Petition

UK citizens - Please sign this petition. 

Grant legal protection to Swallow, Swift and Martin nest sites not just nests. Live bird nests have legal protection, but nest sites do not. Swallows, Swifts and Martins return to the same nesting site year after year. If these nesting sites are destroyed, with few alternatives available, local extinctions are likely. 

Swallows, Swifts and Martins are already in severe decline, in part because of fewer insects, reduced habitat when they live abroad, and because their nesting sites are being destroyed. Addressing habitat loss and insect declines are very important, but require long-term resolution. This makes it all the more vital to prevent existing nest sites being destroyed - something which can be legislated on straight away. 

Link to the petition here- Petition Parliament  

Barn Swallow 

Barn Swallows 

Barn Swallows 

Barn Swallows

Thank You.

The Friday Feeling

Thinking that Friday morning might be OK for birding wasn't a great decision. The broken rainbow that fell from black clouds above made a pretty good pointer to the never ending showers that followed. It was windy too, much more than the Granada forecast and the whole morning felt like September had well and truly arrived. 

A Cockerham rainbow 

It was two weeks since I last visited Conder Green (25th August) so I headed there first. I'm not sure where the wagtails had roosted overnight but the first stop for many of them was Conder Pool where I counted a remarkable 80+ Pied Wagtails and 2 Grey Wagtails along the far bank. The wagtails were so far away that I'm pretty sure more were hidden out of sight over the bank and behind the pool. 

This last week saw a push of Swallows headed south and it was noticeable today how few were around with 70+ feeding over and around the early morning hedgerow the best count by far. Otherwise there were just twos and threes along the lanes towards Cockersands where last broods are still about the farms buildings. 

Swallow 

The grassy margins of Conder held large numbers of Lapwings, so numerous and so mobile that a count is of 450+ is but an estimate. Once or twice the loose flock erupted into a cloud of flight as if all of those present received the same message of danger at precisely the same moment. Birders call the spectacle a “dread”. The more scientific term for the phenomenon is “Swarm Intelligence” or SI. 

“Although there is no centralized control structure dictating how individual agents should behave, local, and to a certain degree random, interactions between such agents lead to the emergence of "intelligent" global behaviour, unknown to the individual agents. Examples in natural systems of Swarm Intelligence include ant colonies, bird flocking, animal herding, bacterial growth, fish schooling and microbial intelligence.” 

Other waders and wildfowl today – 32 Redshank, 5 Greenshank, 3 Snipe, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Common Sandpiper, 14 Teal, 3 Little Egret. 

Greenshank 

Very evident today was the number of Starlings. This is the time of year when we have an influx of Continental Starlings that spend the winter here in the UK rather than colder parts of Europe. Twice I saw newly arrived Starling flocks pursued by raptors – firstly by a Sparrowhawk and then later by a Merlin. Neither raptor caught their breakfast. 

Sparrowhawk 

I stopped off at Gulf Lane where I saw the earlier mentioned Merlin. The Merlin had scattered a field full of Lapwings, Starlings and Curlews which is no mean feat for a bird hardly bigger than a Mistle Thrush. The Merlin flew towards the junction and left a dread of waders in its wake as it inspected the field of set-aside where I’d just counted 35 Goldfinches and 20 Linnets. 

We have cut a ride for when finch numbers build.  We think that the good summer, a glut of natural food together with a prolonged breeding season may have delayed the arrival here of  both Linnets and Goldfinches. But when they arrive in numbers we are ready with an already cut catching area to build on the 400+ Linnets ringed during the last two winters. 

By now it was raining again, more heavy showers, grey skies and quite windy. I called it a day and headed home to catch up with news, birds and the “real” world. 

We seem to have left summer behind but my pal David in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada tells me it was 35 degrees there on Wednesday. You can read about his weather, birds and bird ringing, together with his liking for coffee and cake on his blog Travels With Birds.

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

Going Nowhere

The breeze was just too strong for a ringing session. Even at 10 mph we are blown off course at Oakenclough.  I set off instead for a spot of birding in what would prove to be a quite productive and eventful morning. 

At Lane Ends Pilling I was early enough to see the Little Egrets depart their island roost. The site is now so overgrown that it’s impossible to see the egrets from any direction, the only option being to count them in at dusk or count them out at dawn.  In the morning they signal their imminent departure by their barking calls after which they fly in ones, twos and threes from the trees to the marsh below. I counted 28 heading out and landing on the marsh before they gradually scattered in all directions to later spend their day in Morecambe Bay. 

