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| Tuesday 13th February 2007 | ||
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| Plenty of long staying rarities were available today, including the
American Robin in West Yorkshire, Black-eared Kite in Norfolk,
Barrow's Goldeneye in Forth, Lesser Scaup in Oxfordshire,
Bonaparte's Gulls in Angus and Co Cork, Forster's Tern in Co Galway
and Long-billed Dowitcher in Kent. The best of the rest were the
Little Bunting in Hertfordshire and American Wigeons in Pembrokeshire
and Norfolk, the latter apparently present since the 30th January.
Belated news from Sunday related to the report of a first-winter Ross's Gull at Portavadie, Argyll and yet another Night Heron (of suspect origin) in the Northeast, this time at Mickletown in West Yorkshire. |
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| - Stuart Piner, 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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| Monday 12th February 2007 | ||
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| Long stayers included the American Robin in West Yorkshire,
Barrow's Goldeneye in Forth, Bonaparte's Gull in Angus, Lesser
Scaup in Dumfries & Galloway, Spotted Sandpiper in Cornwall,
Ferruginous Duck in Bedfordshire and the King Eider remained in
Highland. In Norfolk a first-winter drake American Wigeon was located at
Buckenham Marshes RSPB and on the east coast of England several small flocks of
Waxwings have been on show in recent days.
Ireland continued to host the Snowy Owl in Co Mayo, whilst Nimmo's Pier held the usual list of crackers, including the Forster's Tern and American Herring Gull. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Sunday 11th February 2007 | ||
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| In Co Mayo the Snowy Owl (last seen on 12th October) reappeared on Termon Mill, The Mullet whilst elsewhere in Ireland the
Barrow's Goldeneye and Lesser Scaup remained in Co Down, Bufflehead in Co Clare and
Long-billed Dowitcher in Co Louth whilst the American Herring Gull showed again in Co Galway as did the
Bonaparte's Gull in Co Cork. In Britain major rarities included the American Robin still in West Yorkshire, Black-eared Kite in Norfolk, Barrow's Goldeneye in Forth and Black-throated Thrush in Argyll. Other wintering British rarities reported today comprised three Lesser Scaups, a King Eider and a Bonaparte’s Gull in Scotland, two Ferruginous Ducks and a Spotted Sandpiper in England. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Saturday 10th February 2007 | ||
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| In West Yorkshire the increasingly elusive American Robin remained in
Bingley, whilst in Argyll the Black-throated Thrush on Isle of Bute was
equally elusive. Elsewhere in Scotland, Red-breasted Goose and
Barrow's Goldeneye in Forth, Bonaparte's Gull in Angus, Lesser
Scaup in Dumfries and Galloway and King Eider in Highland were all
still on offer.
Further south, England produced several long-stayers, including Black-eared Kite in Norfolk, Spotted Sandpiper in Cornwall, Ferruginous Duck in Kent, Little Bunting in Hertfordshire, Penduline Tit in London and Long-billed Dowitcher in Kent whilst the Bonaparte's Gull put in another brief appearance on Scilly. Ireland produced a whole host of goodies; Nimmo's Pier, Co Galway, alone held the fourth-winter American Herring Gull, Forster's Tern, six Ring-billed Gulls, at least twenty Iceland Gulls and a couple of Glaucous Gulls - quite a haul! Elsewhere, the Barrow's Goldeneye remained in Co Down, whilst Bufflehead in Co Clare, Lesser Yellowlegs and Surf Scoter in Co Cork and Hoopoe in Co Kerry were all available. Northern white-winged gulls were widespread. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Friday 9th February 2007 | ||
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| A relatively quiet day still managed to produce one new rarity, in the form of a drake King Eider at Clachtoll, Highland. Several long-stayers remained on show, chief of which was the American Robin in Bingley, West Yorkshire, whilst the Bonaparte's Gull in Angus was also notable. In Ireland, Lesser Yellowlegs and Forster's Tern in Co Cork and Bufflehead in Co Clare were all still available. | ||
| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Thursday 8th February 2007 | ||
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| Long-staying rarities included the American Robin in Bingley, West
Yorkshire, Barrow's Goldeneye at Loch Venachar and Red-breasted Goose
near Stirling, Forth, Spotted Sandpiper at Hayle, Cornwall,
Ferruginous Duck at New Hythe Gravel Pits, Kent, Lesser Scaup at
Caerlaverock WWT, Dumfries & Galloway and Bonaparte's Gull at Ferryden,
Angus. A report of a Laughing Gull also came from the latter site.
