A Barny Start

It’s always good to begin the day with a Barn Owl although the light at dawn or soon after is mostly imperfect for photographs. I tried 400, 800 and then ended up with ISO1600 for a few shots as the owl used a fence post from which to launch itself into the rough grass below. The owl didn’t get much in the way of food and I didn’t get too much in the way of pictures, so we both went our separate ways. 

Barn Owl

Barn Owl

Barn Owl

I made my way to Fluke Hall where things seemed quiet, so perhaps the overnight clear skies had sent Thursday's birds on their way? Slowly along the road I reached similar counts of the now apparently resident Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers and Blackcaps. The Mistle Thrushes and Song Thrushes are still feeding young, and although I’ve narrowed down the possibilities, both nests remain secret. 

Song Thrush

At the car park were 2 Whitethroats in song and in the ploughed field 5+ Wheatears and 8 or more White Wagtails, both species feeding in and out of the deep furrows effectively so as to ruin any chance of accurate counts. A dozen or more Linnets plus a couple of both Meadow Pipits and Skylarks completed the picture. 

White Wagtail

I was ready for leaving when a Grasshopper Warbler began its reeling song from somewhere along the back of the hedgerow. The skulking and secretive Grasshopper Warbler is most infrequent here at Fluke Hall, but is in any case more likely to be glimpsed or heard in brief rather than seen in regular performance of its insect like song. Try as I might I didn’t see the “gropper”, it went silent and I suspect it slipped off unseen to try its luck at a more suitable location. 

Grasshopper Warbler - Photo credit: Sergey Pisarevskiy / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Things were fairly quiet at Conder Green too, to all intents and purposes the wader and wildfowl count identical to Thursday, with c200 Black-tailed Godwit, 12 Oystercatcher, 2 Lapwing, 15 Redshank, 2 Spotted Redshank, 3 Common Sandpiper, 20 Tufted Duck, 8 Shelduck and 2 Wigeon. Just like Thursday there was a single black-tail in the creek and another one closer to my usual  viewing spot.

 Tufted Ducks

Black-tailed Godwit

In the “little brown jobs” line I couldn’t do any better than 3 Whitethroat, 3 Sedge Warbler, 4 Reed Bunting, 6 Linnet and 2 Greenfinch. 

I’ve stopped counting Swallows because they now seem to be well and truly “in”, as usual arriving  under birders’ radar but to turn up knocking at most farmers’ barn doors. What a welcome sight after a truly awful winter.

There’s a pair or two already nest building under the lock gates at Glasson Dock, the birds resting up on the rusty old handrails while giving each other advice on how best to get the job done. There's no rush boys and girls, you’ve got all summer. 

Barn Swallow

The weather forecast for the weekend isn’t suggesting much in the way of balmy Summer days. 

Never mind, if it’s at all possible Another Bird Blog will be birding and report here in due course.

Linking this post to Camera Critters and Eileen's Saturday Blog.

A Little Willy Morning

When I arrived at Fluke Hall this morning it became obvious that some overnight rain had dropped in a few migrants. 

The trees and hedgerows fairly dripped Willow Warblers and there was a Sedge Warbler in loud and steady song from a very un-Sedge Warbler like spot. It is mornings like this when you wonder as much about the birds you are not seeing as the ones you are. 

Willow Warbler

 Willow Warbler

“Bush bashing” revealed at least 12 Willow Warbler, 3 Whitethroat, 3 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff, 4 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Greenfinch, 1 Sedge Warbler and 15 Linnet. On the nearby ploughed field were 2 Wheatears, and on the local circuit 2 Mistle Thrush, 2 Song Thrush, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, and 24 + Blackbird. 

Blackbird

Blackbird

The Willow Warbler theme continued at Conder Green with birds present at the pool hedgerow, the car park and then at Glasson Dock, with total sightings of 8+ more. Also at Glasson Dock, a Wheatear on the towpath plus 2 Blackcap and 2 Chiffchaff in song. 

 A Lesser Black-backed Gull was also in good voice with its territorial song of sorts. 

Lesser Black-backed Gull

The stop at Conder Pool gave 200+ Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Spotted Redshank, 1 Greenshank, 1 Common Sandpiper, 18 Tufted Duck and 8 Oystercatcher. Non-waterbirds included 1 Raven, 2 Reed Bunting and 2 Whitethroat. 

Common Sandpiper

I stopped at Cockerham and found 2 Buzzards near the sea wall. The pair of Buzzards were together and fence-hopping, feeding along a path, a rough area of grass and in a midden. (midden - a word used by farmers in Britain to describe the place where farm yard manure from cows or other animals is collected). 

The Buzzards remained unmolested by other birds until one of them decided to fly off, prompting Carrion Crows, Lapwings and six or seven Swallows in turn to give them a good send off. 

