Caught Out

It was a visit to a smallholding to check and record the nest outcomes. Even though I was pretty sure the Swallows had finished, something made me look in the nest first used in May that’s just a foot from the one used for the second brood in July. Unable to see in the dark ledge, my fingers carefully felt in the cup to fall upon three tiny young. At it again for the third brood!

I checked around all the usual spots again, my pockets bulging with Bonios for the dogs, three Border Terriers, Mollie the Border Collie, Bess the Alsatian cross or my other pals the two Jack Russell. But where there are animals there are Swallows, whether dogs, chickens or horses or the nearby llamas. Animals mean both insects to eat and nest building material, wool, feathers and horse hair, strong and long. And don't let anyone say that photographing animals is easy, especially when they are trying to lick you to death. Think I'll stick to birds.

Bess

Bossman

Mollie

Each year I leave all the nests for the adults to decide what to do the following year. On balance I think it best not to take down the old nests, we don’t know what part the existence of last year’s nest plays in say encouraging pair bonding, building upon an old nest or starting from scratch with a new construction. Also in some years April or May can be quite dry when the adults may struggle to find the necessary damp building materials that often start a nest. What I do know is that as we might expect, the first spots chosen each spring are the ones in the darkest corners, the most sheltered and the least disturbed from the comings and goings of humans.

In a chicken shed another brood were well fledged but staying indoors this morning waiting for food from parents and maybe waiting for the sun to emerge before they took the plunge.

Back on the computer I filled out a new Nest Record on Integrated Population Monitoring and Recording (IPMR). The amount of information collected by Nest Records is quite phenomenal, including:

• The habitat to several levels of precision
• The height, position, direction and location of the nest and its exposure in relation to the habitat
• Records of each visit
• The stages of eggs and young
• Adult activity, male or female, both or unknown
• Nest outcomes whether success or failure
• Chick handling e.g. numbers, siblings, development stage

On IPMR the system will even estimate nest statistics as in 1st egg date, 1st pullus date and fledging date. I estimate that the young from today’s nest should fledge round about 13th September and be independent of the adults a week or two later, setting off to Africa just before the end of the month. If the weather is as bad as forecast this week it could delay that schedule more because if we have a prolonged wet and cool spell the young sometimes go into a state of torpor that delays the normal fledging period.

The BTO call the Nest Record Scheme “a vital barometer to help monitor the health of the UK’s breeding birds”. I couldn’t agree more but they should add that it is a very enjoyable, rewarding way to put a little bit of science into one’s birding and I heartily recommend it to anyone looking to study birds in more detail.

Have a look at http://www.bto.org/survey/nest_records/index.htm

Later this afternoon in the conservatory, after an aborted and very wet walk from Knott End to Pilling and a single Little Egret, I watched three Great-spotted Woodpeckers careering around the garden while squabbling over the peanuts on offer in neighbours gardens and vowed to buy some of my own tomorrow.

Jay Day

I had a pleasurable couple of hours out this morning not seeing anything extraordinary but the weather was a little better and the light was good although I didn’t catch up with anything to photograph.

I started at Fluke where driving through I noted a Little Egret in the pool in the wood. Of course as soon as I pulled up, the said bird took up and off over the trees and out towards the fields and marsh. The Little Egrets I see lately seem a bit more easily spooked than in past years and this impression gained on me later when two more Little Egrets were spooked from near Pilling Water by a lone walker. In previous years I have been able to get reasonably close to Little Egrets, but not now. Maybe they know I have a new camera but I would be interested to hear others experience.

There was also a Kingfisher at Fluke which flew around the pool a couple of times before going quiet.

Autumn has definitely arrived when Meadow Pipits begin to appear and this morning I heard the familiar calls before finding four together with two Wheatears on the rocks west of Fluke Hall. Along Fluke Hall Lane a lone Jay moved warily through the hawthorns and willows before finding some thicker cover in a garden further along the lane. Another sign of autumn came in the form of a flock of 30ish Tree Sparrows sticking to the hedge along the lane.

More Meadow Pipits at Lane Ends but only three, with no signs of “mipit vis mig” here or at Fluke Hall. In amongst the morass of Mallards on the pool were two Little Grebe and somewhere in the trees a Great-spotted Woodpecker “chicked”. I heard Jay call then sure enough two flew together from the area of the car park into the denser trees.

A chap just beat me along the wall towards Pilling but ahead of him I saw the two Little Egrets come off the pool and disappear into the ditches behind HiFly’s trees. I found a couple more Wheatears on the stony banks together with half a dozen Pied Wagtails.

No fresh pics today so I’ll sign off with a garden photo of a nice common bird Collared Dove and some new photographs in the right hand column.

I’m hoping that Cockersands shot is good enough to make a guest appearance on PW's http://pics2blog.blogspot.com/

At Last

A couple of enforced days off - MoT, the car. Then a family birthday, still it would be no good going birding everyday would it?

