Killdeer: Ripley, Hampshire

This morning, Brian had made a return trip to the Lee Valley, hoping to get a few more photos of the Bittern. While on site, news broke of a mega-rare North American vagrant found in Hampshire. 

The bird was a Killdeer, common in North America. I have seen them several times in the States while on holiday. It frequents meadows, farmland, airfields, and short-cropped lawns, and also shores and riverbanks. A larger version of the Ringed Plover, but with a distinctive double breast band being the most obvious difference. It has a reddish-orange rump, which is visible in flight or when stretching its wings.

It wasn't possible to drop everything and go, so we were left hoping the bird would remain overnight. The weather overnight was for heavy rain, so at 5.45am, after meeting Brian, we set off on the 126-mile journey. The news services were saying limited parking, so we expected to have some problems parking the car upon arrival. However, as we reached the layby shortly after 8am there was a single space left, which we gladly took. All that was now left was a mile walk along a gravel path with several pig fields bordering the track. At the end of the track was a small body of water known as Ripley Farm Reservoir. We joined the gathered crowd and were put on the bird immediately. It was distant, feeding among a group of Shelduck. The scope was put to work, allowing us to get excellent views of the bird.

Scene from the viewing area

Taken with the phone hand-held to the scope (I forgot the adapter)

Delighted with how smoothly the twitch had gone, we decided to drive to Holbury, some twenty-two miles away.  The Great-tailed Grackle was first seen on the 2nd November, around the RNLI station car park just north of Calshot Castle. On the 8th of November, it relocated to gardens along Southbourne Avenue in Holbury. As we turned into Southbourne Avenue, the Grackle was seen perched on a garden fence. We spent the next thirty minutes watching it feeding in nearby gardens. Giving ridiculous views, at one point, I was standing on the path outside a garden watching it, when it walked out of the front gates and proceeded to walk straight past me, feeding along the edge of the brick wall as it went!

Great-tailed Grackles breed from California to Oregon and east to Iowa, south to the Gulf of Mexico, through Mexico, and central America. It is resident throughout much of its range. The Great-tailed Grackle is largely non-migratory and does not occur in eastern North America, making unassisted vagrancy highly unlikely.

The BOURC's current policy towards ship-assisted vagrants is not to admit port-to-port or coast-to-coast transportees onto the British List. Ship-assisted birds should only be admitted to the list if the species is considered capable of making an unassisted transatlantic crossing. Therefore, this species has been added to Category E of the British List. 

Nevertheless, it was a cracking bird to watch, and well worth the detour to see it.

Great-tailed Grackle