Better Late Than Never?

A mixture of laziness and other things to do meant that yesterday I just didn’t get around to updating the blog. Those are my excuses, but today our old friend Mr Rain allowed me to devote an hour to “playing on that computer” as Sue puts it, whilst in the conservatory she laptops away to find ways of spending money on holiday places I don’t want to go i.e. no birds.

There was a plan to go ringing at Rossall yesterday, ably explained by Seumus http://fleetwoodbirder.blogspot.com/,when after the early morning abort phone call I admit to going back to bed. With hindsight, and especially in the light of today’s weather, it was a mistake as I probably missed one of the better recent mornings.

I decided on a leisurely afternoon stroll around Rawcliffe Moss to check on the feeding station and whatever else might be lurking with or near to the Tree Sparrows and Chaffinch that so quickly find the food.

There are some pretty big fields at the farm, even Philip and his lads call one of them “the big field” probably as a tribute to the time and effort it takes each year in making it productive. As the barley was recently cut I walked part of it, mainly to see how many Skylark I could actually find as distinct from seeing small groups or individuals taking sorties from the stubble whenever I visit.

I had barely set off across the field before a Sparrowhawk came from my left to fly very low, fairly slowly across the complete width of the field. It clearly also expected to flush Skylark but didn’t manage to do so because it had actually chosen a course that had no Skylark, so it finished up by gliding into the line of trees overlooking the field from where I lost sight of it.

In the distance towards St Michaels I could see a couple of high Buzzards, then in the next field a hunting Kestrel alternately circling then hovering, before moving several yards to repeat the process all over again. The Kestrel below is from Bank End last week.

I changed tack slightly across the field to find the Skylark but I didn’t move that many, it was only as I sat down in the field for a few minutes and waited that for whatever reason, the Skylark showed themselves. In fact they were scattered across all three of the top fields, rising, falling, calling and circling, without any encouragement from me but enough to count upwards of 150. That coincides nicely with Seumus’s precise count of 164 the day before, but as he says, there could be more. At times, counting birds is an imprecise science but experience of doing so must help?

At the edge of the field two Linnets rose from the game cover, then in the nearby grassy ditch below the trees I saw a couple of Reed Buntings, the inevitable Wren and a ticking Robin. I watched as a single Mistle Thrush bounded across from a distance to also disappear into some trees. Mistle Thrush, another one of those species that appears to be losing out from the modern world.

By now I was near to the feeding station but without the task of a food drop I could carefully approach from a distance then watch at my leisure. We say it so many times but Tree Sparrows are just so wary, so independent, so cute, as in clever cute that they can be difficult to count never mind catch. As they hugged the hedge or flew behind it to avoid me I made a count of 50+ Tree Sparrows together with less than a dozen Chaffinch.

My being around disturbed a Buzzard from the trees overhead that called quite softly but sped away with a flat profile towards the next wood, not allowing me to take a photograph.

Up at the barn there were plenty of albas to look through, I counted 16 but not at once as they all moved between a spoil tip, the barn roofs and roadside puddles that held insect food continually stirred up by passing farm vehicles. I was torn between photographs and just watching them, sorting pied from whites as all ages and sexes seemed represented.

Below are a White Wagtail in a muddy pool and a Pied Wagtail in a reflected farm machinery red pool.

Left Overs

After yesterday’s thrill of a Knott End jetty tick, a Leach’s Petrel, it was a case of getting up early to see what birds were around this morning. By late last night the wind had dropped off, eventually swinging around to the north therefore I didn’t expect a repeat show of Leach’s and Bonxies so planned my usual foray north.

At Fluke Hall Lane the pinkfeet were already flighting in to the cut barley field but very skittish and unsettled. I left them alone to take a look at the marsh from Lane Ends where I could better judge how many there were before they scattered far and wide. Looking left from the car park I counted 2000, maybe 2500 packed tightly on the green marsh where Pilling Water joined the sea. Two Barnacle Geese hid amongst the crowd of pinkies.





