Wood You Believe It?

Things didn’t go quite as planned this morning. The forecast for Oakenclough was reasonable - 7mph, cloudy with a chance of rain, but up beyond Garstang I drove through fog and mizzzle, a ringer’s enemies. 

Within minutes of meeting Andy up at the ringing site a heavy mist had closed in and enveloped the plantation. After a forty minute drive we don’t give in that easily so we set the nets and waited for birds to arrive. 

The fog proved slow to clear with little in the way of passerine migration as reflected in our catch of just 21 birds, albeit with a few interesting highlights. Birds ringed: 4 Goldcrest, 3 Redwing, 3 Blackbird, 3 Blue Tit, 2 Dunnock, 2 Great Tit, 2 Chaffinch, 1 Wren and 1 Sparrowhawk. 

The Sparrowhawk was a first year male of quite small proportions. 

Sparrowhawk

Despite the lack of large scale migration there was a mid-morning influx of 12-15 Blackbirds, including two obvious “continental” types, identified by their all dark bills and scalloped breast feathers. 

Continental Blackbird

There was distinct lack of finches this morning. I cannot remember the last occasion we caught zero Goldfinch or Lesser Redpoll at this site. We made do with a couple of Chaffinches, the only finch seen and heard this morning, the one below a fine looking adult male. 

Chaffinch

 

Chaffinch

Two out of the three Redwings were caught pre-dawn and were probably roosting nearby. The third appeared in the nets after a mid-morning arrival of circa 30 Redwings, the only flock we saw. 

Redwing

The one migration feature of the morning was a very obvious movement of Woodpigeons on a North-East to South-West heading, with a count of 1200 including five flocks of 130+ and one that numbered a high-flying 300 individuals. 

Every year sees discussion around the migration spectacle of Woodpigeons but it is unclear where these birds are coming from or going to. They seem to appear along the east coast and the Pennines, but aren’t seen coming in off the sea. They travel south and upon reaching the south coast head west as far as Dorset. Once here they seem to disappear. 

At present there are two schools of thought. The post-breeding numbers of this species in autumn in Britain are truly huge and the pigeons’ movements may be British birds heading south and west for the relatively mild conditions that this part of the UK offers, although there doesn’t seem to be a large influx of Woodpigeons into Devon and Cornwall during November. Alternatively they may be British birds that are heading south and on to France and Spain to spend the winter in southern oak woods.  On occasions in autumn, good numbers have been seen flying south, high over the Channel Islands. 

Woodpigeons

Whatever the reason, there’s no doubt it is a thought provoking sight. The much maligned and mostly ignored Wood Pigeon is a subject worthy of study by birders. 

Woodpigeon

 Otherwise birds - 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Grey Wagtail.

Linking this post with  Anni's Birding Blog.

Early Birding

Most people would settle for seeing a Barn Owl. I saw four this morning, all different birds as they were at widely spaced localities. While Barn Owls can breed in any month of the year they do mostly favour the summer months around here. All four were headed back to farm buildings and I watched two of them carry food through open ended barns and into the darkness beyond. 

I have no doubt that there are a number of young Barn Owls soon to emerge into the Fylde countryside. Needless to say, I am not about to divulge the whereabouts of breeding sites of an owl that has Special Legal Protection under the UK Wildlife and Countryside Act.  At this time of year only those people with the necessary paperwork should be anywhere near a Barn Owl.  

Barn Owl

Soon after first light I stopped at Braides Farm to see a very young Kestrel sat on top of a pole. It was a very young bird, so young that it was still downy and its flight feathers not fully formed. 

Kestrel

There was little else to see so early in the morning so I journeyed my way north and towards Conder Green. 

All seemed quiet since the Avocets departed some days ago. It appears that between the three or four nesting attempts, none were totally successful with not a one fully fledged youngster. A disastrous year for ground nesting birds here with local birders concluding that Carrion Crows, American Mink, Red Fox and large gulls conspired to relieve nesting Avocet, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Lapwing, Tufted Duck, Mallard and goodness knows what else of eggs and/or chicks. 

Wisely the Common Terns chose to nest on a floating platform, out of harm’s way and some yards into the centre of the pool; a good result for them as they now have three fully flying youngsters. 

