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.

Spring Is Here

Thanks to the grim weather of late any opportunities for birding or ringing have been few and far and hence the lack of blog posts. With a forecast of a dry and less windy Saturday morning I arranged to meet Andy and Dave at Oakenclough where we hoped for a ringing session which might discover the changes since our last visit of 5th March. 

Five hours of pretty constant work gave us a total of exactly 70 birds caught and a very good selection of 13 species. Evidence of Spring migration came with the catching of new Goldcrests and new Lesser Redpolls, two species which are both typical of March ringing sessions. 

One of the Lesser Redpoll bore a ring not of our own series and so is highly likely to have arrived as a recent migrant. 

Totals and species caught: 16 Blue Tit, 12 Great Tit, 10 Goldfinch, 8 Coal Tit, 6 Lesser Redpoll, 4 Goldcrest, 5 Chaffinch, 2 Song Thrush, 2 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Robin, 1 Nuthatch, 1 Blackbird and 1 Jay. 

Goldcrest

The two Song Thrush were definitely an item as both were caught together and headed off in unison when released; so too with two pairs of Lesser Redpoll and the pair of Long-tailed Tits. Male Lesser Redpolls are now looking especially stunning in their Spring colours, while catching a Song Thrush is something of an occasion. 

Song Thrush

Lesser Redpoll

The male Nuthatch proved to be a recapture from previous weeks and a regular visitor to the feeding station. 

Nuthatch

At least one Jay has been a regular visitor to the feeding station and while we don’t expect to catch the Clever Crow, we did today. 

Jay

We were so busy with ringing that our birding was limited but we did note a pair of Pied Wagtails on territory, one carrying nesting material. Also, a pair of Great-spotted Woodpecker, singles of Buzzard and Kestrel plus a good number of noisy Oystercatchers heading back and forth via the surrounding fields. 

Pied Wagtail

There's more news soon from Another Bird Blog.

Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday, Anni's Blog and Eileen's Saturday.

Mainly Chats and Pipits

Because it is possible to see Stonechats in the winter we almost don’t think of the species as a migrant but it is, or at least a partial migrant. 

I was reminded of this at Pilling this morning as I watched a party of six Stonechats fence hopping while feeding fervently along the ground below. There may have been as many as eight in the locality because an hour before and 250 yards away I’d watched a male and a female Stonechat behaving as if they might be intent on setting up home together. 

Stonechat

Stonechat

In February and March Stonechats begin to find their route back to often traditional territories in preparation for their extended breeding season. A single pair of adults may have three broods of youngsters, a strategy often employed by species that are susceptible to the ravages of winter. 

Many Stonechat territories are occupied all year round while more exposed sites are mostly deserted in the colder winter months when many Stonechats, especially young ones, move to France and Iberia. Some Stonechats travel as far as North Africa. 

A Stonechat is so named because both sexes have a clicking call like stones knocking together, a call they use to good effect as a warning. 

Stonechat

Apart from the Stonechats things were pretty quiet this morning with the exception of 15+ obviously new-in Meadow Pipits feeding along the same boundary fence. I looked hard but couldn’t find that other harbinger of Spring the Wheatear, despite some being seen not far away in North Wales during recent days. 

Meadow Pipit

At Fluke Hall I counted 190 Pink-footed Geese, 12 Curlew, 2 Pied Wagtail and a pair of Oystercatchers in the car park field. There was the usual Buzzard and Kestrel knocking around the trees, with upwards of 45 Woodpigeon in evidence and 3 Song Thrush in good singing voice. 

A closer look revealed 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 12 Goldfinch, 4 Tree Sparrow and another Pied Wagtail walking along someone’s roof. 

Pied Wagtail

In the stubble fields and along the shore - 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Little Egret, 65 Lapwing, 6 Shelduck, 18 Redshank and 6 Oystercatcher. 

Stay tuned to Another Bird Blog for more news, views and pictures very soon.

Linking today to Run-a-Roundranch and Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.

