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Weekly birding round-up: 9 - 15 Oct

While the autumn has, generally, not been the busiest where volume of rare and scarce birds is concerned, the preceding week was by any standards a strong one – how else could it be described, with a first for Ireland and a supporting cast of Nearctic goodies in Ireland and, to a lesser extent, Britain alike?

Hopes were riding high going into the week just gone – the charts looked promising, with a conveyor belt of westerlies sweeping in across the Atlantic, hitting southern Ireland and southwest Britain from Wednesday right through the weekend, interspersed with showers and, at times, heavy rain. Fall conditions, surely? And that’s not touching upon the easterlies that began making themselves known as the week drew to a close. Game on.

 

There are rarer Nearctic warblers on the British and Irish list, to be sure, but even in a family that boasts many a colourful gem it’s hard to beat the beauty of an autumn Myrtle Warbler - the perfect confection of dapper monochrome and sepia subtlety lit up with colourful citrine highlights.

The honours remain fairly equally divided between Britain and Ireland where they’re concerned, with 22 and 17 records respectively accepted to date. October is historically the prime time for them, though there’ve been a few stunning spring birds to date also. All that said, it’s been a while since we last enjoyed an autumn bird – Britain’s last was seen in Shetland at Virkie and Grutness on 29th September – 1st October 2014; but for Ireland, we go back a little further still…

…to 29th October 2013 where, on Inishmore (Co.Galway), a one-day bird was found. Inishmore, it must be said, has something of a proven magnetism of late for Myrtle Warblers, boasting four out of the last five Irish birds, a monopoly bettered only, in the longer historical record, by Cape Clear (Co.Cork), which accounts for fully 10 of all the 17 Irish birds to date.

But Inishmore. On its recent Myrtle Warbler track record, one wouldn’t have bet against the next Irish bird being found on there and, sure enough, that’s exactly what happened this week on 12th-14th.

Then, just as the dust was settling on a high octane week in which attention had shifted from birds from the west to birds from the east, the Western Isles reminded us that this autumn has, hitherto, really been all about Nearctic goodies. The writing had been on the wall earlier in the day with the count of seven White-rumped Sandpipers on South Uist – and, after dark on 15th, news emerged of a Myrtle Warbler seen in the morning (but not subsequently) in a walled garden on North Uist.

The Western Isles’ last bird was almost twenty years ago to the day, seen on South Uist on 17th October 1999. That was their second, following a two day bird on North Uist on 22nd-23rd October 1982. A twitchable bird, for local birders, is somewhat overdue.

 

Ireland’s fourth Baltimore Oriole remained on Achill Island (Co.Mayo) at the start of this week on 9th, but wasn’t seen thereafter. Not that this mattered unduly, for another was in the post.

Found at Lehanmore (Co.Cork) on 11th, Ireland’s fifth bird was Co.Cork’s third, following the first and second for the nation respectively at Baltimore (where else?) on 7th-8th October 2001 and Cape Clear on 12th-19th October 2006.

Another excellent find in Ireland’s star-studded autumn line-up, and surely an augury that even better things may yet be to come…

 

Normally we don’t, in the absence of new birds, keep our previous headliners riding the headlines for consecutive weeks at this busy time of the year. The adult male Common Nighthawk at Ballymena (Co.Antrim) is, arguably, far from normal – it’s the most desirable, charismatic of crowd-pleasers and, frankly, I’ll take any excuse to have the opportunity to showcase some more of the sumptuous photos and video footage that has been posted, daily, this week during the bird’s ongoing stay until 15th.

Have it.

 

We closed last week’s round up predicting one of either Bobolink or Rose-breasted Grosbeak in the week to come and, in one of those serendipitous moments, that’s just what happened this week on Scilly, with a Rose-breasted Grosbeak found on St Martin’s on 13th-15th, further burnishing an already excellent haul of American passerines for the archipelago in recent days.

This bird brings Britain’s historic tally to a nice round 30 birds with, predictably, Scilly having enjoyed the lion’s share of them – this bird being the fifteenth for the fortunate isles, and following on the heels of Britain’s last, on St Agnes in 2017. They’re far from annual then, though in some classic years gone by we’ve enjoyed multiple birds – in 1983 six were found in Britain and Ireland, with three birds apiece. As 2019 is shaping up to be a good one for Nearctic vagrancy, we can perhaps hope for another to be found in the coming days, maybe in Ireland…

 

Having gone missing once more for a few days, what’s (maybe) the same, enduring, Yellow-billed Cuckoo popped out of the woodwork once more on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 12th-15th. It’s doing well, if it’s the same bird, to hang on this long…

A new bird was found the following day in Cornwall, in the Hentervene Holiday Park at Crackington Haven. Given its proximity to Scilly we could reasonably assume that Cornwall is likely to be equally blessed with Yellow-billed Cuckoo as the offshore islands, but presumably reflecting the sheer area of the county, the density of the cover, and hence the relative lack of birders on the ground apart from at known hotspots, Cornwall actually has precious few Yellow-billed Cuckoos on the books.

That is to say, nine accepted records to date – and only half a dozen of those post 1940. The last two examples, both two-day birds in 2000 and 2014 respectively, were quietly popular – with Cornish birders and mainland birders unwilling to chance a twitch to Scilly on such a notoriously delicate species.

