Weekly birding round-up: 6 - 12 Apr 2021
Winter seemed to return for much of this week with, if not a vengeance, then certainly a bit of a grudge and an icy chip on its shoulder. Overnight frosts, some flurries of snow, and a chilling wind coming fresh out of the Arctic… did early April used to be like this, and we’ve just forgotten?
We’ve speculated recently about how long the Northern Mockingbird in Exmouth was going to hang around and, this week, we found out. Still present in its chosen corner of south Devon on 6th-7th, as dawn broke on 8th with it came the news that there was no sign of the bird. This, predictably, could have been taken to be the inevitable finally happening. The bird had moved on…
An hour or so after that negative news came a startling report from some 130 miles along the south coast – a Northern Mockingbird seen in a garden in Pulborough (West Sussex) that morning before flying off south. While the cynics were doubtless filing their teeth and claws at that, within the hour there was an incontrovertible image of it perched perkily high in some bare branches…
Northern Mockingbird photographed by a neighbour in Pulborough this morning, last seen flying towards @RSPBPulborough!! pic.twitter.com/JiTRxl9fzw
— Matt (@mostlyscarce) April 8, 2021
…and, shortly afterwards, news that it was still present in the area. And there it stayed throughout the afternoon until dusk. Not a bad bit of movement from Devon for a bird written off by some as a short distance migrant and an unlikely genuine vagrant. Maybe it hitched a cheeky lift on a boat heading up the English Channel overnight on 7th?
Joking aside, this was a welcome arrival in the southeast for some who’d not made the pilgrimage west hitherto and, it goes without saying, was a county first. Sadly it seemed to have moved on in the night of 8th, for there was no sign of it in Pulborough on 9th.
Last reported from Barcombe Cross (East Sussex) on 13th February, news emerged this week that the White-throated Sparrow had been seen in the area again in recent days, proving that no news in the interim was not, necessarily, bad news.
Better news still was to follow the next day when, in the morning of 9th, confirmation came that not only was the county’s second ever bird still present in Barcombe Cross near to the allotments, but it was in song too for good measure, and showing well right through to 12th, allowing for some truly mouth-watering images to be taken of it looking gorgeous in a sea of frothy blossom. Truly, Sussex had it all going on this week.
While it turned up a few days after we’d predicted one might do so on the coat tails of a truly bone-chilling spell of northerlies straight out of the high Arctic, your own correspondent can hopefully be forgiven for feeling a tiny bit pleased with himself for suggesting a Brunnich’s Guillemot might be in the imminent offing a fortnight ago. The dark art of predicting rare birds is a little hit and miss, so I’ll take the hits when and where I find them after a speculative look at the weather charts and Rare Bird Alert’s encyclopaedic Previous Records archive…
So hats off to North Ronaldsay (Orkney) for opening their year’s account with a Brunnich’s Guillemot seen passing Dennishead on 9th. There’ve been a few reports of birds passing North Ron down the years but, for now, the only accepted past record was the freshly deceased bird found on the island on 29th January 2001. Orkney’s last live bird was that which lingered in Mainland’s Scapa Bay on 8th-12th January 2016, so this week’s individual was doubly triumphant – both alive and well and, as such, technically an island first.
Also seen from North Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 9th during the seawatch at Dennishead that delivered our headlining Brunnich’s Guillemot, two Little Auks were logged.
To Ireland next, where the first-winter Double-crested Cormorant remained at Ballylongford (Co.Kerry) on 7th-12th. I still fancy a British bird being unearthed before too much longer…
Such flights of fancy aside, we turn back to North Ron where, on 7th, three White-billed Divers were noted, with one seen from there on 9th also. Elsewhere in Scotland, one of Shetland’s recent birds lingered in South Nesting Bay on 10th still; one was again off Portsoy (Aberdeenshire) on 11th; and another was seen passing Lossiemouth (Moray) on 10th and again on 11th.
While the spring floodgates for migrants of all kinds weren’t exactly thrown wide open this week, a couple of long-legged beasties of note hinted at what might be headed our way if more auspicious tail-winds were only to be forthcoming…
The prior week’s unconfirmed report of a Purple Heron seen in flight at Blue House Farm EWT (Essex) on 2nd firmed up this week, with an adult bird seen there again on 7th.
An adult Night Heron was found on the Isle of Wight at Brading Marsh RSPB on 7th-12th, followed in quick succession by a juvenile in Devon at Slapton Ley on 9th-12th.
Glossy Ibises, meanwhile, were more about the settled birds than the newly arrived. Starting in Devon, three birds were again seen at Fremington Pill on 6th-11th; in Dorset the Stanpit Marsh individual was still present there on 8th-12th; and in Kent, the Dungeness bird was still present on 7th-10th.
