A Redwing Morning

This is most unusual. We’ve had two days of frost with minus 2° on the temperature display at 0600 this morning. Not cold by some standards although the forecast was spot on and I was well prepared with five layers on top, three below, a very woolly hat and a scarf. 

I met Andy at Oakenclough where we were very unsure of the birds we might see and those we might catch in a period that is not quite autumn but also a tad off midwinter.

Perhaps the previous couple of days of zero temperatures had an effect on birds too because the morning saw a heavy movement of thrushes and to a lesser extent finches. From 0700 to 1000 we counted approximately 2000 thrushes arriving from the north and north-west. Many birds continued on south with some stopping off to feed on the still abundant crop of hawthorn and rowan.

Soon after 10 am the arrivals stopped and around 1030 we decided to pack in. 

The flocks and smaller parties numbered between two and 200 individuals, mostly Redwings but with a small proportion of Fieldfares. We estimated 1750 Redwings and 250 Fieldfares in the three hour slot. 

Luckily we managed to catch Redwings in our biggest catch of the species this autumn. We were not so lucky with the mornings’ other arrivals so finished with just 25 birds of 5 species only - 21 Redwing, 2 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Coal Tit, 1 Goldfinch and 1 Song Thrush. 

Of the 21 Redwings, 19 were birds of the year (Code 3) and 2 adults (Code 4), a high ratio of juvenile/first years. 

Lesser Redpoll 

Redwing - first year

Song Thrush - first year 

A Redwing Morning 

Finches noted this morning, also from north to south - 35+ Goldfinch, 30+ Chaffinch, 12 Greenfinch, unidentified 30+. Also - 18 Lapwing , 1 Jay, 1 Raven, 1 Pied Wagtail. 

On the way home via Pilling Moss there was a flock of Fieldfares numbering 150+ feeding along a hawthorn hedge, obviously part of the morning’s arrivals that we hadn’t seen some 12 miles away. 

Fieldfare 

P.S. A fellow Lancashire ringer caught 64 Redwings near Lancaster this morning.

Redwing

This was a morning when huge numbers of both Redwings and Fieldfares on the move.

Linking today to Anni in Texas and Eileen's Saturday Blog.

One Day Week.

That’s all we seem to get lately, one day in seven suitable for ringing, the rest too windy, wet, or more likely, both. 

Wednesday 13th had been pencilled in since last Saturday as it looked the most promising this week; so it proved with our meet at Oakenclough for 0630 in cold but wind-free conditions. 

Once again nets were set in the dark in the hope of intercepting early thrushes, ex-roost or morning migrants. We caught three Redwings in the early half-light and three more throughout the morning, the latter ones from migrants arriving from the north-west. In all we counted approximately 160 Redwings, the largest party one of 40+ that sped south without stopping. 

Just one Fieldfare noted this morning, calling in the half light of the first arrivals. Otherwise, visible migration was limited to 20+ Chaffinch, similar numbers of Greenfinch, and a couple of Lesser Redpoll. And where are the Siskins this year? We have yet to record an autumn Siskin on overhead migration and have a zero count for ringing. 

Totals today: 6 Redwing, 5 Blue Tit, 4 Greenfinch, 3 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Coal Tit, 2 Blackbird, 1 Goldcrest - 23 caught of 7 species, 

Goldcrest 

Redwing 

Lesser Redpoll 

Greenfinch - First year male 

The protozoal parasite Trichomonas gallinae was known to infect pigeons and raptors but beginning in Britain in 2005, carcasses of dead Greenfinches were found to be infected with the parasite. The disease spread, and in 2008 infected carcasses were found in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and a year later in Germany. 

In Britain the number of infected carcasses recovered each year declined after a peak in 2006. The disease hit the population hard, with decline of "more than 20%" in regional breeding populations during the year following the outbreak. 

The decline in my local area here in Lancashire was especially noticeable. Many observers thought it a “crash” in population rather than a decline. Greenfinch numbers have yet to fully recover, as shown on the attached table from British Trust for Ornithology. 

Greenfinch - BTO

BBS - Breeding Bird Survey  

CBC - Common Bird Census 

CES – Constant Effort Scheme (Ringing) 

My own observations this year and last is of a slight recovery. As an example, I saw a 90+ single flock of Greenfinches at Cockerham just last week and the species is now in our garden again on a fairly regular basis. 

Other species seen this morning – Tawny Owl, Pied Wagtail, Sparrowhawk, Great-spotted Woodpecker.

Pied Wagtail

Back soon on another day at Another Bird Blog.

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.

