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| Saturday 26th January 2008 | ||
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| Most notable records today probable relate to the very large number of
white-winged gulls across the country, including several double figure counts of
Iceland Gulls.
Rarities lingering today included the long staying White-crowned Sparrow at Cley, Norfolk, with possibly up to four Ross's Geese and at least three Lesser Snow Geese in the same county, Pacific Diver in Pembrokeshire, two Hume's Yellow-browed Warblers in Cornwall, a first-winter American Herring Gull in County Galway and still good numbers of Cattle Egrets and Great White Egrets across the country. |
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| - Will Soar, 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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| Friday 25th January 2008 | ||
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| In Cheshire a Cattle Egret was located on Burton Marsh and in Devon
another Cattle Egret arrived at Exminster Marshes RSPB, joining the bird
that was found yesterday.
The long-staying White-crowed Sparrow remained faithful to the Cley driveway and in Pembrokeshire the Pacific Diver was still at Llys-y-Fran Reservoir - the same site also produced Great Grey Shrike, Black-throated Diver, Black-necked Grebe and a Scaup. Other lingering rarities included a couple of Hume's Yellow-browed Warblers, Long-billed Dowitcher, Red-breasted Goose and Wilson's Snipe. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Thursday 24th January 2008 | ||
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| The main attractions today were once again the Pacific Diver in
Pembrokeshire and White-crowned Sparrow in Norfolk. A 1st-winter
American Herring Gull briefly visited Sennen Cove, Cornwall late morning and
a Cattle Egret arrived at Exminster Marshes RSPB, Devon - elsewhere a further 43 individuals were on offer today.
A couple of Hume's Yellow-browed Warblers remained in Cornwall and in Co Durham the Yellow-browed Warbler was still at Jarrow. A Wilson's Snipe on Isles of Scilly, Bonaparte's Gull in Angus, King Eider in Aberdeenshire, Red-breasted Goose in West Sussex and Spotted Sandpiper in Glamorgan were all on show, and in Norfolk a couple of Ross's and a single Lesser Snow Goose were in North Norfolk. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Wednesday 23rd January 2008 | ||
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| Long staying rarities include the White-crowned Sparrow in Norfolk, at
Cley, Pacific Diver in Pembrokeshire, at Llys-y-Fran Reservoir,
Wilson's Snipe on Scilly and Barrow's Goldeneye in County Down, at
Quoile Pondage.
Other rarities today included 13 Cattle Egrets, although many long staying flocks were not reported and are most likely still present. The two Lesser Yellowlegs were seen again, as was the Glamorgan Spotted Sandpiper, the Cornwall Hume's Yellow-browed Warbler, and the Sussex Red-breasted Goose. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Tuesday 22nd January 2008 | ||
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| Lingering rarities in England included the White-cronwed Sparrow in Norfolk,
Wilson's Snipe on the Isles of Scilly, two Hume's Yellow-browed Warblers in Cornwall,
Red-breasted Goose in West Sussex, both Lesser Yellowlegs and Great White Egret
in Suffolk and single Lesser Scaups in both Oxfordshire and Warwickshire. In Wales the Pacific Diver remained in Pembrokeshire as did the Spotted Sandpiper in Glamorgan. In Scotland the Western Isles continued to host both Lesser Scaup and Great White Egret, the Shetland Isles both White-billed Diver and King Eider and Angus a Lesser Yellowlegs. In Northern Ireland the Barrow's Goldeneye showed again in County Down. Cattle Egret reports comprised 23 in County Cork, thirteen in Devon, eight in Cornwall, two each in County Galway, Dorset and West Sussex and one in Gloucestershire. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Monday 21st January 2008 | ||
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| The highlight of the day was the confirmation of a second Hume's Yellow-browed Warbler in Cornwall; at Camborne. Present since the 15th December, like the other over-wintering
Hume's Yellow-browed Warbler in the county, it had initially been identified as a Yellow-browed Warbler. Elsewhere, an
American Golden Plover was a new discovery at Welney, Norfolk. Lingering rarities included the White-crowned Sparrow and Ross's Goose in Norfolk, Wilson's Snipe on the Isles of Scilly, Red-breasted Goose in West Sussex, Lesser Scaup in Oxfordshire, Great White Egret in Suffolk and single Lesser Yellowlegs in both Angus and Suffolk. Cattle Egret reports today comprised sixteen in Cornwall, seven in Devon, four in Dorset, three in County Galway, two in West Sussex and one in Somerset. Late news concerned a further thirteen between County Kerry, County Cork and County Wexford on Sunday. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Sunday 20th January 2008 | ||
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| An adult Franklin's Gull seen briefly at Chew Valley Lake, Somerset
this afternoon was probably the same bird observed last Sunday at nearby Torr
Reservoir, and possibly the same bird that visited Poole Harbour, Dorset last week.
The Norfolk White-crowned Sparrow headlined an impressive line-up of rarities on show today - these included Pacific Diver, Long-billed Dowitcher, Glossy Ibis, Forster's Tern, Hume's Yellow-browed Warbler, Red-breasted Goose, Bonaparte's Gull, Barrow's Goldeneye, Lesser Scaup, King Eider, Lesser Yellowlegs and, of course, Cattle Egrets galore. A Kentish Plover was an excellent winter discovery at Landguard NR, Suffolk and a Richard's Pipit in Angus was also noteworthy. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Saturday 19th January 2008 | ||
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| In Norfolk, the adult White-crowned Sparrow continued to show for much
of the day with, nearby, a Lesser Snow Goose at Saxlingham and a
Waxwing at Cromer. Scottish rarities today included three Bonaparte's
Gulls, King Eider, Lesser Yellowlegs and a Spotted
Sandpiper.
The other Lesser Yellowlegs was again on Southwold Town Marshes, Suffolk, the other Spotted Sandpiper was still in Glamorgan at Lisvane Reservoir and the Hume's Yellow-browed Warbler was seen again in Cornwall. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Friday 18th January 2008 | ||
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| An otherwise very quiet day surprisingly yielded three new rarities. A first
winter American Herring Gull, the first new bird since the recent split
of this species, was found on Lewis, Western Isles, with an adult Bonaparte's
Gull nearby on South Uist. A first winter drake Lesser Scaup was
found in County Sligo, most likely representing the first record for this
county. The White-crowned Sparrow is still at Cley, Norfolk, and the Pacific Diver is still in Pembrokeshire. Good numbers of Cattle Egrets are still present in southern England, and the Lesser Yellowlegs is still in Angus. Another unseasonal Richard's Pipit was reported from Angus for its second day. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Thursday 17th January 2008 | ||
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| The Pacific Diver, now a second winter, has returned to Llys-y-Fran
Reservoir, Pembrokeshire, and now shows a full black chin strap. Other
highlights today include an adult or second winter Franklin's Gull in the
roost in Wareham Channel, Dorset, and the continued presence of the superb adult
White-crowned Sparrow at Cley, Norfolk.
Other lingering rarities include King Eider in Shetland, Wilson's Snipe on Scilly, Lesser Scaup on Benbecula, Lesser Yellowlegs in Angus and still good numbers of both Cattle Egrets and Great White Egrets across the southern half of the country. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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