Slowly Does It With A Sad Song

Here in coastal Lancashire we are fortunate to have so many good birding spots, the estuarine coast and marshes bordering internationally important Morecambe Bay, the hills just inland which encompass Bowland where Hen Harriers occasionally breed, or the extensive pastures of the Fylde plain where farmland birds like Corn Buntings and Yellowhammers might still be found.

This morning I felt torn between coastal birding or checking out our ringing site at Rawcliffe Moss for new arrivals; as the car made its way from home to the end of the avenue the steering wheel spun left towards Hambleton and the inland mosses; it’s so good to have the many options for a spot of birding.

Spring has been slow to arrive this year but on 20th April I hoped for the odd Whitethroat or Blackcap to add to the few Willow Warblers and Chiffchaff caught so far. It didn’t happen again with just 12 captures from my session, 2 Willow Warbler, 7 Goldfinch, 2 Chaffinch and 1 Dunnock, without sight or sound of other warblers.

At least 6 Willow Warblers were in song, my two birds a recapture from 2011 plus a newly arrived female. While other species seem in short supply the tiny Willow Warblers seem to have grabbed any opportunity to head north.

 Willow Warbler

 Dunnock

Goldfinch

 

There was very little on the move this morning, a handful of Meadow Pipits, a single Lesser Redpoll and a single Swallow heading north. Other birds were the usual locals of 1 Little Owl, 3 Skylark, 12 Goldfinch, 8 Chaffinch, 2 Reed Bunting, 4 Linnet, 2 Corn Bunting, 2 Fieldfare still, 2 Kestrel and 2 Buzzard. I took some time out to take pictures of a Corn Bunting singing its unhurried, melancholy “bunch of keys” song. Take a listen because the sound is becoming rather scarce in the UK.

 Corn Bunting

 Corn Bunting

 Corn Bunting

The Corn Bunting is a UK Biodiversity Action Plan priority species. It is a farmland specialist, and has suffered one of the steepest population declines in recent decades – c. 90 % since 1970. Although the precise factors are unclear, the loss of extensive mixed farming appears key to the decline with loss of winter food a probable cause of the population decline. The BTO`s winter Corn Bunting survey as long ago as 1992/93 showed that weedy stubble fields were by far the most important feeding habitat during the winter. The area of winter stubbles is greatly reduced in recent decades due to the switch from spring-sown to autumn-sown cereals, the decline in mixed farming and the disappearance of undersowing. In addition, increased herbicide and fertiliser use has reduced the abundance of wildflower seeds and intensification of farming practices with increased use of pesticides and fertilisers has reduced the availability of insects for any chicks the Corn Buntings can produce. 

Out Rawcliffe is now one of the few local areas where Corn Buntings still occur, but even here their numbers are quite low with just 2 or 3 pairs on “our” farm.

Spring Swallows, Year Round Peregrine

 Yesterday was a day off birding but grandparenting instead, later in the day joining all the other Nans and Granddads waiting outside the school gates. Frank said they had negotiated time off for good behaviour and were off to warm and sunny Portugal this week where they hope to see White-rumped Swift and Black-shouldered Kite – Good luck Frank. 

In this morning’s cold north-easterly wind the nearest I could get to those two exotica was a single Peregrine and 12 more spring Swallows heading north in ones and twos. I’d gone to Pilling equipped with spring traps and meal worms, hoping for more Wheatears but I saw none in place of those here a few days ago. From Lane Ends to Pilling Water and in pretty cool unspring like weather I counted 2 Willow Warbler, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Kestrel, 2 Little Grebe, 70 Shelduck, 300 Pink-footed Geese, 12 Greylag Goose, 3 Little Egret, 4 Linnet and 6 Meadow Pipit.

I was watching 8 or 9 Skylarks, sorting out territories near Fluke Hall when the Peregrine sailed over but heading out to the marsh. The Lapwings and Oystercatchers on the stubble field didn’t seem to react; neither did the Skylarks, perhaps because the Peregrine wasn’t in true hunting mode but as it passed by glanced over at me sat on the stile by the gatepost. 

 Peregrine

 Peregrine

 Peregrine

 

The Skylarks did a lot of chasing each other about with odd ones rising up to sing while others stayed on the ground. With the grassy areas yet to sprout any real growth it’s very unlikely the Skylarks have started nest building just yet. 

Skylark

Skylark Nest

Along Fluke Hall Lane and Backsands Lane I counted 16 Lapwings and 10 Oystercatchers but sad to report that I saw more Carrion Crows than I did waders, the corvids outnumbering the Lapwings and Oystercatchers by two to one. Maybe one or two pairs of Lapwings and Oystercatchers will succeed but the odds are clearly stacked against them. Redshank numbers are similarly low with one or two pairs displaying out on the marsh but none on the inner fields. 

