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| Saturday 26th August 2017 | ||
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| New discoveries included Arctic Warbler on Shetland,
Pacific Golden Plover on Orkney, Blyth's Reed Warbler
in Cornwall and Lesser Yellowlegs and White-rumped
Sandpiper on Cape Clear (Co Cork). Lingering rarities comprised Ferruginous Duck (Co Durham), Forster's Tern (Co Louth), Snowy Owl (Co Mayo), Bonaparte's Gull (Dorset), Long-billed Dowitcher (Kent) and Greenish Warbler (Orkney). The best of the rest included Grey-headed Wagtail (Ayrshire), Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Co Wexford), Rose-coloured Starling (East Yorkshire), Woodchat Shrike (Glamorgan), Purple Heron (Lancashire), Night Heron (Isles of Scilly), Common Rosefinch and Short-toed Lark (Shetland), Temminck's Stint (Northamptonshire), two each of Red-backed Shrike, Red-necked Phalarope, Hoopoe, Barred Warbler, Marsh Warbler and Dotterel, four Wrynecks and 16 Pectoral Sandpipers. |
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| - Stuart Piner, 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 25th August 2017 | ||
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| A Blyth's Reed Warbler was a new discovery on North Ronaldsay, Orkney and the
Greenish Warbler was also still present on the island. A Melodious
Warbler was nearby on Papa Westray, whilst Shetland produced Icterine
Warbler, Red-backed Shrike, two Wrynecks, two Barred
Warblers and a Common Rosefinch all on Fair Isle, and other single
Red-backed Shrikes at Skaw, Unst and Grutness, Mainland.
Lingering rarities included the Pied-billed Grebe in Argyll, Caspian Tern in Norfolk, Long-billed Dowitcher, two Black-winged Stilts and Bonaparte's Gull in Kent, Bonaparte's Gull in Dorset, Greenish Warbler in Cornwall and Wilson's Petrels in County Kerry (four) and Scilly. Other scarcity highlights included an Ortolan Bunting, a Bluethroat, a Sabine's Gull, a White-winged Black Tern, a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, a Purple Heron, a Spotted Crake, a Surf Scoter, two Dotterels, two Red-necked Phalaropes, two Temminck's Stints, two Melodious Warblers, two Hoopoes, three Red-backed Shrikes, three Wrynecks, seven Pectoral Sandpipers and nine Glossy Ibises. Seawatching and pelagic trips produced ten Sabine's Gulls, nine Pomarine Skuas, eight Cory's Shearwaters, seven Great Shearwaters and a Leach's Petrel. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Thursday 24th August 2017 | ||
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| Rarity highlights included Caspian Tern in Norfolk,
Greenish Warblers in Cornwall and Orkney, Spotted Sandpiper
in Co Dublin, Long-billed Dowitcher in Kent and
Wilson's Petrel off an Isles of Scilly pelagic. Scarcities came in the form of Common Rosefinch (Fair Isle), Purple Heron (Lancashire), Buff-breasted Sandpiper and American Golden Plover (Co Wexford), Rose-coloured Starling (East Yorkshire), Hoopoe (East Sussex), Ortolan Bunting (Cornwall), Night Heron (Buckinghamshire), Grey-headed Wagtail (Norfolk), two each of Melodious Warbler, Red-backed Shrike, Dotterel, Temminck's Stint, Red-necked Phalarope, Wryneck and Montagu's Harrier, five Barred Warblers and 11 Pectoral Sandpipers. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Wednesday 23rd August 2017 | ||
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| New discoveries included a juvenile Spotted Sandpiper in Co
Dublin, Greenish Warbler in Cornwall and Black-winged
Stilt in Kent. Seawatching at Bridges of Ross produced a
Fea's/Desertas Petrel, whilst lingering rarities elsewhere comprised
Caspian Tern (Norfolk), Bonaparte's Gull,
Long-billed Dowitcher and three Black-winged Stilts
(Kent), Bonaparte's Gull (Dorset) and Ferruginous Duck
(Co Durham). The quintessential mix of early autumn scarcities included Melodious Warbler (Cornwall), Rose-coloured Starling (East Yorkshire), Purple Heron (Lancashire), Grey-headed Wagtail (Norfolk), Night Heron (Buckinghamshire), Dotterel (Kent), Barred Warbler (Orkney), Temminck's Stint (Northamptonshire), Common Rosefinch (Shetland), two Spotted Crakes, two Ortolan Buntings, three Red-necked Phalaropes, four Wrynecks and at least five Pectoral Sandpipers. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Tuesday 22nd August 2017 | ||
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| In Co Cork the Yellow Warbler remained at Mizen Head, but
unfortunately the Portland (Dorset) Yellow Warbler had departed overnight.
