THE CALM AFTER THE STORM?

A 2009 COUNTY BIRDING REVIEW

by Ian McKerchar

Above: Eluding the masses. The Birtle Rose-coloured Starling.

2008 was, in my eyes, quite probably the best county birding year I can recall. The problem will always be though that subsequent years will be compared to that blockbuster of a rare and scarce laden twelve months, especially as it was the year which really saw the Manchester Birding website and forum hit the masses. It has been said therefore that 2009 was a relatively quiet year but was that really the case? Those who have been birding in the county long enough to know should resoundingly disagree, as a quiet year in the county is really quiet! In fact, 2009 was a good year, unfortunately overshadowed by high expectations and comparisons brought about by the 'year that was', 2009.

Was the county covered as carefully and faithfully as in 2008 though? The likelihood is perhaps yes but a niggling doubt remains that the apparent 'poorer birding' many expressed during 2009 meant that for some atleast, more time was spent out of county rather than in it. Pennington Flash for instance continued to rank highly on the 'worst coverage received or any county site'. That 60% of the site remains unwatched for 80% of the time causes grave concern as to exactly what's being missed there as and as the premier site in the county, rest assured that's a lot! So, fancy a new local patch? Then have yourself a regular voyage of discovery around the entire flash and revive the infamous 'mooching' of the 1980's. The same cannot be said for Elton Reservoir however, whose small but determined and enthusiastic band of regulars continued the sites meteoric rise into the very highest echelon of top county birding locations, despite being completely drained of water for the letter half of the year. A genuinely magnificent social effort, the comradery of which was only mirrored by the pie-eating birders at the Wigan Flashes. Other sites also had their moments. Hope Carr witnessed yet another resurgence, Audenshaw ticked over nicely and the high altitude county sites of Hollingworth Lake, Piethorne Valley, Watergrove and Castleshaw Reservoirs continued to attract their fair share of rewarding county birds and birding. Kingsway Business Park hit the birding headlines on a couple of occasions through the year and Birtle near Bury came from apparent oblivion to claim some serious birding scalps. The 'Horwich Moors' drew the crowds on a number of occasions and also provided the undisputed best ever county day for migrants at a single site, at the time actually out doing the national migrant hot spot of Portland Bill! On the 10th of September, within a very small area, grounded migrants included 9 Spotted Flycatchers, 3 Redstarts, 8 Whinchat, 83 Wheatear, 1600 Meadow Pipit, 1 Tree Pipit, 24 Skylark and good numbers of Chaffinch. Not what you'd usually expect on the side of a big hill in a land-locked north-west England county! Vis-Mig continued it's surge of interest around the county and produced significant observations and memorable birding for many, often enjoyed from seemingly unassuming local patches. There can be few times when one can feel so far distant, so deeply inland, from those magical eastern England coastal migrant hotspots yet still feel so entirely 'part of their action' as when one is engrossed in visible migration through the county.

To be fair though, we are genuinely blessed with a very healthy proportion and variability of excellent birding sites be they ones hitting the highlights or others quietly going about their business but out of them all, everyone has their own personal highlights. Perhaps a personal find, a long anticipated county tick, a hard sought species which finally gave itself up or maybe just an encounter with a favourite bird. Either way, there were many avian highlights to 2009 and below are just some of them.

Above: The herd of Whoopers on Chat Moss in November but note in the background the masses of Woodpigeons. Not perhaps everyone's highlight but their influx didn't go unnoticed in the county and resulted in a gargantuan roost of 14,000 in Botany Bay Woods during November. The Birtle Eider at the beginning of the year was a particular favourite for many and presented a chance to catch up with this very rare county species. It was a nice drake to boot and most birders caught up with it despite considerable trekking up and down the River Roch to procure their quarry.

Above: What was perhaps undoubtedly the returning Green-winged Teal reappeared at the Wigan Flashes during hard weather in December, this time on Horrocks Flash. Little Egret continued it apparent proliferation in the county, this individual being at Broad Ees Dole in June although Pennington Flash produced the bulk of the county's records.

Above: Hollingworth Lake reinforced it's prominent county birding profile yet again during November when a Great Northern Diver set up residence only to be joined albeit briefly by a second juvenile!

Above: Two very popular and approachable county visitors; one of the Hollingworth Great Northern Divers and the Pennington Slavonian Grebe.

Above: Bitterns are magical anywhere but a showy individual in a relatively small reedbed like this one at Elton was especially appreciated and adored. The south Manchester Ring-necked Parakeets continued to provide enjoyment but their allegiance with a small group of stunning Crimson Rosellas provided a considerable dash of colour to this urban setting.

Above: Peregrines continued to prosper in the county and were quite rightly widely admired by county birders with juveniles being successfully reared in very urban town centres with one of Bolton's birds on the left and one at a withheld site on the right.  

Above: The Manchester City Centre Peregrines however continued to steal the limelight with their highly visible antics (often broadcast on the 'big screen' in The Triangle at Corporation Street) which included this juvenile hitching a free ride on the city's 'big wheel'. Ospreys made their spring migration north through the county in typically discrete fashion like this Castleshaw Reservoir bird but an individual around the Wigan and Abram Flashes stayed for an uncharacteristic few days which enabled many birders to enjoy it as it toured around the flashes.