Common Terns

Common Tern

Apart from the terns there’s little to report. A count of 30+ Swift feeding over the hedgerow is nowadays quite notable for a declining species that once flew in their hundreds over local fields. Swifts were so numerous that intercepting and then ringing dozens of them in a single ringing session in the 1980s is now but a distant memory. 

In the creeks waders and wildfowl- 20 Lapwing, 6 Common Sandpiper, 18 Redshank, 12 Oystercatcher, 6 Shelduck, 2 Tufted Duck, 2 Curlew and 2 Little Egret. I noted a few passerines and hirundines by way of 8 Goldfinch, 2 Pied Wagtail, 4 Swallow, 4 Sand Martin, 2 Whitethroat, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Sedge Warbler, 1 Chiffchaff and 1 Blackcap. When I looked at a Goldfinch photo on the PC, I could see it had a ring on the right leg. But not enough detail to read the one letter and six numbers. 

Goldfinch

 

On the way back home I stopped at Gulf Lane to weigh up the set-aside field where we hope to start ringing on 1st August. The field is looking superb with already a good mix of birds feeding on the multitude of insects and more butterflies than I have seen all year, plus 10 Tree Sparrow, 4 Linnet, 4 Reed Bunting, 3 Whitethroat and a number of Swallows hawking low over the still burgeoning growth. 

Set-aside at Cockerham July

Swallow

Woodpigeon

 Please lookin in soon for more early birding with Another Bird Blog.

Linking to World Bird Wednesday and Anni's Birding Blog.

 

 

Goldfinch Day

What a frustrating week! Here in North West England we’ve had at least three and a half days of windy and rain-filled days. Now on Friday and with the promise of better weather for weekend, the morning was still cloudy, grey and breezy from the north - not the best for birding or photos. 

All week I watched the garden fill with Goldfinches, and where like many British gardens, the highly successful Goldfinch is a common and often numerous visitor. Other species qwe see are typical suburban companions - Blackbird, Dunnock, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Robin, House Sparrow, Greenfinch, Starling, Magpie and Wren. This week we’ve had a couple of visits from a Great-spotted Woodpecker, but mainly it’s Goldfinch galore. 

So this morning and with our south facing garden sheltered from the breeze I decided to do some garden ringing and see just how many Goldfinch are around. I did rather well by way of 33 birds - 23 Goldfinch, 4 Blackbird, 2 House Sparrow, 2 Blue Tit, 1 Dunnock and 1 Woodpigeon. 

As one might expect at this time of year there are lots of juvenile Goldfinches about with my catch split 14/9 in favour of newly fledged birds. All of the adult Goldfinch were in various stages of their main post breeding moult. 

Goldfinch

Goldfinch

Goldfinch

A juvenile Blackbird showed serious faults at the tip of the tail suggesting a food shortage immediately prior to its fledging. 

Blackbird

Blue Tit

Dunnock

Woodpigeon

There’s ringing and/or birding tomorrow with more news and views from Another Bird Blog.

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday Blog.

Village Scenes

The last five days week we’ve had the lot - spells of sunshine, hail stones, rain and blustery wind, then finishing off the week with fog. I set off early thinking the rising sun would burn off the fog quickly but it didn’t. As I drove through Pilling village there was a Barn Owl ghosting through the damp air. With the non-stop traffic rushing for work and Lancaster City I dare not stop. 

I parked up at Lane Ends and debated whether to continue driving or to go for a walk. Woodpigeons had decided to sit it out and not go anywhere for a while. There was a male Pied Wagtail on duty at the entrance to the car park.

Woodpigeon

Pied Wagtail

At Wrampool there were Reed Bunting and Meadow Pipit, and from their demeanour, both on territory. 

The visibility at Conder Green was really bad although lots of the usual stuff was reasonably close and visible. I picked up on a Common Sandpiper, 1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Grey Heron, a dozen or more Redshank, 12 Oystercatcher, 4 Shelduck, a single Snipe and 2 Goosander. In the “small“ category came 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Reed Bunting, 4 Goldfinch, 3 Chaffinch and 2 Greenfinch. There was a Barn Owl here too, this one doing as the earlier one by appearing out of the murk and then vanishing out over the mist laden marsh. 

