Sod's law, just as John Gramauskas and I were about to embark on a great big, Ainsdale to Southport, birdcount today, we encountered this tired old Gannet on the beach...so had to bundle it up in a box and keep it quiet for awhile before releasing it on Sands Lake (it's quieter there, and not even the Mute Swans would hassle a critter with a dagger bill like this).
Doubt it'll make it, but there you go, stuff karks it (and I can't promise to refrain from taking pix of stiffs!!!).
Thanks to Ralph Jones for the excellent shot above of the rarely seen combo of Gannet and Mute Swan.
The latter backed off as soon as they checked out the mother of all switchblades that the sula calls a bill.
Although the bird was covered in lice, remarkably, the bug survives only on Gannet, so once the itching and bleeding stops, I should be okay (but for gawd's sake don't tell the missus).
Plenty of Swallows moving through today, and a juv Peregrine on the sands off Weld Road.
Garganey and Greenshank at Marshside, and Yellow Wag and Common Buzzard through at Ainsdale.
Ralph also sent me these cool shots of an adult Sabs cutting through the surf at New Brighton on Friday...what seawatching is all about.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
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Beware the Robin Strokers, they're everywhere!
Yonks and yonks ago my pal the late Bob Walker and I used to search out tideline (and elsewhere) corpses in order to prepare their skulls for my collection. This was quite extensive and is now somewhere in the Liverpool Museum.
Decapitating a Whooper (found near Leighton Moss) and then preparing the skull was our biggest task.
There used to be far more dead things along the Ribble tideline in those days before properly controlled shooting. We found, inter alia, shot Arctic Skua and Fulmar at Banks.
I'm afraid we omitted any form of civilised burial of the remains, which more often than not were putrified. I can still recollect a strange smell in my bedroom (stranger than usual that is) to discover a forgotten and long dead Ringed Plover head in my rucsac, stashed in the wardrobe.
A colour ringed Little Egret at Banks yesterday, been there a while. Here goes:
Left tibia yellow, letter U.
Right tibia pinky red, letter U. Right tarsus metal (very dis-coloured).
Ron
Ron, just a slight word of caution - the law is complicated but there can be penalties for holding the remains of certain birds - particuarly when the cause of death cannot easily be ascertained after this time. I used to pick casualties on the East Lancs Road (mainly owls although the intact tawny I found once was too big for my rucksack, I was on a bike) but they went straight to Bolton museum.
I think it is always worth checking out casualties for rings and marine mammals or basking sharks can be reported to the MSC along with sex (if known) and length or any other information it is practical to take. I am not sure about harbour porpoise because they are relatively common in the Irish Sea and commonly get washed ashore on Anglesey but it is probably useful to pop off an email anyway.
14 Buzzards in the sky together at Moreton late this afternoon. 11 spiralling over the brick pit lake with 3 others circling over Carr Farm Garden Centre on the other side of the road. A couple of miles further on there was a Hobby high over Bidston Moss heading south.
Don't worry Ian, I don't collect dead things nowadays! My collecting days were over forty years ago.If anyone has still got a problem it's Merseyside Museums, not me.
(Albeit I've a Pheasant and a Red Leg P in my freezer, donated by a shooting friend.)
Co-incidentally I found a freshly dead juvenile drake Shoveler by Banks sea wall yesterday. A lovely bird. No sign of being shot but with a broken neck. I left him for the crows.
I'm a "H5N1" bird flu monitor for the Ribble NNR. Nothing suspicious found so far. A friend was given a dead Mute Swan last year (had flown into wires) and rather than "landfill" it he roasted it, rather like a monster goose, and it was very good.
Heard my first sky music yesterday morning over Churchtown but failed to see the geese. No sign of any on the NNR but duck numbers are building up.
A lot of small waders too on the splashes, probably brought in by the tide. There's surely a yank or two out there???
Ron
I have always wondered how museums stand on the legal side - it just shows how complicated the WCA 1981 is - not surprising there are so few convictions for bird crimes.
There were definitely nine Pinkies at Marshside yesterday and when the Marsh Harrier showed over Crossens Out Marsh, a good indication of how many Teal are now there. Now for the Wigeon!