An Early March

There was a thick frost this morning, reminding everyone that the price of clear overnight skies in March may be a sunny day but an unwelcome cold start. So after de-icing the car for the second time this week I called in Damian’s shop at Knott End for supper time fish then I turned my attention to a little gloved and hatted birding for an hour or two.

The medium tide of about 10 am was just turning, heading into the Wyre from Fleetwood and Morecambe Bay but bringing a little mist that the weak sun could barely shift. But it wasn’t so bad that it stopped a count of sorts and even a few pictures of the assorted waders, or at least those that stick to the close shore and are more tolerant of early morning passers-by: 550 Oystercatcher, 32 Turnstone, 105 Redshank, 110 Knot, 90 Dunlin, 11 Curlew, 3 Bar-tailed Godwit and 2 Grey Plover.

Knot
Turnstone

The wildfowl numbers are quite low now after a number of Shelduck and Eider departed to breeding sites, so my count of 15 Shelduck on the water and 3 Eider loafing on the jetty was not unsurprising. I’d parked in the car park where early mornings there are always 2 Pied Wagtails tottering about, and then lining the car park wall, numerous Black-headed Gulls that arrive in waves with each new car, but quickly lose interest if no food appears from wound down windows.

Eider
Black-headed Gull
Pied Wagtail

Along the promenade the Twite flock on the seed numbered approximately 30 very flighty individuals today: they took to the air at the passing of every one of the numerous pedestrians, who in the main seem not to notice the nondescript little brown birds that grace their village each winter. There were 2 more Pied Wagtails on the frosted foreshore below the railings plus 2 Rock Pipits.

Twite

I took a run up to Lane Ends where the tide was full but distant in the now partially sunny haze. From here and the trek to Pilling Water and back the best I managed were 3 Little Egrets, a distant and predictably perched Peregrine, and a bunch of about 15 Skylark, not counting the one that rose singing above the nearest field. The inland fields held about 60 Lapwing and 95 Curlew, whilst way out on the marsh the sight of 700 Pink-footed Geese told me that it it’s still only March 3rd and I’ll have to wait a week or so yet for spring migrants and the chance of catching Wheatears again.

Pluck Me!

Once the frost played out and the sky turned blue again it was a few hours on Rawcliffe Moss this morning, mainly to suss out the state of the plantation in readiness for spring ringing. As is often the case I got diverted, this time by Buzzards yet again with a count of 6 birds, three pairs over three woods. Maybe all those birds from last week sorted out their differences then sent the intruders packing, tails between their legs or whatever Buzzards do when they lose out on a good breeding site. So for the third time recently I got more less-than-ideal pictures of distant Buzzards. But if all goes to plan we might just get to catch a few of them soon when I can get close-ups.

Buzzard - Buteo buteo
Buzzard - Buteo buteo

I went into a wood where I found the Buzzard’s plucking post with evidence of more than one meal of Woodpigeon, many of which roost in the wood, day or night.

Plucking Post

Finding a plucking post surrounded by feathers and fur is often a way of finding raptor nests, indicating that a nest is close by or in this case that a bird regularly uses the spot in its winter territory. The Buzzard’s plucking post was on the upper side of a large fallen tree, the elevated nature of which allows for a safer landing with a heavy load of prey like a Woodpigeon, as well as being a good vantage point to scan for other predators while the bird is vulnerable and involved in the relatively complex process of plucking then consuming the prey.

I think the Buzzards saw me enter the wood because they weren’t in there and probably left long before I quietly walked in hoping to get closer views of them. I confirmed their secretive nature ten minutes later when from a path outside the wood I saw two Buzzards heading back to their now undisturbed territory.

Our ringing planation was pretty quiet but I did find 2 Blackbird, 3 Reed Bunting, 12 Chaffinch, 11 redpoll feeding very quietly amongst the alders, and also surprised a Woodcock which exploded from the ground cover then through one of our soon to be used net rides. Several Wood Pigeon also crashed out of the plantation at my coming and headed off towards the safety or maybe not of the dense trees in Buzzard Wood.

On the moss proper the Skylarks thin out with only 10 today, chirruping off the deck when the Lapwings and corvids flapped and called noisily over the stubble. The Tree Sparrows make as much noise as ever, but the noise has shifted somewhat to spots where there are nest boxes with holes designed just for them, along the track and at the edge of the wood. Meanwhile at the food drop about 60 of them still loitered waiting for the next bucketful, and I didn’t have the heart to explain that The Man With A Bucket may not be along for a while. Six Yellowhammers today also waited around the much better bet of a still full pheasant feeder.

Tree Sparrow

As I left the moss a flock of Lottis and Blutis sped along the track ahead of my car and then, pluck me, I took yet another picture of a Blue Tit, many a ringer’s Nemesis bird, but a favourite creature of a regular blog reader who must remain anonymous for fear of reprisals from British ringers.

