Pacific Diver - 2007 - first for Wales

At about 1600hrs on Friday 2 February 2007 I spotted a diver on the far shore of Llys-y-fran Reservoir whilst 'doing' the gull roost with Paul Grennard.  Paul soon got on the bird, and both began watching it through scopes.  The bird roughly displayed head and bill shape and plumage of black-throated diver, and great northern and red-throated divers were soon eliminated.  The bird did not, however, display any white rear flank patch.  It had distinctively frosty pale nape and crown (with dark border to neck sides and darker lores), and appeared quite short-bodied. 

Pacific Diver had been the subject of conversation on the journey to Llys-y-fran, as the recent national highlight had been the discovery of that species in Yorkshire.  Paul knew that lack of white rear flank patch was one of the features of that species, and we suddenly became very interested in the diver, forgetting about the gull roost almost altogether (only briefly distracted by two 1st winter glaucous gulls!).  Paul also knew that a dark chin strap was also a feature of Pacific diver.  Initially the underpats and chin appeared very clean and white, but as the diver began to settle to roost, a dark shadow could be seen on the bend of the chin when face-on in relaxed pose in the failing light.  At the time we realised that this may just be shadow, but in the mounting excitment there were some thoughts that the bird could indeed be showing a chin strap.  By now we had been joined by Richard Joseph and Malcolm Barredell.

We left the site as the light failed further, with the diver settling to roost with the gulls.

On his return to his flat Paul produced both 'Sibley' and National Geographic'.  Sibley illustrated Pacific and black-throated divers side-by-side and from these illustrations our bird most closely matched Pacific due to the lack of rear white flank patch, frosty pale nape and crown contrasting with darker border on neck sides and lores, and proportionally short body compared with black-throated.  Interesting, Silbey did not mention chin strap as a diagnosic feature in juveniles at all.

Encouraged by this information, we planned to return the next day to scrutinise the bird further, enlisting the help of Dave Astins.  Paul phoned Alan Davies of Birdline Wales to inform him that we had a brid showing characteristics of Pacific diver, and to be ready to put the news out if it was indeed confirmed the next morning.  Paul also informed the local grapevine.

The next morning the diver was located further north up the reservoir, in front of the hide.  Closer views (maybe down to 50m) in bright sunshine were obtained.  It was established that the bird in fact did not have a dark chin strap, and was clean white around the face and throat.  Some white from the belly was now riding up the lower flanks (the previous evening the flanks appeared all dark), though the bird still lacked the obvious white rear flank patch of black-throated.  A number of local birders visited the site during the morning, and some photographs were obtained (by Richard Crossen and Lydon Lomax using SLR and some 'digiscoped' record shots by me).  The debate was on!  Of particular interest was whether the bird possessed a dark vent strap or not, but it was not going to give up this detail easily (the area being generally obscured by the legs when rolling to preen).  I had to leave to give a talk in Cardiff, but DA and PG returned in the afternoon when they got brief views of a dark vent strap on three occasions during an extended bout of preening.

Meanwhile, Richard Crossen's photographs had been forwarded to Richard Millington, Martin Garner and Killian Mallarney by Alan Davies.  The general consensus was that the bird looked good for Pacific Diver, the only potentially conflicting feature being the bill looking a bit heavy.  It was thought that perhaps the photographs exaggerated the robustness of the bill, and that it was porbably with the range exhibited by Pacific diver anyhow.

More birders visited the site on Sunday 4th.  The bird was still present, but took flight mid-afternoon, as if doing a restless recce prior to departure.  During its couple of circuits around the lake the bird was scrutinised for vent detail.  This was not easy to see, but as I followed it through my scope I briefly saw a distinct dark band running right across the vent as it banked just before alighting.  The flight did give further opportunity to confirm that the rear flanks were dark.  The bird settled again to roost with the gulls.

The bird was still present on the moning on Monday 5 February, but flew off high to the south-west at 1000hrs.

Unlike the Yorshire bird, which was apparently a very distinctive individual showing all the features thought to be indicative of Pacific diver, the Llys-y-fran bird was less clear cut.  This caused great debate, particularly on BirdForum and the North American online discussion forum 'ID Frontiers', and a great amount of research on the subject (see Astins and Brown 2007).  The first stumbling block as far as many were concerned was the lack of a dark line running across the throat.  A quick re-reading of the literature soon banished this as a required feature for Pacific Diver, as of the 46 juvenile specimens examined by Reinking and Howell (1993), 21 (46%) lacked any throat strap.

Other features that set the Llys-y-fran bird apart from the Yorkshire individual were whiter cheeks (dark sullying on the face is a feature on many Pacifics), a narrower dark upper-flank band, and a longer bill, but all would appear to be within the range of Pacific diver, and where these features overlap with those of Black-throated. 

What the Pembrokeshire diver did apparently share with the Yorkshire bird was small size, pale grey-brown 'frosting' on the crown, nape and hind-neck (with dark bordering line), rounded head shape (many black-throats have flat, angular crowns), broad pale edges to the scapulars creating prominent upperpart scaling, and overall brownish tone to the upperparts.  These features are probably all subject to a certain amount of variation as will as being somewhat subjective, and it is the dark thigh that sems to be the most concrete diagnositic feture.  In Pacific diver the area of the body under the secondary coverts on the resting bird (where the wing rises towards the rear) is dark.  On the Llys-y-fran bird brown feathering in the area extended below the waterline on the resting bird, even when some white from the belly 'crept up' onto the rest of the flanks. 

In flight there was a distinct downward bulge of dark feathering directly behind the wing.  This area, more precisely termed 'anterior thigh', is white in black-throated diver, creating the distinctive white 'rear flank' patch.  We have yet to see any evidence of variation to the rule in either species; if any does come to light, then separation will prove extremely problematic!

The vent strap (prominent dark line running right across the vent), previously thought diagnostic of Pacific Diver (eg Reinking & Howell 1993, Birch & Lee 1995), would seem to be not uncommon in black-throated diver (Astins and Brown 200).

Remarkably, the diver appeared again at Llys-y-fran on 17 February 2007, remaining there up to 20 March 2007, giving more people the opportunity to see this interesting bird.

