27 January 2013

No it's not a mistake. We are headed back to January 2013 and a holiday in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain. With the whole of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Island under strict lockdown, there's nowhere to go except a shopping trip or a delve into the archives for a blog post.  

Apologies to readers who were here in 2013 and for whom the pictures may look familiar but needs must.  I changed a few pictures, deleted some and added others, as well as updating the text.    

The post is an introduction to Fuerteventura, the birds and the scenery in the immediate area of our stay in Costa Calma January 2013. Costa Calma is a resort so named for the relatively sheltered nature of the area from the prevailing winds which seem ever present in the Canary Islands subject to the vagaries of Atlantic Ocean winds and currents. This relative calm of Costa Calma is due in no small part to the easterly geographical location and to the long belt of pine trees which give a degree of protection from the often strong winds.

It’s peculiar how the same bird species occur in the vicinity of many holiday places we visit, with Fuerteventura providing a similar hotel list to other places we know whereby sparrows, gulls, Kestrels, Little Egrets and a few wader species are to the fore. Don't forget folks, click on the pics for a better, bigger view.

Costa Calma, Fuerteventura

Costa Calma, Fuerteventura

Sanderlings and Turnstones were ever present on the sandy and partly rocky shore. Turnstones can be fairly confiding here in the UK, but on Fuerteventura they are more so and approachable to within a few metres.  The Whimbrel is fairly common but not in the same numbers as the smaller wader species.

Whimbrel

Sanderling

Turnstone

After taking photographs of a Sanderling I noticed only upon examining the images later that the bird had a British ring on its right leg. With only a couple of shots I couldn’t get quite enough detail to send the record in to the BTO so as to find out where it had been ringed, so in the following days looked for the Sanderling but couldn’t relocate it.  Later I contacted the BTO ringing scheme with the few numbers and letters I had but the BTO confirmed the sparse information was not sufficient to find the original place of ringing.  

Sanderling

Kentish Plovers were usually around the shore although not in the same numbers as Sanderling and Turnstone.

Kentish Plover

Little Egret

Little Egret

An unusual hotel bird proved to be Raven, a pair of birds from the locality paying infrequent visits to the shore to steal monkey nuts from under the noses of the Barbary Ground Squirrels. Almost every tourist paid more attention to feeding the “cute” squirrels whilst ignoring the long-distance-migrant shore birds at their feet, the closeness of the huge Ravens, the feeding terns along the shore or the handsome Yellow-legged Gulls. 

Sandwich Tern

Raven

Barbary Ground Squirrel

Yellow-legged Gull

Costa Calma, Fuerteventura

It was the quiet parts of the hotel grounds where I found the Spanish Sparrows, the pair of Hoopoes, the resident Kestrel and the White Wagtail, one of the latter in particular which followed the gardener’s watering hosepipe so as to locate the resultant insects. There were Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs about the grounds but they kept out of sight in the strong sunshine of most days.

Kestrel

Kestrel

Spanish Sparrow - Passer hispaniolensis

White Wagtail

Hoopoes mostly have that hair-gelled look, a sleeked back crest held in abeyance until some fool with a camera interrupts their feed and causes a moment of anxiety when the feathers fan up and out. 

 Hoopoe

Hoopoe

Hoopoe

As every birder knows, there’s a price to pay for a spot of birding, brownie points to be earned from SWMBO and then banked for another day when bins and camera are stored in the car. 

Near Costa Calma, Fuerteventura

In Costa Calma the African market is compulsory bartering or there's a heavy price to pay for the uninitiated.  Later in the day there's a glass or two of wine reflecting on the fading light and planning the day to come. 

African Market, Costa Calma, Fuerteventura

Anyone For a Massage? African Market, Costa Calma, Fuerteventura

Costa Calma, Fuerteventura

At the moment my glass is half-full with optimism.  In other words, I think that we are about to turn the corner of our 12 month long dark tunnel and see daylight very soon. 

