Pick N’ Mix

There was a sad start to the journey this morning when the car headlights picked out something motionless in the centre of the road near Pilling village. It was a Red Fox that had been hit by a vehicle. When when I looked closer there was fresh and still trickling blood. 

It’s an animal I would much rather see alive although I rarely do. Not for us the urban or even rural fox as in this part of Lancashire the Red Fox is controlled mercilessly by gamekeepers and farmers alike. I stopped to take a quick photograph or two as I was on my way to Oakenclough 10 miles away. 

Red Fox

I’d missed a couple of ringing sessions but while I was absent Andy caught more Redwings and a handful of Fieldfares. That brought our autumn Redwing total to 48 before today - 41 first year birds and 7 adults, a fairly typical ratio of ages. Although we thought this a pretty good effort, it broke no records. 

The morning forecast looked more promising than recent ones so we arranged to meet at 0600. That would give us time to have nets up to await the first arrivals of Redwings, overnight migrants or individuals that had roosted nearby. 

Redwing 

We caught the first Redwings in the dark and then a few more later in our catch of 39 birds and a mix of 12 species: 10 Greenfinch, 7 Redwing, 6 Blue Tit, 4 Blackbird, 3 Chaffinch, 2 Robin, 2 Coal Tit and then singles of Treecreeper, Dunnock, Great Tit, Goldcrest and Lesser Redpoll. 

At this time of year individual Redwings Turdus iliacus cannot be sexed by appearance or size. Redwings of the Icelandic race Turdus iliacus coburni can occasionally be separated out by a combination of their larger size and darker colouration. As yet all of our autumn Redwings have fitted the iliacus pattern with none exhibiting features to suggest a more thorough inspection. 

The one pictured below is an obvious first year “iliacus”, easily aged through both the fault bars in the pointy tail and the cream “notches” in the primary feather coverts. 

Redwing 

Redwing 

There was a steady trickle of Redwings until about 0900 hours by which time we had counted about 130 individuals as they arrived from a north-westerly direction. 

To catch four new Blackbirds is quite unusual for us here with all proving to be quite large, heavy at about 100 gm and long-winged (126-137 mm). We considered that three of them were recent immigrant Blackbirds. 

When British Blackbirds return to gardens in the winter, they are often joined by immigrants. Large numbers of Blackbirds migrate from Scandinavia and continental Europe to spend the winter in Britain and Ireland. Very often these individuals, especially the males are subtly different from our own resident Blackbirds, by amongst other things, their dark bills, sooty plumage and scalloped throat and breast feathers. 

Blackbird 

There was a noticeable arrival of both Greenfinches and Chaffinches this morning as tiny parties arrived from the north-west throughout our five hour stay. We counted approximately 70 Greenfinches and 50 Chaffinches, a likely underestimate in the always overcast sky and poor visibility. 

At this time of year our Greenfinches eat large amounts of the fruit of the rose plant, rose-hip. A giveaway sign is the amount of red residue on their bills. 

Greenfinch 

Rose hips 

Chaffinch

The morning saw a substantial movement of Wood Pigeons consisting of small parties but also two large flocks of c150 and c300 - in all about 540 individuals flying strongly from North West to South East. 

Linking today to http://id-rather-b-birdin.blogspot.com and Eileen's Saturday Post.

That Foxy Feeling

I was due to meet Andy at 0630 for a go at catching Sand Martins. But first there was an hour or so in which to take a look at Conder Green. 

I heard the first Greenshank of the autumn and then saw it fly across the pool towards the east side. As usual two Avocets were on the far side and out of sight but I guessed they had a youngster in tow when all hell broke loose as they and other birds took to the air in protest at something or other. 

A gang of Oystercatchers joined in the melee as did Shelducks, Lapwings,  a single Black-tailed Godwit, a couple of Redshanks, two Little Egrets and also the two Common Terns from the floating island. Three Common Sandpipers dashed across the water as for safety one of them stood alongside a Common Tern on the floating pontoon. Four Tufted Duck panicked across the pool as the single Little Grebe kept a safe distance in the deeper part of the water. 

