Weekly birding round-up: 17 - 23 May 2017
Well that was a curious week.
The weather got itself into a right old pickle as fronts twisted and turned in on themselves ~ the warm air being sucked up from a fair way south gave way to a much fresher feel ahead of the weekend before warmer and further variable conditions trundled on towards us as the review week ground to a halt.
The warmth and muggy humidity of the end of the previous roundup period held on in to Wednesday, temperatures rising to 23-24 degrees in places as the sun peeped out from a high shroud of grey cloud. Fresher (and wetter, for some) weather followed along as a low pressure system skirted along the eastern side of the country, depositing rain across North Sea coasts during Friday (coming along after a glorious sunny day 24 hours earlier), temperatures falling to barely double figures in the process.
Elsewhere, showers appeared in many places, localised and hard to track as weak highs and modest low pressures tried to dominate ~ as the meteorological battle rumbled on, the weather was, predictably, something of a mixed bag because of it.
Sunshine and showers was very much the order of the day for a lot of the week that followed ~ winds wobbled around all over the shop and it was all becoming a little bit frustrating.
Arguably the birding was on the frustrating side too, no “classic” May weather meant no “classic” mid to late May big rares either and it was one of the quietest weeks for quite some while…
Hopes rose this week for all those who weren’t old enough to sit out on the Saito promontory at Hermaness or take the boat to Sula Sgeir or be in the right place at the right time last autumn when a (largely unconfirmed) report came of last week’s adult Black-browed Albatross being seen once again from the East Yorkshire cliffs at the Bempton RSPB reserve on 18th.
There was a little confusion at first as to the time the bird had been seen but it was sometime between around half seven to half eight in the morning and the accounts quoted gave folk the collywobbles ~ and those doubts were generated (and enhanced) when news of the return of the Albatross to the German island of Sylt popped up on the pager later the same day (the bird noted there in the late afternoon, German time, so a hour ahead of us).
What followed next equated to one of those horrible maths puzzles from the grimmest years at school.
“If an albatross leaves the Yorkshire coast and flies at a constant 50 miles an hour, how long will it take, with a west wind up its tail, to get back to the favoured German islet?”.
Fortunately with my Grade 3 CSE Maths (thanks for that Mr Page and Mrs Taylor, you did you’re best I know) others online were on hand with all the variables and the answers ~ some saying that such transit across the North Sea either wasn’t possible or it was (funny that).
It does seem like a stretch of the imagination to have a Black-browed Albatross fly the best part of 350 miles across the North Sea from Bempton to Sylt in around five to seven hours but we all know that these are supreme fliers and if it wanted to get a wriggle on, then it could do so, should it so wish. And this bird in particular pays no attention to (our perceived) convention of what it should do.
But on a largely docile day in the North Sea, would a bird be bothered to test out how just how fast it could fly between Britain to Germany with a light west wind to aid transit?
It feels as though the possibilities of a single rapid North Sea crossing from Point A to Point B are higher than there being two adult Black-browed Albatrosses in the North Sea at the moment, stranger things have happened and all that, but the cynic would suggest a third obvious option, which I really don’t think you need me to spell out for you...
…to those who took to the seas off Bempton later on 18th, fair play for having the nowse to find a boat to take them to take a look at the (largely unviewable from land) gannetries along the coast ~ they may have gone away empty handed this time, but there’s more every likelihood that the next trip to Bempton that this avian wanderluster undertakes may see a longer stopover in the area ~ a heck of a lot of people could go away happy if it did…after all this is a vagrant species with a track record for nosing around, looking for the next place to try its luck for love…
Blimey ~ it just goes to show what a quiet week it has actually been when a bird that has been around for a couple of months comes along so quickly ~ but that’s where we find ourselves, so thank goodness for the male Pied-billed Grebe that remained at Loch Feorlin, near Minard (Argyll & Bute) to 22nd.
It won’t come as to much of a surprise to hear this week of a breeding pair of Cattle Egrets in the country ~ it has been such a spectacular winter for them that it felt almost guaranteed that some would settle down and find a location to their liking ~ well, this week saw the confirmation of at least one breeding pair at the RSPB reserve at Burton Mere Wetlands in Cheshire.
Up to six birds are still on site and one nest is viewable from a couple of hides around the reserve. Fingers crossed all goes well and that this will be the first of many breeding pairs here this year ~ Britain’s first breeding pair were found in Somerset and they followed a similarly large invasion during the winter of 2007/’08.
Ahead of the weekend, the only White-billed Divers reported were the single summer dressed bird that appeared at Pierowall, Westray (Orkney) on 18th (remaining to 21st) with a further Orcadian bird again off North Ronaldsay on 19th with the same date seeing the week’s third seen off Port Skigertsa, Lewis (Outer Hebrides).
