First Frost

Our first local frost of autumn gave a wonderful sunny start to the day. It was a welcome change from the rain and wind of late and I set off for a look around Pilling way. I didn’t get too far because there was plenty of action with lots of birds to see. But it’s a short post only as I had three hours only before baby minding and school collection duties. 

The stubble fields at Fluke Hall Lane are both well rutted and now very flooded, the land a seemingly irresistible location for a good variety of waders, wildfowl, crows and larks. It’s mainly Lapwings, over 340+ this morning and then a mix of c40 Black-tailed Godwits, 65 Redshank, 40+ Dunlin, 35+ Snipe, 18 Golden Plover, 45+ Skylarks and 180+ Jackdaws. The Snipe are impossible to see until something disturbs the Lapwings, the species which starts every panicked eruption of almost everything on the fields. The Snipe join in, circle around and then split off into small groups or singles which fly to the outer marsh or drop into the furrows again with little chance of seeing one on the deck. 

Snipe

 Lapwing

Dunlin

A Peregrine instigated one of the dreads this morning as it flew at a good height parallel to the sea wall heading towards Pilling Water. Other alarms to scatter the birds came simply from people walking along the road but a good 100 yards from where the birds feed in the centre of the stubble. 

There seemed to be Meadow Pipits around this morning, a count of 25 being the highest for weeks, likewise the flock on the marsh of 30+ Linnets and at least 2 Greenfinch. Here come those Whooper Swans again and always good for a photo or two, 32 of them this morning, coming and going between the marsh and the bird magnet buried in the stubble. 

Whooper Swans

Whooper Swan

That’s all for now but don’t forget to look in later, especially on Thursday for a chance to win a signed copy of The Crossley ID Guide: Britain and Ireland.

Linking today with Stewart's World Bird Wednesday .

Next Week's News!

Next week Another Bird Blog is taking part in a “Blog Tour” to celebrate the launch of the brand new bird field guide the Crossley ID Guide: Britain & Ireland. After a brief foray in October I’ll be looking next week in more detail at birds of North West England, but the blog tour is something a bit different. 

The publisher Princeton University Press, has teamed up with a group of bloggers to help promote the book’s launch. What happens is that a different wildlife blogger posts a bird or birding related post every day between next Monday 04 November, through to Friday 15 November, each linking to the previous and the next entry on the tour, and using plates from the Crossley ID Guide to help illustrate the post. In essence this helps readers to find lots of great wildlife related content on a variety of different blogs and birding websites across the Internet as well as spreading the word about the new book. 

You will find a full schedule for the Blog Tour over on the Princeton University Press website. You’ll see that Another Bird Blog is scheduled for the Thursday 7th November slot, so remember to mark your diary and look in then. 

The Crossley ID Guide: Britain and Ireland is the latest in a series of bird guides from birder and photographer Richard Crossley and shows all of the regularly seen birds in Britain and Ireland as you’re likely to encounter them in the field. It’s described by the publishers as “the most user-friendly guide to the birds of Britain and Ireland” and is aimed at beginner and intermediate level birders. The text is written by Dominic Couzens, one of Britain’s best known nature writers who contributes regularly to both the BBC Wildlife magazine and the Bird Watching monthly mag.

  The Crossley ID Guide:Britain and Ireland

And if you fancy winning a copy as part of the blog tour promotion the publisher has five signed copies to give away but you’ll have to wait for the tour to kick off on Monday to enter. Later the following week Another Bird Blog also has a spare copy to give away to a lucky blog reader.

See you soon.

Rainbow Time

I played at dodging the showers today, even managing a bit of birding during the few brief but welcome sunny spells. 

As usual I started at Conder Green with a momentary spot of sunshine and time to take stock. There were the usual Little Grebes whereby I’d counted 10 or more until a Kingfisher flew through the binoculars to divert my attention towards the creek, the direction it went. I didn’t see the Kingfisher again but found 2 Spotted Redshanks at the junction of the creeks with 10 or so Redshanks. 

Meanwhile on the pool/creek were 95 + Teal, 6 Cormorant, 3 Wigeon, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Little Egret and a single Pied Wagtail. Two Ravens flew overhead, with their loud and unmistakable calls heading west again. As I stood on the bridge a male Sparrowhawk flew past no more than a split second after alarm calls of Robin and Reed Bunting made me look around. 

