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
No comments:
Post a Comment