Further out to the left but quite close to the geese were the eight white beacons of Whooper Swans, just moving around a little, but even as I watched from that distance I heard their familiar deep trumpeting. Not today's birds below.



Overhead a single crow harassed a little Sparrowhawk as it flew to the east and over the plantation before disappearing from view. I heard a couple of Meadow Pipits and Skylarks come over but I really wanted to get to Conder Green early, which after a wander around, would still allow me time to return and “do” the incoming tide at Lane Ends.

Quiet at Conder, but I rarely see anyone there early morning. I thought birders got up early? Maybe they were all exhausted after the Leach’s day or maybe they had all gone to look for them today?

I could almost have filled in my notebook before I got there, at least for the regulars: 75+ Teal, 2 Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, 7 Snipe in the creek and a Common Sandpiper. For variation I found a single Bar-tailed Godwit, and then walked the cycle path for a while, where a party of about 40 Goldfinch flitted about the hedge tops and the usual tit party roved up and down. There were definitely a few extra vocal Reed Buntings this morning, with a couple near the pool screen and another three together along the cycle path. I took a not very good picture of one as it sat on the hawthorn tops.



Noticeable this morning was a flock of about 30 Skylarks disturbed from the marsh just north of the path, as they rose as one then gradually dropped back into the grasses to remain unseen. I had a couple of Swallows here, quite high and going south east.

A quick look at Braides still very dry, gave me upwards of 200 Lapwing, probably 20 Golden Plover and 30 Curlew in the closest fields. Curlews always amuse me by the way they start to walk away from a moving car if it so much as slows down; they obviously associate us humans and/or vehicles with something unpleasant.

My timing for the midday tide at Lane Ends was good and I walked to Pilling Water, taking up my usual spot at 1015, plenty of time. The bonxie was pretty much the first bird but it wasn’t obviously a bonxie, just a large black blob sitting on the sand in the distance, half way to Heysham. A bit of “is, or isn’t it” followed until the creature moved, even flexed its wings to reveal the flashes. The local Peregrine, usually top dog of the tide line took a dislike to the skua, dive bombing it a couple of times before flying off itself towards Fluke and over the sea wall. A couple of Carrion Crows didn’t rate the intruder either as they stood next to it, one even trying to nip the bonxie’s tail end. Eventually the bonxie flew out to sit on the incoming tide for a while, then after some minutes flew in a determined manner towards the tide line where it scattered wildfowl, waders and even geese before flying east towards Bank End. Such excitement, but it’s not everyday we see a bonxie, especially at Lane Ends so far into the bay.



At least the lull gave chance to look around, time to see a bright but pale northern type Wheatear amongst the stones and a few Linnets and grounded Meadow Pipits. Three Little Egrets today.



Duck numbers were much as last week with several hundred of both Teal, Pintail and Wigeon but really the tide was again a little low to push the birds closer for a proper count.

Wader numbers were similarly low with single digits of Dunlin, Golden Plover and Snipe but a few more Redshank today, probably 120 +.

A nice morning out, again.

Brilliant

Not much to report this morning due to my delayed start caused by a quick trip to the shops at Knott End. I tried to get where all the birds are at Rossall Point via the Knott End ferry but arrived just as the boat was leaving. Oh well, there’s always another day. At least it gave me an opportunity to take a shot of Little just leaving and Large just waiting plus allowing me to count the Eider at 40+, even if a really close female drifted serenely into the distance while I fiddled to change lenses.

At Ridge Farm I helped out with a bit of ringing. There have been 100 or so Linnets there for a while but what is the age and sex composition of the flock, are they even the same birds, or is there a daily turnover, why and where too? How many will winter and what will be the survival rate of each category or individual? There are just so many questions to answer about a threatened species. Anyway here’s a picture of a young male to be going on with (amount of white on the outer webs of 7-9th primaries and worn tips).



