Nature Calls

Three a.m. and nature called. Later life has so many advantages but one or two drawbacks. With the alarm set for 0520 thoughts turned to the ringing session ahead and I knew that sleep would not return. At 0500 I switched the alarm off but took great care not to wake Sleeping Beauty. 

Closer to destination Oakenclough interminable Long Lane rose to 700 above sea level as the black morning turned suddenly to gloomy hill mist and low cloud. Not exactly what the ringer ordered; Andy and I had missed another two and a half weeks of ringing due to unremitting wind and rain sweeping in from The Atlantic. 

Our last visit had been on  6 November 2020.  Nevertheless it felt good to be out again and where if the ringing was quiet, we could for sure put the world to rights via a cup of coffee, a natter and a few choice words. 

The mist cleared, reappeared and then cleared again with barely a hint of the promised sun. What a strange sort of morning with few birds on the move save for a couple of flocks of Redwings, separate groups of fifteen and a forty, plus a few stragglers. Otherwise, 15-20 Chaffinch, a Kestrel gliding through the mist and the usual suspects at George’s bird feeders 30 yards away. 

Just 10 birds caught - 3 Goldfinch, 3 Blue Tit, 2 Coal Tit and 2 Redwing. You can bet things are pretty quiet when a ringer posts a Blue Tit. 

Goldfinch - Carduelis carduelis

 

Redwing - Turdus iliacus

 

Blue Tit - Cyanistes caeruleus

Unlike recent weeks the weather looks fairly settled for a day or two so there may be chance to get some ringing and/or birding in. For tomorrow we have planned a visit to the Linnet catching site of recent years at Gulf Lane, Cockerham. We hope to clear an area of the now defunct crop to instead establish a whoosh netting area and bait it with a rape seed, niger and millet mix. 

So far this autumn and winter there is no sign of a Linnet flock and despite a number of drop-in visits, the site has very few birds. Regular readers of this blog will know of our successes in previous years by  establishing that many of the wintering Linnets in our local area originate from Scotland. Our total is 741 Linnet captures from 2016 to 2020. 

Linnets - Carduelis cannabina

Colder temperatures in January, February and March 2021 may see an influx of such individuals again and open up the possibility of catching other species like Chaffinch, Reed Bunting, Skylark and Stonechat. 

We don’t succumb so easily to quiet days; they are part and parcel of a day in the great outdoors. What would we do otherwise? Watch daytime TV for a daily dose of brainwashing? 

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

 

Home Birding

An extract from an email all ringers received this week.

“BTO SURVEYS IN THE WIDER COUNTRYSIDE”. 

“Following the Government statement on 23 March, our Senior Leadership Team has reviewed the BTO advice and is asking all volunteers to follow the guidelines presented by the Prime Minister. While the monitoring work undertaken by volunteers is extremely important, it must not compromise public health. 

To avoid this potential risk, we are requesting that all BTO surveyors, including ringers and nest recorders, refrain from undertaking survey work at sites to which they would need to travel by any means until this guidance is reviewed.” 

“All the best and stay safe”. 

Dave Leech, Head of Ringing & Nest Recording 
James Pearce-Higgins, Director of Science” 

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Here's my contribution to "Home Birding", the newest buzz phrase for locked down birders with a post first published on Another Bird Blog on 31/12/2011 - New Year’s Eve 2011. Click the pictures for a close-up.

It’s time for recalling the past year’s highlights of birding, ringing and photography. Now is the moment when we choose to forget the low points, the empty pages in a sodden notebook, netting a handful of birds on a seemingly perfect spring morning, or discovering that you set the aperture wrong.

Here we go in rough chronological order with a selection of photos and personal highlights of 2011.

In the early part of the year we holidayed in Egypt at a time when the country was undergoing a revolution, but the confiding birds hadn’t joined in the turmoil and just behaved naturally for a visiting Brit.

Egypt proved to be a wonderful place for bird photography and so difficult to select just a few pictures, apart from the Kingfisher which is just about my favourite photo of the year, taken with a decent choice of aperture for once.

Kingfisher - Egypt

Cattle Egret - Egypt

I’d left Will counting Siskins building up by the hundreds in his garden, together with a dozen or two Brambling and Lesser Redpoll. Within days of returning from Egypt I joined him for some memorable ringing sessions and notable breakfasts.

