Bidding to put twite back on the map
Recently, I paid a visit to the RSPB's Mersehead reserve, near Dumfries, and, while listening to the barking cries of hundreds of barnacle geese overhead, noticed a small flock of birds in a nearby hedge.
At first, I thought they were linnets – until one gave a harsh buzzing flight call that told me they were twite, the northern cousin of the linnet. In winter, the two can be hard to tell apart, especially in poor light.
Twite are slightly slimmer in appearance than linnets and have longer tails. They also have black streaks on their buff plumage, giving them a darker appearance than linnets and, most distinctive of all, obviously yellow beaks in winter which change to grey in breeding plumage.
Twite breed on the western and northern coastlines of Ireland, upland areas of Scotland and a few in North Wales.
In England, they were once common and bred in 15 counties – now they are down to about 100 pairs in 15 colonies in the "twite triangle", an area of the south Pennines in the Bradford, Halifax and Huddersfield districts.
In winter, some Scottish twite stay close to breeding sites while others move to coastal fields and salt marshes where they are joined by twite from Scandinavia.
There was a flock of more than 100 at Greenabella Marsh, on Teesside, at the weekend, another big flock at Rimac on the north Lincolnshire coast and a few around the Fog Station, at Flamborough Head.
A flock of linnet-like birds on any coastal site at this time of year may be twite, while one or two may join a mixed finch flock inland – a much more challenging prospect to identify among linnets.
In Yorkshire, the Pennine Twite Recovery Project, funded by Natural England, the RSPB and Kirklees Council, was launched 10 months ago to try to reverse the decline in numbers.
Kerry Gowthorpe, project officer, said this week that there has been another small decline in numbers this year – down to 87 pairs – but there had been major moorland fires at two of the breeding sites.
But the project is still in its early stages and a number
of local farmers have already signed up to Environmental Stewardship schemes aimed at boosting food supplies for the birds in early spring.
Weekend sightings included a Bewick's swan along with the whooper swans at North Duffield Carrs, near Selby.
This is likely to be the same bird that has been returning there for several years and perhaps then flying back to Iceland for the summer with the whooper swans instead of to Siberia with other Bewick's.
Two drake and a redhead smew were at the Tophill Low reserve, while 11 water pipits were seen from the Singleton Hide, at Blacktoft Sands, and two at Fairburn Ings.
A great grey shrike was seen again on Thorne Moors, near Doncaster.
Two Cetti's warblers are present at the Potteric Carr reserve, near Doncaster, while another was at Edderthorpe Flash.
The Yorkshire Naturalists' Union Bird Report covering 2007 is on sale at local nature reserves across the region.It costs 10 or, by post, 12, from Jill Warwick, Sharrow Grange, Sharrow, Ripon, North Yorkshire HG4 5BN.
It includes descriptions of all 300 species recorded in the county that year, many with colour photographs and descriptions of three new birds to the county – the Pacific diver, also a first for Britain, American robin and brown flycatcher.
tealebill48'@yahoo.co.uk
Email to a friend
Print this page- Three-inch blanket of snow heading our way today
- Alan Shearer in list of favourites for Leeds and England jobs: Latest odds
- Barnsley’s Keith Hill invokes Fawlty Towers over link with Leeds job
- McCormack feels United search can be narrowed down
- Redfearn throws down gauntlet as queue builds at Elland Road
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