The Linnets there hang around with about 30 Goldfinch, a similar number of Tree Sparrows and several Reed Buntings as they all move between the set aside of the maize field and the remains of a potato crop that may or may not have been harvested; looking between the rows it’s hard to tell, but there’s certainly plenty of varied seed heads for now or later in the month.

I had just missed a Green Sandpiper flying over but at least I saw the Yellow Wagtail that put in a brief appearance on the stubble and a Wheatear that did the same. Sadly the Yellow Wagtail call is one that used to be so familiar, now we almost have to relearn it each spring we hear it so infrequently. At least the ringing group managed to collect a little data on this species in the 1990s when we used to catch a number in the old Swallow roost at Fleetwood Marsh. Somewhere in the annals of the BTO there is also a faded nest record card of mine (hopefully now on the database) from close to Lane Ends in the early 90s.



There wasn’t a large Meadow Pipit passage at Ridge Farm this morning, more like a trickle of water that was difficult to put into a measuring jug as birds came and went, most of them seeing the nets in the bright sunshine of a beautiful morning. But count we did, arriving at about 50+ grounded in a couple of hours but unable to count the number moving high overhead on this dazzling, cloudless morning.

Talking of bright and beautiful, how about this young Robin caught here, but please don’t say aah!



Let’s finish with my bird of this and last week, another obliging Kestrel. So intent on watching the intended meal below, it allowed me to take a few pics.

A Little Ringing

Just a little open window of opportunity this morning was the only invitation we needed to get a little ringing done somewhere, but nothing too ambitious that might tempt the weather devils of wind and rain.

Will’s garden then. Not so much a page from a Gardener’s World catalogue, more like a birder’s ideal garden with ornamental and fruit trees, a hedgerow interspersed with mature trees and small holly, then beyond that, a farmer’s maize field as a neighbour. Add in the rural wooded location near Garstang within a stone’s throw of Bowland and we have a pretty good mix of things where it’s possible to catch a few target species. The proximity to the Pennines means it’s a pretty good location to “vis mig” if the weather is suitable but not this morning as despite the dry start with a couple of Swallows overhead, it remained cloudy with intermittent drizzle.

We reached a fairly respectable total of 28 birds caught which included 1 Great Tit first ringed in 2008. “New” birds as follows: Dunnock 3, Robin 2, Nuthatch 1, Collared Dove 1, Chaffinch 17, and Blue Tit 3.

The locality has a healthy population of Chaffinch all year round, but at this time of year we would expect to begin to catch larger, brighter birds of continental origin and birds from Scotland or the higher Pennines. Very good then that we caught two corking adult males with wing lengths of 92mm & 94mm, and although there is also an element of older birds also having longer wings, the first bird is a “probable” continental, the latter almost certainly from mainland Europe.



There were at least a couple of Jays hanging around the garden today but fortunately we didn’t catch one. I use the word “fortunate” because whilst they are fine to look at through binoculars, I do my best to avoid handling them as even a momentary lack of concentration might allow them to give a nasty, sometimes painful nip from their bill. It’s a trainee’s bird really, builds up the experience and confidence of carefully taking mystery birds out of bags.

Also in the garden today were a gang of about 20 Greenfinch sticking to the feeders near the house together with plenty of Greats and Blues. It was just a pity that the Grey Wagtails decided to mainly stay on the roof, flitting off occasionally to disappear from view for a while.

We caught a fine male Nuthatch which caused us to open up “Svensson” to help ageing and sexing it because in the normal course of events down in the Fylde lowlands we catch very few.

Likewise, catching a Collared Dove called for opening up “Non-Passerines Guide” that spends most of its life in the glove compartment. What an eye colour that dove has!






On the way back home at midday I noticed a Buzzard near Rawcliffe Hall, about 15 Swallows at Town End, Out Rawcliffe then four more in Hambleton.

There's No Alternative

That’s now two and a half days without getting out birding but probably double that of “nothing” weather, as everyone describes what has taken place last week, over the weekend and now at the start of this week. No good for birding, no good for ringing, no good for bird photography.

