A Tern For The Better

Friday morning proved too breezy for ringing so with the little sun I headed for Knott End village and the viewpoints of the jetty and promenade. From here are vistas across Morecambe Bay to the English Lakes, Barrow and on suitable days, The Isle of Man. There are many birds to be seen in most seasons except for high summer when grockles appear. 

It was just here on Monday that a lady and her dog were rescued after getting stuck in mud off the end of the slipway. I’m on safe ground in saying that because she had a dog with her, the lady was probably not a birder. 

Monday 2 August - Knott End, Lancashire - @LancsLive

The poor lady was pulled unceremoniously from the sticky mud by members of Knott End Coastguard with help from the crew of the Knott End/Fleetwood ferry. She was fortunate that a fast tide was not rushing in and that local people spotted her plight, as without their help, the seemingly innocent  walk could have ended in tragedy. 

The tides and sands of Morecambe Bay are incredibly dangerous but there is no accounting for stupid when warnings are clear and abundant.  

Knott End slipway - "Beware of sinking sand and mud. Check tides and weather"

My own walk along the river path was less eventful but dictated by the incoming tide which flooded the mud, sand and mussel beds. As the land disappeared about 450 Oystercatchers flew upstream to their roost. There was a steady flow of 55+ Sandwich Terns, their breeding season at an end with many now journeying to winter off the south and west coasts of Africa. 

Out of our own UK season of Sandwich Terns from March to September I have seen the species in the winter warmth of Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Gambia, West Africa, but wherever it is, Sandwich Terns seem to always retain their fear of man and keep a safe distance. 

This fear is not surprising when many past recoveries of ringed Sandwich Terns are from hunting in West African countries like Ghana, Senegal, Angola, Ivory Coast , Liberia and Sierra Leone. Here the trapping of terns for food is carried out by children setting noose traps on the beach baited with dead fish. Although this practice may be less prevalent than say the 1960, 70 and 80s, it is apparently still widespread in some areas. 

 

Sandwich Terns

Sandwich Tern

Oystercatchers

 

The best and certainly the rarest birds I saw were two other terns, Little Terns, on the beach and close to a gang of a dozen or more Sandwich Terns. Soon, the two smaller terns followed their cousins out over the incoming tide. 

Little Terns used to be much more common in Autumn in the days before the familiar story of falls in their UK population.    

Factors contributing to this low productivity include predation of chicks and eggs by, Kestrels  Foxes and the crow family. other losses from nest loss due to bad weather, food shortage, and, most significantly, disturbance by humans. Most Little Terns nest along the east and south coasts of England, adjacent to some of the most densely populated areas of Britain, although many sites are now guarded in an attempt to limit disturbance.

Little Tern

Early August is the best time to see Little Terns in Lancashire. Many years ago I counted more than 100 gathered on the shore at Cockersands on a single August morning.  Sad to say it is highly unlikely such a high number will be seen again in these parts but instead the norm becomes a count by fingers of one hand. 

There seemed few other species alongside the river and the edge of the golf course except for a handful of Greenfinches, Linnets and that rarity the House Sparrow.  A good number of Collared Doves look as though they have enjoyed a successful breeding season. There's been up to a dozen around our local gardens this last week. And of course the shore and the river provide lots of gulls.  

Greenfinch

House Sparrow

 

Collared Dove

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Near Sea Dyke Cottage (1754) two Grey Herons flew upriver, croaking in flight as the tide engulfed their feeding patch. 

Knott End, River Wyre

Grey Heron

 

Our summer weather is looking pretty poor to at least Monday. I’m thinking that Wednesday 11th might be my next birding and/or ringing day. Fingers crossed the experts have got it wrong again. 

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.

Change Of Plan

The forecast for Wednesday was decidedly “dodgy” but with it being the best for several days ahead, we decided to chance a ringing session up at Barnacre. The problem was when I got up at 0530 and looked out of the window the trees were wafting around so I sent Andy a text and said I’d go birding instead. 

I was early so stopped at Pilling Lane Ends to count the Little Egrets at the roost. Thirty-five was my total but I suspect many were hidden from view in this so called “amenity area” that is now just a neglected wilderness. 

At Braides Farm - 80+ Curlews and a roosting Buzzard. 

At Conder green Once again Lapwings proved the most numerous bird with at least 240 scattered around the site, on the island, the grassland and in the tidal creeks. Other waders were few and far between with just handfuls of Curlew, Redshank, and a single Common Sandpiper. Fishing the pool was a single Goosander, 4 Cormorant and 4 Little Egret. Two Little Grebe have moved to the creeks where I also found 8 Teal. 

Lapwing

Little Egret

It was on a circuit of Jeremy Lane that I stopped to look through a flock of 600-800 Black-headed Gulls. Almost on cue I found an adult Mediterranean Gull I had hoped to see. There have been lots of “med gulls” sighted along the coast in recent weeks and the best way to find one by searching through flocks of Black-headed Gulls. While it’s nice to see one, the “med gull” is no longer a rarity. 

Mediterranean Gull - adult winter by M. Jackson, Mull Birds

The Mediterranean Gull is the most recent addition to the species of seabirds breeding in the UK. By 2010, there were over 600-700 nesting pairs, mostly on the south and south-east coasts of England. 

The range of the Mediterranean Gull expanded markedly over the last 50 years. A westward expansion started in Hungary, where it was breeding regularly by 1953, then into Germany and Belgium during the 1960s and the Netherlands by 1970. Range expansion also occurred in an eastward direction during the 1970s and 1980s. The first breeding occurrence in Britain was in 1968, at Needs Ore Point (Hampshire). Thereafter, a pair bred at Dungeness (Kent), in 1979, increasing to two pairs by 1985. A site in north Kent was colonised in 1983, which later became established as one of the major colonies in England. Also during this period, a handful of other breeding attempts were made, including pairings with Black-headed Gulls.  