Little Egret 

There was a flight of Greylag Geese off the marsh and heading south over my head. I counted 70+ in just ten or fifteen minutes. By the time I reached Braides Farm Greylags were still on the move with another two parties of 40+ birds, they too heading south. There was a Kestrel here, a young bird and one of very few juvenile Kestrels I've seen this year. 

There was a very good selection of waders at Conder Green by way of 270 Lapwing, 44 Redshank, 7 Greenshank, 4 Dunlin, 3 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Curlew, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Snipe and 1 Oystercatcher. 

Dunlin 

Other “water” birds appeared as 12 Little Grebe, 3 Little Egret, 2 Grey Heron, 2 Shelduck, 1 Common Tern and 1 Kingfisher. The Kingfisher didn't come close and I was forced to watch it hovering and then plunge-diving across the pool and in front of the far island. This where the grebes hang out and where there are lots of small fish to be had. 

Little Grebe 

A single Whitethroat and 6 Goldfinch was the sum of the passerine count although 120+ Swallows was a welcome sight. 

At Glasson the Tufted Duck numbers are building with 22 there today plus a single Great Crested Grebe, but otherwise a decent number of uncounted Common Coot and a single Grey Heron. 

Tufted Duck 

There were more Swallows along Jeremy Lane where the good folk of Gardner’s Farm seem not to mind their roof and TV aerial being decorated by Swallows and House Martins. 

Swallow 

Swallow 

House Martin & Swallow 

Further up the lane I had to turn around and head back. A recovery truck was on its way to rescue an Asda delivery van from the roadside ditch. Someone near Cockersands would wait in vain for their Internet shopping bags. 

Going Nowhere 

Asda Delivery 

The lanes up here are often single track where a driver unfamiliar with local niceties like giving way to large tractors may find they are off-road with nowhere to go. 

Back near Pilling again I found 4 Buzzards in the air and a Little Owl sat in the sun but sheltered from the now stiff northerly wind. 

Little Owl 

More soon. Stay tuned to Another Bird Blog.

Linking today to Anni's Birding Blog.

Shakespeare And Stroganoff

There was no ringing planned today so instead I had a scoot around Cockerham way. It’s guaranteed to produce a good variety of species and sometimes excellent numbers of birds. 

I kicked off at Conder Green, where for an hour or more the place was alive with Swallows and Sand Martins taking breakfast. The cool morning produced a hatch of thousands of insects above the hedgerows and close to the water’s edge. 

The birds took full advantage as many took insects on the wing while others fed on the ground, almost as if they were collecting nesting material.  It was hard to estimate the mass of birds, especially as some perched up in the straggly hedgerow briefly before returning to the bonanza. My best guess was 350 Swallow, 25 Sand Martin and 15 House Martin. 

Some of the House Martins were from across the way where they nest on the sides of at least two buildings close to the tidal creeks, the ditches that provide food and also mud for nest building. 

Swallow 

House Martins 

The House Martins here seem to have enjoyed a very productive year with upwards of 60 in air around the said buildings earlier in the week. Similarly, the colony of House Martins on a single house on our road in Stalmine-with-Staynall have done really well this year with more than 40 individuals on some days. At the end of the season the UK breeding bird stats will make for interesting reading to gauge the effect of the longest, hottest summer for many, some say fifty years. 

Despite the numbers of both swallows, martins and air-borne insect food, I didn't see a single Swift this morning; it would seem that many have now left for Africa. 

The midday tide began to run about 10am where it pushed a good number of mainly Redhanks into the creeks and onto the pool: 280 Redshank, 80 Lapwing, 3 Greenshank, 3 Curlew, 1 Oystercatcher, 3 Little Egret and 1 Grey Heron. 

On the pool otherwise were noted 12 Little Grebe, 6 Common Tern, 5 Greylag and 5 Pied Wagtail. 

Those dabchicks are so elusive. One second it’s there, the next it’s gone, made no splash or noise but slipped into the water as if its plumage were lubricated with WD40. As suddenly as it dived to leave just a ripple of water, so it reappeared, but never in the exact same spot, as if to tease the amateur cameraman. 

Little Grebe 

“A di-dapper peering through a wave, 

Who, being looked on, ducks as quickly in.” 

William Shakespeare 

You must excuse me. I have a beef stroganoff to make and a bottle of wine to uncork. But never fear there’s more soon from Another Bird Blog. 

Stroganoff

See you soon. Cheers.

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

One Good Tern

The Common Terns at Conder Green are very unhelpful to anyone with a camera. Since they arrived in May they have kept their distance from the nearest viewing point. They are so fast, erratic and unpredictable in their flight patterns that it’s only possible to get a decent in-flight picture with a very fast and expensive lens. With its long tail streamers, general shape and zig-zag flight there’s a good reason that the species was once known colloquially as the “sea swallow”. It’s a term that has fallen out of fashion and one I never hear nowadays. 