Stay strong friends.  Don't let them beat you into submission and fill your glass to the top.

Scotland Leads The Way

Good morning folks. There is a health warning on the below. It will make you angry. 

From Rob Sheldon - RDS Conservation 11th December 2018 Rob Sheldon - RDS Conservation 11th December 2018.

"Previous information on the subject of licensed Raven killing has shown that in England the numbers being legally killed are increasing. Ravens are being killed in Wales to protect livestock and to protect non-native pheasants released for the shooting industry. 

In summary the total number of licences issued between January 2014 and July 2018 in England and Wales are 13, with up to 107 Ravens legally killed, thanks to permissions granted by the statutory conservation agencies. 

Raven 

What about Scotland? Earlier this year Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) issued a year-long research licence that permits the killing of 69 Ravens in the Strathbraan area of Highland Perthshire. This licence formed part of a proposed five-year experiment to allow the killing of 300 Ravens on the pretext of ‘seeing what happened’ to the breeding productivity of waders in the area, even though peer-reviewed scientific studies suggest Ravens are not responsible for wader population declines. The licence was quietly issued without prior consultation with other stakeholders, notably the Scottish Raptor Study Group (SRSG), whose members have been monitoring the local Raven population for over 30 years. Following a legal challenge by the SRSG, the licence was revised and the cull was suspended, although 39 Ravens had already been killed. Full details of the Strathbraan debacle can be found on the Raptor Persecution blog. Raptor Persecution

However, it appears that the Strathbraan licence was just the tip of a rather large Raven killing iceberg. What was unusual about the Strathbraan licence was that it was issued as a ‘research’ licence. Following a Freedom of Information request, details of other Raven licences have been made available. To compare the figures with England and Wales I asked for the number of licences issued between 2015 and 2018, as well as the details of those specific licences 

The numbers are staggering. An incredible 621 licences have been issued in the last 4 years allowing for up to 4124 Ravens to be killed. Not all licence holders kill their allocation but approximately 75% of those permissible are killed (the figures aren’t available for 2018 yet). So in Scotland somewhere in the region of 3000 Ravens have been legally killed in the last 4 years (Table 1).

Licenses to kill Ravens - Scotland 

Ravens killed in Wales 

SNH has commissioned a scientific report from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) to look at the population effects of the Raven killing. The results are yet to be released, but correspondence with SNH suggested it is working on a revised population size of 3241 pairs of Ravens. Including the non-breeding population, which could add approximately another 6500-13000 individuals, the population size seems to be in the region of 12,982-19,482. How allowing the licensed killing of approximately 700 Ravens (3-5% of the Scottish population) a year will impact on the overall population remains to be seen, but the commissioned report should give us some answers to many questions. 

It is worth noting that in the recent bird trend data that was released by SNH, Ravens declined by 12% between 2016-17 (against the back drop of a longer term increase between 1994-2017 of 59%). 

Variation in trends from year to year isn’t always easy to understand due to the range of pressures that any particular species faces. Given the significant culling of Ravens in Scotland it seems highly plausible that there must be an impact at the population level – hopefully the SNH commissioned report will shed some light on the implications of removing a minimum of 3000 Ravens from the Scottish population. Despite the early warnings of a recent decline in Raven numbers, it seems unlikely that there will be a decline in the numbers of licences to be issued." 

Raven 

Once again the pretext for the killing of birds is the protection of livestock, in this case sheep, when the major driver as always is the money made via the shooting industry, the rearing of Pheasants, 

Grouse and Red-legged Partridge for what is termed “sport”. There is little evidence that Ravens are in any way influential in the decline of wader populations, rather that the decline in farmland populations of Curlew, Redshank, Lapwing and others is due to relentless agricultural changes and modifications to the way land is used. 

