Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2023 i Birdwatch

my teens and early twenties, little mattered more to me than my British list. For many years, I am guilty to say, I ticked Oriental Pratincole having apparently been shown the 1993 Norfolk bird through the telescope at the age of three. I’ll freely admit that I have no recollection of seeing the pratincole, but I know for a fact that I saw it based on my parents’ testimonies, so on my list it went. Do you think that’s acceptable for a tick? Many would be in the ‘definitely not’ camp and I can see why. If it was someone else, I’d be looking on with scepticism. I certainly copped a fair bit of flak about it from my birding mates. But isn’t it a fact of life that for…

IT had been a quiet winter in the Isles of Scilly. The only notable new birds were a first-winter Richard’s Pipit on 12 February, which I chanced upon on the airfield, and an adult Long-tailed Skua on 18 February, found resting track-side at Deep Point by Richie Aston. However, as early spring approached, a fresh enthusiasm powered up Scilly birders. Despite an overall lack of common migrants, Steve Holloway teased out an Alpine Swift on 19 March and I had a Purple Heron two days later. On 23 March, in battering winds, I wandered across the golf course. My intent was to dig out Scilly’s first Northern Wheatear of 2023, or perhaps something scarcer like a Ring Ouzel or a Hoopoe. I scoured the fairways. Still no wheatear – only…

Prevailing weather conditions meant March was destined to become a month of two halves. A wintry beginning saw much of Britain and Ireland subjected to snow and icy conditions, with a dominant northerly wind putting a pause on any hoped-for early migrants. Mid-month saw this rapidly change for the better as far as spring movements were concerned, with a near-overnight south-westerly switch creating ideal conditions for a healthy arrival of northbound migrants. This mild southerly blast brought with it a monumental arrival of Alpine Swifts (see page 9), which produced a mammoth 866 reports on the BirdGuides sightings page during March. It is undoubtedly the largest influx of this species ever across both Britain and Ireland and included a new Irish record count – nine over Bray, Co Wicklow, on…

I’m sure I’m not alone in that, when I’m birding, I’m not only watching the birds, but also taking note of how they are perceived by non-birders. This can sometimes make a day in the field one that sticks with me for a long time. Moments when non-birders seem to stop and appreciate birds can be quite touching, but I do find it hard to fight off a pang of cynicism when they don’t notice something exciting. I would have thought that there are few more obvious actions than a Eurasian Sparrowhawk eating a pigeon alive just feet away from you, but recently I watched a man walk past this raw drama without giving it a sideways glance. After his dog flushed the hawk off the pigeon for a second…

The British Library’s Animals: Art, Science and Sound is the first major exhibition to explore the different ways in which humans have written about, visualised and recorded animals. Drawing on the library’s renowned collection of manuscripts, artwork, printed works and sound recordings, the exhibition will take the visitor on a journey of more than 2,000 years and across the globe to understand how science, art and sound have been used to record the animal world and how our knowledge is constantly evolving. Organised into four zones – Darkness, Water, Land and Air – the exhibition contains more than 120 objects arranged into thematic clusters that speak to current debates around discovery, knowledge, conservation and extinction. One of the major goals of the exhibition is to demonstrate how important sound has…

I must admit I have never been a big fan of binocular harnesses. For me at least, the twists and turns in putting one on and taking it off at frequent intervals, for example when driving short distances between different sites, and making frequent adjustments to compensate for different layers of clothing, has just been too much of a faff. Many users may disagree of course but if, like me, you’ve been a cynic in this respect, the Rick Young Basic Ultra-light Bino Harness may just prompt you to revise your opinion. Its simple design, along with a weight below 30 g, is ideal for anyone wishing to ditch the bulk and travel light. At first sight, the harness material bears an uncanny resemblance to a bootlace but there the…

THIS recently released title is brilliant! It is a unique book: it has a clean, simple, bold design with an abundance of tables, diagrams, bullet points and maps, helping to give an ‘extended scientific paper’ effect, but the text has a huge variety of material from decades of work. There are published statements and papers as well as remarkably detailed recollections of everything from informal and official meetings to days in the field with other ‘kite workers’, which make for a great read. Chapter headings such as The challenge of the Government’s destruction of the Nature Conservancy Council grabbed my attention: an insider’s view on the murky world of politics in conservation is fascinating. The text includes encounters with an extraordinary range of people – a who’s who of high-ranking officials…