Blue Tit

First Of March

There was just a slight frost this morning on the car windscreen but within half a minute of starting the car the film of ice cleared; I set off to meet Will and Craig for a ringing session in Will’s garden at Catterall with hope of the first catch of March. Along the road the morning bode well for a few birds when a Barn Owl flew ahead of me in the half light of Hambleton village then disappeared over nearby fields.

Barn Owl

By 0715 the 60 foot net was up and we began to catch finches as the Siskin arrived first, followed by the larger finches. This morning we caught 37 birds, 25 new and 12 recaptures. New birds, all but one of them finches: 16 Siskin, 6 Chaffinch, 1 Greenfinch, 1 Goldfinch and 1 Blue Tit. Recaptures were: 3 Siskin, 2 Chaffinch, 2 Dunnock, 4 House Sparrow and 1 Great Tit.

Our overall finch count today was of 60 Siskin, 60 Chaffinch, 6 Greenfinch, 6 Goldfinch and 2 Brambling. So the numbers of new Siskins meant a decline from recent catches of 30ish birds, as did the three recaptures of the same species; these figures plus Will’s daily observations, suggest that Siskins are still moving through and probably north but perhaps in lesser numbers. We still had low numbers of Goldfinch, with no Lesser Redpoll today, with numbers of Bramblings now unlikely to increase.

Siskin

Siskin
Blue Tit

Other birds this morning: 22 Curlew, 15 Fieldfare, 8 Cormorant over, 300 Starling, 2 Nuthatch, 2 Treecreeper, 8 Jackdaw, 2 Song Thrush, 80 Wood Pigeon.

It was a cold morning but once the sun rose and the spring air warmed up the Buteo theme of last week resumed when 6 Buzzards appeared circling together over adjacent fields and woods as they searched out thermals on which to ride.

Buzzard - Buteo buteo
Buzzard - Buteo buteo
A successful if fairly quiet session but its always nice to start the month with a few new birds.

Kingfisher

Today’s blog entry consists of photographs of Common Kingfishers, pictures I took recently in Makadai Bay, Hurghada, Egypt.

Kingfisher

The Common Kingfisher is widespread across Europe, from Britain in the west all the way across to the most eastern part of Russia. Some European birds migrate towards the Mediterranean area in autumn and a small number winter in North Africa. The Kingfishers I saw in Makadi Bay could be wintering birds from central or Eastern Europe, Turkey or Iran because according to my field guide Kingfishers don’t breed along the Red Sea coast. There are scarce breeding records from coastal Morocco and also Tunisia, the latter a holiday destination where a few years ago I also saw Common Kingfishers.

Kingfisher

The Kingfisher(s) always hung about in the early morning where a few boats reached into the shallow, clear waters of the Red Sea, and wherever small fish fed in abundance. In a few of these pictures it is possible to see fish scales stuck to the bird’s bill. Although I waited around a few times I didn’t get to take pictures of a Kingfisher with a fish, my ultimate goal.

Kingfisher
Sunrise, Makadi Bay

Buzzin’

I have long thought that our local Buzzards, or at least some of them, move south and west for the winter and return unseen in the spring, but it’s only in more recent years when the species has spread into the Fylde and become quite numerous that their comings and goings have become more obvious. This is especially true in autumn when there are lots of youngsters around and their diurnal dispersal flights are both frequent and obvious.

The BTO Migration Atlas tells me that UK Common Buzzards aren’t truly migratory, but dispersive and a nice phrase this, “winter sensitive”, as to a large extent they depend upon earthworms as a winter staple food and are more likely to move from a location in hard weather. This afternoon I took a walk around Out Rawcliffe and over 4 woods counted a minimum of 14 Buzzards and possibly 16 where in the same area over the winter months I counted between 2 and 4 Buzzards only on most visits. Today, over one wood there were eight circling birds yet to settle which pair takes possession, with four birds debating the same over another wood, then a further two pairs above two other woods, with all the birds indulging in much calling and chasing behaviour.

Buzzard
Buzzard

The other very conspicuous bird today was the unexciting Stock Dove, another species that comes and goes in spring and autumn almost unseen. Today I saw two flocks, one of 28 birds and another of 12, plus at least 7 others as singles or doubles moving around a spot that has several suitable holey and ivy clad trees, where I also saw the Kestrel today.

The Buzzards and the Stock Doves rather distracted me from my walk over the moss but I had a good enough count of most of the regular stuff at the winter feed; 200 Tree Sparrow, 6 Yellowhammer, 4 Reed Buntings and several Chaffinch, with a couple of Blackbirds and a single Song Thrush shooting off ahead of me. Meanwhile a Peregrine came from behind me, not very high but too fast to photograph as it headed across to the neighbouring farm and the couple of thousand Starlings I could see milling about.

