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| Sunday 25th March 2007 | ||
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| The highlight of the day was the discovery of a female Black-throated Thrush at Buckton, East Yorkshire. This, the fifth Yorkshire record of this species, was only discovered late in the afternoon and it is sure to prove popular if it remains until the morning. The two Red-breasted Geese in Norfolk were relocated at Lynn Point whilst the Black-eared Kite remained nearby. White-billed Diver, two Snowy Owls, and American Herring Gull all remained on Lewis, Western Isles whilst southwest England continued to hold Dusky Warbler, Laughing Gull, Spotted Sandpiper, Lesser Scaup and American Herring Gull. Other popular long-staying rarities included the Barrow's Goldeneye still in Forth, Black Scoter in Conwy, Glossy Ibis in Lancashire. Long-billed Dowitchers were seen again in Anglesey, Essex and Co Louth. |
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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 24th March 2007 | ||
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| A Great Spotted Cuckoo was reported on St Martin's, Isle of Scilly. Other rarities remaining in southwest England included
Dusky Warbler, Spotted Sandpiper and American Herring Gull in Cornwall,
Laughing Gull and Cattle Egret in Devon and Lesser Scaup in Somerset. Elsewhere in England the Black-eared Kite was still in Norfolk, the Glossy Ibis in Lancashire and Long-billed Dowitcher in Essex. In Scotland two Snowy Owls, White-billed Diver and American Herring Gull all remained on Lewis, Western Isles whilst on the mainland the Barrow's Goldeneye continued to bee seen at Loch Venachar, Forth. In Wales the Long-billed Dowitcher was still on Anglesey and in Ireland an American Herring Gull was still in Co Mayo. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Friday 23rd March 2007 | ||
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| A very quiet day today, the one highlight being the Black Scoter still
in Conwy now off Penmaenmawr which has not been seen for nearly two weeks. The Glossy
Ibis in Lancashire was again today near Lytham and the two male Snowy
Owls were again seen on Lewis this morning.
Elsewhere, the Black-throated Thrush on Bute, Dusky Warbler & Spotted Sandpiper in Cornwall and the Cattle Egret & Laughing Gull in Devon were all still present. Long-billed Dowitchers in Kent and Essex/Suffolk were also both seen today as was the Lesser Scaup in Co.Cavan. Today there was unfortunately no sign of the Gyr in Cornwall or the Pacific Diver in Pembrokeshire and there was no sign of any American Herring Gulls either. However, another White-billed Diver was discovered yesterday, this one was in Highland in the Sound of Arisaig. Also, the Black-eared Kite was seen in Norfolk yesterday. |
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| - Keith Langdon, RBA | ||
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| Thursday 22nd March 2007 | ||
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| The highlight of the day was two White-billed Divers located at opposite ends of the country; one off Lewis, Western Isles and one at Sennen Cove, Cornwall - and both accompanied by juvenile
American Herring Gulls! A further juvenile American Herring Gull was identified on The Mullet, Co Mayo. The Glossy Ibis reappeared near Lytham, Lancashire as did a Lesser Scaup at Loch Leven, Perth and Kinross. The Laughing Gull remained at Exeter, Devon as did the two Snowy Owls on Lewis, Western Isles. Other over-wintering rarities reported as still present today comprised the Spotted Sandpiper in Cornwall, Cattle Egret in Devon and Long-billed Dowitchers in both Cornwall and Co Louth. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Wednesday 21st March 2007 | ||
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| The frustratingly elusive Gyr made another two-minute appearance
at Pentire Point, Cornwall this evening. Elsewhere in the southwest the
Spotted Sandpiper and American Herring Gull remained in Cornwall and
Laughing Gull and Cattle Egret were both still in Devon. Norfolk
produced the two Red-breasted Geese, Long-billed Dowitchers were
once again seen in Kent and Anglesey and on the Western Isles, Lewis continued
to host both American Herring Gull and Snowy Owl.
Elsewhere the Hoopoe was still in Somerset and first-winter Ring-billed Gulls were located on Isles of Scilly and in Shropshire. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Tuesday 20th March 2007 | ||
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| Two new finds today were both Nearctic gulls - a cracking first-winter
American Herring Gull on Tiree, Argyll and a Bonaparte's Gull at
Midleton, Co Cork.
