Out And About

Blackbirds took every single cherry in garden and didn’t bother waiting until the fruit was red ripe. And then they came back for the next tree along, the rowan berries just turning from green to orange, nowhere near the final glossy red that completes a winter landscape. 

Blackbird

Thursday evening was warm and sunny in our sheltered back garden. I watched a male Blackbird drop down from the rowan tree into a dried up patch below where thirsty berry trees had made for a  dusty piece of ground. 

The Blackbird spread its wings and tail, opened its bill and settled down into the dusty ground and began to sunbathe and perhaps to also “ant”. I have seen this behaviour on a number of occasions from different species of birds and this time managed to both observe and to photograph the activity. 

Blackbird

Blackbird

Blackbird

Birds in various climates all around the world indulge in sunning. This can be anything from simply standing with their backs to the sun, with feathers rustled up to expose the skin below, to a full sunbathing posture with wings and tail feathers spread out to maximize the area open to the sun. Obviously, in many cases the birds get warmth from the sun, which reduces the amount of metabolic energy they have to expend in order to maintain a constant body temperature of around 40 degrees C. However, some birds sunbathe in spots which can be quite hot. In such circumstances, sunbathing appears to leave them over-heated as they can be seen panting. 

From Wiki - “Anting is a maintenance behavior during which birds rub insects, usually ants, on their feathers and skin. The bird may pick up the insects in its bill and rub them on the body (active anting), or the bird may lie in an area of high density of the insects and perform dust bathing-like movements (passive anting). The insects secrete liquids containing chemicals such as formic acid, which can act as an insecticide, miticide, fungicide, or bactericide. Alternatively, anting could make the insects edible by removing the distasteful acid, or, possibly supplement the bird's own preen oil. Instead of ants, birds can also use millipedes. More than 200 species of bird are known to ant " .

This week has been quite windy with no chance of a ringing session. During Thursday a quick runaround a local patch resulted in a few expected birds and a Green Sandpiper.  Green Sandpiper is a shy species, one of the earlier returning migrant waders and can be seen in a variety of muddy margined places like ditches, farm middens and similarly secluded locations.  For these early returnees from north and east it is autumn, even though for us in England it is still summer.

 

Green Sandpiper

 

The same stream held 3 Little Egrets, a Grey Heron and 2 Redshanks. 

Little Egret

 

The waterside margins seemed quiet except for a couple of Sedge Warblers and a single Reed Bunting both of which have been in their same spots for weeks now without any sign of having youngsters out of nests. Not so the pair of Moorhens with 5 youngsters in tow and probably their second brood by now mid-July. 

Moorhens

Reed Bunting

Sedge Warbler

 

I recently heard that the dry spring and lack of moisture of 2023 has not been good for egg production or breeding success of both Barn Owls and Kestrels. Whether this is the same for other bird species we do not know: it is a subject for research probably beyond the average birder, me included. My own observations at least are that local Swallows have had a better year, and not before time. There was a single youngster on a gate, waiting for a parent to arrive with food. 

Swallow

 

I called at our Sand Martin colony to see 100+ Sand Martins still around, despite the quarry face suffering from a degree of natural erosion, a combination of the Sand Martins’ own constant toing & froing combined with the vagaries of weather. The gulley left of centre formed by water run-off from above is a concern for the remainder of this year and next year when the martins return from their winter in Africa.  Imagine having to move home every 12 months! 

Sand Martin colony

Sand Martin

 

Friday morning. Rain arrived bang on the XC Weather forecast of 1000. The decision to leave the Sand Martins for another day was the correct one. 

Join Another Bird Blog soon to find out what happened next. 

Linking this weekend to Eileen's Anniversary Blog.

Reconnaissance

Tuesday morning and there’s still no ringing while Avian Flu is around but there’s no harm in looking and planning for better days. 

At 0815 Andy picked me in up in his flash-black Mercedes for a 30 mile trip up to Dunsop Bridge, a village surrounded on all sides by the rolling hills of the Forest of Bowland, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The title ‘Forest’ refers to long established Royal hunting rights, and not as we interpret it today, as a large expanse of woodland. Nearby is Salter Fell Track, a pass along which the Lancashire Witches are believed to have been taken to their trial and later hanging at Lancaster Castle in 1612. 

Dunsop Bridge lies at the confluence of the River Dunsop and the River Hodder before the Hodder flows south to join the River Ribble outside Clitheroe. This is a peaceful, beautiful and mostly undisturbed part of Lancashire where the landscape, environment and ecosystems combine to support a varied bird, insect and animal population. 

Not least of the influential ecosystems are the renowned rainfalls and where on 8 August 1967, Dunsop Valley entered the UK Weather Records with the highest 90 minute total rainfall of 117 mm/4.6 inches. 