If the Crackington Haven bird had only continued to be seen, history may have repeated itself. As it was, the St Mary’s bird reappeared again at Lower Moors on 14th, daring those desperate to catch up with their first British bird to take a chance on it…

 

For years, in the wake of the famous bird that spent 22nd-27th October 1987 on Gugh (Scilly), it felt like Two-barred Greenish Warbler had blocker written all over it. A situation made little better with the lumping of it, and Green Warbler, in 1992 under the broad banner of Greenish Warbler. For those who’d seen the Scilly bird, a tick had been lost, and for those of us on Scilly in the early 90s it was a rich vein of misery to mine over a pint or two at the Porthcressa. It just felt… wrong…

In 2003 the BOU, custodians of the British list, concluded that there was still “currently insufficient evidence to recognise Green Warbler or Two-barred Greenish Warbler as separate species" – though, in the intervening years, another example had been found at Holkham Meals (Norfolk) on 15th-16th October 1996 – a bird that, with the now longstanding downgraded taxonomic status, and competing distractions present nationally in the form of Great Knot and Northern Waterthrush, didn’t generate much heat and interest in a nation’s travelling birders.

2003 itself was marked by Britain’s third record of Two-barred Greenish Warbler, again on Scilly, on Bryher on 27th-28th September; and, in 2006, North Yorkshire got in on the act with a bird at Filey on 16th-18th October.

When, in 2008, the BOU split Green Warbler back out of Greenish Warbler, they left Two-barred Greenish behind as subspecies. It seemed doomed to be forever the bridesmaid and never the bride.

Then, on 1st January 2018, the BOU adopted the IOC World Bird List for all their taxonomic needs and, whaddya know, Two-barred Greenish Warbler was back at the altar once more. It had been a long engagement, to say the least, since the emotional events of 1992.

To date, then, we’ve just seven accepted records on the books – with a notable bias to the middle of October. Conforming completely with that pattern this week was the discovery, on 13th, of our latest Two-barred Greenish Warbler in Suffolk at the Orford Quay car park – a county first, at that – but frustratingly not available for more than a couple of hours.

It’s worth noting the remark in Andy Stoddart’s “October Greenish Warblers British Birds paper that, whilst noting the modest increase in records of Two-barred Greenish Warblers in northwest Europe, also name-checks the rise of other partly sympatric Siberian species - Siberian Rubythroat, Siberian Blue Robin, Rufous-tailed Robin and Eastern Crowned Warbler. Another, accessible, one of any of that quartet would be immensely welcome in the days to come.

 

It always felt like it was coming. If I’d been a betting man, I’d have put a fiver on there being a Siberian Rubythroat on Fair Isle on Tuesday 15th. Every single thing pointed towards it – the mounting pace on the island, with Brown Shrike, probable Stejneger’s Stonechat, two(!) Red-flanked Bluetails, Lanceolated Warbler and a host of scarce-ish warblers too in the days and hours leading up to the big reveal. The light south-easterlies.

It all felt so… rare and preordained.

And then along came Fetlar to spoil the party in the afternoon of 15th, giving the island a neat one-two of Rufous-tailed Robin and now a male Siberian Rubythroat in consecutive weeks. Enormous credit to those birders who’ve eschewed the easy life and chosen to base themselves on one of the less-watched outer isles. The rewards can be there, if the fates allow, and fortune favours the brave. In this case, Phil Woollen, lucky man.

Shetland’s monopoly on Siberian Rubythroats is almost without compare, with fully 11 of the accepted 13 prior British records found up there, seven of which were on Fair Isle. Small wonder Mark Golley, my erstwhile RBA colleague, is on Fair Isle even as we speak with just one bird on his mind. His Whatsapp message to me in the wake of the Fetlar bird is unrepeatable before the watershed, but you can probably imagine the general tone. Mostly variations of Hooded Merganser.

That angst may be ill-founded though. I’m sure Fair Isle may yet truly roar in the next day or two and, as for Siberian Rubythroats - we could be on for more this coming week. It just feels so right up here.

 

Numbers of interesting seabirds fell off a cliff this week, so we’ve a much reduced presence of all things interesting to report upon. I’m betting that’s only partly because Britain and Ireland’s birders were obsessively looking for that jackpot Nearctic warbler and not out to sea…

A possible Great Shearwater was reported from Birling Gap (East Sussex) on 13th, while just shy of 100 Balearic Shearwaters seen nationwide over the course of the week marked a considerable reduction on the 900 or so logged in the preceding period. Peak count was 41 birds noted off Newquay (Cornwall) on 9th.

Leach’s Petrels, meanwhile, barely got out of the starting blocks. Single birds were found this week on 9th off South Uist (Western Isles), Burnham-on-Sea (Somerset) and Calf of Man (Isle of Man); two were seen from Blackpool (Lancashire) on 10th; and singletons were seen on 11th off Cogden Beach (Dorset) and on 13th from Dungeness (Kent).

Around 90 Pomarine Skuas were recorded nationally again this week. By some margin the best single site count came from Berry Head (Devon) on 11th where 31 birds were logged.

Single Long-tailed Skuas were seen on 10th off Bardsey (Gwynedd); on 11th from Berry Head and Dawlish Warren NNR (Devon), off the Scillonian, from Milford-on-Sea (Hampshire) and Thorpeness (Suffolk); and on 13th off The Lizard (Cornwall). On 15th a final bird was logged off St Agnes Head (Cornwall).

