Birding round-up of the Year 2016!

There’s no doubt about it, 2016 has been a truly exceptional year in the world of birding! Back in January nobody would have predicted that 12 months later we would have experienced an autumn knee deep in Siberian Accentors, that a Red-footed Booby would have been gallivanting on a shingle beach in Sussex no less, or perhaps most miraculously of all, that most doomed and mythical of American vagrants - the notorious Black-billed Cuckoo - would not only survive for more than a few days(!) but would give itself up for the twitching masses to enjoy, unblocking decades worth of anguish. To imply that 2016 has been uneventful would be a downright injustice to say the least!

The now famous Easington Siberian Accentor

The Red-footed Booby taken in to care in Sussex (Credit: East Sussex WRAS)

North Uists very own Black-billed Cuckoo

Naturally, long-held records have tumbled, blockers have been banished and year lists shattered in what was a truly eventful year. The Eastern Kingbird on Barra broke hearts as it flew off high in to the clouds not once, but twice, the bona-fide first for Britain Western Swamphen(/chicken) amused visitors at Minsmere RSPB as it strutted around the reedy pools, while the aforementioned Red-footed Booby set pulses racing for a short while as questions were asked as to whether this Caribbean seabird, a long way from home, would be released in British waters after its recovery (it was eventually flown over to the Cayman Islands to continue rehabilitation there).

Minsmere's Purple Swamphen/chicken - aka "Hen"

Several other less convincing ‘firsts’ were also tracked across the country – the arrival of a Dalmatian Pelican in Cornish airspace caused absolute chaos as birders from across the country raced down to the south west tip of Britain to tick this giant visitor, thought by many to be the real deal from Poland until a bit of detective work and digging revealed several free-flying escapes now make their home in Western Europe…

Plastic Fantastic - the Cornish Dalmatian Pelican

Equally as ‘untickable’ was the West Country Lammergeier – the video of an immature seen flying off from rocks on the Severn Estuary quickly went viral and the chase was on to track its movements and whereabouts along the west coast counties. Proving extremely elusive and often vanishing in to the depths of the Devon hills to the despair of many, the question remains as to just what category this British bonecrusher will fall under – reintroduction and captive breeding projects in Europe are unfortunately the most likely source, and several other young birds from these conservation initiatives have also been seen to range up in to northern Europe in the past few years.

Meanwhile the first Forster’s Tern in British seas for 13 years was a welcome addition to many lists, the Great Knot showing well on the beach at Titchwell proved that not all visitors of this species follow the rules of being “Great Dots”, while only the second ever Pale-legged Leaf Warbler crashed in to a window on St Agnes, meeting an untimely end and making those on the island wish they’d paid a little bit more attention to that bright looking Arctic Warbler the day before. The East coast’s flyby Black-browed Albatross both delighted those lucky enough cross paths with it and left others cursing as it gave them the run around in equal measures, while Eyebrowed, Whites, Dusky and Black-throated Thrushes all on the mainland reminded us all exactly what could be lurking out there just waiting to be found over the winter….

Beeley's overwintering Dusky Thrush

The Northumberland Eyebrowed Thrush photographed by Ross Moore in December

While narrowly missing out on the top five, there were still a whole host of awe-inspiring species that made the year memorable. The Suffolk Cliff Swallow in the dying embers of the year was a huge grip back after the disappointment of the just slightly too far away St Mary’s bird on Scilly a couple of months previous, as was the Kent ‘Meena’ Oriental Turtle Dove, a species I’ve long rued not going for after the famous Chipping Norton bird. The Aberdeen White-winged Scoter was a bird I had personally wanted to see for a good while, being just the 2^nd for Britain to boot, while it doesn’t get much better than a mega just 20 minutes away from your door in the form of the May White-crowned Sparrow at Woolston Eyes.

Cliff Swallow - what a grip back!

It is an Oriental Turtle Dove...honest!

Digiscoped White-winged Scoter!

David Bowman's photo of the Woolston Eyes White-crowned Sparrow in the hand

Several trips abroad during 2016 also resulted in absolutely breath-taking birds – the kaleidoscope of colour that is a male Painted Bunting, the bright burst of salmon pink underparts as a flock of remarkable Scissor-tailed Flycatchers take off from the wires and the elegant, ever graceful Swallow-tailed Kites soaring over the Florida everglades are all truly unforgettable memories.

Painted Bunting - aka "Male" 

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

One of the best birds in the world - the Swallow-tailed Kite

And so, to the best birds that 2016 had to offer….

