Mr Tumble Goes Birding

Who said that birding is a harmless, safe and gentle pursuit? 

This morning I was dodging the heavy showers at Fluke Hall, doing a circuit of the woods and the sea wall when I slipped down a wet, grassy bank to land with an almighty thump in a muddy ditch. That’s what you get for trespassing. Not to worry as by then I’d seen a good selection of the birds on offer, even if I did get another soaking and a sore back. 

From the car parking spot and about 50 yards away in a very wet stubble field I could see more than 30 Pied Wagtails and 6 Meadow Pipits feeding, with just a handful of Chaffinch closer to the trees and hedgerow. If there’s an alarm call the Chaffinch seek sanctuary in the adjacent trees while the pipits and wagtails rely on their greater manoeuvrability to stay safe. A party of 18/20 Twite flew over the hedgerow and they too landed in the same field but even further back. In the woodland edge - 2 Song Thrush, several Blackbirds and a handful of Chaffinches.

Chaffinch

These birds needed to be on their toes as there was a Kestrel about as well as one and possibly two Sparrowhawks. While the Kestrel seemed more interested in spotting mammals from telegraph poles I saw a Sparrowhawk both hedge-hopping and then slipping through the trees ahead of me. Later, one was pursued across a field by ever vigilant crows. The hawk flew into the wood, turned an impossible corner and then disappeared from view, a favourite trick of the Sparrowhawk and one which it further exploits by often concealing itself in the trees and lying in wait for unsuspecting prey. 

Sparrowhawk

To the west of the wagtails and pipits were 400/500 hundred Pink-footed Geese searching through the stubble. I walked east and left the geese feeding rather than spook them up into the sky and make them find an alternative place to feed. 

I made a beeline for the sea wall and to where Whooper Swans sounded out their presence. The swans aren’t nearly as accommodating as when they first arrive in October and although as a protected species they are not shot at directly, they are around when geese and wildfowl are targeted by the guns. Hence the 42 Whooper Swans I saw from the sea wall eyed me warily before flying another fifty yards or more out to the tideline. Better safe than sorry. 

From the sea wall I counted 8 Little Egrets scattered across the same marsh, and with the tide out and in the far distance a Peregrine beating up the Lapwings and flocks of Knot. 

Whooper Swans

The fields around here are well flooded with drainage ditches full to the brim after three or more weeks of rain. I stood at the end of a field drain watching a Grey Heron wading through the sodden stubble looking for a meal. Just then a Kingfisher called as it flew fast and low along the ditch towards me before landing on the concrete rim less than 10ft away. It spotted me, called again and set off back along the ditch from whence it arrived. It was just 50 yards from the wood where I saw probably the exact same bird last week. 

A Kingfisher sighting is always welcome but the species is so shy that nine times out of ten a flash of blue, a single or double whistle and a fleeting glimpse is all there is. Beggars can't be choosers  where Kingfishers are concerned.

Kingfisher

Pilling, Lancashire

On the wildfowlers pools were 80+ Shelduck, a couple of Teal plus hordes still of the shooters’ released Mallards and Red-legged Partridge. 

The rain arrived again. I’d had a rewarding two or three hours and it was time to stagger home, but not until I slid down the ditch and onto my arse. Luckily a bottle of pain relief is kept in my office for such eventualities. 

Be sure to join Mr Tumble again soon with more birding adventures on Another Bird Blog.

Linking today to Anni's blog and Eileen's Saturday.

Ruff Stuff

We've been Battered by Storm Barney and still the weather doesn't improve. I'm unable to do any ringing or meaningful birding at the moment.

Last week on Another Bird Blog I described how I saw two Robins came to blows in a fearsome territorial dispute and how such clashes can lead to the death of one of the combatants. 

Robins aren’t the only bird species to exhibit aggression towards their own kind. I was reminded of this today when reading about a recent piece of research by the University of Sheffield which identified the genes that determine the mating behaviour of the male Ruff. The Ruff Philomachus pugnax is another argumentative species, its binomial name referring to the aggressive behaviour of the bird at its mating arenas. Philomachus is derived from Ancient Greek philo - "loving" and machē "battle" and pugnax from the Latin term for "combative”. 

