Early Doors

This morning was the first for more than a week without rain and/or wind, so a spot of mist netting beckoned. I went to Rawcliffe alone this morning because Will has gone fishing to Scotland for a week and as punishment for being unavailable for ringing, has strict orders to bring back a large salmon.

At the beginning of the farm track a number of birds mobbed a Tawny Owl then further down near the barn my car disturbed two early rising Kestrels which took off over the fields. As the days shorten the start time remains dawn, the hour a bit more civilised, but early enough to see Roe Deer searching through the crop fields of the moss.

Roe Deer

The chore is putting up nets alone so I made do with a little less, catching reasonably well if only in a couple of bursts. I caught a total of 17 birds, 16 new with only one recapture, a Whitethroat. New birds were 4 Willow Warbler, 2 Chiffchaff, 5 Whitethroat, 1 Dunnock, 1 Reed Bunting, 1 Sedge Warbler, 1 Wren and 1 Robin.

Chiffchaff
Wren in post breeding juvenile moult
Robin
Sedge Warbler
Willow Warbler
Reed Bunting

The morning sky was completely clear with a touch of haze and no cloud, hardly the best for visible migration and I wasn’t surprised when I recorded nil movement apart from a dawn Golden Plover and a dozen or two Swallows.

I was finishing off the last bird a Wren, definitely time to finish then, ready to take down the nets when in the distance I spotted a large raptor heading north. The Buzzards have been pretty secretive around here so I took a look through my bins to see a Marsh Harrier flying fairly purposefully, pausing briefly to hover legs dangling, over a large, isolated, distant hawthorn. I changed from my short lens and grabbed a few hazy shots, the story of my life, as the bird motored on over towards Pilling Moss.

Marsh Harrier
Marsh Harrier
A good morning and maybe it wasn't the end of the summer after all?

Tempus Fugit

There’s not a lot to report, a quick visit to Conder Green then a brief afternoon sortie to Knott End as time was of the essence today.

All the waders bar one seemed to be in the creek this morning, 2 Spotted Redshank up to their bellies, 2 Ruff, 3 Greenshank, 2 Common Sandpiper, 55 Lapwing, 28 Redshank, 4 Curlew, 1 Snipe and a lone Grey Heron, whilst over at the back of the pool a single Black-tailed Godwit played hide and seek behind the island. In the hawthorns by the screen hide a Lesser Whitethroat showed briefly but preferred to stay hidden while alarm calling. The flock of Goldfinch are rapidly depleting the thistles and I counted only 10 birds this morning.

Spotted Redshank
Goldfinch
Grey Heron

Braides Farm is major disappointment this year and even though I have permission to survey the land it has been so dry until recently that I haven’t walked the track for months. I stopped in the gateway today where in the distance I could see a Wheatear and an overflying Little Egret.

A combined shopping expedition and walk along Knott End promenade at lunchtime was fairly productive with at least 1500 Oystercatchers coming off the river to head towards the high tide roost, with a small flock of 18 Dunlin, plus 4 Grey Plover, and then bobbing on the sea 25+ Eider. Watching from near the jetty it was interesting to note a diurnal movement of Swallows come from the Fleetwood direction, cross the estuary and then head east into the wind and follow the tideline towards Preesall, in all about 30 birds in 15 minutes. I didn’t count the gulls; suffice to say that there were several hundred Herring Gulls, a couple of hundred Black-headed Gulls, plus 8 Sandwich Terns.

Not much to report and not much in the way of pics today either but my fingers are crossed for some ringing in the morning because outside my office the wind doth subside a little.

Eider
I've just realised that tomorrow is my first birthday, the day I started the blog. How time flies when your having fun. This is the first post.

http://anotherbirdblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/well-i-did-easy-bit.html

Almost

I hoped to get pictures when the Marsh Harrier appeared for the fourth time in a week. I was sat in my usual spot on the sea wall at Pilling when the harrier appeared from the fields at the back of the sea wall behind, just as the commotion amongst the shoreline birds caused me to look left and spot the raptor fly over the wall. All the time it flew out towards the distant tide line, heading away and then east towards Lane Ends car park where some lucky souls with ‘scopes out probably got better views than I. The best I could do I’m afraid, nearly there.