IF you’ve read some of my previous columns giving tips on wildlife-friendly gardening, you might be thinking ‘that’s all very well, but I don’t have a lawn or flowerbeds – only a tiny paved courtyard, patio or balcony’. No problem. Even if you have barely enough outdoor space in which to unfold a deckchair, you can still make a positive change to the availability of wildlife habitat in your street. Container gardening has become increasingly popular in recent years, as many gardens – particularly in urban and suburban areas – are often so much smaller now. As well as offering an attractive opportunity to bring some colour to your neighbourhood and even grow your own fruit and vegetables, container gardening can also be utilised for the benefit of your local…

Pre-order your copy online now – see www.birdguides.com for details of how to subscribe and save more than 33% a year! ■ Flycatcher decline Why is a once-common summer migrant becoming so hard to find? Catrin Eden profiles the stark decline of the UK’s Spotted Flycatcher population. ■ Being number one Western Palearctic listing has created a vibrant yet competitive birding community across the region. We speak to Pierre-André Crochet on becoming the first person to break the 900-species barrier, discussing the highs and lows that he encountered along the way. ■ Rare breeding birds This spring saw the Rare Breeding Birds Panel celebrate its 50th birthday. Dr Mark Eaton provides details on how to safely monitor and report the rare nesters you come across while in the field. ■ Next…

MAY’S digital edition has lots of bonus content, including: • Video of breeding waders; • Film of female Curruca warblers; • Footage of Alpine Swift; • Video of spring migrants; • Sound recordings of Scottish Crossbill; • 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.…

MARCH 2023 will go down in birding folklore thanks to a major influx of Alpine Swifts across Britain and Ireland. South-westerly winds extending across the Bay of Biscay from Iberia and North Africa from mid-March produced perfect ‘funnel’ conditions for a large-scale arrival. The influx began on Monday 13th with an extraordinary group of seven over Dungarvan, Co Waterford – at that time, the biggest flock ever recorded in Ireland. This was soon topped by a remarkable nine over Bray, Co Wicklow, on 19th. Six at Stanpit Marsh, Dorset, the previous day is the largest modern-day flock recorded in Britain. With so many sites jamming in, it is impossible to accurately estimate the number of birds involved, although it almost certainly numbers well into three figures – with in excess of…

March migration in Israel is the envy of the entire region, as streams of summer visitors return to their breeding grounds across Europe and Asia. An fantastic run of sub-Saharan vagrants peaked with the country’s sixth Yellow-billed Kite in the Arava Valley on 27th, backed up by a Tawny Eagle near Alon, West Bank, on 3rd and a Yellowbilled Stork at Tirat Zvi from 28th. In the Eilat area, a Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark was at KM76, one of the long-staying Verreaux’s Eagles was reported again in the Eilat Mountains, and up to four Swinhoe’s Storm Petrels remained offshore. In the north, the Pied Bush Chat extended its stay at Ma’or, though the Black-faced Bunting wasn’t reported after 2nd. It transpired that in November 2022, one of the Swinhoe’s Storm Petrels wandered…

THIS A to Z of bird names explores their origins and meanings, with many classic illustrations. The author, a birding tour leader, is clearly fascinated by her subject. There is an introduction to the people who named birds, a glossary and a vast reference list, and a brief review of the origins of names in old languages, whose difficult pronunciations often make the basis for later names seem less logical than they really are. Most entries quote early texts in which the name first appeared or was explained. There is a huge amount of material, but sometimes I found myself looking for the next paragraph and not finding one: why do some entries seem just a little unsatisfactory? There seems to be no discussion of hyphenation, often used in bird…

WHILE superficially resembling a typical tourist guide, within seconds of opening the cover, this beautiful and comprehensive book quickly reveals itself to be everything you need for a birding visit to this legendary archipelago, 900 km off the coast of Ecuador. Known best as a major inspiration for Charles Darwin when writing On the Origin of Species, it was in fact the four endemic mockingbird species that first got him imagining how species might arise, rather than Darwin’s finches. These two groups are probably the most difficult landbirds on the islands to identify and both are given plenty of space here. This is that much-maligned genre of book, a photo guide, but owing to the limited number of birds found on the islands (only 189 species have been recorded to…