Even more remarkable was the return of the bird to the same site in January 2008, now sporting a neat dark throat-strap, silencing any remaining doubters (of which there were a few) once and for all.  Obligingly, a juvenile black-throated diver also took residence at Llys-y-fran in early 2008, giving an excellent opportunity for comparison (see Mullarney and Millington 2008).

Showing may characteristics within the overlap range of black-throated diver, the Llys-y-fran Pacific diver stirred much debate and forced a reappraisal of the identifaction criteria appearing as it did hot on the heals of the arguably more distinctive first for the Western Palearctic in Yorkshire.  It is for the reason it proved such an instructive bird.

References

Astins D & Brown J (2007). The Pacific Diver in Pembrokeshire - the second for the Western Paleractic Birding World 20

Bird A & C-T Lee (1995) Identifaction of Pacific Diver - a potential vagrant to Europe Birding World 8 (12: 458-466

Mullarney K & Millington R (2008) The Pacific and black-throated divers in Pembrokeshire Birding World 21 (2) 63-66

Reinking D L & Howell S N G (1993) An Arctic Loon in California Western Birds 24: 189-196

Sibley D (2000) The North America Bird Guide. Pica Press.

Juan Brown.

Pembrokeshire Bird Report 2007.

Manx Shearwater - 2012 - research

Hormones dictate when youngsters fly the nest

Published Thursday 5 July 2012

Seabirds feed their young less as they reach an age to fly the nest, but it’s hormones that actually control when the chicks leave home, according to new research from the University of Leeds.

The study – published in Behavioural Ecology - aimed to pinpoint the main trigger which causes chicks to leave the nest and embark on an independent life, a process known as fledging.

While studying a colony of Manx Shearwaters (Puffinus puffinus), on the island of Skomer, researchers from the University’s Faculty of Biological Sciences noticed that parent birds seemed to become increasingly insensitive to their chicks’ demands for food as they grew close to fledging. At the same time the chicks showed a marked increase in levels of the hormone corticosterone. However, the team needed to know whether this increase was independent of, or caused by, the reduction in feeding.

They decided to trick the parent birds, by swapping chicks of different ages between nests – which the birds make in burrows in the ground – to see how this affected both parental care and the time chicks took to fledge.

“Manx Shearwaters don’t recognise their own offspring, but will simply go back to the same nest after they’ve gathered food. They have one chick, which makes the interactions between parent and offspring easier to study,” explains lead researcher, Dr Keith Hamer. “We swapped chicks which were between 10 days and two weeks apart in age, to see what impact it would have. We wanted to find out whether parents and chicks were responding to each other’s behaviour, or whether each was acting independently.”

The team discovered that adults reduced their food provisioning after about 60 days of raising a chick, regardless of the chick’s stage of development. Although females more than males will adjust their feeding levels to how much their chicks beg for food, after around 60 days both parents start to ignore their pleas. This held true whether parents were feeding their own chicks, or foster-chicks of different ages.

The surge in corticosterone took place over the final few weeks before chicks fledged at about 70 days of age. This held true even when chicks had been fostered by parents at a different stage of the feeding cycle, so was clearly independent of the parent’s behaviour and any reduction in food. 

“Our findings show that young Manx Shearwaters leave home of their own accord when their corticosterone levels have reached a peak rather than as a result of changes in parental behaviour,” says Dr Hamer. “Both parents and chicks need large energy reserves for their arduous migration across the Atlantic to South and Central America, and parents seem to reduce how much they feed their young simply to protect themselves.”

“Unlike some other bird species, which let their offspring dictate the level of care, seabirds appear to weigh up the cost of a chick fledging underweight against the greater cost of losing the chance to breed again,” he adds. “Manx Shearwaters have a breeding life of around forty years, so parents pay a high cost if they end the season too weak to complete their own migration.”

Image credit: David Boyle

Press release by Univeristy of Leeds

Keith Hamer et al. Parent–offspring conflict during the transition to independence in a pelagic seabird.Behavioural Ecology, 2012 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/ars079

Image credit: David Boyle

Laughing Gull - 2005 - first for Pembrokeshire

Larus atricilla

After having spent the morning of the 4th of November 2005 checking the estuaries of north Pembrokeshire, looking for a possible Franklin's or a laughing gull, aware that an influx was under way in south west Britain and Ireland, due to hurricane Wilma, I decided to check Fishguard.

Whilst walking from Fishgard Square to Goodwick, I received a phone call from my good birding friend Clive Jones, informing me that a laughing gull had just been found at Porthcawl, Glamorganshire.  My initial reaction was that of despair, having had no luck myself, but I dcecided to press on anyway.

Shortly after arriving at the flagpoles car park, Goodwick, I began to scan the assembled gulls with my binoculars and to my utter amaement, out on the beach in front of me was a cracking first winter laughing gull.  I simply could not believe my luck.  I then set about trying to contact local birders and Birdline Wales to share my superb find with others.

I managed to contact local birders Cliff Benson and Adrian Rogers.  Adrian was the first to arrive as he worked close by, followed by Cliff.  Both looked at the bird through my telescope and both agreed it was indeed a first winter laughing gull.

We decided to try and entice the gull close by throwing bread to it, so record "shots" chould be taken.  Unfortunately the bird flew when this was done and it was not relocated again, depriving most local birders from seeing a first for the county.  However, more laughing gulls were discovered in Pembrokeshire in the weeks that followed, so nobody missed out in the end.

Paul Grennard

Pembrokeshire Bird Report 2005

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The first county record of this species following an influx into Britain in the wake of Hurricane Wilma.  The three different ages involved all stayed long enough for many to enjoy and learn the salient identification features.  The number of individuals involved was a minimum of five.  All records are summarised as follows: 1st winter - singles Fishguard Harbour 4 Nov (PKG), Nevern Estuary 11 & 15 Nov with 2 there on 21st, Gann 10 Nov and 4 Dec; 2nd winter - Pembroke Dock 11-22 Nov.  The same bird was at Llanstadwell 12 & 19 Nov; Adult - Gann to Dale Fort 6 - 19 Nov probably the same bird was at Broad Haven north on 10 Nov.  Also Haverfordwest 28 Nov - 6 Dec.

