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DUSKY THRUSH IN DERBYSHIRE

Dusky Thrush, Beeley, Derbyshire. 5 December 2016

THE INK WAS BARELY DRY ON THE MASKED WAGTAIL and up popped another golden opportunity, Dusky Thrush. I wrote yesterday 'when will it end?' and OK it's winter now but it feels like the autumn didn't stop producing great eastern vagrants yet. I can't recall a period as exciting as this since I started twitching, when we used to see a lifer almost every weekend.

It is now almost 60 years since the Hartlepool Headland Dusky Thrush, now recognised as one of the first ever twitches in the UK, news of which was passed on by post! I was asleep when news of the 2013 Margate bird broke (although happily I missed out on a ride with sherbie the day after it had gone) so I was very keen to see this one. I guess it was on the cards after a few near misses recently, so not such a big surprise but it was really nice how today's big event came together and also to share it with so many friends.

After downing tools at work Pete and I made a dash to Beeley in deepest Derbyshire (never been here before either). We arrived to find that it is located in a kind of cold sink valley bottom and was still very misty. After an appalling view, just about tickable (after looking at my photos) we hung around, eventually joined the coming together of the scattered crowds and enjoyed some lovely views of the thrush eating fallen apples in the orchard next to the activity centre. Wonderful! Very sorry about adding to the shutter noise though! I wonder if there might be something else lurking in the countryside waiting to be found. Surely there must be some Siberian Accentors somewhere? However, we don't need to go out to look for them, non-birders with cameras will find them for us!

A big thank you to Beeley birder Rachel Jones for finding the Dusky Thrush, I bet she never made this many weird old men happy before. Also to the outdoor activity centre in Beeley who allowed the invasion of the twitchers and the Birdquest office team who are used to being abandoned at short notice, thanks everyone!

The Dusky Thrush's favourite apple orchard in Beeley.

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MASKED WAGTAIL IN PEMBROKESHIRE

Masked Wagtail, Camrose December 2016

THE LATEST EASTERN STAR of this incredible autumn for vagrants is the UK's first Masked Wagtail at Camrose. A long drive across Welsh Wales was worthwhile, with some great looks at this very obliging bird. I've seen lots of these in Ladakh earlier this year and also about half a dozen times in Oman, always a very striking bird! It is frequenting several houses around the Croft Villas and be seen at very close range and discreetly on the sunken lane below them from time to time. Nice not to have to point the big lens at someone's window. My fifth new bird for the UK of the 'autumn', when will it end? The return journey in daylight was lovely in bright sunshine and as the sunset behind me I counted a total of 32 Red Kites between Haverfordwest and Welshpool, and no plastic ones said Brett.

Masked Wagtail, Camrose December 2016

Masked Wagtail, Ladakh February 2016

Masked Wagtail, Oman November 2015

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IT'S PENDLE TIME AGAIN!

Sunrise over 't'capital' as my mate Rocket calls it, otherwise Burnley.

NOVEMBER MUST MEAN THAT IT'S PENDLE TIME AGAIN! In a stiff northerly wind I was hoping for the first Snow Buntings of the autumn but got something much better instead, well in Pendle terms anyway - a woodcock! Flushed from the rushy area by the lily pond on the summit near theDownham slope stile. Magic! It slipped over the edge and I couldn't relocate it but while I was zig-zagging across the rough grassland here a couple of skeins of Pink-footed Geese flew over (121 + 266 making 387 in total) and both heading northeast. An unusual movement for this time of year. Maybe birds held back in the easterlies reorientating? A raven flew over the Big End and there were a few Red Grouse on the summit today but nowt else. I was relieved that it was quite easy going up the landslide trail today despite this being my first hike up Pendle since July. I can't say I'd been looking forward to it. It was also good to see Martin Naylor and Steve Grimshaw up there, looking for Snow Buntings as well. Hopefully some will get found soon.

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STEJNEGER'S STONECHAT AT SPURN

Stejneger's Stonechat, Spurn Point. 

THE PARTY WAS OVER at Spurn today with no sign of such as the two Red-flanked Bluetails, Pine Bunting and Eastern Black Redstart etc but at least the putative Stejneger's Stonechat was still present in the Sea Buckthorn bushes beyond green beacon at the point itself. Still worth the late drive from Norfolk and a night in the Hotel Honda though. Even better that it was Andy Roadhouse who showed it to me! Thanks mate. Some painful buckthorn bush walking got me a bit closer but it was generally quite unapproachable while I was there. The warm rufous rump looks spot on according to the literature, as do the other features but we will know for sure once the DNA is extracted from its poo. It is amazing that Dan Branch managed to find it! Stejneger's is already split from Siberian Stonechat so it will be another UK lifer if it is confirmed by the DNA, however, there is a view that, like most things once we know more about them, this species will be accepted from field observations/photos in the future. There's no place like Spurn!

16 January 2017 Update: Well it was worth the drive from Norfolk and sleepless night in the car after all, as this bird has been confirmed as a Stejneger's Stonechat by Doctor Martin Collinson's team at Aberdeen University. However, it is ironic that the folks who ignored it and then went to Dungeness for the grey morph Common Stonechat, which was reported as having been DNA-identified as Stejneger's, should lose their tick, the test results having been mixed up with the positive-tested Spurn bird. How's that for a kick in the stones? All I need to do now is to wait for BOU to recognise Stejneger's Stonechat as a separate species from Siberian! I was surprisd to see that Lee (Evans) doesn't split it yet given the number of heavyweight taxonomists advising IOC who do. Surely just a matter of time?

Stejneger's Stonechat - record shot of its small, warm rufous, unmarked rump.

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