Welcome to the Bird Guides podcast with me, Josh Jones, and I'm joined today by David Campbell. Hi, David. How are you? Hiya, not bad. How's it going? Very good, thank you very much. And Ian Lysic's here too. How are you doing, Ian? I'm all right, thanks, Josh. I'm yeah, feeling pretty good, thanks Good stuff. And yeah, we're recording in the days shortly after Global Bird Fair's come to pass. , Just recovering after a long and busy and exciting weekend in the sun. How did you guys find the event?
The Friday was like a sauna in the marquees, but it's always great to see so many familiar faces. , I think this is the s- something like the 27th bird fair I've done, so quite a lot of the familiar faces I've seen for many years. We've all got slightly older, fatter, grayer, or bald together. Yeah, always good to catch up with people in the tents and, talk birds for people from all around the world. Great. Loved it And tw- 27 bird fairs for you, Ian, but that was your first as a,, well, on the Bird Guides team at least anyway, David. Yeah, and my first at all for probably the best part of 10 years. So yeah, my first since it was reincarnated, since it's become Global Birdfair and since it's moved location. And yeah, the heat dialed down over the course of the weekend, and it became increasingly comfortable. Yeah, it was lovely to meet familiar faces and new people coming up, introducing themselves, saying they read the magazine and enjoy it. Yeah, had a great time
was preventing island extinctions, which was dedicated to the endemic birdlife of São Tomé. so some mega world birds there, things that are found nowhere else on Earth, especially in the island's forests. So species such as dwarf ibis, São Tomé grosbeak, Newton's fiscal, all these kind of dream world birds. And this year's fair was raising funds to protect them for the future. , Yeah, it was, it was... All in all, I think it was a really good success. It was as you guys said, it was really hot on, on the Thursday and Friday. Setting up on the Thursday in 35-degree heat was pretty intense. , But yeah, it was pretty pleasant thereafter. and yeah, it was-- Overall, I think it was a pretty big success, the event. , It was good to see that we were able, , once again to donate a good chunk of money as well to the cause. , Official stats I think were just over £20,600 that we were able to donate to this year's cause, which was no mean feat, and credit to Ian for his work on that
We are the official media sponsor, so we produce the bird fair program, , and have done for, again, 27, 28 years. So yeah, a long-standing tradition. So do you know what the grand total is so far to date? But about 385,000 I think over, over all those years. So bad. Not bad. Yeah. Yeah feat at all Absolutely. Yeah, impressive , Anything particularly stand out to you? Any favorite stands that you, you visited or any, any sort of products that jumped out at you guys? The art marquee is one of my weaknesses. I always do a round of that. I did a couple of rounds, and it was lovely to meet,, Ruth Weaver, who's got her fabulous art column every month in the expert advice section of Birdwatch Magazine. I was very tempted to buy one of her tea towels, but didn't get to go round again. So I ordered a magnolia warbler print from her when I got home. But it was lovely to, put a face to the name there Yeah, some very talented artists,, displaying their wares in the art marquee
Artists there as well. As always Harriet Mead was there, Richard Allen, and one or two others. Some really lovely pieces of work on show. Yeah, loads of names to, and faces to talk about. It was great to see so many people. Of course first and foremost, Tim Appleton and Penny as well for their tireless work, on making the show a success. Great to see them. They were pretty busy as always, but yeah, lovely to to see them, smiles on their faces. Yeah, and we had some contributors come by, Lucy and Mike, Lucy McRobert and Mike Hallibone, who are regular in the magazine. They called by a couple of times. Lovely to see those Yeah, Michael loves his optics and he gets his gets his hands on all the new stuff when it comes out at Bird Fair and goes away and has a play with it to do a review for Birdguides, Birdwatch Did you um, any particular products that stood out? Anything new and exciting that caught your eyes?