Left or right as I turned from our road? Never one to make hasty decisions I hesitated a minute or two before turning right towards Lancaster.

Prepared as ever I wore my winter plumage on the realisation that spring had imperceptibly turned into winter: bobble hat, gloves, two jumpers and winter trousers.

At first glance the windswept Conder pool didn’t look too promising, the nondescript ducks, distant gulls and waders sheltering from the elements again. “Now concentrate” I urged as the blobs morphed into objects more acceptable, a Greenshank, several Teal, a couple of Snipe and then to the left the male Ruff in the herbage who seemingly had dumped the two bossy females to now survive alone.

The consistent creek held the usual quota of two Grey Herons, twenty or so Redshank, three or four Curlew together with the resident Lapwing crew and a single noisy Greenshank, as below me two Spotted Redshanks hoovered together through the water. It was quiet enough to venture past the Stork to look from the other side where I managed a couple of distant shots of Curlew and Oystercatcher before the first exercisers of the morning clumped and shouted their way across the bridge leaving the waders, now including two Greenshank, to flee noisily.



Back at the platform I glimpsed the Kingfisher over the creek, and heard the call several times from the edge of the water below the road where they seem to spend some time out of sight. So I waited at the screen out of sight but watching the Ruff and Redshanks interacting for a while. Five more Greenshank appeared from behind a far island to fly calling towards Thurnham then circle back to land in the creek. By this time the sun was really trying its best to warm everyone up but I swear the same dark cloud as last week hung around in exactly the same bit of sky to the east to blot out any brightness. Then suddenly the sun came out, giving the scene a quick make over as the Kingfisher landed on the outflow wall. I had time to grab literally one shot before a Fiesta drew up noisily, doors clattered open then shut to unload dog, wife and tripod whilst the Kingfisher departed. One shot only today then but I think it’s not a bad one with a bit of sunlight to make a difference.



A good cue to move on to the next venue, so I splashed through the British Waterways Gravel Pits to leave my car in as dry a spot as possible. All those £1 coins I gave to that old geezer at the hut and he never did tarmac the place, I just knew it was a fiddle.

I had barely left the car when I saw the Lapwings in the air then Mr Peregrine fly overhead and above the bowling green towards the river. By the time I reached the other side of the bowling green the Peregrine had gone, the waders had settled and I counted upwards of 400 Dunlin, c800 Lapwings together with 400 or so Redshank. Another exerciser came jangling along and down towards the steps, time to move on again.

Saturdays aren’t complete without my newspaper so I popped into Glasson Stores for a Telegraph to read later. Well it’s either a glass of Primitivo and the Daily Telegraph or watch “X Factor”. Life is just one hard decision after another. I hadn’t realised that the shop is no longer a Post Office so the chap couldn’t help me in realising some cash back on my £1.60 to grab a bacon butty next door so I went without. What a busy little shop though, piles of newspapers everywhere, but I guess there’s not much to do in Glasson apart from read, watch TV or take up the local sport of Running Your Dog at the Waders.

I’d seen the Great Crested Grebes from the lock so went around for a closer look. Still feeding young, fish bigger than our chippy.



Naturally I called in at Lane Ends where I fought against the wind to reach Pilling Water just in time to see HiFly quad biking around the pool and the two distant white heads become not Little Egrets but mongrel duck. Not all was lost because the sight of 7 Wheatears surprised me somewhat given the overnight weather. I also had a Lane Ends tick in the form of a cracking little “deux chevaux” 2CV, the original farm motor and just had to take a picture.

Sarnies 72, Knot 72

Now I know what a caged tiger feels like. There I was pacing about the house waiting for the rain to clear as promised by them that are qualified to tell us. To be fair, they were right and as they often tell us, they only forecast the weather, they don’t produce it do they?

After a few false alarms of a brightening sky I finally got out for an hour or two to watch the tide roll in at Knott End before the rain beat me again. At least the rain and wind kept everyone off the beach allowing a half decent estimate of numbers even if the driving rain still ran down the back of my neck after finding its way through the vandalised windows of the bus shelter. The Oystercatchers have built up a bit recently but today I got a total count of 3150, those nearest the Bourne Arms marching ahead of the incoming tide plus the separate flock still on the beach but towards Pilling.

Birds are a mystery to the layman but I remember an occasion at Knott End quite recently when I overheard a snatch of conversation where a couple discussed the possibility that the pied birds walking ahead of the incoming tide were penguins! Alright they’re not birders, but don’t people read the papers, magazines, books or watch anything remotely educational or informative on TV these days to know one of the commonest British birds? Rant over – for now.



Six Black–tailed Godwits flew in with a single Whimbrel to land amongst the Oystercatchers and Knot where I counted 72 of them along with a dozen or so Redshank.

Apart from half a dozen birds most of the Sandwich Terns stayed close to the tide line and I counted a total of 72 of them as well.

