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 7th February 2010  
  The highlights of the day were the continued presence of the Thayer's Gull and Forster's Tern in County Galway, Black-throated Thrush in North Yorkshire, Red-breasted Goose in Essex, American Eider in County Donegal, Black Kite in Powys, King Eider in Moray, Blue-winged Teal in County Dublin, Little Bunting in Highland, Glossy Ibis in County Wexford, Richardson's Canada Goose in County Sligo, Hooded Merganser in Cleveland and single Lesser Scaups in both Clyde and Cornwall.

Scarcities included 23 Tundra Bean Geese, 22 Shorelarks and 19 Waxwings with three each of Surf Scoter, Ring-necked Duck, Great White Egret, Cattle Egret, Great Grey Shrike and Lapland Bunting (Lincolnshire), two each of American Wigeon, Rough-legged Buzzard (Norfolk), Snow Goose, Green-winged Teal and Black Brant and a single Rose-coloured Starling (Cumbria). Gulls were represented by eight Glaucous, seven Ring-billed, six Caspian and four Iceland.
-  Chris Batty, RBA
Saturday 6th February 2010  
  A Lesser Scaup at Burton Mill Pond (West Sussex) was the sole new rarity found on Saturday. Lingering rarities included Black-throated Thrush in North Yorkshire, Little Bunting in Highland and Black Kite in Powys. In addition to the aforementioned Lesser Scaup wildfowl highlights came in the form of Lesser Scaups in Glamorgan and Cornwall, Red-breasted Goose in Devon, King Eider in Moray, Hooded Merganser in Cleveland, Richardson's Canada Goose in Argyll, Ring-necked Ducks in Cleveland, Carmarthenshire and Norfolk, Surf Scoters in Conwy (3) and Devon and Green-winged Teals in Hampshire and Merseyside.

In Ireland the Thayer's Gull remained in Co Galway and a Glossy Ibis lingered in Co Cork.

The best of the rest included Rose-coloured Starling in Cumbria, five Great White Egrets and four Cattle Egrets.
-  Stuart Piner, RBA
Friday 5th February 2010  
  The highlight of the day was confirmation from Ireland of the continued presence of the Thayer's Gull in County Galway, the Bonaparte's Gull in County Cork and the American Eider in County Donegal. Lingering rarities elsewhere comprised the Black-throated Thrush still in North Yorkshire, Black Kite in Powys, Little Bunting in Highland, three Glossy Ibises together in Somerset and single Lesser Scaups in both Cornwall and Glamorgan.

Scarcities included 13 Tundra Bean Geese in Suffolk, six Shorelarks, five each of Cattle Egret and Great White Egret, four Great Grey Shrikes, three Green-winged Teals, two each of Surf Scoter, Snow Goose, Rough-legged Buzzard, Ring-necked Duck and Lapland Bunting and single Rose-coloured Starling (Cumbria) and Black Brant (Lincolnshire). Notable gulls comprised six each of Glaucous and Iceland and single Ring-billed (County Kerry) and Caspian (Cheshire).

Significant late news concerned a Short-toed Treecreeper that was present near Dover, Kent on 1st-2nd February but has not been seen since.
-  Chris Batty, RBA
Thursday 4th February 2010  
  In a near perfect repeat of yesterday, the lingering rarities seen today included Thayer's Gull and Forster's Tern in County Galway, Black-throated Thrush in Yorkshire, Bonaparte's Gull in County Cork, Black Kite in Powys, Little Bunting in Highland, King Eider in Moray, Spotted Sandpiper and Red-breasted Goose in Devon and Lesser Scaup in Cornwall.

Scarcities included a Surf Scoter, Ring-necked Duck, two Rough-legged Buzzards, four Great White Egrets, two Cattle Egrets, six Ring-billed Gulls, 15 Waxwings, a Rose-coloured Starling, and a Great Grey Shrike.
-  Will Soar, RBA
Wednesday 3rd February 2010  
  Long staying rarities seen today included Thayer's Gull in County Galway, Black-throated Thrush in Yorkshire, Bonaparte's Gull in County Cork, Gyr on Orkney, Black Kite in Powys, Little Bunting in Highland, King Eider in Moray, Glossy Ibis in County Wexford and Spotted Sandpiper in Devon.

