MY BIRDING YEAR 2023

The year started off steady with some local birding until the 29/01 when a Dartford Warbler was photographed near the rifle range at Burton Marsh.People did go looking for the bird but there was no further sign of it.

A cracking find by Paul Ralston 

The first week in February I spent in Fuerteventura and saw some cracking birds during the week.The star bird of the week was the Red billed tropicbird at Atlantico mall,Caleta which showed so well,absolutely amazing views.

Red Billed Tropicbird

Over birds of note were:

Cream Coloured Courser

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                                           Houbara Bustard

Egyptian Vulture

Black Bellied Sandgrouse

                                                                                 Trumpeter Finch

On the 19/02 I visited Burton marsh and got great views of a Lesser White Fronted Goose of unknown origin,it's always worth seeing these birds you never no.

The following day I spent in North Wales and had a great day out birding!

Black Grouse

Surf Scoters

Baikal teal-Foryd bay

Ring necked duck-Llyn Cefni

South-westerly winds extending across the Bay of Biscay from Iberia and North Africa at the start of the first week in march and produced perfect 'funnel' conditions for a large-scale migrant arrival,although even more noticeable still was an extraordinary Alpine Swift influx across Britain and Ireland. 

When glancing at the Birdguides sighting page it has been impossible to miss the scale of this record-shattering influx, with birds reported from more than 60 locations, including no fewer than 13 sites enjoying multiple birds. Ireland hosted the bulk of reports, with perhaps as many as 50 different birds including an astonishing nine over Bray, Co Wicklow, on 19th – the biggest flock ever recorded in Ireland. Six at Stanpit Marsh, Dorset, the previous day, meanwhile, is the largest modern-day flock recorded in Britain

Alpine swifts were reported from in excess of 60 sites during the week and I managed to see one at Conwy RSPB.

What a cracking bird!

It was are turn then on the Wirral on the 22/03 when two Alpine Swifts were seen over Hoylake but they flew straight through.I visited Burton RSPB 23/03 and got good views of a Long Billed Dowitcher,these are becoming annual at this site now,but always nice to see this American wader

Long Billed Dowitcher

The again on the 30/03 an Alpine Swift spent half an hour over Burton RSPB but flew west just has I arrived towards the River Dee,will this bird ever get on my list!Missed so many by minutes.

The Alpine Swift spent half an hour over Burton RSPB before flying west

On the 10/4 I was back at Burton RSPB,getting brief views of a Savi's warbler,it was really elusive but very vocal,atlast a Cheshire tick.

     

Another visit on the 19/04 to Burton RSPB to see a Gull Billed Tern which showed really well.

      

On the 29/04 I visited Dorset again after a terrible day the week before with Malc Curtin and Mark Payne driving around looking for a Forster's Tern and not seeing it.I returned and got the boat over to Brownsea Island and got great views of the bird.Lifer at last!

   

                                                                 Forster's Tern,1st Lifer of the year!

News broke on the 01/05 that a Grey Headed Lapwing had been found at Low-Newton-By-The-Sea in Northumberland.I arrived a few hours later and got great views of the bird.

I was lucky today 17/05 as I was doing a bird survey at Hale and jammed in on Pectoral Sandpiper and Temminck's Stint at Carr Lane Pools,both birds showed really well.

Temminck's Stint

Pectoral Sandpiper

On the 30/05 news broke that a Night Heron had been found on Pumphouse flash at Sandbach Flashes.The bird thankfully stayed and showed well and it made up for the Leasowe bird I missed many moons ago.

On the 06/06 a Black Winged Stilt was found at Burton RSPB.On arrival the bird showed really well and was my first for the site.

What a beauty!

I walked over to Hilbre Island on the 17/06 and found the Black Guillimot off the north end of the island,happily feeding away.

Black Guillimot

On the 22/06 a White Tailed Eagle a released 2nd-summer female 'G542' from Isle of Wight reintroduction scheme was found on Frodsham Score.The bird showed well but was distant,I managed better views over the next week as I was doing a bird survey on the Mersey

The first week in July I spent in Maderia and saw some great birds

Maderian Firecrest

Trocaz Pigeon

Madeiran Chaffinch

Zino's Petrel

Bulwer's Petrel

Band-rumped storm petrel

The 16/08 was costly when I missed two Citrine Wagtails at Hoylake due to work,I went the next morning but they had gone. 

                                            

A trip to the Scilly Isles on the 17/08 to see a Red Footed Booby.Thankfully the bird hung around on Bishops Rock and showed really well.

Red Footed Booby

Whilst working on the 28/08 an Osprey flew over whilst doing a bird survey at Hale

American warbler madness kicked off in Pembrokeshire on the 21/09 when I connected with a Magnolia Warbler at Govans head and then two days later on the 23/09 I saw a Bay Breasted Warbler on Ramsey Island and a Canada Warbler!An amazing few days!

     

Magnolia Warbler

Canada Warbler

Bay Breasted Warbler

On the 27/10 I visited Flamborough Head in East Yorkshire and saw a Red Headed Bunting

Red Headed Bunting

A very showy juvenile Great Northern Diver was seen on the 21/11 at West Kirby Marine Lake

Great Northern Diver

The year finished off with 30 Waxwing in rowans Warrington on the 18/12

                          

                                                      Waxwing

A great years birding and did alot of travelling.Roll on 2024!

RED HEADED BUNTING-FLAMBOROUGH HEAD-EAST YORKS-27TH OCTOBER 2023

Flamborough Head in East Yorkshire sparked the biggest twitch of the week and one of the largest of the autumn so far when a news of a potential Red headed bunting came to light on 21st. It was actually first seen and photographed on 19th; however, the discovery of a Siberian stonechat in the very same spot just minutes later saw the bunting promptly forgotten about!

