No More Feeding Station Blues

At the end of last week, I was at one of my wintering bird survey sites in northwest Lancashire, and it was a quiet one. In fact, when I was at my second VP, I sent a text to Gail saying I'm in danger of falling asleep standing up, it's so quiet! There was more activity at my first VP, and I guess that's because I was at this VP from first light, and at this time of year the flurry of post-roost activity is short-lived. 

It was a cold morning, with full cloud cover and a light south-easterly wind, but that didn't prevent nine Brown Hares from being active. You know what I think about Brown Hares, gorgeous creatures. Pink-footed Geese were very thin on the ground, and the only post-roost movement I had were skeins of 24 and 26. 

 

Just two species of raptor, a Buzzard and a male Kestrel, and a Snipe over was the only wader species of wader that I recorded. There were still quite a few wintering thrushes about, and I had four Song Thrushes, 40 Redwings, nine Blackbirds and 61 Fieldfares. 

 

I did have one good bird, in the form of a female Bullfinch. Bullfinches are quite scarce in this area, so it was good to both see and hear, and it was a first record for me for the site. 

 

Last weekend I managed to banish those feeding station blues, and Alice, John and I managed a ringing session at the feeding station. We went on Saturday, as the forecast for Sunday was for fog, and if it was foggy, we wouldn't have been able to have a look on the wetland. Guess what? Saturday turned out to be foggy, and it was a bit of a 'pea souper', so it was pointless even attempting to have a look on the wetland, as it was a case of "what wetland"? 

 

We managed to ring 36 birds as follows (recaptures in brackets):

 

Blue Tit - 15 (6)

Great Tit - 5

Chaffinch - 5

Robin - 1

Dunnock - 3

Tree Sparrow - 7 

Nuthatch - (1)

Coal Tit - (2)

 

Tree Sparrow
 

It was good to ring the Tree Sparrows, as this was the main reason for setting the feeding station up. It also gives us the opportunity to gather more data on this red-listed species, as there is a healthy breeding population at the farm that we monitor in nest boxes, so to catch them in the winter, it completes the circle. 

 

I'm working tomorrow, but this time I am completing a survey fairly close to home, so at least I should be finished by lunchtime. I am expecting it to be fairly quiet, but that's the beauty of the natural world, you just never know! 

It just remains for me to wish you a merry, whatever it is you celebrate as part of the winter festivities, and here's to a happy, healthy and nature filled new year!

Stormcock Singing In The White Wind

A nature writer, whose work I have only recently started reading, Seton Gordon, is now one of my favourites. I discovered Seton Gordon through Jim Crumley (who is my very favourite nature writer), and in many of Jim's books, he references Seton Gordon, and talks about what an inspiration his writing was to him. Seton Gordon was a Scottish naturalist and writer, who was born in 1886, and died in 1977. He wrote somewhere in the region of thirty books between 1907 and 1971, including such classics as The Charm of the Hills, Wanderings of a Naturalist, Hebridean Memories, Days With the Golden Eagle, The Charm of Skye; The Winged Isle, Islands of the West, Highways and Byways in the West Highlands and Highways and Byways in the Central Highlands to name but a few.

 

I have just finished The Charm of Skye (1929), and in it, Seton Gordon talks about how the old Celtic seers knew each wind by its own mystical colour:

 

From the East blows the Purple Wind,

From the South the White.

From the North the Black,

From the West the Pale.

 

Apparently, these colours were not woven out of human fancies, they had an occult, inner meaning. I thought about it for a bit, and I could relate to these colours. Some were more obvious than others, but I couldn't help agreeing with the old Celtic seers, that these colours did represent each wind. 

 

One of my favourite birds (I have a lot of favourite birds) is the Mistle Thrush, in fact I have a soft spot for all the Thrush species, but for some reason the Mistle Thrush, or Stormcock to give it one of its old names, is a favourite in that family of favourites! I think maybe, it is because in the depth of winter you can hear Mistle Thrushes singing, and indeed during the storms of winter it can be heard singing, giving hope that the days will lengthen soon, and spring is just around the corner. Hence, Stormcock! 

 

Stormcock (above & below)

 

When I looked up the Mistle Thrush in All the Birds of the Air - The Names, Lore and Literature of British Birds by Francesca Greenoak, I could see that it had many old localised names, in fact there aren't many species with more. In case you are interested, I have listed all the old names that are given for the Mistle Thrush in this lovely, and interesting book; Hollin Cock, Holm Thrush, Holm Cock, Holm Screech, Muzzel Thrush, Mizzly Dick, Screech, Skirlock, Skrike, Skrite, Squawking Thrush (a bit harsh I think), Gawthrush, Jay (interesting), Jay Pie, Jercock, Chercock, Stormcock, Jeremy Joy, Big Mavis (I like that one), Big Felt, Bull Thrush, Horse Thrush (they often forage in horse paddocks), Corney Keever, Crakle, Bunting Thrush, Butcher Bird (I thought that was just shrikes), Felfit, Fulfer, Hillan Piet, Fen Thrush, Marble Thrush (apt), Norman Thrush, Stone Thrush and Wood Thrush. That's 34 different names!

 

Its scientific name is Turdus viscivorus, coming from viscum for mistletoe, and voro to devour. So, a thrush that devours mistletoe, and that's what they do! They will have a winter feeding territory that they will defend from all comers. And the mistletoe has the solstice connotation that is so apt for this time of the year.

