Things Can Only Get Better

Sometimes the Spring optimism is overtaken by the reality of a dull early March morning on the moss, where birds are hard to come by and visible migration is often less obvious than in the autumn. It does seem that birds moving north in spring stay with the coast more, plus of course there are a lot less birds in total than after a prolonged and successful breeding season.

That fact was brought home to me this morning when I had a text from the lads at Rossall to say vis was good and they had caught 15 birds at that point in time. My short text in response simply said “No vis - 4 goldf caught”. An hour later my total birds caught increased to 5 with a single unexciting Greenfinch added and not a lot of other stuff in the notebook to make the morning appear more thrilling. With nothing doing I decided to pack in sooner with five birds rather than later with the same handful.

Greenfinch

The only visible migration I saw came in the form of 2 Meadow Pipits heading north east, followed an hour later by a loose assembly of 12 Fieldfares, chuckling loudly as they too flew directly north and east.

I tried to catch a few Yellowhammers, there were 8 or 10 about the spilt wheat plus two singing males further down the farm, but the birds weren’t interested in being caught today. The Linnets flock numbered 90+ today, and despite spending some time close to the nets they too were indifferent to sporting a shiny and new BTO ring for the season.

Yellowhammer
Linnet

Other birds seen: 1 Kestrel, 4 Grey Partridge, 2 Great-spotted Woodpeckers, 4 Lapwing, 3 Reed Bunting. As I drove off the farm I saw 2 more Fieldfares, this time in the field where a party fed for a few days a week or two ago.

Fieldfare

The morning didn’t improve when back at home I destroyed yet another vacuum flask by dropping the latest one on the hard-paved patio. How does that Howard Jones song go? - "You can walk my path, You can wear my shoes, But things can only get better”.

Ending On A High?

Another bright and breezy morning dictated no ringing, instead a drive to and then a walk over the local patches of Fluke, Pilling Water and Lane Ends, with another quiet morning and very little sign of spring migration. It was so quiet I lumped all the sighting together under headings “Lane Ends/Pilling Water” or “Fluke” but regular readers will readily associate the sightings with a particular spot

Lane Ends/Pilling Water: 2 Little Grebe, 2 Tufted Duck, 2 Goldeneye, 6 Little Egret, 2 European White-fronted Goose, 12 Greylag, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Greenfinch, 1 Greenshank, 6 Skylark, plus 20 grounded Meadow Pipits.

Now the shooting season is finished grey geese in general are easier to approach, although many of the pinkfeet have been in the quieter parts of Staynall and Stalmine for a week or two.

European White-fronted Goose

Fluke: 40 Dunlin, 35 Lapwing, 125 Golden Plover, 10 Oystercatcher, 18 Curlew, 8 Skylark, 6 Meadow Pipit, 8 Linnet and 22 Twite. Although both the Twite and Meadow Pipits could be migrants, the Twite are probably part of the flock that wintered between Pilling and Knott End, the Meadow Pipits not visibly migrating but hanging about in the area of the midden with 2 Pied Wagtails.

Meadow Pipit

Back home the local Great-spotted Woodpecker was busily drumming away beyond the village hall with the regular Mistle Thrush in full voice. In the garden Goldfinches have dried up, no sign of Siskins but a Goldcrest made a brief appearance.

With a high pressure sitting over us the weather forecast looks better for a spot of ringing tomorrow, even though it may turn out to be a “blocking” high.

High Pressure

Two Ninenty Nine

I grabbed about three hours of birding this morning when I saw no sign of spring migrants, hardly surprising in the stiff north westerly I guess, and it is only March 8th. Here we are again wishing our lives away to see a few birds which will arrive only when they are good and ready.

In the way of passerines Fluke Hall turned up 2 singing Song Thrush, 3 Reed Bunting and lots of noisy Tree Sparrows about the area of the nest boxes. The wet stubble fields proved fairly quiet with 30 Golden Plover, 25 Redshank, 40 Oystercatcher, 14 Curlew and 50+ Lapwing, some of the latter in display mode again, but no sign of first nests yet.

Lane Ends including a walk to Pilling Water and then back produced a mixed bag of species, 2 European White-fronted Geese, 36 Woodpigeon, 2 Little Grebe, 4 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Egret, 1 Greenshank, 4 Skylark, 180 Shelduck, 1 Sparrowhawk and 1 Buzzard.

Sparrowhawk
Tufted Duck

Travelling along Head Dyke Lane in the direction of Knott End I could see a hunting Barn Owl across the fields to my left but there was nowhere to stop a car safely, so I continued up to the village. The rising tide realised a good selection of birds, with 360 Oystercatcher, 24 Eider, 15 Shelduck, 1 Cormorant, 4 Bar-tailed Godwit, 14 Turnstone, 3 Curlew, 10 Sanderling, 2 Pied Wagtail and 1 Rock Pipit.

Oystercatcher
Pied Wagtail
Eider

Apologies for the quick, short post today but please look in to Another Bird Blog again soon, and for anyone not a “follower”, sign up now to become Number 300.

