The King Is Back

A Kingfisher at Conder Green was the highlight of a very quiet morning, the blue and green flash narrowly beating yet another Barn Owl into second place. 

Looking for early morning owls dictates a slow drive along the customary routes, one eye on the road the other eye looking left and right for a ghostly apparition gliding across summery fields and ditches. Luckily at 5am there’s not much rush hour traffic to delay and annoy. No luck though, with nary a Barn Owl glimpsed between home and Conder Green, just a single Kestrel at Head Dyke and then a Tawny Owl in the trees at Crimbles. 

At Conder Green there was a good count of Redshank with 165+ birds in the creek, a number which in addition to migrants from elsewhere included a quartet of one day old chicks brooded by the female and watched over by a very vocal male. Two Common Sandpipers perhaps signifies the impending return of more. 

Common Sandpiper

Redshank

A lazy and somewhat incomplete count produced the anticipated result of 5 Little Egret and 2 Grey Heron, 15 Oystercatcher, the 2 drake Wigeon, 12 Tufted Duck. 

Kingfishers usually turn up here at the coast in July and August, probably from their breeding haunts just inland on the River Conder and Lancaster Canal, the Kingfishers then wintering hereabouts. So although one might be expected here soon, sighting one at the pool this June morning was a both pleasant and welcome surprise. The royal fisherman didn’t stay long but whizzed across the pool towards the unseen canal, the waterway which finishes half a mile away at Glasson Dock. 

Kingfisher

A walk along the old railway towards Glasson manufactured another handful each of Redshank, Curlew, Lapwing and yet more Little Egrets, another four; what an amazing success story the Little Egret is in reconstructing its population in the UK. 

Whitethroats were conspicuous this morning, at least 8 of them along the path, juveniles and adults, family parties keeping in visible and audible contact. There was also a Blackcap in song at the car park. 

Blackcap

 Whitethroat

Two Sedge Warblers along the same path, and at the tiny roadside reedbed adjacent the mini-roundabout, a still loudly singing Reed Warbler. Heading back home via Jeremy Lane at 0930 a commotion from field-feeding Starlings made me look right, just in time to see a Barn Owl carrying prey fly across the road ahead of me but the owl heading out of sight towards buildings I do not know. 

Back home while viewing the entrants for this year’s village scarecrow competition with our two granddaughters, we found a crow taking a drink plus the other “king”, King Elvis. 

Scarecrow

 Scary Elvis

Stay tuned to Another Bird Blog. It looks as though we may get one more day from this fine spell of weather before the heavens open.

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

Owls Are Ace

By all accounts Barn Owls appear to be having a better year. 

2013 was a very poor breeding season for the Barn Owl caused by the poor spring weather and dearth of voles. Preliminary reports for 2014 from the British Trust for Ornithology quote high site occupancy rates, some egg laying 2-3 weeks ahead of schedule, large clutch sizes and large broods. The most important element this year is the extremely high numbers of voles, confirmed by large food caches being reported in nest boxes by bird ringers and nest recorders. 

 From the BBC Cambridgeshire....

 “Conservationists are celebrating after Barn Owls nesting at a Cambridgeshire farm hatched twice as many chicks as this time last spring. Three pairs of birds at Lark Rise farm have produced 17 chicks in total and may have a second brood this summer. The UK Barn Owl population was hit badly last year after a late spring. Vince Lea, from The Countryside Restoration Trust which runs the farm, said the brood was “the biggest ever” in the 12 years since the owls arrived. 

“These record-breaking numbers of Barn Owl chicks are a direct result of the trust’s wildlife-friendly farming methods.” The increase was “astonishing evidence of a comeback”, he added. 

Meadows, grass margins and hedgerows had “helped create an ideal barn owl habitat”, Mr Lea said, as well as encouraging other wildlife including water voles – “their favourite snack” to the area. 

Dead voles had been found stored in one of the three nesting boxes on the 450-acre (182 hectares) arable farm near Cambridge, which Mr Lea said was proof of an abundance of that species on the farm. 