Finally,

Little Auks continued to tick over in the north – one seen from Unst (Shetland) on 11th had found a friend there on 12th-13th; on 12th single birds were seen from Lossiemouth (Moray) and Papa Westray (Orkney); and on 13th one more was found off Fair Isle (Shetland). On 13th Lossiemouth contributed another sighting; on 14th one was seen heading south past Filey (North Yorkshire), and two were present in Burghead Bay (Moray).

 

More quiet, quiet times this week in the absence of crazily rare American bitterns amongst our long-legged beasties.

Pick of the bunch, once again, were the regular settled Glossy Ibises at, respectively, Fremington Pill (Devon) on 13th-14th and Newport Wetlands NNR (Gwent) again on 13th.

Non-Norfolk Common Cranes provided a little more interest, particularly on 9th when two birds were tracked over Flixton (North Yorkshire), Sunk Island and Spurn (East Yorkshire), and Gibraltar Point NNR (Lincolnshire). Four were seen again at Eldernell (Cambridgeshire) on 10th; two remained at Thorne Moors NNR (South Yorkshire) on 11th; two were seen at Goole Moors (East Yorkshire) on 12th, with five more seen that day at Loch of Strathbeg RSPB (Aberdeenshire), that quintet remaining there until 14th. On 14th Cambridgeshire raised the stakes with around 40 birds seen in flight over Manea train station in the late afternoon.

In Somerset, a probable Spotted Crake was reported again from Greylake RSPB on 10th; our definitive remaining birds were the settled individual still to be seen on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 9th-15th, and one flushed at Geosetter (Shetland) on 14th.

A Corncrake was seen on 14th at Newbiggin (Northumberland).

 

I’m sure I can’t be the only one who’s noticed that, all of a sudden, there’s the first Christmas advertising hitting the TV and the shops. Ridiculous, I know, but them honkers and quackers don’t lie – winter is indeed just around the corner, for all we’re in the throes of autumn migration and, with it, come increasing numbers of interesting ducks and geese on our weekly round up duckpond. Including, of course, the pantomime villain that’s Hooded Merganser.

(It’s behind you…)

We’ll kick off with various flavours of The Goose Formerly Known As Canada. On 11th, a possible Cackling Goose was present on Islay on Loch Indaal (Argyll & Bute), with nearby two Cackling Goose or Canada Goose noted also during the day at Whin Park. On 12th-13th on North Uist (Western Isles) two hutchinsii Richardson’s Canada Geese were seen with Barnacle Geese at Loch Paible. Tiree (Argyll & Bute) weighed in with an interior Todd’s Canada Goose at Balephetrish on 14th.

Both North Uist and Islay were in the Snow Goose business this week too. North Uist sported a white morph still at Balranald RSPB on 9th-15th, while Islay went one better with two white birds on 11th-15th. A further white morph was seen this week in North Yorkshire at Staveley YWT on 11th; and a blue morph was present at Airth (Forth) on 11th also.

Three Black Brants were found this week, all on 12th – two birds present on the Fleet at Ferrybridge (Dorset), and the other at Donna Nook (Lincolnshire). One of the Fleet birds remained there on 14th, with the Donna Nook bird still present that day as well.

Three settled Blue-winged Teals were seen again this week – the ecipse drake still at Frankfield Loch (Clyde) on 12th-14th; the juvenile drake still on St Mary’s and Tresco (Scilly) on 11th-15th; and the female still at Tacumshin (Co.Wexford) on 11th-13th.

The drake American Wigeon remained this week on Loch Eye (Highland) until 13th; further birds were noted at Hurworth Barn reservoir (Co.Durham) on 12th-14th and again at Inishmore (Co.Galway) on 12th-13th; and a possible was seen on the Hayle estuary (Cornwall) on 9th.

The regular returning Green-winged Teal was back on North Ronaldsay’s Gretchen Loch (Orkney) on 13th.

A quartet of Ring-necked Ducks were recorded this week – on Barra (Western Isles) still on 9th-15th, on 10th at Bubwith Ings (East Yorkshire) and Carrowmore Lake (Co.Kerry) – the latter also still hosting a drake Lesser Scaup on 10th, with another present on 10th-15th at Rutland Water (Leicestershire) – and a final Ring-necked Duck at Longham Lakes (Dorset) on 15th.

A drake Ferruginous Duck was seen in Powys at Llynheilyn on 14th-15th.

Surf Scoters returned to the news once more this week with drakes found once more in Lothian especially – one off Musselburgh on 10th-15th, and two seen from Cockenzie on 13th – and a further bird noted from Lunan (Angus).

And so to Hooded Mergansers - boo, hiss – where the waters of the rarity duckpond this autumn were muddied still further by the reappearance of a drake in Norfolk at Titchwell RSPB on 12th and, at more or less the same time that day, the discovery of another drake in Staffordshire at Whitemoor Haye. I guess we’ve had lots of westerlies lately, and plenty of other colourful American bird-fare arriving over here. Does that qualify as a feel-good factor? The female bird turned up again, for good measure, at King George V reservoir (London) on 15th.

(Like a particularly persistent hangover that just won’t go away, the escaped female Bufflehead was still balefully present this week at Swillington Ings (West Yorkshire). As is, at the time of writing in the early morning of 16th, a yellow-ringed escaped drake Hooded Merganser in Ipswich (Suffolk)…)

 

Thrown across the Atlantic in the wake of Lorenzo, we had a fresh influx of Nearctic waders this week – a welcome embellishment to the array of passerines on offer.

