In Like A Lion

“Comes in like a Lion, goes out like a Lamb.” - attributed to Thomas Fuller’s 1732 compendium, “Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings”.

Thomas - I am not amused by your witty saying.  Another week of weather watching has seen a couple of pencilled in days scrubbed from the ringing diary as March roars like the proverbial Lion. Thursday was looking good, Thursday moved to Saturday and now that too looks unlikely. And there’s little sign of lambs gambolling in spring sunshine.

So friends, it’s back to the archives today with a few pictures of Bramblings and others from December 2012 when there was something of a “Brambling Winter” and our ringing group processed more than 70 Bramblings between September 2012 and April 2013.          

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Did last week’s blizzards in Eastern Europe, dubbed “The Beast From The East” cause Bramblings to head west? This morning I caught 4 new ones in the plantation at Out Rawcliffe, making nine this week. It’s not a huge number in the grand scale of the millions in which Bramblings can flock in Europe, but it could mean many more are heading this way soon. 

Bramblings can be overlooked in apparently single species flocks of very flighty Chaffinches, the Bramblings giving away their involvement by the slim, white rump. Very often a Brambling will give out a nasal contact call but sometimes not, when the unremarkable chattering flight call can be overlooked in the calls of accompanying Chaffinches.  Click on the "xeno canto" button to hear Brambling calls.

Brambling

I think the attraction at Rawcliffe is the nyger feeders and the small amount of mixed feed on the ground, a mixture which contains sunflower seed. During the last large influx of Bramblings in 2010/2011 many took to using garden feeders. As a species they were very dominant in the feeding hierarchy by chasing off most interlopers.

Brambling

Brambling 

It was a short session, a late start only when the sun warmed the air, followed by a hasty pack up when a strengthening easterly wind blew through leafless trees and billowed the nets. 

So, 4 Brambling, 4 Chaffinch and a Goldfinch with no recaptures of the Bramblings from Tuesday. 

Brambling

Brambling

The dullish female pictured above had very visible fault bars. 

Brambling - fault bars

There were a good number of birds to take note of this morning, with 2 Buzzard, 2 Kestrel and a Little Owl before I even reached the farm.  The owl had puffed up to keep warm air in those feathers. 

Little Owl

Buzzard

In between the bit of ringing I clocked up 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Snipe, 35 Fieldfare, 22 Redwing, 32 Skylark, 15 Reed Bunting, 250+ Lapwing, 1500+ Woodpigeon, 1 Mistle Thrush and 2 Raven. 

Fieldfare

There’s more news from North, South, East and West pretty soon from Another Bird Blog, so log in soon to find out just where. 

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Fingers crossed that I get out soon. Maybe a Brambling or two from the supplementary food dropped at Cockerham.

Thursday 10 March 2022.

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

March Mornings

So soon do March mornings need the alarm clock to cope with lighter mornings and earlier starts to catch those early rising birds. Saturday began with a 0615 alarm for the 0700 meet with Andy over Cockerham way. 

On Friday night https://www.windy.com predicted a 6mph from the north and they weren’t far off the mark as we set a couple of nets while allowing for wayward gusts that might snag nets on nearby hawthorns. At 1° it was to be a cold morning and a tad too breezy for a go at the open field Linnets. 

In the week I’d dropped seed in our main net ride to guarantee a few birds and suspected the usual species would conform but the catch was poor. Perhaps many birds have left for the north and not been replaced or maybe the weather played a part in our poor catch of just 7 birds - 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Robin, 2 Blackbird and 1 Blue Tit. Whatever the reason by 1000 we decided to abort the session and hope for a better day soon. 

Blackbird

Reed Bunting

Robin

 

Other birds seen – 120+ Linnet, 2 Skylark, 50+ Curlew, 17 Lapwing, 450 Pink-footed Goose, 4 Little Egret, 1 Sparrowhawk looking for careless Linnets. 

Sparrowhawk

Back soon. Don't go away.

Linking today to Eileen's Blogspot and Anni in Texas. 

Trying Linnets Again

The enforced three month absenteeism from our Cockerham ringing site was both worrying and frustrating, more so when thinking about information that was probably missed. 

