Late bird news from Rathlin

I had heard of a group of birders who set up a bird observatory on Rathlin Island in the early 1960’s but had no idea who they were or what they saw. Through the wonders of the internet, one of these pioneering birders, Tony Tree, has been in touch recently from his home on the Eastern Cape of South Africa!   Tony sent me a fascinating account of what he and several other birders saw on the island between 21 August – 25 September 1960 and 10 April – 21 May & 1 September – 3 October 1961, when the island received daily coverage.  I have included a selection of species accounts below which either highlight important conservation issues, provide additions to the Rathlin Island List I’ve been working on or support the theory that Rathlin is a great location for migrant birds.

The ‘observatory’ area covered then was largely the same patch I’ve been checking since 2008, around the east and southern arms of the island, with only very occasional venture out west. 

A selection of species accounts 1960/61 (AJ Tree, et al):

GREAT SHEARWATER: One on 30 September 1961 below E light
Shoveler:  A pair bred on the small lake towards western end of island in 1961
Buzzard: Never more than two seen in the observatory area in spring and autumn, rather infrequently
Corncrake:  1961: Arrived 21 April. Daily in spring thereafter with up to five in April and ten in May.
1960: One on 1 September
Grey Plover: One on 2/3 October 1961
Little Stint: One on 27 September 1961
1960: Two on 24-27 September (one caught and ringed on 24^th)
Ruff: 1960: One 25 August
Rock Dove:  1961: Daily in spring with 14 peak in May. On 2 September 40 counted but usually <30 for rest of the period
WRYNECK:  1960: One ringed at the E light on 30 August
Chough:  1961: Daily in spring, usually six but up to 13 on two days in April and 14 on one day in May. Highest autumn count was 28 on 30 September
Redstart:  1961: A male caught on 28 April below Mt Grand. A 1^st winter male caught at the E light early hours of 4 September
Robin:  1961: Up to 12 daily in spring. Possibly 10+ pairs breeding.  Autumn: 15 daily with peaks of 55+ on 5 September, (30+ on 3^rd, 45 on 4^th), 30+ on 8^th and 18^th and 70+ on 21^st. Many of these came to the light in early September and were obvious through migrants
Pied Flycatcher:  1961: One on 19 September at Church Brae
1960: One in September
Meadow Pipit: 1961: Spring passage a steady trickle with numbers dropping from 50+ on average in early April to 30-40 during May. Visual migration to and from the island witnessed. Breeding population estimated at 20-35 pairs.
Autumn: Flock of 40 arrived at E lighthouse early on 6 August with 100+ in bracken by Ushet later in the morning. Some were seen in the light beams on 8 August. In early September through movement with up to 50+ daily  with peaks of up to 250. Fairly heavy passage 14-20 September with numbers up to 500+. Fewer than 20 by month end with an influx of 200 on 1 October. Arrivals were often at first light, presumably from the Mull of Kintyre
Tree Pipit:  1961: Singles on 14 April, one caught and ringed Church Brae on the 24^th. Again singles 27 April, 1 and 10 May
White Wagtail:  1961: 16 arrived on 15 April and numbers then fluctuated daily from 6 to 40 birds. During first 10 days of May around 12 seen.
Autumn: singles 2 and 9 August at E light. Odd birds at light early September and numbers during day usually singly with peak of 7 on 22^nd. Odd birds up to 1 October. A few at the light on occasions
Yellow Wagtail:  1961: Male flavissima heading NE on 12 May
Greenfinch: 1961: 20 daily in April with peaks of 45 on 12^th and 35 on 15^th. Numbers dropped rapidly after 6 May and did not normally exceed ten. About 6 breeding pairs were noted in April.
Autumn: about 15 during first week of September but thereafter numbers usually about six. One flew in from the east on 18 September
Goldfinch:  1961: Two arrived at E light early on 15 April. Two others were seen on 19 September.
Linnet:  1961: From 10-15 April usually about 30-40 but after this date usually about 20 with small peaks up to 50 later in month. Numbers declined slowly during May. Movements to and from island witnessed.
Autumn: 70 on 1 September with small daily fluctuations and 90 on the 9^th. Then 140 on the 14^th and another influx of 220 on the 19^th. Another decline and then 350 on the 29^th with the autumn peak of 650 the following day. Flocks of up to 150 seen arriving at the E light from Scotland.
Yellowhammer:  1961: Two arrived 22 April and stayed till 24^th. Found again on edge of observatory area on 9 May and probably bred.

