More On Chaffinches

Our Fylde Ringing Group totals for October make decent reading. The prolonged wind and rain of September left numbers struggling upwards, but an improvement in October’s weather led to a much healthier looking total of birds ringed during the month, 664 birds of 23 species.

Greenfinches ringed at Fleetwood were the most numerous, with my own efforts out on Rawcliffe Moss directed at both Chaffinches and Goldfinch, and then later in the month Lesser Redpoll and northern thrushes, Redwing and Fieldfare. While Redwing subsequently features in the top ten, the harder to catch Fieldfare does not, with just 4 caught.

Top-Ten totals for October in order of magnitude: Greenfinch (284), Chaffinch (72), Goldfinch (38), Redwing (36), Long-tailed Tit (34), Blackbird (34), Lesser Redpoll 29), Meadow Pipit (29), Coal Tit (16), Song Thrush (16).

From August onwards, I continued with my age/sex analysis of autumn Chaffinches dispersing south and over Rawcliffe Moss. Despite losing many sessions in September, the numbers caught in October redressed the situation somewhat, but the overall total of 181 Chaffinch for the whole of the autumn of 2012 proved way down on figures for the equivalent period in 2010 (332 Chaffinch) and in 2011 (375 Chaffinch).  

Chaffinch

Although the actual numbers are lower for 2012 the percentages of each age/sex class are remarkably consistent with the previous two autumns - see chart below. The only inconsistency would seem to be the low percentage of adults (5%) in the September 2012 catches, as compared to 15-18% for the same month in the years 2010/2011.  In view of the summer weather during 2012 it might be tempting to explain the low number as adults extending their breeding and moult cycle by a number of weeks and hence a delay in leaving home ranges. More likely it will remain as an unsolved variance or a blip cause by the lower sample.

Table: Age/Sex ratios of Chaffinches

Out Rawcliffe, Aug to Oct 2010-2012

Month	Total Captures	Adults (% of Total Captures)	1CYs (% of Total Captures)	1CY male (% of 1CYs)	1CY female (% of 1CYs)
Aug 2010	27	9 (33%)	18 (67%)	5 (28%)	13 (72%)
Aug 2011	44	5 (11%)	39 (89%)	17 (43%)	22 (57%)
Aug 2012	37	5 (13%)	32 (87%)	14 (59%)	13 (41%)
Sep 2010	263	48 (18%)	215 (82%)	71 (33%)	144 (67%)
Sep 2011	228	35 (15%)	193 (85%)	88 (45%)	105 (55%)
Sep 2012	84	4 (5%)	80 (95%)	35 (44%)	45 (56%)
Oct 2010	42	16 (38%)	26 (62%)	8 (31%)	18 (69%)
Oct 2011	103	17 (17%)	86 (83%)	37 (43%)	49 (57%)
Oct 2012	42	16 (38%)	26 (62%)	8 (31%)	18 (69%)

In all a total of 888 Chaffinches were captured throughout the three month period of each year 2010 to 2012 inclusive. Adults made up between 5% and 38% of a catch during any month, with an average of 20%

Of 888 Chaffinch in the three years, first year birds made up between 62% and 95% of the catches in any month, the actual average being 80%.

First year males comprised between 28% and 49% of first year birds, the average being 42%.

First year females made up between 41% and 72% of first year birds, the average being 58%.

The figures above correspond to the information in The British Trust for Ornothology Migration Atlas which states "Chaffinches involved in autumnal movements are thought to be 90% first year birds, predominantly females".

There is one outstanding “controlled” Chaffinch yet to be notified, an adult female Y867191 caught on 21^st October. Many years of ringing Chaffinches shows that most if not all of this region’s autumnal Chaffinch originate from the Northern Pennines, SW Scotalnd and The English Lake District, so it will be interesting to see if this record follows the same pattern. 

Chaffinch 

Another Bird Blog is indoors today, waiting for BT to bring a replacement router because my Internet connection has been off and on like a politician's grin. Hopefully the fix will be permanent, so keep looking in for the latest update soon.   

I’m Late, Start Without Me

This is Sunday’s post, and like all posts occasionally do, it’s running a little later than it should, but hey it’s only bird news with pictures of our feathered friends, not life or death. 

