Tales Of The Unexpected

There were no great surprises at Fluke Hall this morning; unless you count a couple of strange birders - it must be October and Yellow-browed Warbler time. The major surprise was to arrive later in the day while catching a few more Goldfinches in the garden. 

I was hoping for some Whooper Swans along Pilling shore but instead found 2 Ruff feeding on the wildfowler’s pool amongst 40 or so Shelduck. Ten minutes later Whooper Swans appeared, nine of them flying in from the outer marsh and continuing south, the first of the autumn and fresh-in from Iceland. About thirty minutes later another four Whoopers appeared from the North East and then circled about before landing somewhere just inland. 

Whooper Swan

There was a jellyfish along last night’s tideline, such a good example that I took a picture. 

Jellyfish

The farmers were busy sheep shearing where I next wanted to look so after a single Grey Heron and a couple of Little Egrets I abandoned that idea and instead spent time near the wildflowers’ stubble field and pools. The stubble is pretty good with 70+ Skylark, 25 Linnet, 6 Meadow Pipit, 1 Snipe, a couple of Redshank and 1500 roving Starlings. 

The pool proved not so good with Shelduck flying in in but not staying, 4 Reed Buntings around the perimeter and small numbers of Meadow Pipits in-off the marsh. 

In the woodland - Two Buzzards, 2 Great-spotted Woodpeckers and 3 Jays, plus an overflying Sparrowhawk. There’s a huge crop of beech mast this year and it lines the road and crunches underfoot when walking through the lane. A few Chaffinch and Great Tits took advantage of the harvest but otherwise I couldn’t even find a Brambling and certainly not a Yellow-browed Warbler. 

Back home, and to add to eleven of a day or two ago, I caught another 8 Goldfinches from the flock of 50+ that’s in the neighbourhood, 2 more Greenfinch and a Robin. One of the Goldfinches was so young it wasn’t possible to ascertain the sex, but from the wing length and bill size a likely male. This plumage in October suggests it is one of a very late brood of September. 

Goldfinch - adult male

Goldfinch - juvenile

First winter Robin

Robin

Next was a bird I’ve never seen in the garden in almost fifteen years of living here, a Nuthatch, not just one but a male and a female in a net which had interrupted their flight line from the niger feeders. A very nice but also unexpected surprise as the species breeds uncommonly in this area. 

Nuthatch

Nuthatch

I thought back to earlier in the week when there was a Nuthatch at Fluke Hall, not a breeding site for the species but where Nuthatches occur infrequently in the spring, autumn or winter. It made me wonder if Nuthatches may be undergoing one of their periodic irruptions. 

An irruption is a dramatic, irregular migration of large numbers of birds to areas where they aren’t typically found, possibly at a great distance from their normal ranges. Depending on the species, irruptions may occur in cycles from 2-10 years, or they may be much more unpredictable. 

Several factors can lead to irruptive years for different birds. The most common cause is a lack of food in the birds’ normal wintering grounds; famine can force large numbers of birds to seek more plentiful habitats until seeds, flowers and insects return in the spring. Birds that feed on the seeds and catkins of birch, maple, pine, spruce and hemlock trees often irrupt when those types of trees have poor seed crops. 

Other causes for bird irruptions include unduly harsh cold or severe weather that may force birds to find more temperate wintering grounds, or overbreeding that may further deplete even plentiful food supplies. No matter what the cause of the irruption, however, it is difficult to predict where or when irrupting species may appear. 

Log in to Another Bird Blog soon where there will be more tales of the expected and maybe even the unexpected.

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

More Buzzard Bashing

Buzzards continue to be in the news for the right reasons as bird watchers celebrate the species success. Meanwhile Buzzards also make the headlines but for the wrong reasons. Yes, certain sections of the shooting fraternity continue to break the law by killing Buzzards.

Here’s the latest tale of a wretched mentality courtesy of Birdguides, Alan Tilmouth, Raptor Politics, and with not a little help from the splendid folk at The British Trust for Ornithology. 