suppose, um, for them. I think it's sits just below their top sort of, it's not quite the Swarovski Hubble, but it's a slightly lighter I think 65 mil objective. So had a look through that. That was as sharp and crisp as you would expect. I'm sure Mike will be reviewing that in the near future and letting us know what he thinks of it Yeah, very nice. What about you, David? I was just enamoured, as by the AT Balance, which has been out for a little bit longer, but it was my first chance to get my hands on it. And yeah, I went to the optics marquee, scanned behind the trees and distance, just able to track buzzards and corvids wheeling around in the sky with no effort. As a bit of a tripod y- struggler, let's put it that way the prospect of a scope that really works without a tripod is pretty exciting to me. So that's something to, yeah, put on the list for something to get
stood out to me are one or two interesting phone scoping adapters inc- incorporating magnetics which seemed, I think will surely end up being very popular. You don't see too many of them at the moment out and about in the field, but surely they're gonna be the uh, the next in thing for making phone scoping easier and quicker Did you try any of those? Yeah, tried a couple at the fair, and they were... I was pretty impressed with how efficient they seemed. I don't know if you guys have done much phone scoping, but I've done Yeah, badly and yeah, and it's either handholding and wobbling about or using a slightly clunky adapter. Some of the original ones are, You l- look at these, this new generation of products coming through, and you kinda look at the older stuff like some of the ones that and they're a little bit clunky to say the least. But anyway more on that in due course. As Ian says, I'm sure there'll be plenty of reviews to come in the coming months judging by the amount of exciting new products that were on show. But less about products, what about food, guys? What what really caught your eye and what did you enjoy eating over the weekend? 'Cause there's always plenty to go at
cart, didn't he? And that did-- that lived up to expectations. The halloumi wrap was pretty cool Emilio's, yeah, very good. I was there every day , ravaging it I had a crack at the the Indian street food, which was which was very good. Nice spicy chicken curry couple of days. Main highlight was the Brockleby's pies, which are excellent pies for those who are a pie monger. I snaffled a big bag of those on the last day, brought them home, and was received like the returning hero by the rest of the family. So, uh, uh, not, not, not, Not so much, you know, "Oh, you're back." It's like, you know, "Oh, he's brought pies." And it's like, "Yeah." Yeah. The crowd went wild. So yeah, they were really good Very good. Yeah, overall though, a successful weekend for Birdwatch and Bird Guides. As alluded to previously, we had plenty of people stop by the stand and were happy with what we do, and also some really nice constructive feedback as well, which is also welcome of course. But yeah, plenty...
Adventures team. I'm sure many of you will have seen some of their twitching videos on YouTube over recent months and years. It was also good to catch up with the Birding Girlies. That's Alicia and Tash. It was really nice to meet them, and they've just had a column in the August issue of Birdwatch, so it was good to put faces to the names there. And Wayne Glossop, Harriet Day, they also dropped by. And of course actor Sam West, who of... Who was of course recently on Channel 5. David, you watched a bit of that, didn't you? Yeah, I really enjoyed that. They started off in Cornwall and they visited Somerset and Norfolk in that series as well. Yeah, it was a bit of a surprise when he came around the corner and we met eyes and went over and, yeah, said how much we'd enjoyed the show. So yeah, lovely to meet Sam West. Very nice. And I suppose bird fair being in July, it's not the birdiest time of year, 'cause I always remember when it was originally in down at Egerton Reserve in mid to late August, it could be quite a birdie time with return migration kicking in. But nonetheless, we did manage to see a few birds around the fair as well, didn't we, guys?
