Weekly birding round-up: 11 - 17 October 2017
The week began with a reassertion of this autumn’s near-constant westerly and southwesterly flow, dragging in increasingly mild temperatures as the week went on. By 16th temperatures were in the low twenties across southeast England, remarkable indeed for mid-October. These were associated with the arrival of ex-hurricane Ophelia, now downgraded to a tropical storm but still a fearsome weather system. It arrived on the anniversary of the ‘Great Storm’ of October 1987, bringing extreme conditions to Ireland and Irish Sea coasts and causing widespread damage and disruption. Fastnet Rock recorded the highest wind speed – a phenomenal 118 mph! In England, spared the worst of the onslaught, the combination of airborne Saharan dust and Portuguese fire smoke produced a Turneresque dark copper haze through which burned a fiery red sun.
In terms of birds it was an interesting week but, if truth be told, it was perhaps a little underwhelming and avian interest was sometimes upstaged by the weather. There was no great seabird wreck, no rare tropical seabird, no influx of southern swifts or Red-rumped Swallows and no mass arrival of American passerines. Nor, unsurprisingly, were there many eastern birds, their numbers pitiful by comparison with last October’s Siberian Accentor-led cornucopia. Of course we were spoilt last year and we are now certainly paying for it. Nevertheless there was plenty of interest with a good, if somewhat random, scatter of new discoveries.
The discovery of an Orphean Warbler species along the dense western pittosporum hedgerows of St. Agnes, Isles of Scilly on 12th, and still present (albeit elusive) until 17th, was one of the week’s star finds. To date there have been four Orpheans accepted to the level of ‘Western/Eastern’ species pair and (to the end of 2016) five accepted as Westerns. Eastern does not yet feature on the British List. The Iberian air bathing Scilly this week certainly suggests that this bird might be Western (and this seemed to be the consensus by the afternoon of 14th) but eastern birds can reach Scilly too and maybe the discussion still has some way to run. If it is a Western, the recent run of five in just five years represents a surprising surge in fortunes.
Certainly from the east was the week’s best Siberian discovery – a Two-barred Greenish Warbler at St. Aldhelm’s Head, Dorset from 15th to 17th. Initially identified as a potential Arctic Warbler, its true identity was established on 17th and, judging by the first ‘back of camera’ pictures on Twitter, it looks just the part.
This remains a great rarity, the first British record being on Gugh, Isles of Scilly on 21st to 27th October 1987 although a good but currently unaccepted candidate was at Holme, Norfolk on 14th to 19th October 1976. Subsequent records come from Wells, Norfolk on 15th to 16th October 1996, Bryher, Isles of Scilly on 27th to 28th September 2003, Filey, Yorkshire on 16th to 18th October 2006 and, most recently, Papa Westray, Orkney on 9th October 2016. With a ten-year gap between the Yorkshire and Orkney birds, this taxon had slipped off the radar a little so its reappearance is very welcome and a super addition to Dorset’s list.
Though the identification of Two-barred Greenish Warbler can be challenging, the key features are an essentially Greenish Warbler-like ‘open’ face pattern combined with a vestigial median covert wing-bar and a broad rectangular greater covert wing-bar, the whole effect not dissimilar to a large-looking Yellow-browed Warbler.
The taxonomy of Two-barred Greenish Warbler is of course in transition. Treated to date as the East Siberian subspecies of Greenish Warbler, the adoption by BOURC of the IOC World Bird List from 1st January 2018 will elevate this taxon to full species status. Its appearance this week is therefore perhaps timely.
Given the mild southwesterly flow, Iberia seems an obvious origin for the male Rock Thrush in suitably montane habitat at Blorenge, Gwent (the same site hosted a Marmora’s Warbler in June 2010). Found on 12th, it was still present on 17th.
Rock Thrush remains a very rare bird in Britain with only 28 records to the end of 2015. The species went through a little run in the 1980s, amassing ten records in the decade. Since then, however, it has become much rarer and harder to catch up with. There were only three in the 1990s and there have been only three more in the new millennium, the last in 2013 when one lingered at Spurn, Yorkshire for two days in April and another spent five July days at Scotstown, North-east Scotland. Unsurprisingly, this week’s bird was new for Gwent and only the third for Wales, the previous records being in Ceredigion in 1981 and on Anglesey in 1986.
