Weekly birding round-up: 27 September - 3 October 2017
It was definitely a game of two halves, this past week, where our weather was concerned – in many ways a wholly typical autumn week of brisk winds from, if not all quarters, then certainly the potent ones that count at this time of year.
The week began with westerlies driving off the Atlantic, whipping around over Britain and funnelling up southerlies and south-easterlies along the eastern seaboard, and ended with yet more powerful westerlies. This intoxicating cocktail, fuelled by the remains of hurricanes Lee and Maria, was certain to bring us something good, surely?And, after some quiet years in which the naysayers began to write it off, Scilly finally roared.
Our week got off to a flying start on 27th with the discovery of a roosting Scops Owl in Co.Durham at Ryhope – a county first and, with the last three records back to 2007 all being on either Sheland or Scilly, the first relatively easily accessible example of this charismatic little owl for a decade.
Better yet, it stuck around, remaining at Ryhope until 3rd, albeit going missing for periods of time during that stay. Broadly speaking it’s feast or famine with Scops Owls - of the 40 post-1950 British records the vast majority have been brief birds, but a significant handful have hung around a little longer – most notably the returning bird in Oxfordshire, present at Thrupp during early summer in 2006 and 2007.
Many current birders cut their teeth with the popular three day bird at Morwenstow on the north Cornish coast in 1995. I abandoned a family party in Somerset to drive hell for leather for that particular bird, and to this day remain grateful for the kindness of one of the assembled crowd who let me look at the bird through his Questar scope. (Remember those? You could practically count the feather mites on the owl…)
Many of the records in the intervening years have been either on various offshore islands – Shetland alone accounting for six records – or found dead or dying. While they’re not the very rarest of vagrants, they’re far from easy to catch up with – so this latest Scops Owl, unusual in and of itself for being an autumn record, was deservedly popular during its stay.
The omens certainly looked good as the week progressed and, while we were never going to get a fall of American passerines quite as mouth-watering as those that made landfall on Corvo in the Azores, we would surely see one or two interesting birds in Ireland or on Scilly…
In the end it was Scilly that did the business, and in some style too with a Cliff Swallow found in the afternoon of 2nd October over the Great Pool. Or rather, what was initially identified as a Red-rumped Swallow was rapidly reappraised as the much rarer hirundine altogether by mid-afternoon, and obligingly remained there on 3rd as the week closed.
Birders of a certain vintage will remember clearly Britain’s first, a bird that caused initial pandemonium before it thoughtfully lingered on Scilly for 18 days in October 1983; and the Fortunate Isles have enjoyed four subsequent sightings up to and including the last, only last year on 6th-10th September on St Mary’s. Now, just a year and a few days after that last bird, Scilly can add another Cliff Swallow to its roster.
If we include the very last British record, the crowd pleasing individual seen at Minsmere RSPB (Suffolk) in late autumn 2016, this is the 12th British record – whichever way we look at it, Cliff Swallow is a pukka, genuinely rare bird on this side of the Atlantic.
The following day, Scilly did it again.
This time it was St Agnes’ turn to produce the goods once more, with a Cedar Waxwing discovered in the morning of 3rd lurking in the bushes at Browarth.
For a while, many of us had a firm inky mark next to Cedar Waxwing on our lists courtesy of the wintering bird that hung out with thousands of bog-standard Waxwings in the suburbs of Nottingham in 1996. It took quite some picking out amongst the shifting, twittering hordes of its commoner brethren, and there will have been many birders who, hand on heart, ticked a bird on the basis of an arse-end view from below.
Which isn’t, really, how anyone wants to see a new bird, no matter how diagnostic the colour of said under-tail might be. Subsequent opportunities to catch up with a Cedar Waxwing have not really come along, as they’ve invariably involved untwitchable one day birds in remote locations…
Amongst that number was Scilly’s first, a fabulous midsummer (well, late spring) individual seen and photographed on St Mary’s on 2nd and again on 19th of June 2015 and, presumably, lurking happily and unseen in the lush gardens and hedgerows of the island in between.
Will this latest individual play ball and remain a while on Scilly to delight the dwindled numbers of autumn faithful birders who’ve kept the faith down the years as focus has, to a degree, shifted north? Time will tell.
On the subject of properly rare North American birds that, if you’re not in the right place at the right time, or prepared to make a substantial investment in time and money to actually get to the right place in the nick of time, you’re like to have missed down the years, this week closed with just that sort of bird found in Co.Cork at Mizen Head – a Scarlet Tanager, Ireland’s 5th record of the species.
Britain hardly does much better, mustering a mere seven records including our last, on Barra (Western Isles) between 6th-9th October 2014. Co.Cork, really, is the place to see one though – this being their 4th record since 1985.
For a species that’s as rare as Scarlet Tanager in Britain and Ireland combined, they’ve turned up with some increased frequency in the past decade – this latest one taking the British and Irish average since 2007 to one record every other year. None of the recent British ones have been that magic combination of relatively long-staying and easy to get to over the course of a weekend, so another in the coming days might prove justly popular. Meanwhile, the long wait for another Summer Tanager continues…
Said Cedar Waxwing and Cliff Swallow alike would have been wholly eclipsed, however, had things in the preceding days on Scilly panned out differently – if the (slightly belated) report of a possible Tennessee Warbler on Bryher on 28th had coalesced into something more substantial then the headlines would have read very differently indeed.
