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| Wednesday 12th February 2014 | ||
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| Rarities today comprised the Myrtle Warbler still in County Durham, American
Coot, Franklin's Gull and King Eider in Highland, Red-flanked Bluetail
in Wiltshire, Ross's Gull in Glamorgan, Two-barred Crossbill in Lincolnshire, and
Long-billed Dowitcher in Hampshire, whilst in Kent the probable Chinese Pond Heron
remained in Saltwood. Scarcities included five Parrot Crossbills (together in Norfolk), four Glossy Ibises, two Snow Geese, Surf Scoter (Cornwall) and Cattle Egret (County Down). Totals of notable gulls were 19 Glaucous, five Iceland, three Kumlien's and two Caspian. |
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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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| Tuesday 11th February 2014 | ||
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| Rarities today comprised the Myrtle Warbler still in County Durham, American
Coot, Black Duck and Franklin's Gull in Highland, Red-flanked
Bluetail in Wiltshire, Ross's Gull and Bonaparte's Gull in Glamorgan, American Buff-bellied Pipit
in Cheshire, Hume's Yellow-browed Warblers in both Kent and Warwickshire,
Two-barred Crossbills in Gloucestershire (12), Lincolnshire and Norfolk,
Bonaparte's Gull in Devon, King Eider in County Mayo and Azorean Yellow-legged Gull in County Wexford. Scarcities included five Surf Scoters and four each of both Glossy Ibis and Lapland Bunting, whilst further notable gulls included totals of 15 Glaucous, eight Kumlien's, eight Iceland, four Ring-billed and two Caspian. In Kent the pond heron present in gardens at Saltwood, Hythe, since 21st January was seen again today and is probably a Chinese Pond Heron. If the identification is confirmed as Chinese Pond Heron then this will be the second individual of this species to be located in Britain, following an adult in 2004; initially suppressed at Eccles, Norfolk on 31st October and then present at East Dean, Hampshire on 13th November. The 2004 record was assessed by the BOURC who considered this adult in breeding plumage in late autumn to be an escape from captivity, and so added the species to Category E of the British List. Other records in Europe come from Norway (autumn 1973, Category D), Hungary (August 2000, Category D), and Finland (July 2007 and August 2012, both Category E). Chinese Pond Heron breeds from Manchuria and east China west to Assam, North Burma and Japan, with northern breeders migrating to winter in the Malay Peninsula, Indochina, Borneo and Sumatra. That long distance vagrancy in this species occurs is not in doubt, with three records from the Bering Sea: on the Pribilof Islands in August 1996, Attu in May 2010, and on St Lawrence in July 2011, all 2,500 to 3,000 miles beyond the normal range of the species. As with other pond heron species, Chinese Pond Heron is known in captivity in Europe. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Monday 10th February 2014 | ||
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| Lingering mega-rarities comprised the Myrtle Warbler in Co Durham and
American Coot in Highland. In East Yorkshire a Fea's Petrel flew
past Spurn Point. Elsewhere the American Buff-bellied Pipit in Cheshire,
Ross's Gulls in Glamorgan, Co Cork and Co Dublin, Red-flanked Bluetail
on the Gloucestershire/Wiltshire border, Lesser Scaup in Cornwall,
Staffordshire, Highland and Glamorgan, Two-barred Crossbills in Norfolk
and Lincolnshire, Black Duck in Highland and Co Mayo, Forster's Tern
in Co Mayo, King Eiders in Shetland (2) and Co Mayo, Hume's
Yellow-browed Warblers in Kent and Warwickshire, Lesser Yellowlegs in Hampshire,
Bonaparte's Gull in Devon and White-billed Divers in Shetland (3) and Highland were all
recorded.
The best of the rest included 27 Parrot Crossbills, five Glossy Ibises, Richard's Pipit in Norfolk, Serin and Rose-coloured Starling on Isles of Scilly, Late news from yesterday related to the continued presence of the Squacco Heron (or perhaps an Indian or Chinese Pond Heron) in Kent and a Franklin's Gull in Highland. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Sunday 9th February 2014 | ||
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| Highlight of the day was the identification of a classic near-adult Slaty-backed
Gull in Ireland. Photographs taken yesterday show the bird at Waterside,
Galway, but there was no sign of it today when the observer returned. This is a
first for Ireland and potentially only the second for the British Isles,
following the bird in London and Essex in 2011.
Back in Britain, the location of the Myrtle Warbler in County Durham was released, with several hundred birders seeing the bird today. Other new discoveries today included a Ross's Gull at Leighton Moss RSPB, Lancashire, another at Kinsale, County Cork and a Two-barred Crossbill at Broughton, Lincolnshire. Lingering rarity highlights included the Red-flanked Bluetail, American Coot, Pied-billed Grebe, American Buff-bellied Pipit, two Ross's Gulls, Laughing Gull, two Hume's Yellow-browed Warblers and a Black Duck. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Saturday 8th February 2014 | ||
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| Discovery of the day was a first-winter Ross's Gull in Glamorgan,
which was present at the river mouth at Port Talbot briefly before flying up
river. The Myrtle Warbler remains in a garden in County Durham, with
arrangements being made for access in the near future.
