A Mixed Bag

We took advantage of Friday's clear but frosty morning with a six-thirty start to the ringing session. Will arrived on site at Pilling from an easterly direction and was lucky enough to see a Barn Owl cross the road in front of his car. By then Andy and I who arrived from the opposite direction were halfway down the access road and missed seeing the owl in our haste to get the nets going. 

It was a shock to the system to discover that a number of the guy ropes we leave on for early speed were solid with a layer of ice. For the first time this autumn/winter we needed gloves to hand. 

More than 20 Little Egrets left the tree roost when the car lights disturbed their sleep and we heard Redwings flying over. We didn’t catch Redwings or Little Egrets and at first it seemed that there weren’t too many birds around in the minus temperatures. 

Things improved as intermittent sun arrived to give us a mixed bag of 21 birds of 8 species - 9 Greenfinch, 3 Linnet, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Goldcrest, 2 Wren, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Blue Tit and 1 Cetti’s Warbler. 

One of the first birds out was our second Cetti’s Warbler at this site, this latest a male, following the tiny female we caught on October 4th. 

Males are larger than females and some can hold large territories with up to three females. Consequently, the UK population of around 3500 territories is now judged on the number of singing males present rather than “pairs” with the population as a whole thought to be resident rather than migratory. 

The early morning sun enhanced the red/brown tints of the Cetti’s plumage.  

Cetti's Warbler

Although the number of Linnets around was not huge today (70/90 birds) we caught a couple of obvious Scottish types. The first winter female below was especially striking through the dark mantle and its dusky and heavily streaked breast feathers, quite unlike the softer tones of local Linnets. 

"Scottish" Linnet

 

At last there seems to be Reed Buntings around and of the seven or eight we saw, two new ones was an improvement on recent numbers. We think that our provision of winter supplementary food for all will see more Reed Buntings in the weeks to come.  

The Reed Bunting is one of the species that suffers from the "winter hunger gap". This is the time of year when winter is at its harshest and natural food like seeds, berries and insects are scarce or unavailable to farmland birds. Typically, it lasts from December until March. 

 

Reed Bunting

This date in November might be a little late for migratory Goldcrests. It’s a species that is in short supply through the winter months where overnight frosts can quickly kill off a tiny bird that weighs less than six grams. 

Perhaps these late Goldcrests are ones from northern Europe, like the similarly sized Pallas’s Leaf Warbler seen on Thursday just across the water in Fleetwood’s Mount Park? The Pallas’s had travelled over 3,000 miles from the mountain forests of southern Siberia, east to northern Mongolia and China. 

Goldcrest

 

Other birds seen today - Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, 2 Stonechat. Fifteen or twenty Meadow Pipits and several Skylarks. 

The weekend beckons. Back soon with more news, views and photos on Another Bird Blog.  

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

 

Tweedledee And Tweedledum

It was just as we thought. Tweedledee and Tweedledum the two young Greeenfinch we caught last week at Pilling were on a lad’s day out in South Morecambe Bay. Their real titles were of course TY58186 and TY58188 because as we all know, in the twenty first century, everyone and everything is just a number. 

Tweedledee

Tweedledum

In the shadow of Heysham Nuclear Power Station the lads and lasses of North Lancashire Ringing Group ringed TY58186 on the 27 September and then followed this up with TY58188 on 29 September. The two youngsters later ganged up in search of a good time with tasty food and something to drink than headed our way, only to blunder into more ringers’ mist nets on 18 October. 

The journey from Heysham to Pilling around Morecambe Bay has many watering holes and eateries on the edge of the saltmarsh in which to take on supplies. The route is a regular one, with  similar records for a number of species, including Chaffinch, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Lesser Redpoll and Cetti’s Warbler. If there were bird ringers in the coastal communities of Sunderland, Glasson or Thurnham they would for sure catch the very same birds that we do. 

Morecambe Bay

There is no rivalry between our respective ringing groups. In fact the overnight lighting, warm waters and balmy air created by the Heysham nuclear power station is a magnet for large numbers of migratory birds, often rare ones, species we hardly ever see, never mind catch. 

