Worcestershire Migration Log (1 Viewer)

Woodchat · Mar 24, 2014

Hi All,

I thought I would start this new thread as an attempt to track returning migrants throughout Worcestershire. Websites, such as Worcesterbirding, no longer carry details for the more common species. However, I personally find ALL migration information extremely interesting - for me migration is THE most interesting thing, for both common and scarce birds. Therefore, I would like to request that anyone and everyone post a few details of when migrants are first recorded on their patch. The simple format could be as follows:

Site Name
Species - return date (i.e. earliest recorded date for 2014) - a few other details such as observer and whether the bird was singing or not.

I guess we could also include migrant Lepidoptera etc.

Any posts / data greatly appreciated.

All the best, Dave

Woodchat · Mar 24, 2014

To kick us off, here are the details so far for my patch:

Coney Meadow / Salwarpe Valley

Sand Martin - 23/03/14 - 4 birds
Swallow - 23/03/14
Chiffchaff - 01/03/14 - first singing birds (wintering birds noted in Jan and Feb)
Blackcap - 02/03/14 - first singing bird (wintering birds noted in Jan and Feb)

keithr · Mar 24, 2014

Wast Hills area....21/03/14...Wheatear (as per Trevor Jones). 2 birds.

Keith :t:

Woodchat · Mar 24, 2014

keithr said:
Wast Hills area....21/03/14...Wheatear (as per Trevor Jones). 2 birds.

Keith :t:

Nice One, Keith. :t:

Hopefully, we will be able to build up a full picture of how migration progresses through Worcestershire over the next couple of months.

Woodchat · Mar 24, 2014

Westwood Great Pool, Droitwich

House Martin - 23/03/14 - 1st record at WW this year (per Wayne Dutton).

Phil Andrews · Mar 24, 2014

Upton Warren's return so far

Sand Martin - 20/03/14 (Gert Corfield)
Marsh Harrier - 20/03/14 (Paul Anstis via Tim Owen)
Swallow - 22/03/14 (Gary Prescott)

No Blackcap yet; will tell you the date of the first singing Chiffy when I get home

Woodchat · Mar 24, 2014

Phil Andrews said:
Upton Warren's return so far

Sand Martin - 20/03/14 (Gert Corfield)
Marsh Harrier - 20/03/14 (Paul Anstis via Tim Owen)
Swallow - 22/03/14 (Gary Prescott)

No Blackcap yet; will tell you the date of the first singing Chiffy when I get home

Nice one, Phil.

LRP surely must put in an appearance at UW any day now!

wheatearlp · Mar 24, 2014

Woodchat said:
Nice one, Phil.

LRP surely must put in an appearance at UW any day now!

Two yesterday at Morton Bagot (Warks), so they're definitely in the general area

Brian Stretch · Mar 24, 2014

Great idea for a thread Dave :t:

Being unable to devote the time to Worcester Birding that I once did, something had to give so this thread will help fill that void.

A few more first dates:

Ring Ouzel at British Camp 16/3 (MWCW)

White Wagtail at Lower Moor 16/3 (RAP)

LRP at two sites in the south from 21/3 with further arrivals since.

Brian
________________
Worcester Birding

Woodchat · Mar 24, 2014

Brian Stretch said:
Great idea for a thread Dave :t:

Being unable to devote the time to Worcester Birding that I once did, something had to give so this thread will help fill that void.

A few more first dates:

Ring Ouzel at British Camp 16/3 (MWCW)

White Wagtail at Lower Moor 16/3 (RAP)

LRP at two sites in the south from 21/3 with further arrivals since.

Brian
________________
Worcester Birding

Excellent - cheers Brian :t:

upstarts1979 · Mar 24, 2014

Blackcap singing in education reserve at upton Warren this afternoon

Dave, I too think migration is one of the wonders of the 'birding world'.
Any kind of migration weather it be African species returning in the spring and at the same time ducks migrating 'out'.
I find regional movements of birds moving from one County to another, or gulls and waders moving across land from one coast to another interesting. Its all fascinating stuff, with probably more questions than answers.