I was getting nowhere fast so I drove back towards Knott End village where the coast was clearer but cold. I parked the new Ferrari in a quiet spot where it couldn’t get damaged and then sat on the sea wall. It was from here and as the tide rolled in that I counted 290 Oystercatcher, 12 Redshank, 4 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Grey Heron, 2 Eider and 3 Cormorant. Somewhere was a Sandwich Tern calling, so possibly more than one but I couldn’t find the bird(s). 

Ferrari

A walk up river produced a Chiffchaff alongside the golf course, 2 Pied Wagtails, a Wheatear close to the old cottages and a single Meadow Pipit on the tidal defences. Across the river and at Fleetwood I could see a male Peregrine way up on the old RoRo terminal where it sheltered from the cold wind while retaining a view of the whole estuary. A wise bird. 

Wheatear

Meadow Pipit

Peregrine Falcon

Regular readers will know that I occasionally picture the village of Knott End just a mile or two from my home. The village is situated at the mouth of the Wyre Estuary at the extreme south and west of Morecambe Bay and just across the water from the historic fishing port of Fleetwood. Below is a video of the journey we sometimes make across the water where gulls, a variety of waders and seabirds like Cormorant, Eider, Little Egret and Grey Heron can be seen. Watch closely, there’s a Little Egret near the start of the video.

 

Back home. It's two-thirty and the sun is out. I just counted 7 Buzzards high over Stalmine village where I live, where a few Buzzards breed and where folk stop to say “hello”.

That’s village life for you.

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

Birding Menorca Style

Two weeks in Menorca have flown by with just a rehash of old pictures and pre-scheduled postings for regular blog readers, a lapse for which I apologise. But blogging cannot be a priority when faced with Mediterranean sunshine, places to see and birds to find. So after returning home on Friday I found time to reinvigorate the blog with hopefully a return to near normality. Soon I’ll hit the local patch here in Lancashire again but in the meantime here are some fresh photos from Menorca 2015. 

We based ourselves on the south coast of the island at our preferred resort and favoured hotel where familiar and friendly faces gave the customary Menorcan welcome of hugs and kisses. No wonder we return year after year to this beautiful island. The early season beach was deserted, the sky as blue as can be with familiar birds around the beach and the hotel grounds. 

Menorca in May

Kestrels in Menorca seem much darker than our own, as do the Woodpigeons, Goldfinches, Linnets, Chaffinches and Greenfinches, and one or two other species. It must be something to do with all that sunshine. Taking pictures of the finches is well-nigh impossible after Mediterranean Man’s preference to see and hear the birds in cages. 

Kestrel

Woodpigeon

Newly arrived House Martins were busy collecting strands of sticky, wet seaweed from the beach to use in repairing last year’s nests near the hotel entrance. 

House Martin

The common lizard seen all over the island is the Italian wall lizard Podarcis siculus although they do not easily pose and run for cover if approached, even in the hotel garden. 

Italian wall lizard Podarcis siculus

From the beach bar it’s possible to make friends with one or two Audouin’s Gulls which reappear about 1st May to take advantage of the goodies on offer from the early tourists. Gulls are the same the world over in learning to adapt to man’s waste and untidiness except that this particular rare and endangered gull is especially beautiful. The gull presents something of a challenge to anyone with a camera in capturing the bill of many shades of red in the strong light of a Menorca day. 

Audouin's Gull

Audouin's Gull

Normally there are lots Spotted Flycatchers nearby, our early May visits coinciding with the species main migration time. Not this year, whereby the species seemed rather absent, perhaps early, late or just in smaller numbers from their wintering grounds in southern Africa. 

Spotted Flycatcher

Too soon our first day was all but over with just the Scop’s Owls to entertain us as they always do, regular as clockwork. It’s just a shame that Canon’s red-eye reduction system not doesn’t quite live up to the claim on the box. Not with owls anyway, but we’ll try again tomorrow night. 

 

Scop's Owl

There will be more from Another Bird Blog in Menorca soon when we hit the road in our little Panda.

Menorcan Panda

Also, there’s news from the local patch just as soon as I recover from Mediterranean sunstroke.

Linking today to I'd Rather-b-Birdin and Eileen's Blog.

Staying Cool But A Nest Or Two

This morning was spent looking for migrant birds but some of those I found were not the normal species associated with late April. 

There was another frost and a layer of ice on the car, not ideal conditions for early morning warblers or little brown jobs so I decided to leave the bush bashing until the air warmed and motored to Conder Green instead. Later I learnt that snow fell in Blackburn, not a million miles from here.

