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UK400 Rare Bird Alert – January 2008

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Issue 2 – 2008

This is the UK400 Club Rare Bird Alert for Wednesday 30th January 2008, utilising information gleaned from the Regional Birdlines, local email groups and websites, www.Birdguides.com and Rare Bird Alert pagers (www.rarebirdalert.com). All Irish rare bird news is by kind courtesy of John Coveney and BINS

In North Norfolk, the adult WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW remains in gardens in Cley-next-the-Sea village, showing well intermittently throughout the day. Well over 5,000 birders have now seen this North American waif, with over £4,000 raised for the local church restoration fund.

Wallcreeper wintering in Northern France

A WALLCREEPER – one of the most stunning species in the World and my favourite bird of all time – is wintering in Northern France, just across the channel near Boulogne. It is fairly easy to see and gives excellent views, and can be visited by ferry for less than £20 per person (with 4 sharing in a car).

DIRECTIONS

To get to the site follow the Calais-Boulogne road and take the junction signed ”Wimereax Sud”. Head towards the sea and at the roundabout at the end of the road turn right. Park after about 200 yards at the obvious gate and path. Follow the path down to the beach through the ruins of what looks like an old WW2 fort.

The bird ranges over quite a distance either side of the fort, up to half a mile in either direction. It is very active and can be difficult to locate, especially during the week when few birders are present. It is essential to visit at low tide as viewing would be difficult if not impossible at high tide. The bird is rarely high on the cliffs and has apparently been seen on the large boulders at the upper part of the beach.

For those of you interested in seeing WALLCREEPERS this year, I hope to see them during my annual trips to Les Baux, Spain and Turkey. There are still some places on all of these tours if anyone is interested

Rare Bird Alert 25th January 2008

This is the UK400 Club Rare Bird Alert for Friday 25th January 2008, issued at 1800 hours and published in close association with the Regional Birdlines, and utilising information gleaned from Rare Bird Alert Pagers (for enquiries, contact 01603 456700, or consult www.rarebirdalert.com), Birdguides, local email groups and individual observers.

Throughout all of January the star attraction has been the adult WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW in Cley village (North Norfolk), still showing well today. It frequents the seed-strewn driveway leading up to the houses just north of the Three Swallows public house (almost opposite the phone box) at the extreme south end of the village. Park sensibly on the village green and respect the privacy of the residents. Over £3,500 has been raised for the restoration of the church; all donations gratefully received on site.

Highlights of the rest, the majority of which are long-staying rarities

In Pembrokeshire, a PACIFIC DIVER has returned for a second winter on Llys-y-Fran Reservoir, 6 miles NE of Haverfordwest and east of the B4329. It favours the north end viewable from the hide at c SN 037 257 and is now in its second-winter plumage, with a much more striking neck ‘bracelet’ than last winter. A Black-throated Diver is also present on the reservoir (for comparison) and a NORTHERN GREY SHRIKE can be found between the car park and the hide.

On Shetland, at least three WHITE-BILLED DIVERS are wintering, with the regular adult in Nesting Bay off Kirkabister Church, and another two birds off Hamars Ness on Fetlar.

Unprecedented numbers of January BALEARIC SHEARWATERS are being seen, with up to 20 birds semi-resident in the English Channel off Portland Bill (Dorset), whilst rare herons include four wintering GREAT WHITE EGRETS, with singles on Loch Grogarry, South Uist (Outer Hebrides), commuting between Thorpeness Mere and North Warren RSPB reserve in Suffolk, on the Ouse Washes at Pymoor Drain (Cambs) and the old faithful red-ringed bird from northern France at Mockbeggar Lake (Hants).
At least 53 CATTLE EGRETS remain in southern Britain, with up to 18 still frequenting Treganhoe Farm, near Drift (Cornwall), 5 in the Wadebridge area (Cornwall), 7 SW of Newquay near Trennistick Farm east of Crantock Plains Touring Park (Cornwall), up to 5 in Southcott Valley near Bideford (North Devon), 2 at Exminster Marshes RSPB (South Devon), 5-6 in Dorset (north of Weymouth at Holywell Farm SY 654 830), 2 still in Somerset (singles just SW of Leigh-upon-Mendip and at Wet Moor), 5 in Sussex (2 south of Ivy Lake, Chichester and 3 together by Acton’s Farm), 1 in Hampshire (between Harbridge and Harbridge Green near North End Farm), 1 in Gloucestershire (at Fretherne) and 1 in NW Britain south of Neston at Burton Marsh (Cheshire).

