Blowing In The Wind - Tuesday/Wednesday

The weather folk were spot on with their forecast for Tuesday. The tail end of Hurricane Gonzalo raged on with the result that there was no birding in the gale force north westerly’s. 

Instead I met with Andy near Garstang where we looked over an old ringing site of the 1980s and 1990s. The area became unsuitable for ringing when invasive rhododendrons won the day, but following recent extensive clearance by the site owners we may be able to utilise the place again. So clutching our newly printed shiny permits we explored the now almost rhododendron-free ground looking to identify net rides. 

Before the rhododendrons overran the landscape the open structure of the woodland was especially good for breeding Willow Warblers, where over a number of years around 400 nestling Willow Warblers were ringed and many nest records completed. 

Willow Warbler

Willow Warbler nest

It is a site with breeding Willow Warblers, Lesser Redpoll, Siskin, Blackcap, Garden Warbler and Bullfinch, and where Yellowhammers, Tree Pipit and Wood Warbler once nested. I found what may have been the last nests of Yellowhammers here in 1996 and 1998 but none since. Nesting Tree Pipits disappeared from here about 1997 but still occur as migrants, while Yellowhammers are now as scarce as hen’s teeth. After the recent extensive ground works both species might just make a comeback but I’m not betting on it. 

Yellowhammer

Andy and I identified a number of net rides, put up a few feeders to attract Siskins and Redpolls, scattered seed for ground feeding finches such as Chaffinch. We will return when the weather improves. 

Siskin

Chaffinch

On Wednesday a 9 metre high tide at Knott End rather appealed even though the wind was still too north-westerly to produce much in the way of seabirds; well at least if the showers returned I could bird from the car. 

A couple of hours were all I managed as by 11am the rain had started again. In between times I counted the nearest waders as 230 Oystercatcher, 180 Redshank, 45 Lapwing, 35 Sanderling, 40 Bar-tailed Godwit, 300 Knot and 22 Turnstone. 

On the shore, the incoming tide and the river - 11 Eider, 5 Red-breasted Merganser and 1 Grey Heron. 

 Sanderling

After three days of abysmal weather passerines were hard to come by with just 30+ Goldfinches, 5 Linnet and 3 Pied Wagtails along the marsh the best. 

Let’s hope Gonzalo relents soon to leave us with sunshine instead of so much wind and rain. 

Linking the Chaffinch on the barbed wire fence to Run A Round Ranch.   

Bank Holiday Blues

There’s a little part time birding and a few pictures from Saturday morning, it’s all I could manage, and if I’m honest Bank Holiday Weekend birding fills me with dread. 

It rained overnight and into the morning, so much so that my trip to Knott End for a spot of soft-core birding was delayed until 0815. The sun was breaking through, rain clouds headed south up The River Wyre and ahead of a hint of northerly, a recipe which often leaves a glorious morning light to fill the estuary. 

Not for the first time I paused to survey the scene, clicked the shutter button and thanked my lucky stars that I live in such a beautiful part of the UK. I walked in the direction of the dark clouds safe in the knowledge that the morning would remain fine and that I would see a good selection of commonplace birds.

Double click your LH mouse for a slide show of Wyre, Lancashire and just a few of the county's common birds. 

The River Wyre looking North West

The River Wyre looking South East

From the car park I’d noted masses of Oystercatchers on the mussel beds at the mouth of estuary, the rocky islands just beginning to flood and the Oystercatchers to leave. It’s quite a spectacle to see and hear hundreds of oyks “kleep-kleeping” to their up-river roost, not en-masse just a steady stream of tens and twenties until an hour later you’ve counted 450+ and there’s still some left on the shore. Redshanks and Curlews were on the move too, flying up river in their small exclusive groups which never mix with the numerous and noisy gangs of Oystercatchers. 90+ Redshank and 42 Curlew went in the notebook. 

Redshanks

I didn’t find many birds up here but the antics of the weekend golfers make for alternative entertainment. And to be fair they often send a fairway feeding wagtail in my direction as they did today, plus an autumn Meadow Pipit. Half a dozen Goldfinch, a few Dunnocks and Robins in the willow/hawthorn stretch and then it was time to head back down river where the incoming tide would fill the shore. 

At the ferry jetty I noted 2 Pied Wagtail, on the tideline 2 Grey Heron and a Little Egret, a good number of small and scattered waders which the tide should concentrate, and the screeches of Sandwich Terns. 

Sandwich Tern

There was a good selection of waders with a few more northerly species making a “welcome” comeback. A question - why do birders wish the seasons and their lives away to see birds that they are only too familiar with? 