The high tides of winter and spring have filled the pool again so that there’s still very little mud and too much water to attract any numbers of waders. So most if not all of the morning’s waders and wildfowl were in the tidal channels or on the marsh. 

There was a good selection without an enormous number by way of 4 Common Sandpiper, 2 Greenshank, 2 Snipe, 1 Spotted Redshank, 2 Teal, 1 Wigeon, 10 Tufted Duck and 1 Little Egret. Through April there has been something of a passage of Tufted Ducks at Conder Green but now many have departed until Autumn. 

Tufted Duck

At Fluke Hall car park were 3 Whitethroats, 2 males in song and a much quieter female, the female already the object of attention in being chased around the hedgerow by one the males. Just then a Corn Bunting called but when I looked across a party of Corn Buntings had sat up on bramble and tall grass stems. In fact there were 14 or 15 of them but within a few seconds they departed north over the sea wall and lost to view, an unusual bit of Corn Bunting migration so late in April. But then it has been a cool, slow and rather delayed start to summer with yet more wind and rain to come we are told. 

There was also a noticeable increase in Wood Pigeons compared to recent days, in particular a huge flock of about 550+ feeding enthusiastically in a few recently ploughed fields. When once or twice they all took flight the scene resembled one of wintertime and not Spring. Woodpigeons are known to move around in large flocks in winter in search of food and it’s probably fair to say that these were migrants of sorts but wherever they’re going they will be somewhat late in setting up home. 

Woodpigeon

The pair of Mistle Thrush at Fluke Hall have been around all winter but now I’ve found the nest - high on the bough of a beech tree where the female sits on the eggs while the male mostly keeps out of the way. 

Mistle Thrush

Also in or about the wood, 2 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Greeenfinch, 2 Kestrel, 2 Buzzard, 2 Stock Dove, 1 Jay, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker and lots of Blackbirds. Two Greylags continue to frequent the pool within the wood where they conduct themselves in a very quiet and unobtrusive manner, and I’m sure they are “at it”. 

Blackbird

A walk along the sea wall required a jacket in the cool, some might say cold westerly breeze, where a single Wheatear, a few Linnets and singing Skylarks proved to be the only passerines. I tracked down one of the pairs of Skylarks and found their nest of three eggs. 

Skylark

Skylark nest

There are more cool birds soon from Another Bird Blog. Don’t miss them.

Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.

Birding Monday p.m.

Andy’s off to Spain so there’s the feeding station to top up tomorrow and maybe a ringing session soon. In the meantime an afternoon birding Pilling sea wall was all I could manage today, a four hour walk which resulted in a good number of birds despite my February gloom. 

The notebook kicked off with 3 Whooper Swans feeding on the spuds leftover from the wildfowlers' Pink-footed Geese bait. The geese are feeding on fresh green shoots in the fields and the salt marshes now so the geese don’t need the potatoes, and in any case the shooting season is over for another year. Thank goodness for such mercies. 

Whooper Swan

There were 6 Little Egret, 2 Pied Wagtail and a couple of Skylarks between Fluke Hall and the wildfowlers' pools and when I got to the pools I took a rest on the stile hoping to find more birds. On the pools, still 27 Pintail, 2 Shoveler, 2 Teal and a good number of Mallards plus a Green Sandpiper, the latter a near certainty here every winter. Along Pilling Water a Kestrel and a then a Buzzard which came flying in via Pilling village pursued by the usual crows. Pintail look in especially fine shape at the moment. 

Pintail

The wet fields were simply buzzing with a great selection of feeding waders plus wildfowl. The combined counts of this initial walk and then afterwards the fields at Damside produced 195 Lapwing, 170 Redshank, 38 Oystercatcher, 26 Black-tailed Godwit, 95 Curlew, 4 Dunlin, 1 Snipe and 42 Shelduck. The fields are so wet at this time of year that the waders have no difficulty in probing the soil to find their food.

