Reported Honey Buzzards: Totals by Month 2008 and Comments

Data from:

Birdguides

Notice Board (Northumberland)  (migrants only counted above)

Figures from BirdTrack are not included in the monthly totals. As the exact locations are not known duplication might occur. These figures are compiled by the BTO for site visits only, so casual records are not included.

These totals are not directly comparable with the presumed migrant totals compiled by British Birds. The records above are unchecked and may include breeding sites, though each breeding site will only feature once per month. On the other hand not all records are submitted to the Birdguides and other reporting systems.

Notes:

April: again too many records to dismiss Honey Buzzard as not putting an appearance into May. The first was one at Cambridge on 13th. The peak arrival was in the last eight days from 23rd-30th when 11 of the 14 noted this month were seen. Records were widespread over southern Britain with four in the Midlands (from 25th-30th) the highest regional total.

May: the best total for the month to date, perhaps suggesting at least a greater confidence of observers in identifying adults and an increase in numbers. On the weekends and bank holidays (days 3-5, 10-11, 17-18, 24-26, 31) 40 birds were seen in 11 days; that's 3.64 per day compared to 1.75 per day for workdays. This phenomenon has been noted before. So the increase in observers on leisure days doubles the number seen. With leisure day coverage throughout the month, a total of 113 Honey Buzzard would apparently have been seen. But it's still not complete coverage of course. With the birds flying 1km up in the air over a broad front, many will just pass over undetected. Regionally 65 of the 75 birds were seen in southern Britain: 21 in the south east, 16 in the midlands and south west and 12 in east Anglia. Nearly all these birds were on passage, moving N. It is not possible to gain any idea of breeding distribution within the UK from such data. Peak period for passage was 4th-11th with 38 birds seen. The peak day was 11th with 10 seen. The passage was early this year, a trend matched in Northumberland, where many territories visited were occupied by at least single birds in the first third of the month.

June: migration continued until about 15th by which time 20 of the 27 birds seen this month had been observed. The highest count of migrants was 3 on 1st. Geographically there was a wide spread of records with, in the north, 3 in Scotland at Borders, Lothian and Shetland and 2 in Northumberland and, in the south, 10 in south east England.

July: most records came from regularly-visited breeding areas with seven at Wykeham Forest, North Yorkshire, and three at Swanton Novers, Norfolk. Very little movement was observed as expected in the middle of the breeding season. However, two obvious migrants were seen: one at the Farne Islands, Northumberland, on 6th (eventually flying S) and one NE at Walney Island, Cumbria, on 27th.

August: as usual migrants were not seen in numbers until close to the end of the month. This year 11 migrants were seen in the last four days of the month from 28th-31st including on 30th 3 over Beachy Head, Sussex, and one at Cork in Eire. The return migration appeared to start late this year. Many pairs in Northumberland have raised two young this season and this seems to be delaying the completion of the breeding season.

September: numbers were fairly routine in the first 12 days, but the weather was very bad. This meant that, with the very productive but late breeding season, large numbers remained on site, waiting for better conditions for emigration. The highest migration count in this first period of the month was 4 over Brighton from 11:55-14:20 on 8th. A massive exodus started on 13th and was conspicuous until 21st with most birds moving S, SE or E and many choosing to coast down the eastern side of England. Numbers were much higher on the two weekends (13th/14th and 20th/21st) than on the weekdays in between. The highest counts were 18 S at Minsmere, Suffolk, on 13th from 10:25-13:25, 16 S at Gibraltar Point, Lincs, on 14th by 09:45, 8 (1 S, 6 E, 1 W) at Welney, Norfolk, on 14th from 11:30-12:30 and 8 over Potters Bar, Herts, on 16th (last record from Birdwatch). The figures for this middle period are gross totals with only very obvious duplicates removed. It is believed that significant duplication remains in these records when national interest was particularly high but it is also likely that the counts are incomplete. Detailed analysis has been completed and will be published soon. In the last 9 days from 22nd-30th a steady but diminished flow continued. In Northumberland juveniles were still moving out near the end of the month with 11 (8 SE, 3S) over Kiln Pit Hill on 28th from 13:40-14:30. This site has been identified as a possible significant migration route for birds moving out of east Northumberland and Scotland.

October: numbers were quite normal, continuing on a broad front at a trickle almost right through the month until 27th. All records were of singles except for 2 (1S, 1 SW) at Kiln Pit Hill, Northumberland, on 11th, the last records in the study area this season.

Overall: obviously the very impressive movement in September, documented elsewhere on these pages, will be the main memory of many observers for 2008. But this movement has to be seen in the context of a relatively large spring migration with the May figures the highest recorded so far for that month. The birds moving through in spring are mainly experienced adults which are likely to travel quickly and decisively to their breeding areas, thus giving low visibility. The birds leaving in autumn include a substantial proportion of juveniles which are much more likely to move short distances and to get lost. So autumn migration is likely to be more visible than that in spring. The extent of the visibility will depend on the success of the breeding season (number of juveniles produced), the extent to which the breeding season is staggered (bunched drawing attention to the movement), the timing of the breeding season (late forcing the birds to migrate in poorer soaring conditions, making them more visible) and the weather patterns (with adverse winds and rain slowing down the birds' progress and following winds and clear skies speeding up the exit). In 2008 in Northumberland the breeding season was very productive, well synchronised and late, thus giving 3 of the 4 conditions necessary for a very visible exit.

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