A Different Circus

They say a change is as good as a rest so this afternoon I set off for Pilling Moss and a walk around a farm I wander over now and again. The spot has a few sheltered fields and woods and is a useful standby when everywhere else is a more than a bit breezy, as it was today.

This year I’ve seen plenty of Marsh Harriers, both spring and autumn, but one of the first birds I saw this afternoon was a Hen Harrier, Circus cyaneus, now probably the rarer of the two closely related harriers. Crows chased the harrier off towards Union Lane whereby it flew fast with the wind and I lost it against a background of trees.

Hen Harrier

The couple of hours turned into a raptor fest with 3 Kestrel, 1 Peregrine, 1 Merlin, 3 Buzzards and a Tawny Owl. I found the owl huddled up out of the wind in the densest part of an ivy covered tree, the greenery so impenetrable that I tried this way and that to get more than a half photo of the bird but couldn’t. So as they also say, “Here’s one I did earlier”.

Tawny Owl
Buzzard

There was lots of passerine food on offer for the raptors, 60+ Skylark, 70 Chaffinch, 130 Linnet, 5 Reed Bunting, 25 Goldfinch, 11 Pied Wagtail, 15 Snipe, 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker and 20+ Tree Sparrow. I almost forgot, 1 Fieldfare and 2 Song Thrush, but a number of Blackbirds.

Peregrines count Columbidae into their food category and there were plenty of those today with 32 Stock Dove and 80+ Woodpigeon. Other “bits and bobs” seen, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Raven and 260 Pink-footed Geese trying to hide in a barley stubble field.

Woodpigeon
Stock Dove
Pink-footed Goose

Still Waiting

The early morning text exchanges made the decision. Yes, it was a bit breezy but Will and I could go to the moss for a “vis mig” count, top up the feeders, and then if anywhere was sheltered, try and catch a few more thrushes. Any day now there should be a wave of northern thrushes heading over the mosslands, all we have to do is hit the right morning.

Saturday Sunrise

We set nets in the only two rides undisturbed by the south-easterly breeze, then listened and watched out for Redwings and Fieldfares, but also Song Thrushes and Blackbirds, both very much migrant species here in October. There was an initial flurry of mainly Redwings, about 130, with smaller number of less than 30 Fieldfares, both species heading slow, low and south into the headwind, but in the less than ideal conditions the burst of activity stopped quite quickly. So we still await a large push of birds, hopefully we will be there when it eventually takes place.

The sheltered “Niger” net caught most of the 12 birds, 2 Song Thrush, 1 Redwing, 8 Goldfinch and 1 Chaffinch.

Song Thrush
Redwing
Goldfinch

Despite the stiff breeze a number of Chaffinches in ones and twos toiled steadily into it, with less than 100 overall, but the Chaffinch numbers have been dropping recently, a sign their autumnal dispersal may be nearing the end. As Will and I both ring birds on their right leg let’s hope we can catch this left-footer before the Chaffinch dry up completely.

Chaffinch

On last night’s BBC Autumn Watch there was a question from a viewer who recently saw lots of “black-billed Blackbirds”, but the query didn’t seem adequately answered by the programme. In October migrant Blackbirds, especially the first calendar year males have distinctly dull and dusky plumage which lacks the gloss of adult males. These young males also have dark brown to blackish bills, and often pale grey throats, so maybe the viewer had simply seen a number of immigrant Blackbirds? We saw a few “blackies” this morning, but didn’t catch any this time, just the brown thrushes above.

Blackbird

Birding wise we counted the following notables: 11 Grey Partridge, 4 Yellowhammer, 26 Corn Bunting, 75+ Linnet, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 1 Barn Owl.

Corn Bunting

Where Were You?

Yes, the blog is back after several more days’ forced inactivity thanks to the good old British weather.

Will and I had high hopes this morning that the many birds held up in the past few days would head south over Rawcliffe Moss with some urgency this morning. With the first autumn frost crunching underfoot we erected nets in the dark, grabbed a quick coffee, and then waited for birds to arrive at first light. The anticipated flood of birds appeared to be less than a trickle of thrushes, with just 25 Redwing and 12 Fieldfare arriving soon after dawn before drying up completely, leaving us wondering where they are.