The rain got heavier again so I drove around to the car park to look on the estuary where the usual Eider float along until the tide recedes. Today I only saw three as the visibility was so bad I could barely see beyond the end of the jetty.

For the gull enthusiasts out there I took a few pictures.

Decisions

I just had an afternoon available today but faced with so many choices what should I do? The tide somewhere, a quiet inland walk, a bit of ringing combined with a bit of birding in between watching nets? The latter seemed the best bet as by lunchtime the wind appeared to be easing so I made off for Rawcliffe Moss to set a few nets and a bit of birding. Almost immediately I noticed that plenty of Swallows and House Martins fed over the moss, some low over the yet to be cut barley and others taking the higher insects. Both a Sparrowhawk and a two separate Kestrels received a bit of attention for intruding into the hirundine’s airspace. As well as the feeding birds there was a definite steady drip of Swallows moving south which suddenly intensified about 3 o’clock when I guess three or four hundred extra Swallows moved quickly through.

The plantation was really quiet, one Whitethroat, and seemingly singles only of Blackcap and Willow Warbler. This is always the time of year when there seems to be a lull in migration and it starts in earnest again later in September and of course October. Anyway that’s my excuse for not catching much apart from said warblers and a few Swallows plus the fact that the wind picked up a little making the nets visible.





When it’s quiet on the moss without traffic noise you realise just how the calls of Buzzard carry a long way as more than once I heard but failed to spot the Buzzard before being distracted by something else. Eventually I found them soaring miles away and jotted down three in my notebook but I suspect there were more. Often I see them sat motionless for ages on fence posts and a favourite of theirs, hay bales where I guess they have a pretty good spot from which to look out for small animals in the cut fields. How the Buzzard population has taken off around here in recent years. It doesn’t seem that long ago when the nearest Buzzards to the Fylde were those we saw north of Levens on the journey to Walney, then one year I watched one fly past Lane Ends in early April which was so unusual it made the yearly bird report! Now they are just everywhere, quite amazing. But I learnt this year how secretive and inconspicuous they are for a large raptor, when I unexpectedly found some 1J’s i.e. just fledged but unable to yet fly fully, moving through a wood I had visited and passed by a number of times. Even after finding those gigantic young I didn’t see the adults carrying food into the wood despite being close enough to notice. Maybe they were midnight snackers?

Three pictures today. The Blackcap, a Lesser Whitethroat from a previous day and the same Pied Wagtail as yesterday, still finding lots of food around the farm buildings.



I’ve just watched the weather forecast for tomorrow. Don’t ask, but don’t set the bedside alarm.

A couple of photos

By now you may have guessed I am a fan of Swallows. No apologies then for another few pics. Also a Pied Wagtail photgraphed this morning at Out Rawcliffe. Monday is mainly devoted to us looking after granddaughter Olivia but I sneaked in a quick visit to a farmer friend near Out Rawcliffe where I also saw a couple Jays, three Buzzards, male Blackcap and at least 4 Willow Warblers. (I don't think I'll bother posting the Willow Warbler shots unless you like looking at leaves).







Better luck and more time tomorrow I hope.

Peckers and Flickers

Paul sent me a few photos of the Green Woodpecker seen at Poulton Le Fylde last week. Nice pics of what is a pretty scarce bird in the Fylde and even Lancashire nowadays.




It set me thinking of where and when I had seen Green Woodpeckers locally. I think I used to see and hear them many years ago near Ellel Grange and along the canal but it seems so long ago I can’t be sure, perhaps some of the Lancaster bods can remind me? I have also glimpsed them in recent years near Barnacre Reservoir but only in ones and twos. I remember a single sighting at Lane Ends, Pilling when ringing there one autumn morning with the bird in question flying off to the tall trees at the old vicarage by Broadfleet Bridge.

When I do see Green Woodpeckers I am reminded of Northern Flicker, that highly migratory North American species. In the nineties I spent some weeks ringing in the spring at Long Point bird Observatory, Ontario and I recall that flickers were a real “vis migger”, noisy, conspicuous and plentiful. Some mornings we would catch dozens, mainly yellow shafted, but see and hear many more launching themselves off the point to head over Lake Erie. Because, just like Green Woopeckers, flickers feed on the ground a lot, not only did they get caught in the bottom panels of mist nets but they also found themselves feeding in the mouths of heligoland traps along with hordes of White- throated Sparrows.

So while I can claim to have ringed many flickers, along with Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Red-headed Woodpeckers and Downy Woodpeckers, I have yet to set my hands on a Green Woodpecker, so scarce are they locally.

You will have to put up with a page from my ancient “Peterson” until I can get my old slides digitised or maybe PW can come up with a few pics from the other side of the Atlantic to remind us how alike are Green Woodpecker and Northern Flicker. Can anyone recommend a good slide copier?