Choices, choices

The sunny start left me with a dilemma. Paint the walls of the spare bedroom or go birding? 

Do It Yourself

 

After their overnight roost on Pilling Marsh geese were dropping in some numbers when I arrived at Backsands Lane. Several thousand pinkies led the charge with many heading to inland fields across to Bradshaw Lane and Eagland Hill a mile or two away; but the several hundred keen for an early breakfast settled into the immediate pastures. I counted 24 White-fronted Geese more or less together across the same pasture, plus their hanger-on again, the feral/escape Red-breasted Goose. 

Pink-footed Geese 

White-fronted Goose

Note the picture below. While hordes of geese feed there will always be lookouts assigned to watch for danger. One wrong move from a birder, a slammed car door, or a passer-by with a barking dog and the geese are off into the air to find a safer place. 

 Pink-footed Geese

Pink-footed Goose, White-fronted Goose, Red-breasted Goose

There’s a really dark pinkie that doesn’t look too well, perhaps suffering from a recent dose of steel shot from the now almost finished shooting season. 

Pink-footed Goose

I motored on up to Gulf Lane where although we can’t ring birds at the moment because of the outbreak of avian flu 3 kms away, we can still feed the Linnets. The Linnets were around in their usual numbers with 300+ feeding in our drop-spot of millet and rapeseed. Walking through the set-aside I flushed a Snipe from underfoot, a Grey Wagtail from the ditch and a Skylark from the next field. 

As an aside, the latest figure from the avian flu outbreak is that 65,000 birds used for breeding in the shooting industry are to be “humanely slaughtered” in several locations. Suffice to say that the whole episode is a shocking indictment of the business of breeding birds for pleasure shooting. 

Rawcliffe Moss held a good variety of birds by way of at least 8 Buzzards circling in the morning air plus a couple of Kestrels on roadside lookout posts. Many thousands of Lapwings and Gulls crowded the still partly flooded fields but unfortunately I’d no inclination to count the masses involved. 

I stopped in the spot where earlier in the week were thrushes, buntings and a Stonechat. Lesser numbers today but still 40 Fieldfare, 22 Corn Bunting, 12 Stock Dove, 2 Mistle Thrush, 2 Yellowhammer, a Stonechat and a couple of Skylarks. I noticed today that Skylarks are suddenly becoming more vocal, not necessarily singing but certainly chirruping as they go about their business and a probable prelude to their season starting soon. 

Corn Buntings

 

Skylark

I was pushed for time and with the cloud increasing I headed slowly home. 

Now where’s that paint brush?

Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday, Anni's Birding and Viewing Nature with Eileen.

Take Your Pick

Friday. After clearing frost from the screen I set off into bright sunshine. Things rapidly went downhill. 

I found a nice selection along Lancaster Road – 2 Buzzards, a Kestrel and about 40 Fieldfares in their usual field. The farmer recently cleared his midden and left some puddles, still unfrozen in the shelter of the hedgerow. Here were a dozen Chaffinch, a Grey Wagtail, a Pied Wagtail, a couple of Meadow Pipit, and then a pair of Mistle Thrush rattling off at my arrival. 

Grey Wagtail

At Gulf Lane the Linnets numbered 250+ and there was another Buzzard circling behind the farm where 4 Stock Doves eyed up the barn. There was little to see at Braides Farm where the frosty flood had deterred the usual melee of waders and wildfowl. I made do with a Kestrel and a mixed flock of several hundred Golden Plover and Lapwing partly hidden in the distant and undulating pastures. 

At Conder Pool I caught up with the Great White Egret, perhaps the one I saw some months ago leaving the mainly Little Egret roost at Pilling But since then there have been multiple sightings of more than one Great Egret, the next candidate to become a more common occurrence in our area. 

Also on the pool - 3 Little Grebe, 40 Wigeon, 2 Goosander, and 5 Black-tailed Godwits “over”. 

Great White Egret

Black-tailed Godwits

On the incoming tide the Spotted Redshank flew over the water, east to west.  Across to the distant bridge I could see the wintering Common Sandpiper bobbing along the water’s edge where the count of Teal here and on the pool surpassed 150 again. The light was failing with patchy mist on the way and by now I was on ISO1200. 

At Pilling I happened upon some geese where amongst a couple of hundred Pink-footed Geese were ten “Russian” White-fronted Geese and the single Red-breasted Goose. The latter, almost certainly a feral/escape bird has been a major target bird of recent weeks to the car loads of bird watchers heading into the Fylde. 

