Blast from the Past No. 3

Blast from the Past. No. 3

The Phylloscopus gems.

Beachy birders look forward in searching for these delightful warblers in late Autumn and the Beachy Head record for these gems is outstanding from a Sussex viewpoint and cannot be bettered from any other locations in Sussex or from Sussex as a whole.

Yellow-browed Warbler – Phylloscopus inornatus

Our first sighting of this little gem was on the 24^th October, 1965 when Tony Quinn and Roger Charlwood found one in Belle Tout wood and was seen by a number of other Beachy regulars.At the time, it proved to be the second record for Sussex, with the first being seen at Selsey Bill in 1961. The Selsey Bill record was found to be no longer acceptable and therefore our above first record also becomes the first record for Sussex (Reference Sussex Bird Report, 1994).

Since 1965, there have been 72 different birds reported from the Headland with Belle Tout wood, Hodcombe and Whitbread Hollow having the lion share although individual birds have been seen throughout the whole area. They have only been recorded in the autumn from the Headland between the 18^th September and the 30^th November of which 4 have occurred in September, 60 in October and 8 in November. Several have stayed more than one day.

No fewer than 11 different individuals were recorded in 2005, our best year to date, when a large influx occurred in the UK. Four different individuals were seen on the 6^th October, and 3 were also seen in Hodcombe on the 9^th October.

Since 1965, when we recorded our first sighting, this species has increased at a dramatic rate in the British Isles, and this has been well documented in the UK birding magazines. At Beachy Head it has been recorded as follows:

1960-1969 - 5 records, 1970-1979 - 6 records, 1980-1989 - 19 records, 1990-1999 - 15 records, & 2000 – 2009 27 records.

Yellow Browed Warbler trapped Whitbread Hollow on the 18^th October, 1975.

(photograph taken by John Cooper).

Yellow Browed trapped Whitbread Hollow on the 29^th September, 2007.

(photograph taken by Martin Casemore)

Yellow Browed Warbler in Shooters Bottom 6^th October, 2008.

(photographed by John Cooper)

Yellow Browed Warbler in the scrub on the Eastern side of Belle Tout wood on the 11^th October, 2008. (photographed by John Cooper).

Hume’s Warber – Phylloscopus humei

The first identified for the United Kingdom and Sussex was found in Belle Tout wood by Peter Clement, Tony Quinn, Barry Cooper & Roger Charlwood on the 13^th November, 1966 and stayed until the 17^th November. During its stay it was seen by a number of birders including Bob Scott who did a full write up of this record in British Birds.

Our second record was found by John & Doreen Cooper again in Belle Tout wood on the 6^th November, 2003 and stayed until the 10^th November. It called frequently during its stay and the call was recorded by David Cooper & Richard Fairbank. It was also seen by Roger Haggar, Bob Smith, and Bob Edgar, and when JFC had just identified the bird, Dave Flumm an old Beachy regular from the late 60’s & early 70’s turned up in the wood for almost the first time in 20 years, and saw a life tick. Its occurrence over the week-end meant that it also attracted significant interest from within and outside the county. It was the 4^th Sussex record and the 43^rd in Britain. An exceptional influx occurred during the late autumn in the UK, and 22 birds were accepted by BBRC for 2003.

John also found a Pallas’s in the wood on the 7^th which remained until the 9^th and both the Hume’s & the Pallas's could at times be seen together in the binoculars which delighted many of the birders present.

Our third and final record was again found in Belle Tout wood on the 30^th December, 2007, and stayed until the 14^th January, 2008. It was initially found by Sidley Underdown who felt it was probably a Yellow Browed Warbler. On the 31^st December it was re-identified by John Cooper, Bob Edgar, John King and Sidley Underdown as a Hume’s and during its stay it was seen by David Cooper, Roger & Liz Charlwood, Richard Fairbank, Roger Haggar, Ian Barnard plus many birders from within and outside the county. The night of the 14^th January was very cold and by this time the bird was mainly feeding low down often on the ground and JFC looked for it on the 15^th and his opinion was that it had died overnight as it was not looking very healthy on the 14^th and one of its wings was drooping.

