Snow Joke

Half the country at a standstill because of a few inches of snow and even here in the Fylde part of Lancashire UK where normally we escape it all, we have lying snow with the promise of more to come, icy roads and temperatures of minus 6 degrees.

It’s just a bit of an excuse or tenuous link to devote a post here to Snow Geese, even though in the UK we might see one or two a year of the global millions. The other night I watched Gordon “F Word” Ramsay on the telly. You know, he’s the bloke that is a bag of nerves and jumps up and down like a demented frog. He seems to be a reasonable chef; although where other worldly things are concerned I just think he comes across as a complete Philistine and more than a bit of a prat. He also plays up to the comic book image of a Super Hero, whether by fishing for goose barnacles in Spain, fleyging for Puffin in Iceland, or just lately jetting off to Canada to shoot Snow Geese. He was disappointed that in Canada any Snow Geese shot are for personal consumption rather than cooking up for commercial gain in overpriced restaurants or selling on in the local butchery. But then maybe he’s never heard of the tale of the North American Passenger Pigeon?

It just happens that one of my favourite books is The Snow Geese by William Fiennes, a quite beautifully written description of the author’s travels north in spring from Texas to Canada with the migrating Snow Geese.

Here’s a passage from the book:

“Excited, I began walking north along the track of dry dust and stones that ran the few miles from the refuge entrance to Houghton Dam. Thickets of cattail rushes and phragmites made a golden rind round the lake, stems clamped in ice at the shins or ankles, the cattail tipped with stiff brown seed heads like fat cigars. Sometimes pickups driven by hunters wearing camouflage cruised past me on the dirt track, each vehicle’s slipstream agitating the cattail and phrags. The yapping thickened to a drone. I passed a small farm, then rounded a headland, walking faster and faster towards the source of the noise. Snow Geese came into view like a kept promise. Thousands of white-phase and blue-phase birds were huddled on the ice in the middle of the lake, a huge white almond-shaped spread tapering to a point at its north and south ends. The birds’ heads were raised high, their necks extended perpendicular to the ice. Close to, the flock’s gabble was a wild encompassing din, the birds’ calls travelling through the ice like marbles rolling on metal. I stood still, breathing deeply, half hidden by cattail”.



“.....there was a commotion in the flock. The calls of the geese grew louder, more urgent. Suddenly, as if detonated, the flock took wing. Thirty thousand geese lifted off the ice in front of us, wing beats drumming the air, goose yelps gathering to a pounding metallic yammer, the sound of steel being hammered on anvils, in caverns. The ice thrummed and sang with it. The exploded flock filled our field of vision, a blizzard of birds. Most of the geese flew low in circles, but some settled back on the ice almost immediately, while others continued to gain height. Drifts of geese passed through, behind and across other drifts of geese; the flocks kept wheeling round and round, swirling with eddies and countermotions, a salt-and-pepper chaos of white wing backs catching the sunlight. Whole swatches of the flock went dark when birds flew side-on, and swatches flashed white when they banked or veered, breasting the light. Then slowly, goose by goose, the flock settled again; the almond shape reformed; the extravagant din dwindled; the steady flock drone resumed. For a moment, I had forgotten to breathe”.

Although I am not in the business of reviewing books I heartily recommend this one as a great book to read on a wet winter day when there’s no birding. Alternatively, take it on holiday and read on a sun bed while dreaming about the autumn birds that await back home.

And Gordon, don’t become a joke, stick to cooking, less of the Action Man and leave our birds alone.

Knott End, Sanderling City

The cold and strong wind kept everyone indoors today at Knott End but I went up to the jetty to see what occurred. About 90 Sanderling roosted under the sea wall making forays to feed upon the debris left by the cockle pickers a few weeks ago.

A small number of Turnstone joined in, with Black-headed Gulls taking advantage of the quiet.

Roosting Sanderling

Sanderling

Sanderling

Sanderling

Turnstone

Turnstone

Black-headed Gull

It's better when my photos turn out ok.

Better Knott End Than Never

There were two apt birds this morning. Firstly chicken because when I looked out at the frost covered car that’s what I became, and then secondly a duck by dipping out of any immediate birding to postpone it until later in the day when I hoped the weather might become a bit more finger friendly.

Later we did some gentle shopping at Knott End then checked out the usual spots. Knott End can get a bit busy with people but the cold had certainly kept plenty indoors with virtually no one pounding the Esplanade, but while it was still cold at least the thick frost had cleared.

The tide was on the ebb and although it was only 1pm, the best of the sun had gone, replaced with indifferent light, 50% cloud and our familiar friend Spotty Rain. Oh well, we get used to making the most of what there is.