Most numerous, by some margin, were White-rumped Sandpipers - almost 30 birds were recorded this week predominantly, though not entirely exclusively, in Ireland and Scotland. Multiple birds were seen at several sites, to begin with most notably the trio present at Carrahane Strand (Co.Kerry) on 11th-12th, but also duos on the Western Isles on South Uist 10th-12th and North Uist on 13th that rose to at least three birds on South Uist on 14th; and a duo on Islay (Argyll & Bute) on 12th-13th. And then 15th happened on South Uist, when a simply remarkable seven birds were seen at Ardivachar with a bonus Pectoral Sandpiper for good measure.

Baird’s Sandpipers, on the other hand, were much less numerous and the exclusive preserve of Ireland. Three birds were recorded – at Roonagh Lough (Co.Mayo) on 9th, and on 12th at Carrahane Strand (Co.Kerry) and Tacumshin (Co.Wexford).

One Irish Pectoral Sandpiper was seen, at Lough Beg (Co.Derry) on 11th; and two Scottish birds were found on South Uist (Western Isles) on 14th-15th.

The Buff-breasted Sandpiper remained at Truska (Co.Galway) on 9th-11th.

A couple of putative Semipalmated Sandpipers were causing headaches this week – one (or a Little Stint) was present on the Ythan estuary (Aberdeenshire) on 12th-14th while another bird, thought probably to be a Little Stint after all, was on the Fleet at Ferrybridge (Dorset) on 13th.

No longer a full species in our brave new IOC world, a Hudsonian Whimbrel was noted flying past Mousehole (Cornwall) on 11th.

A quintet of Long-billed Dowitchers included, in their number, a couple of new birds – individuals remained this week in Devon, now at Dawlish Warren NNR on 10th and then Bowling Green Marsh RSPB on 14th-15th; in West Yorkshire at Swillington Ings on 10th-15th still; and seen again on Tiree (Argyll & Bute) on 15th; and then, on 13th, newcomers were found in Ireland at Dundalk (Co.Louth) and Bannow Bay (Co.Wexford), the Dundalk bird remaining until 15th.

A fresh gold-rush of American Golden Plovers were recorded in recent days. Settled birds remained on Shetland on Yell on 9th-12th; on Oare Marshes KWT and adjacent Sheppey (Kent) on 9th-12th; at Steart WWT (Somerset) on 10th-11th; and on Annagh Head (Co.Mayo) on 10th still. Fresh sightings came thick and fast as the week wore on – at Carrahane Strand (Co.Kerry) on 9th-12th; Aith (Shetland) on 10th-12th; heard on Scilly over St Mary’s on 10th and seen on St Martin’s on 13th; on Lewis (Western Isles) on 10th; on 11th at Ballykelly (Co.Derry) and on 11th-14th at Loch of Strathbeg RSPB (Aberdeenshire); on 12th-15th on Tiree (Argyll & Bute); and on 13th on North Uist (Western Isles), at Ballymena (Co.Antrim) and back in Co.Mayo at Cross Lough.

On 14th an unconfirmed report came of the recent Pacific Golden Plover again on Holy Island (Northumberland).

Scilly contributed three sightings of Dotterel to the week’s tally – on St Mary’s still on 9th, on St Martin’s on 11th, and on Tresco on 15th – while further birds were seen on Lundy (Devon) on 9th-13th, on Slyne Head (Co.Galway) still on 9th and, on 11th, at Truska (Co.Galway).

The recent Kentish Plover extended its stay at Southport (Lancashire) until 13th.

The Lesser Yellowlegs remained at Killongford (Co.Waterford) on 9th-10th with another seen on 9th-14th at Lissagriffin (Co.Cork).

Some of the biggest news this week, from a local perspective anyway, involved a wader that in its own right isn’t that rare but, from a county perspective, was a mega of the highest order. That bird being, of course, the wandering Black-winged Stilt that found itself, bemusedly, on a Fair Isle (Shetland) beach on 9th. A first for Shetland, no less. One was again reported from Moor Green Lakes NR (Berkshire) on 11th, though there was no sign of it in subsequent visits.

Fair Isle was once synonymous with Great Snipes - I daresay a fair few of us cut our teeth with our first bird there at one point or another. They’re traditionally a rarer proposition on the British mainland and one is always a big deal – particularly a bird available on a weekend. On Sunday 13th visitors to East Yorkshire hoping for a go at the Red-eyed Vireo were presented with the opportunity for a fabulous double whammy when a Great Snipe spent the late afternoon and evening at Kilnsea on Beacon Lane – site, lest we forget, of the ill-fated but showy individual that spent 14th-16th September 2013 there before, latterly, being found dead… Back in the present, one was reported as flushed twice at Spurn on 14th.

We finish up with Grey Phalaropes having, once again, a busy-ish week. Around 45 birds in all were noted nationwide, with the peak count by a country mile being made in Cornwall off Cape Cornwall where, on 9th, 17 birds were recorded.

 

We start the gulls’n’terns once more in Dorset this week where the juvenile surinamensis American Black Tern continued to find the surroundings of Longham Lakes very much to its liking on 9th-15th.

Across in Ireland, a juvenile White-winged Black Tern was seen at Lurgangreen (Co.Louth) on 12th-15th.