Ruff - Photo:Ian N. White / Foter.com / CC BY-ND

Many years ago I used to make regular springtime visits to Warton Marsh on the River Ribble to watch Ruffs on an open grassy area of the marsh. It was fascinating to watch the males in elaborate displays that included wing fluttering, jumping up and down, standing upright or crouching with their ruff erect. The birds often lunged towards or stabbed at rivals with genuine aggression. It was all somewhat comical to watch but deadly serious to the participants. 

The Ruff were indulging in a 'lek', a mating system where males of the species gather together and invest all of their energy into attracting females to mate with them. The Ruff is one of the few lekking species in which the display is primarily directed at other males rather than to the females, and it is among the small percentage of birds in which males have well-marked and inherited variations in plumage and mating behaviour. 

Ruff - Photo: A.J. Haverkamp / Foter.com / CC BY 

Ruff - Photo: Hiyashi Haka / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA 

Alas, Ruff no longer use this local site, the marsh and the immediate area has changed due to the usual “development” and disturbance. Nowadays my sightings of Ruff are restricted to migration time or occasional wintering birds. 

Ruff - Photo: Hiyashi Haka / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

Recently, and by using genome sequencing, researchers from the University of Sheffield have identified the genes that determine the striking and often agressive mating behaviour of the male Ruff. Within this specific mating system three distinct breeding behaviour are identifiable. 

• Territorial breeding males have spectacular plumes around their neck (which is why these birds are called Ruffs) and head, and vary enormously in colouration so that each male is distinguishable. 

• Non-territorial so-called 'satellite' males, which are distinguishable by their white feathers, concentrate on stealing mates from the territorial displaying males. 

• A third type of male, which is thought of as a 'cross-dresser', mimics females. They are able to hide from other males in the lek, so avoiding territorial aggression, and succeed by effectively stealing mates from the resident males. 

Ruff - Photo: Ian N. White / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA 

The new study, by an international team including researchers from the University of Sheffield, Simon Fraser University (Canada), and the University of Edinburgh, published in Nature Genetics, shows that the three distinct breeding behaviour types are encoded by a 'supergene' . This supergene was created several million years ago by a chromosomal rearrangement, which originally allowed the female mimic to evolve and coexist with the territorial males. 

Lead author of the study, Professor Terry Burke from the University's Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, said: "The special feature of the supergene is that it allows lots of genes that are next to each other on a chromosome - which in this case determine multiple traits including hormones, feathering, colour and size - to evolve together and create two distinct behavioural traits. 

"This process is similar to the one that led to the evolution of separate sex chromosomes, and indeed the alternative forms of the supergene combined together to create the third type of bird personality -- the girlfriend stealer. "The Ruffs provide a neat example of how small genetic changes can lead to major differences in attractiveness and behaviour. This process is fundamental to the formation of separate sexes and separate species." 

He added: "Unlike young men at a social occasion who have each chosen a different approach to courtship, whether that's showing off or paying a compliment, for these birds there is no choice in the matter. It's their DNA that dictates how they win a partner." 

Story/Source - Journal Reference: Clemens Küpper, Michael Stocks, Judith E Risse, Natalie dos Remedios, Lindsay L Farrell, Susan B McRae, Tawna C Morgan, Natalia Karlionova, Pavel Pinchuk, Yvonne I Verkuil, Alexander S Kitaysky, John C Wingfield, Theunis Piersma, Kai Zeng, Jon Slate, Mark Blaxter, David B Lank, Terry Burke. A supergene determines highly divergent male reproductive morphs in the ruff. Nature Genetics, 2015; DOI: 10.1038/ng.3443

Out For The Count

Today the rain finally stopped, the wind took a break and there was a chance to do some birding. 

I started off at Conder Green. After a week of rain the pool was pretty full and the River Conder rushed to the estuary at a fair old rate. It’s easy to forget that this normally lethargic stretch of water begins at Littledale in Bowland, drops down through Quernmore, Ellel and Galgate before meeting the Lune estuary at Conder Green. By the time the water reaches the coast it is usually little more than a puddle, and only when the tidal Lune rises does the Conder swell with estuarine water. 

The name of the river was recorded in the 13th century as Kondover and Kondoure with the meaning "crooked waters". There has been a watering place here for many a year next to the twisting creeks where Grey Herons, Kingfishers and others search for food. The inn dates from the late 17th century when storks and herons were one and the same and birders a rare sight. 