Brambling

Lesser Redpoll 

Siskin 

Bacon Butty 

Spring and autumn were great for catching and photographing Northern Wheatears at Pilling. With the help of sacrificial meal worms I caught fourteen “Wheats” and clicked the shutter button a couple of hundred times on the beautiful chat, passing Meadow Pipits or the occasional Linnet.

Wheatear

Meadow Pipit

Linnet 

The annual ritual came along, May in Menorca, the island where birds are hard to find but fortunately more numerous than birders. This year a ringed Audouin’s Gull at the hotel pool gave me an excuse to search for that extreme rarity, a Menorcan ringer.

A Ringed Audouin’s Gull -

A Ringed Audouin's Gull

Summer was warm and wonderful, ringing Swallow chicks, finding Skylark nests and stumbling upon young Lapwings or breeding Redshank.

Skylark

Barn Swallow 

Redshank

Lapwing

Then at the end of summer came a chance to take photographs of a species rapidly becoming a rarity, the unfortunately named “Common” Cuckoo.

Cuckoo 

Autumn and early winter was given over to ringing pipits, buntings, finches and thrushes “on the moss”, the satisfaction of working a regular patch with a job well done.

Reed Bunting 

Tree Pipit

Yellowhammer

Don't forget to Spring forward tonight by changing all those clocks. Or not.

Back soon with Another Bird Blog.  Linking this post to Anni's Birding in Texas.

Keep Calm And Carry On

It seems that modern weather forecasts emanate from just a few sources that syndicate their findings. It’s no surprise then that mainstream TV channels have remarkably similar forecasts when most of the announcers read from a rehearsed script rather than share their thoughts as informed and knowledgeable meteorologists. The best bet is to find an Internet forecast that updates time slots regularly and one that suit a particular preference or pinpoints locations for the activity that is to be pursued. After all,  a windsurfer’s needs are quite different to those of a bird ringer! 

Andy and I continued our search of weather forecasts for one that might allow us a morning in the fresh air and a ringing session. By Thursday evening there was a chance that Friday morning might provide the requisite window so we duly pencilled it in for a trip to Project Linnet. 

It could be that continued bad weather has delayed the Linnet departure north whereby in a normal spring winter flocks have separated and individuals gone their own ways. We’ve had 35/40 around all week when I checked and dropped more seed to keep the birds interested. 

Friday saw the regular Stock Dove or two and a couple of Reed Buntings and Chaffinches feeding in the penalty area. The now resident Kestrel hovered overhead for while during its customary circuit.  

Kestrel 

Reed Bunting and Chaffinch 

A male Blackbird holds territory, and this morning at least five Skylarks in song in the immediate area where the many fence posts come in handy. 

Blackbird 

Skylark 

Stock Dove 

Many people will be unfamiliar with the Stock Dove. A quick glance confirms their fears that it is one of those messy creatures that hang around city streets. Look closer; while the Stock Dove is indeed a member of the pigeon family this small version nests in holes in trees and in farm buildings. It’s a bird of woodland edges and parkland during the breeding season and can be seen in small flocks on winter farmland. Unlike the Woodpigeon and the Feral Pigeon, the extremely shy Stock Dove is very rarely found in towns, cities or suburban gardens.  

This morning looked ideal with less than 10 mph wind and wispy cloud above. Unfortunately the Linnets didn’t play ball by refusing to visit our seed in anything other than ones and twos but instead sunning themselves in the bramble. We noted that the recently depleted Linnet flock is now quite “loose” and “stretched” compared to those of mid-winter when the birds pack tightly together. As soon as the weather takes a real turn for the better the Linnets will be long gone. 

Linnets 

We caught not a single Linnet and had to settle for a second year male Reed Bunting instead. We suspect this to be the male on territory and paired to the female seen earlier. 

Reed Bunting 

When opportunities arrived to catch three or four Linnets, we declined in favour of a bigger haul that never materialised – isn’t hindsight wonderful? We also suffered “near misses” of two or three of those Skylarks, the ones that sang on high and came down for a too brief look and didn’t stay long enough for capture. Better luck next time. 

Dear Readers, stay safe and well. Carry on as normal and keep calm is the advice from here. I have no elderly parents to worry about, but I do have five young grandchildren. Take sensible and personal precautions to avoid contagion is the key, but life must carry on.

H L Mencken in 1918:

“Civilisation  grows more and more maudlin and hysterical; especially under democracy it tends to degenerate into a mere combat of crazes. The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed and hence clamorous to be led to safety by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.”

Back soon on Another Bird Blog.