Pembrokeshire Bird Report 2005

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American Black Duck - 2001 - first for Pembrokeshire

January 2001 was an interesting time at Heathfield Gravel Pit.  A pair of scaup had been joined by a remarkable four ring-necked ducks and I was looking for these on the 28th when four ducks flew from the water.  Three, together, were clearly mallard but the fourth looked a bit odd; a darker, plainer bird was my first impression.  I was taken aback however, when it flew overhead and bright, white underwings stood out markedly against a dark body. I kept on it as it flew away, to the south, noting a lack of white in the wings and a paler, greyish head against a very dark body.  There was obviously a chance it was a black duck but it couldn't be claimed on these views and it appeared to be gone.  My gloom deepened when I mentioned the sighting to Steve Berry who responded that he had seen something similar, briefly on the 20th, but as he was engrossed with pinning down a newly discovered ring-necked duck, he didin't really follow it up and didn't see it again.

There was no sign of it again until on 10th March I accidentlly flushed two ducks, one of which was clearly a female mallard though the other wasn't a mallard at all.  I had excellent views of a dark, almost black, body; grey head and bright orange legs dangling as it lifted, facing me.  It flew low over the water a couple of time giving superb views at close range.  I noted a satiny sheen on the blue-purple speculum in all dark wings and there was no hint of white in the tail.  A dark crown and eyestripe framed a grey 'face'.  It was a clear, dry day and I was struck by what a splendid looking bird it was.

The bird was plainly not resident at Heathfield GP and I didn't see it again until the 14th.  This time it was on the water, displaying to male mallards on a grey and gloomy day.  When viewed now it appeared to have grey scapulars!  I checked as many references as I could muster.  There were a collection of descriptions of the colour of the scapulars; though BWP says they are greyish.  A fairly recently published photograph shows a black duck with grey scapulars (Birding World Vol 13 no 9) suggesting elsewhere it is partly a reflective effect.  it was a nice puzzle but I could have lived without it.  As it happened, all turned out well and it was accepted by the BBRC as an adult male black duck: the first for Pembrokeshire.

Mike Young-Powell

Pembrokeshire Bird Report 2001

Bobolink - 1999 - first for Pembrokeshire

At the end of September 1999, south-west Wales had experienced a spell of strong to gale-force westerly winds, following the hurricane which east-coast North America had experienced.  We on Skokholm Island knew it was inevitable tht at least one "yank" of some description would be unfortunate enough to be blown across the Atlantic, but nothing appeared on Skokholm, as usual.  So we were resigned to the fact that it would not be us who would see such a bird, especially since it was now two weeks on and we were experiencing light easterlies and clear skies associated with a high pressure system.

On the 13th october, after a morning of doing paperwork in the observatory buildings, Theresa Purcell and I decided to have a sandwich lunch at the lighthouse and do some seawatching at the same time.  However, we had walked just halfway along the main track across the island, which Teresa spotted a bird on the ground in a grassy clearing among bracken.  Despite Therea possessing good bird identification skills, she felt the need to ask me what it was, whereupon I repled "Meadow pipit".  Obviously disgusted in my lack of faith in her abilities, she exclaimed "That is not a meadow pipit" and I realised that I was looking at the wrong bird.  The individual in question flew up onto the top of the bracken and in the first split second that I saw it, I thought "aqualtic warbler", but upon seeing more than the obvious crown and mantle streaks, it was very clear that this was no warbler.  It was most obviously a bobolink, a North American bird!

After the initial shock, followed by taking it all in and releasing a few restrained screams of delight, I ran all the way back to observatory to make a few phone calls.  Too out of breath to use the phone, I picked up my camera and video camera, desperate to obtain photographic evidence, and ran back.  I needn't have worried, Theresa had stayed with the bird which was obligingly sitting in the top of the bracken in the sunshine, contentedly eating craneflies.  Theresa made the necessary phone calls, while I took a long look at our bird.  Juan, Simon, Rob and Shirley crossed from Skomer and just managed to see it before dusk.

Skokholm is home to 46,000 pairs of Manx shearwaters, an estimated 20% of the world population, and is therefore peppered with fragile burrows.  Not an ideal place for a "twitch" and the fact that a boat does not freequently visit means that getting people across is difficult.  However, given the obliging nature of the bobolink and that it seemed content not to move any great distance away from a convenient viewing spot, the Skokholm and Skomer Conservation Advisory Committee decided to spread the news.  Subsequently, then other people saw the bird in what was the first official twitch on the island.  Thankfully it was viewed and greatly admired from the footpath, so none of the many burrows were threatened with trampling.  A flighty bird during the breeding season would probably necessitate a different decision.

Description:

General appearance and structure: First impression was "aquatic warbler" Acrocephalus paludicola, due to the crown and mantle streaks and general coloration of buff and brown.  Following further viewing, it was seen to be a rather large, upright, bunting- or finch-like bird, with a large bill, long tail and long primary extension.  Its pale lores and lack of obvious dark coloration along the lower edge of the ear coverts gave it a very bright facial appearance.  At times it hid in the bracken and moved along the ground, appearing somewhat corncrake-like, due to general plumage and bare parts coloration and its behaviour as it stretched its neck to look around.  In flight the tail was slightly fanned and showed obvious pointed tips to the feathers.

Plumage: head very distinctive, with a pale, whitish-buff central crown stripe and dark brown lateral crown stripes.  Pale buff supercilia and a brownish eye stripe behind the eye only, extending to the rear edge of the ear coverts and running just a short way down them whilst becoming very narrow.  No obvious moustachial stripe, quite unlike female yellow-breasted bunting Emberiza aureola. The centre of the ear coverts was buff.  Lores pale, upon close inspection seen to have a bluish-grey coloration.  Chin and throat the brightest part of the whole plumage, a whitish-buff and very obvious at a distance in sunlight.  The nape was more buff-coloured.

