Birds in Lincolnshire

Possible New Birds To Lincolnshire

Dream Birds. by Mike Tarrant

To complete my predictions list, there are four species that probably have no hope of reaching the county, but I would love to see here, nevertheless.

I was somewhat dismayed to find that the Cream-coloured Courser is already on the Lincolnshire list. This species was found here in about 1840, when the British were fighting the Yankees in the Battle Of New Orleans, so obviously, someone was left back in Lincolnshire to carry on birding whilst this little skirmish took place!. If a Cream-coloured Courser turned up now, I feel sure we would all treat it as a Lincolnshire first.

We have plenty of lark habitat in the county, so it is surprising that we have few rare larks found. White-winged Lark might be crying for the moon but Calandra Lark could be a real possibility although in Britain they do seem to show a propensity for islands.

Moussier's Redstart has only been found once in the British Isles, at Dinas Head in Wales, and by just one lucky observer. Gibraltar Point, with such a long list of rare birds like American Redstart and Northern Waterthrush would seem to be the ideal location for Britain's second.

My twentieth prediction is one for the devoted band of seawatchers, but do have a camera ready. The Cape Gannet has been suspected of occurring in British waters but the variability of our Northern Gannet's plumages has somewhat clouded the issue. Preferably, the bird should fly directly overhead, so that the longer black gular stripe is clearly visible - and do photograph it to be accepted. Isn't it about time that Lincolnshire provided a new first for Britain?

Ihave deliberately left one species in my predictions list to the end and one that would surely delight every Lincolnshire birder if we found it. This species seems to like outfalls, where it can use its dainty flight action to dip to the water's surface to glean food. Along the coast, we have severall such outfalls such as Trusthorpe, Anderby and Chapel St. Leonards, so one day I would expect to see this species at one of these locations in Lincolnshire - a ROSS'S GULL.

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Photo No 17 CREAM-COLOURED COURSER, Morocco, 1984. © Mike Tarrant

Photo No 18 CALANDRA LARK, Morocco, 1984. © Mike Tarrant

Photo No 19 MOUSSIER'S REDSTART, Morocco, 1984. © Mike Tarrant

Photo No 20 CAPE GANNET, South Africa, 1994. © Mike Tarrant

Photo No 21 ROSS'S GULL, Cleveland, 1995. © Mike Tarrant

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