Before departing Ireland, we move into the gulls and an adult Ring-billed Gull once more at Nimmo’s Pier (Co.Galway) on 13th-14th.

A first-winter Laughing Gull was seen in flight on North Uist (Western Isles) on 15th.

A probable near-adult American Herring Gull was reported off Mousehole (Cornwall) on 12th.

Sticking with the probables, a probable Kumlien’s Gull was seen on North Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 9th.

Definitive Iceland Gulls, however, were logged this week on Barra (Western Isles) still on 9th-14th; on Unst (Shetland) again on 9th; off Sumburgh Head (Shetland) on 10th; in Stromness (Orkney) on 12th; and, on 13th, at Brora (Highland), where two birds were seen.

Glaucous Gulls, meanwhile, were seen in Shetland on Unst on 10th-12th, Eshaness on 12th, Fair Isle on 13th-14th, and at Loch of Spiggie on Mainland on 15th; on South Uist (Western Isles) on 10th and reported from Skye (Highland) on 13th.

Finally, just shy of 20 of my perennial favourites, Sabine’s Gulls were logged this week – multiple birds being recorded off Skokholm (Pembrokeshire) on 9th where three were seen; the Scillonian on 9th from which two birds were noted; and off Berry Head (Devon) on 11th, with another duo seen.

 

Highlight of the week’s raptors was the juvenile Pallid Harrier found on 11th at Langford Lowfields RSPB (Nottinghamshire) – only the second record for the county following the first, also a one day bird, seen at Gringley Carr on 13th November 2016.

A Montagu’s Harrier closed the week on 15th over Weybourne Camp (Norfolk).

The first of the week’s Rough-legged Buzzards was a fading bird picked up at the side of the harbour at Mevagissey (Cornwall) on 9th, and taken into care; another, seen on 9th at Sandringham (Norfolk), would perhaps have been well-advised not to linger in that particular airspace; while a third individual this week was a probable bird reported on 10th-13th at Eldernell (Cambridgeshire); and another was found on 15th at Ash Level (Kent).

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/nov/07/monarchy.wildlife

A possible Black Kite was seen on 15th at Pitsford reservoir (Northamptonshire).

Finally, wrapping up this section once more this week we’ve our two recent Snowy Owls, both still present and correct - on St Kilda (Western Isles) again on 9th-12th and the Ronas Hill (Shetland) bird once more on 12th-13th.

 

We complete something of a hat-trick this week by kicking off the final British and Irish section of proceedings with Red-eyed Vireos for yet another week. But how else could it possibly be when we’ve not only hit double figures this week but, amongst them, landed a notable county second record?

That bird was, of course, the immensely appreciated Red-eyed Vireo found in East Yorkshire at Easington on 12th – almost thirty year’s after Yorkshire’s first, one present at Kilnsea on 30th September – 1st October 1990. It had been a very long wait indeed for county listers old and new to have another go at one – and here, this week, it was – and a showy bird at that, remaining there on 15th to the delight of all.

Thirteen further birds were seen this week. Lingerers remained on Scilly on St Mary’s on 9th-15th; at Porthgwarra (Cornwall) on 10th-13th; and in Ireland at Helvick Head (Co.Waterford) on 9th-10th, Kilbaha (Co.Clare) on 9th-11th, and Lehanmore (Co.Cork) on 9th. New Irish birds were found on 11th at Termoncarragh Lough (Co.Mayo) on 11th, Loop Head (Co.Clare) on 12th, and Cape Clear (Co.Cork) on 12th-15th; Scilly landed another on Tresco on 11th-13th and a second bird on St Mary’s on 14th; Lundy (Devon) got a bird on 13th; Skokholm got its second and Pembrokeshire’s third record on 12th; and one was found on Inishmore (Co.Galway) on 15th. All of which leaves Scotland waiting for a bird this year…

We have to mention, at this juncture, the couched in every caveat possible wholly unconfirmed report of a Yellow-throated Vireo said to have been seen briefly on St Martin’s (Scilly) on 15th. Just imagine…

Scilly, in addition to lingering and new headline birds, landed a frustratingly brief Swainson’s Thrush on St Mary’s on 10th. This followed belated news of one at Nanjizal (Cornwall) on 26th September; and a probable bird seen this week on 9th in Co.Cork on Mizen Head.

St Mary’s also retained the Blue Rock Thrush for another week, lurking on there until 15th at least.

A mobile Black-throated Thrush found on the Shetland Mainland at Scousburgh on 14th was perhaps the bird initially reported from the area on 10th.

Fair Isle marked a purple patch on 13th-14th with a double whammy on the former date of Brown Shrike and a probable Stejneger’s Stonechat and then, on 14th, TWO Red-flanked Bluetails. Has that ever happened before on British soil at one site in one blue Monday? I think not… Sadly for all concerned on the magic isle, there was no ruby Tuesday to follow, though one Red-flanked Bluetail remained on 15th… but we can’t leave Monday without noting the day’s third bird, found on the Orkney Mainland at Rendall. The afternoon of 15th was an hour in before another example had been trapped and ringed at Filey (North Yorkshire).

Another Brown Shrike was found on the other side of the Fair Isle channel on the southern tip of the Shetland Mainland on 14th near Grutness by former Fair Isle Bird Observatory wardens Paul Harvey and Roger Riddington, remaining there the following day; and a dead bird was picked up near the North Ronaldsay Bird Observatory (Orkney) on 15th.

