Those Linnets Again

It was Wednesday of last week the 29th of September when we arrived back in England following two weeks in sunny Greece. Since then it’s rained every day, sometimes very heavy and unpleasant, so there’s been no opportunity for birding or ringing, until today. 

The forecast for this morning looked OK and suggested a slightly blowy start at 10-15 mph but quickly dropping to 5 mph by 10am. For once the prediction was spot on and I had a really interesting ringing session. 

Once again the main target was Linnets with the intention of adding to knowledge about the movements of Linnets between here (Pilling Marsh the location for DemOn database) and the Northern Isles, a recently discovered phenomenon between us and the Scottish Ringers. The recently published Scottish Ringers Roundup featured several movements between the North West England and the far north of Scotland. 

Scottish Ringers Roundup

 

I added another 13 Linnets to make the total caught here this autumn into a nice round 111, with zero recaptures, hence birds on the move. As well as the Linnets I caught 2 Long-tailed Tits, 2 Blue Tits and a single Robin. 

Long-tailed Tit

 

Blue Tit

 

Linnet

Robin

 

Flocks of Linnets came and went during my four hour watch. My best estimate was 200/240 individuals but with mobile Linnets always difficult to be precise. 

Such a lot of Linnets in the air attracted in a number of predators with a Merlin, two Sparrowhawk and a male Peregrine all having a dash at a meal. It was as I sat unseen in the lee of the car that overhead I heard the rush of Peregrine wings in pursuit of a Linnet. The Peregrine was incredibly close and gave tremendous views for several seconds before it flew out towards the marsh.    

Peregrine

 

As the morning sun warmed up a good number of flies found the metal of my car a good place to warm their bodies. 

Sunbathing flies

There’s more ringing planned for Thursday. Let’s hope the weather holds. 

Linking this weekend to Eileen's Blogspot and Anni in Texas.

Garden Top Ten

Thanks to the Wuhan Flu and house arrest it seems we are all to become garden birdwatchers until further notice. 

Just in time then to read of the latest results from the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch, an event held over the weekend of 25-27 January 2020 when nearly half a million people counted almost eight million birds. It made this year’s Birdwatch one of the biggest ever. 

The RSPB even produced a Top Ten, a list that depending upon a particular location may not equate to all gardens but represents a combined average result from the whole of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. 

Here they are in one to ten order; a list to bring tears to eyes of WhatsApp “bird news” groups. Not a single “scarce or rare” among them. In the archives of Another Bird Blog I found a picture for each of the species, useful ID pointers for those who have little or no time for common birds. 

The figure in brackets is a guesstimate of the top ten in my own garden for an average January day. In our garden, Magpie is replaced by Dunnock, a much nicer prospect. Magpies aren’t around because I chase them off as soon as they appear:

1. House Sparrow (10)
2. Starling (8)
3. Blue Tit (5)
4. Woodpigeon (2)
5. Blackbird (3)
6. Goldfinch (1)
7. Great Tit (4)
8. Robin (6)
9. Long-tailed Tit (9)
10. Magpie (0)
10. Dunnock

House Sparrow 

Starling 

Blue Tit 

Woodpigeon

Blackbird

Goldfinch 

Great Tit 

Robin

Long-tailed Tit

Dunnock

The RSPB Top Ten of the changes little from 2019, with the top three birds the same as last year. Again, the Number One spot is taken by the House Sparrow, making it first for seventeen years running. Meanwhile the House Sparrow is nowadays an uncommon visitor to our ample sized semi-rural garden. Here the House Sparrow struggles to even hit the charts, despite the RSPB report suggesting that their numbers appear to have increased by 10% in the last ten years. 

The RSPB detect movement at fourth and fifth, with the Woodpigeon moving up to four and, last year’s number four the Blackbird falling to five. This is not surprising given the highly adaptive pigeon’s abundance here in Stalmine that gives the species an easy runner-up place in our garden list. This commonality is explained by a nearby mix of farmland, many trees, thick hedgerows, tolerant residents and few shooters. 