At times the session was slow, but we persevered and the 4 hour stint ended up with a good selection of 25 birds of 8 species, 23 new and 2 recaptures. New: 11 Chaffinch, 5 Reed Bunting and 3 Goldfinch, with 1 each of the target thrush species, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Redwing and Fieldfare.

Reed Bunting - male
Reed Bunting- female
Song Thrush
Fieldfare
Redwing

Compared to recent weeks even the movement of finches was lighter this morning, with less than 150 Chaffinches throughout the morning, approximately 10 Siskin, not a single Redpoll, but 2 or more Brambling. Reed Buntings were again conspicuous with 12 or more birds overhead or lingering on site, but the Meadow Pipit passage may be over with less than 20 birds over and south today. Eleven new Chaffinches pushed our site total for new captures of this species to 350 this autumn.

Chaffinch
Chaffinch

The other birding was pretty quiet too: A Barn Owl and 3 Tawny Owls at dawn, 13 Alba wagtail, 15 Tree Sparrow, 8 Linnet, 8 Snipe and 9 Whooper Swans, the latter our first ones of the beckoning winter.

Whooper Swan

Keen As Mustard

Last night’s weather forecast was highly marginal for ringing, but being full of enthusiasm for more migrant thrushes Will and I met up at 0645 on Rawcliffe Moss, taking a chance that any early rain would clear quickly. Our optimism was somewhat misplaced and we spent an hour or more waiting for the drizzle to clear, the clouds to lift and a chance to open nets.

The 360 degrees overcast sky kept the thrushes back, with just small parties of Redwings and Fieldfares finding their way through the murk as dawn broke. We quickly caught six thrushes but had to close nets as rain closed in. The initial thrush movement totalled only 50+ Redwing, 35 Fieldfare, 12+ Blackbird, 3 Song Thrush and 1 Mistle Thrush. We caught finches later as the cloud broke from the west or headed north, but the corresponding increase in wind speed probably put a block on more migration through our immediate location.

Today’s new birds: 7 Goldfinch, 7 Chaffinch, 3 Redwing, 2 Blackbird, 1 Song Thrush. We also recaptured 2 Goldfinches and a Robin.

Robin
Goldfinch

Redwing
Redwing
Blackbird
Song Thrush

“Birding” birds noted this morning in addition to the above mentioned thrushes: 20+ Siskin, 9 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Brambling, 80+ Chaffinch, 50+ Goldfinch, 10 Reed Bunting, 12 Alba wagtail, 20 Meadow Pipit, 8 Golden Plover, 8 Snipe, 800 Pink-footed Goose, 4 Magpie, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker.

The weather for the next three or four days doesn't look too good for either birding or ringing, but if there's half a chance watch this space for news and views.

Thrush Rush

The venue today was Rawcliffe Moss, where despite the slightly “iffy” wind direction that restricted net choice, Will and I hoped for a catch of early morning thrushes fresh in from Northern Europe. We set the nets in the dark and then waited for dawn and the arrival of Redwings, Fieldfares and perhaps a few Blackbirds and Song Thrushes.

There was just a short interval before the birds arrived in droves at 0715, mainly Redwings but with a good proportion of Fieldfares. Within the next hour we estimated the overhead passage at 800+ Redwings and 200+ Fieldfares, although we almost certainly missed many more whilst checking nets and ringing the ones we had. But the constant stream of birds stopped as suddenly as it started, and by 0830 all was quiet except for small parties of stragglers. After 0900 we switched our attention to Chaffinches and bumped up our numbers of that species together with a few other finches.

In all we captured 39 birds of 9 species, 36 new and 3 recaptures. New: 16 Chaffinch, 10 Redwing, 2 Fieldfare, 2 Blackbird, 2 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Coal Tit, 1 Great Tit and 1 Goldfinch. Recaptures: 2 Chaffinch and 1 Robin

Redwing
Fieldfare
Coal Tit
Redwing
Lesser Redpoll

Visible migration was difficult to gauge in the bright,blue, morning sky but in addition to the northern thrushes we estimated 200+ Chaffinch, 20+ Siskin and 9+ Lesser Redpoll, circa 10 Reed Bunting, 5 Greenfinch, 1 Yellowhammer, 1 Swallow.

