Teesmouth Bird Club

All firsts for Cleveland since 1974

The following list documents every first for Cleveland, where they were found and the name(s) of the birders who found them. I have used a set of rules to allocate the credit, though as ever when you create a set of rules not every example fits comfortably within them. Nevertheless, for these purposes they are:

1.   You must be present at moment the bird is first found, unless you find it independently without any prior knowledge that the bird was present. So going to see a bird and correctly identifying it is obviously a great thing, but you did not find the bird.
2.   It is possible for more than one person to be credited with a find, but you must be birding together e.g within normal conversational distance of each other. So if you are walking around South Gare with a friend and a good bird is found, you are both credited.
3.   The exception to Rule 2 is where large gatherings are concerned e.g. a mass sea-watch at Hartlepool. If more than 3 people are present then only the first observer is credited; otherwise you could have 50 people credited with a find! I think this only affects 3 species: the 1977 Surf Scoter, which flew past a packed Observatory; the 1990 Barolo Shearwater, which was seen by 7 people; and the 2021 Brunnich's Guillemot, also seen by 7 keen sea-watchers.
4.   If you were aware that a bird was heading your way and you went out of your way to see it fly into Cleveland airspace, then you do not get a finder's credit; you knew it was coming and there is no 'genuine surprise' element to the find (although it was still presumably very exciting!). The only birds this affects are: Sandhill Crane, which was watched flying south into Cleveland by 10 birders in Sept 2011 - we knew it was coming; and the Sooty Tern in 2019, Scopoli's Shearwater in 2020, Soft-plumaged Petrel in 2021 and Brown Booby in 2023, all of which had been tracked flying north up the coast towards Cleveland.

This listing has been compiled with help from a number of long-term Cleveland birders and I have tried to make it as accurate as possible. However, there may be mistakes and I would ask that you contact me privately if you think I have got something wrong. I certainly don't want to upset anyone and I would like this to be an accurate historical record.

To date there have been 99 accepted firsts for Cleveland since 1974, found by a total of 73 different birders. As you might expect it is getting harder to find a first; during the first half of the period concerned 57 were found, compared to just 42 in the second half.

Finally, if your name appears against any of these birds then well done and congratulations on being part of Cleveland birding history. If you are not featured then I intend to keep this list up to date going forward, so get out there and find us all another one!

1974
Great White Egret, Scaling Dam         H. Collinson, G. Green
Lesser Grey Shrike, Port Clarence       Edgar Gatenby

1975
Mandarin, Coatham Marsh                  Mike Gee
Ross's Gull, Seaton Carew                  Geoff Iceton
Purple Heron, Cowpen Marsh             Tom Francis
Black-billed Cuckoo, Locke Park          Gordon Follows

1976
Alpine Swift, South Gare                   Ian Boustead

1977
Ring-necked Duck, Crookfoot             Tom Francis
Franklin's Gull, North Gare                 Martin Blick, Don Griss
Bonaparte's Gull, Saltholme                Dave Britton
Common Rosefinch, Hartlepool               Tom Francis
Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Saltholme    A. Goodwin, J.P. Guest
Surf Scoter, Hartlepool                       Mike Gee

1978
Ring-billed Gull, Coatham                  Dave Britton

1979
Baird's Sandpiper, Saltholme               Martin Blick
American Golden Plover, Long Drag      Chris Clark, Geoff Iceton
Arctic Warbler, West View Cemetery      Martin Blick, John Crussell

1980
None

1981
White-billed Diver, Hartlepool          Tom Francis, Rob Little
Bee-eater, Cowpen Marsh                 Bryan Moore, Paul Samson
Laughing Gull, Long Drag                 Martin Blick
Dusky Warbler, Seaton Carew          Martin Blick, R.E. Innes, Keith Ryan

1982
Savi's Warbler, Haverton Hole         Derek Clayton, Russell McAndrew, Ken Smith
Long-toed Stint, Saltholme                 John Dunnett, Tom Francis
Olive-backed Pipit, Locke Park         Dave Britton
Ruddy Duck, Scaling Dam                 Peter Appleton

1983
None

1984
Lesser Crested Tern, Seaton Snook      Russell McAndrew

1985
Yellow-legged Gull, Seaton Snook      Paul Hinley, Stewart Hinley

1986   
Black-winged Stilt, Coatham Marsh      Geoff Boyce
Aquatic Warbler, Long Drag                 Chris Brown
Cattle Egret, Longnewton                    Bruce Caswell

1987
Marsh Warbler, Haverton Hole           Alec Cruikshanks
Blue-winged Teal, Coatham Marsh      Martin Blick

1988
Black Kite, South Gare                       Martin Blick, Don Page, Nick Preston
Bridled Tern, Hartlepool                    Doug Cowton, Keith Cowton   
Radde's Warbler, Hartlepool                 Geoff Iceton
Cliff Swallow, South Gare                    Rob Little, Chris Sharp

1989
Double-crested Cormorant, Billingham      Martin Blick, Terry Williams
Semipalmated Sandpiper, Saltholme      Tom Francis, John Grieveson

1990
Egyptian Goose, Scaling Dam         Martin Blick, Keith Ryan, Terry Williams
Barolo Shearwater, Hartlepool                Tom Francis
Ring-necked Parakeet, Billingham      Terry Williams
Parrot Crossbill, Lockwood Beck         Geoff Boyce

1991
Gull-billed Tern   , Reclamation Pond      John Dunnett, Stewart Hinley
Red-eyed Vireo, North Gare                 Bruce Caswell