 Conder Green

Cormorant

Very little to report from Glasson with the “highlights” being a flight over of 45 Pink-footed Goose, 3 Pied Wagtails and a feeding flock of 35+ Goldfinch. 

I checked the Whooper Swans on the marsh at Fluke Hall and then counted 18 of them plus 8 Mute Swans, 70+ Shelduck and 3 Snipe. I had good reason to thank the shooters when their maize crop on the other side of the sea wall became the only shelter from a particularly heavy downpour. As I stood against the tall, thick stems Whooper Swans were flying from the marsh roost and overhead towards the stubble with my camera set to black & white. Less than a minute later I was on the sea wall to take a snap of the rainbow against the black sky over Lancaster.

 

Whooper Swans

Pilling Marsh

When the sun appeared there was a procession of Pintail flying in from the outer marsh and dropping onto the wildfowler’s pool. In all there were in excess of 95 Pintail. The Pintail is certainly one of the UK’s most elegant and beautiful ducks. More about ducks in next week’s blog with another look at The Crossley ID Guide: Britain and Ireland and a chance to win a copy- stay tuned. 

Pintail

Pintail

There’s a good number of Lapwings starting to use the flooded field now, probably in excess of 300 although they are rather difficult to see amongst the black soil, the stubble itself and having to look through the still quite thick hawthorn hedge. Also on the stubble 30+ Skylarks and one or two more Snipe. 

In the trees at Fluke Hall, 1 Buzzard and at least 3 raucous Jays. 

More soon from Another Bird Blog. Linking today to Anni's Blog and Camera Critters.

Drown Your Sorrows

I hoped the blows and rain of the last couple of days might have left behind a few waifs and strays at Knott End and Pilling, but nothing of the sort. In fact at Knott End the weather was still kicking up a bit of storm making it difficult for birds and birders. With the strong north westerly at my back getting up river was fine, it was the coming back into the teeth of the wind and frequent showers which took the time. 

Not much to show for my efforts on a ‘bins only’ morning when ‘scopes become redundant. Turnstones are back in better numbers now, both here and across the river at Fleetwood, but I couldn’t see any of the leg-flagged ones of recent years in my count of 19. Not many Oystercatchers on the beach, less than 200 and obviously many had gone upriver to escape the windswept beach. Similarly small numbers of Redshank, a count of less than 20 being pretty pathetic, a total surpassed today by a count of 70 Lapwings sheltering in the clumps of marram grass on the beach. On the sea/in the mouth of the estuary were 15 Eider and 2 Red-breasted Merganser. 

Turnstone

Oystercatcher

Amongst the tide wrack below the promenade I found a Rock Pipit, 8 Twite and a single Pied Wagtail. 

 

Rock Pipit

Fluke proved equally quiet where half way along the sea wall I didn’t escape a drenching from a heavy shower. Just 14 Whooper Swans today, some definitely new arrivals in the shape of two family parties with brownish young, four of the young so coffee coloured that I expect their departure from Iceland was delayed until the whole family could make the long flight safely. Good numbers of 120+ Shelduck out there on marsh and on the wildfowler’s pool, with 12 Black-tailed Godwits and 4 Little Egret. 

“Small stuff” fighting into the wind - 3 Meadow Pipit, 11 Skylark, 6 Tree Sparrow and 8+ Chaffinch. 

Tree Sparrow

Finally, there’s a very sad news story from Yahoo Finance 28th of October 2013, totally unrelated to birds but almost certainly of interest to one or two birders I know who enjoy a glass of wine after a windswept day in the field. 

“On Monday global drinks giant Treasury Wine Estates faced a class-action lawsuit from Australian shareholders after oversupply issues forced six million bottles of wine to be poured down the drain. Law firm Maurice Blackburn and class action funder IMF Australia said they were preparing a shareholder lawsuit against Treasury, the wine business spun off from Australian beverages giant Foster's in 2011. The glut-hit wine company, which owns major brands including Penfolds, Rosemount Estate and Wolf Blass, shocked the market in July when it unveiled Aus$160 million (£95 million) in write-downs related to oversupply problems in the United States. "The impairment included a Aus$33 million provision to pour six million bottles of out-of-date wine down the drain," IMF said in a joint statement with their lawyers”. 

A Glass of Wine

I shall leave blog readers to contemplate this wretched and depressing story while I go and drown my sorrows, but there’s cheerier news from Another Bird Blog very soon.