As it was, however, the auguries on Scilly for the Cliff Swallow had been good, with another Red-eyed Vireo and, better yet, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak found on Wingletang Down on St Agnes.on 29th.
Lest we forget, Rose-breasted Grosbeak also remains a real prize for British birders, with just 26 accepted records to the end of 2015. 2016, of course, delivered the gorgeous spring male in Lynn Goodlad’s Shetland garden on Burra, but it’s Scilly that commands the lion’s share of our British records – fully half of them have been found in the islands on the edge of Lyonesse.
Returning our envious gaze to that other Atlantic archipelago, the Azores, Azorean records of the past week provide us with an irresistible opportunity to speculate what might yet be to come on Scilly in the next week or two. Surely there’s an American warbler in the offing, and surely Scilly is due another autumn that reminds everybody of the glory days of the 1980s.
It’s certainly shaping up well so far…
Scilly was, of course, traditionally the place where the classic east-meets-west rarity convergence used to happen back in those not-so-distant glory days. While this week the archipelago was enjoying a bevy of headline-grabbing American passerine loveliness there was another avian star quietly going its business on St Mary’s…
…this being the island’s 6th
The five previous records on the archipelago have been either decent long-stayers or indecently brief. This latest bird, found on 29th at Giant’s Castle, seemed to be the latter, with no sign of it there the following day. Happily for those arriving on Scilly for a stint at the weekend it was relocated on the airfield on 1st-3rd, so appears to be shaping up to be a settled individual after all.
I think it was a couple of weeks ago that I predicted we were due another Upland Sandpiper sometime soon – better late than never with the old soothsaying as, this week, Fetlar (Shetland) duly served up a one day bird at Houbie on 30th September.
This in a week during which, while Shetland certainly had reasonable numbers of eastern vagrants, there was perhaps a sense of a clock half-struck – given the strength and duration of the south-easterlies that battered the isles for a while, Shetland’s resident and visiting birders might have hoped for a little more eastern high quality than was actually uncovered – a Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler notwithstanding. Instead, the isles’ laurels went to a bird from the west and, while it was seen only on 30th, one wonders how long it might have been lobbing around Fetlar’s capacious fields before the chance discovery of it outside the island shop.
That’s all idle speculation. What’s a fact is that not only was this latest record only the 7th ever occurrence in Shetland, it was also the first British record since 2011 – that latter bird being an individual that spent 20 days on St Mary’s (Scilly) in October. Upland Sandpipers have an endearing habit of sticking around a while, with many past records surpassing week-long stays and some considerably longer than that. Alas not, that we know of, in this latest instance, much to the chagrin of visiting birders who couldn’t get to Fetlar before dusk on 30th.
From a local perspective, this was a new species for the Fetlar island list – inching it a little further ahead of Whalsay in a hotly disputed (but good-natured) ongoing competition that sees both islands creeping over the 300 mark: Whalsay’s 302 trailing in Fetlar’s 305 wake.
If Scops Owl display some affinity with offshore islands in general, Sykes’s Warbler remains practically a card-carrying Shetland native – of the 17 accepted records up to the end of 2015, fully 10 of those have been in the archipelago. The remaining two accepted Scottish records both hail from Orkney’s North Ronaldsay, leaving the small balance from coastal counties from Northumberland in the north-east to Scilly in the south-west.
The Scottish islands, inevitably, tend to dominate the picture where rare passerines as a whole are concerned north of the border. That’s not entirely representative, however, as while rarities are certainly found in smaller numbers on the Scottish mainland than offshore, they are still found… Birders in Highland certainly won’t be forgetting the recent Siberian Accentors at Avoch and Invergordon in a hurry.
Nor will they be forgetting the latest addition to the county list – a Sykes’s Warbler present at Skirza on 26th-28th. They seem to be turning up with increasing frequency in the past few years so it was, perhaps, only a matter of time before the Scottish mainland got in on the act. A number of English east coast county birders will have this species high on their rarity-finding radar in the future.
We kick off a generally pretty quiet week at sea with yet another Irish Fea’s-type Petrel, one noted on 29th passing Carnsore Point (Co.Wexford). Apart from this, however, the week had slim pickings to offer generally for those inclined to park themselves on a headland and gaze out to sea.
With just one confirmed large shearwater of either flavour reported this week – a Cory’s Shearwater seen from Pendeen (Cornwall) on 3rd – we’ll have to make do with relatively modest numbers of Balearic Shearwaters noted from the south-west in the past few days: singles were seen from Portland (Dorset) on 27th and 30th; on 29th four were off Chapel Porth (Cornwall) with 13 seen that day from the Scillonian; on 30th six more passed Cornwall’s Chapel Point. Into October and staying in Cornwall, 20 were logged from Porthgwarra and 12 from Pendeen, while in Devon duos were noted from Berry Head and Dawlish Warren NNR.
Things picked up a little as the week drew to a close, with a chunky count of 88 birds past the Lizard (Cornwall) on 1st followed, on 2nd, by 25 birds from Cape Cornwall and 20 off Pendeen, with a further two seen from the Scillonian. One was seen in Dorset off Durlston CP on 3rd.
