Back To Earth

After the excitement and interest of Saturday’s several Brambling and tubby Blackbirds today was something of an anti-climax when the strong wind put paid to hopes of more ringing. However as always I signed in Blogger to report about my gentle jog around a couple of spots which ended when the fine Sunday morning hordes sent me scurrying back home for a bit of peace and quiet.

At Fluke Hall Lane the darkest of the stubbly fields was favoured this morning by Redshanks, with at least 120 taking advantage of the recent thaw, but lesser numbers of 30 or so Lapwing, a species which prefers the flatter fields towards Cockerham, where I didn’t venture today.

Alongside the lane and into the near wood my car disturbed at least 7 Redwing, 8 Blackbird and a little party of Chaffinch, less than 10 in fact.

Redwing

Beyond Fluke Hall in the Ridge Farm fields were thousands of Pink-footed Goose and the now regular crowd of several hundred Jackdaws, but I didn’t approach the geese for fear of flushing them from their feeding. I needn’t have worried because no sooner had I decided to stay put than someone else, walking too close to the hedge, sent the geese swarming up and over the sea wall to the relative safety of the shore. There were at least 1500, with a hundred or so left in the peaty field near to me, plus 15 Lapwing and another 30+ Redshank, all partly hidden by the furrows of soil.

Pink-footed Geese

At Damside I watched at least 170 Woodpigeon come out of the game cover as Hi-fly quad-man came piled-up with feed for the ducks, the pigeons and the crows. This shooting lark is an expensive and time consuming business when the quad bike does daily drops with several sacks of best wheat; no wonder then that Quad Man switched into Environment Agency Lambing Season Man mode and did his best to deter people from using the footpath that goes alongside the shoot but is supposedly closed until Easter – try telling that to those who have already vandalised a new sign at Lane Ends and have a god given right to walk their pooches wherever they fancy.

Both pools at Lane Ends remain bird less and mostly frozen but I spent a little time there watching 18 Blackbirds and about 15 Redwings turning over the leaf litter to search the earth below, initially picking out each new Redwing by the flurry of leaves, so well do their brown tones merge into the ground cover. A single Song Thrush looked on, with 15 Chaffinch, 2 Reed Bunting, male & female, plus the now regular Treecreeper, Robins and Dunnocks, a single Pied Wagtail and 40 or more Woodpigeons. The Woodpigeons now roost in the same wooded island spot that the Little Egrets used until the cold weather drove them out.

Reed Bunting
Woodpigeon

From the sea wall the tide due in three or four hours lay distant, and out there I counted up to 60 large, white, mostly I guess the regular Whooper Swans, with more hidden in the far off channel. A quick and rough count of the also distant Shelduck came to 750+, while our little Merlin friend sat on Big Log, also waiting for the tide and something to happen.

Prospects for the week ahead look reasonable with Will reporting Siskins, Goldfinches and the odd Redpoll coming back to his garden. All we need now is a kind spell of weather and my hopeful header may become prophetic.

How To Stay Positive……………

and go birding again. Yes, it has been a little problematical in the last week or so after constant grey days and the wintry sameness of the birding. Then after last night’s dire weather forecast there’s always the temptation to stay in with a cup of coffee and spend a few seconds reading The Sun from back to front. But you can’t keep a good birder down, using of course “good” in its meaning of virtue rather than skilled birding excellence, as anyone who knows me would agree. So I arranged with Will to meet at our site near Lancaster, have a look around, put food out for the birds, and if the promised snow, rain and 20mph winds didn’t materialise, put up a net or two.

The site is sheltered from the wind blowing from certain directions, and after a quick look around we put up two nets, one in the “icebox” and one through the beech saplings where the Bramblings have hung about in recent weeks. The icebox is so called because it is down in the depths of the trees but wide open to the often easterly wind that gusts viciously across the railway line. But it wasn’t snowing, and there was even a little sunshine – wow!

To sum up we had a successful couple of hours catching a reasonable number of birds of valued species. We caught 18 new birds with 3 recaptures: 7 Brambling, 2 Great Tit, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Dunnock, 1 Chaffinch and 6 Blackbird. Recaptures were 1 Brambling, 1 Great Tit and 1 Blackbird. This brought the ringing group's total of Bramblings caught this winter to 59 individuals.

