I nearly made a new year resolution to update my blog more often, and it is a god job that I didn't, because I would have fallen at the first hurdle! Here we are knocking on mid-February, with my first blog post of the year.
I don't normally suffer with the blues, I enjoy listening to blues music, and blues-rock, but the start of the year has been a complete wash-out, with day after day of dreich conditions. I usually enjoy this time of the year, but this year I am certainly looking forward to spring with relish, so I hope it doesn't disappoint.
If I kept a year list it would have kicked off at Jubilee Quay, when Gail and I had a late morning walk from here and along the estuary. A few waders were feeding in the quay, including 23 Black-tailed Godwits, 41 Redshanks, and 30 Oystercatchers. Wildfowl weren't as numerous, with just 25 Wigeon in the dock channel. Some yellow to counter the grey day was found in the form of some flowering Common Ragwort, which as you know, is one of my favourite flowers.
We called at the Marine Lakes to boost our non-existent year list, and 47 Black-headed Gulls, three Little Grebes, and a male Red-breasted Merganser were noted down in my notebook.
You are probably aware, but there has been an influx of Tundra Bean Geese and Russian White-fronted Geese to the UK this winter, and I have been regularly checking the Pink-footed Geese flocks close to home on the Fleetwood peninsula. The following day, I had 920 Pinkies, and I had just got on to a Tundra Bean Goose, swapped to my scope for a better look, and the flock was flushed by a Buzzard! With the Pinkies, were 110 Black-tailed Godwits, and 100 Woodpigeons were feeding in the same fields as well.
On the 3rd we were back at the quay, and the sun was shining...hooray! Numbers of Black-tailed Godwits had increased to 188, and it was fantastic to watch them spread out across the mud of the whole quay, excitedly calling, and feeding away. In addition to the Blackwits, were 21 Oystercatchers, 38 Redshanks, two Curlews, and the over-wintering Common Sandpiper. Wildfowl numbers included 26 Teal, and just 10 Wigeon.
On the way home we had a look at the geese again, and there were two Barnacle Geese with the 1,500 Pink-footed Geese, as well as 96 Black-tailed Godwits, and 357 Lapwings.
The following day I decided to have a sea-watch at Rossall Point, and it was not as sunny as the day before, but at least there was some sunshine.
On the shore as the tide ran in were two Curlews, two Redshanks, 82 Oystercatchers, 12 Grey Plovers, six Dunlins, 125 Sanderlings, 39 Ringed Plovers, 34 Turnstones, and two Purple Sandpipers.
The most interesting feature of the morning was the number of Cormorants coming in from the south-west, and heading east into the bay. I had 341 head east, and 40 west.
Other than the Cormorants, the sea was as usual very quiet, with just two Great Crested Grebes, 11 Eiders, 40 Wigeon, 38 Common Scoters, and a single Red-throated Diver.
On the way home I had a look through the 2,000 Pinkies, and the two Barnacle Geese were still with them, along with 144 Black-tailed Godwits, 129 Lapwings, and 14 Snipe.
A couple of days later, Gail and I had to call in at our local supermarket, and as I parked the car I noticed a small bird flitting around the smaller branches of the scrub bordering the car park, and it was a Chiffchaff. Nice to record in January.
Mid-month, and mid-morning, we had another walk from the quay, and Redshank numbers had increased to 144, but Blackwits had reduced to just 13. We had 16 Teal, 11 Mallards, and 44 Wigeon. On the way home we had a quick look on the Marine Lakes and had the 1st winter Shag, a female/imm Goldeneye, and three males, and one female Red-breasted Merganser.
On the 16th I was back at the Point, and it was, once again, cold and grey. Waders included 209 Oystercatchers, 54 Sanderlings, and 77 Ringed Plovers. There were less Cormorants, but more Red-throated Divers, in fact 12 in total. On one scan I picked up a Red-throat belting west, and as I followed it in my scope, it picked up several others, and I ended up with a loose flock of seven heading out of the bay.
I had another look on the Marine Lakes on my way home, and there were four Little Grebes, four males and three female Red-breasted Mergansers, the semi-resident 1st winter Shag, and a female Common Scoter roosting on the island.
The following day I had a look on the sea from Larkholme, and it was another cold, grey day. The highlight was a Harbour Porpoise that slowly made its way north. The supporting cast on the sea were 29 Cormorants, 11 Eiders, 39 Common Scoters, three Red-throated Divers, and two Great Crested Grebes. In the farm fields were two males and one female Stonechat.
A quick check of the 'goose fields' on my way home revealed 500 Pink-footed Geese, and a single Barnacle Goose.
On the 18th we did our Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) count, and on our Fleetwood Docks section, which includes the Quay, we recorded 10 Mallards, 83 Redshanks, 13 Black-tailed Godwits, 11 Oystercatchers, 21 Teal, 10 Dunlins, and 51 Wigeon. We had light rain throughout our WeBS count, but it wasn't heavy enough to have any negative impact on our count,
Walking down the path to count the reservoir, we noted eight Long-tailed Tits and a Great Spotted Woodpecker, and we came across some Jelly Ear Fungus on some Elder. On the reservoir were 26 Tufted Ducks, three Little Grebes, and nine Coots. On one of the flooding saltmarsh channels were 11 Wigeon, with a couple of Teal.
Finally, on the 21st I managed to catch up with a couple of adult Russian White-fronted Geese. I was looking through the flock of 500 Pink-footed Geese, and straight away I could see two Canada Geese. When you come across Canada’s with a flock of Pinkies, you do wonder whether they are genuine vagrants, and if they are, which form. After looking at them, I was confident that they were the nominate form, Canada Goose Branta Canadensis. Of course, these two Canada Geese could have been genuine vagrants from southeast Canada/northeast USA, but unless they were carrying a traceable colour ring or neck collar, it would be impossible to separate them from our feral population.
