North Uist and back

If you were to ask most birders what the likelihood of them seeing a live Black-billed Cuckoo in the British Isles was, it's highly likely that the vast majority would have rated the probability somewhere between "microscopic" and "nil" before last Sunday.

Black-billed Cuckoo, a bird that has only appeared once in Britain in a quarter of a century, has a reputation for arriving on this side of the Atlantic in poor health (many have been dead or dying) and rarely lingers for more than a day, is notorious for being among the most difficult species to catch up with on our shores. Even in the heydays of the 80s there are countless tales of birders arriving a day too late to see one, or even stuck on the wrong island while down on Scilly. This, combined with their apparent decline in the States and the clear downturn in occurrences on this side of the Atlantic, created a dire scenario - it seemed any occurrence of the species had become almost impossible to come by, let alone a remotely twitchable individual. Then came the faint glimmer of hope: records from Brittany, France, in November 2013 and North Ronaldsay in October 2014 hinted that, one day, British birders might be afforded another opportunity to see what ranks as one of the most enigmatic of all Nearctic landbird vagrants recorded in Europe.

I spent last week in Finland. It was a fantastic six-day trip - beautiful scenery, brilliant wildlife and great weather. The only blemish on a perfect - if largely sleepless - week was that little more than an hour after our arrival in Helsinki on Sunday 22nd, Chris Batty had phoned Dan to tell us that a Black-billed Cuckoo had been found on North Uist. Initially we tried to dismiss the report - a Coccyzus in May?! It surely had to be rubbish! It wasn't. Dan was beside himself; even the failed twitcher, yours truly, couldn't help but feel gripped.

The week slipped by and, day by day, we were informed of the cuckoo's continued presence. It showed no signs of poor health, like so many of its predecessors, and by Wednesday the first waves of cautious optimism were beginning to flow through our veins. By the time we flew back on Friday, a plan was in place - we'd land at Heathrow, head back to mine in West London and hit the road north with the aim of getting on the Saturday afternoon sailing of the Uig-Lochmaddy ferry.

The drive was one of the worst I've done for a long time. A chronic lack of sleep in Finland made it a battle. By the time we reached Glasdrum Woods, north of Oban, we'd been travelling constantly for the best part of 18 hours without rest. But with these sort of things, you just have to grit your teeth and keep going - the last remotely twitchable Black-billed was in October 1990. I was nine months old, Dan two months and both James and Liam, who made up the rest of the team, were still some way off being born.

It was a beautiful morning in Argyll and it was no surprise to see that Glasdrum's Chequered Skippers were out enjoying the already-warm sunshine at 7 am. At least 15 were seen, some of which hadn't yet warmed up enough and were affording decent photo opportunities. Also there were plenty of Small Pearl-bordered and a single Pearl-bordered Fritillary.

Chequered Skippers, Glasdrum Woods, Argyll, 28 May 2016

Shortly after leaving Glasdrum our nerves were transformed to exaltation as Dan received a text message from Adam Archer saying something along the lines of "f**king get in!" Evidently the cuckoo was still around, now all we had to do was get there ...

Skye proved packed with eagles: we had an adult Golden south of Portree, 3cy White-tailed just north-west of there and then three Golden and two White-tailed around Uig. The ferry crossing produced a couple of Arctic Skuas, a Bonxie and a breeding-plumaged Great Northern Diver plus some extremely distant Bottlenose Dolphins.

Dan barged his way to the front of the hire car queue and we were soon on our way west from Lochmaddy. Fifteen minutes later and the search was on. More and more people arrived and fanned out. It was a particularly warm afternoon - far too toasty for the jeans, coat and boots I was in. For some time it was just the usual displaying waders and a singing Common Cuckoo that kept us entertained.

An hour or so in to the search and suddenly, some distance from where we were stood, there were the tell-tale signs that something exciting was happening: birders waving, starting to run. We jumped straight in the car and bombed down to gardens near Loch Sandary. The crowd grew near, the car was ditched. Seconds later there it was, poking its fantastic head out of a Christmas tree. The bird we all hoped - but dared not believe - we might one day see.

Black-billed Cuckoo, Paible, North Uist, 28 May 2016

It proved quite mobile for the next hour but afforded great views for much of that time. It was, however, pretty unobtrusive for long periods as it sat motionless in bushes. It could easily go missing without large numbers of observers looking and it's no wonder that there'd been no sign for much of the previous day.

