A Fulmar

Someone phoned. A Fulmar found near Garstang after the recent gales was doing OK, eating food spontaneously and looking fairly perky. Could I take it and release it at Knott End near the sea where hopefully it would return to where it should be?

It’s good few years since I handled sea birds on Bardsey Island. Nights spent catching and ringing Manx Shearwaters near their burrows, deciphering worn and ancient ring numbers, or fitful naps in the tractor shed while waiting for periodic lighthouse attractions to deposit waves of birds on the ground where they might be rescued in one piece.

As soon as I saw the Fulmar and caught that unmistakable smell, that unique musty, oily but not unpleasant aroma that seabirds alone possess, it transported me back there to Bardsey and the Manxies, the Razorbills and the Gullemots.

Of course the name "Fulmar" comes from the Iclandic for a foul gull and refers to the smell that comes from the fishy oil in its stomach. The Fulmar is closely related to the Albatrosses in a group of birds sometimes referred to as "tube-noses". This name is derived from the tube that lies along the top ridge of the bill which contains the nostril and gives this group of birds a remarkably keen sense of smell used for finding food out at sea.

But this Fulmar wasn’t going anywhere, having taken a turn for the worse in just a few short hours. I took the obligatory photo before placing it in an overnight box.

This morning it was gone.

Linnets at Last

What a gorgeous sunny morning, bright and clear. “You can take the Mini” said Sue. I looked at the petrol gauge hovering above zero, then in the boot speculating how I would fit scope, tripod, camera bag, wellies, coat, jumper, flask and sundries into a cavity the size of a Tesco carrier bag. Today’s birding tip – You can’t do it in a Mini.

“No thanks, but nice try” I said, and took to Motorbike Mile the A588 at a sedate pace in the Honda with a view to frustrating the tailgaters desperate to get to work in Lancaster one minute early. I paused at PW’s Braides Scrapes (should that be Braides’, Braides or Braides’s?) to see the now regular Goldfinch flock flying near the sea wall but no sign of Merlin or Marsh Harrier.

Conder was dull, gone off the boil. I yawned through one measly Greenshank, a couple of Snipe, the grotty Kingfisher, the very Grey Heron and the common Redshank. A couple of Meadow Pipits went over but here on the coast we don’t seem to be getting many of the birds being reported further inland in the Pennines in the last few days(Yahoo Vis Mig). It’s early days yet of course, the main passage should start soon and last well into October.

I motored on up to Glasson Dock in search of excitement, amusing myself by feeding sliced bread to the waiting Coot crew. On testing whether they could beat Black-headed Gulls to the scraps, I am pleased to report that the Coot won every time; I have handled a few Coot and I can vouch for their aggression with some advice that if confronted by an angry Coot, avoid the lethal feet.



I walked round Glasson Basin to take another look at the Great Crested Grebes where I counted six on the water plus one passenger, but they kept their distance, not up for portraits today.



Near the lock I glanced up to see a male Peregrine, flying from the Cockersands direction, black and white against the bright blue, no need for the bins there as it flew across to the Lune. This seems to be the regular beat, Conder, Cockersands and Glasson in any order, a smorgasbord of raptor food from which to choose at will. A quick look from the Victoria to the distant Lapwing and gulls confirmed that the tide was too low for camera and binoculars so I made my way to Hillam Lane and Bank End.


The Plan is to set up a new feeding/ringing station where a sheltered little spot may draw in Tree Sparrows, finches and who knows what. Chris’s pools held four Red-breasted Merganser and a hopeful Cormorant who must have heard of the fishery plans on another version of Birdline. After bemoaning my Linnet luck yesterday it was nice to see a flock of 60+ feeding on the ground disturbed by the recent excavations together with a smaller party of Goldfinch, maybe a dozen. A further pool held the released Mallards and a Grey Heron, but overhead just little further away I heard the unmistakable “mewing” of Buzzards as two rose from a wood to be harassed by corvids before making off west. Down at the site a handful of Chaffinch fed on wheat put out for the Mallards where I weighed up the possibilities for seed drops, tree feeders and Twite bait. With 20+ Tree Sparrows in attendance without any additional feed as yet, the prospects look hopeful whilst the same hedgerow held a single Whitethroat that rasped away at me.



