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 end is nigh....

....but still not here just yet. Regarding my enforced retirement from birding the end is certainly nigh but not quite there yet but getting nearer by the week, day even.

For several years I've been keeping a record on 'Bird Behaviour and other oddities' which has drawn up quite a few interesting results. It's hard to decide the most interesting of these records but one or two come to mind which are stranger than most. I think a good example would have to be the Bar-tailed Godwit seen at Rossall Point on the Fylde Coast, this bird was in full summer plumage on 9 December 1995. The Bar-tailed Godwit at Rossall Point is in itself something of a record as it's a species rarely see at the location. 

Another record in the book was that of a Cuckoo which I observed at Barbondale on 14 June 1997 at close range through a telescope, the bird called repeatedly over a long period without opening its bill, this was a revelation to me, but it transpired this was a known fact and an interesting reply to the article - which was the subject in the 'Notes' section in British Birds - was from a correspondent who had spent several years in Pakistan, who had observed Common Cuckoo, Oriental Cuckoo, and Lesser Cuckoo in the Himalayan foothills, the observations made here were that 'all three species did in fact call without opening the bill' but goes on to add ' while the gular pouch, or throat, ballooned out visibly with each call'....fascinating stuff. 

Another fascinating record was that of a female Ruddy Duck at Leighton Moss on 10 October 1998 which had four recently hatched chicks in her company....a late breeder or what!

On the subject of the Ruddy Duck (RD), it was in disbelief that I read the estimated RD population in the UK stood at 4,400 birds when a cull of this duck was called for to save the White-headed Duck (WHD) from extinction at the hands of the RD which was found guilty of hybridisation with the WHD in Spain. It now transpires that a total of almost 7,500 RD's have been killed, not to the credit of the 'counters' on that one then. I personally find it hard to believe the RSPB and WWT supported this cull in the first place - but we'll leave that one hanging there shall we - perhaps even worse is that the government have now put up almost a quarter of a million pounds - to follow on from the £5m already sunk into this appalling exercise - to 'dispose' of the remaining 100 RD's....in these austere times I think this is called getting your spending priorities in order.


So, time for the pics....

Avocet. Cliff Raby.  

We've not seen many CR images on Birds2blog for while and the one of the Avocets is an excellent example followed by....

Red Kite. Cliff Raby.      

Another excellent example of the Red Kite. You can find many more photographs HERE thanks for these Cliff.

Short-eared Owl. Brian Rafferty.

A bit of an altercation going on here between BR's brilliant image of the two Short-eared Owls.

Great-crested Grebe. Brian Rafferty.

And the Great-crested Grebe has just found it's next meal in this pic. Please take a look at BR's website, thanks for these Brian.

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.

Did you know!

Bass Rock. David Cookson.

But first this stunning image of Bass Rock, location for up to 80,000 occupied nests and photographed by David earlier this year.

I've been rooting through some 30 year old Cumbria records and have noted the following ones of interest in varying degrees all from 1980.

King Eider. One recorded from Walney B.O. as it/one had also been the year before in 1979.

Ruddy Duck. A North American species introduced into Britain in 1948, it is thought that over a period of time seventy juveniles flew away from the captivity of Slimbridge. The species was admitted to the official British and Irish list in 1971 and this bird was found on Longtown G.P. on 27 August 1980 and was the first record for Cumbria.

Black Grouse. Was recorded at six locations in Cumbria in 1980.

Corncrake. Records of calling males were collected at three locations.

Little Ringed Plover. This bird is noted as a rarity in Cumbria in the 1980 records and was located at three sites in this year....I must now look up it's status in 2010.

Dotterel. This record I found very interesting and was of a successful breeding at an undisclosed Cumbrian site.

Turtle Dove. Another very interesting record in that it was claimed that over-wintering of these birds had increased over recent years....How things change!

Short-eared Owl. Now this one really intrigued me and gave details of a study of pellet content at a roost near Barrow which it is claimed contained five rings, those of a British Turnstone, plus two British, one Swedish, and one Norwegian Dunlin....amazing.

Stonechat. Showed a recovery from 1979 when there was a decrease in numbers recorded but still remained scarce inland in 1980.

Whinchat. I could find no mention of this species in the 1980 report which poses me the question....was it omitted in error?

Wood Warbler. A good breeding season throughout Cumbria. So how things have changed there in thirty years.

Nutcracker. Walney B.O. had the record of a bird seen on 1 December 1979 accepted by the BBRC. 

 

Bass Rock. David Cookson.