First “Phyllosc”

I met up with Andy for another ringing session at Oakenclough. After three or four night of clear weather and sunny skies to help migration along it was perhaps too much to expect a large catch. 

And so it proved with just 12 birds - 4 Goldfinch, 2 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Wren, 2 Blue Tit, 1 Siskin, 1 Chiffchaff. 

Wren

Siskin

Lesser Redpoll

The Chiffchaff was our first for the year here and although it was a male we did not hear it singing prior to it appearing in the net at 0900. By March 28th an early Willow Warbler might also be around. A cursory check revealed that appearance-wise our first “phyllosc” was clearly a Chiffchaff. On closer inspection primary 2= 7-8, and primary 6=emarginated, so therefore nothing but a Chiffchaff. It is not unknown that dull and dark-legged Willow Warblers can resemble a Chiffchaff, but also that Willow Warbler/Chiffchaff hybrids occur, even though they are very rare.

 

Chiffchaff

Chiffchaff

For phylloscopus enthusiasts and those with an interest in sub-species who may also enjoy scientific jargon, there was an interesting online paper recently. A dictionary will be useful to translate some of the terminology used by the authors. The paper is entitled “Patterns of genetic, phenotypic, and acoustic variation across a chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita abietinus/tristis) hybrid zone.” At http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.2782/full 

Ornithologists studied a “hybrid zone” in Europe where a number of subspecies of Chiffchaffs are known to occur and interbreed. The paper’s conclusion is perhaps far from surprising to most birders - a mix of genetic ancestry shows extensive ongoing and past gene flow with at least one of the previously described subspecies of Chiffchaff unlikely to be a distinct species. 

Also, subspecies identification of Chiffchaffs in this region based (and probably elsewhere in its migration range! – my italics) on appearance is uncertain, as even an individual with apparently distinct looks such as “Siberian Chiffchaff”, can have a considerable proportion of its make-up hybridised from the other subspecies. 

Birding wise this morning we noted 3 Pied Wagtail. Also a single Mistle Thrush in song, one Sand Martin dashed through on a northerly track north and then within a minute of each other saw both the male and female Sparrowhawks of the local pair.

Linking this post to Anni's Blog and Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.

Set-Aside Again

The weather has been kind to our recent ringing plans by way of minimal winds and little in the way of rain. It was the same this morning with a forecast of clear skies overnight followed by a light frost and virtually no wind. Andy and I met next to the set-aside plot at Cockerham where Linnets home in each morning to what seems to be a mix well suited to their needs. The forecast proved spot on with a dusting of frost on the crop together with a pretty cold start in the half-light of dawn. 

We caught Linnets steadily to the accompaniment of geese calling overhead interspersed with the occasional gunshot. We saw two pinkies drop from the sky this morning. The shooting group along this stretch of Pilling and Cockerham Marsh is Morecambe Bay Wildfowlers. They have a membership of approximately 150 participants whose limit each is shooting on three days a week throughout the winter season. Apparently the club has a waiting list of potential members who might wait four or five years to be accepted, such is the demand for places caused by the vast concentrations of numbers of wildfowl quarry in the winter months. 

A typical mid-winter count of the most common wildfowl along this single stretch of coast and dependent on the weather and other factors might be: 8/10,000 Pink-footed Goose, 2,000 Shelduck, 5,000 Wigeon, 1800 Teal, 300 Mallard and 200 Pintail. No wonder the shooters love the place as much as the birders. 

Teal

Wigeon

Once again this morning Pink-footed Geese flew off the marsh in almost continuous skeins for at least four hours and a guesstimate of 20,000/30,000 individuals. Many pinkies still arrive from Iceland and the recent mild weather seems to be delaying their onward migration to both Norfolk and south Lancashire. 

We heard lots of distant Whooper Swans but less than twenty flew above us with most heading off towards Fluke Hall where more than a hundred have been noted in recent days. As the morning warmed up a good number of waders appeared to feed on the fields nearest the sea wall. We approximated counts of 1000+ Lapwings, 700 Golden Plover, 100 + Curlew and 20+ Redshank. 

In the picture below Andy checks the nets in the set-aside crop for Linnets. In the background the bund of the sea wall is visible together with the distant Lakeland fells on the far side of Morecambe Bay and the tall white buildings of Heysham Nuclear Power Station some 15 miles away as the crow flies. Click the pic for a view across Morecambe Bay.