Fortunately the pair that bred at nearby Glasson this year have been a little more obliging by resting occasionally, especially so this morning. There’s a question; did you ever see an adult tern sit on the water? I’m not sure I have. 

Common Tern 

Common Tern 

During the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s Common Terns bred on the north side marshes of the River Lune. Here and from either side of the river channel they became a daily spectacle fishing the tidal flows. The Common Tern was another one of those birds that we birders took for granted; no one imagined that such a numerous and easily seen species could vanish. Years of disturbance from weekend sailors, jet skis, wind surfers, walkers with & without dogs, plus miscellaneous nuisance and even deliberate destruction took its toll until the birds finally abandoned the River Lune.  

Fortunately, and after almost twenty years a pair arrived at Conder Pool in 2014 and bred successfully on an island situated relatively safe in the centre of the pool/small lake. Since then a pair have bred each year with every sign that the population might increase. Not that it will ever reach the dizzy heights of c250 pairs of Common Terns when the marsh colony peaked. 

Common Tern

Apart from the chance to photograph and be alone with a Common Tern, the other highlight of my morning was the sight of 50+ Swifts over Conder Pool. That’s a fairly good count that must include some birds of the year. Meanwhile there were just 20 or so House Martins around the creeks, plus a handful each of Swallows and Sand Martins. 

There was a single Kingfisher today. In addition - 190 Redshank, 20 Oystercatcher, 15 Lapwing, 4 Curlews, 3 Greenshank, 3 Common Sandpiper, 1 Black-tailed Godwit and 6 Little Grebe. 

It was almost 10am before I got to Jeremy Lane where I was in time to see a Barn Owl hunting across the fields. After sitting briefly along the fence it disappeared into the distance. I was to see another one later a good 3 miles away. It too did the same vanishing act. 

Swallows seem to have done well so far this year with my best count of 60+ in and around the fields up towards and including Cockersands. 

Swallow 

At Cockersands itself I spotted a Kestrel chased by Swallows plus singing Whitethroat and Reed Bunting; plenty of sparrows by way of a flock of about 40 House Sparrows & 12 Tree Sparrows and the usual collection of Collared Doves around the farm buildings. 

Tree Sparrow

House Sparrow

 Collared Dove

In the direction of Lighthouse Cottage were 20 or more Swallows, 5 Sedge Warbler, 5 Goldfinch 2 Reed Bunting and 2 Linnet.

Linking this post to Eileen's Blog.

Underground And Overground.

We’ve had a few dreary mornings and I’d waited days for a bright, clear morning to drive into the hills with camera at the ready. Tuesday looked promising so I was up early and then drove north and east with fingers crossed as I left the coast behind. This was probably the last chance of the year as upland birds have already started their return journeys to coastal locations. "Click the pics" for close-ups. 

To The Coast 

There are not many Lapwing around now and I was counting ones and twos only, with little sign of late breeders. In my experience, Lapwings tend to give up rather than try again if their early breeding fails with small flocks appearing as early as mid-June. I found a good number of Curlew, some with large “running” chicks but also a good sized one learning the ropes of calling from a drystone wall. 

Lapwing 

Curlew 

Curlew 

There were still good numbers of Oystercatchers but all seemed to be adults lounging around and content to watch the world go by. Even Snipe proved elusive today with plenty of “chipping” from the fields where they have youngsters in tow but none posing along the lines of fence or wall; but I did find one close to a roadside pool that took off as soon as a vehicle came by. 

Oystercatcher 

Oystercatcher

Snipe 

Tower Lodge is a gateway to the country estate beyond but it is no longer inhabited by employees that safeguard the gentry and the grouse. 

Tower Lodge - Bowland 

A farmer had been trapping moles quite recently. 

Moles 

This part of Lancashire is meat rearing country; beef and sheep. Sheep that eat dirt from molehills can die from listeriosis, while winter feed for dairy cattle can become foul-tasting or toxic if contaminated by soil bacteria. So there’s a long tradition of mole trapping - showing the moles who’s boss and proving to neighbours that your farming is “reet”. 

The word “mole” is thought to derive from the old English word mouldwarp, which literally means earth-thrower. The animals’ forelimbs are large, pink and practically hairless, and, apart from an extra digit, have the appearance of a doll’s hands. So prized were moles’ hands that farmers once kept them in silk bags as talismans for good luck and to ward off toothache, epilepsy and scrofula. 

