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Rare Bird Sightings
November 2005
by Steve Botham 

Photo © Copyright 2005 Steve Botham: s.botham@ntlworld.com
Photo: Steve Botham

UK Safari Tip:
Need help identifying birds? One of the best field guides is the "Collins Bird Guide" - available through the Amazon bookshop -  click here

This Grey-Cheeked Thrush was spotted Great Wood country park 2 miles North of Potters bar Hertfordshire. Probably less than 50 of these birds reach the UK each year, and most of them are spotted on the islands around the coast.

 

Photo © Copyright 2005 Steve Botham: s.botham@ntlworld.com

One of three Slavonian Grebes, sometimes called 'Horned Grebes', which were spotted at Covenham Reservoir in Lincolnshire. According to the RSPB around 400 of these beautiful grebes are believed to spend the winter in the UK. Scotland has the monopoly on these birds for the rest of the year, with around 70 breeding pairs.



Photo © Copyright 2005 Steve Botham: s.botham@ntlworld.com

This Grey Phalarope was spotted at Covenham Reservoir in Lincolnshire. These birds normally spend the winter at sea, but in bad weather, and after strong winds, can be seen on inland water. Some will remain all winter. Their summer breeding grounds are in Iceland and Siberia. 



Photo © Copyright 2005 Steve Botham: s.botham@ntlworld.com

A Red-Necked Grebe spotted at Covenham Reservoir in Lincolnshire. According to the RSPB fewer than 20 of these grebes summer in the UK each year, but numbers increase in winter months with the arrival of more birds from northern Europe.



Photo © Copyright 2005 Dean Eades

This Purple Sandpiper was spotted by Dean Eades - also at Covenham Reservoir in Lincs. Several thousand of these birds spend the winter in the UK, but there are only two breeding pairs here. Their breeding site in Scotland is kept secret to protect the birds from egg thieves and disturbance.



Photo © Copyright 2005 Dean Eades

A White-Rumped Sandpiper spotted at Grafham Water in Cambridgeshire by Dean Eades. These birds breed in North America.



Photo © Copyright 2005 Dean Eades

The Green Heron is more at home in the USA, Central America and the West Indies, but this one was spotted at Red Wharf Bay, Anglesey by Dean Eades. It's sometimes called the 'Mangrove Heron' or 'Striated Heron', and like our native Grey Heron it hunts in salt and freshwater habitats for fish and insects.



Photo © Copyright 2005 Dean Stables

This is a Burrowing Parrot, a native bird of South America, where they are declining in the wild. Probably not helped by the fact they're being shipped over here for the pet trade. This escapee was spotted by Dean Stables in his back garden in Barnsley.



Photo © Copyright 2005 Steve Botham: s.botham@ntlworld.com

This pair of young Whooper Swans were spotted at Huttoft Pit, Lincolnshire, in the last week of November. Up to 9,000 of these swans arrive in the UK each winter from their breeding grounds in Iceland. They are an 'amber listed' species.



Track Down More Info

Top 50 Garden Birds ID Chart
Wetland Birds Identification Chart
UK Safari Rare Bird Section
UK Safari Bird Section








 © 2006 G. Bradley. All Rights Reserved