Searching Them Out

Through Pilling this morning I noticed how a number of farmers have taken a cut of the silage, leaving at last somewhere for Lapwings and Curlews to feed, even though the land is very dry at the moment. There was a good number of Curlews at Gulf Lane with 60 or more on the field nearest the road and another 30+ at Braides Farm but Curlews not ones to hang around for a portrait when a car slows down so the camera remained switched to “off”. 

I was on the way north to Glasson and Conder hoping to see a few birds and to grab new pictures. The regular wildfowl and egrets all stay clear of the well visited viewing spot so it’s a case of look long and look hard for the birds - 1 Goldeneye, 2 Wigeon, 2 Teal, 2 Little Grebe, 5 Little Egret, 1 Grey Heron, and 1 Cormorant today. 

 

Grey Heron

A variety of observers have christened the long staying Goldeneye as “female”, “male” or, perhaps to be on the safe side, an “immature”. Months ago I initially thought it a male and although it hasn’t advanced its plumage too much, today it definitely appeared to be of the masculine variety.

Goldeneye

The wader count followed that of late, with just 2 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Spotted Redshank, 30+Redshank, 2 Oystercatcher, 5 Common Sandpiper, 1 Greenshank, 30+ Curlew and 90+ Lapwings. Of the latter species, 40ish on the pool, the remainder fly-overs from beyond the canal and out to the marsh. 

Spotted Redshank

Not much in the way of passerines except for 3 Pied Wagtail, 4 Linnet, 6 Goldfinch, 2 Tree Sparrow and a party of 7 Long-tailed Tits.

Pied Wagtail

Early doors had seen a roost dispersal of Swallows, some 70+ perhaps from reeds nearby, but less than 10 House Martins in all and just 2 Swift. I took a quick ride to Cockersands where most birds were at the distant tide line so I clocked the nearby 3 Whimbrel, 6 Linnet, 8 Greenfinch and single Wheatear below the car park. 

Wheatear

Whimbrel

On the strength of the Wheatear I decided to go to Lane Ends looking for more and hopefully to catch a couple. No luck, although I found 3 juveniles and had a “near miss” when the net snagged on the mechanism, the birds then keeping their distance from the supposedly enticing meal worms. 

Otherwise quiet with just a Buzzard, a single Pied Wagtail and 15+ Swallows for company. 

By the way, visitor from Windsor and Maidenhead and your search question of 10th August via Google “is it ligal (sic) to have a goldfinch?” the answer is almost certainly “no” in your case and your IP address has been passed to the appropriate authorities to further investigate your whereabouts and reasons for asking. Likewise the Google searcher from Berkshire looking for “goldfinch traps”, you too have been clocked.

Keep looking blog readers. We'll find them one way or another.

Linking today to Stewart's Gallery.

Green For Go

Conder Green and Glasson were the venues this morning, where after a slow start I eventually found a good selection of birds. Following a few blank days with the camera there are new pictures for blog readers, so as ever dear friends,  'click the pics' to enjoy. 

I finally got good views of the somewhat elusive Little Ringed Plovers, two siblings running around the pool margins close together but not near enough to get the two in the same frame properly. A little patience paid off when one came closer. 

Little Ringed Plover

Little Ringed Plover

Little Ringed Plover

Little Ringed Plover

The Spotted Redshank here since mid-June is now in almost complete grey winter plumage and I found it feeding alone again, not mixing with the 40+ Redshanks in the tidal channel. A single Greenshank today, 5 Common Sandpiper, 3 Snipe, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Oystercatcher and 45 Lapwing completed the wader count. Wildfowl and herons - 1 Goldeneye, 2 Wigeon, 4 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Grebe, 2 Little Egret and 1 Grey Heron. 

Little Egrets are indeed little and here’s a picture of one in the company of Mallards today. 

Little Egret and Mallards

Passerines - 10 Goldfinch, 2 Tree Sparrow, 2 Greenfinch and 3 Pied Wagtail. 

A Kingfisher treated me to a fishing display, plunge diving or then barely breaking the surface of the water to grab a tiny fish before flying back to sit at the sluice wall. 

