Pause For Thought

Things were very quiet at Pilling this morning, both in the trees and on the pools, the Tufted Duck with 5 young to the east with 4 Little Grebe and a Little Egret on the west pool. The Kestrels were around again, but only 2 of three local youngsters this morning and playing at Hobbies, or at least the Swallows and House Martins thought so. As the two Kestrels hunted up and down the sea wall they did so to an entourage of twittering hirundines.

Kestrel
Kestrel

In the absence of any tidal movement my bird counts up at Pilling Water and beyond were low again; 2 Common Sandpiper, 1 Grey Heron, 90+Lapwing, 40 Curlew, 6 Greenfinch, 7 Linnet, 8 Goldfinch, 2 Pied/Alba Wagtail, 2 Stock Dove, 12 Skylark, another Kestrel, 8 Swift and 2 Meadow Pipit. There was absolutely nothing on the wildfowler’s now dried up again pools, and the planned for half day trek became a flying visit.

Things were so quiet at Pilling that I spent a few hours doing essential maintenance at Our Rawcliffe moss ringing site in preparation for weekend ringing. It was mainly beating back rampant bramble and willowherb from mist net rides and our pathways, together with a little judicial tree pruning. Naturally I had a look around and found the expected array of birds in the plantation and along the hedgerows with 2 Blackcap, 5 Willow Warbler, 7 Whitethroat, 5 Skylark, 12 Tree Sparrow, 30 Goldfinch, 2 Linnet and 1 Corn Bunting. The latter appears still to be the only singing male on the extensive farm this year, with one brood of youngsters so far.

Corn Bunting

In this area of West Lancashire, known as the Fylde, the breeding population of Corn Bunting in 2011 appears to be at critically low levels, the lowest I have seen in thirty years of local birding and ringing. In some years a small wintering or even spring gathering of Corn Buntings appears on local mosses. However these may not be individuals from the very scarce Fylde breeding population and in the absence of any meaningful studies of these transient birds no one can be sure if any of them originate from Lancashire or even the North West of the UK.

I also saw 3 Yellowhammer, another Fylde species clinging on to existence in a similar way to the Corn Bunting; both species could now be classified as “very scarce and localised breeders” – how sad. The Yellowhammers were in the process of feeding young, probably a second brood by now, but with the size of the food items the female brought in, I decided not to look for a nest.

Yellowhammer - male
Yellowhammer - female

Other birds: 40 Lapwing, 3 Buzzard, 100+ Swallow over the silage and barley fields, 4 Swift, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 1 Tawny Owl, 1 Little Owl and 1 Kestrel.

That’s A Big Swallow

At last, a morning without rain. First priority this morning was checking the Hambleton Swallows where the second broods are later in the season than is normal. I knew from previous notes at least one nest would have chicks for ringing, or that is if they had managed to survive the last 3 days of rain and the resulting reduced food intake. I needn’t have worried, as although the five youngsters have proved to be slow developers, they were large enough for a ring each. Three other second nests were at full egg stage but a week or two behind their normal progress at this time of year.

Graham the land owner who follows the success and failures of his Swallows with huge interest asked me “Have you seen the nest in the old garage?” the old building that Swallows use in some years only. Off I went anticipating a new Swallow nest I had overlooked but found instead a Woodpigeon guarding a nest with a sizeable chick. That’s the first Woodpigeon chick I ever ringed in a building.

Woodpigeon
Woodpigeon

The day brightened further, enough to chance a walk down Pilling Way. The sea wall was rather quiet, even the finches down to single digit counts of Linnet, Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Meadow Pipit. I came across another 3J Wheatear, an unringed bird but a similar looking individual to the one I caught on 12th July. This latest bird was also attracted to a meal worm lunch.

Wheatear - juvenile
Wheatear - juvenile
Wheatear - juvenile

Between Pilling Water and Fluke Hall my counts were of 700 Curlew, 115 Lapwing, 18 Oystercatcher, 2 Stock Dove, 2 Pied Wagtail and 3 Grey Heron. I finished my agreeable morning on a nice little high with 3 Little-ringed Plovers on the wildfowler’s pools, filling up nicely after the recent rain – It’s an ill wind etc.

Little-ringed Plover

Looking For The Sunday Sun?

The forecast was correct. Two days of rain, Saturday and now Sunday, with the weather extracting revenge for last week’s fine days.

