The Other Patch

The bright and breezy morning dictated a birding morning on the other patch at Pilling, a spot neglected of late, when several decent, wind-free mornings meant we could catch finches and pipits out on Rawcliffe Moss. I began at Fluke Hall looking and listening out for overhead birds but where little was happening, perhaps odd Chaffinches, Meadow Pipits, and Skylarks, but no obvious or substantial movement. If there is a morning diurnal migration taking place at Fluke it is usually quickly apparent, and in a south-easterly like today can sometimes involves a heavy movement of birds flying west to east along the sea wall.

Out on the marsh I counted over 400 Lapwing, 40+ Linnet and a Little Egret but the woodland was pretty quiet apart from a Great-spotted Woodpecker and a party of titmice. The Carrion Crows found a couple of Buzzards in the tops of the trees and they proceeded to harry the raptors until they left the woodland to head off towards the sea wall but still pursued by the persistent crows.

Buzzard
Buzzard and Carrion Crow

The walk from Lane Ends then back towards Fluke Hall began quietly, picking up as I persevered and then improving as the tide ran in. From the stile I counted 11 Little Egret, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Kestrel, 140+ Linnet, 60 Goldfinch, c2500 Pink-footed Geese, 2 Wheatear, 1 Peregrine and 2 Sparrowhawks.

Sparrowhawk
Pink-footed Goose

The incoming tide shifted lots of pipits and Skylarks from the by now flooded marsh, and I ended up with counts of 70 Meadow Pipit and 32 Skylark, many finding their way onto the inland fields via the countless fence posts along here.

Meadow Pipit

High water revealed more waders and wildfowl: 900 Shelduck, 40 Redshank, 70 Pintail, 600+ Teal, 2 Snipe, 40 Golden Plover and 35 Dunlin, with 17 Swallows also arriving with the tide and then heading quickly south-east.

Swallow

On the subject of Swallows, we have only just heard of a Swallow recovered during the early part of 2010. Ring number V971589 was first captured on Rawcliffe Moss as a juvenile bird of the year on 8th August 2009. On April 27th 2010 the Swallow, now sexed as a female by the length of its tail streamers, was caught by other ringers in Canton Magistris, in the Alpine region of Italy; the young bird had managed to journey to Africa and was now on its way back to the UK.

While British Swallows migrate to and from Africa through the area of the Mediterranean Sea in both autumn and spring, many take a more easterly route for the April/May journey, a direction which can take some through the Alpine regions of Italy. The interval between ringing and finding in Italy was 262 days and the distance involved 1198 kms.

Out Rawcliffe to Italy

There looks to be more breezy days ahead but amazingly it’s almost a shirt sleeves Indian Summer for a few days more.

500 Up

After the busy days of the last two weeks, Monday was a bit of rest day, apart that is from inputting the many records from recent ringing into the Integrated Population Monitoring Reporter (IPMR) database. Will worked on Monday, but borrowed a few hours “flexi” this morning for another morning of ringing on Rawcliffe Moss before he heads off or a break in Scotland and a bit of lazy salmon fishing.

So after the IPMR task we began today with a running September total of 442 new birds of 22 species here, which included 135 Meadow Pipits, 188 Chaffinches and 39 Goldfinches. Our recent catches have been very consistent in terms of numbers and species, a trend which continued this morning with another 63 new birds, the majority of which proved to be even more of those diurnally migrating Meadow Pipits and Chaffinches.

New birds: 37 Chaffinch, 15 Meadow Pipit, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Dunnock and 2 Blue Tit with 1 each of Great Tit, Blackcap and Reed Bunting.

Blackcap
Dunnock
Blue Tit

One of the juvenile Lesser Redpoll looked particularly young and speckle faced, perhaps from a late nest, as a pair of adults can have three broods.

Lesser Redpoll
Lesser Redpoll

Although we counted 12 + Reed Buntings over today, it was slightly disappointing to catch just one. Reed Buntings are very much a bird of visible autumn migration, with the annual movement through Rawcliffe Moss probably related to their withdrawal from upland areas of the Pennines and Scotland as a preparation for the winter period.

The visible diurnal migration of Reed Buntings is less obvious than other species e.g. Chaffinches or Meadow Pipits, both of which use lots of contact calling to stay in touch with other individuals during their overhead flights. In contrast Reed Buntings call less and although they travel or join in with other species movements and feeding parties, often Chaffinches and Meadow Pipits, the less numerous buntings can easily be missed by observers not tuned into their calls.

