Autumn Arrives

Friday produced my first autumnal Kingfisher of 2024, whizzing back and forth across farmland drainage ditches, enough stimulus to inspire another visit on Sunday morning where I hoped for more pictures. At the same place, and if the wind speed stayed low as predicted, maybe catch and ring a few other species. 

Kingfisher

 

As an early season  breeding species of inland waters the Kingfisher is a surprisingly early returnee to coastal Fylde where the tiny and seemingly fragile fisherman is able to make a winter living wherever there’s a spot to watch, wait and then plunge. 

August and September can be an ideal time to look out for their arrival. Warmed by The Irish Sea our coastal waters here remain ice and snow free during most winters when just 15/20 miles away near Preston or Garstang the reverse can be true. 

Almost four hours later there was neither sight nor sound of a Kingfisher; such are the vagaries of trying to predict migration or to second guess a species like Kingfisher, its habits or whereabouts. 

At first, and for an hour or so, the wind was non-existent. A single net in the open except for the minimal background of vegetated fence posts remained unwavering and strangely still, quite unlike our frequently blown away ringing sessions. It wasn’t to last but in the meantime I caught in double figures, 9 Meadow Pipits and a single Willow Warbler. 

Meadow Pipit - first summer

Willow Warbler - first summer

As the wind speed increased so did the birds with a rather sudden but splendid arrival of dozens of Meadow Pipit, Linnet and wagtails, as if they had all waited for a breeze to give them lift off from the runway. Bright morning sunlight gave photo opportunities whereby the strengthening breeze mattered not. 

By now Meadow Pipits poured through with a rough count of 100+, joined in their arrival with mainly Pied Wagtails (30+), Linnets (45+) and even a couple each of Great-spotted Woodpecker and Sedge Warbler. 

Click the pics for close-ups.

Pied Wagtail

Meadow Pipit

Pied Wagtail

Stock Dove

Linnet

Linnet

 

Great-spotted Woodpecker

Linnet

Meadow Pipit

Sedge Warbler

Back soon folks. Take care out there, it's a funny old world at the moment.

Another Bird Blog.

 

 

Keep Calm And Carry On

It seems that modern weather forecasts emanate from just a few sources that syndicate their findings. It’s no surprise then that mainstream TV channels have remarkably similar forecasts when most of the announcers read from a rehearsed script rather than share their thoughts as informed and knowledgeable meteorologists. The best bet is to find an Internet forecast that updates time slots regularly and one that suit a particular preference or pinpoints locations for the activity that is to be pursued. After all,  a windsurfer’s needs are quite different to those of a bird ringer! 

Andy and I continued our search of weather forecasts for one that might allow us a morning in the fresh air and a ringing session. By Thursday evening there was a chance that Friday morning might provide the requisite window so we duly pencilled it in for a trip to Project Linnet. 

It could be that continued bad weather has delayed the Linnet departure north whereby in a normal spring winter flocks have separated and individuals gone their own ways. We’ve had 35/40 around all week when I checked and dropped more seed to keep the birds interested. 

Friday saw the regular Stock Dove or two and a couple of Reed Buntings and Chaffinches feeding in the penalty area. The now resident Kestrel hovered overhead for while during its customary circuit.  

Kestrel 

Reed Bunting and Chaffinch 

A male Blackbird holds territory, and this morning at least five Skylarks in song in the immediate area where the many fence posts come in handy. 

Blackbird 

Skylark 

Stock Dove 

Many people will be unfamiliar with the Stock Dove. A quick glance confirms their fears that it is one of those messy creatures that hang around city streets. Look closer; while the Stock Dove is indeed a member of the pigeon family this small version nests in holes in trees and in farm buildings. It’s a bird of woodland edges and parkland during the breeding season and can be seen in small flocks on winter farmland. Unlike the Woodpigeon and the Feral Pigeon, the extremely shy Stock Dove is very rarely found in towns, cities or suburban gardens.  

This morning looked ideal with less than 10 mph wind and wispy cloud above. Unfortunately the Linnets didn’t play ball by refusing to visit our seed in anything other than ones and twos but instead sunning themselves in the bramble. We noted that the recently depleted Linnet flock is now quite “loose” and “stretched” compared to those of mid-winter when the birds pack tightly together. As soon as the weather takes a real turn for the better the Linnets will be long gone. 

