A Short Saturday

June is a quiet month for both birding and ringing. Many birders hang up their bins for a month and take a well-earned respite from the 'ping-ping' of WhatsApp messages. Ringers carry on through the quiet days knowing that although catches may be small, the data they collect is vital, more so if they have nest boxes to process. 

June is the period when young and recently fledged birds begin to discover their surroundings and the local area, learning it well enough so as to return to the same location next year. It’s a little like human infants that once having learnt how to crawl on all fours then begin to explore the small world around them in ever expanding circles. While human young take months and years to learn the ropes and to gain their independence, most young birds have just weeks before they head off alone to far  flung places. 

With such thoughts in mind I set off to meet Andy at Oakenclough for a bright and sunny start. Unless we hit a freakish patch we knew the morning would be quiet, and with luck, our catch into double figures. 

So it proved with just 13 caught - 3 Blackcap, 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Wren, 2 Great Tit, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Robin, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Dunnock . Ten of the thirteen were young birds of the year. The three adults caught were those recently breeding on site - a male Willow Warbler first caught here on 22 April 2020 and two new male Blackcaps. 

Blackcap - adult male 

Willow Warbler - juvenile

Young Goldcrests show zero colouration on the crown, unlike adults that are sexed according to the colour of their crown feathers. 

Goldcrest - juvenile 

The morning’s hatch of insects brought in p to eight Swifts and several Swallows aerial feeding around us. Otherwise birding was unspectacular apart from a Cuckoo that called as it patrolled the edge of a nearby plantation. 

And now for Sunday afternoon - Father’s Day. We await the arrival of kidsand grandkids bearing gifts that might include a bottle or two. That’s Sunday evening sorted. 

Back soon with more birding and ringing from Another Bird Blog. Maybe next week we’ll get the much promised heatwave? 

Garden Time

Monday 25 May 2020 produced a tiny catch of birds at Oakenclough during our first visit of the spring. We planned a return for this week as we knew from experience there would be more Willow Warblers and other species along pretty soon. 

Andy and I met up at 0630 to zero wind, full cloud cover and a promise of no rain. We ringed just 13 birds - 9 Willow Warbler, 2 Great Tit, 1 Blackcap and 1 Garden Warbler. 

The highlight of the morning was the last named species - yes, a Garden Warbler Sylvia borin. 

“So what’s the big deal?” I hear the cry from afar. 

Garden Warbler

The big deal is that seven or eight pairs of Garden Warblers bred in the plantation here every year until the mid-2000s when they were gradually pushed out by invasive rhododendron that overwhelmed the entire area. Other species forced out at that time included the Common Bird Ringer, Yellowhammer, Bullfinch, Tree Pipit and Lesser Redpoll. There was also a drastic reduction in the number of breeding Willow Warblers from 15/20 pairs down to single figures. 

And then in 2012/2013 the owners United Utilities (UU) invested money in trying to eliminate the rhododendron and followed it up with a replanting scheme of native species. It was a thankless and massive task that took many hours of manual labour working in difficult terrain. Even now, the evil rhododendron is attempting a come-back and will surely succeed unless UU begin an ongoing and periodic regime of destruction. 

The significance of today’s Garden Warbler is that our bird was a female in prime breeding condition; a full brood patch at this the appropriate time of year rather than the species' usual appearance as an uncommon spring or autumn migrant. Fingers crossed that we catch the corresponding male, the youngsters and that the Garden Warbler has returned. 

Garden Warbler 

Over the years 1996 to 2019 our tiny group of ringers have ringed over 370 nestling Willow Warblers at Oakenclough. During that time finding, recording and ringing the nestlings became a project in itself where no mist nets were employed and no adults caught. 

Today we chanced upon a further nest that held 6 young Willow Warblers of an ideal size for ringing. Therefore our nine Willow Warblers consisted of 3 new adults and 6 nestlings. 

Willow Warbler nest 

Willow Warbler

The single Blackcap was a new adult male, the two Great Tits recently fledged youngsters. 

Blackcap

Great Tit

Other birds today - 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 1 Cuckoo, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Grey Wagtail. 15 Greylag, 2 Oystercatcher, 2 Swallow, 4 Chaffinch, 2 Goldfinch.

Linking this post to Anni's Birding Blog and Eileen's Views of Nature.

Catching Up

We have now lost two months of ringing with a corresponding loss of two months of data collection. Bird ringers confined to barracks have not caught other ringers’ birds and ringers have been unable to catch birds previously ringed by others. 

Many ringed birds are recovered via Joe Public when they report their finding of a ringed bird via the address inscribed on each ring, but with so many people stuck at home it was inevitable that incoming information would be much less. 

