Bird watch august 2014

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rdw dwa Bird Birdwatch rd wat atc tch ch The home of birding • www.birdwatch.co.uk • Issue 266 • August 2014

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THIS ISSUE AUGUST 2014

Contents

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ADVISORY PANEL • Tim Appleton MBE • Mike Fraser • Chris Harbard • Erik Hirschfeld • Stephen Moss • Killian Mullarney • Bill Oddie OBE • Hadoram Shirihai • Keith Vinicombe • Martin Woodcock • Steve Young

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RED GROUSE BY STEVE YOUNG (WWW.BIRDSONFILM.COM)

Birdwatch

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THE Protection of Birds Act is part of a framework of legislation designed to help preserve and protect the UK’s birds. In the case of rarer species, such measures work to a large extent, keeping many of them safe from threats such as disturbance and habitat destruction. But there are exceptions, notably the persecution of birds of prey, and there is no more striking example of this than Hen Harrier Despite full protection by the law and the fact that the UK has habitat capable of supporting 2,500 pairs, this species can barely muster a third of that number, and virtually none at all in the uplands of England. As Mark Avery explains this month (pages 35-38), it’s no coincidence that harriers are absent from many areas intensively managed for grouse shooting: deliberate – and criminal – targeting of this magnificent raptor by a minority of those involved in ‘countryside sports’ is the problem.

The good news is that something is being done about it. A new petition, launched

by Mark and supported by Birders Against Wildlife Crime (http://birdersagainst. org), Northwest Raptor Protection Group, Birdwatch and others, is seeking to ban driven grouse shoots. The reasons for this extend beyond harrier persecution, and are set out in Mark’s article – please read it, add your support to this important initiative by signing at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/ petitions/65627, and ask your friends and contacts to do the same.

You can also support Hen Harrier Day on 10 August, with several events being organised to help demonstrate widespread public concern over the plight of this threatened species. If you use social media, try adding a Hen Harrier ‘Twibbon’ like mine to your profile photo (go to http://twibbon.com/ support/hen-harrier-day), and again ask your friends on Facebook and Twitter to do the same – anything that helps raise awareness of this important issue can only be beneficial.

FEATURES

Tringa species in the second of our twopart wader special.

55 Long-haul wanderers Shorebirds are on the move this month, and David Callahan takes a look at their very different strategies for migration.

61 Caucasian encounters Imagine Tom Bedford’s delight when, camera in hand, he chanced across a bird that’s hardly ever photographed in the wild.

63 More than meets the eye While not the most likely of birding hotspots, Lanzarote produced the goods for James Lowen.

35 In the line of fire Hen Harrier is declining in Britain, and grouse moor management is the main culprit. Mark Avery reports.

42 Grey-headed Gull: a potential vagrant to Britain?

Already recorded in Spain and Italy, Josh Jones wonders if this longed-for larid is also destined for the British list.

45 Wood Sandpiper, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs and Greenshank ID photo guide Dominic Mitchell looks at four tricky

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THIS ISSUE AUGUST 2014 18

ROSE-COLOURED STARLING (CARLTON COLVILLE, SUFFOLK, 18 JUNE 2014)

BY JIM ALMOND (WWW.SHROPSHIREBIRDER.CO.UK)

new Minox BL 70 The 8x44 binocular is put

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8

The big picture Meet the Spotted Flycatchers that have returned to nest in the same fencepost in Argyll for four years.

The big stories Scotland seemed to attract the best birds in June, with Bridled Tern, Scops Owl and Whitethroated Sparrow among the highlights.

14 Analysis: rarities Two of last month’s rarities lingered, but the big news related to a tern that wandered from Shetland to Northumberland.

18 Analysis: scarcities The month was characterised by breeding successes and some unseasonal appearances, as well as more expected summer fare.

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22 Western Palearctic The highlight was Fuerteventura’s Abyssinian Roller, a first for the Canary Islands.

92 Your letters and photos Readers respond to Lucy McRobert’s history of Minsmere.

94 Stray Feathers: Mark Cocker A decades-long Common Guillemot study shows just how important longterm research is.

our summer visitors, ensure your seawatches are successful, learn how to separate Cory’s and Great Shearwaters, and find out all about naming birds.

READER SERVICES

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79 Competition Your chance to win one of five Hawke Frontier ED 8x32 binoculars.

WILLET BY WIL LEURS (WWW.AGAMI.NL)

month, record 81 This departure dates for

25 With seabirds,

Where to watch birds

waders and the possibility of a rarity, Orkney is the place to be this month, with additional itineraries in Cornwall, Cumbria and Co Mayo. Plus, find your own Common Rosefinch.

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Birdwatch•August 2014

COMMON ROSEFINCH BY STEVE YOUNG (WWW.BIRDSONFILM.COM)

REGULARS

GOLDCREST BY ROBIN CHITTENDEN (WWW.ROBINCHITTENDEN.CO.UK)

through its paces, plus books on woodpeckers, extinction and the history of birdwatching reviewed.

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BILL JACKSON

BIRD NEWS THE BIG PICTURE

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Migrant marathon

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potted Flycatchers have nested in this same rotten fencepost in Argyll for four years now. The species departs in late summer to winter widely in sub-Saharan Africa. If the same pair of birds was involved every summer, each may have flown some 35,000 miles (give or take) between the nest site and their tropical African winter quarters in the course of eight inter-continental journeys.

In that time the birds have also fledged 18 chicks from just one brood per year – a reassuring success rate as the species has declined in Europe as a whole by more than 59 per cent since 1980.

Bill Jackson, owner of the five acres of wooded garden, said: “This fencepost is alongside a small single-track road used by huge logging lorries, with a bracken-covered embankment sloping above it which allows an almost clear view of the nest. The adults were able to ignore me arriving quietly in the place where my seat and camera were set up.

I covered up my tripod, my 500 mm lens and myself to cause the least amount of disturbance to the birds.”

He now has photographs of the birds’ entire life cycle from nest building to fledging, and is in the process of compiling a book about his garden which he hopes will highlight the decline of this once much more common British bird. ■

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FINDER’S REPORT

Joyful return David Parnaby’s wardening duties became decidedly non-routine when he heard an unfamiliar Common Gull-like call overhead – one of Britain’s best birds from last year seemed to have returned for an encore.

ROGER RIDDINGTON

RARITIES Bridled Tern: Fair Isle, Shetland, 16-19 June 2014 and Farne Islands, Northumberland, from 20 June 2014

Just like on Fair Isle, an Arctic Tern colony pulled the Bridled Tern in for its stay on the Farnes, but was it the same bird as last year? Photos certainly suggest so.

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an unfamiliar honking, vaguely reminiscent of Common Gull but clearly something different.

I couldn’t quite place it, but as I scanned through the flock a dark-mantled tern with a white forehead drifted over and revealed itself as the mystery bird. I tried to bring attention to it, although my first attempts at speaking were somewhat incoherent.

Despite my grunting and babbling, the team worked out what had got me into such a state and were soon enjoying amazing views of a first for Fair Isle (the 383rd species for the island list), as a Bridled Tern joined the Arctics circling over our heads. The identification was easy enough, as the call – I remembered the Farne Islands Rangers mentioning the Common Gull-like qualities of the call of the Bridled Tern there last year (see Birdwatch 254: 70-71) – the slightly paler mantle than the head and wings, and the white extending behind the eye all ruled out Sooty Tern, the only potential confusion species.

Having retreated from the outskirts of the colony, we watched as the Bridled Tern joined the flock on the rocks. There was a nervous few minutes when the bird

JOHN MALLOY

EVEN by Fair Isle standards this had been an impressive spring, with Cretzschmar’s Bunting, Caspian Stonechat, Hermit Thrush, Calandra Lark, Collared Flycatcher and Red-flanked Bluetail leading the line-up (see Birdwatch passim).

Although June often turns up quality rarities, by 16 June the focus had very much switched to breeding birds, with work for the Seabird Monitoring Programme taking up most of the wardening team’s time.

Pleasingly, 2014 is shaping up to be a reasonable breeding season and a decent number of Arctic Terns had settled on Buness. Myself and Assistant Wardens Richard Cope and Ciaran Hatsell were joined by Rob Hughes and Marianna Chimienti, who are based at Fair Isle Bird Observatory for their RSPB seabird tracking work, as we headed to the colony to count the number of nests and check for any early chicks.

We were just about to enter the colony, and the first Arctic Terns had started circling us and giving the occasional alarm call. Among the tirricking and kee-aas, though, there was

STEF MCELWEE

The Bridled Tern – photographed here on 17th – found Fair Isle, Shetland, to its liking for four days, but then made swift work of the journey to the Farne Islands, Northumberland, to arrive there the day after it left.

The thinner white forehead patch and long supercilium differentiate the species from Sooty Tern, and give it the thin black ‘bridle’ or eyestripe that gives the species its name. Note also the greyish-brown tinge to the upperparts.

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Bridled Tern – here on Inner Farne – appeals not just as a rarity but in aesthetic terms, too. Truly a vision of monochrome beauty!

STEF MCELWEE

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disappeared before the rest of the ‘obs’ team and a few guests arrived, but it eventually returned – a pattern it repeated during the remainder of its stay, sometimes being absent for hours on end.

After being seen again the following morning on Buness, it then relocated to Shalstane (at the opposite end of the island), among a small tern colony there, although it was seen there only erratically until the afternoon of 19th. The same small area of rocks it frequented at Shalstane went on to host a Laughing Gull (see page 15) on the Bridled Tern’s last day, as well as Fair Isle’s fourth record of Roseate Tern (two adults together) five days later, as the impressive spring continued into summer.

Despite joining in Arctic Tern display flights, and even bringing display fish to the colony, the bird failed to impress any of the Arctics and it was no surprise to us all when it moved on.

What was surprising was that by midday on 20th, it was seen on the Farne Islands, suggesting it had covered the distance of more than 270 miles in just 19 hours (assuming it left immediately after it was last seen and was found as soon as it arrived), a speed of 14 mph non-stop if it flew in a direct line. As well as the coincidence in dates and similar behaviour, photos appeared to show close similarities between the two birds that confirmed it to be the same individual.

At the time of writing the bird was still present on a jetty on Inner Farne, and had proved almost as popular as it (or – surely not? – another) was last year. ■

Black beacon

The Black Scoter stood out almost like an electric beacon among its common congeners, its characteristic bulbous yellow upper bill base shining out like a buoy. Unfortunately, the bird was only present for two days, but could still be offshore somewhere.

DAVID AITKEN

A rare American duck announced via social media stayed for just two days.

NEWS of an adult drake Black Scoter off the North-East coast at Redcar, Co Durham, was announced via the somewhat scattergun medium of Twitter on 17 June, the bird being present “for its second day”.

Fortunately, however, the news was swiftly picked up by BirdGuides, and quick-off-themark locals were able to get distant views, as the bird’s bright yellow beak bobbed among the

waves with its adopted flock of Common Scoters.

The bird will be the first for the county, and the 11th for Britain, if accepted, but it only stuck around until the evening of 18th. Hopefully its ‘hi-vis’ bill appendage will be spotted again soon, perhaps among the regular scoter rafts off Aberdeenshire, where the last was seen in summer 2012. ■

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FINDER’S REPORT

Orkney’s got talons!

Mark Warren pulled a tiny Mediterranean owl out of his nets, and then it sank its claws into his hand before it was ringed. Was the same bird later found again further north in Shetland?

KEVIN WOODBRIDGE

Its devilish demeanour makes Scops Owl a distinctively charismatic species in the field and in a ringer’s grip.

Strangely, there have been more Northern Isles records than in any other region of Britain, despite its core range being in the Mediterranean – perhaps we’re getting some birds from Central Asia?

RARITIES Scops Owl: North Ronaldsay, Orkney, 15-16 June 2014, and Yell, Shetland, 24 June 2014

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there’s a path from which to scan the underside of the canopy for any warblers. While doing this I flushed something at about head height which almost looked like a large bat. “That’s no nightjar,”

I muttered, and sprinted through the trees after it. Of course, I stumbled over a branch, and while getting up from the ground I could see the bird in the bottom panel of the net just a few metres away

CHARLIE INKSTER

BIRDS can be – and regularly are – found just about anywhere on North Ronaldsay, but with a distinct lack of trees on the island it’s no great surprise that the laird’s garden at Holland House often draws in a number of migrant passerines to feed and rest.

A two-metre-high surrounding wall has allowed sycamore, fuchsia, blackcurrant, elder and many more small trees and shrubs to shelter from the harsh winter winds and salt spray.

Many of the sycamores reach 5 m and are rumoured to be 200 years old. Since the bird observatory opened 28 years ago, the garden has been its regular mist-netting site.

I was on netting duty in the early morning of 15 June, and by 6 am all the nets were open as it was especially calm. A male European Nightjar had been found a few days earlier, and I hoped this would still be around, but it was a lingering Marsh Warbler, still singing on the west side of the garden, which held most of my attention.

During the next round, I opted to walk underneath the sycamores, as many a nightjar has been found this way and

The Scops Owl on Yell could not be confirmed as the same bird as on Orkney, as the legs could not be seen clearly enough to check for rings, and with so many Northern Isles records it could conceivably be a different individual.

from me. It’s not often I instantly know what something is, but I made it to the net and a fine set of Scops Owl talons clamped onto my hand. It was my lucky day!

After extracting the bird, I made a few early morning calls.

Interested parties arrived quickly, and after ringing the bird and taking a few measurements, everyone was enjoying this stunning little owl, albeit with bleary eyes. Roughly the size of a thrush, its cryptic plumage (with an impressive resemblance to the bark of a tree) was fantastic to see close up, while the small ear tufts and facial features gave it the expression of a tiny devil.

It was a smart rufous type. Once photographed, it was released back into the garden, where after briefly resting within a wall alcove, it returned to the safety of the sycamores, where it was left to roost in peace.

Despite being the third time I’d been fortunate enough to see Scops Owl in Britain (I saw others on Fair Isle in 2006 and at Porthgwarra, Cornwall, in 2002), I found myself returning to the gardens at dusk to wait for it to go hunting or call. It appeared just after midnight, and after a couple of circuits of the front garden

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FINDER’S REPORT

An American arrival

flew around some buildings and disappeared.

This represents the second record for North Ronaldsay, the first occurring as long ago as 1892, when one was found at the lighthouse. Another was definitely overdue and this stands out as one of the highlights of a brilliant spring on the island.

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JIM DICKSON

A bright and fresh spring adult, the bird revealed its probable sex as a male by singing its classic song (females are also known to sing), and entertaining the house owner in his garden.

RARITIES White-throated Sparrow: Cowal Peninsula, Argyll, 19 June 2014.

IT was looking like a magical spring for rarities in Argyll was over and I suggested to John Bowler on Tiree that things had gone quiet.

Well, not exactly – I was awakened by a phone call from Tom Callan early on 19 June, and heard something like: “Morning, Jim – think I have a White-throated Sparrow in my garden. Checked the field guides and pretty sure that’s what it is.” My usual doubting self quickly tried to think of a way of questioning his reasoning for this unlikely record, which was miles nearer to Glasgow than Tiree or Islay, where this kind of vagrant is usually found.

A short discussion on the head pattern seemed to clinch it when Tom mentioned the yellow bits in front of the eye when seen head on. I suggested Tom put more seed down and said I’d be there within a couple of hours, as Otter Ferry was on the ‘wrong side’ of Loch Fyne, as is the nature of the convoluted Argyll coastline.

I arrived at Tom’s garden about 11.15 am, only to be told the bird had been

there all morning but had now disappeared! Tom had first seen it sometime after 7.30 am through his patio door windows, and it had even been on the doorstep. It had been seen chasing off Dunnocks and otherwise fed more or less constantly for almost three hours.

Tom had taken some photos – the bird was clearly a very smart White-throated Sparrow.

JUSTIN ZANTBOER

Brian Gregson takes up the story: My wife, Belle, is the temporary custodian of the Windhouse Lodge Camping Böd at Setter in Yell, Shetland. We went there to clean at about 11.30 am on 24 June, a cool but bright and breezy day.

When opening a window at the back I noticed the silhouette of an owl in trees some 5-6 m away. We studied the owl as thoroughly as possible, a task made difficult by the fairly dense foliage surrounding it and bright backlighting, thinking it might fly away at any moment. After about five minutes I decided to risk fetching my camera and binoculars from the car.

I managed to get some rather poor photos, but my everyday 10x40 bins could not focus at the short range. We continued to watch the bird for some time, discussing a possible identity.

It was too small for Long-eared, but its ear tufts were too prominent for Short-eared; Belle suggested Scops Owl, but that was surely too rare.

We left the Böd with the owl still in place at about 12.30 pm, having completed the cleaning very quietly. On searching through our bird books at home we became more convinced that it was a Scops Owl, so I sent a photo to Paul Harvey, Biological Records Officer at Shetland Amenity Trust, and also contacted our neighbour and Belle’s brother, Charlie Inkster, a keen amateur photographer and birder.

After a quick lunch, Charlie and Belle went back to the Böd and he managed to get some much better photos before the owl flew off at about 2 pm, apparently spooked by a tiny noise from the camera. Paul phoned to say he needed a better image to confirm the identity so we sent Charlie’s best photo. Scops Owl was then confirmed. We all feel privileged to have enjoyed a rare sight of such a magnificent little owl – an unforgettable experience! ■

Tom Callan found an unlikely vagrant on his mainland Argyll doorstep on a summer morning, writes Jim Dickson.

Astonishingly, the birding gods delivered another White-throated Sparrow the same morning as in Argyll, when a duller individual was pulled out of a net at Landguard Bird Observatory, Suffolk. An orchestrated release meant that birders nearby got to see it later that morning, before it left the compound for good.

After about 30 minutes of waiting, we decided to have a look outside just in case it was resting under a bush. Another half hour went by, and the usual fears started to creep in. Back into the house, back to the patio doors and there it was, on the lawn about 5 m away: a new species for Argyll and a nice Scottish tick for me.

After a few more photos were taken, I suggested to Tom that there may be some other Scottish birders that would like to see this individual. After a bit of hesitation he decided this was okay and potentially looked forward to meeting some new birding folk, and at this point we put the news out. At least one group of birders managed to see the bird later that afternoon; however, there was no sign of it the following day, with disappointment for three groups of birders.

The bird sang on at least one occasion during its brief stay.

The tune was very distinctive: a fairly high-pitched tuneful whistle, given slowly and deliberately, with two initial high note whistles followed by three disyllabic descending more drawn out whistles. Later Martin Scott reminded me of the mnemonic O-oh sweet Canada Canada Canada, which was pretty much spot on. ■

Birdwatch•August 2014

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Rarities: June 2014

Eagle moves into desirable heathland residence

MATTHEW EADE

While Short-toed Eagle and Spectacled Warbler lingered, a returning Bridled Tern provided another easy tick, writes Josh Jones.

J

JOHN WHITTING

une 2014 may not have lived up to last year, but it still had plenty to offer – not least the lingering Short-toed Eagle (see last month, pages 8-9) which, over the course of the month, eventually gave itself up to listers in three counties.

Having disappeared from Dorset on 1st, it was seen briefly in Hampshire on 8th before another tantalising appearance in Ashdown Forest, East Sussex, on 10th. Another quick Hampshire showing at Hatchet Pond followed

on 13th, before it returned to Ashdown Forest where it eventually gave itself up fully.

It was there almost constantly until 29th, when it departed mid-morning only to relocate once again to Hampshire, where it stayed long enough at Pig Bush on the final day of the month (and into July) to be twitched. Seen to catch a series of snakes, the bird was evidently feeding well and is testament to the health of some of the heathlands characteristic of southern counties. With

records in similar habitat becoming more regular on the near-Continent, perhaps we can expect more occurrences in the coming years.

The Spectacled Warbler in north Norfolk (see last month, pages 10-11) became the longest staying of its kind to be recorded in Britain. During its 17-day vigil in the dunes at Burnham Overy, it was routinely heard singing and observed nest building, behavioural traits akin to the famous Asian Desert

Warbler on Blakeney Point in 1993, and bringing back happy memories for county listers. This is the eighth for Britain and the second for Norfolk, following a suppressed bird on adjacent Scolt Head Island for a day in May 2011. Unfortunately, its nest – in Suaeda on the saltmarsh – was apparently flooded out by a particularly high tide and this testosterone-fuelled songster made a quick exit on 18th.

Big news came on 16th as Fair Isle’s magnificent spring continued

One of the two pairs of Black-winged Stilts (above, with Black-headed Gull in foreground) initially present at Cliffe Pools RSPB, Kent, eventually produced four chicks from their nest. However, by the end of the month no birds could be seen. Another pair remained at Medmerry RSPB, West Sussex, into July, but they, too, appeared to have lost most of their brood, with just a single chick being seen at the beginning of July.

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TIM MASON

The lingering Short-toed Eagle showed conclusively why it and its congeners are sometimes known as snake-eagles, when it took off with this Grass Snake in its talons in Ashdown Forest, East Sussex, on 16th.

This Black-winged Pratincole at Hauxley NR, Northumberland, on 12th then showed up at Saltholme RSPB, Co Durham, the next day before flying off high to the south.

DAVID PARNABY

One of the month’s surprises – in a season that has held many – on Fair Isle, Shetland, was this adult Laughing Gull which flew into view while locals searched for the Bridled Tern (see pages 8-9). It promptly disappeared again.

with a Bridled Tern in the Arctic Tern colony at Buness (see pages 8-9) – the island’s first record. The bird remained on the island until 19th, and was mooted as being the 2013 individual from Northumberland returning, a suggestion which gained more weight when it reappeared by the jetty on Inner Farne Island, Northumberland, on 20th; its identity was then confirmed by comparing images taken at both sites. Covering a significant 260 miles in under 24 hours (as the tern flies) to reach the previous year’s haunt was an impressive feat, but not beyond the realms of such a pelagic species.

It then settled into a routine involving daily fishing sorties before returning to Inner Farne to roost, a pattern akin to last year, and it’ll be interesting to see how long it stays.

DENNIS MORRISON

Netting a Scops

The continued presence of at least seven Two-barred Crossbills of both sexes at Tyninghame Bay, Lothian, after last year’s influx has excited thoughts of breeding among some – sadly, there has been no evidence of this so far.

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A Scops Owl on North Ronaldsay, Orkney, on 15th (see pages 10-11) was the first recorded in Britain for a couple of years, following an untwitchable Scilly bird in March 2012. Given that there have been seven previous Orkney records (and 13 on Shetland), it’s almost surprising that this is only the second for the migration hot-spot itself and the first in the observatory era (the first was a bird caught on 2 June 1892, which later died). What may well have been the same individual was later photographed in broad daylight roosting at Windhouse Böd, west of Camb, Yell, Shetland, on 24th.

With no sign later that day and

photos not revealing the bird’s legs, it’s impossible to ascertain whether it was the ringed North Ronaldsay bird.

Northumberland enjoyed a fine month, with a Black-winged Pratincole briefly visiting Hauxley on 12th playing a fine second fiddle to the Bridled Tern. This was, perhaps surprisingly, a first for the county but, frustratingly for local birders, it then relocated to Saltholme, Co Durham, by the following day, becoming another county first present for no more than half an hour before flying high south.

Northumberland birders were later appeased by the county’s seventh Little Bittern, a ‘barking’ male, at Gosforth Park for a week or so until 27th. Though desperately elusive, patience allowed the chance to catch up with what was a county tick for most – five of the previous six relate to 19th century records, while a male was on St Mary’s Island for one day only back in March 2000. Rare herons were otherwise almost absent bar the year’s first Squacco Heron, on the Ouse Washes, Cambs, on 9-10th.

Positive news regarding last month’s breeding Black-winged Stilts came simultaneously during the second week of June as pairs at Cliffe RSPB, Kent, and Medmerry RSPB, West Sussex, produced four and three chicks respectively. Unfortunately, as is often the case with breeding attempts in Britain, most of the young quickly perished and Birdwatch•August 2014

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A great bird for Shetland was a Caspian Tern at Hillwell on 4-5th. Though an annual vagrant to the mainland, it’s only the fifth for Shetland, the first since one on Fair Isle in May 1987 and the first to be truly twitchable. A Whiskered Tern on Beneray, Outer Hebrides, wasn’t quite of such calibre but was a nice find in a spring where they’ve been scarce.

Thursday 19th saw the out-ofthe-blue arrival of two Whitethroated Sparrows at opposite ends of the country (see page 11), with a fairly drab bird – Suffolk’s fourth – trapped and ringed at Landguard during the morning and then news breaking a few hours later of an altogether brighter singing male at Otter Ferry, Argyll. The former bird quickly moved off, being last seen early afternoon, but the Scottish individual – a first for Argyll – held on until the following day. Though this species frequently occurs in late spring and early summer, the arrival of two on the same day in mid-June is impressive nonetheless – they represent the

ROBIN CHITTENDEN (WWW.ROBINCHITTENDEN.CO.UK)

The Spectacled Warbler at Burnham Overy, Norfolk, was nothing if not persistent with its singing, but finally departed on 18th, after a 17-day stint during which it entertained many hundreds of birders.

of birds in the Atlantic off the far north-east of Canada, and it was tempting to suggest that the firstsummer at Ballycotton, Co Cork, on 28-29th could well be last winter’s bird returning.

Perennial wildfowl

Aberdeenshire further strengthened its reputation as a hotbed for summering wildfowl with a drake Blue-winged Teal at Loch of Strathbeg from 14th in addition to the usual drake King Eider on the nearby Ythan Estuary. Meanwhile, a Black Scoter off Redcar, Co Durham, on 17-18th (see page 9) was a county first and could well be Aberdeenshire bound – who’d bet against a drake off Blackdog before the summer is out? Drake Lesser Scaups – perhaps even the same bird – were at Frodsham Marsh, Cheshire, until 19th and at Blagdon Lake, Somerset, from 29th.

