Mips, Wags And Weather

Wednesday evening’s forecast looked hot to go for a Thursday ringing session so I met up with Will and Andy at 0630 out Pilling way, a week after our last get together since when it has barely stopped raining. 

“In July 2023 some parts of England set new rainfall records, with Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside all recording their wettest July since records began some 150 years ago. The succession of low pressure systems resulting in long periods of damp and windy weather in much of the country was in sharp contrast to July 2022, when there were heatwaves and temperatures as high as 40.3C.” 

Weather

Although hopes were high we didn’t do at all well with just 5 birds caught - 4 Reed Warblers and a Sedge Warbler. Always looking for an excuse we blamed the weather for the lack of birds and the rubbish catch.

Plan B came into play and I set off to another site a car ride away and our brilliant idea for Friday morning. Here are heaps of waste material from a bio plant where the rain of recent days has created muddy pools that hold thousands if not millions of tiny flies and other food items of the right size for pipits and wagtails. 

The sun was out, the gate posts and fences proving to be ideal places for the birds to pose. I grabbed a few photos of Meadow Pipits, Pied Wagtails and Yellow Wagtails and it seemed a shame that there were no Grey Wagtails around for the full set of common wags. 

Yellow Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail

Meadow Pipit

Meadow Pipit

Pied Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Meadow Pipit

Pied Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail

It’s arranged. Friday morning is a meet up with Andy and an attempt to ring a few of the species above. 

Look in again on Friday evening folks to see how we did. 

UPDATE. Friday morning was windy, breezier than the forecasted 6-8mph and although we turned out in hope, the wind proved too troublesome to continue. This frustration was intensified by the sight of 100 + Swallows, 25+ Pied Wagtails, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 3 Reed Buntings, 8 Goldfinch and a Great-spotted Woodpecker, none of which we could catch.

Reed Bunting

 

Linking this weekend to Eileen's Saturday Blog.

Mixi Maxi

What a mixed up week! Two days of wind and rain, a one day window for a ringing session followed by even more rain. And then for Friday the Met Office promised another cloudy, showery, and unsummery day. They were wrong (again) of course as I sat outside in 22°C at 1430 while Julie the mobile hairdresser trimmed what’s left of my thinning hair. 

It was Tuesday when Will and I met up for the single ringing session of the week, hoping mainly for juvenile warblers. The catch of 15 proved slightly disappointing through the lack of variety that the 15 birds gave us -  6 Reed Warbler, 5 Sedge Warbler, 1 Willow Warbler and 3 Blue Tit. 

Sedge Warbler

Reed Warbler

Three of the Reed Warbler were recaptures, two from this year and one from 2022. Reed Warblers are perhaps on of the most site faithful bird species, whereby individual birds will return to the same patch of reedy habitat year after year after spending their winter in middle Africa. 

Our single Willow Warbler was a very welcome bright and lemony individual after a poor spring of catching this species. 

Willow Warbler

It seems that many other ringers are reporting the dearth of Willow Warblers this autumn with little in the way of theories or evidence as to the reasons of the species’ scarcity. It is perhaps related to the very dry spring of April/May followed by the sun-baked month of June, all of which resulted in an apparent lack of insects. But now the month of July has been intensely wet, following the weather pattern of recent years, four weeks good followed by four weeks of bad and masses of insects. 

Disappointment arose because of the lack of other species around - no Whitethroats, Blackcaps or Garden Warblers when we might have expected at least a single representative of each of their species. Instead, 15 Pied Wagtail, 1 Meadow Pipit, 2 Grey Heron, 2 Little Egret, 1 Buzzard, 4 Goldfinch and 15-20 Swallows. 

Grey Heron

Little Egret

Pied Wagtail

Meadow Pipit

 

Compensation for the slow ringing came by way of sight of a young Yellow Wagtail mixed in with the pied variety, this an early date for a now uncommon species’ autumn dispersal. 

The three species of UK wagtails, Yellow, Grey and Pied can cause intense discussion amongst less experienced bird watchers, mainly because all three of the youngsters of each are “grey”. Below is the Yellow Wagtail subject of this post, quite grey above but with a pale yellow wash to the underparts. 

Yellow Wagtail

While the Pied Wagtail is fairly easily sorted, and leaving aside for now the pitfalls of spring and autumn White Wagtails and Pied Wagtails respectively, the ID differences between Grey Wagtails and Yellow Wagtails causes discussion, not least amongst followers of Another Bird Blog. 

In August 2016 and again in July 2021 I decided to remedy this with the post “Yellow Or Grey”, a posting that has since proved to be the most read post in 15 years blogging.  Yellow or Grey

Enjoy the weekend everyone, be it grey, yellow, pied, or better still, sunny,

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday Blog.