 

On a cold, frosty morning last week, under beautiful blue skies with a 'white wind', I found myself on a west Lancashire mossland doing a bird survey, where I encountered five of these beautiful birds. I watched one Stormcock singing in the white wind as it alighted on top of a telegraph pole to join two other Stormcocks. When you hear a Stormcock singing in flight, it is magical. They have a very loud, determined, and liquid song, like a slowed down Blackbird on steroids, turned up to number 11!  As they approach with that gently, undulating flight, as if on a children's roller-coaster, the song gets louder, and louder until they are there, in front of you, perched up, ready to face off any bird, probably any one, that dares to get too close to their favourite fruiting tree. Marvellous! 

Close to where the Stormcocks were, in a sheep grazed paddock, was a flock of 26 Redwings and 48 Fieldfares, all feeding on invertebrates in the short sward. Sometimes, one or two of the Stormcocks would fly down and join their Nordic cousins. 

 

Fieldfares, Redwing and Starling
 

I started my survey at first light, and as a result, picked up on some of the Pink-footed Geese flying from their overnight roost to feeding areas, and I had 266 flying in a general north to east direction. The stubble field in front of my VP held 32 Skylarks and eleven Linnets. Three Grey Wagtails were noteworthy, as was a flock of 354 Woodpigeons and 80 Jackdaws. The best of the rest included 14 Goldfinches, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, five Stock Doves and six Reed Buntings. 

 

But nothing could match the Stormcock singing in the white wind.

Feeding Station Blues

The weather has been trying its hardest to prevent me from getting out in the field of late, and this past week it nearly succeeded, but I did manage to get out and complete a survey on Thursday morning. It had rained for most of the previous few days, so I chose to survey one of my wintering bird survey sites that wouldn't be too treacherous under these conditions. 

 

This particular pastoral farmland site in northwest Lancs does receive a lot of disturbance from people walking their dogs, as it is right next to a small market town. However, the combination of the wet weather creating some floods on some of the fields, and the fact that the farmer is now grazing the fields with some sheep, has reduced the disturbance considerably, and it will be interesting to see what effect this will have on my survey results for the remainder of the winter.  

I set off to walk to my first VP on this Thursday morning under full cloud cover, with a 3 - 4 NW wind. As I said before, the site is next to a small market town, and as a result the hedges closest to the houses were full of 'chirping' House Sparrows. Hard to estimate how many, just a 'HS' with an underscore on the map, to show calling House Sparrow. 

There were a few wintering thrushes, in the form of two Fieldfares, 21 Redwings and a Song Thrush, but once again it was the number of Blackbirds that topped the score sheet, with 24 recorded! Another high scoring species, in terms of numbers, was Magpie, and I had 41 of these black, blue, purple, green and white, iridescent corvids. 

Three Stock Doves, five Long-tailed Tits, a Siskin, 17 Goldfinches, a female Kestrel and a Goldcrest are all worth mentioning, but I didn't have much else. 

Yesterday morning I was back at the feeding station to top up, and have a look at the wetland, and once again it wasn't fir for ringing. The wind strength was okay, a light south-easterly, but it was wet, and it was forecast to be wet on Sunday as well. So, it was another case of feeding station blues. 

Having said that, the feeders were very busy, and it was nice to be topping the monster 20 kg seed feeders up to a backdrop of calling Tree Sparrows!

Robert and I had a quick look on the wetland just before the rain came in, and it was pleasing to note that the Teal were back, and numbered 250. Other wildfowl present included 12 Shovelers, 45 Wigeons and ten Mallards. There was a flock of twenty Lapwings on the margins of the wetland, along with a couple of Common Gulls.

 

Below are a few pictures of the wetland with Lapwings, Wigeon and Teal.

 

 

We didn't have a look in the woodland, but a flock of 30 Redwings and four Fieldfares were making their way across the tree tops, and a Jay flew across the track. 

Dare I say it, the forecast isn't looking too bad for this coming week, so hopefully I'll get plenty of surveying done, and maybe I can get rid of those feeding station blues with a ringing session next weekend. Fingers crossed!

Where were All The Teal?

On Sunday morning I visited the feeding station to top the feeders up. Unfortunately, it was too breezy for a ringing session, so that will have to wait for another weekend. The feeders were duly topped up, and Robert and I stood and watched for a while to see what was coming in. The usual suspects were there, such as Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Coal Tit etc., but it was pleasing to note that at least 15 Tree Sparrows were visiting the feeder closest to the hedge. Tree Sparrows nest at the farm, and we ring the pulli from the boxes, so when we eventually have another ringing session, it will be interesting to see if we recapture any birds from the boxes. There was also four Moorhens hoovering up any spilt seed from below the feeders!

 

Tree Sparrow
 

Afterwards, we had a look on the wetland, and it was noticeable that there weren't many Teal, only four in fact. There were at least thirteen Shovelers and 78 Wigeon, so it seems unlikely that something had flushed the Teal. I then realised that it was probably the weather affecting the distribution of the Teal on site. The wetland has a fairly large open area of shallow water and grazed pasture along the northern edge of it, with rushes and a further open area of water within the rushes towards the back. The wind was cold, and from the north, and I suspect that the Teal were probably within the rushes, rather than feeding along the exposed northerly edge of the wetland. 

 

Teal
 

Also, just six days previous to this the wetland was frozen, and there didn't seem to be any wildfowl on it, or very few at best, and it might be that the numbers of Teal have been reduced because of this. I suspect that when I go again in a few days' time, there will probably be a few more. I hope so! 

