The Lincolnshire Bird Club

The second part of our look back into the history books for those species which have occurred for the first time in Lincs during the month of May. This section includes some extreme vagrants, some tricky IDs, some highly desired species which have not made reappearances, and a remarkable local connection with a visiting American vagrant. So on with Part 2……..

2012 - CALANDRA LARK
A bird considered to be this species was seen seen very briefly in flight at Gibraltar Point on the evening of 10 May before remarkably being re-found the next morning further along the reserve. The bird was almost impossible to see on the ground but gave good flight views and was last seen at around 10.30am thwarting most of those birders who travelled to see it. A real MEGA there were only 16 accepted records in Britain to the end of 2011 although the species has made almost annual appearances in recent years in the UK from its former extreme rarity status. This does seem at odds however with the species recent range contraction and population decline most likely associated with agricultural intensification. Twitchable birds anywhere are almost unheard of and those that have hung around long enough to be seen by more than just a select few have usually been on small remote far flung islands.

2012 - PALLID HARRIER
A second calendar year female which flew south at 1310 past Mill Hill Gibraltar Point on 8 May is the first record. The bird then settled on the saltmarsh by the Wash Viewpoint where it was out of view for 40 minutes before then flying around the marsh and sea bank for a few minutes before being lost to view over the west bank. It was also observed at this time from Wainfleet north tower. What may have been the same bird (a 2CY female) gave good views at 1035 on 11th May at the south end of Donna Nook before drifting low to the south along the dunes with presumably the same female then being seen at Seaview Farm, Saltfleetby moving south-east and then Churchill Lane where it was observed turning back to the north-west. This elegant and graceful Harrier was formally an extreme rarity to UK shores. Five birds in 1993 were the first to be seen since 1952, but from 1999 only two years have failed to produce a sighting with a remarkable 29 accepted records in 2011 and a total of 58 recorded in Britain by the end of that year. This is partly due to advances in the identification criteria of female and immature birds, however we should not become complacent. A ringtail harrier seen over fields for a period of a few days south of Barton and east of the A15 adjacent to the B1206 prompted much discussion. Initially reported as Pallid, many considered Montagu's Harrier could not be ruled out and therefore served as a timely reminder just how tricky id on ringtail harriers can be and what educational birds they are.

2010 – ORIENTAL PRATINCOLE
A Pratincole hawking insects over scrapes near the East Hide at Frampton Marsh RSPB on 9th May was identified later that day as the Counties first Oriental Pratincole. An adult, the bird showed well almost constantly over the following days until it was last seen on the afternoon of 19th May. On reaching the eighth day of its stay it was estimated that a total of 4000 birders had seen it, possibly making this one of (if not the) most twitched bird in the County. This was only the fifth British record following birds in Suffolk/Essex in 1981, Kent in 1988, Norfolk/East Sussex/Suffolk in 1993 and West Sussex/Kent in 2009. Unlike the 1981 and 2009 records, BBRC chose to accept the 1993 sightings as 3 different birds, but surely for such an extreme rarity they must relate to the same mobile individual. In addition there are only a further 6 records of this species in the Western Palearctic. Of the 3 species of Pratincole on the British list, now only Black-winged has yet to make an appearance in Lincolnshire.

2007 – GREATER YELLOWLEGS
A first-summer bird found on Tennyson Sands, Gibraltar Point early morning on 30th May flew off after just 40 minutes but then reappeared (generally between 30 and 90 minutes in advance of high tide) the same evening (between 5.40 and 5.50pm) and then again at 5.45 to 6.10am and 5.30 to 6.00pm the following day. Showing only erratically this made it difficult to catch up with, but nonetheless it was still the first twitchable bird in Britain for 5 years, the first in England for 8 years and only the 42nd record ever of this species in Britain and Ireland. However, this sighting then set a chain of events in motion which would ultimately have an impact on Gibraltar Point claiming another County first. Prompted by the arrival of this bird, photographs were studied of a reported Lesser Yellowlegs at Frieston Shore RSPB on 19th May, and revealed that it was in fact the same first-summer Greater Yellowlegs as later seen at Gib. Furthermore, studying photographs of (what was at the time believed to be a Lesser Yellowlegs) from Freiston Shore on 9th April 2007, also proved to show it to be a Greater, albeit looking somewhat different in first-winter plumage prior to its pre-breeding moult and presumably relating to the same bird as seen later in the spring. Therefore, although first identified at Gibraltar Point in May, Lincolnshire’s first Greater Yellowlegs should really be logged under April at Freiston Shore.