Redshank

Nothing much else to report apart from a Robin carrying food near Fluke Hall where I saw 50+ Woodpigeon still flocking, 4 Stock Dove and 3 singleton Swallows heading east. 

A Couple Of Wheats

Like other migrants the Wheatears have been thin on the ground so far this year, and before today the most I’d seen together was a trio just a couple of weeks ago, before the northerly winds set in. I doubled that count today when I found 6 along the sea wall at Pilling. 

Wheatear

The Wheatears gave me the run around for a while but eventually two of them succumbed to the temptation of meal worms. 

Wheatear

Wheatear

Wheatear

Both birds were probably Oenanthe oenanthe leucorhoa, one a rather chunky bird with a wing length of 106mm, the smaller bird a wing of 102mm, the latter a little in the overlap range. Both birds were quite bright with underparts a fairly extensive buff cinnamon, bearing in mind that oenanthe is very variable with the darkest birds similar to a pale leucorhoa. 

As I waited for the Wheatears to surrender the birding yielded 4 Swallow, 1 Kestrel, 1 Buzzard, 300 Pink-footed Geese, 3 Willow Warbler, 1 Chifchaff, 1 Reed Bunting, 6 Teal, 90 Golden Plover, 1 Greenfinch, 4 Linnet. 

Swallow

The forecast for the week ahead is a mixed bag of everything that a UK April brings - showers, rain, sun and wind. Just the stuff to drop some migrants from up high – here’s hoping.

Spring Saga

After being out of action for a few days, I was keen to get out early, so despite the frost I set out to Rawcliffe Moss at 6 a.m. with a few mist nets and a good deal of anticipation. 

It’s an unusual sort of spring when out on the moss I can hear Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Fieldfare all in song at the same time, but that’s what happened early on. As I put a couple of nets up 3 Willow Warblers and a Chiffchaff sang nearby with further along the farm track a gang of Fieldfares feeding in a ploughed field. Every so often the Fieldfares would fly into tree tops whereupon at least one broke into song. This went on for a while and it was only when I left a couple of hours later that I could see at least 20 Fieldfares feeding in the tilled soil. It’s getting pretty late for Fieldfares to be still around but no doubt they are delaying heading off to Scandinavia until they get a southerly wind to help them along the way, the same wind we need to bring more summer migrants here. 

That’s all a way of explaining how a quiet session resulted in just 10 birds, 1 Chiffchaff and 9 Goldfinch – thank goodness for the Niger feeders. 

 Chiffchaff

Goldfinch

 Fieldfare

It’s still a little early in the month for warblers like Whitethroat, Garden Warbler or Sedge Warbler to arrive this far north in any numbers. Even the female Willow Warblers appear absent yet, arriving as they do some days after the male vanguard. 

I couldn’t detect much migration this morning, the most noticeable arrivals being Goldfinches, which may or may not have been fresh migrants as there are always a number around. I noted a single Lesser Redpoll plus at least 4 Siskin over during the morning, with 4 Swallow sightings of singletons heading north into a strengthening breeze. An unusual record for here was 2 Black-tailed Godwits heading north about 10 a.m. but they had probably lifted off from the nearby River Wyre. 

 The remainder of the morning’s sightings were locals: 12 Chaffinch, 3 Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, 2 Song Thrush, 3 Corn Bunting, 2 Yellowhammer, 4 Curlew, 3 Skylark, 4 Lapwing, 4 Linnet, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Stoat.

 Chaffinch

Showery Session

A forecast of April showers saw me avoid the open coast and instead head inland to Out Rawcliffe where if need be there’s a few trees to provide shelter. I topped up the Goldfinch’s Niger feeders and then scouted around for “owt about” and a possible ringing session on Thursday. 

It was still fairly quiet in our plantation although the male Willow Warblers had arrived in recent days, with 3 singing away in the annual spots but otherwise just the tinklings of several Goldfinches. I put a few nets up and then meandered around, and from the top of the moss surveyed the landscape in all directions, hoping for some “vis mig” which might involve the redpolls of late March starting up again. 

The views from here are good to the east, south and west, less so to the north, and with little traffic noise its usually quiet enough to hear birds overhead in spring or autumn. I caught 4 new Goldfinch and a recaptured a Willow Warbler first ringed here in 2011, but no more of our annual and now serial visitors yet. In fact as heavy clouds rolled in from the west I decided discretion to be the better option so took the nets down; in the nick of time as it proved when a heavy hail storm turned quickly into substantial rain just as I stuffed the nets in their bags. 

Willow Warbler

My wanderings produced a good mix of birds but nothing in the way of overhead migration and no Lesser Redpolls, just a single Siskin. On the recently ploughed fields I found 16 Fieldfare together with 2 pairs of Grey Partridge and 60+ still flocking Woodpigeon, and on the grassy fields, 40+ Curlew, 4 Lapwing, 2 Skylark and 12 Shelduck. Raptors entered in the notebook were 3 Buzzard, 1 Sparrowhawk and 1 Kestrel, with one Little Owl at the barn early doors. 

