Weekly birding round-up: 11 - 17 May 2021
With bands of rain borne of largely unhelpful winds, spring migration seemed to come to something of a juddering halt this week. There were exceptions to that rule, but we could be forgiven for hoping for a little more action in the next week or two to come…
We touched, last week, on the propensity for British examples of Calandra Lark to make landfall on Fair Isle in particular and, in general, to be one day birds. As a rule, they’re larks with things to do and places to go, and don’t hang around for long.
There are, of course, always exceptions that prove the rule. The Calandra Lark found last week on Fair Isle (Shetland) on 8th was, to everyone’s surprise, still present on the island until 15th – an eight day stay that’s without British precedent. Only the bird that settled upon the Isle of May (Fife) on 12th-17th May 2006 comes close to matching it for longevity. Perhaps the brisk north-easterlies that were settled over Shetland were helping to anchor it in place? One way or another, it will have been a pleasant daily sight on the Obs staffs’ census rounds this week.
Any week with a Squacco Heron is a generally good one – we don’t get that many of them after all and, while in the past couple of decades we’ve had annual records, there are certainly years when that’s a case of only just, with one bird seen anywhere in the course of the year. Some counties, however, are more historically blessed than others…
…and, conversely, some counties are still waiting for their first record. Ceredigion doesn’t quite fall into that category, having enjoyed a bird at Aberleri on 3rd-5th June 2003, but that’s a good while back, and a second record was always going to be a notable event.
An adult bird was found this week at Ynys-hir RSPB on 13th-15th – albeit not an easy bird, for it proved at times to be elusive during that short tenure. Nonetheless, a welcome opportunity for local birders.
It’s a favoured device in these parts to look back to when the last record of a given species cropped up in Britain or Ireland. Ten years ago? A welcome return. Twenty years ago? It’s getting overdue. Thirty years ago? We’re entering blocker territory.
How about 150 years ago? Now that’s going beyond merely mega, unblocker status. In a nutshell, we’re talking about what is, in effect, a first for Britain or Ireland at this juncture…
In the case of Egyptian Vulture, we’d be getting on for 153 years since the last bird was, by all accounts, shot at Peldon in Essex on 28th September 1868. That’s a long, long time in anyone’s book.
Which isn’t to say that, in recent years, we’ve not had our run-ins with them in British skies. An adult of undetermined origin was seen lobbing around Norfolk on 28th-29th April 2007. In October 2012 a juvenile bird seen initially in Cornwall at St Keverne and, latterly, in Norfolk, turned out to be an escaped bird from no further afield than Wales. As lately as 13th July 2020, an escaped adult bird was seen at Warwick Castle (Warwickshire).
On the flipside, in the same time period, there have been a succession of birds elsewhere in northern Europe that, at the very least, haven’t been immediately evident as escapees. Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Germany, Estonia… Not lots of birds, but some, and with a discernible bias towards spring and early summer records.
They’re migratory, which on the one hand means a wandering wild bird is by no means out of the question. This said, that the species is in trouble in Europe is no secret – they’ve declined to a shadow of their former selves. A recent study, following the fortunes of tracked birds, reveals they’re right up against it, with approximately half of deaths recorded being caused by human activity…
Meanwhile, there’s the captive breeding and release program that’s been running in Italy, which somewhat colours the provenance of any free-flying bird found away from their usual southern European range.
So what do we make of any Egyptian Vulture that’s not obviously linked to a local escapee origin? Like, this week, the adult bird reported heading west over Willingham by Stow (Linconshire) in the early afternoon of 13th… We can probably re-hash many of the debates that blossomed during the tenure of the recent Lammergeier in England... and invoke the 2016 Dalmatian Pelican as a timely reminder that, even when jaded consensus expects a bird to not make the grade, we can still be pleasantly surprised.
All we need now is for this bird to be pinned down somewhere…
With a little over a fortnight having elapsed since last we heard of the Double-crested Cormorant in Co.Kerry, we could have been forgiven for thinking it might have moved on by now. Happily, this week, news came of it still present near Ballylongford on 16th-17th.
Sticking with Ireland a moment longer, the adult Pacific Diver was still present at The Mullet (Co.Mayo) in Elly Bay on 17th.
Six or seven White-billed Divers were logged in recent days, of which one off Tory Island (Co.Donegal) on 13th broke the otherwise Scottish monopoly. Of the latter, two off Unst (Shetland) on 14th were the peak count; while single birds were seen from Unst on 12th, Slains (Aberdeenshire) on 12th, Barra (Western Isles) on 13th, and Lossiemouth (Moray) again on 14th.
