Purple Patch

I was unavailable for Tuesday’s ringing session when Andy ringed another 35 birds at Oakenclough. He caught the first Siskins and Lesser Redpolls of the autumn and another couple of Tree Pipits but then excelled by catching an adult Spotted Flycatcher, the first full-grown “spot-fly” for a number of years. 

Not to be outdone I met up with Andy for another 0630 start on Wednesday. Oakenclough’s recent purple patch continued with 42 more captures of 12 species. There was an exciting morning of birding too, topped off by an adult Hobby about 11 am. 

We caught steadily from the off as finches provided the numbers while “others” provided the “star” birds: 14 Goldfinch, 9 Chaffinch, 4 Great Tit, 3 Meadow Pipit, 2 Blackcap, 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Goldcrest, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Siskin, 1 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Tree Pipit, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Coal Tit. 

Both of today’s Blackcaps, a male and a female were birds of the year (juvenile) with the female showing faint fault bars on the tail. Fault bars are pale bands sometimes seen on wing and tail feathers and which are probably due to reduced metabolism with less melanin deposition during the growth of feather, typically during days when food is scarce due to natural causes or poor weather. We have seen few fault bars on young birds’ tails this year, almost certainly a consequence of the best year ever of UK weather as a whole and the best since 2006 in the North West. 

Blackcap 

 Blackcap- juvenile/first year female 

Today’s single juvenile Tree Pipit had a tiny mite attached to its face at the bottom of the right eye. We occasionally find such things around the eye and head of a bird but without specialist knowledge we can do little if anything to help. However, it is said that such ticks drop off when the ticks are finished feeding without any long term effect on the bird. 

Tree Pipit 

Tree Pipit 

Meadow Pipit 

I hope everyone spotted the difference between Meadow Pipit and Tree Pipit? 

Chiffchaffs have been strangely absent this summer and autumn, today’s recently moulted adult the first since 26th March. 

Chiffchaff 

In recent years we are finding a number of juvenile Goldfinches in full primary moult (replacing all of their primary feathers) in late/summer early autumn. These are juveniles from the earliest broods of April/May and June whose plumage is well worn by late summer. In the picture below the outer feathers are the browner and worn ones; the darker, blacker ones and the short, still emerging feather are the new “adult type” feather. However, the bird is still classed as a first year/juvenile until 1st January 2019 when of course it becomes a second year. 

Goldfinch 

It’s good to welcome back Siskins and Lesser Redpolls even though we caught just one of each - both adult females. 

Lesser Redpoll - adult female

 Siskin - adult female

Siskin - adult female 

Tail feathers

The birding was pretty spectacular this morning, even with the limited time between rounds. There was an early arrival of 150+ Swallows which arrived so soon after dawn that we thought to be from a local roost. As the morning progressed their numbers increased at the same time as a large influx of House Martins and a handful of Sand Martins. Our estimate of the numbers involved in both visible migration and those lingering while feeding was 375 Swallow, 260 House Martin and 10 Sand Martin. 

With so many hirundines about, we speculated about the possibility of a Hobby. About 11 am Bryan cottoned on to a raptor that arrived from the west and shot quickly through where the Swallows and House Martins were feeding. We had less than a minute as the Hobby circled and then flew directly over our heads where we were able to identify it as an adult rather than a bird of the year. 

Hobby - Falco subbuteo 

Other birds – 8 Grey Wagtail, 6 Pied Wagtail, 7 Buzzard, 2 Sparrowhawk, 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Nuthatch. 

No Two Days Alike

Most bird ringers will agree that going to the same place on consecutive days may not be a good idea. That’s probably true for sites where the majority of birds are likely to be from a small local area but does not apply where a site attracts migratory birds, ones that are likely to be different individuals each day. And the theory definitely doesn't hold water in migrant hot-spots like coastal bird observatories where both ringing and observations on consecutive days is an absolute must to record day to day variations. 

I guess our site up at Oakenclough is a mixture of the above. For sure there are local birds but located as it is on the edge of the Pennines and with a clear view down to the coast just 12 miles away, there can be a large element of migration at certain times of the year. 

Andy and I had already been twice this week and clocked up almost 80 new birds, the latest on Thursday when we caught 52 of 10 species. So we had no qualms about heading up there again this morning and arranged our meet-up for 0630. 

Thursday was a pretty busy day but this morning produced a downturn in both numbers caught and species observed. Birds ringed 23. We processed 7 Goldfinch, 3 Chaffinch, 3 Long-tailed Tit, 3 Coal Tit, 2 Tree Pipit and singles each of Blackcap, Robin, Great Tit, Goldcrest and Wren. 

Today saw our ninth Tree Pipit of the week. All nine have been first year (born 2018) birds.