Linking today to Stewart's Bird Gallery in Australia. Hey Stewart, try and rescue some of that wine. 

The Extra Hour

Yahoo 24 October 2013 - A thrifty couple will not be putting their clocks back this weekend - because it saves money on their energy bills. Retired John and Janys Warren, from Somerset live 'in the future' an hour ahead of everybody else and save a third on their gas and electricity bills. The couple stopped putting their clocks back five years ago when they realised the darker and shorter days were triggering John's headaches. Living on British Summer Time all year round meant his headaches eased, they could enjoy an extra hour of daylight and save money. Janys said: "We have lower fuel bills and far more usable daylight hours with evenings not seeming endless. We don't put the heating on until we get up and by then it is warmer anyway. We've saved about one third on our heating and lighting bills.” 

For what it's worth here’s my advice you stingy, sad, and foolish people - get up early and go for a brisk walk outdoors with a warm coat, a hat and scarf and a pair of binoculars. In the evenings J and J, complete your notes from the day’s birding and update your birding blog - simple. Not only will you save money, you will be healthier in mind and body and maybe get a life into the bargain. 

I put my clock back. The extra hour of birding proved warming, time consuming, energising and very enjoyable despite the frequent showers and strong winds. 

My start was early enough to see if the Little Egrets at the Pilling roost had remembered to turn their clocks back last night. The answer was that they got up at first light as normal dispersing in various directions, all 24 of them. 

Red-breasted Mergansers turn up on Fylde coastal waters at this time of year where they can be seen throughout the winter, often drifting in towards the shore with incoming high tides. They also favour a very few coastal and spacious marine lakes, so imagine my surprise to find one in a ditch behind the sea wall. Even better, Red-breasted Merganser is a species which normally keeps a very respectable distance from birders or photographers. 

Red-breasted Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

The Latin name of this duck Mergus serrator is highly descriptive, Mergus being the genus of typical mergansers, fish-eating ducks in the seaduck subfamily (Merginae). The “serrator” refers to the long, serrated bills used for catching fish. Their diet of fish such as salmon and trout brings them into conflict with anglers and fish farmers whereby the species is often classified as a pest and may be shot. Those folk with guns, they don’t miss many opportunities to attach a label do they? 

When I got to Conder Green there was a family party of Goosander Mergus merganser in the roadside creek, an adult pair and 2 first winters. The male stayed apart from the others just too far to include in a picture but the female has the darker head, the juveniles noticeably paler. Out of interest, and to limit any possible misunderstanding here, this member of the Mergus family of birds is known as Common Merganser in North America and Goosander on this side of the Atlantic. Like the smaller Red-breasted Merganser, the Goosander is also subject to persecution by anglers and fish farmers. 

Goosander

A Spotted Redshank was in the creek again perhaps the same bird of late, more likely not and just one the many thousands passing this way in the autumn en route to winter in Central Africa? 

Spotted Redshank - Breeding, Migration and Wintering from Wetlands.org

Spotted Redshank

I walked along the railway path and over the bridge and found a Common Sandpiper feeding along the edge of the creek below, so too a Grey Wagtail and a Little Egret. Along the same path was a party of 18+ Long-tailed Tits with a couple Greats and Blues, plus a single Chiffchaff. 

A flight of 3 Pintail heading west was perhaps slightly out of the ordinary just here. On the pool and creeks, 90+ Teal and just 10 Little Grebe, as grey and drab as the winter months decree, and no requirement to display that little white beauty spot until the clocks go forward in March 2014. 

Little Grebe

There’s a sleepover tonight, no not me but our two lively granddaughters Olivia and Isabella.

Wish me luck as I’ll certainly be woken up early on Monday morning and may well lose an hour or two of sleep.

Date With A Needle

For 1300 I had an appointment for a dose of ‘flu vaccine to look forward to, but at last a bright, wind and rain free morning in which to enjoy a few hours birding. 

From Fluke Hall I set out towards the sea wall across the maize and wheat fields where there’s a reasonable path which avoids slushing through the soggy stubble. There are always birds to see about the shooter’s fields, ditches and pools, as long as you take care to miss the actual shoot days when there are no birds about and steel shot will fall on your head. 

