Weekly birding round-up: 17 - 23 Jul
Yet more generally quiet times this week as the British and Irish birding world paused to catch its breath in the brief hiatus between spring and autumn – because, while it may have been scorching at times, and the mercury rising this past week, spring passage and autumn passage barely misses a beat where birds are concerned.
So while we may not be awash with monster headline rarities, what we do have are a handful of early-breeding, irruptive Scandinavian finches now filtering down south through Britain, and waders of all shapes and sizes on the move. All as welcome as a long, cold drink on a long, hot day.
Any day that features a Collared Pratincole is a good day – but one seen in Ireland is the makings of an entirely more exciting day altogether. Britain is nudging 100 records of this characterful species, but Ireland to date has just three birds on the books – on 13th-14 October 1970 on the Bann estuary (Co.Derry); on 5th-9th June 2007 at Annagh Beach (Co.Mayo); and on 24th October near Ballyconneely (Co.Galway).
A bird found, early in the morning on 22nd in Co.Donegal at Lough Swilly was, therefore, big news in every sense, not least as a first for Co.Donegal, nor for the pleasing fact that the site had already sported a Pectoral Sandpiper earlier in the week. Somebody would need to buy a Lotto ticket sometime soon…
An unconfirmed report of another pratincole sp came in on 22nd, a day after the event, seen over Southport (Lancashire). While that one evaded identification, the Irish bird emphatically and gloriously did not; and, for good measure, it was still present at Lough Swilly on 23rd.
While the numbers weren’t scaling the giddy heights of the preceding week, we still did alright for Two-barred Crossbills in recent days and, with more south-easterlies on the horizon in the coming week for the northern isles, one wouldn’t bet against another pulse of arrivals in the coming days.
But enough of looking to the near future – what of the recent past? Well, a couple of birds away from Shetland and Orkney gave succour to mainland British birders, and provided a glimmer of hope that more accessible individuals might be forthcoming if only the wind would oblige and waft them their way. Singletons were noted at St John’s Loch (Highland) on 19th and 21st, and flying determinedly through Titchwell (Norfolk) on 21st.
After a preceding week that didn’t skip a beat in turning up double figure tallies, we had our first entirely blank, Two-barred Crossbill-less day on 20th; but before then, Shetland was still turning up the goods, albeit in more modest numbers than of late. Duos were noted on Noss, Trondra and in Lerwick on 17th; the count from Unst rose from one bird on 17th to four on 18th, with three still present on 19th – these all relating to at least five birds in total; and it fell to my home island of Whalsay to provide the week’s highest flock count – two juveniles found that day remained apart from a further flock of eight birds in the afternoon – perhaps for the best as a local moggy had designs on the latter group, albeit thankfully with no evident success; and one bird remained on Fair Isle on 18th also.
As the week drew to a close more birds were forthcoming on 23rd – two present on Trondra, a further flock of eight birds in the north Mainland at Brae, and a male in flight over Hamister on Whalsay.
Orkney’s contribution to the week came in the form of a female still present on the island on 18th. I’m sure I’m not alone in hoping plenty more of these colourful finches are inbound in the days to come… in Orkney, Shetland, and on the mainland too.
I don’t think I’d ever claim to confidently predict the birds we’re due in the coming week, but last week’s round up did include a big shout out for a Pacific Golden Plover on the basis of one seen in the preceding days on Iceland, and the historic precedent of 10 past records in the days to come. The auguries seemed pretty good, to be honest.
I wasn’t, however, expecting two or perhaps even three birds to pitch down on the east coast of Britain. By Pacific Golden Plover standards, with a shade under 100 British records ever, that’s practically an influx.
First out of the blocks was an adult bird found at Breydon Water in Norfolk on 18th – whilst absent for much of 19th, it was there again as the day wore on and remained a fixture there until 22nd. What was either it, or another bird, was seen briefly and videoed at Hollesley Marshes RSPB in Suffolk on 19th, but not seen there thereafter.
