Thursday, September 4, 2014

Moving Wheatears?

There may have been a number of Wheatears on the move this morning. Four of them were fence hopping and playing “chicken” with the passing traffic along Backsands Lane and later I would catch one with a good layer of fat in preparation for migration. 
 
Wheatear

Wheatear

At Fluke Hall were 3 Jays moving through the tops of the trees, their noisy squawking a sure indication of autumn. Overhead 2 Buzzards harassed by a single crow were climbing on the morning thermals and drifting slowly inland. Later on I heard Buzzard calls again so maybe the two were migrants. Not so the two Mistle Thrushes, a species I haven’t seen or heard here for a few months but they were in their regular trees once again. 

There is still so much greenery it’s hit or miss to find skulking warblers unless they call with three obliging in the shapes of Blackcap, Whitethroat and Chiffchaff. There was a single Wheatear below the sea wall where many people walk so no chance of setting a trap. 

A roadside Kestrel obliged but briefly before it shot off and calling to another one that I couldn’t see. 

Kestrel

I walked to the wildfowler’s pools and found 2 Green Sandpiper, 18 Pintail and 40+ Teal. The Teal and Pintail were arriving in small groups from the outer marsh where at some distance I could see 2 Grey Heron and 11 Little Egrets. Finches are very scarce along the sea wall this year, a traditional spot for both Linnets and Goldfinches on the thistles and fireweed which grow in profusion. Best I could manage today, just 18 Linnets and 8 Goldfinches. A “few” Meadow Pipits and Swallows but no obvious signs of migration from those two species. 

Linnet

There was a single Wheatear, a hungry individual which took less than a minute to find the mealworm and become the object of my attention. Although not especially large or heavy at 97mm wing and 27.9 respectively it was carrying a good amount of fat. It’s an adult male. 

Wheatear

Wheatear

More birds, more pictures soon from Another Bird Blog. 

Linking today to Theresa's Run A Round Ranch.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

The Passenger Pigeon - A Review

Perhaps like many people I had some vague notions about the tale of the now extinct North American Passenger Pigeon but until this week I had never read anything substantial to make the story register in my own bird brain. 

To coincide with the 100 years anniversary of the Passenger Pigeon’s extinction I set about reading the sad and tragic story as retold in a new book entitled simply enough The Passenger Pigeon, on release now from Princeton University Press. 

The Passenger Pigeon - Princeton University Press
 
In the Introduction the author Errol Fuller makes it clear that the book is not a scientific textbook or a species monograph but more a commemoration of the Passenger Pigeon’s former existence. He magnanimously suggests that if readers desire a more technical book they should seek out earlier works of 1907, 1955 or perhaps another published recently in early 2014, A Feathered River Across the Sky by Joel Greenberg. 

While there are nine chapters to The Passenger Pigeon, not counting the Prologue, Introduction, Appendices, Acknowledgements, Further Reading and Index, the substance of the tragedy is essentially told in just four or five of the nine chapters. 

“Imagine” does indeed require a leap of imagination to understand how the Passenger Pigeon was once more than common, 25 to 40% of the total bird population of the United States, their numbers estimated at between 3 and 5 billion. And no, that’s not a typo it’s a “b” for “billion”. The number of pigeons literally blackened the skies, their vast flocks a mile or more wide and hundreds of miles long. As the pigeons descended from on high their combined weight would send trees crashing to the ground, their all-consuming need destroying whole crop fields and orchards while leaving trails of destruction in their wake. 

The chapters “Downward Spiral” and “Extinction” relate how the early explorers and colonists of North America were in awe and wonder of the flights of Passenger Pigeons, flights of such dimensions and numbers that the huge droves could take whole hours or even days to pass by an observer. Taking their cue from native Indians it didn’t take long for the newcomers to realise that the Passenger Pigeon was an apparently bottomless food resource and very soon pigeon meat was commercialised as cheap food for slaves and the poor in the 19th century. 

