Cream Top Etc.

Conder Green was quiet as quiet can be this morning. I was a little late as I waited for the rain to stop, but even so, rarely have I seen the water and the immediate area so devoid of birds. There was a solitary Lapwing on the island and the usual handfuls of Cormorant, Little Grebe and Little Egret, but no sign of the regular Kingfisher. 

A dozen or so Pied Wagtails skittered around the margins, joined briefly by two loudly calling Green Sandpipers. The sandpipers flew off towards the canal and in the direction of Glasson Marsh.

Cormorant

Little Egret

I followed the Green Sandpipers and stopped overlooking Glasson Marsh where I hoped to see a Marsh Harrier. There have been good numbers about in recent weeks and one of my contacts tells me that a pair bred successfully in The Fylde. That’s the River Lune on the horizon. 

Glasson Marsh

Out on the marsh I could see a couple of Little Egret and Grey Heron, 2 Ravens, a Kestrel and a gang of about 30 Swallows. I found many Lapwings in the fields adjoining Jeremy Lane with upwards of 600 where the pastures are still sopping wet after the rain of recent weeks. One field had 5 Stock Dove as well as wagtails, gulls galore and a Grey Heron. 

I was side-tracked by a large bird flying inland, a Marsh Harrier. It stayed very distant as Marsh Harriers tend to do. As strong and fast flyers they have a knack of avoiding roads and people as the two pictures long-range of the female “cream top” show. For almost an hour the harrier stayed distant or completely out of sight and I think that at some point it flew out to Cockerham Marsh. 

Marsh Harrier

Marsh Harrier

The Marsh Harrier is typically illustrated in field guides as a sexually dimorphic species, with several age classes identifiable by differences in plumage pattern and colour. In some populations however it is known that the species can show extreme plumage variability in adult males and, to a lesser extent, in adult females. Populations may be markedly polymorphic with highly distinct patterns of coloration and almost continuous individual variation between those different morphs with few adult males resembling a typical ‘field-guide male’. Since this plumage variability is independent of age and sex, it is almost impossible to age birds solely from their plumage. This contradicts the established view and questions the claims of birders who age and sex Marsh Harriers from hundreds of yards away. 

Marsh Harriers are a still scarce, possibly declining breeder in Britain with just a few dots on the map in comparison to Europe. Their UK stronghold is East Anglia with a few pairs in NW England and others in locations withheld. 

Western Marsh Harrier - Circus aeruginosus 

At home Goldfinches are back in the garden with a good number appearing to be recently fledged youngsters. Goldfinches have been absent for weeks now as they feed on the plentiful seeds in the countryside. I will catch and ring some very soon. Last evening a young hedgehog paid us a visit. 

As with most small mammals living around humans, vehicles pose a great threat to hedgehogs. Many are run over as they attempt to cross roadways. It is suggested that peaks in road deaths are related to the breeding season and dispersal/exploration following independence. 

Hedgehog

From Wiki – “In 2006, McDonald's changed the design of their McFlurry containers to be more hedgehog-friendly. Previously hedgehogs would get their heads stuck in the container as they tried to lick the remaining food from inside the cup. Then being unable to get out, they would starve to death.” 

McDonald’s have a lot to answer for.  I went there once.

Linking today with Anni's Birding Blog.

Circus Time And A Prickly Subject

The flood at Rawcliffe Moss came good this morning with a Marsh Harrier, a species that is still something of a speciality in this part of Lancashire. 

I set off early through Hambleton and Out Rawcliffe where an early Barn Owl proved a good omen the birds to come on the moss. The light was far from perfect but the owl was the ideal subject matter. 

Barn Owl

On my last post there was a picture of the flood out on Rawcliffe Moss. The water is still there, topped up by recent downpours. 

Rawcliffe Moss

Today the majority of the birds on the flood were circa 400 gulls, split along the ratio of 5:1 Black-headed Gull and Common Gull with 20 or so Lesser Black-backed Gulls. A telescope earned its keep by locating in the distance 30 Mallards, 80+ Lapwing, 18 Black-tailed Godwit and 9 Snipe. There was single Spotted Redshank too, first located by the “tewit” call as it flew from left to right but then distinctive with its all dark wings and oval shaped whitish back and rump. 

There was a Buzzard watching on from the fence line on the right. After a while the Buzzard flew across to the distant treed with a gang of crows in hot pursuit when I noticed a second raptor. This one circled with the deeper and more distinctive “V” shaped wing formation typical of the harrier family rather than the flat profile of a Buzzard. During August we don’t see the Hen Harrier around here, just its relative the Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus , a spring and late summer migrant. Even at a distance the harrier seemed to have a very creamy head, a feature which might mark the bird as an adult.