2002 – LESSER SAND PLOVER
A female found on the foreshore at Rimac early afternoon on 11th May showed well until last seen on 15th May. The Sandplover group are a notoriously difficult set of species to identify (both to species and sub-species level) and it was only from close study over the first 3 days of the birds stay that its identity was clinched. This was only the third British record of Lesser Sandplover, but the first to be twitchable and proved suitably popular amongst birders. The other British records prior to this involved one on the Don Estuary, Aberdeenshire on 18th to 19th August 1991 (a mongolus type originally thought to have been Greater Sandplover) and one at Pagham Harbour, West Sussex on 14th to 16th August 1997 (also originally identified as a Greater and only clinched as an atrifrons type Lesser from photographs after it had departed).

1998 – RIVER WARBLER
A singing male was located in the dunes south of Seacroft Lagoons close to the Gibraltar Point reserve boundary on 29th May and was only the 29th British record. Initially seen and heard singing from an Elder within the dune scrub the bird soon fell silent, only being heard again for around two minutes late evening for the small group of assembled birders. It was not heard or seen again. This remains the only county record. Since the 1950s the breeding range of River Warbler in Europe has expanded to the west and north. During this period, the tiny Finnish population doubled in the late 1980s, while in Estonia it was a scarce breeding bird until the 1950s, yet by 1989 the population had grown to an estimated 10,000 pairs. This trend is clearly apparent in the British situation. The first record was of a bird trapped on Fair Isle in September 1961, while the majority of the subsequent records came during the 1980s and 1990s, including a peak of seven in 1995 alone. However, in recent years River warbler has once again become extremely rare. The pulsing, stridulating song of the male in spring and early summer is unmistakeable and easily gives away the presence of a vagrant bird. Autumn birds on the other hand are a different story altogether and getting a decent view of this skulking, hulk of a Locustella is always a problem. Away from the northern isles or a mist net the chance of finding your own autumn bird in well-vegetated England would be like finding that needle in the preverbial haystack!

1998 – FRANKLIN’S GULL
A Franklin’s Gull was located roosting on a sandbar on the southern pits at Kirkby-on-Bain at about 6pm on 13th May. The bird remained until dusk and was successfully twitched by about 35 local birders. Only the 36th British record, this first summer bird was remarkably tracked from Norfolk (Titchwell, 10th May) to Shetland (Hillwell, 15th May) with this stop in Lincs in between. With such a desire to move north so quickly it begs the question if it was attempting to return to its native land. There is of course a very strong Lincolnshire connection with this species, as the bird was named after the Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin who was born in Spilsby on 16 April 1786 and educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Louth. It therefore seems only fitting that Franklin’s Gull should make a visit to the County at some point, and as it happens, remarkably, only 10 miles from the birthplace of its namesake.

1993 – SOCIABLE PLOVER
A bird seen briefly as it flew low over Kirkby Pits at midday on 30th May was relocated shortly afterwards about a mile south of the pits in a newly sown field of maize. This full summer-plumaged adult entertained visiting birders (aside from some short absences) in the same area until 10.00am on 2nd June when it flew off high to the north. Remarkably, it was then seen again on 12th June despite being searched for extensively in between. However, it couldn’t be relocated that same day and was not seen again. This was only the 37th British record and was presumably the same bird reported flying north-east over Ditchford, Northants on 29th May, at North Wooton, Norfolk between 18th and 20th May, in the Cley, Holkham and Burnham Norton area of North Norfolk from 21st to 30th April and at Eggington, Derbyshire on 17th April. 20 years on, this stunning wader looks set to remain a very rare bird in Europe, with a global decline of 50% precautionarily inferred for the past 30 years, and the species now classed as critically endangered. It has suffered a very rapid decline and range contraction, for reasons that are poorly understood, however recent fieldwork suggests the population trend is now stable and possibly starting to increase. Population estimates in the main species breeding areas in Kazakhstan in 2006 was just 5,600 breeding pairs.

