Weekly round-up: 25 Feb - 03 Mar 2015
Another rather indifferent week of weather - and, arguably, bird news - with that familiar late winter malaise in full flow…the changing of the seasons is getting closer and closer but with the calendar still saying February and March, there’s a way to go just yet before thoughts can turn to exciting north bound overshoots from beyond the Mediterranean.
The Met Office dudes offered little of interest, the conditions on offer were much like a bag of Swizzles Pick’n’mix bag - you stick your hand in hoping for a Drumstick and pull out some crappy little fizzy discs covered in paper - so all hopes of a proper chilling blast depositing a cracking rare were usurped by a generally mild airflow and sometimes brisk southwesterly winds as the weekend came along.
Temperatures dipped a bit here and there, there was precipitation too but it was all a bit John Major really…grey and bland.
Chillier weather came along to see us in to the new review period, lower digits on the temperature front, some snow showers being nudged along swiftly on a cool, westerly, especially in northern England and some parts of Scotland.
The sun really shone over East Anglia, more especially in Norfolk, where a golden two-goal glow descended across the county at around 4pm on Sunday when the ref blew his whistle and the double was done on the foe from below the border…
OTBC!!!
(Gotta take the good times when you can people, gotta take them when you can…)
So in a week when news was made by an old woman falling down some stairs at some appalling music awards ceremony (Zzzzzzzzzzz….), an incredible image of a furry Hitch-hiker a board a Yaffle and Leonard Nimoy and Mr Spock made the inevitable trip in to Space: The Final Frontier with remarkable, touching good grace, its time to try and conjure up something magical from the rarity hat…
Rufforth Airfield and its adjacent tip, positioned to the west of York and northeast of Leeds has, in the last three or three four winters, become a birding site that has pushed itself well and truly on to the Larophiles radar.
...All the gulls were head-on, facing me and the wind, so it was difficult to see plumage details, but this striking bird, with a large-looking dark eye in a rounded head, and a fairly small, pinkish-based bill, made me stop in my tracks....
Read Tom Lowe's finders' account here
It has become a location for the more-astute northern-based guller (or a guller from anywhere who just fancies a little bit of gamble) to pitch up, throughout the winter, and take a chance on what may be lurking amongst the throng.
…and this winter has been a particularly strong one for the North Yorkshire hotspot. As was touched upon here a couple of weeks ago, regular reports of Glaucous Gull and Iceland Gull have been supplemented by Caspian Gulls, an adult Kumlien’s Gull and, until this week, the best of all, a first-winter American Herring Gull.
This week, the ante has been upped again - thanks to the finding of a juvenile Thayer’s Gull during the afternoon of 2nd - a bird that duly obliged again for a few minutes the following afternoon too.
Early inspection of finder Tom Lowe’s shots from the field (hats off to Tom by the way, this is his second English juvenile Thayer’s after the bird at Elsham, Lincolnshire in early April 2012 - a remarkable double - even for this dedicated field worker) suggested a striking similarity (within the tail pattern at least) to that off the juvenile Thayer’s found at Mirfield, adjacent to Pugney’s CP in West Yorkshire on December 27th last year.
The two sites are probably no more than 25 miles apart (as the gull flies) - perhaps less than that - so, assuming they are one in the same, quite where it has been in the meantime is something of a mystery. For such a striking gull to go off the radar for over two months is curious, especially as it was such a strong prediction to appear sometime, somewhere in England post-December 28th.
Well, finally it seems to have re-surfaced- in a manner not dissimilar to that of the juvenile thayeri that was noted in Oxfordshire and then Derbyshire between December 2007 and February 2008 - and it has gone a long way to establishing Rufforth as Britain’s premier gulling spot right now - Pitsea may have gone one better, with the Slaty-backed Gull, but Rufforth wins as its open to all.
…and currently you wouldn’t bet against someone finding a Slaty-backed or Glaucous-winged Gull there in the near future.
