Vagrants and scarce migrants
June 6, 2008
Tue Jun 3, 2008
During just 8 days absence from the UK in Iberia, an overwhelming and mouth-watering array of vagrants and scarce migrants appeared in Britain whilst I was away, surging the 2008 total for Britain and Ireland to an extremely impressive 366 species (the highest total at such an early stage ever). The latest additions since my previous update are as follows -:
STILT SANDPIPER - outstanding record from Rutland Water, Leics
GREAT SNIPE - unusual spring occurrence on Holy Island, Northumberland (plus
other east coast sightings)
MARSH SANDPIPER - Rutland Water - first county record
TEREK SANDPIPER - one-dayer in East Sussex
WILSON’S PHALAROPE - NW England, today at Seaforth NR, Lancs
EUROPEAN ROLLER - brief stayer in Lincolnshire
RIVER WARBLER - singing male at Beachy Head, successfully twitched by 108+
observers
BLYTH’S REED WARBLER - on Unst, the 4th to be identified by Stefan McElwee !!
MARSH WARBLER - large influx
GREENISH WARBLER - Shetland
LESSER GREY SHRIKE - High Newton, Northumberland, today
TRUMPETER FINCH - North Rona and Blakeney Point
COMMON ROSEFINCH - many spring migrants
RUSTIC BUNTING - 2+ on Northern Isles
BLACK-HEADED BUNTING - male in Yorkshire
Birding Iberia
June 6, 2008
Tue Jun 3, 2008
Despite unusually unseasonal appalling weather conditions in Iberia (almost continuous rain for 10 weeks now), I have just returned from an exceptionally successful tour of both Spain and Portugal. In just over a week and 4,572 kilometres covered, a total of 189 species was recorded, including 44 for my Western Palearctic Year List taking my cumulative total to a new record 524 species.
Amongst the many highlights of the trip were a breeding coastal colony of LITTLE SWIFTS, a nesting pair of WHITE-RUMPED SWIFTS, a vagrant whinnying male PIED-BILLED GREBE, many LITTLE BITTERNS and PURPLE HERONS, 8 nesting pairs of BLACK STORK (all with young), WHITE-HEADED DUCKS, 4 LAMMERGEIERS including an adult pair, many EURASIAN BLACK VULTURES, a fabulous pair of SPANISH IMPERIAL EAGLES, excellent views of adult BONELLI’S EAGLES, many hundreds of Montagu’s Harriers, some large gatherings of LESSER KESTRELS, 25 WESTERN PURPLE GALLINULES, excellent numbers of GREAT BUSTARDS (including a feeding flock of 27 birds), many calling male LITTLE BUSTARDS, both PIN-TAILED and BLACK-BELLIED SANDGROUSE, a surprising number of European Turtle Doves, 3 fantastic GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOOS, 2 well-grown EURASIAN EAGLE OWLETS, 2 RED-NECKED NIGHTJARS in broad daylight roosting on the ground and flying around, the male even singing!, many EUROPEAN ROLLERS, IBERIAN GREEN WOODPECKERS, large numbers of CALANDRA LARKS, 10+ singing male DUPONT’S LARKS, IBERIAN YELLOW WAGTAILS, 7 displaying male WESTERN RUFOUS BUSHCHATS, BLACK WHEATEARS, WESTERN OLIVACEOUS WARBLERS, 10+ singing male WESTERN BONELLI’S WARBLERS, excellent views of IBERIAN PIED FLYCATCHERS, WALLCREEPER, very large numbers of AZURE-WINGED MAGPIES, 70+ ALPINE
CHOUGHS, ROCK SPARROWS, 5 WHITE-WINGED SNOWFINCH, IBERIAN COMMON CROSSBILLS and ROCK BUNTINGS. Also seen were the ship-assisted PIED CROW of unknown origin and an assortment of Category C estrelids including an extraodinary number of breeding BLACK-HEADED WEAVERS and YELLOW-CROWNED BISHOPS.
