Menorca Friday

I dropped Sue in trendy second-city Ciutadella, the jewel in Menorca’s crown. Here she could put the map away and browse the shops and the market, explore the narrow streets and mingle with the locals, wandering the pedestrianised old city with its many narrow streets of hidden sights, shops and cafe treats. 

Ciutadella - Menorca

Ciutadella - Menorca

Café Bar Es Moli- Ciutadella - Menorca

Well that was my excuse as the car stopped at Café Bar Es Moli from where I joined the ring road towards the north of the island and a few well-chosen birding spots. There’s a bit of a narrow, dodgy one lane road where giving way is test of nerves of who chickens out first. Eventually after many stops in tiny roadside spaces to bird from the car I reach the calm oasis of Punta Nati. Here there are Short-toed Larks, Thekla Larks, late Whinchats and Wheatears still heading for Europe and more of those ridiculously blue thrushes. There were raptors too enjoying the warm, lifting air and the plethora of food on offer below - Red Kite, Egyptian Vulture, Booted Eagle, Marsh Harrier, Kestrel and Red-footed Falcons. 

Thekla Lark

Short-toed Lark

 

Punta Nati - Menorca

Whinchat

It’s too easy to forget the gulls in the search for passerines or raptors, but there are Yellow-legged Gulls aplenty and small numbers of Audouin’s Gull enjoying the coastal scenery even here in the remote north. 

Audouin's Gull

On the way back to Ciutadella I stop at the Cattle Egret noisy and active colony , still here after many years despite the building of holiday lets close by. 

Cattle Egret

The shopping bags appear full, and so is my notebook - It’s another successful day in Menorca for Another Bird Blog.

News from later  - Corncrake. Montagus Harrier, Whiskered Tern, Spoonbills, Glossy Ibis and European Roller. Still 25 degrees.  

Back soon from the Balearics when I promise to catch up with Blogger friends.

Not Here, Over There

As old hands to Another Bird Blog know the month of May involves Menorca, a few days when the blog takes a break from damp and dreary UK and samples instead the warm delights of the Best of the Balearics. 

A year goes quickly. It seems just weeks ago we stocked up with water and wine from the supermercado in Es Migjorn and said “hola” to our Menorcan friends. Then before we know it here we are again, a splash of sunbathing, rest and relaxation plus birding in the sunshine of picturesque Menorca. 

Like at home but here on Menorca there is also a local birding patch, a circuit which consists of stop-offs to many parts of the whole island, places where we know precisely to look and what to expect at any given time of day. 

First route this week was north and the road through Mercadal towards the coast at Fornells, eyes peeled for Red-footed Falcons, Kestrels, Peregrines, Booted Eagles and Red Kites soaring above the gentle hills and crags below El Toro, at 1175 ft. the highest point of Menorca. After a leisurely breakfast it’s surprising how early a coffee break is necessary before hitting the road again. 

 Booted Eagle

Es Mercadal 

Coffee Time Menorca

Payoff for the coffee and pastry came with a short detour from Mercadal to the local but actually quite unsmelly sewage works. Here we found both Wood and Common Sandpipers, a couple of Black-winged Stilts and lots of Swallows, Swifts and martins plus Yellow Wagtails, the latter a bird no longer common in the UK. 

Common Sandpiper

Before picturesque Fornells are the lagoons and the shore of Ses Salinas, a reliable spot for Black-winged Stilt, maybe an Avocet, Little Ringed Plover or a Curlew Sandpiper. A short walk from Fornells takes us a few hundred yards north to Cap Fornells where Blue Rock Thrush and Tawny Pipits are found amongst the rocks and paths up to the Torre itself.

Fornells - Menorca

Blue Rock Thrush

Tawny Pipit

Soon we hit the road back south and home to Sant Tomas, another tiny diversion and a quick turn to the marsh at Tirant where there are herons, egrets, shrikes, Bee Eaters, Marsh Harriers, Egyptian Vultures and lots more. Here is a great spot to spend an hour or two or three with yet more colourful Menorcan friends. 

Bee Eaters 

It's a hard life on Another Bird Blog but someone has to do it. Tune in soon and see if the misery continues.

I hope to catch up with Blogger friends soon and apologise in advance if comments remain unanswered.