Upperparts: Back generally buff with darker streaks.  Mantle with two cream-buff streaks running vertically, edged with darker feathering.  In certain positions the pale streaks formed two inverted "V"s, the outer branch half the length of the main, inner ones.  General feathering of the scapulars was dark-centred, pale-edged.  Median coverts brightest part of wings, broad pale whitish-buff edges.  The other wing bars were far less distinct.  Tertials were, with the exception of the upper right feather, dark brown with a narrow whitish border; the other had a broad buff edge, evidently a fresh one, thus aging the bird as a 1st winter. The primary feathers were dark brown with narrow pale borders.  The rump and upper tail feathers were, as much of the back feathering, dark-centred with pale buff edging.  The tail was similarly coloured, the feathers noticeably spiky, this being particularly prominent when the bird flew overhead, silhouetted against the pale sky.

Underparts: The throat was the most noticeable feature at a distance, being particularly bright buff-cream.  The breast and belly were slightly darker buff but still generally pale as were the thigh feathers.  There was an obvious line down the centre of the breast where feathers overlapped.  The flanks had some darker streaking. 

Bare parts:  The bill was a pale pink, with a hint of darker blue-grey on the culmen and along the top of the upper mandible.  The eye was dark, black-brown, with a narrow white eye ring, most noticeable below the eye.  The legs and feet were pink.

Voice: a rather soft metallic "picc", mainly uttered in flight at a regular interval of about one second, also heard when it was disturbed, as it flew up onto a bracken vantage point to observe what had disturbed it. Theresa heard it first and described it as a "rather less musical chaffinch-like pink" This is the description given in some of the books we subsequently referred to.

Behaviour: At first the bird was rather bold, allowing us to approach to about three metres distance.  It was clambering about among the top of the bracken fronds, which were mainly brown and withering at this time.  It frequently flicked its rather heavy-looking tail, with a slight downward movement before a far more pronouced upward flick.  It was regularly catching and eating craneflies which were abundant among the foliage. Occasionally it flew away, never more than about fifty metres and landed in other bracken patches, but inevitably returned to the original area by undertaking another flight.  Each time it flew it called.  As the afternoon of the 13th of October wore on, the bird became less obvious, spending more time among the bracken, climbing about at half the stem-height, moving from frond to frond.  The moving vegetation was used to relocate the bird.  On the following morning, 14th October, despite twelve people scanning the top of the bracken, it wasn't seen.  The wind had increased ESE 3-4.  It was finally located by accident as it was almost stepped on.  It flew a short distance onto the bracken, and called a few times before flying off again to its favourite patch.  It then remained hidden for long periods, occasionally showing its head and shoulders to an appreciative audience but did, thanfully, sit out in the open on occasion, particularly as the breeze decreased and it became warmer.  During its periods of skulking, it would occasionally stretch its neck up and look around, appearing very corncrake-like.  Tail-flicking was only occasionally seen.

Graham Thompson

Pembrokeshire Bird Report 1999.

Desert Wheatear - 1997 - first for Pembrokeshire

Oenanthe deserti

At 14:15 on Friday 12 December 1997, whilst taking a final stroll around the island before our departure for the winter months (planned for the following day), Theresa Purcell and I were surprsed to come across a bird!  Any bird!  For in recent days gale-force winds had blown incessantly, and there were very few signs of life all!  However, on the ground about 20m ahead of us, a pale head appeared from behind a thrift tussock, and my immediate impression was "wheatear".  Then shock set in, for this was the month of December, and it couldn't opposibly be a Northern Wehatear, surely not!  It then emerged into the open, and its pale plumage became apparent.  After having seen an Isabelline Wheatear Oenanthe isabellina at this very spot in September, there was a brief feeling of deja vu. It became apparent, however, that this was diminutive by comparison.  Both Theresa and I excitedly uttered our feelings simultaneously - "Desert Wheatear"!

And the timing was right.  The bird seemed tired, certainly not wary of us, and we continued our approach as it wandered amongth the clumps of vegetation.  Over the next ten minutes we observed the bird from down to 15 metres, during which time it flew a short distance only a rock outcrop and preened, before flying some 100 metres and out of sight on the coastal slope.  It was indeed a desert whatear, the first recorded on Skokholm, and in Pembrokeshire, and we were elated.  But also frustrated that as far as other birders were concerned, the timing was very wrong and nobody else was going to see it.  However, the image of the bird was preserved for posterity on the toilet wall, in the form of a splendid painting by Theresa.

Description:

General appearance: A a pale, eye-catching wheatear.  Features of note included its small size, upright stance and dumpy appearance, more reminiscent of chats; wing feathers broadly edged buff-white, buff-coloured rump; whole tail brown-black; and along with the primaries and alula, the darkest part of the plumage.  There was a slight contrast between upper- and under-parts.

Size and structure: Despite having no other bird alonside for a direct size comparison, the wheatear was immediately noticeably smaller than northern wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe of the nominate race.  It also had entirely different proportions,: a dumpy body, with neck-less appearance (possibly caused by its tiredness), despite it always standing very upright.  The primary extension was shorter than tertial length, mostly obscuring the rump and extending across part of the upper-tail.  The bill was quite slender.

Plumage: Crown, nape, sides of neck, mantle and scapulars all pale milky-coffee brown; wings with lesser and greater coverts with broad pale buff-white edges virtually obscuring dark (brownish-black) centres, but less so on median covnerts.  Tertials and secondaries also dark with pale edges.  Primaries almost black, with pale tips.  The alula, being black, was the darkest part of the wing, and stood out noticeably.

The face had no feature to cause it to stand out, at times appearing a uniform pale sandy-buff.  An indistinct, pale buffish-white supercilium ran form the forehead to over the eye (head-on views showed supercilia to meet above the bill), then to above the rear ear coverts.  It was not visible all of the time, depending upon the position of the bird and thus the angle of incidence of the light, similarly with the loral bar and ear coverts, which were diffuse pale buff.  At one moment the breeze caused the feathers on one side of the throat to move, briefly revealing a diffuse blackish patch at their base.  But otherwise the throat was off-white, a distinct contrast to the upper breast which was buff-peach, forming a breast band, the belly was also off-white.

The folded tail appeared all brownish-black above and below.  This was confiremd as the bird flew, conspicuously lacking the inverted "T" and white sides to the upper-tail of other wheatears.  Also, a particularly noticeable feature was the buff-coloured rump, obvious in flight, but obscured by the closed wings when the bird was on the ground.  The underwing coverts and axillaries were pale, and the upper-wings were almost as pallid, no doubt due to the broad pale fringes to all feathers.