Winter Skyscapes

Thursday afternoon found me at one of my arable northwest Lancs wintering bird survey sites, under two oktas cloud cover, with a biting 2 - 3 NNW wind. And boy was it cold! That's the problem when you're standing still for several hours at a VP! In fact, I am looking at getting some of those heated socks; I must be getting old! I had some fairly good birds, including one that got away (more of that later), and some lovely skyscapes.

 

I'll start off with the skyscapes, with a series of pictures below illustrating how varied and quite spectacular they were. I was hoping for a decent sunset, but as the sun dipped towards, and below, the horizon, it just didn't happen. 

 

 

Not so many Brown Hares this afternoon, but nevertheless it was good to see at least two. Just to the north of my survey site, about 400 Pink-footed Geese kept lifting and dropping back down to feed, but they didn't budge from where they were feeding. A few Pinkies, 176 to be precise, flew over in different directions and in differing sizes of skeins. 

 

I picked this lone Pink-footed Goose as it flew high and north, and this is about 

the same view of it as I had. I just thought it made a good image against the sky.
 

 There was still quite a few Woodpigeons feeding in the stubble turnips, somewhere in the region of 115, alongside seven Stock Doves. Good numbers of Jackdaws and Rooks were either in the stubble turnips with the Woodpigeons, or else on an adjacent field of winter wheat, and they numbered 298 and 150 respectively. Later I watched them fly to some local woodland to roost.

 

A few Redshanks surprised me, and they were a new addition to the site list, the first being a flock of five that looked as though they were going to land on a fairly open pond in some stubbles, but they flew on instead. Every time I walk past this pond on my way to my first VP location, I walk close enough so I can see all the margins as it looks good for a Green Sandpiper or two. I then had four fly north, and a single bird on a field of fairly recently sown winter wheat. The second of three new species for the site, was also a wader, in the form of a single Jack Snipe. It did that classic Jack Snipe thing; flushed when I was nearly on top of it, and then didn't fly very far! 

The third new species for the site, was a cracking female Merlin that belted east past me at a rate of knots. You can't beat a Merlin. Other raptors that made an appearance were three Buzzards and two Kestrels. 

There are still quite a few Skylarks in the stubbles and this afternoon I had 46. The movement of thrushes seems to have finished now, but on my travels around the site I recorded four Song Thrushes, four Redwings and 38 Fieldfares. 

The bird that got away was at the end of my survey towards sunset. I heard a bird calling, and my brain, very casually just for a nano-second, said "Yellow Wagtail!" Of course, in that split second, I was telling myself not to be stupid as it was the 2nd December, and then it called again, and I noted that it had a harsh quality to it! I struggled to get onto the bird as it was obviously fairly high, but I did manage to get on to it as it was flying away from me, and into a bright sky lit-up by a setting sun, and all I can say is that it was a wagtail! Frustrating, but that's how it goes sometimes! 

I was supposed to be ringing at the feeding station tomorrow morning, but it is forecast to be too breezy, so I'll still go and top the feeders up and see what's coming in to feed. 

 

Over on the right you will see that I ahve updated the ringing totals for Fylde Ringing Group up until the end of November. Only one new species for the year was added during November and that was a single Fieldfare. 

Below you will find the top 5 ringed for November, and the top ten 'movers and shakers' for the year.

Top 5 Ringed During November

1. Linnet - 80

2. Redwing - 36

3. Greenfinch - 32

4. Blue Tit - 16

5. Long-tailed Tit - 15

Top 10 Movers and Shakers for the Year

1. Linnet - 310 (same position)

2. Lesser Redpoll - 161 (same position)

3. Blue Tit - 160 (same position)

4. Sand Martin - 123 (same position)

5. Greenfinch - 114 (up from 6th)

6. Goldfinch - 111 (down from 5th)

7. Chaffinch - 94 (same position)

    Great Tit - 94 (same position)

9. Meadow Pipit - 81 (down from 7th)

10. Redwing - 75 (straight in)

Snow Go

This is just a quick update really, jut to let you know that I have nothing to report! On Sunday morning Gail and I were due to have a ringing session at the feeding station, but when we got up at 6:30 a.m. it said 'snow'! Where did that come from? I knew it was going to be cold, but there was no snow in the forecast the day before. 

For obvious reasons, we can't be catching birds for ringing in such inclement conditions. As it happened, the snow didn't come in until later in the morning, so we might have managed a short session, but even if we had, we would have ended up with a wet mist net, which at 60 foot long is a bit of a nightmare to dry!

On Monday, Gail and I went to the feeding station to top the feeders up, and it was another cold and frosty morning, as you can see from the picture below, with a dusting of snow still present. After the feeders were duly topped up, we had a look on the wetland, but it was devoid of any waders and wildfowl because of the freezing conditions. There was only one thing to do, and that was to join Robert and Diana in their cosy farmhouse and drink a gallon or two of coffee! 

 

A snowy feeding station
 

The forecast is looking like I'll get a couple of surveys in towards the end of the week, with perhaps a ringing session at the feeding station at weekend. I'll let you know.

It's the survey season...

..., or so it would seem, based on the number of wintering bird surveys I have completed of late! Over the past ten days I have completed seven surveys, and had a ringing session at our new feeding station in between. I'm not complaining at all, because it means we have had a spell of decent weather, and long may it remain so. 

