I just want to take the opportunity, before we get too far into January, to wish you all a Happy New Year!
I need to work on my blog titles, as 'December' doesn't really cut it, although I suppose it does what it says on the tin!
My forays into the field in December, kicked off with a visit to Rossall Point on the 3rd, under 5 oktas cloud, with a 15 mph south-easterly wind.
As soon as I stood on top of the dunes, and took my first scan of the sea, I was greeted with the sight of three immature Mute Swans bobbing around on the sea. I've seen Mute Swans a few times on the sea here, but they always look slightly incongruous.
In addition to the Mute Swans, I recorded six Cormorants, six Red-throated Divers, 28 Common Scoters, four Eiders, and an Auk sp. on the sea.
Waders included 26 Oystercatchers, 224 Sanderlings, 65 Ringed Plovers, and 17 Turnstones, and that was that.
After a quick pit stop for a warming coffee at Burton's Tea Room, I headed to Jubilee Quay. In the quay were 33 Mallards, six Oystercatchers, 226 Redshanks, and three Curlews, and on the banks of the dock channel were 73 Wigeon.
I had a flock of what I think were genuinely wild Greylag Geese, when 46 calling, high flying birds, headed south. Of course, I will never know for certain, but their behaviour, flight action etc, suggested wild birds to me. It's a cloudy picture with Greylags these days.
A few days later, Gail and I did our December WeBS count, and at our Fleetwood Docks site we had a nil return! Not a wetland bird! It wasn't technically a nil return, as Jubilee Quay forms part of the Fleetwood Docks sector, and we recorded several wetland birds here, including four Oystercatchers, 20 Mallards, 40 Wigeon, 38 Redshanks, and the over-wintering Common Sandpiper.
A Peregrine belted over, heading south-east towards the river, and shortly after that we could see some mayhem in the distance, with lots of waders and wildfowl wheeling around in the sky, presumably flushed by the Peg.
Walking down to our second WeBS count site, the reservoir adjacent to the estuary, we recorded a Grey Wagtail, five Long-tailed Tits, two Goldcrests, a Cetti's Warbler, and two Jays, that seem firmly established on the Fleetwood peninsula now.
On the reservoir were four Little Grebes, five Mute Swans, 28 Tufted Ducks, 10 Coots, and a Cormorant.
We had a walk across the saltmarsh to have a look on the river, and the waders and wildfowl had settled down now, and we had 2,800 Lapwings, 300 Golden Plovers, 150 Redshanks, 20 Dunlin, 29 Wigeon, and 46 Teal. Walking back we came across some Hogweed that was till just about flowering.
Every few days we top the feeders up at our feeding station on our good friend's farm near Nateby. Sometimes it's just a quick 'splash and dash', and other times we have a bit more time for a bit of mooch to see what we can record. The 11th was one of those mooching visits, and it was pleasing to note that at least 20 Tree Sparrows were at the feeding station.
We had a look on the wetland, and walking across the field to where we view it from, we had two Buzzards and two Ravens over. One of the Ravens was interacting with the one of the Buzzards, and until I see them together, it always surprises me just how big Ravens are.
On the wetland were c.200 Teal, and giving them a bit of grief was a 2CY male Marsh Harrier. The wetland here is obviously very much on the feeding circuit of a couple of Marsh Harriers.
We hadn't had a look at the Nature park for a while, so the following day we called first thing. Shoveler numbers were holding up, and we countered 32, with other wildfowl counts including 2 Teal, 32 Mallards, a pair of Wigeon, 22 Coots, and 10 Tufted Ducks.
Three Cetti's Warblers and a Water Rail called from the reedbed, and a Great Spotted Woodpecker made it into my notebook.
We had a walk along the estuary from Jubilee Quay the following day, with the highlight being 101 Wigeon on the banks of the dock channel. We noted that Yarrow and Smooth Sow-thistle were still flowering.
I've mentioned before the adult male Sparrowhawk that regularly visits our garden, and on the 14th he called in at lunchtime. I was just about to head across the garden to the garage to get something from the second fridge in there, when I spotted him perched on his favourite perch in the Apple tree.
From here, if he faces the house he can watch out for mice under one feeder, and if he turns around on the perch to face the opposite direction, he can watch the ground beneath the other feeder. Besides keeping a watching brief for small mammals, he was also doing a fair bit of preening, and perching on one leg to conserve body heat.