Other birds: 1 Barn Owl, 1 Tawny Owl, 1 Kestrel, 1 Buzzard, 750 Pink-footed Goose.

Redwing

Mostly Chaffinch

Sue and I had been for a meal at the curry joint last night, and then walking back home in the quiet darkness there seemed to be a number of Redwings flying over. It doesn’t always follow there will be birds left on the move by morning or that after a fine, clear night any will be grounded. When I peeked out of the door this morning in preparation for a spot of birding the trio of Fieldfares high in next door’s Sycamore followed by a gang of 20 or so overflying Redwings seemed a good omen.

Motoring down Lambs Lane I could see more Fieldfares going over, but with nowhere to stop I carried on to Fluke Hall and jumped from the car where a reasonable amount of movement was apparent. There was a steady movement of birds from the west and north-west to Fluke Hall and beyond, where the actual wood was jumping with Chaffinches plus the calls of at least 2 Bramblings – what a crying shame that no one is interested in mist netting this autumnal Chaffinch hot spot.

Chaffinch
Chaffinch

I walked to Ridge Farm and then back where the main feature was the continual west to east movement of Chaffinches following the sea wall and then disappearing into the trees at Fluke. Fieldfares with just the occasional Redwing kept going south and I can honestly say I didn’t see a single grounded one of either thrush among my count of 200+ Fieldfare and 45 Redwing. Very noticeable today were Reed Buntings with 11 along the route, 3 parties of Alba wagtails numbering 24+, three or more very mobile Blackbirds, and numbers of Tree Sparrows being either less shy than normal or more noticeable because they were part of the on-going movement.

Fieldfare
Redwing

I didn’t really count the shore stuff, it wasn’t where the action was, but I did note a pretty huge flock of pinkfeet, several Snipe and the usual jamboree of noisy Lapwings. By the time I got back to Fluke I’d counted over 200 Chaffinch and another Brambling, not a big tally for October but pretty good for an hour and a bit.

No visit to Pilling is complete without a walk from Lane Ends to Pilling Water where by now the Fieldfares and Redwings had tailed off completely, but Chaffinches and Reed Buntings were still on the move, if now a lot higher in the clearing sky. Counts from here: 20+ Chaffinch, 3 Reed Bunting, 8 Skylark, 7 Meadow Pipit, 5 Linnet, 2 Little Egret, 1 Raven, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Merlin, 2 Snipe, 1 Wheatear.

Wheatear
I hope it’s less breezy for the moss tomorrow to give us a crack at the thrushes and more Chaffinches.

We Finally Made It

At last, the wind and rain relented and Will and I met up at Out Rawcliffe and the first ringing session for 11 days since the last rain aborted session of October 2nd. The dark, cloudy filled morning gave us a fairly slow start, but quickly picked up to provide a very steady, varied and interesting morning of ringing and birding, the overhead birds being particularly diverse.

We continued where we left off in early October by targeting finches, buntings and Meadow Pipits, ending up with a catch of 48 birds of 6 species, 44 new and 4 recaptures. New birds: 13 Chaffinch, 12 Goldfinch, 11 Meadow Pipit, 6 Reed Bunting, 1 Robin and 1 Treecreeper. The 4 Goldfinch recaptures were from recent weeks.

It took almost 30 minutes after dawn before the Chaffinches and Meadow Pipits began heading south, parties of less than 10 for the pipits, with bigger groups of Chaffinch, sometimes 10-15 together. By the end of our 5 hour session we had counted 350+ Chaffinch, 250+ Meadow Pipit and 25+ Reed Buntings. It’s pretty impossible to count Goldfinch migration here as there is still a local roost of Goldfinch, a gathering that translates into a feeding flock of 130+ later in the morning. Other finches were less numerous with just 8 Siskin and 5 Lesser Redpoll over.