Some 40 Pomarine Skuas noted nationally over the course of the week weren’t really setting the world on fire – peak single site count was seven birds seen from Walney (Cumbria) on 12th. Long-tailed Skuas were an even scarcer commodity, with single adult birds seen from Thurlestone (Devon) on 12th and on the golf course at Machynys (Carmarthenshire) on 15th-16th, and a final bird off North Uist (Western Isles) on 17th.
A Balearic Shearwater was seen in Dorset on 16th off Cogden Beach.
The prior week’s Black Stork in Kent kicks off this week’s long-legged beasties, being seen again on 11th at Worth Marshes before, on 12th, drifting over Stodmarsh NNR.
A reasonable scatter of Purple Herons bring a little more variety, with one again on the Isle of Wight at Brading Marsh RSPB on 15th-17th augmented by birds found at Dungeness (Kent) on 12th, Amwell NR (Hertfordshire) on 14th, and a mobile adult spanging around Spurn and Kilnsea (East Yorkshire) on 15th-16th.
A number of Glossy Ibises were noted in recent days, with a handful of recently familiar faces amongst them. Starting in Oxfordshire, one was again seen at Otmoor RSPB on 11th-17th; the Steart WWT (Somerset) bird cropped up again on 12th-13th; one remained at Upware (Cambridgeshire) on 12th; and one was again seen at Langford Lowfields RSPB (Nottinghamshire) on 15th. Further birds were logged at Carr Vale NR (Derbyshire) on 11th and 13th-17th; at Besthorpe NWT (Nottinghamshire) on 11th-17th; at Cotswold Water Park (Gloucestershire) on 11th; and at Wicken Fen NT (Cambridgeshire) and Slimbridge WWT (Gloucestershire) on 16th-17th. One was again present at Smithy Fen (Cambridgeshire) on 17th.
A singing Corncrake was heard on Westray (Orkney) on 11th.
Starting the honkers and quackers once more with Snow Geese, we continued to be reminded of Frank Zappa’s warning about yellow snow – all may not be as it at first seems where it’s concerned – so we partake of them at our peril… Scottish birds of unknown origins were noted this week on North Uist (Western Isles) where four birds were seen on 11th; while two ringed white morphs seen on North Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 12th presumably also accounted for the two individuals seen on Foula (Shetland) on 16th – birds that thought better of their northward venture on 17th, when they headed back south again. In Ireland, two blue morphs were seen in Co.Wexford on 16th at South Slob.
The Black Brant was still present on Mersea Island (Essex) on 11th.
Finally for the honkers, a possible interior Todd’s Canada Goose was seen at Findhorn Bay (Moray) on 12th.
Moving onto the quackers, the week began with the female Blue-winged Teal still present at Walmsley Sanctuary CBWPS (Cornwall) on 11th.
A drake American Wigeon was found at Beckermet (Cumbria) on 11th also.
Two Green-winged Teals were a slightly improved showing this week – being birds seen on Letham Pools near Collessie (Fife) on 12th, and on Berneray (Western Isles) on 13th.
Five records of Ring-necked Ducks were a definite improvement on the recent dearth – the drake was still present on Newchurch Common (Cheshire) on 11th; a drake was seen on Lower Lough Erne (Co.Fermanagh) on 11th also; a drake was again present at Foxhole (Cornwall) on 13th-17th; a drake was again seen on Slapton Ley (Devon) on 15th; and on 16th, the drake was again seen at Lough Beg (Co.Derry).
The drake King Eider was once more seen on the tradition site of the Ythan estuary (Aberdeenshire) on 11th-17th, while a female was present at Loch Fleet (Highland) on 14th-17th.
One of our recent drake Hooded Mergansers was still present in Scotland, this being the bird on Shetland at Stanevatstoe Loch on 11th-16th. News meanwhile from Suffolk drives another nail into the coffin of credibility of the long-staying female bird at Staverton Pools – it’s apparently now got a male Wood Duck for company. What are the odds, eh?
It’s maybe worth noting in passing, in that context, the drake Cinnamon Teal found on 16th at Worsbrough reservoir (South Yorkshire)…
Finally, another showing for our honorary wildfowl, the resident adult male Pied-billed Grebe, still present this week on 16th at Loch Feorlin (Argyll & Bute) on 16th.
