Rare Birds of London

A Summary List of the Rare Birds of London and a pdf of Detailed Records
The ‘London Recording Area’ of the LNHS is surprisingly rich for birds with a total of 370 species recorded to date. Listed below are 196 species of birds for which records have to be submitted to the LNHS Rarities Committee for the inclusion of records in the annual London Bird Report.

A detailed list of records of these 196 species published in the London Bird Report up to 2015 can be downloaded from this link.

To download the rarity list of 196 species listed below as a pdf, click here.

The Rare Birds of London: Summary List

Ducks, Geese and Swans, Anatidae
1.	Bewick’s Swan  Cygnus columbianus
2.	Whooper Swan  Cygnus cygnus
3.	Bean Goose  Anser fabalis
4.	Pink-footed Goose  Anser brachyrhynchus
5.	Snow Goose  Anser caerulescens
6.	Red-breasted Goose  Branta ruficollis
7.	Brent Goose  Branta bernicla Sub-species: Pale-bellied Brent Goose B. b. hrota Sub-species: Black Brant B. b. nigricans
8.	Barnacle Goose  Branta leucopsis
9.	American Wigeon  Anas americana
10.	Green-winged Teal  Anas carolinensis
11.	Blue-winged Teal  Anas discors
12.	Ring-necked Duck  Aythya collaris
13.	Ferruginous Duck  Aythya nyroca
14.	Lesser Scaup  Aythya affinis
15.	Common Eider  Somateria mollissima
16.	King Eider  Somateria spectabilis
17.	Long-tailed Duck  Clangulahyemalis
18.	Velvet Scoter  Melanitta fusca
Grouse, Pheasants and Partridges, Phasianidae
19.	Black Grouse  Tetrao tetrix
Divers, Gaviidae
20.	Red-throated Diver  Gavia stellata
21.	Black-throated Diver  Gavia arctica
Grebes, Podicipedidae
22.	Pied-billed Grebe  Podilymbus podiceps
Petrels and Shearwaters, Procellariidae
23.	Northern Fulmar  Fulmarus glacialis
24.	Manx Shearwater  Puffinus puffinus
25.	Balearic Shearwater  Puffinus mauretanicus
26.	Barola Shearwater  Puffinus baroli
27.	European Storm-petrel  Hydrobates pelagicus
28.	Leach’s Storm-petrel  Oceanodroma leucorhoa
Gannets, Sulidae
29.	Northern Gannet  Morus bassanus
Herons and Bitterns, Aredeidae
30.	Little Bittern  Ixobrychus minutus
31.	Night Heron  Nycticorax nycticorax
32.	Squacco Heron  Ardeola ralloides
33.	Cattle Egret  Bubulcus ibis
34.	Great Egret  Ardea alba
35.	Purple Heron  Ardea purpurea
Storks, Ciconiidae
36.	Black Stork  Ciconia nigra
37.	White Stork  Ciconia ciconia
Ibises and Spoonbills, Threskiornithidae
38.	Glossy Ibis  Plegadis falcinellus
39.	Spoonbill  Platalea leucorodia
Osprey, Kites, Hawks and Eagles, Accipitridae
40.	Honey Buzzard  Pernis apivorus
41.	Black Kite  Milvus migrans
42.	White-tailed Eagle  Haliaeetus albicilla
43.	Hen Harrier  Circus cyaneus
44.	Montagu’s Harrier  Circus pygargus
45.	Harrier sp Not given
46.	Goshawk Accipiter gentilis
47.	Rough-legged Buzzard  Butoe lagopus
48.	Golden Eagle  Aquila chrysaetos
49.	Lesser Kestrel  Falco naumanni
50.	Red-footed Falcon  Falco vespertinus
51.	Merlin  Falco columbarius
52.	Gyr Falcon Falco rusticolus
Rails, Waterhens and Coots, Rallidae
53.	Spotted Crake  Porzana porzana
54.	Little Crake  Porzana parva
55.	Baillon’s Crake  Porzana pusilla
56.	Corncrake Crex crex
Cranes, Gruidae
57.	Common Crane  Grus grus
Bustards, Otidae
58.	Great Bustard  Otis tarda
Stilts and Avocets, Recurvirostridae
59.	Black-winged Stilt  Himantopus himantopus
