Life ticks: Top targets

I thought I'd run a list of my top targets (life ticks) according to Bubo listing and it produced the following results in order of what is considered the easiest tick based on the fact that more listers on Bubo have seen this species. I've added a little data to each to make for a more interesting blog post.

SNOW GOOSE

44% of people that keep a British list on Bubo have reported that they've seen Snow Geese but only around a third have added any detail with regards to date and place of their sightings. I too have seen Snow Geese but nothing considered or indeed accepted as of truly wild origin.

Snow Geese are reported annually and nothing but a winter visitor would be expected yet some have ticks listed in June/July and August. Some listers even put "escape" or "feral" next to their listing which I have no problem with as each list is the listers own record and I suppose better to list it as escaped or feral if that's what it is but for me I try to list only BBRC accepted records. The bird sits in category AC2E* with the BOU meaning it is recorded as A: OF TRULY WILD ORIGIN  C2: Species with established populations resulting from introduction by man. E*: Basically escapees but the E for escaped and the E* for those that have been known to breed in the wild from these escaped birds that are still not considered self sustaining. 

People on Bubo have listed birds as local to me as Lee Valley and Abberton and I guess with the bird being accepted as category C2 these could be listed in the same way many list Greylag Geese in this category whilst I'm lucky enough to have seen genuine migratory birds in the highlands. Ticking a genuine cat A Snow Goose is not as easy as the "my targets" would have me believe.

TAWNY PIPIT

This according to Bubo is my next easiest tick. I've dipped a couple, one in my home county of Essex and one this year down in Dorset so I'm trying but again it's a more difficult tick than the stats suggest.

Only 31% or 673 of the 2040 listers on Bubo have ticked Tawny Pipit so I'm in good company with the other 69% of listers that use the site. In the last decade which is the timeline that interests me most Tawny Pipit has been ticked by no fewer than 119 people with most as expected spring vagrants in April and May and again as autumn vagrants in Sept/Oct with the odd ticks in Nov/Dec and a single tick for January. So I can say that my best chance is in the four main migratory months and that the best areas to encounter a Tawny Pipit would appear to be on the south or east coasts. BBRC records show Tawny pipit to be annual vagrants to the UK with c6 records per year in the last decade. Records between 2009/2019 show the islands have a good share: Scilly 8 Shetland 2 Fair Isle 2 Orkney 4 South Uist 1. Also a record on the Isle of Wight. As for the mainland no fewer than fourteen counties have accepted records including my dipped bird at Barking Creekmouth. The best county for records is East Yorkshire followed closely by Norfolk, Cornwall and Suffolk although Kent and Dorset aren't far behind and Beachy Head in East Sussex has three records that I can see in this period. Birds seem to move on quickly which adds to the difficulty catching up with one but I should get one or two chances a year for a  mainland twitch so look forward to adding this to "the list|" in the near future.

PACIFIC DIVER

Listed by 29% of all Bubo listers. The first dated tick is 1997 in a West Yorkshire gravel pit followed by another two listers ticking in Yorkshire in 2000.(these three before the first accepted record) The first UK twitchable bird arrived in 2007 when the first record was accepted in Yorkshire along with other birds in Pembrokeshire and Cornwall. 276 listers connected in 2007 which means 45% of all listers had their first in 2007. 2008  saw 37 other ticks in Yorkshire and Pembs. In terms of accepted records since and including 2007 we have a total of 18 accepted records 10 of which are from Cornwall with Pembrokeshire holding three records from 2007/08/09. and Yorkshire, Northumberland, Gloucestershire, Devon and Shetland all holding one record each. The Cornwall bird seems to be a returning bird but reported much less and as such makes connecting with it harder as it's six hours from home. Maybe I'll get lucky one year holidaying in an area one gets reported but I can't see me making a long drive to scan the sea for a distant diver any time soon. (but never say never)

TEREK SANDPIPER

Another bird I've dipped as I tried for the Rye harbour bird of 2018. Only 27% of listers have seen a Tereks Sandpiper so again I'm in good company having not seen one of these. The first recorded tick on Bubo is at Minsmere in 1972.  A two day bird at Pagham in 2015 was an obvious missed opportunity to connect and a two day bird in Lincs during 2014 another miss. Rye saw another one day bird in 2013 and Yorkshire had a three day bird in 2011.  The first accepted record dates back to 1951. In the last decade we've seen no fewer than 23 accepted records with most being one or two day stayers with the longest stayer a bird in 2015 that was seen over six days in Norfolk but the bird was in an area with no public access so not twitchable. Terek Sandpiper is a bird that gives you less than one chance a year to see and stays for just a day or two so remains high on my wanted list way higher than Snow Goose and Pacific Diver for sure despite the data from Bubo target lists. 