Brambling
Brambling - juvenile male with contrasting coverts
Brambling - juvenile male
Great Tit

A recent email message from a blog reader told of almost 30 Bramblings in a Lancashire garden, all of which were males, a very unusual and surprising majority of the unfair sex. However I responded to the writer to say that in the field the differences between males and females may not be always clear cut, especially with adult winter birds where the male shows black-blue crown feathers and the female blackish crown feathers. However the difference is not always as clear cut as the two individuals below.

Brambling

The 7 Blackbirds caught this morning brought the ringing group’s total of the species this year to 24 individuals. When entering ringing data on IPMR a day ago the system “bleeped” me for a Blackbird entry to say that 140grams is the maximum weight for that species; but it is interesting that so far in 2011 every single one of 24 Blackbirds has carried fat reserves, with weights varying between 111 and 141 grams, with several in the high 130s and an overall average of 123.17 grams.

Other birds seen this morning on our feeding, birding and in-between net round rounds: 2 Bullfinch, 2 Jay, 2 Nuthatch, Treecreeper and 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker, one of which drummed away on a hollow tree in a very positive and optimistic manner. Just like us really.

What A Choice

A problem for me at 9am: 1) go shopping with Sue to M&S and her Christmas Vouchers, joining the other poor souls at the man-chairs feigning interest at their better half’s latest pair of shoes, or 2) go birding.

As I drove through Stalmine and Pilling, along Burned House Lane, Head Dyke and then Lambs Lane it was obvious that more than a few waders had found their way back to the post-thaw fields so unusually quiet in recent weeks. At Lambs Lane I had counted 160 Curlew, 45 Lapwing and countless gulls on the now wet fields. Blackbirds scattered from the roadside at Wheel Lane and Fluke Hall Lane, continuing the theme of recent days, and by the time I reached the wood my Blackbird count reached a rough and ready 25. I tried counting the masses of Jackdaws near the wood and the nearby fields but gave up at 600+.

The somewhat elusive Whooper Swans on the Fluke Hall stubble were indeed hard to fathom this morning as one lone bird hung around the flood, and during the morning I managed to count only 11 birds in total. At Damside and Backsands Lane I found 2 Pied Wagtails, 6 Meadow Pipits and a very good selection of waders on the flooded field: 64 Black-tailed Godwit, 90 Dunlin, 160 Lapwing, 24 Redshank and even a few Oystercatchers, now able to probe the wet rather than frozen fields. The light was poor again this morning, as the “noise” in the Pied Wagtail picture at ISO400 confirms.

Oystercatcher
Black-tailed Godwit
Pied Wagtail

I stopped in the car park at Lane Ends where I counted 17 Redwings and 12 Blackbirds feeding on the ground close to the doggy walking path, until of course a doggy walker disturbed then scattered them into the trees. 2 more Pied Wagtails here plus 15/20 Chaffinch finding bits of food amongst the giant flower pots where it looks like someone may have strewn nyjer seed.

Chaffinch

From the sea wall I watched a Peregrine beating up the shore birds, back and forth a few times, until it landed preyless on the log. There were a number of Skylarks flying about, flushed by the incoming tide, and between here and Pilling Water I counted more than 30 of them. Just 1 Little Egret in the ditch today, but I am sure they will be back in numbers if the weather stays kind.

At Pilling Water I found a Rock Pipit and 10 Linnets along the shore, with a tight flock of 1000+ Dunlin, more Redshank, and as the tide ran in a Brown Hare loped from the filling marsh.

Brown Hare
Dunlin

It was Number 2 but now I have to pay for my sins by making a Spaghetti Bolognese and opening a bottle of red, therefore excuse me, I must sign off.

Plan B

It was yet another cold, dark-grey, full cloud morning and I didn’t fancy yet more photography at ISO800 or above so vowed to stay home, catch up with IPMR records and sort through other paperwork clogging up the desk. Then when we finally opened the bedroom curtains there seemed to be a number of Blackbirds in the back garden, just as there had been everywhere else in the last day or two. In fact there were 12 or more Blackbirds, 4 Fieldfares and a single Redwing.

