Where There’s A Will

When I looked out of the window this morning I thought I had made the wrong decision in deciding the morning ringing was off. There were rain drops still on my car suggesting a recent shower, the ground looked decidedly damp but it wasn’t raining anymore, the sky was quite bright and the wind was zero.

I went to the moss anyway to check out a few nests and generally weigh up the situation for a ringing session for the revised day of Tuesday. As I walked through the plantation in the shin high grass to my ever dampening trousers I realised I'd made the right decision. There’s nothing worse than an early morning ringing session traipsing through wet vegetation and the inevitable outcome that as soon as it’s time to pack up, the grass is just drying out but your wet feet and trousers aren’t.

The Whitethroats were busy feeding young this morning. The ones we ringed in the week were obviously still in the nest as the adults scolded me when I went close. A bit further away, a brood we just missed in the week when they were fledglings hiding away from us, no longer crouched motionless in the deep grass, but now called for food from the parents nearby, although from their size they were probably well able to fend for themselves.

Whitethroat
Whitethroats leave the nest very early, sometimes in as little as nine or ten days, and up along the track I found a very recently fledged short winged, short tailed youngster moving between a ditch and the adjacent peaty field, where it looked totally out of place on the dark soil rather than the thick vegetation where it should have stayed.

Whitethroat
In the plantation a Willow Warbler nest had tiny young, hatched in the last day only, so they will be ready for ringing next weekend.

A party of 7 Mistle Thrush on the peaty field made their way through the plantation where the nets would have been, but it’s no good complaining after the event. In any case I really wasn’t too concerned about missing the ringing when a party of 22 Long-tailed Tits passed me heading for the net rides! A ringer’s worst nightmare in the making.

As the breeding season progresses I have seen a good number of Goldfinch around lately, and this continued today with parties of fours and fives on the farm plus a few more Linnets, but nowhere near the numbers of the Goldfinch. On the fields and hedgerows I counted 35 Lapwings, 4 Corn Bunting, 6 Reed Bunting, 2 Yellowhammer, 3 Buzzards and 8/10 pairs of Whitethroat.

On the way home I checked out some Kestrels in a natural tree cavity, where from the adult’s behaviour they have small young. Looks like a ladder job in a week or two.

Kestrel
Back home the clouds rolled in, so with chores to do we decided to stay put for the afternoon and watch the finches that included lots of youngsters from our own and everyone else’s garden head for the feeders. I also put a net up and caught 7 Goldfinches and a House Sparrow before the rain came again.

Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Goldfinch
Goldfinch
Goldfinch
Goldfinch
Goldfinch
House Sparrow
So it wasn’t a bad day after all. You see, where there’s a will there’s usually a way.

Green Theme

The BBC changed the weather forecast for Sunday morning to rain which meant the original plan for a ringing session on Sunday might now involve a bit of Saturday birding as compensation followed by a Sunday lie in. So the “green” in question was my old favourite of Conder Green where on a bright sunny morning I promised myself an hour or two of birding in those magic hours before most people are up and about, when everywhere is quiet and birds are undisturbed by the comings and goings of us humans.

I looked from the inadequate screen, still without I note the necessary improvement to qualify as a “hide”, and counted the usual 7 Tufted Duck scattered across the water with the single drake Wigeon still unaccompanied by a pal or a mate. The female Oystercatcher sat on eggs on the island whilst around her, several more birds persisted in their chasing and display flights and a lone bird walked through the shallows in front of me, as did an obliging but slightly wary Lapwing that saw me but kept a safe distance away. In some field guides Lapwings are described as “black and white” and are often put in a category with black and white birds, but I always think of them as being various shades of iridescent green that can look black in flight or at a distance. There’s even a hint of purple at times. Regular readers of this blog will know of my enthusiasm for the Lapwing in all its glory, green, black, white or whatever colour.

