Double Jobbed

I was out ringing on Tuesday morning but an urgent phone call sent me scurrying back home with just 5 birds ringed. 

The morning began with a blanket of mist. Brightness above the grey indicated the sun would quickly break through. The yellow blob cleared the mist in no time and a look in the nearest net showed a Chiffchaff and a male Blackcap side by side. 

 

Blackcap

 

Chiffchaff

Linnet

 

This excellent start continued with 3 more Linnets from a flock in the bright blue that quickly built to upwards of 150 Linnets with ten or more hangers on in the shape of Goldfinches. This was looking good. With 48 Linnets in the bag so far this autumn (42 first years and 6 adults), a half century was certain. A few other birds enlivened proceedings, the best of those being a double whammy of two Great Egrets and a male Sparrowhawk. 

And then the phone calls. The local Post Office had mislaid the packet of Euro currency ordered for our Greek holiday and I needed to retrieve paperwork from back home. After a swear word or three nets were stashed away and off I went.  Fortunately everything turned out OK when our Euros were found in the main office where an unnamed operative had stored the package for “safe keeping”. 

Fast forward to Thursday when the Doom & Gloom Forecast said “rain”, but I was not convinced so set off towards Cockerham village. At 0600 there was a light shower followed by much brighter skies and a very decent morning of zero wind. The mobile was switched to “off” and I switched on to where I left off on Tuesday. 

The Linnet flock was now more than 200 strong plus smaller groups and singles that became attached and then broke off, behaviour which makes for counting difficulties. The counting was even harder when Sparrowhawks appeared, tried to grab a Linnet and scattered the flock in several directions. Definitely two Sparrowhawks today, a female and then a noticeably smaller and more agile male, both of which came in low and fast in the element of surprise, but neither connected with a meal.

Sparrowhawk

 

Linnets

The overall number of Linnets in the area must have improved the catch with 19 new ones today. There was another Chiffchaff, this one a male with a wing length of 64mm compared to Tuesday’s 56mm female. At this time of the year wing length is the only way to sex a Chiffchaff unless a wing measurement falls half way between the two extremes when the bird becomes of unknown sex. 

Chiffchaff

 

Linnet

 

Other birds today - Buzzard, Great-spotted Woodpecker, 20+ Goldfinch, 2 Chaffinch, 3 Stock Dove, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Little Egret.

Back soon on Another Bird Blog. Don't go away.

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday Blog and Anni in Texas.

 

New Wellies, New Birds

It was no coincidence that I decided to buy a new pair of wellies. Last week saw day after day of mizzle, drizzle, rain and cloud, the ultimate manifestation of an English “summer”. Hardly surprising then that the number of birds ringed during a week of rained off and blown away could be counted on the fingers of one hand - four Linnets. And then the old boots leaked, but Ebay came to the rescue with a pair of Dunlop “Blizzard” thermal wellies - perfect for the coming days and weeks of summer. 

New Wellies

 

Monday 23rd began with more drizzle but the forecast was OK so I set off for a ringing session. By the time I reached Cockerham village there was no rain, the grey sky had fizzled out and there was zero wind. Just the job. 

From the off Linnets began to move west and south in small parties of anything between 5 and 30 so that by 1030 when I packed in at least 140 had passed through the area. 

The catch of birds was better, 8 additional Linnets, 2 more Reed Warbler and an unexpected but very welcome Garden Warbler. These young, silky smooth and immaculate Garden Warblers are simply beautiful to behold. 

Garden Warbler

 

Garden Warbler

Linnet

 

Reed Warbler

 

Brown Hare

Birding was unspectacular and highlighted by a persistent Sparrowhawk that soared around for a while and took a special interest in the groups of Linnets knocking about. The Linnets plus a handful of Swallows were having none of it as they took it in turns to harass the hawk until it fled the scene without a meal. 

There does seem to be a number of Sparrowhawks around at the moment, perhaps another species to benefit from humans being locked away for months where they can’t harm, birds of prey, intentionally or not. 

Sparrowhawk

 

Birding consisted of small numbers of Goldfinch and Greenfinch and one or more Sedge Warblers, none of which got caught. Two Grey Heron and a single Little Egret completed the scene apart from a single Whimbrel that flew over calling its seven whistles. 

The weather is looking ok for the rest of the week. It’s probably Wednesday for me as tomorrow is a day out with two of the grandkids . Wish me luck. 

Linking this weekend to Eileen's Saturday Blog and Anni's Texas Blog.

PS. Here are a couple of photos from our day with the grandkids  - Knott End to Fleetwood. Click the pics for the journey. 

L.S. Lowry and his dog in a hurry to catch the ferry.

Knott  End

There was a lack of tidal water in the channel but sufficient for the ferry’s first trip of the day where slippery mud has to be cleared from the jetty before passengers embark.   A pair of wellies might be better than boots?

Knott End Jetty

Knott End Slipway

There's a reason for the name "slipway".

Across the water

The price of fish – a Fleetwood family wait anxiously for the return of their bread winner from a week or more fishing trip in the Irish Sea and beyond. 