Misted Over

We tell ourselves Spring is here but even with the sun up it was a cold start out on the moss, iced up ropes with a second layer of ice on the bamboo poles, so three nets went up slowly, with swigs of coffee in between. First bird out was a Linnet, giving me high hopes that more of the 120 strong flock might find the net from their forays into the alders. It wasn’t to be as thick mist rolled in from the west, and apart from Goldfinches on the feeders the birds stopped moving around much. I caught just 9 birds, 7 Goldfinch, 1 Linnet and I Chaffinch, until packing up early due to the lingering mist leaving dew on the nets.

Linnet
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Misty Moss

The Yellowhammers were still about the spilt wheat this morning, at least 15 birds, with Chaffinches coming for a look also.

Yellowhammer

The “other” sightings are pretty thin today, the mist preventing me seeing anything of note except 1 Kestrel, a singing Corn Bunting, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 drumming Great-spotted Woodpeckers and a Little Owl at the entrance to a nest box. They do that every year, fool someone into thinking they are about to use a box, then go and nest elsewhere.

Little Owl

Just the other day I found this freshly dead but very wet mouse on the morning grass. I think it may be a house mouse Mus musculus, but I stand to be corrected by someone with knowledge of small mammals.

Mouse

Birds Of India And Happy Memories.

I have fond memories of holidaying and birding in the wonderful, beautiful and unique India, a country where as a western birdwatcher trying to silently and unobtrusively observe unfamiliar species, I came to understand the meaning of the phrase “You are never alone in India”. It didn’t matter where I ventured, a walk across seemingly deserted paddyfield paths, checking the quietly flowing river bank for waders or wandering along an empty tideline, I quickly gathered an entourage of previously hidden ragamuffin children and adults eager to join in my strange pursuit, or better still look through binoculars that in a lifetime’s work they could never hope to own.

How nice then that today I received a parcel from my friends at Princeton University Press containing a book I’d been so looking forward to seeing, the second edition of Birds of India by Richerd Grimmett and Tim & Carol Inskipp. This book began life as a Helm Identification Guide in late 1988. Following this came a number of regional field guides such as Birds of Nepal, Birds of Northern India, Birds of Southern India and Birds of Sri Lanka. The first pocket guide to the Birds of India including Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives, published in the UK as Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by Helm Field Guides first appeared in 1999. Some 13 years later this second hugely improved edition is now much appreciated by anyone with an interest in or experience of birding in the vast Indian subcontinent, and most certainly to anyone now planning a visit to any one of these enthralling places.

Birds of India
The Indian Subcontinent - Birds of India

Birds of India now includes over 500 pages and 1,375 species, the latter figure encompassing all known vagrants. The illustrations use 226 colour plates which depict many distinct plumages, races and sub-species. Since the first edition of 1999, 73 new plates have been added and most existing plates reorganised, and as we expect from modern field guides, the text and distribution maps now appear opposite the illustrations. The text is comprehensively revised from the early edition and the detailed range maps totally updated to reflect current knowledge.

Orioles - Birds of India
Bulbuls - Birds of India

Again, as we have come to expect, the text describes the bird and its ID, status, voice, and habitat. The distribution maps are colour-coded for resident, summer visitor, winter visitor, migratory visitor, and “known to be occasional, scarce or erratic”. On the whole the illustrations by a variety of artists are first-rate in portraying all the salient features, but perhaps lacking in reproductive quality on a number of pages where certain brown and black tones appear too dark, causing the illustration to look “flat” on the page rather than stand out to the reader.

The book’s introduction contains much useful information including sections about climate, main habitats, bird conservation in the region, and summaries of the various bird families covered by the guide. The latter is especially useful to newcomers to the region unfamiliar with groups like the bulbuls, broadbills and barbets, or that very difficult cult the babblers, groups I as a UK birder struggled with on my first visit to India.

Bee Eaters - Birds of India

Near the front of the book are 4 pages devoted to itemised lists of taxonomic and name changes: proposed elevation to species status, proposed splits, or those species the authors consider warrant elevation to species status, or species where more research is required. All essential reading for students of taxonomy and those who like to keep bang up to date.

The four-page section headed “conservation” describes in more detail religious attitudes and traditional protection, threats, agricultural practices and conservation measures; the whole section makes for essential and thought provoking background reading, preferably before venturing forth with binoculars in the region. During five visits to India I observed in the people a total respect for wildlife, and as described in the book this is due to the spiritual influence of the Hindu and Buddhist religions in helping to conserve a rich, diverse and natural heritage. How this legacy will play out when India becomes a larger World Superpower remains to be seen, and in thirty years’ time the map on page 23 depicting the Birdlife International Important Bird Areas may have changed dramatically for the worse. I hope not, for all our sakes.

