Biggest crowd for a U.K bird. (1 Viewer)

[Andy Lakin]

One of the kids at work was telling me he had seen a Black Woodpecker in his garden! I politely explained why it wasn't one and how many people would turn up if one ever turned up. What were the biggest crowds ever on a U.K twitch? I have only just looked at the photos from the Golden Winged Warbler and it looked mental. How many people actually saw it? What caused such a massive crowd, obviously there have been many megas since with far smaller crowds..Would the Dawlish Murrelet come second? What were the numbers like for the Wallcreeper in Somerset years ago? I would love to know what the factors are that make a bird more appealing to the masses. It seems that a bird that is visually appealing attracts a lot of the more casual birders.

Feel free to add any birds in other countries that were extremely rare and the size of the crowds involved wether really big or surprisingly small.

 

[Phil Andrews]

Depends what you mean by "biggest crowd":

Largest number to see a bird during its stay?
Largest number at any single moment?
Largest number through the course of the day?

Factors include time of year, rarity, location, nailed on ID, time of day news released etc

 

[PYRTLE]

A certain Lee G R Evans would probably know the definitive answer to your question, whichever facet or all of them you were interested in. Us elderly BF members would likely agree that the G.W.Warbler likely saw the largest crowd at a given moment as well as most in one day.

 

[JWN Andrewes]

Little Whimbrel at Salthouse in '85 held the record at the time, reckoned to be around 2500 on bank holiday Monday. Biggest twitch I've ever been in. Bloody good fun it was too!

 

[Phil Andrews]

Given the Murrelet showed well all day I wonder if more may have passed through?

 

[KenM]

I can recall my very first twitch March 11th ‘78 to see the Cheddar Gorge Wall Creeper (believe it was a Saturday?)
When we arrived at the quarry there were certainly 1-2 people present, we were subsequently joined by at least one other person, albeit the bird had been present “all Winter”.
It would be good to know how many turned up when the bird was first reported on the fragmented grapevine of the day?

Cheers

 

[Andy Lakin]

It seems like I started twitching seriously after these big events. Are there more birders/ birdwatchers now?

 

[Adey Baker]

Considering how many birders were on The Scillies at the time, the first Sunday of the R B Nuthatch was quite a gathering

 

[Farnboro John]

Considering how many birders were on The Scillies at the time, the first Sunday of the R B Nuthatch was quite a gathering

Not many were after that news broke, the place emptied and the annual birders-islanders football match was cancelled for lack of a squad. I made a late decision and just caught the Scillonian with my friend Clare who had just arrived on it for her first week on Scilly and had four ticks that afternoon - we got the bird next morning with a huge crowd, as it hurtled through the pines with its characteristic cartoon Roadrunner "meep meep".

John

 

[Adey Baker]

Not many were after that news broke, the place emptied and the annual birders-islanders football match was cancelled for lack of a squad. I made a late decision and just caught the Scillonian with my friend Clare who had just arrived on it for her first week on Scilly and had four ticks that afternoon - we got the bird next morning with a huge crowd, as it hurtled through the pines with its characteristic cartoon Roadrunner "meep meep".

John

When we saw the size of the crowds one of my mates commented that it looked like The Scillonian had docked in Wells harbour. Some of our friends had stayed on the Scillies and I went back to Holkham with them a couple of weekends later and had much better views of the Nuthatch than the first Sunday. I was so mesmerised by the views at one stage that I completely forgot that I'd got my camera hanging over my shoulder and missed getting 'the' shot.

 

[Bismarck Honeyeater]

Off the top of my head, 963 were transported over to Tresco for the first morning twitch of the 1987 Philadelphia Vireo. Possibly one of the single biggest crowds on Scilly. Though the 1985 Black-billed Cuckoo felt enormous too.

 

[Surreybirder]

There's a story, which I half remember that a tawny pipit was seen sometime early in the 20th Century and the finder sent a postcard to a friend, who saw it a few days later. Possibly the smallest twitch for what was then a rarity?
True or not, it illustrates why twitching was not a 'thing' a hundred years ago.

