Back To The Barn

Andy and I went back to ring the runt Barn Owl of 11 days ago - Boxing News. 

It was good to see the four Kestrels we ringed then had now fledged, flying free but still partly dependent upon the adults. The young Barn Owl was now big enough to take a “G” ring with all three siblings now looking likely to survive to adulthood. 

Barn Owl

Barn Owl

We took the opportunity to do a little woodland-edge mist netting as early July should mean catching plenty of juveniles. Juveniles are newly fledged birds that are still partly dependent upon their parents but stick around the area they were born until they are ready to explore their wider surroundings. We hoped to catch both warblers and finches so we gave it a couple of hours. 

Including the Barn Owl, we finished with 22 birds for the morning, all fresh-faced adolescents apart from an adult Blackcap - 6 Great Tit, 4 Blackcap, 3 Robin, 3 Long-tailed Tit, 3 Blue Tit, 1 Whitethroat, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Barn Owl 

 Blackcap

Robin

Whitethroat

There are lots of Woodpigeons in this locality, and even without really trying we counted 150-200. A recent report from the BTO mentions that this formerly rare garden bird is now booming and that it is seen in around 90 per cent of gardens which put out bird food. Our own garden is one of the 90% and where the Woodpigeon is an all-day resident. 

 Woodpigeon

Thanks to garden feeding the Goldfinch is mentioned in the same report, another thriving species that was formerly rare in gardens. We saw a good sized flock of 25+ Goldfinch and other small groups with a total of 50+ in a couple of hours. 

Also - 4 Tree Sparrow, 2 Whitethroat, 2 Greenfinch, 2 Willow Warbler, 1 Grey Heron 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 30+ Swift and 20+ House Martins. 

Tree Sparrow 

Back soon. Don’t go away.

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

Demo Time

On Tuesday I joined Andy at Marton Mere Nature Reserve Blackpool to help out with a demonstration of bird ringing. A start time 7 a.m meant a bit of a lie-in. 

Demo Time 

Events like this present a great opportunity for non-ringers to see birds in close-up instead of through a pair of binoculars.  It’s an opportunity to learn a little about how bird ringers’ age and sex birds by using techniques involving the taking of biometric measurements, studying feather wear and moult or by simple but sometimes subtle differences in appearance.  

The morning dawned bright with a few cursory showers but not enough to deter the 12 or so people who initially turned up. A good number of those volunteer at the reserve and give freely of their time and energy to make the nature reserve a better place for visitors and birds alike. 

Maybe the 7am start did not encourage many more to join in but the smaller group allowed everyone to get a close look and for us to answer their many probing questions.. 

Reserve Warden Rick at centre stage 

Ready to go.

After a couple of hours we’d caught 4 Whitethroat, 4 Reed Warbler, 2 Cetti’s Warbler, 1 Sedge Warbler and 1 Blackcap, not a tremendous total but enough birds to allow close examination and explanation for the appreciative visitors. 

Andy holding court

The two Cetti’s Warblers, both adults, a male and a female, proved to be object lessons in how our UK summer warblers moult. The two had quite recently finished breeding and one in particular was in the advanced stages of complete moult of wings, body and tail. Not the prettiest of Cetti's to be sure.

Cetti's Warbler 

Cetti's Warbler

No wonder then that adult warblers hide away during the height of summer when their lack of fully working plumage makes it harder to avoid predators. Cetti's Warblers are secretive at the best of times so our visitors enjoyed seeing the pair we caught as it is a species they mostly hear but rarely if ever see well in the field.

Sedge Warbler 

juvenile Blackcap 

Whitethroat 

Reed Warbler 

A good morning was had by all. And there's more soon from Another Bird Blog - ringing, birding and photos.

Linking today to Eileen's Blog.

Sleepy Time North

There’s not a lot to report from this morning’s birding sortie but then it is sleepy mid-June. 

The regular Barn Owl flew over someone’s garden and past their lounge window. That’s a pretty good bird for anyone’s garden list. 