Thick-knees, Burhinidae
60.	Stone-curlew  Burhinus oedicnemus
Coursers and Pratincoles, Glareolidae
61.	Cream-coloured Courser  Cursorius cursor
62.	Collared Pratincole  Glareola pratincola
Plovers, Charadriidae
63.	Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
64.	Kentish Plover  Charadrius alexandrinus
65.	Dotterel Charadrius morinellus
66.	American Golden Plover  Pluvialis dominica
67.	Pacific Golden Plover  Pluvialis fulva
68.	Sociable Lapwing  Vanellus gregarius
69.	White-tailed Lapwing  Vanellus leucurus
Sandpipers and Snipe, Scolopacidae
70.	Western Sandpiper  Calidris mauri
71.	Temminck’s Stint  Calidris temminckii
72.	White-rumped Sandpiper  Calidris fuscicollis
73.	Baird’s Sandpiper  Calidris bairdii
74.	Pectoral Sandpiper  Calidris melanotos
75.	Sharp-tailed Sandpiper  Calidrisacuminata
76.	Purple Sandpiper  Calidris maritima
77.	Broad-billed Sandpiper  Limicola falcinellus
78.	Buff-breasted Sandpiper  Tryngites subruficollis
79.	Great Snipe  Gallinago media
80.	Long-billed Dowitcher  Limnodromus scolopaceus
81.	Spotted Sandpiper  Actitis macularius
82.	Solitary Sandpiper  Tringa solitaria
83.	Lesser Yellowlegs  Tringa flavipes
84.	Marsh Sandpiper  Tringa stagnatilis
85.	Wilson’s Phalarope  Phalaropus tricolor
86.	Red-necked Phalarope  Phalaropus lobatus
87.	Grey Phalarope  Phalaropus fulicarius
Skuas, Stercorariidae
88.	Pomarine Skua  Stercorarius pomarinus
89.	Arctic Skua  Stercorarius parasiticus
90.	Long-tailed Skua  Stercorarius longicaudus
91.	Great Skua  Stercorarius skua
Gulls and Terns, Laridae
92.	Sabine’s Gull  Xema sabini
93.	Bonaparte’s Gull  Chroicocephalus philadelphia
94.	Laughing Gull  Larus atricilla
95.	Franklin’s Gull  Larus pipixcan
96.	Ring-billed Gull  Larus delawarensis
97.	Ring-billed Gull  Larus delawarensis
98.	Caspian Gull  Larus cachinnans
99.	Iceland Gull Larus glaucoides or Glaucous Gull  Larus hyperboreus
100.	Iceland Gull  Larus glaucoides Sub-species: Kumlien’s Gull L. g. kumlieni
101.	Slaty-backed Gull  Larus schistisagus
102.	Glaucous-winged Gull  Larus glaucescens
103.	Glaucous Gull  Larus hyperboreus
104.	Sooty Tern  Onychoprion fuscatus
105.	Bridled Tern  Onychoprion anaethetus
106.	Gull-billed Tern  Gelochelidon nilotica
107.	Caspian Tern  Hydroprogne caspia
108.	Whiskered Tern  Chlidonias hybrida
109.	White-winged Black Tern  Chlidonias leucopterus
110.	Roseate Tern  Sterna dougallii
Auks, Alcidae
111.	Common Guillemot  Uria aalge
112.	Razorbill  Alca torda
113.	Black Guillemot  Cepphus grylle
114.	Little Auk  Alle alle
115.	Puffin Fratercula arctica
Sandgrouse, Pteroclidae
116.	Pallas’s Sandgrouse  Syrrhaptes paradoxus
Cuckoos, Cuculidae
117.	Yellow-billed Cuckoo  Coccyzus americanus
Owls, Strigidae
118.	Scops Owl  Otus scops
119.	Snowy Owl  Bubo scandiacus
120.	Tengmalm’s Owl  Aegolius funereus
Nightjars, Caprimulgidae
121.	European Nightjar  Caprimulgus europaeus
122.	Common Nighthawk  Chordeiles minor
Swifts, Apodidae
123.	Alpine Swift  Apus melba
Bee-eaters, Meropidae
124.	European Bee-eater  Merops apiaster
Rollers, Coraciidae
125.	European Roller  Coracias garrulus
Hoopoes, Upupidae
126.	Hoopoe Upupa epops
Woodpeckers, Picidae
127.	Wryneck Jynx torquilla
Larks, Alaudidae
128.	Short-toed Lark  Calandrella brachydactyla