The trio of birds remained in Cambridgeshire at Earith on 6th-12th; in Oxfordshire, the Otmoor RSPB individual was still present there on 6th-11th; and, in Northamptonshire, sightings of a bird came again from Stanwick GPs on 7th-11th.
Coming hot on the heels of the prior week’s Spotted Crake, the first returning Corncrake of the year checked in on South Uist (Western Isles) on 7th. Oh for one of those rasping beauties in my fields this spring…
Once more, we kick off the honkers and quackers of recent days with The Goose Formerly Known As Canada. The interior Todd’s Canada Goose was once more seen in Northumberland at Cresswell on 6th-8th, with another on North Uist (Western Isles) on 12th; while also on North Uist the two hutchinsii Richardson’s Cackling Geese remained present on 7th-11th.
Black Brants were still fairly thin on the ground – one was seen in Essex at Mersea Island on 9th-10th; the Kilnsea (East Yorkshire) bird again on 11th; and in Ireland, sightings came from Liscannor (Co.Clare) on 10th and Dublin (Co.Dublin) on 11th.
A possible Grey-bellied Brant was again seen this week at Lurgangreen (Co.Louth) on 6th.
A Snow Goose was seen on Lewis (Western Isles) on 11th-12th.
In Shetland, the drake American Wigeon continued to wander the margins of Loch of Spiggie on 8th-12th; in Cleveland, sightings came again from Port Clarence on 9th-11th still and Saltholme RSPB on 10th.
Ten Green-winged Teals were noted nationwide in recent days, one of which was also at Saltholme RSPB on 6th-11th. Other English sightings came from North Cave Wetlands YWT (East Yorkshire) on 6th-12th still, and at Ulpha Meadows CWT (Cumbria) on 7th. Scotland continued to fare well for the species, with birds logged this week at Blairbowie (Ayrshire) on 7th-11th, on North Ronaldsay (Orkney) still on 6th and at Inganess (Orkney) on 7th, and on Barra (Western Isles) still on 10th. The recent Irish bird remained at Blennerville (Co.Kerry) on 8th-11th, with further birds noted on 11th at Tacumshin (Co.Wexford) and Lough Beg (Co.Derry).
Ring-necked Ducks remained firmly to the fore for another week, with around 30 birds again logged across the region. Once more, there were multiple birds at some sites – Siblyback Lake (Cornwall) held onto a quartet on 7th-12th; the lingering trio remained on Tiree (Argyll & Bute) on 6th-12th; and duos were present at Radley GPs (Oxfordshire) on 6th-8th still, and at Tacumshin (Co.Wexford) on 8th still.
The drake White-winged Scoter remained present off Musselburgh (Lothian) this week on 7th-10th. Numbers of Surf Scoters in the same area swelled to four birds on 7th, with two still present there on 11th. Elsewhere, the drake Surf Scoter in North Wales was still off Llanddulas (Conwy) on 9th-12th.
The first-winter female Bufflehead was still on her favoured lake near Nohoval (Co.Cork) on 12th.
Wrapping the honkers and quackers up with a colourful flourish, the presumed escapee drake Hooded Merganser remained on Hornsea Mere (East Yorkshire) on 6th-11th.
Last of all, our honorary wildfowl, the resident adult male Pied-billed Grebe on Loch Feorlin (Argyll & Bute), was once more seen there on 11th.
Pick of the week’s waders, and surely a most unexpected find given the location and time of year, was the Buff-breasted Sandpiper discovered on 7th-8th at Cleveland Lakes (Wiltshire) in the Cotswold Water Park complex.
In Ayrshire, the overwintering Spotted Sandpiper continued its residency at Culzean Bay on 6th-12th.
A Kentish Plover was found on The Lizard (Cornwall) on 11th.
Dotterels are now on the move, with the two birds seen this week on 11th near Malham Tarn (North Yorkshire) surely the vanguard of plenty more in the weeks to come.
Both recent Lesser Yellowlegs were still to be seen this week – these being the individuals at Aveton Gifford (Devon) on 6th-11th, and at Killongford Pools (Co.Waterford) on 10th still.
Similarly, one of the recent Long-billed Dowitchers remained at Tacumshin (Co.Wexford) on 6th-8th, while the North Yorkshire bird was again seen at Bolton-on-Swale GPs on 7th.
We did well for Grey Phalaropes in East Anglia this week – Norfolk landed one at Cley on 6th-9th, with two birds present there on 8th, and one seen at Rockland Broad on 7th; while in Suffolk birds lingered at Minsmere RSPB on 7th-10th and on Southwold Town Marsh on 8th-12th.
