Cambridgeshire birder who identified Britain's first Kelp Gull joins British Birds Rarities Committee

                                                   

Ace ornithologist Richard Patient - he's the one on the left 

FRONTLINE Cambridgeshire birder Richard Patient  has joined the British Birds Rarities Committee.

Welcoming his appointment,  British Birds says:  "A birder since he was seven, Richard is a well-known name to anyone who follows the rare bird scene, and he will no doubt become a valuable member of the committee."

Richard's travels in Britain have brought him sightings of many rare birds - notably, on Lundy Island,  Britain’s third Black-faced Bunting,  Red-eyed Vireo and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. 

His  BBRC submissions from Cambridgeshire have included:

* Blue-winged Teal

* Ferruginous Duck

* White-headed Duck

* Black Kite

* Red-footed Falcon (on several occasions)

* Lesser Yellowlegs

* Semipalmated Sandpiper

* Whiskered Tern

* Penduline Tit

* Savi’s Warbler

* Arctic Redpolls (on several occasions)

His main local patch is the 630-hectare Grafham Water reservoir, near Huntingdon, where his many impressive discoveries have included Great Reed Warbler, Lesser Scaup, Gull-billed Tern and Franklin’s Gull.

It was here, too, that on August 7, 2022, he idntified Britain’s first Kelp Gull, his description of which led to the receipt of the Carl Zeiss award for 2023.

Overseas, his most significant discovery to date has probably been the first record of Sharp-tailed Sandpiper for Madagascar.