Migration steps up a gear

Autumn migration moved on with a bang during the Bank Holiday weekend. The conditions on Saturday into Sunday looked good for an arrival of birds from across the North Sea but nothing could have prepared us for the spectacle that unfolded.

Pied Flycatchers and Redstarts arrived in force at many east coast sites, as shown by the BirdTrack reporting rate graphs below. Whinchat migration also got underway, however, the majority of the birds seen at the weekend would be continental breeders on the move; ninety-two were counted on Saturday at Spurn Point, and over twenty Red-backed Shrikes were found.

But it was the scale of scarce and rare migrants that was most astounding. Over sixty Wrynecks were found during Saturday and Sunday, with twenty-seven being found at Spurn alone on Sunday. Over twenty Greenish and Icterine Warblers were found from Shetland to Dorset, along with as many as ten Booted Warblers.  Add to the mix, up to six Citrine Wagtails, two Short-toed Larks, a Bluethroat and a single Rose-coloured Starling and it was a very special weekend indeed.

Wryneck by Jill Pakenham

Waders were well represented too. Curlew Sandpipers flooded in. Over two-hundred were reported over the weekend, and as many as thirty Wood Sandpipers, and up to sixty Little Stints were found.

So, what can we expect this weekend? A westerly/north-westerly airflow will dominate, and with low pressure centred over Iceland any birds migrating south from there could well get pushed closer to our west coast. Waders such as Whimbrel, Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank and Golden Pover, should arrive. with the majority being juveniles. Amongst these look out for colour ringed Black-tailed Godwits, and if you do see any, report them to j.gill@uea.ac.uk. These waders could be found anywhere, so don’t despair if a visit to the west coast is not possible. A few Buff-breasted Sandpipers arrived in Britain and Ireland over the last couple of days and we could see a few more of these over the weekend, with maybe one or two more Wilson’s Phalaropes to add to the one currently in Northern Ireland.

Sabine's Gull by Joe Pender

Terns and skuas will also be on the move, now is a good time to look out for Long-tailed Skuas amongst the Arctics, see our latest Bird ID video for help with Skuas. Sabine’s Gull is also a strong possibility on the west coast this weekend.

Autumn migration

Whilst the weather still feels quite summery, for some of our birds the summer is well and truly over. Migration has begun in earnest and already flocks of terns, mainly Arctic, are being recorded moving down the west coast. This is a sure sign that skua passage is about to start too, and the next couple of weeks should see this take place.

Waders have been on the move for over a month but with juveniles now joining the adult birds, this is probably the best time of the year to get out and enjoy these global wanderers. Gravel pits and the muddy fringes of inland lakes can just as easily turn up passage waders as coastal sites, so don't be disheartened if you live a long way from the sea. Green Sandpipers are currently well represented but during the next week or so, these will be joined by more Wood and Curlew Sandpipers. Little Stints are also beginning to turn up and if we get a bit of east in the wind, Temminck's Stints could also feature.

Whimbrels have started to leave their northerly breeding grounds and flocks have been seen migrating far out to see, passing a survey vessel 100 miles southwest of the Irish coast. For more birding news from the survey vessel read the Pelagic Birder blog here.   

Above: Whimbrels by Andy Williams 

Passerines are popping up at coastal watchpoints with Redstart, Spotted and Pied Flycatchers all being found. Swifts are pouring out of the country and House Martins and Swallows are also beginning to move is smaller numbers.

The warm southerly airflow that we are in at the moment has resulted in a couple of Woodchat Shrikes, a Short-toed Lark and a Black Stork already, but we could see more arriving from the continent over the next couple of days. Wryneck and Hoopoe might well be on the cards, and perhaps an autumn Bee-eater or Alpine Swift too.

Saturday and Sunday are forecast to have an easterly element in the wind and this could bring a few birds from the east. Greenish Warbler and Rose-coloured Starling are favourites, and Aquatic Warbler might be expected too. Aquatic Warbler is now much rarer than it used to be as a passage bird in the UK but it is still worth looking out for in mid to late August when easterly winds occur.

There and back again

Two months have snuck by since our last update. It's been anything but quiet for migrant birds during that period though. June will be remembered by some as the Month of the Rare Swift, with long-distance (and very lost) travellers in the form of a Pacific Swift and a Needle-tailed Swift reaching our shores. Rare seabirds soon got in on the action when an exquisite Bridled Tern appeared on the Farne Islands in early July, quickly followed by an even more astounding sight: an Ascension Frigatebird found resting on a harbour wall on Islay on 5 July!