It’s Magic

This morning dawned grey and breezy so I finished a few chores, rescued the lawn mower from hibernation then cranked it up for the first cut of grass in 2015. Things are warming up for a day or two, then next week there’s more cold weather to let the lawn go back to sleep. There’s nothing quite like the delightful and mysterious British climate to keep a birder or a gardener on their toes. 

By midday there was sun and a spot of birding beckoned. While a.m. birding is mostly more productive than p.m., I set off for a few gentle hours at Pilling. 

The fields at Fluke Hall Lane seemed strangely empty with just 45 or so Lapwing including some paired birds and tumbling display. The hundreds of Golden Plovers of Wednesday had mostly gone with less than 30 remaining and even the Redshanks and Oystercatchers in single figures. A single Snipe rose from the wet stubble, calling as it flew out to the marsh. 

Then I spotted the possible cause of the almost deserted meadows, a tiny, bright-as-a-button Merlin sat motionless, quite high and partly hidden in a tree which overlooks the marsh. The falcon let me take a few shots from the car window before it shot away across the fields in pursuit of a meal, scattering a Skylark or two in the process. Merlins have been pretty scarce this winter with this one almost certainly a migrant heading north for the coming Spring. 

Merlin

Most birds are an anti-climax after catching sight of a magical Merlin, but I left the car behind and set off to walk the lane and shore in search of more birds. A silent Buzzard appeared overhead and flew towards Lane Ends but I know both birds are back on territory now. Likewise the Kestrels; the female hovered above the edge of the wood and then further along the lane a male lifted from the grass and carried a vole to a more convenient dining table. 

Buzzard

Through the wood a Great-spotted Woodpecker, 2 Song Thrush, a pair of Long-tailed Tit, 4 Tree Sparrows and an all too brief Sparrowhawk. The Twite flock of Wednesday was no longer in the car park field, just 190 Pink-footed Goose, 8 Curlew, 2 Pied Wagtail and a pair of Oystercatcher. 

Long-tailed Tit

More Pink-footed Geese were crammed into the fields at Braides Farm, the suspicious flock not daring to come closer than 200 yards from the road. Maybe the recent cold northerly winds have held back their migration because their numbers today were something like 10/12,000, a good number for March when by now many should be on their way to Iceland. The only interloper spotted was a single Barnacle Goose. 

Also there - a single Buzzard, 2 Little Egret, 14 Linnet and 7+ Skylark. 

It’s not an awful lot to show for an afternoon in the sun but a Merlin sure makes any day a special one. If only that Merlin could work its magic on the weather to make Winter vanish and Spring appear? 

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday Blog.

Ringing In The Window

The weather forecast was pretty much correct when Andy and I finally made it up to Oakenclough for a ringing session this morning. After an hour or two the wind increased to an unacceptable level so we curtailed the session early, but thankful for the brief window of weather in an otherwise unfriendly week. 

We managed a total of just 19 birds, 14 new ones and 5 recaptures only, figures which suggest that many local birds have moved out of the immediate area to pursue their early season breeding and/or territorial desires. Meanwhile the continuing cold weather and northerly winds hold back any migration which might otherwise get under way. 

New birds: 4 Goldfinch, 3 Chaffinch, 3 Great Tit and one each of Lesser Redpoll, Robin, Blue Tit and Blackbird. 

Blackbird

Recaptures: 2 Goldfinch and one each of Lesser Redpoll, Great Tit and Coal Tit. 

Lesser Redpoll

Just last week we heard via the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) of a couple of Goldfinch recoveries involving the site here at Oakenclough. 

Goldfinch

Z355192 a young male Goldfinch we caught at Oakenclough on 30 December had been ringed at Walney Bird Observatory on 19th September 2014, 102 days earlier. Walney lies on the north side of Morecambe Bay, some 35 kms as the Goldfinch flies. In September the Walney folk were unable to sex the Goldfinch so I’m guessing it was a late brooder, but as juvenile birds do, it soon set off to explore the world, or in this case North West England. 