Bird Rings - Size E and Size F 

Although ringing is no longer all about the where and when of bird movements, it is always interesting and thought provoking to receive a BTO notification about a bird ringed weeks, months or years before. Even better perhaps is to catch a bird wearing an unfamiliar ring number with a foreign ring, the ultimate prize for many bird ringers. 

The emphasis of bird ringing is the generation of information on the survival, productivity and movements of birds, helping us to understand why populations are changing. Ringing data make a major contribution to the study of population changes and to the understanding of species declines. 

Bird populations are determined by the number of fledglings raised and the survival of both juveniles and adults. 

On Monday, and after a weekend of gale force winds, we had a chance to remedy the recent data loss with an overdue visit to Oakenclough. There was a promise of a 5 mph and early morning sunshine for the meet with Andy at 0600. 

At this time of year we don’t expect huge catches because migration is over and birds have settled down in one spot to breed. It will be mid to late June before the catch rate improves. Therefore our catch of just eight birds came as no surprise and accompanied with the ringer’s refrain – “Well if you don’t go, you don’t know”. 

Our eight birds generated a little new data by way of  4 Blackcap (2 male, 2 female ) 2 male Willow Warbler, 1 juvenile Robin and 1 juvenile Wren. 

Blackcap 

Blackcap 

Blackcap 

Recapture Willow Warbler KCE788, an adult male was ringed here at Oakenclough on 24th July 2019 when it was undertaking its main moult period prior to heading back to Africa. It was in breeding condition again today where it was caught and then released in exactly the same area. 

Willow Warbler 

Robin

This was a quiet morning and other than the birds caught there was little to see; except for 2 Swallow, 4 Willow Warbler, 4 Chaffinch, 2 Goldfinch, 40 Greylag , 2 Oystercatcher and 2 Lapwing. 

Boxed In

We’re not so much boxed in. More like locked in and fastened down until the experts say it’s safe to go outdoors. I doubt we’ll get to check nest boxes in 2020.

Here’s a previous visit to nest boxes at Oakenclough at the foot of the Pennine Hills back in the early summer of 31 May 2015. 

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As promised, here is an update on a visit to Oakenclough on Saturday to check with Andy the progress of his nest boxes. 

The target bird for the nest box project is Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca), a small passerine bird of the Old World flycatcher family and part of a group of insectivorous songbirds which feed by darting after insects. 

Pied Flycatcher

This flycatcher winters in tropical Africa, spending the summer in the northern hemisphere but as far south as the Iberian Peninsula where it is quite common. 

Pied Flycatcher  

Pied Flycatchers breed in upland broad-leaved woodland. This means that in Britain they are limited due to geography mainly to the North and West where they prefer mature oak woodland with natural tree holes, i.e. dead trees, or dead limbs on healthy trees. 

The species also takes readily to nest boxes with high horizontal visibility, in woodland where there is a low abundance of shrub and understorey, but a high proportion of moss and grass for their nests. 

Andy - checking a box 

As is usually the case,  a good number of the boxes checked were occupied by Great Tit or Blue Tit with the adults still brooding tiny youngsters or sitting on clutches as low as 4 eggs or as high as 14 eggs. Given that the weather in the month of May has been mostly poor, the progress so far has been better than expected. 

Pied Flycatcher 

We found one box contained Nuthatches and ringed 6 youngsters. Four boxes were occupied by Pied Flycatchers where we found females sitting on either 6 or 7 eggs and where by a week or so the youngsters will be large enough to be ringed. 

The eggs of the Pied Flycatcher are about 18 mm by 13 mm in size, pale blue, smooth and glossy. The female builds the nest of leaves, grass, moss and lichens, and then lines the cup with hair and wool. The duties of incubating the eggs are performed by the female with the newly-hatched young fed by both adults. 

Pied Flycatcher nest and eggs

Pied Flycatcher

The eggs of the Pied Flycatcher are about 18 mm by 13 mm in size, pale blue, smooth and glossy. The female builds the nest of leaves, grass, moss and lichens, and then lines the cup with hair and wool. The duties of incubating the eggs are performed by the female with the newly-hatched young fed by both adults. 

The Pied Flycatcher is a well-studied species, partly because of its willingness to use nest boxes provided by bird watchers and bird ringers. 

Detailed study has found that Pied Flycatchers practice polygyny, usually bigamy, with the male travelling large distances to acquire a second mate. The male will mate with the secondary female and then return to the primary female in order to help with aspects of child rearing, such as feeding. There are a number of theories around how this apparently poor system benefits the species, but no one knows for sure except that in practice it does work. 

