I just wanted to apologise for not posting for a few days, but I have been laid low by 'Man Flu'! I never get a cold and haven't had a cold for years, so the lurgy that I am suffering with at the moment has to be Man Flu. I've had a look on the Man Flu website and I definitely have all the symptoms.
The Man Flu website states that "Man Flu is a crippling and debilitating disorder
indiscriminately striking down male members of the human species without
warning. The illness is often referred to pejoratively by female
members of the species who are in fact immune from the illness as
man flu is now known to exclusively attack the XY chromosome
carrier. If Man Flu is kind enough not to kill the infected party it
will definitely leave him weak, sick, hurting everywhere and in dire
need of TLC.
Medical professionals now also widely recognise that self
diagnosis by the sufferer is the best means of identification as the
symptoms of Man Flu are far more severe than the simple common cold
which predominantly targets the XX chromosome holders (i.e. females).
This goes some way to explain the cynicism some women display
towards their male counterparts".
So there you have it, the reason I've not been able to get out birding these past few days is because of man flu. I am hoping that it will only be a mild form, although this is rare of course, and I have a wedding to attend tomorrow of my music mate Andy. Of course if I am a little worse for wear tomorrow it will be the man flu, or perhaps a bad pint, and nothing to do with the quantities of real ale quaffed.
Man flu depending normal birding service will be resumed on Sunday, or perhaps more likely Monday!
Friday, 15 August 2014
Monday, 11 August 2014
Westerly Woes
It was windy overnight last night and the 30 mph WSW continued into this morning. I had thoughts of a possible Storm Petrel to start my week off, but I knew it was a bit of a pipe dream as it hadn't been blowing long enough! Nevertheless I joined Ian for a seawatch and it was perhaps one of the slowest three hours of seawatching that I had spent, or that I could remember at least!
I won't pad it out, in three hours we had two Fulmars, three Common Terns, 22 Cormorants, six Gannets, two Sandwich Terns, three Common Scoters and ten Manx Shearwaters.
On the shore were 339 Oystercatchers, seven Curlews, 18 Ringed Plovers, 300 Herring Gulls, 100 Sanderlings and 20 Turnstones.
The forecast for the rest of the week is what I call neither 'here nor there'; not conducive to vis or a fall, not windy enough for a proper seawatch and too windy for ringing! All we can do is try and make the most of it.
I won't pad it out, in three hours we had two Fulmars, three Common Terns, 22 Cormorants, six Gannets, two Sandwich Terns, three Common Scoters and ten Manx Shearwaters.
On the shore were 339 Oystercatchers, seven Curlews, 18 Ringed Plovers, 300 Herring Gulls, 100 Sanderlings and 20 Turnstones.
The forecast for the rest of the week is what I call neither 'here nor there'; not conducive to vis or a fall, not windy enough for a proper seawatch and too windy for ringing! All we can do is try and make the most of it.
Saturday, 9 August 2014
Down By The Quayside
It was windy-ish this morning, but only a force three west-northwesterly, but I still headed to the shore to have a look on the sea. I made the school boy error of not consulting my tide tables before setting out and high tide was later than I had guessed it would be. Nevertheless I decided to stick it out.
I had very few waders on the shore as the tide was yet to push them up to their roost and they still had plenty of open shore and mudflats to feed on; all I had were four Ringed Plovers, 15 Turnstones, 14 Dunlins, two Redshanks and five Curlews.
The sea was even quieter than the shore with just two Sandwich Terns, two Arctic Terns and three Cormorants making an appearance, so after about an hour I decided to call it quits and have a look on the mudflats in the quay.
From a birding perspective it was a little more enjoyable and productive here with 96 Redshanks and a lovely fresh juvenile Dunlin feeding on the muddy margins of the creeks. Out on the spit were three Whimbrel and four Lapwings were on the saltmarsh. There was nothing of interest amongst the 212 Herring Gulls and 34 Black-headed Gulls, so I decided to call it a day (more like an early morning!) and headed home.
I had very few waders on the shore as the tide was yet to push them up to their roost and they still had plenty of open shore and mudflats to feed on; all I had were four Ringed Plovers, 15 Turnstones, 14 Dunlins, two Redshanks and five Curlews.
The sea was even quieter than the shore with just two Sandwich Terns, two Arctic Terns and three Cormorants making an appearance, so after about an hour I decided to call it quits and have a look on the mudflats in the quay.
The Quayside
From a birding perspective it was a little more enjoyable and productive here with 96 Redshanks and a lovely fresh juvenile Dunlin feeding on the muddy margins of the creeks. Out on the spit were three Whimbrel and four Lapwings were on the saltmarsh. There was nothing of interest amongst the 212 Herring Gulls and 34 Black-headed Gulls, so I decided to call it a day (more like an early morning!) and headed home.
