Records
Alder Flycatcher
09 October 2008
It's turning into quite an 'American' autumn in Britain and Ireland this year. Following the news breaking of the Irish Little Blue Heron a few days earlier, on 8th October Cornish birder Kester Wilson found Britain's first ever Empidonax flycatcher. It had been long-predicted that at least one of this genus would finally make it to the British Isles; Acadian, Alder and Least Flycatchers all feature on the Western Palearctic list. However, the exhilaration of finding a first for Britain must have been somewhat tempered by the fact that it wasn't at all clear that it would be possible to identify the bird to a definite species.
The flycatcher was soon named confidently as either Alder or Willow Flycatcher. These two used to be lumped as a single species - Traill's Flycatcher - and many American birders still use this term, as the species are essentially indistinguishable in the field except sometimes by voice. Somewhat unfortunately, they don't tend to be very vocal on autumn migration, so it looked a very real possibility that this bird could disappear without anyone ever knowing for sure what it was.
Therefore, permission was sought for local ringers to catch the bird, to obtain measurements. Although there is some overlap in measurements between the two species, this can help the identification process substantially. Permission was granted on 9th October and the bird was caught and subsequently announced to be a first-winter Alder Flycatcher.
We have therefore added Alder Flycatcher as a provisional species to BUBO Listing for people to add to their British (or British & Irish) lists. As ever, we reserve the right to remove this species should further information come to light that casts doubt on the validity of this identication (which is perhaps more likely with this record than with any of the other provisional 'firsts' we've added).
Thanks to John Martin and Matthew Deans for their photos.
Little Blue Heron
05 October 2008
The first Little Blue Heron for Ireland was reported at Letterfrack, Go Galway, on 5th October 2008. The bird, a juvenile, was first seen on 24th September when it was considered interesting, but eventually passed off as a Little Egret. Only when checking an American field guide nearly two weeks later was the mistake realised and fortunately, the bird was still present.
Juvenile Little Blue Herons are white, later moulting into the grey-blue adult plumage. Apart from more subtle differences in the structure and bare-part colouration, a key feature is that of small black tips to the primaries.
Assuming the record is accepted, this is the first for Ireland, the first for Britain & Ireland, and only the fourth for the Western Palearctic, following individuals on the Azores in the autumns of 1964, 1997 and 1998.
Little Blue Heron has now been added to BUBO Listing for potential addition to Irish lists and to Britain and Ireland lists, although only as a provisional addition to both lists. If, for whatever reason, the record is rejected at a later date, it will be removed from BUBO Listing.
BOU admits Wilson's Snipe to British List
17 September 2008
Hot off the presses comes the news that the British Ornithologists' Union have accepted a record of a juvenile American Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago delicata, commonly known as Wilson's Snipe, to Category A of the British List. Note that the BOU currently consider Wilson's Snipe to be a subspecies of Common Snipe so you will not be able to add this to your BOU-based lists on BUBO Listing. However, the BOURC’s Taxonomic Sub-committee is currently reviewing its taxonomic status, so maybe there could be an armchair tick coming in the not too distant future for those lucky enough to have seen the bird that was present on St Mary's, Isles of Scilly from 9 October 1998 until 7 April 1999.
There are several other claims of Wilson's Snipe in Britain, as well as accepted records from elsewhere in the Western Palearctic. The fact that a British claim has now proven genuine, together with the fact that it is a known long-distance migrant with some birds thought to cross the western Atlantic on their southward migration, could well mean that it is a relatively regular transatlantic vagrant. The extreme complexity of identification means that an excellent series of detailed photographs would surely be a pre-requisite for acceptance of any live bird however.
The full BOURC and BBRC announcement can be read on the BOU news blog.
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