Goldfinch in Belgium and Seagull Contraceptives

Goldfinches give us a decent number of recoveries, a fact confirmed recently by ACV6977 one of last year’s young that set off last autumn in search of eternal summer and finished up in Belgium. 

ACV697 was caught and ringed at our Oakenclough site on 12 October 2023, a time of year when common or garden Goldfinches occasionally go on to prove to us they can fly further than a neighbour’s garden. 

The morning was a busy one of 61 captures, 30 of which were Goldfinches plus 15 Chaffinches and clearly a typical October morning of finch migration. The Goldfinch was recaptured by other ringers on 12 February 2024 in Roeselare, a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders.  By mid February the Goldfinch could be sexed as a male and then released. 

And by now in mid October of 2024 it may be back in the fields of Flanders Belgium rather than spend the coming winter in wet and windy Lancashire. 

Goldfinch ACV6977

Goldfinch

Goldfinch

Update - ACV6977 was captured again by the same Belgian ringers on 20 March 2024. We don't know for sure but it may be that the location was a feeding station to which the Goldfinch returned on a regular basis.

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And now I feel a rant coming on about yet more lunacy of the world in 2024. The gulls get it again, the much maligned creatures make an easy target for the thickos who increasingly seem to run Great Britain. And no, it is not The First of April, just yet another tale of how our elected representatives waste taxpayer’s money. 

Common Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

A desperate council aims to cut numbers of marauding seagulls – by putting the birds on The Pill. Officials in Worcester are considering doping food with birth-control drugs as part of a “safe sex” drive for randy gulls. Council chiefs have tried for years to reduce the gull population in the city, including hiring hawks to scare them away and taking eggs from nests. 

If the birth-control plan is approved, the council hopes it will lead to fewer attacks on people, particularly in the Blackpole area of the city. 

Councillor Jill Desayrah, a Labour city councillor described the contraceptive option as “safe sex for seagulls”. She said: “I am concerned that the increasing numbers of seagulls are getting out of hand. Many people contact me about the issues caused by having such a high concentration of seagulls around Blackpole.” 

Councillor Desayrah said she wanted to “humanely reduce the number of gulls” by exploring methods used in other countries. "The Pill is already used to control pigeons in Barcelona and Venice." 

She added: “I passed the idea onto Worcestershire Regulatory Services and they are following up on it, seeking permission from the relevant authority. I hope that one or a combination of these solutions will reduce the problem because I do feel it’s necessary to do something as soon as possible.” 

Herring Gull

Black-headed Gull

The city’s annual Gull Population Survey revealed that 376 pairs live in the Blackpole retail parks and industrial estates. This accounts for more than 50 percent of the city’s entire gull population and an increase of three percent in the past year. The majority are Lesser Black-Backed Gulls, which, along with all the other types, is a protected species. 

They are attracted to the area by the many flat-roofed buildings and the waste from food outlets. (My bold PS)

Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) receives complaints from residents about noise, faeces and aggressive behaviour during the nesting season. Earlier this year an order banning people from feeding seagulls in the city centre was scrapped. 

Councillor Alan Amos blasted the decision to axe the feeding ban, saying it would lead to an explosion in the numbers of the “vicious flying rats”. He said: “As a councillor and former mayor of Worcester – where the vicious and brassy flying rats have waged war on residents in recent years, I have witnessed first-hand the problems the UK-wide epidemic is causing. One shop owner told me he’d seen a gull ferociously attack a young child in a pushchair, while a constituent emailed to say her dog had been attacked.” 

A Worcester City Council spokesperson said: “An Annual Gull Report will be presented to the City Council’s Environment Committee on November 5. This will provide councillors with an opportunity to consider a gull management program for 2025.” 

Reading this pile of poo while picturing the posturing and cognitive dissonance displayed by elected representatives at all levels I immediately relapsed into full birder/taxpayer mode.

For instance, gulls must be called gulls, not seagulls, there is no such thing as a "seagull".  And preferably any discussions, proposals and policies should be based upon sound scientific research by understanding and using the correct species name together with the scientific equivalent. Joe Public is entitled to know that elected representatives are fully up to speed with subjects under discussion while being reassured that due diligence has been carried out before ever larger amounts of public money is spent on nonsense vanity projects.

Fish and Chips - Enjoy

Those squawking gulls dive bombing for chips at the beach may seem like nothing more than feathered delinquents but research has revealed that gulls are remarkably intelligent. There's much more to these birds than meets the eye. It turns out that those "criminal acts" and the ability to find new sources of food are in fact signs of incredible intelligence and adaptability, just as Charles Darwin indicated. 

Well I don't know about you Dear Reader but I would suggest that it is the said councillors who need contraceptives so as to reduce their capacity to breed more of the same. 

 

Sunday Monday

Sunday morning. Even in the half-light the garden trees and bushes stood motionless against the clear sky. I grabbed a piece of toast, stuffed some fruit into a bag and set off to have a few hours out Pilling Way.

There were 50 or 60 Swallows around with possibly the remnants of an overnight roost in nearby reeds. I made a mental note to keep any eye on the possibility. The Linnet flock is always dependable and although the numbers on the move, 70/90, didn’t approach recent counts, seven more found their way into the single panel mist net in the seed plot.

That’s 30 Linnets ringed here since June, twenty nine of them juveniles of the year and just one adult. Those thirty give us a head start for the bigger numbers of later autumn and winter with better catches. We just wish that ringers nationwide would try and catch more Linnets so as to gather more data and thereby help this Red Listed farmland species.

Although the soft-focus juveniles present no problems in assigning male or female because their size, the respective plumages are different.

Linnet juvenile/first summer

Linnet male

Linnet female

The overnight clear skies and morning produced little in the way of other new birds except for singles of Robin, Wren and at last, a juvenile Reed Warbler.

Excitement came in the form of the now regular juvenile Peregrine, this time carrying small and dark prey beneath its belly, possibly a Starling.

Not to be outdone, along came a “cream top” Marsh Harrier heading purposely south towards Pilling Village and beyond in the direction of The River Wyre. It was 27 July when we recorded the first of Marsh Harrier of the autumn on the same north to south east trajectory, a route that the species seems to always follow.

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Monday was a day with grandkids M and S. We drove up to Knott End village to await the tide dependent ferry for the two hundred yards journey across the Wyre where they could sample again the delights of the ancient fishing port of Fleetwood Town - 2p slot machines followed by a picnic and ice creams. The midday high tide would stay around long enough to take the return ferry in a few hours’ time. Missing the last ferry back to Knott End would entail a tortuous 18/20 miles never ending bus journey.

There are lots of pics below with little or no commentary. Click the pics for a bigger and better trip to West Lancashire.

Follow the fun starting at Knott End, crossing the River Wyre on the ferry, a walk in Fleetwood including the two penny slot machines and then take the journey back to Knott End. The morning was grey with later drizzle and rather spoiled the photos but not the fun.

LS Lowry and Knott End Café

The jetty

Knott End slipway

Here it Comes

The Excitement Builds

Cleaning tidal mud

First Arrivals - Off to Explore Knott End on Sea

Health And Safety 

Emergency Exit

Little And Large

Fleetwood Esplanade

Kingfisher

Herring Gull

"Welcome Home" for the trawlermen

Fleetwood fish

Slots

More Slots

Even More Slots 

The Sands of South Morecambe Bay

Back on dry land

Riverside Walk - Knott End 

Riverside Walk - Knott End

Grilled Plaice with veg

What better way to finish the day with a couple of grilled Plaice fresh from those Morecambe Bay sands?

Back soon with more news vies and Lancashire treats.

A Birding First For Britain – Greggs Gull

I usually enjoy a few hours of birding on Saturday mornings when the rush of commuters is less frenetic, allowing me to stop and stare alongside busy roads when necessary. Even other birders seem to take a day off on a Saturday to collect their brownie points by taking a spouse shopping or other such mundane responsibilities. Not me. 

