More Thrushes

At this time of year there is simply nothing quite like going out in the early morning to catch overnight thrushes freshly arriving from goodness knows where. After a catch of 50 Redwings yesterday and the massive thrush movements recorded all week, we really couldn’t let another opportunity pass, especially since the forecasts suggest Sunday as the last fine morning for the next few days.





This morning seemed much as yesterday with overnight very clear, a light wind at dawn and good visibility. The major difference this morning out on Rawcliffe Moss was that the slightly fresher wind now blew from a south easterly direction and although the temperature was 5°C instead of 1°C, it felt much colder, with our fingers nipped by the cold but rescued by cups of hot coffee. The visible migration now took place from the north and North West as the birds travelled in a southerly direction. Numbers of all birds were much lower today with a notable lack of small birds and lesser numbers of thrushes with the exception of Fieldfares.

Our first net round at 0720 today comprised of four Redwings and two Song Thrushes. As expected, Redwings dominated the 0715 to 1045 count again today with about 400+ birds in parties of between 10 and 60 birds dropping into the plantation before generally moving on quite quickly. One Redwing caught yesterday was retrapped this morning.

This morning we caught 28 Redwings, made up of 4 adults and 24 juveniles, where just a few had visible fat.



The overhead Fieldfare count came to 65+ with a lone male ringed.

Other counts and observations below. All heading south unless noted otherwise:

Tree Sparrow, 14
Reed Bunting, 6 only, noticeably less birds compared with the several days before with 1 new bird ringed today
Brambling, 1 quite late in the morning
Linnet, 3
Goldfinch, 15
Whooper Swan, 2 west
Snipe, 3
“Albas”, 2
Blackbird, 9 over with 1 new ringed and 1 retrapped
Skylark, several early risers in the dark then the usual 100+ sticking to the stubble fields unless disturbed by geese or microlight
Pink-footed Goose, several thousand increasing as the morning went on
Chaffinch, 40ish with 1 only ringed.

This juvenile male Chaffinch provided some interest in its tertial moult whereby on one wing only it had replaced the diffuse edged juvenile feathers with sharply demarcated chestnut edged adult feathers.





Other birds seen today included 3 Kestrels and one Buzzard. Down at the feeding spot we counted 90/100 Tree Sparrow, 2 Yellowhammer and several Chaffinch.

Redwing City

More of the same this morning when we made the trip to Rawcliffe Moss where the mist of two days ago was replaced by a fine if somewhat cold start as the outside temperature gauge on my dash read “1°”.

We put up the nets in no time, in fact had time for a warming cup of coffee as we listened to two and possibly three Tawny Owls whilst waiting for first light and the opening net check. It was also still pretty much dark when we heard two Stonechats along the ditch waking up “chacking” and then seemingly departing the area because we didn’t see any after that.

Just as well that we managed to grab a coffee early on because for the next four hours we barely stopped until midday when we took down the nets as the thrushes dried up and by when we had renamed the plantation “Redwing City”.

Today I remembered my camera but as usual Will had his Little Red Lumix to hand in a trouser pocket just in case; the only problem was that we had barely enough time to take pictures we were so busy. Just as on Thursday, our first catch included 2 Fieldfare in addition to half a dozen Redwing, which boded well for the morning session.

Steady rounds ensued and by 1130 when overhead things were quieter, we had ringed 48 Redwings and agreed that this would be the last round of the nets; But Hey Presto, two more to make 50 Redwings caught; a notable point indeed at which to stop.

We caught 17 adults and 33 juveniles, adult on the left, juvenile on the right of the picture.



Even after their overnight trip from lands further north we found that about a third of the Redwings still carried varying amounts of fat, scoring between F10 and F30 with individual weights ranging from 52 to 69 grams, those at the lower end of this range with no visible fat.





This morning the visible migration was from the south, especially noticeable with the Redwings that came in small groups of 6/8 and larger parties of 40/50. Although we were very busy with the ringing and may have missed some birds, a count of 800 Redwings is therefore probably an underestimate, especially read in conjunction with catching 50.

Other than the 2 Fieldfare ringed, we saw no more which seems a little strange but as before, we may have missed them while busy ringing. Other thrushes comprised 2 Song Thrush and 1 Blackbird caught amongst the Redwings with 8 more Blackbird over.

