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| Monday 5th May 2008 | ||
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| Bird of the day is likely to be the second ever spring record of Upland
Sandpiper, and a first for north-east Scotland. It was present this
afternoon just north of Loch of Strathbeg RSPB, Aberdeenshire, and showed well.
More classic spring rarities included another Subalpine Warbler, this time on Blakeney Point, Norfolk, Whiskered Terns in Somerset, Dorset and Glamorgan, Red-rumped Swallow in Flintshire and Bee-eaters in Kent and East Sussex. The American Golden Plover returned to Exminster Marshes RSPB this afternoon, and lingering winter rarities included the Ross's Gull in Lancashire, King Eider in Ayrshire, American Herring Gull in County Galway and Cattle Egrets in seven counties. |
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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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| Sunday 4th May 2008 | ||
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| Another very busy day, with more classic spring rarities and plenty of
scarcities to go with them. New Subalpine Warblers were in Cornwall and
County Waterford, two Red-rumped Swallows were in Kent, and another was
in Greater Manchester, the first Black Stork of the year flew over Paxton
Pits, Cambridgeshire and an adult Whiskered Tern was at Kenfig Pool NNR,
Glamorgan, joining the Black-winged Stilt. The other two pairs of stilts
remained in Kent and Cheshire.
A first-summer American Golden Plover was seen at Exminster Marshes RSPB, Devon although it was very mobile, with one of the eleven new Temminck's Stints around the country at the same site. Just one Bee-eater was seen today, but this bird was seen in West Midlands, a good record for the county. Lingering rarities included Pallid Swift on Isles of Scilly (where there was also a flock of five Golden Orioles and a Woodchat Shrike), White-billed Diver on Orkney, and Ross's Gull in Lancashire. Pomarine Skua passage continued, with large numbers seen along the south coast, but today will likely be remembered for the large arrival of Black Terns, mainly into the Midlands and East Anglia. The easterly winds also left good numbers of arctic waders at inland sites. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Saturday 3rd May 2008 | ||
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| A small influx of Bee-eaters occurred today, with possibly up to
eighteen birds seen, mainly in Cornwall, although at least two were in Somerset
and one was seen briefly in Norfolk. Two Subalpine Warblers were found,
including another in Cornwall, in Nanjizal Valley, and a first-summer male in
Cleveland at Brotton.
A first-summer Bonaparte's Gull made a very brief appearance at Marton Mere LNR, Lancashire late afternoon, an Alpine Swift spent a few hours at Audenshaw Reservoir, Greater Manchester, and a Whiskered Tern was seen in County Cork. The Killdeer was present for its second day at Balranald RSPB, Western Isles. Drake King Eiders remained in Devon and Ayrshire, White-billed Diver in Moray, Black-winged Stilts in Glamorgan and Cheshire and the mobile pair was located at Elmley Marshes RSPB, Kent. The Pallid Swift on Scilly showed well for much of the day, and the adult Ross's Gull was still in Lancashire. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Friday 2nd May 2008 | ||
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| The continued presence of the female Caspian Plover on Fair Isle, Shetland would undoubtedly have made some birders' year, had it been twitchable. Unfortunately, it flew north-west at 10.30am, before the charter planes arrived, and was only seen again once the planes had all departed. A Killdeer was a new arrival on the Western Isles, found at Balranald RSPB, North Uist early afternoon. Four White-billed Divers were seen off North Ronaldsay, Orkney, with another summer plumaged bird remaining off Burghead, Moray. The pair of Black-winged Stilts continued to be mobile, today being found in Essex, at Abberton Reservoir. The Pallid Swift was still on Scilly, on St Agnes for its fifth day, with the male Western Subalpine Warbler seen again on the same island. Elsewhere on Scilly, the three Bee-eaters were very mobile, visiting St Martins, St Agnes, Tresco and St Mary's, with several Golden Orioles also present. Other lingerers included the Ross's Gull in Lancashire, American Herring Gull in Co Galway and the pair of Black-winged Stilts in Cheshire. | ||
| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Thursday 1st May 2008 | ||
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| The outstanding discovery of a Caspian Plover on Fair Isle, Shetland Isles was the highlight of the day. Only the sixth individual of this species to be recorded in Britain following two in Norfolk in 1890 and singles in both the Isles of Scilly and Lothian in 1988 and the Shetland Isles in 1996. Elsewhere, two Black-winged Stilts appeared briefly mid morning in Northamptonshire at Earls Barton, they were later relocated seventeen miles to the southeast at Willington, Bedfordshire. On the Isles of Scilly a Western Subalpine Warbler was discovered on St Mary's and three Bee-eaters toured the islands. In Co Mayo a Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll was found at Annagh Marsh. Lingering rarities comprised both Pallid Swift and Lesser Yellowlegs on the Isles of Scilly, Ross's Gull and Glossy Ibis in Lancashire, Black-winged Stilts in Glamorgan and Cheshire (2), Black Duck in Pembrokeshire, White-billed Diver in Moray, King Eider in Devon, Lesser Scaup in Somerset and the presumed Spanish Wagtail in Conwy. Cattle Egret reports concerned five in Devon, three in Cornwall, two in both Gloucestershire and West Sussex and singles in Dorset and Hampshire. Notable scarcities included Woodchat Shrikes in Cornwall (2) and the Isles of Scilly, Serin in Dorset, Richard's Pipit in Norfolk, Hoopoe in County Wexford and Wryneck on the Shetland Isles. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Wednesday 30th April 2008 | ||
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| It has been a good wagtail week at Conwy RSPB - a stunning male Citrine
Wagtail was found this evening, joining the presumed Spanish Wagtail.
On Isles of Scilly a Lesser Yellowlegs was on St Mary's and the Pallid
Swift remained on St Agnes. In Essex a Red-rumped Swallow arrived at
Abberton Reservoir.
The pair of Black-winged Stilts remained in Cheshire, as did the lone bird in Glamorgan. White-billed Divers were in Burghead Bay, Highland and off Lewis, Western Isles and in Lancashire the photogenic Ross's Gull continued to attract admirers. The King Eider lingered off Flamborough Head, East Yorkshire. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Tuesday 29th April 2008 | ||
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| A female Red-footed Falcon was seen briefly today, over Kelling Water
Meadows, Norfolk. Other rare raptors included an elusive white Gyr Falcon
on North Uist and a Black Kite in Cambridgeshire, near Huntingdon.
A Bee-eater was in Ireland, on Dursey Island, County Cork briefly, and the Pallid Swift was seen a couple of times on Isles of Scilly. The apparent Iberian Yellow Wagtail was reported several times from Conwy RSPB, but was very mobile and elusive, and the Red-rumped Swallow in Northumberland was seen for just a short period, before it departed. Lingering rarities included the Ross's Gull, Ross's Goose and Glossy Ibis in Lancashire, King Eider in Yorkshire, two Black-winged Stilts in Cheshire with another in Glamorgan and just 16 Cattle Egrets were reported. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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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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| 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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