Linnets 

We caught not a single Linnet and had to settle for a second year male Reed Bunting instead. We suspect this to be the male on territory and paired to the female seen earlier. 

Reed Bunting 

When opportunities arrived to catch three or four Linnets, we declined in favour of a bigger haul that never materialised – isn’t hindsight wonderful? We also suffered “near misses” of two or three of those Skylarks, the ones that sang on high and came down for a too brief look and didn’t stay long enough for capture. Better luck next time. 

Dear Readers, stay safe and well. Carry on as normal and keep calm is the advice from here. I have no elderly parents to worry about, but I do have five young grandchildren. Take sensible and personal precautions to avoid contagion is the key, but life must carry on.

H L Mencken in 1918:

“Civilisation  grows more and more maudlin and hysterical; especially under democracy it tends to degenerate into a mere combat of crazes. The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed and hence clamorous to be led to safety by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.”

Back soon on Another Bird Blog.

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

Headline Birds

Friday. There was a frosty outlook and a cold south-easterly and I was ready for a spot of fresh air birding. 

Once again a hunting Barn Owl stole the morning headlines as it put on a short display over Stalmine Moss. Soon it was gone, back to roost in a nearby barn. The Barn Owl is well named; although in parts of the UK they nest in hollow trees, cavities or tree-mounted boxes, in this region of Lancashire they nest in newish agricultural buildings where provision has been made, or where they still exist, older type barns yet to be “modernised”. 

Barn Owl 

At Fluke Hall I was in time to see 100+ Whooper Swans land behind the sea wall fresh from their roost on the nearby marsh. Hardly had they settled when a shooter/farmer plus Border Collie arrived on a quad, unbolted the metal gate, drove across the field and scattered the swans into the red of the morning sky. The swans take some of the shooters’ bait laid to pull in wild geese, wildfowl and their released game birds but thankfully the swans are “protected”. 

My own seed drop at Gulf Lane was for a different reason and upon arrival I saw a flock of 60 or more Linnets circling the plot. I walked the icy path in trainers and scattered a full bucket of millet and rape seed, retraced my steps to the car and then watched as the Linnet flock grew. Perhaps the frosty start moved them from other sites but they certainly seemed hungry, so much so that within thirty or forty minutes the flock grew to between 220/260 birds that piled as one into the seed. There was a single Stock Dove in our net ride and also a Snipe that flew from the adjacent drainage ditch. This winter has seen very few Stock Doves in contrast to the winter of 2017/2018 when up to a dozen could be seen here most days. 

Stock Dove 

Conder Green seemed strangely quiet with a distinct lack of anything “new” and just the usual crew of ducks – Teal down to 140, Wigeon steady at 64, Mallards present, and 5 Little Grebe. Even waders were sparse in the frosty creeks and on the surrounding grassy margins - 55 Curlew, 40+ Lapwing and 25 Redshank. 

Teal 

Wigeon 

The story continued with an uneventful run up to Cockersands where lingering Fieldfares scattered from the roadside trees then leapfrogged ahead as they looked for the last of the berries. Near the caravan park and around the dilapidated barns were 4 Pied Wagtails and a single Grey Wagtail. It was noticeable how as they all fed around the yard the Pied Wagtails were the dominant species as each in turn chased the Grey Wagtail to the edges of the area. 

Grey Wagtail 

Alongside the white frosted marsh was a small flock of 8 Greenfinch, 3 Reed Buntings, a couple each of Chaffinch and Tree Sparrow. 

The Greenfinch; not too long ago this was a ubiquitous bird of farmland and garden that birders could ignore, safe in the knowledge that commonality would ensure the species' continued success. How wrong we were; the Greenfinch has become a headline bird, one to notice and to then report as something of a rarity. 

Greenfinch 

Meanwhile birds featured in other headline news. “200 Turkeys Vote For Christmas” and “A Lame Duck Flaps Into Brussels” ran just two of the comical stories. The nation laughed out loud until tears ran down our collective ruddy cheeks. 

If politicians were an endangered species we might all sleep safer in our beds.

Linking today to World Bird Wednesday,  Anni's Birding Blog and Eileen's Saturday. 

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.

Swallows At Last

More cold north-westerlies didn’t bode well for this morning’s circuit but I did get Swallows into double figures, picked up a few other summer migrants and ended up with a decent tally of birds. 