Lapwing
Lapwing
Lapwing

Oystercatcher
The Grey Heron was around as usual, appearing from the direction of the canal, as did the Kestrel that hovered distant over the marsh for a while causing more Lapwings to gang up on it, when I counted 14 of them in the air together. In the creek I counted more than 30 Redshank, an increase on recent times which must be due to a post breeding influx, but 4 Curlew and 7 Shelduck was more consistent with recent numbers. Also feeding in the creek and squabbling with a Shelduck briefly was a single Little Egret, a bird I haven’t seen for a while but this bird is I guess from the ones breeding locally.

Grey Heron

Kestrel
Little Egret
I saw several groups of Goldfinch that added up to at least 20 individuals, adults plus I noted, recently fledged browner birds that lacked the colourful heads. Some of these young birds were still begging food, a sure sign of recent nestlings. Singing along the immediate hedgerow, on the marsh and towards the junction were Whitethroat, Reed Bunting and 2 Meadow Pipit, one of which posed on the roadside barrier for me.

Meadow Pipit
I should add the unfamiliar species, 4 Swift hawking insects over the hawthorns, and to emphasise the green topic, 4 Greenfinch along the roadside hedge but still as a whole this species is not visible in any numbers anywhere as far as I can see.

Now please excuse me while I check the latest forecast with finger crossed.

Barn Swallows

Barn Swallow is the correct name of course but here in the UK everyone still uses the everyday word of “Swallow” because we only have one really native swallow species, unlike the rest of the world e.g. North America where they need to distinguish between for instance Tree Swallow, Cliff Swallow and Rough-winged Swallow or Africa where there are several species of closely related swallows.

Barn Swallow
So I went to the smallholding at Hambleton where the Swallows use what aren’t exactly barns but simply untidy outbuildings that house chickens, horses, dogs, aviary birds and a collection of motorcycle bits and pieces in various states of disrepair.

The nest where I ringed six young on the 5th June still had the same six, but now well developed and ready to fledge in a few days more.

Swallow Chicks
Checking all the nests I found three of them with young at various stages of development, the just mentioned well grown brood, a nest with newly hatched, and a nest with 5 young about 5 or 6 days old that were large enough for ringing with their unique identifiers, X515384 to X515388. Of the remaining nests, five had complete clutches of eggs with a newly lined nest still awaiting eggs.

Swallow Chick
With the adults returning frequently to the nests I took the opportunity for more photographs. But with all the nests at various stages I will make many more visits before the end of the season when I guess I will not resist the temptation of taking yet more Barn Swallow pictures.

Swallow
Swallow

What A Lark

Lots of the UK bird blogs bemoan the fact that it’s now summer and birds are hard to find. I know some birders even hang up their bins for a while and go into a mid summer torpor waiting for migration to start up again. I’m fortunate in that if birding is quiet I can do a bit of ringing even though that is quiet too, or a bit of photography if the inactive or hiding away birds allow me.

So I set off on the well worn path Lane Ends to Pilling Water with a set of pliers and rings, “A” for Meadow Pipits, “B” for Skylarks, and “D2” for Redshank and Lapwing in the side pocket of my camera bag. Bins at the ready I ditched my ‘scope for the morning, already weighed down with equipment enough, the heavy thought that I might not see or do a lot, plus the burden of a jacket worn against the cool northerly.

Lane Ends had the usual mix of stuff, a couple of singing Chaffinch with singles of Blackcap, Reed Warbler and a Whitethroat alongside the west fence. I didn’t hear any Willow Warblers, even the contact calls of adults feeding young, so maybe they have been unsuccessful here this year.

Chaffinch
Blackcap
Reed Warbler
On the pools I counted 6 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Grebe and the resident Grey Heron. Things were so quiet I even took time out to take a picture of a clump of an orchid in the plantation. I think its Early Purple Orchid but I’m not really a plant man so I dedicate this picture to my friends from Menorca – Jane and Alan, together with Nigel and Elizabeth who all tried to educate me recently and who would easily confirm my Internet assisted identification.

Early Purple Orchid
There was a similar amount of bird inactivity towards Pilling Water, where out on the marsh several Redshank and Lapwing warned their young of my presence but they were safe enough from me if they stuck to the distant ditches. I counted several hirundines feeding along the sheltered back of the wall, and also 8 Swift, notable this year, which seemed to move quickly west in the direction of Fluke Hall.

