First Whitethroats

Bang on cue for April 16th our first spring Whitethroat at Rawcliffe was in a mist net on the very first net round at 0630 this morning, soon followed by a second bird. Unsurprisingly both were males, and soon after release the two broke into scratchy song further up the track when the rising sun cleared early mist.

Whitethroat

It was a very quiet session with just 18 birds caught, 11 new and 7 recaptures. New: 2 Whitethroat, 5 Goldfinch, 3 Willow Warbler and 1 Chaffinch. Recaptures: 4 Goldfinch, 2 Chaffinch and 1 Willow Warbler.

Another first for our spring came in the shape of female Willow Warblers, with 3 caught today, 2 of them new to us and the recapture AVC209 first ringed in summer 2010 as a breeding female. As yet we probably have less returning Willow Warblers than last year but another week or two of returning birds may change that picture.

Willow Warbler

Our hoped for visible migration turned to invisible migration with from first light, less than 20 Meadow Pipit, 5 Redpoll, 1 Pied Wagtail, 4 House Martin and 3 Swallows over but certainly heading north. Several Linnets flying over intermittently whilst refusing to be caught were from a recently arrived flock of 30+ birds on nearby stubble.

Otherwise two separate Sparrowhawks and a single Kestrel were from local stock, as were 4 Grey Partridge and 2 Corn Bunting faithful to the ditch and bramble adjacent to our ringing station.

Corn Bunting

So it was a slightly disappointing result in terms of numbers but not quality of species; all the more reason to try again tomorrow then?

Spring Fever

With a forecast of another day of 100% cloud cover to hold back migrants a break from mist netting and a bit of lie-in was on the cards today, a day for birders to store up energy in readiness for the big push when conditions are better, hopefully Saturday and Sunday: just like the spring birds themselves as they wait for ideal conditions then head north in stops and starts.

Following a leisurely breakfast with a glance at the TV news I definitely needed some fresh air after the BBC told me the UK “is in the grip of Royal Wedding Fever”. No, sycophantic Auntie BBC, lots of us have a real life, and at the moment are in the grip of what is known as Spring Fever which is totally unlike your media invented condition.

I shook off any vestiges of RWF then put a couple of spring traps plus tasty mealworms in my bag and headed off to Pilling where I might find a few Wheatears, and even better, one or two “Greenland” types, Oenanthe oenanthe leucorhoa. During April the Wheatears on our coast but heading north may be of both northern races and it is really only by catching and measuring them that individual birds can safely be assigned to Greenland leucorhoa.

The spring tent traps caught three birds this morning, two males and a female, all noticeably larger than Wheatears I caught in the last two weeks. Today’s adult male had a wing length of 105mm, so definitely of the Greenland race. The next male, a second calendar year, had a wing measurement of 102mm, and the female 97mm, both measurements that fit within the expected range of both races but lean towards leucorhoa rather than oenanthe.

”Greenland” Wheatear
”Greenland” Wheatear
”Greenland” Wheatear

As I waited on the stile to catch Wheatears the grey sky thinned at out about 11am and brought a few birds along, 15 House Martins, 4 Swallow, plus 7 Meadow Pipit and 9 Linnets coming from the west. A Greenshank came off the marsh and headed into the wildfowler’s pools to join the roosting Redshanks, a single Black-tailed Godwit and several Teal. Still 300+ Pink-footed Goose on the marsh, spooked occasionally by persistent microlights.

At Lane Ends it was a warbler morn with 3 Willow Warblers in song, and below the car park newly arrived Sedge Warbler and Reed Warbler also in song. On the pools, the usual pairs of Little Grebe and Tufted Duck.

Back home it became clear, bright and even sunny, with calling buteos overhead. The all-conquering Buzzards spread to sleepy Stalmine.

Buzzard

Looks like a better day tomorrow, an early alarm, a spot of mist netting and those spring birds beckon.

Yellow And Gold

A steady and unhurried ringing session at Rawcliffe saw Will and I catch another 28 birds this morning. After the windy north westerlies of the early week the overnight change to a more southerly wind direction did not produce evidence of a hoped for rush of new migrants, with our catch made up of mainly nyger feeding birds. It was probably the very grey and overcast, rain threatening start that had a bearing on the lack of newly arrived species.

The 28 birds were made up of 18 new birds and 10 recaptures: New were 13 Goldfinch, 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Chaffinch and 1 Yellowhammer. Recaptures: 6 Goldfinch and 4 Willow Warbler.

So the theme this morning was birds of yellowish hues, mainly the Goldfinches, as we pushed our captures of this species to over 80 at the farm this year. Surprise bird of the morning was a fine second calendar year male Yellowhammer found in the net where a still stocked Pheasant feeder is close by - Yellowhammers have a preference for wheat, particularly in the early part of the year.

