Some You Win

At last on Friday there was a half-decent day on which to have a go at the Linnets. The day before I checked out Gulf Lane and Glasson and dropped seed at both, and then as the Linnets came back, made a count. At Glasson I counted 280+ and at Gulf Lane 130+ so the choice on Friday was to head for the least breezy place. 

The site at Glasson is marginally better if there’s any wind so I met up with Andy at 0715 and we set a couple of nets. Once again, the catch was poor, very poor, as the Linnets refused to play ball and we caught just 3 birds, 2 Reed Buntings and a single Linnet. This was despite a flock of 300+ Linnets that circled around all morning and 7 Reed Buntings in the hedgerow. 

Reed Bunting

Linnet

Down in Glasson village there was a good mix of wildfowl on the marina with 19 Goldeneye, 7 Cormorant, 1 Goosander, 1 Great Crested Grebe 1 Little Grebe, 22 Tufted Duck and 35 Coot. And not forgetting 2 drake Pochard. The Pochard is now something of a rarity in these parts in comparison to early and mid-1990s when counts at Glasson Dock regularly reached into the 30s and 40s and many hundreds congregated on inland waters just north of Lancaster. 

Pochard 

Goldeneye

Goldeneye

It’s not just the UK where populations of the Pochard Aythya ferina are near critical level. Nature preservation group BirdLife Finland reports that populations of the endangered Common Pochard have decreased massively in the past two decades. The organisation chose the Common Pochard to be the Bird of the Year 2018. BirdLife's calculations show that Finnish populations of the Pochard fell a staggering 80 percent in the past 20 years. The organisation hopes to help revive the species by naming it the year's top bird. In the early 1970s the Kokemäki river delta in Satakunta bustled with some 250 pairs of Pochards. 

Local calculations from a few years ago put the figure at just 30. Technically all species of water fowl are threatened across Europe due to a number of factors, says specialist Antti J. Lind. "One of the biggest reasons is that their habitat is hugely compromised, with wetlands being dried up by industrial expansion and left to eutrophy," 

Lind says. "The Pochard needs a lot of open water to thrive." Lind also says that hunting threatened species should be prohibited. 

 Glasson Dock

  

Linking today with Anni's Blog and Eileen's Saturday Blog.

Back On Duty

My notebook told me that I last did local birding on 16th January before the holiday to Lanzarote. It was time today to find some winter clothes, check out the local scene and forget the exotic birds and tropical sunshine of the Canary Islands. 

There was a full moon and as the sun rose I waited at the appointed spot for a Barn Owl to appear but none did so I hightailed it to Conder Green. 

Full Moon over Pilling

I thought the pool might be somewhat frozen following recent days of zero temperatures so I was pleasantly surprised to see lots of wildfowl scattered across the still open water. There was a good count of 1 Goldeneye, 6 Little Grebe, 29 Wigeon, 52 Tufted Duck, 42 Mute Swan, 4 Greylag and 1 Black Swan, and then dead centre of the circulating throng, a single Pochard. 

The Pochard is now so scarce in our area that to see even a solitary one is something of an occasion although I did think that it was here by way of tagging onto the unusually high count of Tufted Duck displaced from Glasson Dock half a mile away. Two Lapwing and 1 Oystercatcher on the island clearly have designs on the usual breeding spots. 

Pochard

In the roadside creeks - 100+ Teal, 1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Snipe and “several” of both Curlew and Redshank. Towards the car park and alongside the road I found 4 Goldfinch, 10 Chaffinch and a pair of Pied Wagtails, together with good numbers of Starlings and House Sparrows in the vicinity of the farm buildings. 

 Spotted Redshank

Chaffinch

Starling

While the shallow pool at Conder Green was unfrozen after driving the half a mile to Glasson Dock I was surprised to see partial ice-cover, thus explaining why so many Tufted Duck had chosen to leave here, their normally preferred location. The "tuftie" count here was down to 12 with a similar count of 11 Goldeneye and a normal total of 45+ Coot. 

