of the field 400 yards away. Very quickly they started again their slow crossing of the field in search of food.      

Although the forecast is for yet another week of cold, easterly winds, back soon with more news.

Linking today to Anni's Birding and Eileen's Blogspot.

A Rare Find

I was on the way home after an uneventful morning when up popped a real rarity near Pilling. Not only was this bird a major rarity but there was also proof of breeding by way of an adult with several youngsters in tow. It is a species now so rare, so scarcely if ever seen in recent years in this part of Lancashire that I for one believed to be locally almost extinct. 

"The Grey Partridge, a native game-bird has declined enormously and, despite years of research and the application of a government biodiversity action plan, the continuing decline shown by the Common Bird Census and Breeding Bird Survey suggests that all efforts to boost the population in the wider countryside have so far been unsuccessful. Grey Partridge is one of the most strongly decreasing bird species in Europe, with steep declines evident in all regions since 1980." BTO.

Grey Partridge

I grabbed a few pictures before the covey disappeared through a gateway and, over a rise in the ground and then into the next field. The picture shows how well grown the young ones are, so hopefully they will reach adulthood before long, despite this being an area where “sportsmen” abound. A Grey Partridge is a major trophy for birders and shooters alike although I know of shooters who profess not to take aim at Grey Partridges, even if they should see one. 

Grey Partridge 

Grey Partridge

Claims of Grey Partridge from the locally inexperienced may involve sightings of the numerous and non-native Red-legged Partridge, released for sport in their tens of thousands during the autumn and winter months of every year. 

Apart from the partridge highlight things were pretty normal this morning. There were very good numbers of birds in the area of Conder Green and up to Cockersands via Moss Lane, Jeremy Lane and Slack Lane. 

The dry and rain-free summer seems to be producing a good harvest of birds if not of famers’ crops. Not least was a flock of 80/90 House Sparrows along Jeremy Lane where my arriving car caused a Barn Owl to vacate a fence post and disappear into the distance. But my stop produced a moulting Willow Warbler, hiding away in a hawthorn bush plus a Sedge Warbler and Reed Bunting. 

Willow Warbler 

Sedge Warbler 

I suspect there may be a Swallow roost close to Moss Lane (maybe at the fishery) because quite early on I counted 100+, Swallows on the wires. An hour or so later there was just the resident few pairs of both Swallows and House Martins at Gardner’s Farm. 

A good mix of species ensued along the ditches and hedgerows up to and including Slack Lane with 30+ Goldfinch, 10 Linnet, 10 Tree Sparrow, 8/10 Reed Bunting, 6+ Whitethroat, 5 Skylark, 4+ Sedge Warbler and even a Greenfinch or two. There was evidence of the first post-breeding movement of Meadow Pipits too with 10/12 in the fields here. 

Meadow Pipit 

Meadow Pipit 

Goldfinch

Unfortunately the pool of Conder Green was not as busy as the lanes that radiate to and from the expanse of water. There was a brief Kingfisher and the usual mix of wildfowl and waders; 120 Redshank, 35 Lapwing, 20 Oystercatcher, 7 Little Grebe, 2 Little Egret, 2 Grey Heron. 

That was it for the morning apart from a look at Gulf Lane and a check of the set-aside. Here was a flock of 12 Linnets, 2 Tree Sparrows and the warning calls of a Whitethroat from the clump of bramble. Whitethroats have been resident since May and definitely raised a family, maybe two by now. 

Down And Down

No apologies today for returning to a recurrent theme of Another Bird Blog. From a recent article in The Guardian newspaper.

The latest official figures show that birds on the UK’s farmland have seen numbers decline by almost a tenth in five years. Farmland bird populations have declined by 56% since 1970, largely due to agricultural changes including the loss of mixed farming, a switch to autumn sowing of crops, a reduction in hay meadows and the stripping out of hedgerows. 

While the majority of the decline happened during the late 1970s and 1980s as farming practices changed rapidly, there was a 9% decline between 2010 and 2015, the statistics from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) show. 

The latest figures have prompted renewed calls for an overhaul of farming as the UK leaves the EU and its system of agricultural subsidies, to support wildlife and farming. The data showed some “specialist” species, those restricted to or highly dependent on farmland habitats, have seen precipitous falls - Corn Buntings, Grey Partridge, Turtle Doves and Tree Sparrows have all suffered declines of more than 90% since 1970, though others such as Stock Doves and Goldfinches saw populations double. 