The forecast for tomorrow. Keep me in? I think not.

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Dash and Splash

I thought I would have a swim this morning – Indoors that is. Very therapeutic and good for the arthritic knees, especially followed by a session in the sauna where a bit of lively debate, banter and very un PC discussion cheers everyone up in putting the world to rights in a matter of minutes.

Heading home, the sky looked suspiciously bright, very unlike the promised circa mid-morning deluge. As usual the forecast was sort of correct, detail of the actual weather not bad but their estimate of the timing of it dreadful. Following a hurried lunch, and upon seeing and hearing a Chiffchaff in the garden, I set off for a quick look on Rawcliffe Moss realising that the rain would now arrive later, by my estimate 4pm.

Near the barn a Collared Dove sat obligingly, but much warier than our garden ones.



I could see that Seumus had put out the first batch of seed at the feeding station and although there were no birds on it, just 50 yards away 8 Tree Sparrows rose from the hedge. Too much of a coincidence I thought, Tree Sparrows being extremely smart in sussing out food and what ringers get up to.

I disturbed a Great–spotted Woodpecker from the big willow and several Goldfinch from the field margin. As I looked across the barley field, where maybe 100 Swallows fed, I could see the crop was bent, broken, and in places lying flat, needing a couple or more dry days to make it harvestable in some form.



More Swallows fed over adjacent fields, close to the several woods where the warm air but increasing cloud had generated some insect activity. I did a 360 degree count for Swallows and came up with a “guesstimate” of 500+.

Walking north along the field I disturbed a juvenile male Marsh Harrier from some impenetrable vegetation from where it quickly dashed west behind a wood out of my line of vision. I didn’t see it again and suspect it went well west, possibly towards the River Wyre. That sighting brought me to the edge of the wood where a single Whitethroat moved from the nettles into a clump of birch and a flock of about 25 Goldfinch flew from the top of the birch trees where they often are at this time of year. I walked up the track to see a couple of Skylark fluttering low around a rushy field and felt the first spots, 3pm.

On the way back to the car I heard the unusual, a Greenfinch. From all accounts it looks like trichomoniasis, or “frounce”, or “canker” is still around and maybe everyone should make an effort to report Greenfinch sightings, especially at feeding stations and gardens, but also make note of dead or dying Greenfinch?

Back at the car I watched some Swallows exploit a puddle of insects, then a single Buzzard circle over its usual copse before the rain closed in.

Poser

Alright, I’ve taken your picture, you can stop posturing. You might think you look pretty smart, your puffy out red breast, posing on a lump of wood, wings drooping to attention, showing off your backside but you’re pretty common aren’t you, not much of a find? Ten a penny in fact, why can’t you be a Siberian Blue Robin, something really exciting and exotic?

“Well sorry for not living up to your expectations or giving you a lifer mate. Please accept my apologies that I am not rare, just a common or garden Erithacus rubecula. But I think you should know I am fairly successful and well known, in fact a bit of a celeb. For instance, the readers of The Times voted me the most popular British bird, every Christmas I take a starring role on cards and postage stamps all over the world and some football clubs even like to name themselves after me. Have you never heard of The Robins? Did you know me and my mates are in pretty much every garden and there’s absolutely millions of us all over Europe?

And let me tell you, I have a pretty good sex life as well, just read up about me in BWP or on the Internet. I can get pretty much any female I want and if another bloke tries to muscle in or fancies his chances I can get pretty nasty you know. I don’t mess about; a bit of GBH will see him off pronto. In fact I am pretty hot stuff all around, so much so that last year alone I had fourteen kids and this year so far another twelve by two different birds at more or less the same time. And, keep it quiet but I had another bit on the side just in case.

Another thing you should know. I don’t hang about in the same old places like you, I get about a bit. Last week I was touring Norway, dropped into Ottenby then had a quick look over the North Sea, before stopping off at Spurn to get a brand new shiny ankle bracelet fitted for free where some ringers made quite a fuss of me. That night I took a leisurely flight over the Pennines so I could hang out near a few chums on the west coast for a few months. Found this regular spot where the old dear feeds me meal worms and wholemeal bread crumbs twice a day, can’t really go wrong, just have to keep one eye out for Tiddles, that bloody cat.