“We had no owls in this area for a long time, then eventually they started to nest and generally we’d have about three chicks per pair each year,” he said. Colin Shawyer, from the Barn Owl Conservation Network, which monitors the species, said 2013 had been “an exceptionally poor breeding year”. 

“Lark Rise’s brood is most definitely a sign that 2014 is going to be a good one for Barn Owls. Two of the females have not gone into moult yet, which is a good sign they will attempt a second brood,” he said.” 

The British Trust for Ornithology estimates there are about 4,000 breeding pairs of Barn Owls in the UK, and lists their conservation status as “amber” indicating the species is, or has recently been, in decline. 

At the moment here in coastal Lancashire our local Barn Owls seem very active, as regular readers of Another Bird Blog will know. I saw two more Barn Owls this morning, a pair of birds little more than a hundred yards apart, goings-on which suggest they have young in the nest. 

One flew across the road in front of me and then headed over the fields and out of sight before I spotted the second one on a roadside “For Sale” sign. I wondered if the owl was looking for a new place to live so intent was it on studying the sign and the ground below. 

Barn Owl

There wasn’t a lot doing at Conder Green on yet another sunny, warm morning, but it was great to be out in the free and fresh air. 

Very noticeable was the number of Reed Buntings about with one in song at the bridge plus several juveniles along the hedgerow which abuts the pool. Three Pied Wagtail on the edges of the pool and in the hawthorn hedgerow, a single Greenfinch and 2 Tree Sparrows, while more than 60 Swifts hawked the midges stemming from the hedgerow. 

Reed Bunting

Pied Wagtail

A Blackcap and Sedge Warbler sang near The Stork car park. Another Sedge Warbler was in song near the pool viewpoint from where I counted the wildfowl and waders as 50+ Redshank, 24 Lapwing, 15 Oystercatcher, 2 Wigeon, 1 Little Grebe, 2 Grey Heron, 2 Little Egret. 

Lapwing

Yes, owls are definitely ace but all birds are just wonderful aren’t they? 

Call in to Another Bird Blog soon and see more first-rate birds. Linking this post to Anni's Birding Blog.

Good Morning Owls

After Joanne’s Little Owl pictures of Thursday, today it’s my turn. Stay tuned for Little Owl and Barn Owl. 

The run of bright and dry weather and almost at the longest day makes for early starts, driving on quiet roads with the chance to slow down at a few locations where owls live. At 6am there was a Barn Owl flying alongside the road at Cockerham and lots of light for a photograph; but the owl flipped over the hedgerow and out of sight. I drove up and down the road a couple times, turning at convenient spots and then waiting in gateways for the owl to reappear. 

No luck, so I checked out a Little Owl farm of old. The RSPB website tells me that the Little Owl Athene noctua “can be seen in the daylight, usually perching on a tree branch, telegraph pole or rock. It will bob its head up and down when alarmed.” 

And there one was, and on a telegraph pole. The owl stole a look at my approaching car and chose not to bob its head up and down but instead continued to watch the ground below for “small mammals and birds, beetles and worms”. 

Little Owl

Little Owl

Little Owl

Little Owl

After a while the owl got bored with looking at the same bit of the ground and flew off towards the farmhouse and farm buildings. Now there’s a “good” bird to have sat on your house; makes a change from House Martins and House Sparrows. 

Little Owl

There was a Red Fox in the middle of the road but even as the car approached from 100yards the fox took fright and loped off. The camera was still set to overexpose the owl against the morning sky - "D’oh".  Red Foxes in this part of the world still mostly inhabit the true countryside and as far as I know do not frequent the Saturday night kebab shops when the drunks go home.   

Red Fox

There was another Barn Owl at Conder Green, this one hunting the embankment alongside the old railway where moored boats dot the green marsh. It was 0730, the owl was up late and heading swiftly for a daytime sleep, but not before an Oystercatcher gave it a telling off.  Two or three pairs of Oystercatchers have chicks nearby and while a Barn Owl may be "cute" it is a predator which needs to eat and to feed chicks of its own.