Ringing in the set-aside

We had a pretty good catch of Linnets with another 25 to add to our autumn total plus a new bird for the site in the form of 2 Wrens. In all we saw about 200 Linnets in our stay but we have yet to recapture one out of the 100+ caught in the last 3 weeks. This of course suggests a high turnover of mainly different birds birds rather than the same birds returning each day.

Linnet Ringing Station

Linnet

 Wren

Andy seems to have timed his six days in Spain to coincide with a change of weather here in Lancashire as a low pressure system brings winds and more changeable weather. We’ll see. 

Log in soon and find out what is happening on Another Bird Blog.

Linking today with http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.co.uk/.

Finches Again

The weather is staying cool with the lack of summer/spring birds unsurprising despite in recent years our becoming accustomed to many species appearing somewhat early. But then we are still in March with the weather and winds less than ideal to help birds travelling many miles to get here to North West England. In some years nothing much happens until April and it looks like 2016 is shaping up to be one of those. 

With rain forecast for both early and late week Thursday was pencilled in as the possible day for a ringing session. The prediction was spot on when at 0545 the sky was clear with a hint of frost in the air. I switched on the heated seat and set off for another 0630 start up at Oakenclough. 

Andy and I met up in the car park and then we set to with a couple of nets. The morning was mainly slow and steady with a sudden rush of Siskins after 1030 which boosted our catch to 32 birds of a mixed 8 species, dominated once again by finches: 13 Siskin, 10 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Chaffinch, 2 Goldfinch, 2 Coal Tit, 1 Blackbird, 1 Wren and 1 Dunnock. 

Including today and to date in 2016 we have ringed 60 Siskins and 55 Lesser Redpoll here at Oakenclough. One of today’s Lesser Redpolls, a second year female, wore a ring beginning S109, a number sequence not of our own but a “control” – a bird ringed by other ringers on a previous occasion. This is the second “control” Lesser Redpoll of the spring here, details of which we will be notified to us and the original ringer once the BTO database records are matched. 

Lesser Redpoll

Lesser Redpoll

Upon examination a number of Siskins displayed accumulated fat in three areas; the furculum (the so-called wishbone), the wingpits and the abdomen. One individual weighed in at a magnificent 16.2 grams. This almost equalled the weight of the morning’s Chaffinches and exceeded the weight of both Goldfinches. 

Visible Fat

Siskin

Siskin

Siskin

A reader was intrigued by a picture of two Siskins in last week’s post which showed the plumage differences between second year and adult male Siskins. As a broad rule that applies to most passerine species, second year birds can be separated from an adult, especially at this time of year. This isn’t always strikingly obvious but can be found by looking closely at the flight feathers of the wing and tail. First year birds will retain into their second year many of the feathers they were born with because their autumn moult is partial only. In general, adult birds have a complete moult of their flight feathers once they have finished breeding. At the present time of year and in comparing adults and second years side by side, an adult will have some newer, brighter and fresher feathers than a second year bird that still sports much of last year’s juvenile plumage. 

Siskins - second year and adult

We don’t catch many Wrens or Blackbirds at this location. 

Wren

Blackbird

Siskins dominated the visible migration this morning with small parties of up to 6 or 7 birds passing overhead south to north most of the morning whereby Lesser Redpolls were less evident. We looked and listened hard for Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler or an early Blackcap, Sand Martin or Swallow but none appeared. 

We made do with resident Buzzards, Oystercatchers, Pied Wagtails and Great Crested Grebe until the highlight of a single Common Crossbill “chup, chupping” overhead. Crossbills breed not too far away but are just occasional visitors to the site even though there are extensive pines in the immediate area. 

Common/Red Crossbill - Loxia curvirostra by "Wiki".

Stay tuned to Another Bird Blog and more birds soon. Linking today to Anni's Birding and Eileen's Saturday.

Plan B Birding

Today’s plan was to meet Andy for another ringing session at Oakenclough but on looking out of the window at 0530 there was dense and freezing fog, so not the best conditions for a 40 minute drive into the distant hills. I sent a text to Andy saying I was chickening out and then slunk back to bed for a while vowing to go birding at Pilling when the sun cleared the fog. 

When I reached Fluke Hall the resident pair of Dunnocks was busy seeing off an intruder on their territory, a male Yellowhammer. Although Yellowhammers breed a mile or two inland they are somewhat unusual just here right on the coast so this was almost certainly a migrant bird looking for a home territory. 

Yellowhammer

The Stonechats weren’t far away, a male and a female along the sea wall having their own ding-dong with the resident Robin. Our UK Robins are members of the chat tribe as well as being very territorial so don’t take kindly to a pair of Stonechats feeding on their patch. They will however tolerate a Wren using their singing rostrum. 

