Monday, October 18, 2021
Like many others I’ve been laid up with a dreadful cough/cold and sinusitis for the past ten days, my traditional January misery. “That’s what you get for standing around in draughty, cold and wet fields bird watching” was the predictable response from Sue. Despite the lack of sympathy I soldiered on and limited my birding to a couple of trips to top up the feeding station. Andy is also out of action for a week or more after his minor knee operation so the job falls to yours truly until I find him a walking stick.
On the way to Oakenclough today I paused at Out Rawcliffe to note both a Kestrel and Buzzard and then stopped to watch a flock of about 40 Fieldfares and a few Redwings feeding in a field of maize stubble. It’s at this time of year, when autumn fruits are more or less depleted, that Fieldfares earn their name by taking to feeding in fields rather than hawthorn hedgerows. Redwings adopt the same feeding strategy and mix freely with their larger relative. The thrushes were wary of my car at the roadside and also watchful of a number of Black-headed Gulls intent on stealing any substantial items of food rather than finding their own.
Fieldfare
A Redwing doesn’t actually have a red wing, the area of red plumage is situated on the flanks beneath the armpit, and not always visible, but it’s easy to see how the bird acquired the name.
Redwing
The partly tidal river here is traditional haunt of Goosanders so I wasn’t surprised to see 4 males in flight, an incidental and early year tick for someone who takes such things seriously.
East of Garstang Town and following a number of journeys this way I again saw a pair of Buzzards in a now familiar spot, and a little further on a Kestrel dashing from the same stretch of ivy covered trees noted on my last drive. It’s surprising how easy it is to begin to build up a picture of the species which inhabit an area, and a foot survey of this locality could yield interesting results for anyone looking to adopt a “local patch”. I don’t know of many birders in this very rural and attractive part of Lancashire, not since Professor Lane left for Hampshire and A.N.Other took semi-retirement from birding. Maybe the ones left like to keep a low profile? It‘s often a good idea.
The feeding station held a welcome but expected bird of 2015 in the shape of a niger feeding Siskin, just the one but it’s a start. We’re hoping that once the alder cones lose their autumn succulence the local Siskin population will turn to our well-stocked feeders. I’m happy to report no further thefts of feeders at the moment, so fingers crossed for a Siskin-filled February and March, the months of the year in which to expect Siskins at feeders.
Siskin
Also in the locality and on or around the feeders, 1 Pied Wagtail, 1 Goldcrest, 25+ Goldfinch, 2 Greenfinch, 8 Chaffinch and the usual titmice, Coal Tit numbers in the ascendant.
I took a look on a few fields close by and found a fairly distant mixed flock of approximately 250+ Fieldfare, 25 Redwing and 140 Starling, plus 3 Mistle Thrush. I imagine that the Mistle Thrush are local birds as there is a healthy population up here. The others will winter hereabouts as a roaming and so unpredictable flock until they head back North in February, March or even April.
It was good to get out in the fresh air, banish the sniffles and open up my 2015 notebook to a good few entries.