Linking today to Anni's Birding and Eileen's Saturday Blog.

Signs Of Spring

Finally, on Wednesday a break in the weather allowed a spot of ringing at Project Linnet. I met Andy at 0700 and we set a whoosh net then poured a coffee.  

During February and after our last visit of 13 February, I maintained visits so as to keep a tally on numbers. It was vital to continue our supplementary feeding rather than suddenly stop and leave the Linnets without regular food. 

Monday March 2 had seen lower numbers with 35 Linnets only plus a couple of Chaffinches and 2 Stock Doves at our seed. An overflying Kestrel seemed also to be keeping an eye on a non-seed food source. A female Stonechat hopped along the fence and the bramble, a migrant that with luck we might be able to tempt into the catching area at the first opportunity. 

 Stonechat

We began Wednesday on 148 Linnet captures for the winter period 1 September to date. Although the figure was somewhat below our ideal figure, the decision to persevere with this project has proved immensely valuable. We have found new information about wintering Linnets and added to knowledge of Linnet migration as a whole. 

The Stonechat wasn’t around today - as suspected it was a one day wonder, a common enough occurrence in March. We saw the usual Little Egrets, Stock Doves and Chaffinches but our main attention was focused on Linnets and singing Skylarks. 

We noted at least 4 Skylarks on the move with two or more in song. We even managed to catch a single Skylark, sexed as a male through its overall bulk and wing length of 115 mm – males 105 - 118, females 98 - 108. 

Skylark 

Skylark 

Linnet numbers had dropped again with a maximum of 30 today. Even so we caught 10 Linnets to push the winter total over the 150 mark. We are pretty sure few ringers elsewhere are catching wintering Linnets and we are the only ones in Lancashire and North West England.

Our ten Linnets comprised of 9 new and 1 recapture - 2 adult males, 4 second winter females and 4 second winter males. Recapture AKE3732 was ringed here at Gulf Lane on 5 February 2020. 

Linnet 

Linnet

If the weather holds we hope for one more go at the Linnets but it seems that the falling number is a sure sign that spring is on the way as the Linnets head north and west to breeding sites. 

The Jet Stream moved south this week so let's hope it stays there so that we experience some dry, warm and sunny weather for a change. 

Beating Dennis

We’re braced for more bad weather at weekend as forecasters warn that Storm Dennis follows hot on the tail of Storm Ciara. There’s a yellow weather warning in place for Saturday. 

Meanwhile, and away from click-bait headlines, bird ringers scrutinise the forecasts for a window of respite where they might connect with a few birds. Thursday looked such a day with a few hours of lesser winds and the chance of an odd shower rather than bouts of rain. 

The previous visit to Gulf Lane and Project Linnet was 5 February when we bumped up the total of Linnet captures for winter 2019/2020 to 109 new ones and two recaptures from 2018. That’s about half where we hoped to be at this point in 2020. 

Recent visits to drop our supplementary seed have shown the Linnets’ hunger has overtaken their natural and normally very cautious nature as groups of up to 30 birds fed in the seed drop zone. 

Linnets 

On Thursday morning I met up with Andy at 0845 where we set the whoosh net, dropped more seed and then waited.  We didn’t hang around too long as the Linnets arrived in their customary fashion of small groups that eventually built to a flock of circa 140 individuals. 

Two pulls of the whoosh net resulted in a catch of 39 Linnets - 37 new unringed ones and 2 recaptures. The 39 comprised of 13 second year males, 11 second year females, 10 adult males and 5 adult females. 

Field Sheet 

Recapture S348959, now an adult male had been ringed here at Gulf as a juvenile of unknown sex on 5 August 2017. We have no recaptures for this bird from 5/8/17 until today, a gap of about two and a half years. 

Recapture AKE 3707 had been amongst the catch of 5 February 2020. 

Linnet - adult male 

Linnet - tail of adult male  

Not all adult tails are as clear cut as the example above. 

It seems the Met Office has gone "woke" and prepared for the year of storms ahead with a suitably non-binary, diverse and inclusive list of names in the frames but no Andy or Phil as far as I can see. 

Storms to come

Stop by to Another Bird Blog soon to see how we beat the Met Office storm predictions.

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

Forty Today

If only! Forty refers not to the ages of the ringers but to the number of Linnets captured at Gulf Lane this morning. 

Morning arrived with overcast skies, a slight frost and zero wind so Andy and I set a couple single panel nets in what is basically a field of flat vegetation. After the catch of 25 Linnets on Thursday last we set the whoosh net again, hoping that one or even both catching systems might work. 