I wasn’t finding much around Jeremy Lane until I stopped to watch a Kestrel hovering over the footpath at Cockersands. There was a Marsh Harrier again, this one hunting the fields behind the old abbey, seen off in turn by Carrion Crows and Lapwings. After a while the harrier did a disappearing act, something they are good at for such a large bird. 

Marsh Harrier and Lapwings

I stopped at Gulf Lane where I dropped seed at the Linnet field and did a spot count for the week of about 100 finches - 50/50 Linnet/Goldfinch again. The weather forecast for the week ahead, wind above 15mph every day, will put paid to plans to ring any time soon. A couple of Stock Doves have found our food drop. 

Stock Dove

I was on the way to Knott End to grab some shopping but stopped along the promenade to watch the incoming tide. Recent days have seen good numbers of Sandwich Terns roosting on the sands at high tide, migrant terns that feed in Morecambe Bay while passing through the area on their way south to winter off West Africa. My minimum count was 250 with many roosting for a short period and then as the tide arrived, flying off over the jetty, south-west and up the River Wyre. 

Sandwich Terns

Sandwich Terns

 Sandwich Tern

Sandwich Tern - Range by CC BY-SA 3.0 Wiki 

Knott End Ferry

 Back soon with more birds on Another Bird Blog.  In the meantime I'm linking to Eileen's Saturday Blog.

Friday Flights

Friday began with a Barn Owl flying across Head Dyke Lane a hundred yards or more in front of the car. By the time I reached the spot the owl was nowhere to be seen so I didn’t hang about. There should be plenty of Barn Owl sightings soon. 

At Wrampool there was a Kestrel hanging about the set aside field together with a handful of Linnets and Tree Sparrows. Maybe the Kestrel was hoping to grab an unwary bird when it sped low across the crop a couple of times before returning to its base of the roadside trees. The Kestrel was an adult female but as mentioned recently, Kestrels seem scarce this year and this autumn I have yet to see a juvenile. 

At Conder Pool I found both Avocets on the pool, the adult and a still unfledged juvenile. A number of times the adult flew off to the creeks to feed and left the youngster on the pool margins where it continued to feed alone. Soon it will be ready for lift-off into adulthood. 

Avocet

Otherwise there was little change of both species and counts from recent visits with 140+ Lapwing, 35 Redshank, 5 Common Sandpiper, 4 Oystercatcher, 20+ Curlew, 6 Little Grebe, 2 Wigeon, 2 Little Egret, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Goosander, 6 Pied Wagtail, 12 Linnet and 2 Stock Dove. 

Little Egret

A notable absentee today was Greenshank, with not a one found, whereas a single juvenile Shelduck was the first I had seen for many a long week. 

Shelduck

 

The Shelduck, a bird of sheltered estuaries or tidal mudflats breeds in Great Britain & Ireland and has a well-defined moult migration. Most Shelduck fly east between late July and early September and head for the Helgoland Bight in the Waddensea, where they join birds from Scandinavia and the Baltic. Others remain and moult on North Sea estuaries, such as the Firth of Forth and the Wash. As a result of this migration there are very few of them around this part of Lancashire during August. In stark contrast to this situation, come mid-winter there are many hundreds along our local shores and estuaries. 

Over Glasson village there was a concentration of 30+ noisy and excitable Swifts but otherwise a handful of Swallows over the marina/yacht basin.

View across The Lune from Bodie Hiill, Glasson

Things were pretty quiet so I made my way to Knott End again. I’ve been there a couple of times this week to watch the tide in and look out for terns. 

It’s a good time of year to see Sandwich Terns and Common/Arctic Terns when they roost on the flat sands at times of high tides, taking a rest from feeding in the near Irish Sea. The Sarnies  originate from a mix of locations in Scotland, Wales and Cumbria with their normal peak migration in mid-August when in some years up to a couple of hundred may be seen at Knott End, a favoured site. 

Before the terns began to appear I walked up river and counted 2 Grey Heron, 2 Little Egret, 300+ Oystercatchers , 1 Redshank, 140 Dunlin and 5 Pied Wagtails. The Sandwich Terns obviously peaked earlier in the week because I counted less than a dozen today compared to 150+ at the beginning of the week and then 49 on Wednesday. On each occasion I noted approximately 25% of juveniles, black& brown mottled birds of the year. 

Sandwich Terns

In the UK as a whole Sandwich Terns have shown a decline in productivity since 2000 when they fledged a record number of chicks. In the 14 years prior to 2000 it could be argued that productivity showed no clear trend, although in 1991 and between 1997 and 1999 it was particularly low. Few chicks fledged in these years due to bad weather, predation and disturbance by a variety of mammals and gulls, with food shortage implicated at only one colony. Predation on eggs and chicks by foxes Vulpes vulpes is probably the most prevalent factor determining productivity, and abandonment of a colony is often the result of predation. Nature reserve managers use electric fences to exclude foxes, which are not always successful. As Sandwich Terns nest on low-lying ground close to the tide edge, their nests are vulnerable to tidal inundation.  

"With about 12,500 Apparently Occupied Nests in 2009 the Sandwich Tern is currently identified as Amber listed in Birds of Conservation Concern" - jncc.defra.gov.uk.

Sandwich Tern productivity 1986-2014 - jncc.defra.gov.uk

Further to Monday’s post on Another Bird Blog, a review of "Britain's Birds", I hear that demand for the book has already outstripped supply and that delivery times may have to be lengthened. Just as well those blog readers were amongst the first to read my recommendation to buy and hopefully they won’t have to wait too long for their own copy of this fine field guide.

Linking today to I'd Rather Be Birding and Eileen's Saturday Blog.