Common Or Garden

The first snow fell today, so heavy at times that the large flakes settled, but by mid-afternoon it had more or less thawed when the clouds headed in a south-easterly direction.

It took an hour or more for the Blackbirds to pile into the garden, 16 at one time attracted in by the windfall apples deliberately left for such an occasion. Last week there was a single Fieldfare amongst them but not today. I hadn’t seen a Fieldfare for weeks and I don’t know anyone who has, even though their European population is reckoned to be close on 50 million with many supposedly wintering in more temperate Britain. They may be in other parts of the UK but they are pretty much absent from these parts for now.

So for an hour or two I made do with taking photographs of common garden birds in the less than ideal and grey, snowy light.

Chaffinch
Chaffinch
House Sparrow
Robin
Goldfinch
Blackbird

Blackbird

Chaffinch

Rapturous

It was a half decent day at last, even a touch of sun and less wind, with the result that all the raptors came out to play on Rawcliffe Moss. I’d gone for a wander about and bumped into Seumus dropping seed for the sparrows, and then afterwards found myself watching mainly birds of prey. For the record and in rough order of appearance the raptor count stood at 1 Hen Harrier, 1 Merlin, 1 Short-eared Owl, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel and 1 Peregrine, with a total of 8 Buzzards appearing as four pairs over four separate woods.

The harrier looks like it was flying into the trees but it wasn’t, it just flew quite close at one point then kept a safe distance without giving any more photo opportunities.

Hen Harrier
Buzzard

Both the Peregrine and Merlin were a distance away, at one point the Peregrine stooping without success at a flock of Jackdaws. The “shorty” put in a brief appearance before it too disappeared into a ditch that looked suitable for a daytime roost. Plodding around the moss produced a good selection of other birds, especially the bunting family, with 24 Corn Bunting, 25+ Yellowhammer and 30 Reed Bunting.

Corn Bunting

Other birds seen: 14 Grey Partridge, 1 Goldfinch, 2 Greenfinch, 30 Chaffinch, 200+ Tree Sparrow, 40+ Skylark, 4000 Starling, 300+ Lapwing, 4 Snipe, 2 Song Thrush, 8 Blackbird

Greenfinch

A few readers commented about my new header, but I'm not happy as the picture should fill across the page, not stop half way. Seems there's a problem with Blogger (again).

Chaffinch and Reed Warbler controls

After ringing almost 400 Chaffinches at Out Rawcliffe this autumn Will and I might have expected some return from our efforts. However today we received a couple of interesting Chaffinch controls from the BTO, both of them birds ringed not at Out Rawcliffe, but in Will’s Garstang garden. By definition the phrase “garden ringing” may conjure up thoughts of catching species that don’t move far or migrate at all, but Will’s garden at the foot of the Pennines in a well wooded location is well placed to catch migrant birds.

In Will’s garden during 2101 we ringed 183 Chaffinch, with another 133 so far in 2011, years to which the two recoveries below relate. The first Chaffinch L300882, a first year female was caught and ringed on 30 December 2010 and then recaptured the following autumn on 11 October 2011 at Calf of Man Bird Observatory.

The second Chaffinch, Y279256 another first year female was ringed on 4 September 2011 and then recaptured just 49 days later, again on Calf of Man.

Y279256 shows a classic on-going westerly autumn movement to Ireland of a juvenile female Chaffinch. L300882 is slightly more complicated by the recapture in a subsequent year, but it is highly likely the bird made the journey to ireland in both years, the Isle of Man a convenient stopover.

Will’s garden to Calf of Man
Female Chaffinch

In addition to the Chaffinches we received a recovery from Rawcliffe Moss, that of a Reed Warbler, a scarce enough species out on the moss where records always relate to juvenile dispersal or migration. In this case, L141538 a juvenile we ringed on 28 July 2010 was recaptured as a breeding male on 3 July 2011 at Mere Sands Wood, Lancashire a distance of just 26 kms and 340 days from Rawcliffe Moss.

Reed Warbler

We still wait for details of a Chaffinch caught at Out Rawcliife on 18 August 2011, R988282 anyone?

For more information on autumn Chaffinches, see this post http://anotherbirdblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/those-chaffinch.html

Windy But Birding

Mindful of the BBC’s bad weather warnings for the next five days, I decided to brave the elements again for a spot of birding, but with rain and strong winds again, the watching would be mostly from the car.

I hadn’t been to Conder and Glasson for a while so gave those spots a try first. The wind howled across Conder Pool, the lake turned into a swelling sea where 20 Mallards sheltered on the island and 3 Little Grebe braved the rollers. Maybe the lunchtime tide was already moving in to fill the creek where the only birds I found were 4 more Little Grebe, 45 Teal, 1 Curlew and 1 Spotted Redshank, both the Teal and grebes tucked into the lee of the deep creek.

It was similar at Glasson Dock with 55 Tufted Duck and 30+ Coot congregating at the sheltered far side of the marina, 2 Goldeneye and the Black-headed Gulls dodging the breakers in the centre of the swell.

