Reply to recent posts.
1) Photos have been taken, and the aim to capture them in this way has been going on for weeks, but everything so far taken, with the exception of one or two images, are inadmissable. The birds are very wary, and will not let the observer to within 200-300ft. Even with a 400mm lens and 18 million pixels, the results are disappointing. Birds taken on the overhead power lines always come out as silhouettes. Those on the ground are hard to secure, and again, the birds plumage makes it blend well with the background.
30 minutes of video has been taken but reveals little, but you can appreciate the birds size, that its a big thrish, see its dipping flight, and the call can be heard at times. Oddly enough, when viewed through bins, there is no doubt to the species, so long as the bird is somewhere that its heavilly mottled front and grey areas can be seen. Time and again, when we went out to get images, the birds didn't arrive at the roost until the dawn twilight fell. We recently arrived at their locality at 3pm and saw nothing for four hours, until at sundown, when it was too late for the cameras. This is one of many such outings. I could relate more, but will resist!
2) I am not remotely suggesting that they are breeding here. I am merely stating that a flock of 13+ fieldfare (you can see 11 of them in one shot on the video) are here, and return to the very same trees every evening. The birds have so far nearly always fed on the surrounding fields within half a mile of the roost (often less than this) and nearly always to the south, near Helston.
The bird is an extreme rarity in Cornwall in September. Besides many other things that might be said, there is no way that, even if we had got the identity rong, that this flock could be mistle thrush, we simply don't have the species in anything like this number in the South-West. I have lived here for over 5 years and make regular bird watching outings in the neighbourhood. My records show a total of about a dozen mistle thrush sightings in those 5 years. It is very uncommon hereabouts.
3) Yes, I am trying to liaise with other birders in the county, or anyone willing to drive here and see for themselves with the promise that they will not be disappointed. I have commmunicated with the authorities and the lack of reaction has been utterly bewildering. A fair point about this sighting having gone unreported in the east of England, etc, but the fact is that this flock are here, ~I cannot comment. The birders who have witnessed this flock are keen and competent twitchers, and do not specialise in rarities etc. They watch all birds equally, regularly, and if they happen to see something unusual, they will take the event as a bonus. I am of the same ilk.
Yes I have seen the birds nearly every day since mid July, and because I didn't realise what they were while busy on a small tractor, took them to be a flock of starlings back around mid June. Admittedly, it took me a whole month to cotton-on that they were something odd. The initial conclusion was drawn because I kept seeing the flock at considerable distance and without bins. I was careless and lazy about the incident, much to my chagrin.
I am not after fame, and my efforts to register this flock is merely to ensure that it is documented as a freak, ornithological event. I have birded since 1965, and do have a pride, and therefore would never make a claim such as this one unless I was 100% certain regarding the birds identity. I might sound passionate about the issue at times, but thats because the birds themselves are proving near impossible to get on film, and the people appointed to investigate such incidents have been completely unmoved by the report = staggering. I have sent specific details, grid references, photos, the lot, and the result has been zilch! If someone doesn't ratify their presence very soon then this wonderful occurrence will be lost by the influx of winter migrants. I have even offered to pay a persons fuel bill!!! Regards. Mark. 01326 561741
I appreciate your frustration with the lack of help with this. However, the people who can really help in the way that you seek are birdwatchers in Cornwall itself. I suppose that you thought that by posting here you would be able to contact some of those Cornish birdwatchers but have had replies from England and the Isle of Man instead. Some more points:
If there were flocks of fieldfares migrating early this year, there would probably have been records on the eastern coast of England.
I was co-author of a paper in Peregrine - A Journal of Manx Natural History about sightings of fieldfares in a hilly area of the Isle of Man in the summer of 1989. I made the initial sighting, in April that year, and my co-author, John Thorpe, made the later observations, in late July and early August, which included one or more birds that he reckoned showed plumage features of a juvenile bird going into first winter. I don't think that we have ever had a event like this concerning fieldfares in the Isle of Man since, so exceptional events like this are not impossible, although very unusual, of course.
Might the local birdwatchers that you have managed to reach had a lot of Cornish rarities to occupy their time with, rather than seasonal rarities?
Did you see the fieldfares yourself?
Let us know if you do get an answer to your query.
Allen