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| Saturday 17th May 2014 | ||
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| High pressure today produced sightings of several mobile rarities, with brief encounters with Red-footed Falcon in Essex, Suffolk and the Isles of Scilly,
Bee-eaters in Kent, Pembrokeshire (3) and Suffolk, Red-rumped Swallow in Cornwall and Leicestershire, and
Black Kite in Cornwall, Hampshire and Suffolk. Rarities elsewhere comprised two Black-winged Stilts together in West Sussex at Bracklesham, a Lesser Yellowlegs on the Western Isles on South Uist, Two-barred Crossbill still in Norfolk, King Eider in Aberdeenshire, and both Caspian Stonechat and Western Subalpine Warbler on Fair Isle. Scarcities included nine Temminck's Stints, six migrant Dotterel, four Glossy Ibises, two each of White-winged Black Tern (together in Greater Manchester), Golden Oriole, American Wigeon, Surf Scoter and Cattle Egret, and single Ortolan Bunting (Cornwall), Wryneck (Shetland Isles), Buff-breasted Sandpiper and Pectoral Sandpiper (both Orkney Isles). |
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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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| Friday 16th May 2014 | ||
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| New rarities today were headlined by a Terek Sandpiper at Amble
Marshes in Cornwall and a Broad-billed Sandpiper briefly at Alkborough
Flats in north Lincolnshire. A Great Reed Warbler was heard singing in
the morning at Walberswick in Suffolk and a Little Bunting was found at
Boddam on Mainland Shetland. There was an Eastern Subalpine Warbler on
Bardsey Island in Gwynedd and another Subalpine Warbler was found on
Bryher in the Isles of Scilly.
On Fair Isle (Shetland) the Hermit Thrush was seen again along with the Caspian Stonechat, a Subalpine Warbler and the island's first Glossy Ibis. A group of nine Bee-eaters were seen on St.Martins on the Isles of Scilly, with various other sightings of presumably the same birds around the islands during the day. A single Bee-eater also flew over Polgigga in Cornwall, an area which also hosted up to four Black Kites, 71 Red Kites, two Honey Buzzards, a Common Crane and a Great White Egret. In an amazing day for the species, other Black Kite records were as follows: Sennen, Kelynack and Pendeen (Cornwall); Tresco, St.Martin's and St.Agnes (Isles of Scilly); Skomer Island and Martins Haven (Pembrokeshire) and Winchester (Hampshire). The other species to feature prominently was Black-winged Stilt, with records as follows: two at Elmley in Kent; two near Spalding in Lincolnshire and two at Fen Drayton, and later at Ouse Fen, (Cambridgeshire) along with the ringed escaped bird. The Spotted Sandpiper was still on Unst in the Shetland Isles. |
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| - Pete Hayman, RBA | ||
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| Thursday 15th May 2014 | ||
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| Multiple Black-winged Stilts were found in Lincolnshire and Kent
today, with two at Willow Tree Fen reserve in the former and four at Cliffe
Pools RSPB in the latter. Three Black Kites were in the St Buryan /Polgigga
area of Cornwall, a Subalpine Warbler was on Skokholm, Pembrokeshire and
a Spotted Sandpiper on Unst, Shetland rounded of the day's new rarities.
Lingering rarities included just the Caspian Stonechat and Western Subalpine Warbler on Fair Isle and the King Eider on the Ythan Estuary, Aberdeenshire. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Wednesday 14th May 2014 | ||
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| The highlight of the day was the continued presence of the Hermit Thrush on Fair Isle, Sheltand Isles, where it showed alongside both
Caspian Stonechat and Western Subalpine Warbler. Elsewhere, lingering rarities comprised the Sardinian Warbler still in County Cork,
Great Reed Warbler in Gloucestershire, Lesser Yellowlegs in Cornwall, and a pair of Black-winged Stilts in Kent. New discoveries included two Subalpine Warblers together off the Isle of Man on the Calf of Man, a Bonaparte's Gull in Devon at Bowling Green Marsh, and in Hampshire a brief Black Kite near Petersfield. Highlights amongst the scarcities were Golden Oriole (Dorset), Serin (Lincolnshire), Purple Heron (Isle of Scilly), Cattle Egret (Somerset), five Temminck's Stints, seven each of both migrant Dotterel and Glossy Ibis, and a total of fifteen Long-tailed Skuas. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Tuesday 13th May 2014 | ||
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| Fair Isle's run of top quality birds continued today, with the discovery this
evening of the island's third Hermit Thrush. This is also the
third Spring record of the species in Britain, with just one out of the previous
three records in Shetland occuring in Autumn. The Caspian Stonechat and
Western Subalpine Warbler both remained on Fair Isle.
