Good Saturday

Following my 0525 alarm clock and the inland drive Saturday dawned bright if a little cold at 2.5°C. No problem because the sun would soon rise to bathe us bird ringers in the morning sun of Oakenclough where I met up with Andy and Will. 

Until this point England had seen its wettest March in more than 40 years. Met Office data up to 30 March showed 111.3mm of rain fell during the month, 91% more than the average. So far April has been little better but fairly normal, less rain but quite cold, therefore not helpful to the arrival of large numbers of migrant birds from southern climes. 

And whisper it quietly so as not to be “cancelled” but the Northern hemisphere may be entering a temperature cooling phase until the 2050s with a decline up to 0.3°C. Arctic summer sea ice stopped declining about a decade ago and has shown recent growth. The Greenland surface ice sheet grew by almost 500 billion tonnes in the year to August 2022, and this was nearly equivalent to its estimated annual loss. 

Of course, climate alarmists have not caught up with these recent trends because there’s more money to be made by frightening Joe Public that the world is about to end unless they subscribe to such patent nonsense.

Back to the job in hand and Saturday’s ringing. The morning was slow with 11 birds caught. Although migrant warblers were in evidence in the shape and sounds of 3 Willow Warblers, 2 Chiffchaffs and a single Blackcap we caught none of those, instead 7 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Robin, 1 Goldfinch and 1 Long-tailed Tit. 

Three male Willow Warblers stuck to their chosen song posts all morning without venturing the very few yards to our mist nets. It was as if they were reluctant to vacate the perfect spot for even a minute or two to let an interloper grab the prime location together with a passing female. 

Willow Warbler

 

Lesser Redpolls were much in evidence with at least 20 seen and heard in small parties throughout our 4 hours stay. Unusually all of the ones caught were females. Perhaps many males have already travelled further north in their search for territory? 

 

Lesser Redpoll

Lesser Redpoll

Goldfinch

Long-tailed Tit

 

With eyes peeled for birds on the move a single south bound Swallow was potentially going in the wrong direction unless it changed its mind upon hitting the cold that we too felt. Otherwise, three Buzzards, but not together, a single Pied Wagtail and a passing Mistle Thrush completed a good Saturday morning. 

Buzzard

Back soon with more news, views and pictures from Another Bird Blog.

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

Out Of Hibernation

It's like I was in hibernation mode. Weeks of doing very little because of the awful weather but rather enjoying the lie ins, the restful days and catching up with garden, household jobs and days out with Sue. And we can confirm, the chippie at Knott End is better than one we found in Garstang while the Shovels pub at Hambleton does a pretty good meal at reasonable cost in these inflationary times. 

A rather bright Sunday tempted me out again and where along Head Dyke Lane 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

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. 

A pair of Stonechats have frequented the fence posts at Gulf Lane for a week or two now and as ever it appeared they might stay around to breed but they rarely do. Quite where they disappear to every time and why this spot is not 100% for them is anyone's guess. 

The shore wasn’t especially wind swept, just enough to keep half a dozen ex-roost Little Egrets sitting about in weak sun around the edge of ditches and a chance of a bite to eat. I glimpsed a pair of Little Grebes, heard their trills then through the reeds saw a drake Shoveler and a couple of Teal. 

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 this 

springtime easier still when Willow Warblers are yet to arrive.

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. 

Good numbers of Shelduck were out on the marsh, scattered widely and left to right from Pilling to Cockerham with a minimum of 125 birds now looking to pair up for the summer we all desperately need.

There was a Green Sandpiper on the edge of the pool, more Teal, 8 Shoveler, 2 Little Egrets and a Great Egret. 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 Pilling where at least a couple of pairs are in residence. 

 Chaffinch

Kestrel

I found 3 Wheatears moving along the base of the sea wall and  tried to encourage them to fly to the 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 my gloves went on and I ended up with a very dull shot of a bright male Wheatear. 

Northern Wheatear

The week ahead looks less than perfect with more breezy, windswept days and lots of April showers. 

Andy has been out of action for a week and more while Will and I kicked our heels when the weather forecasts let us down for pencilled in ringing last weekend.  There goes that song again - "Things Can Only Get Better" when March goes out like a lamb.

Look in soon for more news and views soon from Another Bird Blog.

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

Early Cold and Something Hot

Early morning starts give a chance of breakfast hunting Barn Owls before other traffic hits the road whereby constant vehicles will sends an owl off to quieter spots. That’s how it was this morning when from a distance I spotted the owl on a roadside post from where it surveyed the landscape. 

I straddled the grass verge, slowed to a stop, crossed my fingers, stuck the lens through a partly open window and hoped that the air rush of overtaking vehicles would not cause the owl to flee.

Barn Owl

 

The owl was a good start to the morning journey up to Oakenclough and a ringing session with Will and Andy. The dash read 4° and there was a slight but bitterly cold northerly breeze. A morning to keep moving interspersed with bouts of hot coffee with a hot-cross bun. 

