The Big 3-0-0 reached by 9/4/2008
April 14, 2008
With recent additions of LITTLE CRAKE (South Devon), GREAT REED WARBLER (St Mary’s, Scilly), Garden Warbler and HORNEMANN’S ARCTIC REDPOLL (Fair Isle), the total number of species now recorded in Britain and Ireland in Year 2008 surges to an impressive 300 Species.
Migrants fly in despite inclement temperatures - April 11th
April 14, 2008
With a swing in the wind to the South-East this morning, further vagrants and early migrants arrived in Southern Britain today, with a male LITTLE BITTERN at Radipole Lake RSPB (Dorset), a BLACK KITE** in North Norfolk which was tracked flying west from Walcott to Burnham Overy Dunes, a RED-RUMPED SWALLOW at Kelling Quags (Norfolk), a COMMON CRANE this evening at Woolmer Pond (Hants) and male WHITE-SPOTTED BLUETHROATS 2 miles SW of Lancaster on the east side of the Lune Estuary on the tideline at the south end of Aldcliffe Marsh (Lancs) (park at the end of Railway Crossing Lane and walk south along the cycle track for half a mile to view from the gate at SD 458 594) and at Hooker’s Pit, Dungeness RSPB reserve (Kent). Ring Ouzels continue to be seen inland in good numbers, with Common Nightingale, Pied Flycatcher, Tree Pipit, Common Whitethroat and Common Redstart all being recorded. House Martin numbers have greatly increased, along with impressive numbers of Sand 0Martins, and excellent numbers of passage Ospreys.
The first-summer SLATE-COLORED JUNCO remained for its second day today at Dungeness attracting a constant stream of admirers. It is favouring the back garden of ‘South View’ cottage, 500 yards north of the new lighthouse and is being tempted to stay by a supply of seed placed out on the gravel area behind the building. Viewing is limited so patience is required and please respect the privacy of residents. Park sensibly and carefully on the road. It represents the second record for Kent.
The adult PURPLE HERON remains at Ham Walls RSPB (Somerset), with migrant COMMON CRANES over Gibraltar Point NNR (Lincs), Birchmoor (Warks) and Upper Caldecotte (Beds), whilst on the Lizard peninsular (West Cornwall), the party of 3 BLACK-WINGED STILTS continue for a third day at Windmill Farm NR, favouring the Ruan Pool (accessed off the A3083 at SW 694 152; VIEW ONLY FROM THE NEW RESERVE HIDE).
On Fair Isle today, a HORNEMANN’S ARCTIC REDPOLL was fresh-in, with the adult BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON present there for its third day. An adult winter BONAPARTE’S GULL is at Peninerine on South Uist (Outer Hebrides).
In Suffolk, two male PENDULINE TITS were seen today west of Lowestoft just south of Carlton Marshes SWT, whilst a wintering YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER remains in Plymouth (South Devon) in Central Park (SX 478 558).
Long-staying CATTLE EGRETS include 19 at Treganhoe Farm, between Sancreed and Drift (West Cornwall), 5 north of Plymouth (Devon) at Tamerton Foliot (just north of Coombe Farm visible from Winnicott Close, Southway, at SX 483 612) and 4 at East Lavant (West Sussex) and singles at Higher Poynton (Cheshire), Slimbridge 100 Acre Pools (Gloucs), the Otter Estuary (South Devon), near Newton Abbott (South Devon) and at Abbotsbury Swannery (Dorset).
The four BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS remain in Bingley (West Yorks) (between Leonard Street and Church Street at SE 112 387) with 12 in Longfornan and another reported near Corby (Northants).
Two summer-plumaged LAPLAND BUNTINGS continue on Cley North Beach (North Norfolk) with a single SHORE LARK in the same area and another still at Landguard NR (Suffolk). A further summer-plumaged male LAPLAND BUNTING was on the Isle of Skye (Highland) today at Elgol
An adult Kumlien’s Gull roosted this evening on Grafham Water (Cambs), with the summer-plumaged Red-necked Grebe nearby at Buckden GP.
In Pembrokeshire, the female NORTH AMERICAN BLACK DUCK remains at Marloes Mere, consorting with a drake Mallard (view from the green hide overlooking the mere 300 yards down from the NT car park), with the SPOTTED SANDPIPER (now acquiring summer spots) still at Lisvane Reservoir (Cardiff). A second SPOTTED SANDPIPER remains in Scotland at Kinneil Lagoon (Forth), where it is frequenting the River Avon upstream of the sewage works.
In Lancashire, the adult white morph ROSS’S SNOW GOOSE remains with Pink-footed Geese at Pilling Marsh, with the near-adult GLOSSY IBIS at Warton Marsh.