As may have been gleaned from the last outing of my desperate musings a couple of weeks ago, it feels as though the chamois of innarestin’ things to say about the (still) exceptionally newsworthy Harlequins has been rung well’n’truly dry. Not so! There’s always an angle to find and like some geeky mathematician faced with some weird numbers, letters and squiqqles, here’s another one to partake in…
The continuing presence of not one but two rather funky Harlequins - that increasingly dandy first-winter drake on Aberdeen’s River Don (still present to 1st) and the rather more dowdy duck on the sea off Brora (Highland) to at least 27th - has actually created another tiny bit of rarity history here.
Amongst the 15 accepted Harlequin records to date (of between 18-20 birds) there has never been an occasion when two separate single birds have present at the same time at different sites - yes, we’ve had a threesome (all shot in a Farnes bloodbath on December 2nd 1886), the Fair Isle and Wick pair between January and May 1965 and the Easter surprise of the two first-winter females in Ayrshire in April 1996, there has yet to have been an instance that we’re currently enjoying right now.
The current female Harlequin around beautiful Brora (one of the best places in the world to break down I promise you…) is the third record for the enormous Highland region - and the first to be seen away from Wick. Along with the 50 years ago this year male and female mentioned above (present from April 18th to May 1st 1965), Wick has hosted a more recent Histronicus from February 6th to May 17th 1991 but for those local listers who are new to the game since then, well this super-rare (sea)duck must have come as something of a winter boon.
Dropping a couple of hundred miles down the coast and nipping across the border from Scotland to England, we alight on Northumberland where the drake Black Scoter was present through to 28th at least - generally still off the beach at Cheswick Sands but also taking a little outing a couple of miles away to Cocklawburn Beach on 26th and, slightly further afield, to Holy Island on 28th. Short outings aside, the boy was back at Cheswick on 2nd.
What’s happening at Rossbeigh? Well, it seemed as though he may have moved bays and headed north - but the drake Scoter seen and photographed off Castlegregory, still in Kerry, on 2nd-3rd proved to be an aberrant drake Common.
Until late on 1st, it seemed as though we may have an americana free week on our hands - but phew!- the Balranald American Coot saved the day with news of its continuing presence on the Outer Hebrides in to another month.
…and, for good measure, Kerry’s American Coot was noted as still present on Lough Gill on 2nd.
Just one month to go then eh?
Thankfully I didn’t have to deal with all the Diver-double stuff last week (my trusty Hummingbird-lovin’ freak from the Northern Isles was the lucky man on duty…) - I may still have been looking for any reason to suppose that there really weren’t two Cornish Pacific Divers around despite the case for the defence being somewhat overwhelming - but normal service has been resumed this week…
Mount’s Bay was the sole site for the once-mega PD, present to 2nd at least. It is entirely feasible that the south coast bird is still around somewhere near Gerrans Bay, there’s been no news so far this week - perhaps the Mount’s Bay bird just hasn’t been as flighty?
Keeping it real on Orkney was the wintering adult White-billed Diver to 1st - still in Hope Bay, South Ronaldsay for the start of another month.
Just the one Little Auk came to pass through the week, heading past a few Scoter spotters at Cheswick Sands in Northumberland on 27th while the lone Pomarine Skua across the last seven days was found at Dungeness on 28th, but sadly died later the same day. A single Grey Phalarope was noted heading east past Ruddon’s Point (Fife) on 1st.
Out along the Denge Marsh Road at Dungeness, the two Cattle Egrets remained in to March, seen to 3rd - with the onset of spring and suitable habitat nearby, we’re going for the first early prediction of a potential breeding attempt being on the cards (assuming they are a pair of course). Here’s hoping…
As March snuck in on a (sunny in Norfolk) Sunday, numbers of Great White Egrets had dropped quite significantly from recent weeks - from 35+ last week, there were “only” 25 recorded to March 2nd, but they were typically well spread.
Northeastern England was represented by one bird, seen at Sunk Island (East Yorkshire) on 25th. Over in the northwest, it was a single for Crossens Outer Marsh (Lancashire), also on 25th with two remaining at Burton Marsh Wetlands RSPB (Cheshire) the following day. Through the Midlands, there were just three birds noted - again at Rutland Water (Leicestershire), Summer Leys LNR and Ditchford (Northamptonshire), all in place to the month end.
