The early signs of spring are always subtle I think. Winter tends to quietly slip away, unless a late cold spell sneaks in to surprise us, and spring just quietly eases in, and slowly builds in intensity. Intensity of colour, sound and smell, until it's here, in all its glory.
We were worried about the Common Frogs in our small pond this year, and we started to wonder whether they would return at all. Then on 23rd February, I checked the pond after dark, and there were two! Numbers slowly built up to a maximum count of at least eleven on several nights in early March. Frog spawn first appeared on 4th March, and we have four separate clumps now, so hopefully we will have lots of tadpoles and froglets over the coming months.
Towards the end of February, Gail and I had a look at the Nature Park, mainly to see if it was possible to access our ringing area. Most years, the area of reedbed and Willow scrub where we put our nets up is flooded, and it can be late spring before we get in. However, we were surprised to find that our net rides were relatively dry, and it will be possible for us to have some early spring ringing sessions for a change. As I am fond of saying, we just need the weather and availability Gods to align!
It wasn't all about checking the net rides, and as usual we had a wander round to see what we could record. Out on the pools we had four Shovelers, three Little Grebes, twelve Mallards, 37 Black-headed Gulls, six Moorhens, 75 Herring Gulls, 27 Tufted Ducks, 31 Coots, eight Canada Geese, and four Mute Swans.
Looking over one of the pools, Gail noticed a male and female Common Toad right by her feet, and close by was another male. They are always nice to see.
Common Toads
Four Cetti's Warblers were in fine voice, and we also had singing Reed Bunting and Skylark. We had a female Stonechat, which we suspect is the female of the breeding pair here, rather than a migrant.
Looking on to the river, 70 Dunlins and 100 Lapwings were feeding on the mud on the edge of the saltmarsh, and out on the water were 150 Wigeons.
At the end of the month, Gail and I had a walk through the dunes, and had a look on the Marine Lakes. As it was high tide 208 Turnstones were either roosting on the island, or feeding around the margins of the Marine Lakes, alongside 37 Redshanks.
Amongst a small group of Turnstones, we noticed one of our leg-flagged birds, but unfortunately it took off before we could read the two inscribed white letters on the black flag. It is twelve years ago since we last fitted any Turnstones with leg flags here, so whoever this individual was, they must be at least 13 years old! The maximum age from ringing for a Turnstone is 20 years, 0 months, and 3 days, and the typical lifespan is 9 years. So our bird is doing rather well!
Out on the lakes were a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers, whilst on the shore 31 Sanderlings were running a long the tide edge like clockwork toys. A female Stonechat moved east through the dunes, so I guess that she was a migrant.
In early March, on an overcast day with a light south-westerly wind, we had a walk down to the saltmarsh on the Wyre. On our walk down along the footpath through the Hawthorns a Cetti's Warbler was singing from the dry reedbed, and we recorded a male Kestrel, singing Song Thrush and Great Spotted Woodpecker.
Even though it was weekend, we noticed that work was being carried out on the south face of the landfill site, and this attracted at least 1,200 large Gulls that were then flushed, with some flying down onto the saltmarsh, and others heading off west. There were 600 Herring Gulls on the edge of the saltmarsh, with five Lesser Black-backed Gulls, four Great Black-backed Gulls, and 40 Black-headed Gulls. My 20 year old self would probably have had a walk towards the landfill site to have a look through the Gulls, knowing I would have to wait on the embankment for the tide to drop, before I could walk back. But forty years older, my excuse was that I had Gail with me!
The work on the landfill site had also attracted lots of Carrion Crows, and we counted 112. On the reservoir were two Little Grebes, 13 Tufted Ducks, two Mallards, three Moorhens, two Mute Swans, and two Coots.
Unfortunately, we had to leave before the tide covered the saltmarsh, so we only recorded eleven Redshanks, 120 Dunlin, and 95 Wigeon along the saltmarsh edge.
I haven't seen many insects so far this spring, and what I have seen have been queen Buff-tailed Bumblebees. Gail and I had a walk along the Quay a week ago, and we had a few foraging on Goat Willow catkins. Out on the mud were a handful of wildfowl and waders; 154 Oystercatchers, a Shelduck, 12 Teal, two Black-tailed Godwits, 48 Wigeon, and two Curlews.