Other passage was quite thin with a summary of this and other sightings below;

Snipe, 1 over
Reed Bunting, c20 over with 8 new ones ringed to make 18 new this week
Chaffinch, 5 new ringed but strangely, very little visible migration
Goldfinch, 17 over
Grey Wagtail, 1 over
Meadow Pipit, less than 10 over
Long-tailed Tit, 4 new ringed plus two retraps from earlier in the year
Dunnock, 2 new ringed
Robin, 1 new ringed
Kestrel, 2
Buzzard, 3
Barn Owl, 1
Grey Heron, 1 over
"Albas", one only

Masses of Pink-footed Geese on the moss this morning, with an estimated 8000+ which ties in with my quick visit to Lane Ends yesterday where I thought there were 20000+ birds on the salt marsh at dawn.

Four Roe Deer put in a brief appearance this morning before doing their usual disappearing act.

Action Replay

A six thirty start may not seem that early but it does mean getting up at 0530 in time to load the car with poles, nets, ringing box, wellies and other essentials, not to mention fill the flask with coffee. At least I still have a thermos this year despite my long standing history of destroying them by either dropping from a great height onto a hard surface or filling them with very boiling water. The latter proves quite an interesting half awake early morning experiment on the laws of physics but doesn’t make for a very good cup of coffee.

Anyway the mental check list was duly ticked to meet Will at the prescribed time at Rawcliffe Moss again in order to erect nets in darkness in preparation for the dawn thrushes. The fog was there, more or less as promised by Diane on North West Tonight and sundry web sites, but undeterred we had gambled on a quick warm up dispersing the clouds.

Through the mist Will heard the first Redwings at 0735, then soon after we caught the first of two from a little party of six. Redwing groups arrived on and off until 1030 when we packed in, by which time we had counted a total of 85 that arrived from all compass directions after being disorientated by the fog. Other migrant thrushes were 2 Fieldfare and 1 Song Thrush plus several Blackbirds.

It was the first Redwing that made me realise I had forgotten my camera; so much for the carefully planned routine and infallible preparation as I tried to recall suitable expletives. So whilst the photos aren’t exactly today’s, the species are applicable.

The overhead murk almost cleared once or twice with just the occasional hint of blue promising better things as through it all we counted as much as we could see and hear, but no doubt missed a lot with such poor visibility:

Snipe, 18 over in various directions
Woodpigeon, 200+ over and around
Tree Sparrow, 3 over as distinct from the 90 or so at the feeding station further down the farm
Chaffinch, 40+ with 4 new ringed
Goldfinch, 3 over
Albas, 6 over
Meadow Pipit, 35+ over
Golden Plover 2 over
Starling 600+ over and around
Long-tailed Tit, 6 ringed
Kestrel, 2 locals still searching the maize



Tawny Owl, one calling again
Stonechat, 1 unringed one along the track i.e. not the one caught two days ago
Dunnock, 2 ringed
Wrigglearse, 2 ringed and one retrapped
Reed Bunting, 18+ with 5 new ones ringed



There were lots of Pink-footed Geese this morning, both flying around in the mist to avoid local shooters but also arriving continually from the general direction of Pilling. We estimated 3500+, and then on my way off the moss I saw many settled feeding on a field of maize stubble nearby.

Non bird events this morning were 2 Roe Deer in the misty distance and a Weasel that briefly bounced across the track close to us before diving into some low herbage.

Not quite the highlight of the morning but an interesting sighting as I drove home was seeing a Woodcock at Preesall fly across the main road ahead of me then hedgehop to land just inside a roadside field. Woodcock, one of those species that finds you rather than you find it?

Trickling Through

After the Redwing movement on Monday we hoped there might be a rerun again today whereby we might catch a few of this special thrush together with other species on the move.

Overnight it was clear and starry, neither Will nor me heard any Redwings going over in the dark so when we arrived at Rawcliffe Moss to a white ground frost we weren’t too hopeful of catching many birds or seeing much visible movement at this inland location. Having said that, a raised track crosses the moss that allows a 360 degrees view and it is extremely quiet when listening for overhead birds.



I would describe migration this morning as a “steady trickle” of most species we saw which started at about 0800 then more or less stopped at 10am as the cloud cover increased to 100%. All counts south unless described as other:

Redwing, small parties of tens and teens, total 120
Fieldfare, 2
Jay, 2
Yellowhammer, 3
Linnet, 3
Woodpigeon, tight flock of 80 south west, plus 300/400 in near woods
Albas, 15
Goldfinch, 3
Blackbird, 9
Song Thrush, 3
Meadow Pipit, 20
Skylark, 18 plus 200 in stubble fields
Chaffinch, 40
Snipe, 6
Stonechat, 1
Pink-footed Goose, 150ish arriving from Pilling direction
Tawny Owl, 2 calling before dawn
Buzzard, 2 locals
Kestrel, 2 locals
Lapwing, 1000 further west on Pilling Moss

Pictures below of some of the birds ringed this morning, top to bottom: Redwing, adult female Fieldfare, juvenile Stonechat, and juvenile male Reed Bunting.

