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| Tuesday 25th May 2010 | ||
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| The highlight of the day was a lingering Red-rumped Swallow on the Orkney Isles on South Ronaldsay. Elsewhere, the newly discovered rarities chose not to linger:
White-billed Diver in Aberdeenshire, Red-footed Falcon in Norfolk and single Black Kites in both Hampshire and West Sussex were seen only by their finders. On the Western Isles the elusive Black Stork showed again, whilst other lingering rarities comprised the Forster's Tern still in County Wexford, Wilson's Phalarope in Merseyside, Broad-billed Sandpiper in Aberdeenshire, Great Reed Warbler in Derbyshire and territorial Iberian Chiffchaffs in each of Gwent, Kent and South Yorkshire. Scarcities included 19 Temminck's Stints spread across ten counties, four migrant Golden Orioles, three Purple Herons, two each of Common Rosefinch and White-winged Black Tern (the latter together in Leicestershire) and single Serin (Leicestershire), Bluethroat (Wirral), Icterine Warbler (East Yorkshire), Marsh Warbler and Great White Egret (both Suffolk), Red-backed Shrike (County Durham), Hoopoe (West Sussex), Long-tailed Skua (Highland), Pectoral Sandpiper (Aberdeenshire) and Glaucous Gull (County Wicklow). |
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| - Chris Batty, 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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| Monday 24th May 2010 | ||
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| New discoveries included a Red-throated Pipit on Fair Isle,
Bee-eaters at Dungeness (Kent) and over Sennen (Cornwall), Subalpine
Warbler (probably an Eastern) at Cot Valley (Cornwall) and Red-rumped
Swallow at Spurn (East Yorkshire).
The Wilson's Phalarope in Merseyside, Black Stork on Western Isles, Squacco Heron in Cornwall, Iberian Chiffchaffs in Kent, South Yorkshire and Gwent, Broad-billed Sandpiper in Aberdeenshire and Great Reed Warbler in Derbyshire all lingered. Scarcities included two White-winged Black Terns (Leicestershire), Serin (Dorset), Great White Egret (Carmarthenshire) and Bluethroat (East Yorkshire) in addition to three Pectoral Sandpipers, seven Red-backed Shrikes and 17 Temminck's Stints. Photos of a possible Long-toed Stint in Co Durham unfortunately proved the bird to be a Little Stint. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Sunday 23rd May 2010 | ||
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| New rarities flooded into Britain today - Great Snipe (Western Isles),
a pair of Subalpine Warblers (Gwynedd), Black Kites (Cornwall and
Lincolnshire), Savi's Warbler (Norfolk), Bee-eaters (three in
Lincolnshire then East Yorkshire and four in Cornwall), Red-rumped Swallows
(Dorset and East Yorkshire) and Broad-billed Sandpipers (South Yorkshire
and Aberdeenshire) were all discovered today.
Lingering rarities included Wilson's Phalarope (Merseyside), Black Stork (Western Isles), Iberian Chiffchaffs (Gwent, South Yorkshire and Kent), King Eider (Aberdeenshire), Great Reed Warbler (Derbyshire), Pacific Diver (Co Clare) and Squacco Heron (Cornwall). Scarcities were represented by 29 Temminck's Stints, four Red-backed Shrikes, three Purple Herons, two Dotterels, two White-winged Black Terns, Grey-headed Wagtail, Serin, Pectoral Sandpiper, Hoopoe and a Great White Egret. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Saturday 22nd May 2010 | ||
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| Today's highlights included an adult female Wilson's Phalarope at
Seaforth LWT, Merseyside, and a Squacco Heron at Par, Cornwall, both
present this evening. A female Red-footed Falcon was seen in a field near
Penicuik, Lothian briefly, whilst an Alpine Swift was in the Plymouth
area of Devon. Black Kites were in Devon and Cornwall (the latter county
seeing a significant movement of Red Kites during the day), and Bee-eaters
were seen or heard in Ceredigion, Scilly and Norfolk (two).
The Black Stork was reported again from the Western Isles, this time on Berneray, with lingering rarities including Great Reed Warbler in Derbyshire and single Iberian Chiffchaffs in Gwent, Kent and Yorkshire. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Friday 21st May 2010 | ||
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| Following hot on the heels of a White-throated Sparrow on Fair Isle,
Shetland's second White-throated Sparrow of the week was found at Spiggie
today. Unfortunately the sparrow failed to avoid the attention of a local cat.
Elsewhere a female King Eider was located off Westray (Orkney) and a Black Kite flew over Connah's Quay (Flintshire). Lingering rarities included Great Reed Warbler (Derbyshire), Iberian Chiffchaffs (South Yorkshire and Kent) and Rustic Bunting (Fair Isle). The best of the rest included Red-backed Shrikes on Isles of Scilly (2) and Cornwall, Red-spotted Bluethroat in Pembrokeshire, Serin in Dorset, Purple Heron in Cambridgeshire and Ring-necked Duck in Fife. Six Temminck's Stints and four migrant Honey Buzzards were also reported. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Thursday 20th May 2010 | ||
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| The eighth Brown Shrike for Britain was discovered this evening at
Sennen Cove, Cornwall, where it remained elusive until dusk. This is the fourth
record since 2008.
