A Matter of Lifer and Death? (1 Viewer)

I've never been fortunate enough to get even close to one of those mega-rarities that find their way on birders' lifelists from time to time.

Closest I've got to a "mega" is a Spoonbill at Blacktoft Sands - still one of the best birds on my list, I should say!

But rarities bring up a lot of (perhaps oft-asked) questions, and I was just wondering if anyone out here had the answers.

I suppose all birds' ranges will fluctuate, and more or fewer birds will push the boundaries of the normal range from year to year... hence my Spoonbill, I guess.

So the Spoonbill, a Common Crane or two in Norfolk, Waxwings, the ever-increasing (it seems) throng of Little Egrets, they cause me no concern - other than I wish I had the middle two on my list!

But what about these extreme rarities, the birds that are way off course.

Is a sighting of these a bittersweet affair? The Black Lark that appeared this year... where is it now? Did it continue on a fruitless journey across the Atlantic. If so... would it have got anywhere, or is it simply, and bluntly, dead?

These islands of ours, and particularly some of our smaller islets seem to act as a magnet for certain vagrants. Are they all doomed when they reach here?

It seems not, as clearly some birds (Sammy, Izzy) seem able to integrate themselves, probably by associating with similar species.

So, perhaps the Black Lark is going about his business amongst the Skylarks of North West Wales - unaware that he is the only one of his kind within a few thousand miles.

Or do many of the birds who have not flown themselves into exhaustion, reorient themselves and find their way back to the flock - and perhaps never return.

I would be interested to know, and then, should I ever stumble across a "Mega", I will know how I should feel.

I wouldn't want to rejoice to loudly, if it were improper.

I suppose the only way of knowing would be if that mega-rarity was banded/ringed, and was found later at another location.

Otherwise, I'd suppose we'll never know.

A couple of years ago, a Swallow-tailed Kite was seen in the late summer in Indiana, the state's third record. It hung about for a couple of weeks and then vanished.

While 'rare' for Indiana, and a good distance from its usual known range, it's not completely unheard of for these kites to be seen as far north as Point Pelee (which means it's NOT a mega, but would have been for me!). We can only assume that it eventually took off for points south, where others are found.

Now, if a Blue Tit would show up here . . . .

One rarity ringed in the UK has sort of made it back...if I recall correctly a Rustic Bunting made it back to Italy... however a Dusky Warbler contiued west and eventually met its demise in Ireland.

Just a warning I'm halfway down a bottle of wine here and haven't checked my facts!

birdman said:

I wouldn't want to rejoice to loudly, if it were improper.

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You don't want to be near me when I see real goodies then!!!

The thesis of an article in a recent issue of British Birds 96: 427-438 is that a lot of birds which come here as (at least apparent) vagrants (e.g. Pallas's Warblers, etc)are actually intending to come here (Britain, western Europe) to winter, again with the intention to return to their normal breeding range in the spring. Since they are able to make the journey in short hops with plenty of resting & feeding opportunities en route, I would suspect they probably succeed. The distances involved are no greater that those taken by birds going the 'correct' route.

That Dusky Warbler could be an example of that, as it was ringed on spring passage on the Isle of Man, and found dead the following winter in Ireland - it could have returned to Siberia to breed in the intervening summer.

American gulls & waders, many of them probably do make it back. If half a million Knot from Canada & Greenland can fly the Atlantic twice a year as a matter of course to winter in NW Europe, so can other waders, and gulls too (lots of UK Kittiwakes do the reverse, and winter off Newfoundland).

But transatlantic passerines probably don't make it back - they would have to fight against the prevailing west winds to get back across the Atlantic. For them, it is a one-way trip.

The bird I feel really sorry for though is the Slender-billed Curlew which visited Northumberland 5 years ago. One of maybe less than five left in the world. Poor, lonely bird. :-C

Michael

Michael Frankis said:

The thesis of an article in a recent issue of British Birds 96: 427-438 is that a lot of birds which come here as (at least apparent) vagrants (e.g. Pallas's Warblers, etc)are actually intending to come here (Britain, western Europe) to winter, again with the intention to return to their normal breeding range in the spring. Since they are able to make the journey in short hops with plenty of resting & feeding opportunities en route, I would suspect they probably succeed. The distances involved are no greater that those taken by birds going the 'correct' route.

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That is, I suppose, common sense, and good news.

Michael Frankis said:

The bird I feel really sorry for though is the Slender-billed Curlew which visited Northumberland 5 years ago. One of maybe less than five left in the world. Poor, lonely bird. :-C

Michael

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I think I've seen you mention this in the past, Michael, and that you saw it... that must've been very bittersweet.

Hi all,

The thesis of an article in a recent issue of British Birds 96: 427-438 is that a lot of birds which come here as (at least apparent) vagrants (e.g. Pallas's Warblers, etc)are actually intending to come here (Britain, western Europe) to winter, again with the intention to return to their normal breeding range in the spring. Since they are able to make the journey in short hops with plenty of resting & feeding opportunities en route, I would suspect they probably succeed. The distances involved are no greater that those taken by birds going the 'correct' route.

