A Redwing Morning

This is most unusual. We’ve had two days of frost with minus 2° on the temperature display at 0600 this morning. Not cold by some standards although the forecast was spot on and I was well prepared with five layers on top, three below, a very woolly hat and a scarf. 

I met Andy at Oakenclough where we were very unsure of the birds we might see and those we might catch in a period that is not quite autumn but also a tad off midwinter.

Perhaps the previous couple of days of zero temperatures had an effect on birds too because the morning saw a heavy movement of thrushes and to a lesser extent finches. From 0700 to 1000 we counted approximately 2000 thrushes arriving from the north and north-west. Many birds continued on south with some stopping off to feed on the still abundant crop of hawthorn and rowan.

Soon after 10 am the arrivals stopped and around 1030 we decided to pack in. 

The flocks and smaller parties numbered between two and 200 individuals, mostly Redwings but with a small proportion of Fieldfares. We estimated 1750 Redwings and 250 Fieldfares in the three hour slot. 

Luckily we managed to catch Redwings in our biggest catch of the species this autumn. We were not so lucky with the mornings’ other arrivals so finished with just 25 birds of 5 species only - 21 Redwing, 2 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Coal Tit, 1 Goldfinch and 1 Song Thrush. 

Of the 21 Redwings, 19 were birds of the year (Code 3) and 2 adults (Code 4), a high ratio of juvenile/first years. 

Lesser Redpoll 

Redwing - first year

Song Thrush - first year 

A Redwing Morning 

Finches noted this morning, also from north to south - 35+ Goldfinch, 30+ Chaffinch, 12 Greenfinch, unidentified 30+. Also - 18 Lapwing , 1 Jay, 1 Raven, 1 Pied Wagtail. 

On the way home via Pilling Moss there was a flock of Fieldfares numbering 150+ feeding along a hawthorn hedge, obviously part of the morning’s arrivals that we hadn’t seen some 12 miles away. 

Fieldfare 

P.S. A fellow Lancashire ringer caught 64 Redwings near Lancaster this morning.

Redwing

This was a morning when huge numbers of both Redwings and Fieldfares on the move.

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

Egg On Their Face

You really couldn’t make this up. The UK has gone completely bonkers. 

“Natural England has given permission for the destruction of 4,500 Mallard eggs over three years to prevent ducks “walking out in front of cyclists” and causing accidents.” 

Mallard

Environmental campaigner Jason Endfield unearthed the licenses through a Freedom of Information request. The licences to destroy Mallard eggs primarily cover the counties of Suffolk and Bedfordshire, although exact locations have been redacted from the Natural England data. 

The Bedfordshire licence applicant said the Mallard population had risen dramatically and noted that they congregated around seating areas. Other reasons cited were “faeces around seating areas” and the risk of collisions between birds and cyclists. 

Natural England issued the first licence to destroy 500 eggs in Bedfordshire in 2016, with a second licence awarded in 2018 allowing the destruction of a further 1,000 eggs. Officials have also rubber-stamped applications to destroy 500 more eggs this year and another 500 next year, the documents show. In Suffolk in 2017-18, Natural England gave the green light to destroy 2,000 Mallard eggs and 300 geese eggs, according to the papers. 

Endfield, who also brought to light in recent months Natural England’s decision to issue licences allowing the killing of Brent Geese and endangered gulls, said: “I am struggling to find the words to express my disbelief and despair that Natural England decision makers thought it appropriate in any way to issue a licence to an applicant that seriously considered ducks to be a threat to cyclists. 

“Surely someone at the agency should have challenged this stupidity at an early stage rather than proceed to issue a licence that legitimised the wanton destruction of wild birds eggs for such spurious reasons.” 

Natural England was unable to comment due to electoral purdah, but pointed out that a successful applicant must provide evidence that the species targeted is causing a problem; that non-lethal alternatives have been tried; that the action is proportionate and that the species' conservation status will not be negatively affected. 

Comments please. Or, write to your MP, hopefully the new one who will soon replace one of the 650 clowns currently in Westminster. 

Read the comments on Jason's Blog - Comments.