There was a further reduction in numbers of pigeons from habitat loss when European settlers cleared millions of acres of forest for agriculture and townships, contributing to declines between about 1800 and 1870, and then a calamitous decline between 1870 and 1890. Throughout the years there was also hunting on a massive scale, the combined losses from the variety of pressures resulting in the previous abundance becoming unsustainable. 

As early as 1856 and as a consequence of the wholesale slaughter taking place, one Benedict Revoil dared to suggest that future ornithologists would never see Passenger Pigeons. One year later the Ohio Senate declared that the “wonderfully prolific” Passenger Pigeon “needs no protection”. Martha, thought to be the world's last Passenger Pigeon, died on September 1, 1914 at the Cincinnati Zoo. 

Is it more than ironic then that the name "passenger pigeon" derives from the French word passager, which means "to pass by" in a fleeting manner? Should we excuse the human race from blame as they had little or no understanding of the concept of extinction? While the words “extinct” or “extinction” had been in figurative use from the 15th century to refer to fires, lights, or the wiping out of a material thing such as a debt, its use in reference to a species did not appear until the late 1780s. 

Although there are many plates scattered throughout the book, from historic photographs, through to  the reproduction of the magnificent and impressionist painting Falling Bough (2002) by Walton Ford, and to those of the masterly and revolutionary artist John James Audubon, separate chapters are devoted respectively to “Art and Books” and “Quotations”. I rather enjoyed the poignancy and compassion of these pages as an antidote to the enlightening but ultimately depressing chapters which document the pigeon’s short existence on Earth.

In these pages I discovered that the Passenger Pigeon was included in H. Meyer’s Illustrations of British Birds as a “Rare Visitant” to these shores, and what a beauty it was, somewhere between a Mourning Dove and a Turtle Dove. Whether from their numbers one or two became Atlantic blown casualties is debatable but highly likely. And now I simply can’t wait to visit downtown Cincinnati where a mural of Passenger Pigeons covers one side of a large building at the corner of Eighth and Vine Streets and where Martha herself measures twenty-one foot from beak to tail. 

“Quotations” includes several graphic and meaningful descriptions of The Passenger Pigeon dating from the early 18th to the early 20th Century with just a couple quoted here:

The pigeon was known by our race as O-me-me-Wog… they naturally called it a wild pigeon, as they called us wild men - Chief Simon Pokagon 

The Pigeons were still passing in undiminished numbers and continued to do so for three days in succession. The banks of the Ohio were crowded with men and boys incessantly shooting at the pilgrims….. multitudes were thus destroyed. For a week or more the population fed on no other flesh than that of Pigeons and talked of nothing but Pigeons - John James Audubon 

In the Introduction the author cautioned against using the word “celebration” to describe his book. I’m sure he was correct because The Passenger Pigeon is more a fitting memorial, an honouring of a bird that was simply too successful, too available and too numerous, but never a match for the greed and stupidity of man. 

Would that we never repeat the mistakes, but we invariably and inevitably do. 

The Passenger Pigeon by Errol Fuller is on sale now from Princeton University Press priced at $29.95 or £ 19.95. 

Monday, September 1, 2014

Once Bitten Twice Shy?

I wondered why it was taking so long to catch the single Wheatear along the sea wall at Pilling today as they usually go for a meal worm pretty quickly. When I eventually took the bird from the trap it proved to be wearing number L733748, an adult female “Greenland” caught here on 18th August exactly two weeks ago. Once bitten twice shy is the relevant idiom I think. 

Wheatear

Wheatear - adult female

So much for the theory that Wheatears migrate through here quickly; they certainly do in Springtime but less so in Autumn, especially if they are in post-breeding moult like this one was on 18th August. The moult appeared complete today, her weight up from 24.1gms to 28.7gms leaving her in good condition to set off to Africa very soon. 

Wheatear - L733748 adult female 1st September 2014

 Wheatear - L733248 adult female 18th August 2014

There wasn’t too much doing along the sea wall except for a noticeable influx of wildfowl to the shooters’ land with 270 Teal and 34 Pintail flying in from the marsh to the pools where feed is being put out and water pumped in from Pilling Water. 