1979 – SCARLET ROSEFINCH
A female or immature male seen at Donna Nook on 21st May was the first County record of a species more familiarly now known as Common Rosefinch. Along with a national trend, sightings in the county have increased in recent years. The majority of Lincolnshire records fall within the typical late May/early June window with fewer autumn records. Gibraltar Point has the lion's share of sightings and the species has become just about annual in recent years with 6 seen in 2010, although most birds do seem to be short stayers. Unfortunately, drab immature birds predominate. A stunning scarlet male which lingers still remains a hoped for spring sighting. In a wider context the species breeds from the Netherlands right across Europe and Asia to the Pacific. Traditionally a spring and autumn migrant with most records from the Northern Isles, east coast and Scilly, annual totals have increased steadily since the mid-1960s and it was dropped from the BBRC Rarities List in 1982. It is particularly interesting to note that there was only one spring record prior to 1958 but it has been annual at this time of year since 1963. The species has of course had some isolated nesting attempts in the UK no doubt linked to increase in sightings from its westward expansion on the continent. It first bred in the Netherlands in 1987 and France in 1993 and although it seemed likely that we could look forward to establishing itself as a colonist in the future this has never materialised.

1979 – BLACK KITE
One soaring over East Halton Pit on 18th May eventually flew off south-west and occurred at a time when this was still a very rare bird nationally. This sighting was only the 36th British record at the time. With still only a handful of records, most of involve brief fly overs, a long staying bird in 2007 was most welcome for County listers. An adult, it was seen around the Nocton heath area from 16th July to 7th November and was the bird which spent late April/early May in Norfolk. However, the unusual extended stay of this bird along with some rufous plumage tones and pale head lead some to believe this bird may have in fact been a Black Kite x Red Kite hybrid. From photographs taken of the bird in October the advance moult was noted as being closer to Red Kite than Black kite but with no pattern anomalies in the underwing the colouration was considered to be within the normal variation of Black Kite as similarly coloured Black kites had previously been photographed in Britain in spring. However it is perfectly feasible that some Black Kites do have Red Kite blood somewhere in there ancestry. The two species do hybridise occasionally including documented records from Scotland (at Auchentoul, Highland, where the 2002-2006 returning male successfully fledged two hybrids in 2006) and in Sweden and Germany. The offspring are known to be fertile as some Swedish hybrids have bred with Red Kite and produced young. In national terms this species was formally an extremely rare and highly sought-after vagrant, with just 5 records between 1866 and 1947 and just a further ten between 1966 and 1971. Since then there has since been a dramatic increase in sightings leading to its removal from the BBRC list of considered species at the end of 2005.Despite this it remains difficult to catch up with as many are single observer fly-overs, and although on good view easily identified, the black kite has remained a bugbear of records committees owing to the frequent submissions that provide only superficial descriptions often failing to eliminate the main I'd pitfall of high flying marsh harriers. In 2001 70% of records submitted to BBRC were not accepted.

