Half Day Wednesday

A 0730 start is as late as it gets now. Next weekend we turn the clocks back an hour and head into winter. At seven-thirty Thursday it was still pretty dark and we hoped to catch a few early morning Redwings. 

We got the nets up in double quick time with the help of headlamps however the Redwings didn’t arrive and we settled for a couple of migrant Blackbirds. In fact the whole morning’s ringing turned out quiet with just 11 birds caught – 3 Blackbird, 4 Linnet, 3 Chaffinch, 1 Goldfinch. 

Chaffinch

Goldfinch

Our four Linnets proved disappointing when the combined count of a number of flocks totalled over 250 finches, a count that included a number of Goldfinches and Greenfinches, the latter not easy to pick out amongst fast flying gangs of small birds. 

All four Linnets showed features of Scottish birds and as usual all new birds, with a slim chance only of capturing a recent Linnet or a Linnet from elsewhere.

"Scottish" Linnet

  

Goldfinch

Linnet

There was a Sparrowhawk in attendance and then brief views of a “ringtail” Hen Harrier over the nearby marsh. 

 

Hen Harrier

 

Female and juvenile Hen Harriers, are known colloquially as “ringtails”, both look very similar, with brown on top, almost checkerboard brown and beige underwings, a white rump and a bearded tail. However, females are larger than males at 400-600g, compared to 300-400g. They're smaller than buzzards, but larger than crows. 

Storm Babet made little impression here on the west coast, a few windy days and nights but we are rather accustomed to that scenario and take it in our stride.

Keep an eye on the weather folks. And then come back here to Another Bird Blog for the latest news, views and photographs.

Linking today to Eileen;s Saturday blog.

 

 

One Of Each

On Tuesday morning Will and I met up to have a go for Linnets and anything else in the offing. Firstly I stopped off along the A585 main road and checked on the small group of Mute Swans, a couple of Whooper Swans and egrets that have spent a number of days on a single field. 

Two days before I saw two small, crouching white egrets that upon closer views were Cattle Egrets and not the usual Little Egrets that frequent these fields. There was Little Egret too, picking through the recently cleared crop of maize.

Cattle Egret

Little Egret

 

Our catching was extremely quiet even though there seemed to be lots of birds on the move in the way of 30+ Skylark, 15+ Pied Wagtail, 30 Greenfinch, 3 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 8 Redwing, 10 Reed Bunting, 8/10 Tree Sparrow, 12 Chaffinch and a dozen or more Meadow Pipit. 

Meadow Pipit

 

So many birds around attracted the usual raptors looking for a meal with single sightings of Merlin, Sparrowhawk and a fine “cream head” Marsh Harrier. 

Linnets came and went in their usual frustrating fashion, dipping in and out of the target area without staying long enough to be caught. The number of parties noted added up to 150+, therefore a catch of just two proved how difficult it can be to catch Linnets in any numbers when the species is so wary and flighty. Hardly surprising considering the attention their flocks receive from raptors looking for a snack. 

A Chaffinch and two Linnets was the sum of effort however both Linnets proved to be of the “Scottish” type, our eyes now well trained to pick out them out in a crowd. Look at the example below, a female with a very dark, almost black streaked cap with equally dark grey ear coverts and general dark streaked appearance. 

Scottish Linnet

 

Unexpected came two new Cetti’s Warbler that we were able to age and sex as both birds of the year, one male and one female. With wing and weights of 62mm and 15.3 gms; 56mm and 10.8 gms, the two displayed no overlap, unlike Cetti’s Warblers that remain unsexed in the winter months when biometrics fit into both camps, male or female.

Cetti's Warbler

 

Cetti’s Warbler first appeared in this area known as the Fylde in the early 1990s at Marton Mere, Blackpool. There then followed a series of sightings of single birds and ones or two through the 1990s and into the new millennium whereby the species became well established but never numerous in a small number of mainly coastal or near coastal wetland localities. 

The species remains very difficult, almost impossible  to see in the field, often the only clue to its presence the rattling burst of loud song that emanates from a patch of unkempt scrubby growth or reeds adjacent to water. 

Stay tuned folks for my look at a stunning new bird book sure to appeal to birders, everywhere, here in UK and for sure the United States.