Pintail

Less wild were the first releases of Red-legged Partridge and “Mallards” in preparation for the cming shooting season with several hundred of each species in the area. Below is a photograph of the Mallards - gun fodder in a week or two providing that the beaters can persuade the ducks to fly after their pampered existence in large cages where they learned how not to find food in the wild. 

 Mallards

Two Green Sandpipers and 2 Grey Herons spooked from the ditches and on the marsh 13 Little Egrets, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Buzzard and 4 Meadow Pipits. Blimey! - It must be September if Meadow Pipits are beginning to appear. 

Meadow Pipit

More birds, news and views soon on Another Bird Blog.

Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.

Sunday’s Action

First stop this morning was Pilling and a check of the Little Egret roost from the quiet of the car where I counted 33 birds scattered through the tall trees. Leaving the car can cause the egrets to fly off prematurely as I’ve discovered when even in the half light of dawn doggie walkers are first to the car park where the slamming of their car doors and general noise makes the egrets head off for the day ahead. 

Just this week a lady telephoned to relate the story of how at Knott End two out of control dogs, a Jack Russell and a Springer type, grabbed hold of an unwary Little Egret feeding on the marsh and proceeded to tear the poor bird into two pieces. Result - one less Little Egret to grace our shores plus two hysterical and traumatised girls aged nine and eleven who had been walking the dogs without adult supervision. 

Little Egret

To more cheerful matters. 

A Kingfisher was on duty at its regular spot when I arrived at Conder Green. After ten or fifteen minutes there’d been little happening apart from the click of the camera and the Kingfisher peering into the water below, and then when the thing did eventually dive for a fish it surfaced with nothing and flew off to the right, out of sight. Out of the breeding season Kingfishers do spend a lot of their time just sitting around, watching and waiting, and that is why they can be relatively difficult to connect with. 

As usual there are a few heavily cropped photographs because there is no closer point at which the Kingfisher can sit. Nevertheless it is great to regularly watch this wondrous bird for many minutes at a time rather than the fleeting glimpses which many folk get. 

Kingfisher

Kingfisher

I told a lie as action was actually ongoing throughout the Kingfisher episode in the form of Common Terns on the island, the two well grown young being constantly tended by the two adults, the adults breaking off to noisily inspect or chastise anything which looked a possible danger, including me some 75/100 yards away. 

There are the usual waders and wildfowl to relate - 1 Snipe, 1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Greenshank, 5 Common Sandpiper, 4 Curlew, 55 Lapwing and 40ish Redshank. Also, 15 Teal, 6 Little Grebe, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Little Egret, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Grey Wagtail and 12+ Alba wagtail. 

Curlew

There seemed to be more going on at Glasson Dock where around the car park, along the towpath and around the boats were 50+ Alba wags and 2 Grey Wagtails. The wagtails were very active with so many concentrated in such a small area that they had most likely vacated a roost, possibly in the bushes near the bowling green or in the area of the dock buildings. 

There seemed to be birds everywhere as a flock of 60+ Goldfinch and 30+House Sparrows joined in the confusion by flying between feeding spots in the car park, the bowling green trees and on the adjacent marsh. 

Pied Wagtail

I left the wagtails, finches and the sparrows to sort themselves out and instead concentrated on the yacht basin where once again there was a good gathering of mainly Swallows plus a smaller number of House Martins, about 300 birds in all. The Tufted Duck appear to have increased in numbers, possibly the Coot too with respective counts of 26 and 28. 

Coot

Tufted Duck

Glasson Dock

A walk along the towpath revealed more Swallows feeding over the canal, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 3 Reed Warbler, 2 Reed Bunting, several Tree Sparrows and a Chiffchaff. On the return walk the chiffy was in full, almost-September song. 

The sun was a good way up, the air became warm and Joe Bloggs surfaced - time to go home. 

Friday, August 29, 2014

It’s A Puzzle

The weather folk say next week will be better. In the meantime Friday was yet another windy morning with intermittent showers, far from perfect conditions which posed the question of where to go for best. 

