No Show

Three degrees at dawn but not the songsters. The temperature was 3º at Oakenclough where Friday's ringing turned into another poor show of zero migration and little in the way of new birds.  I tell a lie. Visible migration consisted of consisted of 2 Swallows arriving as singles and 2 Siskins, singles again. Otherwise, nothing in the clear skies above or in the trees and bushes below. 

Click the pictures for a full frame.

We started off with high hopes and three birds on the first round at 0700. Willow Warblers have somehow found their way north, hence a count of 10 to 12 singing males. We had three new male Willow Warblers in our catch of just six birds - 3 Willow Warbler, 1 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Robin and 1 Goldfinch. 

Lesser Redpoll

  

Willow Warbler

Very often it's the absent species that provide the clue to an overall picture. So female Willow Warblers have yet to arrive, along with Blackcaps, Garden Warblers, Whitethroats and the elusive Goldcrests. The latter species is not represented at all in our catches this spring, perhaps as a result of the cold wet autumn and icy winter of 2020/2021 when large numbers would die.  Likewise the lack of Long-tailed Tits this year, another species susceptible to cold winters. 

Swallows and House Martins are extremely scarce so far in April despite the plentiful arrival of Sand Martins in late March when winds were more favourable. Swifts may too be delayed as by now the 25th, the first of their ilk are usually reported in Lancashire. 

Nationally it is hard to get a handle on how many of the commoner species are arriving in the country when Internet birding sites are 99% dominated by rarity reporting. So for instance we know when Bee Eaters, Hoopoes and other exotica arrive, but common migrants are off the radar of too many hit-list birders. 

Birds around the area of our ringing site consist of resident Robins, Dunnocks, Wrens, Mistle Thrushes and Pied Wagtails. Blackbirds and Song Thrushes are pretty scarce here where the tree and shrub cover is sparse until late summer. 

Maybe next time we'll pick up a few of the missing species?

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An hour and two on Saturday at our ground zero Pilling/Cockerham ringing site birds proved birds more varied and in higher numbers. By Saturday afternoon temperatures reached the balmy heights of 15 degrees but it felt cool away from sunshine.

The tiny pool held a pair of Canada Geese with four or five youngsters in tow, the goslings so tiny that they were mostly hidden from view in the grassy undergrowth. Also on the pool - 2 Shelduck, 2 Greylag, 3 Tufted Duck, 2 Moorhen, a pair of Little Grebe, a Little Egret, and a single Reed Warbler in raucous song.

Shelduck

Further exploration found 4 Wheatear, 10 Linnet, 4 Pied Wagtail, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Buzzard. Three pairs of Oystercatcher show all the signs but seemingly they are yet to lay their eggs.

Wheatear

Pied Wagtail

Oystercatcher

I think we might have a bash at the Sand Martins next week. At least we know there are plenty on site.

 

Sunday Surprises

I don’t ring many Lapwings nowadays. The species is so scarce in this part of coastal Lancashire that finding a brood of young Lapwings is something of a surprise and an occasion to boot. 

On the outskirts of Cockerham this morning I found 2 pairs of Lapwings and both had two youngsters each. So once the female had sent the chicks off to feed I located them quickly because the field was so close-cropped. 

Lapwing

Lapwing chicks

Lapwing chicks are nidifugous i.e.animals which leave the nest shortly after hatching or birth, a term derived from Latin nidus for "nest" and fugere meaning "to flee". The terminology is most often used to describe birds and was introduced by Lorenz Oken in 1816. The term "nidifugous" is sometimes used synonymously with "precocial", as all nidifugous species are precocial - that is, born with open eyes and capable of independent locomotion, and in the case of waders, able to feed themselves soon after birth. (Wiki).

In wader chicks the legs and feet are well developed at a very early stage, a natural adaptation which helps their early locomotion and thus the ability to find their own food. 

There were 4 Mistle Thrushes, a family party feeding in the same field as the Lapwings. It’s a pretty poor picture but then Mistle Thrushes are generally as shy as the rest of the thrush family. 

 Mistle Thrush

Alongside the nearby wood was a Willow Warbler nest with just 3 young, one of which had recently died, the small and poor brood almost certainly a result of the recent weather. 

Willow Warbler chick

It’s something of a wildfowlers’ wood and one that is not without the remnants of last autumn’s shoots by way of a good number of Pheasants. There was also a Reeve’s Pheasant today, a rather good looking and photogenic creature which made a nice change from our ubiquitous Pheasant. 

Reeve's Pheasant 

The Reeves's Pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii) is a pheasant of the genus Syrmaticus. It is endemic to China. It is named for the British naturalist John Reeves, who first introduced live specimens to Europe in 1831. 

 

This pheasant is kept as an ornamental species, easily reared in captivity by placing eggs under domestic chickens or by buying adult birds. As always happens in such cases a certain number escape from captivity and breed in such numbers that a feral population becomes established. Reeve’s Pheasant is not on the main British List which birders use to count their ticks as the feral population is so small it is not yet recognised as being self-sustaining. 

Nevertheless they seem to be becoming increasingly easy to find in the Norfolk Brecks where they are targeted by rather sad twitchers. There are a number of other locations around the country where this species seems to be gaining a foothold, so perhaps it won't be long before they are recognised as a “British Bird”. 

In the meantime if you have a broody chicken or two and fancy having a Reeve’s Pheasant in the back garden, eggs guaranteed to hatch are available through Ebay. Alternatively by rearing a few, releasing them onto a private estate and then charging twitchers ten quid a time could generate a tidy sum towards that new camera. 

A male Pied Wagtail carrying food wasn’t unexpected but it gave the pheasant a slice of competition in the good looks department. 

Pied Wagtail

There were no more surprises this morning. But you never know, there could be more soon on Another Bird Blog so keep looking in.

Linking this post to  Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.