I took time out to try and photograph a Skylark or two in less than ideal conditions of the wind and a sometimes bright but not blue sky. The Skylarks should have young by now but I couldn’t see any evidence with the half a dozen birds I found still engrossed in displaying, singing and courtship rather than collecting food.

Skylark
Skylark
Skylark
Skylark
In recent times the Skylark population plummeted so that today the population is about one-third of the numbers 30 years ago. The decline is most likely caused by the move to winter sowing of cereals, which deters late-season nesting attempts and may reduce winter survival because there is less stubble, such as barley and wheat, and also the use of pesticides, which kills the insects needed to feed the young. Consequently, it is on the Red List as a bird of high conservation concern.

The Skylark is the subject of much poetry, "To a Skylark" by William Wordsworth is perhaps one of the better known:
Up with me! up with me into the clouds!
For thy song, Lark, is strong;
Up with me, up with me into the clouds!
Singing, singing,
With clouds and sky about thee ringing,
Lift me, guide me till I find
That spot which seems so to thy mind!

Well the weather forecast looks much better for weekend so my prediction is for a ringing session or two and a catch of recently fledged youngsters and moulting adult birds.

Head for The Hills

After a full day of rain yesterday I just had to get out somewhere today. Because Will lives up near the hills we decided a run around in a vehicle looking over walls and hedgerows into wader fields might be fruitful. Most of the upland Lapwings have large chicks now but we hoped that the slightly later Oystercatchers and Curlews could have ringable chicks as long as they weren’t too big and able to run faster than our two pairs of much older, slightly dodgy legs.

Up beyond Calder Vale and towards the Bleasdale fells we found a couple of suitable fields where Curlew normally breed; where the ever watchful adults give the game away by flying around excitedly overhead and giving out warning calls to the young at the approach of predators like gulls, crows or humans.

Curlew
Curlew
Curlew Country
We found two broods of young, each of four, and managed to find 7 out of 8 as the young scattered and ran. Some had to wait their turn for ringing or to be reunited with parents and siblings, out of harms way from inquisitive dairy cows. It’s hard to believe that these little bundles grow into large Curlews, but then looking at those gigantic feet, maybe not.

Curlew Chick
Curlew Chick
One of the broods had one chick distinctly paler than its siblings, and also it didn’t seem quite as strong or healthy so we chose not to ring this bird before we released them all.

Curlew Chicks
I had checked my nest records on IPMR last night to see that the Whitethroat nest at Rawcliffe Moss should be ready, so we called at the farm to hopefully ring the five young. There were five chicks with wing feathers just poking from the sheaths with their legs nicely developed to adult dimensions, an ideal size at which to ring chicks. The photograph shows just three of them.

Whitethroat Chicks
A Willow Warbler nest last checked on 3rd June still contained warm eggs and a Swallow nest had 5 naked and blind young about 2 days old, so a double visit in 5 days time sounds about right.

Looking west, rain threatened for the afternoon as a flock of about 70 Lapwings took to the air: at this rate it will soon be autumn.

Lapwing
I changed the last header photo of the blog from Scops Owl to a Sparrowhawk portrait, hope you like it.

Six Of The Best

Mist netting is a little quiet at the moment whilst birds sit tight brooding eggs or young and the males stay on their territory without straying through new parts of the ringing site where the nets might catch them. But there is nest checking and ringing of the nestlings to follow up and that’s what I did this morning when I checked out 9 Swallow nests at Hambleton and Out Rawcliffe. At the first nest I had thought last week there were five young but when I actually took them out for ringing, there were six, all desperate for a feed as the morning’s cleaning out of dogs, horses and chickens kept the parent Swallows from visiting the nest as often as they wanted. When the cockerels finished squaring up there would be more feathers for the Swallows.