Once again, pick of the best Larids this week had to be the first-winter American Herring Gull, remaining quietly popular in Cornwall at Newlyn harbour on 6th-12th.
Frampton Pools (Gloucestershire) retained its first-winter Bonaparte’s Gull on 6th-12th whilst Lodmoor RSPB (Dorset), no stranger to a rare Nearctic gull lately, landed an adult on 10th.
Ring-billed Gulls, meanwhile, are getting to be in short supply after a fair winter for the species, not least in Ireland. This week, our sightings were restricted to Scotland and, specifically, Lothian where, on 8th, the adult bird reappeared again at Seton Sands, and a second-winter made appearances at Cockmuir Bridge on 6th and Nine Mile Burn on 9th.
Before we leave Scotland, Moray provided a Sabine’s Gull, seem from Lossiemouth on 7th.
Pick of the white-wingers of recent days continued to be a couple of recently familiar Kumlien’s Gulls - the adult in Cornwall again exploring the invertebrate delights of a ploughed field at Sancreed on 6th; and, in Cambridgeshire, the second-winter bird once more at Smithy Fen on 6th-8th.
There wasn’t a lot of change to report where Glaucous and Iceland Gulls were concerned this week, with some 35 individuals of the former and 75 of the latter species logged as the week wore on. Killybegs (Co.Donegal) weighed in with the highest single site counts for both, with five of the former species and six of the latter logged there on 9th.
After some torrid weeks of very little of note on the raptor front apart from wandering introduced White-tailed Eagles blotting out the sun over many a birder’s gardens again this spring, we finally got some variety this week.
Pick of the crop was the sub-adult male Pallid Harrier seen heading west at Reculver on the north Kent coast on 8th; another report of a possible male bird in the southeast came that day from Warnham (West Sussex). On 12th, back in Kent, a possible sighting of the sub-adult male at Graveney Marshes was followed by a confirmed report from Seasalter later in the afternoon.
Also found on 8th was a Black Kite at Snitterfield (Warwickshire). Another unconfirmed report came of a bird in Devon on 6th at Tedburn St Mary.
Wrapping up the raptors, we’re onto the winter staple of Rough-legged Buzzards, with a couple of birds seen in the north this week – one in Hamsterley Forest (North Yorkshire) on 8th and, the following day, another north of the border in Highland at Kincraig.
Never mind new arrivals on our shores – the passerines this week have to open with the good news from Co.Cork where, at Dunboy on 12th, the first-winter male Belted Kingfisher was still happily settled.
Strictly speaking, though, we ought to clear up some belated news before getting into the meat of the most recent arrivals… sound-recording of nocturnal migrants was something that blossomed during the lockdowns of last year, with some notable surprises logged as the weeks wore on. A fresh scalp was added to the growing national list of nocmig records this week, with belated news that a Great Spotted Cuckoo had been identified passing over Stroud (Gloucestershire) at 4:43am on 31st March. Both an incredibly cool bird to have recorded on one’s house list, even if it was ‘only’ heard, and a county first too. What’s the next big bird someone’s going to record at night, one wonders?
From the audible to the emphatically visual – the spring’s first Bee-eater was seen in Cornwall this week on The Lizard on 10th. Also still present on The Lizard at Soapy Cove was the male Western Subalpine Warbler on 6th-8th.
Wintering Yellow-browed Warblers remained in West Sussex at Patching sewage works on 6th-8th and at Exwick (Devon) on 8th; another bird made a brief garden appearance at Firle (East Sussex) on 7th.
The Dusky Warbler at Nunnery Lakes NR (Norfolk) continued to be seen this week on 6th-9th, while the Ainsdale NNR (Merseyside) bird was again logged there on 7th-12th.
A Savi’s Warbler was heard singing at Alkborough Flats NR (Lincolnshire) on 11th.
Hoopoes this week were firmly a Cornish specialty, with the exceptions being a bird at Portskewett (Gwent) on 6th, one on Bryher (Scilly) on 9th, another at Churchtown (Co.Wexford) on 11th, and one on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 12th. Other than that, though, birds were logged in Cornwall at West Looe still on 6th, and Kenidjack still on 6th-8th; at Mullion on 7th; at Pendeen on 9th; and at Tregoose on 10th-12th.
Pembrokeshire again turned up an Alpine Swift, seen over Strumble Head on 7th.
The first of the week’s Wrynecks was also logged in Pembrokeshire – on Skokholm on 6th-7th. Further birds were near St Margaret’s at Cliffe (Kent) on 8th, Ipswich (Suffolk) on 10th, and Welltown (Cornwall) on 12th; while two birds were reported from Wells (Somerset) on 9th.
