Manchester Birder's October 2025 Summary

October was a month where birding was, though the obvious focus of a week on Scilly, a secondary concern due to some serious life situations.  This has been the poorest October in memory for me, unable to travel far to see any of the wildlife that has concentrated itself a less than convenient 5 hours drive from home.  There have been highlights and good bits, and it's good to remind myself of them in the midst of the personally difficult time.  It's been a month of "seconds" - my second American Pipit, Spotted Sandpiper, Rosefinch and Rosy Starling were all birds that Scilly gave me, and I am grateful to have had the privilege to see them all.

This worse-for-wear juvenile Rosy Starling that sat on the wire above the Old Town Inn for 90 seconds was bird species 300 for the year.

October was also the month where I reached 300 species in the UK in a year for the first (and honestly, the only) time.  A brief, scruffy, tailless juvenile Rosy Starling was species 300 (oh, the glamour), and that was the last new bird of the month in a somewhat disappointing spell on the Scilly Isles.  With that said, the first Mourning Dove in England was something of an unexpected bonus, and a seriously rare bird.  Early in the month I scoured the shorelines of the north west looking for Leach's Petrel and finally connected, before the bogey bird of them all fell - a rubbish view of a juvenile Barred Warbler at Flamborough South Landing allowing me to never have to look for one ever again, and the relief of that was a weight off my chest!

Closer to home there have been Lesser and Greater Scaup, Brambling, Merlin and Short-eared Owls to help rekindle a love of birding after the burn-out of the 300 species Big Year attempt.  More reflections on that later in the year when I have some sense of perspective back.  Hen Harriers in Lancashire and a bit of time spent around Marshside, Banks and further north have tempted me to at least investigate a move away from Manchester, though there are a few locations I'd love to be nearer.  Much thinking to be done...

Looking forward to November, there are still some winter species I would like to see.  Glaucous Gull, Black-throated Diver, Little Auk, and the possibility of Red-breasted Goose or Pallid Harrier along with whatever real rarities turn up this winter are all on the radar, and a two day venture to Northumberland to help a friend see some of our winter birds will be a treat in search of wildlife and big landscapes.  November is a beautiful month, though it can be tough with the dwindling daylight hours and wet weather.  The excitement of migration season is done, and short days, warm houses and cold walks are the order of the next 8 weeks, with one eye on the start of 2026.

Thoughts at this time of year naturally begin to turn to what next year will look like.  It will definitely not be a Big Year, even the thought of it is exhausting.  But equally, I feel over-familiar with my local 10k patch, frustrated that I know I might get a variance of 4-5 species out of 140 on what I've seen here the last 5 years.  There must be a middle ground, or else maybe I do need to relocate.  I would like to try to reach 400 species on my life list in the UK over the next year, even if just as a nice landmark, but that would mean 25 new species next year and I've still only just seen 25 this year, with all the travel and effort of a Big Year.  So that seems unlikely to be a 2026 thing and more probable across the next 18 months.  Perhaps I need to reframe the whole idea - a return to study in ornithology, possibly a PhD, appeals to me, though I have no idea how I would fund it or support my family, or even if I'd be accepted onto a course with my background in philosophy rather than science.  In the meantime, wildfowl, raptors, windy days, big skies and thoughts of change will be my autumn.


Highlights

Barred Warbler, Leach's Petrel, Mourning Dove, Yellow-browed Warbler, Common Rosefinch, Rosy Starling, Wryneck, a week on Scilly! 

Year List total: 300

New for me in the UK this month: 3 (Barred Warbler; Leach's Petrel; Mourning Dove)

10k circle total: 140

Birds I missed: All manner of dips on Scilly, but the White-throated Needletail will live agonisingly long in the dip category.

The Year List:

Brent Goose

Canada Goose

Barnacle Goose

Ross's Goose

Snow Goose

Greylag Goose

Taiga Bean Goose

Pink-footed Goose

Tundra Bean Goose

White-fronted Goose

Lesser White-fronted Goose

Mute Swan

Bewick's Swan

Whooper Swan

Egyptian Goose

Shelduck

Mandarin Duck

Garganey

Blue-winged Teal

Shoveler

Gadwall

Wigeon

American Wigeon

Mallard

Pintail

Teal

Green-winged Teal

Red-crested Pochard

Pochard

Ferruginous Duck

Ring-necked Duck

Tufted Duck

Scaup

Lesser Scaup

Eider

Surf Scoter

Velvet Scoter

White-winged Scoter

Common Scoter

Black Scoter

Long-tailed Duck

Goldeneye

Smew

Goosander

Red-breasted Merganser

Ruddy Duck

Red Grouse

Ptarmigan

Black Grouse

Grey Partridge

Pheasant

Quail

Red-legged Partridge

Nightjar

Swift

Cuckoo

Rock Dove (Feral Pigeon)

