Sunday Larks

The Summer Solstice proved to be a bit of a joke here in breezy Lancashire where May and June will surely prove to be the most miserable on record. I heard tell of folk reigniting their central heating this week during yet more days of wind, rain, cool temperatures and endless grey skies. My only contact with birds this week was a dash to Pilling on Thursday morning during a brief spell of dry and when I ringed a brood of 3 Skylark chicks. Otherwise my notebook stayed shut, so apologies to regular readers who looked in to find no new posts. There weren’t any. 

With their downy fluff the Skylark chicks were well insulated against the weather and camouflaged from overhead predators. Was it chance that a flat stone immediately behind the nest gave protection from the prevailing westerly winds while providing a marker to the adult birds? I think not. 

Skylark nest

Sunday morning was marginally better and at least dry although with a temperature of 12⁰C and a stiff breeze it was hardly summery. Undeterred I set off for Conder Green where there’s always something to see together with a chance of the unexpected. True to form and following more than a little perseverance the old notebook looked reasonable enough. 

Redshanks in the creeks numbered 60+ with amongst them 2 returnee Common Sandpipers, a single Curlew, a couple of Pied Wagtails plus the obligatory Grey Heron and 2 Little Egrets. Two Common Terns continue to frequent the island. 

Birder Lore says that thinking of or talking about a species is bound to jinx it in some way and most likely will mean the species never appears. But no sooner had I thought about when the regular but generally autumnal Kingfisher might appear than one flew across the creek. The Kingfisher sat up on a piece of tide washed tree and then promptly disappeared into the shelter of a sandy bank where it remained out of sight. It was good while it lasted as a Kingfisher is one of those species which can turn an ordinary day into one that is better than average. 

Kingfisher

There are two pairs of adult Oystercatchers each with a single chick while a number of other adults continue to display and chase around without any signs of youngsters. Shelduck numbers are steady at a dozen or so and Tufted Duck less than ten but no signs of any youngsters. 

Oystercatchers

Oystercatcher

Along the hedgerow and about the marsh I counted 8+ Greenfinch, a small number of Linnets & Goldfinch plus 3 Stock Dove. 

 Linnet

Along the railway path a Lesser Whitethroat was in full and loud song, a sign that at this stage of the season it may be singing for a second shot at breeding. 

I made off for Pilling where there was unfinished business by way of another Skylark nest I’d failed to locate on Thursday - one where adults were feeding smallish young. The 6+ pairs of Skylarks here have small territories which makes it quite difficult sorting out who is who and where each pair belong. I pin-pointed the nest in Hi-Fly’s field margins and close to a potato crop, the nest with three good sized chicks and just 50 yards from the earlier one out on the marsh. 

Another Skylark nest

Skylark chick

In the picture above the chick’s egg tooth is still visible. The egg tooth is an essential component to the hatching process in almost all species of birds. Whereas most mammals maintain a protected internal environment for the growing foetus, birds use an external protective covering consisting of calcium which makes up the shell. This protective shell provides an isolated environment to allow the developing chick to thrive, but once the chick is ready to enter the outside world this secure cell has to be opened. The chick breaks open the shell by using its own internal clock in knowing when to emerge and while its beak and claws are not yet strong or sharp enough to break the shell, the egg tooth is able to penetrate the shell. 

The marsh and ditches were quiet except 2 Little Egrets, 2 singing Whitethroat, a Reed Bunting and 10 or 12 Linnet. In the wood there was a Blackcap in full song and then along the hedgerow a pair of Whitethroats at a nest in the early stages of construction. 

Yes, a good morning's birding.

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In the meantime this post is linking to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.