Yeah. Fantastic. It's really... getting out of bed early was a bit of a struggle, particularly after the foot- the football on the Saturday night, but well worth it. Yeah, really enjoyed having a look around your local zone and yeah, as David said, scored a few year ticks. Some really nice quail action, and really great just to see things like corn buntings in big numbers, which is a bit of a scarce down where I am in Southern Essex. And yellowhammers really don't get many of those anymore. So yeah, great to be out And that flock of cranes was spectacular, wasn't it? Yeah. Tremendous. They make such a great noise. Love listening to cranes Yeah I always, as I said to you at the time, it You have to pinch yourself sometimes and realize that this is literally on your back doorstep. Five, six years ago, that would've been pretty much unheard of, and now they're just part of the furniture. So very lucky. But yeah, some other good stuff. I'm just sorry that I couldn't show you that brood of red-crested pochard which I'd seen on the Thursday, but at least we managed to see one or two adults That was fantastic. good
little owl in a few years, didn't you, Ian? Yeah, first little owl for a couple of years, which I don't know quite how I keep missing them. Used to have a pair over the back of the George, but they seem to have gone missing, so that's, again, it's another bird that's got slightly harder to find locally Yeah, same here It's the same here as well. We had we did do a feature on it in Birdwatch a couple of years ago about this remarkable decline that seems to be occurring in little owl and for reasons unknown, although I think there are some suspicions. I have my own suspicions that, that buzzards might have something to do with it. But yeah, even round here, in peak farmland, y- you would expect to be seeing more, but really I, I don't see many at all these days. So it was a lovely surprise to see that one sitting out on a barn early in early in morning in the low sun. So was fantastic. It was, if if you asked AI to generate a, a ramshackle old farm building that would have a little owl on it, it would've come up with exactly that Exactly, yeah
so there you go But we saw the family of kestrels as well, didn't we, on the road? Yeah, that'll be the family there. They'd obviously just not long fledged, had they? The jubbs were flopping around on the road looking a bit confused as to what was going on, a bit unsure about why they were suddenly able to fly. But good... It's, gets that sort of good midsummer patch birding feel where it's just about appreciating your local birds a little bit more closely. Yeah tremendous. And the marsh harriers drifting around in the background over the crops it felt like we were in Southern Spain 'cause it was, just a great feel. Quail calling from different points. Yeah, really nice. Loved it Yeah, good times. And a few a few waders in the murk of Sunday morning. There was obviously a few black-tailed godwits dropping in, weren't there? And one or two other bits, green sandpipers. So yeah, it feels like wader passage is pretty much sys- all systems go now, and I suspect over the next few weeks it's gonna pick up further Definitely. Yeah, I've had a bit of action down at my patch last night. Things are definitely moving through now
weather, great to catch up with so many friends, old and new, and yeah, all, all round a really fun weekend. But anyway, let's move on. We're gonna talk a bit about some of the recent sight- major sightings around the country. It's been a few weeks since we actually recorded the first episode. And it's been ri- really rather a busy July so far. We-- July can often be pretty productive for rarities and more on that in a future pod. But yeah, I think July 2026 will be fondly remembered in years to come not least for the long-toed shrike. Long-toed shrike? Long-tailed shrike that has turned up in Fife recently Yeah, which got us both moving, didn't it? It did, yeah. Only the second for Britain after a bird in November 2000 up on South Uist. I think that was only a two-day bird officially, but I think the record-- the rarity archive says something along the lines of it was possibly there since the 27th of October because there had been a possible red-backed shrike reported in the immediate area.
suspicion is it had been there for a week or so. But of course, that was a rather infamous bird because I think it occurred in, a time when people... i, I'm not entirely sure exactly what happened. Was it something to do with, Does anyone - know the exact story there? Yeah. One of my birding mentors back in the day was Johnny Allen, who was on that twitch, and I also dug out James Hannan's brilliant book UK 500 Birding in the Fast Lane to relive that ta- well, to live that tale vicariously. Which sounds must be the grimmest twitch dip that's ever befallen anyone. Where Johnny and James and a few others chartered a very small fishing boat, I think it was, over to Southwest with a view to not having to stay overnight, get back there quicker, see the bird quicker, and their engine cut out halfway across when a storm was coming out. They were overtaken by the scheduled boat.
tried to get over again, but by that time it had gone, and others, including James, just sacked off and went home. So it sound... i'm sure they're glad today that goes to rest. Yeah, it's 26 years. I can't believe that. That's mad. I seem to vaguely recall that bird occurring at the time, and to fact- to think that was 26 years ago is quite remarkable. I presume you you didn't bother with that one and you didn't think about it? I did not know. But yeah the tales of Russian tankers coming alongside the boat to make sure that, they didn't sink or get turned over in the waves whilst they waited for the the RNLI to come out and tow them back. Yeah one of the, one of the big stories from the annals of twitching, that one. I think when the RNLI got there, I think a few of the guys asked them if they wouldn't mind towing them the rest of the way. But Worth trying Yeah. but that was declined.
