Sunny Survey

It was the Cockerham round today - Conder Green, Glasson and Cockersands.

Common Sandpipers continue to pass through with 11 today, joined in the creek by 25+ Redshanks, 1 Curlew and a summer plumaged Spotted Redshank.

Spotted Redshank - Lorenzo L M. / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenzo-l-m/3646591077/ 

At this time of year adults spot-reds look totally different from their autumn and winter cold-grey plumage. Although July seems early for returning migrants from relatively cold northern climes, female Spotted Redshanks leave breeding sites first. Exhausted from producing eggs, it is an advantage for them to arrive at staging areas early and have first pick of the food. Males usually leave next, and juveniles later. These waves are not due to the lack of food on the northern summer grounds, but because there is more food at the staging area for those that arrive first. Female Spotted Redshanks sometimes leave up to a week before eggs hatch, leaving males to look after the youngsters, a breeding and survival strategy adopted by other wader species.

It is a number of years since a mid June outing to the then undisturbed River Ribble found 14 of the black beauties on a tidal pool that was also the site of a Ruff leck. Oh Happy Days.

I counted just 10 Lapwings this morning plus the usual number of Oystercatchers, a pair with 2 well grown chicks and other adults still behaving territorially. And here's proof if any were needed that Oystercatchers eat more than oysters.

Oystercatcher

The juvenile male Goldeneye is still around but a long lonely wait for more to join him in October with for now just 4 Tufted Duck, 2 Wigeon and a few Shelduck for company.

Goldeneye

Small birds and others – 1 Reed Bunting, 4 Tree Sparrow, 2 Whitethroat, 4 Greenfinch, 2 Linnet, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, and it's hard to get any passerines into double figures at the moment. Two Stock Dove, 30 Swift and 8 Sand Martin and 1 Grey Heron.

Two Sedge Warblers in song this morning, one at the lay-by the other towards the Stork, the pub that to be strictly accurate should be renamed “The Grey Heron”. The pub dates from 1660 when any large wading bird with long legs, a long bill and long neck would be referred to as a stork.

It was a lovely sunny morning for a look at Glasson Dock and a walk along the canal towpath. I found a single Great Crested Grebe, 6 Goldfinch, 2 Whitethroat, a Chiffchaff in song and 2 Willow Warblers feeding in a sycamore tree although not much else unless you count a Song Thrush, and I guess we really should.

Glasson Canal

Mallard

Cockersands was quiet too with 2 Grey Plover, 6 Curlew, 1 Reed Bunting and 2 Grey Heron moved on by the incoming tide.

Looks like a sunny weekend ahead - hooray.

Linking this post to Camera Critters and id-rather-b-birdin .

It's Driving Me Batty...

The weather that is, although warmth is promised for weekend. But stay tuned for real bats after the bird news. 

A cloudy, cool and breezy start again at Lane Ends with 2 Common Sandpiper on the pools and it looks like there has been a return movement of of this species, a Little Egret, 2 Grey Heron and 2 Corn Buntings in song. A Peregrine flew over towards Pilling Marsh carrying small prey although I couldn't make out what. 

Grey Heron

At Conder there were seven more Common Sandpipers but little else to enliven a dull morning, the usual 60+ Redshank, 1 Curlew and 15 Oystercatcher including two youngsters but an increase in Lapwing to 120. 

Redshank

Although the unseasonal Goldeneye remains, Tufted Duck were down to just 4 birds today plus 3 Wigeon seen from the bridge. Small birds were thin on the ground in the cool conditions, a singing Sedge Warbler, 2 Pied Wagtail, 4 Tree Sparrow, 2 Reed Bunting, 5 Goldfinch and 4 Linnet. Two of the Linnets were recently fledged young begging food from the accompanying adults. 

 Linnet

When I later looked at Glasson Dock there were no Tufted Duck there either, just half-a-dozen Coot and a Chiffchaff singing from the nearby trees. 

