Missed opportunities 2nd half of 2024

In the total absence of any birding time and following on from my blog post about the missed opportunities in the first half of 2024 (see here) here is the post of the second half.

My time has been at a premium this year. Suzanne continues to need help at home, we lost her mum at the grand age of 94 back in November after a very long battle with dimentia and her Dad's been very ill of late to the point of hospitalisation and has needed support and company more than ever since losing his wife. I'm still using most of my limited free time to enjoy the company of my three grandchildren and this gives tremendous balance to the highs and lows of life. I will find time for birding again at some point in the future and will try to year list again in 2025 but like 2024 don't expect any fireworks.

 Anyway to the missed opportunities..................................

STEJNEGER'S SCOTER remained off Musselburgh until 7th September and was "reported" again on 7th October and 4th November in Gosford Bay Lothian. It gave me plenty of time to twitch it but I just couldn't find the time or indeed the motivation to make the long (13 hours return drive) expensive trip for it with little to no enthusiasm for this one from the Jims too. These sea ducks rarely give good views and after the drama I had earlier this year with Black Scoter in Norfolk I'm in no rush to try for this one unless I'm passing of course.

The obvious reports of Scopoli's Shearwater, Wilsons Petrels and South Polar Skuas came through from the various paleagics off Scilly and the south west with claims of both from land too on occasion. Another paleagic (Challenger 1) discovered such rarities as Desertas Petrel, Maderian Petrels and Barolo Shearwaters but all are well out of reach for me.

TAWNY PIPIT remains a bogey bird for me and one flew over Abbot's Cliff in Kent on 18th August but didn't settle and wasn't twitchable and another flew over Spurn on 29th August but wasn't seen on the ground by anybody. Two more brief sightings/reports in Somerset on 1st and 2nd of September. A fly over at Corton in Suffolk on 7th September and another was found at Windmill Farm NR in Cornwall on 14th September but didn't stay long enough for anybody but the finder to see it. One was reported on the beach at Abbotsbury in Dorset before flying off and again as is typical of this species it wasn't refound. Another was found on Scilly on 6th October, one was reported at Weybourne in Norfolk on 6th October and another on Bryher, Scilly Isles 14th October so another year goes by with little to no opportunity of me connecting with this bogey.

BRIDLED TERN/SOOTY TERN: One of shore briefly at Burnham on sea wasn't twitchable.

The dark morph BOOTED EAGLE seen and photographed on 20th May in Cornwall was reported as seen again in Devon on 8th June.  Another "dark morph" or the same bird was reported in Cornwall on 2nd September indicating that the bird may have stayed in the area since May. Roll on to 10th and 11th October when a pale morph juvenile bird was seen and photographed and a twitch was arranged for 12th but nobody connected. The same Cornwall bird or another dark morph then appeared on 1st November in Remenham Berkshire and was twitched by a few on Saturday 2nd November with those trying on 3rd not so lucky. We'll need to see how these get on as far as acceptance goes as it's a bird that historically struggles to get signed off. The last bird rejected was thought to be "too tatty" to have turned up too early and to have hung around too long as well as the belief that this species does not enjoy crossing water. (no previous accepted records)

SWAINSONS THRUSH: One on St Kilda on 10th September only (Around fifty previous records mostly on the islands with just a couple of mainland records, closest being Sandwich Bay Kent in 1976 and the latest mainland record being Cornwall 2008)

TENNESSEE WARBLER: Fair Isle, Shetland 15th until 19th September (Six previous records with none outside the islands )

LANCELOATED WARBLER: Fair Isle, Shetland 23rd September, North Ronaldsay 24th September, Mainland Shetland 24th September, another on North Ronaldsay 3rd October and another on Fair Isle 3rd-8th October with one at Unst from 4th October until at least 7th. (Over a hundred previous records but largely confined to the Scottish islands with Fair Isle a favourite and the last mainland one was 2012 at Long Nab, North Yorkshire, whilst 1997 saw one trapped at Landguard in Suffolk making it the only one remotely local to Essex)

YELKOUAN SHEARWATER: Probable off Pendeen on 26th September and another probable photographed past Dungeness on the same day. (Apparently soon to be lumped with Balearic Shearwater)

PECHORA PIPIT: One on Shetland 28th - 30th September and one flew over Fair Isle on 7th October. (Over a hundred previous records with just a handful outside of Shetland and the last mainland bird being Pembrokeshire 2007)

TWO-BARRED WARBLER: Saltwick Nab, North Yorkshire first seen on 2nd October and remained until 3rd October but was very elusive. (Just eleven previous records)

EASTERN CROWNED WARBLER: Mainland Shetland 3rd October (Just four previous records including Hertfordshire 2011 which was trapped but not twitchable)

THRUSH NIGHTINGALE: Blakeney Point 1st September was only seen once and not relocated and another trapped on Fair Isle on 2nd September. (Many records but mostly confined to the islands)

WILSON'S SNIPE: Scilly Isles, One was seen briefly on 7th October and not again until 13th October when a few more birders connected with it. It later transpired that the bird of the 7th was a different bird to 13th and that there could have been two birds present on 13th. (There are ten previous records and all from Scilly so this may be a bird I never connect with unless something changes and I find myself twitching or holidaying on the islands. )

SIBERIAN RUBYTHROAT: female-type briefly on Orkney 13th October (17 previous records mainly on Shetland/Orkney but two mainland records Durham 2006 and Dorset 1997)

BLACK-FACED BUNTING: One trapped on North Ronaldsay, Orkney 19th October (nine previous records) remained through 28th October and was joined by two more on 25th - 29th October at Donna Nook in Lincolnshire and another one day bird trapped and ringed in Glamorgan on 26th October. 