IVORY GULL

Seen by 558 listers on Bubo (27%) with 32 feeling they don't need to provide dates and places for their sighting which is fine as it's their list but frustrating when looking at this data. First recorded in 1822 there have been many records since but I'll focus here again on the last decade as that's where my most realistic chances of connecting have been as that's when I really started thinking of building a life list. As for bubo the first dated tick is 1990 in Inverness. The only twitchable bird in the last decade was the one that was being supplied with fresh fish encouraging it to stay in Yorkshire throughout December of 2013 and this bird accounts for around 8% of all ticks for the species on bubo in a year that saw no fewer than nine records but all bar two in Scotland and the islands. I still kick myself today that I didn't make the effort to see the Yorkshire bird but hope that another will turn up in the next few years maybe even closer to home like the 1999 bird that spent almost all of December in Suffolk. 

AMERICAN ROBIN

Listed on bubo by 541 people. Despite listers on Bubo having records dated 1900/1950 and 1967 there is no official record for any of these dates. The first record accepted in the UK dates back to 1891. The first true dated record I can find that relates to Bubo listers is the bird on Scilly of 1976 with five people ticking that bird. Another lister has a Yorkshire bird ticked that hasn't been accepted from 1982 and another lister has a Grampian bird from 1986 that wasn't submitted/accepted. Another seems to have the wrong date of 1987 on a bird seen by 31 other listers and accepted by BBRC. Three listers have a 1994 bird/birds that are not accepted records and another has an unaccepted record from 1996.  A bird spent two days on Scilly in 1998 and this allowed 16 people to tick it. Ten people then list unaccepted records until the next accepted record in 2003 when 23% of all listers connected. Even in 2003 a couple of people have northern birds ticked that were never accepted whilst only one lister managed to get the Bardsey Island bird of the same year. A bird in Grimsby in 2004 was a long staying crowd pleaser until a Sparrowhawk took it but not before 56 Bubo listers had ticked it and another in Cornwall was also ticked by 11 listers. Five listers have ticked 2005 birds which I suppose could be them getting dates mixed up. Fourteen people listed the Scilly bird of 2006 which spent two weeks on the island and nobody has listed the two other accepted records of 2006 from London and the Highlands.49 listers saw the 2007 Bingley bird and somebody ticked an unaccepted bird on Scilly. 2008/09 sees another six unaccepted ticks before the Exminster bird of 2010 allowed another 41 listers to finally connect although again a couple of listers have birds from 2011 and 2012 that show no accepted records.  Four listers got the 2014 Scilly bird and there's only been one other record since then which was on Lundy in 2018 which nobody ticked. Since 2014 ten listers have ticked birds that don't relate to any accepted records making American Robin one of the most overclaimed ticks I can find and I find it hard to work out why but I'll do a bit more work on it and try to understand the issue better. In the last decade since my real listing days started there have been no twitchable birds which explains why I haven't connected to date. I am also well aware that many people will have seen the accepted records and aren't using Bubo to keep their records.

BUFFLEHEAD

Like the American Robin 541 listers have ticked Bufflehead with a few more happy to include date and place details (only 24 haven't). Again I noted many Bubo listers with ticks against unaccepted records. First accepted in 1920 there have been 20 records accepted since but only four in the last decade. The 2010 Dorset bird allowed 81 listers to tick it and in 2011 Fourteen listers connected with a bird in Cornwall. The Cornwall bird lingered into 2012 and another was seen in Lincolnshire also giving a few new listers a chance to tick the species. From 2013 onwards there is just one record on Orkney which nobody has ticked but 49 listers have since ticked the bird with the majority hoping their 2020/21 records will be accepted. (20 listers have ticked birds from 2013 to 2019 that have not been accepted)

SORA

First recorded in the UK in 1864 there have been 22 records in total although only seven of these records are mainland birds and only five in the last decade with just one mainland record being a bird being found dead in Devon. The most recent twitchable mainland bird was in Lincs in 2006. As for listing stats on Bubo, 37 chose not to share their dates but luckily 492 have provided that detail for me to look at. Although most sightings are on Scilly or the northern Isles the few mainland records account for a majority of the ticks. With nothing twitchable in the last decade I haven't yet had a real chance to connect with a Sora.

SARDINIAN WARBLER

First seen in the UK  in 1955 and with over eighty records since this bird doesn't appear too rare and yet it's ticked by only 509 of Bubo's 2014 life listers. In the last decade records have been limited with just six records accepted and three being twitchable although distant (Scotland/Cornwall and Devon) at a time my birding was self limited to two hours drive for the most part, a rule I've had to relax in the search for life ticks and I guess may have to be relaxed further if I am to finally connect with this target.

SOCIABLE PLOVER

First accepted record dates back to c1860 and the last accepted record is from 2008 although I'm sure last years Cornwall bird will be accepted and would be on my list if not for Covid travel restrictions. In all the UK boasts 50 accepted records (51 with last years bird) and although none have occurred in the last decade there are a couple of noteables for me with one at Rainham in 2005 and another at Old Hall Marsh in Essex in 2001 with the Rainham bird being present for most of December its a missed opportunity for sure along with the Covid restricted bird.

So these are my top targets according to Bubo listing and it's made for an interesting (for me anyway) reflection which highlighted how diluted the list totals are in general and that a look behind the top end stats was worthwhile.

If this was a question of most wanted then that would be a different list for sure with such treasures as Varied Thrush and Siberian Rubythroat topping that list but that's perhaps for another rainy day.