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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Saturday 1st July 2006  
  The news of a Gull-billed Tern in Cornwall at Walmsley Sanctuary CBWPS injected a little excitement into yet another quiet midsummer day; the bird has apparently been in the Camel Estuary area since Wednesday. Unusually for July, two Lesser Scaups were located, one at Tittesworth Reservoir, Staffordshire and the other at Pennington Flash Country Park, Greater Manchester. The latter individual, an adult drake,  is likely to be the same bird that was present at this site during the summers of 2003 and 2004.

The adult Black-browed Albatross was successfully twitched for the second successive weekend and in Cumbria the Great White Egret remained at Bassenthwaite Lake.
-  Stuart Piner, RBA
Friday 30th June 2006  
  An adult White-winged Black Tern at Worlaby Carrs, Lincolnshire was the star find during an otherwise quiet final day of the month. Lingering rarities were few and far between, but the Great White Egret in Cumbria, King Eider in Ayrshire and Great Reed Warbler in Angus were all still present. In Cornwall a probable Black Kite was logged flying southwest just south of Maenporth and at the opposite end of the country, a drake Green-winged Teal at Derwent Reservoir, Northumberland was an unusual June record.
-  Stuart Piner, RBA
Thursday 29th June 2006  
  The best birds of another exceptionally quiet day included the Great White Egret at Bassenthwaite Lake (Cumbria), Great Reed Warbler at Loch of Kinnordy RSPB reserve (Angus) and the pair of Black-winged Stilts still at Martin Mere WWT (Lancs). Adult Roseate Terns are on the move with birds appearing at Reculver (Kent), Abbotsbury Swannery (Dorset) and Musselburgh (Lothian) during the day.

The odd new Quail was found singing around the country in what is so far a poor year for this species. Red-veined Darter dragonflies continue to liven up many a patch-watchers day out.
-  Richard Moores, RBA
Wednesday 28th June 2006  
  In the main it was a quite summer day with the headline birds being the Scops Owl in Thrupp, Oxfordshire and the Great White Egret still at Bassenthwaite Lake, Cumbria. Two Wilson's Petrels were again located by a pelagic trip off St Mary's, Isle of Scilly in the evening.

The best of the rest included a Sabine's Gull briefly at Dawlish Warren, Devon and a Serin at Portland, Bill, Dorset.

Autumn passage of common waders is now well under way with Spotted Redshanks, Green Sandpipers and Ruff appearing at many sites.
-  Chris Batty, RBA
Tuesday 27th June 2006  
  The best finds today were a female Ferruginous Duck at Pett Level, East Sussex, Great White Egret at Bassenthwaite Lake, Cumbria and a Buff-breasted Sandpiper briefly on Lossie Estuary, Moray.  The Scops Owl continued to sing into the early hours and the Great Reed Warbler remained at Loch of Kinnordy RSPB, Angus.

There were a few items of late news, including a Black Stork in Cumbria on 8th June and a Subalpine Warbler in Kent on 2nd June.
-  Stuart Piner, RBA
Monday 26th June 2006  
  Another quiet day for most regions although an evening pelagic boat trip off Bishop Rock, Isles of Scilly revealed five Wilson's Petrels together with a further individual noted before the boat had passed St Agnes! This inshore bird later being watched from The Garrison, St Mary's. Further pelagics are planned for the coming weekend.

Elsewhere a Bee-eater on Unst was presumably one of the birds noted earlier in the month on Yell or Fair Isle.

Although the pair of Black-winged Stilts remain at Martin Mere, Lancashire their breeding attempt has been unsuccessful; sadly none of the four eggs have hatched.
-  Chris Batty, RBA
Sunday 25th June 2006  
  The only new rarity discovered today was a Great White Egret at Tacumshin, Co Wexford - found in the afternoon by birders searching for the subadult male Montagu's Harrier that has been present there for over a week.

On Shetland the adult Laughing Gull put in another appearance; this time on Mainland at Toab, whilst the Bee-eater remained on Yell at Camb.

Whilst the Great Reed Warbler in Angus remained on territory at Loch of Kinnordy the individual present yesterday at Far Ings, Lincolnshire appeared to have left overnight.
-  Chris Batty, RBA
Saturday 24th June 2006  
  Although in the middle of a traditionally quiet time of year, a couple of new rarities were still to be found. Best was a Great Reed Warbler at Far Ings Nature Reserve, on the Humber Estuary, in Lincolnshire. Also, a Black Kite flew over Anton Lakes, near Andover, Hampshire at 9.30am and a Bee-eater flew south over Easington in East Yorkshire in the early evening. In Somerset, a Woodchat Shrike was found at Lucott Cross in the middle of Exmoor, and in the Western Isles two different first summer Ring-billed Gulls could be found on Lewis.

The boatload of intrepid birders in the North Atlantic scored their main prize of the summering Black-browed Albatross on Sula Sgeir, some 40 miles north of the Butt of Lewis in the Western Isles, which, together with yesterdays Bridled Tern, made this long round trip well worthwhile. Elsewhere, the Scops Owl remained at Thrupp in Oxfordshire, the Lesser Yellowlegs was still at Gibraltar Point, Lincolnshire, the Bee-eater was still on Yell, Shetlands and the Great Reed Warbler remained in Angus.

Common Scoters again featured on inland waters with flocks of up to 24 reported from various sites
-  Pete Hayman, RBA
Friday 23rd June 2006  
  The star bird today was an adult Bridled Tern in northwest Scotland that flew past a boat in The Minch between the Western Isles and Highland early in the evening. The last truly twitchable Bridled Tern was over fifteen years ago and the next accessible individual will attract quite a crowd. This incredible sighting was made all the more remarkable in that the boat contained ten keen twitchers heading out to Sula Sgeir hoping to connect with the summering Black-browed Albatross. Tomorrow will reveal whether their trip produces an incredible seabird double-whammy for some of the participants.

A male Red-backed Shrike and a Serin were surprise mid summer finds at Portland, Dorset whilst a belated report of a White-billed Diver was received from Gairloch, Highland.
-  Chris Batty, RBA
Thursday 22nd June 2006  
 

Shetland produced a brace of new rarities today with an adult Laughing Gull on Mainland and a Bee-eater on Fair Isle. The gull, that may have been the individual seen on Unst on the 19th June, flew north over Quendale in the morning but could not be relocated later in the day. Similarly, in Norfolk, a brace of Red-footed Falcons that were reported to have flown in off the sea at Great Yarmouth spent the remainder of the day beyond birders radars.

Lingering rarities comprised of a trio lonely males with the Scops Owl in Oxfordshire, Great Reed Warbler in Angus and King Eider in Ayrshire. A Temminck’s Stint at Upton Warren (Worcs) was the best of the rest although a strong blow in the Irish Sea produced good numbers of Storm Petrels close inshore to many western counties.
-  Richard Moores, RBA