I decided to give Pilling a shot in the hope that the poor weather had dropped in a few Wheatears to catch. In the event I saw only one at Fluke Hall in a spot that didn’t lend itself to leaving a trap. There were none at a favoured catching spot near Pilling Water where the tally is 17 ringed for the year. 

There was a Buzzard in the trees at Pilling Water where the crows gave the game away as they chased the Buzzard off in the direction of Fluke Hall. Despite the rain of late the wildfowlers’ pools are almost completely waterless after the dry summer so all I could find was a Grey Heron and the nearest thing to wildfowl a stranded duck decoy left over from last winter. 

On heading back to Fluke Hall I saw 3 Buzzards above the wood, a patrolling Kestrel and a lonely Chiffchaff moving west along the sea wall by virtue of the well-spaced bushes. 

Buzzard

There was a Great-spotted Woodpecker calling from high in the trees but by now I’d decided to head to Knott End and the incoming tide. 

Ravens are something of a local scarcity but with a status of increased sightings and odd breeding records in recent years, this in flat Lancashire farmland as opposed to mountainous areas where the Raven traditionally breeds. 

Despite this recent influx the species remains extremely shy and is unlikely to be seen at close quarters, the usual sightings hereabouts consisting of birds high overhead as they give out their distinctive, deep, resonant cronking calls. 

So it was rather surprising and something of a mystery to find 2 Ravens again in the car park at Knott End, hanging out on the perimeter wall, perhaps for bread and fish & chip hand-outs from the punters in their cars, just as the gulls do. 

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Both Ravens appeared to be juvenile birds but from their demeanour, worn plumage and general dishevelled appearance I suspect they may have been in recent captivity, perhaps as pets which outgrew their novelty value? 

Raven

From Wiki - “In recent years, biologists have recognized that birds engage in play. Juvenile Ravens are among the most playful of bird species. They have been observed to slide down snowbanks, apparently purely for fun. They even engage in games with other species, such as playing catch-me-if-you-can with wolves, otters and dogs. Ravens are known for spectacular aerobatic displays, such as flying in loops or interlocking talons with each other in flight. They are also one of only a few wild animals who make their own toys. They have been observed breaking off twigs to play with socially” 

A walk up Windy River produced a Wheatear struggling against the wind to stay upright, 6 “Alba” wagtails, 3 Redshank and 150+ Oystercatcher and most of the waders by now at the roost with still two hours to go. 

Wheatear

On or about the tideline, 1 windblown juvenile Common Scoter, 40+ Dunlin, 5 Grey Plover, 5 Turnstone, 3 Sanderling, 1 Grey Heron and 45+ Sandwich Tern. 

It became very windy and very wet so I called it a day until tomorrow.

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

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Swallows On The Move

There’s was a fair old wind blowing for the past couple of days with conditions which didn’t inspire me to do much birding. This morning was better, sunny and even flat calm for about an hour until the easterly breeze sprung up again but by then I was back home for granddad duties 

Swallows were the feature of the morning with more than 400 feeding around the yacht basin at Glasson Dock and then a steady passage of them heading east along the shore at Pilling between 0930 and 1100. Bird counting enthusiasts should try counting the number of Swallows along the fence rails of the boat in the second picture below. Answers on a postcard to…… 

Swallows

Swallows at Glasson

Swallows

Swallow

Wagtails were the other feature of the morning with a combined count of 45+ “alba” wagtails at Glasson and Conder Green. At this time of year when Continental and Icelandic White Wagtails join in with native Pied Wagtails it becomes increasingly difficult to separate the two in the field, especially when most of those seen are juveniles in various stages of post juvenile moult. Seemingly there are bird watchers who can do the business with ease but to do so is a time consuming exercise without any guarantee of real success. Perhaps it’s time to lump the two together especially since the “species” are known to interbreed. 

A Pied Wagtail at Conder Green had to make way for a Kingfisher which arrived to take up the usual position on the sluice wall. The light was better than a few days ago but the Kingfisher stayed for one pose and for a few seconds only 

Pied Wagtail

Kingfisher

Two Common Terns fished the pool and the marsh returning on several occasions with fish for their youngster(s). The usual waders and wildfowl were about the usual areas of pool and creek with counts today of 45+ Redshank, 3 Greenshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Common Sandpiper, 2 Wigeon, 2 Cormorant, 2 Little Grebe, 1 Great Crested Grebe, etc, etc. 

