Ring and a Roll 28th Jan 2020

I was up in Perth for an RSPB meeting on Monday 27th, so a good opportunity to catch up with Andy and put the world to rights. Next morning it would have been rude not to cross the street to Strathclyde Country Park and try to catch-up with the returning adult Ring-billed Gull. Sure enough it was on it's favourite bouy off Car Park 4, exactly where Andy said it was likely to be. For me it was my first successful attempt to catch-up with this and I really don't recall when I last saw a UK 'ringer'. As a bit of a gull-o-phobe I'll say it quietly, but it was a rather lovely bird.

After that there was time for a quick bacon-roll in the café before heading off south and some homeward bound birding in Lancashire.

First stop was Pine Lake, Carnforth for the long-staying Ring-necked duck. Despite it being reported in the morning, and me searching every inch of the lake for over an hour I failed to find it - presumably it had chosen to visit one of the other lakes this afternoon. Still, there were 5 Scaup showing incredibly well, and the lake had good numbers of Pochard and Goldeneye, so it was a pleasant hour. 

Male Pochard

Onwards to Upper Thurnham on a swan visit. I found the flock of wintering Whooper Swans and Mute Swans, and the fields were full of Curlews, Lapwings and gulls. The weather was deteriorating into heavy showers and a cold wind, making it difficult to look through the flock but I was eventually sure that there weren't any Russian interlopers present. Back in the car I re-checking the previous reports and realised that I had not gone far enough along the road, so I headed a mile or so west only to see swans all over the place in scattered groups. The second group I looked at, close to the road, comprised more Whoopers and at least 5 Bewick's Swans. Lovely to see these daintier birds, something that used to be easy to see but has declined markedly over my lifetime. 

Bewick's to the left of me, Whoopers to the right...

Time was running out and it was bitterly cold, but worth a quick attempt at the over-wintering Purple Heron at nearby Eagland Hill. It has been present a couple of months, but become markedly more elusive of late so it was unsurprising that I failed to find it. There were plenty of Pink-footed Geese in the fields, and a male Merlin was good to see, all in an area I spent several years surveying for the Orchard End wind farm. In fact both the last two sites were teaming with birds, how it should be! 

Pink-feet and the Orchard End Wind Farm

 

Warning: tedious listing taxonomy post.

So both BOU and IRBC now follow the IOC taxonomic order (got it?). IOC annually updates their World Bird List with taxonomic changes based on current research, and version 10.1 was released in late January.

From an immediate listing perspective, the reinstatement of Hudsonian Whimbrel to full species (after it's removal in 2017) means I can re-add the 2015 Sussex bird to my personal tally. Also last year's Eastern Black-eared Wheatear becomes a rapid pay out of insurance, assuming it's ID is accepted by BBRC. Yes, I know, it's all a silly game. Or at least it is from a listing perspective, but that's not what drives taxonomic study. In reality it's important work; understanding the complex relationships teaches us the evolutionary process, and of more immediate importance it frames conservation efforts globally. Rightly or wrongly, a 'full' species is far more likely to be afforded scarce conservation resources. As UK listers, we are simply a sideline beneficiary, not the reason for scientific advancement.

Hudsonian Whimbrel, Pagham,2015 by Matt Eades

So a plus two from the armchair, moving my current Bubo total to 549. Of course it's a pointless number and says nothing of my birding abilities or otherwise, but I find it a staggering figure regardless. The next one is a milestone that I believed entirely unachievable even when I hit the magic 500 back in just 2009; in fact 11 years seems like a rapid pace to the current total. Assuming I get there, I'm hoping 550 is something good, but it could just as easily be a taxonomic announcement (yuk).

Since my first twitches in the early 80s, listing has changed beyond recognition, through a combination of expanding taxonomy, rapidly available news, instant identifications, social media, digital photography and accessible travel. I've also been fortunate to be able to afford most rarity chasing over the last decade or so, although in reality I spend far less on birding now then I ever used to. When I started, 400 was the number you worked towards, and the idea of twitching Shetland was fanciful; 450 was a distant dream and 500 was reserved for listing heroes. Back then Water Pipit was a subspecies, peeps were hard to identify and Scilly was the only place to be in October. Like all walks of life, things change and the pace of that change is astounding. Now complex identifications of cryptic species are resolved away from the field, through DNA samples in a university lab or by laptop analysis of sound recordings. Potentially rare cryptic species are highlighted quickly via the lab, and the opportunity to go and see something 'just in case' is afforded to all. I wonder what innovation is next? For me personally I'd still say 600 is almost impossible, but it would be folly to suggest some of the younger generation couldn't get there. All bets are off.

My 500th bird was a Royal Tern at Black Rock Sands in July 2009, Jonno's last proper twitch pre departure to France. At the time it was a truly mega rarity, and we were lucky that it was within striking distance for us. I celebrated on a sunny evening on the beach that I'd walked many times with my dad; sometimes there's romance in birding too. Since then I've seen another Royal Tern, the American rung individual that has been mostly hanging around the Channel Islands for the last few years. Coincidentally, the latest IOC list formally splits the 'American' and 'African' Royal terns, with the African species now renamed as West African Crested Tern, and it is this latter one that the 2009 was muted to be. Whether ID can be clinched remains to be seen, but perhaps another armchair addition will come from that one day. I kind of like the name West African Crested Tern, it would sit well on my list...

Perhaps though chasing rarities is really in it's death throes. It's increasingly difficult to defend such a frivolous waste of precious resources in the face of climate change and rapid biodiversity loss. How do us hardened listers feed our OCD addiction with a clear conscience? 

It's a Sibe!!