Leach’s Petrels were similarly impoverished, with most of the week elapsing without a sighting before, on 1st, 18 were seen from Bridges of Ross (Co.Clare) and two were noted in Co.Mayo off Annagh Head. The 2nd was a touch busier, with English sightings involving two displaced birds noted from Hoylake (Cheshire) and singles off Crosby (Lancashire) and Stert Point (Somerset); Scottish sightings coming in the form of a single from Troon (Ayrshire), two off Tiree (Argyll & Bute) and 12 off Uisaed Point (Argyll & Bute); and Irish tallies being two from Ramore Head (Co.Antrim), three from Brandon Point (Co.Kerry) and five from Kilcummin Head (Co.Mayo). On 3rd four passed Hilbre (Cheshire), two went by Hoylake (Cheshire), and in Scotland singles were seen from Caliach Point (Argyll & Bute), in Dunnet Bay (Highland) and off Aird (Argyll & Bute). Five passed Ramore Head (Co.Antrim) in two hours that morning also.
A handful of Pomarine Skuas continued trickling past the coastline this week: on 27th, three passed Hound Point (Lothian), two were off Bardsey (Gwynedd) and a singleton was noted Shell Ness (Kent); on 28th one was seen from Lossiemouth (Moray). Bardsey returned another single bird on 29th and 30th alike, with other solo sightings on 29th coming from Kilcoole (Co.Wexford), Holland Haven CP (Essex), Dungeness (Kent) and Bamburgh (Northumberland). On 1st October single birds were noted from Kent’s Sandwich Bay, Berry Head (Devon), Frinton-on-Sea and Holland-on-Sea (Essex) and, back in Ireland, from Bridges of Ross (Co.Clare). Again, things picked up on 2nd as strong winds drove birds closer to land – 45 birds were noted in all, with the largest count by some margin being 21 seen from Skye (Highland); just a handful were seen the following day again.
Long-tailed Skua numbers were down even on last week’s small showing, with just four birds seen – the most popular of which being, understandably, the pale morph that found the golf course at Goswick (Northumberland) still to its liking, remaining from last week there until 3rd this week. Single bird sightings also came from Whitburn CP (Co.Durham) on 27th and 28th, and Chapel Porth (Cornwall) on 29th. Once we’d passed into October further single birds were seen on 2nd from Bardsey (Gwynedd) and New Brighton (Cheshire), with three that day off Brandon Point (Co.Kerry). On 3rd single birds were logged from Point Lynas (Anglesey), Sheigra (Highland), and Alresford Creek (Essex).
Two familiar recent juvenile Purple Herons remained intermittently on offer this week – these being the individuals at Leighton Moss RSPB (Lancashire) again on 29th-2nd and at Ruan Lanihorne (Cornwall) until 2nd also. A further bird was reported in the afternoon of 30th in Ireland over Toormore (Co.Cork). No reports this week from Shropshire, but I bet the adult American Night Heron is still at or near Dingle Gardens…
The presumed plastic, suspiciously coloured and damaged-winged White Stork remained this week until 1st in Norfolk at Long Stratton, with another seen on 2nd in a ploughed field at Herne Common (Kent) and one on 3rd over Littlehampton (West Sussex).
Meh.
Moving swiftly on, the resident adult Glossy Ibis was seen once more this week on the Somerset Levels, at Meare Heath NR on 28th and Ham Wall RSPB on 30th and again on 3rd; one was again at Fremington Quay (Devon) on 2nd, and another was reported on 2nd over Aberkenfig (Glamorgan).
Last week’s glut of Cattle Egrets continued to offer plenty of opportunities to bump into one or two this week, not least at Marshside RSPB (Lancashire) where five birds remained present until 1st. Elsewhere, settled parties included duos off and on all week at Chew Valley Lake (Somerset) and Abbotsbury (Dorset), three in Lincolnshire at Saltfleetby St Clement dropping to two there on 1st, and one at Hayle (Cornwall) rising to two there from 30th to the week’s end.
Further sightings from familiar sites came from Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB (Cheshire) still on 27th-3rd; South Huish Marsh (Devon) on 29th-30th; two birds at Meare Heath NR (Somerset) on 29th; Longham (Dorset) on 30th-1st, and Stiffkey (Norfolk) again on 30th-3rd; and Wat Tyler CP (Essex) again on 1st-2nd. Elsewhere, single birds were noted in Christchurch Harbour (Dorset) and at Gorey (Co.Wexford) on 30th; on 1st-2nd at Hengistbury Head (Dorset), and on 1st on the Plym Estuary (Devon), and reported from Poolsbrook CP (Derbyshire). On 2nd two were at Penhill Marsh (Devon) while on 3rd three were at Cornwall’s Drift reservoir.
Dispersing birds also penetrated further north this week, with two Scottish sightings particularly notable – single birds were seen at Dunkeld (Perth and Kinross) on 28th, and Prora (Lothian) on 29th-30th.
Returning to Somerset’s Chew Valley Lake we find the cream of this week’s crop of Great White Egret sightings – a peak count on 1st of 20 birds, rather overshadowing other decent tallies of fourteen at Dungeness (Kent) on 3rd, and seven in the evening roost at Rutland Water (Leicestershire) on 29th-2nd. In all, some 90 birds were recorded nationally in the course of the week from some 25 counties, representing a modest increase on the preceding week both in volume and geographic spread.
There was, however, a discernible contraction in sightings of Spoonbills - down to some 75 birds in all, with the peak count (of 20 birds on 29th) from Arne RSPB (Dorset) a shadow of the previous week’s mighty 56 birds. Stiffkey (Norfolk) threatened to take the week’s Spoonbill crown with 16 birds noted there on 30th. Elsewhere birds were scattered across southern England from Nofolk in the east to Ruan Lanihorne (Cornwall) in the west.