Three adult white morph ROSS’S SNOW GEESE are wintering in Norfolk this winter, with one regularly roosting at Holkham Grazing Marshes at dusk, with an adult white morph LESSER SNOW GOOSE also wintering with up to 130,000 Pink-footed Geese. Four more SNOW GEESE are wintering in Scotland. 63 TAIGA BEAN GEESE remain in the Yare Valley at Cantley Marshes RSPB (Norfolk), whilst the most reliable TUNDRA BEAN GEESE are 3 at Welney WWT (Norfolk) and 7 at North Warren RSPB, Aldeburgh (Suffolk). The adult RED-BREASTED GOOSE continues to consort with 1,186 Dark-bellied Brent Geese at West Wittering (West Sussex) (viewable from the access road to West Wittering beach car park – £2.00 access charge), whilst a female AMERICAN WOOD DUCK (of presumed captive origin) remains at Loch Morlich (Speyside) (this bird is consorting with Mallards at the sailing club car park and feeds on bread).

The only AMERICAN WIGEONS in Scotland are single drakes on Loch Bee, South Uist (Outer Hebrides) and on Maywick Loch (Shetland) (first-winter), whilst in the south, drakes remain on the Isle of Man and at Angle Bay (Pembs) (a drake was seen at Westwood Pool, Worcs, on 22nd). Drake LESSER SCAUPS remain at Coot Loch, Benbecula (Outer Hebrides), Draycote Water (Warks) and at Sutton Courtenay GP (Oxfordshire), with a female on Shetland at Papil Water, Fetlar, whilst up to 4 RING-NECKED DUCKS remain in Scotland (and 5 elsewhere). A first-winter drake remains off Girdleness (Aberdeenshire), whilst twitchable SURF SCOTERS include the resident bird in Largo Bay off Ruddon’s Point (Fife) and a first-winter female off Dawlish Warren (South Devon).

1-2 ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARDS remain on the Isle of Sheppey (Kent), whilst in North Scotland, a vagrant flock of 11 COMMON CRANES remains in stubble at Baillesland farm (NJ 253 662) near Gordonsward (Moray). Three further birds continue near Wick (Caithness).

On the rare wader front, the LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER remains at Bowling Green Marsh, Topsham (South Devon), SPOTTED SANDPIPERS at Kinneil Lagoon, Grangemouth (Central) and Lisvane Reservoir (Cardiff) and LESSER YELLOWLEGS at Montrose Basin LNR (Angus) and Southwold Town Marshes (Suffolk)

Wintering RICHARD’S PIPITS include singles at Auchmithie (Angus) and Shingle Street (Suffolk), the BLACK-BELLIED DIPPER remains on Fair Isle (Shetland) and HUME’S LEAF WARBLERS at Cot Valley and Tehidy Country Park, Camborne, in Cornwall. The only YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER is an elusive bird near Jarrow Cemetery (Durham).

Birding January 2008

The Ornithological and Wildlife exploits of Lee G R Evans January- 2008

Members can download the full issue, please log in for access.

Subscription renewals

All 2008 subscriptions are now due for the UK400 Club Online website.

If you would like to continue unlimited access, kindly send a cheque for £25.00 to

Lee G R Evans, Chaffinch House,8 Sandycroft Road, Little Chalfont, Amersham, Bucks, HP6 6QL.