Bare parts: Iris, bill and legs all black.  There was a pale, whitish eye-ring.

Behaviour: The bird was particularly approachable, but appeared tired, thus allowing close views, although it did stand partiuclarly upright at times and frequently wagged its tail up and down.  When it flew off it appeared very chat-like, direct, with whirring wings.  It flew for c.100metres, whence it dipped out of sight.  Unfortunately we did not see it again, and left the island the following day.

Identification: The pale brownish-coloured upperparts, combined with pale underwing, led us to conclude that the bird was of the East Asian race O d atrogularis.  It was probably afemale.

Graham Thompson

Pembrokeshire Bird Report 1997

Hume's Leaf Warbler - 1993 - first for Pembrokeshire

After sea-watching at Strumble Head and being pleased with seeing a velvet scoter, I returned home, all of half a mile, and looked around the garden.  I noticed a bird which was quite active and looked interesting.  Watching it through my binoculars, it was a yellow-browed warbler, but looking at it more carefully I began to wonder.  It was greyer than yellow-browed warblers that I had seen before and I began to wonder if it could be a Hume's yellow-browed warbler, as it was called back in 1993.

They tend to arrive later in the autumn than yellow-browed, and the date of 20th November was late.

Carefully taking notes on all the features I could on the bird, convinced me that this was a Hume's leaf warbler.  Phoning around a number of local birdwatchers, most were out, birding we hope, but managed to get in touch with Garham Rees and Stuart Devonald by some means, which I can't remember now.  We all had good views of the bird during the afternoon.

It liked to be in the sunny areas, presumably where insects were most active so it could feed.  It moved around with the sun during the day, from willow scrub into a large ash tree.  It was present from 11:30 until 16:15, when it became dark.  It was not seen again.

Description:

The general appearance was drab, compared to yellow-browed warbler one of which turned up in the garden on 29th October, so my memory on the appearance of yellow-browed was fresh.

The upperparts were grey/olive in colour and the underparts greyish white.  The supercilum was buffish in colour, lacking yellow tinge of yellow-browed, wider behind the eye.  The tail was shorter than that of chiffchaff, which was also present.

There were pale edges to the tertials.  there was one wing bar on each wing, with a slight suggestion of a second on the right wing only, again lacking the yellow pigment of the yellow-browed.  Its plumage was in fresh condition.  The bill was wholly dark as were the legs.

The bird called several times, it was like that of chiffchaff but duller (lower) and different from the of yellow-browed, which I have heard before.  Yellow-browed I would describe as coal tit like in pitch.  Some calls were more like a sparrow, probably the best way I could describe them.  Its call was distinctive and helped me locate the bird on a few occasions.  There were a few variations in the calls, some sounding chiffchaff-like, but there were most distinct than the fairly soft chiffchaff call, they sounded clearer, more distinct.

Stephen Berry

Pembrokeshire Bird Report, 1998.

Kumlien's Gull - 1998 - first for Pembrokeshire

Larus glaucoides glaucoides

At about 16:30 on 1st February 1998, for the first time of the year, I found myself checking the gull roost at Llys y Fran Reservoir, after (yet another) fruitless search for lesser spotted woodpecker in the woodland at the northern end of the reseroir.  A number of gulls, mostly adult lesser black-backed gulls Larus fuscus or the race graelsii, were already on the reservoir.  Fairly quickly I located a 1st winter glaucous gull Larus hyperboreus amongst them and soon afterwards another 1st winter "white-winged" gull.  From its size and structure it was obviously an Iceland Gull Larus glaucoides, but some features were not consistent with a nominate race bird (the race we normally see in Pembrokeshire).

I was in no doubt that I was watching an Iceland gull, with glaucous, herring Larus argentatus and Lesser black-backed gulls present close by or next to the bird for comparison, but the bird was unusually dark for this species.  At rest the exposed primaries were pale brown with whitish fringes, not the usual white of a nominate glaucoides.  The tail was seen twice when bathing and had a distinct darker band.  On the open wing, the outer 3 or f primaries were marked with pale brown on the outer web (which was obviously the brown markings I could see on the primaries at rest).

I left the reservoir at 17:00 (when the gates closed), having watched the bird for about 20 minutes.  After reference to literature at home that evening, I felt fairly sure that the bird was a Kumlien's gull Larus glacudoides kumlieni, so I telephoned several local birders to alert them to this possibility.  A telephone conversation later that evening with Graham Walbridge, a member of the British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC) convinced me that this was so.  The news was released onto national and regional 'birdlines' that evening.

The following evening I was joined at the reservoir by Stuart Devonald and two other local birders, where we soon located the bird.  We were able to confirm the features I had noted the previous evening and fortunate also to find an adult ring-billed gull Larus delawarensis amongst the other gulls.  On the 3 Feb the bird was also seen by others, including Jon Green and Jack Donovan, and again on 5 Feb when a number of observers saw it.  All agreed with my identification.  Just to prove that regular coverage of a site usually brings rewards, an Iceland gull was discovered on the 3 Feb, which I also saw on the 4th.  This enabled a good camparison with the Kumlien's gull (although I failed to see them both at the same time), which helped support the identification.  The Kumlien's gull was not seen after 5 Feb, despite regular watching of the gull roost.

Detailed description:

Size/structure: Overall, the bird was essentially as nominate Iceland gull Larus glaucoides glaucoides, ie similar to lesser black-backed gull in size, fairly lightly built for a 'large' gull and with delicate features.  The only structural difference to glaucoides that I noticed was the slightly shorter primary projection, which was only noticeable at rest, but this shorter winged impression could not be confirmed as no 'proper' flight views were ever obtained of the bird.  In overall size it was difficult to differentiate from an 'average' lesser black-backed gull, with which it was usually directly comparable.

Bare parts: The leg colour was not seen well, but was a shade of pink.  The bill was quite slim and small, no different from a glaucoides Iceland Gull.  It was largely black with a very small paler purplish area at the extreme base, largely on the lower mandibile, but this was often not visible.  The eye was dark.

