Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2025 i Birdwatch

I’VE only ever seen one European Serin in Britain. That sole sighting concerned a female at Heacham, Norfolk, in early April 2007. It was at a time when the species still felt tantalisingly close to becoming a regular British breeder and my assumption back then was that I’d see plenty more as the years passed. In fact, the opposite has happened and serin nowadays feels like a rare bird here, despite climatic warming theoretically making the country more attractive to the species. Why is this? Ed Stubbs explores this curious conundrum in detail in this issue. I’m feeling energised for April. It’s often the most exciting month of the year in my area and I’m looking forward to searching for one of my favourite spring migrants–RingOuzel. You can read my…

Great Auk was a rare bird in documented times. Of course, it has been extinct since 1844. But even before that it was thought to have been scarce because there are so few places where it was known to have bred. Seven in fact, and only two in Britain: St Kilda, Outer Hebrides, and Papa Westray, Orkney. We can be certain that Great Auk once bred on St Kilda thanks to the survey conducted by the Gaelic-speaking scholar, Martin Martin, in 1697. Martin interrogated the residents to better understand how their primitive lives depended so much on the seabirds that bred on St Kilda’s rugged cliffs. Indeed, Martin’s 60-strong entourage was hosted by the locals and each given a daily ration of 18 Guillemot eggs and a barley cake (with…

A few years ago, I made a list of the countries I thought I’d never visit. Saudi Arabia was on that list because, at the time, you needed an invitation from a local to travel there and anyone thinking of wandering off into remote areas was likely to attract unwelcome interest. Fast-forward just a few years and Saudi Arabia is now easy to visit, and you can get an e-visa issued quickly. There are frequent flights and several tour companies are ready to take you birding there. I did not hesitate to visit – and I did not regret it, either. We saw more than 150 species in eight days and I added 15 new birds to my life list, despite numerous previous trips to the Middle East. Trailblazers Based…

This month’s panel includes: Keith Betton, Kit Day, Chris Harbard, Matt Phelps and Amy Robjohns APRIL. At a pinch, my favourite month of the year both in the garden and beyond. It’s a month of such promise, often starting still cold and damp but usually offering the occasional spells of warm weather and the first real signs of spring kicking into gear before the month is out. Wildlife-wise, in the garden I will be looking out for the first Orange-tip butterflies, Dark-edged Bee-flies and various bumblebee species including Red-tailed Bumblebee and the aptly named Early Bumblebee. April is the month when insects begin to appear in their masses, rather than just the early-emerging hibernating species seen in the dregs of winter in February and March. If you don’t already have…

IT is estimated that about 16% of the world’s bird species (approximately 1,700 species) hybridise in the wild and the number of hybrid combinations are increasing as more are recorded. Hybridisation usually takes place between closely related species but can also occur between different genera, although always within the same family. One recent study looked at eBird records from the US and found that of more than 330 million records, only about 200,000 were of hybrids. Of the 10 most commonly reported hybrids, six were among wildfowl, two among gulls and two among chickadees. Most hybrids are infertile and unable to breed, but the degree of infertility differs and female hybrid offspring are more likely to be infertile than males. Wildfowl are particularly prone to hybridisation. Diving and dabbling ducks…

RESEARCH has revealed that male Ruff travel far and wide in search of mating opportunities over the course of a single breeding season. The study on the polygynous and migratory wader species was led by Bart Kempenaers from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence in Germany. The team used satellite telemetry to track 99 male Ruff from the start of the breeding season. The data revealed that the males visited a median of 11 breeding sites, staying an average of two days per site and travelling a median of 4,435 km. The most adventurous males covered up to 9,000 km and visited as many as 23 sites, exploring a significant portion of the species’ breeding range. Mobility offers advantages to polygynous species, in which females undertake all parental care…

