Drab Morning

For several days now I have been getting the same three species in my moth trap; Early Grey, Hebrew Character and Common Quaker. Well this morning I had a fourth; Clouded Drab! Not rare at all , in fact it is very common, but it was just nice to get an extra species. Out of interest the numbers of the other species were eight Hebrew Characters, four Common Quakers and a single Early Grey.

No birds today other than a singing Chiffchaff at Ainsdale NNR.

Mossy Morning

I had an hour to spare before seeing my first client this morning so I decided to drop some seed off at the feeding bins on Rawcliffe Moss. After I did this I had a walk from the feeding track, along the '97' hedge to the plantation and back to the car. It was a cracking morning albeit a little cold with clear skies and a light northeasterly breeze.

The 'big' field in the April sunshine

A number of Lapwings were busying themselves in various stages of their breeding cycle; some displaying and others looking like they were sat on eggs. I had a good count of Brown Hares as I walked round and had a total of eleven, with some in pasture and others in arable areas. Skylarks sang from the arable fields and I had a buck Roe Deer take an interest in me in the big field. I think he couldn't tell from a distance whether I was another deer or not! He kept coming closer and closer until he could see me properly, and then he legged it!






Walking up the '97' hedge I had a single Willow Warbler and when I got up to the plantation I had a further singing four males. Between the '97' hedge and the plantation were five singing Corn Buntings making use of a variety of song perches from tree tops, to fence posts to mole hills!

Walking past the ploughed field opposite Curlew Farm I had five Stock Dove, which is quite a good count, and a pair of Swallows were on the wires close to the farm.

Male and female Swallows

Walking back down the lane to my car I had nine Tree Sparrows between the L Wood and Curlew Wood boxes as well as three Coal Tits flitting along the hedge. Over head at least four Lesser Redpolls went north along with eight Linnets. Back at the car a Great Spot called from Curlew Wood and a Buzzard flew past being mobbed by Crows as usual.

I was early for my second appointment of the day at Tockholes in the West Pennines so I had a short walk through the woodland at Roddlesworth. Migrant-wise it was quiet other than a single singing Willow Warbler. In fact I had very little at all except for a drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker and a calling Grey Wagtail.

Roddlesworth

Back home I checked my moth trap, and you've guessed it, six early Greys, four Common Quakers and five Hebrew Characters!

Back To Work

The weekends pass too quickly and before you know it, it's back to work. As I walked out of the back of the house this morning to put my moth trap in the garage until later when I could check it after work, twelve 'buzzing' Redpolls went over. I wish I had been heading up to Rossall for a mornings birding!

As I headed across the car park at Myerscough College my spirits were lifted by a singing Chiffchaff and a Swallow flying round the buildings where they nest. From my office window overlooking some woodland I had a Treecreeper feeding away, which I was really pleased about as it was an addition to my 'on business' bird list and would hopefully get me one step closer to George in Northumberland who is beating me at the moment by a few species.

Back home I checked the moth trap and I caught 21 moths of three species; twelve Hebrew Characters, four Common Quakers and five Early Greys. It was Monday morning after all!

Less Cabaret Today

We were back at Rossall School this morning for what we hoped would be some more Lesser Redpoll ringing. Unfortunately no two days are the same at a coastal site and a slight variability or difference in the weather can have a huge effect. As the day dawned the wind was a force 2 southeasterly with 5 oktas cloud cover and the wind was causing the nets to billow slightly.

The Lesser Redpoll passage was quite heavy and we had at least 120 go north between 0615 and 0900, with the majority of these being in the first ninety minutes. The 'MP3 Lesser Redpoll' did pull a few birds down and we managed to ring seven of these little beauties.


Other 'vis' included Siskin, ten Goldfinch, Linnet, Tree Pipit and Swallow. Grounded birds were few and far between and all we had were Grasshopper Warbler and Chiffchaff. As we left the site we saw the odd pairing of a Whooper Swan and Canada Goose that were flying around together.

Back home I checked my moth trap and I had caught five Common Quakers, twelve Hebrew Characters and two Early Greys.

Cabaret and Flammea

It was our first ringing session at Rossall School this morning as Craig, Ian and I met at 5.45 a.m. at the 'obs'. Four nets were hurriedly put up and the Redpoll tape was played in anticipation of tape luring a few Lesser Redpolls down. It was very clear this morning and flat calm, and it was obvious there was going to be very little grounded, if at all.

The MP3 powered Redpoll didn't disappoint and a first check of the 'Redpoll' net revealed eight Lessers caught. By the end of the morning we had ringed 26 Lesser Redpolls in total. Interestingly in addition to the birds ringed we had a further 91 Lesser Redpolls go over heading north and to be honest with you as we were busy ringing there was probably nearer twice this many.

Lesser Redpoll - adult male

On our third net round we also caught an adult female Common Redpoll amongst the Lessers. Having been handling Lessers all morning this bird stuck out like a sore thumb. A big pale denizen of the north. It was interesting to compare her biometrics with those of the Lessers and she was longer winged and heavier than any of the male Lessers.

Other birds on 'vis' included 45 Meadow Pipits, Siskin, Tree Pipit, Great Spotted Woodpecker, four Linnets, five Sand Martins, three Swallows and two female Sparrowhawks.