Although the morning started out dry the cloud and rain of June and now July spread in quickly from the North West. This time there was a blustery feel to it, a double scenario which led to nothing much to report. 

But here goes; and there’s a bonus later by way of a true story for lovers of gulls, large or small. 

I stopped at Braides Farm to hear a Raven in full voice, a deep and majestic croak echoing across the fields. The Raven had taken exception to the resident Buzzard sat along the fence where it spends the short summer nights. I’m betting the Buzzard was in situ before the Raven chanced along that way but the huge black beast was having none of it and chased the Buzzard further away. Just 20 or so yards away proved enough to placate the Raven for now. All went quiet as the Raven occupied the spot the Buzzard vacated. 

Raven

“The intriguing Common Raven has accompanied people around the Northern Hemisphere for centuries, following their wagons, sleds, sleighs, and hunting parties in hopes of a quick meal. Ravens are among the smartest of all birds, gaining a reputation for solving ever more complicated problems invented by ever more creative scientists. These big, sooty birds thrive among humans and in the back of beyond, stretching across the sky on easy, flowing wingbeats.” All About Birds.

I could hear Skylarks calling from across the fields where post-breeding Curlews fresh from the uplands have begun to gather in numbers. A couple of fields contained 100+Curlew and small gatherings of Carrion Crows.

Conder Green often provides one or two agreeable moments such as this morning when I watched two Kingfishers hurrying by a foot or so above the choppy water. As usual it’s the unique call that alerts a birder to the presence of a Kingfisher, a shrill but short single or double whistle before the flash of a blue bird appears (or more likely disappears). I’m certain that the two today would be an adult accompanied by a juvenile. Like so many other species of birds Kingfisher families stick together to some extent until the youngsters become fully independent.

Kingfishers

The Kingfishers were the highlight of my visit but other notables included 10 Common Sandpiper, 130 Lapwing, 90+ Redshank, 16 Oystercatcher and 4 Little Egret plus the resident and breeding Avocets and Common Terns, both of which have yet to present flying young.

Common Sandpiper

Otherwise - 2 Tufted Duck, 2 Wigeon, 12 Curlew, 2 Sedge Warbler, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Whitethroat, 2 Linnet and 1 Blackcap. Yes, it was a quiet hour or two of birding.

But now for aficionados of the much maligned family of gulls comes news of a new skill recently acquired - going shopping. Watch the video; it’s hilarious. 




From The Metro newspaper - "A Herring Gull was spotted “swaggering” into a Greggs (a UK chain of fast food bakery shops) in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, on the morning of 30th June by customer Gordon Lindsay.

He reckoned the gull had definitely formulated a plan of attack to get some Greggs goodies. Gordon, 41, said: ‘I’ve never seen anything like it. The seagull knew exactly what it was doing. I’d stopped in to get a bacon sandwich on the way to work. The gull knew how to open the automatic doors by flapping its wings and then it headed straight for the crisps. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It then wandered around and pinched a packet of crisps off the bottom shelf. It had absolutely no shame and certainly didn’t hang around once it had got what it wanted.’

Gordon added that the bird ‘flapped again to open the doors and off it went’."

What next for the opportunistic, intelligent and adaptable gull family you might ask? Well there is a Marks and Spencer just along from our local Greggs where the gulls might find some slightly more upmarket products than crisps and pasties. And the shopping baskets are handily placed at the entrance door.

Herring Gull

Well a Greggs Gull is a definite first for me even if I didn’t see it live. But stay tuned for the best and most up-to-date bird news with Another Bird Blog.

Linking this post to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday and Anni's Birding Blog. 

Gulls Are Ace

Following my recent post about "Seagulls", I am delighted to learn that there are others who do not despise our UK gulls. On the contrary, there are many discriminating people who positively like gulls and value their unique beauty and characterful ways. 

From “The Scotsman” 27the July 2015. 

