Bird Behaviour.

Looking through some back dates of British Birds magazine one of the first articles I found was about a Cuckoo I observed at Barbondale in June 1997 and noted its call was made with the bill closed. The article brought about a reply from another reader in a later issue of the magazine, who - having spent 34 years living in Pakistan - noted in the Himalayan Foothills....'the Common Cuckoo, Oriental Cuckoo, and Lesser Cuckoo all called with their bills closed, whilst the throat ballooned out visibly during each call'.

Following this interesting observation of the Cuckoo at Barbondale, I decided to keep a book on bird behaviour. Sixteen years later I find the book contains 109 interesting notes titled 'Bird behaviour and other oddities', the last of which was entered on 21 March this year and noted Mallard and Shelduck at Glasson Dock, both species seen diving. 

Yellowhammer. John Darbyshire.

Another interesting note early in the book, was of a Yellowhammer at Out Rawcliffe which I was watching for 20 minutes during the 'Golden Days' of delivering car parts, I decided to time this bird singing and found it did so 8 times per minute which resulted in my discovery that this individual - which sang constantly for the whole period I was with it - had done so an amazing 160 times....some singer. 

The book reads, in December 1998 at Middleton Sands I watched up to 1,000 Dunlin in flight, observing these birds for in excess of 30 minutes they never once came to land whilst flying around the area as a flock in every direction....an expensive use of energy, and why. 

And finally....A Spotted Redshank on the Eric Morecambe Complex at Leighton Moss was feeding alongside a Teal which was obviously stirring up a food source for the wader, this Spotted Redshank was also noted to upend as does the Mallard for example, I had no idea this species engaged in either of these activities. And a Ruddy Duck at Leighton Moss in mid October had 4 very young chicks, all victims in later years no doubt, of a controversial and mass cull costing an estimated eventual £5.5 million to save the globally threatened White-headed Duck .

Birds....they fascinate me in a million ways, and I've discovered and noted 109 different habits/behaviour/characteristics over the years most of which I didn't previously know about.  

The Corn Bunting.

Corn Bunting. Phil Slade

The Corn Bunting (CB) has a feeble flight and with its legs dangling it doesn't suggest a strong flyer, yet the species has at one time or another managed to colonise the remotest fringes of Britain. The CB owes much throughout history to mans alteration to the environment, the spread of cereal agriculture across Europe and reaching Britain a few thousand years ago resulted in the clearing of vast areas of woodland creating open habitats suitable for the CB.

In the north of its range the CB is largely confined to arable farmland, in winter the bird feeds mainly on cereal stubble a habitat which has declined greatly over recent years. In Lancashire the CB was uncommon towards the end of the 19th century and Mitchell commented it was 'very locally distributed and seldom seen except where grain is grown'. Today the reason for the dramatic crash of the CB - and the Yellowhammer for that matter - is unquestionably down to intensification and changes in farming methods which include the switch to autumn sowing of cereals with the subsequent loss of seed-rich stubble in the winter, and replacement of hay by silage, food supplies have also been depleted by the use of herbicides, pesticides playing their part  in the dramatic fall of the CB.

The CB is often referred to by some as a 'dull bird'. I personally don't know of a single species of bird I'd ever refer to as 'dull', but I do know if I'd like to see the CB in our recording area in north Lancashire I'll need a good deal of luck on my side, and if I do it'll be a 'straggler'. In our area 52 years ago in 1959 the CB was a scarce and very local resident, by 1997 it was declared as possibly extinct, today it most certainly is. However, just outside the border on Tuesday 18 January I recorded up to 100 CB's on Union Lane. Areas in south-west Lancashire and the Fylde are where the CB has a healthy status, that of a common breeding bird.

By the way, this I found both news and interesting, and if you're local....  

High Brown Fritillary. Steven Cheshire

....did you know about Myers Allotment and the High Brown Fritillary 

Returning Sandpipers....

....and some other birds I noted in my four hour Monday stint....and hows that for a nice little pun!

Common Sandpiper. John Bateman.

On cue around this date in June was 4 Common Sandpiper at Conder Green this morning, also noted, 3 Whitethroat, a singing male Reed Bunting, 2 Linnet, and at least 6 Swift were around Conder Green Farm and kept approaching the gutter for a reason not clear to me, 30 Redshank were in the Conder Channel below the rail bridge as was a female Eider hauled out on to the bank, 3 Wigeon drake  - long time no see - were on Conder Pool where the big disappointment was once again no sign of any Little Ringed Plover/s, though I note two reported on Sunday HERE though no mention of any chicks, five Small Skipper were also seen. On the Lune Estuary at Glasson Dock, up to 300 Bar-tailed Godwit here today, 6 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Eider, and 8 Goosander noted.  

Wheatear. Pete Woodruff.