After having had our fill of the cuckoo, we mooched off for a drive around North Uist and Benbecula. It was a glorious evening and waders were displaying all around: Dunlin, Common Snipe, Redshank ... and eventually our target, Red-necked Phalarope; a cracking pair.

Rather than head back for the cuckoo (which apparently showed beautifully at around 8 pm) we decided to return to Lochmaddy. We wanted to watch the Champions League final and so went to the Lochmaddy Hotel, but were given the cold shoulder ("we're too busy", said the waitress). This was a fortunate turn of events as we ended up eating at the nearby Hamersay House, where the food was excellent and the place generally far superior.

Sunday was spent sleeping and mooching around the cuckoo site (we didn't see it) before checking a few gardens on the south side of the island. Nothing interesting, but another pleasant day and a calm return crossing on the ferry. The journey back south from Uig proved tedious due to an hour-long tailback near Loch Lomond; it wasn't until after midnight that we reached Dan's in Staffordshire. Not that it mattered much after such a successful 48 hours - Outer Hebrides twitches are always among the most enjoyable, not least because of the wonderful scenery on offer both en route and on arrival. Here's to the next one!

A few thoughts on the Israeli Red-billed Teal

In early March I spent a long weekend in Israel, where the primary target was the long-staying Bateleur (which we saw). A real bonus was hearing of the continued presence of the Red-billed Teal in the northern Arava, 're-found' by visiting Finns Seppo and Hannu and seen shortly afterwards by visiting Brits Chris Bell et al. As we were at the Arava junction of Routes 40 & 90 when Chris' SMS came through on 5th, we bolted straight up to Hazeva and saw the bird pretty well in the strong mid-afternoon light, though it was very wary and was mainly seen in flight.

Red-billed Teal, Hazeva, Israel, 5 March 2016

Long before the trip I'd been a fan of this bird being the real deal. Israel boasts the only previously accepted Western Palearctic record of the species (in June - July 1958) and of course has a strong track record with producing extremely rare sub-Saharan African vagrants. Barak Granit wrote an interesting article on the Israel Birding Portal website which coherently summarises where we are seemingly at regarding this latest bird. His conclusion was that it's ultimately still up for debate, though Barak seemingly falls on the pro-wild side (e.g. "An escape scenario is just plausible as well, but the evidence doesn't support such a scenario").

Red-billed Teal, Hazeva, Israel, 5 March 2016

Since reading this it's become apparent that some members of the IRDC are seemingly not keen on accepting the bird as wild (words such as "dodgy" have been used by the committee and apparently the suspicion is that it will be rejected). More digging seems to throw up two primary reasons for this:

1. The bird is behaving in sedentary fashion (i.e. it has been in Israel for two years and currently shows no signs of leaving)
2. The bird has hybridised with a Mallard

To me, neither of these factors suggest captive/escaped origin and are certainly not detrimental to the idea that the Arava Red-billed Teal is a wild bird. Personally I think it is disconcerting that anyone could be dismissive of the bird based on the above two factors, though of course others don't share my view. Allow me to elaborate ...

The bird's sedentary nature

Here I quote BirdLife International (2012): "This species is mostly sedentary or nomadic, but may disperse long distances (up to 1,800 km) in the dry season depending on the extent of flooding".

Red-billed Teal is a species that often moves based on the availability of water. If suitable habitat is present, it does not need to move. If water is not available, it has the ability to move large distances. If it is normal for this species to disperse the best part of 2,000 km in search of water, imagine what a vagrant might achieve? Red-billed Teal routinely occurs as far north as Sudan. From here it is really not that far to travel to southern Israel, particularly when you consider the Nile acting as a northward funnel for sub-Saharan species. If a vagrant teal is driven north by a lack of water, it could feasibly end up in southern Israel (as many other African species have previously). If it then finds a constant water source to its liking, as this bird has, why would it need to move? The current notion to reject the record based on its sedentary nature (a completely natural part of the species' ecology) therefore doesn't make much sense.

One should also consider other examples of long-staying African vagrants. Israel currently has one (the Bateleur on the Judean Plains has now been present for almost a year), possibly two (Yellow-billed Stork in Bet She'an potentially present a year or more?). Elsewhere there is a long-staying and regularly returning Grey-headed Gull in Italy (currently present for its fourth calendar year) and, as of March 2016, Cape Verde continues to host a single Black Heron (this bird having originally turned up alongside another in March 2011). Before this there was a Black-headed Heron there for over two years. These are just recent examples and there are no doubt many more.