We have newly acquired permission to catch and ring House Martins at a long-established colony location during the spring and summer of 2022. Our trip today a reconnoitre, a lay of the land to establish the method, equipment and timings needed for our eventual visits once the martins arrive from Africa during April & May to start their colony reconstruction. 

House Martins

 

The morning was misty and dank with poor visibility as we drove the private track alongside a meandering stream to our destination, a light industrial/office building, ideally situated and of perfect height and seclusion for nesting House Martins. 

House Martin eaves

 

Dunsop Valley

We measured eighteen paces for a 40 foot net and twenty six paces for a 60ft across the grass immediately in front of the building where the west facing brickwork would allow a morning session away from glaring sun. Perfect. 

After chatting to the guys who work there we said our “see you soon” and headed back to the village and eventually the A6 road towards Cockerham and our out of action ringing station. 

Dunsop Bridge

 

As usual the Cockerham feeding station was busy with a steady turnover of birds visiting our seed drop spots - counts of 240+ Linnet, 20+Chaffinch, 15 Blackbird, 6 Reed Bunting, 4 Greenfinch and a couple of Moorhen. Moorhens are not averse to using feeding stations in the wintertime where they quite happily hoover up bird seed. There was the customary Sparrowhawk hanging around but giving just glimpses as it kept mostly out of sight of us and the birds it would target.

 

Moorhen

Greenfinch

Chaffinch

 

We still await an email from DEFRA/APHA and/or the BTO to let us know when the Avian Flu 10Km control zone is revoked so that we ring birds again.  

We’ve missed out on catching a couple of hundred birds and all the data that would provide during December/January; and now eight weeks later and almost February, there's no end in sight. 

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday Blog and Anni in Texas.

Thursday’s Birding

More birding this morning as I headed over the moss road into a glorious sunrise, one eye on the lookout for early morning owls. It’s best to keep the other eye fixed on the single track road where the unwary might find their car sliding off the road into a field 15ft below should a tractor appear from nowhere. I wouldn’t see a Barn Owl until I arrived at Conder Green. After a good number of sightings throughout the early part of the year our local Barn Owls are now harder to find. 

The Moss

First I pulled into a farm gate at Crimbles to count the flock of feeding Curlews. On Tuesday I estimated more than 450 in the field. This morning, and after the torrential downpours, thunder and lightning of Wednesday, the Curlews numbered more like 700. The rain had freshened up the grass, puddled tractor tracks and no doubt brought more worms to the surface for the Curlews to take their fill. 

At Conder Green a Barn Owl hunted all over the marsh, ducking and diving into the long grass, stopping just occasionally to take a breather on a fence post. The owl had such a circuit that it disappeared from view for minutes at a time but then to reappear at times from an unexpected quarter. Unfortunately the bird didn’t come very close, hence the “rangefinder” shots. When a Barn Owl appeared from over the far side of the canal and flew around the margins of the pool I wondered if there might be two in action, but probably not. 

Barn Owl

Barn Owl

Barn Owl

 Barn Owl

“Greens” appeared again with the single Greenshank and Green Sandpiper while both Redshank and Lapwing numbers are lower than of late with about 40 of each. Just 5 Common Sandpiper today, the peak of their autumn return already passed. 

Greenshank

 

The young Avocet now ventures away from the adults by exploring the further edges of the pool but looks to be a week or more from first flight. The usual wildfowl still present by way of 4 Tufted Duck, 2 Wigeon and 1 Goosander with the addition today of 4 Canada Goose. Also on the pool – 3 Little Egret and 1 Grey Heron. 

A piece of excellent news is that I counted 5 active House Martin nests at Café de Lune and it is obvious that the martins prefer this building to others very close by. There’s no doubt that birds in general know exactly what they require in any given situation and that second best will rarely do. 

There are mobs of noisy Starlings about now, the flocks comprised of mostly juvenile birds like the one below. Juveniles of the year soon moult many of their brown feathers and start to take on the spotted appearance of an adult like the one standing along a wooden gate.  

Starling

At Glasson I found 2 young Moorhen with no sign of an adult nearby. A Common Tern fished the water of yacht basin at Glasson with 60+ Swallows feeding over the still water and 2 Pied Wagtail feeding exploring the towpath and the moored boats. There are lots of young wagtails around at the moment and they outnumber adults by seven or eight to one. 

At Bank End, Cockerham I found 20+ Pied Wagtails, a Wheatear, 2 Stock Dove and 50+ Sand Martins. We have not been able to catch and ring any the Sand Martins this year as their nest holes are far too high up the quarry face. 

Moorhen

 

Pied Wagtail

A trip around Jeremy Lane and Moss Lane found more gangs of Starlings as well as family parties of Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler and Reed Bunting. It was time to head home, job done until next time on Another Bird Blog.

Linking today to Anni's Birding , Eileen's Blog and to Run A Round Ranch.