Barn Owl

I stopped at Gulf Lane to inspect the bird seed cover crop and where pretty soon we’ll be catching more Linnets, a few Goldfinch and one or two other species. There’s been a tremendous surge of growth in the six or seven weeks since the farmer sowed the field during which there’s been zero rain with lots of sunny days. At the end of July we’ll cut a 100 ft ride for single panel nets through the crop and away we go with Linnet catching through until March. 

Bird Seed Cover Crop 

I saw six or eight Goldfinch and a couple of Linnets along the edge of the dried up ditch plus a singing Whitethroat. The Oystercatchers bred successfully here but then moved their young across the fields and towards the shore 200 yards away. 

Goldfinch 

Whitethroat 

Nearby and at the roadside Buzzard nest, one of the adults tried to hide but didn’t fly off so there’s a good chance there are one or two nestlings ready for fledging. Close by, a Kestrel and a singing Yellowhammer. Yellowhammers breed rather late around here so it’s not unusual to have them singing way into August. 

Buzzard

Yellowhammer

At Conder Green it’s “as you were” with the breeding birds; 2 pairs of Common Tern, 5 or more pairs of Oystercatcher and 1 pair of Avocets. Goodness knows what the Tufted Ducks are up to with as far as I know a zero count of ducklings from 10-20 paired adults that have been around all year.

A number of the Oystercatchers were busy with their “piping” rituals. At some unknown prompt the birds suddenly decided to display with up to six or seven taking part but three captured in the picture below.  The ritual is a way of defending pairs’ territories and consists of the Oystercatchers bowing their heads up and down with their beaks facing the ground while making long, high-pitched piping sounds. The shrill piping sounds are often directed to their neighbours. Sometimes they chase their neighbours or intruders away, piping loudly as they go.  Note the bowed heads and open bills.

Oystercatchers 

Noticeable today was an increase in Redshanks as inland and upland birds return to the coast. I counted 60 Redshanks this morning as well as 4 Black-tailed Godwits. Strange as it may seem the somnolence of summer breeding for passerines occurs at the same time as wading birds begin to migrate. By mid June many northern waders have finished their breeding with the adult birds the first the first to feel the southerly urge. 

The few passerines in the immediate area were noted as 3 Whitethroat, 4 Reed Bunting, 4 Sedge Warbler, 2 Reed Warbler, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Blackcap, 1 Lesser Whitethroat and 2 Tree Sparrow. 

It’s sad to say that 9 Swift flying around the pool and the hedgerows was my best UK count of the year. 

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

Back On Patch

There was a stiff north-easterly wind as I set off over the moss roads. It had been three weeks without birding the local patch so I was keen to see what had taken place in this “silent spring”. Via the Internet I’d read local blogs and bird club pages where all agreed that a number of species were down or even missing – Whitethroats, Sedge Warblers, Swallows, Swifts, House Martins and Reed Warblers; the same names kept cropping up on the list of absentees. 

Until this morning I’d not seen a Swift in the UK, just several thousand in Menorca over a week ago. It was almost 1030 this morning before I saw my first 2 UK Swifts of the year, both heading purposefully into the wind and out over Morecambe Bay. 

The early start gave a number of Whitethroats, both singing but also skulking as they do. Maybe they are just trying to catch up with the days they lost on the way here? But less than a dozen Whitethroats for almost four hours of birding in suitable habitat represents a poor show. 

Whitethroat 

At least the recent dry days gave farmers a chance to catch up and for now the flash floods are gone.  Many a field is ploughed & seeded or stripped bare by the first cut of silage. 

Rawcliffe Moss, Lancashire 

The moss roads produced an interesting mix. I checked out the Buzzard nest of some weeks ago where the foliage now almost completely hides the nest. The two adults were very close by but silent and I’m pretty sure there are small young up there in the tree tops. 

