Sommaire pour June 2023 de Birdwatch

TEN years ago this June, I was soaking up one of the best moments of my birding life. But it had been a nervy experience just beforehand: at 10 am on 26 June 2013, alongside a couple of dozen others, I was stood on the A83 in Tarbert, on the Isle of Harris, Outer Hebrides, contemplating a crushing long-distance dip. It had been an adrenaline-fuelled night of no sleep, tackling the 10-hour drive from London to Inverness Airport, followed by a flight to Stornoway and a rapid drive south through Lewis. But despite an early positive report, there was no sign of the White-throated Needletail we’d all come to see. Suddenly, there was movement. Scanning across the bay, we noticed that a small group of birders had started sprinting. That…

MY week had started badly. Having filled my car with the wrong fuel on Monday morning, resulting in me spending most of the day sat in a garden centre car park in Welshpool, I needed to change plans for my week of work. It was a small and, at the time, very frustrating event, with big consequences. Work commitments the following day were rearranged and resulted in me driving with my wife, Laura, through Powys at 10.25 am on Tuesday 18 April – a route I often take, but much later than normal as the job I now needed to complete required two people and we needed to drop our kids off at school first. My usually solitary drive into Wales from my Shropshire home, with only a (usually NFL-related)…

GW: After a morning birding the dunes south of Newton Pool on 1 May, I arrived back at the southern end of Low Newton scrapes, next to Risemoor Cottage. With the naked eye I could see a large wader with prominent yellow legs at the far end. Not knowing what on earth it could be I quickly lifted my binoculars, then almost keeled over when I focused on a Grey-headed Lapwing! Now, at this point it all went a bit weird for me. A major wobble ensued, my brain shut down and I couldn’t think straight. I knew what this bird was – I saw them in India many years ago and knew there had been a fairly recent record in Europe somewhere – but for the life of me…

At first glance, there is nothing special about a Spotted Flycatcher. Seemingly drab, brown and easily blending into the background, its greyish-brown upperparts, off-white chest and broad, dark bill leave little in the sense of identification features. Neither is there much to discuss when it comes to vocalisations. The alarm call is a clear repetitive see-tik-tik, yet the song can elude even the most experienced birder. Barely a song, Collins Bird Guide describes the sound as “a series of simple, quiet, high-pitched squeaky or scratchy notes” – very difficult to pick out in the midst of the breeding-season cacophony. But despite its uninspiring appearance and song, there is something alluring about this unassuming bird. Pause and watch. The beauty of a Spotted Flycatcher lies in its behaviour. As the name…

OVER the past couple of decades, the Collins Bird Guide has become something of an institution, both in the birding world and more widely – it’s hard to argue with the seven-figure number of copies sold. While a field guide covering European birds is always going to sell well given the high birder density across the continent, its ability to reach beyond this market and present itself as a top-quality, accessible bird book is full credit to both the authors and the publishers. It was a resounding success in its first two incarnations and the indications are that the third edition – initially published as a hardback version in November 2022, but now also available in paperback – is set to continue this trend. With its greater pagination and added…

WRITTEN by late county stalwart Renton Righelato, Berkshire’s Birdscapes: 1947-2022 was published last year to celebrate the Berkshire Ornithological Club’s 75th anniversary and serves as a review of the important habitats – and the birds that use them – in the Royal County during that timeframe. Naturally, losses and declines dominate this charming, informative booklet – BTO data makes for rather grim reading and this pessimism is the typical narrative when you talk to most older birders. New colonists are often forgotten in such discourse, but Righelato’s upbeat tone means they are celebrated in Berkshire’s Birdscapes. Indeed, no fewer than 32 new breeding species have been recorded in the county since its formation. These are outlined in the ‘winners and losers’ section and include plenty of new breeders that aren’t…

A new study has found that hummingbirds use the hibernation-like state of torpor in varying ways. The research, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, showed that hummingbirds use torpor depending on their physical condition and what is happening in their environment. Torpor allows them to ramp down energy consumption to well below what they normally use during the day, helping them make it through cold nights. For the study, researchers caught 249 hummingbirds from 29 different species living in the mid-to high-altitude mountains. They collected measurements related to torpor in the wild, as opposed to studying the birds under laboratory conditions. “Torpor is somewhere between a power nap and hibernation,” said Justin Baldwin, a PhD candidate in biology in Arts and Sciences at Washington University, first author of…

Tell us what you think. Write to: The Editor, at: Birdwatch, Warners Group Publications plc, The Maltings, West Street, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9PH or email editorial@birdwatch.co.uk www.facebook.com/birdwatchmagazine @BirdwatchExtra The best-ever Birdwatch? THIS is a quick note to congratulate you on what really was an excellent April 2023 issue – possibly the best ever. The articles on Black Kite, Portland, moult, potential new birds, Black-necked Grebes and the Brazilian Atlantic Forest problems were all top-notch and combine to good effect. The only thing I would suggest as a possible improvement is the inclusion of a map of the observatory area in the Portland feature – something I hope you will consider for future articles in the series. Sam Viles is now making an excellent job of the monthly records summaries. The…