But the first mentioned are the truly wild geese, here to spend time many miles from the freezing Russian winter. 

Russsian White-fronted Geese and Red-breasted Goose

Thirty years ago White-fronted Geese, both “Russian and “Greenland” used to be more common amongst our huge wintering flocks of Pink-footed Geese but nowadays both races of white-front are very scarce. So uncommon are they that they have become a target for recent convert birders who may have never seen the species. Likewise the white-fronts are a “must see” for those bird watchers who maintain a year-list in keeping up with the Joneses. 

As the name suggests the white-fronts originate from western Russia where the breeding population numbers some 200,000 adults. The adults together with their young of the year, in total up to about 600,000 birds, spend the winter in some numbers in the Low Countries of Europe. There are up to 300,000 in Holland alone. In recent years the Dutch afforded extra protection to the similarly wintering but seriously endangered Lesser White-fronted Goose by way of safe roosting areas and tighter regulation of shooting. This policy also helps the White-fronted Goose and probably accounts for the reduction of numbers seen in the UK and here locally in Lancashire as the white-fronts now have less reason to leave Holland and fly the North Sea to the UK. 

Meanwhile the Red-breasted Goose breeds in Arctic Siberia, mainly on the Taymyr Peninsula with a summer population of around 80,000 adults, much further east than the Russian White-fronted Goose. There has been a strong decline in numbers of Red-breasted Goose in recent decades but most winter along the north-western shores of the Black Sea in Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine (occasionally moving further southwest to Greece). Some birds may now winter farther west as indicated by recorded counts of 2,000 birds in Hungary as in the winter of 2014, whereas counts previously only accounted for a few hundred. Given the worsening outlook for the species as a whole, the Red-breasted Goose was lifted from a species of Least Concern to that of Endangered status in 2007. 

Our single Red-breasted Goose Branta ruficollis turned up at at Pilling a couple of weeks ago and seemed to arrive with a number of Russian White-fronted Geese, up to twenty of the latter. The usual 'carrier species' for a genuinely wild Red-breasted Geese is the related and dark-bellied form of Brent Goose, Branta bernicla bernicla, another resident of high Arctic Russia which also winters in the area of the Baltic Sea coasts of Denmark and Holland. 

Red-breasted Geese are common in captive wildfowl collections, most notably in the UK at Wildfowl Trust collections at Minsmere, Sussex and Martin Mere, Lancashire where the species has bred in recent years. Here they mix freely with captive, feral and wild geese that inhabit the many acres of managed wetland and where a feeding policy is employed. 

As a very attractive and ornamental goose it is also popular with private collectors with a couple of hundred pounds spare with which to enhance their assortment of exotic waterfowl. Despite the purchase cost escapee Red-breasted Geese are fairly frequent given the amount of skill, time and experience required to prevent the geese from reverting to their natural inclinations to fly. 

In Holland the Red-breasted Goose sells well. 

"Out of devoted love for waterfowl, the founder Mr. P. Kooy established our breeding farm on a 12 acre area bordering the sand dunes in the most northern part of the province of Noord-Holland. A most ideal spot due to the freshwater supply of the dunes and the sea-climate. Several first breedings were the result. 

Among these first breedings we achieved, were the Eyton's Tree Duck, Hottentot Teals, Baer's Pochard and the Radjah Shelduck. Jean Delacour and Sir Peter Scott mention this achievement in 'Waterfowl of the World'. Besides all species of swans we keep almost every species of geese on our farm. 

Many pairs of Red-Breasted Geese lord over the many other species on our beautifully planted ponds. The Orinoco Goose, the Emperor Goose, the Hawaiian Goose and the Cape Barren Goose are always available as well as many others. We have on our farm about 150 different species of waterfowl and the stock fluctuates between 1500 and 3000 birds.” 

Red-breasted Geese

“You pays your money and takes your pick” goes the saying.

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

Less Goldcrests - More Geese

I checked Fluke Hall again this morning because after Thursday’s influx of Goldcrests I wanted to see how many were left after the clearer skies of last night. Seemingly most of them had moved on, with just a single sighting, the barely audible Goldcrest contact calls of yesterday replaced today by the ringing sounds of at least 3 Siskins high overhead.

It was very quiet otherwise, with a dozen or so Meadow Pipits and a single Pied Wagtail. On the blog yesterday I forgot to mention the 5 wary Barnacle Geese on the Hi-Fly stubble. The Barnacles were still there today, looking equally as wild and suspicious as the few Pink-footed Geese they fed with.