Elsewhere winter weather continued to halt a mass invasion of summer migrants, but long-staying rarities included the White-billed Diver and Spotted Sandpiper in Cornwall, Laughing Gull and Cattle Egret in Devon, Lesser Scaup in Somerset, American Herring Gull on Lewis, Western Isles, the pair of Red-breasted Geese in Norfolk, Pacific Diver in Pembrokeshire and Long-billed Dowitcher on Anglesey. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Monday 19th March 2007 | ||
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| Bitter northerly winds and snow in some parts of the country meant that it
was long-staying rarities rather than an influx of spring migrants that created
today's headlines. These included the showy White-billed Diver and
Spotted Sandpiper in Cornwall, Laughing Gull in Devon, Long-billed
Dowitchers in Kent and on the Suffolk/Essex border, Pacific Diver in
Pembrokeshire, American Herring Gull in Cornwall, Lesser Scaup in
Somerset and Snowy Owl on Lewis, Western Isles.
In Somerset the Hoopoe continued to entertain and a scattering of Leach's Petrels were observed off the north Wales coastline. In Ireland the 1st-winter female Lesser Scaup in Co Cavan was relocated on another lake near Belturbet, the Long-billed Dowitcher remained in Co Louth and the American Herring Gull was still in Co Galway. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Sunday 18th March 2007 | ||
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| Strong north-west winds across much of the country somewhat put the brakes on
spring migration, but despite this, a Hoopoe was found at Knighton in
north Somerset, and a Purple Heron was reported at Doxey Marshes in
Staffordshire. The winds brought in some very unseasonal seabirds with 33 Little
Auks past The Butt of Lewis on the Western Isles and Leach's Petrels
recorded in Aberdeenshire, Argyll (seven birds) and Conwy. Kittiwakes
appeared inland in Herefordshire and Berkshire, and a Fulmar was found by
gull watchers inland at Wheldrake Ings in Yorkshire.
Although no new rarities were found, the Black-throated Thrush was seen again on the Isle of Bute, the two Snowy Owls were again on Lewis and the Lesser Scaup was relocated near Belturbet in County Cavan. Two American Herring Gulls were reported in Cornwall, with two others still on Lewis and in County Galway. Regulars still present included the Pacific Diver in Pembrokeshire, the two Red-breasted Geese in Norfolk, Lesser Scaup at Blagdon Lake in Somerset, White-billed Diver in Cornwall and Laughing Gull near Exeter in Devon. |
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| - Pete Hayman, RBA | ||
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| Saturday 17th March 2007 | ||
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| Three new rarities were located today though all three were difficult to
access. On Shetland a fine drake King Eider was seen for the first time
since early Jan off Symbister, Whalsay and on the Outer Hebridies a probable
1st-winter American Herring Gull was on Lewis. In London a Ferrugious
Duck was reported from William Girling Reservoir but access here is
restricted.
The Red-breasted Geese performed well again in Norfolk, as did the Long-billed Dowitcher in Essex. The Lesser Scaup was seen again in Somerset and Cornwall continued to host a superb cast of American Herring Gull, Spotted Sandpiper, White-billed Diver and Gyr Falcon. Over 75 Iceland Gulls were reported from across the UK and Ireland (50 of these at Killybegs in Donegal) and there were also at least 15 Glaucous Gulls. These numbers look set to increase even more next week with strong Northerly and North-westerly winds expected. Hopefully one or two rarer arctic gulls may also be drifted south. |
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| - Simon Mitchell, RBA | ||
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| Friday 16th March 2007 | ||
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| Two new rarities were found today a White-billed Diver seen close
inshore from Whalsay, Shetland and yet another Lesser Scaup in Ireland,
this time a drake at Lough Erne in County Cavan.
The Red-breasted Geese were seen again in Norfolk for the first time in a couple of days. The Pacific Diver was also seen again in Pembrokeshire and the Snowy Owl on Lewis was also located for the first time in a few days. Other long-staying rarities included the elusive Gyr Falcon, the White-billed Diver, Spotted Sandpiper and Dusky Warbler all still in Cornwall and the Laughing Gull in Devon. Away from the South-west the Long-billed Dowitcher remained in Essex, as did the Glossy Ibis in Lancashire. Spring migrants continue to arrive with Sand Martins and Chiffchaffs now being recorded on most local patches southwards from the midlands. A notable arrival of Wheatears today included at least 20 at Portland, Dorset. |
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| - Simon Mitchell, RBA | ||
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