the 15th WP record. And even more surprisingly, it's actually been curiously rare in recent years. This is the this bird in Fife that has been around lately is the first regional record since one in Switzerland in 2018. So eight years have passed not just a big British bird, but a big regional bird as well. So when it turned up and the mega alert broke, I think it was a Sunday morning, wasn't it? Or a Sun- maybe a Sunday early afternoon thinking about it. No doubt there was quite a few people breaking out in a sweat and, fumbling around for the car keys before jumping into their vehicles to head up to Fife Sam was quick off the mark, and then we were a couple of days later. I think we made it up on the way-- the last day, which was the Wednesday, right? Yeah, so it was a four, four days, was it, in total? Yeah S- so I-- to be honest seen the bird we went up on, on the Wednesday, as you say. Having seen the bird and seen the kind of the state of the plumage I was not expecting it to disappear. I was expect-- fully expecting that bird to be there for weeks.
like the red-tailed shrike in Benson Yeah, was that 2022 or 2023? One of the two. And yeah, I was just expecting it to sit there and molt really and give itself up to all and sundry for weeks. But evidently the bird had other ideas. But yeah, big twitch up to Fife, and quite a nice-- actually talking about farmland birds as we were a short while ago, that was a really nice spot for farmland birds as well, wasn't it, Dave? Yeah, it felt like stepping back in time. But as soon as we got out the car, we heard Tree Sparrow, Corn Bunting, and the whole walk, which was, I don't know, a mile or so to the bird we were hearing those species a-along with Yellow Wagtails singing in the fields, Meadow Pipits with food. Yeah, it felt like stepping back a few decades. And o-evidently the farmers are managing it, th-their land with nature in mind, which is brilliant to see. Just shows it can be done.
had David's dog, Nevis, with us, so I was squashed into the back of David's car with this big, white, furry dog oh, on top of me droo- drooling into my lap, which was quite good value. But no, we got up there late morning, but by that point it was pretty warm, wasn't it? It was warm, it was windy. The sun was blazing down. The strike hadn't been seen for about an hour or so by the time we got there, and w- we were there about an hour and a half before it finally popped out. But I must admit, I was fearing a dip at one point Yeah, in hindsight, it, we, it probably wasn't the best timing, was it? 'Cause it's that kinda midday sni- shrike snoozy time when they often, get their heads down and digest whatever they've been eating in the morning. And sparrows I think for much of the time it was right Oh yeah, you said your mate had seen it eat a tree sparrow, Oh, I didn't realize that. Wow. Shredded that would take it a while to digest.
it-- I got similar vibes to you, but thankfully it was spotted just sitting quietly in a little gap and showed there for a few minutes, grabbed another caterpillar, and then dived back in Yeah it was quite entertaining actually watching. It was very hazy, but, and it wa- the bird was quite distant, but was sitting there looking very intently, and as shrikes do, suddenly dropped off its perch and emerged with this great big green caterpillar, which it proceeded to whack against the tree for a couple of minutes before gobbling up. Yeah, good value Oh, they're Yeah family, aren't they, shrikes? Never get tired of watching them. As you say, butcher birds nailing other wildlife and bashing it on twigs or logs and then skinning it and chomping on it. Really exciting, really good A-absolutely. I, as I said earlier though I'm genuinely surprised that bird's gone, and I feel it might still be there. I don't know what you guys think, but m- it wouldn't surprise me one bit if it's just, moved a couple of fields away and it's out of view from public rights away, and it's just happily sitting there molting away in Fife at the moment Yeah Could it then is
get the Batmobile into action during the first week, but I had a plan to meet a mate up in Barnsley, leap in with him and plow on up if it had still been around. I was convinced it was just gonna stay around and molt and do that red-tailed strike at Bempton did. It seems extraordinary that it's gone. I'd love to know where it actually is But I, it must be in Scotland Yeah. It was getting hounded a fair bit, I think by the buntings. I didn't see that personally, but I saw people commenting that the yellow hammers were giving it a hard time, and Hounded by the buntings. so you wouldn't blame it I'm not, surprised when it was eating their children, they should... Exactly, That's not-- They're not gonna take S- it, are they? Oh dear. Um, yeah,, Yeah, so it's g- a, a really big bird and I think a lot of people probably saw it, probably four figures perhaps over the four days I would guess. There were certainly quite a few people there when we saw it, and no doubt there would've been a big crowd through on the Sunday.
that kind of got more regular in Europe. I think there was a run of the species between, I don't know, about 2006 and 2016, that sort of decade where there were at least five or so birds in Europe, plus a regularly returning bird in Kuwait. Then they bred in Kazakhstan in 2016 in inside the West Pal part of Kazakhstan. And you just thought here we go. Yet another one of these sort of Asian or Siberian birds which is spreading west and it's become, gonna become more regular." And it's not proved that way. It's evidently gone back to being a real extreme rarity. So yeah, nice one to see. I'm just sorry it didn't linger long enough for you, Ian Indeed. Hope it's not 26 years before the next one. And hopefully the next one will be in Norfolk or Suffolk, which would make life a lot easier
that they could slowly creep this way. Maybe they'd become commoner over time, but surely it'll take a while. Yeah. In-i-indeed. And yeah, you say hopefully it's not gonna be another 26 years, Ian, but it, no jokes aside it does seem to be like a generational bird in Britain. Once in a generation bird. It's yeah. Let's see what happened. But it wouldn't surprise me if it, if it shows up again before the end of the summer again somewhere. Whether that's just where it is now or just along the coast somewhere we'll have to wait and see. But yeah, there will be a finders account on BirdGuides and in Birdwatch at some point very soon I am sure. Um, Actually that's one of three ticks I've had in the last month. I remember after saying in, in our inaugural pod that I was a failed twitcher, I've actually had three British ticks in the last Oh, 'cause you got over for the heron in the end, didn't you?
was over there with my mum anyway looking at fen orchids in June. So it w- would've been rude not to drive the extra 20 minutes down the road and pay homage to that bird. So yeah, I'm on a bit of a roll at the moment, guys. Yeah, pretty it up Okay. We're gonna take a short break. We'll be back very shortly with the second part of today's pod Welcome back to the Bird Guides Podcast. In the second part of today's pod, we're going to be discussing some of the recent rarities that have turned up. As mentioned before the break, it's been quite an entertaining July so far with lots of big birds showing up around the country. Not least the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater that was found on Papa Westray on, on the 13th. Still present there as we record on the 15th. Ian, you're making some grumbles there
June, that I wanted to see one of those. And would be very happy if someone could find one. But finding one on Papa Westray wasn't really what I had in mind 'cause that's that could well as it's could be a different country as far as I'm concerned with my ability to get there. So yeah, that was a bit annoying, but, great for those that can get there and see it. I know our colleague Sam has been up, and rapid reaction as always from Sam. I think he's one of those sleeper assassins that just wakes for the-- waits for the call and then heads off with his bag and goes and gets his target yeah, it's you know what? It remains one of the hardest birds to twitch, doesn't it, in, in anywhere in Britain? One of the, one of the ... 'cause it is a rare bird. This is, I think this is the 18th overall, give or take, so it is a d- very rare bird. But it's, it occurs regularly enough that you think it's gonna fall at any point. It feels every year it's, it might And often in July Yes. Yeah, Yeah. Yeah, Yeah
before you can ev- even react. But however, this is the exception, so this is, we're recording on day three of the bird's stay. It's still there. And yeah, it looks like Sam had a pretty successful day out with some really nice views on Papa Westray yesterday. I'm just trying to think if you guys, will you guys have dipped a blue cheeked bee-eater at some point down the l- down the years? I managed to miss the one in almost the same date actually, 12th of July 1989, which was that was a twitchable one in, I think it was in Lincolnshire. I was at a girlfriend's house in Stamford, Lee Hope at the time. And obviously in the days before bird guides didn't hear about it until it was too late and it had gone. Missed that one. And then missed that one in Kent fairly recently by an hour. So yeah, got a bit of history with blue-cheeked bee-eater
