I never like to start a blog post with a negative tone, but
for the story to have any effect then I am going to have to. For a few years
now I have grumbled on about the fact I had never seen a Pratincole. I’d open
Collins to that faithful page with Collared and Black-winged Pratincole and
drool over it. Roll back to late April and I finally saw my first species of
Pratincole, a cracking Collared showing very well both on deck and in flight in
Devon . Then came late June, I was in Dumfries
and Galloway and half way through a survey, I got a call from a mate to say
that the Pratincole sp at Hauxley that had just been found looks like it may
well be a Black-winged. Dread came over me, I looked at the clock and noted I
had three hours survey left, plus a thirty minute break, plus two hours drive
there on the way home. It wasn’t looking good! The bird quickly departed after
being found; surely it would turn up somewhere else along the coast?
Dawn on Friday 13th June and I was down in Lincolnshire with work, a dawn BBS, it was a
short one and I was finished early morning. I’d finished my work week and
thought it best to start making my way back north in case the Pratincole turned
up again in Northumberland. I thought the best plan would be to drive to
Teesside and check Back Saltholme before going for some lunch (potentially),
I’d be pretty well placed if the Pratincole turned up either north or south
then, which I had high hopes for. It got to around 10AM and there was no news
at all, I was extremely tired and pulled over at a service station on the A19
in North Yorkshire, a mere 20 minutes or so from Back Saltholme. I was sleeping
lightly when my phone started going crazy, it was “Whats App”, the Black-winged
Pratincole was back. I checked BirdGuides to see where it was….Saltholme RSPB
on Back Saltholme. The time was 10:50AM, I was due to be in the lay-by scanning
Back Saltholme at 10:45AM according to my sat nav before I stopped. As you can
imagine the car was soon back on the road heading north. I arrived at Saltholme
about three or four minutes too late. It had gone. I could have had it and it
would have been in Durham !
A place I predicted would get Cleveland and Durham ’s first
Black-winged Pratincole only just last year (as did some others).
I was fairly hopeful it would be in either Lincs or East Anglia
soon enough for me to see at the weekend. After about five or six days I was
pretty sure it had gone. Then twenty-two days later at 08:50 (something about
this bird and “50 minutes”) on a Saturday morning I got a call from Chris Bell
to say he had a Pratincole sp with Lapwings but he had not seen it fly yet, “it
looks like the Black-winged”. I leaped up and left the house pretty much
immediately. About 30 minutes later I was watching the bird flying about with
Lapwings at Hurworth Burn Reservoir, the bird showed very well both on the deck
and in flight on several occasions. Simply superb. I still could not (and still
cannot) believe I had another chance of the bird in Durham . During its Durham
stay many NGBs managed to connect, but those who were not as fortunate enough
to have the transportation means or time on the 5th and morning of
the 6th to get to Durham
never saw it. But the story doesn't end there!
On the 7th the bird was seen briefly at Holywell
Pond, it had gone back to Northumberland. The trail then went cold until the
bird turned up on Monday gone in Lincolnshire
briefly before flying out over the wash. The bird then turned up again
yesterday at Cley Marshes NWT for just about long enough for many to connect
with this extremely exciting wader. The bird turned up the following day at Stiffkey Fen in Norfolk, a stones throw (if you've a really good throw) from Cley Marshes NWT. However, typically, the bird went missing once again before turning up at Ouse Washes RSPB where it stayed for a good few weeks performing well before it final sighting on the 9th August.
Did it, however, during its long stay visit Cuckmere Haven in East Sussex? On the 27th July the Black-winged Pratincole was last seen on the evening at Pymoor, a short distance away from Ouse Washes RSPB, but the bird had clearly moved slightly. The bird was not there the following day, then on the 30th of July a Black-winged Pratincole as flushed from the river bank and flew off west. Interestingly on the 2nd of August the Black-winged Pratincole was back at Ouse Washes RSPB in Cambridgeshire, had the bird gone for a wander only to return? That is up to the rarities committee to decide.
Did it, however, during its long stay visit Cuckmere Haven in East Sussex? On the 27th July the Black-winged Pratincole was last seen on the evening at Pymoor, a short distance away from Ouse Washes RSPB, but the bird had clearly moved slightly. The bird was not there the following day, then on the 30th of July a Black-winged Pratincole as flushed from the river bank and flew off west. Interestingly on the 2nd of August the Black-winged Pratincole was back at Ouse Washes RSPB in Cambridgeshire, had the bird gone for a wander only to return? That is up to the rarities committee to decide.
Below is a crude depiction of the flight paths that the
Pratincole would have absolutely had to have taken (roughly) as a minimum, they
do, of course, not match what the bird will have done.
 |
(The very Black-winged Pratincole over the airspace of Hurworth Burn Reservoir in County Durham on its first properly twitchable day on its UK tour, photo taken by David Aitken)
|
-Andrew Kinghorn
Andrew is 22 years of age, and has been a birder for about 8 years. He is an ornithological surveyor living in County Durham. He has a vested interest in all things birding, however twitching is a passion of his and he loves to see new birds.
https://twitter.com/AndrewFoghorn
http://www.andrewkinghorn.blogspot.co.uk/
No comments:
Post a Comment