Greenshank

I looked hard in the sky and on the ground but saw nothing until a Red Fox strolled out from behind the far island and made its way through the lengthy grass and off towards the main road. All returned to normal, the fox's cover well and truly blown by the concerted efforts of the Conder Pool Residents Association. 

My sighting probably explains the poor showing of ground nesting birds here this year with very low numbers of Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Redshank and Avocet chicks. Studies show that foxes take a large number of wader eggs and also wader chicks that have yet to fly. The relatively shallow water between the landmasses here means that a fox could probably wade or swim through water to reach most of this or any year’s nests and/or to find ground hugging chicks.

A major reason for the Red Fox's success is its varied eating habits. They are omnivore which means they eat virtually anything they come across. They have a major a reputation for taking poultry, but very often undesirables such as rats and slugs. They will also eat fruit, berries, roots and carrion, plus in cities, discarded takeaways in the shape of chips, pizzas and kebabs, with their particular favourite a KFC or McDonald’s. Rather them than me. 

Red Fox

That was about all I saw apart from a few Sand Martins and a passing Kestrel. It was 0620 and time to meet Andy a mile or so away at Cockerham Quarry. 

There seemed to be plenty of martins around, 270+, as well as a Grey Heron, Common Sandpiper, several piping Oystercatchers and Chris’ gaggle of farmyard geese. By now the previous almost zero wind had picked up to 8 or 10 mph and although not ideal we set a net away from the colony holes but where the martins pass through. We caught another nine to add to our first effort of two weeks ago, 5 adults and 4 juveniles. 

Sand Martin

This afternoon the sun emerged from hiding, the first in four days. Now that’s more like it.

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

Birding The Sunday Showers

The clocks went back on Sunday morning. Winter is here. An extra hour in bed for many folks but not for yours truly, just an extra hour’s birding. Trouble was the forecast of a bright, dry and breezy morning was completely wrong. 

I’d set off in good spirits and high expectations to be met at Cockerham with heavy rain which persisted on and off for the next two hours. At Braides Farm a Buzzard sat along the usual spot waiting out the shower, maybe reluctant to leave because a dog Red Fox prowled through a nearby field. The fox put up a Curlew and a few Lapwings but made no attempt to pursue them. If the animal had any sense it was heading for shelter from the sudden downpour. I too wound the car window up to keep out the now driving rain and made for Conder Green. 

Buzzard

Red Fox

At Conder Green I could bird from the car only as the showers arrived two by two. I was limited to 14 Little Grebe, 1 Common Sandpiper, 4 Snipe, 8 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Wigeon, 3 Goosander and 70+ Teal. 

 

Conder Green

As I drove back towards Pilling the sky brightened a little and I stopped at Fluke Hall Lane to count 44 Whooper Swans in the stubble field. I chanced a walk across the potato field towards the sea wall and found 40+ Woodpigeon, 15 Skylark, 2 Pied Wagtails and a single Meadow Pipit. In the wildfowlers’ maize crop and nearby pool were 3 Reed Bunting, 4 Pintail and 200+ Teal. Out on the marsh were 6 Little Egrets and the usual comings and goings of skeins of Pink-footed Geese. 

Whooper Swans

The woodland was pretty quiet although from recent there appeared to be an increase in Blackbirds. Otherwise a single Lesser Redpoll chattered over and a crow chased off a female Sparrowhawk. 

It wasn't the morning I'd hoped for but the weather looks set to improve for Another Bird Blog. 

Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday. 

Early Autumn

No Barn Owl pics for the umpteenth time. Yet again this morning there was a Barn Owl hunting not far from the roadside but I was on double white lines along a twisty road where stopping is not recommended. I motored on and then notched up two Kestrels along Head Dyke Lane in the usual spot. 