Also from somewhere to the south was a Short-toed Treecreeper trapped at Samphire Hoe Country Park, Kent on 15th. Kent’s track record for this cryptic species is impressive. Of the 29 British records to the end of 2016, no fewer than 22 have been in this county. The bird was caught during the Samphire Hoe Wildlife Migration Day by ringers from the East Kent Wildlife Group and represented the second record for the site, the first having been seen only 20m from the same spot.
The 14th brought news of a Steppe Grey Shrike on Whalsay, Shetland, still present on 16th. Although not the major rarity it once was, this is still a very notable find, only the fourth for Shetland, the last being the bird at Boddam, Mainland in November 1994. Prior to that, Shetland accounted for the first two British records – on Fair Isle in September 1956 and October 1964. This was therefore a new bird for the delightful island of Whalsay.
Note that the switch of BOU taxonomy to IOC elevates this taxon from a subspecies of Southern Grey Shrike to a full monotypic species. Arguments will no doubt continue though about the best English name for it. There are two problems. Firstly, the name ‘Steppe Grey Shrike’ is already in use in some of the literature for Great Grey Shrike of the form homeyeri and, secondly, the taxon is not (like homeyeri) a steppe-dweller, preferring stands of dry desert scrub, especially Saxaul. This habitat association suggests the surely preferable name of ‘Saxaul Grey Shrike’ although some of the taxon’s older labels such as ‘Bogdanoff’s Shrike’ or ‘Grimm’s Grey Shrike’ have a rather more romantic ring.
Unsurprisingly given the weather, more American passerines featured on the week’s menu, the best being a Swainson’s Thrush on Cape Clear, Cork on 14th. This was the island’s third, after birds there in the Octobers of 1968 and 1990, the latter rather memorably discovered alongside a Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler!
Perhaps the week’s most interesting Nearctic discovery was an adult apparent ‘Grey-bellied Brant’ showing well with Pink-footed Geese near Docking, Norfolk on 15th and again on 16th. This bird shows an appropriate suite of features - brown hues in the upperparts, bright white mid and rear flanks inlaid with dark grey vertical lining and a solid dark grey ‘shield’ over the fore-flanks, lower breast and belly which contrasts sharply with the black upper breast and extends to between the legs. The neck collar is rather weak.
‘Grey-bellied Brant’ (breeding mainly on Melville and Prince Patrick Islands in western High Arctic Canada and wintering in Puget Sound, Washington) inhabits a strange taxonomic limbo, unrecognised by most authorities (including BOURC and IOC) and lacking a scientific name. However, its existence has been recognised for a long time and its appearance - highly variable but combining features of Black Brant and Pale-bellied Brent Goose - is well documented. Furthermore, recent genetic studies have lent support to the notion that is a distinct, valid taxon rather than a hybrid population. Perhaps the best recent overview of all things ‘Grey-bellied Brant’ (with a comprehensive references list for further reading) is Sébastien Reeber’s excellent ‘Wildfowl of Europe, Asia and North America’. Here the population is afforded subspecific status, though with the subspecific name nigricans - the type specimen of Black Brant (from New Jersey in 1846) is considered to be an out of range ‘Grey-bellied Brant’!
A number of apparent ‘Grey-bellied Brants’ have been noted in Ireland and they have also been claimed in Britain. For one to accompany Pink-footed Geese to Norfolk (as do occasional Pale-bellied Brents from the adjacent parts of High Arctic Canada) does not seem an unreasonable proposition. And just at the end of the week another was reported from Castle Espie, Down.
Also from the Nearctic, although probably not a new arrival, was the adult male Northern Harrier seen entering a roost at Rendall, Mainland on 13th. This is surely the semi-resident Orkney bird which has taken to wintering on North Ronaldsay and which spent April to June 2016 at an undisclosed Orkney site. Its genes may therefore already have entered the Orkney Hen Harrier population and, should it survive, the chances of this must continue to rise. Quite what this means for the identification of future potential Northern Harriers on this side of the Atlantic remains to be seen.