Barn Owl

Oystercatcher and Barn Owl

Barn Owl

Oystercatchers

Also out hunting was a Sparrowhawk, carrying prey back to a nest somewhere while at the same time lifting the prey towards its bill to take crafty nibbles. Before today I’d never ever seen this behaviour by a Sparrowhawk, just from members of the falcon family. 

After the excitement of raptors it was back to June’s unchanging birds of hedgerow, pool and creek; 2 Grey Heron, 4 Little Egret, 65 Redshank, 15 Oystercatcher, 12 Lapwing and 1 Common Sandpiper. 

Common Sandpiper

Other bits ‘n pieces totalled up to 45 Swift, 2 Stock Dove, 5 Sedge Warbler, 3 Pied Wagtail. 

Another Bird Blog is back soon, maybe with more owls but certainly with more birds.

Linking today to  Eileen's Saturday Blog.

That Elusive Owl

Regular blog readers may remember the Little Owl on the garden fence at daughter Joanne’s home. 

The owl still makes regular but unpredictable appearances except on the two or three occasions a week Sue and I go round to let Holly the black labrador outside for her essential requirements.  I’ve still to get my 400mm properly trained onto the elusive owl, with the best garden bird I could manage a Mallard. 

So Joanne borrowed my old Canon and bog standard 300mm lens then took some photographs. The owl seems to be a juvenile of the year judging by the eye colour and hint of downy feathers still visible on its breast. Looks like Joanne doesn’t need any photography lessons from Dad? 

Little Owl

Little Owl

Mallard

I was out Conder Green way this morning where the most obvious change was the increase in numbers of Little Egrets to nine birds now that their breeding season is over. Two were feeding in the roadside creek when a loose party of seven arrived from the north to drop into the area of the pool. The birds fed for a while before scattering off in various directions and over towards the Lancaster canal which is located just over the back of the pool. 

Little Egret

Two Grey Herons were about the creeks and the pool, one lording it over the marsh, stopping to preen and have a good old scratch. 

Grey Heron

Grey Heron

No variation with the waders and wildfowl - 1 Little Grebe, 2 Wigeon, 10 Tufted Duck, 12 Shelduck, 55 Redshank, 15 Oystercatcher, 1 Curlew. 

The numbers of passerines varies little at the moment with 2 Reed Warbler, 1 Sedge Warbler, 2 Whitethroat and 1 Meadow Pipit still in song from the marsh and hedgerow, together with brief snatches of Chiffchaff from the car park. Otherwise, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 6 Linnet, 2 Tree Sparrow, 1 Greenfinch and more than 1 Robin. I’m pretty sure the juvenile Robin had two legs, but the photo looks like there was just one. 

Robin

At Glasson a Great Crested Grebe was new on the water to join with a handful of Coot, Mallard and Tufted Duck. I watched a Lesser Black-Backed Gull have breakfast, a dead fish left behind by the weekend anglers. Some birds just have no table manners do they?

Great Crested Grebe

 Lesser Black-backed Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Join Another Bird Blog very soon for more birds, elusive or not. 

Linking today with Theresa's Run A Round Ranch .

Swallows And Martins

There's no ecaping the sport today. It's granddaughter Olivia's school Sports Day and all  good innocent fun. So no birding until tomorrow for me. In the meantime here's a few pictures of Swallows and House Martins from Pilling on Monday afternoon.  

Not much to report from a quick visit. A build of post-breeding Lapwings at 60+, and similarly with Curlews at more than 40. Three Grey Plovers made an appearance over the shore where 7 Eider ducks sat out the incoming tide. The usual Kestrels now feeding quite large young and a Tawny Owl at Fluke Hall.

At Pilling Water I found a family of Swallows so spent a while with them. There were 2 adults and 4 recently fledged youngsters, the juveniles reluctant to explore while the adults kept returning with food.   

Barn Swallow

 

Barn Swallow

Barn Swallow

Barn Swallow

 Barn Swallow

House Martins do not often settle on the ground but have to do so when collecting material to construct their nests. The incoming tide left patches of muddy sand, an ideal buiding material for House Martins to shore up their mud dwellings. Everywhere is pretty dry at the moment with not many puddles around so the House Martins must have travelled a good 800 metres or more from their nests in Pilling village to collect the sticky stuff. 

