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| Monday 28th April 2008 | ||
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| New discoveries came in the form of a Whiskered Tern at Holkham,
Norfolk, Pallid Swift on St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, Bee-eaters in
Dorset and Orkney and Red-rumped Swallow at Swallow Pond, Northumberland.
The pair of Black-winged Stilts remained in Cheshire, the King Eider lingered off Flamborough Head, East Yorkshire and Black Kites were reported from Norfolk and Suffolk. Long-stayers included Ross's Gull and Glossy Ibis in Lancashire, Spotted Sandpiper in Glamorgan and several Cattle Egrets in the southwest. Irish highlights included Bonaparte's Gull in Co Antrim and American Herring Gull in Co Galway. A male Yellow Wagtail at Conwy RSPB appeared to be of the form iberiae. |
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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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| Sunday 27th April 2008 | ||
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| Further arrivals of Bee-eaters included four in Dorset, three in
Cornwall and one in Pembrokeshire, with other Spring rarities including two male
Subalpine Warblers in Northumberland and on Isles of Scilly, Red-rumped
Swallow in Norfolk and another Black-winged Stilt, this time in
Glamorgan.
Several Serins were seen, with birds at Portland, Dorset, and Steart Point, Somerset, good numbers of Dotterels continued to arrive, and Pomarine Skua numbers are rising along the south coast. Linngering rarities included the Ross's Gull in Lancashire, King Eider in Yorkshire, Black Ducks in Pembrokeshire and Donegal, Bonaparte's Gull on Western Isles and Black Kites still in Norfolk and Suffolk. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Saturday 26th April 2008 | ||
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| Classic Spring rarities found today include a Red-footed Falcon in
Norfolk, Little Bittern in County Waterford, Subalpine Warbler on
Isles of Scilly, and three Bee Eaters in Cornwall with another flock of nine
in Somerset.
Lingering winter rarities included the King Eiders in Yorkshire and Ayrshire, Ross's Gull in Lancashire with the Glossy Ibis in the same county, Great White Egret in Essex, Spotted Sandpiper in Glamorgan and still good numbers of Cattle Egrets. The pair of Black-winged Stilts remained in Cheshire, and intriguing records concerned a possible orange-billed tern sp in Kent yesterday, and a possible male Spanish Sparrow in Yorkshire today. The Black Kite influx continued, with several birds seen, although the escaped four from London Zoo are still to be tracked down. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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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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| 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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