ACRE NOOK AND LAPWING HALL POOL-MAY BIRD SIGHTINGS

Acre Nook bird sightings:

The Sandwich tern, which I found on the 19th of April, was last seen on the 13th of May, which was an incredible stay for an inland bird. On the 13th, 39 Shelduck were present along with 49 Lapwing. Reed warblers and Sedge warblers have now all returned to reedbeds and are in full song. A Cuckoo was calling from over the other side of Lapwing Lane on the 19th.On the 21st, a flyover Hobby was a first for my new patch. Numbers of Shelduck have now departed weekly, with only six birds left that have produced two broods.

Shelduck with their young

On the 22nd, two Dunlin were feeding on the sand bank along with a party of Canada Geese with their young.

Dunlin

Canada geese with their young

My first Swift of the year was over the Quarry on the 17th, and then numbers have increased throughout the month, along with big numbers of House Martins, Sand Martins and Swallows.

Sand martins are in good numbers on both sites

On the 30th, a Little Ringed Plover was seen. By the 31st of the month, Acre Nook is nearly dried out, so birding looks like it's going to get even harder, as if it's not hard enough, and they are quarrying further as you can see in the background of the photo below and dropping sand off on the site in trucks, which is causing major disturbance on site to breeding Lapwings.

Acre Nook has nearly dried out due to the warm weather

Lapwing Hall pool bird sightings

Tufted Duck numbers reached 37 throughout the month.4 Little grebes remain, along with 2 Great Crested grebes. A good number of Sand Martins are present, feeding and then flying over to Acre Nook.18 Swifts were over the Pool on the 21st.On the 13th, I came across another first, a calling Tree Sparrow which flew into the nearby wood by Foden's farm. The bird has been seen on every visit this month collecting caterpillars, and they are nesting in the farmer's garden, in which he has kindly let me in to get some photos.

 Tree Sparrow

1 Wigeon remained all month, and on the 30th, a Pochard was on site.

Pochard

TEGGS NOSE COUNTRY PARK AND WILDBOARCLOUGH

I spent the afternoon birding Teggs Nose County Park and Wildboarclough, beginning at Bottoms Reservoir before walking up towards Teggs Nose itself. A pair of Mandarin Ducks was present on the reservoir, accompanied by nine well-grown ducklings, providing the highlight of the visit.

Mandarin Duck

A thorough search of the usual woodland areas for Pied Flycatcher proved unsuccessful, which was concerning, as this site has traditionally been a reliable breeding area for the species within Cheshire. Little else was encountered around Teggs Nose, aside from a calling Redstart.

 Teggs Nose County Park

Moving on to Wildboarclough, I soon connected with the resident Dippers, which had successfully raised a single young bird, offering more positive breeding evidence.

Dipper

Although overall bird numbers were low, the visit was still enjoyable, helped greatly by beautiful weather and the stunning scenery of the Wildboarclough valley, with Shutlingsloe providing a fine backdrop. Long may the good weather continue.

BLACK BILLED CUCKOO-NORTH UIST-SCOTLAND

What began as an ordinary Sunday evening playing snooker at my local club quickly turned into something rather extraordinary. Mid-frame, I received a text from Fred Fearn with the words every birder dreams of — and scarcely believes: a Black-billed Cuckoo had been found at Bayhead, North Uist.

A few rapid phone calls followed. Only Pete Antrobus was willing to commit to the long overnight dash north. The snooker match was swiftly abandoned, and within minutes I was heading home to grab essentials in the hope of making the first ferry from Uig the following morning.

I picked Pete up in Northwich around 9pm, and we headed north through the night, arriving at Uig just before 6am. Sleep wasn’t an option, so I spent the early hours birding around the harbour while waiting for the 9.40am ferry. Highlights included Common Sandpiper, Sedge Warbler, Song Thrush and Linnet — a gentle warm-up for what lay ahead.

 Common Sandpiper

 Sedge Warbler

 Song Thrush

Linnet

We hadn’t booked the car onto the ferry, and with the terminal office not opening until 9am, there was a moment of tension. Thankfully, there was space, and we made it on board — just as news broke that the cuckoo was still showing. By now, all the familiar twitching faces had gathered; all that remained was the crossing.

The ferry sailed on time, and the journey produced a superb supporting cast: Black Guillemot, Puffin, Guillemot, Razorbill, Great Skua, Arctic Skua, Black- and Red-throated Divers, and even a White-tailed Eagle. Throughout the crossing, updates on the cuckoo continued to come through — a rare luxury on a twitch of this magnitude.

Pete, with a smile on his face, knowing he's going to get one ahead of Fred with the Black billed Cuckoo

Arriving at Lochmaddy

On arrival at Lochmaddy, we joined a convoy of birders heading across North Uist. The tension dissolved instantly on arrival: the bird was showing in a garden bush, feeding calmly. Seeing a Black-billed Cuckoo in Britain is something most birders never expect to experience, and to find it feeding actively, catching caterpillars and flying around freely, felt almost surreal. It was, quite simply, magnificent.

Everyone present — Pete very much included — was delighted to be “gripping back” this true mega.