Sunday was a fine old morning, cold with a slight frost, but clear and bright so an opportunity to see what might be occurring out on Rawcliffe Moss while checking the feeders. The Kestrel made me late, watching the stubble fields from a roadside pole then venturing off for a hover, a fly around and then a return to any one of a long line of poles, usually one out of camera range so as to frustrate my photographic efforts. This first year bird was one of three Kestrels seen during the morning, one on the moss and two at Stalmine/Pilling Moss later. 

Kestrel

Kestrel

Kestrel

The feeders were still quite full, not unexpected since most of the autumn Goldfinch have gone south to warmer climes, with a count of just 6 this morning. Better counts of though with 35ish Tree Sparrow and more than 40 Chaffinch, the sparrows congregated around the wildfowler’s pheasant feeders, the Chaffinches distributed more widely. A good number of Reed Buntings too, with 20+ scattered along hedgerows north, south and east. I got a couple of Reed Bunting photos today, along with a Wren, a species which always eludes me as a photographer but not as a bird ringer when they turn up in a mist net at the most undesirable times, usually dawn and dusk. Bird ringers often call Wrens “trogs” from its Latin name Troglodytes troglodytes, but they have other less complementary names for the species too. 

Wren - Troglodytes troglodytes

Reed Bunting

Reed Bunting

Reed Bunting

 Chaffinch

 Tree Sparrow

Two Yellowhammers in the area of the shooter’s feeders today, another species which is extremely shy of being photographed at close quarters. It’s a brightly coloured bunting which is well able to melt away in the dappled light of a sunny hedgerow. The best I could achieve today, both cropped and un-cropped to show how an apparently obvious yellow Yellowhammer can be overlooked. 

Yellowhammer

Yellowhammer

Other birds out on the moss: 6 Snipe, 25 Fieldfare, 1 Mistle Thrush, 8 Redwing, 2 Buzzard, 2 Jay, 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker. On the way home via Pilling and Stalmine mosses I saw the aforementioned Kestrels,a Short-eared Owl, and on yet another wet stubble field, 70 Whooper Swans. 

This week Another Bird Blog is linking with Anni who'd rather be birding anytime, and also with Stewart an ex-pat who lives in Australia - Stewart. 

More news this week, so don’t be late for Another Bird Blog.

Half A Winter’s Day

Not much of a post today on Another Bird Blog as it rained all morning which meant I couldn’t get out until 1230. By 1530 what sun there was started to fall towards the horizon and the light began to fail, and as birds set off to their roosts I too called it a half-day. 

At Fluke Hall I’d found 8/10 Redwings, 4 Blackbird and 2 Song Thrush in the hedgerows, together with a fine male Brambling which flew in from the stubble along with a handful of Chaffinch. Along the lane were 2 Reed Bunting, 8 Skylark and 12 Tree Sparrow, with a couple of Goldcrest in the woodland and a Kingfisher darting twice across the quiet pool. 

Reed Bunting

With showers still around it wasn’t much of a day for walking although a stroll along the Lane Ends sea wall produced a bonus in the form of 2 Merlin scrapping briefly before they went their separate ways. One headed towards Fluke, the other in the direction of Cockerham where I saw it perch up on the thinnest of tree debris out on the marsh. Otherwise, 2 Meadow Pipit, 3 Skylark and huge numbers of Pink-footed Geese, upwards of 8,000. 

Next came a drive around Moss Edge, Cockerham where 32 Whooper Swans fed on a stubble field, the swans seeming to be split into family groups as below, 2 adults and 3 youngsters. Further round the moss circuit the Little Owl was on lookout duty at the usual spot, surely the Fylde’s most regular and well known location to find the species? 

Whooper Swan

Little Owl

Other birds about the soggy moss: 800 Starling, 15 Tree Sparrow, 2 Redwing, 1 Reed Bunting, 6 Curlew, 600 Black-headed Gull. 

Sunday looks a better day, so log in then to see where Another Bird Blog spent the day, or at least part of it.

Here, There And Everywhere

That’s what it felt like this morning, doing the rounds as the heavy showers dictated the time spent at a particular spot and in which direction the car travelled. 

The day started cloudy but dry at Fluke Hall, with plenty of Blackbirds around, and more than the usual number of finches in evidence. The busily feeding and mobile Chaffinch looked like recent arrivals with 25+, and with them at least 2 Brambling, the latter giving away their presence in the usual manner by the unmistakeable and obvious wheezing calls. Siskins did the same, feeding quietly and undetected in the high branches until a few tell-tale calls made me look up to find more than 10 of them moving through the tree tops. Near Ridge Farm I found the flock of Greenfinches numbering 25 today, and still 6+ Goldfinch. 