Linking today with Eileen's Saturday Blog and Anni in Texas.

One Day Week.

That’s all we seem to get lately, one day in seven suitable for ringing, the rest too windy, wet, or more likely, both. 

Wednesday 13th had been pencilled in since last Saturday as it looked the most promising this week; so it proved with our meet at Oakenclough for 0630 in cold but wind-free conditions. 

Once again nets were set in the dark in the hope of intercepting early thrushes, ex-roost or morning migrants. We caught three Redwings in the early half-light and three more throughout the morning, the latter ones from migrants arriving from the north-west. In all we counted approximately 160 Redwings, the largest party one of 40+ that sped south without stopping. 

Just one Fieldfare noted this morning, calling in the half light of the first arrivals. Otherwise, visible migration was limited to 20+ Chaffinch, similar numbers of Greenfinch, and a couple of Lesser Redpoll. And where are the Siskins this year? We have yet to record an autumn Siskin on overhead migration and have a zero count for ringing. 

Totals today: 6 Redwing, 5 Blue Tit, 4 Greenfinch, 3 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Coal Tit, 2 Blackbird, 1 Goldcrest - 23 caught of 7 species, 

Goldcrest 

Redwing 

Lesser Redpoll 

Greenfinch - First year male 

The protozoal parasite Trichomonas gallinae was known to infect pigeons and raptors but beginning in Britain in 2005, carcasses of dead Greenfinches were found to be infected with the parasite. The disease spread, and in 2008 infected carcasses were found in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and a year later in Germany. 

In Britain the number of infected carcasses recovered each year declined after a peak in 2006. The disease hit the population hard, with decline of "more than 20%" in regional breeding populations during the year following the outbreak. 

The decline in my local area here in Lancashire was especially noticeable. Many observers thought it a “crash” in population rather than a decline. Greenfinch numbers have yet to fully recover, as shown on the attached table from British Trust for Ornithology. 

Greenfinch - BTO

BBS - Breeding Bird Survey  

CBC - Common Bird Census 

CES – Constant Effort Scheme (Ringing) 

My own observations this year and last is of a slight recovery. As an example, I saw a 90+ single flock of Greenfinches at Cockerham just last week and the species is now in our garden again on a fairly regular basis. 

Other species seen this morning – Tawny Owl, Pied Wagtail, Sparrowhawk, Great-spotted Woodpecker.

Pied Wagtail

Back soon on another day at Another Bird Blog.

Pick N’ Mix

There was a sad start to the journey this morning when the car headlights picked out something motionless in the centre of the road near Pilling village. It was a Red Fox that had been hit by a vehicle. When when I looked closer there was fresh and still trickling blood. 

It’s an animal I would much rather see alive although I rarely do. Not for us the urban or even rural fox as in this part of Lancashire the Red Fox is controlled mercilessly by gamekeepers and farmers alike. I stopped to take a quick photograph or two as I was on my way to Oakenclough 10 miles away. 

Red Fox

I’d missed a couple of ringing sessions but while I was absent Andy caught more Redwings and a handful of Fieldfares. That brought our autumn Redwing total to 48 before today - 41 first year birds and 7 adults, a fairly typical ratio of ages. Although we thought this a pretty good effort, it broke no records. 

The morning forecast looked more promising than recent ones so we arranged to meet at 0600. That would give us time to have nets up to await the first arrivals of Redwings, overnight migrants or individuals that had roosted nearby. 

Redwing 

We caught the first Redwings in the dark and then a few more later in our catch of 39 birds and a mix of 12 species: 10 Greenfinch, 7 Redwing, 6 Blue Tit, 4 Blackbird, 3 Chaffinch, 2 Robin, 2 Coal Tit and then singles of Treecreeper, Dunnock, Great Tit, Goldcrest and Lesser Redpoll. 

At this time of year individual Redwings Turdus iliacus cannot be sexed by appearance or size. Redwings of the Icelandic race Turdus iliacus coburni can occasionally be separated out by a combination of their larger size and darker colouration. As yet all of our autumn Redwings have fitted the iliacus pattern with none exhibiting features to suggest a more thorough inspection. 