Hybridisation

Barak Granit refers to the occurrence of hybrid offspring alongside the Red-billed Teal as "much more worrying", but I do not agree with this. Dabbling ducks (Anatinae) are notorious for rife hybridisation, particularly among vagrants. It is a fact of life that Anatinae are very much advocates of 'free love' - hybridisation between species occur in normal circumstances, and not just in a vagrant context (where a lost individual will naturally look to breed with its closest available relative, if possible). If this is genuinely being used as a factor against the Israeli Red-billed Teal then, using the same logic, we should look to reject all those American Black Ducks that interbreed with Mallards in Britain, Ireland, the Azores and so on. Similarly any vagrant American Wigeon breeding with its Eurasian counterpart (or indeed Green-winged Teal with Eurasian Teal etc) would therefore be discounted as a wild bird. The fact that the Arava Red-billed Teal has bred with a Mallard at some point is, in my opinion, normal behaviour for a wild bird and in no way should be viewed as an indication of a captive/wild bird. Hybridisation is a true red herring in the 'wild or escape' debate.

On 5 March 2016 the Red-billed Teal was seen alongside two hybrid offspring - both of which are pictured in the images above. The mixture of RBT/Mallard features is quite obvious.

If you consider this in addition to the fact that Red-billed Teal is an abundant species in Africa with a massive range, the fact that none have been known in captivity in Israel for over a decade (though of course this does not discount the possibility of an escape from another country), that the bird is extremely wary and does not allow a close approach whatsoever (atypical behaviour for an escape), that Israel regularly attracts Afrotropical vagrants (including several long-stayers at present) and already has an accepted record of this species, I believe the evidence points towards this being a wild bird, despite the IRDC's reported reservations ...

Two Ring-billed Gulls in Hampshire

One close....

Ring-billed Gull, Gosport, 11 January 2015

... and the other far away....

Adult Ring-billed Gull with Common Gulls, Blashford Lakes, 11 January 2015

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Porthgwarra, 24 October 2014

Comfortably the highlight of my British and Irish year. What a cracker!

Unfortunately not the easiest bird to photograph despite being pretty tame, it generally sat partially (or totally!) obscured and thus 'clean' shots were very difficult to obtain.

Left London on news at 09:30 on Friday morning, arriving at PG around 14:30. Bird last showed a short while after 17:30. It appeared to be feeding quite avidly on caterpillars (not sure of species) and generally seemed quite healthy, though it did spend one ten-minute period sat out on closing its eyes late afternoon. I was pretty surprised that it wasn't there on Saturday morning, but Friday evening was cold and clear - perhaps it simply moved on?

A bunch of Ringers

Saw a dozen Ring-billed Gulls - of all ages - in Ireland last week, a few of which were probably good enough as finds but most no doubt familiar long-staying/returning faces.

Second-winter, Bantry (Co Cork), 16th February

Second-winter, Tralee Bay Wetlands (Co Kerry), 18th February

Apparent third-winter, Tralee Bay Wetlands (Co Kerry), 18th February

First-winter, Achill Island (Co Mayo), 19th February

Adult, Belumllet (Co Mayo), 20th February

Adult (top) and second-winter, Atlantic Pond, Cork City, 22nd February

First-winter, O'Callaghan Strand, Limerick City, 22nd February

Pekin at introduced Robins in Tuscany

The Red-billed Leiothrix (or Pekin Robin to aviculturists) is something you'd normally expect to see on the Indian Subcontinent but, thanks to a helping hand from man, this stunning species has colonized a handful of spots in Spain, France and Italy where it is eagerly sought by tick-hungry Western Palearctic birders such as myself. Here are a few shots of some of the several Leiothrix we saw along the River Serchio near Lucca, Tuscany on Sunday 5th May:

Cat C species aren't to everyone's taste, and some of the targets on our Italian trip (Northern Bobwhite, Sacred Ibis and Vinous-throated Parrotbill) will certainly raise a few eyebrows among those who like their wildlife a little more 'natural'. We only had shit views of the bobwhites and the ibises were admittedly rather unpleasant, but the parrotbills were pretty characterful!

Believe it or not, we did see some real birds too (not photographed; too wary!) that included several Rock Partridges plus nice Med stuff like Collared Flycatchers, Red-backed Shrikes, Wrynecks, Golden Orioles and so on - I hope to produce a full trip report in the coming days/weeks which will detail all the sites you need to fill your boots with non-native goodness.

Short-billed Dowitcher

What a gorgeous bird, positively glowing here in the evening sunshine. It's been a nervous three-day wait to get down to Lodmoor to see one of my dream birds - well worth suffering the Friday afternoon traffic for!