Kingfisher

 

Kingfisher

Good numbers of waders at Glasson where against the bright morning light I managed an approximate count of 700 Dunlin, 250 Redshank, 350 Lapwing, 15 Curlew and 1 Little Egret. 

A look at Glasson yacht basin revealed 40+ Coot and 15 Tufted Duck, with a single Willow Warbler in the roadside trees. 

A very enjoyable couple of hours were had by all.  

Linking today to  Camera Critters,  Paying-Ready-Attention-gallery and  I'd Rather Be Birdin' - Well who wouldn't sooner be out birding?

Three Hours To Kill?

Following 180 minutes at Pilling this morning my notebook was pretty full but the camera devoid of new pictures. That’s the way it goes sometimes, the birds just don’t cooperate. So sorry folks, it’s my archive pics today to illustrate the morning’s effort. 

Jays are so noisy that one can’t but help knowing they are around although getting a clear view of this shy species can be a lot harder. From the series of raucous calls I could tell that more than one was somewhere in the Lane Ends plantation, a glimpse of a white rump the best I could manage on this occasion. 

Eurasian Jay

After complaining recently about the shortage of both Kestrels and Sparrowhawks, today I saw both species, a male Sparrowhawk cruising the marsh before circling above the trees, then within minutes, a juvenile Kestrel hunting from the fence posts. There was also a Buzzard hiding somewhere in the trees and calling to be fed by nowhere-to-be-seen parents. 

Common Kestrel

The plantation and pools are now very overgrown, desperate for sympathetic management to improve the area for visitors who might want to watch birds, study insects or botanise rather than walk a dog or join in the after-hours activities. Trying to speak to or make contact with anyone in the Environment Agency is like Waiting for Godot, and I’m not expecting a reply to emails of several months ago or for anyone to actually lift a ringing telephone. 

I walked to Fluke and back via Pilling Water. There was a Corn Bunting in song from the roadside wires next to HiFly wheat fields, the second time in a week at the same spot so I guess there’s some sort of late breeding taking place. It’s a pretty good record for the species, especially in the light of my numerous sightings from the same area during May and June.  The Corn Bunting's bright pink legs are a noteworthy characteristic, trailing as they do like the wires of a parachute before the bird lands on fluttering wings at its singing perch or feeding site.

 

Corn Bunting

There were also 3 Skylark here, a single and a pair busily flying to and from the thick maize crop and carrying small items of food, another late breeding success. A seven-whistling Whimbrel flew over, disturbed off the sands beyond by a biker touring the incoming tide. Two Grey Herons came off the marsh and flew inland as I settled down at Pilling Water to watch the tide approach. 

Masses of Curlew formed the bulk of the distant birds with over 650 birds my count. Also, 380 Oystercatcher, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Greenshank, 6 Snipe, 11 Ringed Plover, 14 Dunlin, 4 Little Egret, 11 Shelduck and 19 Teal. 

A number of the Dunlin and Ringed Plover flew straight over my head, high and heading south, not for hanging about here at Pilling. 

Ringed Plover and Dunlin

There are lots of thistles along the sea wall but a dire shortage of Goldfinches and Linnets to take advantage, my count of three hours being 2 Linnet and 6 Goldfinch, a pitiful number for August when there should be swarms of both. Maybe they are all taking advantage of the continued warm weather to raise another family - let’s hope so. 

Log in soon for more birding adventures with Another Bird Blog.

Back to Wheats

Conder Green has gone really quiet, struggling today to equal anything near July’s purple patch, but afterwards I was to find that after a quiet couple of weeks Lane Ends almost came back to form. 

Daisy Moo Cow with her head through the hide screen didn’t augur well this morning. After a couple of prods from the sharp end of a tripod she took the hint and sloped off, perhaps miffed she wasn’t the object of my attention. 

The list of usual suspects is short, to the point and unsurprising - 2 Little Grebe, 1 Goldeneye, 2 Common Sandpiper, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Little Egret, 1 Stock Dove, 2 Pied Wagtail, 2 Shelduck, 28 Redshank and 35 Lapwing. No sign of Spotted Redshank or Greenshank this morning but that doesn’t mean they’re not around. 

