Great round-up, great pics and that Purple Heron, wow, fab record. Also, may I say well done Ian in the way you have shown leadership in the whole Covid period, down to this now, that you knew about the Purple Heron but didn't go to see it. Most birders using these forums have been sensible and followed guidelines, I know other elsewhere that have not. Well done Ian
With Greater Manchester in the grip of the unprecedented Coronavirus pandemic which brought about the country wide lockdown from late March onwards, bird news from around the county was severely restricted and ultimately, that unfortunately meant that some rare and sought-after birds had to be supressed. Of course, our county isn't exactly usually blessed with many of such species but there were a few that we missed, and this is just a very quick breakdown of those which went under the radar.
So, what of the star birds, the county rarities? The first to fall within the lockdown was at Broad Ees Dole on the April 2nd, when the site's second Great White Egret was found. Despite being increasingly recorded in the county they still remain genuinely rare here and very impressive to boot, but it was to be quickly eclipsed!
The lockdown had only been in place just over a week when a real county 'biggy' fell. On April 9th only the third county record of Purple Heron, a stunning breeding plumage adult no less, graced Lightshaw Hall Flash. Seen only by four birders (and despite knowing about its presence I wasn't one of them!) this undoubtable big-crowd puller under normal circumstances, remained on site for three days.
The next rarity was an almost, in many ways. On April 19th, a satellite tracked White-tailed Eagle passed just south of Hollingworth at 16:49, just west of Mossley, between Delph and Diggle, then turned east. Unfortunately, this individual, one of last year's young from the reintroduction scheme on the Isle of White, is firmly a category E bird but nevertheless, what a sight it would have been!
On April 25th a fairly well publicised Stone Curlew was picked up in Hattersley, checked over by a vet and then released and this was quickly followed by a first summer Curlew Sandpiper at Audenshaw Reservoirs on April 27th.
The Purple Heron would take some beating as a county rarity and it possibly happened on May 8th, when a wagtail at Audenshaw Reservoirs appeared to display all the prerequisite plumage characteristics of Iberian Wagtail. The bird was seen by only two observers who managed to secure a couple of images, but bird remained silent and no essential vocalisations where heard. Ultimately, the bird will be decided upon by BBRC but without having heard the call, the odds against acceptance seem high. It was not without decent comparison though, as a male Blue-headed Wagtail was seen only minutes earlier by the same observers!
The last of the county rarities was something of an enigma; half of it might be rare and half of it not! Either way, the ‘odd duck’ on Audenshaw Reservoirs from May 8th to the time of writing, appeared to be a probable Hooded Merganser x Goldeneye hybrid!
*all birds in this post remain subject to ratification by the respective rarities committees.
I hope everyone is well and bearing up in these challenging times. It’s great to see the forum being used so vigorously through the lockdown though and is exactly as I’d hoped, in that it would keep people going strong and enthusiastic, as much as can be currently anyway!
Looking ahead to a time when we can all get back to normal, at least in birding terms, I am hoping to compile a short article on what we all missed during this period, rather than have retrospective posts on the forum for each and every thread (which I'd certainly rather not have). I’d expect it to be for rare or scarce birds in the main, or indeed unusual or interesting sightings that we couldn’t post on the forum for one reason or another. So, if you have had, or have until the current restrictions are all over, any sightings that cannot be posted on the forum due to the current lockdown, it would be great and really appreciated if you could drop me a line privately and let me know (it doesn’t have to be immediate in the case of rarities etc if you wish). Photos are welcome too and any information and observers can be treated as confidential within the article if required.
Hopefully we’ll all be back out birding as normal soon, but until then, stay safe.
