While travelling to work in Oxfordshire, news reached me that a male Great-tailed Grackle had been discovered in the RNLI station car park immediately north of Calshot Castle, Hampshire. I diverted and arrived approximately an hour later, joining a small gathering of birders who were able to enjoy prolonged and excellent views of the bird.
The circumstances and location strongly suggested a ship-assisted arrival, and although the encounter was thoroughly enjoyable, it was apparent that the record would not be admissible for listing purposes. Subsequent review of photographs, however, led to the bird’s reidentification as a Boat-tailed Grackle Quiscalus major, representing the first documented ship-assisted occurrence of the species in Britain.
Under the current policy of the British Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee, ship-assisted vagrants involving port-to-port or coast-to-coast transport are not eligible for inclusion on the British List. Suspected ship-assisted records may only be considered where the species concerned is regarded as capable of undertaking an unassisted transatlantic crossing under favourable meteorological conditions.