Long-billed Dowitcher at Rainham

I haven't had a sniff of any birding for almost a month so when news came in this morning of a Long-billed Dowitcher being found at Rainham by Dave Smith and being well placed at my sons house in Hornchurch I couldn't help but make the ten minute drive for a chance of connecting with it. I had no binoculars or camera but luckily had the scope in the car so headed over to look for the bird and on arrival two guys were stood by the bench overlooking Purfleet scrape but told me the bird had recently flown off towards Target pools. I didn't really have time to walk round the reserve searching for the bird so decided I'd wait ten minutes and see if by chance it would return to Purfleet and within minutes I picked it up flying towards us with a group of Lapwing. I watched it land on a small island and managed to get the two guys with me on it and then a few more turned up and I was able to help them before rushing off back to my sons to play puppets and dragons etc with the grandchildren for what was a lovely day all round.

Scoping Purfleet scrape for the distant Dowitcher

The Dowitcher is a first ever for Rainham marshes and is also not only a year tick for me but both a London and Essex tick to boot.

Year list now 247

Essex list now 282

London list now 240

The history of Long billed Dowitcher in Essex is limited with just nine previous records and the last being the Tilbury bird of 2011.

As for London well there's just two previous records both at Staines with a bird in 1977 on the reservoir being a first for London followed by another bird on Staines Moor in 1987 so this is only a third for London and as such will attract a little local interest.

The small local twitch

The Dowitcher (on the right)

Sub Species

The latest talk of losing a few species to sub species had me thinking of all the sub-species I've encountered over the years.

Those that were at one time full species include

Common/Meally Redpoll  (Acanthis flammea flammea)

Lesser Redpoll (Acanthis Caberet)

Couse's Arctic Redpoll (Acanthis Hornemanni exilipes)

Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll (Acanthis Hornemanni hornemanni)

and of course there's also the Greenland Redpoll (Acanthis flammea rostrata)

All these subspecies of Redpoll are now listed just as Redpoll (Acanthis flammea) (the old name for Common Redpoll)

so although I've seen all these I've counted all these five sub species as one Species on my official list 

(449 +4 =453)

I've seen Steppe Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor pallidirostris) which was a species in it's own right but since reduced to sub species of Great Grey Shrike. (Lanius excubitor) (453 +1 = 454)

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Then the sub species that have always been confined to sub species........

Black Brant (Branta bernicla nigracans)

Pale-bellied Brent Goose (Branta bernicla hrota)

Dark-bellied Brent Goose (Branta bernicla bernicla)

All listed to species Brent Goose (Branta bernicla)

(454 + 2 = 456)

Todd's Canada Goose (Branta canadensis interior) listed with Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)

(456 + 1 = 457)

Black-headed Wagtail (Matacilla flava feldegg) 

Grey headed Wagtail (Matacilla flava thunbergi)

Chanel Wagtail (Matacilla flava flavissima x flava)

these three sub species that I've seen listed with or as Yellow Wagtail (Matacilla flava)

(457 +3 = 460)

American Black Tern (Chlidonias niger surinamensis)

Listed with and as Black Tern (Chlidonias niger)

(260 + 1 = 461)

Kumliens Gull (Larus glaucoides kumlieni)  

Listed with and as Iceland Gull (Larus glaucoides)

(461 + 1 = 462)

Northern Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus caudatus)

Listed as and with Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus)

(462 + 1 = 463 )

American horned Lark (Eremorphila alpestris alpestris)

Listed as and with Shore Lark (Eremorphila alpestris) 

(463 + 1 = 464)

Siberian Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita tristis)

Listed as and with (Phylloscopus collybita) 

(464 +1 = 465) 

Black bellied Dipper (Cinclus cinclus cinclus)

Listed as and with Dipper (Cinclus cinclus)

(465 + 1 = 466)

Scandinavian Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus littoralis)

Listed as and with Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus)

(466 + 1 = 467)

Russian White-fronted Goose (Anser Albifrons albifrons) and Greenland White-fronted Goose ( Anser albifrons flavirostoris)

Both listed as Greater White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons)

(467 +1 = 468)

so there it is....if I include sub species in addition to my list of 449 full species I have a total of 468

an additional 19 bird types seen but a pointless exercise as I keep my British list in line with BOU records so it remains at 449 for now.

Another IOC update due

I try to follow BOU (British Ornithologists Union) rulings when it comes to my lists and update as they do which they do in line with IOC (International Ornithological Community) changes. This has cost me Steppe Grey Shrike and three Redpoll species as the IOC maintained their list with lumping these leaving them now as sub species. 