Marsh Harrier

The Marsh Harrier's scientific name Circus aeruginosus emanated from the Greek "kirkos", a hawk or falcon that flies in a circle, while "aeruginosus" is Latin for "rusty coloured".

When the harrier disappeared from sight for a while I decided to drive up to Cockerham and Conder Green. 

The major highlight here was a Kingfisher but unfortunately a call and a fly by again rather than a photographic pose. Otherwise Lapwings were in good numbers but not necessarily on the enlarged pool with 200+ birds in flight both taking off and landing in the region of the canal and out of immediate sight. 

Other waders on the pool/creeks were 2 Common Sandpiper, 12 Curlew, 15 Redshank plus singles of Greenshank and Snipe. Meanwhile a survey of wildfowl gave 1 Goosander, 8 Little Grebe, 2 Wigeon, 24 Mallard and 2 Teal. 

Teal

Nothing much to report from Glasson Dock with the usual 5 Tufted Duck, 5 Cormorant and now down to 40+ Swallows around the yacht basin.

Cormorant

Back home there was a Hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus in the garden. I’m no expert but the animal appeared to be a young one, especially since it was out in broad daylight when the Hedgehog is supposed to be a nocturnal animal. There was a noticeable parasitic tick above one eye. Apparently hedgehogs are susceptible to these ticks which are generally harmless to them; larger numbers of such parasites are indicative of sickness. 

Hedgehog

 Hedgehog

That's all for now folks. Back soon with more birds and things to keep you entertained.

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

  

Sunday's Best

Sunday proved a quiet morning with not a great deal of new stuff following a couple of hours trawl around local spots. 

When I arrived at Knott End the tide was in but hadn’t brought much in the way of variety: 700 Oystercatchers, 190 Redshank, 6 Turnstone and 4 Knot the sum of the waders, unless you count a Grey Heron wading through the water. When all the birds panicked, the Oystercatchers running back towards the safety of the water’s edge and the Redshanks flying off upriver, I knew a Peregrine was about. The Peregrine appeared from the Preesall direction then made a single pass and turn above the beach before thinking better of it and heading north. Best photo I could get into the sun and in the ten seconds the bird gave me.

Peregrine

Passerines were even harder to find, the Pied Wagtail with a gammy leg first noted here last winter, and 2 Goldfinches on the Niger seed I’d left recently in the hope of keeping the Twite happy, but no sign of them. 

I decided to give the Fluke Hall environs a try and it proved quite productive in terms of species if not numbers. Towards Ridge Farm the Greenfinch flock has expanded to 100+, the Skylarks and Meadow Pipits to 15+ and about 10 respectively, with 4 Reed Bunting, 2 Pied Wagtail, 10+ Tree Sparrow and a Little Egret. 

Greenfinch

In the wood I heard the call of a Brambling from the tree tops, couldn’t locate the bird in the autumn leaves, but did manage to see a single Mistle Thrush, 2 Fieldfare, 12 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Nuthatch, a Song Thrush, 200 Jackdaws and 50+ Wood Pigeon. For anyone unsure of a Brambling’s autumn contact call, click on the Xeno Canto button to hear one. For those who wonder why birders seek out Bramblings, there’s a photograph below from a year or two back. 

Fluke Hall

Brambling

On the extremely wet fields between Fluke and Lane Ends I counted 40+ Redshank, 3 Black-tailed Godwit, 800 Lapwing and 18 Whooper Swans. There’d been a lot of Whooper Swans flying either inland towards the mosses or back out to the marsh. As I arrived at Lane Ends, JR told me of 300+ whoopers from a dawn start, together with a count of 10,000+ Pink-footed Geese. Good work Jean. 

That was the end of my morning apart from heading back via Pilling Moss where I noted 3 Kestrelwhich included a pair together, 900 Woodpigeon, 2 Yellowhammer and some of the Whooper Swans out on a distant flood. 

Whooper Swan

Kestrel

Back home and picking up apples from the garden for freezer storage and hopefully garden thrushes, I noticed a hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus snuffling through the fallen leaves. I’m not sure when hedgehogs are meant to hibernate but soon I guess. Me I’ll just hibernate to somewhere warm for a few weeks in January, better than spending two or three months under a pile of old logs. 

European Hedgehog - Erinaceus europeus

Back soon on Another Bird Blog with more spikey tales.

This week Another Bird Blog is linking with Anni and Stewart again, plus Weekly Top Shot