The most striking record for the species this week was the White-billed Diver that was reported from a couple of miles offshore of Lamorna Cove (Cornwall), seen from Mermaid II on 18th. Still a very rare visitor to the far southwest, there have been around 10 records for Cornwall to date with one previous report for the month ~ one seen off Pendennis Point on May 8th 2014.
A few adult Long-tailed Skuas drifted through North Uist at the start of the week, five seen through the day off Aird an Runair, Balranald RSPB on 17th and a lone bird was noted there the next day. A mini-rush occurred on 22nd with 26 birds counted off Aird an Runair and five followed the next day.
The weather didn’t help fans of Pomarine Skuas ~ only 26birds noted nationally this week, with seven from Cape Clear Island (Co. Cork) on 17th the only figure really worth mentioning. Low single digits were recorded in seven other counties, from East Sussex to Shetland.
The first Balearic Shearwaters of the week were two that headed by Portland Bill (Dorset) on 20th. And that was it…
Returning for another summer on the Somerset Levels was the singing male Little Bittern that was heard and seen from 18th-23rd ~ up to four singing males have been noted here (that peak was reached in 2014) and there have been noted around the Levels pretty much every year since 2009.
On the Isles of Scilly, the female Little Bittern was still hanging out on Lower Moors, St. Mary’s through until at least 20th ~ this 21st for the islands has now broken the long-stay record for the species on Scilly; a pair stayed around Porth Hellick and Lower Moors for 28 days in May-June 2009, so this obliging, showy bird has made her own little bit of history this week by going three days extra beyond that.
Whether the adult Night Heron that spent a short time in the pines at Porth Hellick on 17th was the bird seen recently at Lower Moors is pure guesswork but, either way, it was rather fine (and it was seen again on 19th and 22nd) ~ then three followed along on 23rd (one at Porth Hellick, two near Carn Friars). Also still looking rather fine was the unusually confiding adult that remained a ‘togs favourite at Dingle Gardens, Shrewsbury (Shropshire) through until 23rd.
Two of last week’s adult Purple Herons stayed in place for a few more days in to this week as well; still at Probus, near Tresillian (Cornwall) to 20th and in south Wales, at Kenfig Pools NNR (Glamorgan) to 21st. New was the bird seen to fly in off the sea at Cley (Norfolk) on 22nd, heading south from the beach, over the village and in to the Glaven Valley and a second for the day was at Land’s End (Cornwall).
There was a significant drop, of nearly 50%, in terms of Cattle Egret records this week, down from 51 to 27 birds through the last seven days, seen in 12 English, Welsh and Irish counties.
As has been the case for months, the southwest of England still held the most birds, 12 noted with a minimum eight at Meare Heath (Somerset) on 18th the largest count of the week. Two birds at Marazion on 17th were the first reports in the Cornwall since the end of April. The region’s other birds were the singles at Aveton Gifford (Devon) on 19th and Christchurch (Dorset) on 22nd. At least four birds remained in the Midlands, including two at Whitney-on-Wye (Herefordshire) on 20th-21st, three were in the northwest still and one was still between Butley and Boyton (Suffolk) for much of the week.
In Wales, five Cattle Egrets remained at Ynyslas (Ceredigion) through to 20th (with three on 21st) and a duo were still in Wexford, at Tacumshin on 21st.
Two old favourites kick off the Glossy Ibis news for the week; singletons still at Meare Heath (Somerset) and Lakenheath Fen RSPB reserve (Suffolk/Norfolk border) to 22nd and 23rd respectively. New this week was the Glossy Ibis that flew over the Old Moor RSPB reserve (South Yorkshire) and then North Cave Wetlands YWT (East Yorkshire) on 20th. The following day a roaming bird circled Attenborough Pits NR (Nottinghamshire) and this may well have been the one that showed up at Summer Leys NR (Northamptonshire) on 23rd.
Some 50 Spoonbills were noted this week, fairly widely spread around the country with a high count of nine at Potter Heigham Marshes (Norfolk) on 17th (with eight down at Berney Marshes RSPB on 19th). A single bird was on Anglesey for much of the week and threes were at the National Wetlands Centre WWT (Carmarthenshire) from 19th-21st and Loch of Strathbeg RSPB (Aberdeenshire) on 21st.
Great White Egrets rose by almost 20 to around 60 birds, logged from across much of the country with 12 on Meare Heath (Somerset) on 23rd easily being the highest count of the week. Groups of three were at Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB (Cheshire), Sheringham (Norfolk) on 20th, Foulshaw Moss (Cumbria) on 22nd and Upton Broad m& Marshes NWT (Norfolk) on 23rd while singles reached South Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 20th (the first since singles were reported in 2015 and 2010) and also Hermaness, Unst (Shetland) which, if accepted by the local records committee will also be the first since 2015 (when one was seen on Fair Isle).
