Standard Autumn Fayre

Surprise surprise. We survived Storm Debi, a “storm” hyped up by the usual suspects quoting 70 mph gusts from well-known exposed sites on cliff tops and unprotected coastal locations. Here in flat windswept Fylde the gusts turned out to be nothing more than the typical weather we experience for days at a time every autumn. Strong winds with bouts of rain, before everything returns to normal a day or two later.  

We know of course why they do it – to crank up climate alarmism for people who have yet to realise that the “climate emergency” is one big scam designed to part them from their money. 

Clearing our garden of neighbours’ sycamore leaves is a yearly event come rain or shine but inventive doom mongers have yet to claim that the late falling leaves of 2023 are due to global warming. 

 

Autumn Leaves

Early this week we pencilled in the only suitable day, of Friday for a ringing session at Oakenclough near Garstang. Will visited a week earlier with moderate success that included the catching of four Common Crossbills, a few Redwings and other bits and pieces. 

Yours truly, Will and Andy met up at 0730 to rain but forecasts of brightening skies and afternoon sun; before planning a ringing session we make it a rule to check at least two weather forecasts as they hardly ever agree. About an hour later the rain relented and we set to the job in hand and landed a good variety of species, 18 birds before packing in about 1100 when things turned suddenly quiet. 

We caught no more Crossbills, a rarely encountered species that would have enlivened the usual autumn fayre of 4 Blue Tit, 4 Chaffinch, 2 Goldfinch, 1 Coal Tit, 1 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Great Tit, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 1 Treecreeper, 1 Siskin, 1 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Goldcrest. 

Chaffinch

Great-spotted Woodpecker

Siskin

Siskin

 

Lesser Redpoll

As autumn turns effortlessly to winter, so do the birds, with little in the way of numbers that punctuate September and October ringing sessions. 

Noted today, small numbers of Jackdaws, Woodpigeons and Starlings. Otherwise let’s hope that some of the influx of Waxwings, & Short-eared Owls to Scotland and the east coast of England can find their way westwards. Both species pictured below from previous winters in the Fylde. 

Waxwing

Short-eared Owl

Enjoy your weekend folks. Stay safe, warm and sane then come back again to Another Bird Blog for news, views and photos.

Linking this Saturday to Eileen's Saturday Blog.

Good Start 2023

Insightful readers will see that Another Bird Blog has been out of action again. 

This enforced sabbatical came about through the twin perils of Christmas & New Year coupled with the predicted back end of North America storms that landed on Britain’s doorstep. The result was birding and ringing on the back burner and two morning’s ringing throughout December. It’s a sorry picture but one that I hope to remedy and not repeat in 2023. 

New Year’s Day 2023 saw the thirteen strong family at home for the sometimes traditional Meat and Potato Pie with Mushy Peas, a dish that even picky kids might eat if bribed with a promise of cheesecake to follow. Washing the pots took more time than eating the food. 

New Year's Day

After the week’s marathon binge a morning in the January sunshine was called for so I struck out north out Rawcliffe/Pilling way on Monday January 2. The sun shone warm at 0900, so balmy that the BBC are already claiming that 2023 is the hottest year on record due to man-made climate change. 

Eyes peeled and cap pulled low I drove with care to avoid the prowling year listers with crazed looks in their eyes, out in force for Chase The Bird 2023. However their whereabouts are both easy to predict and to then avoid via a perusal of WhatsApp and the use of tried and tested alternative locations. Originality of thought or deed is not their collective strength. 

On the route to Rawcliffe came a super start to the year when I spotted a “shortie”, a Short-eared Owl, approaching from the left and heading my way. Electric windows are a great invention, and as ever the switched on camera lay on the passenger seat for a rapid fire. It’s been ages since I saw a shortie, a largely nocturnal and crepuscular (dusk and dawn) hunter, but still one of the most active British owls during daylight. 