Terns of North America by Cameron Cox

I have a copy of Terns of North America. A Photographic Guide. Coming soon on Another Bird Blog. This one you will definitely want. 

A Kingfisher Plus

Just a few days after returning from two weeks in sun-kissed Skiathos I had messages from Andy and Will. Unlike my sunshiny days of Greece they had struggled with gloomy, rainy Lancashire and managed only one or two ringing sessions. 

On Saturday morning we met up out Pilling way to a bright start and 5mph breeze and set the usual nets plus one. The Plus One was to be important. 

The morning began slowly and in a rather unexceptional way with half a dozen Long - tailed Tits and singles of the Blue and Great variety. “Things could only improve” we thought in unison. And they did with a final catch of 32 ringed and a couple or more superb sightings. 

Ringed - 10 Linnet, 5 Goldfinch, 4 Greenfinch, 7 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Great Tit, 2 Wren, 1 Robin, 1 Kingfisher. 

We quickly realised that a number of the Linnets coming from the seed plot had characteristics of the Scottish race of Linnet. 

We have noted in past years that movements of Scottish birds beginning in September include slightly darker plumaged birds and also marginally longer winged individuals, often both characteristics in the same bird. The dark features of Scottish Linnets are very noticeable on the crown, around the ear coverts and on the back, especially so when when compared side to side with the “average” Lancashire individuals we see in the summer months. 

" English" Linnet

"Scottish" Linnet

A couple of years ago and after discussion with experienced ringers from North of The Border we concluded that there is no Scottish sub-species but that the marked plumage and size variation in Linnets during our Lancashire winters is one of a gradual north to south clinal variation  between two populations of Linnets. 

Our 19 Goldfinch/Linnet/Greenfinch catch came mostly from the seed plot where the concentration of 150 - 200 finches attracted in turn a marauding Hobby and two Sparrowhawks. 

 

Greenfinch

Goldfinch

When I travelled off on holiday Andy and Will were under strict instructions to catch the female Kingfisher I had photographed on 7 September. Of course the usual weather tricks put paid to that and other plans but this fine Saturday morning allowed the first opportunity. 

A Kingfisher obliged in net Plus One but it wasn’t the individual from September 7, a female, but this one a male. It’s the old cautionary story of never assuming that the bird seen one minute is the same individual five minutes later. And we must never assume so where hours, days or weeks are involved. 

Kingfisher - male

Kingfisher - female

Other sighting came today via a Marsh Harrier, Cetti’s Warbler, 15 Little Egret, 20 or more Swallows, 50/60 Meadow Pipits, 25+ Skylarks. 

Back soon with more tales news and photos on Another Bird Blog. 

Linking this weekend to Eileen's Saturday.

 

A Mixed Bag

We took advantage of Friday's clear but frosty morning with a six-thirty start to the ringing session. Will arrived on site at Pilling from an easterly direction and was lucky enough to see a Barn Owl cross the road in front of his car. By then Andy and I who arrived from the opposite direction were halfway down the access road and missed seeing the owl in our haste to get the nets going. 

It was a shock to the system to discover that a number of the guy ropes we leave on for early speed were solid with a layer of ice. For the first time this autumn/winter we needed gloves to hand. 

More than 20 Little Egrets left the tree roost when the car lights disturbed their sleep and we heard Redwings flying over. We didn’t catch Redwings or Little Egrets and at first it seemed that there weren’t too many birds around in the minus temperatures. 

Things improved as intermittent sun arrived to give us a mixed bag of 21 birds of 8 species - 9 Greenfinch, 3 Linnet, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Goldcrest, 2 Wren, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Blue Tit and 1 Cetti’s Warbler. 

One of the first birds out was our second Cetti’s Warbler at this site, this latest a male, following the tiny female we caught on October 4th. 

Males are larger than females and some can hold large territories with up to three females. Consequently, the UK population of around 3500 territories is now judged on the number of singing males present rather than “pairs” with the population as a whole thought to be resident rather than migratory. 

The early morning sun enhanced the red/brown tints of the Cetti’s plumage.  

Cetti's Warbler

Although the number of Linnets around was not huge today (70/90 birds) we caught a couple of obvious Scottish types. The first winter female below was especially striking through the dark mantle and its dusky and heavily streaked breast feathers, quite unlike the softer tones of local Linnets. 