The major advantage of ringing at Heysham Power Station is that when setting mist nets in the dark for overnight arrivals, the ringers have no need to use a Petzl head torch. The radioactive glow from the ringers themselves is sufficient to light up their mist net rides thus saving money in buying batteries, the manufacture of which contributes to global warming and the eventual catastrophe. 

We have no such luck in the dark, cold nights of Pilling where even now and just like the famous Pilling Potatoes, the Over Wyre folk are left in the dark about most things and to simply dream of life in the big wide world. 

It was a glorious day in 1993 when the ramshackle Bridge Over The River Wyre gave way to one of steel and concrete to allow incomers from Blackpool, Poulton le Fylde and beyond to export civilisation. They brought with them all the essential things of the modern world – twitchers,  motor cycle racing, pizza joints, litter, anti-social behaviour and traffic jams; very often all on the same day.  

 

Since then things have never been quite the same in Wonderland. 

Well, what do you know? The weather may relent overnight tonight and present us with a window of weather fit for ringing, the first for ten days. 

Stay tuned to Another Bird Blog.  You know it makes sense.

An Interesting Redpoll - Well Aren’t They All?

There’s no birding or bird ringing for a day or two with both rain and wind preventing activities. 

However, there came an interesting if slightly puzzling recovery of Lesser Redpoll AJD6136. 

Lesser Redpoll

 

We caught and ringed redpoll AJD6136 at Oakenclough on the morning of 1st October 2018. The  morning produced a catch of 6 Lesser Redpolls, 4 Goldfinch, singles of Chaffinch and Meadow Pipit, plus a couple of Great and Blue titmice; a typical if not over large mix of early October local and migrant species. 

At this time of year many Lesser Redpolls from Northern England and Scotland are on their way south to winter in France and the hotspot of Belgium, the latter a country with a special attraction to the species. A Belgian winter landscape holds a redpoll's preferred seeds in abundance and the ambient temperatures are certainly preferable to those of Scotland.

Lesser Redpoll from BTO Migration Atlas

“Most recovery data of Lesser Redpolls comes via North and North West European ringing regions. Most populations follow on average a North to South or North West to West/South East axis, with recoveries as far as N Kazakhstan, up to China. There are two recoveries at more than 4000 km, mostly less than 2000 km.”  BTO.

Only this week did we learn that the same Lesser Redpoll AJD6136 was recaptured by Belgian ringers 44 days later at Maubray, Hainaut, Belgium on 18th October 2018. Yes, that’s right; it took four years for the information to reach us that AJD6136 was recaptured in the centre of the Belgium hotspot pictured above. 

Lesser Redpoll AJD6136 - Lancashire to Belgium

 

A likely but only partial explanation for the four year delay is that the Belgian end of the recovery noted the ring as AJO6136 rather than AJD6136, transposing the letter “D” as “O”. 

This simple error would cause confusion plus double checking and detective work in both the BTO UK and Bruxelles, Belgium end of operations with an exchange of emails and phone calls until the true number could be confirmed. The number AJO6136, if it existed and in circulation, would probably refer to a different species, perhaps one that was highly unlikely to be found in Belgium in the month of November. 

All’s well that ends well but the lesson is that once a ringed migratory bird is released it is unlikely to be caught again so the utmost care should be taken with ring numbers and sequences that are not recognised. 

Our own procedure, after first identifying the species and realising that the bird has an unfamiliar ring, is that the ring number, letters, plus country code if applicable, are read and double checked by two people.  One can never be quite sure where that bird was ringed!

European Bee-eater

I just double checked the weather forecasts for the week ahead again. It’s not good news for anyone who likes to be out and about. 

Keep watching for a window of opportunity and news, views and photographs here on Another Bird Blog. 

 

Another Week Goes By

The week ahead didn’t promise much in the way of weather suitable for ringing birds. Tuesday looked the best possibility, a brief lull in the showery westerlies at best. Once again the Internet and TV weather forecasts became compulsive viewing, and far better than the BBC's "News". 

It was touch and go until 0700 when I met up with Will and Andy at the ringing site to zero rain and a touch of breeze that spelt "just about". 

It quickly became apparent that the plan to catch more Linnets would be thwarted by the now stiff breeze that scurried across the seed plot. However, other slightly sheltered nets, plus the standalone whoosh net might produce a bird or two. 

