Recent Rarities in Ayrshire
These articles originally appeared in Ayrshire Bird Report 1999 and are reproduced here with kind permission of the Editor.
This section of the report provides descriptions of recent rare birds in Ayrshire (Siberian/Eastern Stonechat, American Wigeon andLesser Scaup), and largely contains details submitted by the finder(s).
Siberian/Eastern Stonechat at Turnberry Golf Course (26-Sep-1998)
Angus Hogg
Whilst checking bushes and trees on the edge of Turnberry Golf Course for migrants, a pale Stonechat appeared, perched about 20 metres ahead of me on a Gorse bush. My initial impression was of a Stonechat, but with a Whinchat-type plumage. Fortunately, it allowed me to observe by telescope for about 3 minutes before a seriously bad tee shot from a golfer sent a golf ball stoating off the old runway just ahead of the bird. At this point the bird (and I) took cover, as it flew ahead of me to join some Goldfinches perched on top of some Willows. After watching it for a further 2 minutes, I lost sight of it as it dropped off its perch and flew off eastwards. Further searches during both morning and afternoon failed to relocate it probably owing to an abundance of suitable habitat in the vicinity.
Description
A Stonechat/Whinchat-sized bird with the proportions of a Stonechat; bulbous head and slightly tubby appearance, and not so sleek as most Whinchats.
On the head the base colour was a pale greyish-sandy tone with a darker crown and nape. The darker feathering of the crown was comprised of narrow dark brown/black streaking against a pale sand base, the darkest area being in the forward two-thirds of the crown. A fairly obvious pale buff supercilium and forehead was more apparent when the bird was lit by the sun and further accentuated by a narrow black eye stripe, more prominent behind the eye. The ear coverts were marginally darker than the rest of the somewhat open-faced appearance of the bird (see sketch) but became paler towards the eye. The lores appeared pale with just a hint of duskiness in front of the eye. The throat and chin were slightly paler, verging towards off-white. The sides of the neck showed the same base colour as the rear of the crown and nape area, with rows of darker blotching of dark grey.
On the body the mantle, scapulars and back were very pale (for a Stonechat); once more pale greyish-sand, with more obvious dark centred feathering (appearing as rows of blotches) on this area. The dark feathering seemed to be darkest (dark grey or black ) in the centre turning grey towards the fringes, at times having little visual impact on the paleness of the bird’s back, particularly in full sunlight. Of the coverts, the greater coverts were much darker, black with pale sandy fringing, showing as a wingbar at the tips. All the flight feathers were black, most noticeably the primaries and even these were narrowly fringed with pale sand. The fringing on the secondaries was so extensive that it created a very obvious pale panel in the wing (much like Whinchat, but even paler). The tertials all showed quite broad pale fringing. In flight, there was a typical small white Stonechat “patch” at the base of the greater coverts, just ahead of the tertials, although this was hard to make out owing the overall paleness of much of the bird’s upperparts. The tips of the primaries reached the bottom of a pale sandy unstreaked rump, seen well as the bird occasionally pivoted on its first perch, and also in flight. This rump patch was quite extensive, reaching well up on to the back.
The breast and flanks were slightly warmer in tone than the upper body, taking on a very slight hint of orange on the sides of the breast and flanks in particular. The centre of the breast was paler, grading to whitish on the lower breast, belly and vent.
The upper tail was black with pale buffy tips to the feathers and narrow, pale, whitish edges to the outer tail feathers, seen best in flight.
All bare parts (eye, beak and legs/feet) were black. There was narrow, pale eye ring, most noticeable below the eye.
Actions, etc
Much like most chats. Nervous wing and tail-flicking when perched. Very actively looking around it most of the time.American Wigeon at Doonfoot (30 May – 2 June 1999)
Bruce C Forrester
On 30th May, I received a phone call from Angus Murray to say that David Given had just found a drake American Wigeon at Doonfoot. Eleanor and I arrived a few minutes later where David Given, Dave Cree and Angus Murray were watching the bird at close range.
The bird was basically by itself, though there were a few Mallard and Teal nearby. It would either swim or stand at the edge of the tidal area at the mouth of the river, mostly in the company of Black-headed Gulls. It appeared to be in eclipse plumage but was obviously showing characteristics of an American Wigeon. The head and neck were basically a dull grey with faint dark speckling which continued down the neck, with a sharp division where it met the solid pink body. There was an impression of a cream forehead stripe but this was very faded. There was a fairly obvious dark eye patch which was reasonably broad, extending in a leaf shape from just in front of the eye, tapering well behind the eye. The wings were greyish brown with buff edges to the scapulars and tertials. The undertail coverts were black with a large roundish white side patch. When seen walking it had a white belly. In flight (flew across river but stayed in same area) it showed white underwing coverts and an off white upperwing patch.