Here below is an example, a Chaffinch ringed on one side of the divide on 10 November 2021 and then recaptured 25 February 2022. The record nicely illustrates how a common and seemingly unexciting Chaffinch can provide an interesting recovery. 

Adult male Chaffinch ALP8327 was captured, then ringed and released at Cockerham on 10 November 2021, one of three Chaffinches and 13 other birds caught that morning. The Chaffinch was recaptured by Borders Ringing Group at Garvald, a hamlet near Dewar in the Moorfoot Hills, Scottish Borders area of Scotland on 25 February 2022. 

Chaffinch - Cockerham to Dewar

 

Chaffinch - adult male

A glance at the direction of travel shows a direction of travel as due North at a time of year when wintering Chaffinches are known to migrate. 

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On Tuesday morning Andy and I decided to try out our newly acquired ringing site at Warton near Preston where until recently there had been over 1000 Linnets, perhaps as many as 1500. So numerous were the Linnets that the farmer told us how on a dozen or more occasions the combined weight of so many Linnets (1000/1500 x 18 grams) had snapped the overhead wires above the set-aside field, lines that the Linnets used as a launch pad and resting spot. 

The farm is a dairy farm only where crops are not grown, so apart from Swallows, owls in the outbuildings and common hedgerow species like Wood Pigeon, Dunnock, Blackbird and Chaffinch, the bird life is run-of-the-mill. The fields of agri-environment provide more bird interest in autumn and winter, especially for ringers. 

Linnets

When we arrived about 0830 we counted more than 500 Linnets already on site. Unfortunately the Linnets did not perform as we hoped whereby we managed to catch the grand total of two. 

Linnet

It was the old story that we know only too well after five years of trying to catch a species that shares some human attributes of being shrewd, cautious, wily and wary when suspecting danger. 

There was a Kestrel that watched proceedings from atop the poles, together with a calling and circling Buzzard from nearby woods, but it seemed that the Linnets were more wary of two humans in their plot rather than winged predators. 

Kestrel

Just as the aforementioned Chaffinch on its way north, the Linnets too are daily reducing in numbers, and where by early April there will be a few pairs in the farm hedgerows once the winter flock has left for pastures new and north of here. 

The weather is due to turn wet windy again until perhaps Saturday. Stay tuned friends, there will be more news and views soon. 

 

Show Stealer

I kept the ringing pliers oiled and now at last, three months later, we reached the end of the Avian Flu tunnel. DEFRA/APHA revoked the lockdown on 20 February, an overdue move that allowed a resumption of bird ringing in no-go areas introduced on 26 November 2021. 

The whole week we itched to go ringing but constant winds wouldn’t allow. And then today when I went to drop supplementary seed the wind in the hedgerow ride seemed bearable and workable. I phoned Andy who didn’t need much persuasion to head over to Cockerham. 

By 1030 we had nets up and for the next few hours began to catch birds. The wind at 10-12 mph was too strong for catching any of the 150+ Linnets in an open field but in the more sheltered ride we caught 20 birds of other species. These were species I’d been seeing but unable to catch for more than 3 months - 7 Chaffinch, 4 Reed Bunting, 3 Blackbird, 5 Blue Tit and 1 Brambling. 

The Brambling stole the show, a highly colourful and obvious second year male. 

Brambling 

Brambling 

Bramblings have been scarce in the North West this winter, this particular one my second only in what has been a mild if wet and windy time. During February, March and April any Bramblings we see are likely to have come from further south and now migrating to breeding areas in the forests of Northern Europe and further east into Russia. 

Chaffinch

 

Chaffinch

Two of the Blackbirds were of the “continental” type, second year males with typically pale scalloping on their breast feathers. 

Blackbird

 

Reed Bunting

Reed Bunting

Other birds seen - Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, 4 Little Egret, 2 Skylark. 

It was good to get out today. Here’s hoping we have no more flockdowns that stop our vital work. 

More news, views and photos soon. 

Linking this weekend to https://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com and http://id-rather-b-birdin.blogspot.com. 

A Bad Case Of Wind

Storm Dudley is here, closely followed by Storm Eunice, the two courtesy of westerly gales  from the Atlantic Ocean. Thank you America, but don't send us any more, we have  plenty of wind generation from our UK politicians. 