At Cockersands a Wheatear - not the one in the pic - took me by surprise and prompted the question....whats this doing here....not breeding thats for sure, a species which can be seen in our area for at least seven months in the year. Off Plover Scar were at least 25 Eider, and on the circuit, c.20 Tree Sparrow, 3 Sedge Warbler, 2 Whitethroat, and 2 Skylark. 

As I got back to the lighthouse cottage I noted the notice on the fence post explaining the need for 'Wild Bird Cover Crops' as a winter seed area for birds like the Grey Partridge and....

 Yellowhammer. Phil Slade  

....the Yellowhammer. The notice goes on to explain, 'they are particularly important areas where traditional food sources such as weedy stubble's are no longer available' and adds 'This farm is doing its bit for farmland birds'.

OK, so I'm not prepared to go too far down this road on Birds2blog but....why is it this scheme isn't applied anywhere else within miles of this one at Cockersands that I'm aware of....in fact where is the next one?

The hat-trick.

I scored a hat-trick today, my third day in a row with a pleasant days birding with JB/BT to end a pleasant years birding as is always the case....what would I be without my birding!

Barnacle Geese. John James Audubon.

We first paid a brief visit to Freeman's Pools where a Roe Deer was soon seen, ears pricked and the staring eyes of a creature which hears and sees things a mile away. As noted in my post yesterday the pools remain frozen and deserted. On Aldcliffe Marsh 12 Barnacle Geese seen again with the c.650 Greylag I should have been able to see yesterday but could'nt, along with today's uncounted Canada Geese and surprisingly just 4 Pink-footed Geese.

At Conder Green it was good to find the Spotted Redshank not seen since the big freeze, 5 Little Grebe were all I noted here today which prompts me to point out, if you really need to see a fully comprehensive list of today's sightings then all you need to do is visit HERE to see JB's list, always remembering JB doesn't see all that I see, and I don't see all that JB sees and therefore our records don't fully tally.

At Glasson Dock on the Lune Estuary c.400 Bar-tailed Godwit were the only birds of note at a pretty void section of the river. On Jeremy Lane, 3 Whooper Swans including a juvenile. On Moss Lane, at least 350 Common Gull were of note. At Cockersands, c.90 Linnet still at/on the set-aside, 5 Black-tailed Godwit and a solitary Grey Plover posed the question....where are all the waders? 

Grey Partridge. Mike Watson

Thanks for the photograph Mike....On Gulf Lane it's always good to see Grey Partridge anywhere as we did here today in two coveys of eight and five. Pilling Marsh produced 3 Little Egrets - the first in many a days birding recently - with just c.120 Pink-footed Geese, and a smart little Merlin distant and looking not much bigger than a Mistle Thrush. At Fluke Hall c.6,500 Pink-footed Geese at close quarters allowed some detailed scrutiny.

BT's car seems to go into auto pilot from here every week and takes us to the feeding station on Bradshaw Lane where - whilst I tried to get to grips with a distant 'dark' raptor and failed to - JB recorded 8 Corn Bunting, 6 Yellowhammer, 30 Tree Sparrows and a Buzzard.

It was good to be out again with JB who surprised me to say it had been a month since he was last out with me....t'will soon be Easter John, and soon after that the summer with endless places to go to and endless birds to see. 

A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL BIRDS2BLOG'ERS....Whoever and wherever you are.

This and that!

I didn't even get my four hours birding in today....woe is me!

Ice Cubes. Richard Shilling  

But I had an excellent chance to do some searching through 'This and that' including - as a brief diversion from the birds -  finding that RS has been out and about into the great unknown and come up with some more stunning and creative landart. I think this guy gets better as he goes along, click on his name below his 'Ice Disc's' - being Norwegian Maple at the top, Red Oak on the left, and Rowan on the right - and see for yourself how amazing he really is. Thanks for this Richard, brilliant as ever. I also dug out my 'Bird Behavior and other oddities' book and thought the following - chosen at random - might be of interest....

At Leighton Moss on 10 October 1998 I saw a female Ruddy Duck with four downy young, nothing spectacular about that if you didn't note the date.

A few years ago at Out Rawcliffe I observed and took note of a Yellowhammer singing for twenty minutes at the rate of eight times per minute, this individual sang a truly amazing 160 times in the twenty minutes I spent with it....some songster which I'd guess probably holds some sort of record at such vocals.

Two species I've encountered over the years doing mimicry have been, a Whinchat  - a particular master at mimicry - at Borrowdale in June 2005 which fooled me into thinking I'd heard a Whitethroat. And a Starling - another master at mimicry - was once outside our house on telephone wires and 'did' the Curlew to perfection.

At Barbondale on 7 May 2004 I observed the only female Redstart I ever heard in song, something it is only ocassionally known to do in the breeding season.

This is an excellent and interesting sound recording of Twite singing in the snow by Hugh Harrop....the higher your volume the better it sounds.