The one pictured below is an obvious first year “iliacus”, easily aged through both the fault bars in the pointy tail and the cream “notches” in the primary feather coverts. 

Redwing 

Redwing 

There was a steady trickle of Redwings until about 0900 hours by which time we had counted about 130 individuals as they arrived from a north-westerly direction. 

To catch four new Blackbirds is quite unusual for us here with all proving to be quite large, heavy at about 100 gm and long-winged (126-137 mm). We considered that three of them were recent immigrant Blackbirds. 

When British Blackbirds return to gardens in the winter, they are often joined by immigrants. Large numbers of Blackbirds migrate from Scandinavia and continental Europe to spend the winter in Britain and Ireland. Very often these individuals, especially the males are subtly different from our own resident Blackbirds, by amongst other things, their dark bills, sooty plumage and scalloped throat and breast feathers. 

Blackbird 

There was a noticeable arrival of both Greenfinches and Chaffinches this morning as tiny parties arrived from the north-west throughout our five hour stay. We counted approximately 70 Greenfinches and 50 Chaffinches, a likely underestimate in the always overcast sky and poor visibility. 

At this time of year our Greenfinches eat large amounts of the fruit of the rose plant, rose-hip. A giveaway sign is the amount of red residue on their bills. 

Greenfinch 

Rose hips 

Chaffinch

The morning saw a substantial movement of Wood Pigeons consisting of small parties but also two large flocks of c150 and c300 - in all about 540 individuals flying strongly from North West to South East. 

Linking today to http://id-rather-b-birdin.blogspot.com and Eileen's Saturday Post.

3,000,000,000

Mention and discussion of the UK and Europe declining bird populations has been a feature of this blog since it began some 10 years ago. 

Now, a recent study (September 2019) in the journal Science reveals that since 1970, bird populations in the United States and Canada have declined by 29 percent, or almost 3 billion birds, signalling a widespread ecological crisis. Let that number sink in for a moment. That's three billion - a number "3" followed by nine "0"s - 3,000,000,000.

The results of the study show huge losses across diverse groups of birds and habitats, from iconic songsters such as meadowlarks, to long-distance migrants such as swallows and backyard birds including sparrows. 

Eastern Meadowlark 

Tree Swallow 

American Tree Sparrow

"Multiple, independent lines of evidence show a massive reduction in the abundance of birds," said Ken Rosenberg, the study's lead author and a senior scientist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and American Bird Conservancy. "We expected to see continuing declines of threatened species. But for the first time, the results also showed pervasive losses among common birds across all habitats, including backyard birds." 

The study notes that birds are indicators of environmental health, indicating that natural systems across the U.S. and Canada are now being so severely impacted by human activities that they no longer support the same robust wildlife populations. 

The findings showed that of nearly 3 billion birds lost, 90 percent belong to 12 bird families, including sparrows, warblers, finches, and swallows - common, widespread species that play influential roles in food webs and ecosystem functioning, from seed dispersal to pest control. 

Among the steep declines noted: 

• Grassland birds are especially hard hit, with a 53 percent reduction in population - more than 720 million birds since 1970. 
• Shorebirds, most of which frequent sensitive coastal habitats, were already at dangerously low numbers and have lost more than one-third of their population. 
• Waders - the volume of spring migration, measured by radar in the night skies, has dropped by 14 percent in just the past decade. 

"These data are consistent with what we're seeing elsewhere with other taxa showing massive declines, including insects and amphibians," said co-author Peter Marra, senior scientist emeritus and former head of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Centre and now director of the Georgetown Environment Initiative at Georgetown University. 

"It's imperative to address immediate and ongoing threats, both because the domino effects can lead to the decay of ecosystems that humans depend on for our own health and livelihoods and because people all over the world cherish birds in their own right. Can you imagine a world without birdsong?" 

Evidence for the declines emerged from detection of migratory birds in the air from 143 NEXRAD weather radar stations across the continent in a period spanning over 10 years, as well as from nearly 50 years of data collected through multiple monitoring efforts on the ground. 

"Citizen-science participants contributed critical scientific data to show the international scale of losses of birds," said co-author John Sauer of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). 

