2022 - It's the end!

Waxwing, Kilnsea - John Hewitt

 

Little Auks, Spurn - John Hewitt

 Wagtail delight?

 

Late autumn excitement has been limited in Yorkshire so far, but without question the highlight for most County listers was what was generally thought to be an Eastern Yellow Wagtail at Kilnsea Wetlands on 27^th and 28th October. Despite the fact that this taxon is generally thought to have occurred in the County previously, there are no accepted records (or even submissions?) so far of this recently split species. Although most observers were happy that this bird looked very much the part there has been some doubts expressed with regards to the sound recordings, fortunately however, a sample of poo has been sent for DNA analysis which should hopefully resolve the identification beyond any doubt.

For the time being we will adopt the same policy as with the Bempton ‘presumed Turkestan’ Shrike, (no, nothing further on that yet!) thus we will await formal acceptance from the BBRC before allowing inclusion in the Yorkshire Listers League.

Putative Eastern Yellow Wagtail, Kilnsea Wetlands, October 22 - Thomas Willoughby

Putative Eastern Yellow Wagtail, Kilnsea Wetlands, October 22 - Hazel Wiseman

Blyth's Reed Warbler, Spurn, October 22 - John Hewitt

 Kilnsea, October 22 - John Hewitt

Barred Warbler, Kilnsea, October 22 - John Hewitt

 

LATEST SIGHTINGS SEPTEMBER 2022

Juvenile Long-tailed Skua, Kilnsea Wetlands, Sept 22 - John Hewitt

Juvenile Long-tailed Skua, Kilnsea Wetlands, Sept 22 - John Hewitt

 

                                Little Bunting Spurn, Sept 22 - John Hewitt

Grey Phalarope, Kilnsea , Sept 22 - John Hewitt

Greater Sand Plover, Redcar Sept 22 - Ian Smith

                      Greater Sand Plover, Redcar Sept 22 - Ian Smith

A remarkable period for waders at Beacon Ponds peaked when the Red-necked Phalarope flock increased to 3 (all juveniles) on 5th September, meanwhile the Kilnsea Citrine Wagtail flock increased to at least 2 (see below). There was a nice arrival of Honey Buzzards along the coast and also inland with 3 photographed together at Orgreave.

Citrine Wagtail,Riverside, Kilnsea, September 2022 - John Hewitt

Citrine Wagtail, Beacon Ponds, Kilnsea, September 2022 - John Hewitt

Citrine Wagtail, bird 2, Beacon Ponds, Kilnsea, September 2022 - John Hewitt

Honey Buzzard, Kilnsea, September 2022 - John Hewitt

3 Red-necked Phalaropes, Beacon Ponds, September 2022 - John Hewitt

WESTERN SUBALPINE WARBLER, KILNSEA, APRIL 2022

With news that DNA results have confirmed that the Subalpine Warbler seen in Kilnsea this spring was, as was thought, a Western we are now happy to allow its inclusion as such for the purpose of the Yorkshre Listers League. If you saw it and it needs adding to your tally please make sure you let us know.

Western Subalpine Warbler, Kilnsea, April 22 - John Hewitt

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Wryneck, Spurn, August 22 - John Hewitt

White-rumped Sandpiper, Kilnsea Wetlands, August 22 - John Hewitt

 

THE BEMPTON SHRIKE

The main excitement in Yorkshire at the moment is the presence of a bird at Bempton which is widely believed to be a Turkestan (Red-tailed) Shrike. Because of the complexities of identification of the 'Isabelline Shrikes' we have decided to await the birds formal acceptance by BBRC before adding it to the Yorkshire list and thus allowing inclusion in the Yorkshire Listers League. Any Yorkshire Listers who have previously seen an Isabelline Shrike sp in the County will already have included it on their tally under the 'common sense rule'  and so their total will not increase for the time being and even if accepted as Turkestan will not gain numerically until they see an accepted Daurian. A copy of the situation explained sometime ago under the section 'THE RULES' is repeated below.

● Isabelline Shrike: The Isabelline Shrike complex has now been split two ways, Daurian Shrike Lanius isabellinus (also known as Isabelline Shrike) and Turkestan Shrike Lanius phoenicuroides (also known as Red-tailed Shrike) Daurian Shrike should be placed below Red-backed Shrike on the list and Turkestan Shrike below Daurian, however, as there are currently no accepted records of either in the County (see below) we will currently record it on the Yorkshire list as Daurian/Turkestan Shrike.

The current situation in Yorkshire is that none of the previous records of 'Isabelline Shrike' have been accepted to the new specific level which means there are currently NO accepted records of Daurian or Turkestan Shrike in the County. We are told that all records  of 'Isabelline Shrikes' will eventually be reviewed by the British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC) so this situation may eventually change, however, we are led to believe that this is not going to happen any time soon. With this in mind we are quite happy  to allow the 'Yorkshire Birders common sense rule' to apply again and as such if you’ve seen one or the other (eg an 'Isabelline Shrike') in the County then you can count it as one, but only as two when you have seen accepted records of both Daurian and Turkestan.

Photos below of Bempton presumed Turkestan Shrike - John Hewitt

Photos below, Rose-coloured Starling, Kilnsea Wetlands, July 22- John Hewitt

Is your Yorkshire List up to date or do you simply fancy joining the fun? If you require an electronic copy of the recently updated master list please email a request to yorkshirebirding1@gmail.com  and don’t forget to let us know whenever you add a species. Full details can be found by clicking the League Table option.   

Do you have photos of any scarce or rare birds taken in Yorkshire that might be suitable to post on this site? If so they would be very much appreciated. Please submit to  yorkshirebirding1@gmail.com

The Honey Buzzards have been showing well recently at Wykeham Forest raptor viewpoint - photos John Hewitt

Rose-coloured Starling, Kilnsea, June22 - John Hewitt

 

Today's main news concerned the discovery of a Stone Curlew at Kilnsea that eventually settled down in Well Field for several hours allowing a number of the County's keen listers to catch up with what is not an easy bird to see in Yorkshire.

Stone Curlew, Kilnsea, May 22 - Tom Wright

 

 Is your Yorkshire List up to date or do you simply fancy joining the fun? If you require an electronic copy of the recently updated master list please email a request to yorkshirebirding1@gmail.com  and don’t forget to let us know whenever you add a species. Full details can be found by clicking the League Table option.

BAIKAL TEAL- To tick or not to tick?

The main bird of interest in Yorkshire at the moment is the drake Baikal Teal which has visited several sights in East Yorkshire and is currently at Tophill Low. Despite the fact that the last Baikal Teal in the county (another drake in East Yorkshire in May 2019) was controversially placed into Category D by the BBRC (and thus deemed not countable for the purpose of the Yorkshire Lister's League) we are happy to allow Yorkshire Listers to include this latest bird on their tally although should it suffer the same fate with BBRC as the 2019 bird then ultimately it would have to be removed. Until then, go and see it, enjoy it, stick it on your list and let us know!

Drake Baikal Teal, East Yorkshire, January 22 - Erich Hediger