Marsh Harrier

The high tides continue for a while which makes the birding irresistible even though it’s hardly the best weather for sitting on an exposed sea wall with continuing showers and strong wind. The page of my notebook reads much like yesterday’s entry. Curlew continue to pile in with at least 700 again, 185 Lapwing only as the majority stick to wet fields inland, 15 Redshank, but I don’t know where all their numbers are, 13 Grey Plover, 1 Greenshank, 3 Snipe, 2 Common Sandpiper, 30 Dunlin and 10 Ringed Plover. Further out were the usual miscellaneous wildfowl, 3 Great-crested Grebe, 7 Cormorant, 28 Shelduck, and 2 Grey Heron outnumbered again by 12 Little Egret.

Lapwing
Greenshank
Shelduck

A Peregrine put in a brief appearance to spook everything before heading west towards Knott End. Two Kestrels noted again today. Passerines logged today were 30 Goldfinch on a patch of thistles, 10 Linnet, 2 Meadow Pipit, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Skylark and 1 Wheatear on the wheatear rocks.

Wheatear

The high tides and rain this week caused some flooding in a low lying part of Hambleton village when the River Wyre burst its banks last night. Today I went to a higher part of the village to ring my last two broods of Swallows. I say the last because there are no birds on eggs at the moment, just a nest ready to fledge any moment plus the final one due to fledge in about ten days. It doesn’t seem that long ago when we looked forward to the arrival of Swallows. In total I have ringed 45 Swallow chicks from 13 broods at this site. This is an about average year only and it may be that the poor weather of the last four weeks played a part in there being no further egg laying.

Swallow
Swallow

I'm Positive

It’s been a tough week. I got soaked to the skin twice; a third day I received a thorough wetting as well as being almost blown into next week by the strong westerly; and then damn it, the mist nets must remain packed away until the weather improves. On three occasions the Marsh Harrier wouldn’t cooperate at the end of the lens and nor could I get photos of any other winged creature. Then yesterday to cap it all, a birder with I might say a history of dodgy records and something of a reputation, cast doubt upon my ability to count 10 Little Egrets on my regular patch of 25 years. If there are three words guaranteed to wind up a birder, they are “Are you sure?” It got so bad that last night I thought about packing in bird watching, perhaps buy a pager subscription to Birdguides, swap in the 4x4 Suzuki for something fast with a dashboard satnav and then wait for someone else to find some interesting birds for me.

But then I slept on it, read some really nice supportive comments on the blog from friends near and far that reinvigorated my enthusiasm, then this morning I set off for Pilling after calling in at Damien’s brilliant Knott End fish shop for some brain food.

At Knott End jetty there wasn’t a lot along the river with the channel being as low as I have ever seen it following this week’s high tides. There were 7 Meadow Pipits and 4 Pied Wagtails, plus a small gaggle of Redshanks, and out in the narrow channel, near the Isle of Man ferry, a couple of Sandwich Terns feeding back and forth. A rainbow hung over Fleetwood in a sky as black as my boots but behind me the sun shone and lit the ferry in a halo of optimistic light.

Redshank
Fleetwood Morning

I think Kestrels bred close to Lane Ends, there have been two or three about for a week or two, just like this morning when one fence hopped and followed me virtually to Pilling Water.

Kestrel

Six more wagtails, and 8 Meadow Pipits around the dyke, Pied I think without being able to study them too close in the still strong wind, but Meadow Pipits that are perhaps from Iceland do often arrive with wagtails that might or might not be White Wagtails from Iceland. However it certainly looks like the Meadow Pipit autumn migration has begun in earnest. There was a single Wheatear again this morning which briefly sat up on the rocks where I should really have put a spring trap. I counted 2 Common Sandpiper and several hundred Curlew with a couple of Snipe rushing from the marsh, but didn’t wait for the tide today. Instead I walked to the wildfowler’s pool near Fluke in the hope of seeing the Teal. I did indeed see Teal, probably 200, the numbers rapidly increased since the first arrivals about two weeks ago. The Teal aren’t put down by the wildfowlers, they are wild as wild can be and simply take advantage of the sacks of food put out for the shoot’s bought in Mallards.

Meadow Pipit
Wheatear
Common Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper

There seemed to be a few more House Martins around this morning, with probably 20 or so hawking around the dyke and outflow, but in contrast Swallows were thin until the temperatures rise a little.

I first heard and then saw the Green Sandpiper today, spooked with Mallards from the wildfowler’s pools before diving quickly back in. A Sparrowhawk here as well.

Little Egret? Fourteen today, I’m positive.