Small birds like Long-tailed Tits (up by 14% on 2019), Wrens (up 13%) and Coal Tits (up 10%) counted well during a mild, wet winter that came with very few frosts and little snow. The 14% for Long-tailed Tits also accounts for it remaining high on our local list as a past breeding species in the berberis bush; and a regular visitor likely to nest again. 

The report showed that Chaffinch dropped from the top ten down to number 11. This placing reflects very recent news that this once abundant farmland bird is the latest species in trouble through agricultural changes and over-building on green land and woodland edge. Sadly the Chaffinch is no longer a regular in our own garden. 

Losers out this time included Song Thrush way down at 20th in 2020, seen in just 9% of all gardens. Compare this to earlier Big Garden Birdwatches of 1979 -2009 when the Song Thrush made a top ten appearance in every year. In our garden, the once common Song Thrush is both "scarce and rare".  

It's a surprise the Goldfinch doesn’t even make the RSPB top five when here in Stalmine it is far and away the most common garden bird at any time of year. Perhaps the Goldfinch is not yet a city bird where many of the Big Garden Birdwatchers reside? 

Greenfinch is another big loser over the span of the Big Garden Birdwatch, a reflection of a major nationwide decline in its population. It came in at 18th and was seen in just 14% of gardens, this itself a worrying drop of 8% on 2019. We have a pair of Greenfinches in the garden so we count ourselves rather lucky in many ways. 

And the cherry blossom smells just wonderful. 

 Cherry Blossom

Stalmine

At least the good weather means we don’t sit in in the house and watch TV.  I’m told there are still people who pay a TV Licence fee for the privilege of having their intelligence insulted!   

Meanwhile, the Government is in a “damned if they do, damned if they don’t” situation.  A relaxation of the lockdown advice will be pounced on by TV and newspaper media and used to whip up even more public hysteria.  The effect this media-generated madness is having on an already browbeaten population has been leapt upon as an excuse for a monumental power grab by the illiberal left, forever eager to bring down an elected Government.  

Back soon with Another Bird Blog and tales of The Great Escape.

No Two Days Alike

Most bird ringers will agree that going to the same place on consecutive days may not be a good idea. That’s probably true for sites where the majority of birds are likely to be from a small local area but does not apply where a site attracts migratory birds, ones that are likely to be different individuals each day. And the theory definitely doesn't hold water in migrant hot-spots like coastal bird observatories where both ringing and observations on consecutive days is an absolute must to record day to day variations. 

I guess our site up at Oakenclough is a mixture of the above. For sure there are local birds but located as it is on the edge of the Pennines and with a clear view down to the coast just 12 miles away, there can be a large element of migration at certain times of the year. 

Andy and I had already been twice this week and clocked up almost 80 new birds, the latest on Thursday when we caught 52 of 10 species. So we had no qualms about heading up there again this morning and arranged our meet-up for 0630. 

Thursday was a pretty busy day but this morning produced a downturn in both numbers caught and species observed. Birds ringed 23. We processed 7 Goldfinch, 3 Chaffinch, 3 Long-tailed Tit, 3 Coal Tit, 2 Tree Pipit and singles each of Blackcap, Robin, Great Tit, Goldcrest and Wren. 

Today saw our ninth Tree Pipit of the week. All nine have been first year (born 2018) birds.

Tree Pipit 

After three new Coal Tits yesterday, two more today tells us that the species’ migration is probably under way. 

Coal Tit

Long-tailed Tits are definitely local birds. But we have not seen any large flocks of “lotties” just yet, flights that can number up to twenty, thirty or more individuals following good breeding success and mild winters. 

Long-tailed Tit 

Although we caught just the one Goldcrest today, there is little doubt that their autumnal migration is now on-going. 

Goldcrest 

We didn't record Willow Warbler today; our only warbler sighting consisted of the single Blackcap we caught, a first year male. Although Blackcaps breed close to this ringing site we are pretty sure that the three first years birds caught this week have been migrants. 

Blackcap 

This morning gave a good display of Chaffinch visible migration as small parties of between 2 and 20 individuals arrived from North and North West, flying overhead calling. From the total of approximately 80 observed, A small number stopped off and accounted for the three caught. 

