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Thread: Visiting England and Scotland

  1. #1
    BPN Member Paul Lagasi's Avatar
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    Default Visiting England and Scotland

    HI All
    I am also visiting UK near the end of June, I am looking for a few specific birds on this trip:

    #1: Corn Crake
    Barnacle Goose
    Manx Shearwater
    Wheatear
    Bluethroat
    Dotteral
    Ruff
    Little Gull Hydrocoloeus Minutus
    Dovekie (Little Auk) Alle Alle
    Arctic Tern Sterna Paradisaea
    Great Skua
    Red Phalarope Phalaropus Fulicarius
    Bar-Tailed Godwit Limosa Lapponica

    I will be in London, then driving up to Huntingdon, the up to Edinburgh, Scotland.....any help is appreciated, I realize some of these birds migrate through.....

    Paul

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    Paul, when I was last at Hadrian's wall, I saw quite a few Wheatears. You might want to try there.

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    Paul,

    That is a very ambitious list for our country at any time of year. Some of them are impossible in June.

    Going through the list that you give: -

    Corn Crake
    A rare bird, mainly found in the islands off of the Scottish coast. It is incredibly difficult to see, even when you know that it is in a patch of Flag Iris a few yards accross. A few days in the Hebrides would be your best hope, coupled with a lot of luck.

    Barnacle Goose
    Not resident in summer. You may be able to catch up with some in a collection, e.g. the London Wetlands Centre (http://www.wwt.org.uk/centre/119/lon...nd_centre.html). Many thousands of these winter here, but will be thousands of miles away in June.

    Manx Shearwater
    Nocturnal on land. May be seen from boats in the Hebrides by day.

    Wheatear
    Common in upland areas. Maybe try driving south from Haddington into the Lammermuir Hills, about 25 miles south east of Edinburgh.

    Bluethroat
    A vagrant in this country. Only a few are seen on passage each year. They do not stay long. They are well known skulkers. Late June is probably a little late, but is nearly impossible at any time unless you are watching one of the rare bird news services and are ready to travel a great distance at very short notice.

    Dotterl
    A very rare breeder on some of the highest mountains of the Scottish Highlands. By late June they will be breeding. A permit to photograph them near their nests would be needed from our statutory conservation body. Without a long track record in wildlife photography here there is no chance of this being granted. Even then, Idoubt of one would be issues for this species.

    Ruff
    This too is a very rare breeder. Late June is about the worst time to look for this here, as it is just too late to get the last of the spring migrant passing north and just too soon for the first of the returning birds.

    Little Gull Hydrocoloeus Minutus
    A passage bird. May be possible to meet up with one or two as you work your way up the east coast. One of the rare bird information services will have information on these, e.g. www.birdguides.com.

    Dovekie (Little Auk) Alle Alle
    This only appears in our waters after severe northerly winds in winter. It does not even breed in Iceland.

    Arctic Tern Sterna Paradisaea
    Try the Farne Islands, off of the north east coast of England. Lots and lots of goodies there at this time of year, including small numbers of these.

    Great Skua
    A rare bird of the north and west of Scotland. Best bet is the northern isles. Another good place is Handa Island near to the northern end of the west coast. There are a small number of breeders there and they will come and chase you as you walk round the path.

    Red Phalarope Phalaropus Fulicarius
    Another very rare breeder. Possible to photograph on an RSPB reserve in the northern Shetland Isles. About the same distance north of Edinbirgh as Edinburgh is from London. Need to take two flights to get there or an overnight sail from Aberdeen to Lerwick, then another ferry to Fetlar.

    Bar-Tailed Godwit Limosa Lapponica
    An even rarer breeder! Same timing problem as for Ruff. Both are common passage birds. Many winter here.

    Sorry to sound so negative, but it is best that you know the real situation.

    Best wishes,

    Peter

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    BPN Member Paul Lagasi's Avatar
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    Thanks Peter and Roy...I wish I could go earlier during migration, but this trip we can only go in June...thanks.

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    One of the best places I ever found for Corncrake was North and South Uist in the Outer Hebrides. As Peter mentions hearing them is easy, they can be quite annoying after a while. Seeing them is a very different matter however. There are various headlands where you will undoubtedly see a variety of Skua's, Shearwaters and maybe Petrels. There are lots of places to visit along the way from London to Edinburgh and if you have access to the internet you can get uptodate information of what birds are where and you might get lucky with some of your target species.

  6. #6
    titus.ebbecke
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    I think the Bass Rock near Edinburgh is great. At the Farne Islands in North England, you can see a lot of puffins.

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