It was slow going for Common Crane records for much of the week; singles started the proceedings at Haroldswick, Unst (Shetland) on 17th and Beverely (East Yorkshire) and Hiorstead (Norfolk) both on 18th. The first day of the weekend saw two birds noted at Otmoor RSPB (Oxfordshire) and a loner was by the River Idle in Nottinghamshire.
The weekend’s second day saw a flock of three Cranes noted over Cowpen Bewley and Billingham (Cleveland) before appearing over Fairburn Ings RSPB (West Yorkshire) a couple of hours later. A further two made their way from central to west Norfolk, seen at Sparham and Sculthorpe Moor before appearing at Holme on 21st with a Broadland quintet at Hickling the same day. Also on an increasingly sunny Sunday, four more Cranes were seen at Auchmithie (Angus) and a lone individual was at Rainham Marshes RSPB (London).
…White Storks? Two O.U.O were at Freston Hall (Suffolk) on 21st…while the same caveat is plonked on to the bird near Grimston Bar (North Yorkshire) on 22nd.
There was a little late news from Scotland at the start of the week, a drake Ring-necked Duck being seen at Loch Finlaggen, Islay (Argyll & Bute) on 16th-21st and the drake seen recently in the Highlands remained at Balnakeil to 21st as well.
A Scottish drake Green-winged Teal was on Sanday (Orkney) on 18th (and the North Ronaldsay bird was still around on 15th too).
The third rare duck in Scotland this week was the resident-ish drake Black Duck that remained at Strontian (Highland) through to 19th at least (though there was negative news on 21st).
…and the fourth was the drake King Eider reported again from the Ythan Estuary (Aberdeenshire) on 21st with the Highland drake seen at Whiteness Head on 23rd.
The Scottish dominance in all things rare and quacky continued with the discovery of a drake Lesser Scaup on Loch of Skene (Aberdeenshire) on 23rd while rounding things off was the Snow Goose (of unknown origin) was noted at Dunbar (Lothian) on 22nd.
Fair Isle’s stunning second-ever Collared Pratincole was still in and around the island, often at the Utra scrape, through until 18th ~ a few island listers braved the Good Shepherd IV and although some lost their breakfast they gained a massive Shetland tick in the process; Roger Riddington capturing a beautiful in-flight portrait for his troubles…
New for County Limerick was the county’s first-ever Long-billed Dowitcher, a nice summery bird found and photographed near Ringmoylan on 18th and, as is so often the case, this one was seen in the company of Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits. The bird departed to the east but didn’t reappear.
Also new in from the west this week was the adult Buff-breasted Sandpiper that arrived at Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB (Cheshire) on the morning of 19th ~ the first county record since July 2012 ~ and it remained to 21st. Two further new arrivals were noted on 21st, found at Tacumshin (Co. Wexford).
Staying with Nearctic shorebird offerings for a while longer and to Shetland where the adult Semipalmated Sandpiper was still along the beach at Haroldswick, Unst through until 19th. Inspection of images from Unst compared to last week’s Balnakeil bird strongly suggest that it was actually one in the same ~ the covert and scapular patterns bearing an uncanny likeness (so much so that they seem identical).
The two delightful adult summer Spotted Sandpipers that were uncovered last week both stayed for a couple of days in to the new review period; still at Belvide Reservoir (Staffordshire) to 18th and Buttermere (Cumbria) to 22nd.
After the best part of a month spent trying to collate the numbers of Black-winged Stilts seen each week, the events of the past seven days were rather easier to pull together; new on 17th was a single bird at Minsmere RSPB (Suffolk) ~ the first on site since May 2012 ~ and the same (white-headed) male then moved to Cley and Salthouse (Norfolk) on 18th, appearing high from the east before 6am on a glorious north coast day (and even if the Cley bird wasn’t the Minsmere bird, it was most certainly one of the trio noted recently at Potter Heigham.
Amazingly, this famous area of the birding nation only attracted its first Black-winged Stilt in June 2012 with the second arriving last May. Now comes the third. It is ironic to note the number of occurrences of Stilt records on this grand old lady of a reserve as other shorebird records drop like a stone; several sizeable seawater inundations are taking their toll as the deterioration in the quality of the scrapes, along with their overly high water levels, is plain to see. It will be interesting to see if and when the NWT powers that be actually grasp the nettle and do something beyond digging another deep channel or two around the scrapes here and there. Cley has been rusting like the battered hull of a great ocean going liner for a decade or more…and it isn’t pretty…
The northwest winds brought with them the inevitable (always welcome) first Red-necked Phalarope of the year when a female was found at Grindon Lough (Northumberland) on 18th, where she remained to 23rd ~ the same date seeing the appearance of the year’s second, on North Ronaldsay’s Gretchen Loch A(long with one of the species which follows next…).