Tree Pipit 

After three new Coal Tits yesterday, two more today tells us that the species’ migration is probably under way. 

Coal Tit

Long-tailed Tits are definitely local birds. But we have not seen any large flocks of “lotties” just yet, flights that can number up to twenty, thirty or more individuals following good breeding success and mild winters. 

Long-tailed Tit 

Although we caught just the one Goldcrest today, there is little doubt that their autumnal migration is now on-going. 

Goldcrest 

We didn't record Willow Warbler today; our only warbler sighting consisted of the single Blackcap we caught, a first year male. Although Blackcaps breed close to this ringing site we are pretty sure that the three first years birds caught this week have been migrants. 

Blackcap 

This morning gave a good display of Chaffinch visible migration as small parties of between 2 and 20 individuals arrived from North and North West, flying overhead calling. From the total of approximately 80 observed, A small number stopped off and accounted for the three caught. 

Chaffinch 

About the only other visible migrant today was Swallow. Like the Chaffinches that moved in a similar time frame our Swallow sightings consisted of small parties of between 5 and 15 Swallows all heading south, either directly through or over the ringing site. 

Otherwise: 1 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 10 Pied Wagtail.

Linking today to  Stewart's World Bird Wednesday and  http://id-rather-b-birdin.blogspot.com.

Back For More

The forecast of little cloud and a 4 mph wind for Thursday looked so stable that we actually confirmed our arrangement for Oakenclough on Wednesday afternoon. This is a most unusual occurrence that more often than not involves a detailed discussion around whether a ringing session is even possible in our normally unsettled weather. 

I met Andy and Bryan for the 0630 start to a perfect morning of zero wind with just a little cloud together with a hint of sun peeking around the corner. 

Birds were on the move from the off and the morning proved productive for both ringing and birding. Goldfinches dominated the catch but we also bagged a few warblers and more Tree Pipits to add to those of Tuesday. 

Today’s catch comprised 52 birds of 10 species; in numerical order - 20 Goldfinch, 8 Chaffinch, 6 Goldcrest, 5 Willow Warbler, 4 Tree Pipit, 3 Coal Tit, 2 Blackcap, 2 Robin, 1 Great Tit, 1 Greenfinch. 

The twenty Goldfinches included an adult bearing a ring immediately recognisable as not our own due the unfamiliar series of letters and numbers – S524171. Otherwise the remaining Goldfinches proved to be first years/juveniles. Almost without us trying very hard it’s looking like Goldfinch will become the most ringed bird of 2018 due simply to its abundance in town and country. 

Goldfinch 

All four Tree Pipits proved to be first years/juveniles. All seven we have caught this week have been first year/juveniles. This is not surprising given that by the end of the summer birds of the year will outnumber adults in the ratio of approximately 5/1 and also that adults are thought to migrate earlier than juveniles. The recovery rate for ringed Tree Pipits is actually quite low, despite ”acute persecution” in Southern France and Northern Spain (BWP). 

Tree Pipit 

Tree Pipit

Five Willow Warblers gave opportunities to directly compare adults (born before 2018) with first years (born 2018). 

adult Willow Warbler 

first year Willow Warbler 

The two Blackcaps were first year birds, one female and one male. 

Blackcap 

We discussed how we’d not caught a Coal Tit for months and then, lo and behold, three turned up in quick succession, together with a single adult male Great Tit. 

Great Tit 

Not so with Blue Tits as they remain hard to come by up here – rather a strange thing to say about the most ringed bird on the BTO’s books. Our own observations and casual chatter elsewhere suggest Blue Tits may be the next to suffer from a drop in numbers. 

From as early as 0700 there was a noticeable movement of Swallows overhead which tailed off about 0900 by which time we had counted 80+. As the morning warmed more Swallows arrived from the North West together with smaller numbers of House Martins as both species aerial fed in numbers approached a combined 250/300 or more. 

Finches were also on the move as shown by our catch of both Goldfinches and Chaffinches with small parties of both throughout the morning. Not so with Lesser Redpoll, this has yet to appear as an autumn migrant up here. 

A number of Pied Wagtails appeared in late morning with 15/20 feeding nearby and a couple or more noted flying over and due south. Other birds noted in addition to those caught – 15 Willow Warbler, 2 Sparrowhawk, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Peregrine, 1 Treecreeper. 

Great-spotted Woodpecker 

The Spotted Flycatchers were along the nearby woodland edge of someone’s garden. These were the first I’d seen since May in Menorca where Spot Flys are ten-a-penny, unlike the UK where the species is another one in decline. 

Spotted Flycatcher 

The flycatchers were a good way to end an interesting and rewarding morning. And with the same forecast for Friday, who knows? We may be back for more. 

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday Blogspot.

