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November 2008
Remember, remember the 5th of November,
1976 to be exact. Wallcreeper at Cheddar !!
After the excesses of October, things start to quieten down pretty quickly as the long nights advance upon us. It's definitely time to be booking that winter holiday or setting your new birding targets for 2009.
But if October has only fired up your enthusiasm to spend more time in the field then hang in there; November has its own list of extreme rarities - this year could be no exception.
Species almost guaranteed to turn up in the early part of November include more Dusky Warblers, Olive-backed Pipit and Desert Wheatear. A White-tailed Eagle should make it across the North Sea. Black Brant, American Wigeon, Lesser Scaup and Ring-necked Duck will arrive with their Eurasian cousins. But check those flocks carefully - even rarer species may be present. Check inland waterways and lakes for a displaced juvenile Night Heron and reedbeds for Penduline Tit.
In the harbours look out for an Ivory Gull or a White-billed Diver. They'll be one somewhere. Further out seawatching should produce good numbers of Little Auk as well as Grey Phalorope and Pomarine Skua.
November 2008 might be good for an irruption of Parrot Crossbills or even Nutcracker (keep some rotting apples on the lawn !). With three species of Redpoll, have you sorted out the differences yet - if not this month is your best chance to compare all three together.
Major rarities that seem to make a habit of turning up in November include Little Crake, Killdeer and Desert Warbler; whilst three species of swift, Little, Chimney and Pallid all have a liking, amazingly, for this month. But don't hold your breath.
November also holds an array of extreme rarities, including a number that are high on many a top birders most wanted list. Remember (or not!) the Houbara Bustard in 1962; Brown Thrasher in 1967; Wallcreepers in 1969 and 1976; Belted Kingfisher in 1979 and Varied Thrush in 1982. Could we hope for a repeat performance from one of these stars ?
November 2007: An obliging Pechora Pipit in Wales attracted plenty of admirers although the Mourning Doves in Scotland and Ireland were rarer. A Finish-ringed juvenile White-tailed Eagle in Hampshire was encouraged to settle down thanks to a kind-hearted landowner. A Pied Wheatear in Devon and three more Desert Wheatears were no surprise. Violent storms drove some 30,000 Little Auks into the North Sea along with unprecedented numbers of Pomarine Skuas and two East coast Brunnich’s Guillemots. Yet another belated identification of a Greater Yellowlegs continued to keep this species off many birders’ lists. The Pacific Diver returned to Mounts Bay, Cornwall for at least its second winter, whilst the adult White-billed Diver continued to loiter off Sussex.
November 2006: the belated news of a Long-billed Murrelet in Devon was surely too much to believe, but when it was found the very next day it was to spark the biggest twitch in history...and why not. Surely the bird of the millenium, Devon has, incredibly, now hosted both murrelets on the British list. As if birders still needed anything else to enjoy a Black-eared Kite in Lincolnshire was popular and a Masked Shrike on Scillies might have been had it stayed. Drake Barrow's Goldeneyes in Scotland and Ireland (the returning bird of 2005-06), Bufflehead on Shetland and a first winter Falcated Duck in Devon kept many birders quack-happy. Yorkshire seawatchers managed to track a Brunnich's Guillemot drifting south, presumably part of the large movement of Little Auks into the North Sea.
November 2005: nearctic vagrants kept on coming with the Irish Green Heron turning up in Wales and proving very popular as was an inland Gray-cheeked Thrush in Hertfordshire and an Upland Sandpiper in Somerset. Had the exhausted and finally moribund Magnificent Frigatebird found in Shropshire survived, one can only have imagined the stampede. More Chimney and Pallid Swifts were found as was a long-staying Brunnich's Guillemot on Shetland at the end of the month. Perhaps however the most memorable event was the mass arrival of some 60 plus Laughing Gulls and half a dozen Franklin's Gulls, like the frigatebird, caught up in the tail of Hurricane Wilma. An inland Pied Wheatear and five Desert Wheatears were more typical November birds. Norfolk's first Little Swift was just as we predicted.
November 2004: right on cue, a Little Crake arrived for a two-week stay in Cornwall, but better still was a Pine Grosbeak in East Yorkshire for three days. Unfortunately most birders missed this bird, it departing shortly after being identified. A Gray-cheeked Thrush, netted in Norfolk, must have been a shock to the local ringing group whilst a Blyth's Pipit in Cornwall and an Ivory Gull in Highland arrived mid-month for extended stays. Wintering wildfowl started to return including both Redheads from 2003. The waxwing invasion continued with birds pushing south.
November 2003: highlights included a long awaited but short staying American Robin on Bardsey. But could birders have predicted what December would bring ? An American Coot on Shetland was another great find, but like the Robin was not alone.....As many as nine Desert Wheatears were joined by a brief untwitchable Desert Warbler. Two wintering Sardinian Warblers settled down to enjoy the entertainment at Skegness, Lincolnshire. A Pied-billed Grebe arrived on Scilly, a Forster's Tern in Ireland and two Redheads returned this winter, the returning Welsh bird, and a female identified on the Outer Hebrides.
November 2002 to some extent made up for a poor October - at least nearctic wise. A Bobolink on the first of the month was bettered only by a delightful Killdeer on the Isles of Scilly four days later. A Stilt Sandpiper on Shetland and a Forster's Tern in Cornwall completed the transatlantic cast, whilst from the north came a Snowy Owl to County Mayo, an Ivory Gull to Swansea, Gyr Falcons to Shetland and County Galway and a White-tailed Eagle to Kent.
November 2001 will long be remembered for the UK's first Snowy Egret which delighted birders and photographers to Argyll alike. Probably arriving in October the bird remained in Scotland through to 2002. Causing less of a stir but still a great bird was Britain's second ever Redhead in South Wales. The origins of Suffolk's Baikal Teal mid-month created lively debates through to the year's end.
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