No Wheats, Menorca Instead.

No luck with the Lapwings or the Wheatears at Pilling today. The Lapwing chicks stayed in the muddy gullies where they can hide away as soon as the parents warn them. The Wheatears seemed wary of the trap and when I got a clear view of one of the males I saw it had a shiny ring - one of the birds I ringed two days ago. So it’s probably the same gang of Wheatears hanging about the sea wall and fattening up for the final push north. Other birds this morning: Buzzard, Reed Bunting, 2 Willow Warbler, Reed Warbler, Blackcap, Pied Wagtail. 

For today’s post and for the birders I’m posting bird pictures from the recent Menorca holiday. To satisfy the just Menorca fans out there I’ve included photographs of island life and the landscape. 

When we arrived on 28th April the marsh at Tirant was pretty much parched after some weeks of a dry spell. A wet spot in the centre of the marsh was just visible and where most species hung out, with Little Egrets, Purple and Grey Heron, Gadwall, Marsh Harrier, Squacco Heron, Black-winged Stilt, Little Grebe, Water Rail and Bee Eaters. Passerines included Woodchat Shrike, Corn Bunting, Tawny Pipit, Zitting Cisticola, Whinchat, Stonechat and the inescapable but unseen Nightingale and Cetti’s Warbler. 

A Whiskered Tern fed over the reeds for two days, moving between here and the pool of Es Prat. There’s a record but not very good shot of the tern below, as Whiskered Terns are both fast and very active feeders. Unfortunately I wasn’t quick enough to photograph a Bittern which walked across the road in front of the car before disappearing into the reeds, a rare sighting in Menorca. Two sightings of Osprey here this year, fishing the open water and then feeding at the top of power pylons. During the last few days of the holiday up to 15 Wood Sandpipers graced the pools, unfortunately too distant to photograph. 

Whiskered Tern

Black-winged Stlit

Es Prat, Menorca

 Bee Eater

 Woodchat Shrike

Rural Scene - Menorca

One day I glimpsed a turtle as it submerged into a muddy puddle: back home I looked my picture up on Google and I believe it to be Menorcan Turtle/European Pond Turtle Emys orbicularis. This turtle is quite distinct from the land based Hermann's Tortoise Testudo hermanni which we saw on one occasion just up the road from the marsh and along the dry, dusty track leading to the Tirant headland. 

 Menorcan Turtle

Hermann's Tortoise

From the headland it’s possible to walk to the shore, dunes and stream below where more Bee Eaters hang out, with Little Ringed Plover and Common Sandpiper on the water’s edge. Raptors near the headland proved to be a good number of Common Kestrels and Red Kites, with no Red-footed Falcon or Hobby this year, just a couple of fast-hovering Lesser Kestrels and the ever present Booted Eagles. 

Booted Eagle

Heading west the road from Tirant leads up to Cap De Cavallaria and yet another cup of coffee at a favourite chill-out spot. Why is it you never get a bad cup of coffee in Menorca?

Towards Cap De Cavalleria

 Cap De Cavalleria

More from Menorca or elsewhere soon on Another Bird Blog.

Netting Day

Three weeks without any mist netting seems like an eternity but last night everything appeared reasonable enough for a session so Will and I met up on Rawcliffe Moss for a not-before-time crack at the plantation. 

The threat of coastal mist had materialised into on the inland moss almost a light fog which then lingered around until after 0930. These sorts of conditions tend to make birds stay put, not move about an area much, and less likely to travel any sort of distance. From the implied excuse above readers will have already deduced that our catch was somewhat disappointing with just 12 birds caught, although this included a good selection of species and interesting recaptures from previous years. New birds: 4 Whitethroat, 1 Blackcap, 1 Reed Bunting, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Reed Warbler. Recaptures: 2 Willow Warbler, 1 Whitethroat, 1 Blackbird. 

Even in the net we recognised one of the Willow Warbler recaptures AVC117 as a resident male from last season. Last year the bird had pale plumage patches on its head, this year even after full moult and a winter in Africa it had the same pale patches, if anything slightly more extensive. 

Willow Warbler

We catch a few Reed Warblers here most years, even though there are no reeds in the vicinity. This morning’s bird was in the top panel of a net in front of fairly mature trees, a cautionary tale that birds don’t always abide by the rules their names infer. 

Reed Warbler

It was good to handle Whitethroats again, a couple of today’s older males almost as grey headed as a Lesser Whitethroat. 

Whitethroat

 Blackcap

The mist limited our wider vision, restricting our birding to 1 Little Owl, 1 Kestrel, 1 Buzzard, 5 Blackcap, 4 Skylark, 4 Corn Bunting, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 4 Lapwing, 2 Oystercatcher, 1 Pied Wagtail, 2 Yellowhammer, 20+ Tree Sparrow, 2 Reed Bunting and 2 Lesser Redpoll.