Ebb Tide - Knott End

I found 25 flighty Twite along the shore next to the jetty feeding in the tide wrack, but at each person that came along the top of the walkway, the Twite took off to the back of the Bourne Arms, only to return and do the same again ten minutes later. About 30 Turnstone feeding in the same detritus were more obliging, but mixing in with Redshank causes even the most confiding of waders to be skittish, so at the behest of the Redshank they all went for a fly round on more than a few occasions. The first picture is from today, the second from the Rossall location that lends itself better to Turnstone photos.

Turnstone - Knott End

Turnstone - Rossall

From the jetty on the flat but ebbing tide I counted 23 Shelduck with 33 Eider further out where they were easily countable today without their usual bobbing up and down in and out of the troughs that even slightly more windy days bring.

Shelduck

Of waders I counted a minimum of 80 Redshank today, with some searching out food in the frosted green marsh while others fed on the edge of it, with more than 60 Lapwing, 30 Sanderling, 22 Ringed Plover, 1400 Oystercatchers and 24 Bar-tailed Godwit, with the inevitable Little Egret scratching round the frosted ditches. I even found a couple of Sanderling feeding on the concrete apron below the walkway, also a Rock Pipit and a Pied Wagtail! That’s how few grockles were about today.

Lapwing

Sanderling

Redshank

Rock Pipit

Pied Wagtail

A very satisfactory couple of hours after a lazy, unpromising start. Must do better!

Three Hundred Up

More buckets of seed today but I did get a very high count of Tree Sparrows at the Rawcliffe feeding station when my early morning visit revealed at least 305 birds.

Other birds seen at the feeding spot included 30 Starlings, 15 Chaffinch, 12 Woodpigeon, 3 Reed Bunting, 9 Blackbirds and 2 Yellowhammer. The addition of old windfall apples adds to the variety of food on offer and to the range of species.









Otherwise, it was a very quiet morning with a cold easterly breeze that kept me on my toes.

Up towards Curlew Farm a flock of 12 Linnets was the first Linnet I had seen at the farm for a couple of months, whilst 40 more Chaffinch moved along the hawthorn hedge. Then a single Redwing darting in and out as I approached just about sums up their abundance at the moment. Not so Reed Buntings, which can be found in most small damp spots around the farm as I counted another seven between here and the plantation where a flock of 6 Goldfinch fed on the alder catkins.



Also in the new wood were a few more Blackbirds, Chaffinch and the inevitable Wrens that will still be there scratching a living when the snow comes. Further up I disturbed a couple of Grey Partridge from the roadside whilst 2 Kestrels quartered the stubble fields and a Stonechat searched out the flimsiest plants from which to watch what I was up to. I had a short glimpse of a female Merlin that shot dark and low behind a line of trees, to then as usual evaporate into the landscape. As it passed over the field it disturbed a gang of 15 Skylark enough for them to take to the air, but after a while they settled back to play unseen in the stubble. Here is an old digitised slide of Skylark, can’t remember where, can’t remember when, but it sure looks like a cold day with those fingerless mitts in use.



More cold to come, even snow, if those weathermen are right.

Steady

Despite a bright start it was soon steady birding but I was also fighting steady rain this morning.

The old Honda was on auto pilot as it found its own the way to Fluke Hall Lane via Wheel Lane where on a telegraph pole at Kestrel Corner the expected Kestrel surveyed the roadside. The flooded stubble and adjacent fields at Damside held plenty of birds this morning, even if it was all a bit distant; 580 Lapwing, 325 Redshank, 330 Golden Plover, 35 Curlew, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, and 200+ Jackdaw, whilst in the background beyond the sea wall, the pinkfeet flew left and right but stayed out on the marsh.





On the way to Conder Green a steady rain started then didn’t let up all morning, but I carried on the birding with limited photography in the poor light. The pool was unremarkable but I found 3 Little Grebe sharing the water with about 40 Black-headed Gulls,1 Wigeon and 1 female Goldeneye. In the creek I saw another 2 Little Grebe, 6 Redshank and a Spotted Redshank.

At Glasson Dock I splashed through the excuse for a car park and found a dryish spot from where I could look across the water: 33 Tufted Duck, 2 Pochard, 4 Goldeneye, I Great-crested Grebe, 1 Grey Heron, 3 Cormorant. Two of the Goldeneye were drakes, what fantastic birds they are.



But even the common Tufted Duck is a beautiful bird that we perhaps take for granted, likewise the Pochard. Both photographs I took on a much brighter day than today.





I wanted to go up to Cockersands to look for the Snow Bunting but the rain didn’t ease so I cruised around the Jeremy Lane area where I counted 92 Mute Swan, 450 Lapwing, 55 Redshank and 22 Curlew on the wet fields as 12 Black-tailed Godwit dropped in to the flood after making black and white patterns against the grey cloud.





