Saturday’s Schedule

Saturday began dull and cloudy but the forecast was pretty accurate. The sky brightened a little but not enough to get decent photographs. 

I set off in the direction of Cockerham where I stopped in the gateway of Braides Farm and looked on the flood about 300 yards away. The flood is distant but always worth a look with the risk that small birds go missing amongst the puddled, rough grass landscape. I counted 480 Curlew, 10 Black-tailed Godwit and a single Kestrel but I’m sure more bits and pieces were hidden. 

Conder Green proved productive. In the wader stakes I noted 15 Curlew, 15 Redshank, 14 Black-tailed Godwit, 5 Snipe, 4 Lapwing and the single and still wintering Common Sandpiper. The light was far from ideal and required ISO1000, a setting which proved barely enough. 

Redshank

Common Sandpiper

Down on the mud was a single Grey Wagtail and also 4 Meadow Pipits. The incoming tide made it easier to count the Teal now flushed out of their hiding places in the marsh and I counted 170/180. There was a single Grey Heron, 2 Little Egrets, 3 Little Grebe and 9 Goosanders. The latter included 3 stunning looking males, even if they were on the far side of the pool. 

 Meadow Pipit

Little Egret

Teal

I drove around Jeremy Lane and up to Cockersands where I hoped to find and photograph Fieldfares, a species which in some winters appears in large numbers along the hawthorn hedges. But very few Fieldfares today with the best I saw about 50 very mobile birds in two flocks in roadside that flew quickly south and out of sight at the approach of vehicles. I had to make do with a House Sparrow dining on rather old blackberries. 

House Sparrow

Near to Cockersands I found 190 or more Whooper Swans, a number partly hidden as the field dropped down and away from view. As I watched a number of parties flew off noisily towards Cockerham but a hour or so later and when visiting Thursday’s location of almost 500 Whoopers at Cockerham I saw not a one. Clearly this winter’s swans will be very mobile with a selection of places in which to delight their admirers. 

Whooper Swans

Whooper Swans

Whooper Swan

I stopped at Gulf Lane and counted the Linnets at 130+.  Their natural food is still a plentiful mystery where they drop to the bottom of the vegetation, feed on or close to the ground and appear to ignore our line of rape seed.  Six Stock Doves dropped in to feed but they won’t stay around if the ringers or shooters appear and then open their car doors. 

Linnets

 

More birds soon. It’s Saturday evening and I’m due a glass of plonk.

In the meantime, linking to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday and  Anni's Blog.

This And That

There’s a bit of everything today – birding, a few pictures and news of a ringed Goldfinch. 

First stop this morning was the egret roost at Pilling where the egrets were pretty much on the move as soon as I arrived in the half-light. I may have missed some leaving but came up with a count of 44 Littles and zero Great White Egrets today. Many thousands of pink-feet were way out on the marsh, too distant to count in the half light. Whooper Swans proved much easier to see with 23 leaving the marsh and flying west towards Pilling village and the shore. 

Whooper Swans

I stopped at Gulf Lane where Linnets and others continue to use the set-aside plot and where three or four very mobile Linnet flocks numbered 160+ birds. Also here - 4 Tree Sparrow and 2 Reed Bunting. In just a week and after a couple of downpours the crop height has dropped substantially until it is now between 18 inches and 2 feet high meaning that our efforts to catch more Linnets may be compromised. If the weather holds I guess Andy and me will have a go as soon as possible. 

I spent an hour or two at Conder Green where a dashing Merlin provided the highlight as it flew low across the top of the marsh and down into a creek before dipping under the railway bridge to the outer marsh. Otherwise I had a reasonable count of the usual birds on the pool and in the creeks: 140 Teal, 22 Redshank, 17 Snipe, 9 Little Grebe, 4 Goosander, 3 Little Egret, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Spotted Redshank. 

Redshank

There seemed to be very little on the move this morning except for high flying Skylarks, a small number of Chaffinches and a handful of Meadow Pipits, all seen from the railway bridge where a gang of House Sparrows played hide and seek in the hedgerow. 