"Our results also provide insights into actions we can take to reverse the declines." The analysis included citizen-science data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey coordinated by the USGS and the Canadian Wildlife Service -- the main sources of long-term, large-scale population data for North American birds - the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, and Manomet's International Shorebird Survey. 

Although the study did not analyse the causes of declines, it noted that the steep drop in North American birds parallels the losses of birds elsewhere in the world, suggesting multiple interacting causes that reduce breeding success and increase mortality. It noted that the largest factor driving these declines is likely the widespread loss and degradation of habitat, especially due to agricultural intensification and urbanisation. 

Other studies have documented mortality from predation by free-roaming domestic cats; collisions with glass, buildings, and other structures; and pervasive use of pesticides associated with widespread declines in insects, an essential food source for birds. More research is needed to pinpoint primary causes for declines in individual species. 

"The story is not over," said co-author Michael Parr, president of American Bird Conservancy. "There are so many ways to help save birds. Some require policy decisions such as strengthening the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. We can also work to ban harmful pesticides and properly fund effective bird conservation programs. Each of us can make a difference with everyday actions that together can save the lives of millions of birds - actions like making windows safer for birds, keeping cats indoors, and protecting habitat." 

The study also documents a few promising rebounds resulting from galvanised human efforts. Waterfowl (ducks, geese, and swans) have made a remarkable recovery over the past 50 years, made possible by investments in conservation by hunters and billions of dollars of government funding for wetland protection and restoration. 

Raptors such as the Bald Eagle have also made spectacular comebacks since the 1970s, after the harmful pesticide DDT was banned and recovery efforts through endangered species legislation in the U.S. and Canada provided critical protection. 

Bald Eagle 

"It's a wake-up call that we've lost more than a quarter of our birds in the U.S. and Canada," said Adam Smith from Environment and Climate Change Canada. "But the crisis reaches far beyond our individual borders. Many of the birds that breed in Canadian backyards migrate through or spend the winter in the U.S. and places farther south -- from Mexico and the Caribbean to Central and South America. What our birds need now is an historic, hemispheric effort that unites people and organisations with one common goal: bringing our birds back."

Journal Reference: Kenneth V. Rosenberg, Adriaan M. Dokter, Peter J. Blancher, John R. Sauer, Adam C. Smith, Paul A. Smith, Jessica C. Stanton, Arvind Panjabi, Laura Helft, Michael Parr, Peter P. Marra. Decline of the North American avifauna. Science, 2019; eaaw1313 DOI: 10.1126/science.aaw1313

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

British Birds: A Pocket Guide - Review

Back in 2016 I reviewed the WILDGuides Britain's Birds: An Identification Guide to the Birds of Britain and Ireland, at the time a new and entirely photographic guide to the birds of the UK. It received lots of plaudits and congratulatory reviews, including my own, and went on to become a best seller. Britains Birds Book Review.

At the time I made reference to the book’s bulk and weight as I considered that the proportions could result in the book being used as a reference book rather than a field guide. “….. Measures 6” by 8” and contains 3,300 colour photos within its 560 pages …. here was a hefty piece of work. It tipped the scales at 1200 grams, making it a candidate for inclusion in a large rucksack” 

That has all changed with the publication of the new WILDGuides British Birds: A Pocket Guide which as its title claims, is a field guide for the pocket rather than a rucksack. 

British Birds: A Pocket Guide

By the same authors, this is a slimmed down version of the original of 2016 now shrunk to a more manageable and user friendly 7” x 5 “. This mini version weighs in at a highly portable 400gms (14ozs). 

Whereas the original book covered all those species that have occurred in the UK (600 species) this latest book covers only the most regularly occurring species, 248 in all, plus 45 scarcer species. Amazingly, the new book still manages to include over 1,600 photos, all of which are of a very high quality indeed and where the reduction in size has not resulted in any lessening of definition. I did not check each photo against the earlier version but as you might expect, many if not most are replicas from the bigger volume.