A Birding First For Britain – Greggs Gull

I usually enjoy a few hours of birding on Saturday mornings when the rush of commuters is less frenetic, allowing me to stop and stare alongside busy roads when necessary. Even other birders seem to take a day off on a Saturday to collect their brownie points by taking a spouse shopping or other such mundane responsibilities. Not me. 

Although the morning started out dry the cloud and rain of June and now July spread in quickly from the North West. This time there was a blustery feel to it, a double scenario which led to nothing much to report. 

But here goes; and there’s a bonus later by way of a true story for lovers of gulls, large or small. 

I stopped at Braides Farm to hear a Raven in full voice, a deep and majestic croak echoing across the fields. The Raven had taken exception to the resident Buzzard sat along the fence where it spends the short summer nights. I’m betting the Buzzard was in situ before the Raven chanced along that way but the huge black beast was having none of it and chased the Buzzard further away. Just 20 or so yards away proved enough to placate the Raven for now. All went quiet as the Raven occupied the spot the Buzzard vacated. 

Raven

“The intriguing Common Raven has accompanied people around the Northern Hemisphere for centuries, following their wagons, sleds, sleighs, and hunting parties in hopes of a quick meal. Ravens are among the smartest of all birds, gaining a reputation for solving ever more complicated problems invented by ever more creative scientists. These big, sooty birds thrive among humans and in the back of beyond, stretching across the sky on easy, flowing wingbeats.” All About Birds.

I could hear Skylarks calling from across the fields where post-breeding Curlews fresh from the uplands have begun to gather in numbers. A couple of fields contained 100+Curlew and small gatherings of Carrion Crows.

Conder Green often provides one or two agreeable moments such as this morning when I watched two Kingfishers hurrying by a foot or so above the choppy water. As usual it’s the unique call that alerts a birder to the presence of a Kingfisher, a shrill but short single or double whistle before the flash of a blue bird appears (or more likely disappears). I’m certain that the two today would be an adult accompanied by a juvenile. Like so many other species of birds Kingfisher families stick together to some extent until the youngsters become fully independent.

Kingfishers

The Kingfishers were the highlight of my visit but other notables included 10 Common Sandpiper, 130 Lapwing, 90+ Redshank, 16 Oystercatcher and 4 Little Egret plus the resident and breeding Avocets and Common Terns, both of which have yet to present flying young.

Common Sandpiper

Otherwise - 2 Tufted Duck, 2 Wigeon, 12 Curlew, 2 Sedge Warbler, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Whitethroat, 2 Linnet and 1 Blackcap. Yes, it was a quiet hour or two of birding.

But now for aficionados of the much maligned family of gulls comes news of a new skill recently acquired - going shopping. Watch the video; it’s hilarious. 




From The Metro newspaper - "A Herring Gull was spotted “swaggering” into a Greggs (a UK chain of fast food bakery shops) in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, on the morning of 30th June by customer Gordon Lindsay.

He reckoned the gull had definitely formulated a plan of attack to get some Greggs goodies. Gordon, 41, said: ‘I’ve never seen anything like it. The seagull knew exactly what it was doing. I’d stopped in to get a bacon sandwich on the way to work. The gull knew how to open the automatic doors by flapping its wings and then it headed straight for the crisps. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It then wandered around and pinched a packet of crisps off the bottom shelf. It had absolutely no shame and certainly didn’t hang around once it had got what it wanted.’

Gordon added that the bird ‘flapped again to open the doors and off it went’."

What next for the opportunistic, intelligent and adaptable gull family you might ask? Well there is a Marks and Spencer just along from our local Greggs where the gulls might find some slightly more upmarket products than crisps and pasties. And the shopping baskets are handily placed at the entrance door.

Herring Gull

Well a Greggs Gull is a definite first for me even if I didn’t see it live. But stay tuned for the best and most up-to-date bird news with Another Bird Blog.

Linking this post to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday and Anni's Birding Blog. 

It’s A Puzzle

The weather folk say next week will be better. In the meantime Friday was yet another windy morning with intermittent showers, far from perfect conditions which posed the question of where to go for best. 

