Which Species Will Be the Next to Breed in the UK? (1 Viewer)

[Paul Chapman]

There are actually a surprising number of ringing recoveries showing movements of Penduline Tits within Europe. I suspect reedbeds are popular with ringers and as a result, proportionally, more Penduline Tits are caught?

For me, the British recovery in Sweden & indeed, the Irish recovery in France is still consistent with a pattern of Northern European birds wintering in France & Spain....

Eurasian Penduline Tit - The Danish Bird Migration Atlas

dk.birdmigrationatlas.dk

I wonder if some of those birds could stop to produce a potential breeder. I would look at the EBBA2 text but no time. It may be simply that our most likely sources of population are in decline and recent records are more to do with wintering birds that no longer need to travel so far?

All the best

Paul

 

[JWN Andrewes]

A lot of predictions from the south and the east, even a few from the west, but if (and it's hard to contemplate) global warming disrupts the gulf stream how about a few from the north? Suggested as potential on the RBBP list you could have -

Velvet Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Jack Snipe
Turnstone
Broad-billed Sandpiper
Rough-legged Buzzard
Great Grey Shrike (unless you wish to consider that one as already bred)
Two-barred Crossbill

Doubtless a few more.

And it'd well and truly put the kibosh on your Penduline Tits, Zitting Cisticolas & Great Reed Warblers.

 

[Evan Atkinson]

Considering the incredible fall of them this spring, what are the chances that icterine warbler breed somewhere on Shetland or along the east coast again? I'm aware they have bred a couple times in Scotland, but I feel like there's a decent chance they could breed again.

Evan

 

[KenM]

Speaking of birds from the North, I do recall during the ‘70’s of Gyr Falcon having or attempted breeding on a certain Scots island which shall remain nameless.
Does anybody know if it actually happened?

Cheers

 

[Phil Andrews]

Speaking of birds from the North, I do recall during the ‘70’s of Gyr Falcon having or attempted breeding on a certain Scots island which shall remain nameless.
Does anybody know if it actually happened?

Cheers

I suspect 50 years on its safe the mention ....

 

[KenM]

I suspect 50 years on its safe the mention ....

Possibly…thus I presume you don’t know?

 

[Hotspur]

I always wondered what the situation was with RL Buzzard and Gyr and why they were on Schedule 1. Assumed they must have held territory in the 1970s when the northern incursion of species occurred.

 

[JWN Andrewes]

Was it Skye? There was certainly talk of a Skye pair in the early eighties. I had a road atlas with the alleged nest site pencilled on it, probably wildly inaccurate and I never got round to going to see. If I recall it was already considered to have been a one off, not repeated occurrence by then.

 

[Paul Chapman]

The rumour as I recall it was that the Gyrs were on the mainland on a remote headland north of Ullapool & indeed, the rumour was that the location was a deciphered code from a European egg collecter's map that had been confiscated. All sorts of exciting rumours back in the day especially owls. Whether any of them held any water, I am unsure. I suspect not!

I always rather presumed that Gyr Falcon was on Schedule One as a precautionary measure but I have never looked at Hansard to see if there are references. Similarly, I have never looked at historical texts like Saunders to see if there were historical rumours on such species.

The protection legislation seems pretty cumbersome and does not get updated frequently. You are more likely to get approached for carrying a net for an incidental piece of entomological identification than a developer be stopped from habitat destruction after an inadequate survey that establishes that "there is nothing present"....

https://twitter.com/x/status/1796165930155720912

All the best

Paul

 

[Phil Andrews]

Having poured over the BBRC records for Gyr 1970 to 1985 it doesn't reveal any lingering or regularly occuring birds on the Western / Northern Isles or west coast of Scotland.

 

[KenM]

My confidant (now deceased) was certainly a lister at the time and always gave me the impression that he was very well connected to “the vine”.
I will respect that confidence, as he was a good ‘Ol boy!
All I would say is…that it was not a mainland site, I’d have thought that the BBRC would have more data, and if so…would be at liberty to publish if they did so wish?

 

[Farnboro John]

Was it Skye? There was certainly talk of a Skye pair in the early eighties. I had a road atlas with the alleged nest site pencilled on it, probably wildly inaccurate and I never got round to going to see. If I recall it was already considered to have been a one off, not repeated occurrence by then.

On a wet day on Scilly in 1985 the tale was certainly Gyrs on Skye North of Uig. The same session produced talk of Pygmy Owls on the Black Isle and Great Grey Shrikes in one of the glens. There was more but I've forgotten it.

Believe what you will....

John

 

[dantheman]

Having poured over the BBRC records for Gyr 1970 to 1985 it doesn't reveal any lingering or regularly occuring birds on the Western / Northern Isles or west coast of Scotland.