Buzzard Nest 

Buzzard 

Close by was a singing Lesser Whitethroat, a Kestrel and on nearby fields, 6 Stock Dove. There was a Curlew displaying too, an upland breeding species that nests in very low numbers here on the coast.  

An hour or two around the Cockerham, Conder Green and Cockersands area proved to be inconclusive. I saw lots of Sand Martins at Cockerham but Swallows and House Martins were noticeable by their low numbers, even absent from regular spots along Moss Lane. 

In this part of Lancashire our Swallows have suffered a series of poor, short summers of rain, cool temperatures and the loss of many traditional nesting sites. The cumulative effect of these changes is that two or three broods have not been possible in a season and there are less young available to fly to Africa in the autumn. The additional pressures of the Swallows’ long and hazardous migration mean that the numbers of Swallows returning to breed in our Northern summer declines each year. Swallows are stuck in a vicious circle from which they struggle to escape. 

I managed to see and hear about six Sedge Warblers, plus a handful of Whitethroat but not a single Reed Warbler in the phragmites ditches alongside the lanes. I'm hoping the lack of visuals of both Reed and Sedge Warblers is down to a late start and the females laying low while on eggs. 

Sedge Warbler  

Brown Hares have done well this year where perhaps the farmers’ reluctance to enter their fields in the wet spring helped hares progress. Skylarks may have benefited in a similar way and it was a very visible but not necessarily vocal species this morning with a good number seen along Jeremy and Moss lanes. Skylarks too are mostly at egg stage in late May and I didn't see any carrying food today.

  

Brown Hare

Skylark 

Along Moss Lane I saw two broods of young Lapwings, adults with three good sized chicks and then adults with but a single youngster. Sadly I also saw the beginnings of a post-breeding season gathering of 15-18 adults whereby both failed or non-breeders join together in a loose flock to compare notes and discuss what they might do different next time. 

Lapwing 

There’s good news from Conder Green where a second pair of Common Terns have claimed the island spot vacated by the Avocets of early May that upped sticks and went elsewhere. The other pair  of terns still claim the man-made pontoon.

Common Tern 

Also here – 5 pairs of Oystercatcher, 3 pairs of Tufted Duck and 2 pairs of Redshank.

If At First You Don't Succeed

For once there was no early morning Barn Owl. I motored past a couple of sentinel Kestrels but no ghostly owls crossed my path. I guess the owls must be sat tight on eggs by now, early May. 

The morning was to be pretty quiet for new migrants but there was evidence that the recent cold weather had not held up some birds’ urge to procreate. 

I soon found myself at Gulf Lane where Richard the farmer has tilled and then seeded the set-aside field, the scene of our winter Linnet project. A pair of Oystercatchers moved in pretty smartish with the female already sat on eggs and the male on sentry duty just yards away. The sitting female is highly visible in the bare field and already the focus of attention for marauding crows with their eyes on the eggs. Hopefully the seed will sprout and grow quickly to give some element of cover and camouflage to both the female and the eggs. The incubation period for the eggs will be between 25-30 days; it’s a long time to keep those determined crows at bay. 

Oystercatcher 

Oystercatcher 

Carrion Crow

There were 6 Stock Doves and a handful of Woodpigeons picking over the ground as well as four of our Linnet friends. 

At Conder Green the high water level dictates the presence of five pairs of Oystercatcher as the sole representatives of wading species with no sign of the several Avocets that in recent weeks took a passing interest. There are signs that Tufted Duck and even Shelducks will breed again with three pairs of the former and two or more pairs of Shelduck. 

Along the hedgerow here was at least one each of Willow Warbler, Whitethroat and Reed Bunting. 

I’m still not seeing many Swallows although it was good to note about 10/12 of their House Martin cousins at Conder Green. The martins were in their usual place at the houses and the café that overlook the muddy creeks of the River Conder. Having arrived only in the last day or two they were already collecting mud for their homes on the sides of the buildings. A Goldfinch came to see what all the fuss was about and perhaps thought the martins collected food rather than mud. 

