Where did October go? It only seems like yesterday that I was looking forward to this glorious month of bird migration, and now it's gone. The first half of November can still see plenty of migration action, with further arrivals of wintering finches and thrushes.
This blog post will start at the beginning of the month at Rossall Point, and I suspect that it will end there as well. At the beginning of the month I had two mornings at the Point, and on the first morning I was greeted with 6 oktas cloud cover, with a moderate south-southeasterly wind.
On the shore were 83 Oystercatchers, 204 Sanderlings, and 27 Ringed Plovers. There was some visible migration, including 13 Linnets, two Magpies, two Rock Pipits, and 18 Meadow Pipits. Vis-light I would call that. The sea was equally as quiet, as it always seems to be these days, and all I had were nine Cormorants, 25 Common Scoters, five Gannets, three Auk sp., three Shelducks, and 16 Pintails.
The following day, under 7 oktas cloud cover, and with the wind now a moderate south-westerly, it was the Sanderlings, and surprisingly, some Common Toads that were my main points of interest.
It was great watching the Sanderlings along the tides edge. There was some half-hearted attempts at feeding, but they seemed to mainly want to preen and roost. They are very exuberant bathers, as I think all birds are, ducking their heads under the shallow, rolling breakers, flicking their wings in the water, and then up on to the shingle ridge to roost. And suddenly it's all calm.
As I walked along the concrete sea wall, that backs the dunes and golf course, I kept coming across juvenile Common Toads at the base of the wall. I picked 16 up in total, and I've seen this before. I suspect they get on to the promenade where the dunes join it virtually at ground level, and are then forced to walk along the bottom of the sea wall, without being able to find a way back into the dunes. Anyway, these guys were placed safely back in the dunes, and they had another chance at life.
There were a few more waders than yesterday, and my totals were 87 Oystercatchers, 68 Ringed Plovers, 219 Sanderlings, two Turnstones, and 60 Dunlin. I had four grounded migrants, in the form of four Wheatears, and I think the pair of Stonechats could be over-wintering birds. I won't mention the sea, as it was worse than yesterday, if that's possible?
I was back there about five days later, and for some of the wader species, the numbers had increased again. I had 382 Sanderlings, 187 Oystercatchers, 142 Ringed Plovers, nine Turnstones, but only three Dunlin. I had a quick look on the Marine Lakes on my way home, and I noticed that there were 90 Turnstones feeding around the car park on food that people had put out for the wildfowl.
On 9th October I had a new bird species for the garden, although I only heard it. I was up a ladder harvesting some apples from our Bramley apple tree, and doing a bit of judicious pruning at the same time, when I heard a Yellow-browed Warbler calling! It was calling from the Willows that form the boundary between us and our neighbours. I slid down the ladder, grabbed my bins and camera, which are always outside with me when I'm gardening, and I dived into the shed. It stopped calling at the exact moment Gail saw a small bird fly over the house!
I spent some time using the shed as a hide in case it came back, but it wasn't to be. Later in the afternoon I noticed the regular adult male Sparrowhawk that uses our garden perched under the canopy of the apple tree. It was there for at least 45 minutes, and I last saw it perched on one of the arms of the rotary drier!
The following morning I was at the farm fields at Larkholme, under 7 oktas cloud cover, with a 15 mph north-westerly wind. As soon as I started walking along the sea wall, I was being entertained by two Ravens. One of the few things that is positive in the natural world today, is the increase in the number of Ravens. When I started birding in my teens in the 1970s, I could only see them in the upland areas of north Lancashire and Cumbria, but now thankfully, you can have a glorious encounter with these super intelligent birds almost anywhere.
It is always a delight, as was this morning, to watch these amazing Corvids, and spend some time in their company. I sometimes forget just how big they are. One of the Ravens was drinking from a small pool in the farm fields, and then flying to the shore to feed. Both birds were feeding on the shore, and their smaller cousins, the Carrion Crows, were interested in what the Ravens were feeding on, but were very wary of getting too close to their large, boisterous relatives!
