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| Friday 25th April 2008 | ||
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| Today's highlight was the arrival of a pair of Black-winged Stilts to
Neumann's Flash, Cheshire. Present all day, they were observed mating this
evening. Other new birds included a Great White Egret at Cresswell Pond,
Northumberland, briefly, and a Black Kite in Surrey. A drake American
Black Duck was seen yesterday in County Donegal.
In Yorkshire, the splendid drake King Eider remained for its second day off Flamborough Head, with another drake still in Ayrshire, at Girvan. Also in Yorkshire, the Lesser Yellowlegs was seen again on Swine Moor, whilst in Lancashire the adult Ross's Gull continued to perform at Lytham, although it was not seen in the morning. A few Dotterel were seen, with birds in Lancashire, Berkshire and Cambridgeshire, a couple of Hoopoes were present, a Wryneck was in Devon and Pomarine Skua passage continued to increase in the south. |
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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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| Thursday 24th April 2008 | ||
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| Today's highlights included the discovery of a King Eider in East Yorkshire at Flamborough Head, a
White-billed Diver in Moray at Burghead and a brief Red-rumped Swallow in Devon at Appledore. In Norfolk a Black-eared Kite was discovered at Sea Palling alongside at least two
Black Kites in the vicinity. Lingering rarities comprised the Little Crake, King Eider and Falcated Duck in Devon, Ross's Gull and Ross's Goose in Lancashire, Lesser Yellowlegs in East Yorkshire, American Herring Gull in County Galway, Spotted Sandpiper in Glamorgan, Bonaparte's Gull in County Kerry, Black Kite in Suffolk, single Lesser Scaups in both Dumfries and Galloway and Forth and two Great White Egrets in Aberdeenshire whilst Cattle Egret reports concerned sixteen in Cornwall, four in Devon and singles in Ceredigion, Dorset and Wirral. The pick of the scarcities were an Icterine Warbler in Dorset, Kentish Plover on the Isle of Man, Pallas's Warbler in Cornwall, Purple Heron in Suffolk and Hoopoes in County Cork (2), Cornwall (2), Fife, Hertfordshire, Highland, Isles of Scilly, Shropshire and Wirral. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Wednesday 23rd April 2008 | ||
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| A Red-rumped Swallow in Cleveland and a probable Blyth's Pipit
on Isles of Scilly were today's main new discoveries. Lingering highlights
included Ross's Gull and Glossy Ibis in Lancashire, Lesser
Yellowlegs in East Yorkshire, Black Duck in Pembrokeshire and Little Crake in Devon.
A singing Little Bunting was at Dungeness, but only briefly early morning, the Pallas's Warbler remained in Cornwall and a few Hoopoes, Wrynecks, Dotterels, Great Grey Shrikes and Common Cranes were also on offer. At least twenty one Cattle Egrets were still on show, mainly in southern Britain. In Ireland a Bonaparte's Gull remained in Co Kerry and the juvenile American Herring Gull was still in Galway. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Tuesday 22nd April 2008 | ||
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| A Gyr was seen several times over North Uist, Western Isles today,
giving very good views at times. Also in the north, the Calandra Lark,
remained on Fair Isle, Shetland, being joined by a Short-toed Lark this
afternoon, and there were two Great White Egrets at Loch of Strathbeg
RSPB, Aberdeenshire. Another Great White Egret was found on the Isle of
Man, and a fourth flew along the River Thames at Greenhithe, Kent.
Lingering rarities included the superb adult Ross's Gull in Lancashire, which continued to give outstanding views, and the male Little Crake was seen again in Devon, although it is now very elusive and seen only sporadically. Two White-billed Divers were seen on Lewis, Western isles, and another was still on Loch Ewe, Highland. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Monday 21st April 2008 | ||
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| The male BLACK LARK remained in Winterton North Dunes, Norfolk for its second
day, but it was only available until 7.02am when it disappeared and was not seen
again. A Hoopoe and Wryneck were little consolation to those who
arrived too late.
In Lancashire the Ross's Gull continued to show extremely well in Lytham St Anne's and the long-staying Glossy Ibis was also still just a few miles up the road at Warton Bank. In Devon the Little Crake remained at Exminster Marshes RSPB, the Franklin's Gull again roosted at Draycote Water, Warwickshire and Lesser Yellowlegs in West Sussex and Cambridgeshire, Bonaparte's Gull on South Uist, White-billed Diver on Lewis, King Eider in Devon, Spotted Sandpiper in Glamorgan and several Cattle Egrets were all still available. Black Kites were observed in Warwickshire, Suffolk, Cheshire and Norfolk In Ireland the Subalpine Warbler remained in Co Wexford, a Bonaparte's Gull was in Co Kerry and a Long-billed Dowitcher was located in Co Clare. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Sunday 20th April 2008 | ||
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| The easterly winds of the last few days finally produced the goods today,
with a superb male BLACK LARK in Norfolk, in Winterton North Dunes.