anymore, for example, about blue-cheeked bee-eater. But yeah, this is the fifth blue-cheeked bee-eater since 2019 in Britain, so it does seem to be becoming a bit more regular. Whether that's related to climate change or warming summers r- who knows? But yeah, trick- tricky bird to see, although the one la- there was one last year, wasn't there? There was one last year. Was Yeah, I can't remember where that was now. It was in Argyll somewhere Oh, yeah That's right. It's on Iona, I think, wasn't it? Yeah, a few peop- few people saw it, didn't they? Yeah, but they must have got out of the out of the tracks pretty quickly, 'cause it was I think it was unconfirmed news in an evening. So you had to get across to Islay, across Islay and over to oh, Mull, across Mull and over to Iona to see it the following morning, and then it disappeared very quickly, didn't it? Yeah basically went on unconfirmed news
someone who's got some beehives or something and sit there for a week. That would be ideal I can really imagine one at Beachy Head or Dungeness, or maybe who knows even my patch, Hastings Country Park up at the cliff tops or South Foreland. I'm sure it won't be too long a wait before there's a mainland one like that 2009 Kent bird that does actually not fly out to sea as soon as people start going Yes, one of my one of my mates Dave Mayers he turned up at the car park there and set off towards where this thing had been catching dragonflies off a hedge. And he he stopped to talk to a couple of people who were asking, "What, what's going on?" And another birder shot past him without stopping. And as Dave was explaining, there's a, a rare bee-eater. The bee-eater actually flew over Dave's head circled around, dropped over the cliffs, and presumably headed back to the continent, and the fella that had rushed past him missed it. Dave was very lucky
his way to see it, and I think he had a puncture or something similar. Something minor went wrong with his car anyway, so he had to stop and do some repairs. I'm pretty sure it was a puncture. And it was that cost him the birbies. He got there about an hour too late. I think I got as far as the Dartford Bridge for that one. I basically just went down on, it's hit and hope really. You thought may- maybe it'll come back," but no, that was it. Gone. yeah. I missed it by an hour. But there you go. You can't win 'em all One bird we have had a bit more success with, I, I presume we all have, is Hudsonian Godwit. Have you guys seen Hudsonian Yeah, I saw that one in Somerset. Was that same as you, Ian? No, I've, I saw the one, one in Blacktoft in May 1983, slightly You're ahead of the game there For many years you would've had a blocker, wouldn't you? Yes, indeed
latest in a pretty remarkable run of records of the species in Britain. If you go back to 2020, so this decade this is the sixth, would you believe, that has turned up. They're extraordinary yeah, it was a juvenile in Fife in late 2020. Male in Shetland, summer 2023. Then a male on the Dee Estuary on the Welsh-English border the following August. And then as the female in Hampshire that you mentioned, David, in May 2025, and now of course this one. Sorry, it's the fifth, not the sixth. But yeah, remarkable Yeah, and do Yeah, I wonder what's behind that d-d-- Was this one in Portugal shortly before it turned up in, at Mensmere as well? As I'd... Do I... Yeah that's right. It-- Yeah, it was seen in Portugal on the 26th of June, so quite an interesting journey really. What was it doing? Perhaps has it just crossed the Atlantic, hit Portugal, and then continued northeast? Fascinating to know where it's been and where it's going.
in-- the female that was in Somerset in 2015 which a lot of people turned up for. It was a massive twitch for that bird. It was the first British record for 27 years at the time. Yeah. Yeah So for there to have been this run seems pretty, pretty mad. See how long it lasts for Yeah indeed. T- it might seem barmy saying it, but it's now the sort of thing that I one day might hope to see locally, which five years ago I never would have said. We get such a huge buildup of Icelandic black-tailed godwits in the Peterborough area on the Nene washes in, in spring that you just think may- maybe it's not out the the realms of possibility. And of course, as Ian t- alluded to, this relocation, this in- international relocation between Portugal and England. Amazing really, and it did prompt an office discussion on some of the more extraordinary rarity relocations, and we're thinking about lining up a feature for Birdwatch on some of these. But are th- a- are there any particular ones that stand out to you guys just off the top of your heads?