So far, so good – and then, on 21st-23rd, Holy Island (Northumberland) got in on the action with another bird. While Norfolk boasts 13 prior records, Pacific Goldie is a rarer beast altogether in Northumberland, with just three accepted past birds to its credit, the last being fully a decade ago. One for the keen county listers… if the tide was only right to make the crossing to Holy Island…
Nothing marks the passage of summer quite like the first appreciable numbers of large shearwaters being seen – and this week delivered, albeit modestly. Early days yet though… So, starting with Cory’s Shearwater, a trickle of birds in the early part of the week were noted from Cornish vantage points – Porthgwarra scoring two birds on 18th followed by singletons on the next two consecutive days, and again on 22nd; Pendeen had single birds on 18th and 19th; and one was noted from Lamorna on 19th. The latter date marked a single bird in Co.Cork off Mizen Head, but things picked up in Co.Cork on 21st, with the sighting of 39 birds from Galley Head and a chunkier still 132 birds off Cape Clear; on 22nd nine more were logged from Cape Clear.
Amongst all of this Cory’s delight on 21st were the first Great Shearwaters of the week – single birds seen from Cape Clear and Toe Head (Co.Cork) and another off Porthgwarra – and another noted from a Scilly pelagic on 22nd.
Balearic Shearwaters meanwhile picked up the pace too, and of the 250 or so birds logged in the course of the week off southwest England and Ireland, the peak counts came from Berry Head (Devon) on 19th when 65 birds were seen, and Start Point (Devon) on 22nd, when 117 birds were recorded.
With shearwaters being seen, and at this point in the year, it came as little surprise that something rarer should pop out of the woodwork – in this instance, two Wilson’s Petrels seen from a boat off Cape Clear (Co.Cork) on 21st, and two more from the Scilly pelagic on 22nd. More of these cadmium-booted beauties are definitely on the horizon in the coming weeks.
A Leach’s Petrel was trapped and ringed at Portnockie (Moray) in the small hours of 17th, and one was seen passing the mouth of Afon Dwyfor (Gwynedd) on 22nd.
Finally, a Pomarine Skua flew past Dawlish Warren NNR (Devon) on 22nd, with another seen from the Lochmaddy/Uig ferry (Western Isles/Highland) on 23rd; and an adult Long-tailed Skua was reported on 22nd from Hunstanton (Norfolk).
Our long-legged beasties this week were, for the most part, a shy and retiring bunch with neither an enormous amount nor calibre to report upon. We’ll start though with Glossy Ibis, as a deservedly popular bird lingered on 17th-19th at Tophill Low NR (East Yorkshire), and heads up a small party of further birds seen nationwide in recent days – the settled bird remained in Gwent at Newport Wetlands NNR on 17th-18th; one passed over Seamer Pit Pool (North Yorkshire) on 17th; and the intermittently reported bird in Devon was once more seen at Fremington Pill on 21st-22nd.
Two Purple Herons put in brief appearances this week – one present at Cors Ddyga RSPB (Anglesey) on 19th, and the other at Minsmere RSPB (Suffolk) on 20th again.
A White Stork was reported over Upper Ray Meadows (Buckinghamshire) on 21st.
This week’s Common Crane sightings had a Scottish bias to them – three birds remained on the Ythan estuary (Aberdeenshire) on 17th and again on 22nd; the recent duo were still in Shetland’s Twatt on 18th; and, back in Aberdeenshire, a trio were noted at Loch of Strathbeg RSPB on 18th. English sightings came, away from Norfolk, from Upper Bittell reservoir (Worcestershire) still on 17th; two birds in Suffolk at Hen Reedbeds SWT on 18th-19th; and a single bird in the afternoon of 22nd at Tinker’s Marshes (Suffolk).
A Corncrake was heard in song at Adamstown (Co.Dublin) on 22nd.
Welcome to this week’s dabble on the rarity round up duckpond, where this week almost all of the news concerned quackers with whom we’ve been familiar for some days and weeks now. In some cases, for many months.
Freshest face of all would be the drake Ferruginous Duck present still this week at Pett Level (East Sussex) on 17th-23rd; with another possible bird seen at Fairburn Ings RSPB (West Yorkshire) on 20th. It feels like we’ve had something of a surge in sightings of these smart birds in the past couple of years, and what was once a traditionally winter visitor is being seen lately with some regularity in summer months.