It’s still pitch-black outside when the alarm goes off. It’s 4.30 am. This is not my natural biorhythm, and I want nothing more than to roll over and go back to sleep. No. Get up, woman. It’s been warm on Scilly for a few days, but the night is chilly when I step outside. I love the air here and take a deep breath in the dark silence, breathing in the smell of the sea. I pause to listen. Not a sound. Perfect, that’s just what I want. I’ve dragged myself out of bed to enjoy a Scillonian dawn chorus and I don’t want to miss a second. It’s usually a 10-minute walk to Lower Moors, but I walk fast (partly from cold, and partly because I’m a little unnerved).…

JUNE’S digital edition has lots of bonus content, including: Sound recordings of Spotted Flycatcher; Film of rare British breeders; Footage of vagrant swifts; Video of spring migrants; Footage of Britain’s first Black-winged Kite; Film of rarities and scarcities from Britain, Ireland and the wider Western Palearctic. The digital edition is available for PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad and Android. Sample issues are free, and subscriptions or single copies can be purchased. Visit www.pktmags.com/bw-digital to find out more.…

In a month where Britain’s long-awaited first Black-winged Kite stole the headlines – in Powys no less (see page 8) – April 2023 will long be remembered thanks to a huge arrival of Black-crowned Night Herons, one of the largest ever seen across Britain and Ireland. It appeared that nothing would curtail their advance to these shores and a remarkable 104 birds were registered in 35 counties – 52 in England, 40 in Ireland (half of those in Co Cork), 10 in Scotland and two in Wales. This included an incredible seven at Drinagh, Co Wexford, while four on St Kilda doubled the previous Scottish record count. Their appearance might not all be good news, however, as severe droughts across Spain and southern France are suspected as being partially responsible…

Standing by an eastward-facing gate, looking out over a grassy slope peppered with isolated stands of birch and the odd bright yellow flash of gorse as it rolled away into the distance one night in early spring, I posed myself the question: ‘do I prefer dawn or dusk?’ A few minutes later, as I watched not one but three Barn Owls silently quarter the landscape, occasionally halting and plunging softly into the grass to take unseen prey, I was erring towards the latter. I began to conjure dusk scenes from my personal birding history. Owls have always featured prominently in my birding. While common enough to be encountered reasonably frequently, they always stop me in my tracks. Perhaps it’s those big eyes that are a little more human-like on what…

For keen Western Palearctic (WP) birders, Pierre-André Crochet (PAC) is a name that needs no introduction. Over the past four decades he has developed a reputation as one of the region’s top ornithological researchers and most experienced field birders, having dedicated his birding life to exploring and documenting its avifauna. As well as having seen almost all of the WP’s regular migrant and breeding species, he has spent many autumns searching for vagrants on the region’s peripheries – initially in north-west France, but more latterly in Shetland and the Azores. This has seen him involved in adding several new species to the WP list. Such an illustrious birding life has seen PAC climb to the top of the pile in the world of competitive WP listing – out of 1,063…

MIKE ALIBONE is Birdwatch’s Optics Editor. He has been testing binoculars and telescopes for 15 years. KEITH BETTON is Chairman of the Hampshire Ornithological Society and previously served as Hampshire County Recorder. ANDREW KINGHORN is an ornithological consultant, tour leader at Birdwatch North East and works for BirdGuides. POPPY RUMMERY is an avid reader, birder and nature lover with a particular adoration of seabirds. JOSH JONES is Editor of Birdwatch. He has been an ardent birder since a young age, with a particular fondness for waders and gulls. ED STUBBS is BirdGuides and Birdwatch’s Deputy Editor and has a keen interest in migration and patchbirding. www.pocketmags.com/birdwatch Get extra content in the digital edition! m/birdwatch…

HAVE you done a big year? Most of us have to a degree – maybe on the local patch, within a home county or even across the country. But to do a worldwide big year takes things to a whole new level. Back in 1968 Peter Alden became the first person to see more than 2,000 species in a year – something that many of us have done since, thanks to the availability of guided tours. Move forward two decades and in 1989 James Clements managed to see 3,662 species. Then, in 2008, Alan Davies and Ruth Miller set another new record and saw 4,341. It was only a matter of time before someone with access to more resources would try to beat that and in 2015 Noah Strycker set…