Common Sandpiper

Carrion Crow

An early bundle of Swifts and hirundines took their toll of insects along the hedgerow again - 12 Swift, 20+ House Martin, 15 Swallow and 2 Sand Martin. At the bridge I found a Chiffchaff by its loud slurring call, I think the same one which attempted a snatch of song in the car park just ten minutes later. A few Linnets, Goldfinches and Greenfinches whizzed about, but otherwise zilch. 

Glasson had a good number of Swallows perched about the bridge and the tied up boats with a Grey Heron in the customary position, but it was generally so quiet I high tailed it to Pilling. Calling at Hillam Lane I found 20+ Sand Martins at the colony and a flock of 25+ Linnets. 

Barn Swallow

Three noisy Jays were in the trees at Lane Ends, another one at Pilling Water a little later, and in the intervening walk, a Peregrine over the marsh. The trees at Pilling Water produced a Buzzard and a Great-spotted Woodpecker, and on the pools, 2 Grey Heron plus single Greenshank, Green Sandpiper and Snipe. 

At last I saw 2 Wheatears of autumn proper, having gone the whole of July without seeing a single one. I managed to trap one of the two, the bird an obvious juvenile in fresh post-juvenile plumage. Afterwards both birds flew together towards Fluke Hall. 

Wheatear

Wheatear

Wheatear

Another day done on Another Bird Blog. Join me soon for more birding news and birding views. 

I’m Counting On It.

Lots of rain this morning on the North West coast but 40 miles away at Old Trafford, Manchester it looks like the Test Match should get underway and end in a draw for England; but with the lads at 35 for 3 just now, I'm not counting on it.  Hopefully the bright weather will reach here sooner rather than later and I can get out birding. 

So for now I’m stuck in at the computer and able to answer a question posed by a blog reader yesterday - “How are you at counting pickles in a pickle jar and candy in a candy jar...guess that would make for good practice. How do you get your numbers anyway...had to ask?”. 

Mary, I’d never thought that counting pickles in a jar could be similar to counting birds but in actual fact the same principles apply. 

I’m grateful to Melissa Mayntz for her summary of bird counting techniques reproduced and adapted below, methods which I and many other birders use when out in the field. I dotted the text with photographs of groups or flocks of birds for readers’ on-going practice and consideration. 

Many birding projects ask participants to count birds, and most birders I know enjoy keeping a count of the birds they see whenever they are in the field. Counting each individual bird seen can be challenging, but it can also provide valuable information for scientific research. As populations of birds change, fluctuations in counts at the same locality at the same time of year may indicate shifts in pollution levels, climate change, habitat loss, migration timing and more. 

Woodpigeons

Annual projects such as the Breeding Bird Survey, Common Birds Census, Garden Bird Survey, BirdTrack, Wetland Bird Survey or the Ringing Scheme are different types of bird census projects which over several years accumulate a massive amount of data about numbers of birds in different locations. That data would be impossible to gather without the help of every participant. However the more accurate a count is, the more useful the data will be for conservation projects and ornithological research. 

There are various ways to count birds depending on the birds present, the size of the flock and how the flock is behaving. Techniques include: 

Individual Counts: When just a few, recognisable birds are present, each individual bird can be easily counted without fear of major miscalculations. This basic one-two-three technique works best when the birds are clearly seen and slow moving so individual birds will not be counted multiple times.

Grouping: Counting birds in numeric groups is an easy method for totalling small or medium-sized flocks. With practice birders can easily learn to count birds not one by one, but five by five, ten by ten, and with practice, fifty by fifty. This allows for a faster count while still keeping the increments small enough for precise numbers. 

Oystercatcher - 240/260?

Grids or Counting in Blocks: This counting system is most often used with larger, single species flocks where the birds are relatively stationary. The field of view is divided into a grid or block of even sections where the birds in one section are counted as close to individually as possible. Multiplying this count by the number of grids or block sections in the flock can give a reasonable estimate of the total number of birds. 