First stop was Gulf Lane where the winter set-aside crop now lies flat as a pancake awaiting this year’s plough. There must still be some food in there, probably the legacy of our feeding regime to catch Linnets. I found 9 Stock Dove searching the ground, 10 Linnet flying around and a single Wheatear. 

I rather like the Stock Dove, a bird which to most folk is just a bog-standard town pigeon that pecks around their feet while pooing a lot. Look closely. The Stock Dove is an attractive and rather subtly coloured bird by way of the overall bluey cast, the green ear patch, neat black wing bars and those ruby red legs. It’s a birder’s bird. Unfortunately, in the shooting season this smart little dove suffers from both looking a little like and often hanging around with its bigger cousin, the Woodpigeon. 

Stock Dove

There was another Stock Dove at Conder Green, a single bird that arrived to feed on the bare ground around the islands as I scanned across the water. After a wet winter there’s a lot of water here and this makes the pool rather deep for both waders and dabbling ducks. There was no sign of recent Avocets with waders and wildfowl limited to 16 Redshank, 14 Oystercatcher, 12 Shelduck, 4 Teal, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Curlew, 1 Little Egret and a pair of Tufted Duck. 

The “tufties” bred here last year with their ten or so youngsters reduced within a few days to one or two still fluffy balls.  Who would be  parent nowadays?

Tufted Duck

As I drove towards Glasson Dock a single Swallow flew across the road, and then a little further along I spied a hovering Kestrel. Singing Blackcap, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff at Glasson Dock where a pair of Swallows fed around and about the roadside and lock gates. 

I took a drive down Hillam Lane towards the marsh. The local Sand Martin colony swarmed with martins with my best guesstimate around 200+ birds plus four or more Swallows. Andy and I are hoping to ring the martins this year, but once again it looks like the little beggars are nesting too high up the quarry face for us to reach them. We may need a Plan B. 

Down at Cockerham Marsh it seemed to be mostly White Wagtails and Meadow Pipits with counts of circa forty of each and just 2 Pied Wagtail. A couple more Swallows rushed through and two more around the farm. 

White Wagtail

 

Meadow Pipit

I pulled off the single track road and onto the soggy marsh to let an ambulance pass by and on its way back to Lancaster Hospital - best not to bounce the passenger from their stretcher.  I’d heard the wail of the siren earlier as the ambulance rushed along the main road and down Hillam Lane to collect yet another casualty from the nearby Black Knights Parachute Centre. I do worry about that place. I’m sure there should be an apostrophe in that name. 

Time flies when you’re having fun but I had enough minutes left for a quick look at Fluke Hall. Here at least two each of both Blackcap and Chiffchaff, a Canada Goose lurking on the pool and a roadside Kestrel. Oh, and more Swallows. 

Maybe spring isn’t too far away? Next Tuesday - if those weather folk are right.

Linking today to Anni's Birding Blog in Texas.

  

Stock Taking

The days have flown since Andy and I did any ringing at Oakenclough. The centres of attention in late May and early June were Pied Flycatchers in nest boxes together with sussing out the few pairs of Willow Warblers nesting in the clumps of heather and bilberry. Today we returned to the hills to do a little management of the netting area of the plantation and once that was done, attempt a little ringing. 

A catch of just 8 birds may have confirmed our worst fears about the breeding success of many species in this soggy, windswept year with a catch of just 2 Willow Warblers, 1 Chiffchaff, 2 Dunnock, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Great Tit and 1 Blue Tit. 

Willow Warbler

 Chiffchaff

Despite the low catch there did seem to be good numbers of Goldfinches around including the first real flock of summer when 18/20 flew over without landing near the nets and a total of 40+ on site throughout the morning. In recent years our UK Goldfinch seems able to both survive and prosper whatever the weather. Otherwise and in the finch department we noted 15+ Lesser Redpoll as flyovers plus a handful of Siskins on the move.

Also “round and about” - 20+ Swallow, 15+ Chaffinch, 3 Pied Wagtail, 2+ Nuthatch, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 1 Tawny Owl, 1 Jay, 1 Grey Wagtail.