Early sounds of Redwings and Blackbirds were followed by a good mix of 24 birds caught - 12 Greenfinch, 6 Meadow Pipit, 2 Chaffinch, 1 Blackbird, 1 Redwing, 1 Wren, 1 Dunnock, 1 Goldfinch. 

Greenfinch

Meadow Pipit

Goldfinch

Just yesterday we received news of Meadow Pipit ALP8836 ringed here on 9 September 2022. Sixteen days later on 25 September the same bird was caught by another ringer at Buckfastleigh, Devon. 

A glance at the map below will show that the pipit had travelled virtually due south (190 degrees) and was probably on its way across the English Channel, on to France and eventual destination North Africa, the wintering haunt of many British Meadow Pipits. 

Pilling to Buckfastleigh, Devon

Birding provided more interest in the shapes and sounds of 70 or more Linnets that we couldn't catch, more Greenfinches, Meadow Pipits, Skylarks and a Great-spotted Woodpecker. Two Stonechats played hide and seek in amongst the seed plot while the now resident Cetti's Warbler seems to have regular spots where it breaks into song.

It may have been the Marsh Harrier we saw or more likely, a dashing and unseen Peregrine that set many hundreds of Lapwing, Golden Plovers, Starlings and Black-headed Gulls into a melee of wings and sounds overhead and looking for safety to the west.       

Nothing much bothers the Little Egrets or the lonesome Grey Herons, they seem to have all the time in the world to continue their stalking through the water courses in search of a meal.  

Grey Heron

Well, what do you know? The weather forecasts say nothing until weekend at least. Another week goes by but we don't give in that easily.

Stay tuned to Another Bird Blog for news, views and photos, local or otherwise.

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

A Whopper Morning

Tuesday had been pencilled in for days. 

This time the forecasts didn’t let us down. There was zero wind and clear dark skies when I met up with Will and Andy at 0700 hours. The starts get later and the mornings darker as we approach the Autumn Equinox and its ritual of changing the clocks. 

As the sky lightened we put mist nets up and saw a Barn Owl hunting the scrubby grass where we parked our three cars. Was this a good omen? Time would tell. 

Barn Owl 

 

Almost six hour later the tired gang of three counted up the catch - 78 birds of 10 species, for us, a whopper of a catch that far exceeded recent efforts. 

The mix of species was good with 35 Greenfinch, 23 Linnet, 5 Long-tailed Tit, 7 Meadow Pipit, 4 Reed Bunting, 2 Blackbird, 1 Song Thrush. 1 Wren, 1 Great Tit. 

Two of the Greenfinch bore almost consecutive rings beginning ‘ZY’ that were not our own. Previous experience has shown that our autumn and spring Greenfinch don’t travel far, and that the origins of these two will likely prove to be the top of Morecambe Bay. It is interesting that the two were almost certainly ringed and now recaptured on the same dates, i.e. still travelling together. 

At this time of year it's not unusual to see a steady stream of Greenfinches on the move if you know where to look and how to catch them. Fortunately the species seems to have now recovered from its drastic fall in numbers during the 1970s and 1980s due to trichomonosis. 

Greenfinch

Greenfinch

Long-tailed Tit

Linnet

Meadow Pipit

Reed Bunting

With the ringing being fairly busy our sighting were restricted to mainly overhead Skylarks and Meadow Pipits - 75 and 30 respectively, a chasing Merlin, and the now seemingly resident Cetti’s Warbler in random snatches of song. 

After our session today it looks as if the weather will turn against us now. Make hay while the sun shines everyone. 

Linking at the weekend to Anni in Texas and Viewing Nature with Eileen.

 

Two For One

It’s not often our west coast weather allows two consecutive days of ringing, and hardly ever three days in a week. But this week, and after pushing our luck through marginal forecasts we managed Monday, Thursday and Friday – amazing! 

So after the last post, here’s the summary for Thursday and Friday rolled into one as the mornings were similar or the same in location, weather conditions, species and numbers. 

Our consecutive mornings of Thursday and Friday realised a total of 42 birds - 25 Linnet, 3 Greenfinch, 2 Redwing, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Dunnock, 1 Wren, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Robin, 1 Blackbird, 1 Great Tit, 1 Blue Tit. 