At Lane Ends I stopped to count a field of exclusively Lapwings, a post-breeding gathering of 160+ birds. Scanning through the flock there didn’t seem to be too many youngsters although the nearest one to the car was a well-fringed juvenile with a spiky hair cut. 

Lapwing

At Braides a distant Buzzard sat atop a plastic wrapped bale of silage from which to watch and wait. At this time of year both Buzzards and Kestrels use these ready-made 360⁰ vantage points to launch attacks on unsuspecting mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects and worms. 

Buzzard

Following an earlier post this week I alluded to the trials and tribulations of our UK Common Buzzard. In a comment on the post my friend and fellow blogger David Gascoigne drew my attention to a passage by the nineteenth century naturalist David Henry Thoreau. 

Thoreau writes about the demise of a Red-tailed Hawk from a farmer’s gun. “But alas for the youthful hawk, the proud bird of prey, the tenant of the skies. We shall no more see his wave-like outline against a cloud, nor hear his scream from behind one. He saw but a pheasant in a field, the food which nature has provided for him, and stooped to seize it. This was his offense. He, the native of these skies, must make way for these bog-trotters from another land, which never soar. The eye that was conversant with sublimity, that looked down on earth from under its sharp projecting brow, is closed; the head that was never made dizzy by any height is brought low; the feet that were not made to walk on earth now lie useless along it. With those trailing claws for grapnels it dragged the lower skies. These wings which swept the sky must now dust the chimney-corner, perchance. So weaponed, with strong beak and talons, and wings, like a war steamer, to carry them about. In vain were the brown spotted eggs laid, in vain were ye cradled in the loftiest pine of the swamp. Where are your father and mother? Will they hear of your early death before ye had acquired your full plumage, they who nursed you and defended ye so faithfully?” 

Alas David, these words are all too relevant in this the 21st Century. 

The farmer missed the foxes though, the family I found searching through a recently cut field at Cockerham. They too were after unsuspecting mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects and worms. There were three foxes at first before one sloped back into the trees leaving me to get a picture of just two of them. I have mixed feelings about seeing Red Foxes in hearing and reading what damage and destruction they can wreak upon other wildlife, but at the same time rather admiring their looks and apparent charm. Am I alone? 

Red Foxes

Red Fox

Stopping for the Buzzard and then watching the foxes made me late for Conder Green where the incoming tide had partly filled the creeks. 

Conder Green

Common Sandpipers reach an early peak here, often in July, so a count of 13 flicking around the margins was not totally unexpected but still good to see. Apart from extra sandpipers the species and counts of the waterside were as normal by way of 70+ Redshank, 40+ Lapwing, 20+ Oystercatcher, 1 Greenshank, 2 Common Tern feeding young, 15+ Swift, 10+ Sand Martin, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Little Egret and 2 Pied Wagtail. 

Pied Wagtail

“Brown jobs” amounted to 3 Reed Bunting, 1 Blackcap, 2 Whitethroat, 2 Reed Warbler and 2 Greenfinch. 

I drove back to Fluke Hall for a walk along the hedgerows and the sea wall. There are still 2 Blackcap in song while 2 pairs of Whitethroats with their obvious alarm calls advertised the fact that youngsters are nearby. Along the sea wall another pair of Whitethroats fed young while 2 Reed Buntings were still in good voice. 

Feeding amongst the farmer’s midden was a single Wheatear, a fairly obviously plumaged juvenile. Occasionally they arrive on the coast from the uplands in June but early July is the norm - autumn’s not far away! 

Wheatear

 

Look in soon for more autumn birds with Another Bird Blog.

In the meantime linking to Anni's blog and Eileen's Saturday Blog.

Good Morning Owls

After Joanne’s Little Owl pictures of Thursday, today it’s my turn. Stay tuned for Little Owl and Barn Owl. 

The run of bright and dry weather and almost at the longest day makes for early starts, driving on quiet roads with the chance to slow down at a few locations where owls live. At 6am there was a Barn Owl flying alongside the road at Cockerham and lots of light for a photograph; but the owl flipped over the hedgerow and out of sight. I drove up and down the road a couple times, turning at convenient spots and then waiting in gateways for the owl to reappear. 