A Red-rumped Swallow was seen in Kent near Hoo St Werburgh on 7th-8th, with two birds present there on the former date.
In Somerset, the intermittently seen Penduline Tit remained at Weston Airfield on 7th and 10th; another two birds were seen this week on the Isle of Wight at Brading Marsh RSPB on 6th.
A Bluethroat was reported from Wooler Common (Northumberland) on 7th; another was seen briefly on 12th at Carr Vale NR (Derbyshire).
Fifteen Blue-headed Wagtails were logged in the course of recent days, scattered through southern England and up into the Midlands too. Further excitement came in the form of a possible ocularis East Siberian White Wagtail in Northumberland on Castle Island on 12th.
A Richard’s Pipit was in Cheshire this week at Wardle on 7th.
Five Great Grey Shrikes remained settled in recent days – on Bonsall Moor (Derbyshire) still on 6th; at Withybed Bottom (Hampshire) still on 6th; at Crabtree Hill (Gloucestershire) still on 7th-12th; on Brown Clee Hill (Shropshire) still on 7th-11th; and at Capel St Mary (Suffolk) again on 10th – and one more was found on 12th in Glamorgan at Craig y Llyn.
The first-winter Rose-coloured Starling remained at Witney (Oxfordshire) on 11th.
A first-winter female Two-barred Crossbill at Thoresby (Nottinghamshire) on 8th-11th is the second English record of the species in recent weeks – a quiet reminder that it’s well-worth checking out drinking pools and woodlands at the moment as there may yet be one or two more lurking out there in the woodwork.
A hornemanni Arctic Redpoll was visiting a garden in Voe (Shetland) on 11th-12th.
The Serin remained in Cornwall at Trevilley on 8th, while one was logged at Porthleven the previous day.
Trevilley also held onto its recent Little Bunting on 8th-10th; further birds were noted again this week at Warnham LNR (West Sussex) on 6th-12th, and Langford Lowfields RSPB (Nottinghamshire) on 6th-12th still; two were again seen at Thursley Common NNR (Surrey) on 7th-12th.
Whilst not reported daily, the young male Walrus was still present on the lifeboat slip at Tenby (Pembrokeshire) on 11th-12th.
Birders further afield were having a fine time of it in the past week, with some birds of considerable quality seen near and far from our shores. We’ll start about as far from us as can be, out on the Azores, where an ailing American Purple Gallinule was taken into care on Sao Miguel on 12th; the Belted Kingfisher remained on Pico on 10th; and two Double-crested Cormorants were seen on Pico on 8th.
Making landfall in Spain, a Bar-tailed Lark was found at L’Albufera de Valencia on 11th, followed quickly by a dark morph Western Reef Egret at Blanes on 12th; while two Lesser Flamingos remained at Laguna de Fuente de Piedra on 8th.
Portugal, meanwhile, scored a smart male Black-faced Bunting at Ludo on 10th – a first national record.
In France, the Pygmy Cormorant remained at Etang de Scamandre on 9th.
Belgium’s female Baikal Teal was still present at Wechelderzande on 6th-12th, while a drake was seen in Holland at Zevenhoven on 10th-12th.
Swedish birders were treated to the colourful headache that’s a Hooded Merganser, with a drake found at Ytterbo on 10th. In Denmark, the Sandhill Crane was again seen around Dokkedal on 6th-7th.
In Iceland, a Killdeer was found at Hamragaroar on 6th.
In Switzerland, the meena Western Rufous Turtle Dove was still present at Sulgen on 6th.
A Sociable Lapwing was settled at Wierzbnica in Poland on 7th-11th, while another bird found near Niš on 9th was Serbia’s first national record.
Bulgaria, meanwhile, was treated to its third ever White-tailed Lapwing at Durankulak Lake on 9th.
Flushed with the modest success of divining the recent Brunnich’s Guillemot, it’s time to peer into the cloudy crystal ball of past rarity records and pluck something out for the week to come.
While we’re getting to the point in the year when a migrating Nearctic passerine, blown over to the wrong side of the Atlantic the previous autumn, might be moving north and could cross a lucky observer’s path, single historic records for the coming week of Slate-coloured Junco and Song Sparrow don’t establish that much form on which to cast a bet just yet.
Blue-winged Teal, on the other hand, stands out for the coming week, with 13 widely scattered past records that encompass all four corners of Britain, and inland too for good measure. Definitely one to keep an optimistic eye peeled for at your local lake in the days to come…
Jon Dunn
13 April 2021
Many thanks to all this week's contributors for your photos and videos
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