THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS

A 2008 COUNTY BIRDING REVIEW

by Ian McKerchar

Above: The much adored 'ditch-dwelling' Rindle Great White Egret

So, 2008 then, good year or bad year?

It was, with little reservation, the best birding year I can remember in the county. Sure there's been years with more county firsts, years with more of the birds we lack nowadays, years with better passage of this and that but never and I do mean never, has there been a year with such a mix of superb birds, birds that were enjoyed by so many of the county's birders, birders from every corner of the county, a year that saw previous county listing efforts well and truly smashed, that saw county birding rise to levels never before experienced, that saw a true birding community grow and become, quite rightly, the envy of other counties. The year saw new birders come onto the scene, existing birders maintain and for some enhance their presence and birders who had 'gone off the radar somewhat' come back to county birding, new friendships were formed and old ones re-acquainted but all made a contribution and assisted in developing our county birding in one way or another and that made it all the richer.

Above: Rogue's gallery of just a few of the county birders who contributed to the great year 2008 was

So, what of the birds? There were many highlights, many! Let's start with the best birds of the year, well rarest goes to the only county first of the year, that of the all too brief Glossy Ibis at Pennington Flash and who would have ever predicted that? Paul Wilson would have that's who, for a thread on the Manchester Birding forum back in December 2007 for 'Bird of 2008' saw Paul predict Glossy Ibis in his selection of three species, a remarkable feat! That thread also saw Andy Isherwood predict Alpine Swift and Red-rumped Swallow in his choice of three, the former of which was a superbly well-watched and showy second county record found by Paul Hammond at Audenshaw Reservoirs but the latter a single observer only sighting. Rob Thorpe's Horrock's Flash Cattle Egret was only the second county record too but the first twitchable and it became a very much admired bird, the Great White Egret at Rindle Road (which also toured the county turning up at Elton then near Wigan and was the second county record for the year) entertained perhaps the most visitors over it's prolonged stay with many visitors from both within and outside the county enjoying this often absurdly confiding individual. There was a very much appreciated Temminck's Stint at Pennington, the long-staying Scotmans Red-throated Diver (for those that didn't catch up with the Pennington individual earlier in the year), a boat dwelling Purple Sandpiper at Audenshaw, the unfortunately poorly Fulmar at Chorlton Water Park, the ridiculously tame Shag at Elton Reservoir and the Cetti's at the Wigan Flashes continued to entertain and frustrate in equal amounts. Permit only Heaton Park Reservoir enjoyed it's first ever twitch after careful contemplation of viewing arrangements from outside the perimeter fence saw the release of news of a juvenile White-winged Black Tern there which was subsequently witnessed by the masses, the bird also making a whistle stop visit to Elton too, but Brent Geese were a rather subdued county rarity highlight especially when one considers that from 1985 to the end of 2007 the total number of Brent Geese recorded in the county was only 40 and in 2008 alone an enormous 44 individuals were recorded, including a record busting flock of 28 found by Barry Hulme at Pennington back in March and the first ever record of the pale-bellied race which occurred at Elton.

Above: Overall bird of the year (?) the Audenshaw Alpine Swift and the supporting cast which included this White-winged Black Tern, here at Elton

Above: 'Cattleless' Horrock's Cattle Egret and that boat loving Audenshaw Purple Sandpiper (we are sailing, we are...)

Above: The current pinnacle of county gulling, a Caspian Gull, here at Heaton Park Reservoir and the long staying Scotmans Red-throated Diver

Above: The ridiculously tame and soon taken into care Elton Shag and the all too brief rarest bird of the year, the Pennington Glossy Ibis.

Above: Part of the county Brent Goose bonanza with the Ashworth Moor individual and that fantastic county record flock of 28 at Pennington

Above: Taken into care Fulmar (but much adored at Chorlton Water Park prior to this) and the Wigan Flashes Cetti's final got 'showy' for some

There were of course other non-county rarity highlights that entertained the birding masses, the Dunham Massey Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, Manchester City Centre's breeding Black Redstarts, the south Manchester Ring-necked Parakeets, the Rindle Road Whimbrel, undoubtedly the most productive county year ever for white-winged gulls (see that gulls article here) not to mention the frankly staggering new county record roost of 1005 Great Black-backed Gulls at Heaton Park Reservoir, the Bolton Town Centre and Manchester City Centre breeding Peregrines, the widely enjoyed end of the year Waxwings and the enormously impressive winter thrushes movement through the county on the 18th October. There were many highlights and each will have their own favourite but some birders merely enjoyed their own patches and ignored the high profile rare and scarce birds and for them too, it was a great year which combined with the new Greater Manchester Breeding Bird Atlas underway meant there was never a dull moment.