Buzzards

Buzzard and Lapwings

Carrion Crow and Buzzard

Although the wind had picked up yet again I thought to give Lane Ends a try for Wheatears. It was no good as although there were 2 Wheatears they weren’t interested in stopping for a meal worm and I quickly gave up. 

Out on the marsh were still 160+ Pink-footed Geese, birds destined for Iceland, as were the 4 newly arrived Whimbrel I saw feeding quietly and not too far out from the sea wall. A cursory glance from a local Pilling person might invite the identification of “Curlew” but birders know that the Whimbrel is a rather special member of the curlew family. 

Whimbrel

In the plantation/pools here, 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap 2 Jay, 1 Reed Bunting and 2 Little Grebe. 

Willow Warbler

It was a very enjoyable morning of birding again, and new pictures for blog readers to enjoy. 

Don’t forget to “click the pics” for close up views, and log in to Another Bird Blog soon.

Linking today to The Run "A" Round Ranch's Good Fences.

Plan B

Plan A was to be a coastal walk soon after dawn to seek out more Wheatears and anything else lurking unfound by Spring birders. A bitingly cold north easterly wind soon put paid to that idea whereby I found myself in the car heading north with the heater and heated seat at “max”, but as usual the window turned down. It is somewhat mystifying but occasionally I see people apparently bird watching, sitting in their car with the windows up and the radio booming away; I wonder how they ever locate birds? 

Plan B found me at Conder Green for a look on the pool and the roadside creeks, with hopefully a few Spring migrants. The 2 Spotted Redshanks have wintered here. Now they are in the process of acquiring their summery black plumage it will be interesting to see when exactly they head off to Scandinavia/Asia to breed. 

Spotted Redshank

Spotted Redshank

There was a lot of long range birding today with over 200 Black-tailed Godwits feeding on the distant side of the pool for a while before flying off to the estuary. Not long after a similar number came back to the pool only to then do exactly the same by returning to the area of the River Lune. Mostly the godwits were in brick-red plumage with a small number of obvious second year birds and yet other intermediates. One fed in the creek for a while, distant as ever. One Grey Heron in the creeks also, with c15 Redshank and 1 Curlew. 

Black-tailed Godwit

The pool is pretty sparse for birds now, still suffering from excessive water levels caused by the wet, windy and tide-filled winter. As a diving species Tufted Ducks appear to like it, with 26 counted today as opposed to dabbling Wigeon with just a singleton noted. 

Tufted Duck

8 Oystercatchers are in residence seemingly paired up and waiting for good sized stretches of stones, pebbles and suchlike where their eggs can remain undetected. Not much chance of that on a favoured Oystercatcher island which is normally several times bigger than at present and so rather restricts their choice of a nest site. 

Oystercatcher

A “few” Swallows and Sand Martins headed north with other visible migration restricted to one or two Lesser Redpoll overhead. Singing Reed Bunting and Greenfinch along the hedgerow. 

A pit stop at Braides Farm gave 26 Golden Plover, 8 Linnet and 4 Swallows heading east. 

Finally it was Fluke Hall where the wind had not abated so I concentrated effort on the woodland. The male Kestrel was in the same location as normal and then I found out why. He dropped from the fence post to all of two yards away and then came back up with a good sized mammal. After taking a portion of the food for himself he flew off to the nearby nest box to present the animal to the female, the latter presumably now on eggs. It’s a big prey item for a smallish Kestrel and another long distance picture - 400mm x 1.4 converter. 

Kestrel

The woodland and hedgerow produced 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 20+ Blackbirds, 2 Song Thrush, 2 Blackcap, 2 Willow Warbler, 1Chiffchaff, and the arrival of one singing Whitethroat fresh from Africa. 

Whitethroat

In the field nearest the sea wall there’s a build-up of spring Linnets and a few Meadow pipits, about 100+ Linnets and 4/5 pipits today, flushed in all directions by a marauding Sparrowhawk. 

So Plan B didn’t turn out too bad after all. Tune in soon to see what’s scheduled next for Another Bird Blog.

Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.

Hoopoe? What Hoopoe?

The Hoopoe excavating some unfortunate person’s lawn about 10 miles away decided my birding destination should be in the opposite direction this morning. If there’s one Hoopoe, there just might be another around the area or something equally exotic, but no one will ever find anything unless they go birding. 

Hoopoe

Fluke Hall gardens have the look and feel of Hoopoe Land but alas there were none of the floppy fliers to be seen, just scolding Blackbirds and a post-dawn Jay directing me to a Tawny Owl instead. The owl was deep in the trees, a half view and half a picture was all I managed this time. 