Reed Bunting
Reed Bunting

Our visible migration counts today, all from the north but heading south from 0700 to 1145 came in at 160+ Meadow Pipit, 400+ Chaffinch, 70+ Lesser Redpoll, 30+ Siskin, 12+ Reed Bunting, 3 Yellowhammer, 25+ Alba wagtail, 2 Song Thrush and 1 Mistle Thrush.

Other birds this morning: 1 Barn Owl, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrel, 4 Buzzard, 15 Snipe, 1 Corn Bunting and 2 Magpies. We rarely see Magpies out here, but for a week or two a couple of birds have escaped the attention of the gamekeepers. I can’t see them lasting through the winter shoots – the birds that is.

Magpie

Today cracked the 500 mark in September here but with a couple of “iffy” weather days remaining in the month, that could be it until October.

Double Dilemma

Late on Saturday Will and I had the same dilemma. On Sunday morning should we burn rubber up to Glasson Dock for sight of a Lesser Yellowlegs, or burn calories on Rawcliffe Moss trudging around the mist nets yet again for further Chaffinch and Meadow Pipits? After all, before any Sunday session we had caught 225 Chaffinch and 182 Meadow Pipits on site this year, so why bother with more?

Lesser Yellowlegs by USFWS

We both agreed, a “lesserlegs” is much like a Redshank and as we have seen them both, we really ought to continue with our recent ringing tasks. So we made another 0630 start and then set the usual nets.

Today's was another tiring effort but an excellent catch of 66 birds of 7 species, 64 new and 2 recaptures. New birds: 25 Chaffinch, 20 Meadow Pipit, 9 Reed Bunting, 4 Goldfinch, 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackbird and 1 Blue Tit. Recaptures were 2 Chaffinch, one first ringed in February 2009, and a more recent bird ringed in August. The 3 new Chiffchaffs pushed our total for here to 22 birds for the year, high by local standards.

Chiffchaff
Chaffinch
Chaffinch
Goldfinch

This morning’s visible migration proved a very stop-start affair with an early push of both Meadow Pipits and Chaffinches followed by periods of quiet and little obvious movement of birds. The slow periods coincided with belts of cloud to the south that moved slowly north and east, and at 0915 a front of drizzle that threatened to put paid to the morning. Luckily the sprinkle of water did little in the way of even wetting the nets, just the ringing gear on Will’s truck. When we packed in at 1130 we had counted circa 250 Meadow Pipits heading south but a higher count of finches, with 350+ Chaffinch, c40 Lesser Redpoll, 4 Siskin and 3 Greenfinch.

Weighing a “mipit”
Meadow Pipit

The movement of Reed Buntings was very marked this morning, so to our catch of 9 we added another 25+ birds which moved south with pipits and finches. Other “vissers”, 2 Grey Wagtail, 5 Alba wagtails, 1 Mistle Thrush, 40+ Skylark, 40+ Swallow.

Local birds today: 2 Buzzard, 1 Raven, 2 Tawny Owl calling at dawn, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel, 5 Jay, 1 Snipe, 30 House Martin, 20 Swallow.

Another Good One

When we looked at last night’s charts both Will and I thought that Friday might offer a chance of another ringing session so as usual we met up on Rawcliffe Moss for 0630. The starts get later now, with 0630 almost a lie-in, but once the clocks go back so do the alarm settings.

Another rewarding morning saw us catch 59 birds of just 7 species, but 57 new and 2 recaptures. We continued the Chaffinch and Meadow Pipit theme of the last few weeks with the majority of our tally made up of those two species, but also found more Reed Buntings in among the arriving mipits. New birds, 25 Meadow Pipits, 23 Chaffinch, 5 Reed Bunting, and 1 each of Lesser Redpoll, Chiffchaff, Goldfinch and Great Tit. The recaptures were a Goldfinch and a Great Tit, both of them ringed quite recently.

Reed Bunting
Reed Bunting
Chaffinch

Although there was strong movement of Chaffinches today, particularly after first light, we didn’t see or hear the chattering of overhead Lesser Redpolls with the single bird caught the only one on the field sheet.

Lesser Redpoll

Following our recent mipit wing length of 90mm, a blog reader asked about wing length variation of Meadow Pipits, so I looked again in Birds of the Western Palearctic. From various sources the book gives wing length to be anything between 73mm for the smallest females and up to 86mm for males, with probably 80/81 mm being of indeterminate sex. In a typical autumn we catch a good number of birds above 85mm and I would guess that these individuals are of Icelandic origin. Click on the picture to see large text.