So I thought about a few other hobbies that I might take up if this continues, ones that other blokes seem to participate in even enjoy, but there are negatives to most:

Fishing-far too inactive, and have you ever seen an angler actually catch a fish?
Train, Plane or Bus Spotting - I’m 63 for heavens sake.
Sailing Model Boats or Flying Model Planes at Fleetwood - the plastic surgery would be too expensive.
Glamour Photography - not allowed.
Shooting - much too dangerous, especially as an armed ex bird watcher frustrated by continual bad weather.
Golf - It’s just balls.
Video Gaming - sat at a desk often (SADO).
Standing Outside Shops (SOS) - precisely.
Listening to Rock Music - I can’t hear Goldcrest now.

Other suggestions are welcome, please email me.

So I thought about it a bit more then decided that maybe birding is not so bad after all, plus the weather improved a bit, for a while anyway. Enough for me to get this photo of a Kestrel, a species that normally flies away all too readily. This picture allows me to pass on today’s birding tip – Fit a sunroof to your car, but more important make sure it’s open before taking photographs.



In the interests of keeping the blog going I have posted a few previously discarded photos, firstly a picture of a garden Coal Tit in August, a juvenile. Boy I must have been bored that day, putting a net up to catch a Wren, Blackbird and a Coal Tit. Coal Tit, such a frustrating species to photograph as they come and go to the garden feeder to nick some seed or peanut in double quick time, then immediately fly off to hoard it out of sight before the shutter has even thought about closing.



Autumn Blackbirds pose other problems, mainly the indelicate subject of purple poo and how to slip stained bird bags into the washing machine unnoticed. But explaining away similarly coloured wine stains isn’t normally a problem in our house which gives some leeway for the imagination. There’s a photo of the garden Blackbird, almost in focus. Now it’s obvious why I need to practice more on my photography.



Finally a photo of a pair of Tufted Duck that sums up some digital problems; water reflections, exposure, field of view, depth of view, telephoto lenses. Things can only get better.




A quick glance at Met Office for tomorrow shows wind and rain. Oh dear, where’s my stamp album?

A Grey Day

It’s a BBC plot of course. If they keep messing it up they will need to invest more money to make sure the forecasts are more accurate. And that is easily solved by putting up the licence fee? That’s my conspiracy theory, but they didn’t catch me out last night; I just doubled the wind speed forecast of 8mph, didn’t plan any ringing and when I looked out this morning my forecast was spot on. Easy!



I started at Fluke Hall Lane, just in time to see the pinkies come off the marsh to land in the recently cut barley field. They kept coming until I counted about 900, easily the best count I have had this year. With them was a very leucistic individual that can be seen in the very poor record photo; early morning grey light, grey geese, plus camera shake I’m afraid. The poor bird will make quite a target for the shooters soon.



I motored on past Fluke Hall scattering many of the recently released roadrunners, even finding them on the beach scampering across the sand below the concrete ramp. On the sea wall the stiff and cold north westerly put paid to any hopes of major visible migration. It’s funny but sometimes it’s not necessary to hang around long, if it’s going to happen or if it has started it will be immediately obvious but this morning was always a no-no. But if I have missed a day birding e.g. Friday, I still go out the next day, which isn’t necessarily the most sensible thing to do.

From the wall I could see to the right two Little Egrets out beyond Fluke Hall but the tide was too way out to invest time in looking past the green marsh. At Lane Ends I was early enough to spook a couple of Jays from the plantation from where I also heard a Goldcrest before finding it close by. It must have been near because I admit to struggling to hear Goldcrests nowadays, not to mention Tree Pipit which is even more difficult to pick up. But don’t laugh; everything comes to he or she who waits!

A Buzzard came out of the trees then headed off towards Fluke, scattering a few Curlew and Redshank before pausing a few minutes to sit incongruously on the marsh then eventually flying off again. A few, and I mean a few, Meadow Pipits went over at some height; although it was a grey sky, the cloud was not particularly low, allowing the pipits to maintain a decent altitude.