Lots has been happening amongst our more familiar species too. All our satellite-tagged Cuckoos have departed, with several already south of the Sahara! Some juvenile Cuckoos will still be in the country but the vast majority of these are also expected to leave in the next couple of weeks. (Common) Swift numbers are starting to drop off too, though as of last week they were still being recorded on about 30% of BirdTrack complete lists.

Arctic-breeding waders, restricted as they are to a short breeding season, are already heading south again. Wood Sandpiper, Little Stint and Spotted Redshank are amongst the many wader species that can be encountered at this time of year, and certainly spice up late summer birding trips.

Some Spotted Redshank retain their breeding finery into early August.
Chris Mills

In some years, July sees an influx of Common Crossbill, presumably involving a high proportion of Scandinavian-bred birds. This July certainly lived up to its (cross)billing, as the BirdTrack reporting rate below shows. Furthermore, it wasn't just the more familiar Common Crossbill that arrived but also unusually large numbers of their much rarer cousin, Two-barred Crossbill. This species breeds in Scandinavia and eastwards, lending weight to the suggestion of a Scandinavian origin to these influxes. The geographic spread of the Two-barred Crossbill arrival was noteworthy: whilst influxes are often confined to or at least concentrated on the Shetland and Orkney islands, this year's arrival featured multiple records down the English east coast, from Spurn to East Anglia. 4 birds even had the good grace to spend a few days less than 15 minutes' drive from the Nunnery, providing a nice lunchtime distraction for many BTO staff members!

The Common Crossbill influx as reflected in the BirdTrack reporting rate.

A round-up of migration activity in early August wouldn't be complete without a mention of the seabirds passing through British and Irish waters at this time of year. Whilst southern Ireland has had the lions share of goodies (including up to 3 individual Fea's Petrel in one day, plus an even rarer Bulwer's Petrel), counts of several thousand Manx Shearwater have already been recorded from southwest Cornwall on several dates. Whilst this species breeds on offshore islands in Britain and Ireland, some of the other species already logged by seawatchers in the southwest have come from much further afield. At the end of July I was lucky enough to see a scarce Great Shearwater whilst on a 'pelagic' (a boat trip in search of pelagic seabirds). This species breeds no nearer than the island of Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic, one of only a very few species to migrate north to winter in the North Atlantic.

'My' Great Shearwater, a few miles south of Land's End.
Martin Elliott

Migration ends with a bang?

It’s not quite the end of the spring migration season – there is still plenty of time for a few surprises yet – but the remarkable sight of over 1,000 Spotted Flycatchers at Portland, Dorset, last weekend probably marks the beginning of the end for visible migration this spring.

Light northerlies here, coupled with a break in the weather further south, provided perfect conditions for those birds still held up on the continent to head north. Accompanying the Spotted Flycatchers were a few Wheatears, Willow Warblers, Whinchats, Reed Warblers and Garden Warblers in what must have been a true natural spectacle.

Whinchat by Ron Marshall

Late-spring rarities were also well represented in the shape of a very short-staying Crested Lark in Kent, a Black-headed Bunting on the Farnes, a new Savi’s Warbler in Devon, three Subalpine Warblers, one Eastern (Portland, Dorset) and two western (Fair Isle, Shetland and Bardsey Island, Gwynedd) and 2013’s first River Warbler (also on Fair Isle, Shetland). Add to this Hoopoe, Short-toed Lark, Red-spotted and White-spotted Bluethroat, Wryneck and a scattering of Bee-eaters and Red-backed Shrikes, it was amongst one of the best weeks this spring for overshooting/drift migrants.

Crested Lark by John Harding

With easterly airflow forecast until at least the early part of next week we could see more of the same but perhaps a top-drawer rarity might accompany them. The east coast ought to be the place to be and a Blue-cheeked Bee-eater would certainly draw a lot of birdwatchers that way.

The last few days of spring?

The last few days of May and diminishing returns from visible migration watchers usually marks the beginning of the end for spring migration. However, right now spring migration is still well under way.