Meadow Pipit
Birds of the Western Palearctic – Meadow Pipit

Whilst steady, our morning wasn’t so busy that we couldn’t take note of the visible migration taking place, even in the 10/12mph south-westerly. From very soon after first light there was a strong movement of Chaffinches which although tailing off fairly quickly still left us with an estimate of up to 300 birds in the five hours on site. Meadow Pipits were rather less obvious, reflected in our catch of 25 birds, but we estimated them at 200 in the five hours. Our Reed Bunting “vis mig” count was 10 + birds in addition to the 5 caught. As mentioned above, no other finches overhead apart from 30+ Linnets and 100+ Goldfinch, but we are unable to separate out any migrants from the local birds that feed on the farm and roost nearby.

Linnet

During the morning we noted a fairly small number of Swallows and House Martins, an assembly which from about 1030am almost imperceptibly built up to a very large feeding flock of 400+ birds, 95% of them Swallows: we left about 1130 but the hirundines remained in the area. The first hour after dawn also saw a number of alba wagtails overhead, upwards of 20 birds through in the first two hours, then a later smattering of single birds. Other birds on the move south, a party of 8 Mistle Thrush, a gang of 60 + Skylark with additional singles throughout, 5 Corn Bunting, 1 Yellowhammer and 1 Golden Plover.

Raptors today: 3 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 1 Tawny Owl and 1 Barn Owl which in the half-light of dawn floated silently between Will and myself and over our half erected mist net.

So, heaps of birds seen and bags of birds caught. What a great morning it was.

Not Again?

Thursday proved another windy morning for Another Bird Blog, so time to brave the elements and then perhaps find a sheltered spot, watch and wait, and hope a bird or two turns up. By midday there wasn’t a lot in the old notebook, but I finally got a recognisable shot of the Lane Ends/Fluke Hall distant Marsh Harrier before it departs the scene.

A fleeting trip to Knott End proved, dare I say, as unexciting as the old village itself, with just several Redshank and 2 Eider at the river with 10 alba wagtails flitting across the golf club fairway. Fluke Hall was more inspiring with 60+ Lapwing, 35 Linnets, 5 Greenfinch, 1 Little Egret and 6 Meadow Pipit on the shore, although the wood was eerily quiet with no sign of autumn Chaffinches yet.

Looking back inland from the sea wall I spotted 2 Buzzards circling, seeking early thermals, and then out on the marsh a gang of Carrion Crows squabbling with a Raven. The Raven took the hint and flew further out on the marsh. Without warning the Marsh Harrier of recent weeks reappeared from north of the wood, and as it does so often flew quickly to the outermost part of the salt marsh then dropped into the long grasses and out of sight. So, more fleeting, distant views but from the photographs it certainly looks like the same bird of recent weeks. That’s Heysham Power Station in the background, not as near as the telephoto lens makes it appear, 18 miles by road but a lot less for a migrant bird taking the shorter Morecambe Bay crossing north or south.

Marsh Harrier
Marsh Harrier

By this time the Buzzards had flown out almost as far as the harrier, around to Lane Ends and then back towards Fluke Hall, but all the time gaining height as the morning warmed up. A Peregrine showed up by now, doing the same circuit as the Buzzards, but a lot quicker. And then along came a Kestrel, sticking to searching the sea wall and the wildfowler’s pools where 10 or so late Swallows hawked around.

Buzzard
Little Egret

From the stile at Pilling Water I noted 7 Little Egrets, a calling, distant Greenshank somewhere beyond the 180+ Pink-footed Geese and 40 Greylag. There were 2 big Wheatears on the shore, not seeking insects amongst the usual rocks, but searching for more earthly stuff in the soft marsh grass, and overhead a small but steady trickle of 30 or more Skylarks. I counted the Skylarks heading over as I crouched on the shore where about 20 grounded Meadow Pipits had gathered, so I spent a short while getting more pictures, all the time hoping I’d get to ring a few more of the little beauties soon.

Meadow Pipit
Meadow Pipit
Meadow Pipit

Early Doors And Late Gropper

We spotted a break in the wet weather for this morning so Will and I met up at 0600 hours for another crack at Out Rawcliffe. Maybe it was too much to hope for another big push of finches and Meadow Pipits and another “mega” catch as no two days are ever alike, but we didn’t do too badly. Our interesting and absorbing five hour session reached a total of 39 birds, 38 new and 1 recaptured Dunnock.

The 38 new birds were 19 Chaffinch, 9 Meadow Pipits, 4 Reed Bunting and 1 each of Dunnock, Blue Tit, Robin, Great Tit, Lesser Redpoll and Grasshopper Warbler. By 20th September it’s quite late to find skulking Grasshopper Warblers up here in the north west of the UK, as in most years “groppers” are not seen beyond mid-August. For readers not familiar with Grasshopper Warbler the name refers to their reeling, insect-like song and not any part of the species’ appearance.