You can pretty much guarantee to see a few birds at Bank End, even if it rains, so it didn’t disappoint when the usual 3 Little Egret greeted me, just a bit distant for a proper shot, but here goes.



Only 4 Pied Wagtails today with 3 Meadow Pipits searching the tide wrack, then a couple of Chaffinch and 6 Tree Sparrows sticking to the gorse and hawthorn hedgerow.

Just three hours today, but I have another chance tomorrow. Let’s hope it stays dry.

In The Red

The thermometer definitely read minus this morning but the Tree Sparrows and Chaffinch also owed us a ringing session after we fed them diligently for many weeks while the wind and rain held us at bay.

I was ten minutes late for the session, not like me, but ice on the road at Out Rawcliffe slowed me down, then a stop to admire a Tawny Owl put a couple more minutes on the journey. Not to worry, what are trainees for if not to carry poles and put up nets on frosty mornings? Picture courtesy of http://www.bto.org/



You just have to hand it to those Tree Sparrows, 200 to 300 coming to the food for several weeks and how many did we catch? Eleven! They were there of course the multitude, flying up and down the hedgerow, across the field, back and forth, in and out, just generally taking the Michael out of the ringers, but it wouldn’t be any fun if they made it too easy for us would it?





The Chaffinch proved a little easier to catch with 18 new ones, proving as we thought that the turnover of feeding birds has been higher than the regular count suggests.







Other birds caught included 2 Blackbirds, 1 Coal Tit and 3 Dunnock, the remainder of the catch several each of Blue Tit and Great Tit with a single troglodyte.

Birding was fairly quiet this morning, the highlight being possibly the circa 80 Fieldfare that hung about “our” hedgerow, one of the few remaining to have any number of berries to keep thrushes interested. 3 Yellowhammers put in a brief appearance away from the nets but those are usually caught into the New Year when natural food becomes scarce.

Raptors were represented by 2 Kestrels and the now obligatory Buzzard.

A couple of Roe Deer put in a distant appearance in the stubble field opposite our cars, the same field that held a couple of hundred noisy Jackdaws and about 15 Corn Buntings.





On the way home a daytime Little Owl provided a perfect end to a fruitful and enjoyable morning.

Keep Moving

Keep moving was my mantra this morning because it was so cold; therefore brisk walking without fingers lingering unnecessarily on a wintry metal tripod was the order of the morning.

Initially I walked from Lane Ends to Pilling Water where on this frosty morning I could be fairly sure I would beat even the keenest dog walker to the first post. Less Whooper Swans than usual this morning unless I missed the earlier leavers, but I still counted 14 heading off south close over Fluke Hall wood.

Masses of Pink-footed Geese were just leaving Preesall sands heading inland, so many, so suddenly that I just watched the distant spectacle without attempting a count. But others, maybe 1200 were just out on the marsh here where I watched them for a while before a red-topped doggy jogger put them all to flight in layers of grey. Some left south, others settled further out into the Heysham backdrop whilst 3 Little Egrets took it all in their stride.







It was very quiet out here with the tide way out and a single Black-headed Gull on the immediate pool, but a party of 35 Teal came off the wildfowlers pool to head off towards the distant water.

I walked back to Lane Ends in time to see a Sparrowhawk fly around the edge of the wood, then try its luck low across the marsh before heading back towards the more distant pool and out of sight. I crashed through the plantation in the hope of a wood wader but none flew out, just the overfed brothel ducks that briefly panicked before settling down to wait for the next carrier bag of stale Hovis.

A more unusual recent sight was a Grey Heron near the roadside flood, but it reminded me that some of our Grey Herons do go off to warmer climes and it’s only when they are suddenly not around that we miss them; so much so that at this time of year I now see more Little Egrets than I do Grey Herons. Then as if to rub it in, later in the day a Grey Heron flew around the local roof tops seeing if the garden ponds were frozen too.



I drove down to Fluke Hall so as to do the Ridge Farm walk. The flood in the potato field was now a thin sheet of ice where 4 Pied Wagtails and 15 Meadow Pipits skidded over the frost whilst still searching the remaining soft earth. But catching Meadow Pipits way back in September seems a distant memory.





Along the hedgerow a Chaffinch posed in a small window of twigs for me, then further along three Reed Bunting flitted around more or less together with Dunnocks providing the normal heard but not seen “others”.





Beyond the gorse I counted 42 Curlew probing the frost, 30 Lapwing patrolling the ground and a couple more Pied Wagtails before I headed back via the sea wall where shore based Lapwings and rockhopper Wrens were the order of the day.

Not a lot doing and not a lot in my notebook but I had been out for three hours, found a bit of nonsense to fill the blog plus clicked a few more lousy pics.

Oh well, let’s see what tomorrow brings.