House Sparrow

Back home I did a little garden ringing with 3 Goldfinch, 1 Robin and 1 Coal Tit until even the meagre breeze began to fill the nets with falling autumn leaves. 

 Robin

Goldfinch

That reminds me.

Details arrived of a ringed Goldinch Z690427 caught at Oakenclough, Garstang on 6th September 2016. What a coincidence. The Goldfinch was ringed in Lower Basildon, West Berkshire on 11th October 2015 by one Simon Lane. Simon is a former member of Fylde Ringing Group. He ringed with us from 1988 until 1998 during which time he played a full and active part in the group and also became a great pal. He left Garstang, Lancashire in order to further his career in the south of England but fortunately he maintained his enthusiasm for ringing and still keeps in touch with us Northern folk.

This is a fairly typical north to south autumn September/October movement for a Goldfinch. Goldfinches are partial migrants with a proportion of the UK breeding population migrating each autumn to more favourable wintering grounds, typically in France or Spain and where both Oakenclough and Basildon can be staging posts in such journeys. 

Lower Basildon, Berkshire - Oakenclough, Garstang, Lancashire

Guess I won’t be out birding tomorrow morning as it’s Andy’s birthday bash this evening. Sue and I are definitely going as Andy is threatening to do a David Brent dance for the assembled crowd. Now where did I leave my video camera?

Linking today to http://id-rather-b-birdin.blogspot.co.uk/.

Kalispera

Good Afternoon. Sorry I haven’t been posting much but Sue and I are not at home. We are still in Greece, staying on the island of Skiathos to be precise. 

This is mainly a sun holiday for Sue and I although regular readers of this blog will know that binoculars and camera always go on holiday with us. 

Skopelos

I’m home in a day or two and will post news and pictures of our trip, birds and views of the beautiful Sporades islands of Skiathos and Skopelos. In the meantime here are a few photographs from the same place in 2014 and 2015. It’s so good we decided to return. 

Flying Cat at Alonissos 

One of the highlights of our stay is day exploring Kastro in the north of Skiathos where Eleanora’s Falcons are guaranteed during the month of September, a time when the falcons feed on the millions of small birds migrating through the Greek islands. It’s a fair old bumpy journey to get to Kastro and then a trek over the rocks to reach the Greek flagged promontory. It’s well worth the effort to watch the magical and acrobatic Eleanoras in action. 

Eleanora's Falcon

Jimny

  

Kastro, Skiathos

There are lots of Alpine Swifts here and in fact all over the island where they tear across the sky at breakneck speed. There’s a good number of Bee Eaters around too and they often feed up high in amongst swifts, swallows and martins.

Alpine Swift

Bee Eater

Skiathos

We’re staying on the south coast where there’s often scrubby habitat, reeds and remnants of pine forest just yards from the tourist beaches. They make good spots for shrikes, wagtails, pipits and chats.

Red-backed Shrike

Woodchat Shrike

That's all for now, it's time to head off for our evening meal.

Taverna - Skiathos

I'm not blogging for a day or two so apologies if I don't catch up with everyone.  We are back home soon and I promise to do so then. 

Log in later for more news, views and photographs from Another Bird Blog in Greece.

Kalimera

Good Morning. Yes, Sue and I are in Skiathos, Greece, so apologies that there is no local news today. Instead here are pictures and a few words about Skiathos until we return. I really enjoy my local birding as regular readers will know; but once or twice a year spending quality time in the sunshine of the Med or Greece is just the job to reinvigorate the birding senses. 

The economy of Skiathos island is mainly centred on tourism and fishing, followed closely by crop and livestock farming. Skiathos is greener than someone might expect from many of the typical hot and sunny Greek island in holiday brochures. While Skiathos has many beaches they are often flanked by lush green hills. This landscape feature makes it one of the more naturally attractive Greek islands. Skiathos is also called “the boomerang island” because it is said that once someone has visited this island they will feel an irresistible urge to return. This is our fourth visit here. 

The island of Skiathos and the neighbouring one of Skopelos are both renowned for their population of wasps, and I daresay that the creatures are all pervasive on nearby islands and the mainland. No wonder then that Skiathos has a good resident population of Honey Buzzards, a raptor that specializes in raiding the nests of bees and wasps. The numbers of this buzzard are swelled in September by migrating birds from further north, but Common Buzzard also occurs here as a migrant. 