Redshanks
Friday, 8 August 2014
Back To Back Ringing Sessions
It was a late night last night and an early start this morning for Ian and I as we had back to back ringing sessions in the reedbed. Last night under calm clear conditions we worked the Swallow roost. The roost has increased in size again, as expected after a couple of days of good weather, and there are probably about 4,000 birds roosting.
As there was just Ian and I we played it safe and ringed just 60 Swallows plus six Reed Warblers, four Sedge Warblers and a Willow Warbler. All the Sedge Warblers were fat again, with one weighing a whopping 13.5 g.
Pre-roost the birding was pretty good, and the adult Hobby that has been knocking around the Obs for a good few days made an appearance as it gave stonking views as it flew over. Interestingly it didn't linger to have a go at any of the Swallows. Other raptors included a Buzzard and a Kestrel, whilst on the muddy margins of the pool was a Little Ringed Plover. There were two good finch flocks with about fifty Goldfinches in one and 100 Linnets in the other.
This morning we were back in the reedbed and again conditions for mist netting were good with no wind and some cloud cover. However, it was very quiet as we were putting the nets up and it would remain that way for the time we were there. It was clear last night with a full moon, perfect conditions for a 'clear-out' of birds. The ringing totals reflected this with just singles of Whitethroat, Blue Tit, Reed Bunting and Goldfinch ringed. We did recapture a Blue Tit and a moulting adult Willow Warbler as well.
A fly-past Kingfisher was nice, but we struggled to record anything else of note.
After some showers early evening it is going to remain dry overnight and into the morning, with some wet weather arriving on Sunday. I'm not sure what to do as yet, but I will be doing something in the morning!
As there was just Ian and I we played it safe and ringed just 60 Swallows plus six Reed Warblers, four Sedge Warblers and a Willow Warbler. All the Sedge Warblers were fat again, with one weighing a whopping 13.5 g.
Pre-roost the birding was pretty good, and the adult Hobby that has been knocking around the Obs for a good few days made an appearance as it gave stonking views as it flew over. Interestingly it didn't linger to have a go at any of the Swallows. Other raptors included a Buzzard and a Kestrel, whilst on the muddy margins of the pool was a Little Ringed Plover. There were two good finch flocks with about fifty Goldfinches in one and 100 Linnets in the other.
This morning we were back in the reedbed and again conditions for mist netting were good with no wind and some cloud cover. However, it was very quiet as we were putting the nets up and it would remain that way for the time we were there. It was clear last night with a full moon, perfect conditions for a 'clear-out' of birds. The ringing totals reflected this with just singles of Whitethroat, Blue Tit, Reed Bunting and Goldfinch ringed. We did recapture a Blue Tit and a moulting adult Willow Warbler as well.
Whitethroat
A fly-past Kingfisher was nice, but we struggled to record anything else of note.
After some showers early evening it is going to remain dry overnight and into the morning, with some wet weather arriving on Sunday. I'm not sure what to do as yet, but I will be doing something in the morning!
Brown Hay Cap. Photographed in my garden after I cut my mini meadow.
If I was a pan-species lister this would be a tick!
July Rinigng Totals
As is usual at this time of the month I have updated the ringing totals for Fylde Ringing Group for the year so far over on the right. At 973 birds ringed we are still 1001 down on last year, even though we had a good month in July and managed to ring a respectable 429 birds; if only we could do that every month!
Only one new species was added this month and that was a Sand Martin ringed at the Swallow roost. Below are the top five for the month and the top ten 'movers and shakers' of the year so far.
Top Five
1. Swallow - 165
2. Reed Warbler - 64
3. Sedge Warbler - 34
Whitethroat - 34
5. Blackcap - 22
Top Ten 'Movers and Shakers'
1. Swallow - 166 (straight in)
2. Reed Warbler - 90 (up from 6th)
3. Blue Tit - 76 (down from 1st)
4. Great Tit - 66 (down from 2nd)
5. Sedge Warbler - 53 (up from 10th)
6. Whitethroat - 50 (straight in)
7. Goldfinch - 36 (down from 4th)
8. Blackcap - 33 (straight in)
Chiffchaff - 33 (down from 4th)
10. Wren - 30 (straight in)
Only one new species was added this month and that was a Sand Martin ringed at the Swallow roost. Below are the top five for the month and the top ten 'movers and shakers' of the year so far.