Leftover Temminck’s Stints from last week kicked off the new review period on 17th, loners still in place at Cley Marshes NWT (Norfolk) and Martin Mere WWT (Lancashire) with two remaining at Musselburgh Lagoons (Lothian). Later the same day an impressive quartet were found at Saltholme Pools RSPB (Cleveland), with all four of them in place to 20th.
Twos on 18th were at Cley and also Frampton Marsh RSPB (Lincolnshire) while new on 19th was the lone bird at East Chevington NWT (Northumberland). Another singleton was seen near Flamborough head, on the Thornwick Pools on 20th-21st and then, later the same day, came the second foursome for the week, seen at Castle Island (Northumberland). Last but not least, another Norfolk bird was found at Potter Heigham Marshes on 23rd.
A trip of eight Dotterels began the new week still around the big fields at Choseley (Norfolk), proving as popular as ever with birders and photographers alike. Others on 17th which remained from last week included two at Colne Point (Essex) and singles at Balemore, North Uist (Outer Hebrides) and also Danby Beacon (North Yorkshire).
Three birds were logged around Shetland on 18th, one on the golf course on Whalsay and two on the landing strip on Fetlar while on the Hebrides, an additional bird was now at Balemore. A heard-only Irish bird was in Kerry’s Brandon Mountains on 20th.
The week’s only Pectoral Sandpiper was found in north Cornwall, at the Walmsley Sanctuary during the afternoon of 20th and it was still in place to 22nd.
Just a few days later than anticipated was the adult Caspian Tern which (almost inevitably) decided to make itself known at a particularly favoured old haunt, the mighty Hickling Broad in east Norfolk during the still-sultry morning of 17th.
Norfolk has a superb track record where this beast of a tern is concerned, 50 acceptances up until the end of 2015 (from an overall national total of 339) and last year a further two or three were added to Norfolk’s list after summer singles were seen at Snettisham, Breydon Water and also Hickling.
Hickling itself has now hosted the species in 13 different years since the first was seen on the Broad back in 1959, totalling 18 birds in all; twos being seen in 1973, 1987, 1988 and 1991 ~ only Breydon has fared better and many of the birds there have moved back and forth to Hickling anyway.
The Caspian Tern remained in the Broads until 20th, undertaking sorties to the impressive Potter Heigham Marshes where the bird started to settle more and more as the days went by.
The warm high that started to settle over the country on 23rd saw classic conditions set themselves up for a push of White-winged Black Terns in to the country, a flock of three arriving at Staines Reservoir (Surrey), comprising two adults and a first-summer.
A little more late news for you next and it concerned a Gull-billed Tern seen briefly at the Dungeness RSPB reserve (Kent) on the afternoon of 16th (news was known about on 18th). Interestingly, one was seen at the same site in May last year, that being the first county record since 2006.
Three 1st summer Bonaparte’s Gulls continued to make the news this week ~ the bird found along the Thames last week appeared at Rainham Marshes RSPB on 17th (departing upriver, it was back at Cross Ness on 19th-21st) while in Dorset, the popular bird at Longham Lakes was seen to 18th. Ireland’s rarely reported young bird was still at Kenmare (Co. Kerry) to 21st.
A new 1st summer Ring-billed Gull was found in north Cornwall on 17th, seen along the River Camel at Wadebridge. The same date saw the Welsh youngster logged again at Ynyslas (Cerdigion) and another 2cy bird was at Lurgangreen (Co. Louth) on 21st-22nd with the fourth of the week, and the same age as the others, was seen a Grutness, Mainland (Shetland) on 22nd.
The slightly surprising news of the juvenile Kumlien’s Gull in the Outer Hebrides last week (given the lack of Iceland Gulls around now) faded away a touch, unlike the bird itself, which remained at Rubha Ardvule, South Uist to 17th.
This particular May week saw 21 Iceland Gulls linger across 11 British and Irish counties, with 15 for Scotland, including seven still around the Outer Hebrides and three each for Orkney and Shetland. Five singles were in England, from Devon and Kent to East Yorkshire and Cumbria, while a lone bird was seen in Ireland, in Derry.
Also still dropping in number were Glaucous Gulls, 14 of which were seen this week, almost all of them in Scotland. Four were on the Hebrides, three were in Highland, Shetland and Moray recorded two each with one in Argyll & Bute. Singles elsewhere were seen in Glamorgan and North Yorkshire.