Brambling

Siskin

Not much on the flood at Damside, just 40+ Lapwing and a Great-spotted Woodpecker calling incongruously from the top of a telegraph pole. 

Great-spotted Woodpecker

Lane Ends next where a walk to Pilling Water was curtailed by an approaching black cloud. Hurrying back and then waiting for the burst to subside gave counts of 9 Little Egret, 3 Raven, 8 Snipe, 2 Meadow Pipit, 5 Chaffinch, 2 Siskin and 2 Buzzard. One Buzzard was perched on a post out on the marsh towards Cockerham, the other flying off the marsh and towards Pilling village. 

I headed north, trying to keep ahead of the rain coming following behind from the south-west, and stopped for a minute or two at Braides where 22 Redshank and 15 Curlew fed on the muddy pools. 

At Conder I found time to count 8 Little Grebe,1 Goosander and 2 Spotted Redshanks before the running tide cleared the waders from the creek and cleared me off to Glasson. I couldn’t find more than 1 Scaup with the 35 Tufted Duck, one or two of which with a hint of white at the base of the bill, have pretensions of being a real sea duck instead of a “bread” duck. A Cormorant proved fairly tolerant today, posing for a prehistoric portrait before sliding off into the water. 

Tufted Duck

Cormorant

It rained during the Jeremy Lane circuit where lots of Mute Swan were scattered across the fields, but I found a flock of 60+ Fieldfare along Moss Lane. When I stopped to take a look through the thrushes a female Sparrowhawk appeared from my left and then flew across the road to scatter the Fieldfares along a hedgerow. Towards Cockersands were 275 Curlew, 40 Golden Plover, 140 Lapwing, 6 Skylark, 3 Reed Bunting and 21 Tree Sparrow, the sparrows feeding alongside a single hedgerow. 

Tree Sparrow

Can’t believe it’s almost Friday, but time flies when you’re having fun and birding, so log in again soon to find out if Another Bird Blog has been having fun down your way.

Afternoon Escape

Just too many competing priorities meant no birds this morning. At midday the sun still shone and the wind blew nil. So what is a man supposed to do but escape out onto the moss for a few hours of fresh air and birding before the weather turns again for the rest of the week? So I put up a few nets then sat in the warm sunshine taking in the view across the puddled wheat crop and over to the distant fells. 

 Afternoon On The Moss

11 birds caught at the feeders, 8 Goldfinch, 1 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Great Tit and 1 Chaffinch. So definitely not as productive as the morning might have been, but a pleasant couple of hours and a variety of other birds seen. I can’t resist taking more photographs of Lesser Redpolls, a stunning little bird. Fortunately enough it has in the last eight or ten years become much more locally common and numerous, especially in spring and autumn. 

Lesser Redpoll

Not surprisingly, and after another downpour last night, the wet fields still hold a number of Snipe, impossible to say how many without walking every square inch to see and hear them explode from your feet as they zig-zag away to escape. It was the difficulties involved in hunting Snipe which gave rise to the term "sniper".

Snipe

Two hunting Kestrels today, and as I watched them came a fly-over of 6 Black-tailed Godwit and a large party of c 150 Lapwings and upwards of 1000 Starlings, all disturbed off a more distant field. During the couple of hours I saw 90/100 Fieldfares, ones and twos going in various directions, and then about 1600 hours a flock of 80 heading to a roost somewhere over towards Pilling. By 4 o’clock finches were heading to roost too, with 30+ Goldfinches flying north and 15/20 Chaffinches contact calling as they headed somewhere north but out of sight. Other birds in the immediate area, 5 Skylark, 2 Meadow Pipit, 1Yellowhammer, 4 Linnet, 15 Tree Sparrow, 4 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Pied Wagtail, 12 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Goldcrest, 1 Buzzard. 

I hadn’t seen a Little Owl here for weeks so as I drove off site about four-thirty I looked in all the trees they use until I found the right one. 

Little Owl

The forecast isn’t good for the rest of the week but let’s not grumble, only count ourselves fortunate in comparison to the good folk of eastern USA who are about to experience a humdinger of a hurricane. Stay safe all you blog followers over there. 