5^th place for the year goes to the completely unexpected and out of the blue record of the Connah’s Quay Little Auk back in January. A lifer for me, having never previously seen these adorable looking arctic alcids, we had great views as this usually ocean bound seabird paddled around just feet away in the small pools and inlets of the reserve. A truly amazing birding experience, and I for one was exceptionally glad that my first encounter with a Little Auk was so ‘up close and personal’ as opposed to being a distant dot making its way across a stormy sea.

In 4th place has to be one of the most elusive and enigmatic seabirds encountered in British waters – the Wilson’s Storm-petrel. Having endured over 30 hours of seasickness in our quest to catch up with this enchanting tubenose as well as braving 40mph gales and towering walls of crashing water, we finally struck it lucky on our third and final Scilly pelagic of the summer, with no fewer than 4 individuals performing their ocean acrobatics at close range as they danced over the waves. An unforgettable experience and one I’d highly recommend to anyone who’s yet to head out to sea on one of Bob Flood and the team’s now famous voyages.

3rd position is of course the Brunnich’s Guillemot that made Anstruther harbour in Fife its home back in September. With not going down for the Portland bird being a huge regret, I was doubtful another opportunity to see this mega auk in British waters would come along soon, so when news broke that one was providing extremely close views around the boats and appeared to be in full moult (indicating it wouldn’t be going anywhere fast!) we made the long journey up to the east coast of Scotland in an attempt to connect. Swimming to within mere feet away, it’s true that the closest birding encounters are usually the most memorable, and despite the true to form Scottish weather trying to dampen proceedings, it was great to get such fantastic views of the Brunnich’s diving for fish in front of us. Sadly however, as was expected due to its rather peaky looking demeanour and poor feather condition throughout the week, the Brunnich’s was found to have died by Saturday morning, presumably exhausted and representing a tragic end to a top little bird.

Brunny!

Some birds have a mythical, almost legendary status on the British twitching scene, generating a certain level of excitement whenever whispers of news surrounding their arrival surface – Wallcreeper, Rubythroat, and almost any mega American Warbler or Siberian waif from far away all fall in to that category. Another, is of course, the Black-billed Cuckoo – perhaps the most doomed of all American vagrants - absent from British records since the 1980’s and early 90’s, apart from a brief flyby appearance on Orkney two years ago. It seemed an almost impossible feat that this monster cuckoo would be making its way on to any modern lists any time soon….. But, as the saying goes, anything is possible in the world of birding, and news of one photographed sitting on a fencepost on North Uist happily tucking in to caterpillars sent the twitching community in to a spin.  2nd position and narrowly missing out on the top spot is of course none other than North Uist’s cracking Black-billed Cuckoo, the first spring adult of its kind to grace UK shores and an absolutely stonker of a specimen.

Black-billed Cuckoo - narrowly missing out on top spot...

Found late on the Sunday evening and with Coccyzus cuckoos in Britain usually having an expiry date of around 2 days, it was therefore a huge ask for the bird to last a whole week and stay until the following weekend. But stay it did, and Friday evening saw us make the mammoth treck up to Uig on the Isle of Skye to catch the ferry over to Lochmaddy the next day. With an almost heart-breaking sat-nav miscalculation and a frantic drive to the ferry terminal soon forgotten as we sailed over to this beautiful outcrop of Scottish scenery, we finally clapped eyes on our prize – one remarkable adult Black-billed Cuckoo. Our most adventurous twitch to date having never travelled to the far flung Scottish islands in pursuit of one bird before, the trip felt like a personal achievement and just goes to show that those who do make the effort really do reap the rewards. An incredible bird, surrounded by breath-taking scenery in a beautiful location, it really doesn’t get much better than that!

Despite all this, 2016 will go down in birding history for one thing – the invasion of a certain golden patterned accentor from the east on an unprecedented scale that many are touting as the birding event of the century so far. Generating interest across the country, providing a spectacle never seen before in Europe let alone on British soil and causing even long-retired twitchers to dust off their bins, in top spot, is of course, the widespread invasion of Siberian Accentors that took Britain by storm this autumn.