The 4 GBBGulls and 2 redshank at Upton today, were going somewhere. So in its own way, they too are migrants. B

John

Phil Andrews · Mar 24, 2014

Phil Andrews said:
Upton Warren's return so far

Sand Martin - 20/03/14 (Gert Corfield)
Marsh Harrier - 20/03/14 (Paul Anstis via Tim Owen)
Swallow - 22/03/14 (Gary Prescott)

No Blackcap yet; will tell you the date of the first singing Chiffy when I get home

First singing Chiffchaff at Upton Warren was the 13th March although there was a report of a bird on the 11th (after several weeks of no records)

Woodchat · Mar 24, 2014

upstarts1979 said:
Blackcap singing in education reserve at upton Warren this afternoon

Dave, I too think migration is one of the wonders of the 'birding world'.
Any kind of migration weather it be African species returning in the spring and at the same time ducks migrating 'out'.
I find regional movements of birds moving from one County to another, or gulls and waders moving across land from one coast to another interesting. Its all fascinating stuff, with probably more questions than answers.

The 4 GBBGulls and 2 redshank at Upton today, were going somewhere. So in its own way, they too are migrants. B John

Hi John,

Yes all bird movements are fascinating. I'm especially interested in long-distance (particularly transcontinental) migrations but regular short-distance migrants are also very interesting (for example, March is often a month for looking out for Stonechats passing through).

I'll put down 24/03/14 for first migrant Blackcap at Upton (and 13/03/14 for Chiffchaf per info from Phil). I guess you can be fairly sure these are migrants as wintering birds have been scarce at UW this winter. At Coney, the continuous presence of both Blackcaps and Chiffy's through the winter has blurred the picture and relying on the first singing bird to signify 'arrival' might be a bit of an arbitrary distinction. Best I can do, though. :t:

discors · Mar 25, 2014

Little Ringed Plover finally arrived at Upton Flashes In book from 24th pm no name still there this morning 25th, Janner Falcon and myself. 1 Swallow also reported.

Stone Snapper · Mar 25, 2014

hi Dave wheatear in field behind me at stone this morning

Woodchat · Mar 25, 2014

discors said:
Little Ringed Plover finally arrived at Upton Flashes In book from 24th pm no name still there this morning 25th, Janner Falcon and myself. 1 Swallow also reported.

Kingfisher-kid said:
hi Dave wheatear in field behind me at stone this morning

Cheers both - keep 'em coming! :t::t:

rollingthunder · Mar 25, 2014

4 Wheatears, in the drizzle this afternoon, West Hagley Fields - 3m1f. First of the season after 3 days of 'field-bashing':t:

Laurie:t:

Mary · Mar 25, 2014

Woodchat said:
Hi John,

Yes all bird movements are fascinating. I'm especially interested in long-distance (particularly transcontinental) migrations but regular short-distance migrants are also very interesting (for example, March is often a month for looking out for Stonechats passing through).

:

Haven't any migrants to report, but I also find the topic so interesting. How did it all start, does anyone know? Could it have been as early as the first modern species evolving, when the continents were closer together, but drifting apart? What started out as small trips between seasonal habitats gradually grew to the huge migrations of today? Any suggestions?!!! Was anyone there?:-O

keithr · Mar 25, 2014

Saw a programme about Stonhenge last night and they found some fascinating things with an archer and the blue stones. ..dating it all to the same moment in time.
Next week they dig up some tablets that have drawings on that show bird migration.....and a strange figure that was a ringer for David Attenborough....around 10, 000BC.

Keith.....

Woodchat · Mar 25, 2014

Mary said:
Haven't any migrants to report, but I also find the topic so interesting. How did it all start, does anyone know? Could it have been as early as the first modern species evolving, when the continents were closer together, but drifting apart? What started out as small trips between seasonal habitats gradually grew to the huge migrations of today? Any suggestions?!!! Was anyone there?:-O

Very good question that deserves a fuller response - but no time at the moment. It probably boils down to enhanced survival rates over many many generations. Those individuals which moved to exploit newly emerging feeding / breeding opprtunities faced reduced competition compared with those that stayed put. They then produced more offspring who inherited the migration trait. Over time, the ones that stayed put may have either gone extinct or speciated so that they were no longer able to inter-breed with the migrating stock. We see evidence of this in closely-related 'species pairs', such as Stonechat and Whinchat, where one is mainly resident or partial migrant and the other is a long-distance obligate migrant. The driving forces for such phenomena include such things as glacial expansions and retreats in temperate zones and wet and dry seasons in tropical zones. Other types of migration , such as altitudinal, have more obvious origins - i.e. to escape the harshest of alpine conditions. Very incomplete but hope this helps

Worcestershire Migration Log (1 Viewer)

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