Buzzard

“Allen Lambert worked as a gamekeeper on the Stody estate in north Norfolk. On 1 October 2014, he appeared at Norwich Magistrates' Court and was found guilty of two charges relating to the killing of 10 Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk on the estate, and possession of pesticides and other items capable of being used to prepare poison baits. 

A key part of the case for the defence was the idea that the number of dead Buzzards found was too high to have been achieved through illegal poisoning in one area and that the carcasses must therefore have been 'planted' on Mr Lambert. When the experts were consulted, however, BTO quickly provided the robust evidence to refute the claim. 

Counts of Buzzards in north Norfolk from the same time period as the crimes took place (March–April) were extracted from BirdTrack and mapped. These counts were logged by ordinary birdwatchers during their day-to-day birding. Who could have foreseen that the simple action of recording sightings in BirdTrack would realise the immense value of such 'normal' observations in this way? 

As well as proving beyond doubt that double-figure counts of Buzzards are a regular occurrence in Norfolk these days, the data collected by BTO volunteers was used in court to highlight the recent population increase and range expansion of Buzzard. Data from Bird Atlas 2007–11 and the Norfolk Bird Atlas were used to show the eastward spread and increasing population density since the previous breeding atlas in 1988–91, while CBC/BBS data spanning 5 decades helped emphasise the recent, dramatic population increase.” 

 

Buzzard

Allen Lambert was employed by estate owner and former president of the Country Landowners Association and former trustee of The Game Conservancy (now known as the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust) Ian Macnicol, a man at the centre of the game and shooting industry. Since Macnicol’s death his son Charlie is said to manage the estate. 

Farm Subsidy Payments of £1,408,502.30 have been paid to the Stody estate from the European Union Farm Subsidies fund since 2004. So dear readers, you and I have paid the wages of this criminal and over the years employed him to kill probably countless Buzzards and other raptors. 

Mr Lambert receives his “sentence” in November and if all goes to according to the normal way of such things in the UK he will probably face a slap on the wrist and a derisory fine rather than a well-deserved spell in Her Majesty’s Prisons where he could mix with criminals of the same ilk. 

Mr Lambert is almost certainly not on his own in killing Buzzards. 

I remarked on this blog recently how Buzzards have vanished from some regular and quite precise haunts of recent years in this part of NW Lancashire, The Fylde. Buzzards are very faithful to an area they adopt and have good longevity so why they would inexplicably disappear from previously successful and suitable sites is an apparent mystery. 

Buzzard

This part of Lancashire has a long tradition of game shooting and although I have no proof, I urge every bird watcher to keep as close an eye as possible on local shoots and the “management” methods on the land they shoot over, as I suspect Buzzards are here too being killed unlawfully.

This advice also applies to any other part of the UK where Buzzards have made a natural comeback but where certain people would wish to deny our Buzzards this sucess.     

Buzzard

The photographs of Buzzards are my own from recent days. I hope I will see and photograph many more of these wonderful birds in the future. 

A Wednesday Wander

It was early doors and at Cockerham four Swallows flew almost alongside the road; I think they had just left their overnight roost in farm buildings I passed. I saw no more Swallows this morning, 99.9% of them have left these shores for sunnier and warmer climes. 

The water level on Conder Pool looked high again after recent high tides overflowed into the pool so it was going to be hard to find many birds. It was also pretty cold too and took a while for the air to warm and birds to appear. After counts in the teens the Little Grebes seem not to like the deeper water and I could find only four this morning although a Great Crested Grebe may be the same one from a week and more ago. 

Great Crested Grebe

The Kingfisher was about and flew across the pool towards the more sheltered creek and away from its usual spot at the sluice gate and where the rippling water might be a deterrent to fishing. Apart from a Cormorant, a few Teal, 3 Little Egret and 3 Pied Wagtails that was it for the pool so time to survey the creeks. 

Three Goosander flew in from The Lune and proceeded to fish the shallow water amongst the mixed waders and wildfowl. The tides appear to have prompted Snipe to leave with not a one to be seen, but the usual array of 3 Greenshank, 60+ Redshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Common Sandpiper, 6 Curlew, 8 Lapwing and 90+ Teal.

