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| Sunday 8th April 2007 | ||
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| A Black-throated Thrush was located at Walcot Mill in Shropshire this
morning with a flock of Fieldfares. The bird showed on a couple of occasions
until late morning, when it disappeared, and was not seen again despite
extensive searching. On the Western Isles a Bonaparte's Gull was
discovered on Lewis, but like the thrush, it remained in the area for only a
short period, before flying north at 1.20pm.
The theme of today was clearly frustrating brief sightings - a Pallas's Warbler was seen and heard singing in Wouldham, Kent for just over half an hour this morning, and a Little Bunting was at Hengistbury Head, but only early in the morning. A swift species over St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, was more than likely an Alpine, or even a Pallid Swift, but the bird was too high to identify. The two ducks found yesterday, the King Eider off Burghead, Moray, and the Ferruginous Duck in London were both still on offer, as were a number of long-staying rarities, which included Glossy Ibis, Black-eared Kite, Black Scoter, Laughing Gull, Spotted Sandpiper, two Lesser Scaups and Dusky Warbler. Migrants continue to trickle in, but numbers are noticeably low. Apparently the weather has been poor in Iberia, so as soon as that clears, hopefully the floodgates will open and spring will really kick-start. Late last night intriguing news of a possible male Black-eared Wheatear on Lundy, Devon was released, but there has been no news at all on the bird today. |
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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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| Saturday 7th April 2007 | ||
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| The discovery of a drake Ferruginous Duck in London at Dagenham Chase
and later at Harrow Lodge Park caused some late afternoon excitement.
Drake King Eiders were also found today at Tresta Voe on Shetland
Mainland and off Burghead in Moray, the later showing particularly well most of
the day. The only other new discovery of the day was a Great White
Egret briefly at Woolston Eyes in Cheshire.
Many of the longer staying rarities were seen today including the Barrow's Goldeneye in Forth, Black-eared Kite in Norfolk, Spotted Sandpiper & Dusky Warbler in Cornwall, Black Scoter in Conwy, Glossy Ibis in Lancashire, Laughing Gull in Devon, Lesser Scaups in Somerset, Lothian & Benbecula and finally Long-billed Dowitchers in Kent, Essex/Suffolk & Co Louth. Migration is picking up but is still a little slow, though there were twelve Ring Ouzels together at Cleeve Hill, Gloscestershire and eighty Willow Warblers on Portland, hopefully things are starting to pick up. |
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| - Keith Langdon, RBA | ||
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| Friday 6th April 2007 | ||
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| A Killdeer was discovered on Shetland at West Burra this evening -
only the second record for the Shetland Isles, following one at Hillwell in
March 1993. The other highlight of an eventful Good Friday was the finding of an
immature White-tailed Eagle in Cheshire, before it flew into neighbouring
Wirral, then into Merseyside. It was last seen between the Wirral and Merseyside
viewed from Crosby Marine Park, so everyone in the northwest should have their
eyes to the skies over the next day or two. This could well be the the same bird
reported in Nottinghamshire last weekend. Elsewhere a Great White Egret was reported at Saltholme Pools and a Hoopoe made landfall on St Martin's, Isles of Scilly (where the Night Heron continues to put in dusk appearances on St Mary's). Most of the usual suspects were still on offer, including the Black-eared Kite in Norfolk, Glossy Ibis in Lancashire, Barrow's Goldeneye in Forth, Lesser Scaups in Lothian and Somerset and a White-billed Diver remained off Mainland Shetland. Yesterday's reported Scops Owl was reidentified late last night as a Little Owl. In Ireland, the adult Forster's Tern at Galway is now in full summer attire and the Barrow's Goldeneye remains at Quoile Pondage, Co Down. A reasonable spread of Ring Ouzels were located at many traditional hotspots, especially in the south of England. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Thursday 5th April 2007 | ||
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| At 10.50pm news broke of possible Scops Owl singing at Landguard NR,
Suffolk - even after the long staying bird in Oxfordshire last year, if this
firms up, it will surely draw some sizeable nightime crowds to Suffolk. The only
other new rarity was located in the far north, in the form of a drake King
Eider off Mainland Shetland.
In Surrey, a Hoopoe was present for its third day in Oxted and in Dorset the Serin made another appearance at Hengistbury Head. On the Western Isles, the male Snowy Owl was present on North Uist for its second day and long-stayers included the Glossy Ibis in Lancashire, three Long-billed Dowitchers (in Kent, Co Louth and Suffolk/Essex) and Black-eared Kite in Norfolk, whilst the southwest continued to host Spotted Sandpiper, Cattle Egret and Laughing Gull. A (very early) Honey Buzzard was reported over Pagham Harbour, West Sussex this afternoon and in Angus the Common Crane remained in fields just south of Montrose. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Wednesday 4th April 2007 | ||
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| There were two new rarities today. On the south coast a Great White Egret was
discovered in the evening at Lytchett Bay, Dorset. A Snowy Owl found on
North Uist could be one of the two bird seen recently on Lewis. However, this is
deceptively far away (at least 90 miles as the owl flies) so this bird may in
fact be a third individual! A good inland find was a Stone Curlew in
Hertfordshire.