For Turtle Doves in particular, dramatic falls continue, with numbers down 71% between 2010 and 2015. 

Corn Bunting

Grey Partridge

For those of us out in the countryside on a regular basis these figures are no surprise, just a confirmation of that we know to be true. 

Elsewhere in the countryside, woodland birds have seen numbers remain relatively stable over the last five years, although they are down almost a quarter (23%) since 1970. Across all species, including farmland, woodland, wetland, waterbirds and seabirds, numbers are down around 8% on 1970 the figures show. 

The RSPB’s head of land use policy, Jenna Hegarty, said: “Birdsong from some of our most iconic species once filled the air, but for many years the soundtrack of our countryside – from the song of the Skylark to the purr of the Turtle Dove – has become quieter and quieter. 

Turtle Dove

 

 Skylark

“Today’s figures show the number of farmland birds continues to drop. The farmland bird indicator has fallen by 9% in the last five years – the worst period of decline since the late 1980s. Many farmers are doing great things, and without their efforts, today’s figures would undoubtedly be worse. But the current agriculture system doesn’t work for our farmers or our natural environment, something needs to change."

“Leaving the EU gives us a seminal opportunity to overhaul the system, and use public money to build a more sustainable future, reversing the dramatic declines in farmland wildlife and supporting resilient and thriving farm businesses into the future.” 

Hear, hear.

Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday. 

Upland Birding

I journeyed across the moss and in the half-light saw 2 Barn Owls and at least two Kestrels waiting for dawn to bring breakfast. Singing Song Thrushes seemed to greet me at every hedgerow, garden, spinney and wood. I hope our Song Thrush has had a good year - it certainly sounded like it this morning. 

"Click the pics" for a trip to the hills.

Song Thrush

Just for a change I was heading for the Bowland hills today, hoping to get some photographs of upland birds. Unfortunately the light was poor as it often is 1000ft above sea level. Never mind, there was a great selection of birds to see with one or two nice surprises, including brief views of a Ring Ouzel and then later on finding a Snipe nest. 

 Bowland

Two of the commonest and most obvious species this morning were Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits with good numbers of each on almost every stretch of road. There are lots of stone walls and fences for birds to use as lookout posts .There were 10+ Grey Wagtails too with plenty of Willow Warblers, Goldfinches and Lesser Redpolls in roadside trees and plantations. I didn’t do an exact tally but reckoned on 50+ species, not bad for a morning’s work. 

Pied Wagtail

Meadow Pipit

The Grey Partridge is pretty much extinct where I live near the coast but maybe they do better up in the hills 15/20 miles away.

Grey Partridge

Most blog readers will know of the saga of Hen Harriers which mysteriously disappear from Bowland and other Pennine Hills localities every year. The same readers will know why the Red Grouse is a favourite bird of those who own the land and shooting rights up here while the Hen Harrier is mostly unloved. Walking miles into the heather uplands might just find a Hen Harrier, but far more likely is a that a Red Grouse will tell a walker to “go-back-go-back” for their own safety. We're in the hills, but that's cotton grass, not snow.

Red Grouse

The most common wader this morning was Oystercatcher with many pairs dotted around the fields and using the stone walls as vantage points. Next came Lapwing with at least a couple of dozen, all of them with well grown flying young, except for a single running youngster, a day or two off flight. Luckily I had my ringing box in the boot for the first Lapwing of the year. This year the species has all but disappeared from lowland haunts, and now clings on by a whisker or less. 

Lapwing

 

Lapwing

Oystercatcher

Curlews were in evidence with birds still displaying but none coming close enough for pictures. Likewise Redshanks, a once common bird in these damp uplands but now like the Curlew, a wader in decline. 

I got lucky with a Snipe that I discovered on a gate post. The bird flew off and landed about twenty yards away in a clump of long grass. Undeterred I drove back the same way about thirty minutes later to see the Snipe once again on one of the posts of the gateway. Unconcerned at my presence the Snipe preened a while, took a nap, looked around and generally gave the impression of taking time out. When she eventually fluttered back to the same grassy plot I knew she had a nest. Four eggs - nice one. 

Snipe

 Snipe

 

Snipe

Snipe

Snipe

Other birds today – Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Common Sandpiper, Greenfinch, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, House Martin, Sand Martin, Swallow, Swift, Blackbird, Siskin, Linnet, Woodpigeon, Stock Dove, Collared Dove , Chaffinch, Reed Bunting, Robin, Wren, Dunnock etc., 

A good morning’s birding was had by all.

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