In my last post I talked about all the 'Vikings' that were around at the time, and since then there has been more of these Nordic birds arriving, but over the past few days this has slowed down. I am still hearing Redwings and the odd Blackbird moving at night, but the calls/minute that I record as a measure of how heavy the passage is, has reduced. 

I have five wintering bird survey sites this year, and all except one in west Lancashire, near Ormskirk, are close to home. On 16th November, I was at one of my arable sites in northwest Lancs under full cloud cover, with a 10 mph south-westerly wind. At this particular site all the arable land has now been sown with winter wheat, which the Brown Hares seem to be enjoying, and on this morning, I recorded nine of these stonking mammals. 

Watching the Brown Hares reminded me of a poem by Robert Macfarlane about Mountain Hares, but his description of how the Mountain Hare moves is equally applicable to Brown Hares.

Hare, walking, is graceless lollop,

Awkward piston, awkward shunt.

Running, hare smooths sudden into speed,

flows over hill-top, lee-slope - 

Each quick arc a mark of hare, a sign of hope

 

Absolutely brilliant. Awkward piston, awkward shunt, I love it, such a perfect description! 

Most of my wintering bird surveys are connected to the fact that most of Lancashire falls into what is known as a 'Pink-footed Goose and Whooper Swan wintering area', but the only Pink-footed Geese I recorded were 164 flying over. In addition to the Brown Hares making use of the winter wheat, eight Stock Doves and 176 Woodpigeons were also foraging in these areas. 

 

Raptors were represented by a female Sparrowhawk, a male Kestrel and two Buzzards, and for the second week running I had a calling Chiffchaff. I mentioned that I had some more Vikings, and this morning was no exception, with six Song Thrushes, 263 Redwings, 13 Blackbirds and 205 Fieldfares present. 

 

One of my wintering bird survey sites has nothing to do with wintering Pink-footed Geese and Whooper Swans, it is an enlightened land owner who is interested to know what is on their farm over winter. Again, it is northwest Lancs, and under 7 oktas cloud cover, with a 2 - 3 NW wind, I had a wander along the hedges, round the ponds and through the woodlands, the day after my previous survey. 

 

I recorded 26 bird species on my wander round, and there were a number of species absent that I'm sure I'll pick up later in the winter. That's the problem with surveying, it is just a snapshot of what you encounter on one particular date, and that's why a number are completed during the winter to try and smooth out the peaks and troughs. 

 

When I was undertaking this survey, I was recording quite a number of Blackbirds, and I started to think back on other recent surveys, and I realised that I was recording a good number of Blackbirds on all of my surveys. It would seem that there has been quite an arrival of them with Redwings and Fieldfares. Looking through them, I could pick out several continental male type Blackbirds, indicating that a high percentage of the Blackbirds that I was recording, were arrivals from Scandinavia. When I counted up from my survey maps, I could see that I had recorded 23 Blackbirds alongside seven Song Thrushes, a Mistle Thrush, 34 Redwings and ten Fieldfares.

 

I can't resist photographing Gorse, mainly because it gives you a lift with its 

bright yellow flowers in the dark of winter. And often you smell it first, with 

that delicate coconut scent, before you see it. There was plenty of Gorse in

flower at this site.
 

 

My third morning surveying 'on the bounce' found me again in northwest Lancs at my other arable farm under full cloud cover, with a 3 - 4 westerly wind. This was an afternoon survey to cover the dusk period, and throughout the afternoon I was plagued with showers, and some of them were heavy, causing me to scurry to the nearest hedge and take shelter. In fact, I was about to call the survey off as the sun started to set, but thankfully it stopped raining and brightened up. 

 

Sunset after the rain cleared
 

I've mentioned before that close to one of my VP locations is a fishing lake that I can see part of, and this morning there were two Gadwalls on it, which was a new species for me for the site. Woodpigeons were feeding amongst the stubble turnips, which is quite a weedy crop, and I had 505 of them, but I could only see two of their Stock Dove cousins. 

 

I added another new species for me for the site, in the form of 14 Black-tailed Godwits that were heading north. A flock of 42 Skylarks and 53 Linnets in some of the stubbles was noteworthy, and the best of the rest included 138 Black-headed Gulls, a female Sparrowhawk, two Buzzards and Kestrels, 112 Jackdaws, 96 Rooks, a Raven and three Song Thrushes. There's been a few Songies about this autumn on the quiet. 

 

Last weekend, Alice, John and I had our first ringing session at our good friends Robert and Diana's farm near Garstang. We managed to ring 36 birds as follows:

 

Great Tit - 12

Blue Tit - 11

Coal Tit - 2

Robin - 1

Chaffinch - 5

Blackbird - 1 (continental female)

Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1

Nuthatch - 2

Treecreeper - 1

 

The masked bandit, aka a Nuthatch
 

We were quite busy, so birding records were thin on the ground, but did include 57 Redwings, a Tree Sparrow, a Siskin, a Grey Wagtail, a Lesser Redpoll, a Kestrel and that Fylde scarcity, a Bullfinch. I didn't see the Bullfinch, I could just hear it calling. 

 

Earlier this week at another of my northwest Lancashire survey sites, this time all permanent pasture with hedgerows, ponds and scrub, I again noticed that there seemed to be quite a few Blackbirds. I counted up, and I had recorded at least 25. Another numerous species was Magpie, and I had 24 feeding in some maize stubbles!  

