Magnus Robb
Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:44:50 -0700
Hi Gerard, I think I did ask one or two Irishmen (in Belfast and Wexford), but they may not have been listening much at night. I'm very interested to read that you heard Fieldfares, and have no reason to doubt it. I've always thought that I 'should' hear them at night, and was surprised that I didn't.
One thing that may be of interest is that Fieldfare and Mistle Thrush, the other species I've not been hearing at night, are the two thrushes with the lowest-pitched flight calls. Redwing, Blackbird and Song Thrush have high-pitched flight calls, not unlike many of the zips of NA wood warblers and sparrows. So perhaps Fieldfare and MT are less 'into' nocturnal migration, and have not evolved such specialized flight calls. On the other hand, when I lived in Holland I sometimes saw them coming in off the sea in the morning, so they presumably crossed the North Sea at night. cheers, Magnus On 29 Sep 2009, at 15:2716, SLIMBIRD Gerard wrote: > Hello Magnus, > > I was most surprised to read that nobody you’ve asked has ever > heard Fieldfare at night!? But I’d be interested to know if you’ve > asked any Irish birders? As a young birder growing up in the > suburbs of Dublin Ireland during the late seventies and eighties, > I’m sure we’d occasionally hear Fieldfares on migration at night, > particularly when it was clear that there was also a good push of > Redwings taking place. It wasn’t common to hear them- not as you > would Blackbirds, Song Thrushes or Redwings. And you wouldn’t > necessarily hear Fieldfares during good Redwing flights either. It > was a long time ago, and my memory might have me thinking that it > happened more frequently than it actually did. But I believe it was > most definitely AT NIGHT, that is, at least two or more hours after > dark, and on a good night with northeast winds you could hear a > least two or three birds at least. (Please keep in mind that I was > not purposely “monitoring” migration- frequency and/or time of > night and certainly not listening throughout the night). My main > point here is that it was taken for granted that you could/would > hear Fieldfares at night? I’m sure I recall other birders > commenting that they had heard them. Am I totally mistaken somehow? > As I remember, the call was a short dry “chack” I think, which > might have been repeated somehow like “chack-chack-chack” or such, > I honestly can’t remember exactly, but it was pretty distinctive. > I’m tempted to think whether the birds might have called arriving > over the lighted streets having just crossed the Irish Sea? But the > UK is littered with coastal cities not just the Republic of > Ireland, so I’m genuinely surprised and a bit bewildered? > > My house was about a 15 minute walk from the north Bull Island in > Dublin Bay. I could sometimes hear shorebirds in bed at night, > mostly Redshanks and Curlew but also the occasional Dunlin, > Oystercatcher, Greenshank and one or two Green Sandpiper over the > years I think, and flocks of Brant and the odd Wigeon- but it’s all > late seventies and the eighties I’m thinking of. Nobody I knew kept > notes on night migration. > > BTW, I very much enjoy your Petrels book! > > Cheers, > > Gerard Phillips > Ontario, Canada > > > On 9/28/09 4:47 PM, "Magnus Robb" <magnus.r...@xs4all.nl> wrote: > >> Hi Mike, >> >> At this time of year in much of the UK, Song Thrushes should still >> be the dominant thrush, but Blackbirds and Redwings will be >> starting to join them. With a lot of luck you might hear a Ring >> Ouzel, but this is not a common thrush. Oddly enough, Mistle >> Thrush and Fieldfare don't seem to call much at night. Nobody I've >> asked has ever head more than the odd call at dusk or dawn, even >> at times when many were moving through. Has anyone in this group >> heard them at night? >> >> As for other passerines, relatively few European ones seem to use >> flight calls at night, which partly explains the relative lack of >> interest in night flight calls over here. Most of what you hear >> comes from the three species of thrush I mentioned first. Among >> the passerines I've definitely heard flying over at night are: >> Skylark, Woodlark, Tree Pipit, Snow Bunting and Ortolan. A Willow >> Warbler at night sounds unlikely, as none of our warblers call >> much in flight (except Cisticolas). Did you get a recording? >> >> I live in Portugal where there are huge numbers of Pied >> Flycatchers passing through just now. I've been out several nights >> trying to find out whether they have nocturnal flight calls, but >> so far without any conclusive results. What I have learned however >> is that I am hearing a few passerine flight calls that I can't yet >> identify. I have a good knowledge of the calls of most western >> European species by day, so perhaps some are using different calls >> at night that I've simply never heard. In short, lots to learn for >> us Europeans too! >> >> Besides passerines, you are of course likely to hear lots of >> shorebirds, and geese as the autumn progresses. Which species you >> hear will depend very much on where you are. >> >> Feel free to send me some of your UFO recordings. I'm keen to >> puzzle and learn about what else is flying over at night... >> >> cheers, >> >> Magnus Robb >> >> >> On 27 Sep 2009, at 22:1501, Michael Lanzone wrote: >> >>> Hi all, >>> >>> Last night I heard my first flight calling overseas. Currently I >>> am in Chester, England and had a decent number of migrants this >>> morning. Not sure what to expect for numbers here, but I was >>> hearing 8-10 thrushes per minute during the peak, typically less >>> though. I am guessing Song/mistle Thrush, also had what sounded >>> like Willow Warbler, many unknown. Will need to learn more night >>> flight calls here! Had a number of shorebirds pass over as well, >>> greenshank, lapwing, redshank, green sandpiper?, golden plover, >>> etc. Looking forwrd to the next several weeks in Europe! Any >>> advice from any of you as to what you are hearing this time of >>> year? I will be mostly in UK for the next week, then spending >>> most the rest of my time in France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy. >>> I also hope to spend some time in the alps listening to nocturnal >>> migration, possibly col de bretolet. Anyway, be interestd in what >>> to expect and some sample calls if any of you have them to share! >>> I am doing some recording so will hopefully have something good >>> to share as well. >>> >>> Talk to you all soon, >>> Mike >>> >>> Michael Lanzone >>> Biotechnology and Biomonitoring Lab Supervisor >>> Carnegie Museum of Natural History >>> Powdermill Avian Research Center >>> 1847 Route 381 >>> Rector, PA 15677 >>> 724.593.5521 Office >>> <mailto:mlanz...@gmail.com> mlanz...@gmail.com >>> >>> Sent from my iPhone >> >> > -- NFC-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES Archives: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --