Who is Britain's top twitcher?

I notice that Paul Chapman has withdrawn his British list.

It would be interesting if those with Britain, Ireland and Isle of Man lists who do not also have a Britain only list set up a British list.

By copying over their Britain, Ireland and Isle of Man lists and deleting their Irish (and perhaps Isle of Man) only ticks would then have a record for Britain alone.

Any takers?

Hi all,

I believe my combined BOURC/IRC list is 2 ahead of Ron Johns and Steve Gantlett. This includes the Little Shearwater for Ron although I have not checked if that is still an accepted record.

I have only heard Little Shear although I have been in the wrong group when one has flown by. A very difficult to bird to catch up with. Perhaps one day!!

Cheers
Steve

Steve Webb wrote:

Hi all,

I believe my combined BOURC/IRC list is 2 ahead of Ron Johns and Steve Gantlett. This includes the Little Shearwater for Ron although I have not checked if that is still an accepted record.

I have only heard Little Shear although I have been in the wrong group when one has flown by. A very difficult to bird to catch up with. Perhaps one day!!

Cheers
Steve

Steve,

Any chance you could post your BOURC records? Are you likely to be the highest British lister (as well as BOURC/IRC)?

Regards

Paul

Paul Whiteman wrote:

Steve Webb wrote:

Hi all,

I believe my combined BOURC/IRC list is 2 ahead of Ron Johns and Steve Gantlett. This includes the Little Shearwater for Ron although I have not checked if that is still an accepted record. ................

Cheers
Steve

Steve,

Any chance you could post your BOURC records? Are you likely to be the highest British lister (as well as BOURC/IRC)?

Regards

Paul

Paul,

Sorry for the late response as I have been abroad.

In the future I will probably put my British BOURC list on Bubo. It is likely to be the highest BOURC list.

Regards
Steve

Some listers have posted both British only and Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man lists on Bubo.

Other than changing details for birds ticked in Ireland and later in the UK, such as white-winged scoter, the differences will be small and may be in single figures - eight or nine birds.

AS you may know, to set up a Britain only list, start with a copy of your Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man list and delete Ireland only species, such as snowy egret, to give the correct British total.

Hi Paul
The Snowy Egret was at Balvicar, Seil Island, Argyle & Bute Scotland.
You must be referring to the Little Blue Heron at Letterfrack County Galway Eire.
Both were firsts for their respected countries,
Regards Vince.

Yes.

I can think of just three birds with Irish but no British records. Canada Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler and the Little Blue Heron.

Philadephia Vireo is a British blocker. 19 of 21 list the Tresco Scilly 1985 bird (two blank!) on their British Lists out of 772 (2.7% only connecting) at the time of writing. There are two Co Clare records, 1985 and 2008, ticked in Ireland by most of the 22 posting Britain, Ireland and Isle of Man lists out of 140 listers (15.7% connecting).

The Philly Vireo was 1987, not 1985 - I twitched it aged 14 with my dad and the late Mike Entwistle R.I.P.

A simple typo
RBA website previous records for Phil. Vireo Tresco 1987 and Co Cork 1985.

A significant proportion of the top Britain only listers have also posted a Britain, Ireland and Isle of Man list. Not many birds Ireland only judging by the differences between the two.

BOU British list must be the yardstick for people's totals

Paul Woolnough wrote:

Yes.

I can think of just three birds with Irish but no British records. Canada Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler and the Little Blue Heron.

I am sure there are more than three, I will check later, but there will be other birds that may have later appeared in the UK that some listers will have seen previously but only in the island of Ireland.

The 'problem' goes back to the time when the whole of Ireland was politically British and there was obviously just one list. Since most of the big listers are incredibly old they have always included Ireland. Younger (and poorer) listers have never really been interested in the old boundaries, preferring to go with the current BOU area, which does not include NI, IOM or Channel Is.

That's why I am interested in big listers posting their BOU only lists. I suspect the biggest listers may have c10 species difference from their BOU/Ireland lists.

If we are going back to the past we might as well have Calais and Gibraltar as they used to be part of the kingdom.

P.

Some "500" listers have posted both Britain only and Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man BOU lists.

Differences more than three, of course..

Paul Woolough said:
The 'problem' goes back to the time when the whole of Ireland was politically British and there was obviously just one list. Since most of the big listers are incredibly old they have always included Ireland. Younger (and poorer) listers have never really been interested in the old boundaries, preferring to go with the current BOU area, which does not include NI, IOM or Channel Is.


Most of Ireland gained independence from the UK in 1922 - none of the big listers are that old. British Birds, to which I have subscribed since 1978 (so quite old then, though not really a big lister!), used to include all the Irish rares in its annual report on rare birds. That's perhaps where it dates back to. Not that it's a 'problem', and it's a lot cheaper to twitch Ireland, which I have a few times, than the Northern Isles. Biogeographically the British Isles makes sense as a unit for bird listing. The UK, like many political entities, does not.