Wings: Most views of the wings were at rest, ie just the exposed primaries.  The open wing was seen just a handful of times by me on the two occasions that I saw the bird.  At rest, the primaries were pale brown in the centre, with a neat whitish fringe, which appeared as a series of 'hooks'.  Four primaries could be see beyond the longest tertial at rest.  The longest primaries extended beyond the tail at rest but, to my eyes, not as far as most Iceland gulls I have seen, but obviously longer than Gaucous Gull.  On the few times that I saw the open wing as the bird bathed, the outer primaries had an obviously darker mark on the outer web.

Head: Creamy brown (but darker than the glaucoides present on 4 Feb), with a darker shadow around the eye, especially above it.

Upperparts: Same base colour as the head, but mottled with fairly heavy regular dark bars.

Underparts: Pale milky brown (but darker than the glaucoides present on 4 Feb), with obvious large darkish brown bars on the undertail coverts.

Tail and rump: Only seen on a couple of occasions as the bird bathed.  Rump same as mantle but more coarsely barred.  Tail had an obvious band - appeared quite even but broken towards the tip.

Overall plumage: When compared to the glaucoides on 4 Feb, which I would describe as a fairly typical individual, the overall plumage tone of the Kumlien's gull was a colder, grey brown colour, lacking the ghostly feel a glaucoides Iceland gull has.

Epilogue

This was exciting period of Llys-y-fran reservoir, with several new records.  A 1st winter glaucous gull roosting dialy from 1 Feb to 4 Mar (with a second bird from 5 to 6 Feb); an adult ring-billed gull on five dates from 2 - 8 Feb; a 1st winter Iceland gull on 3 and 4 Feb; and an adult Mediterranean gull Larus melanocephalus on 5 Feb.  Now we all know where to go when other popular gull roosts aren't producing unusual gulls, or even as a first choice!

Kumlien's gull breeds in north-east Canada and winters there and in coastal eastern North America.  It is a vagrant to Europe.  Most records occur when there are also higher than usual numbers of nominate glaucoides.  At the end of 1998, the subspecies was removed from the list of birds considered by BBRC for the following reasons:

The BBRC feels that there are a number of problems with this form.

• since the recent interest in the identification of the subspecies, it seems that Kumlien's gull is best considered a scarce winter visitor.
• the range of plumage variation is such that it is difficult to establish clear divisions between nominate Iceland gull, particularly in first-year plumages
• whilst a number can be safely identified, this is not true for many, as we know that birds indistinguishable in the field from the nominate race both breed and winter in areas where Kumlien's gull is 'meant' to occur.  In Britain we are therefore limiting ourselves to identifying only a proportion of the extra-limital visitors
• because of the problems of identification, the lack of clarity as to which birds are Kumliens', the shifting nature of its taxonomic status in Britain, which may represent a change of occurrence but is more likely to reflect a change in observer behaviour, we feel that the process of record assessment is not achieving anything scientifically.

This should not put us off looking for Kumlien's gull - 'classic' birds are still identifiable (especially adults), but some birds will have to be left as only possibly this form.  This record has been accepted by the BBRC so should give other observers an idea of what to look for in a first winter bird, to be certain of a Kumlien's gull.  With some concentrated offort, we shouldn't have to wait too long for our next record and the first of an adult bird.

For futher reading, see Gulls by P J Grant, and the article 'Plumage Variation in Kumleins' Iceland gull' by Kevin J Zimmer, pubihsed in Birding, October 1991.

David Astins

Pembrokeshire Bird Report 1998

Shelduck - 2013 - Cleddau Estuary WeBS counts

Shelduck in Pembrokeshire winter mainly on the Cleddau Estuary, with a few being recorded on the Teifi and Nevern Estuaries, and one or two occasionally on fresh-water sites. 

In the 1980s birds would typically start arriving in November, with about a thousand present by January.  These stayed until March, when numbers fell rapidly as birds moved back to their breeding grounds or moulting grounds.  During the 1990s numbers built up steadily from October to a peak in January, then fell steadily. The peak counts were slightly lower than in the 1980s, and this was generally thought to be due to milder winters allowing birds to return earlier to more northerly areas.  The GB national index remained reasonably steady during this time, suggesting that the population overall was not declining.

In the late 1990s the GB index fell slightly, but has now levelled out again.  However, the numbers on the Cleddau have continued to decline and were below the level of national importance during the early 2000s. Numbers on the Burry Inlet also fell at this time. Outside of Wales, Poole Harbour, for example, has experienced a decline of about 60% in recent years (Musgrove, 2007).  Not surprisingly the threshold has now been lowered, but the Cleddau system still only barely qualifies on a five-year average peak count.

The change in timing of birds arriving and departing the Cleddau may be linked to the recent run of mild winters, and to an increase in protected areas on the continental mainland. 

Adult birds move from their wintering grounds to the breeding grounds and from there to moulting grounds in mid-late summer (Wernham, 2002).  Young birds may move more slowly towards the moulting grounds.  The locations used for moult may be changing, for example, most birds went to the Helgoland Bight in the German Waddensee, but in recent years the numbers of birds on British moulting grounds such as the Wash, Bridgewater Bay and the Dee/Mersey estuary have been increasing.  The change in distances travelled may influence the timing of birds arriving back in their wintering grounds. There has been one ringing recovery showing movement of a bird between Pembrokeshire and the Waddensee, but are they still going there?  These changes in moulting grounds may be linked to increasing numbers of shelduck breeding in Ireland. 

There is no indication of any changes in food supply or other environmental factors on the estuary system that would explain observed trends.

Annie Haycock

Pembrokeshire WeBS coordinator

Isabelline Wheatear - 1997 - first for Pembrokeshire

Kim Gowney (KGP), Trevor Price (TJP) and myself had booked to stay on Skokholm for our first time, taking advantage of a four-night short break from 23rd-27th September 1997.  We joined Graham Thompson and Theresa Purcell,, Graham's mother and two non-birding visitors for the last "occupied" week of 1997. 

During our first full walk around the island on Wednesday 24th, we arrived at the lighthouse at around 11am.  After a quick check there, KPG and I walked ahead of TJP, away from the lighthouse through an area known as Horse's Bottom.  I pointed out a particularly pale northern wheatear, Oenanthe oenanthe, to KPG, remarking something like "that's about as pale as a northern wheatear gets", with reference to queries from KPG on the field identification of Isabelline wheatear.  We had seen several northern wheatears that day, but none as pale as this one.

