Mostly Mipits

Saturday 29th March, and as I drove along Head Dyke Lane there was a Barn Owl hunting the roadside, the owl disappearing over farm buildings as mine and another car approached with headlights still burning in the half light of dawn.

Barn Owl

On arrival at Fluke Hall the morning’s weather wasn’t quite as hoped for and certainly not as good as the BBC led us to believe on Friday evening. There was a strong easterly from the off and there would be no sign of the sun until afternoon. In the interim I spent a useful three hours or more in listening for, watching and counting migrating Meadow Pipits while I waited in vain for Wheatears to spend time at their usual and  regular catching location. 

There’d been a large arrival of many dozens Wheatears along the Fylde coast on Friday so I hoped some might linger overnight. A look along the rocky outcrops of the sea wall at Fluke Hall gave a nil return of Wheatears however there was an immediate, obvious and respectable movement of Meadow Pipits taking place. 

Parties of pipits were arriving from the west and south west and then continuing on the same flight path by following the sea wall in an easterly direction, groups of birds numbering from less than ten or up to thirty individuals, not in droves, just very regular clusters.

Historically the last few days of March is the classic time to witness the visible migration of the Meadow Pipit, an abundant and widespread pipit of Northern Europe, north-western Asia and Russia, south east Greenland and the whole of Iceland. Because virtually the entire northern population winters south of the UK, huge numbers pass through our islands in both Autumn and Spring. 

Meadow Pipit

I took a look around Fluke Hall hoping for a Ring Ouzel but found only their cousins the Blackbirds plus a singing Chiffchaff, so decided to do the long walk of Lane Ends to Pilling Water and Fluke hall again and even then back to Lane Ends. A good long walk should produce something I reasoned. 

Lane Ends held 2 Chiffchaff again, a strong singer and a silent searcher this time; let’s hope they remain to nest. Two Jays in the plantation with 2 Little Grebe, 4 Tufted Duck and 5 Little Egret on and around the pools.“Mipits” were on the move here too, arriving from the west and south west, many flying low across the marsh, others diverting up to overfly the trees, all the time a constant movement east towards Cockerham and beyond. 

As the pipits flew overhead the Carrion Crows pointed me in the direction of a Raven again; two in fact, the crows chasing the intruders off and out towards the tide where the two giant crows settled on the edge of the green marsh. 

I couldn’t find any Wheatears in a couple of miles or more, not until that is I returned to Lane Ends. Here a loose party of eight spread along the base of the sea wall had obviously arrived very recently and already on their way north, flying out towards the tide some 220 yards away. Just like the pipits, the chats seemed in a hurry to arrive somewhere other than my catching spot hundreds of yards away.

Northern Wheatear

Still the pipits flew overhead or crossed the marsh left to right, into the strong easterly towards the hills and north. Finally I tallied up as best I could and realised a count of 550+ Meadow Pipits. 

It had been a busy and interesting session with a distinct lack of “exciting” species, just a birder’s morning. 

Log in to Another Bird Blog soon for more birding days.

Linking today to Anni's Birding Blog .

Mostly Wheatears

After yesterday’s flurry of migration this morning seemed a much quieter affair, enlivened only by a number of Wheatears finding my traps and then a last gasp Peregrine. 

When I arrived at Lane Ends 2 Chiffchaffs were in song again, the Little Egrets were about the pool and a Jay scuttled through the trees. The forecast was for the easterly wind to pick up followed by rain later so I hurried to Pilling Water in the hope of Wheatears and other migrants. 

Tiny numbers of Meadow Pipits hung about the shore and the gullies, and unlike Wednesday no obvious movement north of pipits or much else. After a month or more without the shooting season the Pink-footed Geese become more tolerant by the day, with a flock today of 800 or more in a tight sandwich between the sea wall and Backsands Lane - an impossible sight until recently. 

Pilling Water held a single Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Redshank and 2 Little Egret. Carrion Crows gave noisy chase to something I assumed would be a Buzzard but when I looked more closely the larger bird proved to be a lone Raven. It’s bad enough having Carrion Crows decimate the local Lapwing population without rapacious Ravens joining in. It’s been shown quite recently that Ravens from their expanding populations on farmland use their high vantage point nests to target the eggs of ground nesting Lapwings. 