 

My second VP is next to a fairly large pond, and for the two hours that I 

was stood there, this Grey Heron kept me company. At one stage I watched it

catch a large frog that was covered in bits of mud and debris from the bottom

of the pond, and the Heron kept dipping the frog in the water to rinse it, before

swallowing it down in one! 
 

Mid-week I was down in west Lancashire surveying some arable farmland with a mix of stubbles and field vegetables. I was in my position at my VP half an hour before first light, and the first birds that I recorded, were a small group of eight Whooper Swans winging their way north, presumably to some feeding areas out on the moss. Pink-footed Geese were doing exactly the same, and I had 1,221 moving over in various directions. 

I have surveyed this site previously, about 3 - 4 years ago I think, and one of the features then was the number of Mistle Thrushes I recorded, and today was no different, as I had at least five of these beautiful, monster thrushes. The stubbles held a flock of 89 Linnets, and 104 Lapwings and a calling Corn Bunting over were pleasing to note. 

The following day I was back closer to home surveying, and it was Blackbirds and Magpies that featured again, with counts of 19 and 53 respectively! Gail and I should have been out ringing again this morning, but when we got up at 6:30 a.m. a quick check of the forecast before we headed out showed sleet/snow in the forecast where we were going, and very obviously, this isn't conducive to ringing!

And that's about it. I'll be out and about later in the week if the weather plays ball, so fingers crossed for some more decent weather!

Vikings

It's been just over two weeks since my last post, but I have been out and about communing with nature, and that's the reason that I haven't posted for a while, I've been busy with surveys. I just wanted to mention this, as this post might end up being a bit long as I play catch-up. 

 

At the moment, here in the UK, we have lots of Vikings arriving on our shores in the form of wintering thrushes from Scandinavia, and since the 4th November I have seen over 700 Fieldfares and 1100 Redwings. Most nights of late, if you step outside after dark, you will hear the 'seep seep' calls of migrating Redwings, with a few Blackbirds thrown in for good measure. I've also been hearing Pink-footed Geese and Whooper Swans as well, more Vikings from Iceland.

 

Fieldfare
 

I had my first Fieldfares of the autumn on the 4th November when I was undertaking a wintering bird survey at one of my sites in northwest Lancashire. It was a lovely clear morning, with a light northerly wind, and at first light I had a flock of 15 Fieldfares heading north. They were perhaps heading into wind, or reorientating to head towards their favoured wintering area. I also had 302 Redwings during the morning, and they too were heading in a general northerly direction.

 

Small numbers of Pink-footed Geese moved through during the morning and I had 262 moving in various directions, depending on whether they had roosted on the Ribble or Wyre estuaries. There are a number of ponds on this site, and my notes for Wigeon and Teal say 2+ and 4+ respectively, which basically means I heard Wigeon calling from two ponds and Teal from four! 

The fishing lake held 29 Coots and 35 Mallards, but no singing Cetti's Warbler on this morning. Talking about water, there wasn't half a lot of flood water about after all the rain we have been having of late, and this led to a count of ten Snipe on an area of flooded arable land. The only other wader species that I recorded in any numbers, was a flock of 37 Lapwings heading north. 

 

Flooded arable land
 

Raptors were represented by a couple of Buzzards, and the now regular Peregrine keeping watch from an electricity pylon. There were still plenty of Skylarks in what remains of the stubbles, and I counted 40, along with a Tree Sparrow, 17 Chaffinches, twenty Linnets, seven Goldfinches and four Reed Buntings. 

 

On 5th November, I had a site visit in north Lancs, where I am working with a friend from the Wildlife Trust, producing a seasonal nature trail for a landowner. The idea is that people staying at the self-catering cottages can walk on self-guided trail around the farm. As we walked the trail after lunch, and updating it for the autumn/early winter version, we encountered at least 120 Fieldfares and 50 Redwings here too. And as has been the case at all of the sites where I have recorded these Viking thrushes recently, there were a few continental Blackbirds, and one or two Song Thrushes with them as well. 

 

The following day, Alice and I went to our friends Robert and Diana's farm near Garstang to locate where we will operate a winter feeding station from over the next few months. We found a good location between the end of an area of woodland and the adjacent hedgerow, where Robert will put two posts into the ground for us to mount our two 20 kg, six port feeders on.

 

Afterwards, we had a look on the wetland, and we had a good count of wildfowl. There were 233 Teal, 16 Shovelers, 47 Wigeon and 30 Mallards. A small group of eight Whooper Swans headed south, but they weren't tempted to call in at the wetland. Here too, were some more winter thrushes with 20 Fieldfares and 200 Redwings. The oak tree photographed below, against a brooding sky had a number of Redwings perched in it just prior to me taking the picture.

 

Brooding sky
 

A few days later found me on my client's farm in Bowland, where I was checking some of the breeding wader fields, and whether they needed much winter grazing on them between now and the end of the year, and also to have a look at the complex of scrapes that John had put in for the breeding waders. 

 

The complex of scrapes above (it was a murky mornng), and one of the 

scrapes a bit closer below 

 

 

I had a new species for me for the farm, when a Bullfinch flew over calling, heading northeast. A pair of Stonechats were in a rushy pasture, and three Jays were noisily making their presence felt. There were 140 Fieldfares and 30 Redwings here as well, and a couple of Bramblings were additional Viking visitors. 