Both of the settled Spotted Crakes remained into another week at Doonfoot (Ayrshire) and Hornchurch (London), present at those sites respectively until 29th September and 2nd October. A further bird was seen on 29th at Rutland Water (Leicestershire) while, on 30th, last week’s bird was seen again at Beddington sewage farm (London). A probable was reported on 3rd from St Mary’s (Scilly) at Lower Moors – if that turned out to be a Sora I wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised.
Four migrant Corncrakes were stumbled across in recent days – two in Shetland, on Fair Isle on 27th and at Fladdbister on 30th; and on 28th on Sanday (Orkney) and Walney (Cumbria).
The Common Crane remained at Loch of Hillwell (Shetland) until 3rd and on 3rd another was on North Uist (Western Isles) at Berneray while, in the more traditional haunts of Norfolk, 25 birds were noted on 1st at Welney WWT with 29 there the following day, and 18 noted at Horsey on 2nd also.
Orkney kicks off our dabble in the murky waters of the rare wildfowl duckpond this week with a couple of notable goose sightings of varying provenance on 29th – a metal-ringed Lesser White-fronted Goose at Finstown perhaps owing its origin to the Swedish reintroduction scheme; and a Red-breasted Goose near Kirkwall on 29th-30th with Greylag Geese being presumed, in the absence of incriminating jewellery, of wilder stock still.
American Wigeons featured strongly again this week, with two drakes still on North Uist at Ailodair (Western Isles) on 27th-3rd and further drakes that day on North Uist at Oban Trumisgatry and on Walney (Cumbria) still; the Rutland Water (Leicestershire) eclipse drake hung around until 3rd, and on 29th the juvenile drake was again seen on Loch Gilp (Argyll & Bute).
A drake Green-winged Teal was on North Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 1st, with another eclipse drake found at Carsington Water (Derbyshire) on 1st-3rd, while that other winter staple, a Ring-necked Duck was seen on 28th-3rd at Loch a’ Phuill on Tiree (Argyll & Bute).
The queen King Eider remained in Wales on 1st at Ynyslas (Ceredigion).
Arguably the best bits of seawatching all week came in the form of a female or juvenile drake Surf Scoter seen passing Bridges of Ross (Co.Clare) on 1st and a drake that passed Pendeen (Cornwall) on 3rd. A drake was in Lothian at Musselburgh Lagoons on 30th-3rd, while another drake was seen in Angus in Lunan Bay on 30th, and a further drake was in the Sound of Taransay (Western Isles) on 3rd.
Interesting waders continued to be a significant feature of our bird news this week, with settled rarities augmented by some new arrivals as the days unfolded. Top of the new arrival class was, of course, the Shetland Upland Sandpiper but, had the initial report only firmed up, this might have been joined by a Solitary Sandpiper reported briefly in the early morning before, thoughtlessly, flying off from Walmsley Sanctuary (Cornwall) on 27th.
In Dorset the juvenile Stilt Sandpiper remained, more or less, settled at Arne RSPB with just the occasional foray to Lytchett Fields RSPB – it stuck around until 3rd.
Over in Ireland, meanwhile, the adult Semipalmated Plover remained on Achill Island (Co.Mayo) until 30th, while the juvenile Hudsonian Whimbrel was seen again at Easkey (Co.Sligo) on 2nd.
Returning to sandpipers, and sticking with Ireland for a bit, a juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper was at Clogheen Marsh (Co.Cork) on 28th-1st while adult Baird’s Sandpiper sightings came from Co.Kerry’s Black Rock and Carrahane Strand on 27th and 29th.
Buff-breasted Sandpipers fell away this week with the highlight being three settled juveniles at Davidstow airfield (Cornwall) until 2nd with one there still on 3rd, while Baleshare on North Uist (Western Isles) had shed some of the flock it had formerly held, with just two birds still seen there on 29th-30th. A further bird was seen at Sligo (Co.Sligo) on 1st and one was seen on Portland (Dorset) on 3rd over Culverwell.
The two Pectoral Sandpipers remained at Pulborough Brooks RSPB (West Sussex) until 29th, with the Moor Green Lakes LNR (Berkshire) individual even more settled still, hanging on there until 2nd. Further single birds remained at Potter Heigham (Norfolk) on 27th; Minsmere RSPB (Suffolk) on 27th-30th; and Abberton reservoir (Essex) on 29th-3rd. Freshly minted arrivals were found on 27th on South Uist at West Gerinish (Western Isles); on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 28th-3rd; at Pilmore (Co.Cork) on 30th-2nd; at Frampton Marsh RSPB (Lincolnshire) and Hatfield Moors NNR (South Yorkshire) on 30th; on 30th-1st at Tacumshin (Co.Wexford); on 1st at Salford Priors GPs (Warwickshire); on 3rd on the Fleet (Dorset); and a further possible bird reported on 2nd on the River Teign (Devon) at Passage House Inn.
The Spotted Sandpiper remained at Crowdy reservoir (Cornwall) until 30th, while the Dorset bird stayed at Abbotsbury until 3rd.