Bluethroats, meanwhile, were present in Shetland on Mainland still at Sandness on 9th-11th, and on Whalsay on 11th.

The probable Stejneger’s Stonechat remained on Unst (Shetland) at Westing until 14th – trapped and ringed on 11th, we’ll have certainty in due course from the DNA. Another possible eastern Stonechat sp was seen briefly on the Shetland Mainland at Sandness on 10th; another bird was found on Orkney on 14th-15th on Burray; and back on Shetland at Hillwell, on 15th, another candidate was to be seen.

An unconfirmed report came in of a possible Desert Wheatear on The Lizard (Cornwall) on 15th.

The Isabelline Wheatear remained settled on Out Skerries (Shetland) until 13th, a baleful presence for yours truly as the Skerries, from the kitchen window, are just a short hop across the sea and, on a clear day, look close enough to reach out and touch. Through a scope, on those clear days, one can see birders walking around there – but not a wheatear. Not that I’ve tried…

I can’t complain though. We scored a Lanceolated Warbler at Skaw on Whalsay (Shetland) on 9th; a fleetingly glimpsed small, skulking Locustella, it always felt like it was going to be only one thing and, when trapped and duly ringed, our suspicions were confirmed. Another was trapped and ringed on Fair Isle on 15th.

The autumn has hitherto been a relatively quiet one for scarce and rare warblers of all kinds though, exemplified by the trickle of Blyth’s Reed Warblers that have made it through. Two definite birds were seen this week – one remaining in Lothian at Barns Ness on 9th, and another in Shetland at Quendale on 12th – and one probable, found on St Mary’s (Scilly) in the evening of 15th.

A possible, elusive, Marsh Warbler was seen in Shetland in the lush Swinister Burn on 9th; a confirmed bird was on Fair Isle on 15th.

The pace picked up a little on 14th with the finding of two south coast Booted Warblers - one on The Lizard (Cornwall), and the other in Kent at Langdon Cliffs NT.

A Melodious Warbler remained on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 12th; another was present on Cape Clear (Co.Cork) on 11th-14th; and a probable was seen briefly in Pendeen (Cornwall) on 14th.

Barred Warblers remained a relatively scarce commodity, with some 20 birds logged this week – all single birds barring two present on St Mary’s Island (Northumberland) on 12th-15th.

The Subalpine Warbler sp remained this week on Barra (Western Isles) until 11th; trapped and ringed on 10th, it’s thought to probably be Western. A further undetermined bird was found on 13th on St Agnes (Scilly), remaining on there on 15th; and a final bird was found towards close of play at Hillwell (Shetland).

Eastern Lesser Whitethroats are now an autumn staple, with most presumed to be the blythi form; the much rare form, however, remains halimodendri, or Turkestan Lesser Whitethroat. Two probable individuals of the latter were seen this week – one at Reighton Sands (North Yorkshire) on 8th-10th, and the other present on 9th-14th at Kilnsea (East Yorkshire). The latter bird was trapped and ringed on 11th, a procedure that will doubtless have also yielded material that can be sent away for a DNA analysis and some certainty.

Five Pallas’s Warblers this week are, hopefully, the vanguard of more to come shortly – seen on Unst (Shetland) on 9th-11th, at Kilminning (Fife) on 9th-11th also, on Fair Isle (Shetland) on 14th-15th, and at Gibraltar Point NNR (Lincolnshire) and trapped and ringed at Bempton Cliffs RSPB (East Yorkshire) on 15th.

And so to Yellow-browed Warblers, and a somewhat quieter week than of late – around 450 were noted nationwide. Not, by any means, a classic autumn for the species, or at least not by the high standards of recent years.

The male Greenish Warbler remained on Holy Island (Northumberland) on 10th; an Arctic Warbler was found on St Agnes (Scilly) on 10th also, and another of the latter species at Kilnsea (East Yorkshire) on 15th.

A Bonelli’s Warbler sp was seen, fleetingly, in the morning of 15th at Auchie Glen (Dumfries & Galloway) before flying off, not to be seen again.

The prior week’s Dusky Warbler remained in Norfolk at Warham Greens on 9th; another, probable, bird was heard only that day in Aberdeenshire at Cruden Bay; on 14th probable birds were reported from Landguard NR (Suffolk) and Stiffkey (Norfolk). Further birds were found in Cornwall at Cawsand on 13th and on Fair Isle on 14th.

The autumn’s first Radde’s Warbler closes our weekly warbler account on 15th, found at Flamborough (East Yorkshire) in the late afternoon.

A Hoopoe was reported from Felton (Northumberland) on 10th; a report followed, on 11th, by another northern bird up on Yell (Shetland) at Toft. On 15th another was present at Redrow (Northumberland).

Wryneck numbers are dwindling now, with barely half a dozen rather fewer than of late seen this week – Scilly racked up birds on St Mary’s on 9th-14th, St Agnes on 9th, and Tresco on 11th; Portland (Dorset) had a bird on 9th and another on 14th; while one remained at Dungeness (Kent) on 9th also; another south coast bird was found on 10th at Polgigga (Cornwall); and an Irish sighting came from Cape Clear (Co.Cork) on 11th-13th. On 14th one was present on Bardsey (Gwynedd); and a probable bird was reported from Ivybridge (Devon). On 15th two were present at Hill Head and another, also in Hampshire, at Titchfield Haven NNR; and one was on St Agnes (Scilly) also.