Oh how we laughed when in Wales and at the first puffs of Dudley, a 2 megawatt 300 ft wind turbine fell over like a fading Welsh daffodil.   A two megawatt windmill is made of 260 tons of steel that require 300 tons of coking coal, all mined, transported and produced by hydrocarbons. A windmill could spin (but only on windy days) until it falls apart and not generate as much energy as that invested in building it. Some things never add up do they? 

Windless Turbines

Regulars will by now have guessed that bird ringing news is non-existent, waiting as I am for the weather to subside and for APHA/DEFRA to pull fingers from their collective backsides and allow us bird ringers to collect urgently needed data.  

There's little to report from this week's grey affairs. A trip with pal Andy to a new Linnet site down South and out of the 10Km zone centred on Pilling produced a whacking count of 500/600 Linnets and permission from the farmer to catch said birds whenever we liked. We explained that time is of the essence and that as early as 1st March many Linnets will be heading back from whence they came.  Andy followed up a day or two later by cutting rides through the seed plot for the day that warming sun-spots might allow us a visit. 

The day we visited there was a Kestrel targeting the field, perhaps not entirely for the Linnets which move pretty fast at the sight of any raptor. More likely is that the Kestrel sat motionless in the tree was on the lookout for mice and voles. 

Kestrel

Farmer P showed us the Barn Owl's barn and then pointed us in the further direction of low buildings where Swallows and even Little Owls return year after year. 

Barn Owl

Little Owl

Mr P shared our view that the cold spring of 2021 had resulted in less Swallows than normal but agreed that Spring 2022 could hardly be colder and more unsuitable for insect eating Swallows than the last.  

     

Swallows

This is a traditional farmyard with oily rags and rusty tractors where the daily traffic of cattle plus gallons of now standing rainwater creates an insect rich sludgy mess irresistible to wagtails.  Two or three Pied Wagtails and a single Grey Wagtail flitted around the yard, not minding our close proximity when so much food was on offer. 

Pied Wagtail

Tractor

A winter farm hereabouts pretty much guarantees Pied Wagtails will be around with the occasional bonus of a Grey Wagtail. As an early breeding species the Grey Wagtail will likely head off in March whereas Pied Wagtails will nest on the farm in more than one or two pairs.    

Grey Wagtail

Even now I’m reading of bird watchers, probably new to the game, who confuse Grey Wagtail with Yellow Wagtail. But while Grey Wagtails are present all year round in the UK, Yellow Wagtails spend the winter in deep Africa and not the cold wet windy days of Lancashire.   

There's a reminder here here of the differences in the two species. 

Back soon we hope. Stay tuned.

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

Catastrophe

We may have been prevented from ringing for over two months but there are still Linnets in circulation from earlier catches, birds that at later dates might deliver all manner of information. We received notification of one such individual. 

It was 12 September 2021 along the Pilling/Cockerham coast that I ringed Linnet number AKN3729 as a juvenile/first autumn male. This was one of 7 Linnets caught that morning before I signed off for a two week holiday to Sunny Greece.  

A few months later Linnet AKN3729 was recaptured on 30 January 2022, inland and almost due south at Fogg's Farm, Antrobus, Cheshire by members of Merseyside Ring Group; they were able to work their Fogg’s Farm site as normal while our own ringing was stalled because of avian flu. 

Linnet - Cockerham, Lancashire - Antrobus, Cheshire

Linnet

Juvenile Linnets are known to disperse in a south and south westerly direction during the autumn period, some as far as France and Spain. We have no further sighting of AKN3792 so both its origins and eventual destination are unknown but the bird remains in circulation to provide more clues should it be found again.  

Another recovery was more predictable – that of one of our ringed birds taken by a domestic cat. 

A young female Greenfinch Ring number NF87535 ringed at Cockerham on 15 October 2021 was found freshly dead, taken by a cat, just 18 kms away, at Staining, Blackpool on 4 February 2022. 

Greenfinch

 

Wonderly’s photo, “Caught by Cats,” recently won first place in the 2020 Big Picture Natural World Photography Competition’s Human/Nature category. His image highlights a grim picture. 

Cat Kill - National Geographic

The photo would need to be multiplied 10 million times to come close to showing the billions of animals killed by cats each year. 