I decided to give Pilling a shot in the hope that the poor weather had dropped in a few Wheatears to catch. In the event I saw only one at Fluke Hall in a spot that didn’t lend itself to leaving a trap. There were none at a favoured catching spot near Pilling Water where the tally is 17 ringed for the year. 

There was a Buzzard in the trees at Pilling Water where the crows gave the game away as they chased the Buzzard off in the direction of Fluke Hall. Despite the rain of late the wildfowlers’ pools are almost completely waterless after the dry summer so all I could find was a Grey Heron and the nearest thing to wildfowl a stranded duck decoy left over from last winter. 

On heading back to Fluke Hall I saw 3 Buzzards above the wood, a patrolling Kestrel and a lonely Chiffchaff moving west along the sea wall by virtue of the well-spaced bushes. 

Buzzard

There was a Great-spotted Woodpecker calling from high in the trees but by now I’d decided to head to Knott End and the incoming tide. 

Ravens are something of a local scarcity but with a status of increased sightings and odd breeding records in recent years, this in flat Lancashire farmland as opposed to mountainous areas where the Raven traditionally breeds. 

Despite this recent influx the species remains extremely shy and is unlikely to be seen at close quarters, the usual sightings hereabouts consisting of birds high overhead as they give out their distinctive, deep, resonant cronking calls. 

So it was rather surprising and something of a mystery to find 2 Ravens again in the car park at Knott End, hanging out on the perimeter wall, perhaps for bread and fish & chip hand-outs from the punters in their cars, just as the gulls do. 

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Both Ravens appeared to be juvenile birds but from their demeanour, worn plumage and general dishevelled appearance I suspect they may have been in recent captivity, perhaps as pets which outgrew their novelty value? 

Raven

From Wiki - “In recent years, biologists have recognized that birds engage in play. Juvenile Ravens are among the most playful of bird species. They have been observed to slide down snowbanks, apparently purely for fun. They even engage in games with other species, such as playing catch-me-if-you-can with wolves, otters and dogs. Ravens are known for spectacular aerobatic displays, such as flying in loops or interlocking talons with each other in flight. They are also one of only a few wild animals who make their own toys. They have been observed breaking off twigs to play with socially” 

A walk up Windy River produced a Wheatear struggling against the wind to stay upright, 6 “Alba” wagtails, 3 Redshank and 150+ Oystercatcher and most of the waders by now at the roost with still two hours to go. 

Wheatear

On or about the tideline, 1 windblown juvenile Common Scoter, 40+ Dunlin, 5 Grey Plover, 5 Turnstone, 3 Sanderling, 1 Grey Heron and 45+ Sandwich Tern. 

It became very windy and very wet so I called it a day until tomorrow.

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

Mostly Wheatears

After yesterday’s flurry of migration this morning seemed a much quieter affair, enlivened only by a number of Wheatears finding my traps and then a last gasp Peregrine. 

When I arrived at Lane Ends 2 Chiffchaffs were in song again, the Little Egrets were about the pool and a Jay scuttled through the trees. The forecast was for the easterly wind to pick up followed by rain later so I hurried to Pilling Water in the hope of Wheatears and other migrants. 

Tiny numbers of Meadow Pipits hung about the shore and the gullies, and unlike Wednesday no obvious movement north of pipits or much else. After a month or more without the shooting season the Pink-footed Geese become more tolerant by the day, with a flock today of 800 or more in a tight sandwich between the sea wall and Backsands Lane - an impossible sight until recently. 

Pilling Water held a single Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Redshank and 2 Little Egret. Carrion Crows gave noisy chase to something I assumed would be a Buzzard but when I looked more closely the larger bird proved to be a lone Raven. It’s bad enough having Carrion Crows decimate the local Lapwing population without rapacious Ravens joining in. It’s been shown quite recently that Ravens from their expanding populations on farmland use their high vantage point nests to target the eggs of ground nesting Lapwings. 