About half an hour later, Gail shouted me to say that he was gone. I looked out from the sun lounge, and he wasn't on his perch, but I could see him on the ground next to the Hedgehog house. He flew up into the Apple tree, and I could see that he had a mouse. He kept flying between the Apple tree, shed, garden fence, the Willows, and sun lounge roof, presumably trying to find a suitable place to consume his lunch. At one point when he was on the fence, he attempted to pluck the mouse, but he didn't seem comfortable with any of these perches, and I last saw him flying behind the Apple tree and away with the mouse.
We made visits to our feeding station on the 16th and 21st, and recorded 15 Tree Sparrows, 150 Fieldfares, 180 Teal, a Barn Owl, 5 Redwings, two Ravens, and two Marsh Harriers (immature & 2CY male). A brief visit to Jubilee Quay on the 19th, and I noted that Wigeon numbers had increased to 127, and they were roosting on the embryonic saltmarsh.
On Christmas Eve, I topped the feeders up at the feeding station, and had a wander through the adjacent woodland. I found some lovely Birch Polypore fungi, which is one of my favourites, and flushed a Woodcock as I crunched over the woodland floor. There were only 48 Teal on the wetland, and a number of these were in the wet woodland adjacent to the wetland.
After all the festivities were over, we finally managed to escape for a walk from Jubilee Quay, on a crisp Boxing day afternoon. At the mouth of the dock channel were a group of 98 Wigeon. Some were over on the south side, but most were on the north side, and closer to us.
They were attempting to roost on the embryonic saltmarsh, but the incoming tide kept pushing them off, and some were drifting up the creeks. We spent quite a bit of time watching the Wigeon, with their beautiful calls, and I tried to take some photographs.
It was interesting watching the behaviour of some of the males towards each other. Some would stretch out their neck, lower it to the surface of the water, and launch themselves towards another male, with their beak open, and their mandibles stretched up and down. Whether a call emanated from this open beaked posture, I am not sure, but we certainly couldn't hear anything.
In addition to the Wigeon were 23 Teal, 20 Oystercatchers, 231 Redshanks, 12 Mallards, and two Turnstones.
We managed two ringing sessions before the end of the month, and I have lumped the totals together. We ringed 36 birds as follows (recaptures in brackets):
Wren - 1
Chaffinch - 5
Blue Tit - 7 (16)
Coal Tit - 3 (2)
Dunnock - 1 (1)
Greenfinch - 7
Starling - 1
Great Tit - 4 (5)
Tree Sparrow - 4
Blackbird - 1
Siskin - 2
It was good to note an increase of Tree Sparrows visiting the feeding station, and in addition to the birds that we ringed, we had 49 of these gorgeous little Sparrows. It's worth mentioning the Starling, as this was a first ringing record for the site.
On the 30th I was at Rossall Point again, and it was a bitterly cold, grey day. The tide was falling when I got there, and out on the exposed shore were a flock of 16 Grey Plovers with a couple of Dunlins. A falling tide isn't the best conditions for seeing waders here, so the only other species in any numbers were the 234 Oystercatchers and 32 Sanderlings.
I'm getting a bit fed up of repeating myself, but once again it was quiet on the sea with 50 Cormorants, two Red-throated Divers, three Teal, a male Wigeon, 39 Common Scoters, a Great Crested Grebe, and a male Red-breasted Merganser. A male Stonechat in the dunes added a splash of colour.
I then decided to have a walk down to the reservoir adjacent to the river. Walking through the scrub I recorded a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a singing Cetti's Warbler, a Song Thrush, two Jays and two Bullfinches.
Out on the reservoir were 12 Tufted Ducks, eight Coots, and six Shovelers. I had a look on the river from the edge of the saltmarsh and had 308 Wigeon, 125 Teal, 1,700 lapwings, and 170 Golden Plovers. I pushed two Skylarks, and a Rock Pipit walking back to the path.
I had another look on the reservoir walking back, and on the far side I could see a female Kingfisher. Great views in my scope, but too far for any decent shots, as you will see from the image below.
and orange blob in the centre of the above picture, that's the Kingfisher!
And that ends 2025.