Well the IOU (International Ornithologists Union) have now stepped in to bring the IOC together with Clements/EBird and Birdlife International to produce one globally recognised bird taxonomy list. They set up a working group of ornithologists in 2018 to bring about the agreed list and the news leaking from the group is that in the UK we could lose Green-winged Teal which looks to become a sub-species of our Eurasian Teal, Hooded Crow which will become a sub-species of Carrion Crow and Hudsonian Whimbrel looks set to become a sub-species of Eurasian Whimbrel meaning I'll lose these three from my British list if this does indeed happen as part of the review.

Also affected could be Stejneger's Stonechat and Siberian Stonechat which look likely to be lumped and this again would result in me losing yet another bird from my total British list and Yelkouan and Balearic Shearwater looks likely to become one species and referred to as Mediterranean Shearwater, this won't affect me having dipped Yelkouan Shearwater a while back.

Once agreed the final list will be called AviList and will become the global list of taxonomic species globally. Currently the three lists from the three parties listed above (IOC 11276 / Clement 11017 and Birdlife Int. 11524) shows variation of upto 507 species and this work will bring them all in line which obviously makes sense but it would be nice if once in a while this kind of work produced some additions to the life list.

The work is due to be finalised later this year and published early in 2025 so I'm bracing myself for another four losses to my list in 2025. Will I ever get to the next landmark of 450 and does it really matter anyway?

Northern Lights

 I've been on this planet for sixty years and I've never come close to seeing the Northern Lights.

I missed the show earlier this year because a) I didn't believe I'd be able to see them and b) I was lazy so when there was talk this week of a second chance I took a bit more notice. I'd just watched England lose to Greece and decided to check the sky for signs of the promised showing from the North and I was amazed I could actually see the red and green in the sky. I called Suzanne and she managed a look from the bedroom window and I walked around the corner to get a clearer view without the street lights. At the top of the hill the lights were much more visible and when I lifted the phone/camera the views were even better allowing me to grab an image to remember the night by.

Pleased I made the effort to look outside on this occasion and pleased the sky was clear enough for us to see the show.

Now where's that next bird coming from?

Hoopoe at North Walsham in Norfolk

For a while I struggled to connect with Hoopoe but now they're almost annual on my year lists.

I've seen birds in Essex, Kent, Norfolk, Hampshire, Staffordshire, Herts and Cambridgeshire but I haven't seen one since 2022 so made an effort to drive to North Walsham to make sure I didn't go another year without seeing one. 

Arriving at the reported site I was amazed to see the bird just pottering about on the small front lawn of the bungalow ignoring the birders/toggers a few feet away. I joined them, laid myself down on the path to the amusement of the locals and took a few (140) images of the bird as it walked around the lawn coming to within about seven feet of me at times. It was regularly pulling beetle lavae from below the surface. The crest would occasionally lift in the wind or when the bird was startled by a car pulling up or pulling away.

I've seen confiding Hoopoes before but this bird took it to another level and I'm so pleased I made the effort to visit it.

It was bird 246 for 2024 

Asian Desert Warbler at Winterton Dunes

I woke yesterday to news of an Asian Desert Warbler at Winterton Dunes in Norfolk. This is a bird on my dipped list having tried and failed for the one at Holy Island in June 2020 so it took seconds for me to decide I was going for this one as I had a free day and time for once was my own. I called Jim at 7.35am and by 8.15am we were on our way arriving at 10.15am to find the car park already quite full. We paid £4 for two hours parking and started the long walk north. After a mile or so we found a group of around thirty or so birders surrounding some shrub and joined the party. The bird was quickly picked up deep in the cover of the bushes as it was pretty cold and very windy. With patience the bird gave good views but was tricky to photograph in the thick cover. At last I'd put that horrible dip behind me and finally seen my first Asian Desert Warbler. 

Asian Desert Warbler breeds in Central/Western Asia and winters in North East Africa so this guy is a little lost. There are 13 previous British records with the first being in 1970 and the last being one I dipped in 2020 so this will be the 14th record for Britain and the second for Norfolk after a 1993 bird at Blakeney point.

Asian Desert Warbler

It was a long walk

A few like minded fools

Having used our two hours parking we decided to head home but diverted to year tick a Hoopoe at North Walsham which showed ridiculously well as it feasted on bugs and grubs hidden in the front lawn of the chosen bungalow. 