Goldeneye

Goldeneye

Glasson Dock

I drove back to Pilling, passing several thousand Pink-footed Geese two fields back from the road and at a dangerous spot to park on the infamous A588 so I carried on to Fluke Hall. Lots of Snowdrops littered the woodland but I didn’t see too many birds, just a couple of Redwings, 2 Great-spotted Woodpeckers, a single Jay and several Goldfinch. I’m fairly certain I heard a couple of Siskin calls but a tractor went by and the chance was gone. 

Snowdrops

The incoming tide began to drop a few birds into the thawing fields, in particular a nice count of 700 Lapwing, 260 Black-tailed Godwit, 70 Golden Plover, 70 Redshank and 45 Oystercatcher. The godwits tried to feed quite close to the road where they quickly found themselves disturbed by passing traffic. A flock of Black-tailed Godwits against a blue sky makes for a spectacular sight, the striking black & white configuration of their plumage when they fly being quite unique and unmistakeable in the world of wading birds. 

Black-tailed Godwits

Black-tailed Godwits

In the distance I could see the geese had been disturbed from their field inland of the sea wall and were now flying out to the safety of the salt marsh. From Lane Ends car park and in the foreground of the picture below, a minimum of 7000 Pink-footed Geese plus 2 Barnacle Goose and a single White-fronted Goose. In the background, Heysham Power Station. 

Pink-footed Geese, Pilling Marsh

A good morning of birding, and as is often the case, there’s nothing quite like birding one’s local patch. Who needs Lanzarote?

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

It's Not Life Or Death

Conder Green was the destination this morning, where a gentle walk and a dose of serious birding seemed a good option for the bright sunshine start. 

I stopped briefly at Braides Farm perhaps the most reliable spot in the Fylde to see Golden Plovers and where sure enough I saw a number of goldies, 45 or so distant in the rough grass field. Much more impressive were the large numbers of Curlews feeding in the soggy field whereby I counted a minimum of 430 birds. 

Feeding in the same field were approximately 600 Starlings, perhaps the reason a female Sparrowhawk was poised "ready to go" on a distant fence post.  Sure enough the hawk dropped to within inches of the ground and in one motion set off low across the field, scattering everything in its path, hoping to surprise some luckless prey. I lost the hawk in the melee but within a minute or two and after a panicked fly about, everything returned to normal. 

I’m posting a picture of Golden Plover courtesy of Princeton University Press which is from The Crossley ID Guide: Britain & Ireland.

  Golden Plover from  The Crossley ID Guide: Britain & Ireland

For anyone who missed it last week, it’s not too late to enter the free draw for a signed copy of The Crossley ID Guide: Britain and Ireland here on Another Bird Blog via Last Wednesday's posting.

There were more Curlews at Conder Pool, another 60+ refugees from the flooded fields nearby. Something had disturbed them from their usual hangout, some flying about the pool, others landing briefly but remaining as wary as only Curlews are inclined to be. Also representing the waders were a single Snipe, 1 Oystercatcher, 2 Spotted Redshank and 12 Redshank. 

Curlews

I had a good count of Teal when the wandering but resident cows pushed the duck from their favoured haunt behind the island. Together with the Teal in the creeks it made my count up to 270 birds, dwarfing the other wildfowl and waterbird counts of 14 Little Grebe, 10 Wigeon, 3 Cormorant, 1 drake Pochard and 4 Little Egret. Looking across the marsh I noted another large female Sparrowhawk, this one adopting a slow, gliding flight in the hope of flushing something in passing; with no luck it continued its path and into the caravan park where there will be bird feeders.

Pochard

I decided to try my luck at Glasson where the morning light for counting the wildfowl was dead against me, but there looked to be 150 or more combined Coot and Tufted Duck. 

I’m not in the least a religious person, but I quite like a mooch around a quiet churchyard where gravestones tell wonderful tales of life and death and where birds can be found; usually it’s Robins, Dunnocks, Blackbirds, Mistle Thrushes and in the summer if you’re lucky, Spotted Flycatchers. 

No big thrushes today, just 10 or more Blackbirds which found me a Tawny Owl huddled away in a tree, Chaffinches and Goldfinches joining in the scolding. There was even a Grey Wagtail on the topmost branch of the tree and a Chiffchaff adding its warning call. 

