...the events of 2001 in southwest England were totally unexpected. A small influx of Red-billed Choughs took place between late January and May, involving sightings of birds along the south coast from the Isles of Scilly to Portland in Dorset. Establishing the true picture was hampered by access restrictions imposed as a result of the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, but at least four different individuals were seen, including three together on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall. It is possible that as many as seven Red-billed Choughs were involved in total (Brown et al. 2002).
The origin of the birds involved in the influx has been the subject of considerable debate and will never be known with certainty. The nearest established population is in southwest Wales (see fig. 2), with about 45 pairs breeding along the coast of Pembrokeshire (Welsh Birds 2000). If the birds had arrived from this direction, however, they would presumably have first reached northern parts of Devon or Cornwall and, given that much suitable habitat is available on the north coast, it seems unlikely that all would then have continued overland to the south coast. Ireland supports a population of over 800 pairs (O’Sullivan 1992) but even those breeding on the south coast are more than 230 km from the closest point in southwest England; moreover, birds arriving from this direction might also be expected to reach the north coast first. Another possible source is the small, isolated breeding population on the coast of northwest Brittany, where recent estimates suggest that about 30-40 pairs are present (Kerbiriou 2001). Although the coast of southwest England is approximately 200 km away from Brittany, the distribution of records in spring 2001 along the south coast is consistent with an arrival from the south or southeast. Many birds in the French population are colour-ringed; the fact that all three of the birds on the Lizard were not ringed makes this origin perhaps less likely, although by no means impossible.