Further south, a singing Great Reed Warbler spent the day at Slimbridge WWT, Gloucestershire, and a Red-rumped Swallow flew west at Reculver, Kent. Lingering rarities included the Whiskered Tern in County Cork, Lesser Yellowlegs in Cornwall and Bonaparte's Gull in County Wexford. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Monday 12th May 2014 | ||
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| Today's new discoveries included a flyover Roller in Kent,
Red-rumped Swallow in Suffolk, Little Bunting on Shetland and
yesterday's Gull-billed Tern relocated to Ceredigion. Elsewhere lingering
rarities included Spotted Sandpiper in Oxfordshire, Lesser Yellowlegs
in Cornwall and Caspian Stonechat on Shetland.
Scarcities included Cattle Egret (Buckinghamshire), Short-toed Lark and Woodchat Shrike (Isles of Scilly), Shorelark (Cleveland), Wryneck (Shetland), Serin (Lincolnshire), two Hoopoes, two Temminck's Stints, six Glossy Ibises and 14 Dotterels. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Sunday 11th May 2014 | ||
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| Bird of the day could have been the Gull-billed Tern in Gwynedd, seen
late afternoon off Aberdyfi, but news didn't emerge until late this evening.
Elsewhere, a Citrine Wagtail spent a minute or so on the patio of
Portland Bird Observatory, Dorset, a Red-throated Pipit flew over Berry
Head, Devon, a Lesser Yellowlegs was on Loch Fada, Western Isles and a
Red-rumped Swallow spent three hours at Thamesmead, London. Other new
discoveries included a second Bonaparte's Gull at Tacumshin, County
Wexford and two Black Kites in Kent.
Lingering rarities seen today included the Caspian Stonechat in Shetland, Sardinian Warbler and Whiskered Tern in County Cork, Snowy Owl in the Western Isles, Black-winged Stilt in Kent, Lesser Yellowlegs in Cornwall and Spotted Sandpiper in Oxfordshire. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Saturday 10th May 2014 | ||
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| On a fairly quiet May Saturday, the new discoveries included the first
Alpine Swift of the year at Ouse Fen, Cambridgeshire, a Lesser Yellowlegs
at Windmill Farm, Cornwall and a Snowy Owl at Grenitote, Western Isles.
Late news from yesterday concerned County Galway's first modern day record of Great Spotted Cuckoo, which flew past Barna Church. Lingering rarities included just the Caspian Stonechat in Shetland, Spotted Sandpiper in Oxfordshire, Lesser Yellowlegs in Northumberland, Black-winged Stilt in Kent and Bonaparte's Gull in County Wexford. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Friday 9th May 2014 | ||
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| New discoveries today included a Rustic Bunting on Fetlar, Shetland
and a Red-rumped Swallow over Easton Broad, Suffolk.
Lingering rarities present today included the Great Spotted Cuckoo on The Lizard, Cornwall, Caspian Stonechat and Little Bunting on Fair Isle, Shetland, Black-winged Stilt at Dungeness, Kent, Lesser Yellowlegs at Beadnell, Northumberland, Bonaparte's Gull at Tacumshin, County Wexford and a Black Kite on Tresco, Isles of Scilly. Scarcity totals included a Woodchat Shrike, a Red-backed Shrike, a Richard's Pipit, a Serin, a Bluethroat, a Purple Heron, a Pectoral Sandpiper, a Kumlien's Gull, an American Wigeon, two Short-toed Larks, two Wrynecks, two Long-tailed Skuas, two Temminck's Stints, three Hoopoes, seven Roseate Terns, seven Glossy Ibises, 19 Dotterel and 37 Pomarine Skuas. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Thursday 8th May 2014 | ||
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| New rarities discovered today comprised an Eastern Subalpine Warbler on
the Shetland Isles on Fair Isle, a Subalpine Warbler in Pembrokeshire on Ramsey Island, Bonaparte's Gull
in County Wexford at Tacumshin, at least one Black-winged Stilt in Kent at Dungeness, a brief
White-billed Diver in Cornwall, and single Red-rumped Swallows in
both East Sussex and Kent. A Lesser Yellowlegs at Beadnell, Northumberland, was the same
individual as that present at College Lake, Buckinghamshire on 5th May: a movement north of 262 miles. Lingering rarities confirmed as still present were Myrtle Warbler, Caspian Stonechat and Western Subalpine Warbler on the Shetland Isles, two Black Kites together on the Isles of Scilly, two Two-barred Crossbills together in Norfolk, and White-billed Divers in both Aberdeenshire and the Orkney Isles. Scarcities included 50 migrant Dotterel, eight Glossy Ibises, four Temminck's Stints, three each of both Wryneck and Cattle Egret, two Hoopoes, Woodchat Shrike (Lancashire), Serin (Lincolnshire), Short-toed Lark (Isles of Scilly), Pectoral Sandpiper (Northumberland), Ring-billed Gull (Western Isles), Surf Scoter (Lothian), American Wigeon (Argyll) and Ring-necked Duck (County Kerry). |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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