Grasshopper Warbler
Grasshopper Warbler
Meadow Pipit

Unlike the past week the visible migration of most species during the 5 hours was down on the past week’s high numbers but still evident from north to south: Meadow Pipit 120, Chaffinch up to 170, Lesser Redpoll 40+, Siskin 10+. Our catch of 4 Reed Buntings indicates the beginning of their movement south, always apparent here during September but more so in October. The sight of two early morning Song Thrushes departing the planation and then heading strongly south may also herald the beginning of the thrush season.

Reed Bunting
Lesser Redpoll

More in evidence today were Skylarks, with upwards of 60 birds flying from east to west, particularly noticeable as a bank of cloud spread to the south about mid-morning. The fields on the moss are pretty wet by now, a fact which led to us seeing about 45 Snipe this morning as they were disturbed off their puddles and then flew off and around in various directions, at one point pushed off a wet patch by a wandering Roe Deer.

Snipe
Roe Deer

Other birds and “locals” seen this morning included 2 Sparrowhawk, 1 Peregrine, 2 Kestrel, 5 Buzzard, 1 Tawny Owl, 2 Golden Plover, 60+ Goldfinch and 60+ Linnet.

At dawn we had seen a Wheatear perched on one of the hay bales after which it disappeared from view. It was only as we drove off site hours later that I saw it again some fifty yards away from our ringing station.

Wheatear

Reprise

Saturday was spent watching for breaks in the rain, living in hope the forecast might change for the better; it did, so Will and I found ourselves at Out Rawcliffe again this morning, and hoping for a repeat of Thursday’s catch of 122 birds.

But we didn’t quite hit the same heights with today’s catch of 94 birds of 12 species, 93 new and a single recapture of a Chaffinch from recent weeks. New birds today, 48 Chaffinch, 29 Meadow Pipit, 3 Chiffchaff, 3 Blue Tit, 2 Goldcrest, 2 Coal Tit and singles of Great Tit, Goldfinch, Robin, Lesser Redpoll, Dunnock and Blackcap.

Chiffchaff
Goldcrest
Chaffinch – adult male
Lesser Redpoll

The throughput of Chaffinches from north to south was very marked today, with larger groups than of late and sometimes up to 10 or 12 individuals, which led to an overall count for the 6+ hour session of approximately 600 birds. The Meadow Pipit passage was slightly less than last Thursday with today’s count being 300+ birds, but again a mid-morning peak. There is a marked sexual difference in Meadow Pipits but one of today’s males was quite enormous, with a wing measurement of 90mm, significantly above the quoted range in Birds of the Western Palearctic (BWP). This bird just has to be of Icelandic origin.

We are now seamlessly into the swing of ageing Meadow Pipits, a process which is easier than determining their age in spring. However to accurately age any species it is essential to have a thorough knowledge of the moult and wear of those species’ feather tracts and a grasp of the general principles of ageing. If it is a species we don’t see in the hand very often a copy of “Svensson” or “Moult in Birds” are always to hand, books which give invaluable guidance. Both of the above mentioned books are actually invaluable to bird watchers who might want to spend time ageing species in the field through a telescope, but to bear in mind that some of the feather tracts or other features described may be invisible on a closed wing or tail.

”Svensson”
Moult in Birds

In the case of Meadow Pipits we have many years of experience with them to recognise the features of an adult’s complete post-breeding moult, or the partial moult of a juvenile bird where it replaces some only of its feathers. We also take into account the fact that in the north of their wide range an adult Meadow Pipit moult may take several days less than a typical UK Meadow Pipit, and in addition allow for the fact that Meadow Pipits may have two or more broods of young; the young birds could have been born anytime between the months of April/May and August, and depending upon their places of origin and date of birth, apparently identical juveniles may actually show quite differing amounts of feather wear and/or replacement.

The photographs below are from today, a recently fully moulted adult Meadow Pipit with the same age of feathers throughout the wing structure, and below that an image of a juvenile wing with a mix of recently grown adult type feathers and its retained juvenile “summer” feathers.

Meadow Pipit - adult
Meadow Pipit - juvenile

Once again our busy ringing session meant missing some of the visible migration, but we noted 37 Snipe, 20+ Skylark, 35+ Siskin in 3 separate groups, 20+ Lesser Redpoll, 3 Sparrowhawk, 180 + Swallows and 6 House Martin.

“Locals” included 2 more Sparrowhawks, 9 Buzzard, 2 Tawny Owl, 40+ Goldfinch, 20+ Linnet, 2 Kestrel, 3 Jay and 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker