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Yellow-browed Warblers (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Bluetail
- Start date
I had 3 to 5 in one day on the West Coast. That was cetrainly a record! There was an estimate ion BB I think... just no idea where I filed the copy 
Michael Frankis
conehead
Not far off 300 according to the December BB, from mid Sept to mid Oct. Not a patch on 1985 when the total (Rare bird in Britain and Ireland) was around 600.
Michael
Michael
StevieEvans
Well-known member
Hi
Any thoughts on where all these lost little birds go ?
S
Any thoughts on where all these lost little birds go ?
S
Michael Frankis
conehead
Hi Stevie,
The latest suggestion is thet they're not lost at all, that they are deliberately coming here to winter, with every intention of returning to Siberia to breed next spring. Some are getting found in winter now, but there's such a huge area of under-watched conifer plantations for them to hide away through the winter that the vast majority will never get found (like Goldcrests etc, they are a conifer forest species for preference).
So if anyone fancies searching the spruce plantations of southwest Ireland or south Wales, for example . . .
And if anyone's wondering what they'll eat - count the number of Green Spruce Aphids on even a small Sitka Spruce twig in winter. No shortage at all.
Michael
The latest suggestion is thet they're not lost at all, that they are deliberately coming here to winter, with every intention of returning to Siberia to breed next spring. Some are getting found in winter now, but there's such a huge area of under-watched conifer plantations for them to hide away through the winter that the vast majority will never get found (like Goldcrests etc, they are a conifer forest species for preference).
So if anyone fancies searching the spruce plantations of southwest Ireland or south Wales, for example . . .
And if anyone's wondering what they'll eat - count the number of Green Spruce Aphids on even a small Sitka Spruce twig in winter. No shortage at all.
Michael
Stephen Dunstan
Registered User
I'm not surprised it isn't a record year, with precisely one in Lancashire. We had as many Dusky's!
Stephen Dunstan
Registered User
Michael,
I should have read your stuff properly. If the suggestion you mention was the case wouldn't a decent proportion be adults? This isn't to say that displaced first years couldn't find enough food here and return in the spring.
Stephen.
I should have read your stuff properly. If the suggestion you mention was the case wouldn't a decent proportion be adults? This isn't to say that displaced first years couldn't find enough food here and return in the spring.
Stephen.
StevieEvans
Well-known member
Thats good!
To me it takes the shine off seeing an unusual species - if i imagine its 'never getting home'
I noticed there had been some inland records this year.
I have systematically searched through various belts & bigger blocks of conifers (when weather was too bad for normal birding) while locating Leowls, i would say that at best i could only ident about 2 out of 10 'Goldcrests' by sight.
What else is in there is anyones guess....
What about birds returning in spring? Any on East coast then?
Stevie
To me it takes the shine off seeing an unusual species - if i imagine its 'never getting home'
I noticed there had been some inland records this year.
I have systematically searched through various belts & bigger blocks of conifers (when weather was too bad for normal birding) while locating Leowls, i would say that at best i could only ident about 2 out of 10 'Goldcrests' by sight.
What else is in there is anyones guess....
What about birds returning in spring? Any on East coast then?
Stevie
Edward woodwood
Member
There is a very good article by James Gilroy and Alex Lees on vagrancy and 'pseudo vagrancy' in a BB 9:427-438
Edward woodwood
Member
oops, well spotted Jason
they would have been very prescient indeed
Vol 96
I'm blaming the wine!
they would have been very prescient indeed
Vol 96
I'm blaming the wine!
Michael Frankis
conehead
Spring birds, and autumn adults, are stronger and more experienced than fresh juveniles - so they're much less likely to get caught up in bad weather and dumped unceremoniously in difficult spots like offshore and have to struggle to land. The healthy adults will be flyover jobs, as they're fit enough not to need to crash out on the first coastal bush.
Michael
Michael
I was seawatching once and was astonished to see a summ plum GND fly stright over my head and inland.
But if it's UK-wintering birds migrating "home", then surely getting dumped by bad weather doesn't enter into it. Isn't it more similar to autumn migration on the south coast, where birds pile up while waiting for a weather window? However, spring migration is more urgent than in autumn so the picture may be different. What happens on, say, the French or Danish coasts in spring? Do our summer visitors congregate there is there no visible migration? If the former, you'd expect something similar as the UK Yellow-broweds return east.
Jason
Jason
Michael Frankis
conehead
Hi Jason,
Think of Redwings in spring - they just gradually melt away and disappear, you don't see many of them on coastal migration points in spring, either (despite that there's a million or so leaving the British Isles every spring). The typical successful adult Yellow-browed probably feeds up in some big plantation dozens of miles inland, perhaps Kielder Forest, and set off well-prepared on a single flight to a plantation in the middle of Denmark, feed up there 3 or 4 days, next stop the pine forests of Estonia.
A week or ten days (two or three flights + feeding stopovers) later he's singing on territory in a spruce forest in the Urals, having arrived a week or two before his competitors coming twice the distance from Thailand. A very neat little set-up, in fact!
Not actually very different to the east European Blackcaps that winter here - the only real difference is that those like bird tables, so they tend to get found in winter.
Michael
Think of Redwings in spring - they just gradually melt away and disappear, you don't see many of them on coastal migration points in spring, either (despite that there's a million or so leaving the British Isles every spring). The typical successful adult Yellow-browed probably feeds up in some big plantation dozens of miles inland, perhaps Kielder Forest, and set off well-prepared on a single flight to a plantation in the middle of Denmark, feed up there 3 or 4 days, next stop the pine forests of Estonia.
A week or ten days (two or three flights + feeding stopovers) later he's singing on territory in a spruce forest in the Urals, having arrived a week or two before his competitors coming twice the distance from Thailand. A very neat little set-up, in fact!
Not actually very different to the east European Blackcaps that winter here - the only real difference is that those like bird tables, so they tend to get found in winter.
Michael
Michael Frankis
conehead
Hi Jason,
One more thought that came to me just after posting - I wonder if there is a relationship between the increase in Y-brow numbers observed, and improved winter survival because of the massive expansion in Sitka Spruce plantations in the post-war period: these would be getting to an attractive tree size in the late 70s and 80s.
Traditionally, the increase has been put down to the increase in the number of birders looking, but it could well be a real increase.
Makes one wonder, if there's a couple of thousand Yellow-broweds wintering in Britain & Ireland every year. Just remember there's also over a million hectares of plantations for them to hide in!
Michael
One more thought that came to me just after posting - I wonder if there is a relationship between the increase in Y-brow numbers observed, and improved winter survival because of the massive expansion in Sitka Spruce plantations in the post-war period: these would be getting to an attractive tree size in the late 70s and 80s.
Traditionally, the increase has been put down to the increase in the number of birders looking, but it could well be a real increase.
Makes one wonder, if there's a couple of thousand Yellow-broweds wintering in Britain & Ireland every year. Just remember there's also over a million hectares of plantations for them to hide in!
Michael
StevieEvans
Well-known member
Nice theory MF!
I agree, just 'cos something hasn't been seen doesn't mean it isn't there!
S
I agree, just 'cos something hasn't been seen doesn't mean it isn't there!
S
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