Top Five
1. Swallow - 165
2. Reed Warbler - 64
3. Sedge Warbler - 34
Whitethroat - 34
5. Blackcap - 22
Top Ten 'Movers and Shakers'
1. Swallow - 166 (straight in)
2. Reed Warbler - 90 (up from 6th)
3. Blue Tit - 76 (down from 1st)
4. Great Tit - 66 (down from 2nd)
5. Sedge Warbler - 53 (up from 10th)
6. Whitethroat - 50 (straight in)
7. Goldfinch - 36 (down from 4th)
8. Blackcap - 33 (straight in)
Chiffchaff - 33 (down from 4th)
10. Wren - 30 (straight in)
Tuesday, 5 August 2014
Fat Acros and a Burnished Brass
Yesterday evening Graham, Ian and I had another session at the Swallow roost. It was a glorious evening with clear skies and it was calm. Walking to the pools it was evident that there were quite a few Willow Warblers about as we kept pushing birds from clumps of Bramble and Reeds. We also had a nice flock of about a hundred Goldfinches feeding on Thistles.
The flushing theme continued when we got to the pools as we flushed a Little Ringed Plover from the edge of the pool. The muddy edge to the pool looks fantastic, but it is impossible to view it until you're upon it!
We set the usual two nets up and waited. Waiting for the Swallows to come in we managed to ring eight Sedge Warblers and five Reed Warblers. Just like previous recent visits some of the Reed and Sedge Warblers were carrying large amounts of fat.
The only raptors we had were a single Buzzard and Kestrel, and unfortunately no Hobby come in to hunt the Swallows! The roost was greatly reduced in size, 3-400 birds, probably as a result of the previous two days rainfall and consequently we only ringed 38 birds.
As it was such a good night I ran my moth trap last night but I have to admit my catch this morning wasn't what I expected with just five Light Brown Apple Moths, seven Large Yellow Underwings, a Common Wainscot, Burnished Brass, Common Rustic and two Shuttle-shaped Darts.
It's going to rain up here overnight and into the morning, so no birding for me, although I would have struggled as I'll have a late night tonight as I'm off to see Black Star Riders. If you haven't heard BlackStar Riders before click HERE Yes, they do sound like Thin Lizzy and that's because they were the latest incarnation of the mighty Lizzy before changing their name to BlackStar Riders. Their music isn't overly complicated, no fancy time signature changes, just pure and simple rock and roll|! And that's Scott Gorham you can hear riffing away! A mighty band!
The flushing theme continued when we got to the pools as we flushed a Little Ringed Plover from the edge of the pool. The muddy edge to the pool looks fantastic, but it is impossible to view it until you're upon it!
We set the usual two nets up and waited. Waiting for the Swallows to come in we managed to ring eight Sedge Warblers and five Reed Warblers. Just like previous recent visits some of the Reed and Sedge Warblers were carrying large amounts of fat.
The only raptors we had were a single Buzzard and Kestrel, and unfortunately no Hobby come in to hunt the Swallows! The roost was greatly reduced in size, 3-400 birds, probably as a result of the previous two days rainfall and consequently we only ringed 38 birds.
As it was such a good night I ran my moth trap last night but I have to admit my catch this morning wasn't what I expected with just five Light Brown Apple Moths, seven Large Yellow Underwings, a Common Wainscot, Burnished Brass, Common Rustic and two Shuttle-shaped Darts.
Burnished Brass - above & below. Apologies for the unnatural setting!
It's going to rain up here overnight and into the morning, so no birding for me, although I would have struggled as I'll have a late night tonight as I'm off to see Black Star Riders. If you haven't heard BlackStar Riders before click HERE Yes, they do sound like Thin Lizzy and that's because they were the latest incarnation of the mighty Lizzy before changing their name to BlackStar Riders. Their music isn't overly complicated, no fancy time signature changes, just pure and simple rock and roll|! And that's Scott Gorham you can hear riffing away! A mighty band!
Friday, 1 August 2014
Ton Up
Ian and I had a more successful session at the Swallow roost last night and we were joined by Graham and Huw. It was perfect conditions for ringing Swallows as it was calm, overcast and warm, and as such the Swallows responded early to the MP3s.
We put two nets up; one close to the roost amongst the reeds and a second covering an open area alongside the pool. We managed to ring 108 Swallows plus five Reed Warblers and two Sedge Warblers. Again the Reed Warblers were interesting as they were carrying a lot of fat with scores of 40 and 50 respectively. This site does seem to be a good fattening area for Acros.
The forecast is a bit 'iffy' for the next couple of days, but fingers crossed we should be back at the Swallow roost either Sunday or Monday night.
We put two nets up; one close to the roost amongst the reeds and a second covering an open area alongside the pool. We managed to ring 108 Swallows plus five Reed Warblers and two Sedge Warblers. Again the Reed Warblers were interesting as they were carrying a lot of fat with scores of 40 and 50 respectively. This site does seem to be a good fattening area for Acros.
The forecast is a bit 'iffy' for the next couple of days, but fingers crossed we should be back at the Swallow roost either Sunday or Monday night.
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