The Book of Indian Birds - Birdlife international

This latest book on the birds of India becomes the one to own and the one use in the field, and although no one will find themselves alone in India, I can heartily recommend Birds Of India as a worthy companion for any birder planning to visit there, or indeed any part of the Indian subcontinent. It will also follow someone around by fitting into a rucksack or a large pocket. At £27.95 or $39.50 the book is available from Princeton University Press or in the UK £31.50 from A C Black where it is perhaps more correctly titled Birds of The Indian Subcontinent.

The book set me reminiscing about birding in India and Sri Lanka and from the bookshelf I dug out a book I bought in India in 1998, The Book of Indian Birds by Salim Ali. Marking a page I found a bill from the River Sal Restaurant, Goa. I remember it well, seated on the veranda overlooking the river as flights of egrets skimmed over the water to roost and a Smyrna Kingfisher played out the last rays of sunshine. Happy Birding Indian style.

River Sal Restaurant, Goa
The Book of Indian Birds by Salim Ali

Sounds Of Spring

The morning dawned just a touch too breezy for ringing on the moss, where although the willow trees are in bud but no leaf to deter a breeze from wafting a net around. So in the sunny warmth the job was topping up the Niger seed followed by an hour or two birding.

Shy Yellowhammers are always a challenge to photograph, with today 10 or 12 individuals cautiously and almost noiselessly approaching the shooter’s pheasant feeders for left-over wheat on the grass below; wheat is a good size for a Yellowhammer’s chunky bill to tackle, as well as being a nutritious meal, and although the birds came back time and time again they proved very difficult to photograph.

Yellowhammer
Yellowhammer
Yellowhammer

The wheat proved an attraction to other birds too as Chaffinches, Goldfinches and a single Greenfinch came for a look. The local Linnet flock was back up to 100+ birds today, sticking to a weedy patch of ground, only flying noisily into the trees a couple of times when spooked by something unseen. Around the Niger feeders were the usual 8 or 10 Goldfinches, a few Chaffinch and brief calls of Siskin overhead.

Goldfinch
Greenfinch

A walk north and up the plantation edge found 3 Grey Partridge, 4 Skylark, 4 Blackbirds, 2 Mistle Thrush, a Kestrel and a Sparrowhawk, then as the sun created the thermals the Buzzards came out to play. I counted 8 in the air at once, two groups of four with much mewing and calling as they sorted out their differences for the coming weeks. Click on the “xeno canto” button, there’s even a Willow Warbler in sweet song to remind us of Spring.

Buzzard

Pilling And A Swallow

This morning began with bright sun and a south westerly breeze, conditions which made me optimistic about a gentle walk at Pilling. Within an hour the solid grey clouds of late rolled back in and it was a fairly uneventful few hours although other signs of spring continue with birds in song and display.

The Hi-fly fields continue to hold good numbers of waders, mainly Lapwing, Redshank and Golden Plover, with sometimes Dunlin, so it’s always a good idea to stop and work through the flock for something different. Not today, just 120 Lapwing, 40+ Redshank, 90 Golden Plover and 8 Oystercatcher, although it was interesting that as the flock of Lapwings both fed and roosted on the well-muddied stubble, just away from the main gathering a few lone males performed their noisy, tumbling displays. In the distant stubble I could see several Skylarks, a few breaking off from searching through the mud-covered stalks to indulge in aerial chases.

Lapwing
Skylark

When I later walked the sea wall I saw both Redshanks and Oystercatchers in territorial mode, with 4 singing Skylarks at appropriate distances apart, spots remarkably close to last year’s eventual nests.

By the time I got to Lane Ends the 100% blue sky was replaced by full grey cloud but undeterred I checked the pools, listened for Chiffchaffs, and then walked the wall in search of Wheatears or Meadow Pipits.

The pools held 2 Tufted Duck, 2 Goldeneye, 2 Little Grebe and 2 Little Egret, with my money firmly on Tufted Ducks and Little Grebes for breeding success and a small side bet on Little Egret – eventually. Along the sea wall the 30 or so pipits of Monday had moved on, now all I found were 6 at Pilling Water with a lone Pied Wagtail and 2 more Little Egret. The Greenshank flushed noisily from the pool, closely followed by the now silent Green Sandpiper, and is it my imagination but are Green Sandpipers more vocal in the autumn?

Little Egret

And now news from Will’s garden where unlike this time last year, the bird count is virtually zero. However Will did receive news of a Swallow Y279264 he ringed in the garden shed last year, one of a nest of 3 youngsters ringed on 8th September 2011. On 12th October, this young bird was recaptured at Icklesham, East Sussex before heading rapidly south over the English Channel then through France and Spain towards its eventual destination somewhere in the south of the African continent.

Swallow
Will’s Garden to Icklesham

The ringing group had news of another bird recaptured at Icklesham, this a Lesser Redpoll L583835 ringed at Rossall School, Fleetwood on spring passage 10th April 2011 and later recaptured at Icklesham on 19th October 2011. Lesser Redpolls heading to southern UK may winter there, but equally many individuals fly on to Belgium, the Netherlands and France.