"Every year, a secret tribe take to the roads of Britain. In
the space of a few months they will drive thousands of miles and spend
thousands of pounds in pursuit of their prey. Their aim is to see as
many birds as possible, wherever that bird may be.
"Welcome to the very competitive world of the twitcher - obsessives who'll stop at nothing to get their bird."
Local birder Steve Hinde discovered Cheshire & Wirral's seventh Pallas's Warbler Saturday afternoon at Target Lane next to the Sewage Works in Heswall.
This morning found me standing around in the cold & rain waiting for brief glimpses of the Pallas's Warbler at a distance of about 70yds through a wire mesh fence, looking around other birders. It did come closer to about half that as the mixed flock of Blackcap, Chiffchaffs, Goldcrests & Long-tailed Tits moved along the hedge towards the gate, but they were all very mobile. Hopefully, it'll stick around long enough for better views on a repeat visit when the weather's nicer!
Pallas's Warbler twitch in Heswall
There were about the same number of birders to the left looking over a smaller gate down the lane. Although views from this position were better, they were more infrequent. One of those little portable steps would have been very handy!
My first Pallas's Warbler in Cheshire & Wirral. A very long way from its normal wintering area in Southeast Asia.
The previous six records are:
1980 Bidston
Hill, 25th to 26th November, trapped 25th (A. Ormond).
1988 Lingham
Lane, Moreton, 28th October (M. R. Gough).
1997 Hilbre, 31st
October (H. I. B. O.). Hoylake, 9th to 12th November (M. G. Turner, J. E.
Turner).
2005 Congleton,
29th January to 9th February (R. M. Blindell, A. Booth, C. Lythgoe, C. Palmer,
M. R. Miles). 2010 Bidston, first-winter,
trapped, 7th November (Merseyside Ringing Group).
An adult male Green-winged Teal arrived at Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB yesterday afternon. Presumably, the same bird which had been at Frodsham for the last few weeks. With news of it still being present late morning, I made my way over there.
When I arrived the Green-winged Teal was on view from Reception. After moving outside & sorting myself out I relocated the bird just as it was settling down for a bit of a nap.
Since seeing my first in Yorkshire in1973, this American species has become a lot more frequent & although there have been many records (over twenty) in Cheshire & Wirral, this was my first locally.
BBC Radio Norfolk broadcast 13th December 2015. Previously broadcast 8th December 2015. Interview by Matthew Gudgin.
Local wildlife expert Peter Walton discusses his life, career and favourite music. The Beatles - Penny Lane (Parlophone) The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter (Decca) Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (Charisma) Joni Mitchell - Coyote (Asylum) Ronnie Laws - Always There (Blue Note) Neil Young - On The Beach (Reprise)
"When
Alan Haven first mentioned the idea of this record to me, my immediate
reaction was "Marvellous - about time". When later he played me the
actual recordings, my reaction was absolute amazement. All I could do
was splutter words like 'fabulous', 'unbelievable'. My further reaction
was disbelief that these sounds were made by a human, until Alan pointed
out the silent backgrounds, the lack of any other birds calling, the
absence of any wind noise or indeed, any of the other multitude of
extraneous noises attendant upon recordings made in the field. Add to
all these the ever-so-subtle but, nevertheless, noticeable exaggerations
in the calls and it at once becomes apparent that this is a
studio-engineered recording, made entirely by people, but people with a
very healthy knowledge of birds and particularly of bird sound. This it
is, that makes this product so fabulously unique.
"In fifty years
of watching and listening to birds, and in particular the waders, I can
quite honestly say that this is one of the most exciting and invaluable
ideas to happen to bird-watching. How I wish we had had such a help in
the old days! The time I would have saved in knowing my birds by ear -
because in this recording all that knowledge is readily available. The
calls of the birds are clearly and simply demonstrated by jake Ward. A
gentle giant of a man with an amazing ear. Gentle for the birds that is,
but woebetide any potential egg-collector or pther disturber of the
birds that crosses Jake's path. It is then he becomes a very angry
giant, indeed. Many is the time he has sat an all-night watch over the
reserve, damp and cold, to guard rare breeding birds and their eggs.