Raven

There didn’t seem to be many birds on Hi-Fly’s stubble, I’d see why later.

Wheatears were about the sea wall, a loose party of 7 or 8 birds moving along both flanks of the sea wall. It was a bit chilly and slightly windswept, not too good for making mealworms wriggle invitingly but I set a couple of traps with fingers crossed. Thirty minutes later I’d caught and ringed 5 Wheatears, 3 second year males, an adult female and a second year female. They must have been hungry from their journeys.

Northern Wheatear

Northern Wheatear

The remiges of a second year male are quite brown and worn, an adult male's would be much darker.

Northern Wheatear

 

Northern Wheatear - Second year female

Northern Wheatear - adult female

Every year at Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) time there are new and enquiring blog readers who perhaps haven’t read previous explanations about the origins of the name “Wheatear”. So here it is again, this time courtesy of Wiki.

"The name "wheatear" is not derived from "wheat" or any sense of "ear", but is a 16th-century linguistic corruption of "white" and "arse", referring to the prominent white rump found in most species of wheatear. 

Oenanthe is also the name of a plant genus, the water dropworts, and is derived from the Greek oenos (οίνος) "wine" and anthos (ανθός) "flower". In the case of the plant genus, it refers to the wine-like scent of the flowers. In the case of the wheatear, it refers to the Northern Wheatear's return to Greece in the spring just as the grapevines blossom". 

I checked the trees at Fluke Hall for little reward, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Siskin, 1 Stock Dove and 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker. It was time to call it a day (or a morning) with a last look on the still flooded maize where a number of Lapwings and Shelduck were all I could see. 

A brute of a Peregrine arrived and appeared to be hunting Lapwings, sending the lot into a frenzied panic as it stood briefly on the distant stubble. Within seconds the raptor lifted off and was gone. 

Peregrine

Time for me to leave too, but there’s always another day, another birding session on Another Bird Blog. 

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday Blog

News On The Rocks

A quick visit to the feeding staion today relocated the Chaffinches, about 60+ of them together with 5+ Bramblings, although in the raging wind I couldn't find more than 2 Reed Bunting and 20 Goldfinch. A couple of the feeders were half full, probably as a result of the wind emptying the contents rather than any Goldfinches. Looks like the wind may subside later in the week allowing me to do a spot of ringing.

I haven’t quite finished with Fuerteventura, and during the currently wet and wintry weather, combined with the lack of local news and pictures, I’m posting mop-up pictures from the holiday of 12th to 26th January. As the post title implies, these pictures were taken along the rocky shores close to Costa Calma. 

There was a Greenshank around for a day or two, an individual that allowed a slightly closer approach than the wary birds we see in the UK. 

Greenshank

Greenshank

Greenshank

Ringed Plovers were sometimes around but never particularly accommodating. 

Ringed Plover

Daily stars were the Sanderlings and Turnstones, in some spots the birds had become almost totally fearless of man. 

 Sanderling

 Turnstone

Sanderling

One or two Whimbrels could be seen most days. More Whimbrel pictures soon when Another Bird Blog will devote a full post to the species based on a number of pictures. 

Whimbrel

The Common Sandpipers I saw were just as wary as our UK ones, never allowing a close approach. 

Common Sandpiper

Here’s a Fuerteventura rarity, an Oystercatcher, quite a way from its normal range.  It was just a single bird seen on one day and not a very good picture into the sun. 

Oystercatcher

It wasn’t all waders on the rocks. The Spanish Sparrows used the shore too, but just for a change on a foreign holiday, I didn't see any House Sparrows.

Spanish Sparrow

Yellow-legged Gull

Here's the Raven stealing monkey nuts from the ground squirrels.

Raven

Barbary Ground Squirrel

There's much more about Whimbrels soon from Another Bird Blog. Stay tuned to read all about it.