House Martin  

House Martin 

Goldfinch 

The Jeremy/Moss/Slack lanes circuit proved quiet with little out of the ordinary. It does seem that the two species most lacking in numbers this year are two small warblers, the Whitetroat and the Sedge Warbler. These are just two of the many bird species that winter in the Sahel region, the south side of the Sahara Desert shown in orange on the map. 

It is here that birds and people literally live on the edge and  where both rely on the same natural resources of trees, water and land. It’s a landscape that is often plunged into a prolonged drought and subject to other threats such as expansion and intensification of arable & livestock agriculture, and the cutting of trees for fuel. 

If such species can survive the Sahel winter they must then embark on the long and perilous journey to and from Northern Europe. No wonder then that so many do not make it back to the UK. 

The African/Palearctic Bird Migration System

Sedge Warbler 

Whitethroat 

Along Moss Lane was a Lapwing with four tiny youngsters, so small that that they probably hatched just today. There are good numbers of Lapwings on eggs that may get the benefit of the late spring as farmers delay their usual ploughing due to several still saturated fields. The same goes for Skylarks with good numbers displaying and chasing over the rough grass where hopefully the young can soon hide from the crows. 

Lapwing & chick 

The Tree Sparrows were noisy at Cockersands where loud “chip,chip” calls gave away their nesting intentions, not to mention one or two locations. Along the shore - a few Goldfinch and singles of Pied Wagtail and Whimbrel but it was time to head home and pack for warmer days. 

Tree Sparrow 

Tree Sparrow 

Back home a pair of Collared Doves aren't having as much luck. They spent all of Wednesday building a nest in the apple tree. Today the sticks were all over the grass and I suspect the doves need a bit more practice at building a home. It's bit like birding; repetition and training makes for a better job.

Log in soon for some summer sunshine and colourful birds with Another Bird Blog. 

Linnet Kick-Off

The wind and rain finally eased, opening a tiny window of opportunity for Andy and me to kick off Linnet Project 2017/18 at Gulf Lane. We hope to increase last winter's total of 210 Linnets, a project that came to a halt when avian flu intervened. 

From a birding point of view the summer is a washout but the crop of wild bird seed is in fine fettle. The days of often torrential showers followed by spells of hot sunshine have produced a profuse crop in both garden and the countryside. The field of seed crop is no different and at this time of year provides a useful height of four feet in which to set single panel nets. 

Wild Bird Seed field

We started at 0600 but by 0900 the wind had picked up to 12-15 mph and we closed the nets. By then we had caught steadily and ended up with 49 new Linnets, zero recaptures from last year and zero recaptures for the morning. 

The catch consisted of a single adult male and 48 juveniles/birds of the year with a ratio of 25/23 in favour of males. Those figures might suggest that adult Linnets have sent their young off to explore and allow the adults a second brood.  Most certainly today, a number of the youngsters were not long from the nest whereas others were several weeks old. Sexing of the Linnets is carried out be examining the amount of white in the primary feathers.

Field Sheet

Linnet

Female Linnet

 

Male Linnet

Observations today over three hours suggested upwards of 70 individuals on site at any one time but a catch of 49 would indicate the actual numbers involved to be much higher. The lack of same day recaptures also points to the well documented mobility of Linnet flocks and their ability to fool bird counters. 

It was just nine-fifteen so I drove back home via the moss roads and picked up a few birds near the summer flood. On the long shot there are 80 or so Lapwings, Black-headed Gulls, a couple of Pied Wagtail and a good number of Starlings. Out of camera range I noted 3 Buzzard, a male Sparrowhawk and a juvenile Marsh Harrier. Nearby I found a party of Whitethroat, a couple of Greenfinch and a Yellowhammer. 

Pilling/Rawcliffe Moss

 

Mainly Lapwings 

Whitethroat

Now please excuse me while I enter those linnets on the database. Back soon with more news, views and Linnets on Another Bird Blog.

Linking this post to Anni's Birding Blog.