Every year, people brace themselves for April Fools’ Day. Celebrated for centuries, the first day of April is synonymous with practical jokes and wind-ups, and is recognised across the world. For British birders, however, this day will forever be remembered for producing one of the most unforgettable rarity stories ever to play out on these shores. At lunchtime on 1 April 2005, Staffordshire birder Roger Broadbent was walking along his local stretch of canal at Tixall when an unmistakable rattling call came from somewhere ahead of him. It was a sound he’d heard before in Cornwall in 1979, yet its identity seemed preposterous given the location. But sure enough, Roger wasn’t wrong as Britain’s third Belted Kingfisher materialised in front of him. Realising the date, the unlikely setting and the…

Despite it being an expectedly steady February across the region, there were still a few notable records which, combined with the smattering of lingering wintering goodies, made for an interesting month. Two rallid records made headlines in Western Europe, the first of which was a Purple Gallinule at Châtelaillon-Plage, a little north of Bordeaux on France’s Atlantic coast, on 6th. Unfortunately – but perhaps unsurprisingly – the bird was found dead. A first for France, its arrival coincided with freezing temperatures on the eastern seaboard of the US. A couple of weeks later, on 21st, news of Italy’s first Lesser Moorhen emerged. The bird had been found on the outskirts of Pisa on 2 January but fared better than the French gallinule, being successfully rehabilitated and released at Chiarone NR,…

Prior to 2011, White-billed Diver was classed as a vagrant in north-east Scotland. The species had been recorded on only 20 occasions in total and, with most birds noted as passing at sea, it was tricky for local observers to catch up with. However, little did we know that the status of this bird in the region was about to change significantly over a very short period of time. The catalyst to this change was when a single White-billed Diver was seen off Portsoy, on the north coast of Aberdeenshire, by Peter Osborn in April 2011. The bird was reported to the then county recorder Hywel Maggs who, along with Chris Gibbins, visited Portsoy on 25th. On a calm sea they were treated to the amazing sight of five White-billed…

Spring is a season of excitement and optimism for birders. The days are lengthening, the countryside is transitioning from browns and greys to verdant greens and, most importantly, familiar breeding migrants are arriving back on territory. Whether it’s the cascading song of a Willow Warbler or the first Yellow Wagtail calling overhead, tracking the return of common summer visitors is something we all look forward to with great anticipation. But alongside this, spring affords the opportunity for almost any patchbirder to connect with scarcer or more localised species on their way to breeding grounds elsewhere. One such bird is Ring Ouzel, a striking and large thrush that nests in the uplands of the UK as well as more widely across Scandinavia. Away from its breeding areas, this species is almost…

NOWADAYS, the range of people who photograph birds is just as wide as that of those who watch them. Of course, we all have something in common; an appreciation for birds and a longing to see them through the viewfinder. But beyond that, there’s quite a variation in what gives us the most pleasure from the hobby. For some it’s almost exactly that – a ‘tick’, an extension of the collector’s instinct that most of us possess to some extent. I’m not one for listing and have no idea how many species I’ve photographed, but there’s undeniable satisfaction in taking my first photos of a new species. At one extreme of the quality-versus-quantity scale are the professional wildlife photographers with the greatest reputations, who may take days or even weeks…

IT is hard to pick my best birding days from April – because there have been so many! Early on, when getting into patchbirding, I remember sitting along the seafront and marvelling at the stream of hirundines coming in off the sea – something I still enjoy doing. The dawn chorus is varied on my patch by mid-April, with Reed and Sedge Warblers making the reedbeds come alive, and Blackcaps and Common and Lesser Whitethroats in the scrub, joined by passing Willow and Garden Warblers and sometimes Grasshopper Warblers, plus occasionally something rarer. For example, I’ve had the pleasure of stumbling across a few Wood Warblers, each time being alerted to their presence by the distinctive trilling song. In April 2020 two walks stand out in my mind. The first, on…

THIS article covers mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands. More UK residents visit Spain than any other destination and surely the same must be true for birders. The country is easy to visit and has a fantastic range of birds, many of which never reach the UK or at best are hard to see here. Although the best birding is in spring and early summer, Spain has many migration watchpoints and attracts a good range of wintering species. Catalonia is one of the most impressive regions and considers itself to be independent. It has the largest potential day list for anywhere in Europe. Starting in Barcelona, the Ebro Delta is an outstanding marshland and is well set up for birding, with hides and easy access. Catalonia also has Dupont’s Lark,…