Black billed Cuckoo

Happy Twitchers

With the bird safely admired, we returned to Lochmaddy to secure accommodation and celebrate appropriately. A room was found at the local hostel — remarkably cheap — followed by a well-earned pint at the hotel.

Pete and me in the Lochmaddy Hotel

The day was far from over. We headed back out birding, first stopping at RSPB Balranald, where Corncrakes were calling — up to four birds, with one showing briefly. A Glaucous Gull lingered in nearby fields, Corn Buntings sang persistently, and the beach held good numbers of Dunlin and Sanderling.

Glaucous Gull

 

Corn Bunting

The beach at Balranald

 Sanderling

Dunlin

Completing an island loop back towards Lochmaddy, we enjoyed excellent views of Golden Eagles in the north of the island and also found four Whooper Swans. After an outstanding day, it was back for food and a few more celebratory pints.

Leaving Uig and heading west

Me taking a break from driving at Glen Coe

I was up again at 6am to catch the ferry back to Uig, utterly exhausted. I drove onto the boat and slept almost the entire crossing. The long journey home finally ended at 8pm, shattered but immensely satisfied. It was one of those twitches that remind you exactly why we do it.

This North Uist bird represents only the 15th record for Britain. The last twitchable individual was on the Isles of Scilly in 1982, where it remained for three days. Most records involve exhausted autumn migrants, many of which were found dead.

Previous British records include:

2014

Orkney

Holland House, North Ronaldsay, first-winter, 23rd October

1990

Isles of Scilly

Trenoweth, St Mary's, 10th October, dead, 11th October

1989

At sea

Sea area Forties, Maureen oil platform, 58°08'N 01°42'E, found exhausted 30th September, taken into care, released 1st October, photo

1985

Isles of Scilly

Porthloo Lane, St Mary's, first-winter, 12th October, photo

1982

Cheshire & Wirral

Red Rocks, Hoylake, Wirral, first-winter, 30th October, photo

1982

Devon

Barnstaple, first-winter, caught 21st October, released 22nd October

1982

Isles of Scilly

Borough/Telegraph area, St Mary's, 21st to 22nd October; same, Hugh Town, 23rd October, found dead on 24th October

1982

Isles of Scilly

St Agnes, juvenile, 29th August; same, near Campsite, found dead, 30th August, photo

1975

Cleveland/Yorkshire, North

Locke Park, Redcar, trapped, 23rd to 24th September

1967

Devon

Lundy, first-winter male, 19th October, found dead 20th October, now at Leicester Museum

1965

Cornwall

Gweek, Monday, 30th October

1953

Shetland

Foula, picked up exhausted, 11th October, died 12th October, now at Natural History Museum, Tring (BMNH 1953.69.1)

1950

Argyll

Achnaslishaig Hill, Southend, Kintyre, first-winter, 6th November, found dead, 8th November, now at Kelvingrove Museum & Art Gallery, Glasgow (GLAMG Z.1950.132)

1932

Isles of Scilly

Tresco, immature, picked up dead after hitting wall, 27th October, photo, now at Isles of Scilly Museum

GREEN WARBLER-THE PLANE THAT NEVER TOOK OFF!

The mega alert sounded on Saturday afternoon with news that a Green Warbler had been found on Unst, at Settlers Hill, Baltasound, Shetland. Initially reported as a Greenish Warbler, the identification was later refined to a probable Green Warbler. The bird was subsequently trapped and ringed, with DNA samples taken to confirm its identity — a clear indication of the significance of the find.

Allan Conlin, who was staying at his house on Unst, had seen the bird and was keeping me closely updated. The bird had been discovered by Mike Pennington and was showing well. However, despite the best efforts by Fred Fearn, all available charters for Sunday were fully booked, leaving us with no option but to hope the bird would remain into Monday.

Encouragingly, the warbler showed throughout Sunday, raising hopes that it might still be present the following morning.

Early on Monday, I met up with Fred Fearn, Pete Antrobus and Simon Slade at Lymm Services on the M6, and we headed east towards York for our chartered flight north. Meanwhile, Allan had kindly risen very early to search for the bird ahead of our arrival.

On reaching the airport, we anxiously awaited news. Time passed slowly, though we were at least kept occupied by Yellow Wagtails, Corn Buntings and Skylarks in the surrounding fields.

Corn Bunting

Yellow Wagtail

Skylark

Just after 9.00am, Allan rang with disappointing news: the bird could not be relocated, and only two birders were searching the area. We held on until 11.00am, but no further reports came through. With heavy hearts, we were forced to abandon the attempt.

The plane that never took off

It was a bitter blow. This individual represented only the third record of Green Warbler for Britain, the previous occurrence being on the Ristie, Foula, from 31 May to 4 June 2014. To be so close — yet ultimately grounded — made the disappointment all the sharper.

Allan has kindly allowed me to use his photographs of the bird for my blog, a generous gesture that somehow both softened — and deepened — the frustration of missing such a rarity.

Some birds you see; others remain just out of reach. This one firmly belonged to the latter.

Green Warbler 3rd for Britain