down in Devon that sort of relocated across. I think it went ah, did it go to Pulborough Brooks and then Yes Then it went north, and it was seen in the sort of Yorkshire zone or somewhere. It is Northumberland, wasn't it? It's quite near where Alan Tilmouth Yeah, lives, I believe. Yeah. That is amazing 'cause especially for a passerine. I was gonna say waders really lend themselves well to relocations 'cause they're conspicuous. They turn up in places where birders go. But to relocate a passerine like that is, is really quite extraordinary, isn't it? Yeah, I did see a desert wheat here at Langard, I think back in the sort of late '80s that was then refound the following day in Devon. That, that was a bit of a hop for it Yeah, I remember there was an Ameler stonechat or what was called Steneger's stonechat for a w- for a while. There was one at Portland. I think it was one of the first ones, I think, and that had been in the Netherlands beforehand. And I f- have to- I have a feeling that there might have been a sh- the odd shrike that has relocated as well off the top of my head.
think. But it does lead nicely into our next talking point, which is the trumpeter finch that was on Fair Isle for three days in late June. Some photo analysis has showed this to be the bird that was on the Saltee Islands in County Wexford back at the end of May, early June. So yeah, a- an absolutely extraordinary relocation of a passerine. A- another one that just stands out. It's what are the chances of that happening? Yeah, and you wonder where it was in between Yeah, indeed. What was it doing? Where was it here? Was it somewhere in Northern Ireland or the Western Isles or something like that? Yeah. But it added itself to the Irish list and the Faroe list, right? So it, it was quite a significant addition to both 'cause yeah, Ireland had been waiting a long time for one, and it looked like it was gonna be Faroe's 400th bird, didn't it? But then they realized they missed out a species, and they'd actually already got there with a parula in the spring
small island, isn't it really? More than, to go past 400 species. Incredible Yeah Talking about yeah, rarities and the kind of ebb and flow of records guess Trumpeter Finch is opposite really to Hudsonian Godwit because it's actually the first British record since 2011, bird Lundy so fif-15 years ago. And you guys will recall fondly that bird was the... was the latest individual in a, an amazing run, of nine different Trumpeter Finches in the space of seven years following four birds in 2005, which included the famous Langgaard bird that attracted loads and loads of people. And then there were three in 2008, and then one in 2010. So yeah, it's just funny how these birds can feel like suddenly they're becoming really quite regular, and then all of a sudden fall off a cliff again, and you don't get one for years and years.
big twitch. Lots of people there, lots of happy punters. There had actually been one at Pagham in May '84 that was there for a few days, but that one unfortunately got taken by a sparrowhawk, which displeased some people who were turning up to see it. Can imagine. Is it still here, was the question, and did you see that sparrowhawk on your way past?" He's "Yep." It was carrying the trumpeter finch no sorry, sorry fellas, it's effectively gone. Yeah. It's, it is still here, but whether it's still breathing is another Exactly. It's in bits. So which did which did you see, Josh? Yeah, I saw the lan guard one as well. Oh, you did? Okay Yeah. I saw that on the second day. I think it broke and loads of people went down on the day 'cause I think it broke quite early, so there was a massive twitch on the first day, but I went the next morning. But, there were loads of people there as well for that one.
gonna be a bird that showed up every couple of years, but not proven that way. , So onto the next, where there was a brown booby seen on the 14th of July at Be-Bempton Cliffs, photographed from the cliffs. Feels to me like it could be the first of quite a few this year, guys Oh, yeah. I talk about very warm sea temperatures in the sort of North Atlantic and our zone, so you'd expect there to be yeah, some very interesting seabird records turning up. You think... yeah, Scillonian waters are, At the moment we've got this big flow of easterly winds coming off the continent, which is not much good for for seabird watching particularly, but you'd think when they eventually turn around it's gonna drive some interesting things in.