The adult drake LESSER SCAUP is still present on Loch Magillie, 2 miles east of Stranraer (Galloway) (at NX 098 595), with RING-NECKED DUCKS still on Loch Morlich (Speyside), Bassenthwaite Lake (Cumbria) and at Foxcote Reservoir (North Bucks). A further drake LESSER SCAUP is present for a second day at Chew Valley Lake (Avon), with the first-winter female SURF SCOTER still distantly off Ovingdean Beach (East Sussex).
[**Four adult Black Kites including a lineatus escaped from a London Zoo aviary last week and have not been recaptured].
In IRELAND, the CATTLE EGRET remains at Cork City Lough (Co. Cork), with the female SURF SCOTER at Claddach Beach and NORTH AMERICAN HERRING GULL at Nimmo’s Pier, Galway harbour (Co. Galway).
Mon Apr 7 - UK total bird species
April 14, 2008
Mon Apr 7, 2008 3:58 pm
In the past week, a total of 18 additional species have been recorded in Britain and Ireland including two today - a party of 3 BLACK-WINGED STILTS in West Cornwall and Kent’s 2nd-ever SLATE-COLORED JUNCO - as well as Cory’s Shearwater, PURPLE HERON (Somerset), WHITE STORK, Eurasian Hobby, Dotterel, WHISKERED TERN, Cuckoo, EURASIAN EAGLE OWL, RED-RUMPED SWALLOW (Suffolk), Tree Pipit, Yellow Wagtail, Common Redstart, Grasshopper Warbler, Western Reed Warbler, Common Whitethroat and Pied Flycatcher.
The total for 2008 now surges forward to 296 species
Belated Post - SLATE-COLORED JUNCO
April 14, 2008
Just after 0700 hours this morning, Dungeness resident and birder David Bunny located a SLATE-COLORED JUNCO feeding in his back garden at ‘South View Cottage’. After realising the magnitude of his sighting, he quickly informed other local birders (Dave Walker, Ray Turley, Barry Banson, etc) and at 0830, this news was relayed to Birdline South East. Being only the second for Kent - the first was trapped and ringed at Dungeness Bird Observatory on 26th May 1960 - news disseminated rapidly and by early afternoon, the crowd had swelled to about 75 and had included many of the keen listing Kent birders.
The bird was favouring the gravel area immediately behind the cottage, where David had seeded the area. Observation was difficult, with most views partially obscured by flowers or shrubs, but with patience, the bird perched occasionally in taller Laurel bushes or small Leylandii, allowing for a more detailed and prolonged view. The bird was a first-summer, with much brown in the mantle and brown in the upperwing coverts and tertials.
The Dungeness area also held a trickle of migrants, with a super male COMMON REDSTART at Westbeach, several Willow Warblers and Common Chiffchaffs, an early COMMON WHITETHROAT (in the Lighthouse Garden) and 2 FIRECRESTS. At the nearby Hanson ARC Pit, both transitional-plumaged SLAVONIAN and BLACK-NECKED GREBES (2) remained, along with a pair of GARGANEY, 45 Shoveler, female Marsh Harrier, 2 Eurasian Curlew, WHIMBREL, 2 LITTLE RINGED PLOVERS, 2 WHITE WAGTAILS, 2 male YELLOW WAGTAILS and 2 TREE SPARROWS.
Birding Sardinia and Corsica
April 14, 2008
I have just returned from a very successful tour of Sardinia and Corsica but was disappointed at the very low numbers of migrants recorded - just a handful of Common Chiffchaffs, 1 Woodchat Shrike, 2 Hoopoes and about 80 Barn Swallows. Highlights included 9 CALIFORNIAN QUAILS (noted at two sites and 9 of the 40 birds remaining from the introduction in 1961), c10 CORSICAN NUTHATCHES, c150 CORSICAN CITRIL FINCHES, c400 YELKOUAN SHEARWATERS, c300 SCOPOLI’S CORY’S SHEARWATERS, 80 ALPINE CHOUGHS, 6 CORSICAN COMMON CROSSBILLS, GOLDEN EAGLE, MARMORA’S WARBLERS and singing male MOLTONI’S SUBALPINE WARBLERS.