Present from mid afternoon, it showed well, and was even heard to sing briefly.
On Fair Isle, Shetland, another mega lark, in the form of a Calandra Lark,
was present this afternoon.
In Ireland, a male Subalpine Warbler was found at Hook Head, County Wexford, with a Red-breasted Flycatcher in County Cork, at Old Head of Kinsale. Black Kites were reported today in Devon, Dorset, Surrey, Suffolk and Norfolk, and a Red-rumped Swallow was seen briefly on Portland, Dorset. The male Little Crake was seen again in Devon, at Exminster Marshes RSPB, and the adult Ross's Gull was still at Lytham St.Anne's, Lancashire, showing very well. The second-summer Franklin's Gull returned to roost at Draycote Water, Warwickshire, and Bonaparte's Gulls' were seen on the Western Isles and in Highland. Lesser Yellowlegs' remained in Cambridgeshire and Sussex and up to 42 Cattle Egrets were seen around the country. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Saturday 19th April 2008 | ||
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| New rarities today included a Lesser Yellowlegs in Cambridgeshire,
which showed well from late morning near Earith, at the Berry Fen RSPB reserve,
an Alpine Swift on the Western Isles, which flew north over Grimsay, and
a Lesser Scaup at Siblyback Reservoir, Cornwall. Another Lesser
Yellowlegs remained in West Sussex, at Sidlesham Ferry Pool.
Elsewhere, the adult Ross's Gull continued to perform in Lancashire, usually showing very well along the beach at Lytham St.Anne's. The second summer Franklin's Gull returned to Draycote Water, Warwickshire, to roost this evening, and the adult Bonaparte's Gull was seen again in Thurso, Highland. The first Pallas's Warbler for Gloucestershire was a good find today, with several Hoopoes also being seen. There are still very good numbers of Ring Ouzels across the country, with flocks of up to 22 reported. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Friday 18th April 2008 | ||
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| The highlight of the day was the discovery of a Lesser Yellowlegs at Sidlesham Ferry, West Sussex. Although in Lancashire the
Ross's Gull made an equally popular reappearance at Lytham. Lingering rarities included the Franklin's Gull in Warwickshire, Snowy Owl in County Mayo, American Herring Gull in County Galway, Spotted Sandpiper in Glamorgan, single King Eiders in Ayrshire and the Orkney Isles and both Bonaparte's Gull and two White-billed Divers in the Western Isles. Cattle Egret reports comprised eight in Cornwall, two in Gloucestershire and one in Ceredigion. Scarce migrants were represented by a Pallas's Warbler still in Northumberland, Wryneck in Pembrokeshire, Dotterel in County Wexford and single Hoopoes in each of Cornwall, County Cork, County Wexford, Dorset, Pembrokeshire, Suffolk and the Isles of Scilly. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Thursday 17th April 2008 | ||
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| The most notable discovery today was the relocation of the Ross's Gull
in Lancashire, this time in fields at Lytham Moss, but again it did not linger
for long. It had also been seen briefly at Fairhaven Lake, also in Lancashire,
on Tuesday. The Franklin's Gull was seen again in the roost at Draycote
Water in Warwickshire, and in Ireland, a Long-billed Dowitcher was found
in County Tipperary.
Amongst other rarities, the Little Crake again performed in Devon, the Spotted Sandpiper remained in Glamorgan, the Lesser Scaup was still in Forth and there were White-billed Divers at Loch Ewe in Highland and on North Ronaldsay in the Orkny Islands, with the latter location also holding a King Eider. With easterly winds, much of the country, and inland counties in particular, saw arrivals and movements of common migrants, with Ring Ouzels most notable (including 26 together at Ivinghoe in Buckinghamshire) but also species such as Redstart, Yellow Wagtail, Grasshopper Warbler, Nightingale and Garganey putting in appearances at many sites. Amongst these came six Hoopoes: two in Cornwall, two on Cape Clear Island (County Cork) and singles on the Scillies and in Devon. A Wryneck was found on Ramsey Island in Pembrokeshire and two Dotterels were on Islay (Argyll). |
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| - Pete Hayman, RBA | ||
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| Wednesday 16th April 2008 | ||
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| An adult Franklin's Gull visited Brandon Marsh Nature Reserve,
Warwickshire for a short period mid afternoon before roosting at Draycote Water
later in the evening. Black Kites were observed in Northamptonshire (at
Thrapston), Hampshire (at Keyhaven Marshes) and Norfolk (at Stiffkey) and in
Highland two White-billed Divers were found on Loch Ewe. A drake King
Eider was off the west side of North Ronaldsay, Orkney.
In Flintshire the drake Baikal Teal remained on the pond at Hawarden High School and on Isles of Scilly the Wilson's Snipe found in October last year reappeared on St Mary's. Elsewhere long stayers included the Glossy Ibis in Lancashire and Spotted Sandpiper in Glamorgan. A good showing of Ring Ouzels, Redstarts and the odd Pied Flycatcher kept local patchers entertained. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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