I mustered 6 Turnstone, 68 Dunlin, 27 Ringed Plover, 6 Grey Plover, 7 Sanderling and 17 Sandwich Tern 

Turnstone

 Sanderling

There was horse rider on the beach who decided to drive her mount fast along the tideline. She stopped to scan her mobile phone before charging off again and so scattering the birds to the far horizons and sending me back home. Yes, this part of Lancashire is rather special, mostly. 

The River Wyre, Lancashire

There’s more birding soon on Another Bird Blog if you decide to return, Bank Holiday or not.

Linking today to Our World Tuesday and Stewart's World Bird Wedesday .

The Right Decision

The prediction was for a short morning of decent weather followed by a strengthening wind with rain. The forecasters were spot on allowing me a couple of hours birding out Knott End way. By midday the rain had arrived and by 2pm it was time to blog. Remember to "click the pics" below for a light box view.

Readers to Another Bird Blog often comment on the numbers of Oystercatcher I see locally. The shore from Knott End, Preesall, east to Fluke Hall and further east to Cockerham is a traditional roosting area of many years standing. The roost along this relatively small stretch of the coast can peak in the autumn to 7 to 8,000 Oystercatchers and very occasionally 15,000 when the Oystercatcher population is high and full tides concentrate scattered roosts to make counting easier. My regular count of 2/3000 birds at Knott End is but tiny a fraction of the 40,000+ plus Oystercatchers that may winter in Lancashire and the 350,000 wintering population of Britain and Ireland. The Oystercatcher is a very common bird but their numbers can alter markedly if there are dramatic changes in the availability of their main prey, cockles and mussels. 

Oystercatcher

The sandbank roost was of very mixed species this morning with once again Oystercatchers to the fore: 2200 Oystercatcher, 600 Knot, 80 Dunlin, 25 Sanderling, 165 Bar-tailed Godwit, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 140 Redshank, 190 Lapwing, 3 Grey Plover and 14 Turnstone. On the incoming tide, just 4 Eider today, a walk along river failing to find anything other than a Pied Wagtail dodging the golfers marching along the fairway. 

Sand bank roost at Knott End

Oystercatcher

Turnstone and Knot

Knot

Sanderling

Redshank

I thought to try my luck up at Fluke Hall but there was a noisy shoot south of the hall and a recently flailed hedgerow where the waders have been hanging out for many weeks. So nothing to report except 6/8 Skylark, 6 Linnet, 1 Reed Bunting, 2 Meadow Pipit and masses of Red-legged Partridge. 

Better luck next time on Another Bird Blog.

By the way, did you know that this weekend The Prime Minister could cut the life from the English countryside? Join the RSPB campaign  to get David Cameron to make the right decision.

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday Critters, Stewart's World Bird Wednesday, I'd Rather Be Birding and Camera Critters. Take a look there's lots of birds to see.

Saturday Afternoon, Sunday Morning.

On Saturday afternoon the sea was flat calm at Knott End, the sun so bright the water so tranquil that out there hundreds of yards away I could see a Great Crested Grebe, 18+ Shelduck, 14 Eider and 3 Scaup, the latter being 2 males and a female; the female took a brief flight and even at that distance the blaze above her bill showed clear and bright. Looking on other websites I see that at a similar time the Scaup were noted off Rossall Point, Fleetwood. 

The sea was incredibly smooth as can be seen in the picture below which shows passengers disembarking from the Fleetwood to Knott End ferry. It is no surprise then that on flat tides the same birds can often be seen from both sides of the estuary as they drift on incoming and outgoing tides. 

Greater Scaup - Photo credit: milesizz / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND 

Knott End to Fleetwood Ferry

The Scaup, (Aythya marila) is better known in North America as Greater Scaup, that continent also blessed with the similar Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis). Because in the UK there is only the one scaup species, most birders drop the “Greater” and simply call the bird Scaup. 

Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Knot and Redshank are dependable at Knott End and I had counts of 1900 Oystercatcher, 80 Knot, 22 Turnstone, 65 Sanderling and 75 Redshank. Also 1 Meadow Pipit and 2 Pied Wagtail. 

Sanderling

 

I rose early on Sunday. I was up and running so quick that I decided to detour over the moss and perhaps see a morning Barn Owl. No luck there, just a Kestrel in the half light and a scarce Mistle Thrush along Union Lane. At Cockerham I found my Barn Owl sat on a roadside post, but the car’s oncoming headlights spooked the bird away and over towards its barn. Not to worry, the owl made for a good start to a bird filled morning. 

