Migrants on a landscape we need to look after
WE’RE at that time when the morning air is filled with “chips” and “tweets” and a glance skywards reveals small dark shapes bounding south – for the birder this is the business end of autumn, when large numbers of passerines are on the move.
Once you learn the calls a whole world of global travel is revealed above you.
You don’t have to familiarise yourself with every sound – learning the flight calls of Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail and Goldfinch (that’s only three, and learning bird calls and song is what the internet is for) will get you started.
The unusual or rare occasionally travels along the same flyways as commoner species like Meadow Pipits and Goldfinches, but until conditions are right (misty mornings or a bit of drizzle are good) most of these won’t even touch down as they barrel along the coast.
Unless conditions are right.
On a recent humid morning at Ainsdale, low cloud and a bit of light drizzle prompted an emergence of midges along the tideline and migrating birds were quick to spot the opportunity to refill the tanks as they moved south.
These migrants can illafford to pass up the chance of a free meal and the drying seaweed, flotsam and jetsam were buzzing with darting shapes as Meadow Pipits, Pied and White Wagtails, Wheatears and even a Skylark chased through the clouds of tiny insects.
Up to 150 small birds were zipping about the small area of the beach in a feeding frenzy as the air crackled with the electricity of migration.
Occasionally small bands of Swallows swept in, streaking through the slower pipits and wagtails with a breathtaking dynamism before zooming onwards, next stop Africa?
As quickly as they appeared a breeze picked up and conditions became fresher, the midges dispersed, and the birds moved on.
The spectacle was over, but it got me thinking.
Firstly, such an exciting episode highlighted the importance of the tideline as one of the habitats along the Sefton coast – it’s not just migrant birds that use it, Natterjack Toads forage here too drawn by insect prey in late summer before crawling off to hibernation around about now.
It’s why Green Sefton asks visitors not to remove driftwood from the coast as it is super attractive to the insects the food chain is based on, and provides shelter for Natterjacks at certain times of the year.
Secondly, I pondered on how rare it is to see gatherings of migrating birds feeding like this now – a few years ago it would be commonplace, but Swallows get scarcer every year and many other species are in steep decline too.
Even an explosion of midges like the one the birds feasted on that morning is getting less regular.
And thirdly I reflected on how lucky we are to have this spectacle on our doorstep in Sefton still, even if it is getting harder to witness each year.
We don’t need to sit starryeyed in front of high definition wildlife documentaries (exciting as they are) when we can witness it firsthand, but we must all respect and protect this landscape if future generations are to enjoy it as well.
John works for Green Sefton, the Sefton Council service that brings together the coast & countryside, parks & green spaces, flooding & coastal erosion, risk management and grounds maintenance teams for a joined-up approach to the vital management, development and oversight of Sefton’s beautiful coastline, parks and green spaces. This column looks at the flora, fauna and history of the coastline, and the work carried out to protect it.