Going East

A dull day with no birding or ringing for me today, so I sat down to do a little work.

For our recent holiday to Cyprus it became a problem deciding which field guide to pack in the suitcase. Although our Cyprus break wasn’t simply a birding trip, no dedicated birder ever goes on holiday without doing a bit of preliminary research on the destination or thinking about unfamiliar birds encountered when exploring the destination. Then a day or two before the holiday I was sent a copy of the new and very recent second edition of Birds of the Middle East, authored by Richard Porter and Simon Aspinall. This good fortune allowed me to actually road test the guide on holiday.

Birds Of The Middle East

For anyone with the first edition of this book it is well worth pointing out that the second edition is completely revised. For the first time, the text and maps appear opposite the plates, and importantly there are more than 100 new species. It is a very detailed field guide covering all species found in the Arabian Peninsula including Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Cyprus and the Yemeni Socotra.

The guide covers over 700 species, both indigenous and migrants, with a concise text describing plumage and voice. The descriptions are easy to follow whereby salient features and differences to similar or closely related species are picked out in bold print for quick reference. There are 112 colour illustrations of all the species described with distribution maps opposite, complete with notes on status and preferred habitat. As you might expect from a guide of this quality the maps are well colour coded allowing easy interpretation of resident, summer, winter or migrant status for each species

The plates by artists John Gale, Mike Langman and Brian Small are of a high standard, and my only quibble is that the printing and production has made some plumages appear rather dark, plus brown and red tones are too intense. Having said that, any birder keen enough to buy this book or travel to some of the destinations mentioned above will make mental adjustments to any sketches that appear highly coloured; as a positive the sketches are very precise and stand out clearly against the very white background of the page. My particular favourite pages are those depicting wildfowl and shearwaters, with the warblers especially appealing. I must say that when faced with a “new to me” Cyprus Warble on a hillside in Cyprus I found the description and sketch of the bird absolutely spot on.

There are many good features about this guide. I particularly like the coloured page headers that denote the category of birds depicted on the page below, a very quick and easy way to thumb through the book when faced with an unfamiliar species. E.g. Smaller Falcons, Smaller Gulls, Larger Terns.

Other useful and innovative pages for gull enthusiasts are the two devoted to ”Large White Headed Gulls” where extra sketches are faced on the opposite page by a colour-coded chart that itemises identification, status and even moult sequences into an understandable, easy reference.

Strictly speaking this guide doesn’t cover Egypt which comes into the separate geographical category of Africa, but both sides of the Red Sea including the increasingly popular tourist hot spots of Luxor and Aswan plus Red Sea resorts like Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada share the birds described in this guide. Therefore this book is the one to carry for anyone visiting those increasingly popular places and the Middle East holiday or birding destinations like Dubai or Qatar. As I am due to go to Egypt in 2011 I have decided that this portable well written guide is the one I will take with me. For anyone travelling to the Middle East, whether on business or pleasure but with an interest or a passion for birds, this second edition of Birds of the Middle East sets the standard again, and I highly recommend it to readers of Another Bird Blog.

The book is available from Princeton University Press in the UK for £27.95 or in the US for $39.50 from

http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9291.html

Ready, Willing And Able

The temperatures relented a little this morning and after being on standby for several days, the sight of a frost free car and zero wind led to a quick 9am decision then off to Will’s garden for an “at last” ringing session. There had been a number of finches in the garden for a couple of weeks but only now could we have a crack at them.

In the 3 hour session we caught precisely 50 birds, 41 new and 9 recaptures: New birds, 21 Chaffinch, 7 Goldfinch, 6 Coal Tit, 2 Robin, 2 House Sparrow, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Greenfinch and 1 Brambling. Recaptures, 4 Chaffinch, 2 Coal Tit, 2 House Sparrow and 1 Dunnock. There were several Brambling in the area of the garden plus approximately 90 Chaffinch, 20 Goldfinch and 6 Greenfinch, although we didn’t catch any of the 8 Siskin we saw and heard in the top of the alders.

Brambling
Brambling
Greenfinch
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Coal Tit

We caught a very heavy Song Thrush with fat bulging from the furculum, and at 97 grams the bird’s weight was more equivalent to that of the bigger Blackbird.

Song Thrush

The catching kept us pretty busy but other birds seen this morning included single Jay and Kestrel and a fly through of 6 Redwings, a species that has all but disappeared to warmer climes in the last two weeks. Normally we might expect to catch a Blackbird or two in Will’s garden, but none this morning, with just one or two about – maybe they all went off with the Redwings and Fieldfares?

Don’t Mention The Cold

Another night and early morn of well below zero temperatures made birding hard work this morning and I’ll resist the opportunity to post more pictures of ice and just stick to birds, even if there aren’t many. I decided it’s bad enough living through the current weather without looking at endless pictures of it.