House Martins are still being seen arriving in the low hundreds; 226 were counted passing overhead during a 90 minute sample count at Portland Bill, Dorset on 29 May;  these birds were also accompanied by good numbers of Swifts. The number of Spotted Flycatchers is more in keeping with mid-May than the end of May; looking at the BirdTrack reporting rate we can expect a few more yet.

BirdTrack reporting rate for Spotted Flycatcher

Southern and eastern overshoots have been much in evidence this week. Red-backed Shrike led the way with over fifty being reported, followed by Common Rosefinch, which were reported from Devon to Shetland, involving as many as twenty individuals.  A supporting cast of four each of Woodchat Shrike and Short-toed Lark, three Hoopoe and several Wrynecks were upstaged by a European Roller in Hampshire, the first there since 1987.

Red-backed Shrike by N. E. Wildlife

Top-drawer rarity value was added by a White-throated Sparrow in a private garden in Lincolnshire and a Balearic Woodchat Shrike in Orkney.

With high-pressure set to dominate over the weekend and into at least the early part of next week, the resultant relatively light northerlies and warmer temperatures could mean more of the same bird-wise, perhaps with the addition of some bird of prey movement that could include Honey-buzzards and maybe a Black Kite or two.

Eastern delights

The easterly airflow earlier in the week didn’t disappoint and there was a real flavour of the east. Around 100 Red-backed Shrikes were found, along with at least 15 Red-spotted Bluethroats and a handful of Ortolan Buntings. Other highlights included a Citirine Wagtail on the Outer Hebrides, a Paddyfield Warbler on Orkney and a Lesser Grey Shrike in Northumberland. Even with this supporting cast no-one could have foretold the finding of Britain’s first ever spring Dusky Thrush, found in the cemetery in Margate, Kent, an event which attracted over one thousand birders the day after its discovery.

Bluethroat by Edmund Fellowes

As the winds turned to the north-west mid-week, so did the attention and an impressive movement of Long-tailed Skuas began, an amazing 1,125 passed Aird an Runair, Outer Hebrides in two-and-a-half hours on the 22^nd.

BirdTrack reporting rate for Spotted Flycatcher

On the common migrants front, Spotted Flycatcher, Swift and House Martin are still below the norm for this time of the year, as shown by the BirdTrack reporting rate. However, with warmer weather and lighter winds forecast for next week maybe we will see them catch-up.

With that in mind, next week could see the arrival of more overshooting migrants from the south and east, with Monday/Tuesday looking the best time for this. A showy Calandra Lark would fit the bill nicely.

Spring not so Swift

To report that Swifts have arrived en masse might not seem that unusual for mid-May but their arrival this year has been far from the norm. The first arrivals were particularly early, Shetland recorded its earliest ever Swift on Fair Isle on 16 April, with the first in the country being on 23 March on St Agnes, Isle of Scilly. It wasn’t until the first few days of May that they became more widespread, however. But, when they did arrive it was in much smaller numbers; when Swifts arrive they normally arrive everywhere at once. That didn’t happen and it took a second wave of arrivals on 15 May for them to become truly widespread this spring.

The topsy-turvy weather has also held back Spotted Flycatchers, which are now running over a week later than normal.

So, where are we at so far this spring? Many of the early migrants that were running two to three weeks late have now caught up, Sand Martin is one of these that was very thin on the ground a few weeks ago. For some ID tips to separate these and other hirundines, take a look at the latest ID Video: Hirundines and Swift.  The warblers have pretty much caught up as far as arrival is concerned but are running a bit late when it comes to breeding, while for terns it is pretty much business as usual.

Turtle Doves are still very difficult to find but that might be more a sign of the times than a late arrival.

Turtle Dove by Jill Pakenham

It has been a reasonable spring so far for rarer migrants, the early part might be remembered for the influx of White-spotted Bluethroats, Subalpine Warblers and Woodchat Shrikes, whilst the Rock Thrush at Spurn will undoubtedly be a highlight for many. It is far from over yet though and the last half of May and first half of June can often host top-drawer rarities. We should also see the arrival of more of those late common migrants like Spotted Flycatcher, Nightjar and hopefully Turtle Dove.

So what does the weather promise this weekend? The forecast is for the weather to remain unsettled for at least the next few days but the winds will, at least on Sunday, have an easterly element in them, originating from Scandinavia.  Birds trying to head north through Northern Europe might get pushed west into the UK so there is a possibility of Red-backed Shrikes, Wryneck and possibly the odd Marsh Warbler.