House Martins sometimes nest on ships. A pair once nested on board a ship travelling eight times a day between Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmo, Sweden. The crossing between the two ports was 15 miles long.  

House Martin

 

 House Martins

House Martin

Join Another Bird Blog on Wednesday for more birds.

Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.

A Sporting Saturday

Sport is great, especially on TV, and at the moment there’s lots of it. I’m really looking forward to The World Cup, Wimbledon Tennis, The Commonwealth Games, The Open Golf, Royal Ascot, Test Match Cricket and the myriad sports events which fill the TV schedules. 

You guessed my reason for loving sport. All this essential viewing means that more people are about to spend extra time glued to a TV rather than relish the great outdoors where their trivial pursuits always interfere with my birding. Yes, birding is a very selfish pastime best enjoyed when Joe Public is elsewhere, preferably indoors staring at a TV screen, so I intend to enjoy this summer’s Festival of Sport and do birding and blogging as much as possible. 

Meanwhile I hope that the present all-pervading discussion and media coverage of sport does not infect me or Another Bird Blog, so if at any time I inadvertently lapse into sporting jargon please forgive me. 

So forget sport for now, here’s a blow-by-blow account of Saturday’s birding. 

There was no game plan but I was quick out of the gate, kicking off with a straight drive along the A585 to Conder Green. I took a few seconds out at Pilling, getting the ball rolling with a knockout Barn Owl, a pretty safe bet along here at 5am. I was off to a flying start! 

Barn Owl

At Conder Green the ducking and diving wildfowl totalled 1 Little Grebe, 3 Teal, 2 Wigeon, 10 Tufted Duck, 12 Shelduck, all par for the course in June, plus 17 Canada Goose. At the shallow end wading birds obliged with 55 Redshank, 5 Black-tailed Godwit, 15 Oystercatcher, 1 Curlew and 1 Common Sandpiper. 

Shelduck

At this stage of the game many Redshanks are on the return leg as are Common Sandpipers. A  number of the 55 Redshanks are clearly juveniles from elsewhere, the breeding pair here with still unfledged young. The Oystercatcher count includes 5 juveniles of two broods, the largest brood a stunning hat-trick, all there off and running at a fair old pace and sure to go the full distance to adulthood. 

Oystercatcher

Oystercatcher

 Oystercatcher chicks

 Oystercatcher chick

Oystercatcher

It’s a hard call. Do Grey Herons and Little Egrets fit into the category of “wader” or “wildfowl”? Maybe the 3 Grey Heron and single Little Egret should be classed as “also ran”? If so, I clocked 10 more herons at Cockersands later, together with 44 Eider, a healthy tally which included 12 youngsters which knew the score by sticking close to mom. 

 Little Egret

Meanwhile, and back to the second half at Conder Green. Suddenly there were lots of Starlings, a flock of 200+ containing many youngsters jockeying for position on the farm buildings and fences opposite the marsh. The juvenile Starlings shouted the odds, some begging for food from parents nearby as in the car I played a blinder with the camera. A Woodpigeon decided to play the game too and sat posing for a portrait.

Starling

Woodpigeon

I’m on the final lap now, just the little brown jobs to tally and then I can throw in the towel - 2 Reed Warbler, 2 Sedge Warbler, 5 Whitethroat, 4 Reed Bunting, 4 Linnet, 1 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Pied Wagtail, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, and then a single Tree Sparrow on the rails. 

Tree Sparrow

Yet again a good number of 30+ Swift hawked insects at early doors with only a handful of Swallows doing the same; probably because many females are still confined to nests and I've yet to see many  juveniles. And in any contest for a beautiful bird an adult Swallow would surely be first past the post? 

Barn Swallow

It’s into the home straight now and the A588 again where a roadside Kestrel played ball, but soon it was the chequered flag of home where I was hot favourite for a few chores. 

But no worries, in a contest between watching sport or watching birds, birding wins hands down. 

Please join Another Bird Blog’s team again soon. You might be onto a winner.

Linking today to Anni's Birding Blog.