Buzzard numbers appear to have been low on the island in the early 60’s and at that time Rathlin and North Antrim were just about the only areas in Ireland where you could find this species.  It is interesting to speculate that the great range and abundance expansion by this species over recent decades may have been driven in some way by the odd pair of birds seen by Tony and crew over 50 years ago on Rathlin. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to see up to 8 Buzzards on a circuit of the patch, with 4-6 the norm.

From the success of the Buzzard in Ireland to the sad demise of the Corncrake.  Events on Rathlin are mirrored in many other parts of Ireland.  Up to 10 calling males were recorded in the observatory area in May 1961.  Unfortunately, this once familiar call has been sporadically heard on Rathlin in recent years and is currently absent as a breeding species.  Some of the reasons behind their demise such as a lack of early cover crops, and a switch to more intensive farming methods can also be attributed to the disappearance of some of the other species listed above.  Today there are no crop fields and no Rock Doves (that I’m aware of) or breeding Yellowhammers.

The story of the Chough is equally as depressing.  From counts of 14 birds during the breeding season and autumn flocks of 28 birds in 1961 (in the observatory area alone), the island currently clings onto Northern Ireland’s last remaining breeding pair. 

Chough pair feeding near Rue Point

However, it is not all bad news. The RSPB are leading efforts on the island to encourage the return of the Corncrake and increase the Chough population.  Early cover crops have been planted around field margins to attract Corncrakes.  You can read about this work here and for the very latest you can follow the RSPB Northern Ireland Stepping up for Nature Blog where you will find firsthand accounts from volunteers who are doing the hard work, such as this

Work for the Chough is progressing well.  The breeding pair has managed to fledge several young in recent years and even decided to over-winter on the island this year.  This autumn up to 6 Chough could be seen between Rathlin and Fair Head on the mainland.  You can read more about the work for Chough here

Of the species listed above, a number are new additions to the island list I have been putting together.  None more impressive than the Great Shearwater which cruised by the East Light in September 1961!  The other additions are Shoveler, Grey Plover, Little Stint, Ruff, Pied Flycatcher and Tree Pipit.  These records suggest that maybe the island isn’t as bad for waders as I had thought and that perhaps I am overlooking Tree Pipits!  Other important aspects to note from Tony’s records are the number of good birds found at the East Light such as the Wryneck and that this was also where Tony did the bulk of his seawatching from, with ‘great’ success.  I have also recently been in contact with Jessica Bates, a Rathlin resident who recalls seeing Long-tailed Tits on the island around 4 years ago.  So as it stands, 189 species and 4 sub-species have now been accounted for on the Rathlin List.

The final thing that drew my attention, going through Tony’s records, is that many of the species that passed through the island in large numbers then are still the cornerstones of migration periods on the island today.  I have written previously about the high number of finches seen on the island in autumn 2012, so it is interesting to note peak day counts of 45 Greenfinches and 650 Linnets in 1961.  Other birds I associate with migration on Rathlin are Robins, Meadow Pipits and White Wagtails and it seems this has been the case for the past 50 years at least!  For example, my peak count of Robins is 100+ birds on 14 October 2010, when a large fall of thrushes and Meadow Pipits also occurred, not to mention a Yellow-browed Warbler!

The sharp eyed amongst will have noticed this post does not mention warbler passage or go into much detail on what Tony saw from his many hours seawatching from the East Light.  Perhaps when we enter another ‘lull’ in the birding year, I will go into these in more detail.

But for now, my thanks go to Tony for getting in touch and providing such thorough and fascinating information.  Despite not having visited Rathlin for over 50 years, it is clear that Tony still loves the island.  With all this action going on, passerines to be found and good seawatching, one can only begin to wonder, why 50 years on, Rathlin is still undervalued as a birding destination during migration periods.