Other new discoveries today included a Rustic Bunting on Fair Isle, Shetland, where the White-throated Sparrow remained present, a Tawny Pipit at Kessingland, Suffolk and a Black Kite over St Austell, Cornwall. Lingering rarities included Great Reed Warbler in Derbyshire and Iberian Chiffchaffs in Gwent, Yorkshire and Kent. Scarcity highlight was a Red-breasted Flycatcher on Shetland, with a scattering of Golden Orioles, Temminck's Stints, Honey Buzzards and Purple Herons being the best of the rest. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Wednesday 19th May 2010 | ||
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| The third White-throated Sparrow in Britain this year was found on
Fair Isle, Shetland, and late news concerned the second Dark-eyed Junco
this year, present in a garden in Folkestone, Kent from Saturday to Monday. A
Black Kite was at the Loch of Strathbeg RSPB, Aberdeenshire mid afternoon.
Long staying rarities included Oriental Pratincole in Lincolnshire, Great Reed Warbler in Derbyshire and Iberian Chiffchaffs in Kent, Yorkshire and Gwent. Scarcities were headlined by White-spotted Bluethroat in Norfolk, Purple Herons in Yorkshire and Kent, Ring-necked Duck in Fife, Serin in Kent, Dotterels in Suffolk and Sussex, White Stork in Yorkshire, Golden Oriole in the Isles of Scilly and Pomarine Skua in Lancashire. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Tuesday 18th May 2010 | ||
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| New discoveries today included a Red-rumped Swallow (Shetland),
Alpine Swift (Glamorgan) and Black Stork (Western Isles). The
Spotted Sandpiper in Lancashire, Oriental Pratincole in Lincolnshire,
Ferruginous Duck in Somerset, Great Reed Warbler in Derbyshire,
Iberian Chiffchaffs in Gwent, Kent and South Yorkshire and King Eider
in Aberdeenshire all remained on show.
Elsewhere a Buff-breasted Sandpiper lingered in Leicestershire for its second day, a Short-toed Lark arrived in Hampshire and a Common Rosefinch was logged in Lincolnshire. Other new birds included a Woodchat Shrike in Essex (another remained in East Yorkshire), Bluethroat on Shetland, Great Grey Shrike in West Yorkshire, Red-backed Shrike in Devon and Melodious Warbler in Conwy, whilst Purple Herons (Kent and East Yorkshire), Hoopoe (Hampshire) and White-spotted Bluethroat (Norfolk) all lingered. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Monday 17th May 2010 | ||
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| New rarities included a Spotted Sandpiper at Stocks Reservoir
(Lancashire), Bee-eater at Radipole (Dorset) and a White-billed Diver
off North Uist (Western Isles). A Black Kite was logged between
Warham and Wighton (Norfolk) whilst probable sightings of perhaps the same
Black Kite were reported between Docking and Choseley and just south of
Wells.
In Lincolnshire the Oriental Pratincole remained on show at Frampton Marsh RSPB, whilst the Great Reed Warbler (Derbyshire), King Eiders (Aberdeenshire and Shetland) and Iberian Chiffchaffs (South Yorkshire and Gwent) all lingered. The best of the rest came in the form of five Temminck's Stints, two each of Hoopoe, Purple Heron, Woodchat Shrike, Buff-breasted Sandpiper and Great White Egret and single Wryneck, White-spotted Bluethroat, Grey-headed Wagtail and Ring-necked Duck. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Sunday 16th May 2010 | ||
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| A fine selection of lingering rarities were headlined by the Oriental
Pratincole in Lincolnshire and Black-eared Wheatear in Co Wexford.
Elsewhere the Great Reed Warbler continued to sing in Derbyshire,
Iberian Chiffchaffs lingered in Kent, South Yorkshire and Gwent and in
Scotland the Broad-billed Sandpiper (Highland) and King Eider
(Lothian) were both still present. In addition to the aforementioned Black-eared
Wheatear the Forster's Tern and Glossy Ibis remained in Co Wexford,
in Somerset the long-staying Ferruginous Duck remained at Chew Valley
Lake
and in Norfolk a Black Kite flew over Welney WWT (where the
White-spotted Bluethroat continued to perform).
East Yorkshire produced three Purple Herons (two at Welwick and one a Tophill Low NR), whilst others were recorded in Suffolk and Kent. Hoopoes were noted in Orkney, Hampshire and Hertfordshire, a Serin flew over Bockhill Farm (Kent) and Woodchat Shrikes remained in Cornwall and on Isles of Scilly. The best of the rest included four Temminck's Stints, 23 Dotterels and at least three Great White Egrets. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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