Before I had finished looking through the Pinkies, half of the flock flushed, but they just flew round and rejoined their friends. I lifted my bins to have a quick scan, now that the flock had been ‘shuffled,’ and there standing looking in my direction were two adult Russian White-fronted Geese. I think possibly my first for the Fleetwood peninsula, although I have seen Greenland White-fronted Geese before here.
A few days later we were back at the Quay, and it was still cold and grey, there was nothing new in, but four Curlews, 39 Teal, 30 Redshanks, 14 Wigeon, and 12 Mallards were busy feeding on the mud and creeks.
We had a walk around the Marine Lakes, and on the island were 232 Turnstones, and 26 Redshanks roosting on the island. Out on the water were 16 Mute Swans, a pair of Goldeneyes, 18 Canada Geese, and six Red-breasted mergansers (4 males & 2 females).
On the 28th I had a sea-watching session at Rossall Point, and there was some sunshine accompanying the cold south-easterly wind. The tide was already falling, so the waders weren't roosting, and all I had were 325 Oystercatchers, 57 Sanderlings, 85 Ringed Plovers, and 10 Turnstones.
On the sea were 29 Cormorants, 32 Eiders, 14 Common Scoters, and three Red-throated Divers. The most interest snippet of the morning was a light passage of Skylarks west, with 8 birds involved.
Moving into February, we've had one or two Common Frogs in our garden, and small pond, but not any numbers yet. But, it is another sign of spring. Over the weekend of the 7th/8th, Gail and I tried to find some Spring, and we found it in some places, and not in others. On the Saturday we were hoping for a few early insects, perhaps a newly emerged Bumblebee species, as it seemed a bit warmer, so we started off at Jubilee Quay.
Even though it was warm in sheltered spots, out of those sheltered spots there was still quite a bit of bite in that easterly. It was quiet at the Quay, and very little found its way on to the pages of my notebook, other than 32 Teal, and a pair of Carrion Crows that were behaving spring-like, sitting close, rubbing bills, and doing a bit of mutual preening.
We then had a look at the dunes surrounding the Marine Lakes, but could not find a nice sheltered sunny spot, so early insects were going to elude us. On the island 31 Redshanks roosted along with 248 Turnstones.
On the Sunday we headed to our good friend’s farm near Nateby to fill the feeders at our feeding station. We found a little more spring here. Quite a few birds were singing in the woodland, and walking through the woods, we flushed a Woodcock.
The Hazel has been flowering for some time now, and every Hazel we encountered was bursting with male catkins, and a few tiny, gorgeous female flowers were tucked away. I struggled to photograph the female flowers with my camera, even on the macro setting, and had to use Gail’s mobile phone instead.
We found some Lords-and-Ladies that had a good amount of growth, and lots of tiny Cow Parsley and Red Campions were on the starting blocks, ready to get going.
We encountered six Brown Hares in the woodland, and one was fairly oblivious to us, though at a distance, and I managed a few snaps. Spring is just around the corner, but there is still a bit of winter to get through yet.
Towards the end of this week, Gail and I had a walk along the Wyre estuary from Jubilee Quay. Feeding out on the mud, pools, and creeks of the quay were 10 Oystercatchers, 43 Redshanks, two Shelducks, 31 Teal, two Mallards and three Curlews. Just around the corner, towards the old Fleetwood Ferry, were 43 Wigeon.
Back at the car park, we spent several minutes watching the largest Gull species in the world, the Great Black-backed Gull. There is a large bin in need of emptying at the entrance of the car park, and somebody has placed a couple of full black bin bags on top of the bin, and this Great Black-backed was 'unpacking' the contents of the bin bag in search of food. What an absolutely magnificent bird.
They are a common winter visitor on the coast of Lancashire, and a few pairs nest on rooftops in Fleetwood, which is quite unusual. I have posted some pictures of the ‘bin raider’ below, and also a picture of some juveniles at the quay last August.
On the way back home, we checked the Pink-footed Goose flock, numbering 800, and a single Barnacle Goose was with them.
Yesterday morning, we had our first ringing session at our feeding station on our good friend’s farm near Nateby. We have been visiting every 3-4 days throughout the winter to fill the large feeders up, but, as you know, the weather has been dreadful so far this year, and yesterday was the first morning when the weather God’s aligned.
We ringed 21 birds (recaptures in brackets) as follows:
Goldfinch - 4
Blue Tit - 9 (4)
Tree Sparrow - 1
Great Tit - 3 (2)
Chaffinch - 1
Greenfinch - 1
House Sparrow - 2
Coal Tit - (2)
One of the male Blue Tits that we recaptured was in breeding condition, showing a well-developed cloacal protuberance. At the start of the breeding season, tissue around the cloaca of male birds becomes enlarged due to the seasonal re-growth of the tubes in the male reproductive system in which sperm matures. We can use this to sex bird species, during the breeding season, that cannot be sexed on differences in plumage or size, and it also tells us of course, that a bird is in breeding condition.
We originally ringed this Blue Tit on 18.12.21, and it was aged as an age code 3, meaning it hatched during the calendar year of ringing i.e. the summer of that year. This makes this Blue Tit nearly 5 years old, and the life expectancy of a bird reaching breeding age is 3 years. So, it is quite an old individual. It still has someway to go to match the maximum aged Blue Tit from a ringed bird, which is 9 years, 8 months, and 16 days, set in 1984!
We had a new bird species for the farm, albeit a fly-over, in the form of five Russian White-fronted Geese that headed low north, with 80 Pink-footed Geese. There were more signs of spring, with drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker, and there were lots of vocalisations between a pair of Kestrels close to their nest box in the woodland.
No comments:
Post a Comment