Grey Heron

 The Stork - Conder Green

Conder Green

In the creeks this morning were waders and wildfowl - 75 Teal, 2 Goosander, 6 Snipe, 3 Black-tailed Godwit, 20+ Redshank, 4 Curlew, 1 Spotted Redshank and a single Little Egret. On the swollen pool I counted just 12 Little Grebe and 4 Wigeon. 

Redshank

Curlew

Snipe

The road towards the bridge had handfuls only of House Sparrows, Chaffinch and Greenfinch plus a single Pied Wagtail. I searched for the wintering Common Sandpiper but didn’t see it this time. 

I was soon heading for Fluke Hall but stopped at Braides Farm thinking that the fields there might be flooded after recent rain. A distant flash held bathing Starlings and a couple of Curlews but otherwise nothing except for a watching Buzzard along a fence. At Sand Villa were 2 Kestrels, one hovering beside the road with another gliding low over the field play-acting as a Sparrowhawk. 

At Fluke the midday tide was starting its plan to cover the marsh as huge flocks of mainly Knot, Bar-tailed Godwit, Dunlin and Redshank joined in the roost flights. The brief sun had gone to be replaced by the usual grey stuff and I wasn’t for counting. Let’s just say “many thousands”, especially the Knot. 

 Mainly Knot

There was a Mistle Thrush calling from the tree tops of Fluke Hall while down below a Kingfisher flew across the woodland pool and then out of sight. This particular Kingfisher seems to be a regular whereas the many autumn sightings at Conder Green and Glasson have dwindled to zero. Also in the wood I found 12-15 Blackbirds and 15+ Chaffinch. 

It was here in the wood that I observed two Robins in a very physical territorial dispute, going hammer and tongs at each other for a minute or so. At one point both birds were splayed out on the ground kicking and pecking at each other, rolling over and over until one broke off and flew into the undergrowth but pursued by the other. It’s not unknown in these disputes that one Robin should actually kill the other. The Robin is a good looking but pugnacious fighter and not to be taken at face value. 

Robins

Robin

In flooded stubble at Fluke Hall were approximately 23 Pied Wagtails and a handful of now wintering Meadow Pipits. It was difficult to be more precise with numbers as the birds were constantly flying across the field and then dropping into the lines of peaty stubble where they might disappear from view. 

Pied Wagtail

Towards Ridge Farm a flock of 70/80 Twite proved very mobile between the sea wall and the hedgerow until they eventually flew off towards the farm and out of sight. 

An enjoyable morning’s birding. There’s always something to see with Another Bird Blog so please visit again.

Linking today to Anni's Blog and Eileen's Saturday.

Name Dropping

I realised I’d not posted in almost a week. In fact I’ve hardly birded in almost seven days since the weather took a severe turn for the worse with almost constant rain and wind. It’s much the same today with yet more forecast for the remainder of the week. So for today here’s filler for the blog until such time as I can get out birding or ringing. 

It was last week when deliberating over two very similar looking but geographically separated species the UK Coal Tit and the North American Black-capped Chickadee that I had reason to ponder their respective scientific names - Parus ater and Poecile atricapillus. 

For many birdwatchers the scientific names of birds are a bit of a bore, at best a riddle and of interest only to scientists who speak Latin. But as well as a means of allowing people throughout the world to communicate unambiguously about birds they almost always give an insight into the origins of the name. Here are some I gleaned from both the Internet and books. 

There’s a question that often crops up on TV quizzes, one designed to trap the unwary. Which bird has the Latin name Puffinus puffinus? The correct but slightly confusing answer is of course Manx Shearwater. In days gone by the word “puffin” was a synonym for a shearwater and not the unrelated seabird Atlantic Puffin, hence it was the shearwater which earned the Latin title of Puffinus puffinus. 

The “manx” refers to the species’ former abundance on the Calf of Man a small island lying to the south of the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, while "shearwater” describes the birds’ mode of flight which skims or shears the water. 

Manx Shearwater - Puffinus puffinus

The scientific/Latin name for Wigeon is Anas penelope. I’m somewhat disappointed that the name for such a gorgeous duck should simply mean duck-duck. It’s from the Latin and Greek respectively. 