Short-eared Owl

 

Exhilarated by this sighting I stopped at another farm I know well but didn’t anticipate the double whammy of another owl, this time a Little Owl, a species increasingly difficult to locate. Data shows that Little Owl numbers have shrunk by 65% over a 25-year period through a combination of the usual suspects; over development of their sought after farming landscape combined with shrinking populations of certain prey items like beetles, crickets and the humble earthworm.

Little Owl

My own thoughts are that part of the problem for Little Owls is that they mostly share habitat with introduced game birds like Pheasants and Red-legged Partridges, non-native birds released in vast numbers throughout the autumn and winter by the shooting industry. Historically this is especially true for this part of Lancashire where the loss of Little Owls began around the same time as the large increase in the numbers and locations of shoots, time-on-their-hands shooters and the release of many thousands of game birds into new locations.

Pheasants especially are known to hoover up huge areas of land of the same prey upon which Little Owls and other birds depend. 

Here’s some recommended further reading about a serious ecological problem, some might say "disaster" being allowed to take place in the British countryside. 

http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/5078605686374400

It was tempting to stick around and enjoy the owl, even though it did little but sit around watching and waiting for the next meal, a bit like the Christmas we just enjoyed.

I drove towards Pilling along the Lancaster Road where a large flood gave indication of recent rains. Distant across the field/lake were circa 250 Lapwings, 130 Black-headed Gulls and many thousands of Starlings. There was a shoot nearby with loud bangs that sent the flocks wheeling into the air a couple of times although they mostly all came back, if to a slightly different spot on the expanse of water. 

 

Lapwings

New Year Floods

Further along the main road I saw two Kestrels that may have been paired where neither of them were up for a photo and in any case the picture would have been into the light. Better luck next time from a mental note, a different time of the day, and a more accommodating moment. 

By now I was headed towards Cockerham and Braides Farm where Whooper Swans have hung around off and on since arriving from Iceland in September. Counts have been up to 400 when maxed out, more like 250 today. Golden Plovers, Lapwings and Curlews were dotted across the more distant fields with a rough count of 300, 250 and 250 respectively. 

Whooper Swans

Our ringing site is yet to receive a visit in earnest and there's no the prospect in sight by looking at the latest forecasts. When I visited to top up the supplementary food all was quiet with single figures of the regulars but a distinct lack of Linnets, the main focus of our project. 

All we can do is hope that the forecasters get it wrong! Keep looking in folks.

Gamekeeper Shoots Short-eared Owls

There's nothing much to add to the video below. Watch and see if your blood boils.

 

For this outrageous and despicable crime the derisory “punishment” handed out by the court is equally outrageous. The perpetrator Tim Cowin was fined £400 for killing each owl and £200 for possessing a calling device, which was forfeited by the court. He was ordered to pay £170 costs and a £40 victim surcharge. A total of £1,210.

This kind of cruelty and disregard for our wildlife will continue until proper sentences are imposed and landowners become liable for crimes committed on their land.   

Read more at: RSPB Investigations.

Back soon with more pleasing news.

Payoff Day

My regular feeding at the plantation for the last few weeks paid off today with a good catch of finches and other bits and bobs. 

Just a couple of nets proved enough for a steady catch of 20 birds made up of 8 Brambling, 7 Chaffinch, 2 Reed Bunting, 1 Robin, 1 Song Thrush and 1 Goldfinch. In all I counted 14+ Brambling, 25+ Chaffinch and 20+ Goldfinch about, together with the usual 20 or more Reed Buntings. 

A blog reader with Bramblings close to home asked recently about ageing and sexing Bramblings in the field; I replied by saying while it isn’t easy, it is possible with good and preferably close views. Much easier in the hand of course. 

Today’s 8 Bramblings proved to be a mix of 4 second calendar year females, 3 second calendar year males and one adult male. Below is the adult male, lots of black in the wings and tail, very rounded tail feathers and black across the wing coverts. 

