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juvenile White-tailed Sea Eagle

Utilising the information kindly provided by Alan Lewis and Nick Montegriffo, I have endeavoured to trace the origins of the juvenile White-tailed Sea Eagle currently residing in Hampshire. If it is not from the Weyhill Raptor onservancy Centre as suggested, it is possible it is from Eastern Germany, Poland or Finland. I have directly emailed all of those people currently involved in TSE ringing schemes and hope to be able to report back to you all shortly with some detail.

I have just checked the Raptor registry detailing all White-tailed Sea Eagle importations since 1998. There have been just 31 ‘legal’ imports, all birds being registered and ‘ringed/certified’ – 12 from Norway in 1998 (for reintroduction), 1 from Israel in 1999, 3 from Kazakhstan and 5 from Russia in 2001, 1 from Poland in 2002 and 9 from Kazakhstan in 2004. I can trace just 14 captive/zoo/collection White-tailed Sea Eagles in Britain.

Can anyone kindly supply me with details from elsewhere in Europe (eg from Belfast Zoo where I am told there are several, and in the Netherlands and West Germany)

Rare Bird Alert – Issue 37

To Read The Full Issue Right Click and Save As to Download Issue 37

This is the UK400 Club Rare Bird Alert for Tuesday 27th November 2007, issued at 2200 hours and published in association with Rare Bird Alert Pagers (for details, please visit www.rarebirdalert.co.uk) and utilising information gleaned from Regional Birdlines, local email groups, websites and individual observers. All Irish rare bird news is by kind courtesy of John Coveney and BINS.

A juvenile WHITE-TAILED SEA EAGLE has been frequenting the Cholderton Lodge Estate, east of Cholderton and south of the A303 (Hampshire) since at least Sunday 18th November and has been returning to a dead Sheep thrown out for it by kind-hearted organic farmer Mr Edmunds and has returned daily since at least Friday.

DETAILED VIEWING INSTRUCTIONS

Leave the A303 at Cholderton and head SE on the B3084 towards Grateley and Over Wallop. Hampshire Constabulary negotiated with the owners of the estate for special access arrangements and these were duly accepted. A temporary viewing area has been granted…

To Read The Full Issue Right Click and Save As to Download Issue 37

Pechora Pipit Update – Rare Bird Alert Issue 36

To Read The Full Issue Right Click and Save As to Download Issue 36

This is the UK400 Club Rare Bird Alert for Friday 23rd November 2007, issued at 2000 hours and published in association with Rare Bird Alert Pagers www.rarebirdalert.co.uk and utilising information gleaned from the Regional Birdlines, local email groups, Websites and individual observers.

The PECHORA PIPIT at Goodwick Moor, Fishguard (Pembs), has been extremely difficult today and may have found a new feeding area – the majority of people on site today (c100) did NOT see it or have ‘tickable’ views. It was initially located shortly after dawn at 0745 and remained in view at very close range for about 15 minutes. It then disappeared and was seen very briefly (by one person) in flight at 1000. It was then relocated in its favoured area at 1445 but showed well for just two minutes before flying off towards Manorowen. It was then seen again briefly at 1545 (Mike King) (per Richard Dobbins, On-site Management)

To Read The Full Issue Right Click and Save As to Download Issue 36

Members Area Updates

The following updates have been added for members, please log in to view and download.

• Pechora Pipit detailed report and article containing many fine images
• Uk400 Club UK life Lists updated up to and including November 21st 2007
• UK400 Club 2007 Year List Totals as at November 21st 2007
  
• UK400 Club 2007 County List Totals as at November 21st 2007
• Challenging Wheatear Id – Male Pied Wheatear or Eastern Black-eared Wheatear

If you would like to become a member please contact Lee Evans for membership details

Product Review – Highland Bird Report 2005

The three most recent volumes of the HIGHLAND BIRD REPORT have just arrived on my desk, including the 2005 edition which has just been published. With a superb juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper adorning the front cover (provided by Dave Pullan), this really is an impressive bird report. It is a sumptuous edition at 248 pages long, much more than in many county reports published for English counties. Following 13 pages detailing the weather in Highland Region in 2005, we then move on to the Dave Butterfield provided year end review, highlighting the 231 species recorded in Sutherland, Ross-shire and Inverness-shire during that year.

Of these 231 species, 155 were proven to have bred, with a further 7 likely to have done so. This included the mixed pairing of a Black x Red Kite on the Black Isle, the suspected breeding of a pair of Gadwall and the presence of two singing male Bramblings in Sutherland. In terms of rare vagrants, 2005 produced a wintering IVORY GULL, an adult WHITE-BILLED DIVER, a singing male WESTERN SUBALPINE WARBLER and a BLACKPOLL WARBLER on Skye, the latter the only new county addition of the year (the County List now standing at a very respectable 334 BOU/346 BBA). Scarcities included 2 Great Shearwaters offshore, the 3rd Little Egret for Skye, Common Crane, 5th Pectoral Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, returning adult Ring-billed Gull at Dingwall, up to 8 Hoopoes, a singing male Marsh Warbler on Eigg, a Lesser Whitethroat on 4th June, a male Woodchat Shrike in July and a huge influx of Trumpeter Bullfinches, 2 Hawfinches