Mole 

Moles dig their tunnel systems to catch earthworms, shoving the excavated earth out of vertical passageways to produce molehills. In a 1976 study, researchers counted 7,380 molehills on a single hectare of English pasture, estimating their total weight to be 64,500kg. 

Mole Hill 

Mole control became a national policy in 1566, when a bitter cold period known as the Little Ice Age threatened England’s food supply. Queen Elizabeth passed “An Acte for the Preservation of Grayne”, which would remain in force for the next three centuries. The law prescribed bounties paid for the destruction of a long and dubious list of agricultural vermin, including everything from hedgehogs to kingfishers. Some parishes paid out a half-penny per mole, others appointed mole-catchers with contracts lasting up to 21 years. In addition to their salaries, mole-catchers sold the silky mole skins, which were prized for the tailoring of waistcoats. 

In the early 20th century worms dipped in strychnine became the preferred method for controlling moles on farms. Because strychnine doesn't break down in animal tissue, it can also work through the food chain when a bird of prey or even a domestic dog consumes a poisoned mouse or mole. 

In 1963, when the House of Commons debated a bill to ban the poison, David Renton, the minister of state for the Home Office, testified that moles “strangely enough” failed to show “the same symptoms of pain” as other animals. In the end the law banned strychnine for mice and rats, but exempted moles because no ready substitute existed. 

In the following decades, British farmers purchased more than 50kg of strychnine each year – enough, in theory to kill half a billion moles. The poison was eventually phased out with new pesticide regulations in 2006. 

Summer moves on with as Swallows and Grey Wagtails feed young plus countless Meadow Pipits both young and old along the walls and fences. While there are insects Meadow Pipits tend to stay around but come late August/early September there is a mass movement of the species south and west. 

Swallows 

Swallows 

Meadow Pipit 

Grey Wagtail 

Other birds today: Redshank, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Red Grouse, Pied Wagtail, Tawny Owl, Common Sandpiper, Pied Flycatcher, Lesser Redpoll.

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday and World Bird Wednesday.

Missing In Action

A rather grey morning left me waiting for the promised lunchtime sun before I hit the trail. Although the light was still not good, sun was on the way with our bit of the “heatwave”. 

Those midday Barn Owls showed again, this time an obvious pair since they hunted the same fields. They weren't quite in tandem with one of them much more active than the other which sat in the adjacent hedgerow for a good hour. I was still on ISO1200. 

Barn Owl 

Barn Owls 

Barn Owl 

I checked out the recent Buzzard location to find both birds on show but partly hidden in the nest, seemingly doing a little housekeeping. Nearby was a Kestrel and also a male Sparrowhawk sat in the depths of the cover with its bright orange breast a dead give-away. 

Some migrant species are rather slow in arriving this year. The long journey from Africa takes its toll when birds hit rough weather. I was out all afternoon and saw just 6 Swallows, four of them in one location at Cockerham; otherwise just two singles near farms. Other species that should be around seem to be either lacking or here in very small numbers; Sedge Warblers and Whitethroats are conspicuous by their absence and we might expect a few Reed Warblers by now, but I've yet to hear that not unpleasant rasping and repetitive “song”. 

Swallow 

At Gulf Lane the farmer has rough ploughed our erstwhile Linnet catching field in readiness for the new crop of bird seed mix in late April/early May. The turned soil has pulled in a few birds looking for an easy meal. Two Wheatears, a Skylark and a Pied Wagtail searched over the ground and a Kestrel hovered briefly overhead. 

Wheatear 

I looked at Fluke Hall where Whitethroats can always be found but none today just 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler and 3 Blackcap. Two Buzzards noted and also an odd number of Jays for April as three of them chased through the tree tops. “Two’s company, three’s a crowd” goes the saying. 

On the seaward side a single Wheatear with a few Lapwings on territory in the fields. Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Tree Sparrows along the hedgerows.

Chaffinch 

The cattle at Braides Farm have puddled a patch of ground that’s proved attractive to a procession of wagtails this week. Today I noted at least 8 Pied Wagtail, 4 White Wagtail and 2 Yellow Wagtail although all were very mobile, flying as far as the sea wall 200 yards away. There was also a Wheatear, a handful of Linnets and several Skylarks in song. 

Yellow Wagtails are the Cattle Egrets of the wagtail world.  More often than not the Yellow Wagtail can be found sharing fields with sheep or cattle where the animals' hooves and the constant grazing disturb plenty of insects.   

Yellow Wagtail 

It looks like we may get our summer in Lancashire tomorrow. If so stand by for more news soon from Another Bird Blog.

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