We had species in mind - finches mainly to add to 60 Goldfinches and smaller numbers of Lesser Redpolls, Siskins and Chaffinches caught here this year. Maybe even an early arrived Chiffchaff to kick off the spring season? 

The temperature didn’t pick up at all with birds hard to find. We packed up at 11 o’clock at a still lowly 5 degrees with just 13 birds caught. Once again the major species was Goldfinch - 8 Goldfinch, 2 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Dunnock, 1 Robin, and 1 Lesser Redpoll. 

The Lesser Redpoll proved to be an adult male yet to attain its full red and pink hues. It was the only redpoll we saw and heard all morning with perhaps 10 or 12 Siskins in early morning flight but none of those caught this time. 

Lesser Redpoll

Goldfinch

Robin

It’s early evening, time to cook a warming curry and open a bottle of plonk.  

Curry Time

There's more news, views, photographs and hot stuff very soon at Another Bird Blog. Don't be late for the feast. 

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

Back In The Groove

Did you ever Dear Reader, take a few days out of normal routine to do a spot of DIY? Like painting a room or tidying the garden in readiness for the burgeoning Spring? And did it ever become more expensive, complicated and fraught than you imagined? I know the answer - “Yes”. 

That’s my excuse for not being around to post just lately. Our lounge needed a freshen up whereby the anticipated few days of splashing paint turned into a week or more of hard graft, not least in searching the Internet for rugs, pictures, a smaller TV plus other odds and ends that I didn’t know we needed. 

Now we are almost there, just waiting for an Amazon ceramic vase together with a rosewood display stand via LiChongShan. Then maybe Sue and I will finish the job. 

So on Thursday morning after a promise to check the parcel tracking and with a 9/10 for effort under my belt I motored up to Oakenclough. Here in the Great Outdoors I met up with Andy and Will at 0700 for the long awaited ringing session. It had been two weeks and more. 

The morning was cold with a slight frost and clear skies. Initially we noted a few Chaffinches on the move and a couple of small groups of Siskins. Will lives fairly close by where his regular top ups of the feeders have ensured that some birds, mostly Goldfinches, stayed around through the many wet and wild periods of October to February. 

It came as no surprise when today’s catch of 26 birds showed Goldfinches as the most numerous species of 15 Goldfinch, 5 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Coal Tit, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Wren, 1 Siskin, 1 Treecreeper. More surprising was just the single Chaffinch in the catch. 

 It was good to meet up with Siskins again, if only the one in the hand. The Siskin is a periodic irruptive species that has been rather scarce in our part of Lancashire this winter, with very few mentions on local forums. Sightings will surely increase very soon when the species migrates from its central and south easterly concentrations towards its Scottish breeding strongholds. The one below is an adult male. 

 

Siskin

  

Chaffinch

Coal Tit

Goldfinch

Here’s a little joke that will ring a few bells for most birders! 

Back soon. I just need to keep watch for the delivery van. 

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

 

It’s All Going To Pot

Yes, It’s been over a week since a post from me with nothing of note to share since the last outing produced over fifty birds ringed but very little since. It seems that just lately our ringing has "gone to pot”. 

Visits to the ringing site/supplementary feeding spot between bouts of rain and wind produced small numbers and tiny catches of the usual suspects of Chaffinch, Reed Bunting and Blackbirds. 

 

Blackbird

Reed Bunting

Chaffinch

Regular sightings of both Sparrowhawk, Buzzard and once or twice a ring-tail Hen Harrier suggested that they at least were having some luck in catching birds. Nonetheless I stuck to the feeding regime and hoped as ever that bird numbers would improve. 

Sue and I motored up Glasson Way on a couple of occasions where after the secret bacon butty shop brunch (2 barms and 2 teas for £9.50), I took a peek at Conder Green. 

Bacon Barm

 

For a week or two and depending upon the state of the tide in or out of the creeks, there’s been a wintering Ruff, one or two wintering Greenshank, the ever present but always numerous Redshank and tidal Little Grebes. 

Greenshank

Ruff

Distant across the far side of the pool were two Stonechats a species that is not common here but one that will now appear with more regularity as an early spring migrant. 

Again ,and depending upon the tides were anything from 50 to 200 Teal plus the expected build up of noisy assertive Greylags looking to start their breeding season. Last Wednesday morning I counted upwards of 100 Greylags but where only three or four pairs are likely to eventually breed here. 

Teal

Greylags

It’s at this time of year that numbers of Canada Geese appear and I was not pleased to see more than 50 of this species, a bird more problematical than Greylag. 

Canada Goose

The main issue that many people experience with Canada Geese is the sheer amount of noise that a group of them will make  This problem has grown increasingly serious as time goes on since there are few natural predators of the Canada Goose in the UK. This has allowed their population to grow unchecked, and develop from as little as 2200 in 1953 to more than 100,000 by the millennium. Not only are the geese noisy, but they can also be highly territorial, especially when guarding their goslings. It is far from rare for members of the public to be attacked by Canada Geese in parks and along riverbanks. 