"Scottish" Linnet

 

At last there seems to be Reed Buntings around and of the seven or eight we saw, two new ones was an improvement on recent numbers. We think that our provision of winter supplementary food for all will see more Reed Buntings in the weeks to come.  

The Reed Bunting is one of the species that suffers from the "winter hunger gap". This is the time of year when winter is at its harshest and natural food like seeds, berries and insects are scarce or unavailable to farmland birds. Typically, it lasts from December until March. 

 

Reed Bunting

This date in November might be a little late for migratory Goldcrests. It’s a species that is in short supply through the winter months where overnight frosts can quickly kill off a tiny bird that weighs less than six grams. 

Perhaps these late Goldcrests are ones from northern Europe, like the similarly sized Pallas’s Leaf Warbler seen on Thursday just across the water in Fleetwood’s Mount Park? The Pallas’s had travelled over 3,000 miles from the mountain forests of southern Siberia, east to northern Mongolia and China. 

Goldcrest

 

Other birds seen today - Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, 2 Stonechat. Fifteen or twenty Meadow Pipits and several Skylarks. 

The weekend beckons. Back soon with more news, views and photos on Another Bird Blog.  

Linking this weekend to Eileen's Blogspot and Anni in Texas.

 

Linnet Recap

Andy and I met up again on Thursday morning for another crack at the Linnets. 

The Linnets didn't want to play ball and it could be that many or most of the 300 present were the same as on 24th December and would not be captured twice. So we caught just 4 Linnets but once again all four were quite big males at wing length 84, 83, 83 and 82 mm.

One in particular was very dark on the cap, the head in general and noticeably on the nape. We thought it more than likely this was a good example of the Scottish race of Linnet Linaria cannabina autochthona, and that coupled with a catch of similar examples on 24th December, recent days have seen an influx of Linnets from the far north of England and from Scotland. 

Linnet - Linaria cannabina autochthona 

 Linnet - Linaria cannabina autochthona

This is probably the last ringing session here in 2018 but we will return as soon as possible in 2019 to continue with our work. 

For the benefit of readers yet to learn of this project.

Andy Dixon and I began Project Linnet in the autumn of 2016 to investigate wintering Linnets using a site at Gulf Lane, Lancashire; here the two parishes of Pilling and Cockerham meet alongside the A588 at Wrampool Bridge. Just 100 yards across sheep pasture to the north is a 10 mile sea bund that links the town of Knott End in the West to the parish of Cockerham in the East. The bund/wall protects farmland and villages from the infamous tidal surges of the area, the southernmost extremity of Morecambe Bay Site of Special Scientific Importance (SSSI). 

Gulf Lane - Pilling/Cockerham 

The background to our mission is as follows. In the Fylde, Lancashire the Linnet’s demise over a number of years is part and parcel of the species’ national decline that has resulted in its current UK status as a fast disappearing farmland bird. This part of coastal Lancashire has not been immune to these environmental changes and as a highly agricultural area reflects the typical downward trend for the UK Linnet population. 

The Linnet is resident throughout the year in this part of Fylde, Lancashire. As a partial migrant it is here in spring, summer and autumn but numbers usually increase during October/November/December and into March/April according to the severity of winter. 

My own observations and experience from the last 40 years, more so since the Linnets gradual decline that began some 20 odd years ago, suggested that the regular winter influx of Linnets has helped to mask a substantial loss in the species’ breeding population in the wider area of the Fylde.  

A look at local sources of both digital and printed information painted a very sketchy picture of the Linnet’s status, with nothing to suggest that our winter Linnets were other than local birds choosing to spend their winter close to where they breed.  Other than random and piecemeal counts from the  area, there was little or no work, past, present or proposed to establish the species’ overall breeding and migratory status, even though the partial migratory habits of the Linnet is well documented elsewhere. 

So when a chance to investigate a wintering population of Linnets presented itself the two of us decided to use the opportunity to catch and ring this previously neglected but now priority species. Our project at least gives us a fighting chance to find out where winter Linnets originate from, and where they go to the following spring. In the process we might prove the conservation value of argri-environment schemes that provide winter feed to a number of bird species including the Red-listed Linnet. 