They are pretty distant pictures of the Goosanders, very wary birds which sailed up and down the creeks according to how and when vehicles parked at the roadside space and whether the occupants remained in or ventured out. A Curlew was more obliging even though feeding in and out of the tall grasses which line the creeks made a picture difficult.

Goosander

Goosanders

Curlew

Curlew

The wind began to increase. From the car park I found a flock of 30 or more Goldfinch but nowhere like the numbers of last week with a walk along the railway proving fairly fruitless apart from Robins in autumn song, a couple off Blackbirds and a Song Thrush. 

 

Robin

At Fluke Hall I rather wished I’d been there soon after first light as I found a few fresh-in birds. 

Two Wheatears were moving about the rocks below the sea wall with 10 or Chaffinches in the tree tops, a calling Nuthatch, a a party of 8 Mistle Thrushes and 2 Jays. 

The thrushes were into the light and as I walked along the road they chattered amongst themselves until I turned around to see them fly off to the south to leave just one, and then it too was gone. As they say, a “record shot” of this shy thrush. 

Mistle Thrush

The wind picked up more, the leaves began to rattle and rain arrived. Shame, but the morning was a good one.

Miscellaneous Birding

I never got around to posting from Sunday, not that there was much to report, and then Monday morning was a bit of a wash out. So here’s a little of everything including a photo or two from Skiathos 10th to 14 September and a spot of garden ringing.

Sunday morning was intended to be an hour two at Conder Green but the way through the A588 at Pilling was blocked by road signs. Maybe there was yet another overnight accident on this most infamous of roads? So I “did” Fluke Hall and environs instead where things were pretty quiet.

The highlight was finding 6 Song Thrush in the same stretch of hedgerow at Fluke Hall Lane, at one point four of them in the same binocular field of view. October 4th saw the first big Song Thrush movement of the autumn on the continent, with over 159,000 birds seen (vismig@yahoogroups.com).

The Song Thrush has suffered such a catastrophic decline in the UK that it something of an occasion to see a few together.

Song Thrush

Meanwhile back at Fluke Hall signs other signs of Autumn woodland birds included 2 Jays, extra numbers of Blackbirds, and then four or more Coal Tits and a single Goldcrest in a mixed flock of titmice.

At the woodland edge and close to the sea wall I found the regular 2 Buzzards, a nicely building flock of Woodpigeon whose numbers are now close to 300 and a single Snipe. Likewise the Jackdaw flock is on the increase to 70+ birds while Skylarks on the stubble and along the sea wall numbered more than 60. There were good numbers of Pink-footed Geese out on the marsh, probably in excess of 4,000 birds.

On Monday it didn’t stop raining until 1pm by which time I couldn’t be bothered to set out birding so instead caught a number of birds in the garden, 11 Goldfich, 2 Chaffinch 1 Goldcrest and 2 Greenfich, one of the latter a corker of an adult male.

Greenfinches are not quite as scarce as Song Thrushes, but heading that way it seems.

Greenfinch

Chaffinch

Goldfinch

Goldcrest

Here’s few leftovers from Skiathos, a Yellow Wagtail plus a Red-backed Shrike that tormented me daily in the grounds of our hotel, The Ostria. The list of birds seen at The Ostria included Red-rumped Swallow, Barn Swallow, Bee Eater, Scops Owl, Little Owl, Buzzard, Spotted Flycatcher, Alpine Swift, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Yellow Wagtail and of course a daily Red-backed Shrike lurking along its favourite fence or fig tree.

Red-backed Shrike

 Red-backed Shrike

Yellow Wagtail

The Ostria - Skiathos

The Ostria is a lovely peaceful hotel set in landscaped grounds, and as the brochures might say were it in any of them, "close to all amenities". It is family owned and supervised on site by the delightful and welcoming Mathinou family - The Ostria Skiathos.

More birding from home and abroad soon on Another Bird Blog.

Linking today to Theresa's Fences and Stewart's World Bird Wednesday. 
 

A Sunny Stint

After a few days absence I finally found my way to Conder Green this morning. The sun shone brightly and it proved to be a fine morning for a leisurely look through the waders on offer. 