I tried a couple of shots at ISO400 and 1/50 but quickly gave up in favour of Plan B, paperwork plus a bit of ringing. The Fieldfares seemed to have dropped their aggressive behaviour to each other and the Blackbirds as today they fed a decent distance apart without expending energy chasing off other birds.

I caught 7 Blackbirds, 1 Fieldfare, 3 Robin and 2 Coal Tit, the Fieldfare the first one caught in my garden. Within fifteen minutes of catching the Fieldfare it was back feeding on the windfall apples and learning from its experience, neatly avoided the net for the next hour or two.

Fieldfare
Fieldfare
Fieldfare
Blackbird
Blackbird

Robin
Coal Tit

It was very interesting that all of the Blackbirds carried visible fat reserves with their weights varying between 111 and 139 grams, each one of them heavier than the bigger, normally heavier, but today noticeably lighter Fieldfare of 105 grams.

So whilst I didn’t get far birding, Plan B generated valuable data, and fingers crossed I may have picked up a few Brownie points by staying home for once.

In The Beginning

After the excesses of the season I was ready to put 2010 behind me with a fresh air walk and my first birding of 2011, so set off from Nateby to cross Rawcliffe Moss. As I pulled out last year’s notebook I remembered that my pristine 2011 diary and notebook was back home in the “office” drawer, so I made a mental note that my car was to the north of the track, and not the usual spot a mile away to the south, just in case I forgot that too.

Away from the road and into the dark land-dip masses of Pink-footed Geese were coming into the fields to feed and although those on the ground were packed tight, the newcomers turned into the breeze, whiffled down, then found unclaimed spots in which to settle. I was 100 yards away; any closer and the wilder than wild geese would raise their heads as one, and then walk away before breaking into a short take–off and mass panicked flight. Even at that distance I could hear their chatter and murmurings, the volume so loud it was a sure sign of high numbers and several thousand birds. I carefully went on my way so as not to disturb them, a precise or even approximate count impossible unless the whole lot were to be disturbed for my benefit alone.

Pink-footed Geese
Pink-footed Geese

Perhaps attracted by the noise of the feeding geese, 4 Whooper Swans flew quickly over but veered off towards Pilling Moss where they would surely find wetter areas on which to feed. I jotted 3 overhead Lapwings in my notebook, a bird so scarce in recent weeks that even a handful of birds are noticeable. Towards the small copse of pines I found a single Mistle Thrush, and in the wood itself several Redwings mixed with 15 or so Fieldfares. Blackbirds were noticeable today, with not only paired up birds around the farm buildings that have early and secure nest sites, but better numbers than I have seen for a week or two. From my 2 hour walk I counted at least 35 individual Blackbirds and in various hedges and trees totted up 24 Redwings and 32 Fieldfare plus a circling Kestrel, and a rather distant Buzzard. Along the track a couple of Roe Deer heard me coming, one of them running off into the expanse of the moss as the other, a doe I think, watched me from a safe distance.

Roe Deer

I reached the fields and hedgerows where the small stuff hangs out and counted 8 Corn Bunting, 14 Reed Bunting, 7 Skylark, 8 Yellowhammer, 200+ Tree Sparrow, another Kestrel and 2 Grey Partridge, wild ones. It seems that in recent months a nearby farmer released a number of captive bred Grey Partridge, which explains my sighting of 18 birds around a Pheasant feeder weeks ago. At the time I didn’t enter those birds in my notebook, it just seemed a highly unlikely sighting until I could quiz the gamekeepers on the likely origin of the partridge. Not quite as unlikely was sight of 2 Little Owls and 2 Great-spotted Woodpeckers, all in clearly separated locations, but even at the beginning of the year worth noting territories.

Little Owl
Great-spotted Woodpecker

It was a highly enjoyable couple hours blowing away the Christmas cobwebs. Another year of birding was only just beginning.

