August-November England and Wales (1 Viewer)

[Tiraya]

So from August 17th to mid November I will be present in the UK and appreciate any advice on my current missing birds. I understand some are probably gone or nearly gone (i.e. summer breeders cf. pied flycatcher and quail) around the time I visit. I seem to mostly be missing winter birds and specialty summer breeders.

My base will vary, but will include New Forest area and south coast (spent many painful years trying to find hbuzzard firecrest and lesser spot there, ugh) and nearby. In Wales I will be around the Ceredigion/Cardigan Bay area.

Well without further ado here is my "bogey" list, in no specific order. Even though I've been birding in UK on and off for over a decade I'm missing a hell of a lot due to trouble finding information on them--who knows, maybe someone knows what a Garganey is these days

Waterbirds/Waders/etc
Garganey
Pintail
Wigeon
Little Ringed Plover
Curlew Sandpiper
Purple Sandpiper
Jack Snipe
Spotted Redshank
Little Stint
Yellow-legged Gull
Bittern
Black Guillemot
Little Gull
Eider
Long-tailed Duck
Common Scoter (and Velvet but it seems rare)
Smew
European Golden-plover

Passerines/land birds
Redwing
Brambling
Hawfinch
Water Pipit
Ring Ouzel
Tree Sparrow
Twite
Lapland Bunting
Yellow Wagtail
Owls! Literally any owl at all, I've seen none. Barn, short-eared, long-eared, tawny, etc.

And these I add just for the sake of adding...I'm not counting on them but if there are great areas I'd like to know.
The "unlikely" list--I literally don't expect to ever see these without exceptional circumstances. Most of these I don't expect to see in my lifetime at all...
Water Rail (and Spotted Crake but it seems unlikely)
Roseate Tern || Corncrake
Quail || Marsh Warbler|| Grasshopper Warbler
Honey Buzzard || Wood Warbler || Lesser-spotted Woodpecker
Black Redstart || Stone Curlew || Nightingale
Willow Tit || Pied Flycatcher || Firecrest || Dotterel

 

[Nohatch]

Looking through your list there are quite a few that will be hard that time of year, but also quite a few that should be easy to find

* Garganey - rare at the best of times and most will be in Africa - some linger at Blasford Lakes but you have to get lucky
* Pintail - should be a few scattered around the area, again try Blashford Lakes
* Wigeon - millions of them all over the place
* Little Ringed Plover - left the country
* Curlew Sandpiper - rare, but try your luck at either Farlington Marshes or the Keyhaven area
* Purple Sandpiper - there's always a few at Southsea Castle from Nov onwards
* Jack Snipe - hard to find but not that rare, could show up with Common Snipe at any wetland in the area
* Spotted Redshank - fairly regular migrant in the Keyhaven/Pennington area
* Little Stint - a few every year at Keyhaven/Pennington
* Yellow-legged Gull - pretty common at Eling Great Marsh and adjacent Lower Test Marshes NR
* Bittern - rare unless we get a real cold snap, could try at Blashford Lakes
* Black Guillemot - no chance, but should be easy in Wales
* Little Gull - can show up at any coastal/wetland site (mostly juvs) but I somehow never seem to find one - try the Hook area (near Warsash) and Titchfield Haven/Posbrook Floods
* Eider - a few winter on the Solent, good spots are Hill Head and Hurst spit/Milford
* Long-tailed Duck - rare, check the boards if any are around
* Common Scoter - fairly common on the Solent, try Hill Head/Brownwich
* Velvet Scoter - rare at the same sites as Common Scoter
* Smew - not even annual
* European Golden-plover - wintering flock at Bunny Meadows (Warsash)
* Redwing - millions of them all over the place
* Brambling - scarce but try Mark Ash Wood and Denny Wood areas in the New Forest NP
* Hawfinch - there's a winter roost at the Blackwater Arboretum (NF)
* Water Pipit - hard to find, but there's normally a few at Lower Test Marshes
* Ring Ouzel - scarce migrant, can show up anywhere
* Tree Sparrow - very rare on the south coast
* Twite - rare, try a coastal site like Keyhaven
* Lapland Bunting - very rare as well
* Yellow Wagtail - fairly common migrant, good sites again Keyhaven/Pennington and Hook/Warsash area
* Little Owl - Hook area (resident pair along Workman's Lane)
* Tawny Owl - common and pretty vocal, try any copse or woodland
* Barn Owl - harder, Titchfield Haven area seems to be good (I had a local bird but it got run over by a car last year)
* Long-eared Owl - very rare
* Short-eared Owl - hard but try coastal sites (Farlington Marshes) or New Forest bogs (Shatterford, Black Gutter Bottom)
* Water Rail - Lower Test Marshes is a reliable spot but you need a bit of luck
* Spotted Crake - don't count on it
* Roseate Tern - may be a lingering bird at Hill Head with Common Terns
* Corncrake - nope
* Quail - most in Africa, but sometimes linger on the downs until Sep (try e.g. Martin Down)
* Marsh Warbler - nope
* Grasshopper Warbler - very rare, but could get lucky at wetland sites
* Honey Buzzard - if there are any left, they'll be in the New Forest (try Acres Down viewpoint)
* Wood Warbler - probably all gone
* Lesser-spotted Woodpecker - New Forest (Denny Wood/Woodfidley area) but they wander in autumn so could show up elsewhere
* Black Redstart - Calshot power station, always a few wintering pairs
* Stone Curlew - nope
* Nightingale - off to the sun
* Willow Tit - should be around on the downs, eg west of Basingstoke
* Pied Flycatcher - rare migrant, you'd have to get lucky
* Firecrest - pretty common, try Southampton Common (Old Cemetery)
* Dotterel - nope