JIM ALMOND

The seemingly resident King Eider on Ythan Estuary, Aberdeenshire, remains a photogenic attraction there, easily picked out in summer plumage among the dowdier Common Eiders.

16

• For full details of all June’s sightings, go to www. birdguides.com. To receive free illustrated weekly sightings summaries and other news, sign up at bit.ly/BGWeeklyNews.

The heavy bias in accepted British records of Scops Owl towards the Northern Isles – and particularly Shetland – can be clearly seen on this BirdGuides. com map. June’s bird on North Ronaldsay will be the eighth for Orkney, while Shetland has held 13, though these have not been weighted to any one island; there are also plenty of inland records all over mainland Britain.

STEVE YOUNG (WWW.BIRDSONFILM.COM)

(WWW.SHROPSHIREBIRDER.CO.UK)

the month ended with just one youngster still hanging on at the Sussex location.

In Devon, the unseasonal first-summer Ross’s Gull ended up spending all of June around the Exe Estuary, primarily at Bowling Green Marsh but often making sorties elsewhere. Such a protracted stay at this abnormal time of year initially seems incredible, but it is not without precedent – an adult spent much of June 1995 in Co Durham, while an immature summered in Christchurch Harbour, Dorset, during June-August 1974. What made the 2014 bird especially remarkable was that it could often be observed alongside a first-summer Bonaparte’s Gull for more than two weeks, with two Bonaparte’s reported there on 13th!

A breeding-plumaged Laughing Gull on Fair Isle on 19th apparently reflected a minor influx

25th and 26th British records of White-throated Sparrow since the turn of the century.

Continuing the Blyth’s Reed Warbler influx of the second half of May, a further eight were noted in June. Birds were at Cley, Norfolk, on 3rd, Spurn, East Yorkshire, on 6th and Bardsey Island, Gwynedd, on 7th; the others were all on Shetland.

These included a bird at Eastshore, Virkie, on 22nd which subsequently relocated to Fair Isle from 25-28th.

A male Lesser Grey Shrike was a nice find at Baltasound, Unst, Shetland, on 16th and lingered until the end of the month. A Thrush Nightingale sang at Portland, Dorset, on 13th. ■

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This White-winged Black Tern showing well at Seaforth NNR, Lancashire, on 18th was almost certainly the bird present in Anglesey, North Wales, earlier the same day, and possibly later also at an undisclosed site in Surrey on 20th.

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Scarcities: June 2014

Fruitful spring for

A

rare nesters Josh Jones tallies a month of breeding successes and unseasonal appearances.

This juvenile Spoonbill begging for food from its parent at Cley NWT, Norfolk, on 17th was one of several noted by many observers in the area, indicating a productive breeding season at the nearby colony centred on Holkham NNR, which became established in 2010. Up to 28 Spoonbills have been noted at Cley recently.

PHOTOS: MIKE MCKENZIE

TOM WHILEY

s migration tailed off early in the month, proceedings certainly quietened down.

The steady start to June saw a relatively scant selection of scarce spring migrants such as Icterine and Marsh Warblers, Common Rosefinches and Redbacked Shrikes continue to pass through, though it was only the last species that appeared in any sort of respectable numbers.

The peak total was of six on Fair Isle, Shetland, on 5th, along with three on North Ronaldsay, Orkney, on 7th. Later in the month, the appearance of a female at Winterton Dunes, Norfolk, on 28th was closely followed by a male on 30th, but sadly this proved coincidental – the birds were never seen together and had gone by 1 July.

A handful of Red-breasted Flycatchers were seen around Scotland. Tiree, Argyll, continued its fruitful spring for the species with two during June: a female on 6th and then an altogether more dashing male on 19th. Others were on Shetland and the Outer Hebrides.

Greenish Warblers are another familiar scarcity of early June, and five were seen during the first half of the month. A singing bird at Sand Point, Somerset, during the morning of 2nd was a fine county record, though it had disappeared by midday. One was on Fair Isle on 6th, and a male sang on South Uist, Outer Hebrides, on 7th, while another was on Skomer, Pembs, the same day. Most significant, though, was a singing male which – unusually for this species – lingered for a fortnight. Found at Tyninghame Bay, Lothian, on 8th, it was still singing and holding territory there on 22nd and follows

Breeding Black-necked Grebes at an undisclosed site in Cheshire were interesting enough to watch and photograph, but when one of the adults dived it revealed a ring that could be traced back to October 2012, when the bird was trapped at Paraje Natural Marismas del Odiel, south-west Spain. It was the British Trust for Ornithology’s first recovery of a foreign-ringed bird, and the first concrete evidence of movement between the two countries for the species.

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TOM WHILEY

Main photo: Ham Wall RSPB, Somerset, is still home to several Great Egrets.

Inset: this fly-over Montagu’s Harrier at Burnham Overy Marshes, Norfolk, on 11th was a great bonus to birders watching the Spectacled Warbler.

This impressive flock of Common Faciandu sdanihi ciisqui ommo et officae ipsapienis qui dolorernat aut Cranes flew over Blakeney Fresh eliquaeri torumqu isimet etus et repe cuptiaspicto verum di occusam, numet Marshes, Norfolk, on 3rd. ute atiust, cum quisit, ulliaes el inissequo volorumet fugia volendit hitaeri

hot on the heels of last year’s popular songster in Lancashire.

If Greenish Warblers are expected in June, then Rosecoloured Starlings can be emblematic. Numbers vary from summer to summer, and 2014 looks set to be slightly better than average, with at least 17 reported nationally. As is often the case, many reports came from northern and western areas, with Irish records from Counties Antrim and Galway, and Scottish birds on Mull, Argyll, at Bo’ness, Forth, Hopeman, Moray and Nairn, and Port Ellen, Islay, while a fifth lingered at Achiltibuie, Highland, from 20-26th. In England, particularly popular www.birdwatch.co.uk

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fixtures included a long-staying, well-photographed individual in Lowestoft, Suffolk, from 15th until the month’s end and another in Burnley, Lancs, from 27th.

The selection of waders on show during June was generally routine, with a dozen or so Red-necked Phalaropes widely scattered. These included what is presumably the returning female to Slimbridge, Glos, on 6th, 9th and 15th, as well as migrants in Essex, Norfolk, Leicestershire and Surrey. A considerably more unexpected mid-summer record was a female Dotterel atop Pendle Hill, Lancs, on 29-30th.

Though accustomed to late April and May sightings (as well as

the occasional autumn flock), a late June record is somewhat surprising at the site, and the first in recent memory.

Late stints

Further shorebird records included Temminck’s Stints at Saltholme, Co Durham, from 21-23rd and Derwent Res, Northumbs, on 2627th, and Pectoral Sandpipers in Suffolk, West Yorkshire, Co Cork, Shetland and on Lewis, Outer Hebrides – two were together at the last site. A Buff-breasted Sandpiper called in at Cowpen Marsh, Co Durham, for five days from 2nd.

Fascinating news emerged during mid-June of a Black-necked

Grebe breeding at a known site in Cheshire. Photographer Mike McKenzie ‘froze’ the bird in an image as it dived, revealing a metal ring which the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) immediately realised was not one of their own. Further study of the ring confirmed the words ‘AMBIENTE’ and ‘MADRID’ which, combined with its number, allowed this bird to be identified as one trapped in October 2012 at Paraje Natural Marismas del Odiel in south-west Spain. This is the BTO’s first foreign recovery of the species.

Scarce herons this month included a couple of welcome adult Night Herons. After a poor spring for the species, birds at Cheltenham, Glos, on 1213th and Cosmeston Lakes, Glamorgan, from 12-19th were widely appreciated, while there were other records from Greater London, Somerset and Cornwall.

Great Egrets further confirmed their newly acquired status as rare residents in the British Isles, with both this species and the also seemingly now-resident Glossy Ibis present in small numbers throughout the month – how long will it be before the latter species attempts to breed? The rise of Little Egret continues unabated, and an astonishing count of 299 was made on the Nene Washes, Cambs, late in the month – just 10 years ago, the species was still considered rare in the county.

In Northern Ireland, the Cattle Egret was seen again at Hillsborough Park Lake, Co Down, Birdwatch•August 2014

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on 28th. This bird has now been present over two and a half years, having initially been found in late November 2011. Elsewhere, up to three were at Dungeness, Kent, on 2nd, with further reports from Somerset, the Isle of Wight and Counties Wexford (where two were seen) and Laois, in the very centre of Ireland.

This female or first-summer male Rose-coloured Starling graced Scilly pelagic leader Joe Pender’s back garden in Hugh Town, St Mary’s, for just one day on 4th.

While small numbers breed in the Northern Isles, migrant Red-necked Phalaropes tend to occur in the centre and south-east of England, and this is confirmed by this BirdGuides. com map of June’s occurrences.

Scotland boasted the lion’s share of summering scarce wildfowl during the month. As many as five drake American Wigeon were seen, including what is presumably a returning bird to Loch of Strathbeg, Aberdeens, and another at Vane Farm, Perth and Kinross, on 21-22nd. A lingering bird was on North Uist, Outer Hebrides, and there were further records from Highland and the Isle of Lewis. At least four Greenwinged Teal were dotted about Ireland, with another in Ceredigion, mid-Wales, early on. A pair of Ringnecked Ducks spent the month floating around on Lough Beg in Northern Ireland, with a regular-

reported bird at Murton GP, Angus, from 9th (with others reported in Co Down and Highland). Save for a female in Dunnet Bay, Highland, on 13th, the Blackdog and Murcar stretch of the Aberdeenshire coastline monopolised Surf Scoter reports, with at least one drake offshore for much of the month. ■ • For full details of all June’s sightings, go to www.birdguides. com. To receive free illustrated weekly sightings summaries and other news, sign up at bit.ly/ BGWeeklyNews.

This somewhat unseasonal first-summer female Rustic Bunting was pulled out of a mistnet at Porth Hellick, St Mary’s, Scilly, on 14th; this is the only summer record for the islands and the latest in Britain for at least a decade.

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JOHN ELVIDGE

ROBIN MAWER

Spoonbills appear to have enjoyed another successful breeding season on the north Norfolk coast, with counts of up to 28 at Cley Marshes NNR including juveniles; smaller numbers were dotted along the coastline to the west.

After a productive May, several more Black Kites were logged nationwide but real interest was generated by a bird in Suffolk; first seen at Bawdsey and Alderton on 13th, it was later found lingering around Wrentham from 23rd until the end of the month. The bird was ascertained as possessing single red plastic and silver metal rings, which may well suggest it is an escape, though the possibility of it being a bird from a continental ringing scheme has not been ruled out.

Red-footed Falcons were again scarce, with the only remaining bird being an elusive female at Porthgwarra, Cornwall, from 27th.

White-winged Black Tern, arguably one of the most beautiful species on the British list, is always popular when it lingers, and so a confiding adult on the lagoon at Cemlyn Bay, Anglesey, from 16-18th drew plenty of admirers.

Flying off late morning on the latter date, what was presumably the same bird then relocated to Seaforth, Lancs, for the afternoon and evening. Perhaps the same individual was then at a private Surrey reservoir on 19-20th.

KRIS WEBB

Spoonbills galore

This confiding Pectoral Sandpiper was at Swillington Ings RSPB, West Yorkshire, for two days from 15th, and was one of five that appeared across Britain during the month.

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Western Palearctic: June 2014

Watching a blue streak

FRANCISCO JAVIER GARCÍA VARGAS

By far the most stunning bird of the month was Fuerteventura’s Abyssinian Roller, writes Josh Jones.

EYAL BARTOV (WWW.EYALBARTOV.CO.IL)

this was always going to be a wild bird – it represents the fourth or fifth record of the species in the region, with previous records from Egypt, Libya and Mauritania, and a further claim from Essaouira, Morocco, in 2005.

Morocco registered an unseasonal national first in the form of a Long-tailed Duck near Oualidia on 5th, but North Africa otherwise remained quiet, other

One of the most distinctive regional birds, this Crab Plover showed extremely well for just one lucky observer on the Mediterranean coast at Ma’agan Michael, Israel, on 25th, but left before any others could see it.

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FRANCISCO JAVIER GARCÍA VARGAS

J

une’s highlight was an utterly superb Abyssinian Roller on Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, present for more than a week at Barranco de la Torre from 9th. Just when it seemed that this, a first for the Canaries, might be in for the long haul, it disappeared, last being seen on 16th. There was initial concern that it might be an escape but, in reality,

Fuerteventura’s outrageous Abyssinian Roller (above and below) was the first in the region for almost seven years and sparked a twitch among birders from Spain and beyond.

than the continued presence of Yellow Bittern, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse and Saunders’ Tern in Egypt.

Israel boasted its fourth Crab Plover – the first since 1997 – briefly on the Mediterranean coast at Ma’agan Michael on 26th. It was, however, present for less than an hour and even quickmoving Israeli twitchers dipped out. A Yellow-billed Stork was in the Beit She’an Valley around 21st, while there was late news of one at Wadi Kana, Samaria, back in April.

May’s Black-browed Albatross

was again on Heligoland, Germany, on 4-5th but, despite the promise of a couple of two-day appearances, a repeat of the famous long-staying Shetland and Lothian birds now seems unlikely for Germany, as it was only seen once more, on 13th. What was presumably the same albatross was seen passing Cuxhaven, Niedersachsen, on 20th – perhaps it will appear elsewhere in the North Sea this summer.

Sweden once again enjoyed a fine month, with the country’s third Great Knot accessible at Ottenby, Öland, on 11-12th. A Blue-cheeked

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AURÉLIEN AUDEVARD

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This first-summer Royal Tern appeared at Hyères, Var, France, on 3rd, and was photographed there on 14th; it was the country’s second.

Grímsey, Iceland, held this Least Sandpiper, the fifth for the country. The smart, summer-plumaged adult was present for just two days from 22 June, before it disappeared for good.

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RICHARD HOWARD

on Flores, Azores, on 21st was a midsummer surprise. There have been three previous Azorean records, one from Flores and two on Faial, including a summering record from the latter island in 2009. As with the many extralimital records from northwestern Europe, Azorean vagrants are generally presumed to be ship assisted and thus, despite the latitude, are perhaps to be

INGVAR ATLI SIGURDSSON

Bee-eater at the same site on 15th was one of two seen in the country during June, the other being at Råglanda, Västergötland, on 7th. A male Cretzschmar’s Bunting at Haparanda Sandskär, Norrbotten, on 15th was a national second, while an adult Demoiselle Crane at Kvismaren, Närke, from 11-15th surely merits attention as a potentially genuine vagrant.

A Snowy Owl atop Morro Alto

expected here from time to time. Somewhat surprisingly, a Franklin’s Gull in Lajes, Flores, on 12th was only the sixth for the archipelago.

Best of the rest was France’s second Royal Tern – a first-summer – which was found among the Sandwich Tern colony near Hyères, Var, from 3-14th at least. A Lesser Spotted Eagle, the ninth for The Netherlands, flew over Losser, Overijssel, on 8th, while Finland’s sixth Shag was near Pulmanki on 6th. A Lesser Short-toed Lark was on the island of Rammu, Estonia, on 4th (a national first), while Iceland bagged two seconds: an Irish-ringed Roseate Tern at Jökulsárlón on 13th (followed by another at Rif, West, on 29th) and then two Little Terns at Melrakkaslétta, Northeast, on 21-22nd. The Least Sandpiper at Grímsey, North, from 22-23rd was the fifth national record. ■

This Elegant-type Tern pitched up at Salinas de San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia, Spain, on 29th.

As is often the case, its conclusive identification was thwarted owing to the known presence of occasional hybrids in the region.

Birdwatch•August 2014

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WHERE TO WATCH BIRDS AUGUST

Where to watch birds

1 SITE OF THE MONTH

ORKNEY

With a range of breeding waders and seabirds plus rarities and scarcities from Scandinavia, Orkney is a birding hot-spot like no other. Katy Norbury shows you how to get the best from a trip to the islands.

1

Black Guillemot is resident on Orkney. Head to Hobbister RSPB on Mainland for views of this species.

2

1 2 3 4

Orkney.

Pages 25-27 Porthgwarra and Pendeen, Cornwall.

Page 28 The southern Solway, Cumbria.

Page 29 Annagh Head and Marsh, Co Mayo.

Page 30

MORE AUGUST SITES

o.uk

www.b

T

h.c

• Camel Estuary, Cornwall: bit.ly/ bw230CamelEstuary • Cresswell and Warkworth Lane Ponds, Northumberland: bit.ly/ bw254CreswellWarkworth • Dee Estuary, Cheshire: bit.ly/ bw230DeeEstuary • Inverness, Highland: bit.ly/bw230Inverness • Lincolnshire Wash bit.ly/bw218LincsWash • Lune Estuary, Lancashire: bit.ly/ bw242LuneEstuary • Mersea Island, Essex: bit.ly/ bw230MerseaIsland • Old Hall Marshes, Essex: bit.ly/bw218OldHall • Red Rocks, Cheshire: bit.ly/bw254RedRocks • Start Point, Devon: bit.ly/bw242StartPoint • Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire: bit.ly/bw242StrumbleHead irdwatc • Tyninghame Bay, East Lothian: BONUS bit.ly/bw218TyninghameBay ONLINE • Weir Wood Reservoir, CONTENT East Sussex: bit.ly/ bw254WeirWood

OLIVER SMART (WWW.SMARTIMAGES.CO.UK)

3

4 5

he saying goes in Orkney that summer ends at the County Show, which takes place this year on 9 August. With few trees and unpredictable weather, the roll of Orkney’s seasons is marked by the arrival and departure of birds.

Mid to late summer is seen as a quiet time in the birding calendar, but with little cover and Orkney’s position off the north coast of Scotland, it can be just the time for rare waders and wanderers such as Rose-coloured Starling and Common Crossbill Crossbill, with Twobarred Crossbill appearing every few years.

With the islands so close to Scandinavia, August also offers the start of the main autumn passage.

Warblers – often including a Greenish – Whinchat, Wryneck, Common Rosefinch and Red-backed Shrike could all be on the move, if you can coincide your visit with the fabled conditions of easterly winds followed by a short, sharp rain front. You never know what might turn up!

Orkney is a northern treat for any birder. Hooded Crow, Black Guillemot (known locally as Tystie), Hen Harrier, Common Eider and Red-breasted Merganser all abound.

❯

USEFUL CONTACTS Travel information and timetables

• Traveline: 0871 200 2233 or www.traveline.info.

• Traveline Scotland: 0871 200 2233 or www.travelinescotland.com.

• Traveline Cymru: 0871 200 2233 or www.traveline-cymru.info

www.birdwatch.co.uk

1408 p25-27 Featured site Orkney FIN.indd 25

• Stagecoach Bus: www.stagecoachbus.com.

• Arriva Bus: 0844 800 4411 or www.arrivabus.co.uk.

• National Rail: 0845 748 4950 or www.nationalrail.com.

National bird news

BirdGuides: for all bird news and to

report your own sightings, call 0333 577 2473, email sightings@ birdguides.com or visit www.birdguides.com.

Mapping

Access fully interactive and annotated Google maps for all these itineraries at bit.ly/BWMaps.

Further information

• County bird recorders: www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/ birdtrack/bird-recording/countybird-recorders.

• Birdwatch Bookshop: for discounted birding books see www.birdwatch.co.uk/store.

Birdwatch•August 2014

25

7/9/2014 6:40:12 PM

WHERE TO WATCH BIRDS AUGUST

❝

Remember to check your harriers carefully – there has been a recent Pallid Harrier record at this time of year

MARKUS VARESVUO (WWW.BIRDPHOTO.FI)

❞

North Ronaldsay can be particularly good for rarities from Scandinavia; these can include Greenish Warbler.

Orkney is blessed with thousands of breeding waders: Eurasian Curlew, Oystercatcher, Northern Lapwing and Common Redshank give a great spectacle when flocks concentrate on the recently cut silage fields at the roadside, while late summer sees many passage waders around the coast.

Starting point

The Loons RSPB (HY 246241) 1 is a good place to start the day. With up to 100 territorial female Hen Harriers in the county each year, they can be seen anywhere in Orkney, but The Loons offers particularly happy hunting for the species – look out for them putting up the waders as they quarter the wetland.

Peregrine Falcon and Merlin are also regular. Remember to check your harriers carefully – Marsh Harrier is occasionally seen and there has been a recent Pallid Harrier record at this time of year.

The squeals of Water Rail can still be heard from the reedbeds – from the hide you may be lucky to catch a glimpse 26

Birdwatch•August 2014

1408 p25-27 Featured site Orkney FIN.indd 26

of the bird itself as it dashes over the open channels. Arriving early in the day before anyone else may reward you with a sighting of an Otter. Short-eared Owls also favour The Loons for hunting in the late summer. In autumn, Swallow numbers build as they feed up before their long journey south.

Heading west, the cliffs of Marwick Head RSPB (HY 229241) 2 will be quietening down after a busy breeding season. Common Guillemot, Razorbill, Kittiwake and Puffin will have headed out to sea, leaving the cliffs to late-nesting Northern Fulmars and resident Ravens, but Great Skuas (known locally as Bonxies) and Arctic Skuas could still be patrolling the cliffs in early August.

The walk up to the cliff-top is also worth it for stunning views and the chance of seeing a passing whale or dolphin. This coast can be good for seawatching from mid-summer onwards on any days with onshore winds, bringing Manx and Sooty Shearwaters closer to shore.

A drive back to the centre of West Mainland takes you to Brodgar RSPB (HY 293137) 3 . The bird crop planted on the way up to the standing stones is a good place to look for seed-eating passerines including Twite, Linnet, Skylark and Reed Bunting. The profusion of flowers around the Ring of Brodgar often attracts Orkney bee specialities such as Moss Carder Bee and Great Yellow Bumblebee.

Some of the many breeding ducks and waders will still be around, especially on the pools which can be viewed from the road to the west of the stone circle; you may find a passage Greenshank or Green Sandpiper on the lochside. Otters can be seen here at any time of year and there are usually a few seals in the Loch of Stenness. Redthroated Divers can often be seen on Loch of Harray, but views are usually distant.

Going south-east from Brodgar takes you down narrow roads – with more chances of Hen Harrier – to Hobbister RSPB (HY 395069) 4 . A walk down from the car park should give you views of Twite and European Stonechat hunting for food for their last broods of the year.

As you head down to the reserve, you will be rewarded by great views over Scapa Flow, one of the world’s largest natural harbours. Red-throated Diver and Black Guillemot can be seen all year round, and in late autumn they will be joined by good numbers of Great Northern Divers and Slavonian Grebes, along with occasional sightings of a small flock of Black-throated Divers.

Skua passage

Each of Orkney’s islands offers something slightly different, and a trip to one of the outer ones can be very worthwhile. Papa Westray is one such birding mecca. Its remote northern headland is North Hill RSPB (HY 4954) 5 . This is a magnificent place to watch the sea for passing skuas, shearwaters, Risso’s Dolphins or Orcas, and to admire the maritime heath flora.

The tiny Scottish Primrose is here in profusion – although it is so small and localised that you might need to join the wardens on their twice weekly guided walks to be sure of seeing it.

August is also the month that Scandinavian birds begin to head southwest to avoid the harsh northern winter.

The open countryside of Papa Westray usually gives great views of birds which can www.birdwatch.co.uk

7/9/2014 6:40:41 PM

Where to watch birds

OLIVER SMART (WWW.SMARTIMAGES.CO.UK)

Red-throated Diver can be seen onflLoch Norfolk's huge ocksof of Harray, but you’ll be very lucky getrightly views Pink-footed Geesetoare as good as this. world famous.

be all too hidden on passage on southern headlands. Rarities are there to be found too – over the years, Papa Westray has attracted everything from Scop’s Owl and Ovenbird to Steller’s Eider.

Another migrant hot-spot is North Ronaldsay, with its impressive reputation for rarities, including Short-billed Dowitcher, Brown Shrike, Pacific Golden Plover (seemingly a late summer speciality of this island) and Red-flanked Bluetail, to name just a few; a vagrant Walrus has even reached the island! The observatory offers comfortable accommodation, as well as good company and on-hand expertise.

If you don’t fancy venturing that far north then Shapinsay is an easy ferry journey from Kirkwall. The fine wetland at Mill Dam RSPB (HY 483177) 6 offers a great identification challenge in late summer, given the range of breeding ducks – including Eurasian Wigeon, Eurasian Teal, Gadwall and Northern Shoveler – present in juvenile or eclipse plumage. It can be a good site for passage waders, with several rarities recorded over the years, while the bird cover crop is well worth checking.

Hoy is another island that is just a

short ferry ride away, and the splendour of the vast scenery of Hoy RSPB offers a range of possibilities for the birder.

There is a huge area of habitat here for Hen Harrier and Merlin, and the island is Orkney’s stronghold for Bonxies – at this time of year you can still see them in their hundreds.

Orkney offers a vast amount whatever time of year you visit. This overview covers just half of the RSPB reserves in the islands, and other great birding spots are myriad. With relatively few birders, it is a great place for finding your own birds and drinking in the island atmosphere. ■

VISITOR INFORMATION

READS

• Collins Scottish Birds

by Valerie Thom (HarperCollins, £9.99) – buy for £8.49 on page 77.

• Orkney Bird Report 2013 (£8, available from jim@ genifea.freeserve. co.uk).

❯ Sites and access

There is free public access to all sites, with no parking charges. Railway stations are at Aberdeen and Thurso, and Citylink runs bus services to these towns, with ongoing ferry connections to Scrabster and Kirkwall on Mainland, Orkney. The latter has an airport; call Flybe on 0371 700 2000 or visit www.flybe.com. For ferry services, contact Pentland Ferries (0800 688 8998; www.pentlandferries.co.uk) or NorthLink Ferries (0845 6000 449; www.northlinkferries.co.uk). For Inter-islands flights contact Loganair (01856 873457; www.loganair.co.uk), and for ferries contact Orkney Ferries (01856 872044; www.orkneyferries. co.uk). Accessible hides are at The Loons RSPB and Mill Dam RSPB.