The End Is Nigh

Some of my readers in the East will even now be shaking off the effects of over indulgence, reaching for the Alka Seltzer or the hair of the dog as they try to remember 2010 and stagger into 2011. Others across the Atlantic who lag Greenwich Mean Time will just now be donning fancy dress before they head off to Bargain Boozers en route to the evening's celebrations.

And what about me, with a few hours to go on New Year’s Eve? Here I am blogging about birds again. “For goodness sake man, get a life and hit a party or two”.“Later”, he said

You see Will and I had a bit of a party earlier in the day when we went up to our ringing site near Lancaster for the last leisurely session of the year hoping to catch a bird or two, to almost ring in the New Year so to speak, hoping that with luck we might end the old year on a bang. In the end it wasn’t so much an explosion but more of a steady fizz with a few colourful sparklers thrown in. We caught 21 birds of 8 species, 15 new and 6 recaptures. But anything we lacked in quantity we made up for in quality, new birds as follows: 8 Brambling, 3 Chaffinch, 2 Blackbirds and one each of Great Tit and Coal Tit. Recaptures were 2 Dunnock, 1 Robin and 2 Blackbirds. Just as yesterday, one of the Blackbirds fat scored at 40 and weighed in at 121 grams; maybe it’s just not humans that over indulge at this time of year?

Not for the first time this autumn, today’s catch of Bramblings exceeded Chaffinch captures. Today we counted approximately 45 Brambling in the woodland but less than 20 Chaffinch – most unusual.

Other birds seen this morning: 2 Jays, 4 + Bullfinch, 4 Nuthatch, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Woodcock, 1 Fieldfare, 10 Redwing and 20+ Blackbirds in addition to the 4 captured.

Blackbird

Apologies then for showing yet more pictures of Bramblings, but enjoy it while we can, it doesn’t happen too often.

Brambling
Brambling
Maybe the year should end with a seasonal Robin.

Robin

Have a happy, prosperous and bird-filled New Year everyone.

Where Did All The Bramblings Go?

It was the question that Will and I asked each other this morning after a ringing session in Will’s Garstang garden again. It was our first attempt to catch Bramblings there since December 15th when we caught 28 of them and estimated their number as over 200. In between we had two weeks of snow and ice that put paid to our eagerness to have another bash.

Although the ringing proved fairly quiet this morning, finches dominated the catch of 35 birds, 25 new birds and 10 recaptures. New birds: 11 Chaffinch, 4 Greenfinch, 2 Brambling - both females, 2 Blackbird, 3 Coal Tit, 2 Blue Tit and 1 Great Tit. Recaptures were 3 Great Tit, 3 Chaffinch, 3 Coal Tit and 1 Song Thrush.

Brambling 1
Brambling 2
Greenfinch

In contrast to our pretty average catch, there were quite a lot of finches around the area of the garden and the adjacent farmland this morning. We think that the mild weather of the last couple of days allowed birds to move out of the garden a little and become less dependent upon Will’s seed hand-outs. Our finch counts came to 25 Brambling, 120 Chaffinch, 15 Greenfinch, 4 Goldfinch and 18 Siskin. I changed the blog header yesterday in anticipation of the “Siskin season”, which runs from about now and into the new year until March, a time when their natural food depletes, birds begin to head back north and during when they rediscover garden nyjer seed. Whilst we didn’t catch any, they were both audible and visible around the trees and on a couple of the seed feeders.

Siskin

We caught a couple of thrushes today both retaining fat levels found during the cold spell, a Blackbird that weighed 128 grams and a Song Thrush tipping the scale at 100 grams – impressive fat deposition.

With the benefit of hindsight we now realise that the hundreds of Bramblings of two weeks ago were a temporary local phenomenon, just part of the mass movement of Bramblings noticed in many parts of the UK about that time. It’s also obvious that a number of Bramblings are still in the UK and also in our local area, but I hazard a guess that our Brambling catches in 2011 will remain much as today. We’ll see tomorrow when we try another site near Lancaster.

Other birds seen today included 1 Grey Wagtail, several Redwings, 1 Kestrel plus the usual savvy House Sparrows that avoided our nets.

The Bramblings may come and go but there’s one thing that’s a reliable fixture, and that’s the sustenance for hungry ringers provided by Sue.

Another Bacon Butty