The Barnacle Goose has an interesting myth that dates back to the 12th century. These geese were thought to have hatched from barnacles "organisms that grow on timber exposed to salt water" furthermore creating a barnacle tree in which the geese lived in their shell hanging from the tree. The purpose of this myth was to allow religious folk to eat the meat during Lent under the delusion the tasty flesh of the goose was fish. It wasn't until the 17th century that scientists debunked the myth when they discovered that in the remote Arctic regions Barnacle Geese built nests in trees on high cliffs and when the goslings hatched, they fell into the water. This discovery put an end to the mystical tree growing geese and at the same time provided the species with a name.

No such legend for the White-fronted Goose that simply gets its name from their white patch above the bill. Near Lane Ends I found two in the same field again, one with a gammy leg which may account for them not venturing too far lately.

Barnacle Goose
White-fronted Goose

Nothing much to report from Lane Ends/Pilling Water sea wall stretch except the usual 2 Kestrel, 5 Little Egret, 1 Pied Wagtail, 12 Meadow Pipits, 1 Greenshank and 2 displaying Buzzards today. At the plantation I heard more Siskins overhead, watched a single Redpoll head north east and noted a fresh-in Reed Bunting. On the water - 2 Goldeneye and 2 Little Grebe.

Sea Wall - Pilling
Meadow Pipit

The Kestrel hovered into the wind and the light, and at the wrong angle to my camera.

Kestrel

Back at home 2 more Buzzards sailed over, heading out towards the copses near Staynall and the River Wyre.

Mixed Bag update

This is a little update from yesterday and today, a mixed bag of birding with a spot of ringing thrown in.

Today we had to travel up to Lancaster City so first called in at Knott End followed by a quick look at the geese at Lane Ends, Pilling before heading north up Death Row/Biker’s Mile towards Lancaster.

The tide was pretty much in at Knott End, all the better then for a quick count of stuff beyond the Bourne Arms, on the jetty itself or along the water’s edge, passerines and shore birds: 23 Turnstone, 9 Sanderling, 18 Redshank, 45 Shelduck, 2 Pied Wagtail, 9 Twite, 1 Black Redstart, 45 Shelduck

Twite
Eider

At Lane Ends 7 Eurasian White-fronted Geese were the nearest of a pack of about 300 geese at Backsands Lane. It’s difficult to get a shot of more than 3 or 4 of the white-fronts together because not only are they strung out across several yards, but like all crowds of geese some feed heads down while others stay heads up on the lookout for predators, until after a few minutes it’s time to reverse roles when “feeders” become “sentinels” and vice versa.

Eurasian White-fronted Goose

Back home I’ve caught more Goldfinch and a couple more new female Blackbirds; in the continuing cold, both thrushes carried fat scores of 3 and weighed in at 111 and 110 grams respectively.

As might be expected male Goldfinches continue to outnumber females; the sex ratios in Britain and in Spain suggest that that a greater number of females migrate than do males, and also that females tend to winter further south (Newton 1972, Asensio 1986, Migration Atlas 2002). There does seem to be a steady changeover of Goldfinches through the garden at the moment, perhaps just locally wintering birds so it will be interesting to note when the proportion of females increases. No sign of Siskins yet.

A young female I caught today still had traces of buff, juvenile crown feathers - compare with the fully coloured male, the extent of red behind the eye and the depth of red below the bill.

Goldfinch- first winter female
Goldfinch - adult male

Knott Again?

I was at Knott End this morning, enjoying ten minutes of sunshine before the clouds rolled in from the west. By 1030 when the promised snow arrived as hail, sleet and then rain I had switched the camera to ISO800 for the overcast skies.

The bitterly cold easterly wind had kept many punters in bed, leaving the jetty and the Esplanade reasonably free from walkers and four-legged friends, resulting in a good selection of waders to be seen at close quarters and a few wildfowl on the more distant water: 2500+ Oystercatcher, 270 Knot, 145 Dunlin, 16 Ringed Plover, 24 Turnstone, 50 Redshank and a single Sanderling. On the estuary I noted just 4 Eider and 30+ Shelduck. Passerines came in at just 2 Pied Wagtail, 3 Goldfinch and 60+ Starling. I saw the Black Redstart flying through the gloomy, unfinished rooms of the building site, but didn’t hang about to get more photographs, it was simply becoming too cold.

Sanderling
Turnstone
Ringed Plover
Dunlin

The redstart is getting quite attached to the confines of the incomplete building but if it finds a mate there may be complications as the builders have stated their intention to restart work on the site soon. I wonder if they know about the Black Redstart and are aware of the fact that the species is classified as a Schedule 1 and so afforded Special Protection? In other words, if the redstart finds a partner and begins a breeding attempt within the building site, legally that should stop any disturbance to the birds, including commencement of building work. We shall see.

