All
I live in semi-urban Nottinghamshire (UK) and regularly hear Fieldfare calling at night during the major Redwing movements. Blackbird, Song Thrush & Robin are also commonly heard and occasionally Ring Ouzel and Dunnock. I rarely hear Mistle thrush at night, although I have done on a couple of occasions. Not many other passerines are commonly heard on night migration in the UK; mainly waders (shorebirds), ducks, rails and gulls. Just 10 minutes ago, I heard a Green Sandpiper calling as it flew over. Still waiting for my first autumn Redwing this year - by my previous years records, they are now late (usually heard first around the 26th Sept) although I did have one calling at night on 30th July this year which I suspect was a UK breeder rather than a Scandinavian migrant. Cheers Mike _____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of SLIMBIRD Gerard Sent: 29 September 2009 15:27 To: Magnus Robb; Michael Lanzone Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: [nfc-l] UK flight calling 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" <[email protected]> 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:[email protected]> <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] 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/[email protected]/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/ --
