Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, Fluke Hall 14th September 2019

An Eastern Black-eared Wheatear was found by local birders Paul Ellis & Paul Slade at Fluke Hall, Lancashire on 1st September 2019. Since the bird is a female there was a lot of umming & erring over the identity because it's very similar to Pied Wheatear. The identity was finally clinched by Chris Batty from some of Paul Ellis's photos. Hopefully, DNA analysis will confirm this...

I travelled to The Fylde this afternoon. As I entered the car park at the end of Fluke Hall Lane, I noticed some birders on the embankment obviously looking at someting. The Eastern Black-eared Wheatear was supposed to be half a mile to the west of the car park, but I thought it wise just to check before setting off westwards. A good job I did because the bird was just the other side of the embankment as I approached the birders & was immediately obvious perched on top of a boulder.

The Eastern Black-eared Wheatear soon moved a few yards to the west & was then on view almost continually, right next to the car park, perching for lengthy periods on top of selected boulders, swathed in bright afternoon sunlight.

Edit: reassessed as Pied Wheatear BB June 2025

Video by Pete Hines

Brown Booby, Kynance Cove 6th September 2019

A Brown Booby (1cy) was found at Kynance Cove, Cornwall by local birder D. Collins on Monday 2nd September 2019. Incredibly, this bird appeared shortly after a 2cy bird disappeared from St. Ives after a short stay. Brown Booby is not on the British List, so with these two individuals and another possibly off the Kent coast recently, seems like a boom time for Boobies!

With the Brown Booby still present the next day, I arranged transport & set off early Wednesday morning. However, there was a problem with the car which meant I had to return it. Since there were no sightings most of Wednesday afternoon I didn't set off on Thursday morning. Sightings continued as normal on Thursday, which saw me heading south early Friday morning & arriving on site shortly after midday.

Worryingly, the weather had closed in, but cleared as I approached The Lizard. Although conditions were a bit damp & misty on site it was clear the bird wasn't on its favoured perch, half way up the small pyramid shaped rock to the extreme left of the group of rocks known as Gull Rock. There was a small group of birders high up & further round, giving them a view of the other side of Gull Rock where the Brown Booby was perched. Knowing the bird hadn't been seen for a while, I was pondering the possibility of moving vs. waiting for it to fly, consequently hadn't set up my 'scope. Suddenly, the shout went up from a guy from Northampton (didn't get a name) right next to me who I'd been chatting with, "There it is!". The Brown Booby sailed towards us passing closely as it disappeared below the outcrop we were standing on. Several birders swivelled round as one and watched the bird fishing in the bay for about half an hour.

The Brown Booby made several circuits of the bay flying quite close at times. On its return trip back to Gull Rock it again flew very close below us, appeared a couple of times briefly to the left from behind Gull Rock and disappeared round the back.

Video by Pete Hines

Little Bustard, Mickletown Ings 8th August 2019

News of a Little Bustard at Mickletown Ings, West Yorkshire broke on Tuesday 6th August 2019. A photo had been posted online the previous evening in an attempt to identify the bird. Site details were released on Tuesday morning prompting a large twitch. Whilst in the grand scheme of things Little Bustard has a lot of UK records, there haven't been many in recent years & those recent records have been short stayers. Consequently, a lot of birders (including me) needed Little Bustard. I didn't fancy being part of a large crowd, so kept cool until today when I headed over to West Yorkshire, arriving mid-afternoon.

As hoped, there wasn't a lot of folks on site, which made it easy to find a decent spot to look from. Although the bird was viewable pretty soon after my arrival, views were only of its head & neck popping up every so often as it wandered along the distant fence line, about half a mile away, in a gully. Eventually, after a couple of hours wait, the male Little Bustard wandered out into the field for a short while, giving excellent views.

Video by Pete Hines

Painted Lady, Wallasey 1st August 2019

There's been a Painted Lady invasion going on for a few months now over the whole of the UK. Earlier this week quite a few of these butterflies descended on the buddleia growing wild in my back yard. Today there were even more! I live in a two-up two-down terraced house, so any form of wildlife is a bonus, let alone a swarm (perhaps too strong a word, but flock would be more accurate). In fact, a kaleidoscope of Painted Ladies.

Terek Sandpiper, Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB 9th July 2019

A Terek Sandpiper appeared at Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB early evening. Identified by local birder Dave King, this is the third record for Cheshire & Wirral & a new bird for the UK for me.

I'm curently without transport, so was relieved local birder Colin Schofield offerd a lift to BMW. The Terek Sandpiper was on view as soon as we arrived about 8.30pm, feeding on the far side of the main scrape. There were a lot of folks present as we squeezed through & set up our gear. Although views were distant, they were continuous as the bird fed all along the edge of the mud. However, I found it impossible to get anything like a decent photo, so the bleary image above will have to do... Actual views through the 'scope were much better, especially as the last of the setting sun's rays illuminated the bird's plumage and bright yellow legs.

Many thanks to RSPB Warden Graham Jones for keeping the reserve open and thanks to Colin for enabling me to see this bird.

Previous records: 
1999 Frodsham, No.5 Tank, 26th to 27th April (G. Bellingham).
2009 Heswall Shore, 14th to 15th July (S. Hinde).

Gull-billed Tern, Thurstaston 4th July 2019

A Gull-billed Tern was found at Thurstaston yesterday, 3rd July 2019, by local birder Steve Hinde. This is the ninth record for Cheshire & Wirral, with three in the last five years. I didn't have transport yesterday, so was resigned to dipping on not only a new local, but also new UK bird for me, since they rarely stay long.

Fortunately, the Gull-billed Tern was still present this morning, so I hastily arranged transport & headed over to Thurstaston, arriving mid-morning. It was difficult looking into the sun & the bird was mostly quite a distance away, but did cruise past the assembled throng a couple of times before disappearing south with the oncoming tide. I resolved to return later, after the tide since the bird was quartering the mud flats repeatedly before the tide covered them.

It was well worth returning later because views were much better, with the Gull-billed Tern not only flying to and fro, but landing for lengthy periods on the mud flats with views not compromised by the light & heat haze of earlier in the day.

Previous records:
1976 Red Rocks, adult, 2nd & 4th August (E. J. Abraham, J. Jones, D. Woodward).
1982 Hoylake, 8th July (J. G. Jones).
1987 Weaver Estuary, 31st May (P. Jordon).
1989 Burton Marsh, 16th June (B. S. Barnacal).
1995 Frodsham, No.6 Tank, 31st July (W. S. Morton).
2002 Inner Marsh Farm, 18th May (E. J. Abraham, B. S. Barnacal, C. Wells).
2015 Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB, 3rd July (per A. H. Pulsford).
2018 Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB, 23rd to 24th May (S. Skelton).

Some of the crowd mid-morning... staring into the sun

Blue-winged Teal, Douglas Water 14th June 2019

A drake Blue-winged Teal appeared at Douglas Water in Lanarkshire last Wednesday. Looks like it's the long staying bird at Mellon Charles near Ullapool relocating, since it disappeared about a week previously. A lot closer to home, so I decided to make the trip north today.

I departed mid-morning and arrived on site early afternoon. There were no birders in the area and it wasn't until I scanned Douglas Water with the 'scope, from the minor road above & to the west, that I picked up the drake Blue-winged Teal, which was loosely associating with five Teal in the middle of the small area of water. Views were constant whilst I was on site although a bit distant, but satisfactory. It was really difficult getting even a half decent photo with the distance, the blustery wind & the bird feeding quite a lot with its head below the surface.