I spotted a Little Stint feeding next to a Snipe, the Snipe towering above the tiny wader, the stint that has a fitting scientific name of Calidris minuta. Although I could find just the one stint there were more Snipe feeding in the creeks and the pool, a total of 14 in all. Other waders - 120+ Redshank, 2 Spotted Redshank, 4 Greenshank, 2 Common Sandpiper, 8 Lapwing and 6 Curlew. 

Little Stint - Photo credit: jvverde / Foter / CC BY-NC 

At the pool a Kingfisher fished from the island rocks, splashing in and out of the water, 12 Pied Wagtail, 1 Grey Wagtail, 2 Wigeon, 1 Cormorant, 3 Little Egret, 1 Grey Heron and just 6 Little Grebe. 

All seemed quiet so I drove to Glasson Dock where another Kingfisher sat on the edge of the sunken boat, its head turning left and then right before spotting the approaching car. Off it went in the direction of the canal and into a slight mist that hung over the water, and I lost it from view. Conder Green and Glasson Dock are Kingfisher hot spots in the recent months of fine weather and productive fishing. 

There was little else, the 30 or so Tufted Ducks distant on the far side, so I took a walk along the cycle path and back towards Conder Green and hoped for an autumn goodie. Maybe I didn’t look hard enough or perhaps the fine weather is not conducive to raining small passerines into the bushes I bashed. Whatever, all I found were finches and a mixed flock of titmice, mainly 18 or more Long-tailed Tits and a couple of Meadow Pipits, so no obvious signs of migration. 

It’s difficult to miss the flock of 100+ Goldfinches because they stick so close and consequently make so much chattering noise. There are Linnets mixed in but their numbers dwarfed by the Goldfinches. 

Goldfinch

Linnet

On a limited budget of time I gave Fluke Hall a quick shot, maybe too hurried as the best I could muster proved to be a Goldcrest. There was and an obvious build-up of Woodpigeons on the cut wheat field, in excess of 140 of them clattering off through the trees when disturbed by a tractor. 

It was mid-morning and by now quite warm, the reason perhaps that four Buzzards appeared from the direction of the marsh where they may have crossed the bay. They circled around for a minute or two before continuing south and towards Pilling village. 

Buzzard - Buteo buteo

Buzzard - Buteo buteo

 Buzzard - Buteo buteo

In 2014 I’ve not been seeing as many Buzzards as in recent years and I hope it’s not because of more persecution, like this BBC story from 2nd October where 6 Buzzards have mysteriously disappeared.

Hands off our Buzzards you morons!

Just as well I made hay today because the forecast for weekend looks dire. But as ever Another Bird Blog will be looking for a sunny day and keeping an eye on those Buzzards.

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

Fantastic Falcon

The Eleonora's Falcons of Skiathos inhabit a wild and remote place in the north of the island. It takes a little effort to reach the location, a very long hot, humid and tiring trek over uneven countryside, a fair old journey from Skiathos town. Or the route is comparatively short but a rough and ready ride over unmade roads and bumpy tracks to reach the beginning of the Kastro experience. The Suzuki Jimny would get us there no problem. 

Eleonora’s Falcon

Jimny

I’ve dotted the text below with some pictures of Eleonora’s Falcons from 15th September 2014, pictures taken from a long distance due to the sheer unapproachability of the location, the birds’ reluctance to come close and far from the best light. The remoteness and inaccessibility is surely a good thing as the falcon is so rare that were it to breed in easily reached places, it would be finished off by man’s interference. 

Eleonora’s Falcon

Eleanora’s Falcon

By mid-September and close to the peak of their breeding season there were many falcons about, probably twenty or more, comprising adults and at least three broods of newly fledged young, all of them hurtling above the water or dashing over cliffs at breakneck speed; so much action that is hard to convey the thrill of both watching and hearing so many birds. At times an individual would break off from their flight of fancy to chase a passing Swallow for a moment or two, so strange to say I didn’t witness a successful pursuit. I rather thought that the falcons appeared so finely tuned with their environment that they could perhaps pick out slow, tired or weak prey and catch them at will without using energy by chasing healthy birds. 