An Outstanding Event

This morning saw a heavy and highly visible migration of northern thrushes through our Oakenclough ringing site.  Andy, Bryan and I met at 0645 with nets up and set ready for 0715. 

We caught very few birds in the less than ideal conditions of a 12/14 mph southerly wind and bright sunshine on one net, but witnessed an impressive movement of Northern thrushes based almost entirely on North West to South East flight lines 

Our tally of ringing was just 12 birds - 9 Redwing, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Blackbird, 1 Robin. 

Redwing 

Song Thrush  

These nine birds were a tiny part only of a count from 0800 to 1100 that saw approximately 3800 thrushes - 2300 Fieldfares and 1500 Redwings. 

All was quiet until about 0800 when the influx of Redwings and Fieldfares began from the direction of the coast and Morecambe Bay some 15 miles away. It was slow at first, mainly Redwings then as the light and visibility improved we realised that a heavy movement was on the cards. So it began with flocks of anywhere between five, fifty and three hundred thrushes, mostly mixed. There was always a majority Fieldfare configuration, especially in the latter stages when good numbers arrived from a more northerly, even north easterly direction, flying quite low against the now fresh southerly wind. 

The plantation has a heavy and very brightly coloured crop of hawthorn and rowan berries that the thrushes targeted as soon as they landed. 

Redwing and Fieldfare

Fieldfare

Other birds were in the mix, one or two Song Thrush, Blackbird and Mistle Thrush but almost certainly more in the general melee of hundreds of overhead birds. Otherwise- 25+ Chaffinch, 30 Woodpigeon and one Sparrowhawk that hunted the arriving thrushes. 

A further sighting was of three Jays, an essentially sedentary species unless acorn crops fail, when they must migrate to other areas for food. Such years may result in quite large numbers of Jays being seen on visible migration. This may be the case this year with many reports of Jays in unusual and non-regular locations. 

Eurasian Jay 

In recent days I looked on local Whats App Birding and Bird News, Twitter and Facebook but found no messages, posts or apparent interest in this once in a year spectacle. It would appear that Redwings and Fieldfares are not rare or exciting enough to merit a mention. 

The absolute best local web and information site I know belongs to Bryan Yorke, who come rain or shine, conducts daily visible migration counts at Burton in Kendal,  Arnsideand Silverdale Blog , some 20 miles just north west of Okenclough.  His sightings and counts give a useful comparison to our own. Bryan's very low counts from today seem to point to this morning’s thrushes taking both more coastal and also inland Pennine routes. 

"Wednesday 23rd October 2019 Taylors Fields, Vicarage Lane, Burton In Kendal 0730hrs" 

"Obviously the thrushes were not about other than a sprinkling which seemed to be going in various directions."

"Chaffinch: 306 (282 SE and 14 W) 
Linnet: 216 (213 SE and 3 SW) 
Redpoll: 3 SE (one party) 
Greenfinch: 1 SE 
Alba Wagtail: 11 SE 
Skylark: 6 SE 
Fieldfare: 98 (20 W/SW,10E,4E,4E,6NW,9W,30SW,15N) 
Redwing: 171 (5SW,3SW,30SW,12SW,50SE,1E,6E,30SW,10SW,9S/SW,5SW,10SW) 
Starling: 50W (15,2,4,5,20,4) 
Woodpigeon: 29 NW 
Pink Footed Goose: 6 SE at 1135hrs" 

Back soon folks. Keep logging in for more news, views and photos.

Linking this post to Anni's Birding Blog.

Chalk And Cheese

An extract from North Ronaldsay, Orkney Blog - 16th October 2019. 

“A fantastic day with birds everywhere, massive flocks of Thrushes moving across the island throughout the day; the huge rolling flocks of Redwings filling every field, coming in off the sea and dropping vertically out of the sky was something else! No real rarities were unearthed but it didn’t matter one jot with everyone just revelling in the spectacle unfolding in front of them; totals (largely underestimates) comprised 11 Herons, 3 Hen Harriers, 2 Merlin, 3 Jack Snipe, 283 Snipe, 13 Woodcock, 5 Short-eared Owls, 320 Robins, 2 Black Redstarts, 3 Redstarts, a Wheatear, 11 Ring Ouzels, 315 Blackbirds, 257 Fieldfare, 1,197 Song Thrush, 10,977 Redwing, 2 Mistle Thrushes. A brilliant day for the ringers with a total of 381 birds processed through the day”. 

Meanwhile on Saturday 19 October it was back to reality at Oakenclough where birding on North Ron’s scale is beyond our wildest dreams and ringing sessions mostly sedate. Chalk and Cheese spring to mind. 

