'Probably the Sabine's gull (lifer). I was away on holiday when it turned up and was fretting a bit about it remaining long enough. Though the circumstances around the Tandle Hill hoopoe made it pretty memorable too. I had the tiniest opportunity to see it and had the ever impatient kids in tow (added incentive as hoopoe is one of the weird birds on 'In the Night Garden') and all three of us managed to see it.
Regards, Chris Jepson - Brown.
-- Edited by C Brown on Sunday 10th of January 2016 01:49:17 PM
-- Edited by C Brown on Sunday 10th of January 2016 01:49:53 PM
-- Edited by C Brown on Sunday 10th of January 2016 01:50:15 PM
Number 1 has to be the Stone Curlew - although I only got to see its head ! A Great find. The red-throated pipit was also a great find which I unfortunately dipped as I was on holiday. A very close second has to the obliging Sabine's Gull at Pennington which put itself further into folklore by dicing death in the jaws of a Pike. Third has to be the Short Eared Owl on the local patch Chris
Good though the Red-throated Pipit was it only showed well on the deck in Derbyshire and this thread relates to GM birds. Therefore my vote goes to a bird that was equally showy but well inside GM - the Sabine's Gull. Not only did it give mouth-wateringly close views but it was a satisfying pull back, having missed out on the 2006 Audenshaw bird, that was seen in two consecutive evening roosts but not the intervening dawn roost.
due to personal circumstances i didn't get up to see the red throated pipit or the hoopoe, for me of the birds that i saw i think the stone curlew just shades the sabines gull both lifers, with the red kite my favourite on my own patch at bickershaw rucks a GM and obviously patch first for me.
The Red-throated Pipit was without doubt a belter of a bird and a Lifer for me, as were the Sabine's Gull at Pennington Flash and the Stone Curlew at Little Woolden Moss, again both fantastic Lifers.
I don't do county listing, never have done, but I love my Lifers as I suppose everyone does, and I've had a good year for them this year both in the UK and in Zante mid year, and totally enjoyed the outings with Steve Burke and Simon Gough (and Chris Chandler a few times too!) throughout the year mainly to get Lifers.
But since the question is Bird of the year for GM? ... the standout bird of the county for me has to be what was originally an Out of County Lifer (incidentally an adult) in the 1st week of this year up near Marton Mere, Blackpool. But then on Friday 13th March, I managed a self-found juvenile at Redgate Recycling just off Hyde Road in Gorton.
Namely...the beautiful juvenile Iceland Gull that hung around until the following Thursday and it just happened to be at a site that I passed en-route from my work depot. I know that another county birder and Ian were well aware of an Iceland Gull roosting at a nearby site, and this was almost certainly the same bird, but to me it was self found at this particular site and I had no knowledge of it elsewhere until reporting it to Ian, so this one was a bit special, and it actually made for some of my best photographs that I've took this year.
Many thanks to Ian for all your help, thanks to Steve and Simon (and Chris) for our brilliant trips out (more to come!) and thanks to everyone else on or off the forum who I've met or bumped into at various sites for all your help too! All the best for 2016. Cheers Rob
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Monday 28th of December 2015 03:18:10 PM
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Monday 28th of December 2015 03:30:33 PM
Unfortunately (can't believe I'm using that word) I only saw the Red-throated Pipit in Derbyshire, but as it was a lifer, and because it was stunning it gets my vote. The Sabines was beautiful, and the Hoopoe was my 200th in GM, so both good contenders but nope. It has to be the pipit.
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Another vote for John Rayner's stunning find - the Ludworth Moor Red-throated Pipit. I too saw this well on the ground, photographed it, in Derbyshire but watched it fly over Great Manchester air space and then drop down onto the deck in GM county. I have seen this species in the UK before but never in such stunning plumage and out in the open showing so well at close quarters for so long. Well done again John
Without doubt the Red-throated Pipit was my GM county highlight. Although a flyover in GM it showed very well on the ground in Derbyshire! My second best ever view of this species. A Firecrest seen at Castleshaw was a borough tick and remained pretty elusive during its stay bar a 2 hour window when it showed very well on and off.
for me the bird of the year has to be the Sabine's gull. Wish I had managed to squeeze in a 2nd visit. It was amazing to have such a prolonged view of a nearly full-breeding plumage adult which I have been told is quite unusual as they are usually just fly-bys at the mouth of the Mersey in stormy conditions. It also gave me an excuse to visit such a lovely site and pick up green, common sandpiper, Mediterranean gull (my first in the county for me) and some very nice views of some lapwings.
Funny enough, I was thinking about adding a post of greater Manchester birding highlights. Most of my thrills came from mostly around Elton during the spring, from which I have to give a very large thanks to the local fellow birders there as I couldn't have managed several new local Elton birds without them (I now know the value of getting there early), these included yellow wagtail, Turnstone, whimbrel and a knot to name but a few (Elton year list stands at 117 (which could have been better if I wasn't for work related stress)). The best greater Manchester bird for me has to be the Hoopoe, and in 2nd the Sabine's gull and then my find- 5 little gulls on Elton. All the very best to you all!!!
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Happy holidays to everyone, I hope nobody is being inconvenienced or worse by the weather.
I only saw the Red-throated Pipit when it was in Derbyshire...but I do remember thinking how lucky I was that my first of that species was such a great performer. I loved the Sabine's Gull, it was a top bird. It was also the first twitch I've been to in GM where I knew a few people and had the chance to say hello and have a natter. So that was really nice too, it's a great birding community we have here.
In terms of my favourite birds, I saw my first Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Short-eared Owl for GM this year, both really special sightings for me, but the other standout was the Black Redstart singing away for a few weeks in June. I saw it 3 times and found it really thrilling to be looking at a singing male in its finest plumage. Old hat for lots of people but really great for me.
My GM list is up to 147 now. Fingers crossed to get it up by a few next year, it will be fascinating to see what lands in 2016. I think we're due a Temminck's Stint on spring passage, a Wryneck in August and a really good warbler. And a Bee-eater actually!
With 5 days of the year remaining this may be a wee bit premature.
However, as I sit here sprawled out across a settee, having eaten too much of everything, I find myself reflecting on the excellent records turned up by dedicated local patch workers in 2015.
Who could have predicted a Stone Curlew, two Red-rumped Swallows, a Hoopoe, a long staying Sabine's Gull, and a Red-throated Pipit?
As for the individual star bird of the year, people will have their own fond favourite, but for me it would be on the basis of sheer quality, and my vote would go to the Red-throated Pipit, a species often notoriously hard to see well ( so often recorded on call just as a "fly-over"). This was found by John Rayner (whose eyes allegedly swapped sockets when he realised what he was seeing). This was a bird I didn't actually come down to see, although I wish that I had made the effort (my consolation though was to see one in Co. Durham, and later to find my own breeding pair in Arctic Norway).
As for bird of the present century, surely that particular crown sits on the head of a certain Dusky Thrush, such an exclusive class act that no birder got to set eyes on it!
All this begs the juicy question, what else never gets found at all?
Happy New Year to all in the Manchester birding community; let's have more good stuff in 2016, when I hope to spend far more birding days down there over and above the paltry 5 days I managed in 2015.
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