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| Sunday 16th April 2006 | ||
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| The highlight of the day was the discovery of a Black-winged Stilt on
The Lizard, Cornwall; perhaps the bird seen earlier in the month in Devon. The
Alpine Swift present in Berkshire on 15th made an all to brief visit to
Buckinghamshire – thwarting many county listers. Another Alpine Swift was
found near Polperro, Cornwall in the evening and a Woodchat Shrike was at
Abbotsbury in Dorset. The Coues’s Arctic Redpoll showed again at Darlington, Co Durham whilst highlights amongst the long staying attractions included four White-billed Divers on Lewis, Western Isles, the Black Scoter at Llanfairfechan, Conwy, King Eider at Irvine, Ayrshire and Long-billed Dowitcher at Old Hall Marshes, Essex. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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Daily news summaries
Catch up with RBA's daily birdnews summaries. Browse ten days at a time, or choose a date to read summaries from that day backwards.
Daily summaries are available from 13 April 2006. For earlier weekly reviews, visit our articles.
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| Saturday 15th April 2006 | ||
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| The main talking point of the day was the appearance of a stunning male
Hooded Merganser on Unst, Shetland. Spring is prime time for the discovery
of Nearctic wildfowl and this individual certainly felt like it should be a
genuine vagrant. A Coues’s Arctic Redpoll was a good find at Darlington, Co Durham whilst a Laughing Gull at Southport, Merseyside briefly in the evening may have been the bird from nearby Marton Mere, Lancashire that temporarily went missing. Yet more Alpine Swifts were found; three at Bray, Co Wicklow and one over Maidenhead, Berkshire. Single Alpine Swifts at Hampstead Heath, London and Barnston, Wirral proved popular attractions whilst in Glamorgan the Bonaparte’s Gull showed again in Cardiff Bay and in Co Down the wintering Barrow’s Goldeneye remained in situ at Quoile Pondage. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Friday 14th April 2006 | ||
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| The highlight of the day was the appearance of a dapper Bonaparte’s Gull
at Cardiff Bay, Glamorgan. On the Western Isles birders watching two
White-billed Divers on Lewis at Skigersta located at least one Arctic
Redpoll in a nearby garden. The American Herring Gull remained in Galway, Co Galway as did the Laughing Gull in Cork, Co Cork, Long-billed Dowitcher on Hayle Estuary, Cornwall and the Black-winged Stilt at Thurlestone, Devon. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Thursday 13th April 2006 | ||
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| The discovery of a White-billed Diver at Melvaig, Highland was not
wholly unexpected, given the recently discovered spring passage of White-billed
Divers off northwest Scotland. New Alpine Swifts were found at
Braunton, Wirral with two seen over Kilcoole, Co Wicklow. The male Blue-winged Teal remained at Filey, North Yorkshire, although proved elusive on occasion, whilst in Lincolnshire the Ashy-headed Wagtail was seen again at Covenham Reservoir. The pick of the scarce migrants was a singing Hoopoe at Fowlmere, Cambridgeshire whilst many counties enjoyed arrivals of Ring Ouzels and Redstarts. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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