Black Redstart

Although by now the sleety rain was closing in I drove up to Pilling where along Backsands Lane I found about 500 Pink-footed Geese, 7 White-fronted Geese and in the same field, 2 Snipe crouched in the grass. There was also a Lapwing, probably a male with that elongated crest, and also ringed on the left leg; perhaps one from recent or not so recent years, as Lapwings can live 20 years, almost as long as I have ringed Lapwings about here.

White-fronted Goose
Snipe
Lapwing
Lapwing

Grey, Black, Red

The wind and rain relented just enough for a blast around the local patch this morning, although it was a far from ideal dull, grey and breezy day, with no chance of a ringing session.

A check at Lane Ends found 13 White-fronted Geese on the field opposite the entrance, and then from above, 3 Little Egret, 3 Tufted Duck and singles of Goldeneye and Teal.

White-fronted Goose

Fluke Hall Lane proved more a little more fruitful with 8 Reed Bunting and 15 Tree Sparrow feeding at the entrance to HiFly’s track, and 200+ Jackdaw, 250+ Woodpigeon and 16 Whooper Swan on the wet stubble.

Reed Bunting

Lots of Pink-footed Geese, grey against grey of the muddy potato field, more than 1500 and many hidden from view, but when horseback riders came by the whole of the flock erupted off the field, many going further inland. In the left foreground of the picture is the orange legged bird, but otherwise I saw nothing unusual. Also in the same field were 40 Lapwing, 6 Redshank, 2 Curlew and 11 Greenfinch.

Pink-footed Goose
Pink-footed Goose

With the tide due at 11am I checked out Knott End where I caught up with the elusive Black Redstart, still ducking in and out of the metal girders and the rocks on the shore. In the same area were 21 Twite, 2 Pied Wagtail and 1 Rock Pipit.

Shore bird counts: 12 Eider, 32 Turnstone, 1 Sanderling, 48 Oystercatcher, 400+ Dunlin and 25 Redshank.

Black Redstart
Turnstone

Do You Need A Euro?

Yesterday’s south westerly gales blew overnight, but this morning was at least bright if still windy. It wasn’t a morning for walking, more like trying to stay upright against the strong blasts of cold air. It was warm enough in the car so I checked Fluke Hall Lane first where 45 Whoopers were still on Swan Lake and then close by, about 50 Pink-footed Goose with 2 White fronted Geese of the European variety.

In the UK, two races of White fronted Geese (Anser albifrons) overwinter, generally Greenland birds in Scotland and Ireland, with Russian/European birds in England and Wales, with this winter seeing an as yet unexplained, and greater than normal influx of the euro birds. In North America where the Greenland race occurs, it is known as the Greater White-fronted Goose, so named for the patch of white feathers bordering the base of its bill. But even more distinctive are the barred markings on the breast of adult birds, which is why the goose is called the "Specklebelly" in North America.

The 2 whitefronts separated off and flew inland, but just up the road near Lane Ends I was to see 3 others. Jackdaws and Woodpigeons crowded in the stubble, panicking off occasionally to allow a rough count of 300 each. 4 Skylarks here too. There was nothing doing at Fluke hall itself except for the unusual sight of a drake Pintail on the wooded pool, perhaps a casualty of last week’s shoot.

Pintail

The fields adjoining Backsands Lane were full of mainly Lapwings and Golden Plover with a small number of Redshank, probably 2000 Lapwings, 1200 Golden Plover and 50 Redshank. I guess the severe overnight winds had driven them all off the marshes to seek shelter behind the sea wall, but the accompanying rain also brought food near the surface of the now puddled fields.

Lapwing and Golden Plover
Lapwing

In the field opposite Lane Ends were 3 more White-fronted Goose, one limping quite badly, a feature which may serve to keep track of it in the next week or two. I chanced a walk to the pools where 2 Goldeneye and 2 Tufted Duck remain, but no wind-blown waifs and strays. In the trees near the car park were 1 Treecreeper, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 4 Chaffinch and 8 Long-tailed Tits.

White-fronted Goose

I drove up to Knott End to see what the tide had blown in. No unexpected seabirds or gulls, but the usual fare of Eider, but 29 a good count, 40 Turnstone, 22 Sanderling, 120 Oystercatcher, 19 Twite and 12 Red-breasted Merganser.

Sanderling