2 1

ORDNANCE SURVEY MAPPING © CROWN COPYRIGHT. AM45/10

i

ID challenge

4

3

❯ Maps

Ordnance Survey Explorers 461-465 and Landrangers 5-7.

5

6

❯ Web resources

• www.rspb.org.uk for more information on the RSPB reserves.

• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Orkbird/ for all birding on Orkney.

www.birdwatch.co.uk

1408 p25-27 Featured site Orkney FIN.indd 27

See bit.ly/BWMaps for links to fully annotated Google maps

Birdwatch•August 2014

27

7/9/2014 6:41:08 PM

WHERE TO WATCH BIRDS AUGUST

PORTHGWARRA AND PENDEEN

By Paul Freestone

Where and why

Pendeen is one of the best places in the country to see Wilson’s Storm-petrel from dry land. The site is renowned for occasional close views of this rare pelagic species.

Late summer means only one thing on the Cornish ornithological calendar: seawatching. On the right day, Gwennap Head, Porthgwarra, and Pendeen Watch are arguably the best places in Britain for observing seabird passage, and birders from across the country congregate at these famous headlands, usually in the hope of finding something rare, but often just to marvel at the sheer number of birds and range of species.

Pendeen Watch

i

large shearwaters. For Pendeen Watch, prevailing westerly winds are essential for producing notable passage, especially after long periods of south-westerlies.

Gwennap Head

1

Cory’s Shearwater has been recorded here more frequently than anywhere else on the mainland coast of Britain (Norman and Tucker 2009) and on a single evening in 2010 more than 2,000 individuals flew west. These ‘big shear days’ vary from year to year – in 2008 it was the turn of

Great Shearwater, with more than 800 flying west in a single day in August. Good numbers of Manx Shearwaters are usually evident, along with Balearic, Sooty and very occasionally the far rarer Barolo Shearwater. Black-browed Albatross and Fea’s Petrel have also been recorded.

Skua numbers begin to increase into early autumn, with Great and Arctic Skuas being the most common.

Terns, gulls, Northern Gannet, Northern Fulmar and auks pass westwards. Rough seas produce

2

The north-facing slopes on the seaward side of Pendeen lighthouse afford uninterrupted vistas and superb light – ideal for seawatching. The outer wall of the lighthouse compound affords some shelter from the winds.

The rocks at the base of the cliffs help as a reference point for passing birds and many travel close by between the rocks and the mainland.

Pendeen is renowned for close and sometimes prolonged views of Wilson’s Storm-petrel, occasionally found among small numbers of its European cousin. Cory’s, Great, Sooty and Balearic Shearwaters are seen regularly and Manxes can pass in their thousands.

Very late summer into early autumn can produce a range of species including Grey and Rednecked Phalaropes and early Sabine’s Gulls. Great and Arctic Skuas pass in large numbers on occasion, bringing with them the possibility of Long-tailed or Pomarine Skuas. Black, Arctic, Sandwich, Common and Little Terns are recorded annually and good numbers of commoner seabirds pass through including Northern Fulmar, Kittiwake, Mediterranean Gull, Northern Gannet and Common Scoter.

Be prepared for bad weather – rough seas and high winds are the best conditions for seabirds.

Be patient, and if you are inexperienced, sit with the crowd. ■

VISITOR INFORMATION

READS

• Where to Watch Birds in Devon and Cornwall by David Norman and Vic Tucker (fifth edition, Christopher Helm, £18.99).

• Best Birdwatching Sites in Cornwall and Scilly by Sara McMahon and Nigel Hudson (Buckingham Press, £17.50).

Order both titles for up to £2 off on page 77.

28

RAFAEL ARMADA (WWW.RAFAELARMADA.NET)

Route planner

Both sites are accessed off the A30 towards Land’s End. For Porthgwarra take the B3315 just before the Land’s End complex and follow that road until you reach the hamlet of Polgigga. At the crossroads take the minor road signposted to Porthgwarra. There is a pay and display car park at the bottom of the valley and also public toilets. Walk up the steps following the coastal path to the large rocky outcrop of Gwennap Head to view the sea.

For Pendeen take the B3071 off the A30 at Alverton roundabout north of Penzance.

After about 2 miles, take the B3318 to Pendeen. At the crossroads go straight ahead where you see the brown lighthouse sign and follow the minor road all the way to the lighthouse’s free car park.

Which site you choose will depend on wind direction. Any prolonged winds from the south or south-west bring the possibility of good numbers of rarer species to Gwennap Head, which is also renowned for its huge numbers of

good numbers of European Storm-petrels around the Runnel Stone buoy.

❯ Sites and access

There is free public access to both sites, but car parking charges may apply. The nearest railway station is at Penzance. First Group runs buses from Penzance to Pendeen, while the nearest bus stop to Porthgwarra is at Porthcurno (0870 010 6022; www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/ devon_cornwall). There is limited disabled access at both sites, but the lower car park at Pendeen can be used to view the sea, although the viewing area is more restricted.

❯ Maps

Ordnance Survey Explorer 102 and Landranger 203.

1

2

❯ Web resources

• www.cornwall-birding.co.uk for sightings, a county list, bird news and an image gallery.

• www.cbwps.org.uk for the Cornwall Birdwatching and Preservation Society, with recent sightings, images and events organised by the society.

Birdwatch•August 2014

1408 p28-31 WTWB sites FIN.indd 28

ORDNANCE SURVEY MAPPING © CROWN COPYRIGHT. AM45/10

2

Where to watch birds

See bit.ly/BWMaps for links to fully annotated Google maps

www.birdwatch.co.uk

7/10/2014 2:59:37 PM

INNER SOLWAY

By Tristan Reid

Where and why

Juvenile Little Stints will have started their southward migration by the end of August – look out for their white back ‘braces’ at the edges of shoreline vegetation or among larger flocks of commoner calidrids.

Route planner

From Kirkbride, follow the minor road through Longcroft to Anthorn. There is a small grassy lay-by at NY 199583 1 .

From there you can view the tidal Wampool, where you can expect to see a good selection of common wader species, with a chance of Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Greenshank, Grey Plover, Spotted Redshank and Black-tailed Godwit. This site has also held Long-billed Dowitcher, American Golden and Pacific Golden Plovers and Pectoral and Semipalmated Sandpipers in the recent past.

Continuing on around the island, it is worth keeping an eye out for flocks of European Golden Plover near the masts. Beyond Cardurnock you can park in a large lay-by at NY 195612 2 that overlooks a wader scrape at the start of Campfield Marsh RSPB. This scrape often holds a mixture of waders, including Black-tailed Godwit and Greenshank, and Wood Sandpiper is also possible here. Little Egret is frequent,

i

JOHN DICKENSON

‘The Island’ on the Inner Solway lies to the north-west of the Cumbrian village of Kirkbride. This itinerary hugs the estuarine edge from Anthorn to Port Carlisle. The area includes large expanses of tidal mudflats bordered by saltmarsh and grazing land. The reserve of Campfield Marsh RSPB and Bowness Cumbria Wildlife Trust (CWT) are included in the route. The primary birding interest of this area in late summer will be returning waders.

while Spoonbill, Great Egret and even Stilt Sandpiper have all been recorded. Check the surrounding bushes for Lesser and Common Whitethroats, Grasshopper Warbler and other passerines.

A little further along this road, take a right onto North Plains Farm (which is part of the RSPB reserve). There is a car park at NY 197615 next to the visitor centre. From the car park, walk up the track towards the screens and hides where there are a series of pools which can hold a selection of waders and duck.

Black-tailed Godwit, Greenshank and Eurasian Whimbrel can be regular here, while Pectoral Sandpiper, Glossy Ibis and Common Crane have been noted in the recent past. The hedgerows and cover crops are

rich in passerines, which include Tree and House Sparrows, Yellowhammer, Willow and Sedge Warblers and Common Chiffchaff.

Bowness CWT can be accessed at NY 206617 3 . This reserve is a mixture of scrubby woodland and freshwater pools. The main interest here is common passerines and it is one of the few places in the area where you can expect to see Willow Tit. Leaving the reserve and heading through Bowness-onSolway, you will come to another lay-by at NY 232626 4 . From here the rocky shoreline can be very rich with waders on the rising tide. Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Eurasian Whimbrel and Eurasian Curlew are the likely species.

Broad-billed Sandpiper and

Kentish Plover have been recorded, too.

Continuing along the road to Port Carlisle, park carefully by the play area at NY 239623 5 , and then follow the Hadrian’s Wall Path into the old harbour.

This area has perhaps the biggest selection of waders available in the region. In addition to previously mentioned species, you can expect Bartailed Godwit, Sanderling and Knot. Broad-billed, Semipalmated and Pectoral Sandpipers, Pacific Golden Plover and Long-billed Dowitcher have all been logged recently.

This particular site can also be good for Common, Arctic and Sandwich Terns in late summer, while Black and White-winged Black Terns have been recorded.

A rising tide is the best. ■

VISITOR INFORMATION

READS

ORDNANCE SURVEY MAPPING © CROWN COPYRIGHT. AM45/10

3

Where to watch birds

❯ Sites and access

Public transport is tricky in this area, but there is a bus service to Anthorn, Port Carlisle and Bowness-on-Solway from Carlisle. Much of the route is accessible by car. The North Plains area of Campfield Marsh requires an 800 m walk to the hide, though there are two blue badge bays next to the hide.

4 5 3 2

❯ Maps Where to Watch Birds: North West England and the Isle of Man by A Conlin, JP Cullen, P Marsh, T Reid, C Sharpe, J Smith, and S Williams (Christopher Helm) is out of print but can be found secondhand.

OS map Explorer 314 and Landranger 85.

❯ Web resources

• www.cumbriabirdclub.org.uk/latest-sightings for the latest local rarity sightings.

• www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/c/campfieldmarsh/about. aspx for details of Campfield RSPB. • www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/reserves/bowness-on-solway for details of Bowness on Solway CWT reserve.

www.birdwatch.co.uk

1408 p28-31 WTWB sites FIN.indd 29

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❯

See bit.ly/BWMaps for links to fully annotated Google maps

Birdwatch•August 2014

29

7/10/2014 3:00:50 PM

ANNAGH HEAD AND ANNAGH MARSH

By Dave Suddaby

Where and why

Route planner

After passing through Belmullet and crossing onto the peninsula, follow the R313 south and take the first turning right to Corclough and then the fourth left turn to Annagh Head. Annagh Marsh is located on the right after two miles and after a further one mile is Annagh Head.

Drive to the end of the road and park at the car park (F 630345).

Walk the short distance out to the tip of the headland and settle among the rocks for a seawatch (it is rocky so to take something to sit on!) 1 . The ideal conditions are winds of force 5 or more from a west or south-west direction; during these conditions seabirds pass just offshore, offering some excellent views.

The ‘standard’ species will be Northern Fulmar and Northern Gannet, but more than 5,000 Manx and 100-plus Sooty Shearwaters, along with small numbers of European Stormpetrels, can be expected. Single

i

Balearic Shearwaters can be found. In most years the larger shearwaters are seen, often in impressive numbers from mid-August: 1,800 Cory’s, 4,500 Great and 2,200 Sooty Shearwaters have been recorded in a day’s seawatch.

Towards the end of August skuas start passing, with Great, Arctic, Pomarine and Long-tailed all noted. Leach’s Storm-petrel and Sabine’s Gull start to pass through, with numbers increasing into September. There is always the chance, too, of a Fea’s-type Petrel or a Wilson’s Storm-petrel.

It is worth keeping an eye out for cetaceans, with Common, Bottlenosed and Risso’s Dolphins seen regularly off the head.

A walk back along the road can

prove fruitful. From mid-August, scan the grassland areas 2 for the chance of American waders, such as American Golden Plover and Buff-breasted Sandpiper, while the boggy areas are the favoured areas for passage Lapland Buntings which can often be picked up by their calls as they fly over the road.

The fence lines and roadside ditches are also always worth checking for migrants. Northern Wheatear will be evident, along with the resident European Stonechats.

Moving onto the small pier at Frenchport (F 643343) 3 , scan the sheltered bay for returning Great Northern Divers and the beach for gulls and waders. For closer views, however, access

the beach by a short track (F 652336). At high tide, roosting waders such as Sanderling, Dunlin and Ringed Plover will be evident. Looking closer, there is always the chance of an American wader such as American Golden Plover or Baird’s Sandpiper.

Check the gulls at the outflow for scarcer species, such as Ringbilled or Mediterranean.

Behind the beach and within the dune areas, post-fledging flocks of Chough can be found foraging. Beyond these is the Annagh Marsh area 4 .

Searching among the wet machair grasslands and around the pool edges towards the end of August could produce American Golden Plover and Pectoral and Buffbreasted Sandpipers. ■

VISITOR INFORMATION

READS

• Where to Watch Birds in Ireland by Clive Hutchinson and Paul Milne (second edition, Christopher Helm, £18.99) – order for £16.99 on page 77.

• Finding birds in Ireland by Eric Dempsey and Michael O’Clery (Gill & Macmillan Ltd).

30

Towards the end of August, Sabine’s Gull can be seen passing Annagh Head. Look out for the distinctive black, white and grey wing pattern.

RAFAEL ARMADA (WWW.RAFAELARMADA.NET)

Annagh Head is situated on the Mullet Peninsula, due west of the small town of Belmullet. On the drive out to the headland the road passes along the edge of the BirdWatch Ireland’s Annagh Marsh reserve. The area commands panoramic views along the western edge of the Mullet Peninsula, which is exposed to the full force of the Atlantic. This exposure can produce some spectacular seawatches, while the machair landscape behind provides habitat for a range of autumn returning waders and passerine migrants.

❯ Sites and access

All the sites can be accessed and viewed from the road; all the lands are privately owned and farmed. There are no hides. Public transport is limited; Bus Eireann runs services between Ballina, Belmullet and Blacksod, but there is no public transport to Annagh although taxis are available from Belmullet; 00 353 (0)96 71800, www.buseireann.ie). As viewing is from the road, this itinerary is suitable for those in wheelchairs.

❯ Maps

2 3

4

Ordnance Survey of Ireland Discovery series No 22.

❯ Web resources

• www.birdwatchireland.ie for BirdWatch Ireland.

• www.irishbirding.com for information and news on Irish birds.

• www.irbc.ie for information on rare birds in Ireland.

Birdwatch•August 2014

1408 p28-31 WTWB sites FIN.indd 30

1

See bit.ly/BWMaps for links to fully annotated Google maps

MAP DATA ©2014 GOOGLE

4

Where to watch birds

❯

www.birdwatch.co.uk

7/9/2014 7:22:27 PM

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AUGUST’S TARGET BIRD

Where to watch birds

STEVE YOUNG (WWW.BIRDSONFILM.COM)

STEFAN PFÜTZKE (WWW.GREEN-LENS.DE)

Common Rosefinch

T

his spring and autumn passage visitor is most often seen as a rather plain-looking non-breeding bird; however, the occasional bright red male also occurs. It is a rare breeder.

It is recorded mainly from April to November, with peaks in late May and early June in spring and from mid-August to early October in autumn. About 130 birds are seen every year. Records increased from the 1950s until the 1990s, when a decline began.

Despite this, however, there were 90 spring reports in 2008 and a record 201 birds were seen in autumn in 2010.

The majority of birds are seen from the Northern Isles and Outer Hebrides, southwards down the east coast of Scotland and England as far as East Anglia, with a scattering along the south coast, especially on Scilly.

The species is rare in Wales, with most records coming from Bardsey and Anglesey.

It has bred only rarely; singing males are seen almost every year, but they tend to be immature, brown birds. The first confirmed breeding was in Ross and Cromerty in 1982, and following a huge influx in 1992 a possible 20 pairs bred, with further mating in subsequent years. Breeding has been confirmed or suspected



32

Common Rosefinch is most often seen in its rather dull non-breeding plumage in Britain, with the majority of birds recorded on autumn passage. However, the occasional bright red male is spotted, and the species has even successfully bred in the country, though not since 2001.

in many counties including East Yorkshire, Norfolk and Suffolk; the last known breeding pair was seen in Cumbria in 2001.

This species was formerly known as Scarlet Rosefinch or Scarlet Grosbeak, because of the colour of the brightest males.

Recent DNA work indicates

i

that Common Rosefinch should perhaps be in a separate genus from the other Carpocadus rosefinches, and it is closer to the American ‘rosefinches’ (House, Purple and Cassin’s Finches), which have now been placed in their own genus Haemorhous by some authorities.

How to see Look on the ground and in bushes.

Records are usually of single birds, but it can also be found among flocks of Goldfinch and Linnet, as well as sparrows and buntings.

Always check out feeding finch flocks in autumn, as they can be carriers for several rarer species. ■

FIND YOUR OWN

There are few sites that attract Common Rosefinches annually (though most of the ones listed below do), but there are some areas that are worth searching at the right time of year; for example, the north Norfolk and Suffolk coasts and the Outer Hebrides. Autumn is the most likely season to find one, and almost any site on the east coast is worth checking after easterly or north-easterly winds.

England • Northumberland: Farne Islands (NU 230370) • Co Durham: Whitburn (NZ 411634) • East Yorkshire: Spurn Point (TA 419148) • Lincolnshire: Gibraltar Point NNR (TF 556581) • Suffolk: Landguard Point (TM 284319) • Scilly: St Mary’s (SV 915110)

Scotland • Shetland: Fair Isle (HZ 221723) • Orkney: North Ronaldsay (HY 785560) • Fife: Isle of May (NT 655993) Wales • Gwynedd: Bardsey (SH 118217)

VISIT WWW.BIRDWATCH.CO.UK FOR TIPS ON FINDING MANY MORE TARGET BIRDS

Birdwatch•August 2014

1408 p32 Target bird Common Rosefinch v2.indd 32

www.birdwatch.co.uk

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CONSERVATION

In the line of fire

OLIVER SMART (WWW.SMARTIMAGES.CO.UK)

This summer is proving to be an uncomfortable one for grouse moor owners and managers, as their industry has come under public scrutiny and is receiving more criticism than ever before. Are the days of driven grouse shooting numbered? Mark Avery reports.

The heather-filled glens of Scotland provide ideal habitat for Hen Harrier, and yet there are huge swathes of similar terrain – notably in northern England – that are completely devoid of the species. The one thing these harrier-less areas have in common is that they are intensively managed for grouse, simply to increase the number of Red Grouse (pictured below) available to be killed during the shooting season.

PAUL CUMBERLAND

L

www.birdwatch.co.uk

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ast year there were just two pairs of Hen Harriers breeding in the uplands of England – both unsuccessfully, as it happened – whereas government agencies tell us that those hills have sufficient suitable habitat to hold more than 300 pairs. This year there are three pairs, and some are telling us that this should cheer us up. Huh! In the UK as a whole, the science shows that there could be around 2,500 pairs of Hen Harrier, and yet there is a third of that number.

This species isn’t just rarer than it should be across the country: there are also some striking gaps in its range.

Seemingly ideal areas have practically no Hen Harriers nesting in them – southern and eastern Scotland and the north of England are the main examples. What do these areas have in common? Their upland land use is dominated by intensive grouse moor management.

One day in early summer this year, I travelled to north Wales and slept in the car overnight so that I could be up early and looking for Hen Harriers. I saw one male briefly as it floated over the heather and then quartered a wet area before disappearing from sight. This was at 6.40 am on 6 June – the 60th anniversary of the Protection of Birds Act becoming law. This important piece of legislation gave full legal protection to (almost) all British birds, their nests and eggs, yet there are fewer Hen Harriers in England now than on that day when the law was enacted, and I had to travel to Birdwatch•August 2014

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REBECCA COLE

CONSERVATION

A fully protected and wonderful bird is being criminally killed because it is in conflict with a countryside sport

DANIELE OCCHIATO (WWW.AGAMI.NL)

Wales for my best chance of seeing one.

This does not seem like progress. Sometimes I feel angry about it, and I know that many Birdwatch readers do too.

A fully protected and wonderful bird is being criminally killed because it is in conflict with a ‘countryside sport’ or ‘countryside industry’, depending on how you regard grouse shooting. It just won’t do.

This year we are all waking up to the fact that we can do something about it. The summer of 2014 is seeing an unprecedented backlash against grouse shooting. We have been quiet for too long, and now birders, antishooting groups, those worried about damage to blanket bogs, ramblers and a host of other people are pointing at intensive grouse moor management and saying that it must clean up its act or its days are numbered. We have seen four major initiatives so far.

1 Hen Harrier Day

Hen Harrier Day will take place on 10 August 2014 – two days before the grouse shooting season opens. It provides an opportunity for the public to voice its opposition to the illegal killing of the species by grouse-shooting interests.

There will be five events across the north of England where you and your friends can gather to protest against illegal killing of birds of prey (see blogs posted at www. markavery.info/blog/ at 6 pm on Monday evenings for weekly updates). These events are supported by the RSPB. This is the first time a rally has been organised on this subject and we – that is Birders Against Wildlife Crime, the Northwest Raptor Protection Group and me – hope that the media will be interested in a show of public outrage.

In Derbyshire, the plan is to have a group photo – with 36

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Chris Packham as part of the crowd – at 10 am in the Upper Derwent Valley. Please do come along to one of the events and play your part.

2 An e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting in England

Following in the footsteps of Chrissie Harper (who organised an e-petition to introduce vicarious liability for wildlife crimes, gaining 10,908 signatures) and John Armitage (an appeal to license grouse moors, which got 10,428 signatures), I have launched a new e-petition (http://epetitions.direct.gov. uk/petitions/65627) on driven grouse shooting, calling for it to be banned altogether; it garnered 6,000 signatures inside www.birdwatch.co.uk

10/07/2014 13:56

JASON SMALLEY (WWW.NATUREPL.COM). BELOW: RICHARD BROOKS (WWW.RICHARD-BROOKS.CO.UK)

Many thousands of Red Grouse are shot every year – an average of 200,000 birds in England and Wales; figures for Scotland aren’t available.

A single day’s shoot can account for up to 200 ‘brace’ (two grouse) (above).

The justification for killing Hen Harriers (left and below), legally or otherwise, is that they eat Red Grouse (main photo). They occasionally do take grouse, but research has shown that the decline in the latter’s preferred habitat is the main culprit for its decline (see bit.ly/ bw266GrouseDecline).

five weeks. I’m really not keen on banning things, but being reasonable with the grouse moor industry hasn’t worked.

There has to come a time when we say “Enough!”, and for me and many others that time has now come.

Grouse shooting is a peculiarly British ‘sport’ which is of little economic importance to this country, and the rest of the world and its wildlife get by perfectly well without it. So can we, and ending it would mean we could have hills richer in wildlife, less damaged by burning, with more open access, storing more carbon in their soils and releasing cleaner water to our rivers in a more controlled way. The more you look, the crazier it seems to allow this unsustainable land use to continue, especially as it is supported with our taxes in a variety of ways.

Signing this e-petition is a way that you can send a strong message to politicians that you want things to be different.

Maybe we will get a ban, maybe we will get something less effective, but make your voice heard and we may get some change for the better. The e-petition will close just after next year’s general election, so there is plenty of time for it to attract more support – please make sure you sign, and ask all your friends to do so, too.

3 A consumer boycott of grouse and the companies associated with them

Ethical Consumer magazine has launched a popular campaign against the grouse industry, to hit it in the pocket. It suggests boycotting hotels, restaurants and businesses associated with grouse shooting. This could work if it gathers enough support.

The report (see bit.ly/bw266EthicalConsumer) is a great analysis of the issues and problems, and contains a mass of good quotes. www.birdwatch.co.uk

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ROBIN CHITTENDEN (WWW.ROBINCHITTENDEN.CO.UK)

ROBIN CHITTENDEN (WWW.ROBINCHITTENDEN.CO.UK)

CONSERVATION

Above: traps baited with poisoned meat, as well as shooting, are the main means of Hen Harrier persecution.

Right: juvenile Hen Harriers are an increasingly rare sight in Britain, with the species failing to breed in England in 2013, while the Scottish Raptor Study Group found that the number of successfully fledged young in Scotland fell from 630 in 2004 to 383 in 2007.

4 ‘For peat’s sake – stop the burn’

The RSPB called for an end to the burning of blanket bogs back in March (see bit.ly/bw266peatburn) and is now asking landowners, including grouse moors and the National Trust, to pledge to stop burning these protected habitats.

It’s not just the Hen Harriers that disappear from English uplands: so do 350,000 tonnes of CO2 each year – the equivalent of 140,000 cars on the road – largely because of the burning of vegetation on upland peatlands, most of it to benefit intensive grouse management.

In the run-up to the opening of the grouse-shooting season on 12 August, more and more people are thinking of it as the ‘Inglorious 12th’. Those who have paid several thousand pounds for their day’s shooting may for some time have had at the back of their minds the thought that their ‘sport’ is tainted by criminal killing of protected species, the massive – though legal – lethal control of predators that are suspected of reducing the grouse ‘bags’, damage to threatened habitats, increased greenhouse gas emissions and more, but this year the public outcry will bring those thoughts further to the fore.

More people than ever are now learning of the unsustainable and downright destructive nature of grouse shooting as a sport and industry. This year, you can do something to help the Hen Harrier. This year, the public has grouse shooting in its sights. ■

WWW.FLPA-IMAGES.CO.UK

TIME TO ACT!

Driven grouse shooting refers to the birds being driven towards the hunters by beaters. The alternative is walked-up shooting, where hunters walk across the moor, often with dogs to flush the birds.

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HELP Hen Harriers by supporting the growing movement for change. It’s easy and costs nothing to join the many who want progress to protect this needlessly threatened British raptor: • Support Hen Harrier Day on 10 August – attend one of the five national events, details of which will be available on www.markavery.info/blog (updated every Monday evening).