Most of the Stock Doves were on the big and now soggy field, with a flock of 70 Lapwings and 22 Skylarks also joining in, while 2 Roe Deer and several Brown Hares headed off at my arrival, long before the birds, a little reluctant to fly into today’s strong westerlies. I had a good count of Grey Partridge today, with 14 birds, probably all leftovers from the autumn releases, but at least they survived the winter shoots and may breed to augment any truly wild stock left.

Skylark
Stock Dove

I took a walk through the plantation where apart from a few willow catkins, spring growth has yet to threaten our ringing rides still thankfully bare from the winter but waiting for the first Chiffchaff two weeks from now and Willow Warbler in four. Equally the trees were devoid of much birdlife save for a little flock of alder feeding Goldfinch, a couple of Blackbirds, the obligatory Wren, several chuckling Red-legged Partridge.

From the plantation I watched the next pair of Buzzards dive over and into the nearby wood where there was a nest for the last couple of years. It won’t be long now and things really will be buzzing.

Buzzard

Leftovers

Two weeks later I finally finished going through my pictures from Egypt, so picked out a number that as yet have not performed on the blog. Some of the species have appeared before, but in the absence of any birding on a wet and windy Friday and promised same again for Saturday, the bit of blue sky and memory of warm, sunny Egyptian days may cheer everyone up.

There was a particular Western Reef Heron in Hurghada that hung around the main jetty where the local lads fished with hand lines, but to amuse the tourists fed the heron by hand with freshly caught fish. The creature was so used to being fed it would stalk up and down the jetty in the hope of scrounging a meal. The Striated Herons weren’t so obliging and I would have to seek them out in quiet beach or boat spots in the early morning. In the second week of the holiday when most of the tourists went home, the beach camels took a well-deserved rest, the lizards came out to play and early mornings were the best time for Greenshank and Greater Sand Plover.

Western Reef Heron
Striated Heron
Striated Heron
Striated Heron
Sleepy Camel
Egyptian Lizard
Greater Sand Plover
Greenshank

There were a small number of very wary Stonechats about the hotel grounds which kept their distance so well I only bothered to get one photograph. I am pretty sure the ones I saw were all European Stonechats, and none of them Siberian Stonechats, although both occur in Egypt. The common crow of the area is Hooded Crow.

Stonechat
Hooded Crow

I suppose the highlight of my photography time was getting the chance to take pictures of a close Osprey, and on a couple of mornings sitting near a Kingfisher, none of which happens too often here in the UK.

Osprey
Kingfisher

Nectarivory

During the recent holiday to Egypt I saw many, many Chiffchaffs. This was not entirely surprising as unlike the closely related Willow Warbler which winters mainly in West Africa south of the Sahara, many Chiffchaffs also cross the Sahara and concentrate in Senegal, while many others remain in Mediterranean North Africa; also at least 3 often inseparable races breed in the Middle East, collybita (includes brevirostris), menzbieri and probably abietinus and at least two others visit. So at any time, and especially during winter, spring and autumn the origins of Chiffchaffs and race of each individual in Egypt is hard to determine. There is no doubt I heard and saw our familiar collybita, with both the typical “hweet” call and occasional snatches of “chiff-chaff, chiff-chaff”. I also heard the “squeaky chicken” call frequently and on a couple of occasions, snatches of the fast, melodious song of Siberian Chiffchaff tristis, totally unlike the Chiffchaff song I know and more like a demented Dunnock.

Chiffchaff

Any day soon spring Chiffchaffs arrive in the UK and ringers know that in spring they may catch recently arrived Chiffchaffs carrying pollen residues on their bills. This pollen was deposited by the feeding strategy known as nectarivory, or birds indulging in sipping nectar from flowering plants during which flowering pollen is left on the bird itself, mainly around the base of the bill, the part of the bird most closely in contact with the flower. Nectarivory is also known to occur in some species of bats.

Chiffchaff

In Hurghada I witnessed many Chiffchaffs taking nectar, at times the liquid being visibly sipped as birds stuck their heads deep into the flowers, and upon the bird withdrawing from the flower, drops of the nectar spilling from their bill. A particular favourite plant of the Chiffchaffs was a flowering Mexican Saguara cactus shown in the photographs below. In a few of the pictures, by zooming up it is possible to see the nectar drops around the bill.

Chiffchaff on Cactus
Saguara catus
Chiffchaff on Cactus flower
Chiffchaff
Chiffchaff
Chiffchaff
Chiffchaff

In the two week trip I had one sighting only of Nile Valley Sunbird, another bird that takes nectar. In view of the tremendous number of flowering plants in Makadi Bay my single sighting was a little disappointing. The biggest numbers of Nile Valley Sunbirds do occur much further south than Hurghada, but in the last 100 years, and almost certainly helped by the building of tourist resorts, the species has spread from the southernmost parts of the Red Sea and up to the Cairo area where it breeds. I didn’t get to Cairo to look for more sunbirds so settled for my one brief encounter and a couple of distant shots.

Nile Valley Sunbird