About ten days ago, I was at Larkholme for first light under 1 okta of cloud cover, with a light north-easterly wind. The plan was to see what was moving on the sea, and record any visible migration. The visible migration was slow with just a Linnet, 23 Meadow Pipits, and a Goldfinch heading north-east. What few Meadow Pipits there were, were coming in off the sea, and heading north-east. Whether this was because it was hazy out to sea, or whether they were just cutting across the peninsula, I'm not sure.
It was equally quiet on the sea, and I recorded 13 Common Scoters, four Eiders, five Cormorants, a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers, and six Canada Geese. I didn't really record anything that could be considered as grounded, except perhaps a pair of Stonechats. Time will tell whether they were migrants or local breeders.
We have a pair of Blackbirds that are nesting either in our garden, or in next doors, I'm not quite sure yet. Every day they are both in the garden feeding on the apples that we put out for them, and the female has been busy collecting nest material. On 10th March we had a 'mega' in the garden in the form of a Song Thrush. This is our first Song thrush in the garden for a number of years, but unfortunately 'our' breeding Blackbirds chased it off!
The following day Gail and I had a walk through the dunes. We left it until the afternoon in the hope that it would warm up, and there would be some insects on the wing, but the cold north-westerly put paid to that. Plants were thin on the ground, and only Red Valarian, Ribwort Plantain, and Sea Spurge were showing signs of 'greening' up.
A week ago we went to our site in the Hodder Valley where we maintain 45 nest boxes for Pied Flycatchers. We emptied any boxes that hadn't been emptied during the last box check at the end of the last breeding season, replaced any dilapidated boxes, of which there were six, and replaced any broken wires that fasten the lids down.
As we wandered through this semi-natural woodland, we were accompanied by singing Mistle and Song Thrushes. A few plants were showing on the woodland floor, including Dog's Mercury and Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage. We also found some Scarlet Elf Cup and Turkeytail fungi.
It was warm the following afternoon, and I kept popping my head outdoors to see if I could pick up any raptors taking advantage of thermals and passing over the garden. I had some success, and recorded six Buzzards and a female Sparrowhawk, high up in the blue yonder!
We've had two ringing sessions at the Nature Park in the past week, five days apart, and for convenience I've lumped the totals together. We ringed eight birds as follows (recaptures in brackets):
Wren - 1 (1)
Long-tailed Tit - 2 (3)
Reed Bunting - 1 male
Great Tit - 2
Blackcap - 1 male
Chiffchaff - 1
The Wren that we recaptured, we ringed as a juvenile on 13th August 2022, which makes this bird nearly three years old. The typical lifespan for a Wren is 2 years, with breeding typically at 1 year, and the maximum age from ringing is 7 years, 3 months, and 6 days, set in 2004. So, 'our' Wren isn't doing too bad, and what is interesting, is that this is the first time that we have recaptured it since we originally ringed it. Where has it been?
Our first of the two ringing sessions was under clear skies, with a light north-easterly wind, and we didn't record anything on the move, other than a flock of 14 fantastic Whooper Swans loudly bugling as they headed north. Superb!
As usual at least five Cetti's Warblers were singing across the site, as was a single Reed Bunting. Just like the ringing totals, I've lumped together our counts for any wetland bird species that we recorded over both visits, and we had 7 Moorhens, 2 Grey Herons, 8 Canada Geese, 28 Mallards, 20 Shovelers, a pair of Gadwall, 65 Herring Gulls, 2 Black-headed Gulls, 6 Mute Swans, a Snipe, 2 Teal, 27 Coots, 15 Tufted Ducks, 4 Little Grebes, and 15 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
We had to do our Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) count a day later on 17th March. At our first site, which combines the old docks with the Quay, we recorded 10 Black-tailed Godwits, 4 Knots, 30 Redshanks, 6 Herring Gulls, 1 Black-headed Gull, 4 Oystercatchers, 2 Shelducks, 10 Teal, and 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull.
At our second site, the reservoir adjacent to the Wyre estuary, we recorded 4 Moorhens, 2 Mute Swans, 9 Coots, a singing Cetti's Warbler, 24 Tufted Ducks, 1 Little Grebe, and 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
In the scrub alongside the saltmarsh we had our first migrant Chiffchaffs of the year, and we had two calling birds. On the walk back to the car, a male Great Spotted Woodpecker in the top of some Poplars was noteworthy.
That brings the blog right up to date, and I look forward to some warmer days, and getting out, as spring starts to gather pace.
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