Reddy for Action

Monday mornings are babysitting. So there I was about 0730, not long after first decent birding light nowadays, waiting outside the door for the latecomers whilst simultaneously watching and looking skywards just in case. I half expected Redwings as there have been reports from the Pennines for a few days with odd ones reaching the coast.

Within a few minutes I saw a loose flock of birds coming from a westerly direction of Staynall and the Wyre. I thought they might be Redwings because they always fly a little looser, a bit further apart than Starlings of the similar size; the old “jizz” recognition still works. The flock got closer with the familiar calls overhead so I started counting with 80/90 in that first flock as they went over in a north-easterly direction, disappearing over Stalmine village. Within the next hour and a half I counted further flocks and small groups all going in the same direction towards the Pennines, reaching a grand total of 250+. Looking at other blogs and websites it seems that this may have been a very localised occurrence.

Redwing photo courtesy of Andreas Trepte http://www.photo-natur.de/

Whilst all this Redwing activity was going on, the usual early morning rush of bird activity even thrushes, Goldfinch and Chaffinch persuaded me to put up a garden net. All in the course of educating Olivia about birds you understand.

The first bird I caught was a Song Thrush, a species that I don’t necessarily see in my garden for months at a time so scarce are they. It was a pretty immaculate specimen, in peak looks and condition as fresh migrant thrushes often are.



I also caught a couple of Blackbirds, a protesting Starling, Blue and Great Tit together with 3 Coal Tit.









Oh, the babysitting went fine and Olivia wants to be a birder but she’s not quite four at the moment.

A good week of weather is forecast, fingers crossed that the rest of October is just the best ever.

Fogged Off

Obviously the wind dropped a little more than anticipated, the fall in temperature and the moisture in the air played their part and bingo – fog. I set off because I just knew I could see a hint of sunshine up there to burn off the damp air quickly, optimistic fool.

At 8am the only birds I saw through the gloom were the ghostly shapes of crows and gulls, up early whatever the weather. Similarly the Robins ticked and called through the murk and surprisingly, somewhere out there a Buzzard called from the treetops or flew around on radar.

I struck out along Motorbike Mile thinking that by the time I got to Conder, the pool would be bathed in early sunshine, perfect photography light. I must have been the first vehicle along the road for a while because sat on a roadside post near Gulf Lane was a bright, orangey, male Merlin which glanced at me in the car, but as I slowed to look closer, flew off towards Moss Edge. I guess that this is the male we see regularly at Braides.

It was too much to hope that I could get a picture of a Merlin but the image below is by the famous ornithologist John Gould (1804-1881) who played an important part in the identification of Darwin’s finches.

The light was pretty gloomy at Conder, in fact it was a light fog but I convinced myself, perhaps marginally better than before. The light was good enough to make out the grey shapes of Redshank across the pool, as the bills of Snipe became the key to identification. A Spotted Redshank fed with common Redshank below the road and I heard the other fly overhead then probably around the pool when some of the birds spooked away for a while.

The mist hung around for what seemed ages, with intermittent but sunless bright spells where a trickle of Meadow Pipits, Skylarks and albas went over. About 40 Pink-footed Goose, now all grey in the overhead mist, reoriented west and back towards Pilling after their brief flight towards the Lune. The Kingfisher appeared briefly on the overflow wall and also flew across the road into the creek but the light was too poor to take more pictures hence the one from August below.

I stuck it out until 10 when I turned back along the A588 and down towards Bank End where the hopeful parachutists had watched the same weather forecast as me and were parked up surveying their non flying morning. I always look in the gorse along there, and as usual there was an assortment of Blackbirds on the old blackberries and my friend the Kestrel worked the hedgerow but from a tree today. At least the spiders had been busy, making patterns through the damp gorse.

Sod’s Law they call it because as I neared Lane Ends towards home and a warming coffee the sky noticeably cleared and the sun appeared, burning away the remnants of mist.

Along Backsands Lane several Meadow Pipit clung to the barbed wire fence ahead of me as the clearing air allowed the combined calls of many Pink-footed Goose to reach me. Along Fluke Hall Lane in the stubble field the geese were as densely packed as can be, upwards of 3000 I thought as I dare not leave the car so close to the road were they; just on the other side of the tree screen at the edge of the field, so near that the murmuring, the humming of the flock was very loud. By going further east I also moved from too close proximity which allowed a better scan of the pinkie flock to locate nine Barnacle Geese with them.