There was some 'vis', but it was certainly vis-light, that included just four Grey Wagtails, 14 Meadow Pipits, three Reed Buntings, four Linnets, and 19 Skylarks (a reasonable total). Grounded migrants were limited to a Coal Tit and a Goldcrest, and I had lovely views of a male Kestrel.
Between the 11th and 17th October, Gail and I had three ringing sessions at the Nature park, and we ringed 122 birds as follows (recaptures in brackets):
Long-tailed Tit - 34 (3)
Redwing - 18
Song Thrush - 2
Goldcrest - 5 (2)
Chiffchaff - 7
Blackcap - 4
Reed Bunting - 1
Cetti's Warbler - 7
Blue Tit - 5
Greenfinch - 33
Wren - 2 (1)
Robin - 1
Great Tit - 2
Chaffinch - 1
On the first of the three days we didn't have any Redwings or Fieldfares, and only one Song Thrush. On 14th October, we had 748 Redwings, 80 Fieldfares, and three Song Thrushes, and on 17th October we had 182 Redwings, and one Fieldfare.
On the first of the three mornings ringing, we had our first Whooper Swans of the autumn, as two 'bugling' birds headed northeast. Other birds on the move were 37 Woodpigeons, and 28 Jackdaws. On 17th we had 62 Chaffinches head south, along with three Grey Wagtails. A pair of Stonechats might have been moving through, or they could be wintering birds.
In the middle of these ringing sessions we did our WeBS count on 12th October. It was quiet at our first survey site of Fleetwood Docks, with 36 Redshanks the highlight. On our way down to our second site, the reservoir alongside the estuary, we noted three Goldcrests, two Cetti's Warblers, a Water Rail, and a Jay.
Out on the reservoir were eight Mallards, a male Gadwall, four Little Grebes, two Shovelers, five Moorhens, three Coots, eight Mute Swans, and 38 Tufted Ducks. We had a walk out on to the saltmarsh and recorded 36 Shelducks, 105 Wigeon, and 105 Lapwings, before we walked back.
On the 14th I had a couple of good birds for the house in the form of two Jays heading east. I've had a few Jays this autumn, and at first I thought it was shaping up to be a bit of a Jay autumn, but I don't think that is the case now.
Mid month I was back at Rossall Point, with full cloud cover, and a light east-southeasterly breeze. On the shore were 81 Oystercatchers, 28 Turnstones, 143 Sanderlings, and 41 Ringed Plovers. I had some late Swallows, with five heading west. It was less clear what the Greenfinches were doing, as there was a flock of about 30 feeding in the dunes, with a further 40 that headed east along with eight Reed Buntings, and 12 Chaffinches.
The sea was quiet, and I recorded 80 Common Scoters, 131 Eiders, and single Red-throated Diver and Red-breasted Merganser.
I called in at the cemetery to see if there were any grounded migrants, and two Coal Tits, four Redwings, a Fieldfare, and two Chiffchaffs were all that I could class as grounded. I came across some Blackening Waxcaps, and some Clavulinopsis sp. fungi, and it was also nice to note flowering Lesser Trefoil, and Harebell.
A few days later I was at Larkholme having a look on the sea, and recording any visible migration, under full cloud cover, with a moderate south-easterly wind. At first light, Pink-footed Geese were arriving from their riverine roost to the east, and dropping on to the farm fields to feed.
I mentioned visible migration, and there was some, but as I am fond of saying, it was 'vis-light' with just five Alba Wags, three Reed Buntings, 18 Meadow Pipits, 14 Chaffinches, and 10 Skylarks all heading south. I had two pairs of Stonechats in the fields behind my watch-point, and they steadily made their way south through the site. The only other grounded migrants that I had were singles of Chiffchaff and Song Thrush.
