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BUILDING SKILLS
http://www.birdguides.com/birdwatch Birdwatch•October 2017 35
STEVE YOUNG (WWW.BIRDSONFILM.COM)JAMES LOWEN (WWW.JAMESLOWEN.COM)10
Find a shrike
Few bird families are more redolent of
migration than the Laniidae, or shrikes.
Autumn can produce any of the species recorded in Britain:
Red-backed Shrike drifting across the North Sea from
Scandinavia, Great Grey Shrike arriving to spend the winter
on an isolated heath or moorland, or Woodchat Shrike
heading north in the wrong direction to a bramble near you.
There is also the possibility of some truly rare species.
Coastal headlands are your best bet in October, when
Red-backed Shrikes could well linger in any hawthorn
out of the wind, but Great Greys are more likely to be
just passing through. The latter will begin to take up their
winter territories by the end of the month, and can be
found at traditional sites or even staking out new areas
with plenty of open space, rough cover and shrubs and
low trees. Similar habitats will pull in the odd rarer species,
too, particularly on the coast. We could use another long-
staying Steppe Grey Shrike this winter – perhaps you’ll be
the one to fi nd it.7
See an American wader
Many birders dream of fi nding a ‘Yank’ – an American
species which has got lost on its Nearctic migration and
pitched up somewhere in Britain. Very few passerines are
found and these are often at the most isolated hot-spots such as
Scilly, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides. However, American
shorebirds are strong fl iers, can wander far, are very numerous
on migration and fi nd Britain’s extensive and burgeoning
wetlands very attractive when lost.
Pectoral and Bu -breasted Sandpipers occur in their
dozens every year, while White-rumped Sandpiper and Lesser
Yellowlegs can be frequent and American Golden Plover is
almost annual. Some years there are infl uxes of Semipalmated
Sandpiper, and even megas like Solitary Sandpiper can turn up
inland and linger – there have three records from the Lea Valley
in Hertfordshire alone. Familiarise yourself with the subtle
di erences between stateside shorebirds and our own, and scan
those hordes on the estuaries and mudfl ats very carefully.9
Tune into nocturnal migration
Many birds migrate by night, and the more tuned-in
birder will already be aware of the calls of Redwings
overhead as they arrive. Night-time recording sessions pioneered
by The Sound Approach have revealed many otherwise scarce
species such as Ortolan Bunting passing through in greater
numbers than suspected (see last month’s Birdwatch, pages 32-35).
While it can be painstaking work, there is no better way of
familiarising yourself with the calls of migrants than to record
them and then analyse the sounds by ear or by sonogram
with appropriate software. Some will be unidentifi able,
but everything from Eurasian Coot to Common Scoter
and Fieldfare to Tree Pipit has been recorded going over
in the dark, and this is still a fairly new fi eld in which the
amateur can contribute greatly with their own local records,
documented with cheap, self-bought equipment.8
Learn how to age birds
Autumn is the ideal time to learn the dark art of
ageing birds, as juveniles, fi rst-winters and adults
jostle for attention in their favoured habitats, along with
intermediate ages in longer-lived families of birds. Basic
but detailed information is available in most modern
fi eld guides, but if you’re interested in mining deep, then
purchasing a ringer’s guide or visiting sites such as Ottenby
Bird Observatory’s http://www.ringersdigiguide.ottenby.se
will add technical know-how.
With a practised eye and prolonged observation, most birds
can be aged in the fi eld. Getting used to the succession of
feathers being replaced during moult for each species will get
you clued up, while an increased awareness of how feathers
wear and what they look like when they do will also enable
you to say whether a bird is one of this year’s broods or a
fully grown adult. It will also help you become aware of the
di erent stages between winter and summer plumage, and
give you a deeper grasp of the lives of each species. You’ll
soon be telling the di erences between juveniles, fi rst-winter
ducks and eclipse drakes, and noticing that adult waders seem
to migrate before the waves of immatures come through.Set out to see an American wader and you might
just fi nd a mega like this Solitary Sandpiper.Left: juvenile, female or eclipse male? Add an extra dimension to
your birding by learning how to age ducks.
Below: fi nd your own shrike this month – like this gorgeous
juvenile Red-backed.STEVE YOUNG (WWW.BIRDSONFILM.COM)1710 p032-035 autumn challenge FIN.indd 35 15/09/2017 09:25