I wasn’t having much luck with the camera at Conder Green when the Kingfisher didn’t want to know and the 16 Wigeon, 6 Little Grebe, 5 Goldeneye, 6 Tufted Duck and 2 Little Egret all stayed on the far side of the pool. Still 2 Spotted Redshank and 150+ Teal in the creeks. A Robin popped up on the screen to sympathise with my pathetic photography efforts but still I couldn’t get a decent portrait. 

Black-headed Gull

Robin

Maybe I’d have better luck at Pilling? At Backsands Lane were tremendous numbers of geese spread across the pasture, probably in excess of 5000 birds.

The geese seemed remarkably tolerant this morning and although they did their usual “walkaway” when a vehicle, cyclist or passer-by showed signs of stopping, mostly the birds remained in the field for a good few hours. At one point a dog walker passed within 75 yards of the nearest geese, most with heads raised from feeding but the whole lot staying put. The telephoto lens foreshortens the picture but the geese behaviour was most unusual in this the depths of the shooting season.

 Pink-footed Geese

The only interloper I could find in the pinkies was a single Barnacle Goose, and while I can’t claim to have seen every single one of 5000+ geese, I did spend a good hour looking through them.

Barnacle Goose and Pink-footed Geese

A quick dodge around the stubble fields and the inland ditch revealed 145 Lapwing, 45 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Snipe, 32 Redshank, 1 Green Sandpiper, 32 Whooper Swan, 4 Reed Bunting and 3 Meadow Pipit. In the wood, 1 Sparrowhawk and a single Jay.

Whooper Swan

Then it was time for home. What a cracking morning of birding.

Linking today to  Stewart's Bird Gallery .

I’m Counting On It.

Lots of rain this morning on the North West coast but 40 miles away at Old Trafford, Manchester it looks like the Test Match should get underway and end in a draw for England; but with the lads at 35 for 3 just now, I'm not counting on it.  Hopefully the bright weather will reach here sooner rather than later and I can get out birding. 

So for now I’m stuck in at the computer and able to answer a question posed by a blog reader yesterday - “How are you at counting pickles in a pickle jar and candy in a candy jar...guess that would make for good practice. How do you get your numbers anyway...had to ask?”. 

Mary, I’d never thought that counting pickles in a jar could be similar to counting birds but in actual fact the same principles apply. 

I’m grateful to Melissa Mayntz for her summary of bird counting techniques reproduced and adapted below, methods which I and many other birders use when out in the field. I dotted the text with photographs of groups or flocks of birds for readers’ on-going practice and consideration. 

Many birding projects ask participants to count birds, and most birders I know enjoy keeping a count of the birds they see whenever they are in the field. Counting each individual bird seen can be challenging, but it can also provide valuable information for scientific research. As populations of birds change, fluctuations in counts at the same locality at the same time of year may indicate shifts in pollution levels, climate change, habitat loss, migration timing and more. 

Woodpigeons

Annual projects such as the Breeding Bird Survey, Common Birds Census, Garden Bird Survey, BirdTrack, Wetland Bird Survey or the Ringing Scheme are different types of bird census projects which over several years accumulate a massive amount of data about numbers of birds in different locations. That data would be impossible to gather without the help of every participant. However the more accurate a count is, the more useful the data will be for conservation projects and ornithological research. 

There are various ways to count birds depending on the birds present, the size of the flock and how the flock is behaving. Techniques include: 

Individual Counts: When just a few, recognisable birds are present, each individual bird can be easily counted without fear of major miscalculations. This basic one-two-three technique works best when the birds are clearly seen and slow moving so individual birds will not be counted multiple times.

Grouping: Counting birds in numeric groups is an easy method for totalling small or medium-sized flocks. With practice birders can easily learn to count birds not one by one, but five by five, ten by ten, and with practice, fifty by fifty. This allows for a faster count while still keeping the increments small enough for precise numbers. 

Oystercatcher - 240/260?

Grids or Counting in Blocks: This counting system is most often used with larger, single species flocks where the birds are relatively stationary. The field of view is divided into a grid or block of even sections where the birds in one section are counted as close to individually as possible. Multiplying this count by the number of grids or block sections in the flock can give a reasonable estimate of the total number of birds. 

Whooper Swan - circa 65/70?

Selective Counting: When a large flock of birds has some obvious mixed species, it may be possible to selectively count all the birds easily. First, pinpoint the more unusual birds in the flock and count them individually, then use the grid/block technique on the bulk of the birds. This provides not only a good count of the flock size, but also represents the diversity of the birds present. 

