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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Tuesday 22nd May 2007  
  A quieter day than of late with a brief Great White Egret at Burton Marsh, Cheshire and a flyover Bee-eater at Winterton, Norfolk being the most notable discoveries. Elsewhere in Norfolk the Broad-billed Sandpiper remained at Breydon Water in the morning, the Black Kite showed again at North Creake, the Iberian Chiffchaff remained on territory at Colney and a male Red-backed Shrike showed well at Weybourne Camp.

Other lingering rarities included the Scops Owl at Thrupp Oxfordshire, Snowy Owl on North Uist Western Isles, Squacco Heron on St Mary's Isle of Scilly and American Golden Plover at Farlington Marshes, Hampshire.

Other notables included the Woodchat Shrike still at Sidlesham, West Sussex, four Purple Herons remaining at Minsmere, Suffolk and a Night Heron present at Castleford, West Yorkshire.
-  Chris Batty, RBA
Monday 21st May 2007  
  The highlight of the day was the discovery of a Broad-billed Sandpiper at Breydon Water, Norfolk. Elsewhere, a White-billed Diver was off Unst, Shetland Isles. Two Bee-eaters briefly joined the Squacco Heron on St Mary's, Isles of Scilly and single flyover Black Kite and Cattle Egret were noted in Lincolnshire and Berkshire respectively.

The American Golden Plover remained at Farlington Marshes, Hampshire as did the Cattle Egret at Rainham Marshes, London. The Glossy Ibis reappeared at Marshside, Merseyside and on the Western Isles both the Snowy Owl and Rose-coloured Starling were still on North Uist and the American Herring Gull was seen again at Stornoway, Lewis.

Otherwise, a Kentish Plover arrived at Dawlish Warren, Devon, three Purple Herons continued at Minsmere, Suffolk and the Woodchat Shrike was seen again at Sidlesham, West Sussex.
-  Chris Batty, RBA
Sunday 20th May 2007  
  Today was quite exciting with a handful of new rarities being found around the country. A Pallid Swift was found on Bryher, Isles of Scilly but did not linger. A Cattle Egret was found at Rainham Marshes in London and showed well throughout the day whereas a Caspian Tern found at Marston Moretaine in Bedfordshire was present for less than an hour. This afternoon a Great Reed Warbler was found singing at Barton, Staffordshire and was seen on and off until dusk. Additional news included a Baird's Sandpiper this afternoon briefly on Unst, Shetand Isles.

Lingering rarities today included an American Golden Plover in Hampshire, originally seen on the 11th of May, which performed well all afternoon and evening. The Scops Owl was again in Oxfordshire this evening, while in Norfolk at least one Black Kite was seen today as well as the Bonaparte's Gull again at Hickling Broad. On North Uist, Western Isles the Snowy Owl was seen again as was the the American Herring Gull on Lewis. In Kent the Savi's Warbler was on show again this morning.  In Lancashire the Glossy Ibis was seen once again as was the Squacco Heron on St Mary's, Isles of Scilly.

Also of note today were three Woodchat Shrikes found in Merseyside, Dorset and West Sussex and up to four Purple Herons all at Minsmere, Suffolk.
-  Keith Langdon, RBA
Saturday 19th May 2007  
  The biggest news of the day arrived mid evening - a report of a juvenile Masked Booby that apparently flew east past St Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight at 9.30am, the first record for Britain if accepted.

Back on the mainland, the star find came in the form of a Semipalmated Sandpiper at Over Fen, Cambridgeshire; present from early morning, it was only identified later in the day.

Norfolk continued its excellent spell for rarities, with the east of the county providing the majority of the action today. Top finds were Alpine Swift at Waxham and Red-footed Falcon in the Sea Palling area, whilst the Bonaparte's Gull remained at Hickling Broad NWT and Black Kite was still in North Norfolk. A Great White Egret flew over Cromer early evening.

In Kent a singing male Savi's Warbler was present for its second day at Oare Marshes NR and other new rarities were a Red-rumped Swallow on Lundy, Devon, Alpine Swift at Cottingham, East Yorkshire and the Lesser Yellowlegs briefly reappeared at Freiston Shore RSPB, Lincolnshire.

Lingering rarities included the Scops Owl in Oxfordshire, Laughing Gull in Devon, Killdeer on Shetland and Squacco Heron on Isles of Scilly.

West coast seawatchers again enjoyed an exceptional Long-tailed and Pomarine Skua passage.
-  Stuart Piner, RBA
Friday 18th May 2007  
  A superb male Rustic Bunting was found on North Ronaldsay, Orkney this morning and on the Hampshire/West Sussex border a Bee-eater was briefly in a Greatham garden early morning. A couple of Purple Herons were at Minsmere RSPB, Suffolk and also in East Anglia, the Bonaparte's Gull and a Pectoral Sandpiper were at Hickling Broad NWT, Norfolk. The Squacco Heron and Pectoral Sandpiper remained on Isles of Scilly and the male Scops Owl continued to sing at Thrupp, Oxfordshire.