Common Redpoll - adult female

There were few grounded migrants around but we did manage to ring single Willow Warbler, Blackcap and Chiffchaff. The only other grounded migrant was a male Wheatear towards the sea wall.

Willow Warbler

Back home late morning I checked my moth trap from last night and I had caught just single Herald, five Hebrew Characters, Early Grey and two Common Quakers.

Common Quaker

Early Grey

Hebrew Character

A Few More Summer Migrants

It's a real problem relying on the forecast to plan ringing activities for the following morning as it is often so very wrong. Last night the forecast for this morning was for rain and a southeasterly wind between 10 and 15 mph. Not conducive to the erection of 'coastal' mist nets. Driving home after the Bad Company gig in Manchester I could see it was clear and thought that if any rain came in overnight/into the early hours it might drop a few 'bits and pieces'. So even though it was a late night, the alarm was set for an early start.

And as you might expect at first light this morning the wind was southeasterly and it was barely 5 mph, so we could have done some ringing after all! I was at Rossall School and gave the 'obs' a good grilling. There was some 'vis' this morning but the passage wasn't as heavy as yesterday, perhaps due to the front that was coming in from the south. Heading north I had 97 Meadow Pipits, five alba Wagtails (on call I thought they were all Pieds this morning), Siskin and three Sand Martins.

During my walk some light drizzle came in from the south and Mipits and Pied Wagtails were coming in from the sea and dropping in to some wet fields. Later when Ian looked at these wet fields Mipits numbered around 200.

Unlike yesterday the Barn Owl was out hunting and it had its Larus escort as usual. What threat a Barn Owl is to a Herring Gull I don't know! The only grounded migrants I had were a single male Wheatear that appeared on the sea wall after the rain shower.

I then moved on to the cemetery, but it was very quiet, and my visit was cut short when I got a phone call from Ian saying "sorry to grip you mate but after you left the 'obs' I had an Osprey go over low hugging the coast and heading north". I dashed to 'the point' and waited around for a while, but no sign of the Osprey. To add insult to injury I got another call from Ian after I got home to say he had another Osprey high over Rossall Point heading north out over 'the bay'!

I decided to have walk down the old railway line that forms part of Lancashire Wildlife Trust reserve Fleetwood Marsh (not to be confused with Fleetwood Marsh Dog, err sorry, Nature Park!). I had a single singing Willow Warbler, two Swallows zipping north and a calling Water Rail from the reed bed.

After that I did have a look at the Nature Park and I made it a flying visit to avoid any confrontations with dogs or dog walkers! On the pools, in addition to what I had yesterday, were two female Goldeneyes and a Chiffchaff sang from some scrub along the causeway.

I got a phone call from my mate Nigel in Canada the other night asking me jokingly if I was going 'owling' with him. He phoned up for a catch-up and informed me that he was coming to the end of the spring owl banding season and I thought I would post a few pictures here that he has sent me over the years of some of the owls he has caught. Lucky b*gger!

Barred Owl

Eastern Screech Owl

Great Grey Owl

Great Horned Owl

Northern Hawk Owl

Northern Saw-whet Owl

Short-eared Owl

Snowy Owl

Aren't owls brilliant?! Thanks Nigel.

White Wags

It was too windy for any ringing at Rossall School so a walk round the 'obs' was in order. It was cold with some ground frost and the wind was southeasterly 2-3. The first moving birds I had were 193 Pink-footed Geese heading north and they were closely followed by Goldfinches, Meadow Pipits and Linnets on vis. I recorded eight Goldfinches, 142 Meadow Ppits and eighteen Linnets.

I also had my first Lesser Redpoll ( I suppose it should be Redpoll sp. really) over for the spring and this was joined by a late Grey Wagtail and fourteen alba wags. On call I suspected that some of these albas were Whites, but birders allegedly better than me tell me that you can't separate them on call!!

Lesser Redpoll

No Barn Owl this morning but I did have a male and female Kestrel 'working' the fields. I had a quick look on the sea, but other than twelve male Eiders it was quiet. I then walked a little further along the coast but all I had for my efforts was a single female Stonechat.

I then moved on to the cemetery but it was very quiet with no grounded migrants. Linnets, Meadow Pipits, Chaffinches and my second Lesser Redpoll went over.

Foolishly I called at Fleetwood Marsh 'dog barking, dog shitting, wildlife disturbing, not' Nature Park on my way home. It was bedlam!! People shouting their dogs, dogs barking, dogs swimming in the pool and then one 'articulated rat' chasing Skylarks whilst the owner just watched! If the little b*stard of a pooch had come near me it would have been put into orbit via my boot!

A few Mipits continued to move north and I had two singing Skylarks plus three others. Out on the pools were 21 Coots, six Little Grebes, seven Tufted Ducks and a male Shoveler. As I walked along the edge of the saltmarsh I had two cracking male White Wagtails and a Chiffchaff sang from some scrub.

At the moment it's forecasting light rain for tomorrow which is just as well as I am off to see Bad Company tonight. Then again if there's half a chance for some birding I'll be out no matter how late I'm back tonight!