1978 – SIBERIAN STONECHAT
The first county record was of an adult male of the race stejnegeri at Donna Nook on 23rd May. This was only the second spring record for Britain at the time. There have been a further 7 records of these 'peachy rumps' in the more typical autumn period from Donna Nook on 7th-8th October 1978, 9th November 1980 and 2nd October 1987, Skegness 21st to 25th October 1990 with a second bird present from 23rd to 25th, Donna Nook (again) on 22nd September 1994 and the last, at Saltfleet from 1st to 3rd October 2000. Almost 13 years on, another one would be nice! Depending on current taxonomic thinking there are about 25 races of Common Stonechat, the majority occurring outside of the Western Palearctic, with those in Asia being strongly migratory, breeding over a huge area in the northern two-thirds of the continent and wintering in the middle east, the Indian sub-continent and Southern Asia. Sub groups recorded in the UK include Maura which breeds across much of Siberia but is then replaced in the Far East by the similar stejnegeri whilst variegata breeds in the area of the Black and Caspian Seas and is an extreme vagrant within Europe. Siberian Stonechat as this bird is most commonly referred had just a handful of records in the UK until becoming more frequently recorded from the mid-1970s with up to 33 a year in the early 1990s although since the new millennium it does seem to have reverted back to a very rare annual vagrant with much smaller numbers being recorded.

1977 – THRUSH NIGHTINGALE
The first record of this skulking central Palearctic species was trapped at North Somercotes Warren on 22nd May. Since 1970 there has been a marked increase in breeding numbers of this species across Northwest Europe and this has been mirrored with records in the UK. Since this first record a further 7 Thrush Nightingales have been recorded in Lincolnshire, with those at Pye's Hall on 22nd May 1994, and a male in song and sound recorded at Gibraltar Point on 15th May 2001 the only ones to be accepted which have not been trapped. The last bird to be recorded in the county was trapped at Donna nook on 16 May 2009. There were only two British records prior to 1958, both on Fair Isle. Numbers in the UK still fluctuate greatly on an annual basis with its relative rarity here related to the orientation of its north-south migration route from east Africa. There have been marked increases throughout north-western part of its range, for example in Finland it increased from around 200 pairs in the 1950s to about 8000 pairs in the early 1980s and it bred for the first time in the Netherland in 1995. It has even been tipped as a potential UK colonist.

1977 – YELLOW-BREASTED BUNTING
The first record for the county concerned a stunning pristine male in full summer plumage at Gibraltar Point on 15th May. The bird fed on short turf along the saltmarsh edge close to the observatory and often at close range. 36 years on, this still remains the only county record of a bird which in Britain is very much a Northern Isles specialist, with for example, 73% of the 141 British records up to 1990 coming from from Shetland and Fair Isle. There have only been four spring records in Britain (including the Gibraltar Point bird), the others being a male in breeding plumage which remained at Spurn Point, E Yorks from 14th to 15th June 1975, a singing male on the Black Isle, Easter Ross, Highland on 14th June 1982 and a confiding singing male at Sumburgh, Shetland on 20th to 21st May 1996. Formally a regular autumn vagrant, UK totals include 55 between 1970-1979, 60 between 1980-1989 and 58 between 1990-1999. However, matching the European and western Russia decline there were 34 in the period 2000-2011, with just 9 birds since 2004 with 2007 and 2010 the first blank years since 1970. Yellow-breasted Bunting was formerly one of the most abundant breeding passerines across vast swathes of Siberia, but although there have been no systematic surveys, a severe decline has been noted in most breeding areas and it has completely disappeared from parts of its former breeding range over the last twenty years. Its European population was stable between 1970–1990, however, the stronghold population in Russia declined markedly during 1990–2000. No birds have bred in Finland in recent years, its range has contracted in Kazakhstan over the last 15 years and it is estimated to have declined by at least 70% during 2000-2010 in European Russia suggesting a massive decline in an area of the core range during 2000-2011. Numbers at wintering sites throughout its range have also shown rapid declines over the last twenty years likely to be driven by excessive trapping at migration and, in particular, wintering Roosting flocks in reedbeds where they are disturbed and then caught in mistnets, They are cooked and sold as "sparrows" or "rice-birds"; this practice was formerly restricted to a small area of southern China, but has now become more widespread. Agricultural intensification has reduced the quality and quantity of wintering habitat, and the loss of reedbeds has reduced the number of available roost sites.