• Sign the e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting: http://epetitions.direct.gov. uk/petitions/65627.

• Support the campaign to boycott the grouse industry and hotels, restaurants and businesses associated with it – see bit.ly/ bw266EthicalConsumer for more details. ■ www.birdwatch.co.uk

10/07/2014 13:57

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DELFÍN GONZÁLEZ

This long-staying Grey-headed Gull at Pinto dump, Madrid, between 23 and 29 March 2014 was the third record for mainland Spain, and excited the thoughts of some British birders at the prospect of the species eventually turning up here. It may already have done so ...

Grey-headed Gull: a potential vagrant to Britain?

G

PETER ALFREY

rey-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus) is a patchily distributed resident across much of subSaharan Africa (C c poiocephalus) and parts of eastern South America (C c cirrocephalus), the latter subspecies being colloquially known as ‘Grey-hooded Gull’.

Slightly larger and bulkier than the familiar Black-headed Gull, adults show a distinctive pale grey hood in breeding plumage which, alongside a pale iris, gives a distinct facial impression. In non-breeding plumage, adults assume a typical hooded gull head pattern, while the deep red bill

The presumed Grey-headed Gull at Beddington Farmlands, London, in March 2001 showed the typical upperwing pattern of the species.

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Josh Jones assesses the evidence for a species that has been perhaps all-too-readily dismissed as an escape when seen in Britain. pales but remains dark-tipped. In flight, adults show a distinctive black-and-white wing pattern, with white mirrors on p9 and p10 (the two outermost primaries) contrasting with a largely black wing-tip.

The upperparts are generally a slightly darker grey than in Black-headed Gull.

Identification is a more subtle in juvenile and first-winter plumages; the upperwing pattern is similar to Black-headed Gull but with better-defined white on the outer primaries and an entirely black wing-tip.

The pale iris does not develop until the second winter. As one might expect for an equatorial species breeding at differing times in both hemispheres, moult timing is highly variable.

In South America, the species breeds almost entirely within the southern hemisphere, in Argentina, Peru, Brazil and Uruguay. The African population is primarily tropical, with colonies in Kenya, Uganda, Senegambia and South Africa; crucially, a small population exists as far north as Mauritania.

The species shows a small propensity for roving north of its range, and this article will attempt to establish the history and pattern of this dispersal, and demonstrate its potential vagrancy to Britain.

Western Palearctic records

The species occurs regularly in coastal Mauritania on the extreme edge of the region, where a declining breeding population of 10-50 pairs and 50-200 wintering individuals uses Banc d’Arguin NP. Regional records are sparse away from there, with nine Moroccan occurrences (see opposite). However, these reveal that, while there are only two from Dakhla Bay in southernmost Western Sahara, 280 miles north of Banc d’Arguin, most are from ‘true’ Morocco, with one from Oualidia, a further 775 miles to the north.

These records show that Grey-headed Gull can disperse some distance from its known range, a notion further enhanced by a Canary Islands record, three from peninsular Spain (two within the past year), and others from Gibraltar, Italy, Israel, Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria (see opposite).

The latest Spanish bird was found well inland at a landfill site south of Madrid in late March this year, lingering until at least 4 April. It was among northbound Black-headed Gulls, which commonly winter along the West African coastline south to Nigeria, and this seems the perfect www.birdwatch.co.uk

09/07/2014 09:48

VAGRANCY

STEPHANIE HICKING

CRISTIANO LIUZZI

Italy also scored a Grey-headed Gull, with this second-summer bird being found at Molfetta on the Adriatic coast in October 2012, and again in June 2013.

Right: sketches from Middleton Moor, Derbyshire, of the unringed bird that roamed central England from March to August 1996.

carrier species to Europe. Six of the nine Moroccan records have been between late February and May, coinciding with Black-headed Gull migration. Two further Spanish records come from June, and these birds may also have headed north in spring.

Grey-headed Gull in Britain

The few British records have been firmly embedded within Category E of the British Ornithologists’ Union’s British list as escapes. Grey-headed Gull is relatively common in collections. For example, in the early 1990s, Bourton-on-the-Water bird gardens, Wiltshire, kept around 20 Greyheaded Gulls ,while the Snowdon Aviary at London Zoo still holds a similar number of free-flying, unringed birds.

The first well-documented British record was an adult initially found at Wilstone Res, Hertfordshire, on 10 February 1991, but later seen at Brogborough Lake, Bedfordshire, on 17th, 19th and 20th, before flying off early morning of 21st. The bird’s propensity for roosting on ice during a cold spell made ascertaining a lack of

rings straightforward. Still, in the light of the London Zoo birds, this does not prove a wild origin and the time of year sits at odds with occurrences elsewhere.

However, an unringed adult seen between March and August 1996 would appear to conform much more to an expected pattern of Western Palearctic occurrences. First seen at Ashleworth Ham, Gloucestershire, on 29 March, it relocated north to Bredon’s Hardwick, Worcestershire, on 5-13 April. It was in breeding plumage and arrived with Black-headed Gulls, mirroring the Madrid individual closely. The bird summered in Britain, finally being seen at Middleton Moor, Derbyshire, from 18 July-27 August.

A third possible occurrence in London and the Home Counties involved a bird first seen and photographed at Beddington Farmlands, London, in early March 2001.

Though most of its plumage seemed within range of Grey-headed Gull, a notable discrepancy was the weak colour of the grey ‘hood’, though the dark tip to the bill suggested that the bird was still acquiring

EXTRALIMITAL WESTERN PALEARCTIC RECORDS • 10 May 1947: Aguerguer, Morocco • 1 May 1968: Souss estuary, Morocco • 30 June-15 August 1971: Marismas de Hinojos, Huelva, Spain • 11-15 April 1981: Algeria • 20 July 1988: Tunisia • 28 July-3 August 1988: Tunisia • 17 November 1988: Agadir, Morocco • March-September 1989: Eilat area, Israel (later in Jordan) • 17 Aug 1992: Gibraltar • 6 April 2002: El Gouna golf course, Egypt • 7 December 2003: Dakhla, Morocco www.birdwatch.co.uk

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• 20 February 2004: Massa, Morocco • 2 February 2005: Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands • 4 April 2005: Sidi Moussa-Oualidia, Morocco • 24 October 2006: Massa, Morocco • 19 May 2009: Souss estuary, Morocco • 4 March 2010: Pointe de la Sarga, Dakhla Bay, Morocco • October 2012, then 4 June-late July: Molfetta, Italy • 3 April 2013: north of Eilat, Israel • 11 June 2013: L’Albufera de València, Spain • 23 March-4 April 2014: Madrid, Spain

breeding plumage at the time and hood shade is individually variable. This bird was seen sporadically at Tyttenhanger GP, Hertfordshire, from 27 May until mid-September, reappeared there on 11 November and then at nearby Hilfield Park Reservoir on 9 December. It returned to Beddington between 16 January and 17 May, and there were two reports from Wouldham, Kent, on 16 and 20 May 2002.

Such an extended stay is at odds with the pattern of vagrancy further south in the region, and coupled with the arguably atypical – even possibly hybrid – plumage, this individual was probably an escape.

Conclusion

The 1996 bird conforms much more to the pattern exhibited by vagrants from southern Europe and North Africa, and deserves recognition as a possibly genuine vagrant. Future British records should be assessed with open-mindedness and consideration, particularly in spring and summer.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Peter Alfrey, Richard Baatsen, Steve Blain, Rod Key, Gary Messenbird, Ken Smith, Steve Whitehouse and Barry Wright, Delfín González and Ricard Gutiérrez. ■

Read more online

This is a shortened version of the original article which appeared on BirdGuides.com – read the free-toaccess full-length version, illustrated with many more images and video of the species, at bit.ly/bw266GreyheadedGull.

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11/6/14 09:26:34

09/07/2014 10:59

In association with

Ultravid HD binoculars www.leica-sportoptics.co.uk

IDENTIFICATION

Wood Sandpiper, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs and Greenshank PHOTO GUIDE

STAFFAN RODEBRAND

1

1 From left: first-winter Greater Yellowlegs, first-winter Lesser Yellowlegs and adult winter Greenshank (Terceira, Azores, 31 January 2011).

A rare (possibly unique?) record shot showing the familiar Greenshank with its two New World congeners at that well-known mid-Atlantic meeting point of Palearctic and Nearctic birds, the Azores. In an instant, two things are obvious: the bright mustard-yellow leg colour of the two American species, and the size and structural similarities between Greater Yellowlegs and Greenshank compared to the much smaller and slighter Lesser Yellowlegs.

PROFILE

DOMINIC MITCHELL has written numerous articles and several books on birds, has a keen interest in rarities and ID, and is a member of the Portuguese Rarities Committee.

www.birdwatch.co.uk

1408 p045-052 ID guide FIN.indd 45

At times, bird identification can be complicated by a ‘wildcard’ candidate – something odd or, if you’re lucky, rare – among more familiar species. This month’s line-up ably illustrates that problem in that two of these four waders, Wood Sandpiper and Greenshank, are unlikely ever to be mistaken for each other, but they can be for Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs respectively, while those two American species are also confusable with each other. Dominic Mitchell takes a look at these potentially tricky Tringas.

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IDENTIFICATION

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APO-Televid spotting scopes www.leica-sportoptics.co.uk

BASIC PRINCIPLES

W

ader migration moves up a gear in August. The colourful but increasingly worn-looking adults which began appearing on passage last month are now being joined by the first juveniles of the season at wetlands, coastal marshes and mudflats across the country. Many a productive hour can be spent sifting through such shorebird gatherings, racking up a decent tally of species, distinguishing between different ages and, as birders so often hope, looking for something out of the ordinary. The four suspects in our identification line-up this month are two regular species, both much better known as migrants than breeders, and two ‘outside chances’ from across the pond, one a rare but realistic target, the other a significant rarity of crowdpleasing proportions.

Wood Sandpiper

The great majority of Wood Sandpipers in Britain and Ireland at this time of year will be southbound migrants arriving from Fennoscandia, rather than individuals from the tiny Scottish breeding population. As with other waders, the passage that began with adults in July sees juveniles arriving in increasing numbers during August. Favouring freshwater marshes, this species is never numerous – indeed often decidedly scarce – and always a good ‘patch bird’.

The identification of this species was covered last month in the context of Green and Solitary Sandpipers. Here, particularly for less experienced observers, the potential issue is with Lesser Yellowlegs.

The problem should not be overstated, as not only are both species distinctive when seen well, but Wood Sandpiper is much the more likely of the two to be encountered.

Nonetheless, there is enough 46

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superficial similarity to warrant a confirmatory look when the American species is suspected, if only to rule it out.

In the case of the slightly smaller Wood Sandpiper, the clinching field marks on an autumn individual of any age are the shorter bill, darkcapped appearance created by a pale supercilium clearly extending behind the eye, somewhat truncated look to the rear end and dull greenishyellow legs. Its whistled chiff-if-iff call, typically given in flight, is distinctive once learned, and quite different in tone and delivery from the tew-based notes of the other three species.

Lesser Yellowlegs

A regular transatlantic vagrant, Lesser Yellowlegs averaged some nine records annually in Britain and five or six per year in Ireland in the eight years to 2012. Most occur between August and October and the species is more likely in the west, but the 324 British records fall in all months and are widely scattered. Unusually for a Nearctic shorebird, it occasionally overwinters.

Structurally, Lesser Yellowlegs is a delicate, graceful wader.

Slightly larger than Wood Sandpiper, it looks distinctly longer legged and longer necked, with wing-tips which project beyond the end of the tail at rest. The bill is distinctly longer than Wood Sandpiper’s and rather fine. In shape, the

species may recall the even rarer Marsh Sandpiper more than Wood Sandpiper.

Plumage-wise, the obvious distinction from the latter is the pale supercilium which is restricted to in front of the eye, creating a plainer-headed appearance. The practically all-dark bill (more obviously pale based in Wood Sandpiper) and bright yellow legs are further distinctions from Wood Sandpiper, but it shares the latter with Greater Yellowlegs.

The typical flight call is a clear, ringing tew-tew or tew, not unlike Common Redshank in tone (note that juveniles of that species can also show orangey legs, a pitfall for the unwary).

Greater Yellowlegs

A genuinely rare vagrant, Greater Yellowlegs has reached Britain just 31 times, and there are only 13 Irish records.

Its rarity on this side of the Atlantic is related to a tendency for actively moulting adults to have low fat deposits, meaning estimated flight ranges fall considerably short of a long transatlantic crossing. As with other Nearctic vagrants, most appear in autumn, but like its smaller congener this species has also occurred in winter, and even spring and summer.

As their names indicate, size and structure are key to separating the two yellowlegs.

Size may not be obvious on a lone bird, but structure should be if you are already familiar

READS Shorebirds of the Northern Hemisphere

by Richard Chandler Covering all 134 Palearctic and Nearctic wader species, this is one of the most authoritative photographic guides available. Comprehensively illustrated with more than 850 colour images (up to 19 per species), it focuses primarily on specific and subspecific separation, as well as ageing, to provide a complete identification reference for this often challenging group.

Purchase for just £26.99, or £25.99 to subscribers. RRP £29.99.

To order, see page 77, call 020 8881 0550 or visit the Birdwatch Bookshop at www. birdwatch.co.uk/store.

with the commoner species in this line-up. For Greater Yellowlegs, think Greenshank – this is a similarly large, wellbuilt Tringa with a long, stoutish and subtly upturned bill. Lesser is a visibly more rakish, thinbilled and nimble affair, closer in size to Wood Sandpiper.

There isn’t a great deal to separate the two yellowlegs species in plumage, at any age or time of year. Overall, Greater is often more strongly marked, especially in summer, when the breast may be heavily dark spotted and the flanks obviously barred (few or no flank markings in Lesser).

Similarly, Greater’s secondaries and inner primaries show fine pale spotting, whereas Lesser’s flight feathers are more evenly dark. They further differ in call, Greater sounding very like Greenshank, typically giving a three-note tew-tew-tew call, with the final note(s) often descending in pitch.

Greenshank

The commonest of the four species by far, Greenshank occurs widely on spring and autumn passage in Britain and Ireland, as well as breeding in northern Scotland and wintering in small numbers in the south. It should therefore be familiar in all plumages, in which the rather pale-headed appearance, long, stoutish, upturned bill and greyish-green legs are constant features.

The only confusion species here is likely to be Greater Yellowlegs. Aside from that species’ always brighter and yellower legs, a key plumage difference in flight is the long white triangle extending from the rump up the back of Greenshank – the only species here to show this feature. Its ringing, slightly melancholy tew-tew-tew call tends to have notes of similar pitch, perhaps separable with practice from the lower end note(s) of Greater Yellowlegs. ■ www.birdwatch.co.uk

11/07/2014 14:40

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Ultravid HD binoculars www.leica-sportoptics.co.uk

3

WIL LEURS (WWW.AGAMI.NL)

OLIVER SMART (WWW.SMARTIMAGES.CO.UK)

2

2 Adult summer Wood Sandpiper (Lesvos, Greece, 7 April 2006).

In comparison to the other three species considered here, Wood Sandpiper is a relatively compact wader. The paler-based bill is not especially long and the wing-tips do not project beyond the tail-tip, features which help eliminate the possibility of Lesser Yellowlegs – as indeed do the dull greenish-yellow legs. Note the supercilium extending behind the eye, accentuating this species’ capped appearance.

3 Adult summer Lesser Yellowlegs (Holbox, Mexico, 22 April 2008).

Most Lesser Yellowlegs reaching Europe are juveniles which cross the Atlantic in autumn, and well-marked spring birds like this individual are distinctly rare in Britain and Ireland. Note the ‘random’ black feathering in the upperparts, creating an overall impression rather different to typical breeding-plumaged Wood Sandpiper. The amount of black streaking on the neck and breast is individually variable.

4 Adult summer Greenshank (Lesvos, Greece, 2 April 2007).

Greenshank is at its darkest and most strongly marked in breeding plumage, showing blackish-centred scapulars contrasting with brownishgrey upperparts, and variable black streaking on the neck, breast and mantle. Distinctions from the structurally similar Greater Yellowlegs in this plumage include usually less heavily patterned flanks and lower underparts, and of course the duller greenish legs.

www.birdwatch.co.uk

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5

STUART ELSOM LRPS (WWW.STUARTELSOM.CO.UK)

OLIVER SMART (WWW.SMARTIMAGES.CO.UK)

4

5 Adult summer Greater Yellowlegs (Texas, USA, 10 April 2008).

Breeding-plumaged Greater Yellowlegs is often more heavily marked on the flanks than Lesser. Size may not always be obvious, but bill length is a consistent distinction between these species, being notably longer than head length in Greater, but barely longer than or equal to head length in Lesser. In bill length and in general size and structure, Greater is much closer to Greenshank than it is to Lesser Yellowlegs.

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IDENTIFICATION

In association with

STEVE YOUNG (WWW.BIRDSONFILM.COM)

7

STEVE YOUNG (WWW.BIRDSONFILM.COM)

6

Ultravid compact binoculars www.leica-sportoptics.co.uk

6 Juvenile Wood Sandpiper (Seaforth NNR, Lancashire, 22 August 2006). This pose captures the jizz and structure of this species very well – it’s an elegant but clearly rather compact Tringa. In juveniles the upperparts are heavily marked with distinct warm buff notches and spots, the breast is buffish (becoming whiter as autumn progresses) and the whitish supercilium is prominent and long, extending well behind the eye.

7 Juvenile Lesser Yellowlegs (Lower Moors, Scilly, 8 October 2011).

The upperparts of juvenile ‘Lesser Legs’ are well marked with white spots and notches, but through moult will be noticeably greyer by the year end – this individual has already moulted in a grey first-winter upper scapular feather. Compared to juvenile Wood Sandpiper (left), the head pattern is much plainer, the bill longer and darker, and legs yellower; note also the long wings and more attenuated rear end.

9

STEVE YOUNG (WWW.BIRDSONFILM.COM)

JIM ALMOND (WWW.SHROPSHIREBIRDER.CO.UK)

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8 Juvenile Greenshank (Dungeness RSPB, Kent, 5 September 2008).

In juvenile plumage, Greenshank differs from the other three species considered here by its darker and less patterned upperparts, with pale but plainer fringes to browner feathers creating a more uniform appearance above. The darker-tipped bill of this bird has a bluish tinge, while leg colour can vary from grey-green to almost yellowish, though never approaching the clear, bright yellow of even the dullest yellowlegs.

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9 First-winter Greater Yellowlegs (Hauxley, Northumberland, 17 November 2011). This young bird is already well advanced into its first moult, having replaced first-generation juvenile scapulars with the plainer, greyer feathers of first-winter plumage – note the contrast with the more boldly marked juvenile wing coverts and tertials. The long, gently upturned bill with an obviously paler base is a sound distinction from Lesser Yellowlegs in the same plumage.

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RÓNÁN MCLAUGHLIN

RAFAEL ARMADA (WWW.RAFAELARMADA.NET)

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12 Adult winter Greenshank (St Mary’s, Scilly, 17 October 2007).

Compare this bird to the breeding adult in photo 4, and the differences are striking. Non-breeding adult Greenshanks are a near-monochrome mixture of white, pale grey and brownish-grey – visibly paler than both yellowlegs species at the same time of year – and they can look very ‘washed out’ as winter progresses and plumage fades. Compare the pattern of the upperparts feathers to the juvenile in photo 8.

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MARTIN SMART

11 Juvenile/first-winter Lesser Yellowlegs (Dungarvan, Co Waterford, 22 November 2009). Virtually all Lesser Yellowlegs seen in Britain and Ireland in late autumn and winter are juvenile/first-winter birds, and adults seem to be exceptional after September – perhaps they simply keep on migrating. First-winters are plainer and greyer above than juveniles and resemble non-breeding adults, but on good views are separable by their more heavily spotted and worn retained juvenile wing coverts.

ASHLEY GROVE

10 Adult Wood Sandpiper (Ebro Delta, Spain, 31 August 2013).

After the breeding season, adult Wood Sandpipers look less striking, with plainer brownish upperparts showing reduced pale spotting and dark markings. The brown cap, pale supercilium and dark stripe through the eye are distinct, and the breast is washed pale greybrown. Note the greenish base to the medium-length bill, and quite long olive-green legs.

13 Adult winter Greater Yellowlegs (Vancouver, Canada, 10 October 2006). Non-breeding adult Greaters are plainer and greyer than juveniles, with feathers on the upperparts showing smaller pale and dark marks along the fringes. Leg colour is an obvious distinction from Greenshank, but winter birds are also more uniformly grey on the head and neck than that species, lacking its paler and often somewhat white-faced appearance.

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IDENTIFICATION

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PAUL SAWER

OLIVER SMART (WWW.SMARTIMAGES.CO.UK)

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Ultravid HD binoculars www.leica-sportoptics.co.uk

15 First-winter Lesser Yellowlegs (Thornham Quay, Norfolk, 4 February 2007). Vagrants like this well-watched bird occasionally appear in winter. In fact, this individual followed another in the county that spent seven months in residence at Stiffkey Fen, providing ample opportunity to study the progression from juvenile plumage through its first winter to almost first-summer plumage between midSeptember 2004 and late April 2005.

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JULIAN HOUGH

MARKUS VARESVUO (WWW.BIRDPHOTO.FI)

14 Juvenile Wood Sandpiper (Sudbourne Marshes, Suffolk, 29 July 2013). Individual variation sometimes produces birds that are not entirely typical in their appearance, and this should always be borne in mind. Unlike most juvenile Wood Sandpipers, this bird has a surprisingly Lesser Yellowlegs-like head pattern with a less pronounced eyestripe and ‘cap’. Note the light greenish legs, an obvious distinction from that species (though some are significantly more yellow than this).

16 Greenshank (Falsterbo, Sweden, 29 September 2005). Although there’s less to work with on an underside view, the long, bicoloured and stout-based bill, heavy-looking body and yellowy-green legs all add up to Greenshank. Ageing this bird may be inadvisable without a good look at the upperparts, but juvenile Greenshanks have slightly heavier streaking on the head and neck, and are a little darker than non-breeding adults, which often look very pale grey in these areas.

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17 First-winter Greater Yellowlegs (Connecticut, USA, 7 November 2004). Claiming a vagrant fly-over Greater Yellowlegs on a view like this is far from ideal, and any such claim should be supported by photos.

Visible clues include the structure, length and colour of the bill (though the angle, and thus the length, is slightly deceptive), and the legs (yellow, but partly in shadow so appearing dull here). Note that only the feet, and not the legs, project beyond the tail-tip.

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JULIAN HOUGH

DOUGLAS MCFARLANE

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20 Juvenile Greenshank (Falsterbo, Sweden, 5 September 2010).

Greenshank is very distinctive in flight, with a conspicuous white triangular ‘wedge’ extending up the back from the white rump. Coupled with the pale-looking tail, here showing minimal central barring, this species always looks more white in flight than the others featured here. The long bill and greenish feet projecting beyond the tail-tip create a similar in-flight profile to Greater Yellowlegs (compare right).

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JULIAN HOUGH

19 Juvenile Lesser Yellowlegs (New York, USA, 12 August 2006).

The plain wings, white rump and long, bright yellow legs immediately shout ‘yellowlegs!’, but which one? Lesser and Greater look similar in flight, but Lesser’s toes project slightly further beyond the tail-tip, resulting in a little tarsus also showing (even if this is difficult to register in the field); more usefully, total foot projection beyond the tail-tip is about the same as bill length in Lesser, but distinctly less so in Greater.

STEVE YOUNG (WWW.BIRDSONFILM.COM)

18 Wood Sandpiper (Summer Leys, Northamptonshire, 30 April 2011).

Separating this species from Lesser Yellowlegs is straightforward if seen well on the ground, but what about in flight? A bird on the wing is more challenging, with both species being plain winged and having square white rump patches, diffusely barred tails and yellow legs. Structural differences are not always easy to determine on flying birds, but note the shorter bill and more obvious supercilium and ‘cap’ of this Wood Sandpiper.

21 Adult Greater Yellowlegs (Connecticut, USA, 23 August 2009).

This bird is in heavy moult. The overall impression in flight is like Lesser Yellowlegs, with a similar plumage pattern, and it may be difficult to appreciate size on a lone bird. However, note the longer bill relative to toe projection beyond the tail-tip. Greater Yellowlegs also has more coarsely marked flight feathers, but this may be of limited use unless the bird is giving good, close views.

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IDENTIFICATION

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?

Quiz bird

AUTUMN is here, and so are waders. You’re way out west, hoping to find something interesting, and stop to check some flooded fields near the coast. A scan seems to reveal little more than the expected species at this time of year, but then, as if from nowhere, you notice an elegant Tringa at the back of the field. The legs are partly obscured, and you trawl your memory for recollections of the differences between the potential candidates. Can you successfully work out which species it is?

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ENTERE ONLIN

How to enter Once you think you’ve identified it correctly, let us know the identity of this quiz bird by going to bit.ly/bw266Tringa by 8 August 2014. The answer will be available online at www.birdwatch.co.uk/win from 11 August 2014, and the first randomly chosen reader with the correct answer will win a copy of Frontiers in Birding by Martin Garner and friends (BirdGuides, 2009). ■

Where to watch Tringas THESE four Tringa species can turn up in suitable habitat almost anywhere, with Greenshank easily the most widespread, Wood Sandpiper the next most frequent (albeit with an easterly bias), and the two American species most expected (though never predictable) in the west.

Lesser Yellowlegs reaches Britain in almost double figures each year, and is a regular (though rarer) vagrant to Ireland. Records mainly fall in mid-late autumn, but on occasion the species overwinters, and there are rare spring and summer appearances. The same general pattern also applies to Greater Yellowlegs, but it is far rarer, so finding your own would be a real rarity scalp.