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I would suggest that these birds may intend to winter in SW Europe and/or N.Africa,but even with our currently mild run of winters I don't suppose that many Pallas' Warblers(say) would be tempted to remain here:after 7 so far this month here there have been none since last Thursday morning.This may just be due to the paucity of observers here,but the typical "migrant" species(other than common birds)on my last few visits to headlands have been Blackcaps,Black Redstarts and a handful of Bramblings with Chaffinches,with Chiffchaffs having seemingly moved out and/or inland.
Of course,some of these may winter away from well-watched areas:see my next point....

That Dusky Warbler could be an example of that, as it was ringed on spring passage on the Isle of Man, and found dead the following winter in Ireland - it could have returned to Siberia to breed in the intervening summer.

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I would agree,and go so far as to speculate that it probably arrived in western Europe the previous autumn,successfully overwintered in Limerick,returned to Siberia via the Isle of Man and returned to Limerick the next autumn/winter,where it was found dying(perhaps that winter was harder than the previous one?).That was,incidentally,the first Irish record of the species!

American gulls & waders, many of them probably do make it back. If half a million Knot from Canada & Greenland can fly the Atlantic twice a year as a matter of course to winter in NW Europe, so can other waders, and gulls too (lots of UK Kittiwakes do the reverse, and winter off Newfoundland).

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Isn't there speculation that,rather than being indicative of an undiscovered European breeding population,the increased number of wintering Ring-billed Gulls represent a sub-population derived from initial vagrants that survived,returned to N.America and passed on the "new" migratory direction to their offspring?(as mentioned in that BB article for passerines).
One flaw with this:if this was the case,then shouldn't there be a steady number of "new" 1st-w birds each winter?As it is,there are occasional influxes of this age-class,with these birds then returning in subsequent winters and few 1st-winters for a few more years.

But transatlantic passerines probably don't make it back - they would have to fight against the prevailing west winds to get back across the Atlantic. For them, it is a one-way trip.

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Quite!The only real hope for these is that enough individuals of a common species(REV,say)get blown across in a given autumn for a reasonable proportion to find suitable wintering grounds,return north in the spring and meet up to breed,but this is a long shot(has happened with waders,though:Spotted Sandpiper in Scotland,AGP in Norway)

The bird I feel really sorry for though is the Slender-billed Curlew which visited Northumberland 5 years ago. One of maybe less than five left in the world. Poor, lonely bird. :-C

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Ah,another opportunity to mention that bird!Would love to see one,but not here in Ireland,unless,by some miracle,numbers were to increase again(nigh on impossible,I'd say):at the moment,even one lost vagrant could be a terrible loss for the population....
Harry H

Michael Frankis said:

The bird I feel really sorry for though is the Slender-billed Curlew which visited Northumberland 5 years ago. One of maybe less than five left in the world. Poor, lonely bird. :-C

Michael

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So,Michael,is that bird still there,or should I say ,has it visited since?,does this mean then that this particular species will shortly be extinct?.
That is very sad indeed.
Christine.
Perhaps there have been other sightings of this species elswhere.

Harry Hussey said:

Ah,another opportunity to mention that bird!Would love to see one,but not here in Ireland,unless,by some miracle,numbers were to increase again(nigh on impossible,I'd say):at the moment,even one lost vagrant could be a terrible loss for the population....
Harry H

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I think you have more chance of seeing Eskimo Curlew

christineredgat said:

So,Michael,is that bird still there, or should I say, has it visited since?, does this mean then that this particular species will shortly be extinct?.
That is very sad indeed.
Christine.
Perhaps there have been other sightings of this species elswhere.

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Hi Birdman & Christine,

It was there from 4th-7th May 1998, and hasn't been seen since (one or two later claims, but these seem to be wishful thinking).

Worldwide, there's been perhaps half-a-dozen or a dozen reports since then, mainly from Greece and Hungary, though the most recent was a report of two in Spain last month. If true, this will be the first sighting of more than one, anywhere, for nearly ten years. There haven't been any reports at all from the Russian breeding grounds since 1924. Several intensive searches there have failed to find a single one.

And yes, barring a miracle, Slender-billed Curlew will be extinct within probably 20-25 years. The first European bird extinct since the Great Auk in 1844.

A tremendous bird to see, but very, very sad too.

Michael

Thanks ,Michael,
Christine.

Hi folks

I spent a year in Greece in 1998 and my local patch was in the northern mountains and I passed a lot of long days B at a large lake called Vegoritis (not that unlike Merja Zerga in Morocco!) looking for Slender-billed Curlews passing through but to no avail.......and then one went and turned up (or so some people reckon ) in the bloody U.K.
That’s birds for you
:C

American Waders are well known for turning up on the East Coast of the UK. The fact that many of these are Adults adds weight to the theory that these birds made it across the Atlantic as young birds and then commuted with European and Siberian Breeding birds. The was also the case of a Ring-billed Gull ringed in Norway which was later recovered in Canada, proving that reverse migration holds true for this species (well this individual at least!!)

Darrell