Manchester Birder's June 2025 Summary

 

Birders underrate June.  There is a widespread renewal of interest in moths, butterflies and dragonflies (all things I wish I knew more about) as birds tend to go quiet, but in fact, June 2025 has been remarkable for birds, possibly the best June I can remember.  Along with a selection of ten varied and unexpected birds that were new for the year, this has been my best month for lifers since September and October last year.  Not only have the numbers been amazing, the quality of the birds has been high too.  I had predicted Caspian Tern, Bridled Tern, and a Pratincole, along with White-winged Black Tern for this month, and three of those birds did turn up.  However, the Bridled Tern arrived in Aberdeenshire, shot south for two days and vanished - a shame, this was my favourite bird of 2023 and I have good memories of the boat trip from Amble to Coquet Island last year.  Caspian Tern did show up, but stayed south.  Still hoping for one in more northern areas, like the Cheshire bird that lingered at Sandbach Flashes for a couple of days last summer.  Pleased to be right about the Pratincole too - perhaps on some subconscious level I am finally learning some of the patterns of migration and vagrancy!  The Collared Pratincole that spent an afternoon at St Aidan's eluded me; another arrival 30 minutes late.  However, despite three false starts to get to Frampton Marshes, hampered by various real life issues and a traffic apocalypse in Manchester, I did finally see this most beautiful of birds by the end of its stay.  Missing out on the Desert Wheatear in Bristol was a bit of a knock, and I've covered more miles this month than I intended.  July will be purposefully more local, aside from the annual holiday on Scilly to try and see the large shearwaters.

The expected news about the powers that be making another new taxonomy to follow for birds globally arrived this month, and stripped more species from lists for most birders.  Whatever you personally think about the idea of listing and cataloguing - whether like me it's just an aide memoir and way to provide structure to your birding, or you're a hard core lister playing the game to have the biggest list, or if you disdain listing and look down on those that do, the taxonomic changes can be confusing.  While this doesn't really bother me on a "my list is bigger than your list" level, it's strange that my patch has hosted both Green-winged Teal and Hooded Crow as vagrants this year, and it seems odd to disregard both species which are unusual in this area.  I have of course noted them in my records, and it's as interesting to see vagrancy of sub-species or unusual plumage variations/regional differences as it would be for a "proper" species; as the excitement of Channel Wagtail earlier in the year shows.  The experience is the most important thing, but there is an amount of pure human nature in the categorising and cataloguing of things, in the collecting of items that is a reality that won't be less real just because some people don't like it.  For the people wired this way, the list changes can be disruptive and (like all change) cause some discomfort.  It raises the question for me during a Big Year - do these count towards a total?  They did when I saw them, but now they're lumped.  I guess this is the name of the game when you gamify birding to this level, and shifting goalposts is part of it.  If I'm taking this seriously I suppose the target has to be 302 - hoping for a very productive autumn.

From Ortolan Bunting that I've missed so many times, to a Pomarine Skua sitting on the saltmarsh at Leighton Moss.  From Ruddy Duck risking her neck in Oxfordshire to the mega Song Sparrow at Flamborough.  From Collared Pratincole that gave me the slip at St Aidan's but showed well at Frampton Marsh a week later, to getting eyes on a Savi's Warbler, this has been an underrated June indeed.

EDIT - a very unexpected Lesser Scaup at Pennington Flash this morning makes it 10 in June and 267 for the year so far.  That'll teach me to publish early!

Highlights

Pomarine Skua, Woodchat Shrike, Western Sandpiper, Ruddy Duck, Song Sparrow, Ortolan Bunting, Pacific Golden Plover, Savi's Warbler, Collared Pratincole.  Juvenile Long-eared Owls on site locally are always a delight.

Year List total: 267

New for me in the UK this month: 4! (Western Sandpiper; Song Sparrow; Ortolan Bunting; Pacific Golden Plover)

10k circle total: 131

Birds I missed: Desert Wheatear, Quail

The Year List:

