Watching Migrants

[RockyRacoon]

I am already looking at the migrant info on my Migrant watch point this year -Beachy Head. Good for Black Redstarts, Firecrests, Whinchats, Ring ouzels! Hoping for a continental migrant, or Wryneck!!!! Honey Buzzards and Ospreys are rare but regular. Ohhhhh.

Where do you watch Migrants, what do you see, what is the best thing you've seen whilst migrant watching and what is your favourute time of year? :t:

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Jake,

You should get some good birds at Beachy, from its reputation.

I look for mine justabout anywhere on the Northumberland coast, but headlands and close to lighthouses are the best: Tynemouth, St Mary's Island, Newbiggin, Bamburgh, Holy Island. The best months are October and May.

Best I've seen? wheeooo, now there's a difficult one . . . sure you really want to know?

Michael

[RockyRacoon]

Hi Jake,

You should get some good birds at Beachy, from its reputation.

I look for mine justabout anywhere on the Northumberland coast, but headlands and close to lighthouses are the best: Tynemouth, St Mary's Island, Newbiggin, Bamburgh, Holy Island. The best months are October and May.

Best I've seen? wheeooo, now there's a difficult one . . . sure you really want to know?

Michael

I'd love to know what your best is! What is it...?

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Jake,

What's the best migrant I've seen? . . . hmmm . . Red-flanked Bluetail . . Black-faced Bunting . . Eastern Bonelli's Warbler . . Fea's Petrel . . nope, guess it's gotta be that Slender-billed Curlew

Hadn't seen any of these when I was your age - keep looking, and some day, you'll see some birds just as good!

Michael

[tom mckinney]

Not Iberian Chiff, Michael?

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Tom,

Given a choice . . . which would you rather see, Iberian Chiffchaff or Slender-billed Curlew?

Not a hard decision, I think ;)

Michael

[tom mckinney]

. . . Slender-billed Curlew


Never heard of one of them. However I have heard of "The Druridge Triangle": a strange unexplained X-Files phenonemon in which hundreds of twitchers in Northumberland falsely believe they are watching an extinct wading bird that is actually a runt Curlew... ;)

[Michael Frankis]

Never heard of one of them. However I have heard of "The Druridge Triangle": a strange unexplained X-Files phenonemon in which hundreds of twitchers in Northumberland falsely believe they are watching an extinct wading bird that is actually a runt Curlew... ;)
Just because you didn't see it :-O

:king:

[tom mckinney]

Jake,

Beachy is awesome and regular visits will one day net you a seriously good bird.

Migrant watching is best early morning. Most passage will be over by mid morning, however on exceptional days it can continue throughout the day. Easterly winds and overnight showers will score you the best chances of good numbers of migrants so keep a regular eye on weather forecasts.

April-May and September-October are your migration target months, but birds move all year.

Don't be embarrassed to check gardens (but respect privacy and don't trespass!) as these are very often havens for newly arriving migrants. Anywhere with fresh water is also well worth checking, ie streams, ponds, brooks.

The regular birders at coastal sites know them so well that they just know exactly where to check in what weather at what time of year: pin point accurate predictions down to what bush to check! At Holme NOA in Norfolk, the warden has trapped the same ringed Willow Warbler in the very same mist net for 3 years running!

And, most importantly, if you do find anything good you must tell me!

[RockyRacoon]

Fea's Petrel!
Slender billed Curlew!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow amazing birds, amazing... :t:

[RockyRacoon]

Definatley Tom, I'll have a whole report, and I'm going more than once, I'll send you a message personally with some of my best, and anyonre else...!

[tom mckinney]

Fea's Petrel!
Slender billed Curlew!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow amazing birds, amazing... :t:

Jake, don't believe a word he says! ;)

Fea's Petrel was a Fulmar and Slender-billed Curlew was a mass hallucination ;) ;)

Now if you want a good bird, look no further than Cinnamon Teal!