"Scottish gulls are getting a positive public relations campaign waged on their behalf. A group of poets, photographers and artists have teamed up in an effort to salvage the reputation of the brass necked birds. They have created a booklet titled White Wings of Delight, which will raise money for RSPB Scotland when it goes on sale next month. 

The booklet features a collection of works with the running theme of “the grace of a delightful bird like a seagull” - an animal that has inspired countless artists and poets for generations. The move by the creative network, based in and around Aberdeen, comes after a string of horror headlines featuring Herring Gulls.

Herring Gull

Gulls have been getting a bad rap in recent weeks due to a series of incidents, including a dog being pecked to death, a starling being swallowed whole, and Aberdeen Football Club being plagued by the nesting nuisances. 

Granite City (Aberdeen) residents regularly complain about bold birds nicking food and dive-bombing built-up areas for scraps. Two ‘Robops’ - robotic birds of prey - were unleashed further north in the fishing port of Fraserburgh in 2003 when the booming gull population caused a spate of problems. But Aberdeenshire Council was forced to bin the project after the local gulls got used to the flapping fibreglass falcons - and started sitting next to them. The local authority has spent nearly £200,000 in the last five years trying to combat the pests. Hawk patrols and nest removal work has cost the council a total of £197,979.70 since 2010.  

What’s new - public bodies wasting the taxpayers' money? - Phil 

Aberdeen-based publisher Keith Murray helped develop the booklet, which was the brainchild of fellow poet Elizabeth Reinach. Mr Murray said: “Elizabeth came up with the idea because we both love gulls. Both of us have been told to ‘stop feeding the birds, they are flying rats etc’. But when you consider all the horrors that are happening in the world at the moment you have to wonder why people dislike gulls. There should be respect for all forms of life.” 

“So I gathered about 20 poems from different poets, all with a positive look at gulls. Some of my poet friends were quite honest and said that they didn’t like gulls but more replied with super poems.” 

Mr Murray and Ms Reinach previously raised nearly £3,000 for a guide dog charity with a similar book. The writers even enlisted the help of politician David Blunkett, who wrote a foreword for the collection entitled Guiding Lights, to help raise money for the Guide Dogs For The Blind Association. They hope to have similar success with their gull-orientated booklet. 

Herring Gull

Mr Murray added: “We want to raise money for the RSPB but also to bring attention to the fact that gulls aren’t a creature to be hated. I’ve been feeding a gull who comes to my window, who I have named Sinbad, for 15 years now and around the back window I have another one called Warren. “I like to feed them at night, they come up to my window every morning at 1am like little white ghosts, and you can look into their eyes and see they’re truly beautiful, and there’s a character to each one of them.” 

White Wings of Delight is expected to be published around the middle of August. It will be available from Books and Beans cafe, the Maritime Museum and directly from Mr Murray by sending a cheque or postal order for £6 (or more) to Keith Murray Advertising, 46 Portal Crescent, Aberdeen, AB24 2SP."  

A tale of hope and inspiration in this awful world. Three cheers for gulls!

No Seagulls Today

It’s 0930, raining steadily and I’m blogging when I should be out birding. Luckily I managed a few hours birding before the rains arrived while postponing a ringing session with Andy until the weekend. 

At Braides there was no Buzzard today but 3 Grey Herons instead, the herons lining the banks of the River Cocker where a couple of Meadow Pipits buzzed around. 

At Conder Green the resident Robin greeted me from the fence rail as I scanned the pool and creeks for other birds. A dozen and more Swifts hawked over the hedgerow with just a few Swallows and Sand Martins in evidence. The Sand Martins here are surely from the quarry a mile or two away where I called on the way back to witness a huge amount of activity at the nesting holes. 

Robin

Meanwhile back at Conder the Tufted Ducks now have 4 youngsters, an expected reduction from the 13 or 14 newly hatched chicks of a week ago. Singles of Little Grebe and Wigeon with 8+ Shelduck, 3 Grey Heron and 3 Little Egret. In the creeks good numbers of 60+ Redshank and 40+ Lapwing, 6 Common Sandpiper but one only of Dunlin. 