Spotted Redshank
Tufted Duck

Trying desperately to think of somewhere that might be at least partially sheltered I drove up to Thurnham where I was able to take a walk through the wood below the churchyard. It proved quite fruitful, if still a little breezy and also wet underfoot, but I found 2 Treecreeper, 2 Woodcock and 1 Tawny Owl. The owl sat in the middle of a dense holly tree, and as they do, both Woodcock flushed from close by before I could spot either. In the last two winters we caught one or two Woodcock, but none this year so far, and if the winds don’t drop there will be no birds of any species caught, never mind the buzz of finding a Woodcock in the net.

Woodcock
Woodcock

The tide was in at Lane Ends where I logged a few bits and pieces of 3 Little Egret, 55 Pintail, 80 Wigeon, 2000+ Lapwing, 155 Curlew, 340 Shelduck, 150 Starling, 3 Skylark, and 1 Merlin battling west into the headwind.

Pintail
I watched a Great Black-backed Gull check out a Little Egret which struggled against the wind, the gull waiting for a chance to pounce. Just a few weeks ago it was here that I watched a black-back kill and eat a Wigeon. It's a poor rushed shot I took, but the gull clearly shows evil intent.

Little Egret and Great Black-backed Gull

A quick check near Fluke Hall produced a good count of 93 Whooper Swan and 1500 Pink-footed Goose still on the potato field.

Whooper Swan

Grey, Black, Red

The wind and rain relented just enough for a blast around the local patch this morning, although it was a far from ideal dull, grey and breezy day, with no chance of a ringing session.

A check at Lane Ends found 13 White-fronted Geese on the field opposite the entrance, and then from above, 3 Little Egret, 3 Tufted Duck and singles of Goldeneye and Teal.

White-fronted Goose

Fluke Hall Lane proved more a little more fruitful with 8 Reed Bunting and 15 Tree Sparrow feeding at the entrance to HiFly’s track, and 200+ Jackdaw, 250+ Woodpigeon and 16 Whooper Swan on the wet stubble.

Reed Bunting

Lots of Pink-footed Geese, grey against grey of the muddy potato field, more than 1500 and many hidden from view, but when horseback riders came by the whole of the flock erupted off the field, many going further inland. In the left foreground of the picture is the orange legged bird, but otherwise I saw nothing unusual. Also in the same field were 40 Lapwing, 6 Redshank, 2 Curlew and 11 Greenfinch.

Pink-footed Goose
Pink-footed Goose

With the tide due at 11am I checked out Knott End where I caught up with the elusive Black Redstart, still ducking in and out of the metal girders and the rocks on the shore. In the same area were 21 Twite, 2 Pied Wagtail and 1 Rock Pipit.

Shore bird counts: 12 Eider, 32 Turnstone, 1 Sanderling, 48 Oystercatcher, 400+ Dunlin and 25 Redshank.

Black Redstart
Turnstone

Instant Bird Art

65 mph winds today but not as bad as Scotland with a rumoured 100mph. I found myself fooling around with FotoSketcher, a free software program that converts photographs to artwork. Some of the results are below.

It’s worth a try if your skill with pen and ink or a brush is as bad as mine.

Swallow
FotoSketch Swallow
Wheatear
FotoSketch Wheatear
You can add a picture frame, alter the paper texture, or do black & white.

Cuckoo
FotoSketch Cuckoo
Kingfisher
FotoSketch Kingfisher

Looks like the wind may drop slightly tomorrow.

A Touch Warmer Today

This time last year Sue and I holidayed in Cyprus with the lovely warm, sunny climate of Paphos for company. I wish we could be there now to escape the cold, rain and the constant winds of North West England. In the absence of any birding, ringing or photography on which the blog optimistically promises but often fails to deliver, I decided to cheer myself (and perhaps others) up by posting a few pictures from a Cyprus archive. Just look at those blue skies and then double click the pics for a warming experience.

Collared Dove
Roman Ruins

The Collared Dove just happens to be perching on part of a World Heritage building at the ancient site of Nea Pafos. The main attraction of Nea Pafos is the collection of Roman mosaics that lay undiscovered under the headland until a farmer accidentally found them with his plough back in 1962. Since then archaeologists have been slowly unearthing the most amazingly detailed mosaics, along with the ruins of the magnificent buildings that used to house them.

Crested Larks and Black Redstarts were everywhere. So were multitudes of lizards, not always easy to spot against the rocks where they hid.

Black Redstart
Crested Lark
Cyprus Lizard
Cyprus Lizard

North of Paphos along the coast road is the stunning little port of Ayos Georgios, where a much photographed church stands on the cliff top. We lingered for a coffee at the Greek tavern next door whilst watching Blue Rock Thrushes dart about the crags.

Agios Georgios
Agios Georgios
Blue Rock Thrush

Even the crows look better on sunny days, while the local football team goalpost makes a handy perch for a Kestrel.

Hooded Crow
Kestrel

Here’s a view towards Coral Bay where I had a lifer of Cyprus Warbler close to the tiny vine terrace.

Coral Bay