WHEN out in the field, particularly during autumn, it is hard not to notice some of the impressive fungi sprouting from fields, tree stumps and woodland floors. Their shapes, forms and colours seem never ending and, much like when confronted with immature large gulls for the first time, making a correct identification seems like an impossible task. Many birders will have been on a fungi walk or two at some point – but have you ever seriously considered collecting and eating your quarry? It is understandable why some would be put off by this idea – the fear of consuming something that will make you sick (or worse!) can be quite off-putting. But, with familiarity, distinguishing those fungi that will taste delicious from those that can hospitalise you isn’t the…

IT is the month of June and spring migration is more or less over, the breeding season is in full swing and autumn migration will not start in earnest for at least a month. This is the perfect time to look at things other than birds. Many birders turn to butterflies, dragonflies and moths, but there is another group of fascinating insects which are often overlooked – the true bugs. Most people will be familiar with some of them: shieldbugs, froghoppers, aphids, pond skaters and water boatmen. In Britain there are nearly 2,000 species of Hemiptera (or true bugs) and identifying them can be tricky. The bugs most people are familiar with are aphids, with the most well-known being called ‘greenfly’ (Potato Aphid) and ‘blackfly’ (Black Bean Aphid). There are…

Few species are as enigmatic in the Western Palearctic as Pallas’s Sandgrouse. The discovery of two at Saarijärvi, Finland, on 15th, therefore generated plenty of excited chatter across Europe about the potential of further records to follow. The species has been known to have periodic irruptions westward in the distant past – with bumper movements noted in 1863, 1887-88, 1908 and 1969 – although these have become an historical phenomenon. This month’s represent the first record anywhere in Europe since one in Finland in 2010. Drought conditions throughout the Iberian peninsula have caused a number of wetland species to wander northwards in search of more suitable climes, leading to above-average tallies of Black-winged Stilts and both Purple and Black-crowned Night Herons across north-west Europe. Iceland was the most northerly recipient…

Thursley Common in Surrey is a fine place to go birding. It hosts Woodlarks, Dartford Warblers, Common Redstarts and Spotted Flycatchers, and a few years ago I twitched a Great Grey Shrike there. One species that I never expected to twitch there (or anywhere, ever) is Common Cuckoo. Then, in 2019, my colleague Ed Stubbs mentioned that ‘Colin the Cuckoo’ was back for another year and putting on several crowd-pleasing performances each day. Ed suggested that I really should go and see what it was all about. So, I went. In the grassy area known as Parish Field, a photographer (or photographers) had set up a selection of photogenic logs and branches, variously adorned with moss and the like. This area was stocked with a very generous supply of mealworms.…

NICK Acheson’s new book is a poignant and intimate study of the lives of geese as they flock to us during the winter months. Spanning seven months, in the wake of lockdowns and a harsh winter, Acheson keeps a diary of his sightings and observations. This style of writing makes The Meaning of Geese a fast-paced, easy read. The information that Acheson provides us with is focused and informative in some ways, but it also contains beautifully lyrical lines which are dispersed throughout. He recounts his days of exploration and observation as he journeys around Norfolk on his mother’s trusty 40-year-old red bicycle. He details everything from the highs of finding rare geese to the lows of poor weather and bike repairs, but he also shares his love for these…

MIDSUMMER is the perfect time to take stock in your garden, but also to enjoy the fruits of your labour. There’s much perceived pressure and stress related to the upkeep of a perfect garden, but one of the best pearls of wisdom I remember reading in an old gardening book many years ago was to make sure you take some time in midsummer – of all times – to actually sit down and enjoy it. That’s especially the case for us wildlife gardeners, as we have just a few short months to appreciate the bounty of flowers on show and the insects that visit them. Hopefully, if you’ve been following some of my tips from this column thus far, your garden will be looking its best about now and will…

Q My daughter and son-in-law live in Totley, Sheffield. They have a medium-sized suburban garden with no water present. On 9 December 2022 this bird appeared at 6.14 am on the decking outside and was noticed first because it was tapping on the glass of the patio doors. It flew off very shortly afterwards and has not been seen since. I think that this is an immature Black-crowned Night Heron but I appreciate that this would be an unlikely sighting. My family and I would greatly appreciate your expert view. I attach also a video which might help with identification. Alan Burkin, via email A Ed Stubbs, Birdwatch Deputy Editor, writes:“This bird is a Water Rail – a very cool bird to see in a garden! A couple of key features…

July ■ Brilliant Bardsey In the second part of our occasional series, Steve Stansfield profiles Bardsey Bird and Field Observatory, looking at the species the Welsh island is famous for and the work being done to study them. ■ Join the club County bird clubs have been cornerstones of the British birding scene for decades, but how do they remain relevant in modern times? Keith Betton evaluates the benefits of being involved in bird clubs and shows why they continue to be important today. ■ Lowlands in the east The unique, flat landscape of The Fens has been radically altered by humans over the centuries. Yet this intensively managed region hosts a great range of special habitats and birds, as Jon Heath explains. ■ Tern-tastic! July is a particularly good…