Yet another Goldfinch, Y596532 we ringed at Oakenclough on 3rd December 2014 was later the victim of a domestic cat, the Goldfinch found freshly dead in a garden just a mile or two down the road on 30th December. Regrettably this type of recovery is all too common for small birds.

I would urge all cat owners to try to make their own cat a house pet and to not let it wander through gardens or the countryside where it may kill wild animals and birds. If a cat is a dedicated outdoor rambler then it should be fitted with a bell around its neck as a warning device to other animals. 

Goldfinch

I see that the first Wheatears plus a “trickle” of Meadow Pipits and “Alba” wagtails arrived on the south coast of England on 3rd March. 

It's our turn soon here in the North West - stay tuned to Another Bird Blog to see who, what, when and where. 

Do or Die Birding

At last this morning the rain and wind eased enough to attempt a spot of birding, and although there was still a stiff, cold breeze there was a hint of sunshine. After a couple of birdingless days it was do or die for yours truly. 

I decided to give Fluke Hall the once over. There’s the shore, the wintry fields, the woodland and a good number of hedgerows, all worth a look for lingering signs of winter and maybe one or two hints of Spring. 

In the field behind the car park were 5 Pied Wagtails and a tight feeding flock of 70+ very flighty Twite, the birds taking to the air at the slightest disturbance. Close by a close relative of theirs a Linnet was in good singing voice from the hedgerow with both Goldfinch and Greenfinch singing from the trees above. 

Greenfinch

There’s a pair of Kestrels on territory and it looks like the Buzzards are back after going missing for a few weeks or more. A pair of Mistle Thrushes made lots of noise; I watched as they joined forces to chase off a third bird intent on being in their territory. 

The Mistle Thrush, the largest of our UK thrushes is renowned for being aggressive in defending both a feeding territory and a nest, and only in autumn migration time are they likely to be seen in smallish flocks. Mistle Thrushes are regularly chronicled attacking Nest Recorders and bird ringers who stray close to an active nest. The noisy, rattling attack they employ against trespassers must be quite disconcerting to anyone not in the know. 

Mistle Thrush

A Great-spotted Woodpecker flew calling from the trees but no sign today of the Nuthatch which has been around all winter. Today saw a pair of Stock Dove, hole nesting birds and a regular breeding species here. Thankfully the wood here is not overly managed in the modern way of removing the rotten trees that birds favour for nesting by either making or using existing holes. 

The still wet fields held lots of waders with upwards of 550 Golden Plover, 130 Lapwing, 60 Dunlin, 30 Redshank, 24 Oystercatcher and 4 Black-tailed Godwit. It was a bit too cold and blustery for Skylark song with just 3 birds noted plus 6 Meadow Pipit and 1 Pied Wagtail. 

Near Lane Ends a Buzzard crossed the road and a Kestrel hovered, circled and hovered again. Beyond Gulf Lane and Sand Villa several thousand Pink-footed Geese were scattered across the fields too distant to study or count with any degree of accuracy but “3500+” was the notebook entry. 

At windswept Conder Green a Robin said “hello” from its usual spot along the fence while the reliable Spotted Redshank and 70+ Teal proved the climax. Otherwise just 2 Goosander, 2 Little Grebe and single Goldeneye the also-rans. 

Robin

Spotted Redshank

Thrushes were the highlight of Thurnham with a pair of Mistle Thrush along a line of trees plus 28 Redwing and 4 Fieldfare feeding in the wet fields with c 70 Starlings. Four Little Egrets on a flood. 

Fieldfare

If the forecast of a falling wind speed is correct Andy and I might finally get a crack at some ringing tomorrow. If so log in to Another Bird Blog tomorrow for an update and pictures. 

Linking today to Run-a-Roundranch.

Saturday Circuit And PC Birding

There isn’t much to report from this morning’s grey affair. A shimmy around Conder Green on my way to business in Lancaster produced the usual wildfowl fayre of 90 Teal, 30 Wigeon, 6 Shelduck, 4 Tufted Duck, 2 Goldeneye, 2 Little Grebe, 2 Canada Goose, 2 Goosander, 2 Cormorant and 1 Little Egret.