Welcome Home

In Memoriam

On the ferry

Close that door

Close that door

Mmm! Wallings Ice Cream

Back soon with more birds and birding.

 

A Tale Of Two Halves.

Wednesday morning produced yet another icy start at Oakenclough. After a few dire days of catches and thinking along the lines of that old upbeat Howard Jones song, we imagined that “Things could only get better”. 

How wrong we were as we failed to even reach double figures. Just 5 birds caught and once again, virtually zero visible migration of note in the bright blue skies above. Throughout four hours we noted three or four Swallows heading north. Luckily the four (2 x 2) Siskins overhead drew our attention by their distinctive piercing flight calls or may have missed them too. 

Our catch - 1 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Blackcap, 1 Wren and 1 Willow Warbler. 

The second year male Blackcap was the first to be caught this year when normally we might expect to be in double figures by early May. 

Blackcap

Lesser Redpoll

 

The single Willow Warbler was a recapture from the week before, so new birds numbered four. In the plantation ten or twelve Willow Warblers sang from their now established location without us catching any females. From this, and the lack of chasing around, we deduced that female Willow Warblers had yet to arrive to our site. This is a natural enough lag in timing for Willow Warblers and many other species, accentuated in 2021 by the icy spring. 

Although by 1030 temperatures had climbed to the dizzying heights of 11 degrees, we knew to call it a day. 

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Friday dawned bright but slightly breezy with the decision not to go ringing already made. I headed off Pilling way for a spot of birding alone. 

Swallows were more obvious with a number of them seen to fly north and quickly out of sight. In my two plus hours I counted more than 20, a vast improvement on recent days. But still no Swifts or House Martins, the latter still absent from their breeding eaves in our semi rural location and now two weeks behind schedule. 

I searched a stretch of land I'd not done in weeks and found 3 Lapwings sitting while their mates chased off gulls and crows that showed too much interest in the very obvious nesting pairs. In the same area were two or more pairs of Skylarks, a single Wheatear, a male Pied Wagtail and ten to twelve Linnets. 

Pied Wagtail

Skylark

Linnet

 

In wetter areas came 11 Little Egret, 2 Great Egret, 1 Grey Heron, 3 Tufted Duck, 4 Shelduck, 5 Mute Swan, plus both Canada Geese and Greylags with youngsters in tow. Also, 6 Reed Warbler, 4 Sedge Warbler, 8 Oystercatcher, 6 Redshank. 

Sedge Warbler 

Back home today we sat with a coffee and watched a male Sparrowhawk sat on a neighbour's garden wall. After a while the hawk dropped to within inches of the ground, accelerated like a rocket and crossed into another garden.

Sparrowhawk

That's all for now folks. The forecast for Saturday is rain and wind so it looks like a day doing nothing but chores. Don't go away, see you soon.

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

A Gentle Stroll - Stop And Stare.

We count ourselves fortunate that we live in Stalmine, a village less than a mile from the partly tidal River Wyre. A walk along country lanes leads directly to the Wyre salt marshes with paths that head south inland to Eccleston or north to the mouth of the estuary where the village of Knott End looks across to the once prosperous fishing port of Fleetwood. 

River Wyre, Lancashire 

There is little of the fishing industry left in Fleetwood. Fish now comes overland by truck and van where it is gobbled up by large wholesalers rather than fish landing by local trawlers that in turn provide jobs to town folk. Perhaps in 2021 when Britain regains its rightful fishing waters we may see a revival in the fortunes, finances and lost skills of the many coastal towns like Fleetwood. 

Fleetwood from Knott End 

After a number of weeks with little birding I headed towards the river, where I hoped to avoid crowds and vigilantes who might report me on social media for stopping occasionally and not walking briskly. I strolled alongside hedgerows, trees and farmland where I knew there would be birds to watch. For goodness sake, what is a walk without a stop and a stare? 

Just down the lane I found my first young Blackbird of the year as it scuttled noisily along neighbours’ fences. And it sat there until a male Blackbird came along to investigate the clicking of the camera. The youngster was so recently out of the nest it still had the remains of the egg tooth. The egg tooth is a small, sharp, protuberance used by youngsters to break or tear through the egg's surface during hatching. 

Blackbird 

Blackbird  

Buzzards are common over our house as they nest most years less than half-a-mile away. Without fail their circling flights above attract Buzzards from surrounding areas both from their calls and through their phenomenal eyesight. It’s not uncommon to have seven, eight or nine Buzzards overhead whereby if their calls don’t make me look up, the calls of the tormenting gulls surely will. This morning was three, yesterday seven. There was a Sparrowhawk too when a Starling gave the game away with a warning call as the hawk circled once or twice then flew off towards another copse. 

Buzzard 

Sparrowhawk 

Dunnocks, Wrens and Blackbirds were everywhere but just a single Whitethroat along lanes lined on both sides by trees and hedgerows, an ideal habitat for the usually noisy summer migrant. I’m hoping it’s just the northerly winds of the last few days that have held up the Whitethroats rather than a wholesale loss on their perilous journey. 