Whooper Swan - circa 65/70?

Selective Counting: When a large flock of birds has some obvious mixed species, it may be possible to selectively count all the birds easily. First, pinpoint the more unusual birds in the flock and count them individually, then use the grid/block technique on the bulk of the birds. This provides not only a good count of the flock size, but also represents the diversity of the birds present. 

Proportions: When a mixed flock has too many species for selective counting, a good estimate can be made by counting proportions of the species present. Similar to the grid/block technique, only one section of the flock is counted, but each different species is noted individually, and the proportions are used to calculate the total number of birds of each species in the entire flock. This technique is best when a flock is heavily mixed and each species is spread throughout the flock. 

Timing: When a flock is moving quickly, it can be impossible to create a grid/block or to count birds individually, since the movement will obscure other birds and make any estimate less accurate. A timing count can be used by focusing on a fixed point the flock is passing, and counting the number of birds passing that point in a certain period of time, such as a few minutes. Then the entire amount of time it takes for the whole flock to pass is noted, and the count is multiplied by the number of increments in that overall time to gauge its full size. This system can also be employed during times of visible migration or massed flight e.g. Swallows, Meadow Pipits or finches passing overhead or through a fixed point. 

Wigeon - circa 70?

Photographs: A digital photograph can be used for an accurate count if the entire flock can be photographed. The photo is then manipulated on a computer or printed out and individual birds are marked off as they are counted. This is a time-consuming method but can be very precise for a reliable count when high levels of accuracy are necessary. 

Sanderling - 65/70?

Practice is essential to develop and refine bird counting skills. The more frequently someone counts birds, the more comfortable they will be with each count made while knowing the data collected is accurate and therefore more valuable. Other ways to enhance the methods of counting birds include: 

Maintaining a notebook at hand to write down a record of birds counted, particularly when counting over a longer period of time. With notes there is less need to “guesstimate”. 

Allow for density when counting flocks, particularly when using grid or timing techniques. Birds are often less dense on the outer edges of the flock, and if grid sections are not balanced a count can be significantly off. 

Work to be as accurate as possible, but when necessary, choose to underestimate rather than overestimate the numbers of birds seen. This will help correct for any inadvertent errors, such as birds that were counted more than once. 

Counting birds can add a new dimension to birding, by not only keeping track of the numbers of birds seen but also making the birding so much more purposeful and useful for conservation science. 

Finally, remember that counting birds may not be an exact science but it is a highly enjoyable one. 

Pink-footed Geese - +500? 

Please log in to Another Bird Blog soon - I'm counting on it.

This post is linking to Stewart's Gallery  where you will be able to see and count lots of birds.

Sunny Saturday

Now that August is here both waders and terns are migrating through with increasing momentum so with a tide due 10am I decided to give sunny and scenic Knott End a bash this morning. This west coast isn't the best for sunrises, but sunsets can be spectacular and the photographic light often inviting. 

Tide at Knott End

Sunset - Knott End looking to Fleetwood

Long before the tide turns to head upstream and fill the channel between Knott End and Fleetwood there are thousands of birds picking through the distant mussel beds. Large gulls and Oystercatchers form the myriad bulk with a mix of smaller waders and Black-headed Gulls making up the remainder. As the incoming water buries the muddy, rocky and sand strewn islands the birds fly off in various directions to look for food elsewhere or perhaps to roost. 

Natural England - “Mussel beds have a particularly important role where they occur on soft seabeds, as they provide a hard surface in otherwise muddy or sandy areas. This attracts and supports a greater range of marine life than would otherwise be found there. 133 different animals and plants have been recorded in blue mussel beds, including seaweeds, anemones, barnacles, sea snails, crabs, starfish and worms.” 

Post-breeding time means there are huge numbers of our common and largely ignored Herring Gulls together with much smaller numbers of Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Lumped as one this morning gave a count in excess of 1000, how's that for a non committal estimate? 

