Birding round up of the year 2017!

After the rollercoaster of a ride that was the British birding scene in 2016 (where firsts for Britain were turning up at a rate of knots), 2017 in comparison turned out to be a little bit of a damp squib. The majority of new birds and “uber” megas turned up on the remote offshore islands, while the year’s unquestionable star bird – North Ronaldsay’s fine adult male Siberian Blue Robin - was only seen by a handful of extremely lucky observers!

Nevertheless the year still held a few welcome surprises – Britain’s first DNA confirmed record of Elegant Tern down on the south coast was a huge bonus, while individuals of Red-breasted Goose, White-billed Diver and Rock Thrush ensured that 2017 held some grip backs at least!

Elegant Tern (honest!) - Pagham Harbour, West Sussex

Red-breasted Goose - Cockerham, Lancashire

White-billed Diver - Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire

Rock Thrush - Gwent, Wales

Not every bird was gettable however – the Amur Falcon down in Cornwall – the first twitchable one of its kind – proved frustratingly out of reach during the working week, while the year’s Red-winged Blackbird, American Redstart, Cedar Waxwing and Yellow-breasted Bunting all proved to be just a touch too far away on remote islands to tempt us, especially having already seen 3 out of the 4 in large quantities over in America before.  

Red-winged  Blackbird in New York

American Redstart in New York

Cedar Waxwing in New York

However, for me, our trips birding abroad stole the show for 2017. Mallorca and Tenerife provided some welcome European birding in stunning scenery and fantastic climes, while our once in a lifetime trip to Queensland Australia during the summer created some lifelong memories that will never be forgotten. A male Golden Bowerbird at his bower deep in the heart of the Australian mountains, the flashy colours of Fairywrens and Boatbills and the imposing majesty of the fierce and iconic Cassowary just mere feet away are all experiences that will live on in years to come. 

Green Turtle

Likewise our snorkelling expeditions exploring the Great Barrier Reef and the accompanying helicopter ride above one of the greatest wonders of the world created lasting memories of an experience of a lifetime.

The Great Barrier Reef

And so to the top birds of 2017….

In joint 3rd place are the diver duo of the Northumberland Pacific Diver and the Lincolnshire White-billed Diver – turning up on the same weekend and both affording absolutely unbeatable views. Having seen the returning Cornish Pacific Diver as a distant dot miles away through a scope, a chance to see this mega species of diver in Britain so close proved irresistible, and we soon found ourselves gazing eye to eye with this fearless individual mere feet away.

Pacific Diver - Northumberland

Meanwhile news was breaking of another rare species of diver giving phenomenal views further south with a White-billed Diver having been discovered fishing on a river in rural Lincolnshire 20 miles inland. In a remarkable coincidence, this mirrored the only other British record of an inland White-billed Diver to date, occurring on the very same stretch of river back in March 1996. Having had to wait a whole week before making the journey down to Lincolnshire it was a relief to finally connect with this stunning arctic visitor, finally putting to rest the regrets of not travelling to Devon/Dorset for the popular Brunnich’s Guillemot and Brixham White-billed Diver duo a few years ago.

White-billed Diver - Lincolnshire

In second place, while not strictly a lifer, is the beautiful male Pallid Harrier that graced the hillsides at the Forest of Bowland earlier in the year. Living in England, male Harriers are not something I see all that often, so it was an honour to be able to watch on as this ghostly displaying male skydanced his way over the moors in an effort to attract a mate. Sheer beauty, and to have a male Pallid Harrier skydancing over your head is a thing of enchanting magic. Without a doubt this was one of the most exquisite birds I’ve seen, and to watch him perform was an absolute privilege.

Pallid Harrier - Lancashire

In first place, rather surprisingly, was Durham’s very own Scops Owl – found roosting in a small elder bush one morning in September where it proceeded to stay for the next few days much to the delight of the growing crowd of birders coming to admire it. This quirky, angry looking miniature bird of prey has always been a firm favourite of mine when visiting falconry exhibits, and having only seen Scops Owls abroad in Spain before, in near pitch black at that, this was a species that I was especially keen to see in Britain, seeming such an unlikely visitor from the continent. 

Scops Owl - Durham

Thankfully the Scops was still in place when we arrived, tucked up against the trunk of its spindly elder and giving cracking views as it kept a watchful eye on the crowd, blending in perfectly with the gnarled bark. With 84 accepted records in Britain to date this is by no means a “mega mega” but it was still an absolutely superb bird that was most definitely worth travelling for and a bird on my personal wish list for Britain.

With 2018 now in full swing who knows what avian delights await us – a wintering Wallcreeper is most definitely long overdue and is sure to whet the appetite of almost every birder in Britain, while a scattering of American warblers in the autumn would be most welcome, especially if a male Blackburnian was amongst them. With Far Eastern sprites also coming ever closer to our shores over the past few years, who knows what "First for Britain" oriental goodies might just be carried over on the easterly winds… Whatever the case, fingers crossed for a good bird-filled year! 

Coming soon to a south coast cliff near you... we hope! 

Pacific Diver at Druridge Bay CP, Northumberland - MEGA!!

When a Pacific Diver remarkably turned up on an inland pool in Northumberland last week, it was extremely tempting to make the long journey up north in an attempt to catch up with this American visitor. Despite having previously seen the returning Penzance bird in Cornwall on two separate occasions, this was a great chance to watch this mega diver species up close and an opportunity we simply couldn’t pass up! I’ve always maintained I would twitch an inland Pacific Diver should one ever occur again, and sure enough Saturday morning saw us travelling north up the M1 to Northumberland!

Arriving on site just after lunch and with the diver having relocated to Druridge Bay CP (after apparently attempting to fly back out to sea before doing a u-turn and crash landing on the ice), straight away we were afforded outstanding views as it made several circuits right in front of us around the north west corner of Ladyburn Lake. 

With the Penzance Pacific Diver remaining mostly distant, this was a not-to-be-missed opportunity to really see the distinguishing features up close for ourselves and to try and get some photographs. Being present for 3 days before the ID was nailed as Pacific instead of the previously thought Black-throated Diver, the lack of a pale white flank patch was the giveaway to its true identity, while the black, albeit faint chinstrap visible at closer range sealed the deal. 

Enjoying amazing views of the diver for a good hour and a half as it swam and dived right in front of us, it seemed totally unfazed by its squad of paparazzi admirers, at several points surfacing mere metres away from the crowd! It’s not every day you get to see a diver show so well, let alone a 6th for Britain Pacific Diver!

With several other features distinguishing Pacific Divers from the similar Black-throated (it was only very recently split) the black vent strap was visible on several photographs, while the slightly smaller structure and size as well as the short, fine bill on the Pacific Diver were some of the more subtle features we noted that separate the two species.

We also noticed that the Pacific Diver also tended to leap out of the water quite considerably when diving compared to other species of diver, again, another subtle difference from the Black-throated.

Ladyburn Lake - the Pacific Diver often came to within feet! 

Far more used to an ocean-going existence, fingers crossed the diver will be ok and eventually make it back out to sea – whilst it was diving constantly during our visit, we only saw it feed successfully twice, and even then on exceptionally small fish.

Alex's great video of the Pacific Diver in action!

Never the less, this was an incredible experience to get so close to a remarkable bird, and even my car breaking down mid-route northbound up the A1 wasn’t going to stop us seeing it!  

Pacific Diver in Marazion

As we had a whole weekend free after visiting the Little Bunting, me and Alex decided to head back down to Cornwall to try and spot the Pacific Diver that overwinters around Mounts Bay near Marazion each year.

Pacific Divers have only recently been split from the near-related Black-throated Divers, and with only 8 accepted records for the UK, is a real mega. There were no accepted records in the UK or Europe even prior to 2007, but early that year 3 different individuals were identified, a first winter inland at Farnham Gravel-pits in Yorkshire from the 12^th January to the 4^th February, another first winter on the Llys-y-fran Reservoir in Pembrokeshire from the 2^nd Feb to the 20^th March, and this adult bird in Mount’s Bay, Penzance which first arrived on the 17^th February. What caused this mini influx is unknown, although the fact that the species became wider known to birders, with more people aware of the ID features, may have contributed to the 2 other birds being found and subsequently IDed that very same winter.