The best of the scarcities were at least three Rough-legged Buzzards in Norfolk, Surf Scoters in Devon and Orkney, Shorelark in Greater Manchester, Waxwing in Lancashire, two White Storks in London and a Rose-coloured Starling in Cumbria.
-  Will Soar, RBA
Tuesday 2nd February 2010  
  There were no new rarities found today, and Ireland held the better of the long staying rarities with the Thayer's Gull remaining in County Galway, the Bonaparte's Gull in County Cork and the Glossy Ibis in County Wexford. On mainland UK, the Spotted Sandpiper was reported again in Devon and the Little Bunting was still in gardens at Dunnet in Highland.

The American Wigeon was still to be found at Castle Loch in Dumfries and Galloway, Ring-necked Ducks were at Slimbridge in Gloucestershire, at Whitlingham near Norwich in Norfolk and at Foxcote Reservoir in Buckinghamshire. The Rose-coloured Starling was still at Kendal in Cumbria and in South Wales the Great White Egret again came in to roost at Hendre Lake in Glamorgan, with the only other Great White Egret reported being at Pymoor in Cambridgeshire. At least one Cattle Egret was still in Cornwall and Ring-billed Gulls could be found in Hampshire and County Kerry, with two in County Limerick.
-  Pete Hayman, RBA
Monday 1st February 2010  
  Lingering rarities included Thayer's Gull and Forster's Tern in Co Galway, Black Kite in Powys, Gyr in Argyll, King Eider in Moray, Black-throated Thrush in North Yorkshire, Lesser Scaup in Cornwall and Little Bunting in Highland. In Co Cork a Bonaparte's Gull was discovered at Baltimore.

Three Great White Egrets, five Cattle Egrets, four Ring-necked Ducks, two Green-winged Teals, three Surf Scoters and a Rose-coloured Starling were also reported.
-  Stuart Piner, RBA
Sunday 31st January 2010  
  In County Galway, the juvenile Thayer's Gull was once again present on Ross Beach, with the Forster's Tern also still in the county at Claddagh Beach. The Black-throated Thrush continued to visit the garden at Newholm, Yorkshire, whilst other lingering rarities seen today included Lesser Scaup in Glamorgan, Little Bunting in Highland, Black Kite in Powys and single Richardson's Canada Geese in Argyll and County Sligo.

Scarcities recorded included four Great White Egrets, five Cattle Egrets, six Snow Geese, two Black Brants, three Surf Scoters, American Wigeon, six Green-winged Teals, six Ring-necked Ducks, four Rough-legged Buzzards, 15 Ring-billed Gulls, seven Caspian Gulls, six Glaucous Gulls, nine Iceland Gulls, nine Shorelarks, two Waxwings, seven Great Grey Shrikes, a Rose-coloured Starling, two Serins and three Lapland Buntings.
-  Will Soar, RBA
Saturday 30th January 2010  
  The first Pacific Diver for Ireland was discovered in County Galway today, an adult seen off Rinville Point, Oranmore. The county also continues to hold Thayer's Gull at Letterfrack and Forster's Tern on Claddagh Beach.

Wintering rarities still present today included the Black-throated Thrush in Yorkshire, Black Kite in Powys, Gyr and Richardson's Canada Goose in Argyll, King Eider in Moray, Little Bunting in Highland, Bonaparte's Gull in Anglesey, three Glossy Ibises in Somerset, single Lesser Scaups in Cornwall and Glamorgan and a female Ferruginous Duck is present at Fairburn Ings, Yorkshire for its third day.

A probable American Robin was seen briefly in Skelton, Cleveland this afternoon.
-  Will Soar, RBA
Friday 29th January 2010  
  An adult Bonaparte's Gull was discovered on the South Gare (Cleveland) this afternoon, whilst on Anglesey the adult Bonaparte's Gull lingered at Traeth Lligwy. Elsewhere lingering rarities included Black Kite in Powys, Black-throated Thrush in North Yorkshire, Thayer's Gull and Forster's Tern in Co Galway, Spotted Sandpiper in Devon, Glossy Ibises in Somerset and Little Bunting in Highland.

The best of the rest came in the form of Ring-necked Ducks in Lancashire, Norfolk and Co Donegal, American Wigeons in Lancashire and Dumfries & Galloway, Green-winged Teals in Leicestershire, Suffolk, Warwickshire, Lancashire and Co Clare, Great White Egrets in Glamorgan and Cambridgeshire and Cattle Egrets in Cornwall (3) and Devon.
-  Stuart Piner, RBA