1992
Penduline Tit, Haverton Hole         Russell McAndrew
Booted Warbler, Hartlepool         Tom Francis

1993
None

1994
Bufflehead, Coatham Marsh                 Ian Foster, John Sharp
Citrine Wagtail, Haverton Hole         Martin Blick
Pied Wheatear, Seaton Snook         Bernie Beck, Graeme Joynt
Hume's Warbler, Hartlepool                 Bernie Beck, Chris Kehoe

1995
Spotted Sandpiper, South Gare         Doug Cowton
Great Spotted Cuckoo, Dormans Pool      Ian Foster, John Grieveson, Andrew Robinson
Pacific Golden Plover, Greatham Creek      Tom Francis, Graeme Joynt
Red-rumped Swallow, Long Drag              Rob Little

1996
Great Knot, Greenabella Marsh         Mike Gee

1997
None

1998
Little Swift, Boulby                    Martin Blick, Steve Farish
King Eider, South Gare            Martin Blick

1999
Lesser Scaup, Saltholme            Richard Taylor
Short-billed Dowitcher, Greenabella Marsh   Bernie Beck, Richard Taylor
Pallid Swift, Hartlepool            Martin Blick, Tom Francis

2000
Desert Wheatear, Boulby                 Nigel Jackson, Herbert Mitchell

2001
Caspian Gull, Longnewton                 Chris Bell, Jamie Duffie, Richard Taylor
Red-flanked Bluetail, Cattersty Gill      Damian Money

2002
Eastern Subalpine Warbler, South Gare         Nick Preston

2003
Melodious Warbler, South Gare         Mark Rowbottom
Lesser Yellowlegs, Dormans Pool              John Dunnett

2004
None

2005
Wilson's Petrel, Hartlepool                 Steven Keightley, Graham Lawlor, Richard Taylor
Taiga Bean Goose, Saltholme         Eric James
Cetti's Warbler, Dormans Pool         Martin Blick

2006
None

2007
Ross's Goose, Saltholme                       Martin Blick
Long-billed Dowitcher, Seal Sands      Robin Ward

2008
Glaucous-winged Gull, Saltholme               Chris Brown, Toby Collett

2009
Whiskered Tern, Saltholme                  John Dunnett

2010
Black-throated Thrush, Hartlepool       Chris Sharp

2011
White-throated Robin, Hartlepool               Chris Brown
Sandhill Crane, Hartlepool                  No credit, tracked down coast
Pallid Harrier, Dormans Pool                  Ian Forrest

2012
Western Orphean Warbler, Hartlepool      Graeme Joynt
Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler, Hartlepool   Tom Francis, Richard Taylor

2013
Western Bonelli's Warbler, Hartlepool      Steve Clifton, Richard Stephenson

2014
Black-winged Pratincole, Saltholme      Mike Gee, David Tanner, Helen Tanner
Black Scoter, Redcar                    Dave Britton
Eastern Crowned Warbler, Brotton      Ian Kendall
Isabelline Wheatear, Seaton Snook      Gary Flakes

2015
Squacco Heron, Saltholme                 S. Taylor, A. Truby

2016
Siberian Accentor, Hunt Cliff         Damian Money

2017
Dark-eyed Junco, Guisborough         Nicky Johnson

2018
Hooded Merganser, Seaton Common      Oscar Dewhurst

2019
Sooty Tern, Cowbar                              No credit, tracked up coast

2020
Calandra Lark, Greatham Creek                       Tom Francis, Graeme Joynt
Masked Shrike, Hartlepool                          Stephen Addinall
Hudsonian Whimbrel, South Gare                    Keith Cowton, Nick Preston
Scopoli's Shearwater, Cowbar                      No credit, tracked up coast

2021
Soft-plumaged Petrel               No credit, tracked up coast
Brunnich's Guillemot, Hartlepool & South Gare                 Graeme Joynt, Nick Preston

2022
Greater Sand Plover, Redcar                             Paul Hinley
Collared Pratincole, RSPB Saltholme              James Forster, Sarah Burton

2023
Brown Booby                  No credit, tracked up coast

2026     
Little Crake, Coatham Marsh        Brian Douglas

Birders with the most 'firsts' to their names

Only 14 birders have 3 or more finds to their name. They are:

15 finds
Martin Blick

12 finds
Tom Francis

5 finds
Graeme Joynt
Richard Taylor

4 finds
Dave Britton
John Dunnett
Mike Gee
Nick Preston

3 finds
Bernie Beck
Chris Brown
Geoff Iceton
Rob Little
Russell McAndrew
Terry Williams

The list has been updated to include Cleveland's first Mandarin (1975) and the Sooty Tern from 2019.

Cheers, Graeme

Updated for the 2020 Hartlepool Masked Shrike.

Updated to include the 2020 Siberian Stonechat at South Gare, the first 'official' Cleveland record.

Updated to include the 2020 Stejneger's Stonechat at South Gare, identification confirmed by DNA.

Updated for the 2020 Hudsonian Whimbrel at South Gare.

Updated for the 2020 Calandra Lark at Greatham Creek.

Updated for the 2021 Brunnich's Guillemot (pending acceptance of course).

Updated to reflect the fact that Eastern Subalpine Warbler is the only member of the complex on the official Cleveland list. The bird at South Gare in 2002 was the first accepted record.

Updated for the Redcar Greater Sand Plover.

Updated for Scopoli's Shearwater and Collared Pratincole,  both now accepted by BBRC.

Updated for the 1990 Barolo Shearwater, now the first for Cleveland,  and the 2023 Brown Booby.

Updated for the 2007 Ross's Goose, now accepted by BBRC.

Cheers, Graeme

Adjusted to reflect the lump of Green-winged Teal with Eurasian Teal, and the lumping of Siberian and Amur Stonechats.

Cheers, Graeme

Updated for this April's Little Crake (painful!)

Cheers, Graeme