It all went quite on the East Anglian White-tailed Eagle front (or so it seemed) and the only bird noted ahead of the weekend was an adult that flew over Sellafirth, Yell (Shetland) on 18th. Norfolk’s youngster resurfaced again in Broadland on 21st, seen around Hickling, while back up north, one flew over Stromness, Mainland and then North Ronaldsay (Orkney) and the Yell adult was seen again too, all on 21st (the latter remained to 23rd).
The change from sultry southerlies to cooler northwesterlies ensured that there wasn’t a lot to report in terms of Red-footed Falcons ~ just one seen ahead of the weekend, a female noted at North Warren RSPB (Suffolk) from 17th-20th with what could have been the same bird seen later on 20th at Minsmere RSPB. Undeniably new was the male found at Tetney Lock RSPB (Lincolnshire) on 21st and two adult males arrived at Thorne Moors NNR (South Yorkshire) later the same day. The last birds of the week were a first-summer male reported at Hikcling Broad NWT (Norfolk) on 22nd and a female (the same female?) near Walberswick NNR (Suffolk) on 23rd.
Suffolk hosted what was presumably not the escaped, still-at-large Black Kite at Stoke-by-Nayland and Kirton on 17th and others followed on 18th at Rainham Marshes RSPB (London) and on the border of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, over Westonbirt Arboretum. Another report followed on 21st, one seen at Hurlstone Point (Somerset) and two were seen at Cranford Camp, near Mundford (Norfolk) on an increasingly busy 22nd. The final report of the week was at Lairg (Highland) on 23rd.
The adult female Montagu’s Harrier at Blacktoft Sands RSPB (East Yorkshire) seemed to be still on her lonesome throughout week (if only the Sunk Island male from last week could find her)…
Kent and Suffolk had even shares of the first four Honey Buzzards seen this week; the former saw birds arrive at Capel-le-Ferne on 17th and Dungeness on 18th while the latter county hosted two on 18th, over Minsmere and near Saxmundham.
Kent then went “one-up” when 19th brought the county’s third of the week at Deal and a changeable Saturday saw one head across Parting Carn, St. Mary’s (Scilly), another headed west over Boldon Flats NR (Co. Durham), the third of the day was the male seen at Verwood (Dorset) and the fourth was noted at Breydon Water RSPB (Norfolk). The latter county’s decent run of records continued on 21st, a Honey Buzzard seen circling over West Runton and the month’s great run continued the same day with singles over Arundel WWT (West Sussex), Titchfield Haven NNR (Hampshire) and Portland (Dorset), with further singles at Patching (West Sussex) on 22nd and Worth Marsh (Kent) on 23rd with two in the latter county, at Dover the same day.
Shetland slowly started to exert a bit of a meaty grip on the bird news as the weekend started to close, all the signs in place of something better than average (whatever that is these days) and a singing male Rustic Bunting at Baltasound, Unst on 21st was a strong indicator as to how the islands were picking up the pace. A second Shetland bird followed on 23rd, a first-summer bird found on Noss.
New on Fair Isle this week was a Red-throated Pipit that spent a couple of days around the croft at Shirva on 17th-18th in what was a rather quite week for anyone taking a trip to our northern most islands. Anyone on Fair Isle though would have been cheered further by the appearance of a female Red-backed Shrike on 21st while those birding Unst (on an increasingly busy Sunday) would have been cheered further by the appearance of a female R-bS at Halligarth and also a male Common Rosefinch by the Youth Hostel at Uyeasound (with one making it to Orcadian ground, on North Ronaldsay, on 22nd).
Elsewhere on Shetland, a Red-breasted Flycatcher was seen in gardens near Loch of Spiggie, Mainland on 17th and also on Fair Isle on 22nd while new too was the trapped bird at Buckton (East Yorkshire) on 21st.
The change in weather seemed to stop a lot of Red-spotted Bluethroat traffic this week (certainly before the weekend at any rate). A male was on the beach at Cott, Papa Westray (Orkney) on 18th and one remained on Fair Isle as well (with it or another in place on 19th). Further Northern Isles birds were found on Shetland, at Skaw, Unst and Tres Ness, Sanday and North Ronaldsay (Orkney), all on 20th, with two birds at Skaw on 21st and a third Unst bird the same day at Clibberswick. The northeast of Scotland produced a male arrive at Cairnbulg (Aberdeenshire) on 22nd and a new Orcadian bird was on Sanday the same day.
New on the English mainland was the male Red-spot reported briefly at The Hood, Blakeney Point (Norfolk) on 22nd, where the week’s second Red-throated Pipit was noted later the same day ~ it was almost like it was 1992 all over again out along the relentless shingle.
The Cley square’s first Iberian Chiffchaff remained in good voice around the back edge of Walsey Hills NOA until 21st ~ trapped and ringed on 18th, the biometrics threw up nothing untoward (which is a good to know but unsurprising given how good it looks and sounds ~ the song and contact call are right on the money).