I was well late to the party to see this bird due to work commitments and thankfully it stuck around.I drove over to Flamborough with Tony disley from Lancashire and arrived on site just after sun rise.

Flamborough head

It didn't take long to walk to the birds favoured area and it was on show when we arrived perched up on a hawthorn bush.

Red Headed bunting

Away from adult males, this species is incredibly tricky to separate from Black headed bunting, meaning the identification took time to resolve completely. The most important features clinching the identification are a grey mantle with broad, arrow-shaped black streaks and prominent, triangular head streaking that continues down the nape and into the mantle streaking (neither of these is apparently shown by Black-headed Bunting).

The species was common in captivity until the export ban in 1982 and this corresponded with a large number of escaped birds (with small flocks occasionally even appearing at sites such as Portland, Dorset). As a result, the taxon currently finds itself languishing in Category D of the British list, although a review was recently prompted by the British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee (BOURC) to determine whether the species should be added to Category A. The frequency of occurrences has rapidly decreased since the ban and there are only four additional records since the turn of the century – at Baldhoun, Isle of Man, on 16-17 June 2001, Cattawade, Essex, on 21 May 2002, Monreith, Dumfries and Galloway, on 8-9 June 2004, and Out Skerries, Shetland, from 2-8 October 2010.

Other birds of note on site were two Common cranes over and a Short eared owl.

Common Crane

Short eared owl

DNA has apparently been collected from the bird and hopefully it will be confirmed as a Red-headed Bunting, a first-winter male,we all wait in anticipation.

 

 

BAY BREASTED WARBLER-RAMSEY ISLAND-CANADA WARBLER-GOVAN'S HEAD-PEMBROKESHIRE-23RD SEPTEMBER 2023

The excitement of the previous days Magnolia Warbler had quickly turned to trepidation. Those of us afflicted with compulsive twitching rarely bask in the glory of a success, it’s all about the next one (or the one that got away). The Bay-breasted Warbler had remained on Friday 22nd and had showed well throughout the day.I now had 24 hours to go before a possible American warbler double-whammy, but by now there was a deluge of American birds across the west of the UK and Ireland.

My boat was at 12pm so i arranged to pick Sean cole up on the way down who was camping a few miles from Ramsey Island.News broke on the way down that a Canada Warbler had been found and it  was just up the road close to the Magnolia warbler (which was still there) and had been found by the same birder.Unbelievable!

I made it down to Sean's just after 9.30am and Trudy had the bacon sandwiches on,just what i needed after a long drive.

                                             

Happy days

After a good breakfast me and Sean made our way to the site for the 12.00pm boat and were greeted by the usual faces.A Wryneck was found by the coastal footpath and showed really well as we waited for the boat.

Wryneck 

We got aboard the boat and we were off and the bird thankfully was still showing well.

All aboard!

When we arrived on the island we were briefed by the wardens and then we made our way up the hill to look down on the farmhouse garden

       

Birders waiting for the first glimpse of the Bay breasted warbler

The Bay breasted warbler eventually showed in the farmhouse garden and then showed really well on a stone wall.

I can say this bird was a cracker, a class individual. They're not always as clean and bright as this one, and it showed a treat in the willows and bracken alongside a few Goldcrests, a female Blackcap and a couple of Chiffchaffs. It was a a real pleasure to watch in a relaxed mood and in a stunning location,with Choughs overhead a Peregrine briefly taking attention away from the bird of the day. Unsurprisingly the twitch had gone well and fair play to RSPB for their friendly assistance. Apparently the police presence was down to a kayaker accessing the island without permission the day before, which was a risk to pupping seals and biosecurity. I don't know if he was a twitcher, but it seemed unlikely that a flotilla of kayak-owning twitchers would descend onto the island.

Two yanks in three days and we still had the Canada warbler to see!There is only one previous record of Bay Breasted warbler and this was on the 1st October at Lands end in Cornwall in 1995 https://britishbirds.co.uk/sites/default/files/V90_N10_P444-449_A120.pdf.

As I stood in the sunshine the american arrival of news kept coming. Parula on Scilly. Philadelphia Vireo on Barra,Ovenbird on Rhum,Tennessee Warbler in Ireland,Bobolinks,Red eyed Vireos en masse,Baltimore Oriole.Black and white warbler in Gwynedd.,Yanks were falling from the sky!

Anyway we got back to the boat back at 14.00, and were in the car half an hour later. Despite the short distance, it was a longer than anticipated drive back to St Govan's Head from here - about an hour and a quarter along winding roads with an excessive amount of Sunday drivers. 

When we arrived it was complete chaos - a far cry from the calm of Ramsay Island. Cars were dumped on the narrow road verge, with people inside the roadside mass of willow scrub. The bird had been elusive and the atmosphere was tense.  We joined the throng, with the bird putting in a brief appearance to a handful of people just as we entered the fray. People surged. 

I went to the far end and waited with Sam viles and there it was moving right in the top of the bushes before coming out on show and then flew further right.It was on!What a bird At this point a lot of people hadn’t seen it at all,or just flight views of a ‘bird sp.’.Panic was now widespread.I saw the Canada warbler briefly again later on but the bird was so elusive,

Three yanks in a week, Unbelievable!

Thankfully Sean had seen the bird well so we headed back to the car,i dropped Sean off back at his camper van and headed north arriving back home just after 8pm.Great day and one i'll never forget!