Herring Gull

The Oystercatcher count reached 400+, most heading upstream and 180 or more staying on the shore. At least 140 Dunlin also travelled upstream towards the Barnaby's Sands roost, as did 25+ Redshank, 45 Curlew, 7 Ringed Plover,1 Bar-tailed Godwit and 1 Whimbrel. The Whimbrel had hung around for a while searching through the near shore before a procession of early morning Knott End sun-seekers sent it too scurrying upstream. The Turnstones are back, the most approachable of our wader set, and I almost missed the four of them as they fed quietly at the busy jetty when most everything else was gone. 

Whimbrel

Dunlin and Ringed Plover

Turnstone

A small roost of terns pre-tide with 15 Sandwich Terns and 3 Common Tern. Other bits and pieces – 1 Eider, 2 Pied Wagtail, 8 Linnet, 1 Swift, 14 Swallow 

Talking of sun here's a picture of the grand-kids' giant Sunflower in the back garden and grown from the debris of a cleaned out bird feeder. The flower now measures some 8½ inches diameter. 

Giant Sunflower

Linking today to Camera Critters and  Anni's Blog.

Thursday's Tour

Conder Green enjoyed a purple patch of late with a superb selection of species which has kept birders entertained and then coming back for more. But a run of high tides and nights of rain has dramatically filled the pool to such a degree that this morning I struggled to see much bird life on or around its breezy and choppy waters; after all, “waders” pass their days picking through muddy margins or sandy shores, herons and egrets prefer to fish the unmoving shallows, and dabbling ducks favour a dip not a dive. 

The regulars were there, 4 Common Sandpipers, 1 Greenshank, 1 Spotted Redshank and 4 Dunlin in the creek with tiny numbers of Oystercatcher and Lapwing on the pool, plus an overflying Black-tailed Godwit which landed in the field beyond where Curlews and Lapwings fed. Two Little Egret and 1 Grey Heron stayed mostly out of sight, not so the 2 Wigeon, 2 Little Grebe and single Goldeneye which although present, kept a distance away. 

Many Swifts appear to have left these shores in recent days, numbers this morning counted on one hand. As I watched Swallows and House Martins feeding across the marsh I saw some break off to pursue a Sparrowhawk that was cruising the hedgerow alongside the railway bridge; the hawk eventually disappeared out of sight into the trees above the car park. It's many weeks since spotting a Sparrowhawk and while they do go more than a little secretive in June and July, I get the feeling that Sparrowhawk numbers are low at present as they are absent from regular spots I know of. 

Sparrowhawk

Three noisy Ravens flew over, the trio heading together towards Glasson and beyond. Passerines consisted of 3 Tree Sparrow, 3 Pied Wagtail, 6 Greenfinch, 2 Linnet, 2 Whitethroat and a still singing Reed Bunting. 

A look at calmer Glasson revealed 1 Great Crested Grebe, 12 Tufted Duck, 15+ Swallows and 2 Swift. 

Tufted Duck

Barn Swallow

From the bowling green but looking directly into the sun and the backlit waders there were lots feeding at the incoming tide, approximately 450 Dunlin, 200 Redshank, 80 Lapwings and 2 Grey heron; later I would see most if not all of the Dunlin arrive at Cockersands after the tide filled the Conder sandbanks and stopped the waders from feeding. 

The full tide at Cockersands held the aforesaid Dunlin, 42 Eider, 3 Whimbrel, 25 Curlew, 2 Ringed Plover, 120 Oystercatcher and 7 Grey Heron. 

Dunlin

Whimbrel

It was good to see a flock of about 30 Linnets here feeding in the depths of the marsh grass where the seeds fall to the sand below. Come November the Linnets will be gone, replaced by their northern cousin the Twite. 

Just along the road I found a family party of 5 Whitethroats, a species which appears to have experienced a good breeding season. After a cold spring the season has been an average one for Tree Sparrows, so after their slow start it was good to find a flock of 50+ flitting between a ready to harvest field and the roadside hawthorns. 

Tree Sparrow

“Click the pics” for a closer view and then log in to Another Bird Blog soon to see what Friday brings.