In East Anglia, a lone Great White Egret was noted at Fen Drayton RSPB (Cambridgeshire) on 25th while in Norfolk, a bird at Cley was tracked departing high to the south-southeast between 3.45 and 3.55pm on the afternoon of 27th, before being located drifting over Aylsham some 70 minutes later. It or another was back at Bowthorpe Marshes, near Norwich on 2nd. On the edge of the Brecks at Lakenheath Fen RSPB, a single bird was noted again on 3rd.
Numbers in the southeast needed a Dunge Boost for sure - other than three at the sizeable RSPB reserve, only two more were reported through to the end of February - singles in place at near Ashford (Kent) and Longparish (Hampshire) to 27th. The southwest fared a little better (well, Somerset did…), threes at Ham Wall RSPB and Westhay Moor on 25th and 28th respectively, with singles also hanging on at Catcott Lows (to 25th), Steart WWT (to 26th) and at Chew Valley Lake (to 28th).
The Celts were represented by a Great White Egret at Shotwick Fields (Flintshire) on 28th with two still at Llangorse Lake (Powys) on the same date, with one again at Dinefwr Pools (Carmarthenshire) on 2nd, while the singleton in western Ireland remained at Muckrush, Lough Corrib (Co. Galway), also present on 28th.
Also in Ireland, two Glossy Ibis were seen at Tramore Backstrand (Co. Waterford) on 26th (with one to 3rd) and they made up half of the number recorded this week, the other sightings coming from Fen Drayton Lakes RSPB on 25th and again on 1st and 3rd, while ever-present was the bird at Gonalston (Nottinghamshire) to 1st.
Spoonbills were sprinkled along the south coast, albeit with the large numbers around Poole Harbour and Brownsea dissipating as spring draws ever closer.
Single or low single digit figures were logged from Devon to West Sussex - one noted at Budleigh Salterton and then Exminster Marshes RSPB on 27th and 28th start things off as we move along the coast. Dorset managed a maximum six at Shipstal Point on 2nd, with five at Middelbere on 28th, with twos noted at Brand’s Bay, Studland, also on 28th and East Holme, Poole on 25th while three were seen at Lodmoor RSPB on 27th, with one at nearby Radipole Lake RSPB the following day.
Sifting in to Hampshire, birds were noted at three sites during the week; at Pennington Marshes on 25th, with two at Keyhaven Marshes on 26th and three at Titchfield Haven NNR on 27th. In West Sussex, a Spoonbill was at Medmerry RSPB on 25th, three first-winters were found at Thorney Island on 27th with three more (including an adult) at Medmerry the same day. A single youngster was then at Church Norton on 28th, with three there on 2nd (the same three - presumably - having gone over Selsey Bill earlier the same day).
Suffolk continued to host three birds at Hollesley Marshes RSPB on 25th and at Minsmere RSPB on 3rd while in Norfolk, a returning breeder was back at Holkham on 27th, with two adults then heading past Sheringham on 1st. The final bird of the week was noted in Waterford, at Tramore from 25th-3rd.
The new review week began with a count of 11 Common Cranes coming in to the Stubb Mill roost at Hickling Broad NWT on 25th, topped by a flock of 12 over nearby Horsey on 27th. Elsewhere in Norfolk, just to the east of Norwich, five birds flew over Thorpe St. Andrew during the late morning of 27th. In Cambridgeshire, a lone Crane flew over Holme Fen NNR, also on 27th, half a dozen were still near Manea on 28th and eight were noted at the Ouse Washes RSPB on 1st. Suffolk hosted a couple heading over Minsmere RSPB also on 1st.
A little bit of negative news starts things off in Honkers Corner- no sign of the cute-as-you-like Ridgway’s Cackling Goose in Dumfries & Galloway on 28th - wonder where that’s gone?
On Islay, a Richardson’s Cackling Goose was at Loch Gruinart RSPB on 25th while the Irish Lesser Canada Goose remained on the North Slob, Wexford Wildfowl Reserve to 27th.