1971 – GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO
An immature of this flamboyant Mediterranean Cuckoo was seen briefly at Anderby Creek on 9th May 1971 was the 15th British record. The second (and last) County record occurred just 3 years later when an adult was seen at Donna Nook on 1st July 1974 and which was only the second mid-summer record in Britain with only 5 British records during this period in total. Near misses of birds which have lingered for any length of time include a confiding juvenile which frequented the Humber bank between Easington Lane and Sammy’s Point, Kilnsea, E Yorks from 16th October to 6th November 1982, a first-summer at Cley and Blakeney Point, Norfolk on 7th-8th and 11th July 1992 and a juvenile at Spurn, East Yorks between 19th and 31st July 2003. Therefore, despite still being a very rare bird in the UK, there is still hope for a twitchable bird in Lincs in the future – maybe this year?

1970 – SUBALPINE WARBLER
A singing male at Ingoldmells Point on 11th May was the first County record of this striking southern European Sylvia and was one of only 3 sightings in the UK in 1970, all of which were in the month of May. It remains an extremely rare bird in the County with just 8 since despite numbers reaching the UK increasing significantly since the mid-1970s and the species being dropped by the BBRC at the end of 2005. As most records involve brief stayers or birds trapped this species became much desired amongst County listers. Thankfully a bird which frequented buckthorn and bushes in the area of the north hide, Tennyson Sands, Gibraltar Point from 20-23 April 2013 brought to and end the long wait for many to add this species to their county list. All except a first-winter female trapped at Crook Bank, Theddlethorpe on 15th September 1996 have been in spring. First described by Pallas from an Italian specimen in 1764, this Mediterranean slope (rather than alpine) scrub warbler can still reach high elevations, ascending to c. 2,200m. Three distinct populations are now recognised in Europe with Western Subalpine Warbler cantillans breeding in coastal and continental Europe from Iberia east to Italy, Eastern Subalpine Warbler albistriata breeding in SE Europe, east from Slovenia and W Turkey and Moltoni's Subalpine Warbler which is endemic to the central Mediterranean, where it occupies the Balearic islands, Sardinia, Corsica and northern Italy and differs from other forms in plumage colouration, moult strategy and vocalisation. Of those birds in Lincs Western Subalpine Warblers have been identified at Pye's Hall on 23rd May 1985, a first-summer male trapped at Crook Bank, Theddlethorpe on 28th June 1994, a male at Humberston Fitties on 3rd April 2011 and the most recent Gibraltar Point bird this year whilst an Eastern Subalpine Warbler was identified at Tetney on 12th-13th May 1981. Of the remaining records those at Ingoldmells above, a male at North Coates on 14th May 1976 and a female trapped at Gibraltar Point on 7th and 14th May 1983 were all unassigned to sub-specific level.

1970 – TAWNY PIPIT
A bird seen at Donna Nook on 24th May was the first County Record of this large slim pipit and one of five others seen during the UK between late May and early June of 1970. Its continued rarity status in the County makes this a prized sighting for Lincs Listers. The only other County records are from Wisbech Sewage farm on 25th September 1970 (the only inland record), Donna Nook again on 8 May 1975 (considered to be the same bird seen again on 17th May), Tetney Haven on 15 October 1975, Donna Nook (again) on 10th May 1980, Gibraltar Point, an adult on 13th May 1990, Gibraltar Point briefly on the morning of 29th May 1993, a bird on the foreshore/beach at Rimac 20th-21st September 2000 and an adult at Tetney Lock on 25th-28th April 2011. The latter two were much welcomed by Lincs birders and allowed many to 'unblock' this species from their County lists, the Tetney bird proving particularly popular. UK occurrences involve small numbers in spring but the peak time is from late-August to mid-October, with most along the English south coast. As it breeds on the near continent it has been regarded as a passage migrant or dispersing first-winter birds rather than vagrants. 637 were recorded between 1958 to 1985 with an average of 35 a year and it was dropped from the rarities list in 1982. A small increase in sightings was noted in the early 1990s, however this did not last and it has become somewhat of a rare visitor again corresponding with a widespread decrease in France, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden (and even further east), the decline of which seems to have been caused mainly by habitat changes.


Matthew