Brisk south-westerly winds produced some decent Long-tailed and Pomarine Skua counts off west-coast watchpoints, with pick of the bunch being totals of 325 Long-tailed Skuas and 161 Pomarine Skuas past Aird an Runair, North Uist.
-  Stuart Piner, RBA
Thursday 17th May 2007  
  An Alpine Swift over Cromer, Norfolk, this evening was probably the bird present in the area over the weekend. In East Yorkshire a Bee-eater flew over Spurn at midday, and elsewhere there were reports of a Red-footed Falcon in Buckinghamshire and Gyr on Unst, Shetland. Shetland also continued to host the Great White Egret and three Common Cranes, whilst a Corncrake was at Sumburgh.

On Isles of Scilly the Squacco Heron and Pectoral Sandpiper remained on St Mary's and in Oxfordshire the singing male Scops Owl continued to perform the late night shows. The Bonaparte's Gull was still at Hickling Broad NWT, Norfolk, a Laughing Gull remained in Devon and the male Iberian Chiffchaff continued to sing in Norwich, Norfolk.

A Rose-coloured Starling was present for at least its second day on South Uist, Western Isles.
-  Stuart Piner, RBA
Wednesday 16th May 2007  
  Britain's third Audouin's Gull was briefly at Dungeness, Kent this evening - a second-summer was on the beach near the power station from 5.15-5.50pm before it flew west.

In Lancashire, a bizarre sequence of events began with a 'Common Scoter' being picked up on a railway line near Silverdale, and eventually led to the County's first Black Scoter being released off Jenny Brown's Point early in the afternoon. Unfortunately, by the time the news of the bird was released, the tide was falling rapidly and it quickly drifted out of view.

Elsewhere the Scops Owl remained in Thrupp and other lingering rarities included the Bonaparte's Gull and Iberian Chiffchaff in Norfolk, Squacco Heron on Isles of Scilly and Laughing Gull in Devon.

A male Ortolan Bunting was briefly at Gibraltar Point NNR, Lincolnshire and a Bluethroat was at Spurn, East Yorkshire.
-  Stuart Piner, RBA
Tuesday 15th May 2007  
  The highlight of the day was the news of the return of the territorial Scops Owl to Thrupp, Oxfordshire. First heard singing by local residents last Saturday it was confirmed by birders today, and it will hopefully remain there until at least late June. Elsewhere, a male Subalpine Warbler was a new discovery at Sennen, Cornwall.

In East Yorkshire the Bee-eater remained overnight at Aldbrough with other lingering rarities including the Squacco Heron on the Isles of Scilly, Semipalmated Sandpiper in Co Down and both Killdeer and Great White Egret on the Shetland Isles.

In East Anglia, Norfolk continued to host the Bonaparte's Gull, a Black Kite and the singing male Iberian Chiffchaff whilst in Suffolk another potential Iberian Chiffchaff was singing at Lavenham - having already been present there for several weeks.
-  Chris Batty, RBA
Monday 14th May 2007  
  Highlights today included a Killdeer at Exnaboe, Shetland Isles, a Snowy Owl on North Uist, Western Isles, a Ferruginous Duck at Staines Reservoir, Surrey, a Woodchat Shrike at Sheringham, Norfolk and a showy Bee-eater at East Newton, East Yorkshire.

The Squacco Heron remained on the Isles of Scilly as did the Semipalmated Sandpiper in Co Down, Laughing Gull in Devon, two Glossy Ibises in Gloucestershire and both Iberian Chiffchaff and Bonaparte's Gull in Norfolk.

Inland English counties witnessed a considerable arrival off passage waders including Sanderling and Turnstone at many sites, whilst coastal sites in Yorkshire recorded a substantial fall of migrant passerines.
-  Chris Batty, RBA
Sunday 13th May 2007  
  Shetland and Scilly once again stole the limelight for new rarities today with a Thrush Nightingale found on Fair Isle, Shetland, and a Squacco Heron found at Porth Hellick Pool, St.Mary's, on the Scillies. Both birds were found quite late in the day. Norfolk also produced some good birds with an Alpine Swift found at Cromer in the morning, while, at much the same time, there was a Red-rumped Swallow at nearby West Runton. Both birds disappeared in mid morning, but the swift reappeared at Cromer only to vanish again before being relocated at Sheringham in the afternoon. A Purple Heron was at Kelling Quags in the afternoon and the Bonaparte's Gull was again at Hickling Broad, with Bee-eaters at Stiffkey and at Gateley, near Fakenham. In the south-east a Bee-eater flew over Bockhill Farm, in Kent and a Caspian Tern was reported in London at the London Wetlands Centre, Barnes.

The White-throated Sparrow was seen again briefly early in the morning in Southampton, the Laughing Gull remained in Devon and the Iberian Chiffchaff and two Black Kites were all to be found in Norfolk. A Red-breasted Flycatcher was on North Ronaldsay in the Orkneys and an Icterine Warbler was on Fair Isle in the Shetlands, but there was no sign of yesterdays Calandra Lark on Unst.
-  Pete Hayman, RBA