Morning Start

We have noticed how in the last week, and as the natural seed depletes, the Linnets are more prepared to come to our supplementary seed. 

Linnet

Lack of food in winter has been identified as a contributor to the national declines in numbers of some farmland birds. The observation that many farmland birds use game crops in winter prompted research into the potential of seed crops as a conservation measure and to then develop it further in helping those species that had suffered. Nowadays wild bird seed mixtures are included as an option in agri-environment schemes and appropriate Countryside Stewardship habitat options. 

Different seed crop species retain their seed for differing periods through the winter. By January and certainly into February overall seed supply reduces greatly, and is often completely exhausted. For these crops, seed supply declines as bird numbers increase during the first half of the winter, and bird numbers then drop in response to the continuing decline in the supply of food, the so called “hunger gap”.  This is a time when supplementary feeding is hugely beneficial in keeping birds alive. 

Our supplementary seed proved its worth today when we fired the whoosh net three times as the Linnets came back for more of the millet/rape seed.  Of the forty Linnets caught, 30 came from the whoosh net and 10 from the mist nets. 

Linnet

Field Sheet

The forty comprised 38 new ones and 2 recaptures from previous years. It’s very unusual to have recaptures here at Gulf Lane, the huge turnover of Linnets during a typical winter means the odds of catching the same bird twice are very low. 

At the foot of the sheet are the two recaptures - S800964 an adult male, and AJD6366, an adult female, the first recaptures of the 2019/20 autumn/winter. 

S800964 was a large male with a wing length of 87 mm, the only recapture since it was first ringed on 9 March 2018.  Female AJD6366 was first ringed here on 22 November 2018 but not in the intervening period until today.

A single Wren made 41 birds for the day. This is the only capture of a Wren on site throughout the whole of the winter, even though there is always one around.

Wren

There's more news soon from Another Bird Blog.  Maybe tomorrow! 

  

A Battle Of Wits

The latest battle of wits Linnets versus Ringers took place at Gulf Lane, Lancashire on the morning of Thursday 30 January 2020. Here the village of Pilling merges with Cockerham village at the A588 Murder Mile junction where regular ringing challenges take place in the set-aside plot owned by Farmers Richard and Helen Jones. 

Murder Mile 

Gulf Lane

Before today and throughout late 2019 and into 2020, the Linnets have taken all the honours by soundly beating ringers on 99% of occasions. The day began with a pitiful total of 46 birds caught during the whole of the winter and the Linnets probably cock-a-hoop at their ability to stick two feathers up at their opponents. The Linnets’ daily and prolonged use of the site coupled with their knowledge of how, where and when to still find natural food while avoiding mist nets is mysterious but wonderful to behold. 

The regular team of two Andy and Phil arrived in the dark at 0730 armed with bacon butties fresh from Pilling Stores, keen to redress the balance of recent disappointments. Tactics agreed they set a whoosh net in preparation for the arrival of Linnets and then dropped a bucket of millet & rape seed in the penalty area. Surely this week, as the hunger gap widens, they could win the match? 

Whoosh Net 

Linnets arrived in dribs and drabs of fives, tens and twenties, until by 1100 hours their numbers had swollen to 120 or more. There followed the familiar end-to-end stuff as Linnets flew back & forth and around the plot while coffee supping Andy and Phil grew more frustrated at the Linnets’ reluctance to sample the rape and millet. 

And then just as it looked like the game might end in a draw, at 1115 the flock made a dreadful mistake. One of their number rested in the penalty area and began to feed, closely followed by more. Whoosh! Too late, the ringers had scored a last minute goal. 

Linnet 

A total of twenty-five Linnets was the best of the winter; this comprised of 11 second-year males, 9 second year females and 5 adult males. No adult females.

There seemed to be a few Scottish participants today by way of a couple of noticeable dark, streaky females and also three males with wing lengths of 85 mm. 

Linnet- adult male 

Linnet - second year female 

Twenty-five Linnets represents 20/25% of the morning’s spot counts so the catch is unlikely to be repeated soon, the Linnets are too cute for that to happen. 

The meaning of “cute” - attractive in a pretty or endearing way. 

Or - clever or cunning. 

Take your pick. 

And anyway, the weather forecast is not good for the next few days or more. Back to normal.

Linking this post to Anni's Blog and Eileen's Saturday.