The second of the week was found at Prussia Cove (Cornwall) on 18th and a heard-only bird in Worcestershire’s Malvern Hills followed on 23rd ~ these three putting 2017 in to an unassailable lead in terms of Iberian Chiffchaff records ~ it’s a record year to date, 13 birds identified (will all 13 be accepted?); three in March, seven in April and now three in May.
To date, 15 of the 40 accepted records (until the end of 2015) had arrived in May, including the breeding pair on The Gower in 2015.
Rather less common in May is Hume’s Yellow-browed Warbler but a singing male was reported from Westleton (Suffolk) on 18th but there were no subsequent sightings. There are just two accepted records for the month, at Brent Reservoir (London) on May 1st 2004 and then at Kilnsea (East Yorkshire) on May 12th-13th 2009. A singing male Yellow-browed Warbler was also reported briefly this week, at Grimston (East Yorkshire) on 21st.
Staffordshire hosted what may well have been their second Great Reed Warbler in almost as many weeks when a singing male stopped off in a private area of Branston GPs on 21st ~ the recent bird at Belvide (on May 4th) was only the second county record.
In the Norfolk Broads, the singing male Savi’s Warblers remained at Hickling Broad through until 23rd while down the coast in Suffolk, the Minsmere male was in place also to 23rd. Suffolk has a mini-surprise up her sleeve when the first Marsh Warbler of 2017 announced his presence at Lakenheath Fen RSPB on 21st-23rd.
The second Melodious Warbler for the year was found at Portland the same day with a singing male following on 22nd at Swalecliffe (Kent) and the first Icterine Warblers of the year were found on Shetland on 22nd, on Fair Isle and Unst.
The final warbler this week was the only Subalpine Warbler sp.,, a first-summer female, that was trapped at Calf of Man Bird Observatory (Isle of Man) on 23rd.
Two heard-only Bee-eaters were noted over Rhossilli (Glamorgan) on 17th ~ it was looking like another quiet week for this bundle of colour, as it has for several species, and then came belated news of a flock of 10 birds near Barford (Warwickshire) on 19th; they’d have caused a stir if they’d hung around for sure. A lone bird was in Dorset on 20th, seen near Swanage with another loner in the same county, at Portland on 21st while further to the southwest, another single was near Hayle, at Connor Downs the same day.
With still no sign of the double figure flock anywhere in the country, a lone bird at Long Nab, Burniston (North Yorkshire) would have been a pleasing diversion on 22nd and it was followed, on the increasingly warm 23rd by a single over Anderby Creek and then Gibraltar Point NNR (Lincolnshire), Bungay (Suffolk) and Sunk Ilsand (East Yorkshire).
The forecast for next week is surely going to see more being seduced to overshoot head our way ~ could one with blue cheeks be heading this way as well?
A late report of a Woodchat Shrike at the south end of Porth hellick Down, St. Mary’s (Scilly) from 16th was confirmed on 17th with the bird remaining until 18th (a presumed new bird was seen on the island on 21st) while on the edge of Dartmoor, a female remained near Wrangaton until 19th. Brand new on the Isle of Wight was the Woodchat found at Brading Marsh RSPB (Isle of Wight) on 23rd with another newbie on Great Saltee (Co. Wexford) the same day.
Two migrant Red-rumped Swallows spent a bit of time over the bird observatory at Portland on 18th and they were followed by three separate singles on 19th; over Rainton Meadows DWT (Co. Durham), Plex Moss (Lancashire) and Trimley Marshes SWT (Suffolk). The sixth record of the week flew south over Spurn YWT (East Yorkshire) on 20th and four more followed as the week drew to a close; at Hastings GP (East Sussex) on 22nd and at Twyford (Hampshire), Clumber Park (Nottinghamshire), Easington (East Yorkshire) and on Fair Isle (Shetland) on 23rd ~ the second in consecutive years for the island.
Dorset did pretty well for Golden Orioles this week; a first-summer male was singing by the Observatory at Portland on 17th and on 18th a second young male appeared (that one being trapped and ringed) and they were both in song later the same morning. A third county bird was at Hartland Moor on 18th and a fourth was on Studland briefly on 19th. Also on 19th was a report of a bird way up in Highland, reported by the islanders on Canna. Norfolk welcomed its first Oriole of the year on 18th, seen near Hickling and a second came on 20th when one (maybe two) was at West Runton (and one was in the same area early the next day too). Also on 20th was a female at Flamborough Head (East Yorkshire) and it was followed on 21st by a female or 1st summer male-type at Kergord, Mainland (Shetland) and another at the other end of the country, on St. Mary’s (Scilly). The last day of the week saw another female-type reported from Perth (Perth & Kinross).