At New House there are always House Martins where seven or eight pairs nest every year without fail. As yet no martins and passing Swallows have been few with just six or eight today. Willow Warblers too are strangely missing, a species that often sings from local gardens on first arrival until they find their preferred place along the lanes. There was a singing Chiffchaff in the same spot by the old damson trees and where I’ve heard one in past years but rarely follow up as the season progresses. 

Compensation came with an obliging Sedge Warbler alongside a reedy ditch. It sang from inside the tree, at the very top and from down in the ditch as I followed it up, down and around about. This proved a morning of Sedge Warblers and a count of seven along the way. 

 Sedge Warbler

Sedge Warbler 

Further down the lane are gorse bushes and fields that once grew crops of vegetables but now grow grass. There’s no winter stubble with now zero counts of Yellowhammers or Tree Sparrows and very few Chaffinches but there are a few Lapwings that scrape a living on marginal land before the first cuts of silage. There was another Lapwing sat on eggs and the one below acting very much like the concerned parent. 

Lapwing 

At the river I surveyed the undulating marsh that has dozens if not hundreds of tidal channels, ditches that are both deep and dangerous to the unwary or inexperienced. The bund allows a glimpse in some of the closer channels where I found several Redshank, a Greenshank, several Curlew, two Whimbrel and a Reed Bunting. 

Burrows Marsh, River Wyre 

The Whimbrel flew quickly away with their characteristic and unmistakable call of seven rapid whistles. Why the Whimbrel always gives seven calls but not five, six, eight or nine is not entirely clear but is a unique call that once learnt is never forgotten. 

Whimbrel 

I retraced my steps back home with a Kestrel, Buzzards still above but no new Whitethroats. 

Back soon with more stop and stare. And there’s rain in the forecast, following an April that may be the driest on record.  There’s a novelty. 

Red Sky At Morning

I peeked through the curtains and noted the pink red glow to the south east. “Red sky at morning, shepherds take warning” is a rhyme used as an aid to weather forecasting for the last two thousand years. 

Red Sky 

I grabbed a quick breakfast then hit the road birding before any rain arrived. It was windier than I’d hoped but the air smelt fresh and clean with the roads devoid of early traffic. 

Every morning started with a Barn Owl or two in recent days and weeks. Today was just the same - a fast flying hunter that didn’t stop for breath or a portrait and then did a rapid disappearing act.  I made do with a flock of 18/20 Fieldfares that flew from a dark peaty field and into a line of conifer trees where they could barely be seen. 

A still flooded field held a tiny flock of Lapwings, several Stock Doves and a good number of Meadow Pipits, the pipits barely visible in the long grass until they flitted to and fro. I saw a pair of Corn Buntings along the wires in the exact spot I’d seen one singing earlier in the week.  It’s looking good for a rare breeding record but still early days. Maybe my sighting will reach the WhatsApp messages where rare birds are all the rage?  

Corn Bunting 

There was a kerfuffle when a Buzzard dropped from nowhere and attacked a female Sparrowhawk, something I’d not seen before.  It happened so quickly and distant through the car windscreen that it wasn’t clear if the Buzzard intended to grab the Sparrowhawk itself or the prey the hawk carried. Whatever the reason, the Sparrowhawk then spent a couple of minutes on a nearby fence rearranging its plumage and gathering composure before it continued on its way. 

Sparrowhawk 

There was a Kestrel around too. Here are a couple of over-cropped and distant pictures for the day. 

Kestrel 

Kestrel 

A stop at Project Linnet saw about 15 Linnets and a single Stock Dove hanging around for the last of the seed.  I’m writing up a summary of the winter effort August to March 2019/20 for Farmers Richard and Helen to assist their continuation of the agri-environment scheme. The write-up includes the total of birds caught. 

Let’s hope Scottish ringers like Tom D catch just a few of those Linnets we ringed: 

• 155 new Linnets 
• 4 Linnet recaptures 
• 1 Skylark 
• 1 Dunnock 
• 1 Chaffinch 
• 1 Goldfinch 
• 2 Reed Bunting 
• 1 Wren 

The water level at Conder Green pool is very high, a depth that leaves very few muddy margins but lots of water for wading birds to truly wade. A pair of Oystercatchers may decide to nest by the roadside waste bin where they did a few years ago. 

Oystercatcher 

Oystercatcher 

It was hard to resist taking a few snaps of a forlorn Pheasant, one that survived the winter shotguns. “Oy” it seemed to shout, as it looked me squarely in the eyes. “Where are those feed bins? You used to top them up every day.” 

Pheasant 

Around the pool and creeks - 100 Black-headed Gull, 18 Mute Swan, 22 Oystercatcher, 58 Teal, 11 Tufted Duck, 12 Wigeon, 2 Little Egret, 1 Pied Wagtail and 1 singing Chiffchaff. 

Pied Wagtail

A skirt around Jeremy Lane produced little in the way of birds except for a 3 singing Skylark and an inaccessible, very secure, farm track protected by nasty spikes and CCTV where birders and even doggy walkers fear to tread. 

Keep Out

Not sure what type of farm this is unless they grow something quite exotic out here in the wilds of Cockerham?

Back soon with more news and pictures.