In 2005 the European population of Pied Flycatcher was estimated at up to 12 million pairs, helped in part by the provision of nest boxes in parts of the species’ range. We checked our ringing site for Willow Warbler nests and found at one nest a brood of tiny youngsters, at another nest a female sat on 6 eggs. Dotted around the site a good number of males are in steady song with little sign of their mates, suggesting that most are still at the stage of incubating eggs. Willow Warblers are now a little late this year, no doubt as a result of the poor Spring weather to date. 

Willow Warbler

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Fast Forward to 2020. People aren’t perfect. Some slow to adjust while others appear to be in denial that coronavirus is something to be taken seriously.  The vast majority are trying to stick to the rules as best they can while doing the necessary to put food on the table and stay sane.

Back soon with Another Bird Blog.

Until then, linking with Eileen's Blogging.

Goldfinch Compensation

A red sky broke over the hills to the east of Oakenclough on Thursday. It was a warning we should have heeded. But after making the effort for a 6 o'clock start and all that entails, Andy and I saw little reason not to carry on. After all, just two days earlier here at Oakenclough we’d caught 45 birds including our record breaking catch of eleven Tree Pipits.

Red Sky In The Morning 

A couple of hours later we asked how two seemingly similar days could be so different in terms of both the birds around and those we caught. The differences were that Wednesday was warm and sunny with a gentle waft from the north while Thursday saw a stronger breeze, this time from the south west with cooler temperatures that demanded an extra layer of top coat for the ringers.

Nine birds was a very poor result, so pathetic that the only “A” rings required were for four Blue Tits. Otherwise a couple of juvenile “willys “and a single adult “chiff” proved the highlights of 4 Blue Tit, 2 Willow Warbler, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Wren and 1 Dunnock.

Willow Warbler 

Chiffchaff 

Dunnock 

On Friday morning I hoped for recompense by way of catching Goldfinches, a few of those suddenly returned to the garden after a major absence of several weeks. The killer cat of next door has left for pastures new, allowing me to once again use a mist net on my own property.

The morning was quite breezy but where the relatively sheltered garden meant a reasonable catch was possible. Indeed it was with 21 Goldfinch and a single Robin caught until rain returned soon after lunch.

This ratio of species is very representative of gardens in our neighbourhood where larger, shyer or perhaps cleverer birds like Jackdaw, Woodpigeon and House Sparrow stay away when a net is set. Our own Woodpigeons are still pre-occupied with "woody nookie".

The fact that I caught entirely Goldfinches of the year, some still in very juvenile plumage, displays this species’ ability to reproduce throughout the breeding season with up to three broods recorded. 

Goldfinch 

Goldfinch 

The Goldfinch has enjoyed a wide population boom during recent years.

BTO - “Goldfinch abundance fell sharply from the mid-1970s until the mid-1980s, but the decline was both preceded and followed by significant population increases. The current upturn lifted the species from the amber list of conservation concern into the green category, accompanied by an increase in its use of gardens for winter feeding.

The Breeding Bird Survey map of change in relative density between 1994-96 and 2007-09 indicates that increases have occurred almost everywhere, with the exception of the far southeast. These population changes can be explained almost entirely by changes in annual survival rates, which may have resulted from a reduction in the availability of weed seeds, due to agricultural intensification, and subsequent increased use of other food sources such as garden bird tables and niger feeders; for migrants, the effects of environmental change or increased hunting pressure in France and Iberia, where the majority then wintered, may have temporarily reduced survival rates (Siriwardena et al. 1999).

There have been no clear changes in productivity as measured by Nest Records Scheme and Constant Effort Sites (ringing). The recent severe losses of Greenfinches from gardens are likely to have afforded Goldfinches far better access to provided food. A strong trend towards earlier laying may be partly explained by recent climate change (Crick & Sparks 1999).

There has been widespread moderate increase across Europe since 1980. A strong increase has been recorded in the Republic of Ireland since 1998 (Crowe 2012).” 

Goldfinch - BTO/JNCC BirdTrends Report 

Stay tuned to Another Bird Blog. There's more news, views and pictures soon.

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

A Better Day With No Buzzards.

After almost two weeks of unseasonable wind and rain there was just a chance the weather might ease slightly and allow a spot of ringing.  The dark of Tuesday night and into early Wednesday saw more pouring rain and then en route to Oakenclough the car splashed through fresh pools of water to confirm that August 2019 is the wettest ever recorded; and another week to go! 

I met up with Andy to 100% murk and to cool, threatening cloud but we reassured ourselves that the pourcast for the morning was 5/10 mph wind plus the chance of a fleeting shower only. 