No luck, so I checked out a Little Owl farm of old. The RSPB website tells me that the Little Owl Athene noctua “can be seen in the daylight, usually perching on a tree branch, telegraph pole or rock. It will bob its head up and down when alarmed.” 

And there one was, and on a telegraph pole. The owl stole a look at my approaching car and chose not to bob its head up and down but instead continued to watch the ground below for “small mammals and birds, beetles and worms”. 

Little Owl

Little Owl

Little Owl

Little Owl

After a while the owl got bored with looking at the same bit of the ground and flew off towards the farmhouse and farm buildings. Now there’s a “good” bird to have sat on your house; makes a change from House Martins and House Sparrows. 

Little Owl

There was a Red Fox in the middle of the road but even as the car approached from 100yards the fox took fright and loped off. The camera was still set to overexpose the owl against the morning sky - "D’oh".  Red Foxes in this part of the world still mostly inhabit the true countryside and as far as I know do not frequent the Saturday night kebab shops when the drunks go home.   

Red Fox

There was another Barn Owl at Conder Green, this one hunting the embankment alongside the old railway where moored boats dot the green marsh. It was 0730, the owl was up late and heading swiftly for a daytime sleep, but not before an Oystercatcher gave it a telling off.  Two or three pairs of Oystercatchers have chicks nearby and while a Barn Owl may be "cute" it is a predator which needs to eat and to feed chicks of its own.

Barn Owl

Oystercatcher and Barn Owl

Barn Owl

Oystercatchers

Also out hunting was a Sparrowhawk, carrying prey back to a nest somewhere while at the same time lifting the prey towards its bill to take crafty nibbles. Before today I’d never ever seen this behaviour by a Sparrowhawk, just from members of the falcon family. 

After the excitement of raptors it was back to June’s unchanging birds of hedgerow, pool and creek; 2 Grey Heron, 4 Little Egret, 65 Redshank, 15 Oystercatcher, 12 Lapwing and 1 Common Sandpiper. 

Common Sandpiper

Other bits ‘n pieces totalled up to 45 Swift, 2 Stock Dove, 5 Sedge Warbler, 3 Pied Wagtail. 

Another Bird Blog is back soon, maybe with more owls but certainly with more birds.

Linking today to  Eileen's Saturday Blog.

Quiet Morning, Suffering Seabirds

After an hour or two at Pilling there are a few birds to report today. 

My casual birding pales into insignificance when I relate bad news about the effect upon seabirds of the endless Atlantic storms of recent months - vital reading for all bird lovers. Worse still an established and proven method for monitoring the same seabird populations in Britain is being thrown on the scrapheap by a new Welsh quango. Read on. 

First my Pilling news from the maize floods, Fluke Hall Lane and surrounding fields, a good two and a half hours stomp around on a bright but very cool morning. The wood held my first Goldcrest of the springtime, a pair of Long-tailed Tits, several Goldfinch and a pair of Mistle Thrush. 

Less good news was sight of a bird predator, a Stoat running across the road at the edge of the wood. I’ve seen Stoats in the same spot for many years, the animals having traditional places where they live and breed, just like many animals and birds. I had my small lens today, so took a picture of the long dead fox left in the same spot where it was most likely poisoned or shot. 

Common Stoat

Red Fox

Two Buzzards were about and over the trees again, the third time in a week of noting them here. A walk to the wet fields and sea wall revealed more than a hundred Redshank, 38 Dunlin, 15 Curlew, 12 Oystercatcher, 30+ Shelduck, 22 Pied Wagtails, 4 Little Egret, 15+ Skylark, 10 Twite, 8 Meadow Pipit, 1 Reed Bunting and 450+ Pink-footed Geese. 