Pilling Surprises

Pilling proved very interesting this morning with one or two migrant birds on show followed by a complete revelation. 

I kicked off at Fluke Hall where along the sea wall a mixed flock of about 60 finches greeted me. They were very flighty but I could hear the distinct calls of both Linnets and Twite. Eventually the flock split up with an approximate count of thirty of each of these closely related species. 

Twite

Linnet

It was while trying to get to grips with the finches that at least 4 Wheatears came into view. The Wheatears were very mobile with some flying into the current “no-go” area where contractors are repairing the sea wall. There seemed to be equal numbers of female and male Wheatears today with the single bird I caught proving to be a second year female, obvious from the generally worn plumage. 

With a wing of 93 mm and a weight of just 22.9 grams it was also of the nominate race Oenanthe oenanthe. 

Wheatear - second year female

Wheatears

Along the hedgerow was a single Reed Bunting, a singing Greenfinch and of all things a single Fieldfare chattering away, and now somewhat late to be setting off to Northern Europe or Scandinavia. It wasn’t the thrush I was hoping to see this morning and although a Ring Ouzel might be a good find, a common Fieldfare is a pretty stunning bird which takes some beating. 

Fieldfare

From the woodland a Chiffchaff sang amongst the chattering of Tree Sparrows and the loud songs of three Song Thrushes. The Nuthatches are still about and continuing with their secretive nesting. I’m not sure if the birds are using a nest box or in a natural site but all should become clear once they begin to feed the youngsters. 

I walked the stretch from Lane Ends to Pilling Water and back. The Environment Agency recently installed a shiny new gate so that the lazy ones have easy access to the shore and now don’t need to climb over the stile to let their dogs chase sheep or wreck the wader roost. Amazing! 

There was a Willow Warbler singing from the plantation and a few chatterings from Lesser Redpolls flying north towards Heysham. At Pilling Water the pool held 3 Black-tailed Godwits in their summer finery, 4 Teal and a Little Egret. Along Broadfleet a single Grey Heron and down on the shore 3 more Wheatears.

It was at Lane Ends I found a pair of Moorhens with 3 chicks which made me consult the books about this common but neglected species. There it was in black & white - Egg laying starts in spring, between mid-February and mid-May, incubation lasts about three weeks. 

Moorhen

Moorhen chick

So while we have all been waiting for Spring, complaining about the wind, rain, snow and goodness knows what, our plucky old Moorhens have been busy raising a family. There’s commitment and perseverance for you.

Linking today to Anni's Birding Blog and  run-a-roundranch.blogspot.

Mainly Kingfisher

I’m hoping that blog readers like to see Common Kingfishers because that’s virtually all the pictures on show today when other birds failed to play ball with the camera. Don't forget to click the pics for a Kingfisher feast.

There are many boats of all shapes and sizes at Glasson Dock, the vessels tied with all manner of ropes and chains. The moorings and the boats make for great perches where a Kingfisher can watch the water just a few or several feet below. From across the water I spotted one doing just that. 

Glasson Dock

A Kingfisher has eyesight with polarising filters which cuts out reflections and enables the bird to see their underwater prey better. When they plunge into the water, the eyes are protected by a membrane, so they actually catch their prey blind, relying on touch to snap their bills shut. A Kingfisher prefers to hunt in shallow water because it gives them better accuracy. 

Kingfisher

Kingfisher

Kingfisher

Kingfisher

Kingfisher

Kingfisher

Just like the owl family, the kingfisher family of birds bring up the indigestible parts of their food as pellets. In the case of kingfishers they regurgitate tiny pellets of indigestible fish bones. The pictures below show today's Kingfisher doing that. 

 Kingfisher

 Kingfisher

Kingfisher

I walked a good way along the towpath towards Conder and then back to Glasson with reward in the shape of an unexpected Nuthatch, the bird calling loudly from the tiny wood alongside the path.

Nuthatches have been somewaht scarce in recent years, although they may still be a mile up the road at Thurham. It's  a Nuthatch haunt of many years standing but not a particularly good summer birding spot. The Nuthatch below is from 2011.

Nuthatch

Otherwise, a good count of 12+ Reed Warblers, made up of three singers and other birds scuttling through the waterside vegetation to feed or be fed. Also, 2 Chiffchaff in song, 4 Tree Sparrow, 3 Reed Bunting and 3 Whitethroat. 

A good number of Moorhens use the thick waterside vegetation, some feeding their likely second broods. 

Lancaster Canal - Glasson

Moorhen

Two whistle stops at Conder Green revealed 50+ Swift, 120 Redshank, 12 Common Sandpiper, 2 Black-tailed Godwit and 1 Spotted Redshank.

The usual herons, 4 Little Egret and 2 Grey Heron.

Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.

More soon from Another Bird Blog.