Could somebody please explain what is going on with Pied Flycatchers this year? Most autumns, I would be happy to see a few but they seem to be absolutely everywhere at the moment. Here is a summary of my sightings so far this autumn;
20 Aug - an early bird seen from my balcony; the second ever for my flat/balcony list
2 Sep - several around a lake in West Flanders where I have not seen them before
6 Sep - at least three amongst a huge fall of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs at the coast
7 Sep - another heard from my balcony so I descended into the park to see it with a male Firecrest as an added bonus!
9 Sep - two at my Brussels patch of Rood-klooster/Rouge-Cloître, where I have never seen any
10 Sep - presumably the same bird still in my neighbouring park with a 2nd reported by another observer
11 Sep (this morning) - both birds seen from my balcony
At first, I thought maybe I am more attuned to their calls and noticing things I may have missed before or was just doing more birding in the right habitat during their peak migration, but the statistics speak for themselves.
Park Tenbosch, where I live, has had just one autumn record (in 2020) and my bird of April 2021 before, although it was probably underwatched in the past.
Rouge-Cloître has had six previous records, 2 of which were spring birds, with the last ones dating from September 2020.
According to Oslobirder Simon Rix, they've not had a particularly good breeding season so the crazy numbers this autumn are probably the result of the weather, although what exactly has caused so many to turn up inland instead of being concentrated along the coast is a mystery to me.
According to Oslobirder Simon Rix, they've not had a particularly good breeding season so the crazy numbers this autumn are probably the result of the weather, although what exactly has caused so many to turn up inland instead of being concentrated along the coast is a mystery to me.
Yesterday was a particularly good day's birding since it started with the Pied Fly in my local park, followed by a successful twitch to six Dotterel and a Tawny Pipit in a field in Flemish Brabant, and finished with an evening visit to the Hoopoe which was found at Rouge-Cloître on Wednesday and for which I spent 1.5 hours searching in the rain in vain on Friday morning. This time, though, I finally got to see it, even if it was too far for any pictures, thus making Hoopoe my 115th species for the reserve!