In the north of Ireland, a Hoopoe was new in gardens at Larne (Co. Antrim) on 17th ~ the first in the county since October 2012 ~ and new too was the bird in North Yorkshire, at Ravenscar, on 18th-20th. The south of Ireland popped in the third Hoopoe of the week, found at Dungarvan (Co. Waterford) on 19th and a Scottish bird was reported from Finlaystone Estate (Clyde) on 21st with a further Irish bird the same day (a huge county bird at that), seen near Mullingar (Co. Westmeath).
Back in Dorset, the Short-toed Lark remained at Cogden Beach until mid-morning on 18th with the week’s second arriving on St. Agnes (Scilly) on 22nd and the third was on Fetlar (Shetland) on 23rd.
Three Serins made themselves ahead of what should have been one of the prime weekends of the spring ~ one flew south over Flamborough Head (East Yorkshire) on 17th, another appeared at Landguard NR (Suffolk) on 18th and the 19th saw a male make a brief appearance at East Soar Farm (Devon). The fourth bird of the week was the male seen at Land’s End (Cornwall) on 21st and the fifth followed nearby at Nanjizal the following day.
We’ll round off with a trio of (now) definitely unseasonal records ~ joining that Hume’s report from earlier in the round-up.
First up the Arctic Redpoll found at Quendale, Mainland (Shetland) on 18th ~ an unusual though not exceptional occurrence in the month; out of over 620 accepted records (of both forms/species) there are 15 May records, five of which appear to have been identified to form (three Scandinavia exilipes and two Greenland hornemanni). Most of the May records are Shetland birds, eight to date (not including this week’s newbie) and the images suggested a chunky billed Coues’s. Another oddment on Shetland was the female Northern Bullfinch which spent a few days on Fair Isle.
A remarkably late departing Great Grey Shrike comes next, still on Dartmoor, near Warren House Inn until 23rd while the last (surely!) Waxwings saw five found at Cannock (Staffordshire) on 17th with one at Brae, Mainland (Shetland) on 19th.
No doubting the bird that got the juices flowing most across northern Europe this week ~ the first-summer male Pied Bushchat found on the tiny island of Utö, off the southwestern corner of Finland on 19th, which was still present the following day.
This Central Asian traveller has been since once before in Finland and also becomes the Western Palearctic’s 15th record in all. Feasibly, this is a species that has the words “Shetland” and “early June” writ large upon it; if not now, then sometime in the future.
Weekend listers taking a trip to Sweden’s Svenska Högarna on 20th would have been pleased to see the country’s first American White-winged Scoter was still in situ (through to 23rd as it happens) while Norwegian birders would doubtless have been interested in hearing of the photographed adult Laughing Gull at Farsund, Vest-Agder on 19th, only the 6th for the country ~ while on Iceland, a Franklin’s Gull was at Húsavik, from 22nd-23rd, that too was a 6th national record.
Dropping in to southwestern Denmark next, where an immature Lammergeier was seen coming “in-off” at Hyllekrog, Lolland before appearing later the same day to the northeast, at Møns Fyr, Møns. This was thought to be the same “older” young bird that has been noted recently in both the Netherlands and Germany.
As we know, the adult Black-browed Albatross was on favoured ground at Sylt, Schelswig-Holstein, Germany on 18th ~ then went AWOL again until 20th when it was back on Sylt for a few hours before heading west, something it repeated on 21st as well.
As favourable conditions trundled in across the edge of the North Sea on 22nd, a male Seebohm’s Wheatear (the distinctive North African form of our Northern Wheatear (O.o. seebohmi ~ treated by some, including the IOC as a full species) was photographed at Den-Haag, Zuid-Holland. This is a particularly striking form/species, males are some of the most beautiful birds you’ll see if you travel to Morocco, and the first Twitter image looked the part with further images later in the day making the identification a shoe in and an exceptional record to boot. Comfortably the week’s best bird anywhere in the Western P…
Also in the Netherlands this week, a group of up to 30 Griffon Vultures were seen ESE of Amsterdam, near Barneveld on 20th, having passed over Viroinval, Namur, Belgium earlier the same day. Less of an event on the near continent than it used to be, this is still quite a spectacle and one that we can only dream of here.
Deep in to southern France, along the south coast between Narbonne and Perpignan is Gruissan and this was were a Red-necked Nightjar was photographed on 17th. Also in the country this week, a Black Wheatear was found at Saint-Étienne-de-Baïgorr, Pyrénées-Atlantiques on 18th.
On the Balearic Islands, a dark Western Reef Heron was noted at S’Albufera, Mallorca on 22nd.
We’re moving in to the final stages of the month now, this time next week is May’s final day and, truth be told, it’s been a bit of a mixed bag but there’s been fragments of stellar quality throughout.