In the wood I heard Long-tailed Tits calling, then again at the end of the wood at the car park where I saw a handful, but it looks like there are a couple of flocks at least. There were more Meadow Pipits here, just before Ridge Farm where the failed potato crop lies on the ground with several grounded and ones or twos flying without any obvious direction in mind.

I counted more than 30 Skylarks here and in the stubbly field south of it, but as usual it is difficult to quantify what Skylarks are actually “up to”.

Below the sea wall a couple of Wheatears stuck together as they hopped back and forth through the rocks according to the passage of people walking above them.

Sometimes it just has to be done - Shopping that is. But I don’t just stand outside I do actually go in, mainly to make sure the wine bears the correct label. But at least at Knott End it is possible to grab a few birds, as in 3 Little Egrets on the shore this afternoon plus one on the mussel beds, 15 Eider and a Great Crested Grebe off shore together with a couple of Pied Wagtails opposite the Thai takeaway.

Alright then, the Eider isn’t my picture but the egret and wagtail are.

A Bit of The Med

A fine sunny morning is a good enough reason to go out. And even though it’s a stiff north westerly with not much promise of new birds around, there’s always something to look at and the jobs can wait until later in the day.

Fluke Hall was the first port of call. I parked at the foot of the sea wall where I noticed there were lots of Jackdaws and Carrion Crows flying noisily around the few pines then out on to the immediate marsh. I think they have begun congregating here because of the food put out for pheasants, which isn’t necessarily a good idea of theirs as some will end up trapped in the pens. Some of the crows fed on the recently drilled field along with Black-headed Gulls and Woodpigeons. I quickly looked through the black heads and found an adult Mediterranean Gull which chose that moment to have a fly around, whereupon I lost it among the crowd of black heads as they all went behind the still standing maize.

It was not very Mediterranean weather as I walked to the sea wall wearing winter coat, hat and gloves to see more warm water species in the shape of 4 Little Egrets out on the near sand. One of them was harassed by the crows; jackdaws in particular as the egret flew up then gained height over Ridge Farm towards Knott End.

There were a few Chaffinch “pinking” in the nearest trees and the hedgerow and I could hear Long-tailed Tits calling then found a little group of fifteen or sixteen.



I didn’t assign these birds to any sign of migration as they are often just in the same spot with odd Robins and Dunnocks. I walked a good deal of Ridge Farm but apart from a couple of excitedly calling Reed Buntings, I detected little other sign of morning or overnight movement. I saw the little crowd of Tree Sparrows with a dozen or two Linnet and a couple of resident Blackbirds, not scaly grey migrants. Sometimes it really is “Grim up North” I thought as I took the gate back to the sea wall then made my way to the car thinking how different this would be if I could transport the time of year, the location, the habitat and myself to the east coast.



I stopped off in the wood to look at the tree tops and listen. Often the recently arrived finches feed quietly and unobtrusively in the tops of the beech, with just the occasional soft call to give away their presence. Very few Chaffinch this morning and no Brambling either.

The Pink-feet are always good value for money so I drove slowly along Fluke Hall Lane to see how many were in the stubble but got there to see many still arriving from the marsh.



I took a few pictures from the open window as usual just before they took fright at a Peregrine that came low over them towards the wildfowler’s pool and the flock of Teal that haunt it. The Teal about 80, flushed by the panicking geese, formed a tight flock and headed over the sea wall towards the marsh ditches as the Peregrine hurtled through them but then on the other side of the wall out of my sight. Maybe this is the Peregrine I saw last week that also attacked Teal in virtually this same spot.

Just a little further along the lane a Sparrowhawk crossed ahead of me from the roadside fence post, then flew low across the stubble, but like the previous raptor disappeared from view near the sea wall.

I spent a few minutes at Lane Ends car park but there was very little to see or hear apart from a Little Egret, a flock of about 1100 Lapwings on the marsh and the distant pinkies.

A stop in Braides gateway is now compulsory, a new part of the circuit, especially since the Merlin took up residence. It didn’t disappoint again today as it sat distant but scopable on the trackside fence where I took a few minutes to watch it waiting.

So north again, this time to Conder. I spoke to another birder yesterday who complained about Conder. OK, it’s not Titchwell or even the Allen Pools but it’s all we’ve got in what is a fairly much built up part of the west coast so we had better make the most of it, work for our birds and enjoy what’s there.

The Spotted Redshanks hid this morning so I searched for them a little but found them around the bend towards The Stork where the Teal and Snipe merged into the creek vegetation and rocks.

The Kingfisher flew towards the inflow wall but saw me behind the inadequate screen then veered away but compensation came in the form of more four Snipe on the island, three Little Grebe, two Goosander and two Grey Herons.





I took a picture of a Cormorant on the pebbly island, little archaeopteryx if ever I saw it.