Lapwings and Oystercatchers were on the spot for breeding around the margins with 30 or so Redshank, 1 Spotted Redshank and 2 Snipe. 

Common Snipe

As compensation for today’s meagre entry here’s an item from the Washington Post about Political Correctness reaching bird watching. Let me just check - no, today isn’t April 1st. 

"Bird watching has long been a popular and seemingly harmless weekend activity in Sweden. Its innocence, however, came to an abrupt end when many of the country's bird lovers were suddenly confronted with allegations of racism. 

For centuries, it has now been revealed, the Swedish had given birds some names that now could be considered offensive to certain groups. One species, for instance, was called "gypsy bird," whereas another was named "negro." The insult "caffer," which was used by white against blacks in South Africa, also resembled a Swedish bird species called "kaffer." There were other offensive bird names in Sweden, such as "Hottentot" — apparently inspired by the name of the language of an indigenous southwest African tribe called Khoikhoi, yet also a derogatory term for that tribe. 

Despite the prominence of bird watching among Swedes, the existence of these names and others like them had sparked little outrage and publicity until recently. When Sweden's Ornithological Society completed its first-ever global list of all 10,709 Swedish bird names two weeks ago, the organization also announced some awkward name changes. 

In the process of categorizing the names, staffers had raised concerns over some that had a potentially offensive nature. As a result, several of them have now been changed: "negro" bird, for instance, will now be called "black" bird. "When working on the list, it became obvious that some older names no longer were appropriate," Anders Wirdheim, Communications Officer at the Swedish Ornithological Society told The Washington Post. 

Wirdheim does not think that the bird names should be used to draw broader conclusions about the Swedish society. "Out of thousands of names, there were only 10 which could be understood as condescending or even racist," he said. Nevertheless, Sweden's Ornithological Society was surprised by how serious some have taken the racism allegations. "We had expected a few responses, but certainly not the flood of comments that followed the publication," Wirdheim said. 

"Here in Sweden, an overwhelming majority is for the changes we have implemented. However, the news has reached far beyond our borders and most outraged reactions have come from abroad." 

Blackbird

Naturally it’s only a matter of time before the European Union directs the UK to rename some offensively titled British birds. 

For a start our UK field guides are full of Tits not to mention a Shag, which makes it very embarrassing to discuss these species with non-UK birders. There’s the very impolite Dusky Warbler or Dusky Thrush, an abusive Sooty Shearwater or Sooty Tern and more than enough thank you of birds called “Yellow”, “Brown” or “White”. Thankfully the Martians haven’t arrived yet so for now we can forget all those “Green” birds. 

Great Tit

Yellow Wagtail

Then there are those species which have to be reminded they are of diminished stature by the use of the word “Little” or “Least”, or of less than ideal physical proportions, or with a disability, and  therefore labelled with a derogatory prefix - “Long-eared”, “Short-eared”, “Short-toed” or ”Long-toed” come to mind. And in these days of equality should we really refer to some bird species as “Common”, implying they are of a lowly class and that similar but less numerous species are superior? 

Short-toed Lark

Common Gull

And to precede so many of our British bird names with the adjective “Lesser” implies that the species is not of equal importance to its “Greater” relative when it clearly is. Be honest. Which would you rather see? A Greater White-fronted Goose or a Lesser White-fronted Goose? Me too. 

Lesser White-fronted Goose - CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Swans are very beautiful and graceful creatures. I suggest to readers that in 2015 it is no longer acceptable to begin the naming of our commonest British swan with the archaic term “Mute”. Surely “Inability To Speak Swan” would be more acceptable”? 

Mute Swan

Although not strictly speaking a British bird, the Bufflehead finds itself on the British List by virtue only of its rare transatlantic appearances here in the UK. Is that any reason to call an American cousin a “Bufflehead”? It is a word clearly designed to offend. 

Yes, it is definitely time to bring British Birds into the modern world of equality, diversity and tolerance. 

Suggestions for the New British List of Birds on a postcard please to Presidency of The European Union, Strasbourg, France.

Linking today to Anni's Birds.