Elsewhere rarity highlights included Caspian Tern (Norfolk),
Long-billed Dowitcher (Kent), Laughing Gull
(Co Sligo), three Wilson's Petrels (Co Cork) and
White-rumped Sandpiper (Lincolnshire). The best of the rest included Bluethroat (Suffolk), Red-backed Shrike (London), Purple Heron (Lancashire), Melodious Warbler (Cornwall), Dotterel (Conwy), Night Heron (Buckinghamshire), two Temminck's Stints, two Rose-coloured Starlings and five Pectoral Sandpipers. An Ortolan Bunting was sound-recorded over Portland Bill overnight between Monday and Tuesday. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Monday 21st August 2017 | ||
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| The highlight of the day was the arrival of two separate Yellow Warblers in the wake of Hurricane Gert. The first to be found was in County Cork at Mizen Head - the fifth record for Ireland and the second at that site following one in August 2008 - whilst the second was discovered at Portland, Dorset - the sixth for Britain and the first for England. Both remained into the evening and represented the earliest ever autumn arrival of a Nearctic landbird in Britain and Ireland. Rarities elsewhere comprised the Laughing Gull still in County Sligo, Caspian Tern in Norfolk, two Wilson's Petrels off the Isles of Scilly, and in Kent the Long-billed Dowitcher, Bonaparte's Gull and two Black-winged Stilts all remain. An Aquatic Warbler was reported in Hampshire at Farlington Marshes and on the Isle of Man an astonishingly early Olive-backed Pipit was seen briefly on the Calf of Man. Scarcities included Rose-coloured Starling and Red-necked Phalarope (together in East Yorkshire), White-winged Black Tern and Hoopoe (together in Devon), Purple Heron (Lancashire), two each of both Spotted Crake and Temminck's Stint, six Pectoral Sandpipers, nine Glossy Ibises, 11 Great Shearwaters, 13 Cattle Egrets and 20 Cory's Shearwaters. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Sunday 20th August 2017 | ||
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| A Fea's or Desertas Petrel and a Wilson's Petrel were seen from
a pelagic off Falmouth, Cornwall this afternoon, and another of each flew past
Chynalls Point in the same county.
Lingering rarities included the Laughing Gull in County Sligo, Forster's Tern in County Louth and Long-billed Dowitcher and Bonaparte's Gull in Kent. Ten Wilson's Petrels were seen from the Scilly pelagic (with another from the Scillonian.III, and eight were seen from the Baltimore pelagic. Scarcity highlights included a Rose-coloured Starling, a Barred Warbler, a Purple Heron, a Temminck's Stint, a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, a White-winged Black Tern, a Surf Scoter, two Spotted Crakes, two Hoopoes, two Glossy Ibises and six Pectoral Sandpipers. Seabirds included two Sabine's Gulls, a Long-tailed Skua, 13 Pomarine Skuas, six Cory's Shearwaters and 78 Great Shearwaters. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Saturday 19th August 2017 | ||
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| Rarity highlights included American White-winged Scoter in
Aberdeenshire and Black-winged Stilts in Kent (6) and Essex. In
Ireland the Laughing Gull (Co Sligo) and Forster's Tern
(Co Louth) were both logged, whilst Wilson's Petrels were
logged from a Co Cork pelagic (5) and Co Clare (4). Wilson's Petrels
were also seen from an Isles of Scilly pelagic (2) and off Porthgwarra
(Cornwall). The best of the rest included Woodchat Shrike and two Barred Warblers (Shetland), Hoopoe (Devon), Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Co Wexford), Spotted Crake (Worcestershire), Purple Heron (Lancashire), Night Heron (Cleveland), American Night Heron (Shropshire) and four Pectoral Sandpipers (Co Wexford, Isles of Scilly, Leicestershire and Western Isles). |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Friday 18th August 2017 | ||
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| An excellent seawatch at Bridges of Ross (Co Clare) produced a Barolo
Shearwater and eight Wilson's Petrels. Elsewhere off
the west coast of Ireland a Fea's/Desertas Petrel and three
Wilson's Petrels flew past Brandon Point and a Laughing
Gull was discovered at Staad Abbey (Co Sligo). Lingering rarities included the Caspian Tern in Norfolk, White-rumped Sandpiper in Northumberland and Long-billed Dowitcher and Bonaparte's Gull in Kent, whilst a flyover Bee-eater was reported at New Quay (Ceredigion). The best of the rest included Hoopoe and White-winged Black Tern (Devon), Purple Heron (Lancashire), two Temminck's Stints (Essex), Marsh Warbler (Orkney) and Spotted Crake (Northumberland). |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Thursday 17th August 2017 | ||
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| The highlight of the day was realisation that a reported Little Stint at Nosterfield, North Yorkshire is actually either a
Western or Semipalmated Sandpiper with structural characteristics
suggesting the former. If it does prove to be a Western Sandpiper it will be only the ninth British record and the first ever inland. However, as the bird is in winter plumage a certain identification may not prove possible. Other rarities comprised the flock of seven Bee-eaters now present in Hertfordshire at Bayford, the American White-winged Scoter still in Aberdeenshire, Forster's Tern in County Louth, Western Bonelli's Warbler in East Yorkshire, Caspian Tern in Norfolk, White-rumped Sandpiper in Northumberland, and Long-billed Dowitcher and Bonaparte's Gull together in Kent. Scarcities included Melodious Warbler (Pembrokeshire), Glossy Ibis (Norfolk), Dotterel (South Yorkshire), two each of White-winged Black Tern, Night Heron and Surf Scoter and six Cattle Egrets. Day totals of notable seabirds were 89 Cory's Shearwaters, 44 Great Shearwaters and two each of Wilson's Petrel and Sabine's Gull. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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