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Weekly birding round-up: 29 May - 4 Jun

This. This is what late spring is all about. Not the numbers of migrants making landfall on our shores – that essential migratory business is more or less done and dusted. But what we lack in numbers in June we can, with a smidgen of good fortune, amply make up for in terms of sheer quality. Strap yourselves in – this has been a blinding and varied week.

 

Thirty years ago, on 15th September 1989, those birders fortunate enough to find themselves in Shetland at the time and within striking distance of the Pool of Virkie saw the unthinkable – Britain’s first Great Knot. This adult bird didn’t stick around and, for a while, it felt like the classic blocker in the making. An encounter memorably recalled by my erstwhile companion and scribe here at RBA Towers, Mark Golley, in his tales from the ‘blocker locker’.

For the next seven years all we had to look at was the classic image produced by Shetland’s most venerated birder and photographer, Dennis Coutts. A gripping image, one that provided no solace whatsoever for those who’d not seen this mythical wader so far away from its usual eastern haunts. Dennis is a photographer with a Shetland pedigree second to none, and has taken many a classic image down the years, but this one was arguably one of his most painful to set eyes upon. Adult Great Knots are gorgeous.

Then, in 1996, the infamous Great Dot turned up. Mostly visible – when it actually was visible – at great range from the eager observers, this adult bird stuck around at Bran and Seal Sands (Cleveland) for a while, from October 13th to November 5th, but this wasn’t how any of us had imagined our first Great Knot would be.

Skip forward another eight years to 2004 and Britain and Ireland did a double – adults seen on the Swords Estuary (Co.Dublin) on 25th and Skippool Creek (Lancashire) on 31st July – 17th August. When Norfolk followed suit with further adults at Breydon Water on 13th-15th July 2014 and various points along the north coast on 15th June – 4th July 2016, Great Knot was firmly unblocked.

Although, of course, being birders we do love a good gossip. In the intervening years a rumour had coagulated in the ether – that Dutch scientists had captured a flock of Great Knots, brought them to Holland, studied them in captivity for a while and then, when they were done with them, set the lot free, thereby accounting for Britain’s recent upsurge in records.

This, surely, could not be true. Could it? Well, up to a point, it was. Turns out that on 21st March 1998 Dutch scientists did just that – cannon-netted a flock of Great Knots in Australia, and abducted eight of them back to Holland to be studied at the Netherlands Institute of Sea Research. This proved to be a bad to-do for those unfortunate birds - after initially being force-fed “kitten pellets" during their transit (and no, I don’t know what kitten pellets are either) all of them were then starved for a couple of weeks in an indoor aviary. At the end of the study – looking into their metabolic rates – three of the birds were “sacrificed by cervical dislocation" for further internal analysis, and the remainder were “maintained in captivity for ongoing annual life-cycle studies".

None of which, red in tooth and claw though science apparently is, actually sounds like a small flock of Great Knots being rewarded for their sacrifices with liberty in the Western Palearctic. That outcome sounds like an absolutely ridiculous end to the story, the sort of thing repeated by jaded birders who would rather their peers hadn’t unblocked Great Knot. Though you never know. Sometimes people do even weirder stuff than what’s published in scientific papers. As they say in Holland, “Doe maar normaal, dan doe je al gek genoeg" – just act normal, it’s crazy enough.

All of which distracting musing brings us to the morning of 30th May when Allan Conlin watched an immaculate adult Great Knot fly in off the sea at Skaw on Unst (Shetland), and pitch itself down on the sandy beach there, to remain – more or less permanently – there until the week’s close on 4th June, delightfully obliging for a steady stream of admirers. Thirty years after providing Britain’s first record, Shetland had struck again with Britain’s sixth individual.

 

No late spring would be complete without a corking American wood warbler found someplace in Britain or Ireland. Or rather, that’s in an ideal world – things don’t always work out that way. Happily this year, however, our wishes came true this week with the discovery of Wales’ third ever example of Myrtle Warbler on Ramsey (Pembrokeshire) on 31st-1st.

A first-summer male, it is a second record for Ramsey, the other Welsh record being on Skokholm in 2017. Those keen eyes on Bardsey could be forgiven for wondering when they’ll get a look in…

With a mere 21 records nationally to the end of 2016, Myrtle Warbler remains a rare beast at any time of year; and a gorgeous one too, combining exclusivity with exquisite good looks to die for. The bulk of British records hail from October, but late spring birds aren’t entirely without precedent – Shetland claims three past records, including our only other June bird, while the balance hail from Orkney and the Isle of Man respectively, each with a single May record.