Maybe they were liquidated?

 

[Paul Chapman]

On a wet day on Scilly in 1985 the tale was certainly Gyrs on Skye North of Uig. The same session produced talk of Pygmy Owls on the Black Isle and Great Grey Shrikes in one of the glens. There was more but I've forgotten it.

Believe what you will....

John

Found by a bloke called Donald who wasn't wearing trousers apparently....

I have no doubt that there is no harm in repeating nonsense rumours after a gap of 40 years save that it reminds newer birdwatchers that it was a simple time back in the day.

😀

My rumour was about a decade later. News travelled slowly back then.

All the best

Paul

 

[kb57]

The rumour as I recall it was that the Gyrs were on the mainland on a remote headland north of Ullapool & indeed, the rumour was that the location was a deciphered code from a European egg collecter's map that had been confiscated. All sorts of exciting rumours back in the day especially owls. Whether any of them held any water, I am unsure. I suspect not!

I always rather presumed that Gyr Falcon was on Schedule One as a precautionary measure but I have never looked at Hansard to see if there are references. Similarly, I have never looked at historical texts like Saunders to see if there were historical rumours on such species.

The protection legislation seems pretty cumbersome and does not get updated frequently. You are more likely to get approached for carrying a net for an incidental piece of entomological identification than a developer be stopped from habitat destruction after an inadequate survey that establishes that "there is nothing present"....

https://twitter.com/x/status/1796165930155720912

All the best

Paul

A risk assessment for each visit to undertake insect recording in a nature reserve? 'Elf n safety gone mad indeed...I spent two days last week in a sand and gravel quarry operated by a large multinational aggregates company with a strong safety culture, and didn't need a separate RA for each visit!

 

[Farnboro John]

A risk assessment for each visit to undertake insect recording in a nature reserve? 'Elf n safety gone mad indeed...I spent two days last week in a sand and gravel quarry operated by a large multinational aggregates company with a strong safety culture, and didn't need a separate RA for each visit!

Do it on line, change the date and print it out if that is necessary (it shouldn't be in this day and age).

It sounds to me as if they are just trying to get rid of the bloke.

John

 

[Paul Chapman]

Do it on line, change the date and print it out if that is necessary (it shouldn't be in this day and age).

It sounds to me as if they are just trying to get rid of the bloke.

John

It is about getting rid of all such blokes! Though I have nowhere near the groundbreaking knowledge and expertise of Steven Falk - a published author on many invertebrate groups.

There is a lack of a culture in most conservation organisations in gathering indepth biodiversity data. I fear that people who are being paid are worried about being exposed for not really knowing biodiversity in depth. In reality, that does not matter because amateurs and volunteers would love to share information and provide baseline surveys for informed decisions to be made instead of the conservation by numbers that predominates.

When I applied to be a Trustee of our Local Wildlife Trust, I explained to the Recruitment Consultant that weeded me out (!) that they needed to harness the volunteer gathering of biodiversity data, build up species lists and information for their sites and be more open-minded and welcoming on such issues. I also explained that they needed to pay their staff more to increase their quality and confidence. This would lead to better decision-making and help counter the biodiversity catastrophe which continues despite what must be close to being the best funded conservation sector of any country.

When I explained the importance of increasing diversity and communicating with the inner city youth of Bristol - we have excellent local organisations leading on such things - I was told that there were young people in Bath as well. 😀

I soon hit the cutting room floor and they appointed a solicitor who was still acting (with significant ongoing conflicts of interest) whose knowledge of wildlife was dog walking.

It rather cured me of some of my guilt on my limited conservation contributions. 🤣

All the best

Paul

 

[Farnboro John]

The thing is it sounds to me, as an ex MOD training analyst, as if they also know damn all about risk assessment. You undertake risk analysis to create a risk assessment which you should then look at before undertaking the activities it covers to see if on the day any may be particularly to the fore e.g. heat, cold, rain. You don't redo the analysis to create a new assessment.

John

 

[JWN Andrewes]

Since they've both expanded their range westwards into Scandinavia then, despite their rarity, I think you can't entirely discount the possibility of Blyth's Reed Warbler or, to a lesser degree, River Warbler breeding here. Despite a perhaps less vigorous westward push, Thrush Nightingale could conceivably do so. Sadly, it seems too much to hope that Red-flanked Bluetail (another species expanding westwards) might do so. However, breeding as a one-off/occasional and successfully colonising the UK are very different matters.

Give that man a cigar, Blyth's Reed Warbler bred in the Highlands this year!

 

[John Cantelo]

Give that man a cigar, Blyth's Reed Warbler bred in the Highlands this year!

I don't smoke so I'll have to make do with a decent bottle of plonk!