Wigeon - Anas penelope

Would anyone who has slept under a duck down duvet by way of feathers plucked from an Eider duck Somateria mollissima disagree with the Latin meaning “very soft woolly body”? 

Eider -  Somateria mollissima

Now for an easy one, Barn Owl. Tyto alba simply means white owl. I think we can all agree on that one for the often ghostly apparition.

Barn Owl - Tyto alba

One might think that the rustica element of the Latin name Hirundo rustica refers to the reddish forehead, throat or the often pink underparts of our common Swallow. In fact it means a rural or rustic swallow. The Swallow is a bird which graces our countryside for a few short months of the year. Long may it continue to do so until the politicians succeed in concreting over the entire landscape of England. 

Swallow - Hirundo rustica

I’ve not heard of any Bohemian Waxwings Bombycilla garrulus finding their way to the UK this autumn, but if they are around soon I’ll be looking out for the “chattering silk-tails” that their Latin name describes. The Bohemian part of their common name tells us the species’ wandering habits were reminiscent of tribes of gypsies or Bohemians. 

Waxwing -  Bombycilla garrulus

The Phylloscopus collybita of Chiffchaff breaks down as Phylloscopus a leaf-watcher, and collybita originating from a word meaning money-changer. The clicking, repetitive sound of the Chiffchaff’s song was thought to resemble the sound of coins being clinked together. 

That’s a really interesting if somewhat esoteric explanation which may or may not be the truth. Readers should think about that one in the Springtime while watching and listening to a Chiffchaff in the tree canopy.

Chiffchaff -  Phylloscopus collybita

There was a Jay Garrulus glandarius in my garden this week, taking a break from raiding the young oak tree in a neighbours garden. Jays are often silent but “acorn-eating chatterer” would apply on many occasions. 

Jay - Garrulus glandarius 

Please excuse my bout of name dropping today. It's not something I normally do or even like to hear,  but hopefully there will be more posts and news soon. 

In the meantime stray tuned to Another Bird Blog.

Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.

Wednesday’s Birds

There’s rain and wind forecast for several days ahead. Chances were that this morning might be the only weather window for a spot of ringing so I met with Andy at Oakenclough at first light. Heavy cloud greeted us and while for the next fours there was no rain there was also little in the way of visible migration with blocking cloud in all directions. 

A quiet session of ringing produced just 19 birds, below par for this site. 6 Goldfinch, 3 Chaffinch, 3 Coal Tit, 2 Siskin, 2 Goldcrest, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Fieldfare and 1 Blackbird. 

Visible migration proved to be equally quiet with a single flock of Fieldfares this morning when 50+ birds arrived from the north. Just one first year male found the nets before the pack of thrushes moved quickly through the site and left to the south. Otherwise we saw less than 10 more Fieldfares until midday. After catching about 60 Redwings in the past two weeks the species was conspicuous by its absence this morning with less than 10 seen. Blackbirds were more in evidence with 16+ in the area and a single “Continental” type male finding the net. The two Siskins were both males, one an adult the other a first year. 

Fieldfare

Siskin - adult male

Siskin - first year male

Chaffinches and Bramblings were on the move with 70+ Chaffinches over in several small flocks and 3+ Bramblings among them. Luckily the Bramblings made several calls as they arrived with their cousins as otherwise and in the poor light we may not have seen them. 

A flock of 40+ Goldfinches were/are local birds with the 6 caught including two recaptures. Other sightings included a male Sparrowhawk, Great-spotted Woodpecker and Pied Wagtail. 

There was visible migration of Woodpigeons with several flocks overhead and travelling rapidly south, about 120 in total. Later as I drove home via Out Rawcliffe I noted several hundred Wood Pigeons feeding in a single stubble field. Also, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel along Lancaster Road at Pilling.

While the forecast rain may limit any ringing for a day or two there will be some birding to report so log in soon for more news and views.

Linking today to Anni's Birding and Eileen's Saturday.

Good Garden Stuff

The fog didn’t clear until about 1pm. That would leave about three hours birding before the light failed and the return of the evening mist; not ideal. Meanwhile the garden held a few birds by way of mainly Goldfinches, a species which has been unusually scarce here all autumn. 