Tawny Owl

Tawny Owl

The owl flew to a private spot near the hall where it usually hangs out. I know that because the local birds often find the hidden owl and noisily tell the whole neighbourhood including visiting bird watchers. They should recognise the signs that point to a concealed owl. 

There seemed to be very few birds on the move this morning despite or perhaps because of the clear, frosty start. Later there would be a couple of flighty redpolls at Lane Ends, but here nothing. 

Never mind, there was a good selection of local birds with today the turn of Mistle Thrushes to be feeding youngsters. An adult bill packed with tiny items told of small young but I lost the adult as it dipped through the trees and then up again. There was a Grey Heron on the pool, a couple of Shelduck, the usual gaggle of Mallards and Moorhens, and in the tree tops 2 Buzzards calling to each other. Later on and as the sun warmed the air both Buzzards circled high over the trees. 

Buzzard

The Kestrel pair sat along a fence line, two posts keeping the two apart; handsome birds but as adults hard to approach for a portrait. 

 

Kestrel

In song amongst the trees and hedgerows were 3 Blackcap, 3 Willow Warbler, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Song Thrush and 1 Greenfinch plus uncounted commoners like Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Dunnock, Robin and Blackbird. One Great-spotted Woodpecker was actually drumming this morning, not very loud, more like a regular “tap-tap-tap” in the absence of competing males in the area. “Odds and Sods” comprised a single Swallow, 1 Little Egret and I male Reed Bunting on a regular stretch of territory. 

There were 3 Wheatears at Lane Ends, 2 males and a female, all of which had the appearance of “Greenland” types. When I eventually caught the female, wing 97mm and low weight of 22gms, biometrics which placed it in the overlap zone, I decided that due to her male companions she was almost certainly a “Northern” Northern Wheatear. 

Northern Wheatear

 Northern Wheatear

I heard Blackcap, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff in song here too, the trilling Little Grebe and there was a flying visit from the Damside male Kestrel. 

The wildfowlers’ pools and sea wall were uneventful with regular counts of 300 Pink-footed Goose, 90 Shelduck, 65 Redshank, 4 Teal, 8 Linnet and 6 Skylark. 

Well in four hours I didn’t see a Hoopoe, nothing exotic, untoward or even unexpected but I did enjoy a great morning of bird watching. 

Hoopoe

There’s more unexciting bird watching soon from Another Bird Blog. Log in if you dare.

Linking today to Anni's Birding Blog and  Eileen's Saturday Blog.

Different Days, Different Birds

On Tuesday we spent a day at Blackpool Zoo with our two granddaughters. Today I took a well-earned rest and spent a good three hours birding the usual spots. 

Zoos, you either love or hate them and I hadn’t been to a zoo for many years. At ages 8 and almost 3 respectively, Olivia and Isabella loved it, spending the first 30 minutes running around wildly as they discovered new animals to look at. Eventually the pace slowed as the girls began to take an interest in the “exhibits”. 

They were both impressed with the Red Panda, Ailurus fulgens fulgens an animal which in the wild “feeds mainly on bamboo” to then spend most of the day asleep or escaping from Snow Leopards. In the picture the panda is eating a rabbit. Cue Granddad, two cuddly toy Red Pandas from the Zoo Shop. 

Red Panda

We all rather liked the Ring-tailed Lemurs a species closely related to Homo sapiens; both species often practice Yoga in their spare time. 

Ring-tailed Lemur

In between finding Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers, Blackcaps and Swallows along the pathways and over areas of water, Granddad was quite taken with the White Pelicans, one of the few bird species confiding enough to be photographed. There’s a good number of free flying Barnacle Geese wandering close to passing Joe Public, not a trait exhibited from the occasional Barnacle Goose spotted at Pilling. 

White Pelican

White Pelican

Yellow-naped Parrot

Barnacle Goose

A good day was had by all, but now for today’s lack of pictures from Pilling. 

The morning started rather well at Fluke Hall with plenty of redpolls arriving from the west before feeding in the tree tops as they worked their way east. Seventeen birds went into the notebook as the common Lesser Redpoll even though an uncommon Common Redpoll was seen just across Morecambe Bay yesterday. I wouldn’t dare separate the two species on call but I once found an Arctic Redpoll in Wales by hearing it call and then following to where it landed. The joy of “vis migging” is occasionally palpable. 

Confused? It’s a quirk of birding for redpoll species UK style - Common Redpolls are actually quite scarce in the UK, Lesser Redpolls are widespread and numerous in Spring and Autumn, while an Arctic Redpoll is almost unobtainable. 

Lesser Redpoll : Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) 

In today’s rarity stakes were 3 Song Thrush, probably convertible to 2 pairs as one pair were busy collecting food for youngsters and a third bird sang loudly from some distance away. In the same area a pair of Mistle Thrush, 4 Tree Sparrow and the now resident Kestrel. Below is a quite shocking picture but proof that Song Thrush does exist and is breeding hereabouts. 