Brambling - adult male

Brambling - adult male

Brambling - adult male

A second calendar year male, less black overall with pointed tail feathers, 

Brambling - second calendar year male

Brambling - second calendar year male

Below shows two second year females. The last year’s tail feathers of the second example are not only pointed but show a juvenile fault bar running across them all. 

Brambling - second calendar year female

Brambling - second calendar year female

It’s now something of A Red Letter Day to catch a Song Thrush, so scarce have they become. 

Song Thrush

There was an improvement today in catching 2 Reed Buntings out of the 20+ forever on site. 

Reed Bunting

All the Robin wanted to do was look at its own reflection in the camera lens. 

Robin

The catch kept me fairly busy, but otherwise I noted 400+ Woodpigeon, 2 Jay, 2 Mistle Thrush, 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 4 Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, 2 Treecreeper, 6 Skylark, 18 Tree Sparrow, 1 Yellowhammer, 2 Fieldfare, 8 Redwing. 

Kestrel

A complaining Carrion Crow put me on to a Short-eared Owl flying high in the sky and heading west. As I rapidly changed lenses and the crow persisted, the owl turned and headed back east leaving me with yet another record shot. 

Short-eared Owl

That’s all for now folks. Look in to Another Bird Blog soon for more news and record shots. This post is also linking to Madge's Weekly Top Shot .

Shorty Post

I was hoping for a harrier at Pilling today after the wind dropped and the overnight and then early rain made for a warm, muggy morning fit for a raptor or two – maybe the Montagu’s down from the rainy Pennine fells? 

No harriers appeared but patrolling the sea wall briefly was an early season Short-eared Owl, down from the fells. It looked like a juvenile, very bright and orangey in the wings, even for a “shorty”. The owl was in the air for a minute or two before it dropped into a distant ditch and I didn’t see it again. Two other raptors today were an obligatory Kestrel, and then a Peregrine which came from the Knott End direction before heading inland as then in the distance, it turned right and south again. 

Short-eared Owl

Otherwise there’s little news to report: 2 Blackcap, 2 Reed Warbler, 18 Linnet, 8 Greenfinch, 2 Pied Wagtail, 6 Meadow Pipit, 2 Corn Bunting, 6 Skylark, 1 Common Sandpiper, 2 Little Grebe, 3 Grey Heron. 

Greenfinch

A large count of Curlew for 19th July –over 700 birds Lane Ends/Pilling Water. Still low numbers of Swallows this morning with less than 15 birds around and then a sudden but definite west and south movement of 30+ individuals about 11am. 

Back home I turned my attention to the garden where Goldfinches come and go, and at last a few juveniles. Out of 7 Goldfinch caught in a few hours, six were “3J” type and one an earlier season but juvenile female losing its mottled 3J markings. A couple more juvenile Greenfinch caught too, and fingers crossed, no sign of the dreaded thrichomonosis in the garden this year. 

Goldfinch - "3J"

Gaffe Time

Every picture tells a story. In this case it’s how I made the wrong decision to head out to the moss and put up a couple of nets. I had just caught a couple of Chaffinches when the heavens opened, not the scattered showers that Heather promised on BBC North West, but instead a couple of downpours which saturated both the nets and me. So I took the nets down, dried off a lot with the car heater and then drove out to Pilling for a spot of birding.

Rain On the Moss

A drive down Lambs Lane is rewarded by noise and spectacle of over 200 Whooper Swans at the junction of Fluke Hall Lane, 210 today plus the Black Swan from last winter. I don’t think the black one went back to Iceland with the Whoopers, but I haven’t seen it around during the summer and autumn until now. If the swans are spectacular then the Pink-footed Geese are doubly so at the moment with many birds out on the marsh; my count of 12000+ distant birds can be an approximation only, and my photograph a telephoto portion of the massed flight when a microlight aircraft came by.