 

A sporadic flow of somewhat perturbing messages emanated from Minsmere RSPB (Suffolk) in the course of 31st. There was, initially, an Ortolan Bunting there by the Sluice. Shortly afterwards, that had been upgraded to a possible Cretzschmar’s Bunting (or an Ortolan) in the early afternoon, but the bird had flown off south.

Then, in the early evening, an RSPB employee went for a wander to look for said bunting. His luck was in – for there, near the sluice, was the bird. But only briefly, for it was promptly flushed just a few minutes later by a cyclist. Happily, Henry Page had his camera at hand, and took an excellent series of photos. At this point, cruelly, Henry’s phone died on him, so it was an hour and twenty minutes later before he tweeted some back of camera shots – “looks Ortolan to me!" - the mystery was, apparently, solved.

An hour and a half later, the first doubts were voiced on Henry’s Twitter feed – were those photographic artefacts, or did this actually look more like a Cretzschmar’s after all? Once home, in the small hours of 1st, Henry obligingly uploaded some of his images to his Twitter feed. And boom, there it was – Suffolk’s first Cretzschmar’s Bunting.

Except, as daylight broke and searchers began to look for the bird, it soon dawned that there it wasn’t – the bird had done a bunk, and slipped through the net. Thankfully Henry’s images mean the record isn’t lost for the county, but what agony for local birders and twitchers alike – with the northern isles having a near monopoly on the precious few previous British records, this would have been an extremely popular bird had it stuck around…

 

The same could reasonably be said of Calandra Larks in general. Of the around 20 past British records all have been coastal, a good few have been on offshore islands, and there are plenty of one day birds amongst their number. In all of those regards, the bird seen in the evening of 3rd on North Uist (Western Isles) on the machair at Paible was entirely consistent – in a coastal county, on an island, and gone the following day. What was inconsistent with previous form was the timing – this is the first June record for the species in Britain.

While it’s still tricky to catch up with a British Calandra, there are grounds for some cautious optimism that there will be, eventually, a mainland bird that’s gettable. For a species that, during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s averaged one record per decade, since 1994 Calandra Lark has gone a little mad – we’re now averaging six birds per decade. Surely in due course one will be found on the mainland and will stick around for a couple of days…

 

Presumably the same bird seen passing down through Wales late last year, logged in December on Anglesey and in Pembrokeshire and, latterly, seen on Boxing Day on St Mary’s (Scilly) was once again present on our shores this week – the bird in question being the metal-ringed maximus American Royal Tern, and the location on this occasion the Hayle Estuary and Carbis Bay area (Cornwall) on 3rd.

Last summer we were treated to a few sightings along the English south coast, between Dorset and West Sussex during June. One wonders whether we’re in for a repeat in the days to come, or whether it’ll cross the English Channel… or head up into Wales. These consummate wanderers recognise few sea boundaries and can roam at ease. Eyes peeled then in the week to come in England and Wales…

 

A glance at the national statistics and you’d think that a Roller, turquoise and chestnut aesthetics aside, wasn’t that big a deal – we’ve hundreds of them on the record books. For 20 years, spanning the 1960s and 1980s, they were annual in Britain. They began to stutter a little in the 1990s, coming in fits and starts thereafter. Until the bird in Highland at Balnakeil in 2017, we’d had nothing since 2014.

So Rollers have got rare all over again. Yorkshire is a case in point – since 1881 there have just been five birds logged. The 1800s, meanwhile, were a different story in God’s own country, with double figures seen and, mostly, shot there.

The last of the latter day records was back in 2012 at Aldbrough (East Yorkshire) on 13-14th June. This duration was typical of recent Yorkshire birds – none exceeded a two day stay. That would have done Yorkshire birders nicely had the bird found this week in the evening of 2nd at Crimsworth Dean (West Yorkshire) only stuck around until the following morning. Alas, it wasn’t to be. Like a certain bunting in Suffolk this week, it was gone, never to be seen again. Or at least, probably – an unconfirmed report emerged, on 4th, of it still being present there on 3rd.