Chaffinch
Meadow Pipit
Goldfinch
Reed Bunting
Reed Bunting

In the first hour or two after dawn there was a very strong movement of Alba wagtails heading south, at one point a party of 18 birds passing over, then later other smaller groups and individuals. Our 5 hours gave a total of 60+ Albas with at least 1 Grey Wagtail. Skylarks were also conspicuous with a minimum of 120 birds arriving from the west and north-west and then heading south-east. Our first Redwing of the season flew south early on, followed by a party of 5 Fieldfare much later in the morning but also going south. 3 Song Thrush were scattered throughout the five hours, with 3 late Swallows together about 11am.

A couple of unusual birds for out here on the moss came in the shapes of a party of 7 Crossbill heading north-east, and a single Common Sandpiper flying south.

Crossbill- naturespicsonline.com

Raptors today: 1 Kestrel, 1 Tawny Owl, 1 Buzzard, 2 Sparrowhawk, and 1 Peregrine briefly chasing a Lapwing. Others: 800+ Pink-footed Goose, 2 Raven, 45 Lapwing, 2 Jay, 11 Snipe.

Wow! What a great morning’s birding, shame we had to wait so long.

I Don’t Believe It

Unbelievably we are now into our fifth consecutive wet and windy day, a sad state of affairs requiring no comment other than today’s blog title. So in place of birding or ringing I’m digging into the archive yet again for a few pictures of a favourite bird.

Photographs of Lapwings are guaranteed to provoke positive comments from Another Bird Blog readers, mostly from folks who either don’t have Lapwings in their own countries, have very small numbers of them, or who perhaps see them just at migration times.

Northern Lapwing

The proper name for Vanellus vanellus is Northern Lapwing, but most UK birders name them simply Lapwing. Older generations of farming families even today still use colloquial or local names according to where in the UK they live e.g. Peewit, Green Plover, Tewit/Chewit, Flopwing or Hornpie to name but a few. Up here in the soggy north there are places with historical names that clearly refer to the previous abundance of Lapwings, e.g. Tewitfield, Peewit Hall, or the many homesteads adopting the descriptive Peewit Farm. More recently, there are modern developments with names like Lapwing Drive and Lapwing Avenue, where as they pocketed the cash, town planners, developers and builders had a wry laugh at the Lapwing’s misfortune. Luckily we do have a few remnant Lapwings in this Fylde part of Lancashire but even those are now a tiny chunk of the Red Listed UK population.

Northern Lapwing

The Lapwing is probably one of the best-known birds indigenous to the UK, and certainly one of the most beautiful. A description of its lengthened crest feathers and overall black and white colouration with tints of iridescent greens and purples hardly does the bird justice. Their peculiar sort of flight, a series of wide slow flaps on rounded wings is highly characteristic, enabling them to be recognised from a great distance, and their typical high pitched sometimes screaming “peweet” call cannot be mistaken for the note of any other bird. These features gave rise to their numerous descriptive local names.

Northern Lapwing
Northern Lapwing

Any day now, and after the recent rains, we will start to see huge numbers of Lapwings feeding on the Fylde plains as many more wintering Lapwings arrive from Northern and Eastern Europe; the Lapwing migration is so regular and marked in Kamchatka, Russia that the month of October is known there as “Lapwing month”. The UK provides the northernmost regular wintering area of Lapwings and is particularly important for Scandinavian birds. But if we get a cold spell where marshes and fields are frozen the Lapwings move west to Ireland, often in a very visible fashion on particularly cold mornings. They will stay there until normal spring passage in February and March. On occasions westerly weather movements lead to some Lapwings overshooting Ireland during strong easterly airflows and crossing the Atlantic, where they become a twitchable bird for a few fortunate US and Canadian birders.

Northern Lapwing
Northern Lapwing

In the spring I get to ring a few youngsters, not as many as I would like, not nearly as many as there should be, and certainly not as many as there used to be as recently as the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Maybe next year will be a better Lapwing year, but don’t bet on it.

Northern Lapwing
Northern Lapwing
Northern Lapwing