I am especially thankful to all of the Spanish birders that helped me during my visit, particularly Daniel Lopez Velasco, Jose Luis Copete and Jose Ardaiz, as well as to Chris Bell, Joan Thompson and Mike Collard, who provided some excellent additional information.
A similar tour will be prepared for 2008 - email for details
Site Update
June 2, 2008
After much head scratching and the Trumpeter Finch over the weekend the public area of the website is once again working. However we are aware that some of the features and links are not 100% guaranteed to be working currently, I will endeavour to restore the site to full working order in the shortest time possible.
Site Admin
LGRE Tours in 2008 - Scotland
May 21, 2008
Just returned from a hugely successful 4-day tour of Northern Scotland, where amongst the many highlights for participents were the fabulous sightings of an adult male SNOWY OWL at very close range and a female PINE MARTEN feeding on peanuts at about a yard’s range.
Also seen were summer-plumaged WHITE-BILLED DIVER, 25+ Great Northern Divers (many in full breeding attire), 4 Black-throated Divers (including a beautiful full summer-plumaged bird), several pairs of Red-throated Diver, 20+ SLAVONIAN GREBES (breeding), Manx Shearwaters, 3 Whooper Swans, a fantastic adult drake KING EIDER, a flock of over 160 mainly summer-plumaged LONG-TAILED DUCKS,
Goosanders, many OSPREYS, GOLDEN EAGLES (including 6 in just one small area), 3 WHITE-TAILED SEA EAGLES (including an adult which hovered above the ferry just outside Lochmaddy), Red Kite, Hen Harrier, a displaying male NORTHERN GOSHAWK, 24 lekking male BLACK GROUSE, 5 CAPERCAILLIES, 2 PTARLIGAN, 29 European Golden Plover in full summer finery, breeding Dunlin, Common Greenshank, 8
Whimbrel, large numbers of Arctic Terns, 100+ Atlantic Puffins, 40+ Black Guillemots, 150+ ROCK DOVES, many Common Cuckoos, numerous Dippers, Whinchats on territory, many Spotted Flycatchers, singing male Pied Flycatcher, 2 CRESTED TITS (very difficult at this time of year), Common Ravens, Hooded Crows, several Twite, 9 SCOTTISH PARROT CROSSBILLS (including a family group of 4) and singing male Corn Buntings on North Uist.
In terms of mammals, Harbour Porpoise, Hedgehog, Wood Mouse, Mountain Hare, Brown Hare, Red Deer and Roe Deer were all seen, along with 2 freshly emerged CHEQUERED SKIPPER butterflies
I have one more trip to run this summer to Scotland on which spaces are still available (and I am also taking bookings now for 2009), so if you wish to join me, please email or phone for details
Lee G R Evans
|
Chaffinch House
8 Sandycroft Road Little Chalfont Amersham Buckinghamshire England HP6 6QL Telephones: 01494 763010 and 01494 581157 Mobile/Text Alerts: 07881 906629 (Lee Evans Enterprises incorporate documentation of rare bird occurrences in Britain & Ireland and elsewhere in the Western Palearctic and in North America; Rare Bird Information and Rare Bird Alerts; Rare Birds Magazine and other related publications; Bird Tours for Birders) |
UK Bird Species 2008 To Date
May 9, 2008
Wed May 7, 2008 4:17 pm
With the further addition of 17 species in the past 15 days, the total number of species now recorded in Britain and Ireland in 2008 now surges forward to 338 species. The new additions are -:
LITTLE BITTERN
BLACK STORK
Eurasian Honey Buzzard
Corncrake
CASPIAN PLOVER
AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER
BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPER
UPLAND SANDPIPER
Little Tern
European Nightjar
PALLID SWIFT
European Bee-eater
CITRINE WAGTAIL
Golden Oriole
Woodchat Shrike
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW
Ortolan Bunting
Members area updates
April 27, 2008
UK400 Club year, county and life, lists updated along with Black Lark article added to members area.