I drove through patches of mist for our 0630 start. When I arrived fog enveloped the ringing station and stayed there for the first hour and more. Through the fog a few Redwings arrived and the first six birds to find the nets were Redwings. 

Slowly the rising sun burnt through the low cloud and by 0900 we were in bright sunshine. Visible migration today was stuttering with a piecemeal arrival of thrushes and finches until we packed in at 1120. 

Approximates - 125 Redwing, 40 Fieldfare, 10 Blackbird, 45 Chaffinch, 35 Goldfinch 20 Lesser Redpoll, 6 Greenfinch, 18 Woodpigeon. 32 Birds caught - 9 Goldfinch, 8 Lesser Redpoll, 6 Redwing 4 Chaffinch, 3 Coal Tit, 1 Blackbird, 1 Great Tit. 

Lesser Redpoll - adult male 

Lesser Redpoll - adult male 

Chaffinch - first year male 

Redwing 

Redwing 

Redwings are smaller than one might imagine, slighter than a Blackbird, slimmer than a Song Thrush and the perfect size to fit in the palm of the hand.  We fit a size "CC" ring on a Redwing and the larger "C" ring on a Blackbird. 

Although Oakenclough is woodland edge habitat we catch very few Blackbirds. The young male today was a first year bird and almost certainly a migrant rather than a local bird. 

Blackbird 

We received more information about a ringed Lesser Redpoll, ARC5449 caught here at Oakenclough on 14 October 2019. The latest news told us that it was first caught and ringed at Ramsley Reservoir, Derbyshire, UK on 14 December 2018. The quite late date in December suggests that this particular redpoll, an adult male, might be a fairly sedentary individual able to winter in more sheltered areas of Britain rather than a traveller to more distant shores. A ringing recovery like this often raises more questions than it answers. 

Lesser Redpoll - Ramsley Reservoir, Derbyshire to Oakenclough 

More news and pictures soon from Another Bird Blog.

Linking this post to Anni's Birding Blog.

More Thrush

The forecast for Tuesday morning was about as good as it gets just lately - a gentle breeze from the north with a fair amount of cloud that would slowly break. That was enough to motivate us to head for Oakenclough again where Andy and I met up at 0645. We were joined by Bryan with Barnaby the Labrador. 

“Slow but steady” was the name of the game, with more Redwings, a few Lesser Redpolls and a couple of “unpredicteds” seen but not caught. Our catch was 26 birds - 8 Redwing, 5 Blue Tit, 4 Lesser Redpoll, 3 Goldcrest, 2 Chaffinch, plus one each of Great Tit, Coal Tit and Robin. 

Redwings came in fits and starts of tiny flocks and a total throughout the morning of 80/100 individuals plus a handful of migrant thrushes - Blackbirds, 3 Mistle Thrush and 2 noisy Fieldfare, the latter our first sightings of this autumn.  The Redwings we see in October and November are pure migrants rather than winter visitors. This week has seen a sputtering start to this annual migration of northern thrushes whereby millions of Redwings and Fieldfares rush through Britain to then spend the winter in Iberia and/or France. 

Once into the New Year, it will be more difficult to see either species here in Lancashire with their journey back north in the spring undertaken rapidly, often under the cover of darkness. Of the eight Redwings, there was one adult, the remainder birds born this year. 

Redwing 

Fieldfare 

At this time of year most Lesser Redpolls we catch can be safely aged as first years, i.e. born in the current year. One of those caught this morning had almost no hint of colouration in its greyish plumage so must have been born very late in the year - probably a second or even third brood? 

Lesser Redpoll - first year 

Lesser Redpoll - first year

Surprises came first in the shape and sound of an overflying Ring-necked Parakeet. Andy saw one (or the same individual) here about a week ago. The Ring-necked Parakeet is the UK’s only naturalised parrot with a wild population estimated at about 10,000/15,000 pairs. Thankfully the population is centred mainly round the south-east of England. The cold winters of northern Britain may have worked in our favour to stop the further expansion of a species widely considered to be a pest. 

A couple of bright intervals half way through the morning saw a flurry of Swallows heading determinedly south directly overhead. We saw a two, five and then a bigger group of eight. While mid-October is fairly late for migrating Swallows, this is certainly not without precedent, especially during mild and wet autumns. 

During the morning we also noted two large flocks of Pink-footed Geese, 400 + in total, coming off distant Morecambe Bay and then flying south, perhaps towards the goose fields of South Lancashire. 

Otherwise birds - 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 2 Sparrowhawk, 40+ Chaffinch, 8 Goldfinch, 2 Pied Wagtail.