Migrants continued to trickle in, despite the northerly airflow. Sixty-five Wheatears and two Redstarts at Portland were among the most significant numbers, and a Serin seen briefly at Christchurch Harbour may have been associated with similar arrivals along the south coast. Long-staying rarities included the Franklin's Gull and Spotted Sandpiper in Cornwall, though the Dusky Warbler was not reported. Elsewhere the Black-eared Kite was a bonus for some those who went to see the Serin at Heacham, Norfolk, and the Little Bunting remained at Amwell in Bedfordshire. Late news from yesterday was received that the Red-flanked Bluetail had been present on the Out Skerries, but there was no sign of it today. |
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| - Simon Mitchell, RBA | ||
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| Tuesday 3rd April 2007 | ||
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| New wildfowl were the theme of the day with a 1st-summer drake King Eider
found on North Ronaldsay, Orkney and Wales's 2nd ever Lesser Scaup
discovered in Carmarthenshire. A Ring-necked Duck was also found in
County Tipperary. The chances of spring overshoots remained slim due to the
North-easterly winds though new common migrants included large numbers of Ospreys,
two Hobbys and single Grasshopper Warbler and Redstart.
Long-stayers included the Spotted Sandpiper and Dusky Warbler in Cornwall together with the recently discovered Franklin's Gull. The Long-billed Dowitcher was still in Essex, and the Glossy Ibis remained in Lancashire |
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| - Simon Mitchell, RBA | ||
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| Monday 2nd April 2007 | ||
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| Unbelievably the second Red-flanked Bluetail of the spring was
discovered today on the Out Skerries, Shetland. With three excellent eastern
vagrants already found on the east coast so early in the spring there could yet
be more to come. The other main news involved what was presumably yesterday's Laughing
Gull, which was re-identified as a Franklin's Gull. A Cattle Egret
was also found in Essex at Clacton-on-sea.
Other long-staying rarities included the Dusky Warbler and Spotted Sandpiper in Cornwall, the Black Scoter in Conwy and the Long-billed Dowitcher in Essex. The Lesser Scaup was also re-located in Somerset, and the Red-breasted Geese were seen again in Norfolk. |
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| - Simon Mitchell, RBA | ||
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| Sunday 1st April 2007 | ||
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| A Laughing Gull at Crowdy Reservoir, Cornwall was a new rarity discovered today with other rarities remaining in Cornwall including
Dusky Warbler, Spotted Sandpiper and American Herring Gull. Elsewhere in England the Black-eared Kite and two Red-breasted Geese remained at Snettisham, Norfolk, the Red-rumped Swallow in Bedfordshire, Glossy Ibis in Lancashire, Cattle Egret in Devon and Long-billed Dowitcher in Essex. In Scotland the Barrow's Goldeneye was seen again in Forth as was the Lesser Scaup in Lothian and Great White Egret on Orkney. In Wales the Black Scoter lingered off Conwy and the Long-billed Dowitcher remained on Anglesey. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Saturday 31st March 2007 | ||
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| A Red-flanked Bluetail in an Easington garden, East Yorkshire was
the highlight of the day. Amazingly, this bird was present in the same 'magic garden' that has also
played host to White's Thrush and Pine Grosbeak in recent years. This is only the third time this species has been recorded in
spring, following individuals on Holy Island in April 1995 and on Fetlar in May
1971. The East Yorkshire coast is currently enjoying somewhat of a purple patch
for eastern vagrants, with the Bluetail being found less than a week after the
Black-throated Thrush in Buckton. However, there was a rather sad end to
proceedings this evening; after showing well from late afternoon into the
evening, the bird was picked up dead at around 7pm.
In Bedfordshire the Red-rumped Swallow at Brogborough Lake remained on show all day and entertained an appreciative weekend crowd. Elsewhere, long stayers were represented by the Glossy Ibis in Lancashire, Lesser Scaup in Somerset, Black-eared Kite and pair of Red-breasted Geese in Norfolk, Barrow's Goldeneye in Forth and Dusky Warbler in Cornwall, whilst the Lesser Scaup in Edinburgh continued to show well. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Friday 30th March 2007 | ||
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| A Red-rumped Swallow was discovered at Brogborough Lake, Bedfordshire
this evening. This third for Bedfordshire was on show for about an hour until
7.38pm, when it appeared to roost at the west end of the lake. The only other
new discovery today was a drake Lesser Scaup in Edinburgh, Lothian.
Elsewhere long stayers included the Glossy Ibis in Lancashire, Black-eared Kite and at least one of the Red-breasted Geese at Snettisham, Norfolk, Dusky Warbler, Laughing Gull and Spotted Sandpiper in the southwest and White-billed Diver and American Herring Gull on the Isle of Lewis, Western Isles. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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