Recent Days

I haven't done any 'pure' birding over recent days because of work but then I shouldn't moan because often my work does involve birding particularly when I am carrying out surveys. My office also is good to bird from as it overlooks some woodland and the three feeders on the windows distract me all day with the 'comings and goings' of the avian visitors. I like to work with my window open so I can listen to the woodland and the main characters in the sonisphere outside my office window this week have been the Rooks. There is a Rookery in the aforementioned woodland and I could spend all day listening to them and watching their antics.


I also overlook a Woodpigeons nest and I am looking forward to seeing how that develops over the coming days and weeks. Chiffchaff and Blackcap have been singing regularly all week along with Goldcrest and Coal Tit. On one morning they were joined by Willow Warbler and a supporting Jay.

Blackcap

Last Wednesday I was surveying some farmland to the east of Garstang and I had good numbers of Chiffies and Blackcaps in the woodland with 9 and 5 respectively. There was also a good population of Song Thrushes with 5 singing males plus 4 Willows Warblers and several singing Coal Tits and Goldcrests.

 Chiffchaff

It was a classic raptor migration day being warm and no doubt with plenty of thermals judging by the 5 Buzzards I had riding them. I kept my eyes skywards as best as I could whilst also trying to look at vegetation and archaeological features on the ground in the hope that an Osprey might fly over, but unfortunately it wasn't to be.

My house is only about half a mile from the coast and whilst having my breakfast this morning I could hear and then see a Goldcrest feeding in my garden. Nothing to get excited about you might think, but if I get a Goldcrest in the garden then it means that there will be a few migramts about. A quick phone call to Ian later in the day confirmed my hunch as he had good numbers of Blackcaps, Chiffies and Willow Warblers at various coastal locations around Fleetwood. It was obvious what had brought the Goldcrest in as a weak front had moved south overnight and at first light there was some light drizzle, perfect for dropping a few migrants in.

A quick check of the blogs of some of the west coast migramt hotspots confirmed my thought. This is what the Bardsey Observatory blog had to say about today:

The wind dropped during the night and some low cloud also moved in. The best bird of the day came in the form of a Marsh Harrier that was seen at the north end in the afternoon. Many migrants were all over the island in the morning, with a few first for the years also present: a Common Redstart at Ty Pellaf, two Yellow Wagtails at either ends of the island, a Grasshopper Warbler at nant and a Sedge Warbler in the wetlands were the most notable sightings of the day. Good numbers of other common migrants also moved through: 232 Sand Martins, 100 Swallows, three Tree Pipits, ten Wheatears, forty four Blackcaps, fourteen Chiffchaffs and 415 Willow Warblers were the totals. The male Hawfinch was again at Ty Pellaf, whilst a Greenfinch, fifteen Goldfinches, forty two Linnets and a Reed Bunting flew overhead. 

I called at Rawcliffe NMoss recently on my way home to drop some bird off. I had  Swallow fly past as I headed down the track and at the feeding station were 26 Tree Sparrows. In the recently ploughed 'Big Field' were 9 Wheatears and 5 Stock Doves.

The forecast is looking good for the next few days and hopefuly I will be at the 'obs' for three mornings running starting with tomorrow. I'll keep you posted as to how I get on.