Scandanavia Birding Trip
April 26, 2008
Although I am away in China from 25 April to 5 May (trip rescheduled after Oasis Airways went bust), I have four short trips later in May to fill, including 3-dayers in Morocco, Madeira, Poland and Italy. All are dawn-dusk birding and full-on but crammed full of birds and never short on events and laughter. Please email/phone asap if interested.
Later in the summer, I shall be returning to Scandinavia in an attempt to see all the owls, 3 woodpeckers, Willow Grouse, Bluetails, perhaps Lancey, Arctic Warblers, Sibe Jay, Sibe Tit, Pine Grosbeak, Tereks & Broad-billeds, King & Steller’s Eiders, Gyrfalcon, Brunnich’s Guillemots and much much more. There are possibly two spaces left on this trip. Email me if interested.
Staggering fall of birds in Kuwait
April 18, 2008
A combination of torrential rain and gale force southerly winds carried along by a fierce electrical storm resulted in a staggering fall of passerine birds in Kuwait, numbering many thousands of birds over a large area. This afforded me and my group some of the most enjoyable Western Palearctic birding ever, and took me back to the golden days of Eilat spring migrations of the 1980’s. The numbers of bird species such as Pied Wheatear, Ortolan Bunting and Common Redstart was truly staggering, and gives some insight into the continuing success of populations in Iran and further north and east.
Amongst the many highlights of the 5-day trip was the finding of the first ASIATIC PIED MYNAH/STARLING Sturnus contra for Kuwait (this species is fairly common in the UAE after a successful introduction in 1989 and occurred at the same time as an ARABIAN GOLDEN SPARROW) and my first ever SOCOTRA CORMORANTS in the Western P, whilst I relocated the overwintering adult LONG-TAILED SHRIKE which had not been seen for over two weeks.
Other highlights included 3 Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins, Desert Fox, 7 Little Bitterns, 22 Steppe Eagles grounded in the desert, large numbers of Montagu’s Harriers, an immature male SHIKRA, huge flocks of migrating Lesser Kestrels, Corncrake, Little Crakes, 54 CRAB PLOVERS, 120 Collared Pratincoles, c1,000 mainly breeding-plumaged LESSER SAND PLOVERS, 87 Broad-billed Sandpipers, 200 Terek Sandpipers, 150+ Red-necked Phalaropes, 100+ Lesser Crested Terns, 7 White-cheeked Terns, 40+ Bridled Terns, male NAMAQUA DOVE, Scops Owl, BLUE-CHEEKED BEE-EATERS, 2 European Rollers, 2 ORIENTAL SKYLARKS, BLACK-CROWNED FINCH LARKS, HOOPOE LARKS, several thousand Red-throated Pipits, leucocephala Yellow Wagtail, 20+ GREY HYPCOLIUS, White-cheeked & Red-vented Bulbuls, 25 WHITE-THROATED ROBINS, many Eastern Rufous Bushchats, a male ‘vittata’ Pied Wheatear, 3 Rock Thrushes, Savi’s Warbler, 8+ BASRA REED WARBLERS, Eastern Moustached Warblers, Upcher’s Warbler, several adult Barred Warblers, Menetries’s Warblers, Eastern Orphean Warblers,Semicollared Flycatcher, 9 COMMON BABBLERS (including several recently fledged young), Pallidirostris Saxaul Grey Shrike, abundant Turkestan & Daurian Shrikes, Common & Bank Mynahs,large numbers of PALE ROCK FINCHES, a pair of YELLOW-THROATED PETRONIAS and 150+ Ortolans
UK400 Club Rare Bird Alerts
Latest Headlines
- Woodland Birds In Decline
- UK400 Club Rare Bird Alert Monday 4th August
- Members Area Updates
- UK400 Club Rare Bird Alert 28th July 2008
- Record-breaking Razorbill on Bardsey Island
- Atlantic Puffins In Decline
- UK400 Club Rare Bird Alert - 25 July 2008
- Caspian Tern
- Cattle Egrets breed in the UK
- Rare Bird Alert Monday 14 July 2008