Five Black Brants kicked things off on 25th - an adult and first-winter were reported at South Woodham Ferrers (Essex) with further adults noted at Fareham (Hampshire), Gibraltar Point NNR (Lincolnshire) and Blennerville (Co. Kerry). The sixth of the week was noted as still present on the River Exe (Devon) on 26th while Ireland’s second bird appeared at Coolock (Co. Dublin) on 27th when one was again at Gosport (Hampshire) and two were noted in Lincolnshire - still at Gib Point and also again at Donna Nook. Back in Essex, at North Fambridge, a single Brant was seen on 28th and the final birds of the week were at Loompit Lake (Suffolk) and Keyhaven (Hampshire) on 1st.
Orkney’s Snow Goose remained at Deerness, on the Mainland, to 27th while Northumberland’s Ross’s Goose seemed to have done a timely bunk (don’t they always these pesky vagrants...) - but then came news on 3rd that it was still at Stobswood after all. It won’t be for too much longer...
The past couple of weeks have been courted by the same two King Eiders - the first-winter drake remained off the Cornish coast, at Maenporth through to 3rdwhile the “queen” was still in Largo Bay, just off Ruddon’s Point (Fife) to 2nd.
The latter site also held on to a drake Surf Scoter and a further ten were recorded through to the end of the week. Further Scottish drakes were reported off Joppa, Edinburgh (Lothian) on 25th (and then off Musselburgh on 1st) and off Rerwick Head, Mainland (Orkney) on 3rd, while in Wales, four birds were seen off Old Conwy (Conwy) on 27th. Rosslare’s first-winter drake was still in Wexford through to 28th and the bird on the Stour Estuary, along the Essex & Suffolk border was in place to March 1st.
The popular drake in North Yorkshire remained off the coast of Scarborough to 26th but the big draw was the adult drake that popped up in Stokes Bay, Gosport (Hampshire) on 25th - the bird lingering in the Solent through to 3rd where it was duly given a warm reception by local birders, being the first-ever twitchable drake in the county.
It was also the first record of Surf Scoter since a brief-ish young female off Hurst beach on November 21st 2011 and the first “available” record of the species in the county since another young female spent a few December days in Langstone Harbour in 2006.
Two adult drake Lesser Scaups were noted again this week - still in Cardiff Bay (Glamorgan) to 3rd while County Cavan’s first record in exactly three years remained at Pharisee Lough to 25th. The final bird of the week was the first-winter drake that was cruising the Ayrshire waterways of Martnaham Loch through to 1st.
The ensuing onset of spring saw a further apparent drop in numbers of Ring-necked Ducks - by the middle of March 1st, just three had been reported, all of them familiar drakes from recent weeks. All three lingered to 1st - on Clatworthy Reservoir (Somerset), Loch of Skaill, Mainland (Orkney) and Knockaderry Lake (Co. Waterford). The two females then popped up again in Dumfries & Galloway, still on Calingwark Loch, late on the 1st.
Rounding things off for the Aythyas - the female Ferruginous Duck that continued to reside at Slimbridge WWT (Gloucestershire) to the start of the new month and on to the end of the review period.
Eleven drake Green-winged Teals continued to make themselves known through the week - with three for Scotland, two for Ireland, one for Wales and four for England.
On Orkney, singles were still on North Ronaldsay to 2nd and Loch of Tankerness, Mainland on 3rd, with the usual bird also in place at Caerlaverock WWT (Dumfries & Galloway) pretty much throughout, while another continued to stay on Loch Sandary, North Uist (Outer Hebrides) to 1st. Ireland’s duo of ducks were noted at Ballycarry (Co. Antrim) to 26th and at Layton (Co. Meath) to 1st, while in Wales, the drake Green-winged Teal remained at Afon Seint, Caernarfron (Gwynedd) to 1st.
”New” English birds were at Leighton Moss RSPB (Lancashire) on 28th-1st (perhaps moving from Stocks Reservoir?) and at Long Preston (North Yorkshire) on 26th. Lingering birds were seen at Ashleworth Ham NR (Gloucestershire) and Dorman’s Pool (Cleveland) to the start of March.
Eight American Wigeons hung on for a few more days this week - the two females on Cornwall’s Gannel Estuary were noted to 26th at least, while lone males were again at Swillington Ings (West Yorkshire) on 25th, still near Fairlie (Ayrshire), on Orkney, on Shapinsay, at Mill Dam RSPB, both to 1st, Holme Pierrepont (Nottinghamshire) and Harper’s Island (Co. Cork) to 2nd and, back in West Yorkshire, at Normanton to 3rd.