Now for the really barmy stuff. For a day or two we thought we had mice spending time around the garden after finding tiny, black, rice-sized droppings on and around the household waste bin at the far side of the house. After sweeping up for a few days the mystery was solved this morning by finding two dead baby bats in the same spot and the realization that the phantom “mice” are in fact bats using the eaves of the house and depositing their waste below as they come and go. From good old Wiki - it appears our bats may be Common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus a small bat whose very large range extends across most of Europe, North Africa, southwestern Asia, and possibly into Korea. It is one of the most common bat species in the British Isles. 

A young bat is called a pup or kit. When born they are 3-4 % of their mother's weight. Pups can't fly so they either stay in the nest while their mother forages for food or they will cling onto their mother while she is in flight. 

 Common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus

Common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus

Maybe our pups dropped off mum or fell from the tiny cracks where the brickwork meets the under eaves. In any case that's two bats that won't be flying around our garden on those balmy summer evenings we're promised. 

Visit soon for more barmy stuff soon from Another Bird Blog.

Similar Summer

“Summer” continued in the same cloudy, cool and breezy vein at Conder Green this morning. So no surprises when after a couple of hours of due diligence my notebook entries almost mirrored those of recent days.

There was an extra Common Sandpiper today, two birds flicking low over the creek as I arrived to a  water level which filled the channel. The high water level kept the Redshanks away so my count didn't exceed 30 birds, likewise the Oystercatchers count of 16 which included two chicks. A flock of 40+ Lapwing came off the filling marsh to roost towards the back of the pool as 12/15 Curlews headed more inland while 2 Grey Heron stayed overlooking the creek.

Wildfowl numbers were low today with the single Goldeneye, 9 Tufted Duck and 12 Shelduck completing the count.

Shelduck

The long and dense hawthorn hedge provided action in the shape of approximately 20 Sand Martin, 12 Swallow, 15 House Martin and 20 Swift hawking for insects again.

The same hedgerow supplied the passerines too - 4 Tree Sparrow, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Chaffinch, 6 Goldfinch, 4 Greenfinch, 2 Linnet and 2 Pied Wagtails, the wagtails feeding in roadside puddles below the hedge.

Juvenile Goldfinch

After remarking a couple of days ago upon the scarcity of Stock Doves at Conder Green today I noted three of them feeding quietly alongside the road; later I was to see one in our garden where the timid species is an now an uncommon but previously impossible species to expect. Perhaps like their larger relative the Wood Pigeon the inconspicuous and overlooked Stock Dove will become a common garden bird? Here's a handful of a woodpig I caught earlier in the week.

Woodpigeon

A quick scoot around Jeremy Lane and Hillam Lane revealed 30+ Sand Martin, 12 Tree Sparrow, 1 Kestrel and 8/10 Skylarks. It was a pretty unpleasant morning for Flaming June and far from ideal for birding so I cut my losses and headed home to try again another day, hopefully tomorrow.

Skylark

Look in Sunday and see if things improved for Another Bird Blog.

Linking this week to Stewart's Gallery,  Weekly Top Shot ,  Anni's Blog and  Camera Critters.

Scary

Conder Green had a good going over again this morning. Although the results weren't startling, the good selection of species and numbers meant there was always something for interest and entertainment in this quiet time for birding.

I'll begin with the waders. A pair of Oystercatchers on the pool have two good sized young, the adults being their usual protective and demonstrative selves by scaring off anyone or anything which came too close to make sure their chicks stayed low to the ground.  Luckily there aren't too many Carrion Crows hereabouts, just the local Magpies.

Oystercatcher

Oystercatcher

Redshanks have increased to 65 in the immediate creek and 20+ from the railway bridge = 85+ today. A single Common Sandpiper was back this morning, plus 3 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Curlew and 3 Lapwing. Bridge Over The River Conder also yielded 125+ Mute Swan and 2 Grey Heron. 