Hoopoe

Year list now 246

Life list now 449

Norfolk list now 302

I do love a list! 🤣

Pale-legged Leaf Warbler at Bempton RSPB

News of an Arctic Warbler at Bempton mid afternoon on 25th September was noteworthy and then it was upgraded to probable Eastern Crowned Warbler later that evening. Now as good a bird an Arctic Warbler is, it's no Eastern Crowned Warbler with only four previous British records and the last being at Bempton in 2016 so this news was greeted with a certain degree of twitchiness. My home schedule didn't allow a mad dash up the A1 to Bempton and I was relieved I'd held back when on 26th there was no sign of the bird. Roll on 24 hours and the bird had been seen again and successfully photographed and sound recorded. This recording lead to the bird being reidentified as Pale-legged Leaf Warbler. Now as good a bird the Eastern Crowned Warbler is, it's no Pale-legged Leaf Warbler. 🤣

There is just one previous record of PLLW in Britain and that was a bird found dead on Scilly in 2016 although there is also a record of one at Portland Dorset in 2012 which apparently wasn't seen well enough to confirm fully.

The bird was still present on Friday but not reported until early evening delaying the twitch until the weekend and sure enough there was a massive twitch on Saturday and to a slightly lesser degree on the Sunday where the bird proved difficult but reliable if given time. I couldn't get a free day until Wednesday but having checked the weather and seen two days and nights of rain on Monday/Tuesday I hatched a plan with the Jims to give it a go Wednesday morning if it had been seen at all on the Tuesday which it had.

We set off at 3am and made Bempton just after 7am to find around thirty early birds already looking for the bird and several using thermals to aid the search. At around 8am a guy using a thermal picked up a sign and quickly put out the shout that he had it. I was lucky to be close enough to get on his directions and spent the next hour or more finding it in the bins and trying to help as many people as possible to get on it which was by no means easy. I didn't lift the camera once due to the bird being deep in cover and the role I'd taken upon myself to help others where I could. I heard a couple of Yellow-browed Warblers during the time on site and saw one briefly drift through the Sycamores. 

In the nearby scrub I found lots of Tree Sparrow as you'd expect at Bempton plus a Garden Warbler, Blackcaps, Goldcrests and a few Chiffchaffs. I missed a Firecrest by a few moments but failed to refind it before we left for Flamborough.

At Flamborough we managed to see a rather showy if some what distant Icterine Warbler and Red-breasted Flycatcher. The Icterine was Jims second lifer of the day and one he was very happy about having missed a couple in the past. The Arctic Warbler had been reported again at Spurn so with the Jims needing that for a life tick I decided to drive them down there too, just another 50 miles or so but who's counting.

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Icterine Warbler

Icterine Warbler

We arrived at Spurn to news that nobody had seen the Arctic Warbler since about 9.30am but a guy had heard it recently in the car park which explained why at 12pm twenty or so people were gathered there in expectation. I had a quick look around the car park then set about walking off to see if I could relocate it and of course being Spurn there's always the chance of bumping into something else. I hadn't gone more than fifty metres from the pack when I found the Arctic, I phoned the Jims and very quickly the car park crew were with me watching the Arctic which was great as for many it was indeed a life tick. We left this scene so as not to crowd the area any more than needed and walked up to the trapping area were we found a couple of birders who put us on a Barred Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher.

Before we left for home we dropped into Kilnsea Wetlands where we spotted the American Wigeon sleeping on the muddy banks to give probably the worst views I've had of this species but it did provide another welcome year tick.

Pink Feet Geese and Redwings moving over head with small pulses of both Swallow and House Martin provided some romance to the day too. I would have liked time for a bit of a Sea watch as there was some decent reports of Pom, Sootys and Petrels during the day.

We almost made the ten mile detour on the way home for the Hoopoe but traffic was heavy, I was knackered and we still had a four hour drive to do so did the sensible thing and carried on towards home arriving back in Loughton at 7pm.

Now if the above seems like a dreamy birding day consider also the birds we missed in Yorkshire whilst up there. Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Two Barred Warbler, Wryneck, Hoopoe, Great Grey Shrike, Olive-backed Pipit, Dusky Warbler, Pallid Harrier, Marsh Warbler, Corncrake, Ring Ouzel, Little Bunting, Snow Bunting and Lapland Bunting. All of these were seen yesterday while we were there with the Two-barred being the only one that was a bit of a distance from us. 

Roll on to Thursday the day after our visit and firstly it would appear that my concern over the clear night of Wednesday giving the PLLW reason to depart seems was justified as it hasn't been seen yet today nor has the Icterine but we have yet more new arrivals in the shape of a Rustic Bunting and another that has since been reidentified as a probable Black-faced Bunting (just nine accepted British records and only one prior in Yorkshire) then an Isabelline (Daurian Shrike) or Red-tailed Shrike (Turkestan Shrike) (yet to be determined but less than a dozen records of either so either way a decent bird again and in the afternoon a Red-flanked Bluetail at Flamborough.

My question is then, is Spurn the new Shetland? 

A great day out with Jim and Dad with a life tick and seven year ticks.

Life list now back to 448

year list now 244