Tawny Pipit photographed at Pleinmont [PLE] on 10/4/2019 Photo: © Rod Ferbrache (visit site)

The first Bailiwick record was on 3 September 1959 and Tawny Pipits have been an almost-annual autumn migrant since 1977. Observers familiarity with this species has improved and this has contributed to the increase in the number of records received.

The majority of records are from autumn with only three spring records in the period under review. The autumn passage starts at the end of August, but the majority of birds pass through the islands in September and October, peaking in the second week of October. After this date, the number of birds recorded drops of markedly and by the end of the month passage has virtually ceased. There is only one record in November.

Birds are usually seen in singles but flocks ranging from 2 to 5 have been recorded. Numbers vary from year to year and average 1-3 records per year with a maximum of 13 in 1983. Records come from coastal headlands, Pleinmont and L'Ancresse being the most frequent. However as these two areas receive a lot of attention in autumn it is not perhaps surprising that most records come from these areas. Agricultural land on coastal headlands seems to be the preferred habitat of this species although there is one inland record which involved a bird at the airport in September 1990. Most records in the 1990s have been from Pleinmont but in past years there have been records from the L'Eree area and from the northern part of the island, including Fort Doyle and the L'Ancresse and Chouet areas, typically areas with large expanses of open land.