A Temminck’s Stint was found in Kent at Dungeness RSPB on 1st, while in the north of the county the adult Long-billed Dowitcher was once more at Oare Marshes KWT until 3rd, as was the juvenile in Lincolnshire at Saltfleet until 2nd. Other Long-billed Dowitchers were seen this week at Termoncarragh Lough (Co.Mayo) again on 27th, while Co.Wexford contributed a juvenile at Tacumshin on 1st and an adult at Bannow Bay on 2nd.
Ireland also provided the lion’s share of Lesser Yellowlegs with birds noted at Termoncarragh Lough again on 27th, at Cross Lough (Co.Mayo) on 27th also, and on Cape Clear (Co.Cork) on 1st-3rd, being trapped and ringed on the last date. Meanwhile in Scotland one remained on The Lurgies on the Montrose Basin (Angus) until 2nd.
American Golden Plovers just broke into double figures this week with ten birds recorded, all but one of which were silvery juveniles – the exception being the adult seen at Myroe (Co.Derry) again on 1st. The sole English birds this week were on St Mary’s (Scilly) still until 2nd, and Sennen (Cornwall) still until 3rd. Wales had a single bird at Morfa Dinlle (Gwynedd) on 30th-3rd. Scottish birds were logged on South Uist at West Gerinish on 27th-30th and on North Uist’s Baleshare (Western Isles) again on 29th, on Tiree at Loch a’ Phuill (Argyll & Bute) on 28th and on Shetland at Eshaness on 3rd. Finally back to Ireland where we have birds seen at Ballycotton (Co.Cork) on 28th and Carrahane Strand (Co.Kerry) on 2nd-3rd.
A Dotterel remained settle at Sennen Cove (Cornwall) until 1st, with further birds comprising one at Filey (North Yorkshire) on 28th and a duo on Anglesey at South Stack RSPB on 30th-1st.
Kent produced a Wilson’s Phalarope at Oare Marshes KWT on 3rd – only the sixth record of this gorgeous American shorebird in the county, and the first since 2010’s long-staying bird at Grove Ferry NNR.
Two of last week’s Red-necked Phalaropes began the new week still with us, at Grafham Water (Cambridgeshire) still on 27th and at Fail (Ayrshire) until 29th. Two more individuals were noted on 28th, on Skomer (Pembrokeshire) and Pennington Marshes (Hampshire).
Some 80 Grey Phalaropes were seen this week, the small uplift doubtless reflecting the westerly winds shoving these consummate pelagic phalaropes closer to land – both of the week’s peak counts came from Irish waters, being 30 birds seen between Inishbofin and Inishturk (Co.Galway) on 30th and 20 logged off Kilcummin Head (Co.Mayo) on 2nd. One had made it into the North Sea by the latter date, being seen from Flamborough Head (East Yorkshire) that day.
Back up in Shetland the putative longipes form of Oystercatcher remained a compelling attraction for birders this week at Sandwick – probably raising as many questions about how often, hand on heart, we actually look closely at every bird in a flock of Oystercatchers as those posed about this particular bird’s (sub)specific identification features.
Numbers of interesting gulls and terns were pretty thin on the ground this week – a situation that, once I’m knee deep in white-wingers in a couple of months’ time, I will look back on fondly. But, for now, they won’t delay us for long as we head keenly towards the passerines…
Sabine’s Gulls provided us with the pick of the action, albeit not involving many birds: the juvenile on Bardsey (Gwynedd) remained there until 27th while September’s other sightings came from the Scillonian on 28th and Gunton (Suffolk) on 30th. October began with one seen from Bridges of Ross (Co.Clare) on 1st before, on 2nd, we began a modest surge of sightings with four birds noted in Broadford Bay on Skye (Highland). Further birds were logged that day at Winterton-on-Sea (Norfolk) and a duo from Pendeen (Cornwall); and off Brandon Point (Co.Kerry), with a trio from Kilcummin Head (Co.Mayo). On 3rd two were seen off Hoylake (Cheshire).
The adult Bonaparte’s Gull was seen again in Devon at Dawlish Warren NNR on 1st.
A second-winter Ring-billed Gull was seen this week in Wales at Ynys-Hir RSPB (Ceredigion) on 28th, with adults noted at Great Cressingham (Norfolk) on 29th and Black Rock (Co.Louth) on 30th.
Unst (Shetland) claimed a juvenile Glaucous Gull again on 27th at Skaw, while a second-winter bird was seen on South Uist (Western Isles) at North Bay on 1st and the second-winter was still in Dunnet Bay (Highland) on 3rd. It fell to Co.Durham to provide the week’s Iceland Gulls, in the form of an adult off Ryhope on 28th, and an immature off Whitburn on 29th. Orkney meanwhile provided us with our first Kumlien’s Gull in months, a juvenile on 3rd on Sanday.
The adult White-winged Black Tern remained around Bamburgh (Northumberland) until 2nd this week.
There have been a couple of candidates reported in recent years for Cheshire’s first Pallid Harrier but, at the time of writing, none of these have made the formally-accepted grade – one in 2012 was almost immediately reappraised as a Hen Harrier, while a flyover in 2015 was all-too-brief.
This week’s female Pallid Harrier at Burton Marsh will, therefore, have been extremely popular indeed with birders in the north-west, many of whom will have seen their first examples long ago, possibly on annual pilgrimages to the northern isles, but may have wondered when, if ever, one would turn up closer to home. Increasing numbers of this once mythical vagrant in recent years will have given succour to those dreams but, as every birder knows, longing hard for a bird to turn up rarely works, no matter how impeccable the underlying logic might be.