Scilly had half the week’s Short-toed Larks, with birds present on Tresco still on 9th-13th and St Mary’s on 10th-15th; Shetland had the other half, with birds remaining on Mainland at Garths Ness on 9th-11th and on Fetlar again on 9th-11th.

Highlight of the week’s pipits was undoubtedly the American Buff-bellied Pipit found on St Martin’s and St Mary’s (Scilly) respectively on 9th, with presumably the same bird accounting for both consecutive sightings. While St Mary’s is no stranger to an American Buff-bellied Pipit or two, I think this bird comes to be the first record for St Martin’s…

Feeling overdue by the time it was found, Fair Isle (Shetland) weighed in with a Pechora Pipit on 15th. Still firmly a Shetland specialty, this and the day’s Lanceolated Warbler were surely some consolation at least for the lack of a Siberian Rubythroat…

A Red-throated Pipit was present on St Mary’s on 12th; another was gilding the lily on Fair Isle (Shetland) on 13th-14th; and one was found at Hascombe (Surrey) on 15th, with a further probable bird that morning at Walthamstow reservoirs (London).

To the chagrin of visiting birders in the south Mainland of Shetland, news of a Olive-backed Pipit in a Hillwell garden on 11th was only released, belatedly, the following day with no further news of it reported until 15th; elsewhere in Shetland another was found on Unst on 12th and, on 15th, one was in a Lerwick garden and another was in the iris beds at Hoswick; and a further bird was found, further afield, on 12th on Mizen Head (Co.Cork).

Some 16 Richard’s Pipits were seen this week – in Co.Durham at Whitburn on 11th-13th and a probable sighting at Seaham on 12th; on Portland (Dorset) on 9th; at Holme (Norfolk) on 11th and again on 14th; on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 12th-13th; and back in Dorset at Butterstreet Cove on 13th. On 14th a further bird was found on Holy Island (Northumberland); on 15th birds were noted over Hoylake (Cheshire), Huntspill (Somerset), Hartland Point (Devon), Sheringham (Norfolk), Flamborough (East Yorkshire); on Lundy (Devon) and at Buckton (East Yorkshire); and on Bardsey (Gwynedd), where two birds were recorded.

The Grey-headed Wagtail remained on North Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 11th.

Shetland enjoyed a near monopoly on the few Waxwings found this week, with the eight birds seen including a couple of confiding settled individuals – one on Yell at Camb on 9th-13th, and another in Aith that favoured the area beside the Velociraptor on 9th-10th. Away from Shetland singletons were seen on Papa Westray (Orkney) on 11th, in Lowestoft (Suffolk) on 13th, and on Lewis (Western Isles) on 14th.

Some 20 Red-breasted Flycatchers were seen this week, all singles bar two at Easington (East Yorkshire) on 9th and on Portland (Dorset) on 14th.

Brydon Thomason kept up his relentless Unst rarity finding schedule this week with the discovery of a particularly stunning Lesser Grey Shrike at Halligarth on 11th. Still present in the area on 12th, this wasn’t even a garden tick for Brydon…

Just five Red-backed Shrikes were seen this week – on St Mary’s (Scilly) still on 9th-15th, on Bryher (Scilly) on 11th, in Pembrokeshire at Lydstep Point on 13th, on North Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 13th, and on The Lizard (Cornwall) on 15th.

Great Grey Shrikes fell away after the previous week’s modest arrival – three of this week’s seven birds were known individuals lingering on Scottish islands, on Out Skerries (Shetland) until 13th, North Ronaldsay (Orkney) until 12th, and on the Isle of May (Fife) on 9th still. New birds were seen on Holy Island on 9th-15th and Hoy (Orkney) on 11th; and at Boldon (Co.Durham) on 15th. On 15th one was found in the traditional wintering quarters of the New Forest (Hampshire) at Black Gutter Bottom.

Two Rose-coloured Starlings this week were also island birds – one found on Lundy (Devon) on 9th-14th, and the adult still on South Uist (Western Isles) on 12th-13th.

There’s no better litmus paper of a generally quiet time for eastern migrants, surely, than a mere dribble of Common Rosefinches at this time of year, but there it is – this week we had just one all the way out west on Cape Clear (Co.Cork) on 11th-12th, another Co.Cork bird on Dursey Island on 14th, and one on St Agnes (Scilly) on 14th.

North Ronaldsay (Orkney) held onto a Hornemann’s Arctic Redpoll until 13th; a probable bird was seen distantly on Fair Isle (Shetland) on 10th; another was on Lewis (Western Isles) on 10th; and a final bird was seen on Foula (Shetland) on 12th.

Possible Coue’s Arctic Redpolls were seen on Bressay (Shetland) on 9th and the Orkney Mainland at Loch of Harray on 12th; another was seen again on Unst (Shetland) on 12th-14th.

Foula (Shetland) enjoyed the week’s only definite Ortolan Bunting on 12th; a probable was heard flying over Chelmsford (Essex) on 15th.

Scilly meanwhile accounted for our only Rustic Bunting, seen on Tresco on 11th-12th.

Honours were shared where Little Buntings were concerned – in Shetland, one remained on Bressay on 9th-14th, while Tresco had a bird on 12th; elsewhere, birds were seen at Spurn (East Yorkshire) on 9th-14th and Kilnsea on 12th, and Hoy (Orkney) on 11th; then, on 14th, the pace quickened with birds found at Inverbervie (Aberdeenshire), on St Martin’s (Scilly), and Unst (Shetland); 15th saw a final bird at Sumburgh (Shetland).