Our ringing site is a triangular plot of farmland, planted each year with a mix of cover crop that yields bird seed during the autumn and winter. There is no cover or hedgerow to protect the site from this often windswept part of Lancashire with the nearest habitation two small farms some 100 yards away; hence we are very dependent upon fine weather in using mist nets. Our project is a labour of love that requires both dedication and persistence in the face of the often poor weather and the uncertain nature of Linnets and their feeding habits; e.g. Thursday 27th December. 

Including Thursday we have 508 captures - 363 juvenile or first summer/autumn, (212 male, 148 female and 3 not aged), 63 second years (36 male and 27 female) and 80 adults (52 male and 28 female). 

Same site recaptures have been few and far between, a fact that tells us the daily, weekly and monthly turnover of Linnets on site is huge. From the 508 captures there are just two individuals caught on two occasions each. These two at least display a degree of loyalty to the same winter site: 

S348543 caught on 03/10/2016 and 03/12/16 

S800285 caught on 02/11/2017 and 09/03/2018. 

In contrast to the two individuals above, other records show the species’ migratory status. 

There are 2 Linnets ringed at Gulf Lane and recaptured elsewhere (Lochinver, Scotland and Barrow, Cumbria), There are 2 Linnet ringed elsewhere and recaptured at Gulf Lane - Shetlands, plus one outstanding - AYD5167.

Linnet - Linaria cannabina

More soon. Stay tuned to Another Bird Blog in 2018 and 2019.

Linking today to Anni's Birding and  Eileen's Saturday Blog.

Result!

A Linnet 

Readers who follow this blog may have read about the Linnet project at Pilling/Cockerham. Over two winters we have caught and ringed over 500 Linnets hoping to find out more about Linnets that spend the winter on local farmland and coastal marshes of The Fylde of North Lancashire. 

We have suspected that many originate from Scotland with previous evidence of a summer nestling from Shetland recaptured at our one ringing site in winter. Now comes news of another Linnet and its connection to Scotland. 

We ringed Linnet S348682 as a juvenile/first year female on 2 December 2016. In the both the following weeks nor the next winter did we recapture her. Fast forward to 27 April 2018 when S348682 was recaptured by another ringer at Clachtoll, Lochinver, Highland, Scotland, a distance of 496km and an elapsed time of 511 days from the ringing date. By now the ringer had aged and sexed the Linnet as an adult female with the spring date suggestive of a possible breeding locality. 

Linnet - Cockerham to Lochinver

Linnet

Clachtoll is a coastal fishing and crofting village, situated on the Bay of Clachtoll, on the north western edge of Scotland. Almost certainly the Linnet had returned in April 2018 to the actual locality in which it was born or somewhere close.

Results like this motivate us to continue with the Linnet project for 2018/19. Such returns make all those cold morning starts and freezing fingers worthwhile. 

A Sand Martin 

Readers may recall that just last week on 23 May Andy and I suspected we caught a rather old Sand Martin. The martin bore a ring beginning with the letter “D”. So I punched in D350512 into Demography Online and hey presto, a few days later came a result. 

Sand Martin D350512 was ringed as a juvenile at Icklesham, East Sussex on 2 September 2103, four and half years, or to be exact, 1724 days prior to our recapture at the Cockerham nesting colony. Here we were able to sex it as a male. 

Sand Martin  

Sand Martin - Sussex to Lancashire

The comparatively short journey between Sussex and Lancashire is dwarfed by the yearly journeys of Sand Martins. D30512 has already flown several times between Africa and England and vice versa.

I make it ten journeys of about 2,500 miles each time, by road or as the crow flies. You do the maths.

Lancashire to Sahel

Millions of Sand Martins spend the Northern winter in the belt of hot and dry land immediately south of the Sahara known as the Sahel. Here they depend on areas of water in river flood plains and when rainfall is high, more martins survive. But in times of drought the Sand Martin population drops quickly. 

In the late 1960s, numbers in the British Isles fell by around 70% as a result of drought in the Sahel. Recent wetter winters have allowed numbers to recover but the species is very dependent upon climate and its effect, both here and in Africa.

An aside. Are other bloggers having problems with comments not appearing in their designated email accounts? It seems it's a Google problem but I wish they would fix it soon.

So apologies in advance if I am a little tardy with replies. I am having to go into the blog comments via Google + rather than read them in the everyday email account.        

Linking today to Eileen's Blog and Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.