Two long-staying Surf Scoters remained on the south coast (off Beer, Devon and Penzance, Cornwall), whilst a couple were off the south coast of Ireland (in Co Cork and Co Wexford). Other quality wintering birds included the Richard's Pipit in Ceredigion, two American Wigeons together in Cornwall, Ring-necked Ducks in East Sussex and Suffolk and fine scattering of northern white-winged gulls. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Wednesday 7th February 2007 | ||
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| Although no new rarities were reported today, lingering species continued to
perform well. The Barrow's Goldeneye in Forth was once again the top
rarity but was supported by an excellent cast of species. Rare thrushes were
represented by the American Robin in West Yorkshire and the Black-throated
Thrush in Argyll. Rare wildfowl were comprised of the Black Scoter in
North Wales, and several Green-winged Teal and American Wigeon across
the British Isles.
A pod of Killer Whales in the Firth of Forth have also proven popular in recent days with at least one individual present today, and as many as 5 present during the last week. |
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| - Simon Mitchell, RBA | ||
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| Tuesday 6th February 2007 | ||
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| No new rarities were reported today and consequently lingering wildfowl
proved very popular. The wintering Barrow's Goldeneye was again near
Callander in Forth, the Bufflehead was still in Co.Clare and the
returning Black Scoter was again off Llanfairfechan, Conwy. Also Lesser
Scaups were still in Dumfries & Galloway and Oxfordshire as were Ferruginous
Ducks in Bedfordshire & Kent.
Elsewhere American Robin was still at Bingley in West Yorkshire showing on & off, while a single Penduline Tit showed well this morning at Rainham Marshes RSPB in London, while the Forster's Tern was again noted in Co.Cork. Lesser Yellowlegs in Norfolk, Long-billed Dowitcher in Kent and Spotted Sandpiper in Cornwall were also still present today. However, there was no sign of the Black-throated Thrush on Bute, Argyll or the Red-breasted Goose in Forth. |
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| - Keith Langdon, RBA | ||
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| Monday 5th February 2007 | ||
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| Following the yesterday’s departure of the Pacific Diver from Farnham, North Yorkshire, today saw the Pembrokeshire individual follow suit with it leaving to the southwest mid morning. Other major rarities remained with highlights consisting of
Black-eared Kite in Norfolk, Barrow's Goldeneye in Forth, American Robin in West Yorkshire,
Black-throated Thrush in Argyll and Red-breasted Goose in Forth. Other long staying rarities still present today included the Black Scoter in Conwy, Forster's Tern in Co Galway, Spotted Sandpiper in Cornwall, Cattle Egret in Devon, Lesser Yellowlegs in Norfolk and both Long-billed Dowitcher and Ferruginous Duck in Kent. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Sunday 4th February 2007 | ||
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| In Pembrokeshire the juvenile Pacific Diver remained for its third day at Llys-y-Fran
Resr, but in North Yorkshire the Sunday show ended prematurely when the
Pacific Diver left Farnham Gravel Pits just after 9am. Nearby, the
American Robin was still present at Bingley, West Yorkshire, to console
those who arrived at Farnham just a little bit too late.
Scotland received plenty of attention today; the Black-throated Thrush continued to frequent gardens on Isle of Bute, the Red-breasted Goose and Barrow's Goldeneye remained in Forth, two Lesser Scaups were on Benbecula, Western Isles and the Bonaparte's Gull reappeared at Ferryden, Angus. However, a Killer Whale, present in the Firth of Forth for several days, probably attracted more attention than all the Scottish rarities put together! Elsewhere the Black-eared Kite and Lesser Yellowlegs continued to attract birders to Norfolk, whilst the southwest offered the Spotted Sandpiper in Cornwall and Conwy continued to host the Black Scoter, which was showing reasonably well on the calm sea. A first-winter Laughing Gull discovered in Torbay, Devon, was probably the bird recently in the Kingsteignton area and the Red-breasted Goose in Hampshire was relocated at Needs Ore. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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