For now I’ll stick around here for a while but if I fancy a change I might hop on down to Spain for a bit of a break on some Costa then call in here later on my way back north where I can get some long summer days with plenty of juicy mosquitoes, non of your junk food for me.

So just show a bit of respect and remember all that next time you see me”.

OK Robin, no offence meant.

Not much "vis"

What a quiet morning. I was out reasonably early full of hope and expectation of seeing visible migration, surely some mipits either “tseeping” overhead or grounded at dawn? But no, I must have walked 100 yards at Fluke before I heard and saw anything apart from overflying gulls and the Lapwings that merge into the edge of the shore and green marsh. It was a couple of Snipe that broke my duck as they flew from the marsh amongst the Lapwings then off inland. I didn’t find any passerines for a while until I went down towards Ridge Farm where the usual Dunnocks hung out with a couple of Tree Sparrows.

I consoled myself with the thought that recording nothing or little at all is in fact a positive result. Work that out! Just then a single Pied Wagtail vissed over and I counted it.

On a partly harvested potato field I found 4 Stock Dove feeding quietly together with an Oystercatcher and two Curlew before I retraced my steps along the lane towards Fluke Hall Lane. A good number of Swallows, about 70, fed over the barley yet to be harvested and a few Linnets and Goldfinch flitted about the margins. I heard then saw a male Reed Bunting in the roadside hedge but I was pretty sure it wasn’t a migrant, Reed Buntings have been along this stretch of road all year, as have Linnets where I saw a pair nest building in May.

Just then I spotted a Barn Owl perched upright on a post nearby, just as it saw me and fled out of sight. It was now 0945, pretty late in the morning for a Barn Owl so I suppose they still have dependent young nearby.

Not one to “flog a dead horse” I decided to cut my losses and do a bit of leisurely ringing at home.

First to bounce out of the net was a Great-spotted Woodpecker but I caught a handful of common birds as well as watch a Sparrowhawk fly out from behind my Holly tree from where it was watching both my own and next door’s feeding stations. Such opportunists.

The pictures show a smart adult male Great Tit, a juvenile Blue Tit and a juvenile Wren.







Later I called at Hambleton to check my last Swallow nest to find one young alive, primary feathers still “in pin” and one dead one. Not totally surprising given the cold and rain of the last week but I am fearful that the single survivor may not make it given the lack of development over a week. Swallows that stay this late in leaving not much time to succeed are adopting a very risky strategy both for themselves and for the late young.

I duly entered the nest record detail on IPMR and tidied up the data on “outstanding nests”. It just remains to create a data file for BTO for all nests and I guess that is it for another year unless anyone out there knows of unfinished nests.

"Pinkie" time

A bit grotty again this morning. That seems to be the pattern of the weather at the moment, poor starts then clearing up a little later in the day when all the birds are that bit harder to find and I get home to my pottering or jobs to do.

I still needed to see the big brute digger in action and even though the bird blogs are full of pictures, how nice to get a feel of what the birds and the birders are going to get out of this. Yes I did see it close up, a mighty impressive bit of kit, probably a bit more expensive than the average farm tractor as I watched it cut a 500yard swathe through the old salt marsh in a matter of minutes guided by the tripod mounted laser. The sandy ditches created yesterday were already full of overnight rain. A group of a few dozen Swallows quickly latched onto the opportunities created as they flew around and through the clouds of earthy debris the machine spewed out.

An overhead Merlin had obviously been hanging around where the flock of 70 plus Goldfinch fed on a good thistle crop. Nice to see such a flock, but where are all the Linnets again?



Walking through the fields flushed about 10 Skylarks together with at least half a dozen Meadow Pipits although I am sure more would be hugging the ground against the wind.

My first Pink-footed Geese of the year appeared in the form of two single birds “ank-anking” as they flew in a south west direction. Now it's definitely Autumn. Pinkies just seem to get earlier each year, in fact there is probably a gap of only three months when I don’t see them.