I guess it’s just a matter of conscience (or not thinking too hard about the German reintroduction scheme) as to which birds make the grade in the absence of any conclusive views of the presence, or lack thereof, of incriminating leg bling. Then again, Ferruginous Ducks have some fairly recent form where doing odd midsummer things is concerned…
Mildly contentious Aythya musings aside, the drake Ring-necked Duck made another appearance at Abberton reservoir (Essex) on 20th and, on 22nd, the drake was again seen at Llyn Brenig (Denbighshire).
Scotland once again presented a variety of settled birds this week – the drake Blue-winged Teal still present on Clyde’s Frankfield Loch on 18th-21st; the drake Black Duck again at Strontian (Highland) on 21st; and the drake King Eider again at Nairn (Highland) on 20th-21st. Two Surf Scoters, a male and a female, were logged at the traditional Musselburgh (Lothian) site on 17th, with the drake still present on 19th-20th.
Finally, our occasional honorary waterbird, the male Pied-billed Grebe at Loch Feorlin (Argyll & Bute) put in another appearance in the news this week, being seen there again on 18th.
And so to the section of the week’s news where all the action was happening, the wonderful world of waders.
We can’t all of us easily park ourselves on a western headland or, better yet, get ourselves out on a boat off Scilly or Co.Cork – these are, for many, logistical nightmares. However, it’s now the time of year when any muddy reservoir fringe, coastal lagoon or saltmarsh has the power to pull in a decent shorebird. We can all dare to dream for the next few weeks.
Pacific Golden Plovers aside, the week had plenty of further variety on offer, with Nearctic species abounding. Top of the list, we start in Norfolk at Titchwell RSPB where, on 19th-23rd, an adult Semipalmated Sandpiper took up temporary residence.
Any stint is going to be worth checking out at this time of year. Even if a Nearctic peep isn’t forthcoming, there’s always the possibility of a Temminck’s Stint - two were seen this week, at Hamford Water (Essex) and Saltfleet (Lincolnshire) on 21st.
Lincolnshire also scored two White-rumped Sandpipers on 20th-21st at the mighty Frampton Marsh RSPB, with one still present there on 22nd-23rd – surely not the last time we’ll be hearing from there in the coming weeks – while two birds had previously been seen on 17th-18th at Loch of Strathbeg RSPB (Aberdeenshire). A further Scottish sighting came from Vatersay (Western Isles) on 22nd-23rd.
One of two White-rumped Sandpiper at #RSPBframpton with @pseudoliam and @benwardbirds.@RareBirdAlertUK pic.twitter.com/fGXziQ0NrT
— Owen Beaumont (@OwenBeaumont1) July 20, 2019
Frampton Marsh was having a good few days on 20th-22nd, as these dates also saw the (re)appearance of a Long-billed Dowitcher there; while our other recent adult bird was again seen at Belfast Lough RSPB (Co.Antrim) on 17th-21st.
Three Pectoral Sandpipers lingered from the preceding week – birds present at Leighton Moss RSPB (Lancashire) on 17th, Pannel Valley NR (East Sussex) on 17th-18th, and at Lough Swilly (Co.Donegal) on 17th-19th.
In Kent, the wandering adult Lesser Yellowlegs remained at Oare Marshes KWT on 17th-23rd…
…Which leads us, in a neat segue, straight onto the adult Bonaparte’s Gull, still present at Oare Marshes on 17th-22nd.
My favourite gull species of all put in an appearance this week off Porthgwarra on 19th – a delicious Sabine’s Gull. More of these surely to be expected as more keen eyes turn to the sea in the near future.
Mixing things up a bit, a couple of midsummer Ring-billed Gulls made the news this week – a first-summer bird reported on 17th on the Camel estuary (Cornwall), and a second-winter individual on Harper’s Island (Co.Cork) on 18th.
Our only white-winged news this week concerned one or two Glaucous Gulls - the summering bird still on North Uist (Western Isles) on 23rd, and a report of another individual near Loch of Wasdale that day on the Orkney mainland.
Terns, meanwhile, continued to delight this week. A Caspian Tern was logged in Cornwall on 19th passing Pendeen and Zennor; and the regular Forster’s Tern was once more seen in Co.Louth at Soldier’s Point on 22nd-23rd.