129.	Crested Lark  Galerida cristata
130.	Shore Lark Eremophila alpestris
Swallows and Martins, Hirundinidae
131.	Red-rumped Swallow  Cecropis daurica
Wagtails and Pipits, Motacillidae
132.	Richard’s Pipit  Anthus richardi
133.	Tawny Pipit  Anthus campestris
134.	Olive-backed Pipit  Anthus hodgsoni
135.	Red-throated Pipit  Anthus cervinus
136.	Buff-bellied Pipit  Anthus rubescens
137.	Yellow Wagtail  Motacilla flava Sub-species: Blue-headed Wagtail  M. f. flava
138.	Citrine Wagtail  Motacilla citreola
139.	Pied Wagtail  Motacilla alba Sub-species: White Wagtail  M. a. alba
Dippers, Cinclidae
140.	Dipper Cincluscinclus
Accentors, Prunellidae
141.	Alpine Accentor  Prunella collaris
Chats and Flycatchers, Muscicapidae
142.	Bluethroat Luscinia svecica
143.	Black-eared Wheatear  Oenanthe hispanica
144.	Desert Wheatear  Oenanthe deserti
145.	Grey-cheeked Thrush  Catharus minimus
146.	Hermit Thrush  Catharus guttatus
147.	Naumann’s Thrush  Turdus naumanni
148.	American Robin  Turdus migratorius
149.	Red-breasted Flycatcher  Ficedula parva
Warblers, Sylviidae
150.	Savi’s Warbler  Locustella luscinioides
151.	Aquatic Warbler  Acrocephalus paludicola
152.	Paddyfield Warbler  Acrocephalus agricola
153.	Blyth’s Reed Warbler  Acrocephalus dumetorum
154.	Marsh Warbler  Acrocephalus palustris
155.	Icterine Warbler  Hippolais icterina
156.	Melodious Warbler  Hippolais polyglotta
157.	Barred Warbler  Sylvia nisoria
158.	Subalpine Warbler  Sylvia cantillans
159.	Sardinian Warbler  Sylvia melanocephala
160.	Eastern Crowned Warbler  Phylloscopus coronatus
161.	Pallas’s Warbler  Phylloscopusproregulus
162.	Yellow-browed Warbler  Phylloscopus inornatus
163.	Hume’s Warbler  Phylloscopus humei
164.	Radde’s Warbler  Phylloscopus schwarzi
165.	Dusky Warbler  Phylloscopus fuscatus
166.	Common Chiffchaff  Phylloscopus collybita Sub-species: Siberian Chiffchaff  P. c. tristis
167.	Iberian Chiffchaff  Phylloscopus ibericus
Tits, Paridae
168.	Crested Tit  Lophophanes cristatus
169.	Willow Tit  Poecile palustris
Penduline Tits, Remizidae
170.	Penduline Tit  Remiz pendulinus
Treecreepers, Serthiidae
171.	Short-toed Treecreeper  Certhia brachydactyla
Orioles, Oriolidae
172.	Golden Oriole  Oriolus oriolus
Shrikes, Laniidae
173.	Brown Shrike  Lanius cristatus
174.	Isabelline Shrike  Lanius isabellinus
175.	Red-backed Shrike  Lanius collurio
176.	Lesser Grey Shrike  Lanius minor
177.	Great Grey Shrike  Lanius excubitor
178.	Woodchat Shrike  Lanius senator
Crows and Jays, Corvidae
179.	Nutcracker Nucifragacaryoccatactes
180.	Hooded Crow  Corvus cornix
Starlings, Sturnidae
181.	Rose-coloured Starling  Sturnus roseus
Finches, Fringilidae
182.	European Serin  Serinus serinus
183.	Twite Carduelis flavirostris
184.	Arctic Redpoll  Carduelis hornemanni
185.	Two-barred Crossbill  Loxia leucoptera
186.	Parrot Crossbill  Loxia pytyopsittacus
187.	Common Rosefinch  Carpodacus erythrinus
188.	Pine Grosbeak  Pinicola enucleator
Buntings, Emberizidae
189.	Lapland Bunting  Calcarius lapponicus
190.	Snow Bunting  Plectrophenax nivalis
191.	Pine Bunting  Emberiza leucocephalos
192.	Cirl Bunting  Emberiza cirlus
193.	Ortolan Bunting  Emberiza hortulana
194.	Rustic Bunting  Emberiza rustica
195.	Little Bunting  Emberiza pusilla
196.	Black-headed Bunting  Emberiza melanocephala

