Showing posts with label Yellow-browed Warbler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yellow-browed Warbler. Show all posts

Monday, October 3, 2016

YBW and Linnets

Yellow-browed Warblers seem to be everywhere again this autumn. Not to be left out of such excitement there was one calling loudly around the garden on Sunday afternoon. Several times I heard the loud, coal tit-like slurred call and then managed to locate the tiny warbler in the tall sycamore of a neighbour’s garden. The sycamore branches almost overhang my own garden in a couple of places so I’m not certain I can claim the YBW as a first for my garden list. Within a minute or two the bird had moved on, not to be heard or seen again that day or the next. 

 Yellow-browed Warbler- Photo credit: Hans Olofsson via / CC BY-NC-ND

Considering that the first Yellow-browed Warbler was only recorded in Britain in 1838, and that over the next 130 years only 300 of these Siberian sprites were seen on our shores, their now regular September appearances give birders food for thought as well as a reason to go searching for one of their own.

Yet the incredible migration strategy of these tiny warblers may indicate a more serious long-term climatic trend. By rights, each autumn Yellow-browed Warblers should head south east from their Siberian breeding grounds to winter in the warm tropical forests of Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. But over the past few decades, increasing numbers have been sighted across Britain and Western Europe, down to Spain and The Canary Islands during September and October.

This may be an indicator they are improving their survival rates by seeking out new wintering territories in Africa and close to their relatives the Chiffchaff and the Willow Warbler.

On Monday I met up with Andy and we headed to Cockerham to follow-up the permission to catch Linnets. As a ringing group in recent times we have caught less than twenty Linnets annually, such is the species’ decline and the reason that we wish to use this opportunity. We cut a single ride in the set-aside field much quicker than we imagined which left us time to have go at catching a few birds. Despite our upsetting their dining table the Linnets came back very quickly and although the sun shone on our single net set low in the field and the breeze was less than ideal, we managed to open our account with two Linnets, a first autumn male and a first autumn female. We both feel confident we can catch more Linnets in the coming weeks and therby collect important data on this declining farmland bird.

We had to remind ourselves how to sex Linnets in October when there are lots of similar looking juveniles/females and also when most males have lost their striking red and orange breast feathers. On a male the white on the inner parts of the 7th-9th primary feathers reaches the feather shaft itself or is less than 0.5mm in width to the shaft. On a female the same inner parts of the 7th-9th primary feathers never reaches the shaft itself and shows a darker zone, 0.5mm wide or more. In other words, the male has more white in the wing than a female, a feature that can often be picked up on Linnets in flight during the autumn. The difference can be seen below.

Linnet - female

Linnet- male

Linnet - male

Whilst ringing we noted many hundreds of Pink-footed Geese overhead, all heading south. In amongst the set-aside field we also saw a couple of Goldfinch and Tree Sparrows. A Kestrel circled around a couple of times and there was also a Sparrowhawk which made a single attempt to snatch a Linnet by flying into the set-aside crop, scattering the finches in all directions.

The Sparrowhawk failed but for sure it will be back. And will too for another look at those Linnets.

Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Bird News, Book News

Early rain gave way to a breezy, bright morning, with time to visit the birding patch at Pilling. No sooner had I arrived at Fluke Hall than I saw SP readying himself for a walk along the wooded road. On Sunday afternoon he located a Yellow-browed Warbler here, a species which is now found almost annually in this part of Lancashire, in some years there are three, four or more records, but it’s still a worthy find and one which requires good birding skills.

Stuart moseyed off east to look in the same place the bird was last seen. I wandered off east towards Ridge Farm where the best I could muster in 15 minutes was cracking views of a male Merlin, 20+ Greenfinch, 12+ Skylark, several Linnets and 15+ Meadow Pipits. The phone rang, he’d re-found the warbler, still about the same spot three days later, so I strolled back to the trees to see and hear the bird in the ash and sycamores next to the road. The warbler was very vocal, calling almost constantly as it moved through the trees, the distinctive call somewhere between a Coal Tit and a Pied Wagtail to my ears. Knowing the call is as good if not the best way to locate a yellow-browed.

There’s a very old pre-digital photograph here from Bardsey Island sometime in the dim and distant past.

Yellow-browed Warbler

I decided to head up to Lane Ends for the incoming tide. If anything the tide was too high, with no obvious roosting spots, causing most of the waders to fly constantly around. For what it’s worth a few observations and a couple of counts: 1 Peregrine, 1 Kestrel, 40 Snipe, 420 Dunlin, 180 Redshank, 250+ Lapwing, 8 Little Egret, 12 Whooper Swan, 800 Wigeon, 700 Teal, 110 Pintail, 15 Meadow Pipit, 15 Linnet and 2 Rock Pipit.

Pintail

Rock Pipit

And now for some interesting book news, more especially for blog followers in the US but also UK birders who travel to North America and/or those who like to twitch the occasional US bird on this side of the Atlantic.

Readers of Another Bird Blog may remember the review here of Richard Crossley’s ID Guide to Eastern Birds (North America), a book acclaimed for its pioneering approach to bird identification. And here’s the good news, Princeton University Press are preparing a new Crossley guide for release in April 2013, The Crossley Guide to Raptors, this latest volume co-authored by Jerry Liguori and Brian Sullivan.

The Crossley Guide to Raptors

For the new volume I’m quoting from a sneak preview sent to me by Princeton University Press.

“Part of the revolutionary Crossley ID Guide series, this is the first raptor guide with lifelike scenes composed from multiple photographs - scenes that allow you to identify raptors just as the experts do. Experienced birders use the most easily observed and consistent characteristics - size, shape, behaviour, probability, and general colour patterns. The book’s 101 scenes - including thirty-five double-page layouts, provide a complete picture of how these features are all related. Even the effects of lighting and other real-world conditions are illustrated and explained. Detailed and succinct accounts from two of North America’s foremost raptor experts, Jerry Liguori and Brian Sullivan, stress the key identification features. This complete picture allows everyone from beginner to expert to understand and enjoy what he or she sees in the field. The mystique of bird identification is eliminated, allowing even novice birders to identify raptors quickly and simply. Comprehensive and authoritative, the book covers all thirty-four of North America’s diurnal raptor species (all species except owls). Each species is featured in stunning colour plates that show males and females, in a full spectrum of ages and colour variants, depicted near and far, in flight and at rest, and from multiple angles, all caught in their typical habitats. There are also comparative, multispecies scenes and mystery photographs that allow readers to test their identification skills, along with answers and full explanations in the back of the book. In addition, the book features an introduction, and thirty-four colour maps that accompany the plates. Whether you are a novice or an expert, this one-of-a-kind guide will show you an entirely new way to look at these spectacular birds”. 

I’m told this book will sell for about $30 only, so all I can suggest is that you visit your bookstore and reserve a copy now or keep watching the Princeton University Press Blog for more info and regular previews of plates from the book.

 The Crossley Raptor Guide

Another Bird Blog will review the book as soon as a copy is received; in the meantime stay tuned for more bird news and bird pictures whether home or abroad.
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