But this morning, bursting with optimism despite the cloud filled sky I had set off for Pilling and on the way clocked 2 Barn Owls again, one at Burned House Lane and a second one flying across the road at Lambs Lane. After yesterday’s rain the fields alongside Biker Mile were crowded with Curlew and Lapwing, several hundred of each as I stopped at Gulf Lane in the hope of seeing a third Barn Owl; I didn’t, so turned the car around and headed back to Lane Ends where in the morning quiet I picked out singing Chiffchaff and Reed Warbler then watched a nearby Willow Warbler moving through the greenery.

Barn Owl with a Rat
Chiffchaff
Lapwing
Curlew

The plan was a walk to Fluke and then back to the car park, but looking west and south all was grey. Within ten minutes the rains arrived again so I abandoned play for the time being.

Over lunch I switched on our Sky-free TV for yet more news and views on the shameful, murky world of Murdoch with its shady, back-slapping politicians, policemen, journalists and hangers-on who live therein. In disgust I zapped the remote control to “standby” and hoped the sun might shine a light into dark corners of UK life or that I might get a few hours for afternoon birding or ringing a few Swallows.

It wasn’t to be, and at 2.30pm rain still piled in from the west. It became time to sort the hundreds of photographs that clutter up the PC, abandoned for months on end as new, superior, more current ones arrive from another birding day for urgent cropping and Photoshopping for the blog.

I found a few old but respectable pictures to make the page up for today; Greater Sand Plover, Bluethroat and Cattle Egret from sunnier days in Egypt. It’s strange to look back and think that when we were there in January and February of 2011 it was ordinary Egyptians who took to the streets to sort out the corruption in the Egyptian establishment.

Greater Sand Plover
Bluethroat
Cattle Egret

No sign of the Sunday Sun then? Thank goodness.

It’s Now Or Never

With the weather synopsis showing rain for Ringer’s Saturday, Friday morning became the now or never day. So off I went to Rawcliffe Moss hoping to finish about 1030 before the horse flies warm up and become hungry for blood.

Notable happenings this morning - the number of Goldfinches about, the continuing lack of juvenile Willow Warblers, recaptures dwindling as the breeding population thins out, and a Tawny Owl escaping from a mist net for the second time in as many weeks. The owl landed in the far end of a 60ft net as I was taking a Whitethroat from the opposite end. It looked towards me then flapped out and away before I could get anywhere near it. The nets aren’t really designed to hold large owls, but the day was early and I saw a second Tawny Owl later – read on!

The few nets kept me occupied with a decent catch of 29 birds, 27 new and just 2 recaptures, a Goldfinch and a moulting Willow Warbler. New birds: 17 Goldfinch, 5 Whitethroat 2 Willow Warblers – both moulting adults, and 1 each of Sedge Warbler, Dunnock and Chaffinch.

Sedge Warbler
Dunnock - juvenile
Chaffinch

Although moulting Willow Warblers look a bit messy this time of year with a mix of feathers old, new, worn, or missing, it is instructive to look closely at any emerging feathers. The adult below is in the process of renewing all flight feathers, with the tail colouration and shape a useful diagnostic feature with which to separate adults from juveniles later in the season when both newly moulted adults and fresh juveniles look very similar.

Willow Warbler – adult tail

The Goldfinch bills now betray the fact they extract seed from plants, but whether the black deposit is from our Niger seed I don’t know.

Goldfinch

Other birds seen this morning: 15 Tree Sparrow, 2 Yellowhammer, 2 Corn Bunting, 4 Skylark, 2 Buzzard, 45 Goldfinch, 120+ Lapwings on newly cut fields, and 2 Tawny Owls. Yes, the other Tawny I found on my way home, and that leaf just wouldn’t blow out of the way, but it rather made up for the earlier miss. Maybe I'll do a bit of gardening, prune that little branch and remove the overhead leaves just in case it decides to sit there another day?

Tawny Owl

Rush Job

The blog post is a bit of a hurried job this evening because I promised to push the boat out and take the better half for a meal at the exotic and expensive Knott End Steak House. So while Sue locates the bus passes, here‘s a quick summary from Pilling today and a few new, but not very good photographs.

At Lane Ends: Tufted Duck with 5 young, 3 Little Grebe, Chiffchaff, Reed Warbler and Willow Warbler. The 3 Kestrel siblings from recent days were moving between here and Pilling Water, with much interaction between them.

Lane Ends to Pilling Water: A surprise bird at PW was a Great-spotted Woodpecker frequenting the fence posts along the sea wall for a while before it flew off towards the distant trees of Lane Ends. Otherwise, 3 Little Egret, 5 Common Sandpiper, 40 Swallow, 3 Sand Martin, 12 House Martin and 5 Swift.

Sand Martin
Great-spotted Woodpecker
Swallow
Kestrel

The finch, lark pipit and wagtail count today: 45 Linnet, 18 Greenfinch, 6 Goldfinch, 14 Skylark, 6 Meadow Pipit and 14 alba wagtail, all seemingly Pied Wagtails.