 

Picture Credits

Brown Shrike, Staines Moor 17 December 2009 (c) Andrew Moon

Nightjar, Teddington 10 June 2006 (c) Andrew Moon

Little Bittern, Stocker's Lake 16 June 2012 (c) Andrew Moon

Notes

This page in the blog is a test page. For details of the London Bird Club visit the London Natural History Society.

 



 

 

 

Gamini Ratnavira: Brushes with Nature

I have copied below a press release by Asoka Yapa, the publisher  of Gamini Ratnavira's autobiography.

Gamini Ratnavira: Brushes with Nature
Sri Lanka's Foremost Wildlife Artist Gamini Ratnavira will launch his autobiography 'Gamini Ratnavira: Brushes with Nature' at an event at BMICH on December 16th commencing at 4.00 p.m. Every copy will be signed by the author. This is a limited, collector's edition, hardcover print. At the launch the book will be available at a special price.

The book is a richly illustrated account of Gamini's early life and his development into the renowned Nature and Mineral Artist he is today. Suitable for both children and adults. Full of charming animal characters!

Rex de Silva, Rohan Pethiyagoda, and Sarath Kotagama will recall their memories of working with Gamini. Gamini himself will be present. There will be a small art show and sale of the artist's recent work. Limited light refreshments will be served. Well known Sri Lanka wildlife personalities will be present!

Book sales will be on a cash basis only. Rupees 3,250 per book.

For more details contact Asoka Yapa on asoka_yapa@yahoo.com

 

Book Review: The 100 Best Birdwatching Sites in Southeast Asia

Li, Yong Ding & Wen, Low Bing. (2016). The 100 Best Birdwatching Sites in Southeast Asia. John Beaufoy Publishing: UK. Pages 328.

Reviewed by Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne

From the humid lowland rainforests to the cool cloud forests of Southeast Asia’s tallest mountain, this book is a kaleidoscope of Southeast Asia’s biodiversity. However, this is not a coffee table book for armchair travellers. Its portable format suggests that it is intended to be a trip planning guide and one which some people may take with them for reference if they are embarking on a multi-country, multi-week big trip to the region. In this internet age, is such a book useful? Absolutely. Of the 11 countries covered in this book I have visited 6 of them and I know that internet research for identifying good sites is both time consuming and unreliable. The unreliability comes from a number of factors. Good sites may be masked in internet searches from poorer sites receiving better coverage because of a local patch birder or local community of enthusiasts who give it a higher web footprint.

Sometimes sites receive outstanding billing due to the work of months or years of scientific expeditions, but are virtually inaccessible on logistics for visiting birders. It helps enormously when local experts are able to write a compilation of top sites which take into account the relative richness of sites as well making a judicious and informed decision on site selection based on factors such as ease of access, food and lodging, etc. Such a compilation then can become the basis for more detailed research and for more current research using the internet.

One audience for this book is people who are not going on an organised birding tour and want to know if on a general tour, (e.g. a family holiday with children) if they can fit in some top birding and wildlife sites. Malaysia and Singapore are two countries with excellent sites that can even be fitted in on a day trip. Books like this can help to build confidence amongst visitors and even act as an eye- opener to the larger mainstream travel companies. This results in more visitor traffic to these sites which can be important for conservation when locals see their forests as a resource for income and careers. It also helps the hard-core birders who benefit from uplift to the quality and range of accommodation.