Whooper Swan
Pink-footed Goose

At Lane Ends car park, Blackbirds were mobbing a Tawny Owl, while on the marsh a Merlin moved along the line of posts and then took a fly around to flush all the Lapwings, over 2000 of them. One of the best ways to find raptors is to watch corvids or just listen out for to their complaints when they come across a bird of prey. On my walk up to Pilling Water crows put me onto three raptors today, a Buzzard, a Sparrowhawk and then a Short-eared Owl. Apologies for the well cropped shots, as all the action was distant, but it illustrates the point.

Short-eared Owl
Sparrowhawk
Buzzard

Not many passerines about today, 5 Meadow Pipit, 3 Linnet, 15 Skylark and 2 Goldfinch. Herons obliged with 1 Grey Heron and 5 Little Egret while 250+ Woodpigeons are fattening up on Hi- Fly’s wildfowl bait.

Back at the car park a man with a telescope kindly pointed out the Merlin hovering over the embankment, whilst out on the marsh I watched a dashing little raptor that could only be a Kestrel.

Kestrel

Getting A Buzz

I got hold of a three hour pass to use before the babysitting when Olivia arrived. We promised to take her out for lunch for “chips and beans”. Unlike Theo who will eat most things put in front of him, like lots of kids nowadays Olivia has a more limited diet that tantalises her taste buds; so on one day a week it’s difficult to wean her off her favourite junk. I don’t find it hard to believe that many kids these days can’t put a name to common fruit and vegetables. Or, as the mystified young lad working on our Tesco checkout when faced with courgettes to key into his till asked, “What are they?”. Maybe we should be grateful that they at least seem to be getting taught about environmental issues, giving them a chance to understand how previous generations messed the world up for them.

I wanted to check out Braides Farm first so headed there via Fluke Hall Lane, frozen overnight again after the umpteenth frost of this abnormal winter. A group of 25 Lapwing and a couple of Black-headed Gulls huddled in a single whitened but still damp patch, but otherwise my notebook remained empty. Near the seawall at Braides were 170 Lapwing, 65 Golden Plover and 60 Curlew, with less than 10 Skylark. I also counted 7 Little Egrets, less than the 11 last week but they certainly get around this whole area with more always further towards Cockerham Moss, Pilling, Bank End, Thurnham and the Lune.

From the track I could see the Buzzard on the sea wall, as could a patrolling Short-eared Owl that proceeded to dive bomb the larger bird. I got pictures of the Buzzard but the owl was less keen to harass me as a predator than the Buzzard. Otherwise I would have got better pictures of it. The Buzzard lifted off and circled to gain height whilst the owl kept its distance from me.

Buzzard

Buzzard

Short-eared Owl
A quick tally at Conder Green revealed the overnight duck turnover of 25 Wigeon, 33 Tufted Duck, 11 Pochard, 2 Shelduck and 35 Teal with a lone Grey Heron and several Oystercatchers, Curlew and Redshank.

Shelduck

Pochard
The tide was way out at Cockersands caravan park so counting much was out of the question but I was content to try my luck with the shy Stonechat and the other small birds along the shore, 11 Linnets, 1 Reed Bunting, 4 Chaffinch, 3 Greenfinch and a couple of Blackbirds commuting to and from the caravans.

Linnet

Stonechat
On the return journey I could see thousands of Pink-footed Geese on the fields opposite Gulf Lane but didn’t have four hours to spend going through them for a “goodie”, especially along Mortuary Mile.

Back at Lane Ends the roadside Fieldfare gradually eating through all the Sea Buckthorn berries has been a great photo opportunity for anyone who likes to take pictures of common birds. A bit “dudy” perhaps for those who only get their camera out for “good” or rare birds with which to fill up all the local bird reports? But I get a buzz out of taking photographs of any birds. I looked at a North West bird report recently and it did not contain a single photo of a common bird, just pictures of the supposed highlights of the birding year. Then everyone complains about the huge turnout at twitches, the Day After Birders, the Weekend target touts, the pagers and mobiles ringing out for fun! Well what do we expect if through local bird reports and pager systems keen beginners are introduced to a diet of rarities and “good” birds, the ”E Numbers” of bird watching, rather than shown the joys of patch watching, survey work, vis migging or taking photographs of common birds? Is it any wonder that so many become hooked on the wrong diet and have no interest in the humble spud?