I live in the area, so give me a shout when you're over!

N

 

[stuartvine]

Smew - try Dungeness

 

[Tiraya]

Oops I thought smew was regular for some reason. Ah well. Looks like many of these are harder than I expected.

I suppose nightjar would be off to another world too? I've heard them on over 10 occasions (New Forest) but haven't seen any trace of them yet.

Thanks for the massive info so far.

 

[Farnboro John]

Most of the waterbirds will be at Pennington/Keyhaven at some point in your stay.

I have airshows and stuff on throughout August but weekends after that I could provide some company on the odd day if you like, a bit of local knowledge can make a lot of difference.

PM me for contact details if you are interested. I live at the top end of Hampshire which is only an hour from the New Forest.

John

 

[birdboybowley]

August/September is a good time for Spotted Crake to turn up at Farlington Marshes....Water Rail is basically guaranteed there too, esp early morning
Ring Ouzel should be fairly straight forward throughout October, esp on South Downs, eg Cissbury Ring
Towards the end of your stay Hawfinch is guaranteed in West Dean Woods, behind Chichester as is Little Owl at the same site, and usually Firecrest.
Wader-wise, Sidlesham Ferry should have LRPs into September and Little Stint and Curlew Sand not long after
Again, PM me nearer the time if you're in the West Sussex area (I live near Chichester) and I can take you around if you fancy it

 

[Tiraya]

I'll certainly consider some of the offers on here--I don't have the information yet on what dates I will be between the two spots, though I will be in the New Forest area somewhere around a week from August 16th, and then again during the full period of October-November.
(rest of the time in Wales of course).

When I have more complete information I'll post here.

And yes--local knowledge definitely helps. I'd rather someone else mess around trying to ID little brown waders than I

 

[Tiraya]

So here are the dates:

England (New Forest area) -- August 18th-August 28th
Wales -- 29th August-19th October
England again -- 20th October - 13th November

I have no idea when I will be available either -- the trip is not entirely birding oriented.

 

[Tiraya]

Landed yesterday, think most of my time will be spent with family, but anything in terms of local sightings that will benefit me? It is a shame eBird is not widely used in the UK. http://www.goingbirding.co.uk/hants/birdnews.asp is the best I found and only seems to be one person using it!

 

[N00bBirder]

I'm not sure if this is any use as I only properly started birding this year (I live in North West England so mainly Wales and NW Eng), these are some of the websites I use:

http://www.surfbirds.com/ukbirdnews/nwindex.php

And you could try the Wales section of Manchester Birding Forum: http://www.manchesterbirding.activeboard.com/f520765/wales/

It sounds like you know the UK pretty well so probably already know about this one but RSPB site can also be useful if you can find reserves near where you are and then read the "sightings" page: http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/area/

Hope you find at least some of the birds that you are looking for anyway - good luck!