Two For One

It’s not often our west coast weather allows two consecutive days of ringing, and hardly ever three days in a week. But this week, and after pushing our luck through marginal forecasts we managed Monday, Thursday and Friday – amazing! 

So after the last post, here’s the summary for Thursday and Friday rolled into one as the mornings were similar or the same in location, weather conditions, species and numbers. 

Our consecutive mornings of Thursday and Friday realised a total of 42 birds - 25 Linnet, 3 Greenfinch, 2 Redwing, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Dunnock, 1 Wren, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Robin, 1 Blackbird, 1 Great Tit, 1 Blue Tit. 

We caught our first Redwings of the autumn, together with migratory Song Thrush and Blackbird. 

Song Thrush

Redwing

The Skylark theme of Monday continued throughout the mornings of Thursday and Friday with many more Skylarks passing over in their north to south path to take our count for the three mornings to several hundred individuals. This has been a phenomenal and most unusual occurrence to take place over this essentially narrow corridor of coastal Lancashire known as Fylde. We simply cannot be sure of the Skylarks’ start points, but almost certainly Scotland. 

Although a good number of the Skylarks showed a high level of interest in a recording of their songs and calls we had no luck with tempting any into a whoosh net catching area. Instead of Skylarks we caught a couple of Pied Wagtails with the whoosh net, both birds first year males. 

Pied Wagtail

Thursday and Friday saw another 25 Linnets ringed with zero recaptures from this or any other year. A good number of the latest Linnets are of Scottish origins. We know this because Linnets from Scotland invariably have the very blackish streaked heads not seen in typical cannabina forms of English Linnets. Alongside that we are also seeing slightly longer winged males of 83, 84 and 85mm. 

"Scottish" Linnet

 

The odds and ends of sightings/birds from Thursday or Friday seem insignificant when laid alongside the Skylark migration of the week.  

Thursday - 28 Whooper Swan, 1 Kingfisher, 2 Buzzard, 1 Sparrowhawk, 5 Reed Bunting, 20 Swallow, 80+ Skylarks. 

Friday - 4 Blackbird, Stonechat, Cetti’s Warbler, Swallow, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Kestrel, Mistle Thrush, 30+ Long-tailed Tit, 140+ Skylark. 

We rather hoped to catch the Cetti’s Warbler singing from first light and periodically throughout the morning.  However, both male and female Cetti’s are known to sing so we can only assume that Friday’s bird was the same one as caught on Monday last, a female, a few days later and already adept at avoiding bird ringers' mist nets.  

Let’s keep an eye on the weather again! It’s looking like the weekend days will be spent at home with a pencil mark in the diary for Monday/Tuesday. 

Keep in touch my friends. 

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

A Handful Of Martins

After the windswept week it was Friday before our second visit of the season to the small House Martin colony near the village of Dunsop Bridge, Forest of Bowland. The last visit here was 7 June 2022 when we caught 11 adult House Martins, the objective today being to catch more adults together with juveniles of the year. 

Andy picked me up at 0600 in his mobile ringing office and me met up with Will about 55 minutes later at the low office building that sits alongside the River Dunsop. 

"Click the pics for full size images."

The great majority of House Martins build their nests under the eaves of houses, (and other low buildings, as here in Bowland) but a few colonies can still be found on cliffs. The famous Malham Cove just over the hills into the White Rose county of Yorkshire and about 20 miles away from Dunsop is one such example - or it was the last time I was there several years ago. With the population decline of House Martins I suspect that the species has gone from that site, as it has from so many others. 

Malham Cove, Yorkshire

 

The House Martin is one of the most widespread birds in Europe, occurring from the Mediterranean all the way north to the Arctic. They are rare breeders in Iceland. Though almost all Europe’s House Martins go a long way south for the winter, a few remain in southern Spain and Portugal throughout the year. 

It is possible to attract new House Martin colonies by erecting boxes in suitable sites (as here), but beware House Sparrows will often take over martin nests, frequently ousting the rightful owners. 

Around 86% of House Martins nesting in Britain attempt to rear two broods. Though the same pair will usually remain together for a single breeding season, it is rare for the two to pair again the following year, even if both survive. A House Martin diet is almost exclusively flying insects, caught on the wing. House Martins typically feed at a higher altitude than Swallows, so the two species do not compete with each other. The House Martin’s furry legs of tiny feathers are thought to be an adaptation to protect the birds from the cooler air of higher altitudes. 

 

House Martin

We’d set off from the coast into Friday morning into a fine morning with zero wind. Upon arrival at the upland site we were greeted by low cloud with a cool, stiff and sometimes swirling wind around the building. Such conditions are far from ideal in which to catch keen-eyed martins but after the long drive we persevered. 

Five birds caught, 2 adult House Martins recaptured from 7 June, 2 new adult House Martins and a Pied Wagtail. Rather surprisingly we caught no juvenile House Martins of the year, although it soon became clear that adults going under the eaves were in the process of feeding youngsters still in the nest.  