The recent wandering Collared Pratincole put in another flying visit to the northwest this week, being seen heading east past Leasowe Lighthouse (Cheshire) on 14th again. Oh for it just to settle the heck down somewhere… Kent, however, was showing how it was done on 16th, with a bird showing well at Higham Marshes in the early afternoon.
Lingering quality, however, was to be found in the northeast, where the female Kentish Plover remained on Holy Island (Northumberland) on 11th-14th…
…and in the southwest, where the Buff-breasted Sandpiper was still present in Cornwall at Davidstow airfield on 11th-12th.
Not a million miles from there, a Lesser Yellowlegs was found at Hayle (Cornwall) on 11th, while the recent bird remained on Scilly on St Mary’s on 11th-12th.
Some 15 Temminck’s Stints were seen this week, with a couple of sites achieving multiple birds – Frampton Marsh RSPB (Lincolnshire) hosting two on 11th-15th, with three birds present there on 13th; and two birds being seen on North Point Pools near Wells (Norfolk) on 12th-13th, and two at Smithy Fen (Cambridgeshire) on 16th-17th.
Dotterels continued to be on the move, with 23 birds logged nationwide, of which a trip of eight at Pittenweem (Fife) on 11th still were the largest party reported.
Finally, the female Red-necked Phalarope remained in Northumberland on Grindon Lough on 11th-17th, with another seen on Fair Isle (Shetland) on 11th still.
Now really digging in for the long-haul, in Cornwall the first-winter American Herring Gull remained at Newlyn on 11th-15th.
Heading up country, in Devon a second-summer Laughing Gull was noted over East Prawle on 15th.
First-winter Bonaparte’s Gulls, meanwhile, were again seen at Dunnet Bay (Highland) on 13th-17th and, in Nottinghamshire, at Hoveringham GPs on 11th-12th and Holme Pierrepont again on 13th.
In Leicestershire the second-winter Kumlien’s Gull was again seen at Shawell on 12th, 14th and 17th.
Glaucous Gulls managed double figures again this week, with some 20 birds noted nationally, of which three scattered around North Uist (Western Isles) on 12th were the best local tally; Iceland Gulls on the other hand scaled the giddy heights of around 35 birds logged nationwide. Winter isn’t quite done with us yet then…
That said, a number of terns were setting about changing the mood music this week. Starting in Dorset, the adult Whiskered Tern was still present at Longham Lakes on 11th-16th.
A White-winged Black Tern appeared at Grafham Water (Cambridgeshire) on 12th. More of these, surely, are due any day now…
In Ireland, the Gull-billed Tern was again seen at Carrickfinn (Co.Donegal) on 13th and again on 16th; with another individual found on 11th on Tiree (Argyll & Bute).
Finally, a Caspian Tern added to the excellent recent run of form enjoyed by the Alde estuary (Suffolk) on 14th, departing from there early in the morning on 15th. It, or another bird, was found in Norfolk on 16th at UEA Broad in Norwich.
Kicking off the raptor news for another week, a Pallid Harrier was found in recent days – this time a juvenile bird that chose to linger on Fair Isle (Shetland) on 12th-14th. A probable ringtail was seen heading south over North Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 15th.
Montagu’s Harriers, meanwhile, appeared in modest numbers this week – in Norfolk, a male lingered at Holme Dunes NWT on 11th-12th; on 12th a female passed over Bough Beech reservoir (Kent); a female was seen at Rush (Co.Dublin) on 13th; in Cornwall, a first-summer male was seen on The Lizard (Cornwall) on 14th; and a male was present at Ballycotton (Co.Cork) on 14th-15th.
A male Red-footed Falcon was seen over Weir Wood reservoir (East Sussex) on 11th, and a female was found on 17th near Tomhaggard (Co.Wexford).
Returning whence we began, in Shetland a Rough-legged Buzzard was seen on 16th in the Central Mainland over Durra Dale.
Shetland also scored a Black Kite on Fair Isle on 16th – a bird seen heading back south over North Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 17th; other birds this week were logged on 12th over Wyver Lane NR (Derbyshire), on 13th at Bewdley (Worcestershire) and near Pitmedden (Aberdeenshire), and on 15th at South Anston (South Yorkshire). Finally, on 17th in Highland, sightings came from near Kyle of Lochalsh and adjacent Skye.
