EAST LANCS RUFF

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Ruff, Alston Wetland, Longridge

A RUFF AT ALSTON WETLAND was a nice local bird a few minutes from home, when I popped out for a walk today. The wetland is looking very nice at the moment, now is a great time for rare shorebirds to turn up and maybe it will attract something else in the near future of the magnitude of the Killdeer Gavin Thomas found here a couple of years ago? I was away at the time, watching lots of killdeer in the USA, so if it happens next week it will be either Marsh or Terek Sandpiper... or Great Snipe! Also here were single Dunlin, Common Ringed Plover, Eurasian Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Common Oystercatcher and Common Snipe, a pair of Little Ringed Plovers and Gadwall of note. I must make the effort more often.

HUDSONIAN GODWIT IN SOMERSET.

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Hudsonian Godwit, Meare Heath, Somerset

IT IS 32 YEARS SINCE THE LAST TWITCHABLE HUDSONIAN GODWIT in the UK. Even though I had already seen lots of photos of it on the internet, I like witnessing events in our ornithological history like this. Rocket and I enjoyed a great day out from East Lancs to see this true MEGA rarity. When you look at their sparse and fragmented breeding range in Canada and Alaska it is surprising that they occur here at all but they are big wanderers and have made it to both New Zealand and South Africa as well! The jet black underwings meant that it did not pass in the crowd of Black-tailed Godwits in flight and we had plenty of nice views over around four hours, sometimes in pouring rain. My previous sighting in the UK was 32 years and 2 days ago, 11.690 days to be precise. A lot has happened in that time and I wonder how long it will be until the next one? I am thinking I might not be around to see it.  We also saw several hobbies, a couple of Great Egrets, one Little Egret and a Cetti's Warbler plus lots more heard singing, along with the booming of a couple of bitterns and the Macc Lads on the way home. Another classic day out that we will remember for a long time!

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Rocket heading back to the car before another heavy shower on a stormy day in May.

BLACK ROSY-FINCH

Black Rosy-Finch, Silverthorne, Colorado

BLACK ROSY-FINCH IS THE STAR non-grouse on the Colorado spring chicken run. I am so lucky with this bird, never to have missed it but I haven't seen it in the same place twice on each tour and it is emminently missable! With a restricted breeding range it is a true USA endemic - it isn't even on any other country's list as a vagrant! They are almost always in the minority of rosy-finch flocks in Colorado as well, which sometimes makes finding then a challenge, when the finches are resting in pine trees for instance. However, once around a feeding station they do not pass in a crowd and are the smartest of the quartet of North American rosy-finch forms in my opinion. I'm hoping that my present lucky streak holds out for them.

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DUSKY GROUSE

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Dusky Grouse, Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

DUSKY GROUSE IS ONE OF COLORADO’S MAGNIFICENT SEVEN grouse species (there is an eighth, Ruffed Grouse, but this one is a little too remote in Dinosaur National Monument to be included in the spring grouse circuit). It was great to spend some time hanging out at one of my favourite birding sites of all before the tour – The Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Pete and I had some great encounters, including a male that sat up perfectly on an exposed, lichen-covered rock, the early morning sun catching its plumage with a dark background. I could hardly have composed a nicer setting in my mind’s eye. Apart from its Dusky Grouse, the Black Canyon is a great place to bird at the same time as admiring its jaw-dropping scenery. There are few places in the world like it.

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Pete Loncar enjoys breakfast overlooking the Painted Wall.