Chaffinch 

About the only other visible migrant today was Swallow. Like the Chaffinches that moved in a similar time frame our Swallow sightings consisted of small parties of between 5 and 15 Swallows all heading south, either directly through or over the ringing site. 

Otherwise: 1 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 10 Pied Wagtail.

Linking today to  Stewart's World Bird Wednesday and  http://id-rather-b-birdin.blogspot.com.

Sunday Best

After one of the few overnight frosts of the winter Sunday began with a layer of ice. I set off with a couple of tail slides and the dash showing 0°C. 

The raised road over Stalmine Moss catches any overnight ice and frost and where one false move over the roller coaster road can see a vehicle plunge into one of the roadside ditches that lie either side. There must have been a layer of ice in the ditches because three Little Egrets stood around on the roadway wondering where their open water feeding had gone. The nearby flash flood had a film of ice with now a small patch of open water with just 20 Lapwings and a single Black-headed Gull. 

Little Egret - Stalmine Moss

At the junction of Lancaster Road was another Kestrel, the third of my so far short journey and all of them sat atop roadside posts watching and waiting for movement on the whitened ground below. Later, and by midday the morning proved to be good for Kestrels with at least six observed throughout the four hours. 

Kestrel

I drove towards Cockerham and Wimarleigh where I checked out the latest ringing/birding site where the owners have given permission for both ringing group members and their vehicles to access their private land. Very soon we hope in return to give the owners lots by way of birding/ringing data together with an understanding of the bird species that use their land throughout the year. This should keep us busy, enhance the land owners’ existing environmental policies and help towards their future plans. 

There was a lively start when I heard Fieldfares close by and then through a handy gateway spotted what appeared to be a dozen or two amongst a flock of Starlings. In fact as I settled down to watch, the numbers feeding in the undulating field seemed closer to 250 Starlings, 250 Fieldfares and 15/20 Redwings. Once or twice the whole lot took to the air when both a Sparrowhawk and then a Buzzard came by. These birds may be new arrivals from the near Continent as both Redwings and Fieldfares have been rather hard to come by around here throughout December.  But with no berries left the hedgerows open fields and treetops are the best places to find the shysters with their bills now darkened by soil rather than berry juice.

Redwing

Fieldfare

Along nearby woodland edge was a large mixed flock of titmice, 50 or more strong with a large contingent of both Long-tailed Tits and Blue Tit but not so many of Great Tit and Coal Tit. It has been a mild winter where survival of this bird family has been for me at least, undocumented until now. 

Long-tailed Tit

Also along the woodland edge, 8/10 Blackbirds and a solitary but welcome Song Thrush. I checked out a marshy pond, a reedy ditch and a meagre looking but newly planted hedgerow. 30+ Mallards, 1 Reed Bunting, 1 Kestrel, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Buzzard and countless Starlings were to be expected but perhaps not the single Stonechat which worked the fence line and the ditch where it seemed to find food-a-plenty. 

In the distance and closer to Winmarleigh I could see hundreds of Pink-footed Geese feeding in extensive pastures with not a road in sight. Those geese are expert at finding quiet fields in which to feed in between avoiding the morning and evening gun rush. 

I called at Gulf Lane where Linnets numbered 150+ and still feeding on the natural stuff close to the fence - unlike the 8 Stock Doves that lifted from the line of rape/millet seed I dropped two days ago. 

Linnets

Linnets

 

I waved goodbye to the ungrateful Linnets but warned them we’d be back soon - with nets.

Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.

Never The Same

The alarm clock buzzed at 0520. I was due to meet Andy and Bryan at 0630 for another ringing session near Oakenclough. The weather forecast of a 2mph wind with no rain proved to be accurate and we enjoyed an eventful morning of both ringing and birding. Three pairs of eyes and ears proved extremely useful during the usual lulls in ringing. 

After an initial round of Great Tits, Coal Tits, a Blue Tit and just a single Willow Warbler it seemed as if the session might be below par for this always productive site. But within an hour the species changed when visible migration began, and after five hours we had caught 51 birds of 10 species. 

While no two ringing sessions are ever the same it was finches top of the leader board again with yet more Goldfinch and Lesser Redpoll. We had handfuls of both Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff together with another Tree Pipit. 