Proportions: When a mixed flock has too many species for selective counting, a good estimate can be made by counting proportions of the species present. Similar to the grid/block technique, only one section of the flock is counted, but each different species is noted individually, and the proportions are used to calculate the total number of birds of each species in the entire flock. This technique is best when a flock is heavily mixed and each species is spread throughout the flock. 

Timing: When a flock is moving quickly, it can be impossible to create a grid/block or to count birds individually, since the movement will obscure other birds and make any estimate less accurate. A timing count can be used by focusing on a fixed point the flock is passing, and counting the number of birds passing that point in a certain period of time, such as a few minutes. Then the entire amount of time it takes for the whole flock to pass is noted, and the count is multiplied by the number of increments in that overall time to gauge its full size. This system can also be employed during times of visible migration or massed flight e.g. Swallows, Meadow Pipits or finches passing overhead or through a fixed point. 

Wigeon - circa 70?

Photographs: A digital photograph can be used for an accurate count if the entire flock can be photographed. The photo is then manipulated on a computer or printed out and individual birds are marked off as they are counted. This is a time-consuming method but can be very precise for a reliable count when high levels of accuracy are necessary. 

Sanderling - 65/70?

Practice is essential to develop and refine bird counting skills. The more frequently someone counts birds, the more comfortable they will be with each count made while knowing the data collected is accurate and therefore more valuable. Other ways to enhance the methods of counting birds include: 

Maintaining a notebook at hand to write down a record of birds counted, particularly when counting over a longer period of time. With notes there is less need to “guesstimate”. 

Allow for density when counting flocks, particularly when using grid or timing techniques. Birds are often less dense on the outer edges of the flock, and if grid sections are not balanced a count can be significantly off. 

Work to be as accurate as possible, but when necessary, choose to underestimate rather than overestimate the numbers of birds seen. This will help correct for any inadvertent errors, such as birds that were counted more than once. 

Counting birds can add a new dimension to birding, by not only keeping track of the numbers of birds seen but also making the birding so much more purposeful and useful for conservation science. 

Finally, remember that counting birds may not be an exact science but it is a highly enjoyable one. 

Pink-footed Geese - +500? 

Please log in to Another Bird Blog soon - I'm counting on it.

This post is linking to Stewart's Gallery  where you will be able to see and count lots of birds.

Yesterday And More Record Shots

On Monday I joined other ringers in helping Morecambe Bay Wader Ringing Group at Fleetwood where we hoped for a mixed bag of waders. The catch wasn’t as good as expected, the birds failing to come near the nets in the anticipated numbers. But a good day was had by all in the bracing sea air with lots of time to look closely at the 2 Turnstone, 3 Ringed Plovers and 5 Sanderlings caught. 

 Ringed Plover

 Turnstone

Sanderling

The “more record shots” of the blog title are of the local Hen Harrier seen briefly when I crossed Lancaster Lane, Pilling on my way to Out Rawcliffe this morning. As usual the bird was very distant and I hadn’t time to stop more than a minute, and then just point, shoot and hope for the best. Any day now the bird should be on its way back to the uplands where Hen Harriers and other raptors  should breed in some numbers, a place where they are supposed to be a protected rather than persecuted. Maybe this striking male would be safer staying out Pilling way where it is coming to no harm other than being a subject of attention from bird watchers. 

Hen Harrier

When I reached the farm there was a flock of 30 Corn Bunting, 4 Yellowhammer and 30+ Chaffinch waiting for me; unfortunately the birds were half a mile from the feeding station. Along the track to the feeding station a Stoat ran across ahead of the car then disappeared from view, just as Stoats are forever meant to do. 

The main birds at the feeding station were the regular Reed Buntings, all 15 or more doing well to avoid my nets again, with just a couple of Goldfinch and another 10 or so Chaffinch. An adult female I caught had a wing length of 87mm, as long as they get and possibly a bird heading back to the continent. 

Chaffinch - female

A couple of average size males caught and today, wings no longer than the large female above. Today I heard my first Chaffinch of the year in song. 

Chaffinch - male

Things were pretty quiet otherwise except for the occasional rush of wings from the 500+ Woodpigeon, a Mistle Thrush in song, the croak of a passing Grey Heron, a drumming Great-spotted Woodpecker, and a single Skylark in song. 

Grey Heron

The morning was a little cool and cloudy for Buzzards to be active and just one heard today, together with the usual sightings of both a Kestrel and a Little Owl. 

Today Another Bird Blog blog is linking with Stewart at his gallery http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com.au/. 

Log in here soon for more record shots or better.

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.