Tawny Owl

 

What a great way to a end a fine morning. There's more of this bird watching lark soon on Another Bird Blog.

Trying Hard

I wasn't too hopeful about birding this morning as early and mid-June can be hard going. It's when  when migration stops, breeding adults stay glued to nests and generally keep a low profile until their nestlings emerge. In the end the morning proved quite productive by way of a few new pics and another Lapwing chick to add to the tally of recent weeks. 

Conder Green was first stop and where a good selection wildfowl awaited in the shapes of 2 Pochard, 2 Wigeon, 2 Teal, 16 Tufted Duck and a single Great-crested Grebe. Waders were the expected ones of Oystercatchers and Redshanks, with no sign of Little Ringed Plovers, an omission which doesn't mean they are not around but simply out of sight and keeping quiet, the latter if true an unusual occurrence for LRPs. 

Pochard

Passerines were sparse here with a singing Sedge Warbler, 2 Reed Buntings and a Song Thrush also in song with flyover Linnet and Goldfinch in ones and twos. There seemed to be good numbers of House Martins zipping around River Winds, with a fly-through of a Sand Martin perhaps from the tiny colony at Cockerham. More worrying is the lack of Swallows I count at the moment; following a couple of poor breeding seasons, their normal losses in wintering quarters and then on migration I fear their population is on the low side for now. Such are the risks of their strategy of summering in the Northern Hemisphere.

It was Pilling next for the compulsory walk to Fluke and back, accompanied by the cries of Lapwings, Redshanks and Oystercatchers. Yes, the Oystercatchers definitely have young now, but hidden away in a sileage field, the adults providing a running commentary and all the time trying to lead me in the opposite direction to their chicks. 

Oystercatcher

Oystercatcher

There was yet another single Lapwing chick with a pair of adults, and from the size of it I thought it could be one and the same bird from Friday. But no, when I went to where the chick crouched it turned out to be a new one with the flight feathers half-grown. 

Lapwing

Lapwing chick

 

Five Grey Herons today as breeding birds and new young leave their inland haunts for the coast. Two Little Egrets was more difficult to explain unless they too have completed their breeding season. A single Greenshank again today out towards the tideline. 

Carrion Crows have hatched and fledged young on Hi-Fly's set-aside area - now there is a surprise. The young crow won't remain so approachable for long and will surely learn to flee the sound of gunfire.

 Carrion Crow

Otherwise things were quiet although a dashing Peregrine gave a brief but brilliant flying display while attempting but failing to catch a feral pigeon. A good try - hard luck Peg, but thanks for ending my morning in such spectacular fashion.

Linking today to  Stewart's Photo Gallery.

Getting A Buzz

I got hold of a three hour pass to use before the babysitting when Olivia arrived. We promised to take her out for lunch for “chips and beans”. Unlike Theo who will eat most things put in front of him, like lots of kids nowadays Olivia has a more limited diet that tantalises her taste buds; so on one day a week it’s difficult to wean her off her favourite junk. I don’t find it hard to believe that many kids these days can’t put a name to common fruit and vegetables. Or, as the mystified young lad working on our Tesco checkout when faced with courgettes to key into his till asked, “What are they?”. Maybe we should be grateful that they at least seem to be getting taught about environmental issues, giving them a chance to understand how previous generations messed the world up for them.

I wanted to check out Braides Farm first so headed there via Fluke Hall Lane, frozen overnight again after the umpteenth frost of this abnormal winter. A group of 25 Lapwing and a couple of Black-headed Gulls huddled in a single whitened but still damp patch, but otherwise my notebook remained empty. Near the seawall at Braides were 170 Lapwing, 65 Golden Plover and 60 Curlew, with less than 10 Skylark. I also counted 7 Little Egrets, less than the 11 last week but they certainly get around this whole area with more always further towards Cockerham Moss, Pilling, Bank End, Thurnham and the Lune.

From the track I could see the Buzzard on the sea wall, as could a patrolling Short-eared Owl that proceeded to dive bomb the larger bird. I got pictures of the Buzzard but the owl was less keen to harass me as a predator than the Buzzard. Otherwise I would have got better pictures of it. The Buzzard lifted off and circled to gain height whilst the owl kept its distance from me.