Oystercatcher

Black-tailed Godwits

At Fluke Hall itself - a Great-spotted Woodpecker doing Ginger Baker, a calling Nuthatch again, 2 Kestrel, 2 Pied Wagtail and 40+ Woodpigeon. The Woodpigeons exploded noisily from the trees when a Kestrel play acting as a Sparrowhawk flew quickly through the pigeon’s rest area. Woodpigeon’s don’t normally respond to the presence of a Kestrel but on this occasion the speed and agility of the Kestrel’s arrival sent all of the pigeons into panic mode. A female Sparrowhawk is more than capable of taking a Woodpigeon whereas a Kestrel would be unlikely to attack such large prey. 

Woodpigeon

Log in soon to Another Bird Blog for more birding news. But not tomorrow, a half-term day with Olivia and Isabella for Nana and Granddad. Rather be birding? No way.

Linking this post to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.

A Sporting Saturday

Sport is great, especially on TV, and at the moment there’s lots of it. I’m really looking forward to The World Cup, Wimbledon Tennis, The Commonwealth Games, The Open Golf, Royal Ascot, Test Match Cricket and the myriad sports events which fill the TV schedules. 

You guessed my reason for loving sport. All this essential viewing means that more people are about to spend extra time glued to a TV rather than relish the great outdoors where their trivial pursuits always interfere with my birding. Yes, birding is a very selfish pastime best enjoyed when Joe Public is elsewhere, preferably indoors staring at a TV screen, so I intend to enjoy this summer’s Festival of Sport and do birding and blogging as much as possible. 

Meanwhile I hope that the present all-pervading discussion and media coverage of sport does not infect me or Another Bird Blog, so if at any time I inadvertently lapse into sporting jargon please forgive me. 

So forget sport for now, here’s a blow-by-blow account of Saturday’s birding. 

There was no game plan but I was quick out of the gate, kicking off with a straight drive along the A585 to Conder Green. I took a few seconds out at Pilling, getting the ball rolling with a knockout Barn Owl, a pretty safe bet along here at 5am. I was off to a flying start! 

Barn Owl

At Conder Green the ducking and diving wildfowl totalled 1 Little Grebe, 3 Teal, 2 Wigeon, 10 Tufted Duck, 12 Shelduck, all par for the course in June, plus 17 Canada Goose. At the shallow end wading birds obliged with 55 Redshank, 5 Black-tailed Godwit, 15 Oystercatcher, 1 Curlew and 1 Common Sandpiper. 

Shelduck

At this stage of the game many Redshanks are on the return leg as are Common Sandpipers. A  number of the 55 Redshanks are clearly juveniles from elsewhere, the breeding pair here with still unfledged young. The Oystercatcher count includes 5 juveniles of two broods, the largest brood a stunning hat-trick, all there off and running at a fair old pace and sure to go the full distance to adulthood. 

Oystercatcher

Oystercatcher

 Oystercatcher chicks

 Oystercatcher chick

Oystercatcher

It’s a hard call. Do Grey Herons and Little Egrets fit into the category of “wader” or “wildfowl”? Maybe the 3 Grey Heron and single Little Egret should be classed as “also ran”? If so, I clocked 10 more herons at Cockersands later, together with 44 Eider, a healthy tally which included 12 youngsters which knew the score by sticking close to mom. 

 Little Egret

Meanwhile, and back to the second half at Conder Green. Suddenly there were lots of Starlings, a flock of 200+ containing many youngsters jockeying for position on the farm buildings and fences opposite the marsh. The juvenile Starlings shouted the odds, some begging for food from parents nearby as in the car I played a blinder with the camera. A Woodpigeon decided to play the game too and sat posing for a portrait.

Starling

Woodpigeon

I’m on the final lap now, just the little brown jobs to tally and then I can throw in the towel - 2 Reed Warbler, 2 Sedge Warbler, 5 Whitethroat, 4 Reed Bunting, 4 Linnet, 1 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Pied Wagtail, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, and then a single Tree Sparrow on the rails. 

Tree Sparrow

Yet again a good number of 30+ Swift hawked insects at early doors with only a handful of Swallows doing the same; probably because many females are still confined to nests and I've yet to see many  juveniles. And in any contest for a beautiful bird an adult Swallow would surely be first past the post? 

Barn Swallow

It’s into the home straight now and the A588 again where a roadside Kestrel played ball, but soon it was the chequered flag of home where I was hot favourite for a few chores. 

But no worries, in a contest between watching sport or watching birds, birding wins hands down. 

Please join Another Bird Blog’s team again soon. You might be onto a winner.

Linking today to Anni's Birding Blog.