The Lincolnshire Bird Club

Katharine,
There's only one at Paxton Pits, Cambs.
That still leaves c 10 possibly whiskering around somewhere in the Midlands. You could even get one turning up at Frampton RSPB with luck !

Regards,

Freddy

** Clears Dad's diary **

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I looked in at Covenham Res. this morning,no terns but 1 Black-headed Gull and 1 Herring Gull.

None at Toft at 17:00 hrs today

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Hi Freddy,nice to hear you got some of the Whiskered Terns,they are a cracking bird,i personally, have only seen 2,1 at Covenham Reservoir way back in 1987,i think(It's that long ago) and 1 at Holcroft Gravel pits in Notts in 2003.Unfortunately i was at the Wyre forest watching Pearl-bordered Fritillaries when i got the call about the Barton bird last year,bugger!! .I have personally being trying to find a Red-rumped Swallow locally as there seems to be a few about in Yorkie land,but to no avail double bugger,but that is what keeps us birder's going,iam definately going to lie down after exerting my one typing finger far too much(Can't wait to get this effing pot off the right hand). .



Steve

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Hi Steve,
The Whiskered Terns seem to be down to only 2 reported birds today :
Willington GPs - 1
Paxton GPs - 1
Where are the other 9 from that recent influx into Derbys, with no others being reported today anywhere in the UK? ( according to "Birdguides") Possibly Calais or en route to Poland, but perhaps they are still somewhere in the Midlands in some out of the way spots, before moving on and then getting reported.....says he, hopefully, still keeping fingers crossed for Lincs.
As you say, Red-rumped Swallows are moving around E Yorks (Swine Moor/Atwick/Hornsea Mere) and N Yorks (Filey), plus that one near Leicester a couple of weeks ago, but nothing our way so far.
If we do miss out on both RRS and WT, then I suppose lesser compensation would be Black Tern, which should arrive in Lincs in the next week or so.........
Hope the right hand and fingers return to normal soon.

Regards,

Freddy

I think Alastair Carr sums it up - £163.84p for a Hooded Merganser! This could start something completely new - "What was your most expensive bird" - before Freddie or anyone else states the obvious, we are talking the avian variety!

Not too sure about the cost,but it was back in 1991,my longest twitch was to Wick in the very north of Scotland to see a female Harlequin Duck!We did see her fortunately and had a great w.end up there taking in Black Guillemot's,Iceland Gull,huge rafts of sea duck,King Eider,Capercaillie,Crested Tit etc and stunning scenery..But because we didn't have much money we attempted to sleep in the car,i say attempted,it was -15 that night and there was a large fall of snow,so we decided to drive round Aviemore in the early hours of the morning and got stopped by the local rozzer's who found it quite amusing that anyone would travel that far to see a little brown duck .


Regards



Steve

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Looking at the recent activity on the Forum re American Black Terns, Buff breasted Sandpipers and a new member stating his intention to go to Sussex to see a long-toed Stint prompts me to ask the original question. In addition, is anyone purely content to report "common" birds before they become amber/red data species?

Stuart, as previously mentioned, those that twitch rare birds are, in the main, not a separate group of people.
These are the same individuals who are noting and recording common birds whilst out and about and in their own gardens. Many that look for and twitch rarities are members of the RSPB, BTO, Lincs. Wildlife Trust etc. who are regularly involved in common bird surveys.
Those of us that help with writing up the common species for the annual Lincolnshire Bird Report are very aware of the amount of data that is being produced by the LBC members - this information being very ably gathered and presented by Colin & Sheila Jennings. The vast majority of those in Lincolnshire that twitch rarities are lovers of all birds, and wildlife in general.

Roy

Thanks for bringing this interesting thread to the fore again. I joined the LBC after the first flurry was over so it now all makes interesting reading.

I agree in the main with Roy's statement but I think that there is a very small minority of twitchers to whom numbers are more important than any interest in ornithology and wildlife as a whole. I would call these "Sport twitchers" where the end is more important than the means. I know of a few who spend so much time travelling to tick a rarity that they have little time left to observe anything else.

As for myself I wouldn't want to admit to being a twitcher as I hate driving and the presence of many others around me while I am enjoying the pleasures of wildlife watching, I admit I am an unsociable loner when it comes to my hobbies. However I have twitched three times recently - the Great Grey Shrike at Wellbourn, The Pectoral Sandpiper at Marston (my local patch) and the Sabine's at Leadenham. None of these were much more than five miles from home so perhaps that doesn't count as twitching. Seriously though, while it is nice to observe something I haven't seen before, my greatest thrill is encountering a species that is unexpected in a particular locality solely by my own observation and not responding to rarities already seen elsewhere. I am not a "ticker" and don't have a "life list" or even a clue how many species I have seen. Sad really, I am probably a bit of an oddity!

David

I have created a Far Ings Bird Group dedicated to the common birds and the Site that they use. We would love the very rare bird to appear as anyone would but we all enjoy what we have on our doorstep the reward and community feel it gives us.

I always find it interesting how the summer migrants are hot news iin early spring but get forgotten during the summer to become interesting again as they leave our shores.

A blackcap is not just for christmas.

Hi Stuart,
I could write about my House Sparrows and how I'm trying to increase their numbers, but I won't because it would be boring to most birders. I'd rather mention the Red-eyed Vireo that's just landed in my garden, much more exciting.
Also the reason why more rare birds are now appearing on the forum is because it's passage time.
Geoff

As Roy and others have replied,the majority of the 'Twitchers' as you put them i personally know,are nearly all dedicated patch watchers or birders who record 'Common' species on a regular basis whether contributing to national counts such as Webs or by contributing records to the Bird Report.In my experience,there are very few people who solely look at rare birds,but obviously there are exceptions.


Steve.

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Obviously we are all twitchers to a degree. How many local birders have resisted going for the American Black Tern or the Sabiine Gull in the last week. Did many resist the lure of the Steppe Grey Shrike or the Oriental Praticole in the recent past. All lifers for me

What about Whisbys Spotted Sandpiper a few weeks ago - a bird on my doorstep but I had no intentions of going to the reserve that morning until heard about it. Not a lifer bu a first for Britain

The lure of the Scilly Isles and its good birds at present is disipated by the amount of time and money needed. Common sense prevails

Life lists would all be much shorter if we didn't rely on others to broadcast their finds