Yellowhammer
Willow Warbler
Goldfinch

During a lull in the ringing proceedings a walk through the plantation revealed at least 10 singing Willow Warblers. The six Willow Warblers we caught were all males and in 2011 we have yet to catch a due-any-day female. Like previous recaptures already this year, male Willow Warbler 8U8492 has a history from this site in 2008, 2009, 2010, and now in 2011. Two others had history from last year only, with the fourth one records from 2008 and 2009.

Overhead migration was poor this morning, limited to a few Swallows, a lone Whimbrel, several Meadow Pipits and a handful of Linnets.

Whimbrel

Upon leaving the farm I noted for the second time this week a pair of Yellowhammers close to where a pair bred last year. Nearby a male Kestrel lurked near a very suitable tree cavity which is also close to last year’s nest site; time to unhook those ladders hanging in the garage.

Kestrel

It Aint Right

With a bright sunny start the idea this morning was to get out birding but also go someplace other than the currently windswept coast where at the moment it’s back to hat and scarf days. Not only is it very windy, but lashing in from the North West it’s also absolutely the wrong direction for spring passerines.

The other priority was filling the nyger feeders at Rawcliffe because if the wind does eventually subside to allow another ringing session there should be more Goldfinch and Lesser Redpoll for the remaining weeks of April. As I walked into the feeding area I disturbed about a dozen Goldfinch and a couple of Lesser Redpoll from the tube feeders, plus ground feeding Chaffinches getting stuck into the nyger. I easily emptied a one litre container of black stuff into the six feeders, and that’s since topping up on Sunday, so there are obviously still lots of visitors.

Goldfinch
Chaffinch

The windy conditions didn’t stop the Willow Warblers singing and as I walked the wood from bottom to top I counted eight without any difficulty.

Warning calls of a Chaffinch led me to look in a 5ft hawthorn, possibly the only one with leaves opening sufficiently to hide an April nest, and there it was dead centre, a green-grey lump of moss and lichen, but as yet unlined; the first of my BTO Nest Records for 2011. As I walked the plantation I heard 2 more Redpoll fly over and watched a Swallow battle north into the wind. Within a few minutes and down at the farm buildings I noticed a Swallow going in and out of an annually used shed: they don’t waste any time these Swallows.

Swallow

If only the Little Owls were as predictable as the Swallows with their choice of nesting spot. It’s just a little early to check whether one sitting near the entrance this morning means the pair has actually taken up residence in the provided home, or whether they fool us into checking an empty box again in May.

Little Owl and nest box

Despite the wind I thought I had better check down at Pilling, just in case. Several more Swallows en route, not fly overs but birds near farm buildings and on territory again. My walk was quiet with just 3 Wheatear and 9 Linnet along the sea wall, 145 Redshank at Pilling Water, and 2 Jays plus a female Sparrowhawk to enliven proceedings at Lane Ends. In some respects there were signs of spring with a Greylag sat on a nest and a Blackbird collecting large worms for a nest containing chicks and not eggs.

Blackbird

There was another dead Mallard on the roadside there, freshly run over by a passing vehicle as a direct result of local idiots putting out food for the brothel ducks and abandoned chickens. So stupid are these “animal lovers” that they cannot work out that far from helping birds, throwing out bird food close to a busy roadside will simply result in the untimely and painful death of many of the creatures they supposedly help.

Keep It Going

A couple more ringing sessions left the scores ticking up. I missed yesterday’s mass coastal movement of redpolls because I needed a lie in after a run of early mornings, but I promised myself today would be different.

Will stayed at home on Saturday too, but unlike me he managed to ring birds in his garden in between the daily chores i.e. more finches and sparrows: 4 Chaffinch, 4 Goldfinch, 4 House Sparrow, 2 Tree Sparrow and 1 Great Tit plus recaptures of 6 Chaffinch and 4 House Sparrow. Looks like the Chaffinch and House Sparrow forgot there are nets up there sometimes.

Tree Sparrow
House Sparrow

Back on song this morning, Will and I met at Out Rawcliffe at 0600, and how these mornings get earlier and earlier now! Unlike yesterday’s coastal deluge of migrants, mainly redpolls, our inland experience this morning was more of a steady, slow dribble of birds coming from the south to eventually find the nets. We caught another 29 birds, 22 new and 7 retraps: 9 Lesser Redpoll, 5 Goldfinch, 3 Chaffinch, 2 Meadow Pipit, 2 Blue Tit and 1 Willow Warbler. Recaptures: 3 Chaffinch and 1 each of Goldfinch, Willow Warbler, Dunnock and Blue Tit. That’s three Blue Tits in one day and most unlike this site; so unusual in fact that I took a photograph.

Blue Tit
Chaffinch

Today’s Willow Warbler recapture AVC117 was previously caught here in 2008 and 2009, but not in 2010, suggesting that it may breed just off site, maybe in the next wood a hundred yards away, or perhaps further afield visiting our netting area periodically.