Buzzard

Buzzard

Short-eared Owl
A quick tally at Conder Green revealed the overnight duck turnover of 25 Wigeon, 33 Tufted Duck, 11 Pochard, 2 Shelduck and 35 Teal with a lone Grey Heron and several Oystercatchers, Curlew and Redshank.

Shelduck

Pochard
The tide was way out at Cockersands caravan park so counting much was out of the question but I was content to try my luck with the shy Stonechat and the other small birds along the shore, 11 Linnets, 1 Reed Bunting, 4 Chaffinch, 3 Greenfinch and a couple of Blackbirds commuting to and from the caravans.

Linnet

Stonechat
On the return journey I could see thousands of Pink-footed Geese on the fields opposite Gulf Lane but didn’t have four hours to spend going through them for a “goodie”, especially along Mortuary Mile.

Back at Lane Ends the roadside Fieldfare gradually eating through all the Sea Buckthorn berries has been a great photo opportunity for anyone who likes to take pictures of common birds. A bit “dudy” perhaps for those who only get their camera out for “good” or rare birds with which to fill up all the local bird reports? But I get a buzz out of taking photographs of any birds. I looked at a North West bird report recently and it did not contain a single photo of a common bird, just pictures of the supposed highlights of the birding year. Then everyone complains about the huge turnout at twitches, the Day After Birders, the Weekend target touts, the pagers and mobiles ringing out for fun! Well what do we expect if through local bird reports and pager systems keen beginners are introduced to a diet of rarities and “good” birds, the ”E Numbers” of bird watching, rather than shown the joys of patch watching, survey work, vis migging or taking photographs of common birds? Is it any wonder that so many become hooked on the wrong diet and have no interest in the humble spud?

Fieldfare
Fieldfare
So what’s the big attraction of Sea Buckthorn to the Fieldfare apart from the fact that other berries are now in short supply?

“Sea Buckthorn berries are a common source of nutrition for a great deal of wildlife, birds in particular, but when they are eaten by humans they tend to be very bitter and quite unpleasant and may need to be used as an additive to other types of food in the diet. The most common form of Sea Buckthorn is Hippophae Rhamnoides and the female of the species produces succulent and juicy orange berries which is becoming a popular and fast selling product. Normally found on coastal areas of many areas in Europe and some parts of Asia, the plant includes berries which are now being cultivated to sell to the general public who have discovered that these berries can be potentially very good for health. The berries contain extremely high levels of vitamin C, though vitamins A and E and amino acids have also been found in many varieties of the plant. Although definite research into their exact health benefits have not been fully carried out and evaluated, it is generally assumed that due to their high content of vitamin C that they must have some benefit to health and can be enjoyed in many products. The anti-oxidant properties may be proved to help eliminate some of the harmful chemicals found in the body that may affect the heart and its function. Sea buckthorn berries have also been found to be beneficial in preventing narrowing of the arteries caused by a build-up of cholesterol. Compounds in the berries are now being derived and used in health supplements specifically for this reason”.

Sea Buckthorn
Isn’t the Internet wonderful?

Duck Days

I really didn’t think I would get out today what with the grey dawn that precludes much camera work, the cold easterlies, a lack of general enthusiasm and a promise to look after Little Paul that would take up our afternoon.

After I missed the Ring-necked Duck yesterday I must admit I wasn’t in a great hurry to get out to Fleetwood to catch up but when a phone call told me the said bird had relocated to this side of the river within a mile from home at Preesall Flashes, I motored down Back Lane. In fact I am ashamed to say it was almost a trip down Memory Lane as I visit the flashes very infrequently nowadays, and whilst I found the car park, the other paths were less familiar.

The duck was there of course, in the deep unfrozen waters of the long expired salt pits amongst a flotilla of other related but less exotic athyas, 4 Tufted Duck and a dozen or so Pochard, but so easy to pick out it is such a striking drake.

Ring-necked Duck

Tuftede Duck

Pochard

I guess that the open water has also increased the Coot count lately. Therefore a count of 200+ was good to see even if they all kept their distance, unlike the normal suburban park example.

