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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Wednesday 3rd January 2018  
  New discoveries today included a Snowy Owl on St Martin's, Isles of Scilly and a Bonaparte's Gull at Radipole Lake, Dorset.

Lingering rarities included the Desert Wheatear in Yorkshire, Penduline Tit in Gloucestershire, Coues's Arctic Redpoll in Suffolk, Pied-billed Grebe in Shetland, White-billed Diver in Orkney and Lesser Scaup in Somerset.

Scarcity highlights were a Yellow-browed Warbler, two Lapland Buntings, 12 Waxwings, 31 Parrot Crossbills, a Temminck's Stint, two Ring-necked Ducks, four Surf Scoters, five American Wigeon, a Snow Goose, six Glossy Ibises, a Little Auks, two Pomarine Skuas, three Kumlien's Gulls, four Ring-billed Gulls, 20 Glaucous Gulls and 21 Iceland Gulls.
Will Soar, RBA
Tuesday 2nd January 2018  
  In Shetland, two female King Eiders were found, at Symbister, Whalsay and in Mid Yell Voe, Yell, whilst a White-billed Diver was in Bluemull Sound.

Lingering rarities elsewhere included the Desert Wheatear in Yorkshire, Penduline Tit in Gloucestershire, Coues's Arctic Redpoll in Suffolk, White-billed Diver in Orkney and Lesser Scaup in Somerset.

Scarcity highlights included a Great Grey Shrike, a Yellow-browed Warbler, a Lapland Bunting, two Rose-coloured Starlings, 18 Parrot Crossbills, 20 Shorelarks, 28 Waxwings, a Temminck's Stint, a Ring-necked Duck, two Surf Scoters, four Green-winged Teal, seven American Wigeon, two Little Auks, a Pomarine Skua, six Ring-billed Gulls, 11 Glaucous Gulls, 15 Iceland Gulls and seven Glossy Ibises.
Will Soar, RBA
Monday 1st January 2018  
  A busy New Year's Day produced rarities in the form of Desert Wheatear (North Yorkshire), Penduline Tit (Gloucestershire), Coues's Arctic Redpoll (Suffolk), Lesser Scaup (Somerset and Cornwall), White-billed Diver (Orkney), Long-billed Dowitcher (Kent), King Eider (Ceredigion/Gwynedd) and Snowy Owl (Co Mayo).

Scarcity highlights included Temminck's Stint (West Sussex), Rose-coloured Starling (East Yorkshire), Richard's Pipit (Cornwall), Lesser Snow Goose (Aberdeenshire), three Ring-necked Ducks, three Yellow-browed Warblers, four American Wigeons, nine Glossy Ibises, ten Shorelarks and at least 47 Parrot Crossbills.
Stuart Piner, RBA
Sunday 31st December 2017  
  The highlight of the day was the discovery of an adult Ross's Gull in Northumberland at Longhoughton Steel late in the afternoon; the ninth record for the county.

Rarities elsewhere comprised the Desert Wheatear still in North Yorkshire, Penduline Tit in Gloucestershire, Coues's Arctic Redpoll in Suffolk, Long-billed Dowitcher in Kent, King Eider in Ceredigion, and Lesser Scaups in both Cornwall and Somerset.