Raven

There didn’t seem to be many birds on Hi-Fly’s stubble, I’d see why later.

Wheatears were about the sea wall, a loose party of 7 or 8 birds moving along both flanks of the sea wall. It was a bit chilly and slightly windswept, not too good for making mealworms wriggle invitingly but I set a couple of traps with fingers crossed. Thirty minutes later I’d caught and ringed 5 Wheatears, 3 second year males, an adult female and a second year female. They must have been hungry from their journeys.

Northern Wheatear

Northern Wheatear

The remiges of a second year male are quite brown and worn, an adult male's would be much darker.

Northern Wheatear

 

Northern Wheatear - Second year female

Northern Wheatear - adult female

Every year at Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) time there are new and enquiring blog readers who perhaps haven’t read previous explanations about the origins of the name “Wheatear”. So here it is again, this time courtesy of Wiki.

"The name "wheatear" is not derived from "wheat" or any sense of "ear", but is a 16th-century linguistic corruption of "white" and "arse", referring to the prominent white rump found in most species of wheatear. 

Oenanthe is also the name of a plant genus, the water dropworts, and is derived from the Greek oenos (οίνος) "wine" and anthos (ανθός) "flower". In the case of the plant genus, it refers to the wine-like scent of the flowers. In the case of the wheatear, it refers to the Northern Wheatear's return to Greece in the spring just as the grapevines blossom". 

I checked the trees at Fluke Hall for little reward, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Siskin, 1 Stock Dove and 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker. It was time to call it a day (or a morning) with a last look on the still flooded maize where a number of Lapwings and Shelduck were all I could see. 

A brute of a Peregrine arrived and appeared to be hunting Lapwings, sending the lot into a frenzied panic as it stood briefly on the distant stubble. Within seconds the raptor lifted off and was gone. 

Peregrine

Time for me to leave too, but there’s always another day, another birding session on Another Bird Blog. 

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday Blog

Bitty Vis

Wednesday 26th March, and I let the early sun dissolve a windscreen frost before I set off. The morning turned out not bad for birding although the bright sky and slightly cool northerly airflow with a lack of cloud kept migrant birds high in the sky. 

Highlight of my 3+ hours slot was a small but steady stream of Meadow Pipits heading across Morecambe Bay and a probable influx of Wheatears. 

Lane Ends wasn’t especially wind swept, just enough to keep 6 Little Egrets sitting about in weak sun and the lee of the island. I glimpsed a Little Grebe and heard their trills then through the reed saw a drake Shoveler and I’m pretty sure there’s a female there too. 

Two Chiffchaffs were in song this morning, their repetitive “chiff-chaff, chiff-chaff” surprisingly far-carrying when little else was in voice. The Chiffchaff is almost the ultimate “little brown job” of bird ID, lucky then that its onomatopoeic song helps even a novice birder to identify the species; in the Springtime at least. 

Chiffchaff

 Chiffchaff

Meadow Pipits were on the move here, fives, sixes and more, on the edge of woodland habitat but making off North and over the marsh, a sure sign of decent numbers about. Three hours later my notebook scribbles amounted to 110+ Meadow Pipits, 2 Siskins and 2 Reed Buntings heading into the wind and across the bay towards Heysham. 

Still good numbers of Pink-footed Geese out on the marsh scattered widely and left to right from Pilling to Cockerham with a minimum of 4,000 birds and seemingly no hurry to set off for Iceland.

The Green Sandpiper was at Piling Water again, as were 4 Teal, 8 Shoveler and 2 Little Egrets. The warning calls of Chaffinches alerted me to a Kestrel in the top of the willows, the raptor doing a few circuits and a hover or two before flying back towards Damside. 

 Chaffinch

I found 3 Wheatears moving between the sea wall and Hi-Fly’s land so tried to encourage them to fly to my regular catching spot. They were reluctant to leave the sun and shelter of the southern aspect. I didn’t blame them, the wind was getting up and it was so cold that I relapsed into gloves again, forgot to set the camera to the right aperture and ended up with a very dull shot of a bright male Wheatear - D’oh! 