We caught our first Redwings of the autumn, together with migratory Song Thrush and Blackbird. 

Song Thrush

Redwing

The Skylark theme of Monday continued throughout the mornings of Thursday and Friday with many more Skylarks passing over in their north to south path to take our count for the three mornings to several hundred individuals. This has been a phenomenal and most unusual occurrence to take place over this essentially narrow corridor of coastal Lancashire known as Fylde. We simply cannot be sure of the Skylarks’ start points, but almost certainly Scotland. 

Although a good number of the Skylarks showed a high level of interest in a recording of their songs and calls we had no luck with tempting any into a whoosh net catching area. Instead of Skylarks we caught a couple of Pied Wagtails with the whoosh net, both birds first year males. 

Pied Wagtail

Thursday and Friday saw another 25 Linnets ringed with zero recaptures from this or any other year. A good number of the latest Linnets are of Scottish origins. We know this because Linnets from Scotland invariably have the very blackish streaked heads not seen in typical cannabina forms of English Linnets. Alongside that we are also seeing slightly longer winged males of 83, 84 and 85mm. 

"Scottish" Linnet

 

The odds and ends of sightings/birds from Thursday or Friday seem insignificant when laid alongside the Skylark migration of the week.  

Thursday - 28 Whooper Swan, 1 Kingfisher, 2 Buzzard, 1 Sparrowhawk, 5 Reed Bunting, 20 Swallow, 80+ Skylarks. 

Friday - 4 Blackbird, Stonechat, Cetti’s Warbler, Swallow, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Kestrel, Mistle Thrush, 30+ Long-tailed Tit, 140+ Skylark. 

We rather hoped to catch the Cetti’s Warbler singing from first light and periodically throughout the morning.  However, both male and female Cetti’s are known to sing so we can only assume that Friday’s bird was the same one as caught on Monday last, a female, a few days later and already adept at avoiding bird ringers' mist nets.  

Let’s keep an eye on the weather again! It’s looking like the weekend days will be spent at home with a pencil mark in the diary for Monday/Tuesday. 

Keep in touch my friends. 

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

Twenty Ten Vision.

Hurricane Ian dropped a number of rare birds all over Britain and Ireland but it seems that not many came to this part of Lancashire - unless anyone knows different? 

After the wind and rain of last week and this Monday there appeared to be window of opportunity on Tuesday so I met up with Andy and Will for a spot of ringing. 

The morning calm of 0630 hinted that thrushes in the shape of Redwings might be on the cards. But came there none, not even a Blackbird, and certainly not a Song Thrush, as rare as anything that Ian might bring. 

We peered through the semi-dark and saw that a roost held seven or eight Little Egrets and bigger than the others, a single Great Egret. Before too long they all went their separate ways, croaking their good byes as they went to leave us setting mist nets alone. 

Great Egret

Little Egret

A quiet session ensued with an unlucky-for-sum 13 birds caught whereby the morning flight of Linnets saved us from an even more embarrassing total - 8 Linnet, 1 Greenfinch, 1 Robin, 1 Great Tit, 1 Chaffinch and 1 Grey Wagtail. Damn, I forgot to alter the focus point. And it’s not too often we catch a Grey Wag. 

Grey Wagtail

Chaffinch

The Linnets arrived in quite small groups of 5-15 and a morning total of 100+ in the niggling and increasing breeze of 5-10 and then 15 mph, all interspersed with bouts of drizzle. 

Maybe it was the cloud and mizzle with odd breaks in the grey that brought the many Skylarks pouring over from North and North East and heading relentlessly South? Most were very high, a height impossible to guesstimate other than some were in acute hearing range only and visible to 20/10 vision or better. When we packed in at a relatively early 1030 we estimated 90 and more Skylarks had passed our watch point. 

Skylark

There was just the one raptor today, a single Sparrowhawk that shot across the field towards the seed crop hoping to catch something unawares. We saw Reed Buntings, Greenfinches, Chaffinches and Meadow Pipits but not in any great numbers. It just wasn’t our day. 

Better luck next time. Thursday is looking a possible. Excuse me I have a phone call to make.