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday. 

Back Into Action

Saturday 12 0ctober. I gave my ringing pliers a squirt of WD40. What with the trip to Greece and then the bad weather, they’d been deprived of action since 8 September. 

This morning it was back to Oakenclough hoping to see and to catch some autumn migrants. While I was away in Greece Andy had good success here with 126 captures including 55 Meadow Pipits, 31 Goldcrests, 9 Chiffchaffs and a single but late Tree Pipit. 

He caught just three Lesser Redpoll at a time of year when the species should pile through in good numbers. At this time of year it is usual to think about the “good” species but also vital to consider any that are absent,species that appear in lesser numbers than usual, and most certainly, any that are absent.   

We met up at 0645 to zero wind and 50% cloud-cover and hoped for an interesting morning ahead. Given the time of year and following several previous days of poor weather it might be fair to expect a generous helping of birds. It wasn’t to be with a disappointing catch of 13 birds for four hours work – 3 Redwing, 3 Bullfinch, 2 Goldcrest, 2 Blue Tit and one each of Song Thrush, Reed Bunting and Chaffinch. 

We saw our first Redwings of the autumn when small groups arrived soon after dawn and throughout most of the morning – in all about 70/80 individuals. The Song Thrush caught was associated with these arrivals. We catch few Song Thrushes here and the ones that we do are 99% autumn birds. 

Redwing 

Redwing

Song Thrush

It was good to catch three more Bullfinch, two first year females and a first year male. That’s eight this year to date. Fingers crossed that this species can re-establish itself in the now re-energised plantation. 

Bullfinch - 1st year male  

Bullfinch - 1st year male 

Bullfinch - 1st year female

The Reed Bunting we caught was a first year male. 

Reed Bunting 

At about 1030 a heavy shower with hailstones brought an early end to our session. 

A squally shower 

Other birds seen – Tawny Owl, Sparrowhawk, 2 Pied Wagtail and 2 late Swallows.

Linking this post to Anni's Birding Blog.

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

Oh dear, the blog stats don’t look too good today after a week without a post. But Blogger tells me that “Page View All Time History” passed the one million mark at 1,008,401 from 1428 posts since August 2009, so all is not lost. Someone deserves a medal, probably faithful readers, a number of whom have followed the blog from day one. 

Migration time is pretty much finished here in Lancashire so unless something extraordinary takes place, for the next month or two it’s winter birds until the days lengthen in February and March. Birders forever wish their lives away to hurry along the next season and all that it brings, but somehow, winter seems to be the least favourite month for many birders. Or maybe even summer for those who take little interest in the breeding season? 

Saturday morning, and although there was a biting wind from the east a spot of welcome sunshine held out possibilities for a picture or two. I hit the lanes of Moss and Jeremy early, hoping for a few pictures of thrushes while the hawthorn berries are almost into their last days. Our winter thrushes consume the haw berry in huge quantities and if the weather turns very cold the hedgerows will very soon be stripped entirely of their already low yield of our dry summer. 

I found about 40 Fieldfares along the exact same stretch of road as a week ago, a handful of Redwings and the same of Blackbirds. Suddenly this week there are more Blackbirds around, even in our modest garden, as Blackbirds from Europe and Scandinavia move into the relative warmth of the UK. 

Fieldfare 

Fieldfare 

Fieldfare 

Blackbird 

It was watch and wait as passing cars sent the shy thrushes back and forth to escape the danger they sensed. While our garden Blackbirds can become used to humans, even in many cases, persuaded to trust us, the Blackbirds that live out in the sticks are as retiring as the very wary Redwing or reclusive Song Thrush.  If anything the larger Fieldfare is bolder than any and does occasionally let someone take a photograph. 

Redwing 

Redwing 

Blackbird 

The two Buzzards of a week ago were in the exact same spot, using a vantage tree to good effect in locating food in the adjacent field. 

I looked at Conder Green where following recent excavations and management, birds are beginning to return. Although returnees seemed to be mainly gulls I was in time to see a Great White Egret fly across towards the canal and to then count a raft of about 65 Wigeon against the far bank. Just recently a Great White has been seen at both nearby Aldcliffe and Cockersands, so possibly the same bird. 

Great Egret

Also here at the pool and in the creeks - a single Kestrel, 140 Teal, 22 Redshank, 8 Oystercatcher, 6 Curlew, 3 Little Grebe, 2 Little Egret and 1 Snipe. 

Redshank 

Redshank 

Oystercatcher

Excuse me now, I have to go to the shops and buy the Saturday night Lottery ticket. You just never know.

Linking this post to Anni's Birding Blog.