Totals - 14 Goldfinch, 8 Lesser Redpoll, 6 Willow Warbler, 5 Goldcrest, 4 Chiffchaff, 4 Chaffinch, 4 Coal Tit, 3 Great Tit, 1 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Blue Tit and 1 Tree Pipit. 

Willow Warbler

Long-tailed Tit

 

The Ringing Office

Lesser Redpoll

Tree Pipit

Birding proved very interesting and began with our second Osprey of the week. This one followed a similar route to the one on Friday last by flying North to South alongside Harris End Fell before disappearing from view. Seven Grey Herons appeared together from the south, circled for a while before they lost height and dropped to the north and towards the fisheries near Scorton. 

Other raptors seen – 2 Sparrowhawk,1 Kestrel and 9 Buzzard. The Buzzards appeared late in the morning as a “kettle” of 7 plus 2. Three Ravens added to the action on high. 

We noted a steady stream of high-flying hirundines with Swallows to the fore. 60+ Goldfinch and 30+ Chaffinch dominated the arriving finches where Lesser Redpolls seemed less vocal than normal. We were a little surprised to catch nine redpolls when so few seemed to be around. 

An initial count of 5 or 6 Mistle Thrushes turned into a massive 29 when two parties that arrived unseen at the North West corner of the site took to the sky flying east. As the thrushes spread out we counted a flock of 22 and then a gang of 7, all heading the same way. 

It’s often in September that people mistakenly report Fieldfares arriving early in the UK, when in fact Fieldfares do not really arrive here from Scandinavia until late September/October. What those observers have actually seen is a far less common but not unknown flock of Mistle Thrushes. Just last week a local birder, Bryan Yorke saw over 80 Mistle Thrushes in the hills north of Lancaster. 

Mistle Thrush

Seems like our largest UK thrush has enjoyed a good breeding season! 

Other birds noted in the plantation – a single Nuthatch and 2 or more Bullfinch.

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday.

More Redpolls, Not Much Else

Here in coastal Lancashire the continuing cold northerly winds of the last few days seem to have put a temporary halt to migration. 

A feature of last weekend was the many sightings of Buzzards on the move, either in small groups or singly, helped in no small way by the sunny days. It’s also a reflection of the fact that many Buzzards leave some marginal upland sites then head back there in March. There have been small numbers of Chiffchaffs, Wheatears and Pied Wagtails to herald Spring but certainly no mass arrivals. Otherwise the passage of Meadow Pipits has been rather thin and it’s a day or three early to welcome Willow Warblers or Blackcaps.

Buzzard

 

On Tuesday evening the forecast gave more overnight frost, no wind and a promise of a sunny Wednesday so there was a decision to be made, ringing for more redpolls or coastal birding. After recent successes it’s hard to resist the lure of a ringing session at Oakenclough so off I went again to meet up with Andy at the ringing station for 0600. 

Lesser Redpolls dominated another quiet session with 13 new birds but only 3 recaptures from recent days and weeks: 7 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Goldfinch, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Great Tit, 1 Blue Tit and 1 Long-tailed Tit the new birds, with 2 Dunnock and 1 Blue Tit the recaptures. 

Goldfinch

Long-tailed Tit

Lesser Redpoll

In the birding line we noted at least a dozen Lesser Redpoll overhead, some of which found the nets. A single Meadow Pipit was seen/heard but otherwise a nil count for obvious migration. Two Bullfinch which visit the feeding area continue to evade us while a Kestrel and a Sparrowhawk or two pay flying visits. 

Today’s effort leaves us with more than 25 Lesser Redpolls caught in the last ten days but a figure which might stay the same as a poor weather forecast for the next four or five days may put paid to more visits. 

Looks like I will be birding in the rain and wind for a day or two- what’s new?

It’s Magic

This morning dawned grey and breezy so I finished a few chores, rescued the lawn mower from hibernation then cranked it up for the first cut of grass in 2015. Things are warming up for a day or two, then next week there’s more cold weather to let the lawn go back to sleep. There’s nothing quite like the delightful and mysterious British climate to keep a birder or a gardener on their toes. 