Stonechat

Robin

Wren

Below the sea wall was a fine male Wheatear, the only one seen in my half mile walk to Pilling Water and back. If the warm weather continues there should be many more Wheatears very soon. 

That walk along the sea wall produced an eclectic mix of birds with 4 Little Egret, 7 Pintail, 2 Teal, 8 Meadow Pipit, 6 Linnet, 5 Pied Wagtail, 1 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel and at least 6 Skylark in song. The fields along here are still wet but not flooded and so retain a sprinkling of common waders plus a fair number of Shelduck. A number of the birds are on territory and in display mode with a total count of 26 Shelduck, 14 Redshank, 40 Lapwing and 6 Oystercatcher. 

Oysterctacher

I returned via Fluke Hall Lane where in the meadow, trees and hedgerows were 6 Pied Wagtail, 2 Greenfinch, 3 Song Thrush, 2 Goldcrest, 1 Jay and 1 Chiffchaff. 

The Chiffchaff was busily feeding, finding good sized insects in the willows. Somehow it remained strangely silent for a new-in migrant and I doubt I would have seen it but for its fly catching acrobatics and constant searching through the trees. Although the monotonous and almost robotic call of  "chiff-chaff, chiff-chaff, chiff-chaff, chiff-chaff"  might seem rather unexciting it's a sure sign that March is well under way.

Chiffchaff

Tree Sparrows are very active now and I counted at least 10 individuals, including one in the throes of nest building. 

Tree Sparrow

Andy had a decent catch without me, including more Lesser Redpolls and Chaffinches. I missed a ringing session but Plan B didn’t turn out too badly after all and the weather looks decent enough for even more ringing quite soon.

Good Morning All

This getting rained off p.m. is becoming tiresome. After a fairly sunny morning when mostly all was well with the world, those dreaded spots appeared before the eyes again soon after lunch time. 

The fields near Fluke Hall Lane held a good selection of waders as usual. Lapwings numbered some 320, most in a fairly tight congregation on the flooded part of the maize field. Fifty or more of these Lapwings were spread in ones and twos across a wider area and were probably prospecting for potential laying sites. Little do they know that very soon the farmer will ensure the fields resemble a grassy prairie where there aren’t too many places to scrape a nest together. If more than half a dozen pairs of Lapwings nest successfully on this land in 2015 it will count as a modern day miracle. Of 40 or more Oystercatchers at least one pair were marking out a territory but none of the 30+ Redshanks seemed so inclined. 

Lapwing

There was a small flock of 28 Black-tailed Godwits keeping their standard 100 metres distance from the road. I gave it a while hoping the godwits might walk into camera range but they are not that daft so I made do with watching them and an archive picture. In this part of North West England Black-tailed Godwits are Spring and Autumn migrants, a contingent of wintering birds and then a tiny number of breeding pairs. 

Black-tailed Godwit

The maize stubble held just 3 Linnets but a dozen or more Skylarks. There was much chasing about between the Skylarks and some half-hearted singing from a few. Several pairs of Skylarks will eventually settle down to breed here but working out their territories and finding their nests is a real labour of love. 

Skylark

A walk along the sea wall produced 5 Little Egrets and then just 2 Teal and 2 Shoveler on the wildfowlers’ pools; not a good reward for a walk there and back of half-a-mile or more. Things improved on the way back with the appearance of a flock of 20+ busily feeding and excitable Meadow Pipits, almost certainly, and at the end of February, the frontline troops of the huge push north that occurs in March. By mid-April the Meadow Pipits will be mainly well north of Pilling with nowadays a token presence of breeding pairs. 

Meadow Pipit

By now the sun was out, the air had a touch of warmth and there was plenty of birdsong and bird activity around the trees of Fluke Hall. Song came from Nuthatch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Song Thrush (2), Blackbird, Dunnock, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Robin and Wren with extra-curricular activity from a pair of Kestrels and several Tree Sparrows around nest boxes. 

 Wren on a fence - Troglodytes troglodytes

The tiny, brown, stumpy-tailed Wren is possibly the most ignored bird of the UK, undocumented and snubbed by bird watchers and bird ringers alike. It is found everywhere from the tops of the highest moors to the sandy shore, often in the most unexpected and unpredictable places. What the Wren lacks in likeability is compensated for in its boisterous and enormous singing voice, ten times louder weight for weight, than a cockerel. I do try to love the Wren but as a bird ringer who likes to work with open sleeved shirts it’s problematic. 