Fieldfare
Fieldfare
So what’s the big attraction of Sea Buckthorn to the Fieldfare apart from the fact that other berries are now in short supply?

“Sea Buckthorn berries are a common source of nutrition for a great deal of wildlife, birds in particular, but when they are eaten by humans they tend to be very bitter and quite unpleasant and may need to be used as an additive to other types of food in the diet. The most common form of Sea Buckthorn is Hippophae Rhamnoides and the female of the species produces succulent and juicy orange berries which is becoming a popular and fast selling product. Normally found on coastal areas of many areas in Europe and some parts of Asia, the plant includes berries which are now being cultivated to sell to the general public who have discovered that these berries can be potentially very good for health. The berries contain extremely high levels of vitamin C, though vitamins A and E and amino acids have also been found in many varieties of the plant. Although definite research into their exact health benefits have not been fully carried out and evaluated, it is generally assumed that due to their high content of vitamin C that they must have some benefit to health and can be enjoyed in many products. The anti-oxidant properties may be proved to help eliminate some of the harmful chemicals found in the body that may affect the heart and its function. Sea buckthorn berries have also been found to be beneficial in preventing narrowing of the arteries caused by a build-up of cholesterol. Compounds in the berries are now being derived and used in health supplements specifically for this reason”.

Sea Buckthorn
Isn’t the Internet wonderful?

Raptor Morn

Seumus sent me a text this morning to say that Meadow Pipit passage at Rossall was “decent”. I was a little late getting out but even so the pipit passage at Pilling seemed indecent or more precisely non-existent. Comparing notes in the past it’s often the case of course, Rossall can be quite busy with birds but it’s not necessarily replicated a few miles east and probably crucially, the reason is that Pilling is further into Morecambe Bay. As a result of the text I had a quick check of Ridge Farm but all I found was a couple of flocks of finches - 100 Linnet, 60 Goldfinch, 2 Reed Bunting and 3 Dunnock which may or may not have been migrants, but otherwise no discernible migration.





At Lane Ends, with a cool north easterly breeze, the noticeable migrant was Skylark if only in small numbers, as first a group of ten and then three smaller groups of two and threes went south. A single Wheatear was along the fence behind the sea wall and 8 or 10 Swallows went through south. There wasn’t much happening vis mig wise overhead so I switched my interest to sitting down on the sea wall at Pilling Water for the next hour or two watching the 9 metre tide run in.

Conspicuous was the reappearance of large numbers of Shelduck with a count of 500+ and Pink-footed Goose building to 255 as small parties came in not from the north but the local fields. Herons were represented by 3 Greys and 3 Little Egrets and swans by 10 Mute Swan.

Raptors put on a good show with 2 Peregrine, one of which tried unsuccessfully to see off a female Marsh Harrier that then settled into the marsh. Quite unusual that the next raptor I saw coming in from the west was a Short-eared Owl that flew around at some height at first, then as before like the harrier, it settled into the marsh to roost. Also in from the west was a female Sparrowhawk that flew quickly and purposefully across to the east then into the trees at the car park. A couple of hovering Kestrels completed the raptor glut but no sign of Merlin this morning.



The tide was perhaps too low to do a wader count with most of the waders beyond the green marsh out of sight, but anyway I had been so busy watching the assorted raptors that the best time was past. Even so I did count 12 Snipe over plus 14 Golden Plover but noted the remarkable disappearance of Redshank today with less than ten. But they often fail to show here, perhaps just on slightly lower tides.



Photos today of Dunnock, Reed Bunting and another Redshank from Wednesday, then the Marsh Harrier courtesy of Simon Hawtin – more of his work by clicking the link in the right hand column.