Just today I was chatting to a wildfowler who told me that while a Greylag for the pot makes a pretty good meal, a within range Canada Goose is not worth wasting a pot-shot as the meat is not nearly so good as a Greylag. We had an interesting conversation about his gun, an old 1878 model that he likes to use  sometimes together with his hand made powder and bismuth cartridges.

Lets finish with music from Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. Two old dudes laying down a track better than any modern day 20 something’s can via a song title that sums up the world of today. This folks, is what talent looks like.  They don't make them like this anymore. RIP Merle.

 

Enjoy the song. Back soon with Another Bird Blog.

Linking at the weekend to Eileen's Blogspot and Anni in Texas.

Fifty Up

All week we had Friday pencilled in for a trip to Oakenclough where the hillside location a mile or two above Garstang requires a still and preferably sunny day. The Autumn/Winter weather of 2022/23 had kept us away for months. 

Fortunately for us and any birds still around the area, Will had kept the feeding regime going with good numbers of finches in attendance. He confidently predicted a catch of 20 plus birds. 

We met up at 0730 to a cold but fairly bright start. The morning improved, cloud broke and the sun arrived following a spot of drizzle and a rainbow to the north that lit up distant Morecambe Bay.

Will’s prediction was off the mark when we finished at 1130 with 54 birds in the bag. Goldfinches formed the majority of the catch - 37 Goldfinch, 9 Chaffinch, 4 Blue Tit, 3 Coal Tit and a single Lesser Redpoll. 

Chaffinch

Goldfinch

Lesser Redpoll

It wasn’t too obvious that so many Goldfinch were around, they just arrived in fours and fives all morning. We counted about 15/20 Siskins flying over while the Lesser Redpoll seemed to be the only one of their kind. 

Otherwise a quiet morning with a single Grey Wagtail at the water’s edge and a distant Raven. 

Grey Wagtail

Morning Rainbow 

There's more birding, ringing and photos soon here on Another Bird Blog.

Linking this weekend to Eileen's Blogspot and Anni in Texas.

At Last

At last, a cause for celebration via a ringing session at Pilling planned for Friday morning. The one prior to recent foul weather was more than 6 weeks ago, back in early December 7 of 2022. That six weeks of zero ringing is something of an unwanted record breaker. 

Whilst the lack of ringing meant we caught no birds it was essential to continue the supplementary feeding regime set up in November, a system designed to help wild birds negotiate the winter. However the weeks of wet, windy and occasionally cold weather also caused birds to leave and seemingly not return. 

During December hungry sheep had stripped the seed plot of remaining growth whereby the few Linnets that remained had departed wholesale along with the few Reed Buntings, Chaffinches and Meadow Pipits that began to use our open buffet. 

Last week we took the opportunity of a frosty morning of minus 4° to conduct maintenance work – cutting stray branches, widening net rides and constructing skulk piles in readiness for the coming spring. A few hours on site gave optimism with sightings of Reed Bunting, Chaffinch, Blackbird and even thirty or so Fieldfares that stopped by briefly to chuckle at our endeavours. 

 

Fieldfare

Blackbird

On Friday I met up with Andy and Will for the 0745 start and a slight improvement in the temperature to -1°. 

As expected the ringing was quite slow, the birding interesting, but not thrilling apart from a lightning fast Merlin. We caught just 13 birds – 4 Robin, 3 Reed Bunting, 3 Chaffinch, 2 Blackbird and 1 Blue Tit. 

Three of the Robins were seen to be recaptures, individuals that have survived the winter so far and probably now in the business of sorting out territories for the coming weeks. 

Robin

 

All three Reed Buntings were new to us birds in what is prime wintering habitat of farmland with reed and woodland edge. 

 

Reed Bunting

Chaffinch

A female Merlin appeared as if by magic when a handful of Meadow Pipits lingered around the remnants of the game cover crop, the pipits split up and scattered by the speed of the Merlin’s approach and their own panic attack. The Merlin singled out a pipit to chase but didn’t catch, flew off out of sight and then came back, as if to see if the pipits were still around. When the pipits were not to be seen the Merlin flew off into the distance before settling in a bare branched tree some 200 yards away. The raptor stayed in the tree for twenty minutes and more before departing at some speed. 

Merlin

Other birding gave us a single Grey Heron, 2 Little Egret, 1 Mistle Thrush, 13 Linnet, 8 Reed Bunting, 12 Meadow Pipit, 65 Whooper Swan. 

 

Whooper Swans

Grey Heron

 

A good if cold morning was had by all. And it was simply so good to get outdoors again. 

Join me soon at Another Bird Blog for more birding, bird ringing and bird photos.  

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