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| Saturday 22nd April 2006 | ||
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| Although a busy day with the flood of migrants continuing – few new rarities were discovered, the best being a brief Black Kite near Sandwich, Kent and Woodchat Shrikes at both Porthgwarra, Cornwall and Pett Level, Sussex – the former briefly accompanied by a Bee-eater and the latter by a Cattle Egret! A showy Bluethroat at Staines Moor, Surrey proved predictably popular whilst a dapper Common Rosefinch at Portland Bill, Dorset gave most would-be observers the run around. | ||
| - 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 21st April 2006 | ||
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| New rarities included a Snowy Owl on North Uist at Aird an Runair,
Laughing Gulls at Bexhill (E.Sussex) and Restronguet Creek (Cornwall) and
White-billed Diver off Unst. A Red-rumped Swallow was reported
from Portland Bill, this might have been the bird that was belatedly reported
present at Radipole Lake yesterday. In Shetland the drake Hooded Merganser
of unknown origin reappeared on Unst after a day’s absence, while other rare
ducks still present included Blue-winged Teal at St. Mary’s Island,
Black Duck in Scilly, King Eider in Ayrshire, Lesser Scaup in
Leicestershire and Black Scoter in Conwy.
The American Golden Plover remained at Cemlyn as did the Long-billed Dowitcher in Cornwall. A new Kentish Plover appeared at Breydon Water, a veritable hotspot for this species. The pair of Kentish Plovers remained at Marazion beach, while Dotterels were reported from Great Ormes Head and Pendle Hill. The Franklin’s Gull remained in Devon at Northam Burrows but there was no sign of all day of the Bonaparte’s Gull at Farmoor Reservoir (Oxon). Late in the day an adult summer Bonaparte’s Gull was found roosting in Weymouth Bay. Further White-billed Divers remained off the north-east side of Lewis and North Ronaldsay. The adult Night Heron was seen again in Lincoln, while other rare herons included Purple Herons at Nanjizal Valley (Cornwall), Bough Beech Reservoir (Kent), at a private site in Pembrokeshire and Minsmere RSPB (Suffolk). The Woodchat Shrike remained in Dorset and late Waxwings were in Berkshire and Edinburgh. A Hoopoe was reported in Shropshire and a Gull-billed Tern reported at Scalby Mills. |
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| - Richard Moores, RBA | ||
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| Thursday 20th April 2006 | ||
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| Today's new rarities were two more White-billed Divers, this time off North Ronaldsay (Orkney). In Oxon the Bonaparte’s Gull again returned to roost at Farmoor Reservoir, while in Anglesey the 1st-summer American Golden Plover continued to show well at Cemlyn Lagoon. Other remaining rarities included King Eider at Irvine, Blue-winged Teal at St. Mary’s Wetland, Franklin’s Gull at Northam Burrows Country Park, Black Duck in Scilly, Lesser Scaup at Swithland Reservoir and Long-billed Dowitcher at Hayle Estuary. Alpine Swifts were again spotted in Kent and Wirral. Other birds of note included the pair of Kentish Plovers all day at Marazion beach, Purple Heron at Minsmere RSPB and a couple of Hoopoes were reported, in East Sussex and Cheshire respectively. A Night Heron was found in Lincoln. | ||
| - Richard Moores, RBA | ||
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| Wednesday 19th April 2006 | ||
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| The highlight of the day was the discovery of another south coast
Subalpine Warbler; at Samphire Hoe Country Park, Kent. Elsewhere in
Kent an Alpine Swift was located at Margate in the evening whilst in
adjacent East Sussex an adult Laughing Gull flew past Birling Gap in the
morning. Other new rarities found today were a White-billed Diver in Bluemull Sound, Shetland and a Cattle Egret at Barton Stacey, Hampshire. The Bonaparte’s Gull showed well at Farmoor Reservoir, Oxfordshire during the afternoon and the American Golden Plover remained at Cemlyn, Anglesey. Notable scarcities comprised two Kentish Plovers at Marazion, Cornwall, a Purple Heron briefly at Dawlish Warren, Devon and the obliging Golden Oriole at Coldwaltham Brooks, West Sussex. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Tuesday 18th April 2006 | ||
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| The most intriguing report of the day was of an orange-billed tern in the
Christchurch Harbour area of Dorset – could it have been a return visit by last
years’ Elegant Tern? Also found during the day were an Alpine Swift at
Walmer in Kent, a White-billed Diver off Harris (Western Isles) and an