We’ll finish the week’s passerines with an honourable roll-call of Nearctic near misses – these being the possible Blackpoll Warbler seen in the tree canopy on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 11th-12th; and the White-throated Sparrow that endured an Atlantic crossing from Canada on board the MR Arcadia to within sight of land off Land’s End (Cornwall) on 9th and then to Southampton docks (Hampshire) on 10th.

 

If it was busy in Britain and Ireland this week, it’s genuinely hard to know where to begin further afield. We’ve a lot to get through, to say the least.

A logical starting point has to be in the Azores where, busyness on Corvo notwithstanding, the biggest news of all came from Flores where, on 12th, the Western Palearctic’s first ever Connecticut Warbler was trapped and ringed. Other Flores sightings were a Laughing Gull on 9th, American Buff-bellied Pipit on 9th-13th, Cliff Swallow on 11th, and Common Yellowthroat on 15th.

To Corvo next, where besides a glut of Red-eyed Vireos that peaked with at least six birds on 11th-12th, there was much else to be had – a White-eyed Vireo on 9th-12th; Hooded Warbler on 10th-12th; Yellow Warbler on 11th-12th; Northern Parula on 12th-13th; American Buff-bellied Pipit on 10th-14th; Northern Harrier on 12th-14th; and two Semipalmated Plovers on 10th.

Terceira, meanwhile, accounted for two Semipalmated Plovers on 10th-11th; two Lesser Yellowlegs on 10th, dropping to one bird on 11th; Long-billed Dowitcher and Semipalmated Sandpiper on 10th-11th; and four White-rumped Sandpipers on 10th reducing to two birds on 11th.

Finally for the Azores, the Pied-billed Grebe remained on Sao Miguel on 14th.

We need now to come rather closer to home – and start proceedings in Holland where an Upcher’s Warbler was to be found at Wijdewormer on 12th-14th. The first Dutch record, two calls have been recorded that seem to fit this species rather than Eastern Olivaceous. Oof.

Holland was having a good week of it, with a Myrtle Warbler at Schiermonnikoog on 12th-13th and a Brown Shrike at Nijmegen on 12th-13th.

Belgium wasn’t immune to that sort of east meets west loveliness either – a Red-eyed Vireo present at Heist on 12th-14th embellished with Pallas’s Grasshopper Warblers at Heist on 11th and Hermalle-sous-Argenteau on 13th, and an Isabelline Shrike sp at Heist on 14th.

France’s recent enviable run continued this week too. On Ouessant the Swainson’s Thrush remained on 9th, added to on there by Pacific Golden Plover on 9th and Upland Sandpiper on 12th-14th. An Eastern Yellow Wagtail was on Ile-de-Sein on 12th; and a Sociable Lapwing was seen at Vallerenge on 12th.

Think Nearctic vagrants and you don’t immediately think of Norway, but in these feverish times that wasn’t the case this week – Utsira landed Norway’s third Red-eyed Vireo on 9th and Norway’s fifth Swainson’s Thrush the following day.

Denmark meanwhile kept it Western Palearctic with Blyth’s Pipit at Gronningen on 10th and Paddyfield Warbler at Blavand on 14th.

On Iceland the Rose-breasted Grosbeak remained at Seltjorn on 9th-15th.

And so to Spain now, where someone was taking their birding easy, recording a Franklin’s Gull passing a tapas bar in Guardamar del Segura on 11th. The Elegant Tern remained at Playa de Montijo on 14th; a Blue-cheeked Bee-eater was found at Amposta on 12th; and a Moussier’s Redstart at Tarifa on 13th. Either of which would do us nicely…

 

The autumn’s been dominated, lately, by arrivals from the west – a pattern that, while terrific fun for all concerned with those birds, flies in the face of what the coming week is best known for…

…which is, of course, some highly sought after Sibes of the highest calibre. While it’s firmly Red-flanked Bluetail o’clock at the moment, the coming week is a strong one for its much rarer counterpart – the simply outstanding Siberian Rubythroat.

Five of Britain’s 13 past accepted Siberian Rubythroats were found in the coming days – all of them on Shetland except the tantalising Osmington Mills (Dorset) bird of 19th October 1997. A bird that, to this day, remains haunted by accusations of foul (fowl?) play – a smear that, given Dorset also provided the first of the subsequent avalanche of Red-flanked Bluetails, at Winspit in 1993, I’ve always felt was somewhat unfair given the pace of Siberian Rubythroats has also picked up in the past 20 years.

While we now have 13 British Siberian Rubythroat records on the books, the wait goes on for an accessible mainland bird – 11 on Shetland, while they’ve included one or two crowd-pleasers, are still too distant for many to realistically contemplate.

Of course, Fetlar’s already got our annual account off the mark in that regard this past week. If we’re to dare to dream rarer still, it’s warblers my mind turns to. We’ve one past Eastern Crowned Warbler, one DNA-confirmed (but dead on arrival) Pale-legged Leaf Warbler and one of either the latter or Sakhalin Leaf Warbler from the coming week to use for inspiration, after all. Let’s hope the next one is both alive and obliging for all.

 

Jon Dunn
16 October 2019

 

Many thanks to all contributors for their photos and videos this week.

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