Coot

Likewise the several hundred Mallard, with an enormous concentration on the whole flashes, but most of them are of the “released for sport” variety. Exotica appeared again in the form of 2 drakes and 1 female Mandarin, origin unknown but I must check with my pal Graham who has/had a couple in a plastic pool at his back door a few weeks ago.

Mallard

Mandarin

More legitimate was the sight of two Great-crested Grebe, several Teal and a couple of female Goldeneye, all long standing visitors to the flashes.

Great-crested Grebe

Teal

Goldeneye

Back at home I still have a dozen Chaffinch and a dozen Blackbirds in the semi frozen garden. And today a male Sparrowhawk that put in a brief but noticeable appearance that scattered all and sundry.

A trip around some of my more usual haunts tomorrow I think.

Luney Morning

I stopped at Damside, Pilling this morning to let a wide vehicle over the bridge, quite handy really as it allowed me a glimpse of a Mistle Thrush almost overhead on a telegraph pole, then to hear a snatch of song above the traffic noise. Well it is December and I reckon I always hear a Mistle Thrush on or close to December 25th, but certainly soon after the shortest day; maybe it was the sunny start that persuaded the thrush to try a verse or two. It’s not a species that figures a lot in ringing totals, but here’s an old digitised slide from Singleton Hall in the 1990s.



I had just come along Fluke Hall Lane where strangely the stubble was devoid of birds even though the shallow floods now look perfect for waders and wildfowl – perhaps yesterday was a shoot day and the birds haven’t returned?

But the Whooper Swans were out on the marsh, where from Lane Ends car park I could see distant swans further out from Fluke Hall with 18 Whooper Swans directly opposite me which as usual flew off south in small groups. For the record, 5 Little Egrets here this morning with 4 at Braides Farm, 2 at Bank End and 4 on the Lune Estuary.





The sunny start allowed me to spend a little time at Conder and also at Glasson where in the south facing car park, it was positively balmy if not quite summer. Here’s a picture to remind us how Glasson Dock looks in summer.



I counted most of the wildfowl, i.e. 38 Tufted Duck, 3 Pochard, 1 Cormorant, 1 Great-crested Grebe and 1 Goldeneye, but I didn’t feel up to a Coot count.











There was no tide to concentrate birds but it was such a clear morning with phenomenal visibility that I did a quick circuit of the Lune via the Victoria, Bodie Hill and Cockersands and attempted what was I admit a not very scientific “guesstimate” count of the most obvious and numerical species. For what it’s worth, I got 3000+ Wigeon, 7500+ Lapwing, 2000 Bar-tailed Godwit and 8000 Knot with small numbers of Goldeneye, Pintail, Eider, Red-breasted Merganser and Great-crested Grebe. And that’s not including the thousands of gulls and lesser numbers of waders like Redshank and Oystercatcher. I think it’s called “scratching the surface”.

At Conder the sight of 400 Black-headed Gulls greeted me, whose noisy presence rather took over the expanse of the pool. Neither did they seem in any hurry to leave, so I had to search for the normal odds and ends, as in 2 Little Grebe and 1 Goldeneye.

Over near the Stork pub the creek held 10 Redshank, 30 Teal, 4 Curlew and just a single Snipe. I was pleased to see a Ruff, presumably the same one seen in recent weeks but not for a few days or more.



I walked part of the cycle track where a mixed group of 15 Chaffinch and Goldfinch searched through some flimsy weeds with a small party of titmice.





A couple of Redshank fed below the bridge in the strong sunlight but a Greenshank was too quick off the mark for me to get a photo of it and flew off with its customary triple alarm. PW, I think the reflections from the sand messed up the image? Digital isn't everything.



I had time for a dive down to Bank End where I saw a Kestrel with mammal prey awaiting me on a roadside post before it sped across to the marsh to a similar sized post to continue the meal. It did me a real favour because as it travelled low over the grass it put to flight at least a dozen wagtails and 15 Meadow Pipits which remained near the roadside.



There were a number of Tree Sparrows in the hedgerow, staying out of sight as usual but I counted at least 10 keeping an eye on me.



Such short days, so time waits for no man, my cue to head back. It’s all very well getting out then blogging for Britain but I really must catch up with my Bird Track records tonight.