Number one for 2016 - the Siberian Accentor at Easington

When news broke that perhaps the most widely anticipated first for Britain had finally made landfall on Shetland (where else?!) the entire British birding community collectively lost their minds as one. With photos surfacing depicting this golden sprite showing mind-bogglingly well by a small quarry up in the deepest wilderness of Shetland, it seemed nigh on impossible that the vast majority would ever get this special bird on their lists, instead having to settle for gazing at the many jaw-dropping photographs flooding the net. Fast forward just a matter of days however, and Thursday afternoon saw the news break that stopped all twitchers in their tracks – “Siberian Accentor: Easington, Yorkshire. One by the school”. A mainland Siberian Accentor – the stuff birding dreams are made of. One mad dash later and we were gazing upon this tiny piece of Russian gold for ourselves, hopping around on the now famous mossy covered drive alongside the equally as famous yellow skip. Mind-blowing. 

The famous skip!

For me, this tiny Russian visitor was without doubt the bird of the year, a species I’d never imagined I’d ever see in the world, let alone in Britain. Watching it forage around in the leaf litter alongside Dunnocks and Robins was completely surreal, none the wiser to the absolute chaos, stress and above all excitement its arrival had caused. A magical bird and a worthy winner of the crown for Best Bird of 2016.

With 2017 just around the corner, who knows what avian delights await us over the next 12 months – perhaps an overwintering Rubythroat or mega Siberian Thrush, a smattering of brightly coloured American warblers come the autumn or perhaps even that most sought after and ever hoped for modern day twitchable British Wallcreeper. Fingers crossed! 

Best wishes for 2017!

Little Auk makes landfall at Connahs Quay!

Having sadly missed the influx of Little Auks to the East coast last November and with Little Auk being one of my top targets for last year, I thought I had missed the boat when it came to seeing one of these tiny arctic visitors. When an alert popped up on my phone in the middle of January telling me a Little Auk had been seen at Connah’s Quay Nature Reserve in North Wales, I opened it up expecting the report to be just a fly-by – the typical view of Little Auks over on the West coast. I was therefore shocked to read there was one apparently swimming around the inland pools outside Dee and Middle Hides!!

I was determined that I wanted to see my first Little Auk up close as opposed to a distant dot flying over stormy waves, and knowing that it could fall victim to a marauding crow or gull at any moment, we left Alex’s house in record speed (I’ve never got ready so fast). With Connah’s Quay being a permit only reserve, I had luckily bought Alex a key for Christmas – money that was now definitely well spent!

Despite a few setbacks where the Sat-nav kept insisting on directing us to a random field, we were soon on site, just missing this dainty alcid by moments with it having just that second swam around the bend. A small chase of cat and mouse then ensued, where we attempted to follow it from hide to hide before eventually pinning the elusive Auk down to Middle Hide – relief and my first UK Little Auk, a much wanted bird for some time!

Little Auk swimming along the channel at Connah's Quay NR

We watched as the tiny Auk swam swiftly along the back of the pool before powering off to the left hand side of the channel and out of sight – a much speedier swimmer than I’d anticipated! Heading back on to the road and over to where it looked to be heading, we were surprised to find it had beat us to it and had completely disappeared - seemingly vanishing in front of the assembled birders eyes – presumably taking shelter in the large rocks that lined the banks.

With no sign for a good hour or so and with the bird having either taken shelter in the bank or forced its way through the small weir blocking the access in to the estuary (unlikely!) we headed over to Burton Marsh to enjoy the views of Short-eared Owls, Hen Harriers and Bewick’s Swans that were present. With reports just after lunch that the Little Auk was back in front of the hide again, we made the decision to head back to Connah’s Quay – it’s not every day you get to see a Little Auk so close after all!

Arriving at the hide to find the Little Auk had climbed on to the grassy bank at the side of the water, it was clear that this particular individual was not in completely good health, having seemingly injured one of its legs. 

Watching it for some time and following it down the channel again when it eventually swam off, we enjoyed fantastic views just metres away as it powered past us towards the weir again, and unable to pass, it once again positioned itself in the rocks out of sight to rest.

Little Auk is an excellent record for North Wales, with birds occasionally seen as fly-bys on sea watches during the winter months, and it was even more exceptional that it was found on the pools at Connah’s Quay instead of the harbour.

The small channel the Little Auk kept favouring

With our Little Auk making a final appearance just before dusk, again showing exceptionally closely before swimming off back up the channel and out of sight, we can only hope that under the safety of darkness it managed to make a getaway and head back out to sea. A report of a Little Auk flying west past Hoylake subsequently had the optimist in me hoping that this was our little bird and that he made it to safety! A truly fantastic experience and one I certainly won’t be forgetting in a hurry.