Finally, while the resident female Snowy Owl out on St Kilda has clearly got survival in an island context completely sussed, being still alive and well after all this time still on 15th-16th, the same may not be true of the first-winter female found recently on Papa Westray (Orkney) – she remained there this week on 11th-15th, but appeared to have lost an eye in the process and, maybe, her life itself if the implication of the clump of feathers found on the latter date is to be believed…
It’s been a while since we started the passerines with warblers but, this week, while rarer options were available, a notable spring Yellow-browed Warbler is all the excuse we need to begin with them once more – a bird found on Shetland at Grutness on 11th. We’re used to them arriving in the hundreds, if not thousands, in Britain every autumn nowadays, but spring birds remain at a premium.
Lingering in Suffolk this week, the singing Iberian Chiffchaff was still holding territory at Foxhall Heath on 11th-16th.
Also in vigorous song this week were Savi’s Warblers, present at National Wetlands Centre WWT (Carmarthenshire) on 11th-17th and Derek White’s Eggs Pits (Bedfordshire) on 11th-12th still, and at Heslington East (North Yorkshire) on 11th-17th, being trapped and ringed there on 11th.
Also trapped and ringed this week, a Great Reed Warbler was found at Holme NOA (Norfolk) on 11th. On 16th another probable bird was heard in croaking song at Cairndow (Argyll & Bute).
In Kent, meanwhile, a Marsh Warbler was heard in song at Stodmarsh NNR on 11th.
A male Eastern Subalpine Warbler was seen on Lundy (Devon) on 15th; while a Western or Moltoni’s Subalpine Warbler was found on Foula (Shetland) on 17th.
A singing Melodious Warbler was found at Dungeness (Kent) on 17th.
Always a highlight at any time of year, the first Thrush Nightingale of 2021 was a popular find at Spurn (East Yorkshire) on 13th-14th.
Hoopoes didn’t quite scrape into double figures this week – birds were still present at Drayton Bassett (Staffordshire) on 11th-12th and Flamborough (East Yorkshire) on 11th-14th; and further birds were seen on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 11th, Fair Isle (Shetland) on 11th-12th, at Langton Herring (Dorset) on 12th, Woodbridge (Suffolk) on 14th, and on 15th at Gazeley (Suffolk) and Waltham Abbey (Essex).
Less numerous still were Wrynecks - just six were noted this week – on 11th on Fair Isle (Shetland) and North Ronaldsay (Orkney); on 12th at Geosetter (Shetland); on 13th on Shetland on Whalsay and at Scatness; and on 17th on Fair Isle.
More numerous were, once more, Golden Orioles, with a shade over 20 birds logged nationwide, including two on Lundy (Devon) on 11th.
A possible Bee-eater passed over Camborne (Cornwall) on 11th.
Dorset was graced by an Alpine Swift on 12th, seen in the morning over Radipole Lake RSPB and, in the afternoon, over Portland. On the subject of Portland, it’s impossible to let this week go by without mentioning the Chough that lingered there on 11th-13th – a notable county rarity.
A trio of male Red-backed Shrikes made landfall on 15th – one apiece on Unst (Shetland), at Filey (North Yorkshire), and at Kilnsea (East Yorkshire), the Unst bird remaining present there at Norwick on 16th. On 16th a further bird was reported from Westleton Heath (Suffolk), while a possible bird was seen briefly in the county at Iken Cliff on 17th.
The male Woodchat Shrike remained in Essex at Rochford on 11th-12th; two were present on The Lizard (Cornwall) on 12th, with a male noted the following day and, on 14th, a female there still. Further individuals were seen this week at Kenidjack (Cornwall) on 11th-15th, and on Bardsey (Gwynedd) on 14th-16th. An unconfirmed report of another bird came from Clumber Park (Nottinghamshire) on 15th.
Red-rumped Swallows were logged on 11th at Titchfield Haven NNR (Hampshire) and Samphire Hoe (Kent), with another possible bird that day at Selsey Bill (West Sussex); on 13th on South Uist (Western Isles) and, on 13th-14th, at Dawlish (Devon); and on 15th at Man Sands (Devon), with a probable that day at Cley (Norfolk). On 16th one was seen in Essex at The Naze.
Norfolk did well this week for its share of the 16 Grey-headed Wagtails seen nationwide – with a peak count of four birds at Snettisham on 14th. Blue-headed Wagtails just hit double figures with 14 birds seen nationwide in recent days; while a probable female Black-headed Wagtail was at Cardiff Bay (Glamorgan) on 14th, and a possible female Ashy-headed Wagtail was seen on Fair Isle (Shetland) on 17th.