Bits N Bobs

If Saturday was a day for Goldfinches then today wasn’t. Read on, but first news of a Barn Owl, the victim of a passing vehicle, the bird found dead by the roadside at Hambleton on 30th March as reported  HERE.

Barn Owl

A notification from the BTO tells me that GC29414 was first ringed 2 miles from Hambleton as a nestling on 26 July 2006, 2442 days or almost seven years before it died.The average lifespan for a Barn Owl is about 4 years, the oldest one known from bird ringing being 15 years of age. So despite GC29419 being a very experienced adult, it still fell victim to a vehicle. 

As the BTO remind us - “Each year over 900,000 birds are ringed in Britain and Ireland, by over 2,500 highly trained bird ringers, most of whom are volunteers. Ringing began over 100 years ago to study the movements of birds. While it continues to generate information about movements, it also allows study of how many young birds leave the nest and survive to breed as adults, as well as how many adults live from year to year and how many birds disperse to different breeding sites. Collection of this information helps understand why populations increase or decline - vital information for bird conservation. After over a hundred years of bird ringing in Britain and Ireland there is still much more to learn!” 

With more northerly wind this morning but after Saturday’s success I decided to try my luck again at the feeding station. When I arrived a Barn Owl was hunting the fields, even flying about my ringing station where soon I would find out there weren’t any new migrants and even the Goldfinches mostly absent.

Barn Owl

Just three Goldfinches this morning, and as if to reinforce the previous point about “still much to learn”, one of the Goldfinch bore a ring D130275 from elsewhere. I suspect it may be from across the other side of Morecambe Bay as a recent Goldfinch control here, D137544 had been ringed last autumn at Heysham some 20kms away.

 Goldfinch D137544 - Heysham 22nd Oct 2012 to Out Rawcliffe 28th Feb 2013

Goldfinch

The 7 birds caught today, 3 Goldfinch, 2 Dunnock, 1 Willow Warbler and surprise, surprise, a recapture of the Little Bunting first ringed here on 13th March. Upon examination I aged it once again as a second calendar year female. The bird now has more colouration in the face with the whitish eye ring more conspicuous. I reckon by now the poor creature is well and truly lost and therefore highly unlikely to find a route to north-east Europe or northern Asia where it should be now. Even less likely is that it will find a mate here in the wilds of the Lancahire mosses.

Little Bunting

Little Bunting

Not much doing on the migration front with a single Lesser Whitethroat singing nearby, one Lesser Redpoll over and several Swallows heading north. The 18/20 Whimbrel in the next fields have been there some days now and if only I could get as close to a Whimbrel here in Lancashire as the one I photographed in January's Fuerteventura holiday.

Whimbrel

Otherwise stuff - 4 Yellowhammer in song, 7+ Whitethroat, 6+ Willow Warbler, 15 Tree Sparrow, 8 Corn Bunting, 4 Reed Bunting, 2 Buzzard, 2 Wheatear and 2 Kestrel. 

Yellowhammer

It has been cold for weeks now but I know for sure things will warm up soon on Another Bird Blog, so log in later to see why.

Meanwhile take a look at Stewart's gallery down in Australia where it just has to be warmer than here -  http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com.au/

Goldfinches Rule

Following last night’s iffy forecast of more cold, northerly winds Saturday was destined to be one of those days for an early and rapid decision about which might be the most rewarding option, birding or ringing. 

There was a slight frost on the car windscreen, the sky clear and bright with no discernible breeze so I decided to head towards Rawcliffe. Maybe I'd manage a spot of ringing if the wind held off long enough. Before I reached the moss the usual pattern ensued, a Barn Owl hunting close to the A585 at Hambleton followed by a pair of Little Owls in their customary spot not far away. 

There was quite a frost on the open aspects of the moss, so much so that I donned hat, gloves and scarf before setting nets then afterwards sought the sanctuary of the still warm car and a cup of hot coffee. 

Willow Warblers and Whitethroats were in song soon enough, with a good number of Goldfinches coming and going about the niger feeders. There were so many Goldfinches around that it soon became apparent the species would dominate the catch. The wind picked up about 1015 forcing me to pack in with a total of 29 birds - 20 Goldfinch, 4 Whitethroat, 3 Chaffinch, 1 Reed Bunting and 1 Robin. Goldfinches have been noticeably scarce during the continuing cold weather but it looks like many are now finally on the move, the twenty caught made up of 10 new and 10 recaptures from previous occasions here, one from 2010 another from 2011. In all I estimated 70+ Goldfinches either using or passing through the area during my shortened morning. 

