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| Friday 17th July 2020 | ||
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| A Great Spotted Cuckoo was seen at Thornham, Norfolk briefly early morning only.
Lingering rarities seen today included the Lammergeier in Derbyshire /South Yorkshire, Caspian Tern in Lincolnshire, Lesser Yellowlegs and Bonaparte's Gull in Kent (with another of the latter in Argyll), Long-billed Dowitcher in Cumbria, two Black-winged Stilts in Somerset and one in Kent, Laughing Gull in County Dublin, Iberian Chiffchaff in Suffolk and King Eider in Moray. Scarcity highlights included two Rose-coloured Starlings, a Pectoral Sandpiper, a Glossy Ibis, four Honey Buzzards, a Pomarine Skua, two Long-tailed Skuas and a Glaucous Gull. |
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| - Will Soar, 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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| Thursday 16th July 2020 | ||
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| Lingering rarities seen today included the Lammergeier in the Peak District in Derbyshire /South Yorkshire, Lesser Grey Shrike in Shetland, Caspian Tern in Lincolnshire, Lesser Yellowlegs and Bonaparte's Gull in Kent (with others of the latter still in County Louth and Argyll), two Black-winged Stilts in Somerset and one in Kent, Laughing Gull in County Dublin and Long-billed Dowitcher in Cumbria.
Scarcity highlights included three Rose-coloured Starlings, a Pectoral Sandpiper, four Honey Buzzards, a Glossy Ibis, two Pomarine Skuas, four Long-tailed Skuas, 15 Roseate Terns and 46 Balearic Shearwaters. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Wednesday 15th July 2020 | ||
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| Lingering ratities confirmed as still present today were the Lammergeier
in the Peak District between Derbyshire and South Yorkshire, Caspian Tern in Lincolnshire, Laughing Gull in County Dublin,
Pacific Golden Plover in County Clare, Lesser Grey Shrike on the Shetland Isles,
Black Duck in Highland, Long-billed Dowitcher in Cumbria, territorial Iberian Chiffchaff
in Suffolk, Lesser Yellowlegs in Kent, and Bonaparte's Gulls in Argyll, Kent and County Louth. Scarcities included Serin (County Cork), Woodchat Shrike (County Donegal), Hoopoe (Hampshire), Pectoral Sandpiper (Orkney Isles), Glossy Ibis (Worcestershire), Cory's Shearwater (North Yorkshire), Sabine's Gull (East Yorkshire), Long-tailed Skua (Shetland Isles), and a total of five Rose-coloured Starlings. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Tuesday 14th July 2020 | ||
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A first-summer Laughing Gull appeared on North Bull Island in Co.Dublin and a Blyth's Reed Warbler was trapped and ringed at Portland Bill in Dorset. The Brown Booby was still in Co.Wicklow until early evening when it was taken into care. Other stayers included the Lesser Grey Shrike in Shetland, Pacific Golden Plover in Co.Clare, Caspian Tern in Lincolnshire, Bonaparte's Gull in Co.Louth, Lesser Yellowlegs (Kent), Long-billed Dowitcher (Cumbria), the family of Black-winged Stilts (now with three young) in Somerset and the lone male in Kent. The Lammergeier remained in South Yorkshire on the moors. Among other news was Woodchat Shrike (Co.Donegal), two Rose-coloured Starlings, Temminck's Stint (East Yorkshire), Pectoral Sandpiper (Norfolk), two Ring-necked Ducks, Sabine's Gull (Borders), Long-tailed Skua (Western Isles), two Glossy Ibis, Cory's Shearwater (North Yorkshire) and three Great Shearwaters (Cornwall). |
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| - David Campbell, RBA | ||
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| Monday 13th July 2020 | ||
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| Mega news today concerned a Brown Booby discovered in County Wicklow at Greystones where it showed well into the evening. Meanwhile in Northumberland a
Black-browed Albatross was reported at Howick. Rarities elsewhere comprised the Lammergeier still in South Yorkshire, Lesser Grey Shrike still on the Shetland Isles, Long-billed Dowitcher in Cumbria, Lesser Yellowlegs in Kent, Wilson's Petrel off the Isles of Scilly, Bonaparte's Gulls in both Kent and County Louth, and Black-winged Stilts in Kent and Somerset (2). Scarcities included Woodchat Shrike (County Donegal), two each of both Pectoral Sandpiper and Ring-necked Duck, and four Rose-coloured Starlings. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Sunday 12th July 2020 | ||
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| Discoveries today included a Lesser Yellowlegs in Kent at Oare Marshes
