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. 

Taking It Easy.

Three times in ten days the A588 to Pilling, infamous as one of the most dangerous roads in England, has been closed off by police. Once for the stolen car slewed across the road, the second time for a burning barn on the appropriately named Burned House Lane, and again this morning for what appeared a nasty smash near Lambs Lane junction. A roundabout route go me to Pilling where three hours later the police still manned the closed road entailing a second detour over Pilling Moss, Union Lane and Stalmine Moss; let’s hope no one was seriously hurt.

Hereabouts and from 7am onwards some drivers appear so desperate to get to work it’s a wonder there aren’t many more serious accidents on our narrow lanes. For goodness sake, chill out and slow down folks, especially the clown in the silver grey Honda Civic glued to my bumper through Scronkey.

At Lane Ends I have tried for weeks to make the cautious Jays play ball and pose for the camera. Finally today, and although a little distant I managed to grab a few shots in between them scooting back into the trees at the approach of every vehicle.

Jay

Jay

Jay

In the plantation and area of the car park and in addition to 2 Jays, were 3 Blackcap, 2 Reed Warbler, 1 Kestrel and 1 Sparrowhawk.

A slow walk from Lane Ends to Fluke Hall via Pilling Water and then the return journey gave 15 Goldfinch, 15 Linnet, 5 Greenfinch, 8 Pied Wagtail, 3 Reed Bunting, 2 Corn Bunting, 8 Swift and a minimum 18 Skylark. I’m still looking but there’s no evidence of second Skylark nests yet.

 Pied Wagtail

A number of hirundines at Pilling Water included a single Sand Martin with 10 Swallows and 8 House Martin.

Swallow

Sand Martin

Swallow

 Waders today: 230 Curlew, 60 Redshank, 20 Dunlin, 22 Oystercatcher, 90 Lapwing, 2 Ringed Plover and 1 Common Sandpiper.

Ringed Plover

Bang on time today was the first autumn Little Egret out on the marsh. 2 Grey Heron also.

Over Pilling Way even the sheep join in the roost to wait out the tide. There’s no sense in rushing about and ending up in deep water or worse is there?

 Pilling Marsh

Update And Diary Date

With the BBC’s dire forecast still fresh in mind I set out to find the reality was marginally better, managing to fit in a few hours birding before the rain arrived yet again. Here’s a brief summary. 

The usual fare at Lane Ends/Pilling Water included 20 House Martin, Blackcap, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Pied Wagtail, 2 Reed Warbler, 2 Little Grebe and still 2 Corn Bunting plus 3 Meadow Pipits today. The June oddities today were a fresh in and singing Whitethroat on the edge of the plantation, plus a Ringed Plover on the shore. 

Ringed Plover 

I found yet another Skylark feeding young in a silage field, that’s at least 5 pairs along here which are at a similar stage. The nests will contain small young for a few more days yet, and hopefully survive the farmer’s cutting regime, probably due once the rain stops and the grass crop dries out. As far as I can tell there no pairs nesting on the sea wall just yet but the birds may choose to have their second broods there once the silage is laid bare. 

With the impending rain, I drove to Pilling Moss to check out a Sparrowhawk nest of late. Although ladderless and unable to climb to the nest, I found both adult’s behaviour suggestive of hatched eggs. Back home I checked Fylde Ringing Group’s IPMR database for previous dates of ringing Sparrowhawk chicks and found our earliest date to be 22 June, with the majority of the c40 chicks normally ringed in the first week of July. A note in the diary now marks July 1st 2012. 

Sparrowhawk

Looks like it will be Sunday before the weather improves.

Sunday Weather

Knott Again?

I was at Knott End this morning, enjoying ten minutes of sunshine before the clouds rolled in from the west. By 1030 when the promised snow arrived as hail, sleet and then rain I had switched the camera to ISO800 for the overcast skies.

The bitterly cold easterly wind had kept many punters in bed, leaving the jetty and the Esplanade reasonably free from walkers and four-legged friends, resulting in a good selection of waders to be seen at close quarters and a few wildfowl on the more distant water: 2500+ Oystercatcher, 270 Knot, 145 Dunlin, 16 Ringed Plover, 24 Turnstone, 50 Redshank and a single Sanderling. On the estuary I noted just 4 Eider and 30+ Shelduck. Passerines came in at just 2 Pied Wagtail, 3 Goldfinch and 60+ Starling. I saw the Black Redstart flying through the gloomy, unfinished rooms of the building site, but didn’t hang about to get more photographs, it was simply becoming too cold.