Goldfinch

Of the four Whitethroats, 3 were new birds, one a recapture from 2011 but not caught in 2012, perhaps due to the poor summer and reduced ringing opportunities. How wonderful to see Whitethroats return from their winter in Africa. 

Whitethroat

Whitethroat

At this time of year adult male Chaffinches look extremely bright, spick-and-span and truly immaculate.

Chaffinch

After catching more than 60 Reed Buntings here during the winter, the single bird caught today was not one of those but a newcomer to the site. 

Reed Bunting

In the cold conditions birding was very quiet, limited to a handful of Whimbrel on nearby fields, 6 Corn Bunting, 6 Yellowhammer and 1 Kestrel. Several Swallows were seen, most of those back on territory around nearby horse stabling facilities with just 2 birds heading north early doors. 

This post is linking up with Anni who would rather-b-birdin, and also Madge who hosts a Weekly Top Shot.

Friday Fare

What a weary old week of weather! It made birding difficult and ringing impossible until Friday morning promised something better so I set off for Pilling, but hatted and gloved again in the still cold north-westerly. 

Fluke Hall held a number of migrants, mostly in the sheltered sunny spots where I found 3 Chiffchaff, a Willow Warbler and a Blackcap. Back of the car park in the hedgerow were 2 Whitethroats, exactly where they appear every year, plus a number of vocal and flighty Linnets, the latter only just beginning to appear as spring migrants after being noticeably absent through the winter months. Below and along the sea wall were 3 Wheatears, a single Pied Wagtail and a number of Swallows heading out north and into the teeth of the wind. 

Whitethroat

There was a Golden Pheasant in the wood; surprised I could see it amongst all the bright yellow daffodils, and I don’t think it will take the local foxes long to find the creature. Feeding quietly on a grassy field in with 15/20 similarly grey but larger Woodpigeon was a pair of Stock Doves. 

Golden Pheasant

Daffodils

Stock Dove

Being a glutton for punishment I braved the wind again for the Lane Ends to Pilling Water stretch of sea wall. More Swallows and even House Martins along here, some feeding over the sheltered pool, others over the marsh. On the pool also, 3 Little Egret and the resident pair of Little Grebe. In the plantation were 3 Willow Warbler,1 Chiffchaff and a singing Reed Bunting. Here is becoming marginal habitat for a Reed Bunting as the place turns more to woodland each year. 

Up at Pilling Water 10 Wheatears, bright “Greenland” types were scattered across the marsh all the time heading east so too mobile to have a crack at catching one or two. Waders here - 2 Whimbrel, 1 Common Sandpiper, 22 Redshank, 30+ Lapwing, 14 Oystercatcher. And still 400+ Pink-footed Goose, 48 Shelduck. 

I scanned the large fields beyond Pilling Water and back towards Fluke, where Oystercatchers and Lapwings are now on eggs, bodies pressed low to the ground, heads poking up, partners and lookouts close by. The Lapwings don’t miss much, a passing Kestrel and the persistent crows receiving a good telling off, but the sight of a Buzzard spurs the Lapwing into greater things. I watched as both Lapwings and Carrion Crows dive bombed the Buzzard, more than once the wader making contact with the big raptor as it made its way back towards Fluke Hall. 

I doubt the Buzzard is a threat to the Lapwing’s eggs, but it will take Lapwings chicks, as will Kestrels and Carrion Crows. 

Lapwing and Buzzard

Kestrel

More news and views soon on Another Bird Blog.

Sunday Circuit

The start was just as predicted, bright, cool bordering on cold, but also breezy - OK for birding, but no good for ringing so a trip to Pilling became the order of the day. 

I know blog readers like owls because they mostly tell me so, especially when there are pictures of Little Owls. It wasn’t a Little Owl which kicked the morning off but a Barn Owl once again. Distant as usual I managed a few pictures of the owl before it went on its ghostly way across the fields and searching for a breakfast of fresh meat. 

Barn Owl

There was a Brown Hare alongside the same track, far too big an item for a Barn Owl to tackle, but small leverets and baby rabbits are prey items along with the more commonly eaten rats, voles, shrews and mice. 