I managed to get to Oakenclough and just top up the feeders before the rain arrived. Andy is back from Spain now so if the wind and rain don’t conspire against us there will be a ringing session quite soon. 

Join Another Bird Blog soon for even more mornings - good or bad.

Linking this post to Eileen's Saturday Blog and Run A Round Ranch.

Chilly Ringing

A Jack Frost morning saw me return to Rawcliffe Moss after yesterday spotting a good number of Reed Buntings feeding on wheat spillage near the plantation. Today I counted 30 or so Reed Buntings dodging in and out of the field, so put up a couple of nets close by in the hope of catching a few. At the moment it seems to be mainly Reed Buntings showing an interest in the abandoned crop, with otherwise a small number of Chaffinch. 

After a couple of hours I’d caught 9 Reed Bunting, 3 Chaffinch, 1 Blackbird, 1 Wren and also recaptured a Coal Tit first ringed here 30 September 2010. 

Apart from one, all the Reed Buntings appeared to be first year birds, the tail below still showing fault bars caused by the poor feeding opportunities of the wet and cold summer. 

Reed Bunting

"Fault Bars" - Reed Bunting

Male Reed Buntings show a greyish white neck collar, a feature which females lack. 

Reed Bunting

All three Chaffinch proved to be females. 

Chaffinch

Chaffinch

Wren

Coal Tit 

A number of other birds were seen nearby: 6 Snipe, 4 Skylark, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 8 Goldfinch, 12 Corn Bunting, 40 Tree Sparrow, 60+ Chaffinch, and then 2 Kestrel and a single Buzzard. 

Corn Bunting

On the way home through Town End, Out Rawcliffe I chanced upon a mixed flock of Redwing and Fieldfare, circa 120 and 80 respectively. After seeing mere handfuls of each species of late the sudden appearance of bigger numbers may be the result of the severe frost of Wednesday night. Along the same road, another Kestrel and Buzzard. 

Looks like another woolly hat, warm scarf and thermal gloves day tomorrow for Another Bird Blog, so no early morning heroics, just a trip out someplace. Log in soon to find out just where and when.

I’m Late, Start Without Me

This is Sunday’s post, and like all posts occasionally do, it’s running a little later than it should, but hey it’s only bird news with pictures of our feathered friends, not life or death. 

Sunday was a fine old morning, cold with a slight frost, but clear and bright so an opportunity to see what might be occurring out on Rawcliffe Moss while checking the feeders. The Kestrel made me late, watching the stubble fields from a roadside pole then venturing off for a hover, a fly around and then a return to any one of a long line of poles, usually one out of camera range so as to frustrate my photographic efforts. This first year bird was one of three Kestrels seen during the morning, one on the moss and two at Stalmine/Pilling Moss later. 

Kestrel

Kestrel

Kestrel

The feeders were still quite full, not unexpected since most of the autumn Goldfinch have gone south to warmer climes, with a count of just 6 this morning. Better counts of though with 35ish Tree Sparrow and more than 40 Chaffinch, the sparrows congregated around the wildfowler’s pheasant feeders, the Chaffinches distributed more widely. A good number of Reed Buntings too, with 20+ scattered along hedgerows north, south and east. I got a couple of Reed Bunting photos today, along with a Wren, a species which always eludes me as a photographer but not as a bird ringer when they turn up in a mist net at the most undesirable times, usually dawn and dusk. Bird ringers often call Wrens “trogs” from its Latin name Troglodytes troglodytes, but they have other less complementary names for the species too. 

Wren - Troglodytes troglodytes

Reed Bunting

Reed Bunting

Reed Bunting

 Chaffinch

 Tree Sparrow

Two Yellowhammers in the area of the shooter’s feeders today, another species which is extremely shy of being photographed at close quarters. It’s a brightly coloured bunting which is well able to melt away in the dappled light of a sunny hedgerow. The best I could achieve today, both cropped and un-cropped to show how an apparently obvious yellow Yellowhammer can be overlooked. 

Yellowhammer

Yellowhammer

Other birds out on the moss: 6 Snipe, 25 Fieldfare, 1 Mistle Thrush, 8 Redwing, 2 Buzzard, 2 Jay, 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker. On the way home via Pilling and Stalmine mosses I saw the aforementioned Kestrels,a Short-eared Owl, and on yet another wet stubble field, 70 Whooper Swans. 

This week Another Bird Blog is linking with Anni who'd rather be birding anytime, and also with Stewart an ex-pat who lives in Australia - Stewart. 

More news this week, so don’t be late for Another Bird Blog.