 

Skua passage hasn’t been, for the most part, a notable feature of the spring, and this week marked an almost total cessation of records. To the point where we can comfortably log them individually…

Starting with Pomarine Skuas, single birds were seen on 30th from Saltcoats (Ayrshire) and Lossiemouth (Moray), and on 2nd off Nethertown (Cumbria). Dungeness (Kent) tallied three birds on 1st. On 3rd a probable though distant bird was noted from The Lizard (Cornwall), while another was seen from Southerness Point (Dumfries & Galloway) that day.

And so to Long-tailed Skuas, where the previous week’s decent numbers off North Uist were already a fading memory. Single birds were noted on 29th of South Uist (Western Isles) and on 30th from Saltcoats (Ayrshire); and a further probable bird was seen from Selsey Bill (West Sussex) on 2nd. Things picked up, modestly, on 3rd – six birds were seen from North Uist, and a further singleton from Toe Head (Co.Cork).

A small scatter of Balearic Shearwaters were seen in the southwest – two birds off Start Point (Devon) on 29th, two from Lamorna (Cornwall) on 2nd, and two more off Portland (Dorset) and Berry Head (Devon) apiece on 4th. A further possible bird on 2nd was seen from Clogher Head (Co.Louth).

Cornwall upped the shearwater ante with a Cory’s Shearwater seen passing The Lizard on 3rd.

 

Pick of the long-legged beasties this week has to be the female Little Bittern found on Foula (Shetland) on 2nd-3rd. In a national context they’re not all that rare – but for Shetland, a Little Bittern is a big deal – this comes to be the sixth record for Shetland, of which the first three were either shot or captured, and the fourth dates back to 1965. The only latter day record was 22 years ago, a female that lingered in June 1997 for 19 days. This latest bird was one for determined Shetland listers, then. Two further birds were logged this week, in song in the more anticipated quarters of the south of England, at Lodmoor RSPB (Dorset) on 1st; and in Lincolnshire where, on 4th, a male was found at North Thoresby.

On Lundy (Devon) the Squacco Heron remained present on 30th still; another was seen in Hampshire on 2nd at Testwood Lakes HWT.

Another lingerer came in the form of the Night Heron still settled at Fairburn Ings RSPB (West Yorkshire) on 29th; on 30th three birds – two adults and a first-summer – were seen on Skokholm (Pembrokeshire).

Our only Purple Heron this week was the settled adult bird still present at Titchwell RSPB (Norfolk) on 29th-4th.

Perhaps mercifully, only one White Stork was reported this week, at Saddington reservoir (Leicestershire) on 30th. Much less contentiously, a Black Stork was found on 4th at Loch of Strathbeg RSPB (Aberdeenshire).

Glossy Ibises were restricted to four previously seen birds this week – present respectively at Tramore Backstrand (Co.Waterford) on 29th still, Marshside RSPB (Lancashire) still on 29th-1st, at Marazion RSPB (Cornwall) still on 29th-3rd, and at Lady’s Island Lake (Co.Wexford) on 3rd.

Reports of Common Cranes away from the usual areas began to dry up in recent days – an adult was seen at Gallows Bridge NR (Buckinghamshire) on 29th; three birds remained in the Ythan Estuary (Aberdeenshire) area on 31st; and two were seen on Unst (Shetland) on 3rd.

Two Spotted Crakes were heard in whip-cracking song at Loch of Kinnordy RSPB (Angus) on 29th-3rd; a further bird was logged in Norfolk at Welney WWT on 1st, and another was heard in 2nd on North Ronaldsay (Orkney) – with a Corncrake in song there that day too for good measure.

 

Returning to the honker and quacker news for the first time in ages, we’ve one of The Goose Formerly Known As Canada this week – specifically, a small form Canada Goose on Swords Estuary (Co.Dublin) on 1st.

That aside, the most notable news on the rarity duckpond this week was undoubtedly the ongoing stay of our latest Baikal Teal. Having decamped recently from Cambridgshire for the delights of East Yorkshire, our drake remained on Hornsea Mere this week until 1st, at which point his urge to head north carried him on up to Skinflats Lagoons RSPB (Forth) on 2nd, a Scottish first. So far so good, but on 3rd he did something rather more unexpected, and began to head south again – turning up at East Chevington NWT (Northumberland) on 3rd and Druridge Pools NR on 4th.

