Yellow-browed Warblers- The Pioneers

Interesting note in the current issue of British Birds about the first confirmed case of a Yellow-browed Warbler returning to winter in Europe over consecutive winters. I was fortunate enough to review the note by former fellow Inglorious Bustard Simon Tonkin. Following our debut appearance as the Inglorious Bustards at the Champions of the Flyway HERE Simon and Niki went on to set up a successful bird travel company with the same name HERE and Holly does the art work for them. The company is based in Southern Spain and it was here that Simon made the over wintering discovery. 

This is an eagerly anticipated result and could well indicate migratory evolution in action. I studied vagrancy intensively about 20 years ago and my studies eventually led to my discovery of Corvo which I predicted by using vagrancy theory. I tried to distil vagrancy theory in two articles I did for Birdwatch aimed at birders. The articles can be found here: 

THE PIONEERS

FATE OR FREE WILL

I always thought that the gravity of these articles was never quite appreciated as if the theories are correct it goes a long way to explain the mystery of migration and how migration evolves.I deliberately wrote the articles and published in a popular media platform as opposed to trying to get published as a more scientific paper (such as BB or Dutch Birding) because I wanted to see what would happen if a potential scientific break through was published in a popular science magazine rather than a higher science publication. My experiment was to see what happens if a break through moves up through a scientific democracy rather than trickling down from a scientific traditional hierarchy.  Birders have been messing with this order for years so I wanted to kick it around a bit too. 

Anyway Simon's discovery could well provide evidence to the theory that vagrants are pioneers and that Yellow-browed Warblers are currently forging a new migration arm and wintering area- a meta-population. What is very interesting about the development of this new arm and meta-population is the scale of the sacrifice involved. Since 1968 there have been over 30,000 Yellow-browed Warblers recorded in the UK and in 2017 alone there were over 2000 birds. They are so regular in the UK now that they have been de-classified to a common migrant (from a scarce migrant). Despite these enormous numbers, the evidence of the establishment of a meta wintering population is comparatively very small so presumably the overwhelming majority of 'pioneers' drown in the Atlantic or succumb by some other means. It would appear that evolution really is extremely indifferent to the immense scale of individual loss and suffering and death  (which doesn't bear well if my theories on human evolution are also correct and the Sixth Extinction and the current human population explosion is a bottle neck through which only few of us will pass- although I can't make my mind up whether it will be the super wealthy biotechnologically enhanced superhumans or a more 'pseudo-Christian' morally upright elite that are being selected!!!!  ) . Any way I digress, back to Sprites. 

Here's the full note: 

Rarity finding

As I haven't actually found a rare bird in ages I was updating my finds list yesterday in order to remember what finding a rare bird is actually like. My definition of a rare bird is any description species (full description or notes) at any scale (county or national or biozone) and even on a uber local level, anything which is statistically rare (like a Woodlark at Beddington- common in Surrey, mega at the farmlands). Personally finding a Puffin at Beddington would be just as rewarding as finding a first for the WP on Corvo and I would value finding a Yellow-browed in Holly's garden as much as e.g. finding a  Brown Shrike at Shellness.

Rarity is a completely relative term. Just pop over to Bulgaria  and you will see nearly every eastern European rarity within a morning and an hour at Point Pelee in Spring and you'll get more yank wood warblers than Corvo in a decade. Paddyfield Pipit is an absolute dirt bird in India and I barely looked at one after the first hour when we visited Sri Lanka.

That's why you don't have to live on Scilly or Fair Isle or Spurn to find rarities. A Pechora on Fair Isle isn't worth anywhere near as much as a Pechora in any other vice counties and a Long-tailed Skua at Beddington is worth more than any national level Pechora.  The skill involved in rarity finding can be honed anywhere, it is a completely relative game and there are rare birds to find everywhere.

Confucius famously said  'A common man marvels at uncommon things. A wise man marvels at the commonplace'. Personally I would say it should be more like 'A common man marvels at foxes and other common shit, a wise man finds the marvel (the rare) hidden within the commonplace' or even 'A common man watches the internet for a rare to be found by a wiseman and then drives miles to gormlessly gawk at it'

Here's a rough go at my finds list: FINDS LIST

It's still rough and ready and been talking with Jaffa aka Cream Tea Birder about the best way to organise it- nations, county or mega, vagrant, scarce migrant etc??

Here's some rules about self finds from Punkbirder SELF FIND RULES.

Beddington Blues

I can't actually remember the last time I saw a good bird at Beddington? It's certainly been a quiet year with few stand out highlights. Some of that has been down to access restrictions but the wind has also been predominately from the west (our worst conditions) for most of the spring and autumn. 

A storm passed through today and with the influx of Long-tailed Ducks across the country and a Red-throated Diver in Regents Park I dared to hope that something might get blown in to the farmlands. All I could muster up was a new Wigeon and a Green Sandpiper. I had a Brambling from the window yesterday.

Its pretty quiet on the moth front now (as expected for November) - had a Feathered Thorn today that was a first for year. 

Unless we get a good winter bird now, this will be one of the few years since 1986 that I haven't got a Beddington lifer. 

 Male Wigeon. Adult males and first calender males could both be moulting into an adult winter type plumage this time of year. Many of the adult male ducks at the farmlands have already completed this moult so this is possibly either a retarded adult or a juvenile/first-winter male. 

 Its unfortunate we haven't had much in the way of good birding weather conditions as the habitat is looking its best in a long while over the farmlands- here's the new wet grassland area 

 Feathered Thorn

 November moth agg

Red-green Carpet 

Vis mig and late autumn moths

I met up with Tank today and we did some vis migging at Beddington. Ebird list HERE. Highlights were 3 Brambling in the sacrificial crops, 1 Pintail, 200+ Redwing, 100+ Fieldfare and 4 Stonechats.

A bit of a quiet weekend in Oxfordshire and unfortunately didn't get out (family visit on Sunday and catching up with work). Did get the moth trap out on Monday night and had a Dark Chestnut (new for the Old vic) and a few Bricks. 

 Fieldfare on the Southern Mound 

 Bramblings 

 Kestrel

 Dark Chestnut at the Old Vic

Brick at the Old Vic

State of Nature Report 2019

FULL REPORT HERE

State of Nature report 2019: loss of nature since 1970

• 15 per cent of species under threat of extinction and 2 per cent of species have already gone for good
• Average abundance of wildlife has fallen by 13 per cent with the steepest losses in the last ten years 
• 41 per cent of UK species studied have fallen and 133 species have already been lost from our shores 
• Butterflies and moths, down 17 per cent and 25 per cent respectively. Numbers of high brown fritillary and grayling butterflies, have fallen by more than three quarters 
• The average amount of mammals has fallen by 26 per cent and the wild cat and greater mouse-eared bat are almost extinct

A few autumn moths from Beddington

It's been hitting the ground running since I got back from Corvo. On the way home I attended the BTO Marsh Awards, next day was straight back to work quoting and then yesterday was catching up with admin. I couldn't get out birding but did manage to get the moth trap on with a few interesting moths. 

Things are still happening on Corvo. To follow late autumn developments including ringing of vagrants see  HERE.

CORVO BLOG

 If I'm not mistaken a Clancy's Rustic which I believe is a first for the farmlands 

 Chestnut- a new for year 

 Large Wainscot, Red-line Quaker and Blastobasis lacticolella 

Yellow-line Quaker 

The Marsh Awards

I've been nominated for the BTO Marsh Award for Local Ornithology and the event is tonight at the Mall Galleries in London. 

A bit of blurb in the facebook box below.