Stock Dove

Woodpigeon

Turtle Dove

Collared Dove

Water Rail

Moorhen

Coot

Crane

Little Grebe

Red-necked Grebe

Great Crested Grebe

Slavonian Grebe

Black-necked Grebe

Stone-curlew

Oystercatcher

Avocet

Grey Plover

Golden Plover

Pacific Golden Plover

Ringed Plover

Little Ringed Plover

Lapwing

Grey-headed Lapwing

Eurasian Whimbrel

Curlew

Bar-tailed Godwit

Black-tailed Godwit

Jack Snipe

Woodcock

Snipe

Common Sandpiper

Spotted Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Redshank

Lesser Yellowlegs

Spotted Redshank

Greenshank

Turnstone

Knot

Ruff

Curlew Sandpiper

Temminck's Stint

Sanderling

Dunlin

Purple Sandpiper

Little Stint

White-rumped Sandpiper

Pectoral Sandpiper

Western Sandpiper

Collared Pratincole

Little Tern

Black Tern

Arctic Tern

Common Tern

Roseate Tern

Sandwich Tern

Little Gull

Ross's Gull

Kittiwake

Black-headed Gull

Laughing Gull

Mediterranean Gull

Common Gull

Caspian Gull

Herring Gull

Yellow-legged Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Iceland Gull

Arctic Skua

Pomarine Skua

Great Skua

Puffin

Black Guillemot

Razorbill

Common Guillemot

Red-throated Diver

Great Northern Diver

White-billed Diver

Storm Petrel

Fulmar

Cory's Shearwater

Sooty Shearwater

Great Shearwater

Manx Shearwater

Balearic Shearwater

White Stork

Gannet

Cormorant

Shag

Glossy Ibis

Spoonbill

Bittern

Night-heron

Little Egret

Great White Egret

Cattle Egret

Grey Heron

Osprey

Honey-buzzard

Golden Eagle

Sparrowhawk

Goshawk

Hen Harrier

Marsh Harrier

Red Kite

Black Kite

White-tailed Eagle

Buzzard

Barn Owl

Little Owl

Long-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

Tawny Owl

Hoopoe

Kingfisher

Bee-eater

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Green Woodpecker

Kestrel

Red-footed Falcon

Merlin

Hobby

Peregrine

Ring-necked Parakeet

Great Grey Shrike

Woodchat Shrike

Jay

Magpie

Chough

Jackdaw

Rook

Carrion Crow

Hooded Crow

Raven

Coal Tit

Crested Tit

Marsh Tit

Willow Tit

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Penduline Tit

Bearded Tit

Woodlark

Skylark

Shore Lark

Sand Martin

Swallow

House Martin

Cetti's Warbler

Long-tailed Tit

Wood Warbler

Willow Warbler

Chiffchaff

Great Reed Warbler

Sedge Warbler

Blyth's Reed Warbler

Reed Warbler

Savi's Warbler

Grasshopper Warbler

Blackcap

Garden Warbler

Lesser Whitethroat

Eastern Subalpine Warbler

Whitethroat

Dartford Warbler

Firecrest

Goldcrest

Wren

Nuthatch

Treecreeper

Starling

Song Thrush

Mistle Thrush

Redwing

Blackbird

Fieldfare

Ring Ouzel

Spotted Flycatcher

Robin

Nightingale

Bluethroat

Pied Flycatcher

Black Redstart

Redstart

Whinchat

Stonechat

Wheatear

Dipper

Tree Sparrow

House Sparrow

Dunnock

Yellow Wagtail

Eastern Yellow Wagtail

Grey Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Meadow Pipit

Tree Pipit

American Pipit

Water Pipit

Rock Pipit

Chaffinch

Brambling

Hawfinch

Bullfinch

Greenfinch

Twite

Linnet

Redpoll

Common Crossbill

European Goldfinch

Siskin

Lapland Bunting

Snow Bunting

Corn Bunting

Yellowhammer

Ortolan Bunting

Cirl Bunting

Reed Bunting

Song Sparrow

Black Stork
Zitting Cisticola
Black-winged Kite
Black-winged Pratincole
Montagu's Harrier
Pechora Pipit
Grey Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
White-winged Black Tern
Siberian Stonechat
Marsh Sandpiper
Dotterel
Greenish Warbler
Sabine's Gull
Barred Warbler
Yellow-browed Warbler
Leach's Petrel
Mourning Dove
Common Rosefinch
Wryneck
Rosy Starling




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