Tuesday 21 October 2014

Ring-necked Parakeet - Brockholes NR LWT - 20th October 2014


It's been a while! I've now finished my masters and back in Preston searching for a job. Yesterday, Jim Beattie was filling up the feeders at Brockholes when he heard a calling Yellow-browed Warbler which he then saw in flight. This is the first record for Brockholes and potentially well overdue given how many make it into the UK in the Autumn these days! Anyway, I didn't have the highest hopes that it would be seen again because of the vast amount of potential cover in the Brockholes area including 3 ancient woodlands!
I decided to give it a couple of hours late afternoon and joined 6 other pairs of eyes and ears in search for the Siberian Phyllosc. Unsurprisingly, there was no further sign of the warbler, but whilst I was stood at the Bramble patch in the eastern corner of Boilton Wood, I was recording a flock of tits passing by hoping that the warbler was in with them. Whilst I was still recording, a bird flew over making two very loud screeching noises. It was instantly apparent that this was a Ring-necked Parakeet which I soon caught sight of whilst it flew east along the edge of Boilton Wood. Green and skinny with very long tail, narrow wings and extremely erratic flight.

A patch tick for me and only the second record for the site. Talk about killing the wrong bird with one stone (not sure that's a real metaphor...)

Ring-necked Parakeet records Brockholes NR LWT:
30/03/2012, One > NE over main path to Visitor Village, 13:00 (Bill Gregory / Mike Foley).
20/10/2014, One > E over Boilton Wood from brambles, 16:37 (Zac Hinchcliffe)