 Grey Partridge

Little Owl

 

Other singers this morning included a trio of farmland buntings in 3 Yellowhammer, 1 Reed Bunting and 1 Corn Bunting, the latter singing in the April rain from a broken off stem of last year’s maize crop. 

 Corn Bunting

The forecast is slightly better for Thursday and whilst as the saying goes,“April showers bring May flowers”, birders prefer to believe that April showers bring May birds in early, so stay tuned for more news and pictures soon.

First Wheat Et All

With it being cold and blowy again this morning I left the birding until pm. Temperatures were a little better after lunch, high enough even to make the meal worms wriggle. I located a single male Wheatear at Pilling Water, and then three minutes later the bird had a brand new shiny ring as it headed off east towards the hills. Although a bright, colourful adult male it was of only average bulk and 100 mm wing chord so was clearly of the UK variety; true Greenland types, wing >105mm are not normally due until later in the month. 

 Wheatear

Wheatear

A few bits and pieces on and around the incoming tide, including a good count of 430+ Redshanks. Others: 7 Red-breasted Merganser, 15 Oystercatcher, 2 Eider, 20 Grey Plover, 110 Golden Plover, 2 Little Egret, 45 Lapwing, 20 Curlew, 7 Cormorant, 4 Skylark, 2 Pied Wagtail, 2 Linnet and 4 Meadow Pipit. 

 Redshank

As I sat below the sea wall 3 Swallows came from the south and headed directly across the bay towards Heysham, my first hirundines of the year. 

Back at the car park a Willow Warbler sang out loud and clear, another new one for the year! 

 Willow Warbler

Heading back home the Buzzard was over Burned House Lane again. 

Merlins And Moles

I squeezed a few hours birding in despite the cold, grey, breezy start, a brighter middle and then more drizzle to end on, so there’s not a lot to report – again. 

As I drove along Burned House Lane I glanced sideways at a Buzzard descending amongst corvids where I guessed a dead rabbit was about to be claimed, but the double white lines here preclude any stopping to bird watch. Between Lambs Lane and Fluke hall Lane I added 4 Kestrels to the note book, two separate pairs hunting their territories, then along Fluke Hall Lane I thought there was another Kestrel atop a telegraph pole. On closer inspection it turned out to be a Merlin; a pity about the grey light, the necessary overexposure and ISO 800 followed by Photoshop. Stop making excuses! 

Merlin

I know one or two of my blog readers have an aversion to Merlins and perhaps birds of prey in general, but a Merlin is my favourite bird of prey, so completely fearless, dashing and spectacular is it when hunting. Some regard the North American and Eurasian Falco columbarius populations as two distinct species, a bird with a long-standing presence on both sides of the Atlantic, as demonstrated by the degree of genetic differences between Eurasian and North American populations. Right now the splitters, in particular the Scilly tickers (or is that Silly Tickers?), argue the Merlin might be considered two distinct species, with gene exchanges probably having ceased at least a million years ago. 

The Merlin sped off across Hi-Fly’s now partly ploughed fields, setting to flight the several Lapwings, Oystercatchers, Redshanks and Skylarks. 

In the village Woodpigeons, Collared Doves and Jackdaws prowled around the Golden Ball’s beer tables looking for crumbs of Golden Wonder or Uncle Albert’s Pork Scratchings. Funny how normally shy birds are less fearful when there may be food about. Now there’s a tricky exposure – black and grey bird, half of it against the grey slate roof, the other half against a grey sky – well done Canon. 

  Jackdaw

The Pilling Water/Fluke walk proved to be mainly that, a walk, with no sign of fresh springtime birds just winter ones or recent arrivals: 2 Little Egret, 2 Little Grebe, 3 Tufted Duck, 3 Jay, 14 Chaffinch, 1 Reed Bunting, 2 Meadow Pipit, 3 Skylark, 7 Teal, 1 Greenshank. 1 more Kestrel and now 250 Pink-footed Goose. 

 Kestrel

I came across a trophy wire of freshly killed moles – European Mole Talpa europaea. 

 European Mole Talpa europaea.

A mole's diet is mostly earthworms and other small invertebrates found in the soil. Mole runs are in reality 'worm traps', the mole sensing when a worm falls into the tunnel then quickly running along to kill and eat it. Moles cause damage and alarm to gardeners and green keepers when they appear unexpectedly leaving a trail of mole hills in their wakes. 

Killing and then displaying the pathetic little corpses is a throwback from the days when gamekeepers had to display dead "vermin" to justify their employment and show how efficient they were. Surely In this day and age it is both unjustified and inexcusable that anyone still does this?