The morning started well with 2 Woodcock, one out of the roadside ditch at Wheel Lane and a second one at Damside as compensation for not seeing the Little Owl. As per normal, both Woodcock saw me before I saw them as they exploded into action within a yard or two of me.

There seemed to be shooting activity at HiFly, not a full blown shoot but 4X4s, black dogs, and red-faced farmer types carrying shotguns, but after a while the shots died down allowing me to carry on. There were lots of Whoopers today, 272 in fact. That’s 270 for the rough count and two stragglers at the end of a long line of birds that flew across the marsh to the safety of the deeper water. I thought the Shelduck numbers looked tremendous this morning so counted thoroughly right to left, Cockerham to Fluke and I ended up with 720 or thereabouts, so I guess there has been an influx from somewhere to the Fylde where our weather is positively mild in comparison to parts of Scotland.

At Lane Ends I looked for more Woodcock but found instead 6 of their smaller cousin Snipe, 1 in the wood ditch and 5 more in the partly running water towards Cockerham where on the marsh a Peregrine sat/stood on the big log. Brave me, I crawled up the icy slope camera in hand hoping to get a picture before the peg saw me, but no chance. No sooner had I carefully raised my head than the bird clocked me then hurried off over the marsh and thence inland leaving me to slide down the slope and quickly shove my gloves back on.

Snipe

I walked beneath the sea wall to avoid the biting north wind that skimmed over the top and for my dedication found 6 Meadow Pipit and 8 Skylark sticking close to the tide washed marsh. Unsurprisingly now, many waders have cleared off to warmer climes and here at Pilling I struggled to count more than 30 Curlew, 50 Lapwing and 30 Redshank, most of the ones I found had sought out sunny spots where the frost might clear more quickly. Little Egret numbers were also down, with just 4 this morning.

Here are a few Lapwing pictures from today, I carefully cropped the frosty bits from the scene.

Lapwing
Lapwing

And a few pictures from home; a Goldfinch on my Heinz nyjer feeder, and a Starling doing the splits.

Goldfinch
Starling

More Mediterranean

No not the weather, but in the absence of birding or ringing today here are more pictures from the recent Cyprus holiday. Maybe the blue sky in the pictures will cheer us all up. The idea of our holiday was a relaxing, sunny break, a bit of exploration and walking, a chance to inject a dose of warmth into creaking bones before the British winter set in. Alright it cost a few quid, but as the sayings goes, “you can’t take it with you”, and anyway we are fully paid up members of the SKI Club.

I know the island of Cyprus is a good place to bird during spring and autumn situated as it is in the Mediterranean Sea halfway between Europe and Africa. In the winter it appears that bird variety is much more predictable, seemingly dominated by larks, chats and finches, with for instance very small numbers of gulls and waders. I couldn’t find any information on the Internet about winter birding on Cyprus and although birding wasn’t the holiday objective, no birder goes on holiday without bins and camera.

Blue Rock Thrush
Stonechat
Crested Lark

I got a handful of the local specialties, Black Francolin, Cyprus Warbler and Greater Sand Plover, all so distant and unapproachable that pictures were out of the question. Otherwise on the outskirts of towns and away from the tourist areas, it was the common and numerous winterers everywhere, Crested Lark and Skylark, Black Redstart, Linnet, Goldfinch, Chaffinch and Greenfinch, Stonechat and White Wagtail. A couple of coastal Kingfishers brightened up other days, plus Common Sandpiper near the hotel and what may have been a pretty good bird for the island, a Barn Owl that we watched from our balcony whilst taking a sun downer.

White Wagtail
Beach Sign - out of vandals' reach
Yellow-legged Gull
Agios Giorgios
Hooded Crow
Common Sandpiper
Lizard Living On The Edge
Black Redstart
Coral Bay, Cyprus
And I came back to this.

Crab Apple
6th December

Waiting Game

I watched the freezing fog roll in last night. That was after the snow fell on top of the already icy roads outside, so I cancelled any thought of early morning ringing or birding and instead had a lazy lie in; it’s not often I do that.

The garden birds were pretty busy with a couple of Goldfinch at a time coming regular to the feeder, 7 Collared Dove, 2 Woodpigeon, the consistent Coal, Great and Blue Tits, and the resident Wren, Robin and Blackbirds. I’d put extra apples out and topped up the feeders and whilst the Goldfinch and Chaffinch responded, apart from a few Blackbirds no other thrushes appeared.

Chaffinch
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Blackbird

Towards lunchtime the temperatures rose a bit so I put a net up and caught 17 birds, 7 Goldfinch, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Starling and 8 Long-tailed Tit. A Woodpigeon bounced itself out of the net before I could get there.

Goldfinch
Long-tailed Tit
Starling

So although I would have preferred some birding or ringing at our feeding station, both will have to wait until the weather picks up.

Double Take

I took a look at a couple of places this morning, first Rawcliffe Moss and secondly the group’s ringing site near Myerscough where whilst I was away in Cyprus Will busied himself with putting seed out, altering a few mist net rides and clearing the remains of bramble stalks, the ringers enemy.