 Song Thrush

The air was quite still at first allowing not only the redpolls but the songs of 3 Willow Warbler, 3 Blackcap and 1 Chiffchaff. The wind was to pick up noticeably quite soon and put a stop to visible movement. 

At Lane Ends the southerly wind had become quite strong as I walked the sea wall. Two Wheatears was the highlight even though getting a picture of a probable “Greenland” female proved difficult as the wind shook the camera. Neither bird was near the normal catching area.

 Wheatear

Also at Lane Ends - a Swallow flying east, 1 Buzzard heading inland, 2 Little Egrets leaving the confines of the pool for the outer marsh and a Kestrel returning to its Damside nest box.

Singing in the plantation were singletons of Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Blackcap. 

There’s more from Another Bird Blog on Thursday, and Friday, and Saturday, and…..

A Sheltered Life

I couldn’t get out until lunch time where despite the sunshine, cold and strong north-westerly winds were still doing their best to ruin any birding, so I spent a couple of hours looking in slightly less windy spots. 

In singing mode at Fluke Hall were 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Blackcap, a couple or more Chaffinches and likewise Goldfinches. Blackcap is always the first of the Sylvias to arrive with Whitethroat due any day, although most Spring migrants appear to be late now. I haven’t seen a Wheatear since 5th April despite being out birding along the coast most days. 

It’s difficult to ever get a picture of a Blackcap because they move so fast through the trees and undergrowth, singing as they go; one obliged today. 

Blackcap

Still 2 Kestrels here at Fluke as well as another pair in the Damside area. A single House Martin flew over the sea wall seemingly heading into the strong wind and across Morecambe Bay. 

On Hi-Fly ploughed fields, several Lapwings, 6+ Skylark and 4 Stock Dove picking through the soil, but presumably no nests after three days of disturbance and ploughing. 

The exposed sea wall accentuates any blustery effect but I braved it for a walk to Pilling Water and back with very little to show - 2 Little Egret, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 45 Redshank, 450 Pink-footed Geese and just 2 Skylarks. Sheltering in the creeks of wildfowlers’ pools - 5 Shoveler, 2 Teal and 4 Shelduck. 

Shelduck

At Lane Ends plantation were more sounds and sights of Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Chaffinch and Goldfinch. Little Grebe and Little Egret in the vicinity of the water, and 2 Swallows flying quickly east. 

Goldfinch

I’m sure the wind will both drop and change to a lovely warm southerly direction at some time. If so be sure that Another Bird Blog will be there to tell everyone all about it.

Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.

Quiet Again

A bright, sunny start but with still the nagging northerly that’s holding up a flood of birds just south of here. There was a hint of finches on the move this morning, nothing too obvious just a few Lesser Redpolls flying over, Siskins high in the trees and a Brambling, the latter a good find for April. 

I’d started at Fluke Hall, checked the sea wall for Wheatears and pipits of which there were none but noted small numbers of both Linnets and Goldfinches moving along the hedgerow and the sea wall. There seemed to be little genuinely “on the move” as distinct from local birds, so I then quietly searched the woodland and woodland edge as far as the “Keep Out” signs allowed, hoping for maybe a Ring Ouzel - just Blackbirds of course. 

Blackbird

Bramblings have such a distinctive, nasal, wheezy call that if one or more is about there is no denying it. Likewise Lesser Redpolls and Siskins, two members of the finch family which have also have highly characteristic and unmistakeable calls. All three species were moving through the tree tops but I managed to see a Lesser Redpoll only. Into the notebook went “one” of each although later at Lane Ends there would be 3 Lesser Redpolls and 2 Siskin to add to the resident Chaffinches. 

Brambling

Also here at Fluke Hall, a resident Pied Wagtail, singing Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, a pair of Kestrels at the box and 1 Little Egret on the marsh. 

The maize fields which have proved a magnet for many birds during the winter have now dried to such an extent that they have been ploughed in preparation for planting with the result that the few birds which remain consist of several pairs of Shelduck and Lapwings. 

Lane Ends produced the aforesaid Lesser Redpolls and Siskins, 2 Jays, singing Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler, 2 Little Egret and 2 Little Grebe. 

At Pilling Water - a Grey Heron, the Green Sandpiper, 15 Redshank, 1 Little Egret and on the marsh still 450+ Pink-footed Geese. Otherwise the birding was extremely quiet and unproductive and a change of wind direction would help bring in more migrants. 

 Grey Heron

There are more birds and birding from Another Bird Blog very soon. Call in again for a full of activity time.

Linking today to Anni's Birding Blog and  Eileen's Saturday Blog.