This week Another Bird Blog is linking with Anni who'd also rather be birding anytime, and also with Stewart an ex-pat who lives in Australia - Stewart. 

Cold Calling

When I opened the back door this morning a Fieldfare greeted me from next door’s garden, chuckling from the top of the highest sycamore before flying off east. When I made it to the shore at Knott End I knew why the thrush chortled - it was bitterly cold from a blast of Arctic air, and in comparison to recent days this morning’s biting, northerly wind brought out the woolly hat and gloves in double quick time. After the excitement of Friday’s thrush-rush it looked like today might be something of an anti-climax. 

Fieldfare

Not much doing near the jetty, a couple of Meadow Pipits and a Pied Wagtail the sum of my efforts, with the walk up river yielding little except for about 70 Redshanks 

Redshank

Cutting my losses I decided to try a few sheltered spots and so ended up at Pilling. At Damside/Backsands Lane the partially wet fields held 180 Lapwing, 65 Golden Plover, 1 Snipe, 15 Curlew, 3 Redshank, 2 Skylark and 15 Meadow Pipit, the pipits swapping between feeding in damp patches and sitting up on the roadside fence, especially when one of the local Kestrel pair appeared. 

Meadow Pipit

At Lane Ends, a number of Fieldfare were on the move, flying over the plantation and heading north east into the wind just as those of yesterday, but just 70 birds today. Not many wildfowl on the pools, 2 Tufted Duck with the Mallards, 9 Little Egret and 2 Grey Heron scattered across the marsh, and 15 Whooper Swans making their way from Cockerham and west to the usual spot off Fluke Hall. 

I spent a while trying to locate a very vocal and active “phyllosc” with a shrill and persistent contact note, a call totally unlike UK chiffs and more like those of eastern races of Chiffchaff. When the bird finally showed for a moment or two it proved to be a quite brown and plain Chiffchaff. I found a call on Xeno Canto which sounds very similar. 

Chiffchaff

Other birds in the trees here, 4 Robin, 12 Chaffinch, 6 Blackbird, 2 Jay. The forecast doesn’t look too good for Sunday, rain and then more rain so more suitable for a lie-in and a rest after the week’s exertions. But if there’s news be sure to read about it soon on Another Bird Blog.

This week Another Bird Blog is linking with Anni who'd rather be birding and Stewart an ex-pat who lives in Australia -  Stewart.

A Thrush Spectacular

Rawcliffe Moss again this morning, nets up in the dark waiting for thrushes. Pre- dawn I caught a few of the target species, then soon after dawn several more, and then a handful of finches. In-between came a hefty Sparrowhawk looking for a thrush breakfast. 

About 10am for an hour or more ringing took second place when I became a spectator only as thousands of Redwings and Fieldfares piled overhead, all flying North West in flocks of several hundred individuals, sometimes mixed but often just Fieldfares, hence the totals below. By 10am the bright sun, the slight breeze which billowed the nets, plus the lack of leaf cover made the nets entirely visible to sharp eyed thrushes, meaning that although several hundred of each paused in the plantation, the whole of my meagre catch occurred before 10am. My final estimated numbers from 0700 to 1100 hours - 3300 Fieldfare and 1500 Redwing, 80% of these birds seen between 10am and 11am. When I left, more Fieldfares were seen arriving from the direction of St Michael’s village, these individuals also heading North West. With this late arrival overhead I guess the many thousands of birds had travelled a fair old distance since dawn. 

Totals caught: 24 birds of 6 species - 10 Redwing, 4 Fieldfare, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Blackbird, 5 Chaffinch, 2 Goldfinch, 1 Sparrowhawk. 

Fieldfare

 

Fieldfare

Redwing

There were more Chaffinch today, and after the normal few from the north at early-doors came a definite arrival with the thrush-rush, and an overall total of 40+ Chaffinch. Otherwise, the passerine passage seemed poor with 2 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Siskin, 1 Brambling and 5 Reed Bunting. 

Chaffinch

The female Sparrowhawk was quite a handful, so I wasted no time in releasing her quickly, especially since she clutched an unwary finger and drew blood.  Please, no jokes about the female sex. 

Sparrowhawk

Other birds today: 12 Whooper Swan, 1 Buzzard, 90+ Lapwing, 1 Kestrel, 4 Snipe.

Tune in soon for more gripping news on Another Bird Blog.