"The
sounds are explained by Bryan Bland. A most happy choice, for here is a
man well-versed in passing on knowledge to others and able to do it in a
thorough and yet totally interesting manner. The stamp of the master
teacher; equally caring and concerned for the birds and living in Cley
because of them.
"Finally, all our thanks must go to another
ardent conservationist, Alan Haven, the man who first dreamed up the
idea, put it into practice and brought it to fruition. A musician by
profession who has also chosen to live and work near the birds here on
the north Norfolk coast. He it is who developed the special recording
techniques that make this whole concept work so well, and working
closely with Jake Ward and Bryan Bland, has created a team that has
given to ornithology a completely new sound method.
"It is always
exciting to witness the introduction of something new and different,
and I believe this to be a most outstanding contribution to the art of
bird recognition. I can only hope that this is the forerunner of a whole
series of records, for it fills admirably, what has always been a large
gap in our learning material. I am both proud and grateful for the
opportunity to be associated with it by writing these sleeve notes. I
only hope I do it credit, for it is truly an amazing piece of work."
W. F. Bishop 42 years Warden of the Norfolk Naturalists Trust's world famous reserve at Cley, Norfolk.
The eleventh record for the UK of Crag Martin was found by local birder Roy Frost on Sunday 8th November at Chesterfield, whizzing around St. Mary & All Saints church in the town centre. Apart from one record of three days at Flamborough in Spring 2014, all the other records have been one day birds.
I wasn't able to go on Sunday & when there was negative news on Wednesday it wasn't really much of a surprise. However, after no news on Thursday a report emerged on Friday morning that the bird had been seen on Thursday. This report was then classed as erroneous, but only a few minutes later the bird had been reported again! I phoned Kenny Dummigan in the evening to see if he'd already seen the bird & if not was he interested? He hadn't & he was!
Although we'd originally decided to wait on news, Kenny phoned me early Saturday morning & we agreed to go before any information was released. News emerged just before our arrival in Chesterfield of the bird being present & we arrived on site shortly after 11am. We could see the Crag Martin from the car zipping around the "Crooked Spire" as we drove past the ranks of assembled birders, frantically looking for somewhere to park. Kenny stopped the car briefly so we could get decent views, before parking up.
The Crooked Spire
Initially we were on the good side of the church for the light, but the bird kept more to the other side, so we changed our position & were able to watch continuously for quite a while as the bird performed its acrobatics virtually overhead. It was tough to keep on the bird as it sped about before disappearing for about half an hour. Another show before disappearing again shortly before midday. At this point we set off back home.
A small part of the crowd at the Crag Martin twitch
The Crag Martin did land on the church, as illustrated in this photo by Steven Nuttall. Most of the time it was flying about at great speed with sudden changes of direction & very difficult to follow let alone photograph, but many photos were obtained including this one by Andy Butler & this one by Tony Davison.
The second record for the UK of Wilson's Warbler, a male, was found by resident birder Tony Marr & visiting birder Roy Dennis at Port Nis, Isle of Lewis on 13th October 2015. The only other UK record was a male at Rame Head, Cornwall on 13th October 1985, a one day bird. There was another in Ireland, a first-winter male at Dursey Island from 18th to 21st September 2013.
Arrangements had already been made for my departure from Shetland. A hugely enjoyable month overall with lots of great birds & birding, although no new birds in the second half. Since news broke on Tuesday I was pondering how I could best make the journey home via the Outer Hebrides?
As the Friday night boat departed Lerwick several birders collected on deck to see what birds were about. Not much was seen & dusk was rapidly approaching. Talk inevitably turned to the Wilson's Warbler. Four birders from Manchester I'd met a few times recently at Hoswick, Quendale & Gulberwick were aboard & it soon became clear that only one of them, Andy Makin from Wigan, could make the trip to Lewis since the other three had to return home, as planned. One of the others arrived on deck with another birder I recognised as having seen about, Gavin Peplow from Worcestershire. Gavin was going to Lewis, had a car & was keen on a couple of companions! I was in immediately!!! Andy had to think about it for a while, but decided to go with Gavin & myself.
There were a few options to consider. The boat docked at Aberdeen 7am Saturday, but the boat from Ullapool to Stornaway sailed at 10.30am, not giving us enought time to make the journey from Aberdeen to Ullapool. The next boat sailed from Ullapool at 6.30pm, which would mean we wouldn't be in a position to see the bird until Sunday morning. We also discussed the possibility of flying from Inverness & hiring a car.