 

[Dave Ball]

There's a story, which I half remember that a tawny pipit was seen sometime early in the 20th Century and the finder sent a postcard to a friend, who saw it a few days later. Possibly the smallest twitch for what was then a rarity?
True or not, it illustrates why twitching was not a 'thing' a hundred years ago.

Gyr Crakes “History of Dipping Part 2”, on his cartoon page here (third or fourth one down):

CARTOONS — Just A Bird

www.gyrcrakes.com

Sums things up quite well

 

[Bismarck Honeyeater]

There's a story, which I half remember that a tawny pipit was seen sometime early in the 20th Century and the finder sent a postcard to a friend, who saw it a few days later. Possibly the smallest twitch for what was then a rarity?
True or not, it illustrates why twitching was not a 'thing' a hundred years ago.

I twitched a Pied-billed Grebe based on news which arrived from a birder who found it and promptly left the country, but sent a letter to a friend of a friend. This was only 1984.

 

[Prestdj]

the first weekend of the double crested cormorant in billingham was my largest crowd but then i was 16 and got the news off newsround on bbc and begged my dad to take me me which he did..........despite it being my dullest bird ever in the uk its the rarest hows that work!

also the bobolink at spurn was busy maybe over 500 worked in manchester in the morning home shower and still today this day i dont know who texted me to say bobolink spurn by 1400 i was off and seen at 1700

pallas grasshopper warbler blakney point again at home in halifax chilling out in my bedroom as it was shared house around 1330pm mega alert went off pg warbler blakney point.......i just went grabbed bins and scope and bombed it to norfolk in my ford sierra sapphire dumped the car and walked as fast i could only to see a sea of birders chasing the bird having seen it i flight i needed better views i got lucky as i was next to mark thomas

great views of a fantastic bird

 

[KenM]

A certain Lee G R Evans would probably know the definitive answer to your question, whichever facet or all of them you were interested in. Us elderly BF members would likely agree that the G.W.Warbler likely saw the largest crowd at a given moment as well as most in one day.

Seem to recall a guesstimate of 4000 on the Saturday?

 

[Brian J Small]

This must be the biggest crowd for a Finnish bird?

 

[Steve Babbs]

I think the GWWarbler is generally accepted to be the largest on a day. A whole combination of factors:
First for UK (the Little Whimbrel mentioned earlier was only a few years after another wildly twitched one.
A superb looking bird.
In SE England so close to a large number so birders.
February when even those without much interest in twitching are more likely to be tempted.

 

[Paul Chapman]

I think the GWWarbler is generally accepted to be the largest on a day. A whole combination of factors:
First for UK (the Little Whimbrel mentioned earlier was only a few years after another wildly twitched one.
A superb looking bird.
In SE England so close to a large number so birders.
February when even those without much interest in twitching are more likely to be tempted.

You miss one of the biggest factors. National newspaper coverage? I seem to recall maybe even front page of the Daily Telegraph before the Saturday but certainly a newspaper clipping around here somewhere.

I regret not going on the Saturday. I went Thursday, Friday & the following Friday before finally getting a record shot.

The story of a bus unable to get through the crowd so stopping & birders rushing to the top deck to be able to see into gardens would have given the usual modern trolls something to really talk about!

All the best

Paul

 

[Steve Babbs]

You miss one of the biggest factors. National newspaper coverage? I seem to recall maybe even front page of the Daily Telegraph before the Saturday but certainly a newspaper clipping around here somewhere.

I regret not going on the Saturday. I went Thursday, Friday & the following Friday before finally getting a record shot.

The story of a bus unable to get through the crowd so stopping & birders rushing to the top deck to be able to see into gardens would have given the usual modern trolls something to really talk about!

All the best

Paul

My memory, part from the bird of course, was, when there was a run, looking behind me and it resembled a marathon. I'm not sure what the consequences of falling over would have been. I know I was keen to avoid it.