The book is edited by Yong Ding Li and Low Bing Wen. However, behind the cover page attribution to the two editors, an expert team has been brought into play with a number of locally based and visiting researchers, birders and professional tour leaders. An impressive 28 people are contributing authors. Members of the UK-based Oriental Bird Club will recognise familiar names from articles published in Birding Asia and Forktail.

The front sections introduce the reader to Asia's climate, geography and bird habitats. Not always found in site guides, is a useful overview to the families of birds found in the region.  For example, one learns that 7 species of megapodes, 105 pigeons and doves, 68 owls, 11 frogmouths, 11 nightjars, 45 kingfishers, 27 species of hornbills, etc. are found in the region. Each country has a map marked with the handful of chosen sites with a brief overview of travel practicalities of climate, health and safety logistics. The birdwatching highlights and the key facts box (number of endemics, number of birds in country list and top 5 birds) is a useful introduction to anyone who has not birded in that country. The site accounts also have boxed key facts and a high level local orientation map. The access & accommodation is clearly written by people who visit these sites and provide a useful baseline for further research using trip reports. I have learnt to be wary of any information published by local tourist authorities. Therefore, books like this and trip reports by people who have been actually out in the field are necessary for serious birders and photographers in planning their own trips. Although it is billed as a guide to the top 100 birdwatching sites, needless to say, this will apply to wildlife in general.

The end sections include an index to help locate species and sites. It also has a list of tour operators. I would have liked to have seen a bigger list arranged by country and those that operate regionally. Internet searches can be hit and miss in finding suitable tour operators. This is another reason why trip reports with recommendations are useful. Another good source of finding out specialist tour operators are the advertisements in the publications of regional bird clubs such as the Oriental Bird Club, African Bird Club, Neotropical Bird Club and the Ornithological Society of the Middle East.

At the start I said this is not a coffee table book. However, it has plenty of beautiful images of highly desirable birds to want you to go out to the wilderness areas of Asia. It is also laid out professionally with a design that makes navigation intuitive. It makes good use of space to pack in a lot of content without it feeling busy or too crammed. It's a very different product to some of the self-published site guides (not to take away from them as these are helpful too). What is perhaps not obvious to the untrained eye is that a book like this brings together a few hundred man-years of field time. Hopefully the publisher will extend this approach to other geographical regions. The obvious audience for the book is birders and wildlife photographers. But it will I am sure, also be a helpful resource for travel industry personnel in mainstream as well as nature specialist companies both in-country and overseas. The appetite for travel to the wilderness is growing and many mainstream tour operators may want to fit in an element of wildlife tourism into a standard cultural or round-trip tour. This book will provide ideas of what is possible and build a connection between mainstream travel and the more specialist birding and wildlife tours. As I mentioned before this can only be a good thing for the specialists who will benefit from an enhanced infrastructure. We see this even in the G7 countries such as the in the UK. The London Wetland Centre is a superb example of a prime nature reserve which is possible only because a huge volume of ordinary visitors generate the cash flow to maintain a nature reserve which is a jewel for birders and photographers.

 

So in conclusion, not a coffee table book, but a well-designed, fairly compact, fact packed guide to whet your appetite and give you the confidence to explore Asia's biodiversity whether you are a visitor or local to the region.

 

Useful Links

Malaysian Nature Society

Oriental Bird Club

Nature Society (Singapore)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advertising in the London Bird Atlas

The document 'Key Points for Advertisers' is being maintained here on this private blog page to make it easy for me as the Chair of the London Bird Club to update it frequently in response to questions and queries received.

(The LNHS is run by volunteers and I am being mindful of not asking for frequent changes on the official LNHS website from the web administrator who is a fellow volunteer).

 To email me, please return to the LNHS website.

LBA Key Points for Advertisers
 

London Bird Club Talks: Autumn 2016- Spring 2017

All of the London Bird Club’s talks are listed in the full programme. For ease of reference, the season’s programme and details of the venue are listed below.