bubble bursts, you'd imagine that the tap will turn on for seabirds, that's for sure Yeah, I'll be keeping a close eye on the weather, seeing when to pop down to West Cornwall Yeah, definitely. Definitely. You guys seen Brown Booby? Got the one in Cornwall, the second one that's ended up in Cornwall, immediately after the first at the Lizard. That was one I got. Penance Cove. That's the one Yeah, I saw that one as well. Yeah. Yeah think I must be one of the few birders yet to see one in Britain, I think That was great spot, Cunnance Cove. Just standing on the cliffs, and the booby had actually s- decided it was gonna roost round the other side of a small offshore island, so you couldn't actually see it, so you had to assume it was there. And then eventually it came piling out and started fishing in the bay put on a really good show. Yeah, job done, and then it was off to find a pasty, which was successfully snagged as well. So a good day all in all
Since we recorded the first pod back in June the bird of course had returned south back to Pembrokeshire where I saw it. And that's also where it had originally been seen back in, i- in mid-May. Lovely place, the Gan Estuary, but no sign now for a few days, and you just wonder where's it gone? Where's it gonna turn up next? Any thoughts? Ah have a spread bet. Yeah. There's so many different sort of little coastal spots around there that would suit a reef heron. You wonder if it'll just stay local during the summer, or if it's got the wanderlust and it'll maybe turn up in Ireland or something like that I could imagine it prancing around the Hay estuary. That would be a nice way to get it. 'Cause I still-- I had two or three half-hatched plans to go including post-bird fair, and of course then it vanishes, so I'm counting on it rearing its head again. Really sat on my laurels for that one.
summer back south, but, given that birds in Spain and France have ended up putting in really extended stays that have, some cases been into the years you do wonder if it is gonna just hang around, bit like the snowy egret did all those years ago and, just spend a couple of years touring around un- until it disappears into the ether. Yeah. And even if worst case something has happened to it where it's already gone I think with these influxes into Spain, Italy, France of reef herons that seems to happen basically every late spring now, it won't be long before another one, gets this far north again Yeah, indeed. I'm sure. Couple of other little snippets of interest. I was- late news broke on the 2nd of July of a little swift in Highland Scotland had been seen on the 6th of June. unsurprisingly, it was the first record for the Scottish Highlands. And actually it's the first British record anywhere since that really bizarre occurrence in Eastbourne on the 2nd of January 2023. - Have you got some beans to spill on that one, David?
was a day. I went over to meet up with Mark Reid, who you mentioned earlier, in Eastbourne, we were birding for the morning. He was gonna carry on and do some woodland birding. And I made my way back to Worthing, where I lived at the time. And literally as soon as I got to the door, the alert came through, and I drove straight back to Eastbourne, and it had gone. Yeah, that was a period of high pressure. Winter, obviously, but that, wift- wafted that up north and hoping for another chance in Sussex before too long. Yeah, odd record. There was the one in Ireland in Ch-- Christmas, was it? I seem to recall a few years ago. Yeah, yeah, that was My winter job
Sweden in November 2016. So yeah, very rare bird, but you feel like given our run of American sparrows, there's a good chance that that it's gonna show up here at some point That's on the cards yeah. I think, with the amount of cruise liners that are going across the Atlantic these days, it's highly probable that something like that might sneak on board. Many of them are just floating islands these days, aren't they? So there's plenty of food and habitat to keep one happy until it passes Southampton and leaps off. And then you have the debate about ship assistance and whether you can truly count these things. This Iceland one's also just hopped off a boat, hasn't it? Wasn't it sea-- Wasn't there one seen on a boat a few months ago in the Nor- in the North Atlantic? It was very recently. There was a bird, there was one on a cruise ship that left North America very recently and was going into Reykjavik. It's coincidental. Almost... There's probably a very good chance it's the same bird. But, th- this raises the question about ship-assisted birds and what we do with them, whether we count them, and so on and so forth.
day, guys. So, yeah. your, lots to get your teeth into there. But yeah, we'll perhaps have a chat about that at some point on a future pod. But that's all we've got time for today, I'm afraid, guys. Good to catch up as always, and yeah, good to see you looking happy and healthy after a long and tiring weekend in the hot sun at Birdfair. But yeah, we'll be back very soon with another episode of the Bird Guides podcast. In the meantime you can follow us on socials. Please like and subscribe to our podcast and give us a review. . If you're interested in anything to do with birds and birding in Britain and Ireland, and indeed beyond new users are entitled to a , month-long free trial for Bird Guides, which will give you access to our popular Bird News app. And in the meantime, we'll say bye for now and see you soon. Cheerio Cheers
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