The young White-crowned Sparrow on Foula, headlined last week, remained on its remote rocky outpost until 11th but there was no sign of it thereafter. The chances of it being the bird previously on the Faeroes must be very high and, if so, it represents yet another remarkable instance of long distance rarity relocation.
Last week’s Isabelline Wheatear was still around the airport on St. Mary’s, Isles of Scilly to 16th.
White-billed Divers maintained their English presence this week with one off Holy Island, Northumberland on 12th (possibly last week’s Whitburn, Durham bird) and then, on 14th, one south past Walcott, Eccles and Hemsby, all Norfolk, and Corton and Lowestoft, both Suffolk. This is now the third White-billed Diver sighting in Norfolk this autumn, following birds at Sea Palling on 4th September and Blakeney Point on 8th October. This is a rare species in the southernmost North Sea so it is tempting to think that all the sightings might relate to one individual which has now been lingering around the Norfolk coast for over five weeks. Back in more traditional White-billed Diver territory, one was off Embo, Highland on 13th and another off Sandwick, Shetland on 16th.
Turning to other seabirds, a count of 73 Balearic Shearwaters off Porthgwarra, Cornwall on 11th was notable, and one was in the North Sea off Flamborough Head, Yorkshire on 12th. Although there was no major wreck, a flurry of small counts of Leach’s Petrels came from mainly western coasts (but also one or two inland) on 16th and especially 17th in the wake of Ophelia whilst Sabine’s Gulls were off Porthgwarra on 11th, Black Rock, Kerry on 13th, Hemsby/Eccles, Norfolk on 14th to 15th, Dungeness, Kent, The Lizard, Cornwall, Rough Point, Kerry and Skerries, Dublin on 16th and Fenit, Kerry, Skye, Highland and off St. Mary’s, Isles of Scilly and Gormanstown Beach, Meath on 17th.
The scarce skuas were represented by the long-staying Long-tailed Skua on the golf course at Goswick, Northumberland to 16th, with others off Porthgwarra on 11th, Flamborough Head on 12th, Soldier’s Point and Dundalk, both Louth, and Embo, Highland on 16th and Tiree, Argyll on 17th, and 20 Pomarine Skuas off Bridges of Ross, Clare on 11th and 32 there on 12th.
Budle Bay, Northumberland continued to be the best place for Cackling Geese and vagrant Canada Geese, with a Richardson’s Cackling Goose and up to two Todd’s Canada Geese present. Elsewhere, another Richardson’s Goose was at Lissadell, Sligo, an interior/parvipes Canada Goose at Kinloss, Moray and a Todd’s Canada at Udale Bay, Highland, with singles of Todd’s Canada and Richardson’s Cackling Geese on Islay, Argyll. Also in Moray, two ‘blue’ Snow Geese frequented the Kinloss/Findhorn Bay area and a white bird was on North Uist, Western Isles on 17th. Further south, a Taiga Bean Goose was at Burnham Overy Staithe, Norfolk on 13th to 14th (and again on 17th), a Greenland White-fronted Goose there on 14th to 15th and a Tundra Bean Goose at Cley, Norfolk on 17th. Finally, two Red-breasted Geese were at Loch of Skene, Aberdeenshire on 17th.
Duck interest was confined to a Ferruginous Duck near Alloa, Forth on 12th to 13th, the Ring-necked Duck still on Unst, Shetland to 14th, drake American Wigeons at Rutland Water, Leicestershire to at least 15th, on North Uist, Western Isles on 11th to 15th, at Loch Gilp, Argyll on 14th to 17th and at Grimley, Worcestershire on 16th and 17th and Green-winged Teals at Carsington Water, Derbyshire on 11th to 16th and on North Ronaldsay, Orkney to 16th.
At sea, the eclipse drake King Eider remained off Murvagh, Donegal as did the drake off Surf Scoter Musselburgh, Lothian, with others off Rossnowlagh Point, Donegal on 13th and Unst, Shetland on 15th.