Harrier Again

Looks like the Hoopoes will have to wait again as there is a spot of local news to relay via Another Bird Blog. If I don’t do it I’ll be accused of withholding information or being a miserable bugger - as if. 

I snuck off from babysitting with a two hour pass and hit the trail to Pilling again. Amazing that just like yesterday as I set a Wheatear trap the waders were kicking off again over the other side of the sea wall. Unlike yesterday the object of their attention this time was not a Montagu’s but a Marsh Harrier, heading west towards Fluke Hall. I watched it all the way to Fluke and returned to the traps where 2 Wheatears awaited me, a fine male and a female which looked suspiciously like yesterday’s one. I think today’s photo of a harrier pursued by Lapwings would make a good entry for a Mystery Bird Competition rather than Bird Photo of The Year. 

Marsh Harrier & Lapwing

Both Wheatears carried large amounts of fat, each scoring 50 on a scale of 0 to 50. Wing lengths: male 107mm female 101mm. The Wheatears still have a long way to go before their final destination, Iceland, the Faroes or maybe crossing the entire Atlantic to Greenland itself. 

 

 Male Wheatear

 Male Wheatear

Female Wheatear

Two hours soon goes when you’re having fun and finding birds. Hoopoes Soon.

Tale Of The Unexpected

Looks like everyone will have to wait for another day to see Hoopoe pictures, as by all accounts one or two people would quite like to see pictures of today’s Montagu’s Harrier. But first the story. 

After lunch I’d gone to Lane Ends hoping for Wheatears and a chance of catching and ringing one or two. Wheatears are definitely late this year with parties of 8 to 10 or even more still being seen at coastal and inland locations. There were none obvious at Lane Ends but up at Pilling Water at least 6 birds were scattered across the marsh and several more in the fields just inland, with a total of 12. The later season “Greenland” Wheatears seem to feed more in open fields than earlier in the spring Wheatears, the latter much likely to spend time loafing about the rocks and stones along the shore. It’s probably something to do with the eventual destinations and the differing habitats they utilise in those locations. I caught one, a second year female with a wing length of 101mm, quite a large but not enormous specimen. All the others stayed out in fields or out on the salt marsh so I didn’t catch any more. 

 Wheatear

 Wheatear

Wheatear

As I crouched down resetting a spring trap the alarm calls of waders made me look up and around to see a male Montagu’s Harrier being harried by a couple of Oystercatchers. The harrier was flying north and west, and quickly out of range but I grabbed the camera from my bag and fired off a few rapid shots hoping the setting was ok from previous use. The harrier disappeared out of sight very quickly, so apologies for the heavily cropped and distant record shots but they show the interesting size comparison between the harrier and Oystercatchers. 

Montagu's Harrier & Oystercatcher

Montagu's Harrier

Very little else in the notebook today: 2 Blackcap, 2 Willow Warbler, 4 Linnet, 4 House Sparrow, 12 Skylark, 1 Pied Wagtail, 18 Lapwing and 6 Redshank. Monty’s are pretty rare in the Fylde, but I wish I’d caught more than a single Wheatear today. 

Hoopoes tomorrow unless something unexpected intervenes.

Catching Up

Before this morning my last notebook entry for Pilling was 26th April, so there was a lot of catching up to do after missing three weeks of birding there. 

Looking at blogs and web sites for the period I was on holiday, it seems I didn’t miss much at Lane Ends, but then not a lot of people bird properly there to find much; a sit in the car park, telescope the tide in, a bit of chat, and maybe a cursory walk to the gates 50 yards either way, but no searching of the trees before heading off to a target bird. Seems there was a Cuckoo a week ago but not much else throughout the whole of May! 

Two pairs of Lapwings had young this morning, two big “runners” and then two smaller ones with another pair of adults, the little ones too far away and too public for a ringer’s pursuit. In song in the plantation was a very loud Blackcap, with 2 untiring Willow Warblers and a Reed Warbler. Overhead a late presumed (Lesser) Redpoll flew over calling with a couple of Chaffinch giving “nest-nearby” warnings, plus a Great-spotted Woodpecker. The pair of Little Grebes still trill on the water while nesting Greylags control the island. 

Little Grebe

Pilling Water to Fluke was I admit fairly uneventful, save for 5 Wheatears, 2 Linnet and several pairs of Lapwing, Redshank, Oystercatcher and Skylark. I guess by now the Wheatears must be Greenland types, the one I managed to photograph a big and bright male. 