Little Egret

Ticking And Trying

It doesn’t get any easier filling this blog, except that is with words, the pictures are a bit harder to come by. I had lots of birds when out birding today but despite the camera to hand I couldn’t get any decent photographs. If only birds had no wings and couldn’t fly? So if one or two of these pictures look familiar they are from the archive and appear so as to illustrate the birding time. But at least the news herein is current and complete.

There was a high tide due at just midday and for once the sun shone for the time being, so I made my way towards Pilling where the rising tide concentrates the birds. At Lane Ends car park a party of titmice included at least one Willow Warbler and whilst I didn’t linger in counting the other birds, I noticed a couple of Robins give out their “tic”calls, a sure sign of autumn. Like many other birds Robins go almost completely silent during their autumn moult, only re-finding their voice as autumn arrives with their territorial or warning “tic” call and their distinctive autumn song which is softer and more melancholy than the spring one. Also a male Robin’s song is of greater duration and contains more diverse phrases then the female song.

Robin

Pilling Water and beyond towards Fluke Hall is probably the best place for watching the incoming tide, so I made my way down there on the seaward side to avoid the blustery south westerly wind. I got half way then scanned back over Cockerham Marsh and Lane Ends itself where Sod’s Law really swung into action with a Marsh Harrier that came off the marsh and flew slowly over the pools and plantation where I had stood ten minutes earlier. I think it probably went out of my sight line and east back towards Cockerham because I didn’t see it again.

First I looked for the birds always around, and counted 12 Linnet, 7 Goldfinch, 2 Common Sandpiper, 2 Kestrel and 1 Pied Wagtail. There was a single Wheatear and my first real numbers of autumn Meadow Pipits with 10 or 12 along the shore and near the outflow. I sat and counted the Swallows about, some of which were obvious migrants as they hurried through south west; I came to a count of 40+, with one Swift and 6 local House Martin.

Pied Wagtail
Common Sandpiper

I turned my attention to the tide, and after yesterday I made a determined attempt at Curlew counting; 750+ was my result, hardly unexpected or original but quite satisfying. Other waders: 15 Redshank, 45 Golden Plover, 3 Grey Plover, 40 Dunlin, 17 Ringed Plover and a Green Sandpiper over in the wildfowler’s ditches. On the incoming tide were 9 Cormorant and 4 Great-crested Grebe, with herons represented by one each of Grey Heron and Little Egret. It’s interesting that my count of 9 Little Egrets here last week was a one off for now, but they too have a post breeding dispersal which isn’t necessarily obvious to casual watchers.

Redshank

The Peregrines were about again today, a clearly juvenile bird, very fuzzy faced and brown underneath, in contrast to an adult male with clear cut facial marks. Unlike on many previous occasions when I have watched two or more Peregrines interact which I ascribed to family bonds, these two keep a distance apart, hunt separately, and head off in different directions. It was the juvenile bird that in the distance caught a rather large bird in mid-air then laboured towards the shore carrying the prey before dropping it amongst roosting gulls and Curlews. Rather strangely I though it didn’t attempt to retrieve the meal. Below there is a very bad, distant shot of the Peregrine, the best I could get in amongst the pretty good birding. I am trying, honest.

Peregrine

Déjà Vu

I snuck out for an hour or two this morning to Pilling when the girls went shopping to Poulton on the bus. Kids nowadays just travel in cars and Olivia was so excited at the prospect of going shopping with her Nana it was a joy to watch Olivia's face as she stood waiting in anticipation for the number 2C to appear.

As I jumped out of the car almost simultaneously looking out to the marsh I got the unmistakeable thought that I had been here before when I saw a Marsh Harrier fly from the Cockerham direction, then left and west towards Pilling Water, just as it or a different one did on Saturday. Not content with that identical entrance, this one also went a long way into the distance, off towards Cockersands. If it's the same bird as Saturday’s I guess it heads west and then circuits the marsh out near the tide line but stays around the general area; if it was a different bird then it sure was a coincidental encounter. But local patches can be like that with birding days much like another.

When I arrived at Pilling Water the fine but wetting heavy drizzle had already started. Nothing new there then, so I sat under the big elderberry tree that gives a little bit of shelter plus a view over the marsh and outlet but also in both directions along the sea wall.