And so it was but the overnight downpours had done us no favours with a poor catch of just 14 birds and minimal obvious migration: 5 Willow Warbler, 3 Blue Tit, 2 Goldcrest and one each of Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Great Tit and Chaffinch. 

Today’s five new Willow Warblers, all first year/juveniles, increased our total here to 74 for the year, a much higher figure than normal and almost certainly due to a good productivity during the settled weather of June and July. 

Blackcap 

Willow Warbler 

Chiffchaff 

There was little in the way of other birds, the cool, damp start had done for that. We saw a small movement of Swallows heading south in parties of 5-10, in total about 60 individuals. Otherwise, a flock of 20/30 Goldfinch, 2 or more great-spotted Woodpeckers and a single Nuthatch. 

On the way home via Pilling and Rawcliffe Moss there was a flock of 80/90 Swallows on overhead wires, the most I have seen all year. This is a sure sign that Swallows are preparing to migrate. They flew about restlessly, and gathered on telegraph wires. 

Most Swallows leave the UK during September, with early broods of youngsters being the first to go. A few stragglers may hang around into October.  

Swallows 

The return journey to Africa takes about six weeks. Swallows from different parts of Europe fly to different destinations. Our UK Swallows end up in the very south. They travel down through western France and eastern Spain into Morocco, before crossing the Sahara Desert and the Congo rain forest – finally reaching South Africa and Namibia. 

Swallows migrate during daylight, flying quite low and covering about 320 km (200 miles) each day. At night they roost in huge flocks in reed-beds at traditional stopover spots. Since Swallows feed entirely on flying insects, they don’t need to fatten up before leaving, but can snap up their food along the way. Nonetheless, many die of starvation. If they survive, they can live for up to eleven or twelve years but such an age is very exceptional with most surviving less than four years. 

It is very sad that this much-loved species, and like so many others, is in such a downward population spiral. 

Swallow 

As a further aside, I’m not seeing many Buzzards this year. Normally by late summer and on the regular 15 mile journey from Oakenclough to home at Stalmine via Garstang, Nateby, Skitham, Rawcliffe and Pilling, stopping now and again, there would be 10-15 in the air. This morning - none. 

This lack of Common Buzzards has troubled me all year. 

Buzzard 

Unfortunately, in this part of quiet countryside where the rearing of non-native game birds followed by the winter shooting of the same in the name of “sport” is very widespread, the Common Buzzard, both innocent and occasionally guilty, is now very much an Avian non grata. 

I’m not accusing anyone, just to note that all of a sudden, Buzzards have become very scarce. Bird watchers - be on the alert, and if necessary report to the authorities any suspicions you have.

Linking today to Eileen's Blogspot.

It’s A Start

Andy and I returned to Oakenclough this morning for a 0600 start and another go at catching migrant birds. We were joined today by Bryan. After two recent catches of 40 and 47 birds respectively, we hoped for a triple hit in the forties. 

In contrast to Wednesday’s cloud and zero wind this morning was both bright and slightly breezy. And with the benefit of hindsight, perhaps the different conditions were unlikely to produce any good numbers of birds. By 1030 we had packed up, fell back to earth with a bump and just 9 birds, one of them a recapture from yesterday, a Robin. All bar one, the 87 birds of 17 July and 24 July had continued their migration by departing our ringing site. 

Although today’s catch was low there was quality by way of 4 new Blackcaps, 2 new Willow Warblers, a new Garden Warbler and a young male Common Redstart.  A Redstart may have the word ”common” in its title but the species is far from abundant in these parts so to catch one makes for a rather pleasing experience and even eclipses the catch of yet another Garden Warbler. 

Common Redstart

Common Redstart 

Garden Warbler - juvenile/first summer 

The Common Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus is loosely related to the European Robin Erithacus rubecula, both members of the family of Old World flycatchers. The youngsters of each share the scaly appearance until they moult their juvenile feathering. 

European Robin 

Both of today’s Willow Warblers were juveniles/first summers, very smart and bright too on what the weather experts predicted would be “hottest day of the year” at 35+ degrees C. 

Willow Warbler 

There was a noticeable but small movement of Swallows this morning with tiny groups heading directly into the southerly wind. These totalled up to 60 individuals, proved so watchable partly by the overall lack of Swallows this year. This may seem rather early for Swallows to be on the move but we know that post-breeding roosts of migratory and dispersing young Swallows begin to form in mid-July. 