Swallow Chicks
Swallow
Swallow
Squaring Up
Of the remaining nests one had not moved on from last week’s lining stage, five nests remain at egg stage of either four or five eggs but I suspect one had been abandoned. A new nest containing two eggs has appeared in an old door-less garage and this may be the pair from the deserted nest. I now go weekly to keep tabs on any changes and ascertain exactly how advanced are the nests with eggs.

At Rawcliffe I ringed four young from a nest where they were at the same stage as the Hambleton birds, with wing feathers still “in pin”, not yet merging from the wing sheaths, or “IP” as the Integrated Population Monitoring and Recording (IPMR) Nest Record code dictates. Another pair on 4 eggs I will check in seven days.

Other birds I saw out here included singing Yellowhammer, Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Goldfinch and a daytime calling Little Owl from a location I know.

Little Owl
Yellowhammer
On the subject of owls, it seems that several people have been told “in confidence” about a recent breeding pair of Long-eared Owl. Some of the individuals trusted with this information are about the least discreet people imaginable so we can be sure that the secret is now well and truly in the public domain. The nesting Long-eared Owls have had their cover blown at Marton where for the last several weeks they remained undisturbed by the curious, the listers, the pager devotees, the unscrupulous photographers or the simply ignorant, all of whom would target the birds. Perhaps it’s best that one site becomes known in order to spare other locations from endless lines of people gouging paths through the vegetation in order to needlessly gawp. You see, if there’s one pair there are others out there, honest.

Long-eared Owl

Lapwings Etc.

I went to Lane Ends and Pilling Water for a walk this morning, still hoping to find and ring a Lapwing or two as well as check out my Redshank nest from last week. As I thought, the Redshank didn’t stand a chance with no sign of the nest or either of the adults in what was a hopeless situation for them a yard or two from the top of the sea wall with all its passing traffic of humans, sheep and Environment Agency vehicles.

Near the entrance to Lane Ends I spotted the pair of Grey Partridge that have been in the area for some weeks now almost incongruous in the bare fields overgrazed by the numerous sheep. The plantation was pretty quiet, with both the Sedge Warbler and Reed Warbler of recent weeks seemingly absent. Still singing were 3 Willow Warblers and the ever present Reed Bunting, giving out that monotonous but highly distinctive song from the overgrown ditch below the car park. On the pools I counted 7 Tufted Duck and 2 Little Grebe with 2 Oystercatcher flying in to perch briefly on the fence posts and a Grey Heron that flew off squawking loudly when I appeared. From the top of the sea wall I watched a party of Long-tailed Tits containing recently fledged young move through the tree tops as they called to each other constantly.

Reed Bunting
Grey Heron

I passed the spot where the Redshank used to be where just a little further on I walked into the territory of the Meadow Pipit pair. The male was on the mandatory fence post sending out a quiet tinkling warning call to the female sat somewhere close, but they weren’t collecting food just yet. At Pilling Water I was surprised to find 5 drake Teal, that flew off and around on my arrival, but landed back on the water. I supposed they could be failed or non breeders returning to a familiar autumn and winter haunt.

Meadow Pipit
Teal

Out on the marsh I realised there were quite a lot of Lapwings, certainly upwards of 60, scattered to the left, right and further out towards the sands. It is a familiar sight enough once June is under way, and these Lapwings comprise all of the failed and non breeding local birds of the year together with the small numbers of young produced.

Up towards Fluke Hall warning cries of an overhead Lapwing told me that there were young birds close by, in fact probably within catching distance if I was quick. Finding crouching, motionless, cryptic Lapwing chicks is never easy, but I located and ringed 2 chicks, my first and possibly last of the year at Pilling.

Lapwing
Lapwing Chick
Lapwing Chicks
Even further on I studied two more well grown chicks; sometimes they fly, sometimes they don't, and just crouch hoping their plumage will hide them against the background. If they stay put it’s another ring fitted and more information gained on the declining Lapwing. Well if they are "fliers" it's too bad, you can’t win them all.

A Juvenile Lapwing
A Lapwing “Flier”
And talking of overgrazing, these sheep did well munching this grass to such a fine finish. But sometimes all is not as it seems!