Back on Orkney, the drake Blue-winged Teal remained on the Mainland, at The Shunan through to 2nd while down on Scilly, the drake Black Duck was on Tresco for another week, through to 3rd.
Livening things up in WaderWorld this week was the discovery of a wintering adult Dotterel in north Cornwall, along the Camel Estuary on 26th, where it was noted again, amongst a sizeable flock of Golden Plover (around some 5,000 strong) on 27th.
Otherwise it was very samey, and very spartan too - the wintering first-winter Lesser Yellowlegs on Dublin’s Rogerstown Estuary being the only other bird of note, seen there through to 28th.
On the Wirral, the über confiding first-winter Laughing Gull couldn’t help itself and show brilliantly well through to 3rd - while the Ballycotton second-winter bird remained in County Cork to 26th.
Three further familiar Nearctic larids, Bonaparte’s Gull, (yes, yes, they’ve changed the genus, but I’m old...) were present this week at Thurso (Highland) on 3rd, Cardiff Bay (Glamorgan) and Dawlish Warren NNR (Devon) to 1st.
As with a few other species this week, Ring-billed Gulls started to tail away a little too across the past seven days - Ireland just managing to creep in to double figures with 14 or 15 birds found in all.
Two new first-winters were seen at Inch Island, near Lough Swilly (Co. Donegal) on 28th and a regular youngster was still at the Tralee Wetlands (Co. Kerry) on 26th. The same day in the same county saw an adult noted again at Carrahane Strand, one of 10 adults seen around the country through the week.
Two single Ring-billed Gulls were in County Cork, at Atlantic Pond on 25th, Blackrock on 27th and Cork Lough on 1st, with three on Cuskinny Marsh on the same date; loners were at Clarcastle Quay (Co. Clare) and Baltray (Co. Louth) on 25th, still at Drimnagh (Co. Dublin) on 28th when one was also noted at Larne Lough (Co. Antrim) on the same day, with regular adults still at Portrush on 1st and Tramore (Co. Waterford) to 3rd as well.
Scotland managed to hang on to two adults, at Dingwall (Highland) and Townhill CP, Dunfermline (Fife), to the end of February and beyond and a first-winter still on North Uist to 3rd and a new youngster on Mull, at Glen More, on 2nd-3rd. Two further first-winters remained in Cornwall - at Lelant Saltings, on the Hayle Estuary on 28th and Swanpool, Falmouth to 2nd and an adult was seen at Marazion on 2nd. The final bird of the week, the old-stager in Gosport (Hampshire) which loitered throughout the week.
Glaucous Gulls maintained station on around 70-75 birds this week - seen across 25+ British and Irish counties - with, as expected, Scotland at the head of the pack once more.
At least 40 birds were seen in seven counties across Scotland, with the Outer Hebrides scoring at least 16, including five on North Uist on 25th. Six birds were on Shetland, including four in Lerwick on 28th, while Orkney managed a minimum six and Highland four.
Irish birders registered 11 or 12 - three or four each for Kerry and Donegal - while the northeast of England and East Anglia managed four each, with three in the southeast and two for the northwest and southwest.
With a double figure tally from one single site, and another very strong showing this week - it was tempting to shove Iceland Gulls hurtling towards the headlines (mainly as they’re rock...) but sense prevailed and normal order was restored, so we’ll enjoy the magic numbers here where they belong (and there are some 130+ to go at).
The Outer Hebrides were the island group where there was so much glaucoides action was going on - from an overall national total of around 145 birds, perhaps as many as 60+ were seen around the archipelago across the week.
Up to 20 Iceland Gulls were noted on South Uist between 25th-26th - five at Peninerine, seven at Smerclate and eight at Orosay with Stornoway Harbour, on Lewis rattling in a whopping 16 birds (14 of them juveniles) on 26th. A further six were seen around Eoropie, also on Lewis on 28th and the week concluded with 16 at Butt of Lewis on 3rd. A couple of singles and three threes were also reported around the islands in a frenetic seven days for the species around the islands.