Heading to Cornwall or pioneering the wilder western reaches of

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Scotland and Ireland could repay the effort for the chance of one of the American species. As always, keep an eye on BirdGuides (www. birdguides.com) for relevant reports, or even news of other Nearctic waders – any such arrival brings the potential for discovery. ■

Acknowledgements Many thanks to Killian Mullarney for reviewing and commenting on a draft of this article.

REFERENCES

• Chandler, R. 2009. Shorebirds of the Northern Hemisphere. Christopher Helm, London.

• Cramp, S, and Simmons, K E L (eds). 1983. The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Volume III. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

• Hayman, P, Marchant, J, and Prater, T. 1986. Shorebirds: an Identification Guide to the Waders of the World. Croom Helm, London.

• Paulson, D. 2005. Shorebirds of North America. The Photographic Guide.

Christopher Helm, London.

STAFFAN RODEBRAND

Birdwatch has gone digital!

22 First-winter Greater Yellowlegs (left) and Lesser Yellowlegs (Terceira, Azores, 31 January 2011). When together, the difference in size between these two species becomes obvious. Lesser Yellowlegs stands about two-thirds as high as Greater, but is only half the bulk.

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MIGRATION

Long-haul wanderers Between late summer and late autumn, the biggest wader movements of the year take place as wetlands and coasts play host to huge transient populations of passage shorebirds. David Callahan relates their different migration strategies and survival tactics.

RENÉ POP (WWW.RENEPOP.NL/EN)

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s late summer waters recede, the expanses of mud and sand exposed in both freshwater and saline environments begin to attract a greater number and variety of waders.

But closer examination of the birds reveals that different ages arrive at different times, and that sometimes even the genders show a separate dispersal and migration strategy. And what of the scarce and rare species, and even subspecies? Why do some occur here from seemingly far away, while other species that inhabit breeding ranges much closer turn up hardly ever, if at all?

The dynamic interactions within each species’ migration strategy – that is, how it gets to its destination while keeping in good health – and the sometimes seemingly random influences of genetics, instinct, social interactions, wind, weather, climate and landscape all control

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where each individual ends up. The closer one looks, the more detailed and complex each species’ story gets. Dunlin reliably arrive in their tens of thousands, but are they north-west European schinzii or north Eurasian alpina? And could one be an American hudsonia? Why have Italy and Finland had records of the common American coastal wader Willet, whereas the Atlantic-facing coasts of Britain and Ireland have had none? Furthermore, why are common east Asian species like Red-necked Stint and Great Knot so rare here, while American colonist species from nearby breeding grounds, such as Whiterumped and Pectoral Sandpipers, seen annually? Answers to these questions are partly conjecture, but we know enough to suggest some solutions, and here we’ll take the examples of individual species to demonstrate their idiosyncratic takes on how to survive the endurance course of

Dunlin (smaller birds) and Knot (Griend, The Netherlands, 26 April 2008). Western Europe’s two most numerous migrant and wintering waders conceal variation within their massed ranks. Both are found across the Holarctic in distinct sub-Arctic breeding populations which have their own discrete wintering grounds.

Nevertheless, the three European subspecies of Dunlin occur together on migration in Britain, but the two Knot subspecies known to occur are more difficult to discern from each other.

migration, as well as how and why they may turn up here in the way that they do.

Flyways

In a global context, wader migration largely takes place along major flyways, and in the biogeographical region of the Western Palearctic, there are three main routes which overlap at their somewhat vague boundaries: the East Atlantic Flyway, which draws birds from western Siberia across to north-eastern Canada and funnels them down through Britain Birdwatch•August 2014

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STEVE ARLOW (WWW.BIRDERSPLAYGROUND.CO.UK)

HELEN CHARLESWORTH (WWW.WILDLIFE-FILMS.COM)

MIGRATION

Great Snipe (Kilnsea, East Yorkshire, 15 September 2013). Great Snipe hit the birding headlines when migrating birds fitted with geolocaters were logged at non-stop speeds of 44 mph for up to 4,225 miles. Its summer range in northern Scandinavia and Russia hitherto implied that it might be more regular here, but such migratory determination and lengthy flights now indicate why it remains rare; cryptic behaviour and camouflage also keep birds hidden, but this famously confiding Yorkshire individual was an exception to the rule.

Broad-billed Sandpiper (Broadford Bay, Highland, 13 May 2010).

Despite its breeding presence in northern Fennoscandia, there are fewer than 220 accepted records of this species in Britain and Ireland.

This must be due to the bias in its migration route – many European individuals winter in East Africa and the Middle East, not south-west Europe or West Africa as might be expected.

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In Britain, the climate is slightly warmer on average than continental Europe and the Baltic coasts due to the influence of the North Atlantic Drift current, and this means that several species that might otherwise winter in the Mediterranean and Africa linger around our shores, when they are absent from most of the rest of the Western Palearctic. Species such as Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Northern Lapwing, Common Redshank, Eurasian Curlew, Common and Green

MARKUS VARESVUO (WWW.BIRDPHOTO.FI)

of waders such as the Central Asia, East Asia/Australia, Pacific Americas, Mississippi Americas and Atlantic Americas Flyways, all of which have potential to interact and exchange birds with their neighbours, just like the Western Palearctic flyways. However, in general, most waders are genetically pre-programmed to take their traditional ‘global route’, and are further encouraged to do so by the ‘peer pressure’ of the mass movements of their conspecific flocks.

MARTIN BENSON

and along the coasts of Iberia, and extends as far south as South Africa; the Black Sea/Mediterranean Flyway, which carries birds from north-eastern Europe and western Russia in a broad front across eastern Europe and the Middle East to Central and West Africa; and the East Africa/West Asia Flyway, which does as its name describes, but stretches as far as South Africa, too.

Influencing the fringes of these main thrusts are other routes for millions

Wilson’s Snipe (St Mary’s, Scilly, 22 October 2007). A cryptic American species, formerly considered conspecific with Common Snipe, this was a long-expected transatlantic vagrant before its ID criteria were fully worked out. Like its close relative it is fairly universal across its home continent. In spring males arrive first on the breeding grounds by about 10 days, but adults migrate gregariously in autumn, followed by juveniles a month or so later, as with many waders.

Curlew Sandpiper (Hanko, Finland, 19 September 2004). The intercontinental route that Curlew Sandpiper takes from northern Russia to the coastlines of Africa, Asia and Australasia means that it is a regular and sometimes numerous passage migrant in Europe, though Britain is on the periphery of its migration path. In autumn, adult males migrate first, females a month later, and juveniles follow four to six weeks after that.

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JIM ALMOND (WWW.SHROPSHIREBIRDER.CO.UK)

JAMES GILROY

Great Knot (Chukotka, Russia, 11 June 2007). Having a more easterly range than Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Great Knot is consequently far rarer on these shores, with just four records, and much wanted by many British birders. The nominate subspecies of Knot overlaps with Great Knot in range and could conceivably be a ‘carrier species’, though that population winters mostly in Australasia.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Tacumshin, Co Wexford, 30 August 2011).

This species has a limited breeding range in northern Siberia, wintering in Australasia, but has managed to notch up 41 records in Britain and Ireland.

Most British records are of adults – this is presumably because juveniles migrate east to Alaska before crossing the Pacific, whereas adults head southwards in autumn, allowing lost birds to wander west more easily.

However, both get lost and turn up in Britain almost annually. Green and Wood Sandpipers, though much commoner and with a more westerly bias to their ranges, frequent many of the same geographical areas and habitats, but occur here exponentially more regularly, using the East Atlantic Flyway. All four species migrate in small groups or even on their own, and use largely freshwater or brackish stopover sites.

DOMINIC MITCHELL (WWW.BIRDINGETC.COM)

tops, along with marsh, steppe, bog, taiga and tundra habitats. Terek and Broad-billed Sandpipers are somewhat marginal breeders in Europe, but widely distributed in northern Russia and Asia. In terms of their more westerly populations, the former generally uses the East Africa/West Asia Flyway from the northern Russian expanses, while the latter follows the Black Sea/ Mediterranean route from its breeding grounds in eastern Fennoscandia.

PAUL AND ANDREA KELLY (WWW.IRISHBIRDIMAGES.COM)

Sandpipers, Woodcock and Common Snipe are present all year here and on the near-Continent, despite usually wintering further south. However, this presence still conceals population movements, and the individual birds that breed here tend to move south while birds from northerly latitudes are the ones we see on our local patches in mid-winter.

Most of the European wader species concentrate their breeding efforts to the north, on mountain and hill

Baird’s Sandpiper (Marazion, Cornwall, 17 September 2009). Not just similar in form to White-rumped, Baird’s Sandpiper also shares most of its breeding range in Arctic Canada and Alaska with that species, too. Despite this, there are far fewer records from Britain and Ireland (and, indeed, Western Europe), doubtless due to the western bias in its migration routes to its southern South American winter range.

Semipalmated Plover (São Miguel, Azores, 10 October 2007). This cryptic plover has now racked up eight records in Britain and Ireland, all bar one on the western coasts, and is annual in the Azores in numbers. Its occurrence there is logical for a common species that breeds in the Canadian tundra and taiga and winters south to Tierra del Fuego. If it was not so similar to Ringed Plover, there might be many more records from Britain and Ireland.

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TONY MILLS (WWW.NOTJUSTBIRDS.COM)

STEVE YOUNG (WWW.BIRDSONFILM.COM)

MIGRATION

Juvenile Spotted Sandpiper (Hayle Estuary RSPB, Cornwall, 10 March 2007). This American equivalent of Common Sandpiper is fairly ubiquitous in freshwater habitats across that continent, summering throughout temperate and boreal North America, and wintering from the southern US to South America. Records from Greenland and Iceland suggest a direct route to western European shores, but it is also regular in the Azores.

whole, their shells crushed by the birds’ muscular gizzards. When there is a long period between readily available food sources, the gizzard muscles waste away to save on weight and make the bird more streamlined. These adaptations make them vulnerable to changing sea levels and distribution and population changes in their prey species.

Interestingly, some Knot subspecies have very distinct migration strategies.

Two of these occur in our region,

RICHARD BONSER

However, it is the sheer numbers of the coastal wader species that impress us and define what we think of as the major flyway routes. And yet these innumerable waves also hide many secrets and variations.

Knot fly between 3,000 and 10,000 miles from their High Arctic breeding grounds to their winter quarters, gulping down shellfish at estuarine stopover sites on the way. The molluscs are swallowed

Juvenile Western Sandpiper (Terceira, Azores, 2 September 2009).

Its High Arctic breeding range is largely restricted to Alaska, but this diminutive calidrid still makes it to the Western Palearctic every few years or so. It makes a lengthy cross-country journey partly south-east to the east coast, and its occasional vagrancy seems easy to explain in this context, particularly as it mingles with Dunlin and Semipalmated Sandpiper on the way.

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primarily on northern and western coasts, with islandica (breeding in northern Canada and Greenland) migrating via Iceland to winter chiefly Britain and Ireland (some as far south as Iberia), and canutus (breeding in north-central Siberia, occasionally west to Svalbard) staging in the Dutch Wadden Sea and wintering in Morocco and especially northern Mauritania. Some canutus also migrate via the Black Sea to the Mediterranean basin, or head directly overland.

DOMINIC MITCHELL (WWW.BIRDINGETC.COM)

Subspecific strategy

Upland Sandpiper (St Mary’s, Scilly, 17 October 2011). Despite being almost exclusively an inland species in North America, Upland Sandpiper has been virtually annual in Britain for the last 10 years. It is, however, a long-distance migrant to South America, which may well allow it the time and space to get lost or be blown off course – and it is perhaps the increasing storms on the east coast of America that have made it more regular here.

Juvenile White-rumped Sandpiper (São Miguel, Azores, 10 October 2012). Another High Arctic breeder, this species is suspected of having nested in north-eastern Eurasia. It occurs annually in Britain, but its lengthy migration in huge numbers from as far east as Baffin Island, Canada, to southern South America helps account for Western Palearctic records – in fact the species is regular in numbers in the Azores.

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JULIAN HOUGH

MELVIN GREY

Snowy Plover (Florida, USA, 22 April 2006). This recently split US equivalent of Kentish Plover breeds inland and migrates to both east and west coasts to winter, as well as breeding in the Gulf of Mexico and Florida. Birders have suspected that the species could turn up in the Western Palearctic, but as yet none has been confirmed – perhaps not least because it is very scarce anywhere on the east coast.

and these are more frequent on our shores.

The flyways are seasonal and landscape-shaped streams of millions of mobile birds, with flexibility and adaptability in their routes. In staggering feats of endurance, some species will fly non-stop all the way to their winter destinations, while others will use plenty of food-rich stopovers on their way, once the imperative of reproduction has been dealt with. Their movements, documented from ringing

GARY THOBURN

Dunlin also has several subspecies-level populations, but within those there is again much variation in migration strategy. The subspecies alpina is found frequently in Britain, but mostly uses the Wadden Sea as its main staging post. Birds passing through in April are Scandinavian breeders, which tend not have accumulated excess weight, having a shorter distance to travel – these are less numerous in Britain; substantially fatter birds of the same subspecies pass through in May, destined to nest in Siberia,

Willet (Connecticut, USA, 20 June 2008). Willet’s 13 occurrences in the Western Palearctic include records from Portugal, France, Italy and Finland, but none from Britain and Ireland. Perhaps less surprisingly, there have been six Azorean records, but Continental European sightings have included both the eastern and (potentially splittable) western subspecies. Some western birds winter on the east US coast, and may well be overshooting.

Juvenile Short-billed Dowitcher (Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset, 22 September 2012). A well-known discrepancy is the small number of records of this common east coast American species in Britain, compared with the annual occurrences of the similar Long-billed Dowitcher. The latter has a smaller but more northerly American breeding range, migrates later and winters more frequently inland, and is seemingly less likely to reach Europe. Its High Arctic origins may make it more likely to overshoot, or perhaps some birds reaching Western Europe originate from the north-east Siberian breeding population.

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recoveries and now satellite imaging and radio-tracking, are dynamic and changeable and reveal much about their lifestyles, as well as why oddities turn up as vagrants, way off course.

The flyways described are not immutable. Changes to both climate and habitat mean that each is geographically mobile through time, and the effects of this become noticeable even during our lifetimes.

The vast weight of recent research indicates that as the world’s average climate increases, exacerbated by the influence of the by-products of our fossil fuel-driven lifestyles, so the wintering grounds of migrating waders have shifted north-east in the Old World part of the Atlantic. Several recent studies have demonstrated that waders are shifting northwards across their winter ranges from the Tropics to Europe, as the changing climate forces ecosystems themselves closer to the North Pole.

This is a rapid change, but we don’t yet know what effect it will have on wader populations as they are forced to feed in what may be suboptimal locations – will they be able to adapt and survive? While we may see a change in the numbers and species of scarcity and rarity that occur here, this is a minor symptom of the greater transformation that is occurring in the world. Waders are the litmus paper of migrants, indicators that let us know how harsh the environment may soon become for both the birds and ourselves. ■ Birdwatch•August 2014

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IN THE FIELD

Caucasian encounters

Tom Bedford was lucky enough to be able to capture a rare image of a female Caucasian Grouse on a visit to the mountains of Georgia.

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late April this year. Although I was keen to see the species, I had no expectations of a close encounter. I had seen three or four displaying males on the grassy slopes high above Kazbegi, but always at long distance. The morning of 30 April found me beginning the strenuous climb above Kazbegi and onto the lower slopes of the 5,047 m Mount Kazbek.

Two seasonally accessible paths head up the mountain from the town: a summer path that runs through a hanging valley and a winter path on the ridge of a large gorge. I took the more northerly winter path, which runs alongside birch woods before rising above the tree line.

As I worked my way up the ridge, I left the trees below me and entered the open grassland, typical of alpine pasture, at about 2,400 m. I was gasping for air as I completed the first steep section when a small movement in the grass to my left, immediately next to the path, caught my eye. Quickly raising my camera, I was staggered to find myself looking at a female Caucasian Grouse, only a few metres away. I waited for the bird to explode into the sky, but it remained

Above: Trinity Church above the town of Kazbegi marks the start of both seasonally accessible paths into Caucasian Grouse territory.

Left: Tom managed to take one of the very few recent images of the female of this rangerestricted species.

stationary. I took a few pictures, but still the bird did not fly. I dropped down, moved slightly around in front of it and managed to get a few more photos through the grass. Only then did the bird fly, almost flipping backwards into the air before rising vertically, fast and away.

In the next 250 m of the track I flushed a further three female Caucasian Grouse, all of which rose at some 20-30 m distance. Perhaps this was a gathering of females near a lek site? I doubt that the bird I photographed was nesting or incubating, as the site was right next to one of only two tracks up the mountain which receives daily visitors, even this early in the season; I suspect it was simply momentarily confined by vegetation when I disturbed it. The images are not perfect, as they are taken through much vegetation. However, I consider myself very fortunate to have had such stunning close views of this shy and little-known high-altitude species. â–

LARS PETERSSON (WWW.LARSFOTO.SE)

ALL PHOTOS TOM BEDFORD UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED

aucasian Grouse is one of the iconic species of the Greater Caucasus mountains, particularly now that BirdLife International has reclassified the species as Near Threatened, due to pressure from habitat destruction, hunting and predation of chicks by domestic dogs.

The species breeds at high altitudes, sometimes more than 3,000 m. In winter, heavy snow may force some individuals down to lower altitudes, but they are rarely seen below 1,500 m. In spring, males form communal leks high up on the grassy slopes of the mountains, but achieving good views is difficult as the species is notoriously shy.

Most visiting birders have to be satisfied with long-distance scope views from the valley bottom of male birds high up at a lek, or rely on flushing a bird from underfoot. Seeing females is even more challenging, as they are not as visible at leks and their camouflaged plumage can make picking them out in vegetation very difficult. Indeed, very few photographs of female Caucasian Grouse appear to exist at all.

I visited Kazbegi in northern Georgia in

The lekking of male Caucasian Grouse is perhaps the most sought-after view of this hard-to-get species, closely related to our own Black Grouse. However, the secretiveness and camouflaged plumage of the female means that there are far fewer images available of birds of that gender.

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Some stamina is needed to endure the hike to see Caucasian specialities in the region, but there is also impressive scenery as a reward.

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WORLD OF BIRDS

JAMES LOWEN

More than meets the eye When you think of Lanzarote, cheap package holidays and boozy Britons might come to mind, but think again and you’ll find a Canarian birding paradise, with rare bustards, endemic subspecies and stunning seabirds, says James Lowen.

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nder the wan winter sun, what appears to be a gigantic ball of cotton wool is being flung from one side of a sparsely vegetated, gently sloping plain to the other. Looking through binoculars, you realise that the cotton ball is ruffed with black and supported by two sturdy legs. Legs that are fairly sprinting for two score metres, before

zigzagging off in another direction. It looks for all the world like a headless chicken, dementedly refusing to concede that its life is expiring. Welcome to the display – marvellous and mad in equal measure – of the male Houbara Bustard.

This rare bustard has declined considerably across its range and is considered

threatened with global extinction.

To see it in the Western Palearctic, your best chance is on the Canaries, the Spanish islands hovering off the Moroccan coast. Most birders try Fuerteventura, attracted as much by seeing Canary Islands Chat, a singleisland endemic. But most find the bustard elusive or even absent – more Houdini than Houbara.

On the sister island of Lanzarote,

JAMES LOWEN

These flat, semi-arid habitats are typical of this easternmost of the Canary Islands, and ideal for specialities such as Houbara Bustard, Cream-coloured Courser and Stone-curlew – the two Canary subspecies of which have recently been mooted jointly as a potential split.

www.birdwatch.co.uk

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Top: Lanzarote is probably the easiest place in the world to see Houbara Bustard.

The species is represented in the Canary Islands by the insular endemic subspecies fuertaventurae.

Birdwatch•August 2014

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09/07/2014 09:52

JAMES LOWEN

ALICK SIMMONS

WORLD OF BIRDS

Berthelot’s Pipit is endemic to both the Canaries and Madeira to the north, and inhabits open country like most of its congeners. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, it is believed to be most closely related to Meadow Pipit.

however, it’s a different story. On this easternmost, volcanic member of the archipelago, Houbara Bustard can be embarrassingly easy to encounter.

There is no better place to marvel at one of the avian world’s daftest displays.

Bagging the bustard is reason enough to visit Lanzarote, but this isle offers much much more.

Lanzarote proposes the Western Palearctic’s most exciting pelagic trips, packed with rare seabirds. The region’s

JAMES LOWEN

Southern Grey Shrike is split into three separate species by some authorities, making the Canary Islands subspecies, koenigi, part of ‘Desert Grey Shrike’. It is common on Lanzarote.

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One of the most desired bird for visitors isn’t an endemic at all, but the charismatic and curious dry land wader, Cream-coloured Courser; parties of the species can be fairly easily seen on the lowland plains.

only breeding Red-billed Tropicbirds away from Cape Verde were recently discovered. A cracking suite of desert specialities complement the Houbaras.

During passage periods, low observer coverage means there is ample opportunity for discovering your own rarities far from the madding crowd: from Asian sprites to American shorebirds. All on a starkly beautiful island that basks under yearround sun. ‘Lanza-grotty’ this island is definitively not.

Begin with the bustard

Let’s start by homing in on the Houbaras and their desert-dwelling companions. This is not ‘desert’ as in Saharan sands, but rather arid stony plains with scattered bushes and inclines undulating unto the horizon. Three good sites are El Rubicon (regrettably pressurised by the expansion of the southern tourist resort of Playa Blanca), Guatiza (in the north-east) and El Jable. The last site hosts the largest and highest-quality plains, which stretch north from the charming town of Teguise towards Munique and Sôo, then on towards Famara. Explore along the myriad of dirt tracks and keep alert: no two mornings are ever the same.

Houbaras are widespread here; it is not uncommon to see groups. For optimum views, stay in your car and be patient; birds typically wander within 50 m, oblivious to their human admirers, before dissipating into the thorny scrub. Cream-coloured Coursers – delectable, charismatic creatures – race across the bare ground. The regionally endemic (and genetically isolated) subspecies of Eurasian Stone-curlew is common and confiding; sadly, perhaps too confiding, as many end their existence as roadkill.

The supporting cast to this trio of desert delights are stars in their own right. In almost any open terrain – from stony plains to peri-urban www.birdwatch.co.uk

09/07/2014 09:53

❝

Trumpeter Finches perpetually enthral, while Lesser Short-toed Larks provide in-flight acoustic entertainment.

❞

JAMES LOWEN

Exotic-looking Trumpeter Finches are easily located in Timanafaya National Park, uttering their bugling calls and drinking at small pools, to which other interesting species are also attracted.

Lesser Short-toed Lark is another bird with an endemic subspecies on the Canaries; polatzeki is confined to the eastern islands, including Lanzarote.

wasteground, bar the ancient lava flows of Timanfaya National Park – you should find an impressive sextet.

Trumpeter Finches, with bugling calls and rosy bills, perpetually enthral, while Lesser Short-toed Larks provide in-flight acoustic entertainment. Endemic to Macaronesia (the more formal name for the sub-tropical islands of the northeast Atlantic), Berthelot’s Pipits stride boldly, the size of a Meadow Pipit but with the attitude of a Richard’s Pipit.

Linnet and Kestrel provide taxonomic interest, as the relevant subspecies are locally endemic. Another embodies a taxonomic conundrum: is Southern Grey Shrike really a separate species to Great Grey Shrike? Whatever, they are striking, fearless birds.

For an island renowned for moon-like landscape, Lanzarote has a surprising amount of plantlife. This is provided in two contrasting ways. Natural vegetation – predominantly spurge, cacti-like euphorbias and palm – is most verdant north of Haría, particularly in valleys along hairpin roads. Here, Spectacled Warblers skulk and scold, and Hoopoes butterfly past. This is the prime site for Atlantic Canary away from its core range of the western part of the archipelago.

Haría east to the coast at Los Jameos de Agua is also the most likely area to encounter another local speciality.

Initially, this appears reassuringly familiar, but is actually disconcertingly different. African Blue Tit was long considered a subspecies of European Blue Tit, that perennial favourite.

Recently, however, taxonomists have allocated it species status. African Blue Tit is daintier and more dapper than its European counterpart, with a more contrasting head pattern, dark blue crown and royal blue mantle. Definitely one to track down.

JAMES LOWEN

Migrant magnet

If you are desperate for further greenery, visit tracts of a somewhat less natural vegetation than that decorating north-east Lanzarote. Elsewhere on the island, the main plantlife is found on golf courses and in hotel gardens.

Locations worth avoiding, a birder might think, but on such a desiccated isle the combination of fresh water and cover serves as a magnet for migrants.

Should you aspire to find a rarity other than a shorebird, spend a morning with binoculars rather than a nine-iron at Tachiche and Tías golf courses. Staff are usually amenable to those who ask

www.birdwatch.co.uk Birdwatch•August 2014

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65

09/07/2014 09:53

WORLD OF BIRDS

PHOTOS: RICHARD BONSER

Above: waters near Lanzarote are one of the best places in the region to see the almost mythical White-faced Storm-petrel, but you’re most likely to have to charter a pelagic to be in with a chance.

Left: pelagics from the island are also likely to give you a reasonable opportunity to see Wilson’s Storm-petrel at the right time of year – the species is easier to see in the Canaries than in Britain.

permission to enter.

Red-throated Pipit is regular in winter, with Tawny and Tree Pipits in spring.