(presumably a returning bird and the same individual as present in Norfolk yesterday), a
Red-footed Falcon briefly in South Yorkshire at Redmires Reservoir, and a
Bee-eater flew over Bolgarrog, Conwy. Lingering rarities confirmed as still present were the Lammergeier present all day around the South Yorkshire/Derbyshire border, a Lesser Grey Shrike still on the Shetland Isles, Caspian Tern in Lincolnshire, Long-billed Dowitcher in Cumbria, territorial Iberian Chiffchaff in Suffolk, Bonaparte's Gulls in each og Argyll, Kent and County Louth, and the family of four Black-winged Stilts still present in Somerset. Scarcities included Night Heron (Cumbria), Temminck's Stint (Northumberland), two Pectoral Sandpipers, and three Rose-coloured Starlings. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Saturday 11th July 2020 | ||
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| The highlight of the day was the continued presence of the Lammergeier along the border between South Yorkshire and Derbyshire at Howden Moors where it remained until dusk. New rarities discoveries comprised a Great Reed Warbler on the Shetland Isles at Scousburgh, a Lesser Yellowlegs in Norfolk at Wells, White-rumped Sandpiper in County Wicklow at Kilcoole, and in Cornwall a Bee-eater flew over Goss Moor. Lingering rarities confirmed as still present comprised the Caspian Tern still in Lincolnshire, Pacific Golden Plover in County Clare, Long-billed Dowitcher in Cumbria, Bonaparte's Gulls in each of Argyll, Kent and County Louth, the territorial Iberian Chiffchaff in Suffolk, and Black-winged Stilts in Kent and Somerset (2), but in Dorset there was no sign of the Yelkouan Shearwater off Portland Bill. Scarcities included Night Heron (Bedfordshire/Cambridgeshire), Red-backed Shrike (Pembrokeshire), Temminck's Stint (Northumberland), and four Rose-coloured Starlings. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Friday 10th July 2020 | ||
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| New discoveries today included single Caspian Terns at Frampton Marsh RSPB, Lincolnshire and Minsmere RSPB, Suffolk and a Long-billed Dowitcher at Port Carlisle, Cumbria. A pair of Black-winged Stilts have hatched two young at Steart WWT, Somerset.
The Yelkouan Shearwater remained off Portland Bill, Dorset mid morning but not since, and the Lammergeier was successfully twitched in South Yorkshire, where it was later found roosting on a cliff by Abbey Brook and was present until dusk. Other lingering rarities seen today included the Pacific Golden Plover in County Clare, single Bonaparte's Gulls in Kent and County Louth, Iberian Chiffchaff in Suffolk and Black-winged Stilt in Kent. Scarcity highlights included a Hoopoe, five Rose-coloured Starlings, a Red-necked Phalarope, two Pectoral Sandpipers, two Pomarine Skuas and a Glossy Ibis. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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| Thursday 9th July 2020 | ||
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The Yelkouan Shearwater continued to loaf offshore at Portland in Dorset, while other stayers were the King Eider in Moray, Black-winged Stilt in Kent, Pacific Golden Plover in Co.Clare, Bonaparte's Gulls in Argyll, Kent and Co.Louth. The evening's Scilly pelagic produced three Wilson's Petrels. Scarcities included Long-tailed Skua (Cornwall), Hoopoe (Norfolk), four Rose-coloured Starlings and Serin (Suffolk). |
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| - David Campbell, RBA | ||
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| Wednesday 8th July 2020 | ||
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| In Dorset, a Yelkouan Shearwater spent the day off Portland Bill with the lingering flock of Balearic Shearwaters. Although this potential second for Britain remained offshore through to the evening (for its second day), it often proved a difficult bird to connect with in the melee, to confirm you'd seen the 'correct' bird, and even to confirm that there wasn't more than one Yelkouan Shearwater present, with several pale Balearic Shearwaters present along with at least one moulting Manx Shearwater to add to the confusion.
A Sooty Tern flew south over Minsmere RSPB late morning, before lingering around the offshore rigs at Sizewell for a little over an hour. Other lingering rarities included just the Lesser Yellowlegs in Yorkshire and single Bonamparte's Gulls in Kent and County Louth. Scarcity highlights included six Rose-coloured Starlings, a Spotted Crake, two Glaucous Gulls, four Pomarine Skuas and eight Roseate Terns. |
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| - Will Soar, RBA | ||
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