At home and in the garden this week a couple of normally very shy Stock Dove (Columba oenas) have been regular visitors around the feeders left out for the local House Sparrows. The Stock Doves are often in the company of one or two Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus), their close relative. Although Wood Pigeons are now very common garden birds the Stock Dove is a rare garden visitor in this area. It is not the first time I have seen Stock Doves in the garden, they are becoming more regular, and I am wondering if this is the next species to exploit the British pastime of feeding birds?

It’s perhaps easy to overlook the Stock Dove, dismiss it as a lost racing pigeon or a even feral urban pigeon but the species is a very distinctive blue-grey with a pinkish breast and an iridescent green patch on the side of the neck. There is no white patch on the neck, like on an adult Wood Pigeon, and it is darker than the Wood Pigeon. One of the better differentiating features is their black eyes. The bill is yellowish and the legs are pink. They have a black tipped tail and two small black wing-bars on each wing which are less distinct than the wing-bars on a Rock Dove.

Stock Dove

House Sparrows may have bucked the poor breeding trend this year as I am seeing good numbers of them in a number of places I visit or pass by. There are reasonable numbers of Goldfinch coming to the Niger feeders, including good numbers of juveniles, but as yet there is lots of natural food to be found, so no need to visit garden feeders in huge numbers.

Goldfinch

 
There’s more birding this weekend, so catch up with the news at Another Bird Blog very soon.

Today the blog is linking to Anni's Birding and  Eileen's Saturday.

Back To A Patch

Two weeks in sunny Menorca meant Saturday was employed in catching up with family, a mountain of post, a long list of emails and then downloading and sorting hundreds of photos from the holiday. But this morning the local patch beckoned so a full Menorca post was postponed for now. Log in to Another Bird Blog soon for this year’s pictures from The Idyllic Isle. 

Remembering to drive on the “correct” side of the road I set off north in the direction of Pilling and Cockerham, first stop Conder Green where a goodish list ensued, waders, wildfowl plus “bits and bobs” of passerines. 

The huge passage of Black-tailed Godwits of April has left lingering individuals, 16 or so birds still having feeding success in the tidal creeks, their long bills buried deep in the mud to then pull out long worms. I am guessing that their prey was the lugworms and ragworms that anglers dig for here and then use for bait. 

Black-tailed Godwits

Black-tailed Godwit

Black-tailed Godwit

Other waders are now limited to species which breed here but not necessarily all of those counted, although I did see an Oystercatcher sat tight on a nest. In addition, 9 Redshank, 8 Oystercatcher and 4 Curlew, the latter flying overhead. 

Wildfowl are scarce now with the counts of 2 Teal, 2 Wigeon, 6 Tufted Duck, 2 Canada Goose, 16 Shelduck and 2 Grey Heron a reflection of Spring becoming the doldrums of Summer. For the small area surveyed I found a reasonable number of passerines in song, so numbers which represent the males alone and discount the quieter partners: 4 Whitethroat, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Reed Bunting, 1 Sedge Warbler, 1 Greenfinch and 2 Goldfinch. 

There were reasonable numbers of Swallows, Sand Martins and House Martins about but sadly no Swifts in evidence. A Swallow gave brief chase to a passing male Sparrowhawk, the hawk no doubt with a nest bound female not too far away. 

Last week on the Menorca patch I watched swallows, martins, Pallid Swift, Alpine Swift, Common Swift, Booted Eagle, Red-footed Falcon and Egyptian Vulture! Oh the joys of a local patch. 

Egyptian Vulture

I headed back to Pilling via Braides where a Sedge Warbler sang from the Cocker Channel and 18 Stock Doves scrutinised a recently sown field. Maybe the doves were finding undrilled seed? 

Stock Dove

Fluke Hall seemed almost silent, the warbler reduction since April very marked with now just single Chiffchaff and Blackcap in song and no Willow Warblers. Luckily the Whitethroats were in good voice my ear still tuned to their scratchy song rather than the machine-gun rattle of Sardinian Warblers. Whitethroats are passage migrants in Menorca, Sardinian Warblers ten-a-penny. 

Whitethroat

Sardinian Warbler

A male Kestrel hunted the freshly sown fields where I found no evidence of breeding Lapwings, the plough of April having done its job with great success. At least 4 Skylarks remain on territory and a pair of Tufted Ducks prospected for a breeding niche in the sea wall channel. 

A good morning’s work. There’s no beating a local patch, wherever it might be.