British Birds: A Pocket Guide

The now condensed text is concise but thorough enough to help with identification. A Pocket Guide is well though out and structured to assist the reader.  The authors continue the essence of the first book and pack a huge amount of information in the pages without it being cluttered or overwhelming. 

By forfeiting the inclusion of the very rare species but including regular scarcities the authors have chosen their target audience well. 

British Birds: A Pocket Guide 

This is a book that will appeal to beginners and to those with a modicum of interest in identifying birds who want to take their burgeoning awareness that little further. 

Priced at £9.99, this is another one of the top quality bargain books we have come to expect from Princeton's WILDGuides series. With Christmas around the corner this little book would make  a pleasing little gift for child or adult alike. 

Linking today to https://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com.

An Outstanding Event

This morning saw a heavy and highly visible migration of northern thrushes through our Oakenclough ringing site.  Andy, Bryan and I met at 0645 with nets up and set ready for 0715. 

We caught very few birds in the less than ideal conditions of a 12/14 mph southerly wind and bright sunshine on one net, but witnessed an impressive movement of Northern thrushes based almost entirely on North West to South East flight lines 

Our tally of ringing was just 12 birds - 9 Redwing, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Blackbird, 1 Robin. 

Redwing 

Song Thrush  

These nine birds were a tiny part only of a count from 0800 to 1100 that saw approximately 3800 thrushes - 2300 Fieldfares and 1500 Redwings. 

All was quiet until about 0800 when the influx of Redwings and Fieldfares began from the direction of the coast and Morecambe Bay some 15 miles away. It was slow at first, mainly Redwings then as the light and visibility improved we realised that a heavy movement was on the cards. So it began with flocks of anywhere between five, fifty and three hundred thrushes, mostly mixed. There was always a majority Fieldfare configuration, especially in the latter stages when good numbers arrived from a more northerly, even north easterly direction, flying quite low against the now fresh southerly wind. 

The plantation has a heavy and very brightly coloured crop of hawthorn and rowan berries that the thrushes targeted as soon as they landed. 

Redwing and Fieldfare

Fieldfare

Other birds were in the mix, one or two Song Thrush, Blackbird and Mistle Thrush but almost certainly more in the general melee of hundreds of overhead birds. Otherwise- 25+ Chaffinch, 30 Woodpigeon and one Sparrowhawk that hunted the arriving thrushes. 

A further sighting was of three Jays, an essentially sedentary species unless acorn crops fail, when they must migrate to other areas for food. Such years may result in quite large numbers of Jays being seen on visible migration. This may be the case this year with many reports of Jays in unusual and non-regular locations. 

Eurasian Jay 

In recent days I looked on local Whats App Birding and Bird News, Twitter and Facebook but found no messages, posts or apparent interest in this once in a year spectacle. It would appear that Redwings and Fieldfares are not rare or exciting enough to merit a mention. 

The absolute best local web and information site I know belongs to Bryan Yorke, who come rain or shine, conducts daily visible migration counts at Burton in Kendal,  Arnsideand Silverdale Blog , some 20 miles just north west of Okenclough.  His sightings and counts give a useful comparison to our own. Bryan's very low counts from today seem to point to this morning’s thrushes taking both more coastal and also inland Pennine routes. 

"Wednesday 23rd October 2019 Taylors Fields, Vicarage Lane, Burton In Kendal 0730hrs" 

"Obviously the thrushes were not about other than a sprinkling which seemed to be going in various directions."

"Chaffinch: 306 (282 SE and 14 W) 
Linnet: 216 (213 SE and 3 SW) 
Redpoll: 3 SE (one party) 
Greenfinch: 1 SE 
Alba Wagtail: 11 SE 
Skylark: 6 SE 
Fieldfare: 98 (20 W/SW,10E,4E,4E,6NW,9W,30SW,15N) 
Redwing: 171 (5SW,3SW,30SW,12SW,50SE,1E,6E,30SW,10SW,9S/SW,5SW,10SW) 
Starling: 50W (15,2,4,5,20,4) 
Woodpigeon: 29 NW 
Pink Footed Goose: 6 SE at 1135hrs" 

Back soon folks. Keep logging in for more news, views and photos.

Linking this post to Anni's Birding Blog.