Iceland Gull from Max Davidson on Vimeo.
That somewhat approximate half century accounted for over half of Scotland’s 90+ Iceland Gulls in all - eight were seen in Shetland (with six in Lerwick on 28th) and a further eight were counted around Aberdeenshire, including four juveniles at Macduff on 27th. Six birds at Loch Caolisport (Argyll & Bute) on 2nd were part of nine or ten for that particular county, with four or five in Highland and Clyde as well (including three at Loch Lomond on 27th).
Around 30 birds were counted around Ireland, with fours in Antrim, Kerry, Cork and Donegal (all of those seen off Fanad Head on 28th) while in England, eight were noted around the northwest, including three at Rufforth (North Yorkshire) on 28th, with five in the northwest and fours a piece for the Midlands and southwest.
Three of the sites mentioned above also hosted single Kumlien’s Gulls through the last seven days - the adult was still at Rufforth on 27th (and a juvenile was there on 2nd-3rd) with two further juveniles were at Loch Caolisport and Fanad Head on 28th, with a second-winter joining the young bird at the latter site on 1st.
In Galway, the roaming and roving adult Forster’s Tern was seen at Kinvarra on 25th and, four or five miles away at Doorus on 28th.
An intriguing report came from Suffolk this week where a probable Gyrfalcon (or hybrid) was seen at Westwood Marshes and Dingle marshes a couple of times during the day on 27th - if its pinned down and proven to be the real deal, it could become the fifth county record and the first in 132 years, since one was killed in the spring of 1883 on Thetford Warren.
The new review period began with at least five single Rough-legged Buzzards across Norfolk - in the far west at Welney WWT, on the north coast at Burnham Overy Dunes and in the far east at Caister, the Waveney Forest and Breydon Water. Two of these sites hosted two birds through the rest of the week (at Burnham Overy and Waveney) while further singles were at Halvergate Marshes to 1st, over Stiffkey Marshes on 27th and East Hills, Wells on 3rd. Cambridgeshire’s wintering youngster remained at Holme Fen NNR to 27th at least.
Four more Rough-legs were reported around the northeast of England - over Stobswood (Northumberland) on 25th and again on 28th; at Coxhoe (Co. Durham) on 26th; at Timble (North Yorkshire) on 27th and still at Grindale (East Yorkshire) to 2nd. Scotland held two - at Rumster Forest, near Lybster (Highland) on 26th with the wintering young bird at the Mennock Pass (Dumfries & Galloway) to the same date.
Almost a fortnight had elapsed since there had been news of both male Serins being present and correct in Gunners Park, Shoeburyness (Essex) but late in the day on 25th came news that both birds were still around and they continued to show and sing their Byrdsian jingle-jangle through to 3rd.
All three wintering Little Buntings were logged through the week - in the Ashdown Forest (East Sussex) to 27th, at Forest Farm, near Cardiff (Glamorgan) to 2nd and at Gulval, near Marazion (Cornwall) to 3rd.
A further wintering threesome, the Devonian Penduline Tits, were still to be seen around Darts Farm RSPB to 27th, with two on 28th-1st, but with all three again on 2nd - the stay of some 118 days makes them the longest staying Remiz for the county, beating the current county best by over a month.
Last week’s two Black-bellied Dippers were this week’s two Black-bellied Dippers - still showing well at Skaw, Unst (Shetland) to 25th and at Harpham Moor (East Yorkshire) to 3rd. A third bird appeared on 2nd, and it was a second for Shetland - found at Burn of Susetter, Voe on Mainland.
Yellow-browed Warblers drew a blank (though a possible Hume’s was mentioned for Ponsanooth this week , so it’s straight on to Richard’s Pipits, two of which remained in to the new week - at Breydon Water RSPB (Norfolk) to 28th and Swale NNR (Kent) to 1st.
The number of Waxwings remained typically low - it really has been just another one of “those” years - with Suffolk seeing reports of 15 over Upper Hollesley Common on 27th and 12 in Ipswich on 28th, with 14 there on 2nd. Those mentions aside, only 23 more were noted, including six at Forfar (Angus) on 2nd, four at Acomb (North Yorkshire) on 25th and Gibraltar Point NNR (Lincolnshire) on 26th (with the same number again at the latter site on 1st). Single birds in Mildenhall (Suffolk) and Orrell Water Park (Greater Manchester) continued to draw appreciative observers through much of the week.