Above: The Manchester City Centre Black Redstarts were hard at it entertaining the crowds as were nice numbers of Waxwings at the end of the year

With such volume of great county birding to be had it was inevitable that county birding records would fall and fall they did in fine style. The biggest of them all was my own county year listing record which had stood for six years and with the gauntlet well and truly thrown down back then, Paul Heaton picked it up in this year and proceeded to slap me about the head with it! A combination of a wonderful array of available birds, an unprecedented birding communication network and just the sheer determination of the man saw him surpass my 2002 effort and finish on a superb new record of 183, now that really will take some beating! Simon 'Warfy' Warford set about the Elton Reservoir site year list record and thanks to his resolve, undaunted daily hammering of the place and a band of regulars who pulled out the best year the site had ever seen he blitzed that record too and posted a superb 130 species, made all the more impressive when one considers that the he managed to see 94% of all species seen at the site as a whole through the year. I managed to see 135 species at Pennington Flash through the year, only realising this fact when I was considering just how good a year it had been there (if only I'd have bothered with the half a dozen or so species I didn't even try to go and see!), but even that wasn't to be the best site year list! Pennington lacks dedicated daily birders, especially who cover anywhere other than the nature reserve area, yet those few it does have, combined with a steady flow of casual visitors managed to record a whopping 156 species through the year, easily a county record, if in fact one has ever been attained for a single site before, but it was Pennington regulars Barry Hulme and John Lyon who really stole the show, recording magnificent personal tallies of 142 species each at that site alone during the year (not all of the same species either!), a certain new county record. Another achievement through the year was a new twist on county year listing, a self-found county year list, the final figure being set by myself at 155 species and so those wondering just why I did so well in the Manchester Tournament have their answer, I was trying bloody hard to find my own birds!

And what of the competitions? The first ever Manchester May-hem went extremely well and was enjoyed by all those who participated with records being set all along the way but all of those are now waiting to be broken in 2009. The Manchester Tournament was another resounding success with those entered in this self-found competition finding a high proportion of all rare and scarce species in the county as a whole, private and public battles ensued between participants but in the end it was the standard of county birds through the year that benefited, that being the whole point of the competition. The Manchester Mystery Bird competition was well supported as usual with entrants far and wide, including those from Switzerland and even New Zealand but in the end the winner never faltered as Simon Johnson lead right from the off.

There were several county birders who achieved personal goals in seeing 200 species in the county and it now seems that 210 should be the new 200 but some of those picked up plenty of 'tarts ticks' along the way, I mean, who'd have seen Velvet Scoter on their list before Red Grouse! There were the inevitable dips too, the Glossy Ibis that didn't bother to hang around for long (though I don't see Rob Thorpe or Ian Woosey weeping!), the Hollingworth Red Kite that eluded most of it's potential admirers, the Audenshaw Red-rumped Swallow that had many in a mad dash across the county but to no avail, the mossland Quails that continued to laugh in the face of their potential observers and an unprecedented three county Corncrakes none of which were available for county birders to catch up with.

So, there is no doubt 2008 was a great county birding year but was it the best ever? Everyone will have their own opinion, their favourite birding year but taken as a whole, considering birds, birders and birding, I believe 2008 was the best yet and after all, that's what Manchester Birding is all about. Well done to us all☺

Acknowledgements

My sincere thanks are to all the birders who contributed and participated in county birding through the year and particularly to this website, there really wouldn't be much to see or to write about without all your efforts and it is that alone that aided such a superb year to be achieved.

My thanks as usual to the generosity of county photographers, some of whose images are reproduced here with Great White Egret (Mark Rigby), county birders (Ian Woosey), Alpine Swift (Steve Collins), White-winged Black Tern (Jill Islam), Cattle Egret (Steve Collins), Purple Sandpiper (Rob Adderley), Caspian Gull (Ian McKerchar), Red-throated Diver (Adrian Dancy), Shag (Mark Rigby), Glossy Ibis (Rob Thorpe), Brent Goose (David Winnard), Brent Geese (Ian McKerchar), Fulmar (Ian McKerchar), Cetti's Warbler (Steve Collins), Black Redstart (Adrian Dancy) and Waxwings (Jill Islam).

Ian McKerchar, January 2009

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