The Systematic List for 2005 (covering pages 36-207) was incredibly detailed and informative, providing breeding and wintering numbers of most species and offering the reader an excellent insight into the insight of each and every individual species recorded. I was highly impressed by the content, the layout and the overall accuracy. Although in the new taxonomic order of which I am not a supporter, the text was easy to follow and geographical areas well abbrieviated. The summaries were littered with items of a highly informative nature (eg results of Common Scoter breeding survey, just 28 pairs of nesting Common Goldeneyes, a pair of Smew in May, total of 361 lekking male Black Grouse, 143 pairs of Black-throated Divers, a decrease from 43 to 37 breeding pairs of Slavonian Grebes, at least 6,618 breeding adult Storm Petrels on Priest Island, 55% of the UK breeding population of White-tailed Sea Eagle, 18 pairs of Hen Harrier fledging 56 young, 108 pairs of Golden Eagle representing 44% of the national population, 81 pairs of Osprey, total of 33 of 1,108 calling male Corncrakes in Scotland, just 542 pairs of Common Snipe, 332 pairs of Eurasian Curlew, 307 pairs of Arctic Tern, just 244 Atlantic Puffins on Handa Island, at least 4 singing Wrynecks in June, 275 singing male Tree Pipits in Abernethy Forest, Red-backed Shrikes again breeding successfully and 16 singing male Corn Buntings).

Towards the back of the report, pages 212-224 featured the Highland Ringing Group Report 2005, pages 225-233 a featured article on the dynamics of a Highland Barn Swallow roost and pages 234-240 a very interesting historical perspective on the Birds of the Cromarty Firth.

A colour plate section in the centre pages features some of the year’s avian highlights, including a Common Quail, Hoopoe, flock of spring passage Pomarine Skuas, the Blackpoll Warbler and first-winter Ivory Gull, drake Ring-necked Duck and Eurasian Bittern.

I felt that these most recent three Highland Bird Reports were of an exceptional standard and Dave Butterfield, Alastair McNee and others are to be congratulated on such an impressive production.

The report can be obtained, priced £9.00 (inc. p&p), from Alastair McNee, Liathach, 4 Balnafettack Place, Scorguie, INVERNESS, IV3 8TQ

Rare Bird Alert – Issue 35

To Read The Full Issue Right Click and Save As to Download Issue 35

This is the UK400 Club Rare Bird Alert for Tuesday 20th November 2007, issued at 2000 hours and published in association with Rare Bird Alert Pagers (www.rarebirdalert.co.uk for details) and utilising information gleaned from the Regional Birdlines, websites, local email groups and individual observers.

Bird of the day without doubt was a PECHORA PIPIT in Pembrokeshire, showing well from dawn until dusk and representing the first twitchable individual on mainland Britain since birds at Filey NCCP (North Yorks) and St Levan (Cornwall). It was initially found yesterday and may well have been present some time, appearing fairly settled in its chosen habitat. It is frequenting some medium length grass and shows down to a few yards. As news broke early this morning, some 38 birders outside of South Wales connected today, including Matthew Deans, Steve Nuttall, Lol Carman, Bob Chalkley, Ian Lewington and Dan Pointon. Local birder David Astins managed some decent images (see below).

To Read The Full Issue Right Click and Save As to Download Issue 35

MEGA- PECHORA PIPIT

Click here for directions and images of the Pechora Pipit

Along with 135 others, visited Goodwick Moor today (21st November 2007) and of course was not disappointed. The PECHORA PIPIT was showing EXCEPTIONALLY WELL from at least 0745-1100 hours (and again from 1315-1535 hours). The bird really is superb and I recommend all of you to take the trouble to travel down and see it. Pechora Pipit is a very rare bird indeed away from the Northern Isles and this may well be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to enjoy such wonderful views of this Siberian vagrant. It seems extremely well settled and could, if the European Robin and weather allow, remain for an extended period, perhaps even overwinter (the habitat is typical of that where the species winters in SE Asia).

The bird was found by local birder Adrian Rogers on Monday afternoon, after he visited the site in the hope of connecting with a Firecrest seen on Sunday.Although unsure of the bird’s identity, Adrian and two further local birders (Steve Berry and Carl ?) stood in heavy rain observing the bird for an hour to 1600 hours before confirming it with Paul Grennard and David Astins early next morning (Tuesday 20th).

Click here for directions and images of the Pechora Pipit

Rare Bird Alert – Issue 34

Right Click and Save As to download Issue 34

This is the UK400 Club Rare Bird Alert for Friday 16th November, issued at 2200 hours and published in association with Rare Bird Alert Pagers (see www.rarebirdalert.co.uk for details) and utilising information gleaned from the Regional Birdlines, Birdguides, websites, local email groups and individual observers.

In Suffolk, the family group of 4 PENDULINE TITS (adult pair with two young) remain at Dingle Marshes. DIRECTIONS: Park near Walberswick village on Lodge Lane at Hoist Covert and walk south for half a mile to view the reedmace adjacent to the footpath 250 yards south of the ruined windmill at approximately TM 487 733.

To Read The Full Issue Right Click and Save As to Download Issue 34

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