This year has seen no large Glossy Ibis influx and the only birds noted this week were at Ham Wall, Somerset on 11th, Kilbaha, Clare to at least 15th and on Rhum, Highland on 14th to 17th.
The week’s only properly rare herons were juvenile Purple Herons still at Leighton Moss, Lancashire to at least 16th and at St. Levan, Cornwall on 16th and The Lizard, Cornwall on 17th. Otherwise, Cattle Egrets remained widespread in the mild conditions with a massive 24 at Ham Wall, Somerset & Bristol, five still at Southport, Merseyside, three at Saltfleetby, Lincolnshire and Alvecote, Warwickshire, duos at Abbotsbury Swannery, Dorset and at St. Clement and on the Gannel Estuary, both Cornwall, and singles at Burton Mere, Cheshire & Wirral, Ditchford and Stanwick Lakes, both Northamptonshire, Charmouth and Ballard Down, both Dorset, Rutland Water, Leicestershire, Stiffkey, Norfolk, Pagham Harbour, Sussex, Wat Tyler Country Park, Essex, Black Hole Marsh and Thurlestone, both Devon, and Dungeness, Kent.
Great White Egrets were widespread with some high counts including 21 at Chew Valley Lake, Somerset & Bristol, 15 at Dungeness, Kent, 11 at Holkham, Norfolk, 8 at Rutland Water, Leicestershire and 5 at Banks Marsh, Lancashire.
A Spotted Crake was on St. Mary’s, Isles of Scilly to 17th and a Corncrake was on Unst, Shetland on 15th.
The elusive adult female Pallid Harrier was still on the Dee Estuary, Cheshire & Wirral, noted there on 12th but not subsequently, and a juvenile was at Worth Marsh, Kent on 16th. The only other raptors of note were a Honey Buzzard over Par, Cornwall on 12th and a Rough-legged Buzzard at The Naze, Essex on 16th.
Potentially the best wader of the week was the putative Wilson’s Snipe on St. Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, present all week and still there on 17th. Though not formally firmed up, it seems to be getting positive reviews from at least some who have seen and photographed it.
Otherwise there was a good scattering of rare waders during the week but many were ‘leftovers’. These included the Stilt Sandpiper at Poole Harbour, Dorset, the Wilson’s Phalarope and Long-billed Dowitcher at Oare Marshes, Kent, the Spotted Sandpiper at Abbotsbury, Dorset, the Lesser Yellowlegs at Lodmoor, Dorset and American Golden Plovers on St. Mary’s, Isles of Scilly and the Gann Estuary, Pembrokeshire. Other Long-billed Dowitchers were at Martin Mere and Banks Marsh, Lancashire on 13th to 17th and Saltfleet, Lincolnshire on 14th to 17th.
Ireland hosted the rest of the week’s rarest waders – the Semipalmated Plover still at Achill island, Mayo, two Long-billed Dowitchers at Tacumshin, Wexford, American Golden Plovers at Bannow Bay and Tacumshin, both Wexford, Mornington, Meath and Carrahane Strand, Cashen and Kerry Head, all Kerry, a Lesser Yellowlegs at Tacumshin, a Spotted Sandpiper on Cape Clear Island, Cork (taken by a Sparrowhawk on 14th) and a Semipalmated Sandpiper at Clonakilty, Cork on 13th to 15th. Pectoral Sandpipers included two at Tacumshin, two at Loop Head, Clare and singles at Doonbeg, Clare and Lurgangreen, Louth.
Back in Britain, the recent good run of Red-necked Phalaropes continued with singles at Cresswell Pond, Northumberland to 16th, Holland Haven Country Park, Essex to 14th and Kelling, Norfolk to 14th. Grey Phalaropes were at Southwold, Suffolk to 12th, Blithfield Reservoir, Staffordshire to 17th, Newbury, Berkshire to 13th, Titchwell, Norfolk on 12th and 13th, Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire on 12th and three off the Cliffs of Moher, Clare on 15th. In Cornwall another was off Cape Cornwall on 16th with two also off The Lizard, and two passed Bardsey, Gwynedd on 17th with one also off Hoylake, Cheshire & Wirral.