(You should try writing the RBA weekly predictions – I’ve been hanging out for another Tengmalm’s Owl ever since I started writing these things – and look how well that particular wishful thinking has turned out…)
This hotly anticipated Pallid Harrier was first found at Burton Marsh at the tail end of the last week, on 26th, and remained present during the current week until 2nd – proving an agreeable identification challenge as the possibility of Hen Harrier or a hybrid between the two species was chewed over. A further female was reported briefly in the morning of 30th in Flintshire at Connah’s Quay.
p>The last days of September saw a further trickle of Honey Buzzards moving through, with two seen from Bockhill Farm (Kent) on 27th, with a single that day on Holy Island (Northumberland); singles over Bough Beech reservoir (Kent) and Minsmere RSPB (Suffolk) on 28th, with a further probable bird that day over Edinburgh (Lothian); and on 29th one over Swalecliffe (Kent), with a further probable bird the following day at Fleet (Hampshire). One was reported on 1st over Hemingby (Lincolnshire). Another was seen on 3rd over Birling Gap (East Sussex).Finally, we return to Ireland where the adult female Snowy Owl was still in Co.Mayo on Tarmon Hill until 28th at least.
As seems to becoming a something of a habit lately, we have yet another what-if bird to briefly speculate upon before moving onto more concrete matters entirely – so we start the passerines with the possible Orphean Warbler sp reported from Hartlepool Headland on 27th. Seen in flight. And not again, so that’s unfortunately that, and we move swiftly onwards with some more substantial warblers…
Starting in Shetland where, on 1st, a Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler was a tremendous find in deteriorating weather conditions at South Collafirth. In what’s becoming a depressingly familiar story where skulking locustellas are concerned lately, stories emerged that, after the initial well-behaved twitch had subsided, later arriving birders displayed rather less field craft in pursuit of seeing the bird…
Two Booted Warblers were found this week – one in Wales at Rhossili (Glamorgan) on 29th-30th, and one up on Foula (Shetland) on 28th-1st.
A Paddyfield Warbler was found on St Abb’s Head (Borders) on 28th – St Abb’s Head having a good autumn so far this year on the back of the recent Western Bonelli’s Warbler there.
A Blyth’s Reed Warbler was found on North Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 29th. The same island hosted a Marsh Warbler on 28th-30th, with further examples found on Fair Isle (Shetland) on 30th-1st and a probable at Walls (Shetland) on 2nd; on 30th one was on St Agnes (Scilly).
Greenish Warblers were roughly neck and neck for numbers with Arctics this week, beginning with one singing in Belle Tout Wood at Beachy Head (East Sussex) on 27th. A further bird was confirmed on the basis of a sound recording at Red Rocks (Cheshire) on 30th, while Shetland sightings came from Eshaness on 1st and Fetlar on 2nd. Arctic Warblers were noted at Kilnsea (East Yorkshire) on 27th-28th and on the Isle of May (Fife) still on 27th, with a probable bird at Swining (Shetland) and a definite individual at Whitburn CP (Co.Durham) on 3rd.
A Dusky Warbler was trapped and ringed on 27th at a private site in East Yorkshire at Withernsea, while a Radde’s Warbler was trapped and ringed that day at Orford Ness (Suffolk); a further Radde’s was in Suffolk at Bawdsey on 29th-30th whilst one was found dead beneath a school window at Sandwick (Shetland) on 29th.
Numbers of Yellow-browed Warblers recorded this week stayed fairly constant with last week, in the region of 600 birds in all, but with a noticeable drop in new sightings as the westerly airflow slowed down their arrival. They’re probably backing up even as we speak on the Continent, ready to crash over us in a sweet-calling wave at the first chance…My favourite sighting of the current week being the bird found inland in Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire) at the MK Shopping Centre – “just SW of market stalls”. Have market traders ever been used as bird directions before?
Barred Warblers remained relatively thin on the ground this week, with daily sightings coming in no great numbers as the week wore on. A probable at Hartlepool Headland (Cleveland) on 27th wasn’t the only questionable warbler there that day; others were seen on 27th at Girdle Ness (Aberdeenshire) still; on Fair Isle and Whalsay (Shetland); and at Kilminning Castle (Fife), the latter remaining there until 3rd. On 28th two birds were on Out Skerries (Shetland) with a singleton on Sumburgh and one until 2nd at Northdale on Unst; in Orkney birds were on Sanday and North Ronaldsay on 28th-2nd; and at Skateraw (Lothian) and Great Ormes Head (Conwy). The 29th marked the arrival of one on Scilly on Bryher, with another back in Scotland at Skirza (Highland). By 30th one was on Cape Clear (Co.Cork), with further birds found at Saltfleetby (Lincolnshire), Ryhope (Co.Durham), Newbiggin (Northumberland) and back on Shetland at Swinister; the Ryhope and Newbiggin birds remained until 1st. Staying in Shetland further birds were found on Fetlar on 1st and at Melby on 2nd. On 3rd one was at Hornsea Mere (East Yorkshire).
An Icterine Warbler was on Hook Head (Co.Wexford) on 28th, with one re-trapped at Nanjizal (Cornwall) on 30th. Meanwhile a Melodious Warbler was found on Skokholm (Pembrokeshire) on 28th-3rd, with another at Porthgwarra (Cornwall) on 29th-30th.