A few steps further on and another wheatear appeared to the right of the path, and as soon as I looked at it through my bins I urged KPG to look too.  Initial impressions were of a bird which was very pale sandy brown, looked long-legged and rotund, and had little contrast between the upper- and underparts.  This really was interesting!  TJP soon joined us and we watched the bird for a few more minutes before it was lost from view.  We were collectively confident it was an Isabelline, but we obviously needed more views.  KPG volunteered to fetch GT (and some reference material to check the features) whilst TJP and I continued to search for the bird.

KPG and GT soon joined us, and about an hour after the first sighting (it was a very long hour . . .) we relocated the bird back where we had first seen it.  We then watched it at ranges down to 20m for about 40 minutes, during which time we noted all of the main separating features from Northern, aparted from the underwing (but boy did we try!).  At this point we were 100% confident we had in front of us Pembrokeshire's first Isabelline wheater, although GT was a little more cautious, having not seen the species before (we were all acutely away of the difficulty of identifying this species). 

We returned to the wheelhouse for lunch and I showed GT some photos of Isabelline wheated in British Birds and he was now convinced we had the definite article (the photo of the Cork bird in 1992 looked exactly like ours).

The bird remained faithful to the same area over the next three days and we were able to enjoy it performing very well, in the company of several northern wheatears, during this time.  The bird was still present and "settled" on the late afternoon of 26th September, but could not be relocated, despite searching, on 27th September.  The bird was photographed.

Detailed Description

The following notes are a summary of my original field notes, based upon approximately four and a half hours watching over three days.  All comparisons are made against northern wheater (NW), several of which were often within a few metres of the Isabelline (none of these were considered to be of the Greenland race, althoughone was very pale, as mentioned above).

Structure/posture: Appeared slightly larger, with longer legs and more pot-bellied than NW.  Tail did not touch ground when bolt upright (often difficult to asses in windy conditions when the bird crouched more, or when not on a flat surface which was the norm - usually on small mounds!)

Bare parts: Bill all dark, slightly longer and deeper than NW.  The bill seemed more "obvious" because of the pale face.  Legs long and dark, and eye all dark.

Head pattern: The chin and throat were sandy brown, with perhaps the chin slightly whiter (photo 1 shows a paler submoustachial area which was not noticeable in most light conditions). The lores (the darkest feature of the head), and to some extent the ear coverts (which appeared the darkst/most contrasted feature when viewed head on) were darker than the rest of the head, but there was no eye stripe.  The supercilium, which joined across the base of the bill, was usually more distinct in front of the eye (especially in brighter conditions), but in most light conditions was poorly defined. Overall, the supercilium was not as contrasting as NM and was not stronger gehind the eye as was the case will all the other NWs I saw.  A paler, thin eye ring was seen on the closts views.  The crown and nape were a pale sandy brown colour.  In some views, when the bird was very upright, the crown appeared very flat.

Upperparts: The upperparts were a pale sandy brown colour, concolorous with the nape.  They contrasted little with the wings or underparts (a feature shown by all NWs examined during our stay)

Underparts: The underparts were a uniformly sandy brown colour, with the vent and undertail whiter.  All other NWs seen were a warmer peachy colour across the breast and none were as pale, or as uniform, as the Isabelline.

Tail and rump: The tail was distinctive, showing clearly more blackish colour (the tail was not as dark black as NW, more blackish-brown) and less of an inverted "T" than any NW I have ever seen.  The blackish-brown on the tail sides was clearly more extensive, and the blackish brown central feathers, although more extensive than the outers, showed slightly less than NW giving a much reduced "T" but an overall darker tail. In many flight views and especially from the side, the "T" was far less noticeable than in NW.  When perched it was difficult to make out any "T" pattern at all.  Each tail feather had a pale tip.  The lower rump and upper-tail coverts were white, but not as extensive as NW and hence accentuated the overall darker tail.

Wings: The greater, median and lesser coverts were broadly fringed a uniform pale sandy brown colour with darker centres, but due to the width of the fringe it was the pale colour which was evident and did not contrast with the upperparts (occasionally the darker centres to the median coverts were more noticeable).  The alula was blackish and was often (but not always) visible, standing out on the pale wing and contrasting with the pale flanks.  The tertials were brown with a broad sandy brown fringe, the secondaries similarly so but the fringes were broader, and the way they were bunched together formed a distinct pale panel in the winger (made larger by the lowest fringes of the longest tertial).  The primaries were dark brown with distinct thin pale tips, and seven (initially through to be six) primary tips were visible beyoned the tertials on the closed wing. The exposed primaries were slightly longer than the length of the tertials on the closed wing.  Two/three buff-fringed, dark-centred, greater primary coverts could be seen extending down below the greater coverts.  The underwing was a most difficult feature to asses, and it wasn't until the third day that I was finally convinced that the Isabelline had a distinctly paler underwing than NW, an impression I only confirmed after have a good view of a NW's dark udnerwing (GT had seen the feature earlier and was happy it was pale, with a slightly darker row of secondary converts).

Habits: Generally behaved much as a NW, hopping and running across the ground (mostly a grassy areas of Manx shearwater burrows).  It would often perch on the highest available mound on full view, taking short flights.  Occasionally it would fly up to 200m away but always returned to the same small area.

Call: On the final day I heard the bird call several times, usually when chasing off a NW or alarmed by my presence.  I would describe it as a "chack", very simily to NW but softer to my ear.

This record has been accepted by the British Birds Rarities Committee and, assuming the bird on Bardsey Island a few days previously is accepted, becomes the second for Wales and the 14th for Britain and Ireland.

David Astins

Pembrokeshire Bird Report 1997

Alpine Accentor - 1997 - first for Pembrokeshire

The autumn half-term holiday of 1997 found my extended family and I staying in a holiday cottage in Porthgain.  A time to escape the city with the odd spot of birding thrown in.  A trip to Ramsey Island and seeing choughs for the first time in several years were the limits of our ornithological ambitions for the week.