House Martin

 

Pied Wagtail

We’ll leave it for a week or two then try to find an ideal weather morning when we hope to see more House Martins on the wing. 

This morning saw a selection of raptors in Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Merlin and Buzzard. 

Into the stiff headwind a Common Buzzard soared around as normal but also “hovered", much like a Kestrel does. It’s relatively uncommon to see Common Buzzards perform this type of hover, and it rarely lasts for more than a few seconds at a time, unlike a Kestrel that can be stationary in the air for minutes at a time. The most likely time to see a Buzzard 'hovering' is when there's a headwind that they can use that makes them appear fixed or barely moving in the air.  It seems that some individuals develop more of a habit of doing it than others. 

Common Buzzard

 

Other birds seen - 3 Pied Wagtail, 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Red Grouse, 2 Meadow Pipit.

Meadow Pipit

 

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

I think next week will see an improvement in the weather and more visits to the Great Outdoors. 

Log in then to see news, views and photos from Another Bird Blog.

 

No Page Threes

The last ten days proved very frustrating. Since returning from Greece in the early hours of 18 May, I’ve not been able to get out ringing or do any meaningful birding. 

Skiathos, Greece - May Days 

My return to a typically British summer of wind and rain meant that gardening and other chores took priority. There’s one thing to say in favour of the good old British climate - it certainly makes things grow, as testified by our green waste bin now bursting to overspill with clippings of grass, trees and hedgerow. 

At last, I’m free so on Saturday I met up with Andy at Oakenclough at 0600 and a promised sunny morning with less than 10mph wind and the customary cold northerlies. 

As I drove on site a buck Roe Deer leapt over the wire fence ahead and disappeared into woodland. I searched in the boot for hat and warm jacket in readiness for the display of 6°, unlike the 27° of recent Skiathos. 

There were Willow Warblers and Garden Warblers in song, a foretaste of that to follow as we caught with good variety, unspectacular numbers but thankfully not a single one of the customary titmice. In fact throughout the morning, a single Coal Tit was the only representative of the tribe. 

14 birds caught – 5 Willow Warber, 2 Chiffchaff and one each of Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Bullfinch, Goldcrest, Pied Wagtail, Robin and Dunnock. 

The adult male Bullfinch was a stunner.  

Bullfinch

Both the Blackcap and the Garden Warbler proved to be adult female with full brood patch, the Pied Wagtail a second year male. 

Pied Wagtail

Garden Warbler

Blackcap

The young Dunnock an example of how soon young birds are able to leave the nest and become at least partly self-sufficient when upon release it flew strongly into the trees from whence it came. 

Dunnock

We caught adult Willow Warblers only with no examples of recently fledged ones. The cold weather of May has slowed the species’ breeding season with the emergence of young a week or more away. 

Chiffchaff

 

Willow Warbler

Birding was quiet because migration is more or less over apart from late stragglers that often surprise. Several families of Greylag, 6 Oystercatcher, 2 Lapwing, 4 Pied Wagtail, 2 Mistle Thrush, 4 Swallows, 4 Garden Warblers, 12+ Willow Warblers. 

Greylags

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

An Improving Picture

The temperature readout showed -1°C and warned of “possible icy roads”. It was 0530 as the wipers scraped across the icy windscreen. I pressed the heated seat buttons, one for me and one for the jacket draped over the seat. I was driving to meet up with Andy and into the hills of Oakenclough where it’s always two or three degrees colder than the Fylde coast. 

Over Rawcliffe Moss the car lit up two Roe Deer frozen in the approaching main beam so I slowed and turned off the lights so as to let them walk across the fields towards the rising sun. It’s best not to panic wild deer into a mad dash, especially if there are fences nearby. 

 

Roe Deer

As ever, and after a couple of poor catches out Pilling way we hoped that things could only get better, despite talk of continued cold weather in Spain, Portugal, and France, countries through which our migrant birds must pass before reaching the UK. 

We caught migrant and newly arrived Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler in the first hour but then faltered through until 1030 without catching anything too exciting in the way of species or numbers. 

Goldfinch, Lesser Redpoll and Coal Tit were caught at feeding points while Coal Tits are something of a local speciality because of the proximity of a stretch of conifers. 

15 birds of 9 species caught - 3 Great Tit, 2 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Goldfinch, 2 Robin, 2 Coal Tit, 1 Wren, 1 Dunnock, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Chiffchaff. 

 

Goldfinch

Lesser Redpoll

 

Dunnock

 

Willow Warbler

Lesser Redpoll

Coal Tit

Other species seen – 2 Blackbird, 2 Buzzard, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 2 Mistle Thrush, 2 Pied Wagtail, 2 Brown Hare. 

Brown Hare

Pied Wagtail

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

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