Eleonora's Falcon and Honey Buzzard

We always rent a Suzuki Jimny when in Skiathos. On the neglected roads and rough tracks of post-financial crisis Greece, the legendary robustness and fun factor of the tiny 4x4 is sought after by European tourists looking for an authentic Greek experience. For us it’s a bit of nostalgia for the electric blue Jimny we once owned. 

Birding Greek Style

You are never far away from a beach in Skiathos, but if sun bathing is not your thing, just a few yards away is the real Greece where a spot of birding is possible. 

Skiathos

Birding to the beach 

Red-backed Shrike

Yellow Wagtail

Whinchat

Wheatear

This year’s list of birds may not be the longest or contain a large number of rare birds, but it’s an eclectic mix containing a number of “goodies”. And boy, are we having a good time! 

These are the species so far during days split between exploring, chilling and soaking up the Greek sunshine: Honey Buzzard, Kestrel, Alpine Swift, Common Swift, Yellow-legged Gull, Barn Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, House Martin, Spotted Flycatcher, Sardinian Warbler, Great Tit, Hooded Crow, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Bee Eater, Eleanora’s Falcon, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Wood Warbler, Whinchat, Wheatear, Cuckoo, Common Whitethroat, Olivaceous Warbler, House Sparrow, Woodchat Shrike, Red-backed Shrike, Little Owl, Scops Owl, Common Buzzard, Raven, Hooded Crow, Yellow Wagtail, Richard’s Pipit, Caspian Gull, Hobby, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Blackcap, Linnet, Cirl Bunting, Lesser Whitethroat, Bonelli’s Warbler, Kingfisher, Hoopoe, European Shag. 

This week I managed a number of return visits to fellow bloggers but with just a smartphone and intermittent WiFi it’s not easy, so please bear with me for a while. I will be with you all soon. 

Chicken Souvlaki

I hope everyone enjoyed this taste of Greece. Back soon.

Early Bird Birding

It looked like early birding only when the weather forecast promised rain by lunch time. For once the experts were spot on and the rain arrived at 1130 after a half decent morning of a bright but gradually clouding over sky.

I waited at a regular Barn Owl spot in the hope one would come along. One appeared on cue but was up and over the hedgerow, across the road, and out of sight over another field within seconds. 

Barn Owl

It’s worth repeating that Barn Owls are having a poor year with reports from many parts of the UK of starving broods caused by a shortage of their regular prey of voles. A pair of Barn Owls with three or four chicks need something like the equivalent of 1500-2000 voles over a 12 week period before the youngsters fledge, not counting the additional voles required to feed themselves. 

According to a study in 2013 the natural cycles in vole populations across Europe are fading away with climate change the likely reason. Until recently vole populations have fluctuated enormously on a three to four year cycle. A peak year, known as an outbreak, provides a bonanza for predators like owls, foxes, weasels and kestrels. But after a crash only a few voles per hectare may be left to rebuild the population. 

These long-established cycles have diminished across Europe over the last couple of decades with the years of population outbreaks no longer as marked. This change in one group of species at the bottom of the food chain is bad news for a diverse range of predators like the Barn Owl which relies on these years of plenty to keep its population at sustainable levels. 

There was little new at Conder Green except for a Greenshank in the creek and a single Snipe hiding amongst the rocks of one island. 

Snipe

Otherwise it was “as before” with 3 Common Sandpipers, 2 Dunlin, 50+ Redshank, 30+ Lapwings and 20 Oystercatchers. On, around and over the pool - 2 Little Egret, 1 Little Grebe, 2 Grey Heron, 4 Tufted Duck, 2 Wigeon and 5 Cormorant. There are still Swifts about with a count of 12+ today and the birds feeding as ever on the swarms of early morning midges which emerge from the hawthorn hedgerow. 

A walk of the “railway circuit” found a Kestrel using a distant boat mast as a lookout point. A few small birds appeared by way of a family party of 6 Linnets, then 4 Greenfinch, 4 Meadow Pipit, 8 Goldfinch and 2 Reed Bunting. 

