Bill Cutts has unearthed some interesting info about honey buzzards and hot air balloons posted on Ralph Hollins' Hants bird news (scan down his page)
From: David Cooper <rubythroat@beachyhead500.freeserve.co.uk>
To: <ukbirdnet@dcs.bbk.ac.uk>
Sent: 30 September 2000 19:49 Subject: [UKBN] Honey Buzzards
leaving the UK
| Dear All, With the east coast having recently enjoyed the incredible influx of Honey Buzzards, it is now seemingly the south coast's turn to enjoy the spectacle of them leaving the UK.
Today at Beachy Head, East Sussex, the skies at times resembled scenes perhaps more reminiscent of Turkey than those of Sussex. The 'combined observer conservative total' was of 62 birds (with us seeing 50) - all heading virtually directly south out to sea (having virtually all been seen arriving from 'due north'). As no birds were seen moving along the coast (either west or east), and with other south coast localities also producing impressive totals today, it seems likely that little or no duplication from sites was involved.
A total of c.120 have now been seen at Beachy in the last eight days - one can only wonder at how many birds have been involved in the nationwide influx.
Also c.12 Marsh Harriers and a single Osprey were seen at Beachy today. Perhaps a day in a lifetime for raptor watching in Sussex.......
David & John Cooper - Sussex
From: Brian Unwin <bunwin@lineone.net>
To: <ukbirdnet@dcs.bbk.ac.uk>;
<EUROBIRDNET@listserv.funet.fi>
Sent: 27 September 2000 12:08
Subject: [UKBN] Honey Buzzard movement
It is going to take some time, maybe years, to work out accurate
national figures arising from the unprecedented UK Honey Buzzard
(Pernis apivorus) passage. Meanwhile the daily output from
BirdGuides Online gives an impression of the scale of the
movement, although still just a rough guide and not able to give
clarification over multiple reports of possibly the same
individual passing over several locations. The following
statistic show something of the pattern of the movement
Sept 17-19: Total of 9 birds (Aberdeenshire, Gwynedd, Kent, Lincs <3> and Shetland <2>)
Sept 20-26: Over 800, with peaks of 240 on 23rd and 189 on 25th. The vast majority were in England, with reports from at least 32 counties. Essex alone had 100, according to Graham Ekins' calculations.
While that overall total will be diminished by same individuals being reported from two or more locations, it could also be increased by reports of possibly extra birds which were not phoned into Birdnet. I am aware of at least two sightings in my North East region that come into that category - and that will be repeated around the country.
Brian Unwin e-mail: brian_unwin@bigfoot.com website: http://welcome.to/Brian_Unwin
-----Oorspronkelijk
bericht-----
Van: Lars Svensson <lars.svensson-lullula@EBOX.TNINET.SE>
Aan: EUROBIRDNET@LISTSERV.FUNET.FI <EUROBIRDNET@LISTSERV.FUNET.FI>
Datum: donderdag 21 september 2000 1:15
Onderwerp: [EBN] SV: [EBN] Honey Buzzards
One has to admit Internet offers a lot of fast information. For
instance, you can go to www.skof.se and then choose English language and then click
'Falsterbo Bird Observatory' and get 50 pp. in English about the
migration. Anyone speculating in influxes from Scandinavia could
start here. For instance, you will see that during the last week,
500+ Honey Buzzards migrated. This week has started much more
quietly. Good hunting! Lars
Svensson
---- Original Message ----- From: Catley.G.1073
To: EUROBIRDNET@LISTSERV.FUNET.FI
Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2000 12:20 AM Subject:
[EBN] Honey Buzzards
Today September 20th following a
day of easterly winds and torrential rain there was a large
southerly movement of juvenile Honey Buzzards through eastern
England peaking with 25 south at Gibraltar Point Lincs and a
possible total of 60+ birds. The last time I was at
Falsterbo in the last week of September and first in October we
only saw 50 Honeys in the two weeks. Does anyone have any idea
where these east coast birds may have originated---other arrivals
in the fall, eg Tawny Pipit, Red-breasted Fly and few
Scandinavian migrants eg Redstart? may suggest an origin other
than Scandinavia. An observations suggestions would be welcomed. Graham Catley
From: norman van swelm <Norman.vanswelm@wxs.nl>
To: Brian Unwin <bunwin@lineone.net>;
<ukbirdnet@dcs.bbk.ac.uk>
Sent: 22 September 2000 19:03
Subject: Re: [UKBN] The movement of Honey Buzzards/Lost
Souls
Brian Unwin wrote: Surerly, at least on the face of it, the arrival of these birds, the bulk of them between the Humber and the Wash, after an south-easterly gale that began building up on the afternoon of the 19th implies that they may have been drifted across from somewhere like Holland. The wind was certainly blowing from that direction.
Many of the birds reported actually came in off the sea soon after first light and certainly the ones recorded in my area, Tyneside, were considered to be in an exhausted state - implying they'd been in the air through the night. Bearing in mind the time the storm began, it suggests to me, at least, that they became caught up in the weather system on Tuesday afternoon somewhere on the Continent before they could find roost sites.
There is little doubt these birds came via Holland, SE winds became very strong Bft 6 during the afternoon of Tue 19th September and the number of raptors reached a peak in the afternoon on the Maasvlakte: no Honey Buzzards but Sparrowhawks and Buzzards came in groups, Merlin, Peregrines, Ospreys in singles as did a dark morph Montagues Harrier (never saw one before, wonderful bird!) at Flushing. Honey Buzzards were seen into dusk. These birds were doubtless blown in from Germany. Similar winds are expected this weekend so a Raptor Alert is in place! Norman
From: Brian Unwin <bunwin@lineone.net>
To: <ukbirdnet@dcs.bbk.ac.uk>;
<EUROBIRDNET@listserv.funet.fi>
Sent: 24 September 2000 07:30
Subject: [UKBN] Movement of Honey Buzzards
While some will continue to disagree no doubt, I am sticking with my theory that this unprecedented influx - now, even allowing for duplication, clearing involving hundreds of Honey Buzzards (Pernis apivorus) - involved birds being blown from a region of Europe much further south than Scandinavia.
Apart from a very few reports from Orkney and Shetland and Aberdeenshire, North Tyneside has been the northern cut-off point for the influx and the majority of arrivals over 20th-21st were between Yorkshire and East Anglia.They arrived in the teeth of south-easterly gale and, in simple terms, a line drawn south-east from Linconshire the influx epicentre, takes you to | Holland.
Had they been drifted directly from Scandinavia and if the wind had been easterly or north-easterly I would have expected arrivals much further north, but the plain fact is there have been none (of which I am aware) between Tyneside and Aberdeen and only extremely few on the Northern Isles. Also reports from Falsterbo indicate only very small numbers of birds passing over the past week.
So, the way I see it, everything points to the influx involving hundreds of birds, which had crossed from Sweden to Denmark much eartlier in the month and had advanced a good way further south to somewhere like Holland, being drifted in a north-westerly direction towards the coast of eastern England in a south-easterly gale.
Any notion that these might be British-bred birds can have no foundation. The 1998 Rare Breeding Birds Report referred to 17 pairs producing at least 12 young. Even allowing for under-reporting then and an increase since, there is no way the very large number of juv Honey Buzzards recorded over the past four days could have been home bred. The spread of records from Sept 18 and particularly the 20th put out on Bird Guides Online now covers TEN PAGES. They are in the above attachment which vividly shows the breathtaking scale of this influx.
Brian Unwin e-mail: brian_unwin@bigfoot.com website: http://welcome.to/Brian_Unwin