As I looked left towards the gate a few alarm calling Swallows alerted me to a Stoat that ran along the rocks towards me, and as Stoats do it stopped and peered at me before it went on its way. I frequently see Stoats here, I’ve even seen one swim the width of Broadfleet as the tide came in, but it’s not always they let anyone get too close. They make a living from the local bunnies and ducks around the pool but I think the lack of successful Meadow Pipit and Skylark nests in the immediate area has more than a little to do with the cute but deadly Stoat. Near the gate I watched 2 Wheatears and a Meadow Pipit dispute the best lookout post as they switched between the gate itself, the barbed fence and the metal rails of the sluice gate.

Stoat
Wheatear
Meadow Pipit

I settled down as best I could on the uncomfortable, damp rocks looking for the harrier which I didn’t see. Instead I saw 2 Peregrine, a brownish juvenile and a more striking adult, both sat on the distant marsh before each went their separate ways after a few minutes sitting in the pouring rain. A Kestrel flew past close by and veered off quickly, it initially hadn’t seen me under the tree. Along the outflow I could see 2 Common Sandpipers, 2 Pied Wagtails, 1 Grey Heron and 1 Little Egret and then further out a Greenshank triple called, but by now the visibility was so bad I didn’t see it. With the rising tide there were lots of Curlew and Redshank flying back and forth, but in the conditions impossible to count precisely.

Grey Heron

I heard the Hi-fly quad bike in the pools, duck feeding time which had the effect of disturbing over 50 Teal from the pools as the flock flew off swift and sure to the distant tideline where they joined about 40 Shelduck. What a superb flier is the Teal, no wonder they are the sportsman’s prize.

Teal

The rain closed in and began to drip through the elderberry as across the bay Heysham melted into the mizzle. Yet again I felt distinctly wet and this was for real so I called it a day. But as ever it had been a rewarding hour or two.

It’s That Rain Again

Willies and Whites

Will and I both clocked dawn “on the way” birds this morning on our respective journeys to Rawcliffe but he beat me easily today with a Barn Owl sitting on a roadside fence at St Michael’s village, to which my pathetic riposte was a Kestrel sitting above the road at the start of the farm track. He does it every week, last week Grey Partridge, and now this.

Kestrel
Barn Owl

Afterwards it was a quiet, slow ringing session on the moss and it was just as well that for contingency purposes we took a couple of garden chairs to sit on between net rounds. Naturally we made sure the chairs sat on the topmost part of the road so we could monitor any overhead or close by bird traffic.

We caught 15 birds of 3 species, which isn’t a terrific result given the nets we set and the time spent, but thankfully our ringing isn’t a competition or a quest for ticks in a book.

We perhaps expected Willow Warblers and weren’t disappointed with 7 caught, 5 new and 2 recaptures, both adults still in the throes of completing their full moult before they can head south. We caught 6 Whitethroats, 4 new and 2 recaptures. Again the recaptured Whitethroats were adults already partially through their moult. We really must not complain as those warblers represented our 88th new Whitethroat and our 67th new Willow Warbler for the site in 2010.

A characteristic of the warblers we have caught this year has been the lack of visible fault bars on the tails of young birds. In a normally wet spring and early summer this is such a noticeable feature that when we caught a young Whitethroat with obvious fault bars near the bottom of the tail, we both remarked on how few similar we had seen in the many dozens of post breeding young warblers handled this year. The better tail feather condition must be related to the fine weather in May and June, which allowed the adults to feed the young more consistently plus find the necessary nutritional food more frequently.

The two other birds caught were a lone Treecreeper plus a juvenile Dunnock.

Adult Whitethroat in wing moult
Whitethroat – juvenile with tail fault bars
Willow Warbler
Treecreeper

Birding wise we had a greater variety than found the nets, with 2 Chiffchaff, a party of 9 Tree Sparrow, a single Sedge Warbler now that they have mostly left, several Linnet, plus 15 Goldfinch. Overhead or close by birds came as groups of 5 Snipe and 3 Golden Plover, 50+ Swallows, 15 House Martin, 11 Stock Dove, 2 Jay, 5 Greylag and the preordained 3 or 4 Buzzards, the hungry young still calling from the nearest woods.

I am loathe to mention the distant calling Quail because this as a lone record may appear on another web site as the sole record of avifauna on Rawcliffe Moss today, plucked from Will’s and my considerable endeavours above and presented not for the first time as the only bird seen in this several square miles of bird rich habitat, listed as a trophy bird to target, to the exclusion of all other less important species. But such a singular record of a call only bird, out of context, out of time, devoid of reason or explanation is meaningless and pointless.

Quail