Gamekeeper Shoots Short-eared Owls

There's nothing much to add to the video below. Watch and see if your blood boils.

 

For this outrageous and despicable crime the derisory “punishment” handed out by the court is equally outrageous. The perpetrator Tim Cowin was fined £400 for killing each owl and £200 for possessing a calling device, which was forfeited by the court. He was ordered to pay £170 costs and a £40 victim surcharge. A total of £1,210.

This kind of cruelty and disregard for our wildlife will continue until proper sentences are imposed and landowners become liable for crimes committed on their land.   

Read more at: RSPB Investigations.

Back soon with more pleasing news.

Slowly Does It

This ringing lark gets more difficult to predict. After the rain and wind of Sunday and Monday we felt sure that a fine start to Tuesday might produce an influx of birds to our site at Oakenclough. I met up with Andy at 0630 and then we waited, and waited. 

It was a good thing that the feeders were well topped up because that is where we realised the majority of our 20 birds, mostly finches: 14 Goldfinch, 3 Chaffinch, 1 Blackcap, 1 Willow Warbler and 1 Goldcrest. 

Of the 14 Goldfinch, 11 were birds of the year in varying stages of post-juvenile moult. An adult female had a clear and well-defined brood patch suggestive of current or very recent breeding this late in August. Such determined productivity and willingness to adopt the suburban garden defines the outstanding success of this now abundant species. 

Goldfinch 

In the field someone might easily label the below Blackcap as an adult male because of the black cap. Closer scrutiny showed a juvenile/first year tail but also, the tell-tale remnants of a juvenile brown cap. By late August juvenile male Blackcaps show hardly if any brown in their black caps. 

Blackcap 

Blackcap 

Ageing autumn Willow Warblers in the field is very hard, some might say impossible with any degree of certainty given the often brief views of a tiny warbler flitting through the greenery. 

The process is much easier in the hand when we employ an understanding of the moult strategy of Willow Warblers to separate the two age classes. Adult Willow Warblers go through a complete autumn moult while juveniles undertake a partial moult, so that by late summer/early August individual birds of different ages can initially appear identical. 

The tails of adults are typically broad, rounded with little or no abrasion; juvenile tails are usually narrower, more pointed and usually look more worn that the equivalent adult tail. In general but not absolutely, adults have whiter bellies than first year birds. 

Willow Warbler 

There seemed to be little visible migration this morning with just tiny groups of Goldfinch and Chaffinch making their way overhead. We saw 10-20 Swallows heading south and a probable local Sparrowhawk. 

We followed up a sighting of a few days ago – five or six Little Ringed Plovers on the margins of the nearby reservoir where the water level remains at summery lows. Yes indeed, 5 Little Ringed Plover. Thanks Peter. 

Little Ringed Plover 

Looks like a day off tomorrow. But back on Thursday with Another Bird Blog. 

Going Nowhere

The breeze was just too strong for a ringing session. Even at 10 mph we are blown off course at Oakenclough.  I set off instead for a spot of birding in what would prove to be a quite productive and eventful morning. 

At Lane Ends Pilling I was early enough to see the Little Egrets depart their island roost. The site is now so overgrown that it’s impossible to see the egrets from any direction, the only option being to count them in at dusk or count them out at dawn.  In the morning they signal their imminent departure by their barking calls after which they fly in ones, twos and threes from the trees to the marsh below. I counted 28 heading out and landing on the marsh before they gradually scattered in all directions to later spend their day in Morecambe Bay. 

Little Egret 

There was a flight of Greylag Geese off the marsh and heading south over my head. I counted 70+ in just ten or fifteen minutes. By the time I reached Braides Farm Greylags were still on the move with another two parties of 40+ birds, they too heading south. There was a Kestrel here, a young bird and one of very few juvenile Kestrels I've seen this year. 

There was a very good selection of waders at Conder Green by way of 270 Lapwing, 44 Redshank, 7 Greenshank, 4 Dunlin, 3 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Curlew, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Snipe and 1 Oystercatcher. 

Dunlin 

Other “water” birds appeared as 12 Little Grebe, 3 Little Egret, 2 Grey Heron, 2 Shelduck, 1 Common Tern and 1 Kingfisher. The Kingfisher didn't come close and I was forced to watch it hovering and then plunge-diving across the pool and in front of the far island. This where the grebes hang out and where there are lots of small fish to be had. 

Little Grebe 

A single Whitethroat and 6 Goldfinch was the sum of the passerine count although 120+ Swallows was a welcome sight. 

At Glasson the Tufted Duck numbers are building with 22 there today plus a single Great Crested Grebe, but otherwise a decent number of uncounted Common Coot and a single Grey Heron. 

Tufted Duck 

There were more Swallows along Jeremy Lane where the good folk of Gardner’s Farm seem not to mind their roof and TV aerial being decorated by Swallows and House Martins. 