Although the light was pretty poor, promises of blue, I managed a picture of a windblown Pied Wagtail on edge of the track, the only photo I grabbed all morning.

On the way back south I called into Lane Ends, the marsh shrouded in murky light and mizzle to see 1200 Lapwings and half as many Curlew, 140 Shelduck, and a lone Little Egret. Not a morning for walking to Pilling Water or Fluke Hall.

Maybe soon the sun will shine and I will get a full morning birding in?

A Swift End

I promise not to use the “w” word. You know, it starts in “w” ends in “r”. But I was quite determined to get out for a while today, even if it meant getting around a few spots, probably watching from the car in the hope that the sun might appear for a few seconds in between the “showers”, and the gale would ease.

So I started at Knott End as the tide began to run in backed by a very stiff north westerly. With a quick look along the shore, then a look off the jetty the immediately obvious obvious was the lack of Black-headed Gulls and Sandwich Terns, the gulls relocated onto wet fields and the terns moved on after a few days and nights blasting from the winds, while tucked up in bed I dreamt about rarer creatures. A few Lesser Blacks and Herring Gulls filled the vacancies on the shore created by the absent Black Headed Gulls.

The squalls came and went, the estuary water pitched up and down, as did my count of Eider not far off the jetty but I settled on a round thirty, a precise count impossible as the birds appeared then disappeared behind the troughs or became invisible through the rain. Half a dozen Shelduck mooched on the shore and a couple of parties of Knot numbering c2000 went up river towards Barnaby’s together with a couple of hundred Oystercatchers. I had the usual gaggle of Redshank below the jetty with fifteen Ringed Plover and a single Turnstone.

The Shelduck theme was repeated at Lane Ends where I counted 95 out on the marsh and spotted a Peregrine, waiting patiently as they do. A single Little Egret made an appearance from a ditch to fly west towards Fluke hall. Plenty of Lapwing and Curlew huddled on the green marsh but I was counting via binoculars, not daring to put up a scope this morning.

I had been tipped off that the RSPB’s “big wheel rotary ditcher” might make an appearance Over Wyre at Cockerham where plans are afoot to recreate some wader habitat.

Always one to seek out a easy tick I made my way to Cockerham, close to the spots that years ago, before draining, gave us Pectoral Sandpiper, on one memorable day several Wood Sandpipers, plus over the years many broods of Lapwings and Redshank to ring. It was a Lapwing from here at Cockerham first ringed in June 1987 that was found close by the same spot in July 2003, 16 plus years! Somewhat ironic that in those intervening years and after, Lapwings virtually disappeared as a breeding species, but here we are realising that actually it is better that Lapwings are around.



The RSPB tell us that, “the ditching machine is a giant rotating digger pulled by a tractor. Around ten times faster than a conventional digger, it chisels accurately through the surface of fields to create shallow ditches and pools that are excellent for wetland wildlife”. Anyway I saw it ploughing through the field, regurgitating soil out of its nether regions, flinging it up and away. It made one pass through the field, partly I think for the dozen or so spectators and their 4x4s gathered to watch, so I thought to return when the sun came out for a picture of the beast doing its best but in the meantime taking a quick look at Conder.

Well birding is never entirely predictable and whilst Conder is pretty consistent, there are obviously both species and numbers passing through there that I don’t catch up with, e.g. the elusive Wood Sandpiper and now Osprey! But it never bothers me, there‘s always the next day, and how much better to find these things yourself rather than on the whim of a pager or text message.

But, they were there, the Motley Crew, Kingfisher, Spot Red, Greenshank, Snipe and Grey Heron, but no star attractions, no celebrities. Even that Jeremy Lane guy couldn’t turn me up a lower down the bill Mediterranean Gull, just a few hundred common Black- headed Gull. Isn’t birding a local patch brilliant?



I stopped back at Braides just in time to see a single Swift fly over the fields as did several Swallows. But the party had ended, all the vehicles gone, even the super duper ditcher, just a single furrow to show, but some hopeful black & yellow field markers. Maybe it was a demonstration day, I must email my contact.