 

[Tiraya]

I'm hearing a lot of my targets around Titchfield Haven I think, so I'll try and visit there. Visited Keyhaven at 9pm today, not ideal, but had just over 40 species and some nice close clouded yellows. Hoped to see a yellow wagtail, some promising habitat, but seems a bit early. A few wheatears going on though.

 

[Nutcracker]

A few of Nohatch's listings are a mite pessimistic . . .

Still several Little Ringed Plover at Rutland over the BirdFair weekend, so they've not all gone yet, well worth a look for.

Garganey also usually stick around till early (even mid) September, but are hard to spot in eclipse / juvenile plumage; they look pretty similar to female Blue-winged or Cinnamon Teals (assuming you're familiar with them!).

Honey-buzzards also usually only leave in the first week or so of September, so not too late for them, if you can get to an established watchpoint. Can actually be easier at this time as the young are learning to fly.

 

[davercox]

I'm not sure if this is any use as I only properly started birding this year (I live in North West England so mainly Wales and NW Eng), these are some of the websites I use:

http://www.surfbirds.com/ukbirdnews/nwindex.php

And you could try the Wales section of Manchester Birding Forum: http://www.manchesterbirding.activeboard.com/f520765/wales/

It sounds like you know the UK pretty well so probably already know about this one but RSPB site can also be useful if you can find reserves near where you are and then read the "sightings" page: http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/area/

Hope you find at least some of the birds that you are looking for anyway - good luck!

Birdguides has a useful 'Bird News Extra' feature - you have to register with the site to use it but it is free to use in a limited way (today's news only, and few details).

 

[dantheman]

Birdguides has a useful 'Bird News Extra' feature - you have to register with the site to use it but it is free to use in a limited way (today's news only, and few details).

You can also join for £5 per month to enjoy the full web news service I believe - must be worth it in the grand scheme of things?

At any rate, click on the bird map feature on the left hand taskbar to see the birds of the day.

 

[dantheman]

Also (you may be aware of already) -

http://www.birdguides.com/products/bkleb/

or http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-li...g_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used&sr=&qid=

(Although don't buy this one - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-li...ing_new_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=new&sr=&qid= :eek!: )

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Where-Watch-Birds-Wales-Saunders/dp/0713651369 Wales ...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=1KRWNYYS3QPDHSVP3MGG Hampshire ...

(Other book sellers do occur)




Websites eg

http://www.chog.org.uk/

http://portlandbirdobs.blogspot.co.uk/search





And local knowledge offers shouldn't be passed up!


You probably still have a chance of Nightjar if you get your skates on now ...
Black Guillemot breeds on Anglesey (Wales)

 

[Tiraya]

Thanks all for the information so far! I certainly don't want to pass up local guides if I can fit the time in. £3,900 HAHAHAHA

Yellow wagtail and little ringed plover are being a right pain actually, I've been all over the place following up sightings on them. I keep finding spoonbills though, I thought they were rare

I've had good nightjar sites in the New Forest that always have them. I hear them each time from 9pm onwards but I can never see them.

 

[Tiraya]

Erm I also forgot to list virtually every winter goose and swan ever, how easy are these to pick up in the winter?

By that I mean bean, pink-footed, barnacle (though saw some at Titchfield and am tempted to "forget" that the guy next to me said they were domestics) and then whooper and Bewick's swans of course.

 

[Farnboro John]

Erm I also forgot to list virtually every winter goose and swan ever, how easy are these to pick up in the winter?

By that I mean bean, pink-footed, barnacle (though saw some at Titchfield and am tempted to "forget" that the guy next to me said they were domestics) and then whooper and Bewick's swans of course.

Provided you are OK with a day in Norfolk a clean-up is on the cards, Barnacle being the doubtful one (though there are usually a few with the Pinkfeet.) How long are you here?

John

 

[Tiraya]

So here are the dates:

England (New Forest area, base in Hythe) -- August 18th-August 28th
Wales -- 29th August-19th October
England (same area as before) -- 20th October - 13th November

I have no idea when I will be available either -- the trip is not entirely birding oriented.

These are the dates. I'm not sure whether my grandparents would be interested in driving as far as Norfolk, but I'll mention it anyway.

 

[Farnboro John]

These are the dates. I'm not sure whether my grandparents would be interested in driving as far as Norfolk, but I'll mention it anyway.

If they aren't, get in touch. I'm sure we can sort something.

John