Other lingering rarities seen today included the Red-flanked Bluetail on the Gloucestershire /Wiltshire border, American Coot, Black Duck and White-billed Diver in Highland, Ross's Gull in Dublin, American Buff-bellied Pipit in Cheshire, single Hume's Yellow-browed Warblers in Warwickshire and Kent, Long-billed Dowitcher and Lesser Yellowlegs in Hampshire and two King Eiders in Lothian. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Friday 7th February 2014 | ||
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| Significant late news concerned a Myrtle Warbler in County Durham,
seen during the RSPB Garden Birdwatch in late January, but the exact location
hasn't been released to the general public.
An American Herring Gull was found at Killybegs, County Donegal today, with single White-billed Divers also found at Reay, Highland, Snarravoe, Shetland and Tiumpan Head, Western Isles. Lingering rarity highlights included the Red-flanked Bluetail on the Gloucestershire/Wiltshire border, American Coot and Black Duck in Highland, American Herring Gull in Argyll, Ross's Gull in County Dublin, Laughing Gull in County Cork, Forster's Tern and King Eider in County Mayo, American Buff-bellied Pipit in Cheshire, Hume's Yellow-browed Warbler in Warwickshire single Lesser Scaups in Glamorgan and Staffordshire and Lesser Yellowlegs in Hampshire. A Two-barred Crossbill was in Norfolk and eight were in Gloucestershire. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Thursday 6th February 2014 | ||
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| The highlight of the day was the discovery of a first-winter American Herring Gull in Argyll at Campbeltown, the first in Scotland since 2008. Lingering rarities confirmed as still present were the Red-flanked Bluetail on the Gloucestershire/Wiltshire border, both American Coot and Black Duck in Highland, Pied-billed Grebe on the Western Isles, Hume's Yellow-browed Warblers in Kent and Warwickshire, three Two-barred Crossbills together in South Yorkshire, and Lesser Scaups in both Glamorgan and Staffordshire. Scarcities included Richard's Pipit (Norfolk), Cattle Egret (Buckinghamshire), two Shorelarks (Norfolk), three Ring-necked Ducks, four Snow Geese, six Glossy Ibises, and 28 Parrot Crossbills (split evenly between Norfolk and Nottinghamshire). Gulls totalled 45 Glaucous, 20 Iceland, 14 Caspian, five Kumlien's and five Ring-billed. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Wednesday 5th February 2014 | ||
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| Highland logged the major rarities of today, with the reappearance of the Black Duck on Loch Sunart at Strontian
- where it was first noted here on 16th June 2007, a white morph Gyr seen briefly at Wick
- near where one had been reported on 22nd January 2014, and the American Coot remained at Loch Flemington. Lingering rarities elsewhere comprised the Red-flanked Bluetail still on the Gloucestershire/Wiltshire border, Hume's Yellow-browed Warbler in Warwickshire, Black Duck and King Eider in County Mayo, and a Lesser Scaup in Staffordshire. Scarcities included Richard's Pipit (Isles of Scilly), Ring-necked Duck (Ayrshire), Surf Scoter (Western Isles), two each of both American Wigeon and Shorelark, three Glossy Ibises, and eight Parrot Crossbills (Norfolk). Notable gulls totalled 32 Glaucous, 15 Iceland, five Caspian, four Kumlien's and a single Ring-billed. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Tuesday 4th February 2014 | ||
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| Lingering rarities included the Red-flanked Bluetail on the
Gloucestershire/Wiltshire border, Lesser Yellowlegs in Hampshire, American Coot
in Highland, Hume's Yellow-browed Warblers in Kent and Warwickshire,
White-billed Diver in Devon, King Eider in Co Mayo, Lesser Scaup in
Glamorgan, Highland and
Staffordshire and Two-barred Crossbills in South Yorkshire (5),
Shropshire (1+) and Norfolk.
The best of the rest included American Wigeon in Gwent, Yellow-browed Warbler in Worcestershire, Serin and Rose-coloured Starling on Isles of Scilly and 14 Parrot Crossbills in Norfolk. Eight Glossy Ibises were also logged today. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Monday 3rd February 2014 | ||
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| Highlight of the day was the discovery of a Red-flanked Bluetail near
Marshfield (Gloucestershire). Elsewhere news of a Two-barred Crossbill at Hoveton
Hall was released (where it has been present for at least a month) and an
American Herring Gull was at Cobh (Co Cork).
Lingering rarities included Sora (Isles of Scilly), Squacco Heron (Kent), Long-billed Dowitcher (Hampshire), Lesser Scaup (Staffordshire, Cornwall and Glamorgan), six Two-barred Crossbills (South Yorkshire), American Coot (Highland), Hume's Yellow-browed Warbler (Warwickshire) and White-billed Diver and Bonaparte's Gull (Devon). The best of the rest included Richard's Pipit (Norfolk), American Wigeon (Gwent), Yellow-browed Warblers (Worcestershire and Somerset) and Serin and Rose-coloured Starling (Isles of Scilly). In Co Mayo a dead American Purple Gallinule was found on Carne Golf Course yesterday. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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