 

The 10th saw me at another of my northwest Lancs survey sites, and I had to sit out some fairly hefty showers early on, but they soon cleared, although it remained overcast. On the recently seeded arable fields Brown Hares were fairly numerous, and I had at least ten of these gorgeous mammals. 

 

Very few Pink-footed Geese moved over, and all I had were 217 heading south. There was still a few Woodpigeons in the hedges and fields, and I counted 98 along with a just a couple of Stock Doves. Five Grey Herons in various locations on my map was notable, but just how many individuals were involved I'm not sure. 

 

Raptors were represented by a single Buzzard and a male Kestrel. I had been at my second VP for a while, and I had the feeling that something was watching me. I turned round and looked up, and a Buzzard was on top of a pylon with a firm gaze fixed in my direction! 

 

There might have been a handful of migrants around on this morning, because in addition to the two Song Thrushes, two Mistle Thrushes, four Blackbirds (at least one continental male), 256 Redwings and 392 Fieldfares, I had two Goldcrests and a calling Chiffchaff. Can I stretch this to call it a mid-November fall? Funnily enough, I had another Bullfinch here, again my first for the site, that went over calling, heading southeast. 

 

Last Saturday I was back at Robert and Diana's farm to put out my 'monster' bird feeders. Robert fitted the brackets to the posts, and the feeders were duly filled and latched on to the brackets. We then headed to the field over-looking the wetland, and as we started looking through and counting the wildfowl, Black-tailed Godwits started to drop in. They were dropping in and feeding in the short-cropped grass along the edge of the wetland, and they fed like mad for a good while, probing the ground with their long sensitive bills, as if they were stitching something invisible to the ground. An impressive 436 of these long-legged Vikings from Iceland graced us with their presence! 

 

Black-Tailed Godwits (above), and shaky video below!

 

 

The feeding station (above), and Peacock butterfly (below) that was on the 

wing during the warm morning conditions

 

 

Sunday morning found Alice, John and I at the Nature Park for a last ringing session of the year there, unless there is a Pied Wagtail roost later in the winter. We got there before first light, to get a couple of nets up in the dark in readiness for hopefully some more thrushes. Under four oktas cloud cover, with the slightest of easterly breezes, we switched the MP3 players on, and headed to the ringing station to drink coffee and watch the sun rise, and a fairly spectacular sunrise it was too! 

 

Sunrise at the Nature Park (above & below)

 

 

The MP3 players worked, and we caught a few more Vikings. We ringed 50 birds as follows (recaptures in brackets):

Redwing - 23

Cetti's Warbler - 2 (1)

Reed Bunting - 2

Song Thrush - 2

Fieldfare - 1

Long-tailed Tit - 3 (1)

Greenfinch - 12

Goldfinch - 5

 

Redwing
 

Before it was light, we could hear the magical calls of Pink-footed Geese from their roost site out on the estuary. The sound increased, almost to a cacophony, as these stonking birds greeted the rising sun with excited calls, and headed out to their chosen feeding areas. They must have mainly headed east, as only about three hundred departed to the southwest. In fact, there a are a few fields, that are only a few flaps away from the Pinkies roost site, and it would have been to these fields that these three hundred birds were heading. We had a further 172 over later in the morning, heading east over the river.

 

As I said before, the MP3 player performing the 'Latvian Love Song' for the Redwings pulled in 247 of these northern birds, along with nineteen Fieldfares, three Song Thrushes and four Blackbirds. At one point earlier in the morning, we had a British race of male Blackbird alongside a continental male, and it was educational to see both alongside each other. 

We didn't really detect any vis other than 28 Woodpigeons west and 31 Jackdaws south, although the twelve Greenfinches that we pulled in for ringing would have been moving beyond the range of our sight and hearing. The best of the rest included a Little Egret and a female Stonechat. 

 

When we packed up towards lunchtime it had warmed up, and a number

of insects were on the wing like this Common darter
 

I've got more surveys this coming week, topped off hopefully with a ringing session at our newly set-up feeding station. 

On 14th November 1993 I had a bit of a shock when I was ringing at a finch and thrush roost on my own, at a site near Clifton, Preston. It was a former large country house, with associated woodland and mature Rhododendrons along the drive and formal paths. And it was these 'Rhodies' that provided the perfect structural habitat for wintering finches and thrushes to roost in. The main target species for ringing at this site, was the sometimes large number of Chaffinches that roosted here.

As I said before, I was on my own and I had put up four 60-foot mist nets. In those days I used to make a note of which nets the birds had come from, and on this afternoon 28 years ago I can tell you that 30% of the birds ringed came from the 'south tree drive net', 21% from the 'north tree drive' net, 31% from the 'south gate drive' net and 18% from the 'green gate' net!

It was a bird from the 'south gate drive' net that caused all the excitement, and it was a humble Reed Warbler, a first calendar year bird in fact. Reed Warblers of course aren't rare, but 14th November is a very late date indeed, and it had come from a net that was in front of a line of Rhododendrons, that were in turn on the edge of some broad-leaved woodland. Most unusual!

This was before mobile phones of course, and I wanted somebody else from the group to make sure that I was right, and it was indeed a Reed Warbler and not a rare Acro. I had to furl my nets, drive in to the village to the phone box, and make a few phone calls. The nearest group member to the site was Graham, and he was only ten minutes away, which was perfect, as it only meant keeping the bird for a short period of time. We checked the emargination on P3 relative to the wing, the notch on P2, emargination, primary projection and P2 to wing tip, and all looked spot on for Reed Warbler. Phew! This late migrant was ringed, and released, and sent on its way. I wondered what would happen to it. Would it make it to Africa, or would it winter perhaps somewhere a little bit closer, who knows?