Yellow Wagtails in a variety of guises sprint along greens, and Citrine has been recorded. Golden Orioles pass through, while other oddities include Squacco Heron, Red-footed Falcon, European Scops Owl and Collared Pratincole. Even Yellow-browed Warblers have reached this far. If there are no migrants around other than wintering Common Chiffchaff, Redwing and Song Thrush, fret not – there are resident birds here as well, most notably the sought-after Barbary Partridge (impressively common), Laughing Dove and Spectacled Warbler. Keep an eye on the sky: Barbary Falcon (year round) and Eleonora’s Falcon (summer) can occur anywhere on the island, though the north – particularly the cliffs of La Caleta de Famara – is optimum.

Shorebirds provide another opportunity to find your own scarcity.

Four sites are particularly good. North of Tindaya, the creeks by the islet of La Santa hold Eurasian Whimbrel, Turnstone, Kentish and Ringed Plovers, together with regular Spoonbill. The beach, reef and rocky shores around Arrecife, the island’s capital, are good for waders – but even better for gulls and terns; alumni include Audouin’s and Ring-billed Gulls plus Whiskered and Roseate Terns. On the east coast south of Guatiza, some birders rave about the saltpans at Los Cocoteros, which have attracted American rarities such as Lesser Yellowlegs and White-rumped Sandpiper. Top of the wader pops, 66

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however, are the Salinas de Janubio, a conveniently short drive north of Playa Blanca.

Here, saltpans, tidal lagoon and a rocky coastline hold resident Blackwinged Stilt and Kentish Plover.

Common migrant waders include Greenshank, Common Redshank, Turnstone, Common Sandpiper and Grey and Ringed Plovers. These serve as the backdrop to a decent cast list of rarities. One lucky British birder even found Baird’s and Semipalmated Sandpipers in successive days in spring – think what comprehensive coverage might turn up! While you are at it, check the water as well as the shoreline.

Small numbers of Black-necked Grebe are regular, as are the odd Ruddy Shelduck and Greater Flamingo.

On the waterfront

Finally, there are the seabirds: for land-based seawatching, with respectable-looking Rock Doves at your back, try western headlands such as Hoyo Azul, Caleta Negra or Punta Pechiguera. Cory’s Shearwaters stream past endlessly, with Northern Gannet brought in by onshore winds. From spring to autumn, Bulwer’s Petrel can be seen with relative ease, and even the declining Barolo Shearwater is possible.

In recent years, Red-billed Tropicbirds have circulated around the Lanzarote coast, notably in Puerto del Carmen harbour and – remarkably – breeding on cliffs near Órzola.

This picturesque port is the embarkation point for the ferry to the island of Graciosa. It is also the

departure point for the pioneering pelagics of recent years to the Banco de Concepción. This seamount rises from 2,500 m depth to within 200 m of the surface and is accompanied by an upwelling of cold, nutrient-packed water. Buoyed by their voyages of discovery, Spanish birding company Lanzarote Pelagics now runs two-night charters a few times each summer and autumn. A typical trip list is nothing less than spectacular.

Once the chum is afloat, flocks of Cory’s and Great Shearwaters surround the boat. There are storm-petrels from both the summer-breeding Madeiran Storm-petrel and winter-breeding Grant’s Storm-petrel populations.

There is no better place in the region to see the delightful White-faced StormPetrel, and there are Wilson’s StormPetrels and Bulwer’s Petrels by the bucketload. Scarcer are Sabine’s Gull and Barolo Shearwater. The highlights can be true regional rarities: South Polar Skua and Black-bellied Stormpetrel from the Southern Hemisphere; Swinhoe’s Storm-petrel from the Pacific; and Fea’s Petrel from nearby Madeira. Any one of these stunning maritime wanderers would be worth the cost of the flight.

Frequently overlooked as a birding destination, Lanzarote typically surprises birders who visit, and it is perfect for a family holiday or winter break. It has birdlife that oozes quality, with the prospect of encountering your own rarities, and pioneering seabirding that lures the most ambitious of Western Palearctic listers. ■ www.birdwatch.co.uk

09/07/2014 09:53

TRAVEL

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Birdwatch

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MAIN PHOTO: HORNEMANN’S ARCTIC REDPOLL BY BRYDON THOMASON INSET: OLIVE-BACKED PIPIT BY BRYDON THOMASON

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SHETLAND ■ 26 September-3 October 2014 ■ Price: £1,145 THERE is something truly special about birding on remote islands in autumn. And to really indulge in the wonder of bird migration, there are few better backdrops than Shetland. The unique combination of geographical location, stunning scenery, quiet and crowd-less birding localities and an unparalleled track record for attracting migrants and rarities make it a paradise for birders, rarity-hunters and listers alike.

Year after year, mouth-watering rarities are recorded in the islands. Some have become known as ‘Shetland specialties’, and the likes of Lanceolated and Pallas’s Grasshopper Warblers, Pechora Pipit and Hornemann’s

Arctic Redpoll remain almost unknown elsewhere in Britain.

There is an exhilarating atmosphere in the autumn that instils the feeling that just about anything is possible. With previous mega-vagrants such as Siberian Rubythroat, Rufous-tailed and Siberian Blue Robins, Chestnuteared Bunting, Taiga and Brown Flycatchers, Yellow and Magnolia Warblers, Veery, and Swainson’s and Grey-Cheeked Thrushes, to name but a few, this optimism is not misplaced.

The Shetland Nature team consists of some of the most productive rarity-finders in the country, and this particular tour has evolved in close association with Martin Garner (director of BirdingFrontiers.com). It offers an unrivalled Shetland birding experience, and also provides participants with a good chance of

discovering their own star birds.

The holiday begins on the evening of Friday 26 September, when we assemble at the airport and transfer to Spiggie Hotel. At dinner we will enthuse over the awe-inspiring possibilities of birds that may feature over the week ahead, and recount some of those that have thrilled in the past.

We begin on Saturday by exploring some of the best birding hot-spots at the southern end of Shetland Mainland, then work our way north. The route to Unst, our base for the rest of the week and the most northerly island in Shetland, will be chosen to take advantage of local birding opportunities and maximise our chances of connecting with any good birds on offer. On arrival we’ll check into the comfortable and well-appointed Baltasound Hotel.

Unst is a spectacular island

BOOK WITH PEACE OF MIND OUR programme of reader holidays offers an unrivalled birding experience. We work in partnership with professional specialist companies to offer exciting itineraries led by experienced guides – and at prices that offer superb value for money. What’s more, you can book your holiday with complete peace of mind – our partner companies are fully bonded with the CAA and hold ATOL licences, or have other arrangements in place to protect your money. Exact terms and conditions for each holiday vary – please contact the company operating your choice of trip for further information and a detailed itinerary. More holidays: bit.ly/ bw266readerholidays.

that serves as the first landfall for tired migrants crossing the North Sea, and undoubtedly one of the premier rarity hot-spots in Britain.

From here we can access neighbouring Fetlar, another stunning island which boasts an impressive list of migrants and rarities, and underwatched Yell can similarly offer good potential.

Throughout the week, we will keep fully in touch with news of what is turning up elsewhere in the islands, and our itinerary may be juggled accordingly. After a few days in the north isles, for example, a day trip to Mainland Shetland is often a good call to connect with birds found elsewhere. A trip to the Out Skerries or Whalsay may also be a possibility, but wherever we go there are always great possibilities in this most exciting of autumn destinations.

■ This tour is operated for Birdwatch by Shetland Nature (regulated by the Financial Services Authority and fully covered by insurance for your protection). The price includes all ground transportation on Shetland, inter-island ferry sailings, guiding, hotel accommodation on an en-suite basis and all meals. Not included are travel to and from Shetland, insurance and items of a personal nature. For an itinerary and reservations, call the company on 01957 710000 or email info@shetlandnature.net.

www.birdwatch.co.uk Birdwatch•August 2014

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09/07/2014 11:01 6/19/2014 11:20:05 AM

OPTICS

The popularity of German-manufactured optics is never likely to wane, says Mike Alibone as he tests an impressive new binocular offering from Minox.

REVIEW

Minox BL 8x44 HD binocular LARGER objectives deliver an increased light-gathering capacity, and Minox exploits this well in its new BL HD range of open-bridge binoculars, now with an enhanced optical system. The range comprises five models: 8x33, 8x44, 10x44, 8x52 and 10x52.

The quality of optics at the lower end of the market has increased considerably in recent years, and this German offering from Wetzlar, Europe’s ‘city of optics’, serves to underline the European commitment to the continued production of quality optics at a competitive price point. With its pedigree never in doubt, the BL 8x44 HD at £399 initially feels as though it should be more highly priced.

Despite accommodating a 44 mm objective lens, this binocular feels no larger in size than most standard 42 mm models, and its weight, at 740 g, is comparable, too. The simple, uncontoured rubber armouring lends sleekness, undoubtedly contributing to its impression of being relatively compact. I did, however, feel that the rubber used was rather too smooth, to the point of being a little slippery, although this did not impact in any way on its use in the field.

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The model appears to be immensely tough. It feels solid right down to the rubber-covered metal eyecups which, even when fully extended, exude resilience.

The latter twist out, click-locking very firmly and positively at three optional points above the fully retracted base position. At their full extent I was able to see an estimated 85 per cent of the full field of view, although at the three positions below this the field of view was visible in its entirety.

The dioptre adjustment is located below the eyecup on the right ocular. This is a solid metal ring, sharply milled to increase grip, and it retains the perfect degree of turning resistance to prevent it accidentally slipping from its setting. I found it easier to turn with the eyecup extended, at which point a very bold +/scale is revealed so that the setting can be recorded and restored if other users need to change the adjustment.

There is an issue with the rainguard supplied. It’s too tightly fitting and its removal from the eyecups invariably dislodges one or both from the set position to at least some degree.

The central focusing wheel features widely spaced rubber

ribbing, which provides excellent grip. It rotates smoothly and freely with no slackness, with 1.5 anti-clockwise turns taking the focused image from 2.5 m to infinity.

While the open-bridge design allows for better grip – I was able to curl two fingers around the barrels between the two bridges – Model feels compact and lightweight

Close focus a respectable 2.5 m

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✓ EXPERT REVIEWS I needed to stretch my forefinger back ‘up’ toward the oculars to reach and operate the focusing wheel. This is not a major issue, and it’s no different in many other models on the market, but there is room for improvement in ergonomic design. The spatial relationship between the handholding part of the binocular, the focusing wheel and the strap-lugs is important for comfort and appears to have been largely underestimated in the design of the majority of binoculars on the market today.

Body covered in smooth rubber armour

Field of view compares favourably with equivalent models

www.birdwatch.co.uk

7/9/2014 5:07:45 PM

73Vox pops

A nifty new app uses the extensive Xeno-Canto database of bird songs and calls.

75Making history

An eclectic collection of 100 objects that have shaped birdwatching through the years.

month’s The Natural Eye photo challenge 75 73This Impress Steve Young with your photos of Common Tern to be in with a chance of winning a book.

The Society of Wildlife Artists’ annual exhibition is now open for entries – find out how to submit your work.

woodpeckers 74Wonderful

76On the verge

A comprehensive photographic guide to all the woodpeckers of the world.

?

A timely look at 100 species of birds, mammals and insects that are most under threat of extinction.

Did you know?

Binoculars (and telescopes) are only truly waterproof if they are filled internally with an inert gas, and then sealed. This process is designed to prevent internal fogging and nitrogen is the most commonly used gas. Argon is sometimes utilised; however, although it is less likely to leak because its molecules are larger, it is three to four times more expensive than nitrogen.

But enough of the physical aspects of the BL HD. What about the image? The close focus is a respectable 2.5 m, which in testing proved to be spot on, and the 136 m at 1,000 m field of view is excellent, beating most but not all equivalent popular brand models.

This new model benefits from vastly improved lens elements employing ED glass in addition to phase-correction prism coatings, and it’s fully multi-coated, too.

The 44 mm objectives, although employed in the last BL models, serve to further enhance the image by pulling in extra light over and above an equivalent 42 mm model. I was surprised at how well this binocular performed during testing at dusk, while in normal daylight it returned rich and natural colours and the contrast was admirable.

Sharpness is also a credible

asset, with only a minimal softening towards the edge of the field, while chromatic aberration manifests only at a below average level, and there is a barely detectable yellow hairline fringe around the periphery of the field. During the testing period I watched this summer’s celebrity Short-toed Eagle back-lit against a blue East Sussex sky, and I was not disappointed with the image.

I didn’t use the soft carry case and chose to remove the tethered objective lens covers supplied with the product for the majority of the period. The neoprene neck strap is barely contoured but it’s adequately comfortable.

I enjoyed using the new BL HD. It’s beautifully made and the finish and build quality are excellent.

I’m not at all surprised the manufacturer’s guarantee period is 30 years across the range.

What’s likely to go wrong? ■

Further info ■ Price: £399 ■ Size: 150x130 mm ■ Weight: 740 g ■ Field of view: 136 m at 1,000 m ■ Light transmission: undisclosed ■ Close focus: 2.5 m ■ Gas-filled: yes ■ Waterproof: yes ■ Guarantee: 30 years

Verdict Binocular appears tough and resilient Image is sharp with natural colours and low chromatic aberration Rainguard is too tightly fitting and dislodges eyecups from position

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1408 p70-71 Optics review FIN.indd 71

THIS MONTH’S EXPERT PANEL MIKE ALIBONE is Birdwatch’s Optics Editor. He has been testing binoculars and telescopes for more than a decade.

DAVID CAMPBELL is the newest addition to the BirdGuides team; he has been birding for more than 12 years.

DAVID CALLAHAN Prior to joining Birdwatch, David trained as a taxonomist at the Natural History Museum.

ALAN TILMOUTH is a Northumberlandbased birder who has had a passion for wildlife since childhood.

STEVE YOUNG is Photographic Consultant for Birdwatch and an award-winning wildlife photographer.

CHRIS HARBARD is a long-standing member of the Birdwatch team, as well as a tour leader, writer and editor.

EQUIPMENT UPDATE ■ Leica launches new Extender LEICA has developed an innovative new piece of technology to boost the magnification of its angle-bodied APO-Televid 65 and 82 spotting scopes. The Extender is designed to fit between the eyepiece and the body, increasing its magnification range by 1.8x, from 25-50x to 45-90x.

An integrated locking mechanism on the bayonet mount allows the Extender to be quickly and securely mounted in position.

Leica Camera AG appears to be the first manufacturer in the premium optics sector to offer an extender for spotting scopes. The module has been designed exclusively for use with angle-bodied APO-Televid scopes. With availability expected this month, the recommended retail price is anticipated to be £320 including VAT. ■

■ Heads-up from Manfrotto A new fluid tripod head recently launched by Manfrotto as an addition to the company’s XPRO range sees the introduction of a fluidity selector, which enables the user to control the flexibility of the tilt movement.

The system allows switching between hard fluidity for slow tilt movements and soft fluidity for faster tilting.

Weighing only 700 g and with the capacity to support up to 4 kg, it is claimed to represent the best choice for birders using lightweight scopes. The XPRO fluid head is said to be the only lightweight video head with a fluidity selector. It is available now and priced at £119.95 including VAT. ■

■ PhoneSkope extends range of cases and adapters PHONESKOPE has extended its range of smartphone cases with four new items to cover the Samsung Galaxy S5, Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini, Nokia Lumia 1520 and iPhone 5C. All cases have a recommended retail price of £39 including VAT. New C-3 dedicated eyepiece adapters have also been launched for the original Zeiss 20-60x/15-45x zoom eyepieces and Pentax PF80/PF65 zoom eyepieces, with a recommended retail price of £24 including VAT. ■

Birdwatch•August 2014

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7/9/2014 5:08:37 PM

Birdwatching at its most brilliant

NEW Steiner SkyHawk 3 Binoculars With improved optical performance and the innovative Distance-Control-System, the new Steiner SkyHawk 3 Series represents the most attractive SkyHawk binoculars ever.

With improved design and details, the range of five Steiner SkyHawk 3 binoculars offer the traditional robustness and legendary quality that Steiner stands for.

SkyHawk 3 8 x 42

Available in 5 models

8 x 32

10 x 26

10 x 32

10 x 42

www.steiner-binoculars.co.uk Intro 2020 Ltd. Priors Way, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 2HP Tel: 01628 674411 Email: sales@intro2020.co.uk

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09/07/2014 11:01

EXPERT REVIEWS PHOTOGRAPHY • APPS

STEVE YOUNG’S PHOTO CHALLENGE

Common Tern

Even after having left the nest, the young birds are brought food by their parents.

STEVE YOUNG (WWW.BIRDSONFILM.COM)

ANOTHER easy one this month, but a species for which you may have to find a breeding colony, if you are to take really good images. Common Tern is this month’s photo challenge bird, and at this time of year there will be plenty of activity around the colonies found around British and Irish waterbodies and coasts.

Adult birds will be busy bringing food to their young, and there will be lots of calling and squabbling birds to photograph, so something other than a straightforward portrait shot will be needed to win this month’s prize of a copy of Martin Garner’s Frontiers in Birding. Good luck – I look forward to seeing those stunning images.

To enter, email your best candidates to editorial@birdwatch. co.uk. The winning photo will appear in the September issue of Birdwatch. The closing date is 31 August. ■

On song REVIEW

Aves Vox BIRD song and call apps often get a bad press as a result of mis-use by a minority of birders and photographers to lure birds closer. If, like me, you struggle to commit calls and songs to memory and have the added impediment of being tone deaf, they are, however, a godsend when it comes to helping with identification in the field.

The Aves Vox app is based on the simple but clever idea of tapping into the rich resources of the crowd-sourced Xeno-Canto website, which is an unrivalled online resource for bird songs and calls. The app provides access to more than 30,000 bird vocalisations, in a database that is continually growing in both size and quality.

On opening the app you get a simple ‘search species’ box that allows the user to search using either English or scientific names.

Searches start based on three

characters, but are refined as you type more of the name.

As many of the birds have a large number of recordings, once the individual species has been loaded you can filter based on a specific type of vocalisation: song, flight call, alarm call and so on. There are no images and no flashy add-ons or complicated menu structures – the beauty of Aves Vox is that it is simple, functional and works perfectly.

This is almost certainly the most comprehensive bird call app on the market, and it’s free. A pro version is available for £2.99; this allows users to create their own checklists of species, a useful tool for regular travellers.

If you’re an active birder with a smartphone, Aves Vox is simply a must-have app. Alan Tilmouth

More From Max Allan Niklasson • Free (£2.99 for the pro version) • 6.1 MB info • Requires iOS 7.0 or later • Version 2.1.1 • bit.ly/bw266AvesVox www.birdwatch.co.uk

1408 p73 Photo and apps v3.indd 73

Penzance Pelagics

in search of oceanic seabirds on Mermaid II

26th July, 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd & 30th August

8 hour trips for £70 Call 07901 731201

www.cornwallboattrips.com more dates to follow Birdwatch•August 2014

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7/9/2014 4:58:54 PM

EXPERT REVIEWS BOOKS • ART AWARD

Knock on wood

FOLLOWING on from Christopher Helm’s photo guides to Owls of the World and Cuckoos of the World, this new near-passerine group guide to another idiosyncratic bird family is the first comprehensive photo guide to woodpeckers.

Covering 239 species – splitting Iberian from Green, and Eurasian from American Threetoed Woodpeckers, but (in line with the American Ornithologists’ Union) not Cuban Ivory-billed – and mentioning all generally accepted subspecies (termed ‘races’ in the book), it is a comprehensive and impressively illustrated guide.

Each species gets a range map and at least one photograph, and usually three or four, generally representing the males and females of nominate and a key subspecies; the only species not illustrated are the little-known Atlantic Woodpecker of Brazil and the extinct Ivory-billed and Imperial Woodpeckers (though photos are available of Ivory-billed at least).

The species are fully listed in the contents at the front and are also grouped into chapters for each genus.

Beginning with a thorough overview of the family’s biology, the book points out the likelihood that several genera are only superficially similar in plumages, having undergone convergent evolution, and the distributions of different plumage colours within each genus’s section intuitively suggest that more splits in higher taxonomic level may be forthcoming. The shock-absorbing bills and skulls and stiff tail feather shafts are somewhat swiftly discussed, but a bit more detail is presented on breeding and feeding behaviour.

Attention is readily drawn to the numbers of oddities among the species, the strayings away from the norm: the heart-shaped feather-spots of the almost pittalike Heart-spotted Woodpecker; the two reptilian, swivel-necked wryneck species; the diminutive piculets; the majestic and powerful Campephilus species; the two skulking, bamboodwelling Gecinulus species; the cartoonishly tufted flamebacks; the rockfowl-like Ashy Woodpecker; and the meerkat-like behaviour of South Africa’s terrestrial Ground Woodpecker. All of this adds to the group’s charismatic appeal and overall strangeness.

Surveying the extensive radiations of woodpeckers in South America and South-East Asia as you work through the pages is truly breathtaking, and will inspire many

Bugging device

MANY birders have at least a passing interest in our six-legged friends, particularly in the height of summer when our main objects of desire are more elusive. And as this extremely useful photo 74

Birdwatch•August 2014

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guide points out, many optics now have good close focus down to 0.5 m, enabling examination of insects in fine detail without having to net and jar them, and carry a hand lens around.

Numbering just over 2,100 species, this book covers nowhere near the 24,000 or so insects known from Britain and Ireland, but many are only identifiable by expert examination under the microscope. What this book does contain is a thorough overview of the macro-insect fauna it is possible to see in the field, and in providing that service it trumps the older illustrated Insects of Northern Europe by Michael Chinery, the Collins field guide that many birding dabblers in bugs previously used.

daydreams of making a trip to see these exotic variations on a group with which the author is legendarily obsessed, having published several picid tomes over the years. The broad sweep of the ongoing results of evolution is where the power of the book lies, as is so often the case in monographs of very speciose families.

The publisher claims the book is “a completely new approach to the field identification of this challenging group”. This is misleading, however, as it isn’t a new approach and you are unlikely to use it in the field.

There is very little to criticise in the book itself, which will copiously reward repeated visits. However, in the case of extensively polytypic species such as Northern Flicker and Great Spotted and Lesser Spotted

Woodpeckers, which could potentially be split into up to four different species, it would have been illuminating to see images of all the more visually distinct forms. I would also have liked some ecological or behavioural discussion on the familiar woodpecker plumage templates – black-and-white patches and barring, dark brownish-green upperparts, bright red or yellow head markings – possessed in some form by about threequarters of the sometimes fairly unrelated species.

However, it is a truly excellent reference to a popular and intriguing group, an acme of the modern photographic reference, and the completism of its coverage will likely make it the ‘go-to’ guide for years to come.

David Callahan

More info ■ Woodpeckers of the World: the Complete Guide by Gerald Gorman (Christopher Helm, London, 2014).

■ 528 pages, 721 photographs, 240 maps, two illustrations.

■ ISBN 9781408147153. Hbk, £35.

The majority of our insect life is copiously described and illustrated herein. As far as covering the less species-rich families and orders such as butterflies, grasshoppers, and dragonflies, it is fairly comprehensive, missing out only rarities and vagrants, but groups like macro-moths and beetles cannot be contained within such a book.

The guide is likely to be of greatest help when identifying larger insects seen on day trips, or in assigning unknown species into their family or order, ready for full keying out later, once

Birdwatch Bookshop

from £30.99

you’ve taken as many macro photographs as possible. For those with an interest, but not a birder’s obsession, this is probably the most useful guide on the market right now. David Callahan

More info ■ A Comprehensive Guide to Insects of Britain and Ireland by Paul D Brock (Pisces Publications, Newbury, 2014).

■ 528 pages, 2,700 photographs, 2,000 maps.

■ ISBN 9781874357582. Pbk, £28.95.

www.birdwatch.co.uk

7/9/2014 5:13:17 PM

An insight into birding history

THE story of the relationship between bird and man, and the evolution of birdwatching, is a familiar one covered by a sufficient number of books to have established a genre. However, being an inexhaustibly rich subject, each take on it sheds a unique light on our interactions with birds across the ages. A History of Birdwatching in 100 Objects is arguably the most unique yet, taking the reader through the development of our hobby from as far back as 45,000 years ago, via a diverse, chronologically arranged

list of ‘objects’.

Each is devoted a double-page spread which includes a brief, easily digestible essay and at least one image. While claiming to be a history of birdwatching, many objects dated before 1900 are, at first glance, more closely linked to ornithology or even wider cultural and technological development, but their influence on the hobby cannot be underestimated and is clearly described.

David Callahan’s adept and admirably crafted writing facilitates enjoyment and understanding of the material, and he cleverly uses each object as a vehicle to comment on social, cultural and scientific implications of the meeting of bird and human, as well as advances in birding.

It is clear that an effort has been made to ensure the list is as objective as possible and it is difficult to argue with the vast majority of choices. Among the varied and well-researched collection of objects are Lysippe’s bust of Aristotle, the sonogram, Nancy’s café, the mobile phone,

An eye for nature

THE Society of Wildlife Artists (www.swla.co.uk) has been celebrating nature through stunning artworks for five decades, and this year is no different. The society’s annual exhibition, The Natural Eye, will take place from 30 October to 9 November at London’s Mall Galleries.

Wildlife artists from around the world are invited to submit work in

any medium. The art must depict wild animals – botanical subjects, pets or domestic animals will not be accepted. The committee is particularly looking for “work that evokes the spirit of the natural world and which reveals a personal experience or true understanding of the subject”.

Digital submission is now open; go to www.mallgalleries.org.uk/ entries for details. Works can also be submitted in person on two days (see below for dates).

Among the prizes will be the prestigious Birdwatch Artist of the Year award, which is sponsored

by Swarovski Optik. Last year’s winner was Nik Pollard with a sequence depicting a hunting Short-eared Owl (pictured).

Judged by an expert panel which includes Birdwatch Managing Editor Dominic Mitchell, this year’s winner will be announced in the December issue. ■

the Young 60 : Sonogra m Ornithologists’ Club badge and the latest Swarovski telescope.