Brown Hare

At Fluke Hall a Chiffchaff and a Willow Warbler sang from the roadside trees while 3 Siskins fed in the topmost branches. Away from the shelter of the trees the cool and increasing wind speed made for hard work and small numbers - 2 White Wagtail, 3 Linnet, 2 Wheatear, 6 Goldfinch, 2 Meadow Pipit. On the marsh below the sea wall a single Little Egret fed and a Grey Heron flew off towards the tide - Will was telling me yesterday how the Claughton heronry near the A6 has just two pairs of Grey Heron in residence this year compared to over 100 pairs at its peak several years ago. No wonder then that Little Egret is now more common locally than Grey Heron. 

Grey Heron

Little Egret

Lane Ends and Pilling Water proved more productive than Fluke. The plantation held 2 Willow Warbler, 1 Sedge Warbler, 1 Reed Bunting, 2 Chiffchaff and a single Lesser Redpoll. The pools and marsh had 2 Little Grebe, 4 Little Egret and 2 Whimbrel with a couple of Swallows and House Martins feeding over the sheltered water. 

The walk to Pilling Water and beyond turned up a Common Sandpiper, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Linnet, 6 Skylark, 6 Wheatear, 200+ Pink-footed Geese, 2 Alba wagtails and several more Meadow Pipits.

 Pink-footed Goose

The year is now turning into a dry one whereby the wader fields beyond Pilling Water are dry and dusty, not good when soggy patches and puddles with emerging vegetation are required to hide and feed newly born wader chicks. At the moment there’s not much growth to hide any adults sitting on eggs either, fields only recently rolled and seeded where Lapwings, Redshanks, Oystercatchers and Curlews stand out like colourful blots on the pale brown landscape. 

Curlew

Nearly lunch time, the showers arrived on cue and I headed home to blog. Maybe the rain and a touch of warm air will make the grass grow, the trees blossom and the warblers sing? 

Please log in soon to Another Bird Blog and find out. In the meantime you can log onto Stewart's Gallery for more birds from around the world.

Missing On The Moss

Autumn and winter time make for many productive birding and ringing days at inland Rawcliffe Moss, whereas March, April and May can be very hit or miss because spring migrants tend to arrive at more coastal locations. 

Today must have been one of those latter type days when after a clear, quite frosty and very early start of 0530, Will and I could muster only 6 birds in a good three hours. Birds caught 3 Goldfinch, Willow Warbler, Dunnock and Wren. 

After blank days waiting for Lesser Redpolls there were finally some on the move this morning but none of the 8/10 birds seen or heard found our nets. We did open the Willow Warbler account with a single male caught and at least two others seen/heard but otherwise we saw no other warbler species. 

Willow Warbler

Goldfinch

With clear and sunny skies it was a quiet morning of birding too, the migration highlights being 2 Whimbrel, 4+ Siskin over, 2 Alba wagtail, 2 Meadow Pipit, 1 Golden Plover and 6/8 Swallows over. A number of flighty Woodpigeons, 100+, are still in the area, probably part of the winter contingent and yet to depart as opposed to residents birds waiting to pair up. 

Woodpigeon

Local residents accounted for the other species as 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrel, 2 Buzzard, 1 Little Owl, 1 Corn Bunting in jangling song and 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker beating out a wooden tune. 

On the way home I snapped a common/European Starling in song on a hedgerow top. Apart from the fact the bird was singing, it’s a male due the blue base to the yellow bill, whereas and perhaps appropriately enough, females have a pink base. I use the word “song” advisedly as everyone knows a Starling’s refrain contains a wide range of chuckles, whistles, knocking and grating sounds along with good imitations of the songs of other birds. A Starling is a member of the oriole family of birds, many of which are fabulous songsters. 

European/Common Starling

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, European Starlings were quite rare. After that they underwent an increase in numbers leading to it becoming one of Britain's most widespread and common birds. Recently the Starling has suffered a dramatic reversal of fortune; since the 1980s their abundance has decreased severely, giving great cause for conservation concern. The greatest declines of a shocking 92% have occurred in woodland, but this may represent sub-optimal habitat for the European starling. On farmland declines of 66% have occurred. Starlings can be considered a pest species because of the mess they make at roosts, but they are a visually attractive species and one we might miss were they to be no longer around.

European/Common Starling

Sunday’s forecast is for sun with a breezy southerly. Looks like a spot of birding for Another Bird Blog, so log in soon to find out what you missed.