Remarkably this is the 9^th winter the Marazion bird has been back, although vagrant Pacific Divers do seem to show a tendency for remaining faithful to a site, as incredibly the Llys-y-fran bird returned again in the Februarys of both 2008 and 2009! Who knows how long the Cornwall bird will continue coming back for, although it has been showing far more regularly and reliably this winter than in previous years.

A view of St Michael's Mount from the Station Car Park

On arriving at the Station Car Park, we soon picked up several close in Great Northern Divers, but after determining the Pacific wasn’t anywhere near this car park, we adopted a different strategy to our first visit and decided to make our way along the bay, stopping off at various points. We headed over to Penzance, viewing from the road, where another GN was picked up along with a Black-throated not too far away in front of the rocks – the white diagnostic flank patch visible even at a distance. 2 Eiders fishing near the marina were nice to see, as were a pair of Gannets diving just off shore.

Deciding the best point to view from would be Long Rock Car Park itself, especially as that was where all the reports had been coming from lately, we the headed that way – managing to find it this time tucked away over a level crossing down one of the small lanes (on our last visit we just viewed from the Station Car Park, unaware of this better viewing point).  With just a few Great Northerns hanging around, there was still no sign of the Pacific, having last been reported at 10:30am that morning. Several other birders turned up as it neared to high tide, including the birder that had reported it this morning, but with still no sign we decided to head back round to Penzance and check the Jubilee Pool area. With no luck there, we returned to Longrock for one last check before the light faded, and joined the birder who had seen it that morning.

Alex spotted a different looking diver relatively far out beyond the rocks and as we got our scopes on the bird it was clear to see it wasn’t a Great Northern – structurally different with an exceptionally dark back, rounded head, and a clear, bright white contrasting throat and chest. The black line along the throat was also solid – no white collar indentations or dark curves around the neck. As divers tend to have a habit of doing as their name suggests, we were lucky that this one was busy preening, allowing us to really study the features. Despite the distance, our bird was clearly visible above the water, and the absence of the white flank patch that would otherwise indicate a Black-throated was apparent from all angles – the bird was a solid black colour all over down to the waterline. It had to be the Pacific. The man who had seen it earlier was also confident that this was the bird that he had seen this morning, and with it being way to far to determine a definite chinstrap, the absence of the white flank patch clinched the ID for me.

Sadly the light faded at this point, rendering viewing much harder (especially in my scope!) and we watched in dimming light until the bird eventually took off from the water and flew out far to sea – presumably to roost.

On our previous visit we had encountered a similar looking diver at very close range, and on seeing the bird again it was now clear that it was the same that we had been watching 2 weeks earlier. On our first visit we just weren’t armed with enough knowledge on the ID, and actually talked ourselves out of it being the Pacific back in the hotel! Having never seen one before and being alone with no one else to confirm, we just weren’t 100% confident on the ID to add it to our lists.

This brilliant video taken by Mark Hipkin in November 2014 was really useful in getting to know how the Pacific Diver would look in the field.

A lone diver’s proportions and size is always difficult to assess when it’s on its own with no other birds to compare it to, although the much smaller size (at one point I exclaimed it was nearer GC Grebe size) and the much shorter, stubbier bill that we noted should have told us it was the Pacific that we were watching and not a GN diver or BT, especially as there was a clear absence of a white flank patch.

It just goes to show that a little bit of research, knowledge and ID insights can go a long way (my excuse is that Pacific isn’t well document in my Collins!) and that you really need to know what you’re looking for in the field (as demonstrated on our first visit, when a couple were adamant that a young GN diver was the Pacific over and over again!). Having only ever seen one Black-throated Diver before (extremely distantly at Carsington Water, where it was the only diver present) I also wasn’t familiar or experienced enough with the structure of smaller divers in the field – another point that meant I just wasn’t 100% sure what we were looking at on our first visit. I always like to be 100% sure of a bird’s ID myself before I add it to my list, so I’m really glad we made the huge effort to come back to Cornwall in order to be fully sure that we had indeed seen the Pacific Diver.

For anyone looking to visit, the best vantage points can be seen on the map below. 

We saw the diver at points 1 and 3, and it apparently favours the area around the rocks (2)