It was the 5^th Sussex record and the 90^th for Britain.

Hume’s Warbler in Belle Tout wood January, 2008.

(all pictures taken by David Cooper)

Pallas’s Leaf Warbler – Phylloscopus proregulus

On Friday the 18^th October, 1968, Barry Cooper was ringing birds during the afternoon in Whitbread Hollow. It was a bit slow going and as he was going up to the upper mist-net ride his attention was drawn to what appeared to be a Firecrest in the net. As he continued working his way along the mist-net run, he again looked at the bird and it now appeared to be a Yellow Browed Warbler. His pace quickened and was astonished to find a superb Pallas’s in the net, the first record for Sussex, and the 22^nd for Britain, and it was the first bird seen of the invasion year of this species for the autumn, when 18 birds arrived during the next 13 days. The following day a number of birds were being seen in Kent, Lincolnshire Yorkshire and the Scillies etc. The Pallas’s was shown to Roger Charlwood and it was decided to release it in Belle Tout wood so it would be available for other birders to come and see it, including Howard Medhurst, Peter Colston, Tony Quinn etc. With good numbers of other birders being present on the 19^th, a Yellow Browed Warbler was also found in the wood by Howard Medhurst as was a White Throated Sparrow found by Peter Colston, Tony Marr and Richard Porter which was another first for Sussex. In fact Barry mentioned that on the 18^th when releasing the Pallas’s into the wood he noticed a strange looking Sparrow on the ground but after releasing the Pallas’s he was unable to re-locate the Sparrow. Two Richard's Pipits were also found in the nearby fields by Peter Colston and Bob Emmett. On the 20^th the Pallas’s was still present in the wood and there were now 2 Yellow Browed Warblers present found by the late Mike Helps. One of the Richard's was also still present in the nearby fields. On the 27^th & 28^th October a second un-ringed Pallas's was located in Belle Tout wood by Tony Quinn, Keith Verrall and Roger Charlwood, with a third bird which arrived into Hodcombe with Goldcrests on the 30^th October and was found by Roger & Liz Charlwood.

A truly purple patch for Beachy.

(At this time John Cooper with Doreen Cooper & Keith Atkin was ringing birds at Anderby in Lincolnshire and on the 19^th October he trapped a Pallas’s in the same net as a Sparrow Hawk. The Pallas’s was the first for Lincolnshire but needless to say John let the Sparrow Hawk go first and when it was all clear he released the Pallas’s.)

Since 1968 there has been a total of 41 Pallas’s recorded from Beachy Head between the 1^st October, 1998 an early date, in Hodcombe seen by Roger & Liz Charlwood, John Cooper & Chris Ball and the 21^st November, 1974 when 2 were present in Belle Tout wood from the 17^th November one of which had been trapped and ringed. The total seen for Sussex as a whole up to 2008 is 76, and therefore over half of all Sussex records have been found from Beachy Head.

On several occasions there have been 2 birds present on the same day often together. Two were found in Belle Tout Wood on the 14^th November, 2000 by John & Doreen Cooper. They spent most of their time in close proximity to each other often feeding on or close to the ground and were described as being a ‘bright individual’ and a ‘very bright individual’. They remained until the 16^th gave excellent views and delighted all who came to see them.

On the 21^st October, 1991, a confiding Pallas’s was in Hodcombe and was being watched by Roger & Liz Charlwood Richard Fairbank and Martyn Kenefick when it flew and landed on a floating leaf in a small pond some 10 metres from the observers much to their delight.

Our best years to date were in 1995, 1996 & 2003 when four different individuals were seen in each of the three years. Pallas’s arrive generally later than Yellow Browed’s, with 26 Pallas’s seen in October and 15 in November.

Our final sighting to date was a single bird found by Matt Eade in the cliff top scrub above the main Beachy Head Lighthouse 21^st October, 2007 and was seen by many observers during the day and photographed by Martin Casemore.

Pallas’s Leaf Warbler in cliff top scrub above Beachy Head Lighthouse on the 21^st October, 2007. (photographed by Martin Casemore).