Finally, single Dotterels were at Titchwell, Norfolk on 11th to 14th, South Stack, Anglesey on 12th to 15th, Porthgwarra (2) on 13th, at Kelling, Norfolk on 15th and 16th and Hook Head, Wexford on 17th. The only Pectoral Sandpipers in Britain were at Covenham Reservoir, Lincolnshire on 15th to 17th and Newington Flash, Yorkshire on 17th and the only Buff-breasted Sandpiper anywhere was on North Ronaldsay, Orkney on 14th to 16th.
This was a poor week indeed for rare and scarce gulls. The rarest was the regular Bonaparte’s Gull , again at Dawlish Warren, Devon on 14th. Otherwise, there were four Glaucous Gulls (at Budle Bay, Northumberland on 11th, Unst, Shetland on 13th, Kyle of Tongue, Highland on 15th and Lewis, Western Isles on 16th) and an Iceland Gull on Unst on 14th.
In Ireland, the Forster’s Tern was at Dundalk, Louth on 14th and 17th.
The week’s best new passerines were from the Americas. Both were Red-eyed Vireos and both were in Cornwall - at Porthgwarra on 12th and in Nanjizal Valley on 14th. In Ireland, last week’s vireo was still at Inishmore, Galway to 11th, with last week’s Blackpoll Warbler on The Mullet, Mayo still to 15th.
The generally poor autumn for eastern passerines (apart from last week’s dazzling Siberian Blue Robin of course!) continued this week, hardly surprising given the weather, and although on paper there was a reasonable selection most were on Shetland and many were ‘leftovers’.
The best new discovery was a Black-headed Bunting on Fair Isle, Shetland on 11th, still present on 17th.
The ‘best of the rest’ on Shetland were up to four Hornemann’s Arctic Redpolls and three Coues’s Arctic Redpolls on Unst, an Isabelline/Red-tailed Shrike still on Foula to 12th and a Hornemann’s Arctic Redpoll there to 16th, up to two Parrot Crossbills still in Lerwick to 13th, a Thrush Nightingale at Voe, Mainland to 15th, two Olive-backed Pipits on Fetlar on 12th and one on Unst on 16th, a Siberian/Stejneger’s Stonechat on Fair Isle on 16th, a Red-flanked Bluetail at North Roe, Mainland to 16th, a Red-throated Pipit on Fair Isle to 17th, Blyth’s Reed Warblers on Unst on 11th, at Sandwick, Mainland to 11th and at Fladdabister, Mainland on 13th and Little Buntings on Fair Isle on 11th and 12th, Sumburgh, Mainland to 13th and Kergord, Mainland on 13th.
Away from Shetland, it was all very hard work indeed for Sibe-hunters, particularly on the east coast, although south-facing coasts did a little better with the increasingly onshore wind. The best find was an Isabelline/Red-tailed Shrike at Holyhead, Anglesey on 15th to 16th but the following were also logged - Olive-backed Pipits at Easington, Yorkshire still on 11th with another on Lundy, Devon on 13th, Radde’s Warblers at Dungeness, Kent and Minsmere, Suffolk on 14th, Portland, Dorset on 15th, Barns Ness, Lothian on 16th and St. Mary’s, Isles of Scilly on 17th, Dusky Warblers on North Ronaldsay, Orkney on 11th to 14th, Sandwich Bay, Kent on 15th to 17th and the Farne Islands, Northumberland on 16th, the Kilnsea, Yorkshire Arctic Warbler still to 17th, Blyth’s Reed Warbler at Nanjizal, Cornwall on 17th, Rustic Buntings at Portland, Dorset 14th and Cape Clear Island, Cork on 15th to 17th, the Red-throated Pipit still at Lissagriffin, Cork to 14th and Little Buntings on St. Mary’s, Isles of Scilly on 14th, St. Agnes on 14th to 17th, two on the Farne Islands, Northumberland on 15th and singles at Newbiggin, also Northumberland, and Nanjizal, Cornwall on 17th.