On receipt, your new access username and password will be issued

UK400 Rare Bird Alert – January 2008

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

Issue 1 – 2008

This is the UK400 Club Rare Bird Alert for Wednesday 9th January 2008, utilising information gleaned from the Regional Birdlines, local email groups and websites, www.Birdguides.com and Rare Bird Alert pagers (www.rarebirdalert.com). All Irish rare bird news is by kind courtesy of John Coveney and BINS

In North Norfolk, most hysteria surrounds a WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW wintering in gardens in Cley-next-the-Sea village. This bird was first seen last Thursday (3rd January), when it was visiting the back garden of the local vicar and his neighbours. It was joining an assortment of common garden species at regular intervals on the bird table and feeding station. After visiting a Norwich library, its identification was suspected, but a visit by Cley birder Richard Porter on Friday dispelled any doubts. Other Cley birders were informed of the bird’s presence on Saturday including Richard Millington, and, after much negotiation, it was realised that there was to be no repeat of what happened at Salthouse with the Chestnut Bunting, with birders trampsing up to an upstair’s bedroom to view. Richard and others painstakingly removed all evidence of food and feeders from the small, completely enclosed garden, and transferred it to the gravel driveway in the vain hope that this would entice the other feeding birds (and vagrant) to a location from which many hundreds of observers could view at a safe distance. By Sunday 6th January, all of this effort had worked and from mid morning, the White-crowned Sparrow fed with House Sparrows, Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Blackbirds and Robins on the drive…

Rare Birds Yearbook 2008

Rare Birds Yearbook 2008 is an absolute essential purchase for all of you concerned about the predicament facing the World’s 189 most threatened birds.

This doomsday avian charter highlights the most threatened birds on the planet (in fact it includes some birds, such as Slender-billed Curlew, which I consider became extinct some 14 years ago and lists 39 species not actually physically recorded since at least 2001, some as long ago as 1823 – Hooded Seedeater) and describes the dramatic circumstances which have pushed these species to the brink of survival.

The 274 pages are crammed full of information, the book itself being edited by Erik Hirshfeld and published in association with Birdlife International. There are some very interesting feature-articles on such birds as the endangered Madagascan Pochard (one of six species of wildfowl on the Critical List) and Balearic Shearwater (now numbering just 12,500 birds), with the main heart of the book (pages 84-243) concentrating on defining those 189 species, highlighting the range and population, potential threats and conservation actions currently employed or required. Each species is illustrated, either by existing photographs or constructed plates, and range from White-winged Guan and Blue-billed Curassow through Gorgeted Woodquail, Red-headed Vulture, Samoan Moorhen, Moheli Scops Owl, Imperial Woodpecker to the Munchique Wood-wren. Some of the most exquisite and beautiful birds on the planet are represented. Sadly, since 1500, a total of at least 155 species has become extinct – an absolute tragedy, including 7 species between 1980 and 1989. In fact, five further species now only exist in captivity – Alagoas Curassow, Socorro Dove, Guam Rail, Spix’s Macaw and Hawaiian Crow.

This is a publication that EVERY birder should own and for every copy purchased, £4.00 of the cover price goes direct to Birdlife International, where it can be converted into real support and education for each threatened species. The book was published on 7th November 2007 and, apart from putting the spotlight on the situation of the Critically Endangered species, sales of the book will create much needed funds to help save them.

The recommended retail price for the book in the UK is £18.95 and can be ordered direct through http://www.rarebirdsyearbook.com

UK year and county lists updated

UK 2007 county list updated to December 31st 2007

With 9 of the top ten places occupied by Norfolk birders, log in to see who saw came out top in 2007.

UK400 Club 2007 Year List Totals as at 31st December 2007

 A total of 435 Species were recorded in Britain and Ireland in 2007

Members can download updated lists from the Members Area

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