Wheatear

With seeing the young Lapwings At Lane Ends I decided to check out Braides Farm where I have permission to roam and where the RSPB carried out some ditching work in an effort to reinstate breeding waders. After a couple of dry, unproductive years re-profiling a few ditches this year has worked in the Lapwing’s and other species' favour; I found at least five broods of Lapwing chicks, 4 or five displaying Redshank, a couple of territorial Oystercatchers, 6+ singing Skylarks and a displaying Meadow Pipit. It’s not a good idea to search for Lapwing chicks to ring when inquisitive cows follow in your footsteps, so I left well alone content that here at least Lapwings are doing well. So full marks to the farmer and the RSPB that Braides is a now a shining example of wildlife conservation to this stretch of coastline and much of the Fylde. 

 Lapwing chick hiding

Lapwing

When I viewed west along the RSPB’s ditch to see the number of flowers growing in the meadow I thought for a moment I was back in Menorca, but I couldn’t see Cattle Egrets or hear Bee Eaters, just a Mute Swan on a nest. 

 Braides Farm

 Mute Swan

Cattle Egret

The illusion lasted a moment, broken by the sight of the herd of Belted Galloway cattle, a breed which originates in the harsh upland climate of the Galloway hills in beautiful south west Scotland. The “Beltie” as it is affectionately known is one of the most visually distinctive breeds of cattle, its many merits lie not only in its unique appearance and good nature, but also in its hardiness and top quality beef. 

 Belted Galloways - Belties

If I don’t get out birding tomorrow I’ll post pictures of breeding Hoopoes from Menorca.

A Bit Of Everything

It’s all very well this going on holiday but there’s an awful lot of catching up to do eventually. 

I spent this morning checking Tree Sparrow boxes at Out Rawcliffe: without much luck as it happened because a couple of broods had obviously fledged, three adults were on eggs and the remaining boxes were occupied by either Blue or Great Tit. No joy with two owl boxes but the visit was productive in other ways as I met a neighbouring farmer who would like both Barn Owl and Little Owl boxes on his own farm – a job for Will when he returns from Scotland. Also here, 2 singing Yellowhammer, 2 Whitethroat, a singing Willow Warbler and a singing Lesser Whitethroat. 

 Whitethroat

A visit to our ringing site was overdue, mainly to see how much the vegetation had encroached on net rides during wet and windy May, but all was quite good with a netting session on the cards soon. Walking through the plantation I came across a couple of nests, a Chaffinch one with 4 eggs and then 25 metres away an unfinished and as yet empty nest which looked very Chaffinch-like. 

 Chaffinch Nest

Chaffinch Nest?

Other birds here, 8 Whitethroat, 1 Sedge Warbler, 1 Garden Warbler, 1 Blackcap and 6 Willow Warbler, 1 Buzzard overhead, 6 Yellowhammer and 3 Corn Bunting. 

Again this year in Menorca I was struck by how common the Corn Bunting still is as a result of the islander’s traditional farming methods. Another prominent feature of the Corn Bunting in Menorca is their apparently large bills compared to ones I see locally in Lancashire. There are some shots below, and maybe I just captured pictures of particularly large Menorcan males in the unyielding Menorca sunlight, but the bill does appear very hefty. 

Birds of the Western Palearctic (BWP) suggests that although both Menorcan and UK Corn Buntings are of the nominate race Miliaria calandra, the Balearic Corn Buntings are if anything marginally smaller than their UK cousins. 

Corn Bunting - Lancashire

 Corn Bunting - Menorca

 Corn Bunting - Menorca

In Menorca the fields of summer flowers are left as winter fodder for the local cattle, a system which inevitably leads to an abundance of arable seeds for wintering Corn Buntings, finches and larks.

Linnet

 

 Menorca Flower Field

Menorca Flowers

Home

After 19 days in Menorca we arrived home Wednesday pm and to rain today. 

Soon I will get out for some local birding and ringing but in the meantime here are a few words and pictures for loyal blog readers - I promise to catch up with everyone later today after some essential homecoming chores. 

One of our favourite places in Menorca is Cap de Cavallaria a rather remote but beautiful spot on the north coast of the island, the furthermost parts and difficult rocky terrain so inaccessible and free from disturbance that it is home to large numbers of breeding shearwaters. Of course the shearwaters are impossible to see in the daytime except somewhat distant out to sea but the sparsely vegetated rocky landscape is home to Raven, Stonechat, Thekla Lark, Short-toed Lark, Tawny Pipit, Corn Bunting, Greenfinch, Linnet, Booted Eagle, Blue Rock Thrush and Kestrel amongst others. 

 Short-toed Lark

 

Tawny Pipit

 Coffee Stop

 Information and distant lighthouse

 Route to the lighthouse

After the trek to the lighthouse and a welcome coffe stop there are Larks, Greenfinch and Spotted Flycatchers usually close by, and very often, migrant Bee Eaters on the roadside wires. 

Spotted Flycatcher

 Bee Eater

That’s all for now - back soon.