Eleonora’s Falcon

The Kastro (fortification or castle) is believed to have been built in the mid 14th century with the aim of providing a sanctuary for the inhabitants of Skiathos from pirate attacks. Three of the four Kastro protective walls overlook the sea, with steep exposed cliff faces underpinning them. A single entrance via what was originally a wooden drawbridge leads to the nearby cliff top. 

Moving the town inside the Kastro proved fairly successful, and for many years after, it was not only the capital of Skiathos, but the only inhabited town on the island. During its occupancy in the 14th century the Kastro is believed to have contained upwards of 300 houses, and at least 20 churches. The Turkish occupation of the island from 1538 saw the building of a mosque within the Kastro fortifications. The Mosque is believed to have been erected on the site of an existing church, and for some reason it was built without a minuet. Much of the building remains today. In the early 19th century, the residents deserted the Kastro moving on-mass back to the harbour town that is the Skiathos Town of today. With the exception of two churches and some smaller buildings much of the Kastro was demolished or fell into ruin and what ruins remain are very overgrown as can be seen in my pictures below. 

The foreground of the picture begins a trek to the distant flag and the falcons beyond, the second and third pictures taken at the flag and looking back to the start point. There's a taverna, another trek up and down the rocks as an alternative to watching the Eleanora's. 

Kastro - Skiathos

Kastro - Skiathos

Kastro - Skiathos

 Eleonora’s Falcon

Taverna - Kastro - Skiathos

Much of the following information is borrowed from the The Hellenic Ornithological Society at http://www.ornithologiki.gr/. 

Greece is considered the most significant country for the conservation and survival of Eleonora's Falcon, since during the breeding season it hosts more than 85% of the global population. 

In Greece, the Eleonora's Falcon arrives from April with older individuals mating and occupying nesting places, thereby developing loose colonies as early as May. Owing to the low food availability in the nesting areas the falcons hunt at large distances from the nest and only few of the birds return to the colony at night. Indeed, the area in which the falcons of one colony are active during this specific period is considered to possibly exceed 1000 km2. Thus, and since the islands where the reproductive colonies are located cannot support all the birds with food, Eleonora's Falcons can be spotted during the reproductive season on the mainland of Greece as well, even in high mountains far removed from the coasts. 

 Eleonora’s Falcon

The diet of the Eleonora's Falcon until the end of July, when the egg-laying has been completed, consists mainly of larger insects such as butterflies, flying ants, dragonflies, cicadas and beetles. During the following period and until October, it feeds exclusively on migratory birds, a food source that is, theoretically, infinite. After its breeding, between the end of October and the beginning of November, it flies to East Africa, especially to Madagascar, where it spends the winter, returning to a diet based on insects. 

The unique characteristic of the Eleonora's Falcon is that it breeds more slowly in relation to other birds. More specifically, its breeding season begins much later (in July), compared to other migratory birds. Consequently, it can include in its diet the plethora of migratory bird fauna species that fly over the Mediterranean basin during the end of summer, heading for the South Because of this, travel is generally not observed between the island where it breeds as the mature individuals and the chicks feed on birds from the autumn migration wave. 

Eleonora’s Falcon

The species nests in natural rock cavities that are located on small islets, on cliffs of islets and larger island, but also in rocks located in the interior land. 

Every couple of Eleonora's Falcons gives birth to one to three eggs, while the chicks hatch at the end of August, the timing which coincides with an immense migratory wave of birds that offers an easily accessible as well as ample food source. The chicks develop plumage after 35 days and so, from mid-October on, the populations start migrating towards East Africa and Madagascar. 

 Eleanora’s Falcon chasing Honey Buzzard

Eleonora's Falcon was named after Giudicessa Eleonora de Arborea (1350-1404), a Sardinian princess who fought for Sardinia's independence from the Kingdom of Aragon, and who drafted the first laws in Europe protecting birds of prey.

More birding soon with Another Bird Blog but I don’t expect to see an Eleonora's Falcon in Pilling.