Sanderling
Turnstone
Ringed Plover
Dunlin

The redstart is getting quite attached to the confines of the incomplete building but if it finds a mate there may be complications as the builders have stated their intention to restart work on the site soon. I wonder if they know about the Black Redstart and are aware of the fact that the species is classified as a Schedule 1 and so afforded Special Protection? In other words, if the redstart finds a partner and begins a breeding attempt within the building site, legally that should stop any disturbance to the birds, including commencement of building work. We shall see.

Black Redstart

Although by now the sleety rain was closing in I drove up to Pilling where along Backsands Lane I found about 500 Pink-footed Geese, 7 White-fronted Geese and in the same field, 2 Snipe crouched in the grass. There was also a Lapwing, probably a male with that elongated crest, and also ringed on the left leg; perhaps one from recent or not so recent years, as Lapwings can live 20 years, almost as long as I have ringed Lapwings about here.

White-fronted Goose
Snipe
Lapwing
Lapwing

Alternative Agenda

It was just as well we didn’t arrange a ringing session on the strength of last night’s weather forecast because there was a stiff easterly breeze. I heard say that a television programme might keep people indoors today, and hoping that both the roads and the shore at Rossall Point might be quiet I set off over the normally grid-locked Amounderness Way (or The Poulton to Thornton Car Park as it’s known about here) towards Fleetwood and the 10am tide and a few hours watching the real world.

As soon as I got to the shore I noted more than 15 Gannets going east into the wind, with upwards of 12 Eiders and 8 Red-breasted Mergansers making their way out of the estuary.

Eider

There are a lot of Dunlin moving north at the moment, with smaller numbers of Ringed Plover and Sanderlings. A count along the shore came to 900 Dunlin, 60 Sanderling and 210 Ringed Plover, and as usual the flocks were almost constantly moved around the shore and stopped from either roosting or feeding by walkers on the beach.

Ringed Plover and Dunlin
mainly Dunlin
Dunlin
Sanderling and Dunlin
Sanderling
Ringed Plover

In between taking photographs I noted a number of Swallows heading low over the shore then east and north, mostly single birds but 30+ in total. Small groups of Linnets were also noticeable, with upwards of 20 flying off in the same direction as the Swallows. By concentrating on photographs I think I had probably missed many Arctic Terns flying far out, but close in to the shore at least 55 birds went north and east in just a few minutes of watching, then distantly an Arctic Skua and a couple more Gannets.

Sanderling


Sanderling
Gannet

The forecast shows more easterly winds tomorrow that prevent any ringing, so it’s a spot of birding in the morning. Later it’s packing for Menorca and The Med on Sunday where I might just find a few birds waiting to come here – Swifts, Whinchats and Spotted Flycatchers to name a few of this week’s non-arrivals.

Knott The Arctic

This morning the Knott End pack ice resembled a scene from a Spitsbergen travelogue. From the esplanade I pencilled 1100 Oystercatchers in my notebook but wasn’t entirely sure if I should be on the lookout for Polar Bears too.

Oystercatcher

The Twite flock was bigger this morning at 80+ mobile birds, unable to find the seed put out for them that now lies buried under the ice and snow. The Rock Pipit was around near the jetty again, plus a Song Thrush, a refuge from the café garden, and then 6 overflying Skylark closely followed by a single Lapwing looking for something green and unfrozen. As the tide ran in I counted 135 Shelduck on the water, plus 4 Wigeon.

Shelduck

Wader numbers were similar to yesterday with 60 Redshank, 30 Ringed Plover, 13 Turnstone and 35 Knot.

Knot
Knot
Ringed Plover

In places you do have to tread carefully because the cryptically feathered Turnstones can go unnoticed and fly off before they are spotted. Even their white belly is useful in the snowy terrain.

Knot, Turnstone
Turnstone

There were the usual gulls hanging around for a free meal from the parked cars. There is simply no unfrozen fresh water about now, and I watched a Common Gull scoop up snow as a substitute.

Common Gull
Common Gull
Common Gull

Here's a picture of the Black-headed Gull from yesterday, the new temporary header that I have vowed will stay there until the arctic weather goes elsewhere.

Black-headed Gull