Common Sandpiper

The Oystercatchers weren't the only ones on parental duties as two pair of Shelduck have 11 young between them, a six and a five of much the same almost half-size ducklings. A pair of Canada Goose still with two goslings and 2 pair of Mallard with 10+ young. Other wildfowl - Wigeon now depleted to 2 birds, 14 Tufted Duck, 1 Goldeneye. 

The mozzy type insects were swarming again this morning, a bonanza which drew in a constant stream of hirundines and Swifts. The notebook says 30+ Swift, 20 Sand Martin, 20 House Martin and 20 Swallows – counts that can be guesstimates only but might give an inkling as to the visible and audible action of so many small birds hawking the hedgerow. 

Numbers of “small stuff” as in 5 Linnet, 6 Goldfinch, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Meadow Pipit, 1 Whitethroat, 4 Greenfinch, 2 Reed Bunting and 5 Tree Sparrow. A single Stock Dove feeding near the pool edges may well be a new bird for me at this site - must check. 

Tree Sparrow

Stock Dove

Back home and during a walk around the village all seemed quiet except for two singing Chiffchaffs, a couple of Whitethroats and the Buzzards down the lane towards the river. Sue suddenly said “Why don't you use your grubby old birding clothes to enter the village Scarecrow Competition?” I declined by admitting that I'm not too good at those Blue Peter type things but I'm not too sure if that's what Sue had in mind. 

Scarecrows 

Scarecrow

Scarecrows

Scarecrow

Join Another Bird Blog soon for more scary birding and the best in news. Don't forget to "click the pics" - don't be scared now.

Curlews And Wheatears Return

In the absence of any substantial news there's just a quick post for Another Bird Blog today. 

The same thing happens every year at the end of June and early July, a noticeable influx of upland Curlews coming back down to the coast and the appearance of juvenile Wheatears. At Pilling I had a count of 195 Curlews plus a sighting of a young Wheatear, the chat probably from the Bowland Hills not far away. I had meal worms ready but the Wheatear did a bunk along the sea wall towards Fluke Hall and Knott End and I didn't see it later. 

Curlew

Wheatear

Otherwise there's not too much to report except for 5 Corn Buntings along the sea wall, the 2 singing males indicating breeding in the silage fields. The Corn Buntings seem to have partly filled a niche previously occupied by Meadow Pipits, a species which no longer breeds here. 

Two Grey Herons and a single Little Egret again with left overs from Sunday and Monday's strong winds represented by singles of Sandwich Tern and Common Tern. 

Sandwich Tern

Other waders, wildfowl and miscellaneous today - 40 Lapwing, 30 Redshank, 1 Greenshank, 45 Shelduck, 2 Cormorant, 2 Pied Wagtail, 2 Linnet 8 Swift, 15 Swallows. 

Hopefully there's a fuller post tomorrow for blog followers. Meanwhile take a look at Stewart's Gallery for lots of links to other birdy blogs.

Rain Stopped Play

There was time for a quick look at Pilling and Conder Green early on but when the wind and rains arrived I was back home for a late tea-and-toast breakfast. Too soon maybe as the sky then cleared leaving a bright but very windy and still showery day.

Near Lane Ends were a good number of post-breeding Lapwings, 25+ adults together with a small number of obvious juveniles, spiky-crowned and brightly edged feathers, but birds now well on the way to adulthood. I checked out a pair of Oystercatchers which seemed to be doing the business again after the original nest was rolled by Hi-Fly's farming operations; three eggs again in the sprouting maize crop so the oyks should be fine this time providing the Carrion Crows or mammal predators don't intervene. 

Lapwing juvenile

Oystercatcher nest

Oystercatcher

I stopped briefly at the plantation where 2 Reed Warblers, a Blackcap and a Reed Bunting were in song and 2 Grey Herons out on the marsh. 