A study published in Avian Conservation and Ecology has quantified the scale of gull predation in a colony of Leach’s Storm Petrels in Newfoundland, Canada, finding that up to 143,000 were killed by large gulls in one year alone. The study found that the number of Leach’s Storm Petrels on Gull Island in Witless Bay had fallen by an average of 6% per year since 2001, leaving approximately 180,000 breeding pairs there in 2012. Witless Bay is one of the most important breeding areas for globally Vulnerable species, making it both an Important Bird Area and an Important Biodiversity Area. The populations of American Herring Gull on Gull Island and nearby Great Island have also decreased in recent years, with Gull Island experiencing a drop from 3,852 pairs in 1979…

BREEDING Twite survive only in fragmented remnants of their former distribution in England, with the species suffering an ongoing decline and considered of high conservation concern in the UK. Climate change and agricultural intensification have been blamed for the decline but the exact driving factors have not been identified. Across the UK, Twite declined by 21% between 1999 and 2013, while the South Pennine population has fallen by 72% over the same period and it is thought that only 30 breeding pairs may have survived there in 2021. Along with north-west Derbyshire, where a similar crash appears to be taking place, the South Pennines forms the core breeding range in England. A study led by Ismini Gkourtshouli-Antoniadou of Imperial College London has investigated Twite survival rates in north-west Derbyshire through…

They say that karma is a Lesser Kestrel. (Don’t they? I do.) In my last column, I whined vociferously about my husband Rob’s Scilly 2022 year-list attempt. I fully support frantic dashes to Bryher for Eurasian Crag Martins and Blackburnian Warblers, but I draw the line at agonising over Whinchats. There was also that time he left our daughter’s doctor’s appointment while in the surgery to chase a black-eared wheatear species on the golf course. ‘Bring on 2023,’ I thought, when family-friendly birding service can resume. It was a quiet start to the year for Scilly birding. There were endless Western Cattle Egrets and a very sticky Richard’s Pipit that loitered around the airport cafe for weeks, but not much else to get excited about. Thursday 23 March was a…

In association with This spectacular bird is a male Gurney’s Pitta. It’s a species that has already been feared lost for good – and sadly, despite its rediscovery, is once again staring extinction in the face. Considered common in lowland forests in Thailand until 1920, the incidence of sightings subsequently plummeted as deforestation rates were ramped up across its range. In 1986 there was hope when, after more than three decades without a documented field sighting, it was found alive and well in remnant forests in Krabi Province. But this proved something of a false dawn. Despite urgent warnings from conservationists on its rediscovery in 1986 and a logging ban a few years later, the forests of Khao Nor Chu Chi have been heavily exploited, fragmented and degraded since then.…

In this digital age, the process of gathering bird news requires spending more time on social media during the working day than is healthy for any birder. On a good day it can be incredible to observe, as a wave of spring arrivals fans out across the country and has birders tweeting nationwide, or a single rare seabird is tracked from numerous coastal headlands through several county WhatsApp groups. It is frequently educational, not least in the numerous groups dedicated to the identification of birds (as well as various other taxa). Periodically, almost akin to the arrival of the seasons, recurrent themes rise to the surface and discussions in these groups often follow some well-trodden paths. One of Birdwatch’s other esteemed columnists recently referred to a particular subset of birders…

THIS is a series of intense observations of nature in a small area, by a gifted observer who interprets what he sees in an individual style. It has been highly praised by many well-known writers and perhaps I am a little out of step. First, I applaud an author being unconventional, using minute observation and interpretation of wildlife, the kind of thing I enjoy myself. Here we have sunshine and showers, colours and textures, bird sounds, actions and interactions, and movements and stillness – all the elements essential to our experience but ignored, I’m afraid, by most people. I love the idea but for me the recipe is a bit rich, the ingredients too complex. Every sentence tries so hard to be an epic, meaningful event: beautiful writing, yes ……

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 Optics aftercare I do enjoy Mike Alibone’s optics reviews. I am often asked for advice on purchasing binoculars and telescopes. This can be difficult, partly because when the subject of repair or servicing is mentioned, there is very little (or no) information about which brands provide the best after-sales services. For example, I know that Swarovski has a good reputation, but I am sure a rundown on each manufacturer with its after-sales services would be of use to Birdwatch readers. Stephen Waters, via email Birdwatch Optics Editor, Mike Alibone, replies: “Many thanks for your positive comments about the Birdwatch reviews. You are absolutely…