What we call ‘autumn’ includes September and October, i.e., the best birding time in the second half of the year. Here are five beautiful birds for you to enjoy at this time.
DID YOU KNOW?
In the UK, the Black Redstart benefitted from WWII, colonising ‘rocky’ urban bomb sites
KESTREL
The Kestrel is not particularly an ‘autumn’ bird, but when else do we get to celebrate and offer appreciation to this marvellous bird? Its habitual hovering habit has led to it being the first bird that many of us can name, often triggering the whole birdwatching bug. It is also one of our most common and obvious raptors, with 31,000 pairs across nearly the whole country. For a simple ‘is it a Kestrel?’ test, check out the upperparts for orange tones; among our smaller raptors, only Kestrels have orange-brown wings and backs.
BLACK REDSTART
The Black Redstart is a very scarce breeder in the UK, officially with fewer than 60 pairs, these days. It is a little more numerous as a wintering bird, with perhaps 400 individuals enjoying our mild island climate. But the real peak times for Black Redstarts are the passage periods in March and late October, the latter being a more drawn out affair (between mid-October and mid-November). From the start of October, have a Black Redstart search image in mind. Remember that, at this time of year, males, females and youngsters all look pretty similar to breeding females; dull grey-brown all over, except the fiery, quivering tail. Black Redstarts favour more rocky (or urban/ concrete) terrain than Redstarts (which like bushes).
GLOSSY IBIS
Seasoned birders remember the days when the Glossy Ibis was a dream rarity. Even a look at older editions of the Collins Bird Guide shows a map with a number of blobs around the northern edge of the Mediterranean and Black Seas. These days, though, they are somewhat scarce but regular birds in the country. Indeed, in many areas, Glossy Ibis is expected on any year list. They are present all year, and if they have not already successfully bred, there have certainly been nesting attempts. They look like chunky, dark-plumaged Curlews and, at this time of year, don’t expect much gloss in the generally brown plumage (except maybe from the iridescent green wings in sunshine).
COMMON SCOTER
Like the Black Redstart, the Common Scoter is a very scarce breeder in the UK with only about 50 nesting pairs (in northern Scotland). Unlike the Black Redstart, the scoter is a very common wintering duck, with about 135,000 around our coasts. Although they do turn up at inland water bodies (they fly overland