When I saw a Nuthatch on the feeders and a Mistle Thrush in the apple tree I decided to do a spot of garden ringing. I didn’t catch the thrush or the Nuthatch but 17 new birds was pretty good for a few hours work - 7 Goldfinch, 5 Coal Tit, 2 Goldcrest, 2 Great Tit and 1 Blue Tit. 

Goldcrest

Great Tit

Goldfinch

This autumn has seen good numbers of both Goldcrests and Coal Tits, two species chiefly associated with conifer forest. Although not strictly migratory the Coal Tit is known to experience irregular irruptions caused by food shortages in their preferred woodland habitats. It is during such times that Coal Tits move into gardens and other habitats and when bird ringers catch more Coal Tits than they normally would. The majority of birds are found to be first years and out of an catch of say 15 or 20 Coal Tits it is normal that 99% are birds of the year and that an adult is the exception to the rule. 

“Coal” in the bird’s English name may simply refer to the mainly black and grey colour compared to the more colourful and common British tits, the Great Tit and the Blue Tit. A German name for the Coal Tit is "Tannenmeise" which translates as "fir tit", perhaps a more suitable descriptive name for a species able to exploit an otherwise birdless coniferous forest? 

Coal Tit

The Coal Tit has a huge distribution range occurring from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from boreal forests north of the Arctic Circle to the montane forests of the Himalayas, China and Taiwan. It’s a species to benefit from extensive planting of conifers in Ireland and Scotland by extending its UK range into the Western Isles of Scotland and the Atlantic coast of Ireland and so increase its overall population. 

Range and Distribution of Coal Tit

From Wiki and for my North American readers who will note that the Coal Tit is almost identical to one or more of their chickadees - "Most authorities still treat the Coal Tit Periparus ater in the subgenus Periparus, but the American Ornithologists' Union considers Periparus a distinct genus. This is supported by mtDNA cytochrome b sequence analysis; Periparus seems to be closer to the Poecile tits and chickadees than to the Great Tit and its relatives."

The fog returned for overnight and tomorrow morning but be sure that there are more birds, photos and news soon.

Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.

Fieldfares And A Feisty Sprawk

Everything was right for a fruitful ringing session. I met Andy at 0645 in the half-light. The air felt almost balmy as a breeze from the south fanned the trees, but just a little too much for our liking. We set the mist nets knowing the preceding week saw mostly poor weather with very few thrushes on the move. Surely Redwings and Fieldfares would be involved in visible migration this morning? We gulped half a cup of coffee each and then waited. 

 The Ringing Office

We didn’t wait too long before the thrushes began to arrive from the north. They came in tens, twenties and hundreds strong throughout the morning until by by1145 we’d counted approximately 2200 Fieldfares and almost 400 Redwings. Some of the flocks were mixed but always dominated by Fieldfares while the bigger flocks of several hundred proved to be exclusively Fieldfares. 

Perhaps because of the steady 10-15 mph breeze a number of flocks arrived from a low elevation and often appeared without warning as they flew above nearby trees to then pass over us. The movement of all birds this morning was 100% north to south. 

The less than ideal wind speed almost certainly limited our overall catch but we were happy with the morning’s total of birds caught and the species: 4 Fieldfare, 4 Redwing, 4 Goldfinch, 3 Coal Tit, 2 Blue Tit and one each of Sparrowhawk, Blackbird, Greenfinch, Great Tit and Goldcrest. 

Fieldfare

Fieldfare

Redwing

The Sparrowhawk proved to be a large and feisty handful of an adult female. The orange eye told us she was an older female. Sparrowhawks are short-lived compared to other birds of prey. The average lifespan for a Sparrowhawk is 2.7 years and although very few live longer than seven years the oldest known ringed bird was one 17 years of age. A female Sparrowhawk takes a larger ring size than the much smaller male of the species and the talons of the female need to be avoided when handling one. 

Sparrowhawk - adult female

Sparrowhawk - adult female

Apart from the thrushes there was a steady movement of finches this morning involving mainly Chaffinch and Greenfinch with a couple of Bramblings and Lesser Redpolls noted. 

Otherwise, 3 Whooper Swans flying west.

More news soon from Another Bird Blog. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, linking to Anni's Blog.