There was a thin dark line surrounding the base of the bill. The bill itself was a bluish grey colour with a broad black nail. The eye colour was reddish brown.
Unusually, clear dark chevrons could be seen on the upper breast. This feature I had not seen before, either on Eurasian Wigeon or American Wigeon, but this was my closest view of an American Wigeon. I have found suggestions of these marks in various books, both photographic and artistic, but none quite as distinct. However, the clear dark line surrounding the base of the bill and the white underwing coverts were enough to clarify the identification of this bird as a genuine American Wigeon.
From the photograph taken by Tom Vorsterman, the long-necked appearance and the elongated body were also apparent, both features of American rather than Eurasian Wigeon. This description was based on notes taken at the time in my field note book though I did not believe at the time they would be used to submit as evidence. Therefore more extensive notes are perhaps lacking
As far as I am aware all who saw the bird over the next few days are of the opinion that it was an American Wigeon, and the general feeling seems to be that it was a first year drake.
Lesser Scaup at Munnoch Reservoir (9-10 May 1998)
Steve Votier
The bird was found together with two drake Tufted Ducks at 1410 hrs on 9th May. After about 30 minutes I released the news since I was of the opinion that most of the features looked perfect, although I had not seen the upper wing pattern. This was eventually seen at 1800 hrs. The bird remained till the following day and was almost certainly the same individual as occurred on Linwood Pool (Renfrewshire) on 12-13 May.
A combination of dark head (lacking a tuft), black breast and black vent, contrasting with white flanks and grey mantle/scapulars identified the bird as a male Scaup species. The bill pattern (lacking any dark away from the nail) and distinctly variegated mantle (not smooth and dark grey) ruled out a hybrid. At all times it very closely resembled male Greater Scaup, with the differences from Greater listed below.
- Wing pattern – a broad white bar across the secondaries contrasted with distinct pale greyish-brown bar across the innermost primaries – becoming blackish towards the outermost. Amazingly difficult to clinch the pattern – a number of times it raised itself up and flapped on the water, but too quickly to see the pattern well. The wings were finally seen when wing-stretching – one particularly memorable moment when exposing its whole spread wing was met by a small cheer from the crowd!
- Head shape – firstly, it was notable that the head shape was amazingly dependent on posture; almost unbelievably so. When relaxed it showed a rather steep forehead with a peaked rear-crown. The rear of the head also showed a slight bulge, created by the rather bulging cheeks (particularly noticeable when seen head-on/from behind). When alert the high crown was exaggerated.
- At all times the neck was rather long and elegant looking. The peak at the rear-crown was variable, sometimes simply being the highest point of the head, at others forming more of a “knob” because of longer feathering – either way, the highest point of the head was always behind the eye. This distinctive head shape was even apparent when the bird was sleeping.
- When actively feeding the head shape was quite different. Just prior to diving the bird would pull its neck back and the crown feathers were flattened, creating a flat looking crown and a somewhat square head – a distinctly un-Lesser Scaup appearance. It got to the stage when the exact point of diving could be predicted as this head shape was attained.
- Head colour – the head and neck were clearly a shade paler than the jet black breast. The actual colour of the head was difficult to judge and highly variable depending upon light conditions and angle/posture. On the first day conditions were such that a green gloss predominated but during brighter light conditions the exact pattern showed an area of green gloss immediately behind and slightly below the eye but, with the rest of the head showing a distinct dull purply gloss, particularly on the cheeks and above the eye. On the second day, in bright sunshine, this pattern of reduced green and more extensive dull purple seemed more consistent (although still variable).
- Bill pattern – the bill was pale bluey-grey, distally slightly paler. The whole of the nail was black, no colour extending to the rest of the bill. The nostrils were darker than the rest of the bill. The bill was surprisingly large looking.
- Upperparts – the mantle and scapulars were silvery grey, rather pale proximally but becoming dark distally, merging smoothly into very dark rear scapulars, darker still tertials and ultimately blackish rump/uppertail. At close range the very pale grey showed distinct blackish wavy lines within forming a rather coarse pattern. These dark marks were distinctly coarse looking but I found it difficult to comment on whether they were particularly more heavily marked than Greater Scaup without direct comparison. However, the very dark rear scapulars seemed rather different from Greater Scaup.
- Flank pattern – At very close range the white looking flanks showed some intricate wavy brown lines within. At other times there was a suggestion of some very fine markings along the flanks giving a slightly dirty look.
- Additional features noted – the iris was amber/yellow with a black pupil. The legs and feet were greyish, paler at the rear and lacking any rings. The undertail was uniformly dark, extending rather patchily on to the vent and the lower belly.