As for scarcities, it was varied line-up of all the usual suspects but the numbers of each were very low. The most significant were the autumn’s first Pallas’s Warblers on 16th, on St. Agnes, Isles of Scilly and at Margate, Kent. Richard’s Pipits were on Fair Isle on 12th to 17th, at Burnham Overy Staithe, Norfolk and Flamborough Head, Yorkshire on 13th, at Worth Marshes, Kent on 14th and 15th, at Spurn, Yorkshire on 15th and Waxham, Norfolk on 16th. For what is supposed to be amongst the most regular eastern passerines, this was a poor showing indeed.
Other eastern species included Short-toed Larks on St. Mary’s, Isles of Scilly on 12th, North Ronaldsay, Orkney on 11th to 14th and Sennen, Cornwall on 16th to 17th, Common Rosefinches on Unst, Shetland to 14th, Fair Isle to 15th, Cape Clear Island, Cork on 12th and 13th, Northwick Warth, Gloucestershire on 14th and St. Agnes, Isles of Scilly on 14th and Barred Warblers at Spurn, Yorkshire and Druridge Pools, Northumberland on 11th, South Shields, Durham on 12th, Kilminning, Fife on 14th, Trimingham, Norfolk on 14th to 16th, Barra, Western Isles and North Ronaldsay on 14th to 16th and Lundy, Devon and Fair Isle on 15th.
Bluethroats were on Unst, Shetland to 15th, Fair Isle on 16th to 17th and Wester Quarff, Mainland Shetland on 11th, with another on North Ronaldsay, Orkney on 12th and, more unusually, one at Uskmouth, Gwent on 14th, Wrynecks at Pendeen, Cornwall on 12th and Copeland, Down on 12th to 14th and Marsh Warblers on Mainland Shetland on 11th and 16th.
Finally, Red-breasted Flycatchers were on St. Mary’s, Isles of Scilly on 12th to 17th (with 2 on 15th), at Porthgwarra, Cornwall on 14th, on North Ronaldsay, Orkney on 11th to 16th, at Penberth, Cornwall and Lundy, Devon on 15th, Portland, Dorset on 15th to 17th, Barra, Western Isles on 16th to 17th and Rame Head, Cornwall on 17th, Red-backed Shrikes at Boyton, Suffolk on 11th to 12th, Easington, Yorkshire on 11th to 12th, Dungeness, Kent on 14th and Gillingham, Kent on 15th and Rose-coloured Starlings on St. Mary’s on 11th to 12th, Easington, Yorkshire to 17th, The Lizard, Cornwall on 12th to 13th, Selsey, Sussex on 12th to 17th, Connah’s Quay, Flintshire on 16th and Bristol, Somerset & Bristol on 17th.
From the south came a Woodchat Shrike at Crianlarich, Forth on 13th, Hoopoes at St. Ives, Cornwall on 11th to 17th and at St. David’s Head, Pembrokeshire on 15th and a Serin at Hunstanton, Norfolk on 13th. Two Bee-eaters flew over East Chevington, Northumberland on 15th.
With the lack of easterly winds, the traditional early October influx of Great Grey Shrikes failed to materialise this year but a few managed to get through this week. Singles were at Dalby Forest, Yorkshire on 12th, on Whalsay, Shetland on 13th, at Happisburgh, Norfolk on 14th to 16th, at Blackhall Rocks, Durham, near Wiggonholt, Sussex, at Black Hill, Shropshire and Cleeve Hill, Gloucestershire on 15th to 17th and at Seaforth, Lancashire on 16th.
Yellow-browed Warblers were of course still much in evidence but there were no significant arrivals. Birds were scattered all along the east and south coasts as far as Scilly with inland or west coast birds in Ayrshire, Somerset and Bristol, Glamorgan, Hertfordshire, Lancashire, Oxfordshire, Leicestershire and Greater Manchester and more far-flung individuals on Lewis and Barra, both Western Isles, Rhum, Highland and Copeland, Down.