“Otherwise birds” consisted of tiny numbers of Lesser Redpoll, Siskin and Chaffinch overhead, 3+ Great-spotted Woodpeckers, 2 Raven, 2 Snipe flying east and 15+ Curlew heading south.

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

Willys Win

The early hours had seen bouts of thunder, lightning and torrential rain as Andy and I met up at 0600 to very overcast conditions that threatened more rain. After last week’s 40 birds we hoped for a repeat performance at Oakenclough. 

After The Deluge

The rain held off, the sun came out, and by 1130 we’d caught another 47 new birds, including a Blackcap ringed elsewhere. 

Today’s birds included a nice haul of migratory Willow Warblers and Blackcaps - 16 Willow Warbler, 6 Blackcap, 6 Great Tit, 5 Blue Tit, 4 Chaffinch, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Robin, 2 Goldcrest, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Treecreeper, 1 Garden Warbler and 1 Spotted Flycatcher. 

Oakenclough often springs a surprise. Today’s came when we caught a Spotted Flycatcher. Spotted  Flycatchers are not rare; in fact they breed here at Oakenclough in woodland some 250 metres from our ringing site where the nestlings are ringed but we rarely if ever see Spotted Flycatchers in spring or summer away from that summer habitat. 

The Spotted Flycatcher is well known as one of the species that makes minimal stops to and from their African wintering grounds and the UK. Today’s bird was an obvious, very spotty and still fluffy juvenile, not long fledged from a nest but not one from our nest boxes as it had no ring. It may have come from a natural site close-by. 

Spotted Flycatcher 

Of the sixteen Willow Warblers, only three were adult, as one might expect from what appears to be a productive summer. All three adults were in the process of completing their main summer moult. 

Willow Warbler - juvenile/first summer 

Willow Warbler - adult 

Of today’s six Blackcaps the only adult we found was a female, ACE2152, the ring from elsewhere on a previous occasion. We’ll find out the details in a week or so. 

 Blackcap

Blackcap - ACE2152 - adult female

Goldcrest - adult male 

Treecreeper - Juvenile/first summer 

It’s another 6am start tomorrow. It will be interesting to see how many of today’s birds we catch. I suspect none.

Surprise Surprise!

On Tuesday I met Andy at 0600 for our first ringing session at Oakenclough since early spring, an unproductive period for ringing when the weather was predominately cool and wet.  We don’t normally head up to the hills until a little later when real autumn migration begins rather than the summer time of post-breeding dispersal.  The post-breeding species list can be rather short here at 800 metres above sea-level but increases substantially when finches and thrushes from further north begin to appear. 

But with recent good weather and signs of a productive breeding season we decided to give it a go. This proved a good decision as the morning became very interesting with a catch of 40 new birds. We had zero recaptures from previous visits. 

When we arrived all seemed quiet with little no bird song or even contact calls but as both the sun rose and the temperature gauge climbed we began to catch with a morning dominated by warblers. 

We finished soon after 1100 with a catch of 40 birds of 12 species: 11 Blackcap, 9 Willow Warbler, 2 Garden Warbler, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Goldcrest, 5 Chaffinch, 2 Robin, 2 Blue Tit, 2 Great Tit, 1 Treecreeper, 3 Wren and 1 Tawny Owl. 

Willow Warbler 

Blackcap

Robin 

Goldcrest 

The biggest surprise of the morning came with a Tawny Owl languishing in the bottom panel of the mist net at 10 0’clock, a time when all Tawny Owls should be tucked away and fast asleep. Upon examination and measuring we ascertained that the owl was a juvenile born this year. A wing length of 265mm and a weight of 335 grams determined a male; a female is bigger than the corresponding male. 

 Tawny Owl

Tawny Owl 

We no longer catch many Garden Warblers so it was good to catch two. There was one adult male Garden Warbler and a juvenile, which is far from proof of breeding on site, but possibly so. 

Garden Warbler 

Garden Warbler

Garden Warblers bred here at Okenclough on an annual basis until the late 1990s when invasive rhododendron overran the landscape of bramble, bracken, bilberry and hawthorn. Slowly but relentlessly the site became unsuitable for a number of species like Bullfinch, Yellowhammer, Tree Pipit and Garden Warbler, and they were pushed out by the all-conquering intruder. The rhododendron beat us too and we were forced to abandon the site in 1997.   

Then in 2012/13 the land owners North West Water began a programme of rhododendron clearance and replanting of native species whereby, and after an absence of many years, we returned to the site in 2014. 

Since then we have captured almost 3900 birds including two Garden Warblers in 2018 and now two more in 2019.  It would be nice to think that Garden Warblers have returned for good as the site is now suitable for them. Time will tell.

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