Northern Wheatear

Hi-Fly’s floods revealed 30+ Lapwing, 40+ Redshank, 1 Little Egret, 4 Oystercatcher and 20+ Shelduck.

There's more news and views soon from Another Bird Blog.

Linking today to  Camera Critters.

Ne’re Cast A Clout

There came a nasty surprise this morning. 

Spring snow and sleet.

Since when did a little sleet and snow put paid to a spot of birding? The screen wipers quickly disposed of the offending material, I donned hat, scarf, gloves and heated seat then set off north to Pilling. 

There was a cold wind blowing too but it didn’t deter a Chiffchaff singing from the trees at Lane Ends; 5 Little Egrets had not left the roost but instead lounged around the sheltered-from-the-wind edge of the pool. A single Lesser Redpoll flew over seemingly heading north - my first redpoll of the Spring. 

I battled West against the wind to check out Pilling Water hoping for a Wheatear or two. A single bird hunkered down in the shelter of the rocks below the sea wall. I wondered if it could be the one I ringed on Wednesday but very unlikely with so many Wheatears beginning to appear along the coast before heading into the hills and The Pennines. So it proved, another second year female lured by a mouth-watering mealworm. 

Northern Wheatear

Northern Wheatear

A Little Egret, 40+ Redshanks and a Green Sandpiper on the pool but no further reason to hang around in the bitterly cold morning so I headed back to Lane Ends and then to Braides Farm. 

There’s been an influx of Pink-footed Geese this week, birds from Norfolk stopping off for a feed before continuing their journey with another pause in Scotland before their final destination of Iceland. 

Quite huge numbers greeted me - perhaps 5/6000 birds crowded into the several fields close to the sea wall. I spent an hour or more with the geese hoping some might come closer but they are all still highly wary of passing traffic or brightly coloured cyclists passing by. Leaving the car would be a recipe for disaster by sending the geese into a frenzy of flight and stopping them feeding, so remaining in the warmth of the car seemed a good option. 

Pink-footed Geese

Pink-footed Geese

I counted 30 Lapwings scattered across the wet fields, almost all of them distributed as to suggest that winter flocking is over and territory is the name of the game. Not so with the Golden Plover as large flocks are moving through the area and one of 350+ here today. 

A female Merlin paid a brief visit to the fence, staying long enough to take a look around before dashing off towards Lane Ends. It was a long way off along a line of posts!

Merlin

A couple of Little Egrets, a couple of Skylarks before a tractor and a dismounting driver sent the pinkies over the sea wall and out of sight. Oh well, it was good while it lasted. 

Oh yes, I almost forgot. 'Ne'er cast a clout till May be out' is an English proverb. From "Phrases UK"

"The earliest citation is the rhyme from Dr Thomas Fuller 1732, although it probably existed in word-of-mouth form well before that. Since at least the early 15th century 'clout' has been used to mean 'a blow to the head', 'a clod of earth or 'a fragment of cloth, or clothing'. It is the last of these that is meant in 'cast a clout'. So, 'ne'er cast a clout...' simply advises not to discard your warm winter clothing. 

The 'till May be out' part is where doubt lies. On the face of it this means 'until the month of May is ended', but there is another interpretation. In England, in May, you can't miss the Hawthorn. It is an extremely common tree in the English countryside, especially in hedges. Hawthorns are virtually synonymous with hedges. The name 'Haw' derives from 'hage', the Old English for 'hedge'. The tree gives its beautiful display of flowers in late April/early May. It is known as the May Tree and the blossom itself is called May. Using that allusion, 'till May is out' could mean until the hawthorn is out in bloom."

Stay tuned to Another Bird Blog where the true warmth of Spring may eventually arrive and you can share it.

Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday, Anni's Blog, Camera Critters and Eileen's Saturday Blog .

Bird Watching

Wednesday 19th March 2014. 