Perhaps the main feature of the week, however, was an extraordinary movement of Hawfinches across southern England. There were a good number of reports on 13th and then widespread records from 14th involving double-figure flocks including 25 over Morden, London and over 50 on St. Mary’s, Isles of Scilly. High counts continued on 15th with 40 over Hampstead Heath, London, 21 over Arundel, Sussex and 37 over Timsbury, Hampshire. Firecrests were also prominent by 15th with 68 trapped at Portland on this day alone and perhaps 150 present!
The most eye-catching of this week’s Western Palearctic reports was a first-winter male Mugimaki Flycatcher on Vaerøy (in the outer Lofotens), Norway on 13th. This record inevitably reopens the long-standing debates over the categorisation of the bird at Sunk Island, Yorkshire on 16th and 17th November 1991 but of course doesn’t alter that bird’s assessment history. The vagrancy potential of the species has actually been well understood for years, with previous European records at Neftekamsk, Bashkortostan, Russia, on 2nd August 2007 and at Passo della Berga, Brescia, Italy on 6th October 2011. The Yorkshire bird was admitted (repeatedly) to Category D of the British List not due to any perceived inability to reach Europe but due to the species’ well documented presence in trade at the time and the consequent high escape risk. With the bird trade now much reduced, however, any future Mugimaki Flycatcher in Britain would have an excellent case for being admitted to Category A. This Norwegian record (the first in northwest Europe) clearly keeps the dream of that occurrence alive and, when it finally happens, further strengthens its case for Category A. By coincidence, a comprehensive account of BOURC’s deliberations over the Yorkshire bird has recently been published (British Birds 110: 345-354).
The other headline bird was the much closer Long-tailed Shrike trapped at Het Zwin, Knokke, Belgium on 15th and still present on 17th. The only British record concerns the individual on South Uist, Western Isles in early November (and probably late October) 2000 so another would be very welcome. Also a headline-grabber was a Pallas’s Reed Bunting on Linosa, Italy on 15th. Despite breeding to just west of the Urals (and therefore within the Western Palearctic), this remains a stubbornly rare bird anywhere to the west.
Other Western Palearctic news included a similarly tantalising Pygmy Cormorant on Schiermonnikoog, Netherlands (easternmost of the Dutch Friesian Islands) on 11th and, also not far away, the American Royal Tern again in the Channel Islands - on Guernsey on 13th and Herm on 14th.
Inevitably, the Azores grabbed the lion’s share of Nearctic passerines, Corvo featuring a fine selection comprising at least a Blackburnian Warbler , Yellow-throated Vireo , Black-throated Green Warbler , Common Yellowthroat , Northern Waterthrush , Rose-breasted Grosbeak , Yellow-billed Cuckoo , Scarlet Tanager , two Blackpoll Warblers and five Red-eyed Vireos . An Upland Sandpiper also added to the entertainment. On neighbouring Terceira, the eclipse drake Redhead was still present and there was an American Coot and a Snowy Egret too whilst Flores hosted three Rough-legged Hawks and an American Osprey . Further south, a Black-headed Heron was on Santiago, Cape Verdes. The only other American passerines were Red-eyed Vireos in Iceland and France. Looking to the east, Palearctic vagrant passerines were few and far between, with just an Isabelline/Red-tailed Shrike , an Asian Desert Warbler and a Hume’s Warbler in Finland, Paddyfield Warblers in France and the Netherlands, a continuing run of Olive-backed Pipits in northwest Europe, a surge of Radde’s Warblers in Denmark and a Pallas’s Warbler in Turkey.
Looking ahead, all is, as ever, down to the weather. The forecast shows an extremely active week with multiple depressions tracking close to and across Britain with the potential therefore of further American passerines (we’re into Blackpoll Warbler and Grey-cheeked Thrush territory now) but at least the Northern Isles might find themselves to the north of some of the low pressure centres and so be in pole position for eastern fare.
With a bit of luck, parts of the east coast may finally see some action too. The situation looks very volatile, however, and slight differences in where the depressions track will have major consequences. All in all, it looks an unpredictable week ahead.........
Andy Stoddart
October 18th 2017
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