The highlight from a sea-watching perspective, was a Merlin that I picked up quite a long way out to sea, that was moving purposefully south. Migration in action! The supporting cast to the starring Merlin were 112 Common Scoters, an Atlantic Grey Seal, 11 Guillemots, five Eiders, an Auk sp., four Shelducks, six Razorbills, and one each of Great Crested Grebe and Red-throated Diver.
On the 22nd I checked a few coastal sites on the Fleetwood peninsula, but once again, grounded migrants were thin on the ground. I started off at the Mount, and the wind was now a 10 - 15 mph west-southwesterly, and all I had were two Goldcrests, a Song thrush, and a Chiffchaff. The cemetery was very similar, with three Goldcrests, two Coal Tits, and a late, worn, Painted Lady.
A few days later I called in at Jubilee Quay late morning, and out on the mud were 76 Redshanks, a single Black-tailed Godwit, and two Curlews. A number of plants were still in flower, including Yarrow, Red Clover, Dandelion, Common Toadflax, and Smooth Sow-thistle. On some of the Smooth Sow-thistle, was a late Common Globetail hoverfly.
Throughout the month of October the, or a, adult male Sparrowhawk has been regular in my garden. As usual he perches under the canopy of the Apple tree, above one of the feeders, and I suspect that his target are the mice that forage under the feeders.
It was a particularly windy day (westerly 6) on the 28th, and I had a look off Rossall Point. And for some reason I was getting continually sand-blasted at my usual watch-point, and I did well to put up with it for an hour. Disappointingly, I had very little, other than four Common Scoters, 104 Eiders, a male Red-breasted Merganser, and two Kittiwakes.
I decided to seek shelter in the relative comfort of the Lower Lighthouse, and watch the comings and goings of birds feeding on Great Knott, in the mouth of the estuary. I had a pleasant hour, with a warming take-away coffee, and recorded 1,236 Oystercatchers, 26 Redshanks, 16 Turnstones, three Cormorants, three Sanderlings, four Eiders, a Rock Pipit, a Bar-tailed Godwit, and three Curlews.
I felt very sorry for an injured Pink-footed Goose that couldn't fly because of what looked like a shooting injury to one of its wings, and it was trying to fend off the unwanted attention of six Carrion Crows. I lost it when it walked behind the muscle beds on Great Knott.
Just before the end of the month, I was out checking the Mount and the Cemetery again for grounded migrants. The wind direction was better, being south-easterly, but the birds were very similar. In the Mount I had a Chiffie, Coal Tit and Redwing, and a Sparrowhawk that surprised me for a split second. It dropped from some trees at the highest point, down to the lowest point, and for a nano-second when I lifted my bins, all I could see was a large bird, with rufous underparts, with an exaggerated undulating flight! Of course, it was the reddish-orange underparts of a male Sparrowhawk, and the undulating flight was the Sprawk dropping down, and then pulling up to alight towards the top of a tree!
During the half hour I was in the Mount, the adult male Sparrowhawk was continually working the site, and was obviously very keen on finding some breakfast.
I then called in the cemetery, and I had a couple of minutes of excitement, when a Mistle Thrush dropped out of the sky, and was circling and calling, looking for somewhere to land, and a Great Spotted Woodpecker dropped into the top of a Sycamore, at the same time as a Merlin that belted west!
The rest of my time there was less eventful, with a constant passage of calling Chaffinches, three Reed Buntings and 97 Jackdaws over, and 10 Long-tailed Tits.
I called in at the Quay on my way home, and noted that Teal numbers had increased to nine, and there was a Common Sandpiper feeding along the edge of the main channel that the fishing boats use. Two Goldcrests in the scrub were the only grounded migrants.
On the last morning of the month, I was back at the Point. The wind was still south-easterly and I had a few Chaffinches on the move. I counted 95, but other than a flock of 42 and 37 out of that 95, the others were all call registrations, so I don't know how many went over really.
On the shore, were 247 Oystercatchers, four Ringed Plovers, four Turnstones, and a Rock Pipit. The sea was very quiet with just 40 Eiders, and four Common Scoters, with very little else.
And that was October.