At least one Little Owl is pretty much guaranteed when I visit Rawcliffe Moss where this morning the most regular spot didn’t disappoint when a single bird sat puffed up the against the biting cold in the overhead trees.

Little Owl

A Kestrel hung about near the barn, no doubt looking for unwary mice and rats that scuttle about when things seem quiet. I parked up alongside the feeding track where 15 Woodpigeon and 2 Yellowhammers were the closest birds searching for spillage under the shooter’s seed hopper. Further along the hedge I could see 4 Blackbirds attacking the hawthorn berries as a couple more flew from there across to the wood. Slowly I walked the track, close to the hedge so as not to disturb the feeding Tree Sparrows, Chaffinches and bits and bobs that hang about with them. Eventually they flew in groups over to their refuge hedge, 130 Tree Sparrow and 10 or 12 Chaffinch only, with a couple of Blue and Great Tits and a Great-spotted Woodpecker.

Woodpigeon

I walked north disturbing 2 Brown Hare buried deep in the rough grass and they shot away over the embankment, until up near the plantation I could see 2 Buzzards being harried by the crows which always give the game away for the Buzzards who just like to wait in a convenient tree for a passing meal.

In the plantation where only a month or so ago we ringed many birds, the frosted net rides yielded 4 Chaffinch and 2 Wren but the pool was frozen solid. With so little doing I headed off towards Myerscough but stopped off to survey the River Wyre at Town End where it is partly tidal but ice floes reached across and along the water. As I stood taking a picture of the solid river a lone Fieldfare chuckled away from the hawthorns behind me and a lone Mistle Thrush watched proceedings.

River Wyre

Will had been energetic, the feeding station at Myerscough held 60 to 70 Chaffinch, 6 Tree Sparrow, at least 20 Blackbird, 3 Song Thrush, 5 Robin and 1 Grey Wagtail, with a couple of Goldfinch nearby, and an overflying Grey Heron.

Song Thrush
Tree Sparrow

Things are looking up for a ringing session, all we need is for the snow to stay away and the early morning roads to remain ice free - that’s not a lot to ask is it?.

Short And Sweet

At last I was out to the old patch for a couple of hours where it really felt like the two weeks and more since my last visit, not just the elapsed time but the fact that while I was away the weather changed from autumn to winter; and now on December 1st the shortest day beckons. Fortunately the Fylde coast still has no real snow, just a smattering this afternoon to remind us that it is almost everywhere in the UK except around here where the sun shone brightly for me, if only for an hour or two.

Luckily I remembered the way down Wheel Lane, past a watching Kestrel to the stubble field, where the “Beware Flooded Road” sign should now read “Beware Ice” but it didn’t. I think the Whooper Swans have been around the whole time I was away and their numbers didn’t disappoint today at about 125 somewhat distant birds where their constant social activities keep the shallow water from freezing completely. I stepped out of the car to get a better look across the field and flushed a single Snipe from a sunny, thawing spot in the grass, but apart from the swans and a few dozen Pink-footed Geese, the entire fields seemed devoid of much else.

Kestrel
Whooper Swan

At Damside I stopped to clock the regular Little Owl near the sewage works where I also counted over 350 Curlew and 40 Lapwing, the Curlew using the longer grassed field, but the Lapwings split equally between that and the sheep grazed field opposite.

Lapwing

Lane Ends was quiet with both pools almost completely frozen, with just enough open water to allow the mixed ethnicity Mallards breathing space. Smaller birds were few and far between, with just 5 Robin, 4 Blackbird, 8 Moorhen and a single Pied Wagtail entered in my notebook. From the car park I counted 3 Little Egret out on the marsh and a male Sparrowhawk leaving the trees behind me before it continued along the sea wall. The sun still shone out so I continued up to Pilling Water where many hundreds of wildfowl fed in the partly frozen channel and others murmured along the grazed marsh. There were so many, packed so tight, some very distant, and with my reluctance to scare them off, my count is more a guesstimate; 500 Wigeon, 600 Teal and 300 Mallard, but if anyone cares to do a recount from the partial view below the figures may be different.

Wildfowl
Wigeon
Wigeon

Also up here, 2 Meadow Pipit, 2 Grey Heron flying inland, another Little Egret, plus 4 Snipe in the partially frozen ditches.

Snow clouds rolled in from the darker south and east as light flurries of the white stuff broke out, and at 1430 the light began to fade. Oh for the Cyprus light and sun! But instead I rode to Gulf Lane hoping for a winter afternoon Barn Owl or maybe a second frosty day Little Owl. Not quite, but I did get winter thrushes, 40 or so Fieldfares and 2 Pied Wagtails. Soon it was over, the weak snow persisted enough to keep the sky dark and by 1530 gulls and geese headed for their roosts, as did I.

Fieldfare