[Michael Frankis]

Now if you want a good bird, look no further than Cinnamon Teal!Poor Tom, reduced to ticking zoo birds . . . sooner or later the bubble's going to (o)<

o:D

[RockyRacoon]

Where is the Slender Billed Curlews range thought to be...?

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Hi Jake,

I think the Slender-billed Curlew's range is mainly thought to exist in the 19th Century and earlier! ;)

The only record of breeding is from the central Asian steppes quite some time ago (1920s?). In the winter they migrated to the Mediterranean basin and North Africa. Nowadays - who knows where they are, if anywhere?

[tom mckinney]

Didn't someone of BF say they definitely had one in Greece in 2002? But they couldn't get confirming photos?...

...I'll do a search...

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Jake,


Where is the Slender Billed Curlews range thought to be...?
The only nests ever found were in southern Siberia in an area north of Omsk at about 57°N 74°E. The first found was in 1917, the last in 1924 (80 years ago this year!). Only one person ever found any, a Russian ornithologist named Ushakov.

For the winter, they migrated west-south-west to the Mediterranean, particularly Morocco. This of course meant they faced a barrage of gunfire for the last 2000 miles of their migration route, so inevitably the population collapsed. Up until 40-50 years ago, they used to be widespread in flocks of up to 100 or more in the Mediterranean in winter. More recently, they were regular in small numbers until 1996 at one site in Morocco, though none there since. Some people hope that undiscovered wintering populations may yet be found in unexplored areas of Iran, Iraq, etc., but this seems unlikely.

How many are left isn't known, some sources say perhaps as many as 250, others say less than 50. In terms of numbers actually seen, it is less than five worldwide in each of the last 6 years.

Here's an account & photo of the one that visited Druridge Pools in Northumberland:
http://www.birdguides.com/birdnews/article.asp?a=35

One small bit of good news is that the Druridge bird was a young bird, one year old. So at least one pair of Slender-billed Curlews nested successfully, somewhere, in 1997. Finding the breeding area isn't going to be easy - imagine searching for one pair of birds in 100,000 square km of boggy habitat . . .

One thing for sure, I'll never see a rarer bird than this one

Michael

[Docmartin]

For the winter, they migrated west-south-west to the Mediterranean, particularly Morocco. This of course meant they faced a barrage of gunfire for the last 2000 miles of their migration route, so inevitably the population collapsed.


i wonder if hunting pressure really was a major cause of decline? Didn't the 'last' 5-6 birds in Morocco take about 10 years to die off? That doesn't sound to me like adult mortality was that great. Eskimo Curlews different story - they were massively hunted out. Surely extinct?

Martin

[Michael Frankis]

i wonder if hunting pressure really was a major cause of decline? Didn't the 'last' 5-6 birds in Morocco take about 10 years to die off? That doesn't sound to me like adult mortality was that great. Eskimo Curlews different story - they were massively hunted out. Surely extinct?

Martin
Hi Martin,

Improved legal protection for all curlews in the Med for the last few years probably helped them survive longer. But given that most large waders can live at least 20-30 years, maybe they 'should' have lasted even longer than that?

Michael

[Docmartin]

Hi Martin,

Improved legal protection for all curlews in the Med for the last few years probably helped them survive longer. But given that most large waders can live at least 20-30 years, maybe they 'should' have lasted even longer than that?

Michael

Possibly so. BUt how many 1w birds were seen in recent history. None! The thing you saw was the first evidence of successful breeding for yonks. That sounds like the problem to me.

M

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Martin,

Equally, adults would be more experienced and less easy to shoot. And there's the possibility that juveniles were being missed through no-one knowing what they looked like.

I guess breeding productivity would have collapsed in recent years due to birds being unable to find mates, but so far as I can see from the paper in BB July '02, there doesn't appear to be a significant problem with habitat loss on the presumed breeding grounds. Unless they mostly bred in habitats different to where Ushakov found his. Maybe his were at the northern edge of the range and they mostly bred on drier steppes which are now cultivated?? - but there's no evidence for this.

Michael