[img]media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/Walthamstow_Birding.png John Martin wrote:
[ Biogeographically the British Isles makes sense as a unit for bird listing. The UK, like many political entities, does not.[/quote]

I quite agree, however what about countries like Belgium or Switzerland, they have to conform to political boundaries, otherwise they (we) would all just have to be Western Palearctic listers.

I say we should bite the bullet and go with the now current BOURC boundaries. Though of course BUBO has both BOURC and BOURC/IRC + IOM checklists for thos so inclined.

I still think it would be good to see some more top listers post up their BOURC only lists.

PW

Paul Woolnough wrote:

Yes.

I can think of just three birds with Irish but no British records. Canada Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler and the Little Blue Heron.

Philadephia Vireo is a British blocker. 19 of 21 list the Tresco Scilly 1985 bird (two blank!) on their British Lists out of 772 (2.7% only connecting) at the time of writing. There are two Co Clare records, 1985 and 2008, ticked in Ireland by most of the 22 posting Britain, Ireland and Isle of Man lists out of 140 listers (15.7% connecting).

In Birds Of Britain - The Complete Checklist, Aug 2010 by Dominic Mitchell and Keith Vinicombe (Birdwatch Mag), they list the following as "species recorded in Ireland but not Britian"...

Bulwer's Petrel
Little Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Griffon Vulture
Thayer's Gull
Northern Flicker
House Crow
Blue-winged warbler
Canada Warbler
Fox Sparrow

Obviously Britain has now recorded it's first Thayer's Gull (pending i'd guess) and also Elegant Tern is included in the Birdwatch British list but this may also need to be reviewed so Ireland may have the only officially accepted record. Don't know if the Irish list includes Northern Flicker and House Crow as both are taken as being ship assisted...

Cheers Ian

Ian Foster wrote:

Paul Woolnough wrote:

Yes.

I can think of just three birds with Irish but no British records. Canada Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler and the Little Blue Heron.

Philadephia Vireo is a British blocker. 19 of 21 list the Tresco Scilly 1985 bird (two blank!) on their British Lists out of 772 (2.7% only connecting) at the time of writing. There are two Co Clare records, 1985 and 2008, ticked in Ireland by most of the 22 posting Britain, Ireland and Isle of Man lists out of 140 listers (15.7% connecting).

In Birds Of Britain - The Complete Checklist, Aug 2010 by Dominic Mitchell and Keith Vinicombe (Birdwatch Mag), they list the following as "species recorded in Ireland but not Britian"...

Bulwer's Petrel
Little Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Griffon Vulture
Thayer's Gull
Northern Flicker
House Crow
Blue-winged warbler
Canada Warbler
Fox Sparrow

Obviously Britain has now recorded it's first Thayer's Gull (pending i'd guess) and also Elegant Tern is included in the Birdwatch British list but this may also need to be reviewed so Ireland may have the only officially accepted record. Don't know if the Irish list includes Northern Flicker and House Crow as both are taken as being ship assisted...

Cheers Ian

I could only find three.
Unaware of this list, thanks for posting it.

Who has seen and counted bald eagle or griffon's vulture?
I clicked on the top lister total, that of Steve Webb.
I clicked the target button.
No one has counted these two birds of prey.
I could not find northern flicker on the Britain and Ireland (BOU and Ireland?) list Ireland but the species can be found on the UK400 list. No one has posted a list containing northern flicker on their UK400 Britain and Ireland list.

I could not find northern flicker on the Britain and Ireland (BOU and Ireland?) list Ireland but the species can be found on the UK400 list.

Both Northern Flicker and House Crow are Category D on the IRBC list.

Although Lesser Canada Goose B. hutchinsii is on the British list as a full species the BOURC/BBRC have not decided which records are Lesser Canada. However the IRBC has decided which of their records are acceptable. The IRBC call Branta hutchinsii Cackling Goose and not Lesser Canada Goose. So for the time being my list only contains an Irish record.

My list also contains an accepted Irish record of Elegant Tern (Sterna elegans). Although I have seen a purported British Elegant Tern the BOURC/BBRC have not decided on any of the submitted records which if any of these are Elegant Tern.

By the way I also have the highest British list.

Hi Paul,

The Northern Flicker was in October 1962, it was seen to fly off from a ship towards land just inside Cobh Harbour, Co Cork. Very near the site where the House Crow is currently!

Bald Eagle has been recorded twice in ireland (i think?). Co.Kerry Nov 1987, photo's in Twitching Vol 1, No.12 and Rare Birds In Britain & Ireland - A Photographic Record by Cotteridge & Vinicombe. It may have been seen by a few birders at the time but was taken into care and flown back to the USA i believe. Also an older record from Co.Fermanagh January 1973, both birds i think were initially id'd as White-tailed Eagle. Not sure if the 1973 bird has been accepted or not?

The Griffon Vulture record dates back to 1843 in Co.Cork...Not too many keen listers about in those day's!

Hope this helps and sorry for any mistakes (just quickly checked through a few books).

Cheers Ian.