A Kestrel flew across the marsh towards the railway bridge where I found 4 Linnet, 4 Pied Wagtail, 2 Reed Bunting and a fly-over Common Tern. Glasson Dock had more Swifts and Swallows, a couple only of the former but 30+ Swallows so maybe a hint of a roost forming amongst the boats or reed fringes of the yacht basin in coming weeks. 

Along the towpath - 4 Pied Wagtails, 3 Reed Warbler, 2 Reed Bunting, 6 Tree Sparrow, a Blackcap in partial song and a Song Thrush in full voice. 

Song Thrush

Black-headed Gull

I see that “seagulls” are on the receiving end of some stick in the press and on the TV just recently, with even the Prime Minister taking the opportunity to have a go. Pity he has nothing more worldly urgent to worry about but also that his lackeys didn’t give him the advice that the UK is home to several species of gull, most of which cause no problem to voters; the urban bandit in question is not a “seagull” but the Herring Gull. 

I get quite irritated when people use the lazy, blanket term “seagull” to describe a particular species of gull when it is often quite obvious that they have not taken the time and trouble to find out that there are at least 55 species of gull in the world and all of them identifiable as being different to the next. 

Herring Gull

Yes, Herring Gulls can be a bit naughty but their sometimes unacceptable behaviour is mostly of our own making. Who can blame a gull for becoming accustomed to helping themselves when a smorgasbord of delights is laid out before them each day and night? The remains of Saturday night’s takeaways litter city, town and village streets while bin-bags lie unprotected and landfill sites are left uncovered. All of this makes for easier pickings than fishing the open seas as Herring Gulls did with huge success before the human race changed the rules of engagement. 

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Log in soon for more news and views from Another Bird Blog. But definitely no seagulls.

Linking today to Theresa's Ranch and Stewart's World Bird Wednesday .

Spitting Images

Thursday morning dawned grey with rain. Definitely not ringing or photography weather but after calling at Jamie’s Fish Place I took a look up at Knott End shore, knowing there would be more than a few birds to look at. 

With camera under wraps I took a walk about the jetty and then alongside the river as the rain spit and spat, barely enough to damp my enthusiasm, but a prelude to heavy rain promised for later in the day. Almost everyone has been seeing good numbers of Pied and White Wagtails in the last week or two, either reporting them on visible migration counts or as grounded birds. It was the turn of Knott End today with at least 15 Pied/White Wagtails counted flitting about the sea wall, the jetty and the car park area. At least 12 grounded Meadow Pipits too, but no Rock Pipits that I could find yet, the pebbly shore of Knott End being ideal habitat and a regular winter haunt of the species. 

Meadow Pipit

Pied Wagtail

Just a lowish tide didn’t bring the waders or wildfowl too close with approximate counts of 2250 Oystercatcher, 70 Redshank, 32 Turnstone, 100+ Knot and 24 Sanderling. Shelduck numbers are really building with 220+ today, in contrast to the Eider with 4 hard-to-find birds out in the grey water of the estuary. 

Redshank

A walk up river produced several more wagtails and Meadow Pipits, and on a telegraph pole 2 Mistle Thrushes, a bird now so uncommon that a sighting becomes noteworthy; possibly they were morning migrants or alternatively a pair or two may be residents of the golf course. There were Chaffinches on the move, just a few crossing the river from the direction of Fleetwood and heading east. 

Back at the car the camera was set on ISO800 for the grey light, with a few pictures of pipits and wagtails searching the sea wall for insects. Someone came with a bag of bread and the gulls arrived as if by magic and the tiny birds flew off to a safer spot. 

Meadow Pipit

Pied Wagtail

 Lesser Black-backed Gull

Herring Gull

Black-headed Gull

Herring Gull

 

The forecast is better for weekend with sun and showers on the cards. Let’s hope the experts are right. If so Another Bird Blog will be out and about and reporting it just here.