A 2013 study estimated free-ranging domestic cats kill between 1.3 and 4 billion birds - on top of between 6.2 and 22.3 billion mammals every year in the United States alone, the majority by feral or unowned cats. 

Figures released by the Mammal Society show the UK's estimates for domestic cat kills to be equally shocking: around 100 million prey items between Spring and Summer, of which 27 million were birds - and that’s not counting the creatures the cats didn't bring home. 

But, according to the UK Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), there is no scientific evidence to link cats to bird population decline in the UK. I for one do not believe that, perhaps because RSPB members are also likely to be cat lovers? 

The message is simple. Cat Lovers should not let their cat roam in the countryside, even in their own or neighbours’ garden where birds may feed. 

And do not feed feral cats. Such kindness may be doing more harm than good. 

Linking today to Eileen's Blogspot and Anni in Texas.

 

A Linnet Record But No Ringing

Months had passed since my last Barn Owl; maybe I’m not getting out enough or hitting the wrong spots? The lack of sightings was rectified on Friday by an encounter out Stalmine way as I drove across the elevated moss road towards Out Rawcliffe and a farm I know. 

Barn Owl 

 

There was some noise and activity from small birds, Tree Sparrows and Chaffinches, and a Blackbird alarm call as a Sparrowhawk shot through the jumble of buildings and out the other side. It’s impossible not to admire how Sparrowhawks hunt by the element of surprise, taking small birds in an instant with their gangling legs and razor sharp talons. During the catching and ringing of a Sparrowhawk it’s essential to know how quickly the hawk can pierce fingers. 

Sparrowhawk

 

Although the weather has been mainly wet and cold we’ve had very few frosts so it’s good to see the sheep bang on cue with their first lambs, the one below just a day or two old. 

Spring Lamb

I drove towards Pilling and Cockerham to mainly check out the set-aside ringing station that’s out of action for ringing purposes but not for additional feeding. There are still lots of birds and even an increase in the usual pack of Linnets today with three separate flocks totalling in excess of 450, a record count for this winter. I scattered another bucketful of seed in the net rides and left the birds to pick the winners.  

There has been snow in the hills not far away and also in Scotland, both of which provide numbers of our wintering Linnets here on the relatively warmer Gulf-streamed coast. If only we could have ringed a more Linnets in the last two months; for sure many will be back to Scotland very soon. 

I noted the usual Kestrel, 20 or more Chaffinches, Greenfinches and also a couple of fence hopping Meadow Pipits. Meadow Pipits have been absent of late but this too is a species subject to moving south and west during colder weather. In just three to four weeks the longer distance migrants will pass through as they head back to the uplands and their breeding areas. 

Kestrel

Meadow Pipit

I stopped to chat to a couple of wildfowlers, the chaps incredulous that our ringing is still not allowed while their own pastime is unaffected by the same 10km control zone. One told of an hour or more before seeing on the marsh a Shelduck in distress that he could have reached but did not want to handle for fear of Avian Flu.  Neither would he be allowed to put the duck out of its possible misery. He'd also seen a Marsh Harrier, possibly two, out on Pilling Marsh. 

I have no problem with wildfowlers and their pastime. Wildfowling is an ancient feature of the countryside, one that arose long before the relatively modern sports of bird watching or twitching. Almost without exception I find wildfowlers are knowledgeable about birds simply because many are involved in active habitat conservation and improvement. 

As regular readers will know from this blog and other reading, there is a real distinction between “wildfowlers” and “shooters”. My opposition to the rearing of millions of wildfowl and game birds for driven shoots and its effect on the countryside features here on a regular basis; some might say too often! 

I drove up to Cockerham and a pootle around the lanes where the well scattered winter swans remain the major attraction pending springtime. Twelve Bewick’s Swans, over 300 Whooper Swans and uncounted Mutes are still impressive even though after spending four months in the same fields they keep a distance from birders in cars and birders out of cars. 

Whoopers and Mute

 

I stopped at Gulf Lane and the other seed plot - another 80+ Linnets. Blimey! 

And I am still waiting for a reply to the request for an exemption to local restrictions so as to catch and ring a Red-listed, declining species of farmland bird.

Linking today with Eileen's Blogspot and Anni in Texas.

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