Dartford Warbler	Long-eared Owl	Black Tern	Red-legged Partridge	Brent Goose
Firecrest	Short-eared Owl	Arctic Tern	Nightjar	Canada Goose
Goldcrest	Tawny Owl	Common Tern	Swift	Barnacle Goose
Wren	Hoopoe	Roseate Tern	Cuckoo	Ross's Goose
Nuthatch	Kingfisher	Sandwich Tern	Rock Dove (Feral Pigeon)	Snow Goose
Treecreeper	Bee-eater	Little Gull	Stock Dove	Greylag Goose
Starling	Lesser Spotted Woodpecker	Ross's Gull	Woodpigeon	Taiga Bean Goose
Song Thrush	Great Spotted Woodpecker	Kittiwake	Turtle Dove	Pink-footed Goose
Mistle Thrush	Green Woodpecker	Black-headed Gull	Collared Dove	Tundra Bean Goose
Redwing	Kestrel	Mediterranean Gull	Water Rail	White-fronted Goose
Blackbird	Red-footed Falcon	Common Gull	Moorhen	Lesser White-fronted Goose
Fieldfare	Merlin	Caspian Gull	Coot	Mute Swan
Ring Ouzel	Hobby	Herring Gull	Crane	Bewick's Swan
Spotted Flycatcher	Peregrine	Yellow-legged Gull	Little Grebe	Whooper Swan
Robin	Ring-necked Parakeet	Great Black-backed Gull	Red-necked Grebe	Egyptian Goose
Nightingale	Great Grey Shrike	Lesser Black-backed Gull	Great Crested Grebe	Shelduck
Bluethroat	Woodchat Shrike	Iceland Gull	Slavonian Grebe	Mandarin Duck
Pied Flycatcher	Jay	Arctic Skua	Black-necked Grebe	Garganey
Black Redstart	Magpie	Pomarine Skua	Stone-curlew	Blue-winged Teal
Redstart	Chough	Great Skua	Oystercatcher	Shoveler
Whinchat	Jackdaw	Puffin	Avocet	Gadwall
Stonechat	Rook	Black Guillemot	Grey Plover	Wigeon
Wheatear	Carrion Crow	Razorbill	Golden Plover	American Wigeon
Dipper	Hooded Crow	Common Guillemot	Pacific Golden Plover	Mallard
Tree Sparrow	Raven	Red-throated Diver	Ringed Plover	Pintail
House Sparrow	Coal Tit	Great Northern Diver	Little Ringed Plover	Teal
Dunnock	Crested Tit	White-billed Diver	Lapwing	Green-winged Teal
Yellow Wagtail	Marsh Tit	Fulmar	Grey-headed Lapwing	Red-crested Pochard
Eastern Yellow Wagtail	Willow Tit	Manx Shearwater	Eurasian Whimbrel	Pochard
Grey Wagtail	Blue Tit	Balearic Shearwater	Curlew	Ferruginous Duck
Pied Wagtail	Great Tit	White Stork	Bar-tailed Godwit	Ring-necked Duck
Meadow Pipit	Penduline Tit	Gannet	Black-tailed Godwit	Tufted Duck
Tree Pipit	Bearded Tit	Cormorant	Jack Snipe	Scaup
American Pipit	Woodlark	Shag	Woodcock	Eider
Water Pipit	Skylark	Glossy Ibis	Snipe	Surf Scoter
Rock Pipit	Shore Lark	Spoonbill	Common Sandpiper	Velvet Scoter
Chaffinch	Sand Martin	Bittern	Spotted Sandpiper	Common Scoter
Brambling	Swallow	Little Egret	Green Sandpiper	Black Scoter
Hawfinch	House Martin	Great White Egret	Wood Sandpiper	Long-tailed Duck
Bullfinch	Cetti's Warbler	Cattle Egret	Redshank	Goldeneye
Greenfinch	Long-tailed Tit	Grey Heron	Spotted Redshank	Smew
Twite	Wood Warbler	Osprey	Greenshank	Goosander
Linnet	Willow Warbler	Honey-buzzard	Turnstone	Red-breasted Merganser
Redpoll	Chiffchaff	Golden Eagle	Knot	Ruddy Duck
Common Crossbill	Great Reed Warbler	Sparrowhawk	Ruff	Red Grouse
European Goldfinch	Sedge Warbler	Goshawk	Curlew Sandpiper	Ptarmigan
Siskin	Reed Warbler	Hen Harrier	Temminck's Stint	Black Grouse
Lapland Bunting	Savi's Warbler	Marsh Harrier	Sanderling	Grey Partridge
Snow Bunting	Grasshopper Warbler	Red Kite	Dunlin	Pheasant
Corn Bunting	Blackcap	Black Kite	Purple Sandpiper
Yellowhammer	Garden Warbler	White-tailed Eagle	Pectoral Sandpiper
Ortolan Bunting	Lesser Whitethroat	Buzzard	Western Sandpiper
Cirl Bunting	Eastern Subalpine Warbler	Barn Owl	Collared Pratincole