It’s hard to decide the highlight of Wednesday morning, catching the first Wheatear of 2014 with the help of trusty meal worms or seeing a full set of local raptors in action. 

Northern Wheatear

Meal Worms

First stop as usual was Wheel Lane where the Golden Plover count reached 360+, Redshanks numbered 20+, and the well scattered Lapwings totalled 30+. Two Little Egrets could be seen along the ditches that cross the maize field. As per a few days ago a Chiffchaff sang brief snatches of song from the hedgerow and as I waited for the chiffy to show, I picked up on 2 Long-tailed Tit, a single Goldcrest searching the hawthorns, and several Meadow Pipits in the near part of the field. 

The waders took to the air a couple of times, once for a passing Kestrel and then for brief views of a dashing Merlin, the latter heading out over the sea wall. 

I parked at Fluke and checked out the woodland. The Long-tailed Tit nest of 9th March appears to have come to a standstill a couple of days after, the nest now a complete cup but without the essential domed topping. No sight or sound of the adults either - an unexplained failure for the BTO Nest Record. I’m keeping an eye on a freshly manicured hole near where I’ve seen and heard the Great-spotted Woodpeckers, ”chicking” today and in the last two or three weeks. It’s not been a great year for hearing the peckers’ drumming noises, perhaps a pointer to fewer pairs in the area and less competition? 

 Great-spotted Woodpecker

There were 2 Buzzards calling in the tree tops, noisy Jays and then further along the lane a Sparrowhawk came gliding through the trees and made as if to perch up. When the hawk saw me it sped off out of sight. Generations of human persecution have made raptors reluctant to share their world with bird watchers who mean them no harm. 

Buzzard

In the wet field south of Fluke Hall were 14+ Pied Wagtails, 15+ Meadow Pipits and in the hedgerow, 2 Reed Buntings and 2 Greenfinch, the wags and mipits difficult to locate in the badly rutted, furrowed and still partially flooded ground. 

I walked east along the sea wall with the still strong wind at my back where in the shelter of the rocks I found a bright male Wheatear. The spot was too public for even a tiny trap - a host of footprints on the muddy shore and piles of doggy poo testified to my preference for a quieter spot. 

From the sea wall I watched a female Peregrine arrive from the west and then settle low on the marsh but out of sight. Waiting for a Peregrine to fly is not always a short delay so I walked further east and then counted the Pink-footed Geese for the umpteenth time this winter - 420 this time and never a total the same. Good numbers of Shelduck but no count today and no sign of the Brent Goose or regular Green Sandpiper. 

Pilling Water provided the ideal Wheatear, settled on the rocks and looking for food. A meal worm later it was mine - a fine female to finish the morning and to open the Wheatear account for 2014. Now that’s what I call bird watching. 

Northern Wheatear

More bird watching very soon from Another Bird Blog.

Are You Having A Laugh?

There was no birding today in the very unfunny showers and windy conditions prevailing up here in the Grim North, but I have a little news to relay from Monday's truncated birding session at Pilling. 

Also, and if nothing else, the strange world of British Birding can usually be relied upon to generate a laugh or two. So in the absence of birding news from today and as a light relief, there follows later in the post an amusing tale of birding. 

Two Green Sandpipers surprised me on Monday, taking off together from the wildfowler’s pools as I approached, calling as they flew North West. I suspect that both were Spring migrants, neither of them the “green sand” I’ve failed all winter to photograph, the one that has had a regular laugh at my expense. Other wildfowl and waders on marsh and pool - 210 Shelduck, 300 Pink-footed Goose, 18 Teal, 1 Shoveler and the Brent Goose of recent months, the dark-bellied bird feeding with Shelducks at the outer edge of the marsh. 

Shoveler

Pink-footed Goose

Along the sea wall were small numbers of Meadow Pipits plus a single Rock Pipit, and I’m missing the movement north of large numbers of Meadow Pipits which should by 18th March be more obvious. 

Meadow Pipit

On the flood, 32 Lapwings, the now regular but varying count of Golden Plover at 155 and a Kestrel from the Damside pair patrolling the roadside. 