It would, of course, be impossible to go without any notable omissions in a condensed look back over some 45,000 years but some of dipping in and out of at the the objects not included, or hidden bedside or coffee table. In fact, away out of chronological order, the information is so consumable are surprising; the pivotal Collins that some could devour it in a Bird Guide, given only a sentence, single sitting but, however you would have sat comfortably enjoy it, A History of Birdwatching alongside the older field guides in 100 Objects will provide you included and the classic wooden with intriguing insights into how bird hide is only briefly touched on the pastime has grown to be the in the 2012 Biotope hide spread. hugely popular outdoor pursuit The size and layout of the that we know today. book are ideal for comfortably David Campbell 1958

What

birders know as a sonogram is more properly called a spectrogram, and is a visual representation of the full frequency spectrum of a particular sound or series of sounds – in this instance the songs and calls of birds.

Usually illustrated as a black-and-white, two-dimensional graph-like figure, visual renderings of a sound source can be remarkably informative once one is used to reading them while listening to the original source – almost like reading music – and can be a great aid when analysing and comparing avian vocalisations.

The visual study of sound in fact dates back to 1857, when Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville invented the phonautograph, which was in fact the first device that could record sound waves. Built to solely enable the visual study of recorded sound, no playback was possible, but the sound waves were inscribed onto a rotating cylinder of soot-coated paper by a needle or stylus. The stylus traced a line through the soot which represented the motions of a diaphragm or membrane that physically responded to the sounds via a series of levers.

Sonograms tend to be graphically represented by axes, just like a histogram or

13 0

With experience, sonograms for Common Cuckoo (top, pictured left) and European Nightjar (above, pictured right) can actually be read in almost the same way as musical notation, as they show both pitch and timbre to a degree.

analytical tool for all students of bird vocalisations, amateur and professional, and relatively easy to understand for most birders once they take the plunge. Production and analysis is neither a specialist nor expensive business – several free downloadable programs, including Raven Lite from Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, are now available for any birder with a computer to produce their own

A H I S T O R Y O F B I R D WAT C H I N G I N 10 0 O B J E C T S

sonograms from their own recordings (or others), and there are even smartphone apps to perform similar tasks. The study and interpretation of bird sounds has been taken to extraordinary new levels by The Sound Approach, a pioneering group whose analysis of chosen subjects has, among other things, led to the ‘splitting’ of new storm-petrel species and the discovery in Oman of an owl new to science.

6 0 : S O N O G R A M , 19 5 8

131

More info ■ A History of Birdwatching in 100 Objects by David Callahan, edited

by Dominic Mitchell (Bloomsbury, London, 2014).

■ 224 pages, more than 100 illustrations.

■ ISBN 9781408186183. Hbk, £20.

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5% EXTRA DISCOUNT off all our Birdfair book prices!

Bring this voucher along to the Birdwatch and BirdGuides stand at the Birdfair (Marquee Marquee 4, stands 97-100) and you’ll not only find a fantastic range of bird books at specially reduced prices, but you’ll also receive an extra 5 per cent discount!

EXTRA 5% OFF BOOKS

Just fill in your details and present the voucher (or a copy) at the till to receive your additional saving.

Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms

Initial(s)

Surname Address Postcode We’d like to let you know about our latest offers.

If you do not wish to receive direct mail from the publisher please tick here ■ If you do not wish to receive direct email from selected third parties please tick here ■

Email I am happy to receive special offers via email from: Warners Group Publications ■ selected third parties ■

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Important dates ■ Digital submission closes: Thursday 21 August, 12 pm.

■ Receiving days: Sunday 14 and Monday 15 September 2014, 10 am-5 pm.

■ Private view: Wednesday 29 October, 2-8 pm.

■ Open to the public: Thursday 30 October, 10 am-5 pm.

■ Closes: Sunday 9 November, 1 pm

I am happy to receive special offers via telephone from: Warners Group Publications ■ selected third parties ■ Terms & conditions: 1) This voucher entitles the bearer to an additional 5 per cent off all marked book prices at the Birdwatch and BirdGuides stand (M4/97-100) at the Birdfair 2014. 2) Valid from 15-17 August 2014 inclusive. 3) Discount applicable on marked prices on books and Birdwatch binders only. 4) 5 per cent discount to be applied at till on total purchase of books and/or Birdwatch binders.

5) Photocopies accepted. 6) This voucher is not redeemable for cash or as part of any other promotion.

Birdwatch•August 2014

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1408 p74-76 Books FIN.indd 75

graph: the x- or horizontal axis represents time, and the y- or vertical axis the frequency, usually measured in kilohertz (khz).

Though often printed in monochrome, colour versions can also be produced and these are arguably richer in timbral information.

Bird sounds were first analysed in this way in an Ibis paper on the songs of two Chaffinch subspecies by W H Thorpe in 1958, entitled ‘The learning of song patterns by birds, with especial reference to the song of the Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs’. The format has become very prevalent in birding circles in the last decade, particularly so now that the idea that song or calls can reproductively isolate populations enough to create new species has taken hold in the birding consciousness.

However, in the rush to try and claim new species, it is sometimes forgotten that calls and songs can be merely dialects or local variations, that vocalisations are also ‘plastic’ and learnt, and that true reproductive isolation involves more than just geography and minor variations in mating sounds, but also subtly complex differences in behaviour and actual insurmountable physiological and morphological change.

The sonogram itself is, however, a valuable

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7/9/2014 5:17:27 PM

EXPERT REVIEWS BOOKS

BOOKSHELF

Saving species

This year at Birdfair we’re giving our readers the opportunity to save an extra 5 per cent on all books, says Heather O’Connor. to visit early before they fly off the shelves.

If that wasn’t enough, this year we’re also offering readers the chance to get an extra 5 per cent off all our already discounted prices. Just cut out or photocopy the voucher on page 75, fill in your details and bring it along to the Birdwatch and BirdGuides stand (in Marquee 4, stands 97-100) to receive your extra discount on all books and binders.

There will also be opportunities at the stand to meet the authors of some of the fantastic titles that have been released this year, as well as some exciting new titles launching at Birdfair itself.

Follow us on Twitter at www. twitter.com/BirdwatchExtra for updates of who’ll be signing and when, then come along to have your books autographed.

We look forward to seeing you there! ■

NEWTON MAXWELL-HARRIS

IT’S that time of year again in the Birdwatch Bookshop when we’re busily preparing to decamp to Egleton Nature Reserve, Rutland Water, to set up shop at Birdfair, which this year runs from Friday 15 until Sunday 17 August.

As the many regulars who attend the event will know, we always have a fantastic range of bird and wildlife books all at specially reduced prices.

We’ll be stocking many of the new releases and bestsellers of 2014, as well as many classic titles, from memoirs and monographs to field guides.

We’ll also be stocking our attractive Birdwatch binders at a specially reduced rate.

These are the ideal way to keep your issues of the magazine in pristine condition as a valuable reference guide. However, stocks will be limited so be sure

THE living things which feature in this work have been chosen by 100 conservation organisations, from global giants like BirdLife International to smaller single species groups such as the Scaly-sided Merganser Task Force. Among the 100 there are 21 birds, 42 mammals and four insects. This last group includes the delightfully named Delhi Sands Flower-loving Fly. The range of species is wide, from obscure blue slugs to familiar megafauna.

Siberian, South China and Sumatran Tigers are all included.

Birds range from African Penguin (chosen by University of Bristol) to Yellow-eyed Penguin (Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust).

The British Trust for Ornithology went for Eurasian Curlew to illustrate the worrying declines in population and range of so many British bird species, while the

RSPB highlights the plight of the Tristan Albatross, a threatened inhabitant of the isolated UK overseas territory. Whole habitats feature as the World Land Trust selected rainforests and all they contain, while Pond Conservation chose – wait for it – ponds!

The conservation problems faced by many of the species featured are well known – such as African Elephant – but many of the stories contained in this illuminating book concern creatures or plants that are more obscure and totally fascinating.

The Kipunji is Africa’s rarest monkey, and was only discovered in 2003 in the highlands of Tanzania, while the Blue-grey Taildropper (a type of slug) is found in the disappearing oak meadows of south Vancouver Island in Canada.

The full-page photographs for each entry are accompanied by information about the species or habitat, and details are given of each conservation group and how you can help them. This book bears testament to the incredible amount of work that goes into conserving the wildlife and wild places of our planet, and while it may be depressing to think of so many on the verge of extinction, it is encouraging to know that something can be done to help.

Chris Harbard

More info ■ Going Going Gone – 100 Animals and Plants on the Verge of Extinction (Bloomsbury, London, 2013).

■ 224 pages, numerous colour photographs.

■ ISBN 9781408186305. Hbk, £20.

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from £16.99

The art of America’s birds

THIS fabulous book of evocative watercolour sketches maintains Michael Warren’s place among the great bird artists of our time.



76

a real delight. With almost 150 pages packed full of colour and movement, from a tree full of Acorn Woodpeckers in California to a New Jersey array of colourful warblers and finally a gorgeous White-eyed Vireo in Florida, every spread is utterly magical. As

someone who has only visited seven states, this book makes me want to see the other 43! Chris Harbard

More info ■ American Birding Sketchbook by Michael Warren (Langford Press, Peterborough, 2012).

■ 144 pages, numerous colour illustrations.

■ ISBN 9781904078470. Hbk, £38.

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VISIT WWW.BIRDWATCH.CO.UK/STORE TO BUY THESE AND MANY MORE BOOKS

Birdwatch•August 2014

1408 p74-76 Books FIN.indd 76

What makes this title particularly special is that it brings together material he collected over more than 40 years of travelling to the United States. A double-page spread is dedicated to each of the 50 states, interspersed with occasional extra plates, all accompanied by informative and entertaining notes.

The quality of printing means that the colours shine out, and the sketchbook approach showing birds in their habitat is

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7/14/2014 9:29:10 AM

Birdwatch Bird rd wat atc tch ch rdw dwa bookshop

bookshop www.birdwatch.co.uk • 020 8881 0550

Book of the month Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World: volume 1, non-passerines Josep del Hoyo, Nigel J Collar, David A Christie, Andrew Elliott and Lincoln D C Fishpool PRE-PUBLICATION OFFER £155 ONLY £114.99 UNTIL 31 JULY Birdwatch

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THIS new checklist of all the world’s birds, produced in collaboration with BirdLife International, uses the Handbook of the Birds of the World as a starting point. Its taxonomy incorporates the most up-to-date information and an exhaustive methodology in an entirely systematic and consistent way. It contains illustrations and distribution maps for every bird species in the world. The tome includes original artwork from the HBW series, as well as hundreds of new illustrations, all in two compact volumes. HBW was the first encyclopaedic work ever to illustrate and deal in detail with all the living species of birds – this is its essential successor.

A History of Birdwatching in 100 Objects

Mark Avery £16.99 Only £15.99

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On the centenary of its demise, this book tells the story of Martha – the last Passenger Pigeon – and how the species went from being the cornerstone of the ecology of the eastern United States to extinction in a terrifyingly brief period of time.

Lost Animals SUBSCRIBER PRICE £21.99. (+ £5 p&p Europe, £6 ROW) * Offer extended to 31 August

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This fascinating and eclectic guide looks at 100 key objects that profoundly shaped the way in which people have watched, studied and engaged with the avian world from prehistory to modern day. Read our review on page 75.

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‘Sibley’ is considered to be the best North American field guide by many, and this essential second edition incorporates massively expanded and updated information and artwork.

This fully revised second edition of the 1989 classic covers difficult identification issues by comparing tricky species pairs or groups of birds.

A comprehensive reference, it is also an ideal supplement to the standard field guide.

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A Sparrowhawk’s Lament: How British Breeding Birds of Prey are Faring

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7/10/2014 3:11:41 PM

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p078.indd 1

11/07/2014 13:20

COMPETITION

Win one of five Hawke Frontier binoculars Birdwatch has teamed up with Hawke Sport Optics this month to offer readers the chance to win one of five Hawke Frontier ED 8x32 binoculars worth £220 each.

H

Worth £1,100!

awke Sport Optics is very proud to announce the launch of the new top-hinge Frontier ED 8x32 model. This ultra-lightweight, high-performance unit is a welcome addition to the very successful Frontier ED family.

The ED glass and optical system give the user beautifully bright, sharp and neutral colour images. The binoculars weigh in at just 500 g, making them very portable.

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If you would like to try out a pair, please visit a Hawke stockist (see www.hawkeoptics. com for details) or visit the company’s stand at Birdfair (stand numbers 23-27 in M6).

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bird aug14 comp v2.indd 79

Birdwatch•August 2014

79

10/07/2014 15:45

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p080.indd 1

09/07/2014 11:02

THIS MONTH’S EXPERT PANEL

HEIN VAN GROUW is Curator of Birds at the Natural History Museum in Tring. He has a lifelong interest in colour mutations in birds.

DOMINIC MITCHELL is Birdwatch’s founder and Managing Editor, and author and editor of several bird books.

He has been birding for more than 40 years.

SHARON STITELER is better known as BirdChick. She is a keen birder, blogger and works as an avian field ecologist in the United States.

DAVID CALLAHAN Prior to joining Birdwatch as staff writer, David trained as a taxonomist at the Natural History Museum.

MIKE LANGMAN is a full-time bird illustrator whose work has featured in numerous books, as well as at almost every RSPB reserve.

The best tips, advice and more

www.birdwatch.co.uk

BONUS ONLINE CONTENT

82How to ...

questions answered 84Your

82Building skills

our website and Listcheck 86On

Ensure you have a successful seawatching session or pelagic trip.

Conduct yourself properly in the field.

83ID tips

With the seawatching season upon us, it’s time to learn to separate Cory’s and Great Shearwaters.

o.uk

CHRIS HARBARD After many years at the RSPB, Chris is now a tour leader, writer and editor, dividing his time between Britain and the USA.

irdwatc

h.c

✓ EXPERT ADVICE

www.b

EXPERT ADVICE HOW TO

Our panel of experts tackles your conundrums.

The first-ever Colombia Birdfair will take place next February in the city of Santiago de Cali.

87How to ...

Give a bird a name – both scientific and common.

HOW TO ...

THE first time a birder sees each summer migrant arrive every year, it is fairly easy to note down that auspicious date and build up a record of changes over that spring and compare it to previous years.

Perhaps less easy – but in many ways just as important – are departure dates.

As you don’t know when a bird will actually leave your patch or area, a birder must be much more conscientious when recording sightings of even rather common summer migrants. This will mean taking note of dates on which the species is still present on a daily basis.

August is the latest month in which to begin doing this, as the more ephemeral species such as Common Cuckoo and Common Swift should still be present at the beginning of the month, and the real mass exodus of Africa-bound birds will not yet have begun. Late July may be even better, as the first trickle of returning waders can

www.birdwatch.co.uk

1408 p81-87 Expert advice v5.indd 81

also be logged if you are visiting a wetland or marshy area.

Perhaps the best way of recording these dates is to draw up a list of likely summer migrants that occur in your area, or even nationwide if you think you are likely to get other species passing through. Even better is to draw up a comprehensive local checklist – this way you’ll have data for every species, a situation which the British Trust for Ornithology is keen to encourage for its recording schemes.

Best of all is to keep note of not just the counts of each species that you log, but also the number of juveniles seen and the number or proportion of both sexes, should it be possible to identify these. In many species, different ages migrate at different times (usually adults first, followed by the recently fledged juveniles) and in some, different genders may use different routes or stagger the times of their

STEFAN PFÜTZKE (WWW.GREEN-LENS.DE)

Record departure dates

When was the last time you saw a Common Cuckoo? Note down dates so you can build up a picture of the departure times of our summer visitors.

departures slightly.

This methodical way of recording the movements of your migratory and dispersing birds can build up into an intriguing

and continuous record over time, and even make a contribution to the national record, of which this kind of ‘citizen science’ is the foundation. ■ Birdwatch•August 2014

❯

81

7/9/2014 7:25:09 PM

EXPERT ADVICE BUILDING KNOWLEDGE • BUILDING SKILLS • ID TIPS • TOP TIP HOW TO ...

Seawatching can involve a lot of sitting and waiting on exposed headlands, so be sure to pack plenty of warm clothing.

AUGUST is a great month for seeing pelagic species, whether from a boat on a pelagic trip or from a suitable headland. Follow this advice to ensure you get the most out of any seawatch.

1 Always check the weather conditions. Strong onshore winds help to drive birds close to shore, and the best direction will depend on which coast you are watching.

Try to have the sun behind you – there is little point staring into a rising or setting sun.

2 Get there early. Prime seawatching spots are few and far between and latecomers may have to put up with blocked views. Bagging a good place on a boat is also a good idea, although you never know from which direction the birds will appear.

3 Choose a comfortable and sheltered position. Use buildings, rocks and hollows as shelter, while retaining good visibility. Your car can also offer protection, if viewing is possible from a car park.

4 Dress warmly with several layers. Seawatching can involve sitting still for long periods of time, and unless very sheltered, can get chilly. This is especially important on a pelagic trip, as it can get very cold at sea.

5 Keep a low profile. Sit down and lower your tripod to make your scope more stable, especially in windy conditions. If you can, use a hook adapter on the bottom of the tripod column which allows weights to be added, making it even more sturdy.

6 Find a fixed feature such as a coloured buoy to help when giving or receiving directions; for example, shouting “flying left towards the red buoy” is much more useful than “over there!”.

Always scan in the opposite direction to a bird’s flight as this means you can pick up a bird quickly when it is called.

7 Scan several times before taking a break as birds can be hidden behind waves. Use your

JAMES HANLON

Have a successful seawatch

binoculars for looking quickly as they have the wider field of view, then swap to a scope for homing in on whatever you find.

8 Have more than one cloth for cleaning your lenses and take some water for washing off any salt spray which will otherwise cause smearing when cleaning.

9 Take food and a warm drink if

BUILDING SKILLS

BIRDING can be an absorbing and almost compulsive hobby at times, and sadly this can lead to poor behaviour on the part of a minority of birders. Codes of Conduct have been produced by the RSPB and others to provide guidance for anyone out birding; these form the basis for the Birdwatch guide to ethical birding. Follow the guidelines below when birding in Britain or anywhere else in the world.

• Always put the interests of the birds first. Avoid disturbing habitats, especially in the breeding season when nests could be compromised.

Be aware that birds can be frightened off when feeding, which can be a problem in winter, so keep a low profile near water bodies where wildfowl and waders feed.

• Be aware of your impact. Keep to paths wherever possible, and if straying from them take care where you walk to avoid damaging habitat; never enter private land uninvited.

Follow the Countryside Code by closing gates and taking litter with you.

82 Birdwatch•August 2014

1408 p81-87 Expert advice v5.indd 82

• Take care when visiting wellknown sites for unusual birds, as repeated visits from many people could cause extra stress.

Use recordings of bird song sparingly, especially (if at all) in the breeding season. While the single playback of a song may not be a problem, the constant use by many visitors can be hugely disturbing for birds.

• Think about other people when you are out. Always answer questions from non-birders politely – they could become birders one day. Behave responsibly by parking sympathetically and not blocking roadways or paths when birding.

• Also think about other birders, especially when in a crowd looking at a rarity or in a group on a tour. Always take turns and allow others behind you to come forward for a view. Try to avoid needless talking when watching a bird, and turn off sounds from pagers and phones.

Don’t edge forward until the bird leaves, especially when trying to photograph or record it as there

If you go to see rarities, like this Spectacled Warbler in Norfolk, always put the interests of the bird first, and let other birders get views.

ROBIN CHITTENDEN (WWW.ROBINCHITTENDEN.CO.UK)

Follow the code

you intend to be there for hours.

Seawatching can be tedious but rewarding if you stick it out.

10 If you are a poor sailor, or not sure how well you might fare at sea, then take some suitable medication or other measures before starting a pelagic trip. It is too late to take something when you start feeling unwell. ■

may be others coming to see it.

• Wherever possible contribute to the local economy. If you buy fuel, food and drink locally, or even stay overnight, this will all help to give a positive value to birding and birds.

• Help the birds in your garden in a responsible way. Do not expose them to predation from cats or other predators, and always clean feeding areas and bird tables regularly to minimise the spread of disease. Clean out your nestboxes.

• Take care when reporting rare birds. Rare breeding bird locations

should not be publicised, and remember that it is an offence to disturb species protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Always speak to locals and staff at BirdGuides before publicising a potentially problematic situation which could attract large numbers of people.

• Send your sightings to the county bird recorder and www.birdguides. com in Britain, or to www. worldbirds.org or http://ebird. org overseas. This will make your observations count. ■ www.birdwatch.co.uk

7/8/2014 6:54:01 PM

ID TIPS

MIKE LANGMAN

Cory’s and Great Shearwaters

DESPITE being clearly different in field guide illustrations, these two annual but scarce pelagic tubenose species can give real identification problems at sea, due to distance, weather and conditions on the water.

Both are relatively large – roughly Lesser Black-backed Gull-sized – with Great being a little smaller, despite its name. Both also have white anterior rump patches, with Great’s being more U-shaped and noticeable, and scaly grey-brown upperparts (more so in Great), with Great also colder and darker.

The stiff-winged ‘shearing’ flight style is present in both species.

Cory’s appears more graceful and ‘relaxed’, however, while Great is more ‘purposeful’ and stiff-winged, closer to one of the smaller species.

With good views, more likely from a boat than onshore, the heavy yellowish bill of Cory’s will be seen; this is tipped with white separated from the yellow by a black band. Also visible will be its clean white belly and underwing, which contrasts with the virtually all charcoal-grey primaries. www.birdwatch.co.uk

1408 p81-87 Expert advice v5.indd 83

A good look at Great Shearwater will also be diagnostic, with its much more slender, black bill. The pure white collar – visible at very long distance – creates an obvious dark neck patch. It has a clean dark cap, as well as a dirty ‘stained-looking’ belly, and dark flecks on the underwing, which is white and again contrasts with the all-dark primaries.

From shore, distances will tend to be greater and the colour schemes seem more basic. Cory’s might be confused with Northern Fulmar by the less experienced observer, but the dark-bordered underwings, wholly dark primaries and pale brownish cap running well under the eye should make separation from the latter and from Great Shearwater possible. A distant Great should still show its dark cap, white neck patch, and dirty ‘armpits’ and belly, particularly when banking over the waves, which it may do often.

Beware also the very superficial similarity of immature Northern Gannet to large shearwaters, especially in dull or overcast conditions, as gannets exhibit a

wide range of plumage variation prior to reaching maturity; dark-andlight one-year-old birds ‘shearing’ over a choppy sea may arouse

suspicion in the inexperienced, but at almost twice the size and with a much longer ‘front end’, they can be readily eliminated. ■

TOP TIP

Use the strap!

ONE of the worst things you can do to your optics is drop them. Even if they don’t break, the internal mechanics can be knocked out of alignment.

There is a very easy way to avoid this: always make sure your binocular strap is securely round your neck – there is a very good reason why manufacturers supply them. This might seem obvious, but we’ve all seen people out in the field just holding their binoculars in one hand, risking an expensive accident.

Comfort is also important.

Ideally you want a strap that is padded and relatively wide, so

that the binocular’s weight is evenly distributed and the strap itself doesn’t dig into your neck.

Keeping the strap relatively short will help prevent the binocular swinging around and hitting you in the chest.

Of course, accidents do happen, and despite best efforts optics can still end up broken. Bins and telescope are generally a birder’s most expensive investment, so always make sure your optics are insured under your home policy or other special cover – otherwise a short tumble to the ground could end up being very costly. ■

Birdwatch•August 2014

❯

83

7/8/2014 6:54:55 PM

EXPERT ADVICE Q&A

YOUR QUESTIONS

ANSWERED

Q

I photographed this small white bird on my iPhone. It was seen around six miles north of Alnwick, Northumberland, in the company of House Sparrows in a hedgerow. At first I thought it was an escaped Canary, but I think you will agree it was indeed a sparrow. Michael Jones, via email

A

Hein van Grouw of the Natural History Museum’s Bird Group, Tring, Hertfordshire, replies: “The term ‘albino’ is widely used for many different colour aberrations, but in only a tiny proportion of cases is it used correctly. In this case, however, it is correct; this fledgling House Sparrow is indeed an albino, as is clear from its pure white plumage and red eyes – these are caused by the blood that is visible through the colourless eye tissue.

“Albino sparrows are rarely seen in the wild, although the mutation is not uncommon and occurs quite frequently in most populations. The reason for their apparent scarcity is that the absence of melanin in the eyes makes them highly sensitive to light, with poor depth of vision. It is mainly this handicap rather than the white plumage that makes albinos vulnerable, and most die soon after fledging.” ■

A

David A Gray writes in again from Cologne, Germany: “Andy Stoddart’s reply in July’s issue of Birdwatch to my question concerning the peculiar white-headed Yellow Wagtail near Cologne suggested that it was most probably an aberrant bird (see last month, page 85), rather than the eastern subspecies leucocephala. I enclose a later photograph of the bird in flight which shows that the eighth primary on each wing is white, confirming that this wagtail is indeed leucistic. Many thanks to you. ■

Q

A

David Callahan replies: “There is a remote possibility of seeing Black Kite in Shropshire, as it is an annual wanderer to Britain. However, much more likely is your suggestion of Red Kite – the species now breeds in Shropshire. At this time of year there is also the possibility of seeing recently fledged juveniles, which have duller plumage than adults and a shallower fork in the tail.” ■

84

Birdwatch•August 2014

1408 p84-85 Q and A FIN.indd 84

Rare Black Kites, like this juvenile photographed at Gigrin Farm, Powys, are – with good views – separable from juvenile Red Kites by their dark eye-mask, pale-streaked plumage and almost unforked tail, as well as six (not five) ‘fingered’ primaries.