With both of these achieved, on Thursday 30th October my partner and I set off for an afternoon drive to Fishguard, stopping off at Strumble Head on the way.  On arrival, at 13:45, we spent 15 minutes in the look-out watching the plentiful porpoises offshore.  Being an almost windless day, bird movements were minimal and confined to the ubiquitous gannets and the odd auk.  We then walked toawards the lighthouse and, on reaching the concrete steps leading down to the walkway over to the lighthouse, a bird appeared on the wall in front of us. On looking though my binoculars I was astounded to find that it was immediately recongnisable as an Alpine Acentor, a bird I had last seen in similar surroundings on the Isle of Wight, eight years previously.

For the next 15 minutes we watched the accentor as it remained in constant view on the wall, steps and nearby rocks at a range of around 5 metres.  It was tame and lethargic and was not seen to feed.  Sara returned to the car to fetch a notebook and camera and on her arrival back I attempted to take some photos - although with eventually disappointing results. 

We also noted the bird's salient features: it's portly, skylark-sized, appearance; black wing-converts tipped with white to form two wingbars; creamy stripes on the mantle; white throat flecked with black, heavy rufous streaking on the breast sides extending and darkening on the flanks, belly and undertail converts; tail tipped white and extensive yellowing base to the bill. The "naked eye" appearance of a grey-brown bird being belied by these distinctive features.

After a while I became aware that several people were queuing behind us on the steps and I decided to leave to try to find other birders in the area.  I returned a few minutes later with three "casual" birdwatchers who, although appearing interested in my find, had not heard of the bird.  Unfortunately there were now many people on the steps were the bird had been, attracted by the sight of some seals on the beach.  After seeing it again very briefly on nearby rocks before it was disturbed, we left the area to drive the four miles to the nearest phone-box to try to contact my father.  We left a message with the somewhat bewidered owner of our cottage and, not being aware of any local birder's numbers, phoned the news through to a national birdline.

At 15:00, on arriving back at the site, I quickly refound the accentor where it had last been seen, but again only briefly before it was flushed, dropping down over the cliff-edge.  Disappointingly, the area was then subject to constant disturbance for the next hour and more, including a party of rock-throwing teenagers!  At just before 16:30 I gave up searching, rather fearing the worst for a bird which had not been seen outside the same small area or flew any distance.  It was, to my knowledge, never seen again.

The Alpine Accentor was the first for Pembrokeshire and second for Wales, athough the first this century.  It was only the eleventh UK record since 1958 being the fourth autumn recod in the time.  There had been strong southerly winds the previous day and perhaps the bird had found itself in the Irish Sea and made landfall at Strumble Head while attempting to reorientate

Sean Davies (Bristol)

Pembrokeshire Bird Report 1997

Update on Saturday, February 8, 2014 at 11:04AM by Pembrokeshire Avifauna committee

Record accepted by BBRC in 1998

American Wigeon - 1996 - first for Pembrokeshire

For the last sixteen years I have holidayed in Pembrokeshire.  The last ten years my parents have owned a static caravan in Saundersfoot which we used whenever possible.  As a result, Pembrokeshire became my second "home" county.  Over the years I have seen many good birds in Pembs and found a few rarities myself, so it was a big disappointment when we had to sell the caravan in December.

As a result, my father and I had to travel down to the caravan over the Chrimas break to clear it out.  We travelled on the Friday morning (27th December) with the aim of returning home the following morning.  By force of habit I packed my birding gear just in case we had time to spare.  We cleared out the van quite quickly and I suggested we went out somewhere nearby; it was 1.30pm and so only a few hours of daylight remained.  It was decided that we go to Lawrenny to view the estuary.

My previous visit to the site in September had produced 6 little egrets, so hopes were high.  As we arrived, a big flock of birds took flight: a black and white swirling mass which turned out to be dunlins. This was far more than I had seen here in the past and as they settled down, I jumped out of the car and set up my scope.  As I scanned the flock it was apparent that there were other waders mixed in.  In all, over 1000 dunlins, 19 redshanks, 10 curlews, numerous oystercatchers, 11 grey plovers, 1 bar-tailed godwit and a fly-by peregrine. Quite a good half-hour's birding!

Apart from the waders, there were also a number of groups of wildfowl scattered around the estuary and so I began to identify the species.  A surprise find was a pair of gadwalls in the creek about 50 yeards from the road.  Newarby a couple of big groups of wigeons were feding on the shoreline and another small group on the mud bank, feeding on th exposed weed.  I carefully viewed the two big groups on the shoreline for any other species but apart from a few teals nothing unusual stood out.

I see plenty of wildfowl on reservoirs back home, so the waders were of more interest, and as I shifted my attention a bird caught my eye.  One of the wigeons feeding on the mud bank was looking straight at me and all that could be seen was the forehead blaze.  However, on this bird it was creamy white colour unlike the yellow of Eurasian wigeon.  Just as I started to suspect it could be the the American counterpart, the burd turned side on: a superb fully plumaged male American Wigeon.

I quickly pointed it out to my father but unfortunately there were no other birders to be seen.  I have seen a number of American wigeons in the past and this was my second of the winter (the first being a long-staying bird on the Conwy estuary). However, this was the brightest individual that I have seen.

Very like Eurasian wigeon in build and character.  Body pinkish brown with a paler greyish white head, peppered darker with an obvious dark metallic green band behind the eye.  The classic identification feature is the white auxiliaries comparted to grey of Eurasion but there was no need to see this to confirm ID.  With the sun behind us ites colours really showed up well.  I watched it for about 10-15 minutes before we left and headed back to the caravan.  Once back, I phoned Graham Rees and informed him and released the news on Birdline Wales.

The following morning we made a quick visit to Tenby before heading home.  I wanted to look at "Birds of Pembrokeshire" to see the status of American Wigeon in Pembs.  I found a copy in WH Smiths but could not find any reference to American Wigeon at all.  Could it be a first for the County?  Only now did I realise the significance of the bird and that most of the local birders were probably at the very moment frantically scanning the wigeon flock at Lawrenny in serch of the Yank.

Richard Stonier.

Footnote: Thanks to Richard's swift action, most local observers were able to enjoy seeing the striking, which stayed in situ into the New Year (eds) 

Pembrokeshire Bird Report 1996