Swallow 

Swallow 

House Martin & Swallow 

Further up the lane I had to turn around and head back. A recovery truck was on its way to rescue an Asda delivery van from the roadside ditch. Someone near Cockersands would wait in vain for their Internet shopping bags. 

Going Nowhere 

Asda Delivery 

The lanes up here are often single track where a driver unfamiliar with local niceties like giving way to large tractors may find they are off-road with nowhere to go. 

Back near Pilling again I found 4 Buzzards in the air and a Little Owl sat in the sun but sheltered from the now stiff northerly wind. 

Little Owl 

More soon. Stay tuned to Another Bird Blog.

Linking today to Anni's Birding Blog.

Looking For Improvement

The weather continues to thwart plans for ringing with strong winds and frequent showers. Saturday looks slightly better with Monday and into next week an improving picture. Fingers crossed. 

In the meantime, and ever looking to share good news with my readers, I found another boost for birds via agri-environment schemes - 21 August 2018 in Farming Life of Northern Ireland.  

Three key farmland bird species increased in number over a five-year period in response to an agri-environment scheme (AES), according to a study by the RSPB. Yellowhammers, House Sparrows and Tree Sparrows rose in abundance in farms taking part in the project across east Co Down, Ireland. 

“Yellowhammers – a Red-listed species (a bird of high conservation concern) which had been in sharp decline were up by an impressive 78% between 2006 and 2011. As well as the surge in Yellowhammer numbers on farms taking part in the AES, House Sparrows were up 46% and Tree Sparrows up 207% in the five-year period. 

Yellowhammer 

The study assessed whether changes in the abundance of priority farmland bird species differed over a five-year period between farms under AES management and a similar sample of farms not subject to the management. It was conducted in Co Down, one of the last remaining areas of lowland mixed arable farmland in Northern Ireland. Three target species (House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow and Yellowhammer) showed more positive increases in abundance on the AES farms. 

Prior to the current EFS being made available last year, there had been a couple of years without an available AES and this will have had a negative impact on species including the Yellowhammer. 

Tree Sparrow 

This week sees the opening of the Northern Ireland Environmental Farming Scheme (EFS), whereby farmers can sign up for a system that compensates landowners for undertaking work to enhance biodiversity and water quality. EFS, administered by the Department of Agriculture the Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), is open to all active farmers who have management control of at least three hectares of eligible farmland. 

Key options in EFS highlighted are provision of winter feed crop for wild birds, retention of winter stubble, creation of arable margins and creation of pollinator margins. 

Kendrew Colhoun, RSPB senior conservation scientist, said: “We see the EFS as a critical component as part of our work to maintain biodiversity across the countryside in Northern Ireland. Our study provides unequivocal evidence that AES can deliver for key species if the correct mix of EFS options (such as ones to provide summer and winter food and nesting habitat) are targeted to the right places and coupled with advice.” 

Farmer Jack Kelly, who has a farm outside Downpatrick, employed a range of wider options on his land - including wild bird cover, overwintering stubbles, rough grass margins, pollen and nectar margins, annual wildflower margins, native hedging and a hay meadow.  

Jack Kelly said “The agri-environmental scheme has been beneficial for us, providing the opportunity to help wildlife on areas of our land which may not be as productive as other areas. We were able to utilise field margins or awkward corners and turn them into havens for wildlife. The overwintered stubbles and wild bird cover plot provides my family and myself with a great spectacle over the winter when hundreds of birds come to feed on the seed. It works well within our farming practices and we would encourage other farmers to make the most of the EFS.” 

House Sparrow 

Sean Woods, RSPB NI conservation advisor added: “The opening of the wider EFS provides the opportunity for farmers to help some of our most important species such as the Yellowhammer, while receiving a financial reward. “Many of our iconic farmland wildlife species rely on farmers utilising measures such as those found in the scheme. We are urging as many farmers as possible to enter EFS to help nature thrive on their land and we would also like to thank the forty-plus farmers that took part in the original research project.” 

Read more at Farming Life  August 2018 

On the same topic. During the week I talked to a game-keeper who with shooter colleagues, and at their own expense, are trying to get farmers interested in planting up small areas of their land with wild bird cover crops – e.g. a corner or strip of a field as above. Obviously the shooters’ main aim is in making such crops suitable for game-birds like pheasants and partridge, but there is no doubt that such schemes benefit many small farmland birds. 

I am not a fan of shooting. But not for the first time I found that if we as birders take time to talk with them, many sportsmen have a genuine desire to help recover the situation that has seen the UK population of farmland birds plummet over many years. And as this example shows, they often walk the talk and provide an example for others to follow.

Linking today to Eileen's Blog.