STEVE YOUNG (WWW.BIRDSONFILM.COM)

From the forum: hoisttocrew: I saw a large raptor over my house in the countryside near Wem, north Shropshire, today. It was very high up but clearly not a Common Buzzard, a species which we see here daily. This bird had a slightly forked tail and a noticeable kink near the wing-tips. I expect it was a Red Kite, but I have seen plenty of these in the Chilterns and in Scotland, and the bird I saw today had a much less forked tail than the Red Kites I have seen before – there was no sign of any colour even when I got binoculars on it, though this might have been due to the bright sunshine. Is there any chance that there could be a Black Kite roaming over Shropshire?

www.birdwatch.co.uk

7/10/2014 2:03:11 PM

House Finch, now a common species over much of the US, was actually introduced to the east coast from the south-western states by unscrupulous bird traders.

Q A

From Twitter: Vintage RVA (Richmond, Virginia, USA): Got a nest with babies on my porch. What kind of bird?

American birder Sharon Stiteler, aka ‘Birdchick’, replies: “With that heavy streaking, thick bill and nest on a light fixture, that has to be a female House Finch. These birds are relatively new to Virginia and surrounding states. Originally a south-western species, they were sold illegally in New York in the 1940s as the ‘Hollywood Finch’. To avoid being fined, pet store owners simply released them, and the resulting small introduced population thrived and spread all over the United States.” ■

Q

From Facebook: Rob Brice: What bird is this [right]? It was following us around today when we were making silage in Wedmore, Somerset. I’ve lived on a farm my whole life but never seen this species before.

This one has certainly got me wondering ...

A

Dominic Mitchell replies: “This is a White Stork – a rare bird in Britain, so well found!

The species is common on farmland in parts of continental Europe but only a few reach Britain each year, usually when wandering off course on migration.

Reports on BirdGuides.com show that one has recently been seen in parts of Somerset, so conceivably your bird could be this individual, or perhaps another.” ■

Have you got a question for our experts?

Send your queries to us via social media at www.twitter.com/BirdwatchExtra or www.facebook.com/birdwatchmagazine www.facebook.com/birdwatchmagazine, on our forums at www.birdwatch.co.uk/forums, or by emailing editorial@birdwatch.co.uk or by writing in to: Your Questions Answered, Birdwatch, The Chocolate Factory, 5 Clarendon Road, London N22 6XJ. www.birdwatch.co.uk

1408 p84-85 Q and A FIN.indd 85

Birdwatch•August 2014

85

7/10/2014 2:03:53 PM

EXPERT ADVICE ONLINE • LISTCHECK • HOW TO ON OUR WEBSITE

First-ever Colombia Birdfair announced

News round-up

MAIN STORY Mate fast, die young New study shows sexual behaviour is linked to life expectancy in birds and perhaps even humans.

• bit.ly/bw266breeding

■ Migration ecologist wins €2.5 million Authority on waders wins huge award for his studies.

• bit.ly/bw266waderfund ■ Bowland Hen Harrier chicks tracked The RSPB has fitted Hen Harrier chicks with high-tech satellite tags to follow their movements.

• bit.ly/bw266bowland ■ Noted ornithologist and author dies Sadly, field guide author Phil (aka P A D) Hollom died on 20 June – we will publish an obituary shortly.

LISTCHECK

Updating avian taxonomy Stone-curlew to be split?

This Stone-curlew on Lanzarote belongs to the sedentary subspecies insularum – but is it a new cryptic Canaries endemic, along with the birds on the rest of the islands?

A genetic study of the six recognised subspecies of Stonecurlew has found the current classification inaccurate, and that the two forms on the Canary Islands may be a separate species.

The unique genes of these two forms – Burhinus oedicnemus distinctus and B o insularum – suggest that they comprise one poorly differentiated Macaronesian species, but more work is needed to fully ascertain their status.

JAMES LOWEN

AUGUST’S enhanced digital edition will include: • More footage, audio and images of Wood Sandpiper, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs and Greenshank.

• Extra images and video of rarities and scarcities.

• Bonus photos, film clips and sound files for all the magazine’s main articles.

The digital edition is available for PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad and Android. Sample editions are free, while single issues or subscriptions can be purchased. Go to www. pocketmags.com/birdwatch to find out more. ■

Multicolored Tanager is just one of dozens of endemics that can be seen in the highly bird-rich country of Colombia.



In the digital edition

All funds raised will be used to help fund the purchase of a nature reserve in the upper watershed of the Cali River. This will facilitate scientific research and conservation projects benefiting more than 250 species of birds, some of which are critically endangered.

• bit.ly/bw266colombia

JUAN JOSE ARANGO

THE inaugural Colombia Birdfair takes place next February in the city of Santiago de Cali, popularly known as ‘Cali’. With close to 1,900 species (almost 20 per cent of the world’s total), no other country in the world has more birds than Colombia. The country’s immense natural richness makes it one of the world’s top spots for ecotourism, and with 72 endemic species and awe-inspiring geography, it is becoming an increasingly popular birding destination.

With this in mind, the Asociación Río Cali is hosting the first-ever Colombia Birdfair from 13-15 February 2015. Cali is located in southwestern Colombia, adjacent to the Farallones NP, and is one of the more ornithologically diverse cities in South America.

The event will include talks by renowned national and international speakers, daily field trips, workshops, cultural activities, book signings and a ‘Birders’ Bazaar’ where companies and individuals will be promoting and offering products, handicrafts, services, equipment, and conservation projects related to birds and birding.

The Colombia Birdfair has a mission to promote and enhance bird tourism to encourage sustainable rural development and the conservation of the country’s biodiversity.

New Brazilian treehunter The genus Cichlocolaptes was believed to consist of just one Brazilian moist forest species: Pale-browed In association Treehunter C with leucophrus.

Now careful measurement 86

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1408 p81-87 Expert advice FIN.indd 86

of specimens and observation of the rare Alagoas Foliage-gleaner Philydor novaesi in the country’s Atlantic forests has revealed another Cichlocolaptes species that closely resembles the

foliage-gleaner almost to the point of mimicry. However, the newly described C mazarbarnetti differs in morphology, measurements, behaviour and voice. ■ • bit.ly/bw266listcheck www.birdwatch.co.uk

7/10/2014 3:21:32 PM

HOW TO ...

The scientific name of Goldcrest has been through many changes.

NOT so long ago, birds often had many English names, these sometimes being different depending on where you lived.

Some were confusing – Goldcrest was once called Golden-crested Wren, for example, even though it’s not a wren.

The first attempt to standardise names came with the Swedish naturalist Carl von Linné (born Linnaeus), who in 1735 proposed a binomial system of scientific names with the descriptive words derived largely from Latin and Greek and written in Latinised form. This is the basis for the classification system still in use today, although many names have changed from the original ones.

Goldcrest was named by Linnaeus in 1758; he called it Motacilla regulus (he also Latinised his own first name to Carolus, effectively giving himself a binomial!). In 1790 naturalist John Latham allied Goldcrest with Old World warblers and changed the genus to Sylvia, and it finally became Regulus in 1800. Within many species there are also subspecies, distinct from each other and usually separated geographically. There are about 14 subspecies of Goldcrest Regulus regulus, some of which, such as the Canary Island subspecies, have at times been regarded as a full species, Tenerife Goldcrest R teneriffae, and also as subspecies of Firecrest R ignicapillus.

Taxonomists, the scientists who classify and give scientific

names to living things, publish their findings and propose names according to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (see www.iczn.org for full information on naming). The first scientific name published becomes the accepted one, although it may undergo changes of both genus and gender as classification can change.

The recent advent of DNA analysis has allowed much greater precision in determining relationships between living things. DNA has shown that Goldcrests on the Canary Islands are in fact two different subspecies. The English name given to a species or subspecies is less well defined, and different bodies or publications can use different names, one of which usually becomes the most widely used.

If a completely new bird species is discovered, then it is up to the taxonomists to define its relationships and so determine where it fits into the order of bird species. If it is closely related to others then its genus – Regulus in our Goldcrest example – will be predetermined and only a new specific name need be found. If it has no close relatives then a completely new scientific name will be required.

Such a name is entirely up to the taxonomist – the only proviso is that is must not already exist in the animal kingdom, to avoid confusion.

Sometimes taxonomists have

ROBIN CHITTENDEN (WWW.ROBINCHITTENDEN.CO.UK)

Name a bird

difficulties in finding names. The zoologist William Leach, who has a storm-petrel named after him, devised a name for a kingfisher genus by rearranging Linnaeus’s name Alcedo into Dacelo, and a few years later the zoologist Horsfield did it again to create the genus Lacedo. Leach must hold the record, though, as he

SUNDAY HIGH TIDES IN AUGUST

3rd 10th 17th 24th 31st Exe Estuary (Starcross) – 07.06 – 07.09 10.53 Devon 12.01 19.28 12.21 19.22 23.10 Poole Harbour (town quay) 01.51 09.37 02.27 09.29 00.35 Dorset 14.59 21.47 15.22 21.28 13.13 Langstone Harbour (Northney) 04.45 – 05.10 – 03.34 Hampshire 17.12 12.03 17.36 12.00 15.55 Thames Estuary (Sheerness) 05.46 00.27 06.08 00.24 04.36 Kent 18.02 12.52 18.29 12.40 16.51 London Bridge 07.01 01.43 07.22 01.41 05.53 Greater London 19.17 14.08 19.42 13.57 18.08 Colne Estuary (Wivenhoe) 05.18 00.05 05.41 – 04.08 Essex 17.35 12.30 18.01 12.21 16.23 – 06.45 00.01 06.50 10.46 Blakeney Harbour Norfolk 12.05 19.10 12.29 19.08 23.09 Hunstanton 11.33 06.30 11.58 06.32 10.21 Norfolk – 19.00 – 18.55 22.46 Blacktoft – 06.50 00.08 06.54 10.54 Yorkshire 12.10 19.16 12.33 19.13 23.16

named five genera of isopods using anagrams of Caroline (the name of his wife), with three more versions added by later taxonomists. The naming of a species has even become a fundraising opportunity, with conservation organisations auctioning off the right to choose a name. ■

Full moon date is Monday 10 August

Teesmouth Durham/Yorkshire Holy Island Northumberland Firth of Forth (Cockenzie) Lothian Morecambe Bay Lancashire Dee Estuary (Hilbre) Cheshire Loughor Estuary (Burry Port) Carmarthenshire Severn Estuary (Berkeley) Gloucestershire Belfast Co Down Dublin (North Wall) Co Dublin

3rd 10th 17th 24th 31st 08.45 03.43 09.13 03.41 07.34 21.21 16.16 21.46 16.07 19.58 07.34 02.26 07.59 02.26 06.25 20.01 14.58 20.24 14.50 18.45 07.40 02.49 08.09 02.40 06.33 20.15 15.25 20.41 15.07 18.57 04.18 11.37 04.43 11.32 03.06 16.46 23.59 17.12 23.46 15.27 03.57 11.13 04.20 11.11 02.43 16.25 23.34 16.51 23.24 15.05 11.34 06.31 11.59 06.30 10.18 23.59 18.53 – 18.45 22.39 00.51 08.05 01.10 08.09 – 13.14 20.29 13.35 20.25 12.00 04.13 11.22 04.38 11.15 03.00 16.46 23.40 17.10 23.25 15.25 04.39 – 05.08 11.51 03.28 17.13 12.07 17.40 – 15.52

www.birdwatch.co.uk Birdwatch•August 2014

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11/07/2014 11:38

COMMENT YOUR TURN

your

Tell us what you think. Write to Dominic Mitchell, Managing Editor, at: Birdwatch, The Chocolate Factory, 5 Clarendon Road, London N22 6XJ or email letters@birdwatch.co.uk www.facebook.com/birdwatchmagazine @BirdwatchExtra

’Mere beginnings

MANY thanks to Lucy McRobert for taking readers back to the origins of Minsmere RSPB (see last month’s Birdwatch, pages 36-39).

As a voluntary watcher for the society in the early 1950s, I was sent to the reserve on two occasions and was fortunate enough to meet the then warden, Dick Wolfendale. He was always kindly and helpful (unlike Bill Oddie’s well-known experience with Bert Axell), so it would be a pity not recognise his contribution to the Minsmere success story.

Living in no more than a small wooden shed, Dick cooked meals for two watchers on an old paraffin stove, escorted visitors around the reserve and kept a daily record of wildlife which was published in the RSPB’s annual reports.

This he did throughout most of the decade, spending March to October in Suffolk, returning north to his home in Stalybridge, Cheshire, where he was warden of the small urban Eastwood CWT reserve, too.

In those early East Anglian days, he recruited many members for the RSPB with his unassuming charisma. Looking back, it was a pleasure as a teenage birder to have known and worked with him.

Bernard L Webb, Cornwall

I found Lucy McRobert’s article on Minsmere in July’s Birdwatch interesting, as I visited the reserve in May of 1955 and 1956.

Permits were required in advance from Eccleston Square, London, where the RSPB then had its headquarters.

In the chronology panel, however, one fact is misleading. Bert Axell was not the reserve’s first warden. The society had a senior full-time warden, Richard Wolfendale, at a small reserve at Stalybridge, Cheshire, but from March to early September, Dick moved to Minsmere as summer warden from about 1948 to at least 1954. The spring 1954 issue of Bird Notes magazine (the RSPB’s forerunner to Birds, itself recently rebranded as Nature’s Home) has an article on him in a series entitled ‘Personalities: no14’.

Maurice Jones, via email

Treading on eggshells

WHILE it is true that breeding birds listed under Schedule 1 cannot be disturbed without a licence (see last month’s Birdwatch, page 81), it is incorrect to imply that no nests can be visited. Those of most species can be, although the welfare of the bird must be paramount and proper caution applied.

The BTO Nest Record Scheme relies on responsible people monitoring nests for its success. The code of conduct is detailed in the excellent BTO publication A Field Guide to Monitoring Nests, and provided this is scrupulously followed, there should be no problems.

Brian Hill, via email

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IAN BARTHORPE (WWW.RSPB-IMAGES.COM)

letters&photos

• Lucy McRobert replies: “Thanks to both of you for your lovely letters. Environmental history is a powerful tool that reminds us of the roots of our cherished landscapes, so I’m glad you enjoyed the piece.

“I apologise that I didn’t mention Dick Wolfendale, but I must admit a little bias. I don’t know if you have ever read Flying in the Face of Nature

by Simon Barnes, but in his book, which was researched and largely written at the time when Jeremy Sorenson was warden of Minsmere, he

neglects to mention Bert Axell and actually credits Axell’s work (wrongly) to Sorenson.

“Axell and Sorenson had a bitter relationship, but I was so miffed that Axell wasn’t acknowledged that I tended to focus on his contribution over the others. I would also have loved to write about the brilliant work of the current Senior Site Manager, Adam Rowlands, who has taken the Minsmere experience to new levels. There is no doubt that all the wardens of Minsmere have left their mark on the reserve.”

Norman Wood took this photo of a Hobby eating a Spanish Sparrow at Miletos in Turkey.

www.birdwatch.co.uk

7/10/2014 9:57:28 AM

Unintended killing?

LAST year you published my photograph of a juvenile Ring Ouzel killed in a legally set ‘rail trap’ on a driven grouse moor in the Lammermuir Hills in southern Scotland (see Birdwatch 254, page 84).

This Red-listed species was, of course, an unintended by-catch, its fate highlighting the indiscriminate nature of such traps, which are usually intended for small mammals. By law, the trap should have been removed by the estate management as soon as the nature of the catch was revealed. Readers will be appalled to see this recent image (below) of yet another juvenile Ring Ouzel caught in the very same trap still in operation one year later, but now illegally.

A few hundred yards away, the remains of a Dipper were found in a similar trap set over a burn. This species was once abundant across the Lammermuirs, but nowadays it is seen far less frequently. Is it merely chance that the apparent decline in the Dipper population has gone hand in hand with the widespread use of rail traps?

What is indisputable, as this sorry picture

shows, is that vulnerable, highly adapted species such as Ring Ouzel and Dipper are being casually and illegally killed thanks to the insatiable demands of grouse moor owners for ever higher bags come the ‘Glorious Twelfth’.

Andrew Barker, via email • Ian Thomson, Head of Investigations, RSPB Scotland, commented: “We are increasingly receiving reports like this of non-target species being killed in these traps.

While they can be used to catch specific mammal predators, they are only legal if they are set under cover and in such a way as to exclude other species, contrary to the example reported here. We are seeing an intensification of management on numerous upland sporting estates, and the use of such traps has proliferated. With recent surveys giving us increasing cause for concern about the conservation status of Ring Ouzel, unnatural deaths, such as being caught in traps like these, add to the pressure on this species. Perhaps the time has come for our legislators to re-examine the ways in which these traps can be legally used?”

A whole year after his last letter, another Ring Ouzel was killed in a rail trap, and was photographed by Andrew Barker on the same driven grouse moor.

Join the debate online You can use our Facebook page to comment on all the latest birding news, which is updated on a daily basis.

• On the news that a Dutch Marsh Harrier was trapped and died in captivity in Sierra Leone: Kevin K-b: “Sad that farmers believe they can earn extra money by selling wild-caught birds.”

• On the news that the few remaining Hen Harrier chicks on the Bowland Estate, Lancashire, will get be tagged by the RSPB to monitor movements and help stop persecution: Rach Cook: “About time – go RSPB!” Simon Smethurst: “This is fantastic news, but sums up the sad state of affairs regarding this species in the UK. ALL birds of prey should be better protected in this country.”

Tim Farr: “Monitor movements, they will; stop persecution ..? I doubt it.”

• Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ birdwatchmagazine and Twitter at www.twitter. com/BirdwatchExtra to keep up with the news, opinions and controversies, post your own photos and comments, enter bonus competitions and read interesting snippets from around the world of birding.

Steve Young’s photo challenge – the winner JUNE’S photo challenge was Grey Heron. There were many entries, but only one can be the winner.

Steve Young says: “There was a good variety of images of Grey Heron submitted for the latest challenge: flying birds, reflected birds, feeding birds and portraits were all sent in.

“I’ve gone for a shot with a bit of action in it for the winning image. Taken by Ken Smith, this young bird has been caught beautifully in flight as it takes off from the water. I liked the wing position, while the water droplets just add to the overall image. Well done to Ken, who wins a copy of Martin Garner’s Frontiers in Birding.”

Turn to page 72 for this month’s challenge.

Jill Molyneux wrote in via email with her father’s first photographic foray: “I have sent you this photo (left) that my dad, Phil, took of a woodpecker at his feeding station. My dad suffers from a very rare muscle-wasting illness and sits in his room all day with not much to look forward to. When he started to show an interest in his neighbour’s bird table, my mum, my two sisters and I bought him a feeding station with lots of feeders for Father’s Day. “He has had a new lease of life and loves watching the birds come and go. He shakes really badly and struggles to take photos clearly – he bought a new fancy camera with tripod and remote, but it was too complicated for him, so he had another try with the one he had. He is only 68 and has been suffering for a number of years. My mum is his full-time carer and it has made her happy knowing he has such fun watching the birds.” www.birdwatch.co.uk

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COMMENT STRAY FEATHERS

MARK COCKER

Long-term benefits Tim Birkhead has been studying guillemots on Skomer for 42 years, providing a huge amount of valuable data. But this important study is under threat, says Mark Cocker.

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MARK COCKER

T

im Birkhead is a scientist with a gift for writing in the language of ordinary people. It’s probably the combination of plain speaking and deep understanding as expressed in books like The Wisdom of Birds (2008) and Bird Sense (2012) that has made him the most prolific and successful populariser of avian science in Britain.

One of his earliest scientific studies, dating back to 1972 and the subject of his doctoral thesis, was an investigation into the breeding ecology of Common Guillemot. Remarkably, every spring since those early post-grad years, Birkhead has found time in an enormously busy schedule to revisit the Welsh island of Skomer to sustain that original work.

A long-term project of this kind is incredibly valuable. Even at the time of its inception it had important conservation consequences. The guillemots on Skomer had undergone a catastrophic decline from about 100,000 pairs in the 1930s to just 2,000 by the time that Birkhead began his careful observation of those seabird cliffs.

Over the years he was able to unravel a number of key questions of the bird’s ecology, such as how long they live (20-30 years), when they first start to breed (after seven years) and what proportion of guillemot pairs successfully rear a chick to fledging (about 80 per cent). From 1980 he was also able to chart a steady rise in the species’ hitherto miserable fortunes. Today the population has registered a tenfold increase.

One factor enhancing the value of Birkhead’s study is its timing. In the 1970s no one but a tiny academic community suspected anything about climate change, but those long years of recording Skomer’s seabirds have helped to bring its impact clearly into focus. Today rises in sea temperature are thought to be a major influence on current seabird declines. Birkhead has recorded guillemots breeding steadily earlier, with the first-egg dates shifting forwards by between two and three weeks.

Alas, Natural Resources Wales (NRW), the successor to the Countryside Commission for Wales, has this year cut the annual £12,000 funding that underpins the Skomer study and seeks to replace it with a much more basic form of census. In doing this they will jettison

One of the many facts first discovered by Tim Birkhead’s 42-year-old Common Guillemot study on Skomer is that the species possesses the smallest territory (5 cm2) of any breeding bird.

❝

In the 1970s no one suspected anything about climate change, but those years of recording Skomer’s seabirds have helped to bring its impact clearly into focus

❞

a 42-year-long project with all its consistency of methods, the massive depth of experience of Birkhead’s team and the rigorous academic support that the project has long enjoyed.

As we are reminded by politicians these are hard times. In such a climate, it seems guillemots and the studies that monitor their welfare are a luxury we cannot afford, even when the colony at stake is among the most important in the country. It is instructive to remind ourselves, when reflecting on this funding cut, that the average Welsh farmer receives £33,000 a year through the Single Farm Payments Scheme without having to practice any profitable agriculture, let alone sustain the Welsh environment except to the most insignificant standards.

There is an online petition through which anyone can protest the cuts to the study (bit.ly/ bw266SkomerGuillemots), while Welsh readers of Birdwatch can write to their MPs to complain of this so-called ‘economy’. But perhaps the word we should use to describe this decision should be left to one as noted as Birkhead himself for his mixture of public eloquence and plain facts. The eminent naturalist and broadcaster Iolo Williams said of the NRW cut: “As a Welshman, I’m ashamed that an English university is filling the void left by the Welsh government. It’s disgraceful.” ■ Mark Cocker returns in the October issue. www.birdwatch.co.uk

7/8/2014 6:40:15 PM

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Issue 266 • August 2014

End notes Cover

Sound file Hen Harrier call (www.xeno-canto.org).

Page 8

Video Bridled Tern on the Farne Islands, Northumberland, July 2013.

By FoghornsBirdingVideo.

Page 16

Image 1 Spectacled Warbler (Burnham Overy, Norfolk, 11 June 2014).

Photo by Robin Chittenden (www.robinchittenden.co.uk).

Image 2 Grey-headed Wagtail (Shetland, 26 May 2014). Photo by Gavin Thomas.

Image 3 Blyth’s Reed Warbler (Pool of Virkie, Shetland, 13 June 2014).

Photo by Tim Stenton.

Page 20

Image 1 Rose-coloured Starling (St Mary’s, Scilly, 4 June 2014). Photo

by Kris Webb.

Image 2 American Wigeon (North Uist, Outer Hebrides, June 2014).

Photo by John Nadin.

Image 3 First-summer female Red-footed Falcon (Porthgwarra, Cornwall, 26 June 2014). Photo by Brian Mellow.

Waterford, 22 November 2009).

Image 11 Adult winter Lesser Yellowlegs (Cape May, New Jersey, USA, 24 August 2009). Photo by Richard Crossley.

Image 12 Adult winter Greenshank (St Mary’s, Scilly, 17 October 2007). Photo by Ashley Grove.

Image 12 Adult Greenshank (Italy, 2 November 2011). Photo by Daniele Occhiato (www.agami.nl).

Image 13 Adult winter Greater Yellowlegs (Vancouver, Canada, 10 October 2006). Photo by Martin Smart.

Image 13 Greater Yellowlegs (Hauxley NR, Northumberland, November 2011). Photo by Steve Young (www.birdsonfilm.com).

Page 55

Video Wader flocks at Crossens Marsh, Southport, Lancashire, 3 January 2014. By Ron Jackson.

Page 66

Video Lanzarote Pelagics 2013. By sagardia100.

Page 83

Video Greater and Cory’s Shearwaters, Hatteras, NC, USA, June 2006.

By gadflypetrel.

Page 22

Video Abyssinian Roller on Fueteventura, June 2014. By Juan Sagardía.

Page 23

Image 1 Least Sandpiper (Grímsey, Iceland, 22 June 2014). Photo by Ingvar Atli Sigurdsson.

Image 2 Blue-cheeked Bee-eater (Möckelmossen, Öland, Sweden, 15 June 2014). Photo by Lars-Åke Lindberg.

Image 3 Great Knot (Ottenby, Öland, Sweden, 12 June 2014). Photo by Ulf Franzén.

Page 32

Video Common Rosefinch.

Page 35

Video Hen Harrier facing extinction, BBC Inside Out. By Paul Galloway.

Video Hen harriers face extinction in England as nests fail. By Today’s News.

Page 45

Video Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. By Mark Vance.

Page 47 Sound Sound Sound Sound

file file file file

2 3 4 5

Wood Sandpiper call (www.xeno-canto.org).

Lesser Yellowlegs call (www.xeno-canto.org).

Greenshank call (www.xeno-canto.org).

Greater Yellowlegs call (www.xeno-canto.org).

Page 49

Image 10 Adult Wood Sandpiper (Ebro Delta, Spain, 31 August 2013).

Photo by Rafael Armada (www.rafaelarmada.net).

Image 10 Wood Sandpiper (Oman, 1 January 2012). Photo by Daniele Occhiato (www.agami.nl).

Image 11 Juvenile/first-winter Lesser Yellowlegs (Dungarvan, Co www.birdwatch.co.uk

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