Willow Warbler
Willow Warbler
Lesser Redpoll

Apart from the steady trickle of 45+ Lesser Redpolls throughout the morning, our counts of other passerine birds were low with perhaps Linnet in second place with a minimum 25 and Meadow Pipit third with less than 20. Our tally of Swallows today was 4 migrants plus 2 birds on wires down at the farm. Otherwise, 4 Kestrel, 6 Buzzard and 1 Sparrowhawk represented the raptors whilst a count of 265 Curlew on nearby fields was a good number for April. Still no Whimbrel to report.

Kestrel
Swallow

I just took a look at the weather for the next week. It suggests a bit of a mixed bag, often the best sort of weather for depositing migrants, so a chance to keep the ringing totals ticking over, the observations up to date and more early starts.

Wind In The Willows

Will and I met at 0630 at Out Rawcliffe for yet another ringing session. It was a clear and cold morning, with at first a very light north westerly air flow.

We caught a reasonable total of 29 birds, but unlike recent ringing sessions, in addition to the 19 new birds we had more than our normal recapture rate with 9 new and 1 “control” bird. The 19 new birds: 10 Goldfinch, 7 Meadow Pipit, 1 Lesser Redpoll and 1 Linnet, a fine male. The 9 recaptures: 6 Goldfinch, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Willow Warbler and 1 Great Tit.

The control bird was a Great Tit with number TP78956, not ours; this bird bore a “B” ring, and as a second year bird was ringed elsewhere last year, but as a Great Tit is unlikely to have travelled far.

The morning was dominated by 2 species, Meadow Pipit and Goldfinch. Meadow Pipits arrived in a short rush soon after dawn, with approximately 110/130 arriving from the south east before quickly moving off north and west into the wind: we intercepted just the seven individuals above with at least another seven making the customary Houdini escape from mist nets before we could get hands on them. In addition to the 10 new Goldfinch, today’s 6 recaptures were all caught here last summer, but one of them ringed in 2008 then recaptured again in 2010; Thus our Goldfinch seem to display good site fidelity.

The male Willow Warbler we caught had lots of “previous”, with a site history going back to 2008 when first ringed as an adult in July 2008, then 3 recaptures in 2009 and 4 recaptures in 2010. That’s several journeys to Africa and back with quite amazing site fidelity for such a tiny waif.

The wind direction was not the best for visible migration today, and the clear skies meant little in the way of grounded birds. Best “others” were 5 Swallow, 3 Sand Martin, 2 Lesser Redpoll and the normal 4+ Buzzards, taking to the air in the warming sun soon after 10am.

It was soon after 10am that the increasing wind began to blow increasingly through the alder and willow plantation, forcing us to take down nets for a later day, hopefully soon.

Linnet
Linnet
Willow Warbler
Goldfinch

And There’s More

It was too windy for mist-netting again today, but warm enough for a Pilling walk looking for Wheatears.

It’s natural for non-birders to think that the Wheatears at Pilling are the same ones day after day, but new ones arrive fresh in from the south most days now on their way to Scotland and the Pennine uplands. I watched several of them this afternoon make their way from the sea wall and out onto the marsh, feeding as they went but all the time creeping further north and west, no doubt to head off again tonight on the next leg of their journey.

I also caught another two of today’s gang, a male and a female, both of the nominate race oenanthe with wing lengths of 99mm the male and 95mm the female. The second calendar year/juvenile male posed for a photograph but the female didn’t want to. It’s too early in the month to catch any of the Greenland race leucorhoa, but I hope to start catching them from mid-April onwards when wing measurements of 101mm upwards for males and 99mm and above for females indicate birds with much further to travel, Iceland or maybe Greenland itself.

Wheatear – male, second calendar year
Wheatear – male, second calendar year
Wheatear – male, second calendar year
I was talking to a birder yesterday who had yet to see a Wheatear this year. Don't worry there's lots more to come!

Wheatear

When I started out at Lane Ends round about lunchtime there were a couple of unexpected corvid sightings; firstly a group of 5 noisy Ravens flying out on the marsh but heading west, and then in the plantation, an unseasonal Jay squawking through the trees.

Jay

Whilst the Wheatears head quickly north the Pink-footed Geese don’t seem in any hurry to get to Iceland and I logged 1200 of them out on the marsh. The numbers of Redshank continued building today with a count of 270, and they too will head off to Iceland pretty soon. Otherwise counts were much like most of this week with 2 Linnet, 6 Teal, 4 Meadow Pipit, 6 Swallow, 2 Sand Martin, 2 Little Egret and 9 Wheatears.

At home I turned my attention to getting a few pictures of Greenfinches, a species that is also a spring migrants and nesting in the garden once again.

Greenfinch

What a great weather forecast for the next few days, it’s sure to bring more migrant birds. I can’t wait.