Fair Isle played host to a female Citrine Wagtail on 12th-15th, and an Olive-backed Pipit on 14th.
A Richard’s Pipit was present at Holme (Norfolk) on 11th still.
Serins were found on 11th on St Mary’s (Scilly) and Portland (Dorset), with two birds present at the latter location on 12th, and one there on 16th also. One was seen at Pennington Marshes (Hampshire) on 12th; a singing male was briefly heard at Walsey Hills NOA (Norfolk) on 13th; and one was present at Pendeen (Cornwall) on 14th. On 16th another was noted in song in Cornwall at Porthpean; and on 17th one was found much further north, near Talmine (Highland).
Shetland held onto the Foula Rustic Bunting on 11th-12th and, on Fair Isle, the Little Bunting on 11th-13th; while another of the latter species was found on the Shetland Mainland at Sumburgh on 11th.
Finally, a possible Black-headed Bunting was reported from Winnal Moors NR (Hampshire) on 15th.
The young male Walrus continued his residency on the lifeboat slip at Tenby (Pembrokeshire) for another week, being reported from there daily until the early morning of 16th.
A Large Tortoiseshell was seen in London at Hutchinson’s Bank in Croydon on 12th, a welcome reminder that this magnificent insect’s story ought not to be over just yet in 2021…
Funny we should have invoked the long absence of a Bimaculated Lark from Britain in the headline coverage of the Calandra Lark found on Fair Isle last week… as, this week, it emerged that one had been sitting pretty in our neighbour across the North Sea, Norway, since 8th. Present at Ulvik, Norway’s third record for the species remained there this week until 14th.
Norway wasn’t done with us, for an Oriental Pratincole checked in on 15th at Orrevatnet, the fifth national record of the species.
Finland was cooking with gas on 15th too – racking up its third ever Caspian Plover at Pahkaneva and the first national record of White-throated Robin at Kemitoon.
Sweden, meanwhile, was getting in on the recent Western Palearctic White-tailed Lapwing act with a bird seen at Lokoholmen on 13th-16th. Presumably the same Sandhill Crane that’s been wintering in Denmark was seen at Storsjo on 13th-14th, while a Stejneger’s Scoter remained at Hornefors on 11th and Paarp on 13th-17th and, on 17th, the week ended strongly with a male Black-faced Bunting trapped and ringed at Nidingen.
Wrapping up Scandinavia with a bang, a White-throated Needletail was found in Denmark on 17th at Vest Stadil Fjord. Oof.
Belgium was having a vulture moment of its own this week, with 24 Griffon Vultures seen heading west from Villers-la-Ville on 11th; and the country’s second ever Little Swift at Blokkersdijk on 15th.
A recent feature in the overseas news have been Western Reef Egrets, and this week was no exception, with one seen in Turkey at Amik Dam on 13th, a national first record. One remained, from the prior week, in Spain at Salinas de Cerrillos on 11th-17th.
Belated news came from Spain where, on 3rd, a Pygmy Owl was photographed at Huesca in the Pyrenees – and, in a week’s overseas news that was awash with national firsts, this was yet another one.
Finally, the Chinese Pond Heron remained settled in the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens (Israel) on 15th.
If the past records are to be believed, the penultimate week of May ought to see us beating off White-winged Black Terns, Little Bitterns and Red-footed Falcons with a stick, there’ve been that many birds found. Then again, those self-same records also speak of 36 past Pallas’s Sandgrouse of which one, the bird seen in Shetland at Loch of Hillwell on 19th May – 4th June 1990, was our last example, and we know how likely one of those is to turn up any day soon…
(Though just take a moment to imagine if one did… And yes, that made me want to have a little sit down, too.)
At the time of writing, it’s definitely not looking like one is in the offing any day soon. Maybe we have to rely on bald statistics and a dose of pragmatism rather than wishful thinking after all.
So, if not one of the aforementioned three likely contenders, there’s also decent precedent of good numbers of Subalpine Warbler sp, Thrush Nightingale, and Rustic Buntings. Granted, none of them is going to set the world on fire in the headlines next week, but it would be a cold-hearted birder who wouldn’t relish finding any one of them in the week to come…
Jon Dunn
18 May 2021
Many thanks to all this week's contributors for your photos and videos
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