Falling away - carrying on the theme of the week - were Great Grey Shrikes with numbers falling to around 20 birds in, down from 25 or so seven days ago.
Five singles were seen across Wales - at the Clocaenog Forest (Denbighshire) on 25th; at Pengwern (Glamorgan) from 25th-27th; still at Llandegley (Powys) to 28th; again at Cross Inn Forest (Ceredigion) to 28th and at Usk Reservoir (Carmarthenshire) on 1st.
A quartet were recorded in the Midlands - in the south of the region, two Great Grey Shrikes were in Gloucestershire’s Forest of Dean, at Staple-edge Wood and Crabtree Hill to 27th and 3rd respectively, with a new bird in Shropshire, at Brown Clee Hill on 28th with the bird at Beeley Moor (Derbyshire) present to the end of February.
The southeast saw a quintet of birds on offer - wintering birds remaining at Ledburn (Buckinghamshire) and in the New Forest (Hampshire) to 27th; at Iping Common (West Sussex) to 1st, while the birds at Thursley Common (Surrey) and Chilham (Kent) both remained to 3rd.
Last week’s newbie at Upper Hollesley Common in Suffolk was on site until the third of the month, as was the wintering butcher-bird on Norfolk’s Roydon Common, with the same date seeing one reappear at Grime’s Grave. Elsewhere around the country, singletons remained on Grindleton Fell (Lancashire) to 28th, Godlingston Heath NNR (Dorset) to 1st and Midhope Moor (South Yorkshire) to 3rd.
March is upon us then and the dormancy of the jaded late-winter birding brain will undoubtedly perk up as the third month of the year rolls in to town.
The first spring arrivals could be here any day, if we get any warming winds from the south - and the news of the first early March returnees - Sand Martin, Northern Wheatear (one made it to Dorset this weekend), Sandwich Tern (they’ve made it to Fife and Cornwall already), Stone Curlew and Osprey - will always gladden the heart but given we’re on Rare Patrol, that’s where the head will always, inevitably turn t’wards.
It can be a time of early, early overshoots - Alpine Swift and Red-rumped Swallows and - if you’re really, really lucky - Great Spotted Cuckoo.
There have been three in the days ahead, all since 2001, two of them in Kent and one in Pembrokeshire - with a second for the latter county falling just outside the window…so you know where next week’s will be then, sometime after 7th & 8th…) and it can be a time for classic winter departures, Gyrfalcon springing to mid once more…
Overshoots aside, March is also a time for megas.
Britain’s first Black-faced Bunting caught everyone unawares when it appeared in Greater Manchester, at Penningtion Flash, on March 8th 1994. It lingered for 48 days, through to late April - and thank goodness for that - just four more have followed, all in October and all bar one being a one-day bird (and that was on Fair Isle in 2001). The most recent was seen at Flamborough in 2004…that’s been quite a wait for the New Generation of Listers…
…but not a long a wait as every single Generation of Lister has had to wait for a Tengmalm’s Owl - and we’re firmly betwixt & between the Pearl and Coral Anniversary of (arguably) the most infamous suppression of the past four decades - March 6th 1983 the date etched on the minds of all of us twitching at the time - that being the date when the Spurn TO was discovered…
While it may get a run out on these web pages every year since the RBA roundups began, it kind of warrants it - the fear and loathing that that record created - once it became known of, long after departure - was quite exceptional and unparalleled, even by today’s febrile and feral world of social media, blogs and forums.
Spurn’s delicate ecosystem was at risk at the time (that was a significant reason quoted back then, along with the more serious issue still of access to the Lifeboat Station as well) but with a much more enlightened and savvy ensemble of birder-friendly birders on site 32 years on, the prospect of such a suppression at one of Britain’s premier birding locations seems all the more distant.
But boy, does that particular bird still hurt…
Don’t peak to soon eh?
Mark Golley
04 Mar 2015