Alpine Swift at the Fox and Hounds, Barnston

by Mark Turner

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Chancing upon a rarity was probably the last thing on my mind as I pulled up at the Storeton Lane junction in Barnston, Wirral, at 2pm on the Thursday (13th) before the Easter Bank Holiday. As well as this being one of Wirral’s premier traffic blackspots, my mind was on other things and the wind was blowing strong Westerly, emphatically the wrong way for any of the Springtime Spanish “overshoots” that West coast birders hope for at this time of year. I’d been on an abortive trip with the kids in tow to source some railway sleepers for a garden project (you can already tell this is a Bank holiday story!)

Looking right at the junction I saw a couple of hirundines shoot across the gap maybe 50 yards away and then immediately something much larger, leaving an impression of scythe like wings and a white belly. “Alpine Swift” I muttered to myself, following this with some regrettable profanities and drawing strange looks from my long-suffering passengers. They of course are used to my intermittently strange behaviour, but the queue of about six cars backed up behind me were none the wiser, so I hastily pulled out, needless to say not quite yet convinced.

Alpine Swift – Barnston, Wirral (Gary Bellingham)

Anyway, I then made a decent decision and chose to pull in immediately and have a proper look. Within a couple of minutes a very definite, upfront, and emphatically showy Alpine Swift flew straight overhead just above treetop height and continued to make passes, seeming to interact with the small group of swallows enjoying the brisk winds and clear skies above. Anxious to put the news out (let’s face it, these kind of things never stick for long, especially on our side of the Country!) I went into “phone mode” and made what has subsequently been described as “about a million calls.” My first was to Al Conlin, who was initially clearly unconvinced when I called, but rapidly extricated himself from his meeting in Warrington when I impressed upon him that I was actually serious about this one. Maybe it was not so surprising that he was a shade suspicious, given that we had only recently done our shopping list for just exactly which overshooting rarity we were going to see this Spring, and Alpine Swift had been in the list of “usual suspects” along with Hoopoe and Subalpine Warbler.

The first birder arrived on the scene within 20 minutes and we watched the bird flying between the houses. We then spotted another local birder driving past in his car! We flagged him down – he seemed rather bemused to be stopped in such a dangerous place to pull in, but he was more than a little pleased when we pointed out the Alpine Swift.

Various Wirral, Liverpool, and Cheshire based “regulars” then appeared over the next couple of hours and were rewarded by what I believe is traditionally referred to in birding parlance as “crippling views.”

Alpine Swift – Barnston, Wirral, April 2006 (Steve Round)

This pattern continued throughout the afternoon, and indeed over the following five days, with the bird eventually becoming more elusive and finally disappearing after an eight day stay on the morning of 20th April. Numerous birders from around the Northwest region and some from further afield seemed to appreciate the opportunity of a “Bank Holiday breakaway” to come and take a good look. It’s strange but pleasing how a twitch can sometimes act as a “social”, sometimes reconnecting people who may not otherwise cross paths for years on end. Adding to the slightly surreal nature of the occasion, the Fox and Hounds pub, one of Wirral’s finer hostelries, proved to be one of the best locations to see it, as it whizzed up and down the car park for the benefit of birders and pub regulars alike.

In the last two days of its stay the bird became more elusive, finally disappearing on 21st April. No-one ever quite worked out where it went to roost, though various theories were expounded. Regarding its origins, my guess is it was a classic Spanish overshoot, probably coming in earlier than the 14th on a break in the weather system, possibly along with the others present this April. I can see no reason why it was not around for some days before I chanced upon it, and if there is any lesson to take from this episode, it’s just simply that a rarity can turn up any time, any place, anywhere, and if you think you’ve seen something good, check it out!

You may have noticed that I have not made much reference at all in this particular account to any kind of proper description, mainly because it’s not that kind of article and of course a “proper” description has been written and will be submitted, albeit sadly no longer to the BB Rarities Committee. I understand that Alpine Swift is one of the many species that has been recently downgraded to “County” status.

My other thought was this - apart from the fact that you could scarcely pick a more distinctive bird and I expect you all know what one looks like, just take a look at some of the photographs. Clearly this bird made an intriguing subject for photographers, professional and amateur alike, and I think the standards achieved in capturing it in flight are stunning. Could I have seen and therefore described the pale feather edges so obvious on some photos? I doubt it as it shot by at 50mph. Maybe this is another indication of how technology advances are changing the game somewhat.

My first impression was that it looked quite “washed out”, which I guess was largely down to those pale edges, and it took me ages through bins to pick out the pale throat so obvious on some of the photos. Either way, I’m certainly glad I took a second look that Thursday!

Mark Turner

Postscript
An Alpine Swift was found by John Jones, at Barker & Briscoe Brickworks, Moreton on the morning of 24th April. Could this have been the same bird or a different individual? Proving that pride comes before a fall, I hurried down after work and dipped on the “home patch”!

Histogram showing Arrival (found) Dates of Alpine Swift in the UK during 28th March to 30th April

The Barnston Alpine Swift was part of a nationwide influx of these stunning swifts, mainly on the south and east coasts. At least forty occurred in the period between 28th March and 27th April 2006 (see histogram above). Multiple sightings included up to three birds in both Suffolk and Devon. As Mark says in his article another Alpine Swift occurred at Meols on 24th. This second bird appeared with large numbers of House Martins (over 300) which were brought down low over the private brickworks by mist and poor visibility. This coupled with possibly different wear to each bird’s primaries lead us to believe that the Meols bird may have been a different bird to that at Barnston. However, closer review of the photographs of each bird will be required to confirm this…Eds

Alpine Swift – Meols, Wirral, April 2006 (Chris Williams)

The Meols bird appeared not have the missing notch from one of its primaries on its right wing, but this is only visible on some of the photographs of the Barnston bird and the Meols bird was much less photographable…Eds

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