In case you are interested I ringed 32 birds that afternoon/evening, and these were a Goldcrest, a Song Thrush, the aforementioned Reed Warbler, 18 Chaffinches, 4 Blackbirds and a 2CY Sparrowhawk. All good stuff! 

 

Over on the right you might have noticed that I have updated the totals for Fylde Ringing Group up until the end of October. One new species ringed for the year was added in October, and this was 38 Redwings.

 

Below you will find the top 5 ringed for the month of October, and the top 10 'movers and shakers' for the year.

 

Tip 5 Ringed in October

 

1. Linnet - 72

2. Greenfinch - 56

3. Redwing - 38

4. Goldfinch - 17

5. Blue Tit - 13

 

Top 10 Movers and Shakers For the Year

 

1.Linnet - 230 (same position)

2. Lesser Redpoll - 161 (down from 1st)

3. Blue Tit - 144 (same position)

4. Sand Martin - 123 (same position)

5. Goldfinch - 106 (same position)

6. Greenfinch - 82 (straight in)

7. Chaffinch - 81 (same position)

    Great Tit - 81 (up from 8th)

    Meadow Pipit - 81 (down from 6th)

10. Blackcap - 65 (down from 9th)

Another Survey Saturday

I was amazed that Gail and I manged to get my last wintering bird survey for October in on Saturday. It's been a week of constant wind and rain, more than a bit dreich, and the forecast was relentless. I had no choice to keep rolling it over to the following day, but by the time we got to Saturday (30th) we were nearly running out of October! 

We had an afternoon survey to do, and we knew we would get wet, but the forecast promised that it would clear as the afternoon wore on. Now, annotating a map with species codes, activity codes and flight direction etc., isn't easy when it is raining! The map very quickly becomes a soggy ball of wet paper! I have a 'weather writer', which is basically an A4 clipboard with a clear pop-up cover, allegedly allowing you to continue to write/annotate maps in the rain. I say allegedly, because in practice they don't work either. There are two issues. One is that it is virtually impossible to write towards the top end of the weather writer because this is where the pop-up cover joins, and it is impossible to hold a pen/pencil upright here! The second issue, is what I call 'wet sleeve' syndrome. If the weather writer is keeping your paperwork dry, as soon as a wet sleeve has ventured under the pop-up cover a time or two, it will no longer be dry. So, we deployed plan B, and that was to have a big umbrella that Gail could hold over us both if it was raining hard, so that I could annotate the maps in relative dryness. And it worked! 

 

We set off under 7 oktas cloud cover, with a 15 - 20 mph westerly wind, and frequent heavy rain showers at first. The rain eventually stopped, and the skies cleared to at least 2 oktas, and dried us out. Walking across the recently sowed arable fields was a bit treacherous, as the tilled earth had turned almost to a type of slurry with all the recent heavy rain, and every few steps you sank in above your ankles, which was a bit disconcerting! 

 

With it being a late afternoon survey, I did expect to see a few roost flights of Pink-footed Geese, but with the wild weather we have had of late, I suspect that for the past few days they will have been feeding very close to their roost sites. As a result, we only had 104 go west. 

 

The most numerous species we recorded was definitely Woodpigeon, and we had at least 94. They were all feeding either in berry laden Hawthorn hedges, or I suspect on the fresh and tender shoots of emerging winter wheat! 

 

A berry laden Hawthorn hedge along one of the former toll roads that cross

the site. 
 

Waders were thin on the ground, and all we had were four Lapwings and two Snipe over. A Little Egret heading southwest during late afternoon was probably heading towards a roost site on the river, and as the clouds cleared, and the sun came out, we had three Buzzards on the wing. 

There were a few winter thrushes in the hedgerows, in the form of three Song Thrushes, 22 Redwings and five Blackbirds, and these were joined by a single Goldcrest and nine Long-tailed Tits.

On the arable fields we encountered seven Brown Hares, probably one of, if not my favourite mammal. A Common Frog entertained us at our second VP watch-point, as it made its way from the tilled field, to the grassy margin alongside.

 

Common Frog
 

The forecast is looking good, for a change, for the next few days, so it should enable me to catch up on some more surveys.

A House Tick

The only bird list that I keep is a house list. Basically, that is any species of bird that I have heard or seen from my house. It could be a bird in my garden, a flyover migrant, or something calling in the darkness perhaps. The only rule that I set my self, is that I have to be somewhere within the boundary of my property, when I record any said bird species.

 

I was sat at my computer this morning entering some bird records onto the British Trust for Ornithology's (BTO) BirdTrack, when I looked out of the window and picked up a Jay heading south, and battling against the strong southerly wind that is blowing at the moment. 

 

I shouted Gail, and managed to get her on to the Jay from the back bedroom window, and we watched it head south until we could no longer see it. 

 

That was bird species number 73 for our house, so I was very pleased with that. Looking at my list, I have just realised that I need to sort it into the latest scientific order as published by the British Ornithologists' Union (BOU). In fact, I might just do that right now!