inland Richard’s Pipit at Witcham in Cambridgeshire. The American Golden Plover remained on Anglesey, as did the Bonaparte’s Gull in Oxfordshire and the Blue-winged Teal in Northumberland. Several long-staying rarities continued to entertain, including the Lesser Scaup at Swithland in Leicestershire, half a dozen Alpine Swifts, the Woodchat Shrike in Dorset and the Long-billed Dowitcher on the Hayle in Cornwall. A Spotted Crake was singing at Malltraeth in Anglesey, Hoopoes were in Nottinghamshire and Shropshire but a reminder of winter was provided by the Shorelark which remained at Minsmere in Suffolk and a couple of flocks of Waxwings still around. |
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| - Richard Moores, RBA | ||
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| Monday 17th April 2006 | ||
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| The highlights of the day were the discovery of an American Golden Plover
at Cemlyn, Anglesey, a brief Laughing Gull at Chew Valley Lake, Somerset
in the morning and a Bonaparte’s Gull at Farmoor Reservoir, Oxfordshire
in the evening. A Blue-winged Teal that arrived at St Mary’s
Island, Northumberland was presumably the bird present recently at Filey, North
Yorkshire. Today the bird showed well and was seen to be bear a metal ring on
it’s right leg; although – unless read - this has little bearing on the
perceived provenance of this bird. Alpine Swifts remained in Berkshire, Co Cork, Co Wicklow (3), Devon (2) and Wirral with a further bird at St Margaret’s at Cliffe, Kent briefly. The Black-winged Stilt remained on The Lizard, Cornwall as did the Franklin’s Gull at Northam Burrows, Devon and the Hooded Merganser on Unst, Shetland. The popular Western Subalpine Warbler at Stanpit Marsh, Dorset continued to perform and was briefly joined by an Ashy-headed Wagtail. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Sunday 16th April 2006 | ||
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| The highlight of the day was the discovery of a Black-winged Stilt on
The Lizard, Cornwall; perhaps the bird seen earlier in the month in Devon. The
Alpine Swift present in Berkshire on 15th made an all to brief visit to
Buckinghamshire – thwarting many county listers. Another Alpine Swift was
found near Polperro, Cornwall in the evening and a Woodchat Shrike was at
Abbotsbury in Dorset. The Coues’s Arctic Redpoll showed again at Darlington, Co Durham whilst highlights amongst the long staying attractions included four White-billed Divers on Lewis, Western Isles, the Black Scoter at Llanfairfechan, Conwy, King Eider at Irvine, Ayrshire and Long-billed Dowitcher at Old Hall Marshes, Essex. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Saturday 15th April 2006 | ||
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| The main talking point of the day was the appearance of a stunning male
Hooded Merganser on Unst, Shetland. Spring is prime time for the discovery
of Nearctic wildfowl and this individual certainly felt like it should be a
genuine vagrant. A Coues’s Arctic Redpoll was a good find at Darlington, Co Durham whilst a Laughing Gull at Southport, Merseyside briefly in the evening may have been the bird from nearby Marton Mere, Lancashire that temporarily went missing. Yet more Alpine Swifts were found; three at Bray, Co Wicklow and one over Maidenhead, Berkshire. Single Alpine Swifts at Hampstead Heath, London and Barnston, Wirral proved popular attractions whilst in Glamorgan the Bonaparte’s Gull showed again in Cardiff Bay and in Co Down the wintering Barrow’s Goldeneye remained in situ at Quoile Pondage. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Friday 14th April 2006 | ||
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| The highlight of the day was the appearance of a dapper Bonaparte’s Gull
at Cardiff Bay, Glamorgan. On the Western Isles birders watching two
White-billed Divers on Lewis at Skigersta located at least one Arctic
Redpoll in a nearby garden. The American Herring Gull remained in Galway, Co Galway as did the Laughing Gull in Cork, Co Cork, Long-billed Dowitcher on Hayle Estuary, Cornwall and the Black-winged Stilt at Thurlestone, Devon. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Thursday 13th April 2006 | ||
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| The discovery of a White-billed Diver at Melvaig, Highland was not
wholly unexpected, given the recently discovered spring passage of White-billed
Divers off northwest Scotland. New Alpine Swifts were found at
Braunton, Wirral with two seen over Kilcoole, Co Wicklow. The male Blue-winged Teal remained at Filey, North Yorkshire, although proved elusive on occasion, whilst in Lincolnshire the Ashy-headed Wagtail was seen again at Covenham Reservoir. The pick of the scarce migrants was a singing Hoopoe at Fowlmere, Cambridgeshire whilst many counties enjoyed arrivals of Ring Ouzels and Redstarts. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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