A Balmy Minus Eight with Freezing Fog!

It was bl**dy cold and bl**dy foggy when I went to Rawcliffe Moss this morning to feed. For those of you in colder parts of the world you probably think me a whimp to moan about it being minus 8, but to me it was cold.
Everything was covered in a hoar frost this morning as I drove onto the moss and it was pointless having a walk round because I couldn't see much due to the fog.

Down at the feeding station 3 Yellowhammers, 106 Tree Sparrows and 15 Chaffinch fed. In addition to this it was pleasing to note that 2 Bramblings were also coming down for the seed. Hopefully their numbers will build up a little.

Walking back up the track I had 8 Blackbirds and a Kestrel. I have posted a few pictures below of the frosty scene.

 

Weary Weekend Weather

Ringing sessions were planned for both days this weekend but had to be cancelled because of the weather. Yesterday morning we had a mixture of sleet and rain falling on to frozen ground, which wasn't good! I did venture out to Rawcliffe Moss to feed and it was rather unpleasant walking down to the feeding station in the cold and wet conditions. At the feeding station there were 91 Tree Sparrows, 12 Chaffinch and 3 Corn Buntings. At the car I had a party of 11 Long-tailed Tits moving along the hedge.

Back at home I set my 'drop-trap' in the garden and managed to ring 5 Starlings.

 Starling

Driving home from seeing Kate Rusby last night the freezing fog was rolling in. I had already decided that based on the weather there would be no ringing and now there would be no birding. A glance out of the window this morning at 7.15 showed that the freezing fog was lingering so I had another hour in bed!

Frozen spider's webs in the garden

Lots of Finches, but Still No Snow

I had a few hours owing me so when I went to Rawcliffe Moss to feed this morning I took a little longer and had a walk round. Out here on the Fylde we still haven't got any snow and it doesn't look like we'll get any (famous last words!), so that's good news.

 This is as close as the snow got!

There was a hard frost again this morning as I made my way down the track to the feeding station. No Yellowhammers in the usual place at the Pheasant feeder but there were 6 at the feeding station. I had 6 Skylarks go over fairly high heading east and I also had 2 Kestrels.

 Ingredients for a Tree Sparrows brunch

And here it is laid out for them

I pushed 9 Blackbirds and a Song Thrush out of the hedge and 7 starlings that had been feeding on the fruit I put out left towards Curlew Wood. It was pleasing to note that Tree Sparrow numbers had increased to 130 and 4 Corn Buntings and 2 Coal Tits were at the feeding station as well.

This young Woodpigeon was very tame and I think probably suffering 

from the cold

I headed up the '97' hedge to have a look again for the finch flock I had last Sunday. As I walked along the southern edge of the wild bird seed mix I could see a large number of finches lifting off and dropping down again. I got in a position with the sun behind me and tried to estimate numbers. There were about 200 Chaffinch, 15 Reed Buntings, 100 Linnets and at least 20 Bramblings. These are conservative estimates and there could have been half as many birds again.

 You wouldn't believe that in this vegetation are 200 Chaffinch, 100 Linnets, 

170 Skylarks, 15 Reed Buntings, 20 Bramblings and a Short-eared Owl! 

Or maybe you would.

As I walked along I pushed 170 Skylarks out of the stubble field next to the wild bird seed mix and then I flushed a Short-eared Owl from the wild bird seed crop which caused pandemonium amongst the finches! As I headed towards the L Wood I could hear a party of Long-tailed Tits calling, which was odd as I was in the middle of some fairly large arable fields, and then I looked up and saw eight of them flying east!

I had a look in the :L Wood and flushed a single Woodcock which rounded off a pleasant mornings stroll.

No Snow Yet

At the moment the Fylde in Lancashire is remaining snow free, but how long that will last I am not sure. Yesterday morning I made a quick visit to my feeding station on Rawcliffe Moss and I think the cold weather was starting to have an effect as there wasn't quite the number of birds as there has been in recent days.

At the feeding station were 6 Yellowhammers and only 67 Tree Sparrows. The only other birds of note I had before it was time to leave were two Buzzards thermalling towards Rough Holme Farm.

Yellowhammer

On the Moss Again

As a slave to a feeding station making visits every other day, my blog is naturally going to be filled with notes and comments on Rawcliffe Moss. Yesterday was no exception and I decided to treat her indoors to a bit of a wander outdoors!

 Her Indoors has become Her Outdoors!