The DNA results are in; the Ashton's is Saxicola maurus, Siberian Stonechat. Good to see that the in the field features were backed-up by the lab result. Not exactly a surprise; had the results come back as stejnegeri then we may as well have given up on field ID!

I called in yesterday (20/01) in glorious sunshine in the hope of getting better photos, but the bird steadfastly stuck to the back of the flash again.

I've now seen two DNA'd Siberian Stonechats and one DNA'd Stejnegers. It seems as if half of the rare birds I go and see these-days are dependent on lab results to confirm ID, but list-wise it's job done on the stonechats (at least until Caspian Stonechat is split).

I've probably seen another 6 or 7 Eastern Stonechat sp too, but doubt most will ever be assigned.

Billy Simpson took what are probably the best photos of it to date, on 28th Jan.

Still Stonechatting

A quick call in to Ashton's this morning for more time with the Eastern (presumed Siberian) Stonechat. Lovely views, I'm really enjoying it's continued presence. Interesting how many folk have now made the trip over to see it now that a sample has been collected; presumably most want a fully confirmed Sibe to add to their DNA'd Stejneger's.

Back on the Board

Chamonix, French Alps, 10-12th Jan 2020

After a break last year, it was time to dust off the snowboard for a short trip to the French Alps with Tom, Nik and Mike. No birding as such, but nice to see the usual suspects in stunning scenery and in great weather. Alpine Choughs are omnipresent and just as charisamtic as their red-billed cousins. A couple of Alpine Accentors hopped around one of the restaurants. After that the bird-list was almost zero, but the boarding was excellent and a few days away with the lads provided some much needed reverie. 

Impromptu Norfolk for Alaskan Insurance

With Jono over from France for his annual family visit, we had already planned a day of spotting on Friday 3rd January. Andy had intended to join us, but unfortunately had a knee problem (a terrible case of Stella knee I believe) so sadly had to cancel. 

As Monsieur Williams rarely birds the UK these days there were plenty of things that he’s not seen in ages scattered all around, so I threw the floor open to him. We could go anywhere(ish). Would he chose black grouse in the Welsh Hills, offshore scoter flocks in Wales or goose hunting in Lancashire? Nope, he's still very much a filthy UK twitcher at heart despite now being an official Frenchman. Norfolk was of course bird-filled, but the real lure of a trip over was the possibility of a rare UK tick for him (and another insurance policy for me, pure coincidence). However in the evening we couldn’t face the early start so decided on goose-chasing in Lancashire instead. I headed over to Jono’s mums house at the crack of 8.30, we got in the car and immediately had a ‘sod it’ moment. Our plans reverted and we set off for a Norfolk afternoon. Shameless tick-mongering.

First stop was Sedgeford for Jono’s UK tick and aforementioned insurance. This potential future split is the far eastern form of Eastern Yellow Wagtail, which itself I'd only seen last September on Anglesey. Apparently it has good split credentials (as do the two forms of Citrine Wagtail). DNA birding continues unabated so there we were like two little tick hungry lambs. The Blue-headed Eastern Yellow Wagtail (form tchutschensis) was on show immediately, albeit more distantly than hoped for. I understand this is the first record of an adult male which aided identification, although there are apparently vocalisation differences between this and other EYW forms. The reality is that it is so far from a split that the form doesn’t even have a settled English name yet - it is also referred to as Alaskan Wagtail (which is a terrible name given only a tiny part of its range is Alaska).

EBH Wagtail.  As usual I didn't take this photo (Sean Gray, Birdguides)

EBH Wagtail by Robert Dowley (Birdguides)

Range map of tschutschensis. A long way from a Norfolk dungheap 

With limited daylight in the offing we decided to head to Wells-next-the-Sea, where the smart juvenile Rough-legged Buzzard showed superbly in the evening light after a rather long and cold wait. A cracking bird and my first in many years. Whilst we waited there was entertainment in the form of a showy Short-eared Owl, Barn Owl, Marsh Harriers, Pale-bellied Brent Geese, overflying Pinkfeet and commoner waders. The Holkham Estate really is bird-filled and I wished we had more time. Must return soon!

Rough-legged Buzzard. Top two photos by Steve Hart

Short-eared owl

Barn Owl

We headed off home around dusk and were in the pub with Malc for 9pm. An excellent afternoon, although with hindsight perhaps we could have set-off earlier and seen a few more birds. Will we learn? Doubt it.

On Saturday morning (7th Jan), and feeling slightly worse for wear, I took Jono back to his mum's via Ashton's Flash on the patch where the Eastern Stonechat showed superbly (and yes I didn't have my camera). It seems to be now spending more time on the dryer bund wall and so the locals managed to obtain a faecal sample on 5th Jan, top work. Hopefully it will be sufficient to contain DNA and prove the ID (surely it's a Siberian maurus though). We also flushed a bonus Jack Snipe from the water's edge.

New Decade, New Life, New Patch Year

It’s always good to get out on New Year’s Day and start the year with a few birds. The new decade dawned under a blue sky and a gloriously sunny morning followed. The appeal of our star stonechat was irresistible and so I was out on the Flashes - for the crack of 10am...

First bird I really noticed was a singing Cetti’s Warbler from the mound as the species’ march for global domination continues. The Eastern Stonechat hadn’t been by those present so I wandered over for a quick look on Neumann’s. Duck numbers were high with all the usual species present and a female Goosander that flew off towards Budworth Mere.

Over on Ashton’s there were 39 Pochard, a high count these days, plus a showy male Green Woodpecker and 56 Pink-footed Geese flew south over. All very pleasant, capped by excellent views of the chat and a good catch up with visiting birder friends before time to head home via Costa Coffee. 

An excellent start to the year, let’s hope it’s positive, stress free, happy and bird-filled.