While Scotland apparently wasn’t to his taste, another teal was much happier there still this week - the drake Blue-winged Teal remained in Highland at Mellon Charles on 29th-4th, while the drake Black Duck’s residency at Strontian extended to 4th also. Finishing the Highland Scottish ducks this week was the drake King Eider, still present at Nairn on 31st-4th.

A drake Ferruginous Duck was found on 2nd at Hay-a-Park GPs (North Yorkshire); and two Ring-necked Ducks were logged in the south – at Radipole Lake RSPB (Dorset) once more on 31st-3rd, and in Essex at Fishers Green on 3rd-4th.

Absent from the news for a while, our honorary wildfowl the Pied-billed Grebe in Argyll & Bute popped up again this week, still present at Loch Feorlin on 3rd.

 

We’ve already covered easily the week’s biggest news in the headlines section, but the Shetland Great Knot had a tremendous supporting cast this week, not least in the form of some of our perennial wader favourite, Broad-billed Sandpiper - one was found during the fruitless search for the Cretzschmar’s Bunting at Minsmere RSPB (Suffolk) on 1st, before being seen later that day at Holleseley Marshes RSPB and, latterly, Orford Ness, remaining at the latter site until 3rd. This confiding individual was prefixed by a bird in Aberdeenshire on the Ythan Estuary on 1st; and then, on 3rd, followed by a small flurry of further east coast sightings – two birds were found at Heacham (Norfolk), and a singleton at Beacon Ponds NR (East Yorkshire), the latter individual remaining there the following day. It’s been a really good spring for this humbug-headed wader.

The Ythan Estuary was having a good time of it this week, with a Semipalmated Sandpiper also logged there on 1st; a further bird was seen this week in Ireland at Ballinskelligs (Co.Kerry) on 1st-3rd.

Passage Temminck’s Stints were very much in abeyance in recent days, with just half a dozen individuals reported – at Rye Harbour NR (East Sussex) on 30th; Valleyfield Lagoons (Fife) on 30th-31st; on Unst (Shetland) on 31st; at Scorton GPs (North Yorkshire) on 1st; at Rainton Meadows DWT (Co.Durham) on 2nd; Gibraltar Point NNR (Lincolnshire) on 3rd; and with a further unconfirmed report coming on 1st from Pennington Marshes (Hampshire).

Just two Dotterel were noted this week – one still on Fair Isle (Shetland) on 30th, and another up on Mynydd Moel (Gwynedd) on 1st.

An American Golden Plover was found on Rathlin Island (Co.Antrim) on 3rd; another was found on 4th in the Western Isles on Lewis.

The Shetland Lesser Yellowlegs was once more noted at Scatness on 29th, but not thereafter; another was present at Castle Espie WWT (Co.Down) on 30th.

Northumberland accounted for sightings of Red-necked Phalarope at Low Newton-by-the-Sea on 29th and Grindon Lough on 31st-2nd; further birds were logged this week at Keyhaven (Hampshire) on 31st-1st and Fairburn Ings RSPB (West Yorkshire) on 1st.

 

In not entirely surprising news given the time of year, our gulls and terns section of proceedings was once more rather quiet this week.

Pick of the pops again were the terns, particularly Gull-billed Tern - one was present briefly at Keyhaven (Hampshire) on 31st, while another was reported heading west off Sheringham (Norfolk) on 2nd. On 4th one was seen off and on in Smerwick harbour (Co.Kerry). The latter site also scored an adult White-winged Black Tern on 2nd-4th – an excellent double.

Bonaparte’s Gulls had a little bit of a moment, and are easily the most notable larid news of the week – four first-summer individuals were seen this week, at Carr Vale NR (Derbyshire) on 29th; Cross Lough (Co.Mayo) on 31st; at the National Wetlands Centre WWT (Carmarthenshire) on 1st; and at Shelly Beach (Devon) on 3rd-4th.

A Ring-billed Gull was seen on Fenit Island (Co.Kerry) in the evening of 3rd.

Finally, we’ve just a trio of Scottish Iceland Gulls noted this week - on Barra (Western Isles) on 29th and 4th, at Findhorn (Moray) on 30th-1st and again on 4th, and at Scrabster (Highland) on 2nd ; one still lingering in Cornwall at Cot Valley on 3rd; and one at South Gare (Cleveland) on 4th. One or two juvenile Glaucous Gulls account for sightings in the Western Isles on South and North Uist apiece on 30th, with one or another seen again on 4th on North Uist; and the omnipresent bird still at Dunbar Quarry (Lothian) on 4th.