EYE-BROWED THRUSH: One on North Ronaldsay, Orkney on 7th November was seen again on 9th but not after.  (29 previous records mostly confined to the islands)

SCARLET TANAGER: On the 10th November a facebook post highlighted a strange bird visiting a washing line in a garden in Yorkshire and I'm well used to these sorts of posts on facebook being hoax posts but it transpired over night that the bird was indeed there and it was a first summer Scarlet Tanager in it's more drab yellow/green plumage. News of the location came out over night and a few hundred birders twitched it on 11th assuming it to be a wild bird. On the back of news that the bird was un-ringed I planned to visit on 12th but Dad had a boiler service booked and Jim had a nasty cold so it would be a solo affair. I woke at 3am but couldn't get myself up for the long solo drive so put it on hold and the bird was only seen very briefly first thing on 12th and then not again until mid afternoon on 13th with one guy putting in 17hours and still not seeing it so maybe I made a wise choice not chasing this one but I doubt I'll ever get a better chance but of course this record still has to be accepted by the rares committee as a wild bird and against it is seems to be the location alone. (7 previous records since the first in 1970,  all confined to Scilly/Cornwall apart from one on Barra in 2014 and all first winters apart from an adult on Scilly in 1982)

BUFFLEHEAD: One on Foula,Shetland on 17th November to spend the winter ( c25 previous records )

GREY-HEADED LAPWING: One at East Chevington, Northumberland on 5th December which remained until 21st December when I type this at least. This must be the returning bird from spring 2023 which has been accepted as of wild origin and would therefore be a full fat life tick if I could find the time/money and motivation to try. Might still end up trying for this one if the mood takes me?

So in summary the mainland twitchable ticks I missed in the whole of  2024 were................

Grey-headed Lapwing , Scarlet Tanager (if accepted), Two-barred Warbler (two dayer but very elusive)

Booted Eagle (if accepted), Stegneger's Scoter, Bufflehead (the Aberdeen bird), Collared Flycatcher

Eastern Subalpine Warbler (bit of a bogey bird in the Eastern form), Sociable Lapwing,  Indigo Bunting (if accepted) & Bridled Tern (Coquet Island bird)

So 11 birds missed in 2024 but has it made a difference to my life? not one bit!  But I'd have liked to have had the time and money to make the trips, form the memories and of course see the birds.

Here's to finding more time and motivation in 2025

Pied Wheatear at Seaford

It's been a busy couple of weeks but I found myself free on Friday morning so asked Jim if he'd like me to take him down to Seaford as he still needed Pied Wheatear for a life tick and of course he wanted to try.

We set off at 5am to miss some of the commute traffic and this helped make the 100 mile trip in less than two hours. We parked up at the far end of the esplanade and searched for the parking meter which to my shock didn't exist as this was a very rare free parking zone. Amazing you could leave your car sitting still in the road and didn't have to give anybody money to do it, what's the world coming to.

The old hotel at Seaford

From the car park we could see the brick ruins of the old hotel and walked up to search for the Wheatear hoping it had remained and within a few minutes the first sighting was reported by another of the four of us searching for it. We quickly got on it to give Jim his eighth life tick of the year and me my 249th year tick. The bird remained mobile but never left the area of the ruin although it would hide for periods and would rarely sit still out in the open.

Two Black Redstarts were also present with the female "type" showing really well walking around our feet at times. Lot's of Meadow Pipit and a couple of Rock Pipit were busy feeding in the grassy areas too. 

Buzzard

Black Redstart

Black Redstart

Black Redstart

Black Redstart

Black Redstart

Rock Pipit

Black Redstart

Black Redstart

Black Redstart

The old hotel

Year list now 249

Lapland Bunting at Staines reservoir

It's been a sad and difficult few days with the sad passing of my mother in law Tuesday morning following a long struggle with dimentia but I had a few hours spare this afternoon so decided I'd run around the M25 and try to see the Lapland Bunting at Staines in order to lift my spirits a bit.

I parked and walked up the ramp leading to the east of the causeway and quickly discovered three birders enjoying the very showy confiding Lapland Bunting. I joined them and one of the guys laid his coat on the ground for me to use in order to get some low profile shots. A jogger came up the ramp but on hearing about the bird agreed to take a different route so as not to disturb it proving that there are still some good people.

The bird entertained us all in the murky dark dank conditions but with high ISO and a bit of compensation I was able to grab a few pleasing shots of this new bird for my London list. 

Year list 248

London recording area list 241

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)

_______________________________________________________________________________

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