We’re surely due a midsummer sighting of a possible Eleonora’s Falcon or Booted Eagle any day now, but in the absence of the usual late July startling news, this week we’ll make do with a handful of Black Kite records – birds seen over Brading Marshes RSPB (Isle of Wight) on 17th, Frampton Pools (Gloucestershire) on 20th and Fordingbridge and Breamore (Hampshire) on 23rd, with a further individual reported on 17th at Bramcote (Nottinghamshire).
Lastly, a female Snowy Owl was seen on Gleninagh Mountain (Co.Clare) on 18th.
If the preceding week was quiet in the passerines proceedings, this past week was positively deathly. We’re rattling on towards the overseas news and the daydreaming conclusions of this week’s Round Up, and the chance to settle down and revisit that intriguing BB article about breeding Ferruginous Ducks.
At the head of the news, by some margin, was the Pallid Swift seen in the early evening of 22nd at Flambrough (East Yorkshire).
Moving swiftly on, we head to North Ronaldsay (Orkney), where a male Grey-headed Wagtail was present on 20th-22nd; while, on 21st and again on 23rd, a Blue-headed Wagtail was seen at Blacktoft Sands RSPB (East Yorkshire).
Our sole interesting warbler was the singing Savi’s Warbler still present at Cors Ddyga RSPB (Anglesey) on 20th-23rd. I find it hard to believe that all of the early summer’s territorial Iberian Chiffchaffs have completely packed up shop and moved on…
A male Red-backed Shrike was seen near Hailsham (East Sussex) on 21st.
We only had a couple of Rose-coloured Starlings seen this week – though not for want of trying in Shetland where the post-breeding flocks of Starling are now a constant, noisy presence. One bird remained there on Unst on 18th-19th at Skaw; while on Harris (Western Isles), one was present at Bedersaig on 19th.
Finally, in Kent, the settled Serin remained in song at Littlestone-on-Sea until 21st at least; and futher birds were noted over Gibraltar Point NNR (Lincolnshire) on 19th, briefly at Kilnsea (East Yorkshire) on 20th, and over Spurn (East Yorkshire) on 23rd.
In an unusual departure from the recent Scandinavian or Dutch opening news salvoes, this week we begin our further afield news in Iceland where, on 22nd-23rd, a Greater Sand Plover was found at Hvalsnes – only the second Icelandic record. Their recent Pacific Golden Plover remained at Garour on 20th.
Holland landed what looks good for its first acceptable Saker at Vatrop on 18th-20th; and a Demoiselle Crane at Rossum on 21st.
Norway’s unbelievable run of rarities continued with a Bulwer’s Petrel reported past Revekai on 20th and, on 19th, a Stilt Sandpiper found at Hanagerbukta.
Germany enjoyed another Stilt Sandpiper on 20th-22nd at Wapeler Groden.
France, meanwhile, scored a Western Reef Heron on 19th-21st at Hyeres; and, in Spain, the Red-footed Booby remained lodged in the Mediterranean on 17th at Caleta de Velez.
Now, what of the coming week? We’ve got southerlies forecast as the week begins which, for the TV weather forecasters, apparently equates to difficult, hot sleeping conditions at night. For birders, it may mean something interesting gets swept up from the Bay of Biscay or, as the week progresses and low pressure to the west nudges that wind around to coming off the mid-Atlantic, from further afield still.
I am, of course, hoping for a good seabird again this week – and all the usual suspects remain on the cards, with a handful of startling past records from the last week of July to remind us that anything’s possible – the likes of Yelkouan Shearwater off Berry Head (Devon) on 29th July 2008 and Madeiran / Cape Verde / Monteiro’s Petrel off Scilly on 27th July 2007 providing food for thought for the eternally optimistic. It’s perhaps still a little early for a Barolo Shearwater, though never say never…
On the other hand, Stilt Sandpipers in Germany and Norway in recent days help to focus the mind on shorebird alternatives – as does that Greater Sand Plover in Iceland.
The coming week features three historic records of the latter, plus one of Lesser Sand Plover for good measure. It’s always a good day when one of either of these orange beauties emerges from the heat haze before us…
Jon Dunn
24 July 2019
Many thanks to all contributors for their photos and videos this week.
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