Rare Birds

American Robin Turdus migratorius

On 5th January 2007, the Group received an unauthenticated report from J. Crawshaw of this species being seen near Dowley Gap, but nothing was subsequently located. However, reports from P. Davison of a bird in a nearby Gilstead garden were fully verified on 24th January. The bird, a first-winter female, remained faithful to its favoured areas in Primrose Lane, Gilstead until 13th February, and was seen by many admirers from all over the country. Unsurprisingly, the first Group record.

Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio

The Red-backed Shrike has occurred three times in the BOG area. The first Group record was an adult male, in the garden of the Old School House, at Norwood, which was reported on 24th September 2001, but which had apparently been present prior to that. The bird showed well, regularly dropping down from the cover of the garden hedge onto the ground to feed, then sitting out on the hedge. It was last seen on 14th October, and was much appreciated by a wide audience.  A male was seen and photographed on Barden Moor on 15th June 2003 and a singing adult male was located in the plantation at Thornton Moor Reservoir on 30th May, 2004 (picture) making this only the third Group record. (photo: D. Barker).

Black-crowned Night Heron Nyciticorax nyciticorax

An adult was present at Otley Gravel Pits from at least 17th July to at least 11th August, 1990.   The bird usually spent its days roosting in the thicket of Willow Salix and Alder Alnus on the island at the first pool, flying westwards at dusk to unknown feeding grounds.  However it did sometimes feed near the roost before leaving as darkness approached and was occasionally seen during the day.

Reports from golfers of a ‘funny Bittern’ on Ilkley Golf Course percolated down to the bird-watchers after approximately a week, and it was identified as a first-winter Night Heron on 25th October, 1995.  It gave excellent views or most of the next two days as it slept in a tree about ten yards from the roadside.

A surprise find at the Group’s access site of Marley Sewage Works was a sub-adult bird on 14th April, 1998. The bird was first surprised at close range, and flew from a dense thicket of willow scrub into similar cover a couple of hundred metres away. It was later seen in flight leaving this thicket to fly upstream, but sadly could not be relocated.

A first-summer bird was found along the River Aire near the Denso Marston Nature Reserve on 7th May 2004, and was seen until at least the 9th (picture).  This, remarkably, represents the fourth Group record.

Grey Phalarope Phalaropus fulcarius

This is the only picture that has come to light of the Grey Phalarope that was recorded at Fewston Reservoir on 3rd November 2002.  It was identified as a juvenile, moulting into first-winter plumage.  The bird stayed close to the bank during the first day, was rather elusive for the next two days, and was last seen on 6th November. 

Our second Group record of a  Grey Phalarope was found at Bradley Ings on 18th November 2010.  It was seen only briefly and distantly there, but it was then relocated at Cononley, where it provided excellent views until its departure on the 21st.  photo: Paul King. The bird was discovered by Keith Moir, here is the article he wrote for our publication, Lapwing.

The seasonal floods at Cononley Ings can often produce numbers of wildfowl and Lapwings, and occasionally other waders. Conditions were ideal from about the second week in November last year, so I visited on several occasions between the 9th and the 18th, when I saw big numbers of ducks, including a Pintail and a Shelduck, plus a Whooper Swan and a few waders, amongst them 21 Snipe and an unseasonal Oystercatcher.

Whilst scanning through a flock of Wigeon on the latter date, a small grey and white wader, with a prominent wingbar, flew swiftly through my field of view. Probably a Sanderling, I guessed, uncommon in the BOG area and particularly unusual here, so my count of the Wigeon was deferred as I sought to relocate the bird. It quickly landed on the shoreline, and immediately entered the water, where it started to swim: it was a phalarope. My deferred Wigeon count suddenly lost all its appeal, and was abandoned!

A quick check with the telescope confirmed the salient features, in particular plain light grey upperparts, white underparts apart from a pinkish wash round the throat, prominent black marking on the crown, nape and face, and (for a phalarope species) a relatively thick bill. So it was a 1st-winter Grey Phalarope.  A few phone calls were needed to put the bird on the BOG website and alert a few local birders, but, having a total inability to multi-task, my attention was focused entirely on phoning, with the almost inevitable result that, on completing the calls, the phalarope had vanished.

Fortunately, after an hour it reappeared, to supplement my initial meagre viewing period by a further two minutes, before flying off and disappearing again. Rod Proctor arrived at the scene as I was leaving, and was not entirely appreciative of my cheery “you should have been here five minutes ago”.  It took him a further 30 minutes of waiting before the bird was relocated, though again quickly flying off up the valley, when it was disturbed by dog-walkers.

In the light of subsequent events this was to prove ironic, as after the phalarope was rediscovered the following day on a tiny pool near Cononley village, it was, more typically for the species, completely unfazed by the crowds of admirers who came from across the region and beyond, until it was last seen on the 21st.  And it was close.  Very close.  So close that it’s rumoured some older members of the Group abandoned their binoculars and reverted to reading-glasses!

Unfortunately, the original finder was blissfully unaware of all this, so had to make do with his original four minutes of distant views spread over an hour and a half from a distinctly draughty roadside vantage point.  But it was nice to find a bird seen only once before in the recording area (unsurprisingly, as it winters well out to sea off Africa), and I enjoyed looking at the excellent photos, some of which are included here.

Whilst birds of this quality can’t be guaranteed around Cononley on a regular basis, there have been other rarities in the past, and, when flooded, the whole area merits close scrutiny.

Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus

This is also the only image that survives of a first-summer Red-necked Phalarope that was discovered at Thornton Moor Reservoir on 22nd May 1999.  The bird stayed for just two days, and by the time of its departure (around 9.30pm on 24th May) around 100 birders from all over the country had enjoyed splendid views of this all-too-rare visitor to the Group's recording area. (photo: D. Barker)

Bean Goose Anser fabalis

There are four records of Bean Goose in the BOG area.  An adult was at Knotford Nook, Otley on 8th January 1987 and a single bird landed in fields on the moor edge at Paul Clough on 3rd October 1999.  The bird, thought to be of the nominate race A.f.fabalis (Taiga Bean Goose), was watched for 10 to 15 minutes before flying off west.  A bird found with Greylag Geese on 9th January 2005, near Leeshaw Reservoir, was present on and off until 2nd April.  The bird was assigned to the race A. f. rossicus (Tundra Bean Goose), which is considered by some authorities to constitute a separate species (photo S. Grey).  Three birds flying west at Thornton on 4th April were accepted by Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union Records Committee as this species, but couldn’t be assigned to either of the European races.

Two-barred Crossbill Loxia leucoptera

A first for the Group and for West Yorkshire, this record is all the more remarkable for the bird having been discovered at a garden feeder in Oakworth on 29th October 2008. The bird, a male, was photographed during its stay, which, unfortunately, was all too brief, as it was taken by a Sparrowhawk. 

Bluethroat Luscinia svecica

Whilst conducting a distribution survey in a new area can be rewarding, with the observer perhaps finding the occasional surprise bird, but nothing prepared two members for the excellent female Bluethroat they found in Fish Beck Lane, Silsden on 8th May 1996, during the year’s survey! The bird stayed until 11th, delighting many birders (the number of birders on one occasion reached a maximum count of 27).  The second sighting was a female bird found at Thornton Moor Reservoir on 23rd May 2008 (photo by Brian Vickers).