 

Quiet times too for interesting raptors – however, give it a few weeks and we’re coming into prime time for reports of putative Booted Eagles and Eleonora’s Falcons… But this week, we’ve lingering Red-footed Falcons to thank for making up the bulk of the news.

The first-summer male remained on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 29th, while Cahore Marsh (Co.Wexford) accounted for sightings of a female again on 29th and a first-summer female on 30th-3rd.

Precious few Montagu’s Harriers made it into the newsfeeds this week – a male bird noted at Aldbrough (East Yorkshire) on 31st; another was seen over Amble (Northumberland) on 3rd; and a further possible male bird was logged on the Isle of Wight at Bembridge Ponds on 4th.

The rest of our scant raptor news is made up of the Black Kite seen on 30th at Reculver (Kent).

 

Passage of passerines was showing signs of tailing off this week, though amongst other we’d still plenty of interesting warblers in song to distract ourselves with.

Kicking off with former uber-rarity Iberian Chiffchaff, birds remained singing at Dunwich Heath (Suffolk) on 29th-4th, Pilling Lane Ends (Lancashire) on 30th-4th, and in Pantmaenog Forest (Pembrokeshire) on 30th-1st. Another was found in song on North Uist (Western Isles) on 30th, with a probable in song there on 2nd; and additional possible birds were noted in song on 29th still at Draycote Water (Warwickshire) and on 1st at Scugdale (North Yorkshire).

An elusive male Sardinian Warbler was found, 15 years to the day since we identified the island’s first bird at the same site, on Whalsay (Shetland) on 1st, remaining there until 4th. It’s all or nothing with Sardinian Warblers - they’re either up in the open giving it beans, or hiding in the very heart of the densest undergrowth available to them. This individual fell firmly into the latter camp, with only occasional views possible as it worked its way around the Skaw plantation. Short of actually being in my garden, this one couldn’t really have been much closer to home – very distracting when I had a busy Rarity Round Up to write…

Staying in Shetland for a moment, an Icterine Warbler was reported from Kergord on 29th, with another seen at Quendale on 1st; and two Blyth’s Reed Warblers were found on Foula on 29th.

A singing Melodious Warbler was found on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 3rd-4th; late to the party, Fair Isle (Shetland) landed another on 4th, with a bonus Thrush Nightingale for good measure.

Singing Great Reed Warblers remained at Wintersett reservoir (West Yorkshire) on 29th-4th and Saltholme RSPB (Cleveland) on 29th-3rd; a further singing bird was found on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 29th-30th.

Savi’s Warblers remained determinedly in song at Minsmere RSPB (Suffolk) on 29th-2nd, with two birds there on 31st-4th; at Uskmouth (Gwent) still on 29th-30th; and at Buckroney (Co.Wicklow) still on 30th-3rd.

A Greenish Warbler was trapped and ringed on Skokholm (Pembrokeshire) on 31st; another was present on The Lizard (Cornwall) on 4th.

A trio of widely scattered shrikes were logged this week – starting on Scilly, a female Red-backed Shrike was present on St Mary’s on 2nd; moving to Dorset, a Woodchat Shrike was found on Portland on 2nd; while in Cambridgeshire the Great Grey Shrike made it into June, remaining at Needingworth GPs until 4th – bad news for local small birds, mammals and invertebrates; great news for local birders.

Onto more colourful fare – a handful of Golden Orioles were seen as the week progressed: two present on St Mary’s (Scilly) during 31st-4th; two birds found on Great Saltee (Co.Wexford) on 1st; and another seen on Bardsey (Gwynedd) on 2nd.

Hoopoes were noted this week at West Bexington (Dorset) on 30th, Aldringham (Suffolk) on 31st, and singing at Sandwich Bay (Kent) on 3rd.

Bempton Cliffs RSPB (East Yorkshire) scored a Bee-eater on 30th and again on 2nd-3rd; another bird was heard over Carlow (Co.Carlow) on 1st.

Howth (Co.Dublin) was having a fine time on 2nd, with a Alpine Swift there in the early afternoon followed, later in the day, by a possible Pallid Swift.