Finally for those on the east coast, the weather looks as though it may do the odd favour ~ the forecast was initially suggesting a promising few days ahead but that tentative excitement may not last too long…
If the winds do what they’re supposed to do in the early part of the new week, the number of classic late May birds will (hopefully) begin to rise. There’s been minimal action for Red-backed Shrikes so far this spring, so you’d be looking to them as a forerunner to better things to come. Ditto the likes of Common Rosefinch which do enjoy a good old sing-song on a nice sou’east or northeasterly and there’s still time for a push of mainland Red-spotted Bluethroats and we may be casting eyes to bushes for more Icterine Warblers too.
The longer the wind sucks in from the northeast, the more the optimist in all east coast birders from Aberdeenshire to Suffolk grows, although it looks increasingly like it could be S to SE winds, warm and clear with a big high pressure building, so things may take on a whole new outlook…
We’re still waiting too for a few more Thrush Nightingales and Red-throated Pipits but we’re getting right in to the zone for a host of increasingly entertaining species…
The seven days ahead have historically proved to be strong for a couple of species that just love a puff of east around now ~ Blyth’s Reed Warbler (there’ve been a dozen of them between May 24th-30th) and also Rustic Bunting (a whopping 35+ noted, with four “six bird” days). It is also generally a productive time for those beautiful male Collared Flycatchers to show themselves, along with more teasing females, ten recorded up until the end of 2016.
With that suggestion of some south around the forecast, Black-headed Bunting has to be on the card, 29 accepted records have come in the week we’re entering in to while…
…rarer still, there’s no reason why somewhere on Shetland or Orkney might pull in a River Warbler, half a dozen have been found at this time of year.
And it feels like we need another Trumpeter Finch too ~ southerlies and sunshine at the end of May could be perfect to entice another hooter our way; nine of 17 acceptances have appeared in the month and its nipped in to become this week’s main prediction ~ the winds pointing it to the east coast, somewhere south of Hemsby or north of Gib Point maybe…
And let’s not forget there’s more to life than passerines ~ we’re really moving in to prime time for the uber-late May shorebird, the always awesome Terek Sandpiper ~ 10 have been found between previous May 17th-23rd’s.
There’s a whole host of properly rare, like really rare birds to play with too; few who were birding in Norfolk in late May will ever forget an exceptional couple of weeks; the county was already playing host to the 3rd British Oriental Pratincole before some upstart 20-something went and plundered an outrageous Asian Desert Warbler from The Hood, on Blakeney Point (the 1st spring record for Britain) on May 27th 1993 with Cley slamming in the first twitchable Pacific Swift just three days later.
Truly epic days…
Famously, many 100’s of people scored with that particular Pacific Swift ~ other, equally famously, said they didn’t dip despite others swearing on the cakes in the Whalebone tearoom that they did ~ but another late May twitchable individual did the right thing around Trimley, in Suffolk from May 29th 2013.
Flying things are very much to the fore and the dazzling, breathtaking and (for many) very best bird on the British List is White-throated Needletail (Needle-tailed Swift for traditionalists amongst us) and between 1984 and 1991, what was presumably the same bird zoomed through assorted parts of the country in late May. Surfacing first over Quendale on May 25th 1984 (where it was well twitched) further records followed on May 27th 1985 at Fairburn Ings, May 28th 1988 up on Hoy (another big twitch ensuing) with another showing on May 26th 1991 in Kent.
Even rarer and almost forgotten about was another huge Shetland aerial feeder, the Unst Tree Swallow of May 29th 2002 (never discount the Nearctic from throwing things up in the air at this time of year)…and there’s the Fair Isle American Kestrel too, seen 41 years ago on May 25th 1976.
May 1990 was (like 1993) something of an epic time and the Lundy Ancient Murrelet is about as rare as they come ~ found on May 27th 1990, it was the arguably the bird of the 90’s (and pretty much any other decade too come to that).
Insane twitches were put in place for this incredible auklet and some went for the double-header with another bird that you really didn’t want to miss...the Shetland Pallas’s Sandgrouse ~ found on May 19th 1990, it remained to June 4th and was, like the Lundy Muzza and the Billy Whizz Needletails, many people’s “rare of a lifetime”.
A rarity filled 27 years have passed since these astonishing rarities made landfall at either end of the country ~ those new to the game since will look back with the greenest eyes of envy. They may take some getting back, but it is worth noting that 48 years ago this week, another Shetland Pallas’s Sandgrouse was found on Foula on May 26th 1969.
Split Enz once sang “History Never Repeats” ~ time will tell whether some of those outrageous Giga rares will ever choose to ignore them…
Mark Golley
24 May 2017
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