Viewed from Anstruther, the Isle of May sits long and low, a bit like a battleship, out to the south-east. It lies eight kilometres away off the Fife coast, at the entrance to the Firth of Forth. Known locally as ‘May Island’ or simply ‘The May’, it is not particularly big at 1.5 km long by 0.5 km wide, covering only 57 ha. The island’s cultural history stretches back thousands of years, but it has a better-documented and relatively more recent ecclesiastical history. The missionary Ethernan ministered to the Picts of Fife from the island until his death in 669. His burial site on the isle attracted many pilgrims and a small monastery was founded in the 12th century. In more modern times, lighthouses were the key feature, and Scotland’s…

On 18 February this year, a bright and cold day with an easterly wind, no fewer than four European Serins were found among a large Common Linnet flock at Sandwich Bay, Kent – two males and two females. Now, if you travelled back in time and explained to a birder in the late 1980s or early 1990s that a group of serins would be wintering in south-east England in the year 2025, they probably wouldn’t have been too surprised. Back then, it was widely believed that the species was set to colonise Britain – after all, breeding had been confirmed virtually every year between 1978 and 1985, and climate change-related avian predictions, the vast majority of which have since come to fruition, suggested this was just the beginning. However, colonisation…

Sharing a home with a bunting is a pleasure that few of us will have enjoyed unless, that is, you live in the Maghreb in northernmost Africa. Inhabitants of houses in villages and towns in much of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia especially have long been familiar with confiding little birds that are prepared to build their nests in holes in exterior walls and sometimes indoors, where a suitable ledge such as the top of a cupboard meets their requirements. Some observers have speculated that the birds are left unmolested because they are regarded as sacred. However, Moroccan birders confirm that this is certainly not the case – they are simply accepted by most people because they are harmless, attractive and very endearing in their fearlessness. The birds in question may…

Hawke Digi-Scope Smart Phone Adapter A smartphone adapter is a ‘must’ for most birders in order to achieve stability and the correct lens positioning when phonescoping, as well as providing the opportunity for hands-free operation. There are plenty on the market to choose from, some of which are significantly fiddlier to use than others. In order to simplify the process, Hawke recently released its quick and easy fix for attaching a smartphone to a telescope eyepiece. The adapter is predominantly reliant on a spring-based mechanism, which allows for quick attachment of both the smartphone to the adapter and the adapter to the telescope. I tried it out on the eyepieces of three different telescope brands, on which it worked perfectly. Simply squeezing the outer handles of the adapter towards each…

IN my formative birding years, Mediterranean Gull wasn’t a bird that I paid much attention to in my field guide. It was rare enough that I’d be unlikely to see one – and I probably wouldn’t be able to identify it anyway, as it looked a lot like the Black-headed Gull on the opposite page. Of course, the ID isn’t that difficult, and now the species is far more widespread than it was 30 years ago. This means that there’s more opportunity to appreciate what a handsome species Mediterranean Gull is. Spring adults are particularly stunning and April is a great month to photograph them. They should all be in peak condition by this time, and there will be plenty of interesting courtship behaviour and activity to photograph. The pure…

Sparrow twitch IT was great to read your recent tribute to the Cley White-crowned Sparrow (Birdwatch 392: 6-7), with a superb photo of the bird from Kit Day, which reminded me of my own twitch to see it. How well I remember that day, even if it was 17 years ago now. I motored up from Hertfordshire to the North Norfolk coast, parked in the village and walked down to the end of the driveway, where on that day there were only a couple of dozen birders present. And there, halfway up the driveway, was the subject of all their attention. Of course, the yellow collection bucket was filled with everyone’s loose change. We returned several years later to see the sparrow in the commemorative stained-glass window. I remember that…