Linnet
Wader and “others” count: 485 +Curlew, 15 Redshank, 120 Lapwing, 8 Oystercatcher, 18 Shelduck, 10 Cormorant, 1 male Sparrowhawk.

Lapwing

I ringed the latest brood of Skylarks yesterday, that’s 11 youngsters now from 3 nests. Let’s hope the the Evil Operator, Carrion Crow doesn’t find those nests before the youngsters fledge.

Carrion Crow
Skylark nest

Tomorrow looks like a bit of a ringing morning and an early start – I hope the last bus from Knott End is on time tonight.

More Pilling

A change of tactics today meant I washed a few weeks’ worth of muck from the car in the morning and left a walk until the afternoon; and I know I work Pilling close to death but it’s still the local patch that holds the ever present optimism for new discoveries. Today I split most of my precious few hours between watching a newly arrived Wheatear and observing the Skylarks and their territories.

The first find was not a disappointment, a very juvenile, scaly Wheatear, fresh in from goodness knows where as it sat on a post below the sea wall. It took thirty minutes of gentle persuasion before it finally saw the meal worm in the spring trap, then bingo, I took a closer look. With a wing length of 99mm and more growth to come in the next few weeks the bird was almost certainly a male, but could be of either the nominate race Oenanthe oenanthe, or the Greenland race O.o. leucorhoa.

Wheatear
Wheatear - juvenile

The area around Pilling Water was much the same as recent days, 40 Linnet, 18 Greenfinch, 8 Goldfinch and 4 Meadow Pipit, with 4 Common Sandpiper and 3 Grey Heron along the outflow. It was good to see the young Kestrels have finally emerged from the Damside nest box, with 3 birds together, alternating between hunting the silage fields, fence hopping below the sea wall and exploring the outer marsh.

Kestrel - juvenile

The next discovery was another Skylark nest to add to the one yesterday. This latest nest was just a couple of yards from the still visible remains of a previous nest where I ringed the chicks on 7th June, so this new one is almost certainly a second brood from the same parents. Today’s nest was at a handy stage whereby the three youngsters were an ideal size to ring, feathers just emerging from their sheaths and legs fully formed. Because of a Skylark’s almost completely open nesting situation, only a few leaves of vegetation overhanging the nest, the straw coloured downy growth of motionless chicks makes perfect camouflage against overhead predators.

I also checked out yesterday’s Skylark nest but from a distance, and found the parents still visiting with food, so all should be OK for more Skylark ringing tomorrow and yet another Pilling visit.

Skylark nest
Skylark chick

It’s A Lark

With a couple of hours to spare this morning I snuck out to Pilling to see what’s new. It was a good start when as I approached Lane Ends 2 Sparrowhawks were circling over the trees, then as I drove into the car park I heard a Chiffchaff singing from the plantation.

On the path to Pilling Water I saw that the next door farmer was cutting his silage fields, making hay in the morning sun, but a Lapwing wasn’t happy about him or me, and I realised there was a late brood of youngsters close by. I spotted three well grown chicks running along behind the sea wall and managed to locate two of them crouching in the grass. I always carry a selection of ring sizes and pliers in my camera bag, so quickly ringed them and let them join the escapee.

Lapwing

Along and out of Pilling Water I counted 7 Pied Wagtail, 5 Redshank, 5 Oystercatcher, 4 Common Sandpiper, 55 more Lapwings, 1 Greenshank and a Little-ringed Plover, with herons represented by 2 Little Egret and 3 Grey Heron. The finch flock was more scattered today but I still found 45 Linnet, 14 Greenfinch and 8 Goldfinch, with a token count of 3 Meadow Pipit. My count of hirundines came to 40 Swallow, 10 House Martin and 3 Swift. Strictly speaking swifts are not swallow-like at all, but are almost always included in birders' counts of mixed swallows and martins.

Swallow

To add to the find of a Skylark nest a few weeks ago, I located another this morning up near Fluke Hall, in a spot where Skylarks have sung all spring and summer. The nest may be a second attempt, or most likely a second brood, but the three young were too small for a ring and will have to wait until Wednesday when their legs are a little better formed.

Skylark nest
Skylark

So for a bit of fun ID-ing, here’s a couple of different larks looking somewhat similar, Thekla Lark and Crested Lark, both confusable with each other, and each with Skylark possibly, especially as they inhabit similar landscapes. Fortunately the three species don’t occur together much in the UK, and certainly not at Pilling on a Monday morning.

Thekla Lark
Crested Lark