Black-headed Gull

There was an increase to 13 Teal today plus the unusual sighting here of 6 Stock Dove arriving to feed on the weedy margins of the pools where a flock of 35+ Goldfinch spent some time too. 

I stopped at Braides Farm where for fifteen minutes a steady stream of Swallows flew left to right, west to east and I continued on to Pilling. 

I found 3 Buzzards at Fluke Hall a group which appear to be a family of 2 adults, at least one in moult, and a juvenile of the year. All of our UK raptors are secretive when breeding, the still persecuted Buzzard most definitely having to conform to that rule; but unless I’m mistaken the often overlooked but discreet Buzzards of Fluke Hall have bred again this summer. 

 Buzzard

Along the sea wall 2 Greenshank, 3 Wheatear, 20+ Goldfinch, 1 Skylark, 3 Little Egret, 1 Grey Heron. 

By now the Swallow movement had abated somewhat and Granddad was needed back home. 

There's more soon from Another Bird Blog. Linking in the meantime to The Run "A" Round Ranch in Texas.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Bank Holiday Blues

There’s a little part time birding and a few pictures from Saturday morning, it’s all I could manage, and if I’m honest Bank Holiday Weekend birding fills me with dread. 

It rained overnight and into the morning, so much so that my trip to Knott End for a spot of soft-core birding was delayed until 0815. The sun was breaking through, rain clouds headed south up The River Wyre and ahead of a hint of northerly, a recipe which often leaves a glorious morning light to fill the estuary. 

Not for the first time I paused to survey the scene, clicked the shutter button and thanked my lucky stars that I live in such a beautiful part of the UK. I walked in the direction of the dark clouds safe in the knowledge that the morning would remain fine and that I would see a good selection of commonplace birds.

Double click your LH mouse for a slide show of Wyre, Lancashire and just a few of the county's common birds. 

The River Wyre looking North West

The River Wyre looking South East

From the car park I’d noted masses of Oystercatchers on the mussel beds at the mouth of estuary, the rocky islands just beginning to flood and the Oystercatchers to leave. It’s quite a spectacle to see and hear hundreds of oyks “kleep-kleeping” to their up-river roost, not en-masse just a steady stream of tens and twenties until an hour later you’ve counted 450+ and there’s still some left on the shore. Redshanks and Curlews were on the move too, flying up river in their small exclusive groups which never mix with the numerous and noisy gangs of Oystercatchers. 90+ Redshank and 42 Curlew went in the notebook. 

Redshanks

I didn’t find many birds up here but the antics of the weekend golfers make for alternative entertainment. And to be fair they often send a fairway feeding wagtail in my direction as they did today, plus an autumn Meadow Pipit. Half a dozen Goldfinch, a few Dunnocks and Robins in the willow/hawthorn stretch and then it was time to head back down river where the incoming tide would fill the shore. 

At the ferry jetty I noted 2 Pied Wagtail, on the tideline 2 Grey Heron and a Little Egret, a good number of small and scattered waders which the tide should concentrate, and the screeches of Sandwich Terns. 

Sandwich Tern

There was a good selection of waders with a few more northerly species making a “welcome” comeback. A question - why do birders wish the seasons and their lives away to see birds that they are only too familiar with? 

I mustered 6 Turnstone, 68 Dunlin, 27 Ringed Plover, 6 Grey Plover, 7 Sanderling and 17 Sandwich Tern 

Turnstone

 Sanderling

There was horse rider on the beach who decided to drive her mount fast along the tideline. She stopped to scan her mobile phone before charging off again and so scattering the birds to the far horizons and sending me back home. Yes, this part of Lancashire is rather special, mostly. 

The River Wyre, Lancashire

There’s more birding soon on Another Bird Blog if you decide to return, Bank Holiday or not.

Linking today to Our World Tuesday and Stewart's World Bird Wedesday .

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