We made our way westwards from Aberdeen on Saturday morning under a clear blue, sunny sky. It was a gorgeous day. When news arrived of the bird still being there we all felt the necessity of seeing it this day & not the next, so we quickly agreed flying from Inverness at 12.10pm & being on site early afternoon was the best option.
Navigating websites on my phone trying to find flight info proved tricky, so I phoned instead. Whilst waiting a few official messages played, one of which stated that without a photo ID boarding a plane was not possible. This was confirmed when I did get through & was also informed seats were available. Gulp! I didn't have any photo ID with me! Gavin & Andy both had photo ID. We racked our brains for a solution. I even tried phoning work to see if they could send me anything, but was told it's Saturday so no one's in the office, d'oh! Gavin suggested using a photo booth & inserting a photo with my driving licence, an old green paper one, might be worth a go. It was a plan! We stopped at the next superstore (of which there seem to be quite a few in Scotland) & put the plan into effect.
Upon arrival at Inverness airport, I asked if my photo ID was sufficient? Although initially saying it shouldn't be a problem, after consultation turned out it was a problem & wasn't acceptable. I asked to speak with the person who'd been spoken to & as instructed, waited in the check-in queue for a while. Apart from the photo & driving licence I produced a pdf of the receipt from the Lerwick to Aberdeen ferry which confirmed my address, then also pulled out a couple of plastic cards on request. A phone call to a manager resulted in my photo ID deemed acceptable. Phew! We then had to go through all the palaver of moving the car to a different car park whilst collecting our stuff, purchasing our tickets & departure lounge search, so managed to make the flight as it was boarding. At Stornaway we hired a small car for 24hrs & arrived on site around 2pm. As "Hannibal" Smith used to say, "I love it when a plan comes together."
The Wilson's Warbler was on view pretty much as soon as we arrived. However, sightings were brief so it took a while to gain adequate views in the cover behind Tony Marr's house. I hadn't had time to acquaint myself with the site when the bird darted over into next door's back garden. All the birders present rushed around into the garden. Realising I would be right at the back I didn't bother & waited for a reappearance outside the garden. Eventually, it did reappear for brief views. By this time many birders had departed, having gained good views in the garden, so I resolved to wait in the garden opposite the bird's favoured apple trees
After a short wait the Wilson's Warbler suddenly appeared in the tree just behind my left shoulder a few feet away & quickly darted into the apple trees. Absolutely superb views were obtained. The nearer apple tree was too close for me to focus on, so every time it was in the near tree I had to wait until it returned to the far tree to view through bins. Everyone in the garden was absolutely quiet. The only sound was the repeated machine gun like bursts from one of the cameras present.
Tony Marr provided excellent hospitality with tea, coffee & biscuits. Having partaken of hospitality & chatted with Tony about his amazing find, we departed for Stornoway & a search for our night's lodgings. Having tried a few places en route, we stumbled on the Caladh Inn on James Street, which was reasonable & pleasant with good food. Restaurant, licensed & all-you-can-eat breakfast, with nice shower.
We returned to Port Nis the following morning, but the bird had gone. Our scheduled return flight on Sunday wasn't due to leave until 3pm, so we birded a few areas including the bay close to the airport where we saw loads of Long-tailed Ducks, several Black-throated Divers & a Great Northern Diver.
The flight was repeatedly delayed until we boarded a flight which was going on to Glasgow five hours late! We arrived back at Inverness shortly before 9pm & set off south. Gavin & Andy dropped me off in Wigan shortly before 5am. I had a while to wait until the first train to Liverpool just after 6am, which arrived about 7am. Another short wait for the first bus over the river at 7.30am & I was home by 8am.
There's quite a few photos online of the Wilson's Warbler, but these are two of my favourites: this one by Matthew Eade which I'd whip out on my phone for anyone interested & this one by Tony Dixon.
Thanks to Tony Marr & his neighbour for allowing birders into his back garden. Big thanks to Gavin for all the driving & to both he & Andy for the pleasant company. Having to overcome some difficulties in order to see the target bird can often make the sighting that much sweeter, which was indeed so in this case. Video by Pete Hines.