A detailed tripreport will follow on the UK400ClubOnline website in due course
Photo Gallery Update
April 3, 2008
 | Check out our new gallery of bird pictures | .jpg) |
If you would like to submit your pictures to us for publication please contact LGRE and send us your high resolution originals, or a reduced copy at 600 pixels wide. | ||
2008 UK bird totals
April 1, 2008
With the addition of eight further species (Osprey, GYRFALCON, Curlew Sandpiper, ROSS’S GULL, Common Tern, WHITE-SPOTTED BLUETHROAT, Sedge Warbler and Willow Warbler), the total number of species now recorded in Britain and Ireland in 2008 moves forward to 278 species
Product Review - Spurn Wildlife 2007
April 1, 2008
You either love or loathe Spurn Point in East Yorkshire as it is a migration spot where you literally either see very little or incredibly much on a visit during peak periods, and on many visits it can be particularly frustrating, especially if you have just missed that flythrough Pallid Harrier, Chimney Swift, Calandra Lark, Bee-eater or Chimney Swift by just a few minutes.
Although it is the best part of a four-hour drive for me, some of my best (and worst birding days in Britain have been spent at the peninsular, and I have great memories of rarity-filled days both in spring and late autumn, and of ginormous falls of thrushes, pipits, Common Redstarts, Robins and Goldcrests. Unfortunately, my most recent memory is of a day following the occurrence of White’s Thrush, Olive-backed Pipit, Rustic Bunting and a whole host of Siberian rares, when I just managed a juvenile Common Rosefinch - every other bird had disappeared overnight.
The latest 2007 report to reach my desk is the fabulous new lavish production from Spurn Bird Observatory - in its new larger format - and what a fantastic report it is in every way. Design, production and layout wise, it is absolutely superb and so easy on the eye - and in terms of artwork and photography, probably second only to the most recent Scilly reports in its quality and content. As soon as I opened the front page, I was hit by an excellent Raymond Scally watercolour, capturing the evocativeness of a typical autumn day at Spurn, with skeins of Icelandic Pink-footed Geese and small flocks of Snow Buntings passing overhead. For me, this is truly a benchmark report on which to follow.
The 2007 Report consists of 132 pages, incorporating the Observatory Warden’s Report (page 10), Breeding Bird Survey (11), an article on the Beacon Lagoon Little Tern colony (13), Accommodation details (14), an Annual Review (18-28), the Systematic List (38-97), a Bird Gallery (98-103), Rarity write-ups (104-109), the Ringing Report (110-116) and Insect Report (124-132).
Year 2007 was another good year for the Spurn Observatory Recording Area with a total of 243 species recorded, with a further six just outside to the north of the area. There was one new bird - Cattle Egret - and three new ones for the ‘Greater Spurn area’ - Red-flanked Bluetail, European Roller and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. The Systematic List written by Adam Hutt and Andy Roadhouse is extremely detailed and definitive, including all records of passage migrants (such as Whooper Swan and Barnacle Goose) and a detailed analysis of resident birds (such as Mute Swan). The text is liberally enhanced by the inclusion of some first-rate artwork (by artists Ray Scally, Jack Ashton-Booth, Paul Leonard, John Grist and Alan Harris) and I was very impressed by the detail given to every rarity occurrence (such as American Golden Plover, Red-footed Falcon, European Roller, Red-rumped Swallow and Bluethroat.
Four pages are devoted to the gallery, depicting an excellent selection of the year’s birds and featuring 24 full-colour images, including the March Red-flanked Bluetail, June Common Quail, July Roller,, September Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and November Cattle Egret and Little Bunting, whilst elsewhere in the report, photographs of the rarest birds are given a full page and scattered neatly throughout the report.
Being a vagrant fanatic, I was rivetted to the ‘Rare Encounters’ section, where I could read Martin Stoyle’s account of the Bluetail, Andrew Hanby’s account of the Roller, John Grist’s account of the ‘Sharpie’ and Mich Turton’s write-up on the Cattle Egret occurrences.
A total of 7,507 birds of 97 species was ringed at the Observatory in 2007, including a Northern Gannet, Bar-tailed Godwit, Common Kingfisher, Blyth’s Reed Warbler and 3 Common Rosefinches, with a total of just 39 recoveries involving 18 species, including noteworthy reports of a Belgian-breeding Little Tern, a Whinchat in Holland, a Chaffinch in Lithuania and two Goldfinches that went on to winter together in Suffolk.
Towards the end of the report, there is an exhaustive and highly detailed report by Barry Spence on the Butterflies, Moths, Dragonflies and Damselflies recorded at the Observatory in 2007.
Spurn Wildlife No.17 is a publication to be well and truly proud of and Chris Gaughan of Designwing needs to be congratulated for its conception. This is a huge improvement on the previous format and stands heads in front of the majority of county and local bird reports published thus far in 2008.
This latest report can be obtained direct from the Spurn Bird Observatory (Kilnsea, Hull, East Yorkshire, HU12 0UG) priced £9.00 including post & packaging.