Above: Water Rails might not be the rarest of birds but those at Elton Reservoir thoroughly entertained numerous birders at each end of the year, whilst the Pectoral Sandpiper at Hope Carr in May was a fairly astonishing find, widely appreciated by it's many visitors.

Above: Despite their apparent population boom around the north-west coast, Avocets remain a rare county bird, so this pair at Rumworth in May enabled numerous birders to catch up with the species. Wood Sandpipers seem to be an increasingly scarce bird in the county and so this very confiding and archetypal September juvenile became an instant attraction.

Above: What can you say? Well, the photos say it all really. No less than three Dotterel graced Axletree Edge in April and found suitability in an such an easily accessible area that they became a genuine 'must visit', especially considering that they were so incredibly confiding. They were possibly the biggest avian attraction of the year all told, luring both county and out of county birders alike to make the pilgrimage to these marvellous birds.

Above: Chalk and cheese in plumage but each beautiful in their own way. These Curlew Sandpipers graced Elton Reservoir through the year with the juvenile in September and the two stunning adults in June, all remaining long enough for the Manchester masses to procure a view.

Above: The Dunham Lesser Spotted Woodpecker has often been a considerable allure for county birders and this year was no exception whilst Waxwings continued to draw the crowds as they performed in typically conspicuous fashion around the county during the first winter period.

Above: Black Redstarts persisted in blessing the city centre of Manchester with their breeding presence but were also found to have produced young in Ashton-under-Lyne town centre. Both brought considerable pleasure for birders during the generally quieter June/July period.

There were many exceptional finds made by county birders during the year and the Manchester Birding Tournament made testament to that fact, eventually being won by long time 'always the bridesmaid, never the bride' moorland moocher Steve Atkins. Once again an overwhelming proportion of the county's rare and scarce birds fell to those entrants of the Tournament, an intrepid bunch who continue to push the boundaries of county bird finding. It would be inequitable to pick a single find out of the many sterling efforts through the year but for me one stood out as such a chance observation with so much of an air of atmosphere about it that it truly embodied the classic 'you've got to be out there looking in order to find anything'. On a typically wind and rain soaked September day six small waders flashed through Pennington Flash, hugging the waves as they headed west without so much as a second's pause. One always wonders exactly what goes through the county unnoticed but on this day the two Curlew Sandpipers in that flock of Dunlin could not avoid one photographers lens despite their discrete and fleeting dash though Greater Manchester.

Above: Two juvenile Curlew Sandpipers (far left and third from left) trying to slip unnoticed through the county but failing miserably at Pennington Flash.

The title of Manchester Birding Mystery Bird Competition Champion went to a new home this year, that of North Ronaldsay Bird Observatory, Orkney as ex-county 'moocher' and Pennington Flash stalwart Paul Brown led from the off and never flinched. In the 2009 Manchester 'May-hem', the highest number of species recorded in a single day was 93 by father and son combo Terry and Rob Thorpe and being set only in the Wigan borough it's surely about time someone upped and cracked the ton? There is so much more yet to come in county birding and listing. 2010 anyone?

So, to the big question. What was the bird of the year? You could quite easily take your pick from any of the species in the above photos and then add a few more personal highlights of your own but one bird stands head and shoulders above the rest. In these times of pagers, forums, mobile 'phones and the likes, it is rare that such a high profile county rarity gives the entire county the slip but this bird did. Seen by a sole observer in a back garden of that seemingly rarity laden hotspot of Birtle, the juvenile Rose-coloured Starling was a marvellous county first record. So what if nobody else caught up with it. Such an enigmatic occurrence coupled with it's status as a truly rare bird in the north-west of England atleast makes it indubitably Manchester Birding's bird of the year.

Above: Videograbs of the best bird of 2009, the Birtle juvenile Rose-coloured Starling. Perhaps not truly attractive in the sense of the word and certainly not accommodating for the masses who would have enjoyed it had they been given the chance but nevertheless, an outstanding find and addition to the county's avifauna.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the photographers as usual, both for their tremendous efforts throughout the year as usual but also for so generously allowing me to utilise their photographs once again.

Rose-coloured Starling (all-Pat Killelea), Whooper Swans (Steve Nelson), Eider (all-David Winnard), Green-winged Teal (Geoff Hargreaves), Little Egret (Pete Hines), Great Northern Diver (pair-Simon Hitchen, single-Pauline Greenhalgh), Slavonian Grebe (Jon Taverner), Bittern (Paul Wilson), Crimson Rosellas (Rob Smallwood), Peregrines (Bolton-Geoff Hargreaves, withheld-withheld, Manchester City Centre-Adrian Dancy), Osprey (Mark Rigby), Water Rail (Adrian Dancy), Pectoral Sandpiper (Mike Baron), Avocets (Paul Heaton), Wood Sandpiper (Paul Wilson), Dotterel (both-Paul Hackett), Curlew Sandpipers (single juvenile-Paul Wilson, adults-Adrian Dancy, juveniles in flock-John Tymon), Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Rob Smallwood), Waxwings (Paul Wilson), Black Redstart (Adrian Dancy).

Ian McKerchar, January 2010

Above: Not where you'd expect to see a drake Eider perhaps but regardless it was an indisputable highlight of the year and a much appreciated addition to many a county birders  Greater Manchester list.

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