Red-rumped Swallows, meanwhile, were accounted for this week by single birds at Gibraltar Point NNR (Lincolnshire) on 29th and Prawle Point (Devon) on 1st.

A quartet of Bluethroats were seen in Scotland this week – on 29th at Stromness (Orkney), Barra (Western Isles) and Sands of Forvie NNR (Aberdeenshire); and on 30th on Fair Isle (Shetland).

Orkney’s Papa Westray landed a Short-toed Lark at Stripes on 29th-3rd; another was found at the opposite end of the country on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 3rd.

The first proper flurry of our hotly anticipated annual summer Rose-coloured Starling sightings came in this week – birds seen at Driffield (East Yorkshire) still on 29th; near Tralee (Co.Kerry) on 29th also; at South Gare (Cleveland) on 1st-3rd; on North Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 3rd; and, on 4th, at Kilnsea (East Yorkshire), on Arran (Ayrshire), and another reported from St David’s (Pembrokeshire) in the late afternoon.

The settled Serin continued to court, if not a mate, then favour at Littlestone-on-Sea (Kent) this week, still singing there on 29th-4th; a further sighting came on 29th from Holme NOA (Norfolk).

Common Rosefinches were widely spread across the country in recent days – starting in Shetland, birds were found on Foula on 29th, Fair Isle on 1st-3rd with two birds present on 3rd-4th, and Unst on 2nd; Highland had a bird at Noss Head on 2nd; Papa Westray (Orkney) enjoyed one on 4th; Welsh sightings came from Bardsey (Gwynedd) on 1st and Great Ormes Head (Conwy) on 2nd; one was seen at The Naze (Essex) on 31st, with futher English birds both in song at Druridge Pools NR (Northumberland) on 3rd and on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 3rd-4th; and in Ireland a bird was present on 31st-2nd near Clonfert (Co.Galway).

Local rarity magnet Brydon Thomason found a second tortoiseshell beauty on the beach at Skaw on Unst (Shetland) in the evening of 1st – besides the anticipated Great Knot, he also stumbled across an absolutely cracking male Rustic Bunting. Another (or possibly a Little Bunting) flew over Spurn (East Yorkshire) in the evening of 30th.

 

We’ll start our overseas perambulations once again in Scandinavia and, specifically, Sweden this week where the Mourning Dove remained on Oland on 30th still and a Sardinian Warbler was trapped and ringed at Landsorts on 1st – rather neatly mirroring the bird found on Whalsay (Shetland) that day also and, in this instance, only the 10th record for Sweden. This was followed by a Sykes’s Warbler trapped and ringed at Nidingen on 4th – Sweden’s fourth record for the species.

In Holland the Nutcracker added another month to its long tenure at Wageningen, still present there on 3rd.

Belgium’s Pygmy Cormorant was seen at De Kuifeend on 1st, while a Black Vulture was seen that day also at Wespelaar.

Heading into the heart of Europe, an Eastern Imperial Eagle was noted in Germany at Randowbruch on 29th-1st; and in Austria a Long-toed Stint was found at Seewinkel on 2nd.

Poland meanwhile got a look in with a Lesser Short-toed Lark at Hel on 30th - a national first, no less.

Two Lesser Crested Terns were noted in Spain on 1st in Andalucia at Cabo Roche. On 3rd, a Red-footed Booby was seen in Portugal at Cape Sardao.

Much further afield, two Crested Honey Buzzards were again logged from Eilat in Israel on 30th.

 

My pal, the greatly missed birder Tim Cleeves, first introduced me to the spring migration adage that the big one travels late, and alone.

Is the cusp of the second week of June late enough for something really extraordinary? Well, a glance at the statistics suggests it may well be – we’re looking at past records of the calibre of Citril Finch, White-throated Robin, Bimaculated Lark and Tree Swallow. Any of which would do us nicely indeed, thank you very much.

But it’s waders on the move that continue to haunt my dreams. Historically the past week features a bevy of pratincoles, and a couple of further stand out species - White-tailed Plover and Long-toed Stint. With one of the latter seen only last week in Austria, we can perhaps dare to dream once more…

 

Jon Dunn
29 May 2019

Many thanks to all contributors for their photos and videos this week and also to Dave Fairhurst in Suffolk for his assistance with all things Broad-billed Sandpiper.

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