Pilling, Fluke Hall fields

On the edge of the wood I could see 4 Jays moving through the trees calling as they went. There were a number of Chaffinches about but too far to count, although I found 5 or 6 Tree Sparrows and a couple of Reed Buntings near the gate again. Skylarks weren’t as obvious today with none passing overhead just 4 or 5 resident ones on the sea wall and stubble, plus another 2 Reed Buntings along the ditch. 

The Red-legged Partridge still number in the hundreds, so I’m thinking there haven’t been too many shoots just yet. From the stile I even managed to get close to one of the white ones which are as wild and wary as the normal brown ones. Close to they are actuallly quite smart looking. Pity they end up in a cooking pot.

Red-legged Partridge

From the fresh 4x4 tracks on the mud I knew the guys who feed the pool had beat me to it, so no Teal or Black-tailed Godwits to enjoy today, just the usual single call and then brief views of the back end of a Kingfisher whizzing along the dyke and over the sea wall. So I thought to check where the blue flash had gone and also count the Whoopers as well - no sign of the majestic fisher from the wall but 74 Whooper Swans, 2 Greylag and 8 Mute Swan to count. So more pictures of Whooper Swan to follow, and a Mute Swan for size comparison. 

Whooper Swan and Mute Swan

Whooper Swan

With not much else doing I realised I’d missed out on Conder Green for a week or two so motored towards there. 

Interestingly a Spotted Redshank is still there in the main creek, as is a Common Sandpiper and it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility that both might winter on site, the latter species the favourite to do so. Just 12 common Redshank and a single Curlew in the near creek with circa 60 Teal and a Grey Heron. 

Spotted Redshank

Common Sandpiper

Two Tufted Duck on the pool together with yet more Teal to make a total of more than 80 of the tiny duck. Looking for a fishy meal were a Little Egret, 7 Little Grebe and 2 Cormorant. 

A walk along the railway track produced odds and ends like 5 Long-tailed Tit, 15 Chaffinch, 3 Goldfinch, 4 Meadow Pipits, 2 Skylark and 2 Pied Wagtail. 

But I was running out of time and my appointment with a large, unfriendly needle beckoned. Log in soon to see how Another Bird Blog survived the ordeal and whether pain killers were required.

Linking today to Camera Critters and Anni's Birding Blog.

Two Hour Slot

The weekend weather was shocking, meaning two blank days for the blog, so apologies for readers who looked in for recent news - there wasn’t any. More rain throughout this morning but brightening skies after lunch gave me a couple of hours out at Pilling for a brief posting. 

I walked from Fluke in time to see a number of Whooper Swans coming to land on the marsh - yes the sun was out briefly for the 14 Whoopers and 40+ Shelduck on the stubble/marsh. Also 170 Jackdaw, 400+ Starling, 120 Woodpigeon and 3 Stock Dove. Three Reed Buntings and 8 Tree Sparrows at the gate with 10+ Skylarks and 2 Chaffinch on the cut maize. 

Whooper Swan

Something stirred the Starlings, Crows and Jackdaws from the marsh. It was a Peregrine giving as good as it got when a couple of the Carrion Crows dived at it, the Peregrine calling loudly, twisting over and showing the crows sight of its talons before in an effortless split second it cruised away, leaving the crows in the distance. Sorry, it’s the usual view and image of our local Peregrines, a glimpse at the background landscape shows the distances they can cover in almost the blink of an eye. 

Peregrine

I walked up to Pilling Water in time to catch the last of the tide and wildfowl heading back out to the marsh - 400+ Teal, 70+ Pintail, 180+ Wigeon, 4 Cormorant. Eight Little Egrets, 4 Snipe, 1 Grey Heron and 1 Kingfisher at Pilling Water. Just a couple of Goldfinch, 3 Meadow Pipits, 1 Pied Wagtail and another 18/20 Skylarks at the rapidly receding tideline. 

I watched some 40+ Black-tailed Godwits coming and going from the marsh and the wildfowler’s pools. Dark cloud threatned again and I switched to ISO800 and tried for a few pictures. 

Black-tailed Godwits are such distinctive, striking waders that they can’t be mistaken for any other species. I just love watching them coming in to land, their black & white shapes twisting and turning through the sky, whiffling down to the water looking for all the world like oversize Snipe. 

Black-tailed Godwit

Black-tailed Godwit

Fingers crossed for sunshine, birding and more news very soon on Another Bird Blog.

In the meantime linking to Paying Ready Attention Gallery . Pay a visit for more birds from around the world.