Pipits of various kinds were very much a feature of the week, not least being the popular Red-throated Pipit found at Landguard NR (Suffolk) on 27th-30th, with another on Fair Isle (Shetland) on 27th-3rd. A possible went over Salthouse (Norfolk) on 27th, with one present at Skaw on Unst (Shetland) on 30th-3rd.
A Pechora Pipit was on Foula (Shetland) on 27th, precursor to a good week on the island…
Olive-backed Pipits appeared in fair numbers in the east and north – one on Fair Isle on 27th had risen to two birds on 30th; one was on Blakeney Point (Norfolk) on 27th, with one on 27th-28th on the Isle of May (Fife); two birds were on North Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 28th-29th with one still there on 1st; on 30th birds were found at Spurn (East Yorkshire), Sanday (Orkney) and, on Shetland, at Quendale, Bousta, and the Dale of Walls – the latter bird still present on 2nd. On 3rd one was in Shetland at Easter Skeld, with another that day at Kergord.
Three Richard’s Pipits were logged this week – one at Orford Ness (Suffolk) on 28th; one in Norfolk at Belton Marshes on 1st; and another in Devon at Orcombe Point on 2nd-3rd.
A probable Citrine Wagtail on 27th at Llanrhystud (Ceredigion) was followed, on 2nd, by a definite bird in Kent at Swalecliffe.
A scattering of Bluethroats were the exclusive property of Shetland this week: at Hagdale on Unst, Fair Isle, and Quendale on 27th; at Walls on 30th-2nd; at Gloup on Yell on 1st; at Saxa Vord on Unst on 2nd; and at Sumburgh on 3rd.
A male Eastern Black Redstart reported at Dale of Walls (Shetland) on 30th could not be relocated there the following day, though a male Redstart was found there instead. Two bird theory, anyone?
A first-winter male Siberian Stonechat was at Nanjizal Valley (Cornwall) on 28th.
Some 25 Red-breasted Flycatchers were seen in the course of the week, with the majority of these being in Shetland. While most involved single birds, there were three at Dale of Walls on 2nd, and duos at Sumburgh on 27th and on Fair Isle on 27th-28th.
It was probably about time Shetland landed its first Isabelline Shrike of the autumn, so one on 29th on Foula on 29th wasn’t entirely a surprise. That there were two birds there on 30th was more noteworthy – but that this appeared to be up to three birds on 1st was remarkable, with at least two still present there on 3rd. A further probable bird was seen on the Shetland mainland at Lunna briefly on 2nd.
A handful of Great Grey Shrikes also put in an appearance on Shetland this week – on Whalsay on 27th-30th; on Fair Isle on 27th-29th; at Grutness on 28th-1st; and at Dale of Walls on 30th-3rd.
Red-backed Shrikes were, predictably, more numerous, though only slightly so – single birds remained on 27th at Filey and Robin Hood’s Bay (North Yorkshire), and Girdle Ness (Aberdeenshire), the latter still present on 1st, with new birds on 27th seen at Felixstowe Ferry (Suffolk), Blakeney Point (Norfolk), and Easington (East Yorkshire) – the latter remaining until 3rd. On 28th one had penetrated west to Tresco (Scilly), while on Shetland on 30th birds were found at Fladdabister and Burravoe on Yell, the former bird remaining until 1st. On 1st-3rd one was at Youghal (Co.Cork). On 3rd one was at Wembury (Devon).
The juvenile Rose-coloured Starling remained at Easington (East Yorkshire) until 3rd.
Into more colourful fare, the 16th record of Roller for the Highlands was found by a surveyor at Balnakeil this week, remaining intermittently on and around the golf course there from 29th-3rd.
The three Bee-eaters stuck around on Tresco (Scilly) until 3rd, while we enjoyed a busy week for Hoopoes, particularly in Pembrokeshire with birds reported from Marloes Mere on 28th, Wooltack Point on 30th-3rd, and Martin’s Haven on 1st-3rd. Another Welsh sighting came from Ferryside (Carmarthenshire) on 28th-29th. Other birds were on Shapinsay (Orkney) on 27th; Southwell on Portland (Dorset) again on 28th, with one seen in Weymouth on 29th; and on 1st at Watergrasshill (Co.Cork) and Spring Vale (Isle of Wight).
An Alpine Swift was seen coming in off the sea at Kingsdown (Kent) in the afternoon of 1st.
Twenty five Wrynecks this week represented a good scatter right across the country, from Shetland in the north to Scilly in the far south west, and from Kent in the south-east to Ireland’s Valentia Island in Co.Kerry in the west. Many of these cryptic birds are, doubtless, overlooked inland at this time of year.
Speaking of birds likely to pass unnoticed except by the keen-eyed birder, Shetland notched up a couple of Short-toed Larks this week – on Out Skerries on 27th and at Aith on 1st-2nd.
After elevation to the headlines last week, it feels a little churlish to be relegating a Red-eyed Vireo this week back down into the main body of news but, heyho, it’s in good company in such a stellar week with Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler too. It is, if you will, the jammie dodger to enjoy with your PG Tips… But yes, another week, another Red-eyed Vireo - again on Scilly, again on St Agnes, on 30th-1st, with another found on Mizen Head (Co.Cork) on 3rd. Would you bet against another in the coming days? Or even a Philadelphia? I certainly wouldn’t.