At Conder Green the cool, windy conditions meant good numbers of hirundines and Swifts were dashing about the hedgerow again to give counts of 25+ Swift, 20+ House Martin, 15 Swallow and 6 Sand Martin. Late June can be when waders begin returning to coastal haunts and there seemed to be higher numbers of Redshank today with 30+ noted, although just 2 Black-tailed Godwit and 1 Curlew was consistent with recent sightings here. Fifteen Oystercatcher and 6 Lapwing was also normal. 

Wildfowl - 3 Wigeon, a Shelduck with 5 small chicks, 14 Tufted Duck and the unseasonal Goldeneye again. The origins of the latter is a matter of some speculation as Goldeneyes normally feature in this area between October and March, the likelihood being that this immature male did not return north last autumn. Immature males do not attain their full black and white male plumage until their second winter. Whatever, the bird certainly appears wild enough and loafs about the pool with the tufties.

Goldeneye

Another returnee this morning was a Little Egret feeding amongst the Redshank and Mallards in the Conder channel. Unfortunately our UK Little Egrets are not as accommodating towards photographers as the species is in other parts of the world, in this case Fuerteventura. 

Little Egret

Passerines this morning - 2 Tree Sparrow, 1 Pied Wagtail, 2 Greenfinch, 4 Goldfinch. 

Another Bird Blog links today to Camera Critters and Anni's Blogspot .

Early Bird

It's hard to sleep these light mornings but lying awake while the sun shines outside isn't an option. Or maybe I'm just a natural early bird keen to catch the birding action. Whatever it is I soon found myself heading north for a wander around the hot spots of Cockerham for a couple of hours before clouds rolled in and rain returned. 

The Barn Owl is an early bird too, hunting the marsh and the roadside before most normal people are up and about. I was stood in a cloud of morning midges hence the black dots appearing to surround the owl, tiny insects which are actually whizzing around the camera lens pointed unerringly at the owl. A little more road traffic soon sent the owl back home for a daytime sleep.

Barn Owl

Barn Owl

The swarm of midges attracted Swifts again with 25 or more hawking the insects along the hedgerow and over my head, but only tiny numbers of Swallows and House Martins. I was to see Sand Martins later when I called at Hillam Lane where the colony now numbers 10/12 nest holes and c30 birds including this season's juveniles. 

Sand Martin

Waders and wildfowl on the pools/creek - 3 Grey Heron, 3 Lapwing, 1 Curlew, 12 Oystercatcher, 14 Redshank,1 Goldeneye, 3 Wigeon, 14 Tufted Duck, 6 Shelduck and 1 Teal. 

Alongside the road were 2 pairs of Reed Buntings feeding young, 1 singing Reed Warbler, 1 Pied Wagtail and 7 Tree Sparrow. While there are mainly juvenile Tree Sparrows about, the few adults I saw were busy collecting insects to feed their nestlings. We perhaps think of sparrows as seed eaters but Tree Sparrow youngsters are fed a high diet of insects.

Tree Sparrow

Jeremy Lane to Cockersands produced 4 Whitethroat, 2 Reed Bunting, 10 Skylark, 2 Sedge Warbler and several more Tree Sparrows. 

The tide was well in at Cockersands helping to find a number of waders and wildfowl, including 4 Curlew, 170 Oystercatcher, 1 Grey Plover, 8 Teal and a good count of 53 Eider. The Eider count comprised a flight of 5 heading out of the estuary together with a crèching group of 48 birds, 8 adult females and 40 ducklings. 

Eider

Eiders are colonial breeders. They nest on coastal islands in colonies ranging in size of less than 100 to upwards of 10,000-15,000 individuals. Female Eiders frequently return to breed on the same island where they were hatched. This can lead to a high degree of relatedness between individuals nesting on the same island, as well as the development of kin-based female social structures. This relatedness has played a role in the evolution of co-operative breeding behaviours amongst Eiders. Examples of these behaviours include laying eggs in the nests of related individuals and crèching, where female Eiders team up and share the work of rearing ducklings. The picture below shows just part of today's Eider crèche. 

Eider crèche 

That's all for now folks. Look in to Another Bird Blog soon for more early news and views.

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