Scarcities included Temminck's Stint (West Sussex), Rough-legged Buzzard (Kent), two each of both Glossy Ibis and Surf Scoter, three of American Wigeon and Ring-billed Gull, and in England a total of 22 Parrot Crossbills split between Berkshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.
Chris Batty, RBA
Saturday 30th December 2017  
  Lingering rarities included Desert Wheatear (North Yorkshire), Penduline Tit (Gloucestershire), Lesser Scaup (Somerset and Cornwall), King Eider (Ceredigion) and Coues's Arctic Redpoll (Suffolk). Scarcities included Temminck's Stint (West Sussex), Waxwings (Norfolk and Highland), 16 Parrot Crossbills (Berkshire/Surrey border), Hoopoe (Norfolk/ Suffolk border), American Wigeon (Highland), Ring-necked Ducks (Co Clare, Co Tipperary and Co Wexford), Great Grey Shrike (Nottinghamshire) and Glossy Ibises (Co Cork [5], Isle of Wight and Devon).
Stuart Piner, RBA
Friday 29th December 2017  
  The highlight of the day was the discovery of a Killdeer on Isles of Scilly. Initially present in a chicken field near the airport on St Mary's, the plover was later seen at Porth Minack, before it flew north over Old Town late in the day. Elsewhere. lingering rarities included Coues's Arctic Redpoll (Suffolk), Desert Wheatear (North Yorkshire), Penduline Tit (Gloucestershire) and Lesser Scaup (Cornwall).

The best of the rest included a Little Bunting (Cornwall), Waxwing (Cleveland), Rough-legged Buzzards (Cambridgeshire and North Yorkshire), Glossy Ibises (Co Galway and Co Cork [5]) and Temminck's Stint (West Sussex).
Stuart Piner, RBA
Thursday 28th December 2017  
  Lingering rarities still present today included the Desert Wheatear in Yorkshire, Penduline Tit in Gloucestershire, Coues's Arctic Redpoll in Suffolk, Stilt Sandpiper in Dorset, Pied-billed Grebe in Shetland, Black Scoter and King Eider in County Kerry, King Eider in Ceredigion and Lesser Scaup in Cornwall.

Scarcity highlights included a Rose-coloured Starling, a Waxwing, three Great Grey Shrikes, eight Shorelarks, 12 Lapland Buntings, 28 Parrot Crossbills, a Surf Scoter, a Green-winged Teal, two Ring-necked Ducks, three American Wigeon, two Tundra Bean Geese, eight Glossy Ibises, a Kumlien's Gull, six Ring-billed Gulls, nine Glaucous Gulls, and 14 Iceland Gulls.
Will Soar, RBA
Wednesday 27th December 2017  
  Lingering rarities seen today included the Desert Wheatear at Whitby, Yorkshire, Penduline Tit at Longford, Gloucestershire and Lesser Scaup at Chew Valley Lake, Somerset.

Scarcity highlights included a Lapland Bunting, two Great Grey Shrikes, two Shorelarks, two Waxwings, 22 Parrot Crossbills, a Tundra Bean Goose, three American Wigeon, four Surf Scoters, four Ring-necked Ducks, seven Glossy Ibises, a Little Auk, a Pomarine Skua, a Kumlien's Gull, five Ring-billed Gulls, 12 Glaucous Gulls and 17 Iceland Gulls.
Will Soar, RBA
Tuesday 26th December 2017  
  Rarities today comprised the Desert Wheatear still in North Yorkshire, Penduline Tit still in Gloucestershire, Coues's Arctic Redpoll in Suffolk, King Eider in Ceredigion and Lesser Scaup in Somerset.

Scarcities included Temminck's Stint (West Sussex), Rough-legged Buzzard (Essex), two each of Ring-billed Gull, Glossy Ibis, Ring-necked Duck, three American Wigeons, seven Surf Scoters, and in England a total of 45 Parrot Crossbills located between Berkshire, Derbyshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.
Chris Batty, RBA
Monday 25th December 2017  
  Rarities today comprised the Desert Wheatear still in North Yorkshire, Penduline Tit still in Gloucestershire, Coues's Arctic Redpoll in Suffolk, Lesser Yellowlegs in Dorset, a White-billed Diver on the Orkney Isles and a Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll discovered on Unst, Shetland Isles

Scarcities included American Wigeon (Devon), Surf Scoter (County Clare), Ring-necked Duck (County Kerry), Ring-billed Gull and three Glossy Ibises (all in County Cork), and in England nine Parrot Crossbills between Berkshire, Derbyshire and Hertfordshire.
Chris Batty, RBA