If anything typified the general lack of eastern migrants and, with them, vagrants this week it was probably the overall paucity of Common Rosefinches - we’re usually beating them off with a stick by this stage of autumn proceedings, but it was generally rather quiet on that front in the past few days – one remained at Murcar (Aberdeenshire) on 27th still, with another on 27th-29th on North Ronaldsay (Orkney); on 28th birds were at Shuart (Kent) and Burniston (North Yorkshire); and on 29th birds were found at Newbiggin (Northumberland) and on Unst at Baltasound, with presumably the same latter bird seen on 2nd at nearby Halligarth; and staying in Shetland, on 1st one was seen at Ronas Voe.
Slightly out of leftfield as the week closed was a small arrival of Parrot Crossbills in Shetland suggesting, perhaps, that the wind had come from rather a closer Scandinavian origin than deep in the Urals. What began as four birds at Baltasound on Unst on 2nd grew the following day, with six birds present. Eight birds were at Sand on 3rd, with two in Kergord and a further three in Lerwick itself providing welcome lunchtime distractions for deskbound local birders.
Meanwhile, what Shetland lacked in Common Rosefinches the islands certainly made up for in Little Buntings this week – 40 birds were seen nationally, with fully three quarters of those being in Shetland. While many of these records comprised single birds, there were a fair few duos at some sites, and even some trios – three on North Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 29th, and three on Unst at Baliasta (Shetland) on 2nd.
Their scarcer brethren, Rustic Buntings were represented too – North Ronaldsay sported one on 29th-30th; and in Shetland birds were seen on Foula on 29th-1st, Dale of Walls on 30th-1st, Cunningbsurgh on 30th-1st, and at Melby on 30th-2nd.
Last, but not least, we return to North Ron one last time this week for an Ortolan Bunting there on 28th.
It was, with absolutely no doubt whatsoever, Corvo’s week in the Western Palearctic this week. Peter Stronach, the Highland county bird recorder, usually decamps to Whalsay (Shetland) around about now – but this year, having taken one look at the weather forecast, he spurned Whalsay’s considerable charms. This proved to be not a bad decision at all…
27th September will be a day Peter won’t forget in a hurry, for Corvo produced Philadelphia Vireo, Common Yellowthroat, Ovenbird, Black-throated Green Warbler and the Western Palearctic’s fifth ever Canada Warbler.
As the week wore on, the birds kept on coming to Corvo – on 29th visiting birders could enjoy two Rough-legged Hawks, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and a Solitary Sandpiper. On 1st things went properly hyper with a stonking Black-throated Blue Warbler, followed on 2nd by not one but two Northern Waterthrushes. A Belted Kingfisher on 3rd rounded the week off rather nicely.
Not too shabby!
Meanwhile, on Terceira the drake Redhead remained at Paul de Praia all week.
The 27th was all about the raptors in Holland, with Black-shouldered Kite at Dannemeer and an Eastern Imperial Eagle at Maashorst. The latter (or another bird) was seen on 3rd at Hasselt.
On 29th Spain got in on the American vibe with a Red-eyed Vireo trapped and ringed on Ons island, while the same day saw a White’s Thrush found in Finland at Ivalo. And to think I thought we’d have had one of those by now…
In Denmark, meanwhile, an Eleonora’s Falcon was at Blavands Huk on 29th.
The presence of 19 Red-footed Boobies ‘recently’ on Raso (Cape Verde) conjures memories of the recent, ill-fated record from the English south coast. When, if ever, will we see another one – and will it be in happier circumstances for bird and birders alike?
Back in Spain on 3rd an Elegant Tern was noted in Cadiz at Chipiona.
So, here we are, in the first week of October and at the pointy end of the autumn. From here on, for the next three weeks or so, the potential for some really juicy birding is immense.
Featuring what is, statistically, just about the busiest day of the rarity-finding year – the mythical October 10th, home to a glittering array of rarities including some firsts for Britain and Ireland.
A quick canter through the daily highlights of the past, from east and west, gives you some idea of what we’re talking about…
October 4th - Blue-winged Warbler, Cape Clear (Co.Cork), 2000. Grey Catbird, South Stack (Anglesey), 2001. Little Bustard, Ringasta (Shetland), 1998.
October 5th - Rufous Bush Chat, Flamborough (East Yorkshire), 1972. Eastern Kingbird, Inishmore (Co.Galway), 2012.
October 6th - Thick-billed Warbler, Fair Isle (Shetland), 1955. Green Heron, Heligan (Cornwall), 2010. Scarlet Tanager, Barra (Western Isles), 2014.
October 7th - Wood Thrush, St Agnes (Scilly), 1987. Blackburnian Warbler, Fair Isle (Shetland), 1988. Short-toed Eagle, St Agnes et al (Scilly), 1999.
October 8th - Canada Warbler, Kilbaha (Co.Clare), 2006. Alder Flycatcher, Nanjizal (Cornwall), 2008.
October 9th - Siberian Rubythroat, Fair Isle (Shetland), 1975. Indigo Bunting, Cape Clear (Co.Cork), 1985.
October 10th - Cliff Swallow, St Agnes & St Mary’s (Scilly), 1983. Philadelphia Vireo, Tresco (Scilly), 1987. Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler, Scalloway (Shetland), 2014.
I don’t think any of us would be complaining about a repeat showing of any of the above this coming week… Or something new and different altogether. We’re not fussy, and it’s surely about time a Black-throated Green Warbler finally put in an appearance…
4 October 2017
Share this story