Kestrel

Two flocks of House Sparrows numbered some 40+ birds. I’m not sure if it is the paucity of other species this year which is making House Sparrows appear more numerous or if the spodger is experiencing a real revival of fortune.

On the other hand House Sparrow nests are less likely to take a battering from our inclement weather than the nests of species like Willow Warbler, Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat which build open nests in often fragile vegetation close to or on the ground. Cold northerly winds have been a feature of Spring and Summer of 2015 with our Lancashire rainfall for July looking to be on course as the wettest on record. 

House Sparrow

With the cloud building and rain on the horizon I made time for a walk at Fluke Hall. A Whitethroat sang a partial song and a couple of Tree Sparrows busied themselves around nest boxes but in the wood all was quiet.

Fluke Hall - Pilling, Lancashire

A walk along the sea wall salvaged a few Linnets, a Green Sandpiper, a female Sparrowhawk, a Grey Heron and a couple of Skylarks. One of the Skylarks was still in song and perhaps waiting for a spell of warm weather to have another go this year. 

Skylark

Grey Heron

When the weather improves I’ll be having another go too, so log in soon for news and views from Another Bird Blog.

Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.

Good News, Bad News

It wasn’t the best of morning with cloudy skies and the threat of rain but I made a beeline north. 

Beyond Pilling came the usual sighting of a Barn Owl criss-crossing the fields so fast that within seconds of my spotting it the owl had disappeared into the distance. By all accounts this is a bad year for Barn Owls following a shortage of voles. My many sightings of Barn Owls in the last few weeks supports the idea that adults are having to spend long periods of time hunting for food for themselves but also for youngsters yet to fledge. 

Barn Owl

At Braides there was a Buzzard along the distant fence line, a Kestrel, and a Grey Heron following the sea wall. More than one Buzzard spends the short summer nights out on these fences where five or six hours of  darkness gives them ample opportunities of snatching night-time mammals. Yes, the Buzzard was very distant on the fence. 

Buzzard

There was a Kingfisher waiting for me on the outflow of Conder Green pool. An adult Common Tern with young nearby was flying around making lots of noise and threatening most things in its path hence the Kingfisher looking to the skies to see what the fuss was all about. The Kingfisher flew off over the pool and towards the A588 road bridge - probably the best place to wait and watch for the blue streaks that care not about the traffic thundering by. It seems like Kingfishers are here for the winter now as I saw another one along the Glasson stretch of the canal a little later on. 

Kingfisher 

There was wader activity at Conder Green by way of 17 Dunlin feeding in the creeks alongside 6 Common Sandpiper and 70+ Redshank. No sight or sound of Greenshank or Spotted Redshank this morning, a Spotted Redshank now overdue on the autumn timetable. Still 20+ Oystercatcher, 30+ Lapwing and a handful of Curlew. 

They were a long time arriving but at last the Tufted Ducks have young, 14 or 15 fluffy youngsters scurrying behind their parents and onto the island so fast I’d hardly time to count them. There was another pair of Tufted Duck and still a lonesome drake Wigeon which has summered here. 

At Glasson Dock I took a walk along the canal to find 8+ Tree Sparrows, 5 Reed Warbler, and singles only of Whitethroat, Chiffchaff and Blackcap. Our northern “summer” has been a another poor one the latest in a series of cool or even cold and wet springs followed by a marginally better July, but months of poor productivity for birds of all shapes and sizes. 

Only now and at the end of the second week of July did I see my first Swallow chicks at Glasson Dock. Compared to just an average year the Swallows are at least two weeks late and leaving them less time to produce a second brood and certainly no chance of a third. 

 Swallow

When the rain stopped I did a little ringing in the garden and caught a few youngsters in the shape of Blackbirds, Goldfinches and House Sparrows. Maybe it’s not all bad news? 

House Sparrow

 

 Goldfinch

There are no birds in the nest box this year. The garden wasps claimed it instead.

Busy Wasps

Tune in soon for more news via Another Bird Blog. In the meantime I'm linking to Theresa's Run A Round and Stewart's World Bird Wednesday .