Similar daily goose counts are the best I can muster at the moment as the geese fly north to Iceland in good numbers and leave Lancashire until September. A feature of the morning was the huge numbers, perhaps several thousands of Starlings heading north across the bay. We often forget that Starlings too return North and East about now. 

Pink-footed Goose

Starling

Now for the news I mentioned at the start of this post. 

Tens of thousands of birds particularly auks such as Puffins, Guillemots and Razorbills have died as a result of the raging and endless gales of the winter. The remains of these birds are now being washed up on the coasts of Wales, Cornwall and the Channel Islands, even more so on the Atlantic coast of France and the beaches of the Bay of Biscay where large numbers of British Puffins and their auk cousins spend the winter. 

Atlantic Puffins - Photo credit: US Fish and Wildlife Service

Latest estimates from Wildlife Trusts partnership suggest a confirmed death toll of around 25,000 birds, which is expected to rise steadily as more corpses are washed ashore. This natural disaster makes us realise how vulnerable our seabirds are to other threats, such as the oil spills and other dangers such as climate change and overfishing. 

Seabird colonies in Scotland are faring especially badly. In some only a fifth of breeding birds are raising chicks, mainly because their food, largely sand eels, has disappeared. Perhaps because of too much trawling or rising water temperatures the sand eels have moved north making them less available to British seabirds. 

Common Guillemot -  Photo credit: Foter / CC BY

As this potential disaster waits to unfold a new Welsh quango is abolishing the measly funding of £12,000 a year for the long-term monitoring of a large Guillemot colony of more than 20,000 birds on Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire. The quango Natural Resources Wales was set up last year to incorporate the old Countryside Council for Wales with the Welsh sections of the Environment Agency and the Forestry Commission. 

Please read this story in more detail at The Independent, and particularly if you live in Wales write to your Member of Parliament expressing your shock and displeasure at what you read.

I am grateful to Professor Tim Birkhead for bringing this to our attention.

More from Another Bird Blog soon. Stay tuned.

Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.

Woody Morning

The icy morning both began and then ended with a Sparrowhawk, but not the same one. The first, a female, flew across the road in front of the car just yards from home as I made for a few hours birding at Out Rawcliffe. On the way home through Hambleton village about 11am it was a male that sailed across my path via a garden wall to the right.

Sparrowhawk

Between those sightings proved fairly quiet, with one or two specialities plus a spectacular count of woodies to spice up the morning.

The noise from the Tree Sparrows indicated the numbers to be good, over 200 in fact and hard to pick out the Chaffinch when all the birds fly off to the far hedgerow together, but up to 20 finches. A walk up to the top field gave 20+ Reed Bunting, 8 Yellowhammer, 4 Corn Bunting, 2 Song Thrush, 6 Blackbird, 40+ Skylark, a Kestrel and a single Roe Deer.

Roe Deer
Yellowhammer

When I got to where the deer previously stood, the animal had vanished into the far distance, nowhere to be seen; such shy but knowing animals. As I looked north along the hedgerow I saw another crafty but less popular animal than a deer, this one a large dog Red Fox. It had clearly seen me because it sloped off down into the tree roots and the rabbit burrows in the soft, black, mossy soil. Last year we heard the dog barking from this likely spot for a den, where a pair will probably make home and then mate in January/February.

Red Fox - Vulpes vulpes
I hung around for a while but the fox didn’t reappear, not that I expected it to, but it gave me chance to scan the landscape where to the north and west I saw over 700 Woodpigeons in one large flock. There’s not been many around on the moss of late but almost certainly the cold and snow of recent days brought many more of them from elsewhere.

Over the woods today just 2 Buzzards in the cool of the morning and before the sun reached any height to produce decent thermals. A walk through woodland and back to the car produced the expected post-frost Woodcock, another Song Thrush and several Chaffinch.

From the track off the moss the Little Owl has been hard to find of late, but a frosty morning is often the best time to look for them, just as today when one sat partly hidden by the ivy, out in the warming sun but not so conspicuous as to be obvious to any passing prey or careless birder.

Little Owl