Small numbers of Pink- footed Geese still came off the marsh heading towards the bigger numbers from before but so few that I didn’t add more to my previous approximate count.

Up at Conder I quickly located two Spotted Redshank feeding below the road in their favoured spot with about 25 Common Redshank scattered along the creek. I watched a Kingfisher dive into the pool a couple of times from the overflow parapet but it quickly disappeared out of sight further along the edge of the water. Like at Lane Ends I could hear Meadow Pipits going over at some height, but again not in any way numerous.





The Lapwing field at Jeremy lane was consistent as I noted 700 Lapwing, 145 Golden Plover together with 75 Curlew in the nearest grassy field. At one point I really felt that someone was watching me watching them.



At Cockersands the noticeable element this morning was Skylark. Here close to the open river it was still quite chilly in the wind that blew across directly from Heysham so I put back on the coat I had earlier discarded at Conder. A group of eight Skylark then four more chirruped over from the north as maybe another thirty flew intermittently from the field immediately behind the bank before dropping down to hide again in the grass. And again just a small number of Meadow Pipit flew over almost imperceptibly. At least I can still hear those.

I drove on up to the caravan park which was doggy heaven along the shore; just the opportunity to see two Little Egret out in the tide, and near the farm entrance 15 Tree Sparrows. Another 20 Tree Sparrows near the next farm, the dilapidated barn and the roadside nest boxes. Thanks to Paul for the pic below.



I see it’s ten past five; I must go and watch the weather forecast.

A Final Push?

In the absence of any promise for migrant weather “The Plan” was to go sheltered garden ringing this morning where at least there would be a healthy population of Chaffinch, Nuthatch, thrushes and hopefully one or two Grey Wagtail. But although the forecast said 13 mph westerly, I’m afraid that optimism again got the better of me. Whilst watching my marker trees outside the front window sway around at 20mph dropping early leaves, a few hurried text messages and phone calls led to postponing the ringing and adopting Plan B. The only problem was I didn’t have a Plan B, and in the absence of any blue sky I went for a swim again.

As the sky brightened towards lunch time I fancied some quiet time so took myself over Stalmine Moss then via Pilling Moss to my destination Rawcliffe Moss taking care not to test out the recommended 30mph limit over the narrow switchback route. After all it’s only the tractors that have a remit to do thirty and probably best that motorists don’t pick an argument with a loaded John Deere, or try to emulate their speed with the attendant risk of sliding 12 foot into a roadside ditch.



There were plenty of drying bales around the fields with several Kestrels waiting for foolish voles to show; I even saw a Grey Heron adopt similar tactics by stalking purposefully around the packaged grass.





It was about 1pm just as the greyness thinned more that I noticed the Swallows, a definite drift south of several individuals, then a loose party of forty or fifty, then more, all travelling south west; low over the dry fields but also higher but all going eventually in the same direction and I watched them for a while, arriving, feeding, circling then leaving to the west. I had seen a few Swallows around isolated farms on my journey there, but these were different, surely the almost final push south I thought as I simultaneously scribbled “300+ SWALL” in my notebook.



On a recently harvested potato field I counted 140 Lapwings picking through the perfectly disturbed ground and a party of 150 Starlings swirling around, brown against the black of the peaty soil. Corvids were plenty, mainly Crows but also the beginnings of Jackdaw numbers. Both of them worth watching of course, if only to reveal the whereabouts of the local Buzzards, who as usual kept their distance a wood or two away whilst being ambushed by the black gangsters. Hidden in the field were Skylarks, just a few but welcome to see all the same and soon they will appear in numbers, just like the Mipits will.

Close to the farm buildings where there are evergreens, six Jays flew across to a nearby conifer copse whilst a couple of Pied Wagtails searched around the machinery fresh from the day’s work. Perhaps we are due a Jay year?

A pretty quiet couple of hours then and a short report, but as usual the enjoyment is not necessarily in the quantity, certainly not in the so called quality, it’s just in the taking part.