 

Not the Jay from my house this morning, but a similar view. And below is 

a Jay in the hand from 2008

 

Monitoring Monday

On Monday I was back at the same wintering bird survey site, and this time the weather wasn't as good, and it had a noticeable effect on bird numbers. I started the survey under 7 oktas cloud cover, with a 15 mph south-westerly wind, and finished it with a 20-25 mph westerly wind and rain! 

There were no Whooper Swans sadly, and Pink-footed Geese only numbered 115. There were 38 Mallards on the fishing lake, but I only had two Teal. I say two Teal, as there was probably considerably more than this, as I recorded the call(s) of Teal from two different ponds. 

The vis was virtually non-existent, other than 14 Woodpigeons, six Skylarks, a Redwing, a Grey Wagtail, five Pied Wagtails, a Meadow Pipit, 21 Chaffinches, 13 Linnets, a Goldfinch, a Siskin and a Reed Bunting. Raptors included five Buzzards and three Kestrels, but none of the Peregrines from Saturday. 

 

On the former maize field, that has now been ploughed, tilled and probably sown with winter wheat, at least 120 each of Jackdaw and Rook were foraging here. There were still Skylarks in the remaining stubbles, and I counted 58, and with them were 23 Linnets and seven Reed Buntings. 

 

Reed Bunting
 

A female Stonechat was new in, and two Cetti's Warblers were again singing from two different locations on site. A Goldcrest in a Hawthorn hedge, was the first for a while, keeping company with just one Tree Sparrow this time. I recorded 40 species in total, but the above are just the meagre highlights. 

 

Stonechat
 

I type this after a cancelled site visit on Wednesday morning due to heavy rain, again, and I've still to get another survey in before the end of October. The forecast is poor until the end of the week, so we'll see!

Survey Saturday

What a month October has been so far for weather, and I mean poor weather by that. Day after day of rain, showers, wind, and often all three. Dreich it certainly has been, and days out in the field have been at a premium. It's been a case of just taking any opportunity of a weather window and going for it, and as such, most of my days in the field have been to keep the wolf from the door, rather than for pure pleasure and indulgence. But they have been just as enjoyable nevertheless. 

 

And this brings me to 'Survey Saturday'. Saturday just gone to be precise, and I was at one of my now three wintering bird survey sites that I have this winter. I was in the west of the county, under six oktas cloud cover, with a 10-15 mph southerly wind, that was just a tad too strong for ringing. This was the first half-decent morning for some movement, but not as much was on the move as I expected. 

 

This is how the day dawned from my first VP
 

Wildfowl dominated the morning, and I had a number of Pink-footed Geese and Whooper Swans over, and both Pinkies and Whoopers are always good to see. The Pinkies were behaving in various ways, and some were dropping in to feed in fields just to the west of my survey site, others were obviously heading north from their roost on the Ribble to feeding areas over Wyre, and some were probably arrivals from the north. In total, I recorded 1,140 Pink-footed Geese.

 

Pink-footed Geese
 

It's hard to beat the call of Whooper Swans as they fly over, to evoke the wild places that they inhabit, whether that's their tundra breeding grounds in Iceland, or some of their wild and windswept wintering areas on coastal grazing marshes in the UK. I had 30 of these bugling beauties over, and they made my day. 

 

Whooper Swans (above & below)

 

 

In the 'also ran' category of wildfowl, were two Canada Geese, eleven Greylags, 15 Wigeon, 18 Teal and 19 Mallards. Within this particular survey area, is a fishing lake, and on there in addition to the Mallards, were two Moorhens, 17 Coots and a Little Grebe. Interestingly, from a pond next to the fishing lake I heard a singing Cetti's Warbler, and I had another Cetti's Warbler singing from a water-course that forms the northern boundary of the site.

 

There were a few raptors about, including a Kestrel, five Buzzards and three Peregrines. I had an adult Peregrine perched on an electricity pylon, and two immature Peregrines that were squabbling and flying over the currently non-existent wetland. It's still not wet enough for it to form! 

 

There was a little bit of vis, and a family party of six Ravens calling to each other as they headed east was a bonus. I always enjoy Ravens. As I hinted at earlier, the vis was a bit thin on the ground, and I recorded just 13 Starlings, a Redwing, a Pied Wag, two Chaffinches, three Bramblings, eight Greenfinches eleven Linnets and a Reed Bunting. That's more than a bit thin on the ground!

 

Not all of the stubbles have been ploughed and tilled, and on the remaining stubbles was a respectable flock of 85 Skylarks, along with ten Linnets and five Reed Buntings. Three Tree Sparrows in a hedge, with three of their 'House' neighbours, is all that remains to report. 

 

An obliging Reed Bunting that was feeding in some of the stubbles 

(above & below)

 

 

Looking back in my notebook from 1983, I did a bit of twitching on this date (23rd October) that year. On a bright, and cold morning, I headed to Pickmere in Cheshire, with some of my teenage birding mates, to see a summer plumaged Great Northern Diver. I have no idea why we went all the way to Pickmere to see a Great Northern, but we did. Anyway, we saw the bird, and as I mentioned it was in summer plumage, so I suppose that was a bonus. 

On the way back we called in at Seaforth NR on the Mersey, but saw very little other than a few Red-breasted Mergansers. However, in the fading light that day, in a Layton garden on the outskirts of Blackpool, we managed to see another Red-breasted species that had been found by ME, and that was a 1CY Red-breasted Flycatcher! So, not a bad day in all 38 years ago! Mind you, I wouldn't travel to see any of those birds now, I just prefer to bird my own patches. However, it's each to their own.