Driving on to Rawcliffe Moss we had two Kestrels and then it was a stop at the barn to collect the seed. As we got out of the car at the feeding station track two Snipe flushed from the ditch. Walking along the hedge towards the feeding station there were a few thrushes including 8 Blackbirds, 2 Song Thrushes and 10 Fieldfares.

  

Views across the Moss

Tree Sparrows only numbered 79, but again there were 4 Corn Buntings, 8 Chaffinch and 6 Yellowhammers with them. As we approached the badger set a large flock of 300 Chaffinch, with at least a dozen Bramblings mixed in, flew in. I am going to keep an eye on them over the next few days and if they seem settled and follow a regular pattern I might see if I can ring a few of them. Alternatively, I hope they find their way down to the feeding station.

It was then on to the top moss and on towards the plantation. Forty skylarks lifted off the peaty fields and 3 Roe Deers crossed the track in front of us. A diversion in to the 'L' Wood revealed no Woodcock and the plantation was similarly birdless.

It was then back to the car and lunch at the Courtyard Cafe in Great Eccleston.

Frozen Obs

Unfortunately the forecast last night for this morning was for a stiff NNE breeze, meaning that it would be too windy for some ringing at the feeding station on Rawcliffe Moss, so I decided to head up to Rossall School instead. Before I report from the 'obs' it is probably worth mentioning that I dropped some seed off at my feeding station yesterday. It was late afternoon when I called so there wasn't the same number of birds as usual as some were heading off to roost.

I had 8 Corn Buntings and 3 of these were actually at the feeding station and this is usually a sign that they have exhausted any natural food locally. There were just 70 Tree Sparrows, 3 Yellowhammers, Reed Bunting and 7 or 8 Chaffinch plus assorted Tits.

On the way home I had a look on the River Wyre at Town End and had 8 Goosanders (2 males & 6 females/immatures).

Back to this morning and there was a very heavy frost as I set off along the track at the obs. I suppose I am quite fortunate in being able to report 'just' a heavy frost when most of the rest of the country has snow! Five or six Blackbird fed around the copse and a group of 7 Goldfinch flew over. As I got half way down the hedge and ditch alongside the track I flushed a Woodcock and a Snipe together. I then had a second Snipe in a wet ditch further on.

 Hard frost at the 'obs'

I didn't have a great deal more until I had a look on the sea. There was a regular passage of Cormorants north and in total I had 148. Where they were going I am not sure. There is a large shingle island that has developed off Rossall and this  now only gets covered on very high tides and in the week Ian had over 300 roosting on here, so they could have been heading there.

 Redshank at the 'obs'

There were a few Eiders on the sea and I also had 24 Common Scoters. I then picked up an adult winter Great Northern Diver heading south, which made it 2 different Great Northern Divers this week as I saw the juvenile on the Marine Lakes on Thursday afternoon. The only other birds of interest were a flock of 7 Teal bobbing up and down on the sea. It isn't uncommon to get Teal on the sea but they always look very out of place.

Talking of Great Northern Divers I decided to have a quick look on the Marine Lakes to see if I could make it 2 in a day but the juvenile had gone! On the lakes I had 5 Red-breasted Mergansers, 6 Tufted Ducks and 3 Goldeneyes.

 Black-headed Gull at the Marine Lakes

I was hoping for a ringing session on Rawcliffe Moss tomorrow, but the forecast for inland Fylde is for fog first thing and that combined with -5 degree temperatures makes it not very good for ringng; so I'll just go and feed instead and have a mooch round.

Working (?) From Home!

I was working from home today as I had a walk to prepare for that I am leading tomorrow. I put a question mark after 'working' because when I do work from home I get easily distracted. I might nip out birding for an hour, or put a net up in the garden; but today I was determined to stay motivated and get on with the task in hand. I did have a moment of weakness when I spent a while trying to photograph the Starlings and Goldfinch visiting my garden feeders. More of that in a minute.

Yesterday I called briefly at my feeding station on Rawcliffe Moss to feed. About 400 Woodpiegon were feeding in the stubble field close to the Teal pool and this is the most I have had here so far this autumn/winter. At the feding station I had 22 Chaffinch, 67 Tree Sparrows, 4 Blackbirds, 5 Fieldfares and a Mistle Thrush.

Walking back to my car I had 4 Yellowhammers at the Pheasant feeder and a group of 10 Corn Buntings flew over.

Back to my 'working from home day'. Below you will find a few pictures of the Goldfinch and Starlings on my feeders. Common, mundane birds perhaps; but cracking creatures nonetheless!