By midday there was sun and a spot of birding beckoned. While a.m. birding is mostly more productive than p.m., I set off for a few gentle hours at Pilling. 

The fields at Fluke Hall Lane seemed strangely empty with just 45 or so Lapwing including some paired birds and tumbling display. The hundreds of Golden Plovers of Wednesday had mostly gone with less than 30 remaining and even the Redshanks and Oystercatchers in single figures. A single Snipe rose from the wet stubble, calling as it flew out to the marsh. 

Then I spotted the possible cause of the almost deserted meadows, a tiny, bright-as-a-button Merlin sat motionless, quite high and partly hidden in a tree which overlooks the marsh. The falcon let me take a few shots from the car window before it shot away across the fields in pursuit of a meal, scattering a Skylark or two in the process. Merlins have been pretty scarce this winter with this one almost certainly a migrant heading north for the coming Spring. 

Merlin

Most birds are an anti-climax after catching sight of a magical Merlin, but I left the car behind and set off to walk the lane and shore in search of more birds. A silent Buzzard appeared overhead and flew towards Lane Ends but I know both birds are back on territory now. Likewise the Kestrels; the female hovered above the edge of the wood and then further along the lane a male lifted from the grass and carried a vole to a more convenient dining table. 

Buzzard

Through the wood a Great-spotted Woodpecker, 2 Song Thrush, a pair of Long-tailed Tit, 4 Tree Sparrows and an all too brief Sparrowhawk. The Twite flock of Wednesday was no longer in the car park field, just 190 Pink-footed Goose, 8 Curlew, 2 Pied Wagtail and a pair of Oystercatcher. 

Long-tailed Tit

More Pink-footed Geese were crammed into the fields at Braides Farm, the suspicious flock not daring to come closer than 200 yards from the road. Maybe the recent cold northerly winds have held back their migration because their numbers today were something like 10/12,000, a good number for March when by now many should be on their way to Iceland. The only interloper spotted was a single Barnacle Goose. 

Also there - a single Buzzard, 2 Little Egret, 14 Linnet and 7+ Skylark. 

It’s not an awful lot to show for an afternoon in the sun but a Merlin sure makes any day a special one. If only that Merlin could work its magic on the weather to make Winter vanish and Spring appear? 

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday Blog.

In Them Thar Hills

Andy and I made an early start to a ringing session in the uplands near Oakenclogh - 0730 to be precise. There’d been a good number of finches at the feeding station during our top-up visits and we hoped today might be the start of a new era for this previously valued site. 

A Robin greeted us from the fence post as we set up the “office”. 

Robin

The Office

We were busy from the off and by midday we had caught 66 birds with little in the way of surprises. We had zero recaptures as a number of years have elapsed since the site became unworkable for mist-netting when invasive rhododendrons completely engulfed the low and mid-storey habitat. We learnt recently that the land owners will attempt to clear the remnants of rhododendrons in February 2015 and replant with native trees in Autumn 2015. 

Our morning was dominated by Coal Tit and Chaffinches with 14 of each, closely followed by 10 Long-tailed Tit, 8 Great Tit, 8 Goldcrest, 7 Blue Tit, 2 Robin, 2 Dunnock and 1 Reed Bunting. 

A couple of the male Chaffinches proved to be large specimens with wing lengths of 93 and 95 mms respectively, putting them into the category of “possible” Continentals. 

Chaffinch

Of the 8 Goldcrests just one was a juvenile female, the rest juvenile males, their orange crown feathers hidden amongst the overriding yellow ones. 

male Goldcrest

Goldcrest

Coal Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Reed Bunting - first winter female

We were hoping to catch some of the Lesser Redpoll, Bullfinch and Siskin on site and although all three were seen and heard in small numbers, none found our nets. 

Also seen throughout the course of the morning: 2 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 1 Jay, 15 Greylag, 40 Lapwing, 2 Fieldfare, 2 Blackbird, 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 2 Pied Wagtail. 

Kestrel

There’s more bird watching, bird ringing and bird photography soon on Another Bird Blog.

Linking today to Run-A-Round Ranch.