Kestrel

If all this patch work seems more than a little tame, from the weekend there’s a wretched account of twitching played out in the rural landscape of English Sussex and subsequently discussed at inordinate length on an Internet birding forum. All of it concerned a Savannah Sparrow that never was. 

It happens fairly regularly that in their impatience to make a name for themselves on "the scene" a birder will sometimes make a mistake in their ID of a bird, and then in their subsequent haste for fame, prematurely post the sighting on a blog or a bird alert service. 

More rarely such urgency for fame turns into desperation whereby a person will invent or elaborate a sighting in order to generate credibility and kudos within the hallowed community to which they aspire. 

Unfortunately for them, if they get it wrong there will be repercussions. A genuine mistake can be forgotten with a friendly pat on the shoulder, perhaps after a time the error of judgement forgiven and normalities resumed. However a deliberate attempt to deceive the serious world of chasing rare birds invites a fate almost worse than death where sanctions will include at the least the cold shoulder, exclusion from forums or pager services and the probable loss of erstwhile birder mates. 

In extremis, on this occasion and in all seriousness a few forum contributors have suggested that a physical beating or legal proceedings may be in order. I kid you not. 

Read all about it here but do have a tissue at hand to wipe away the tears. 

Savannah Sparrow - Photo credit: USFWS Headquarters / Foter / CC BY 

Now to the Google searcher who typed in the query "Do pigeons have willys?" and who eventually found my blog.

There is a definitive and serious answer to this ornithological query, but I'm not sure you will find the answer on Bird Forum. The answer is here instead. 

Wood Pigeon - "I'm not telling"

More laughs, facts and photos from Another Bird Blog soon.

Doing It All Again

Saturday 15th March. Remember to “click the pics” for close-up views and/or click the “Crosspost” button to share a picture to Facebook and Twitter. 

It took a while to find the Northern Wheatear his morning. After a couple of hours plodding around Pilling in a stiff and cold north-westerly wind I’d more or less given up on seeing the safest bet of March. Boots off, hat and gloves back in the car I was ready for home but taking a last look along the sea wall when I spotted a lone Wheatear on a stretch of embankment I’d walked an hour or more before. It was too late to start unpacking a trap and warming up the meal worms; there will be more days soon.

Wheatear

At early doors the sea wall had been pretty devoid of bird life, and apart from 1000+ Pink-footed Geese most of the action took place on the maize field or in the Fluke Hall woodland. 

There was a goodish count of Golden Plover with 450+ birds early on until a Hi-Fly vehicle drove across the track to scatter many of the plovers out to the shore. At the moment Hi-Fly appear to be conducting a valuable amount of management of the Carrion Crow and Magpie situation, activities which inevitably means their people and vehicles are about the fields more than a mere birder would like. 

Carrion Crow

A number of the plovers are beginning to acquire their fabulous breeding attire, a plumage which allows them to blend into the summery tundra.

Golden Plover-  Photo credit: Jesusisland / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND 

Although large numbers of Golden Plovers are presently migrating through the area, Lapwings, Redshanks and Oystercatchers can now be counted as residents, either in pairs or display mode - in this case 15+pairs of Lapwing, 6 pairs of Oystercatcher and 6+ pairs of Redshank. 

Shelducks are scattered across the same areas in pairs or small groups with a total of 35/40 birds. Three Little Egrets about the fields with five more from the sea wall, 5 Dunlin in flight plus 18 Teal, a singing Reed Bunting and little else on the wildfowlers’ pools 

The comparatively sheltered woodland held a few species: 40+ Woodpigeon, 2 Stock Dove, 1 Mistle Thrush, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 8 Goldfinch, 4 Long-tailed Tit. 

There seemed very little bird song this morning; the air was cold, the wind too strong so I counted myself lucky to see a Chiffchaff as it called once from a gap in the roadside willows then showed itself briefly. 

In all a quietish morning whereby it would be nice to get a warm, sunny and wind-free morning tomorrow when I may just have to do it all over again. Join Another Bird Blog then for more news, views and photographs.

Linking this post to World Bird Wednesday, Camera Critters and Anni's I'd Rather Be Birding Blog.