Weekly birding round-up: 7 - 13 Dec 2021
If December’s birding was an advent calendar, the past week represented the point at which the small chocolates behind each window have, for the most part, lost some of their ability to delight and surprise, and are now becoming a little predictable. We’re settling in for the long haul through winter, with the usual procession of storms coming at us one after another, and hastening precious few new birds of real note to our shores.
Still, that’s not to say we don’t still have some lingering quality available, one or two new faces and, in Wales, a headlining new bird of some note. Crack open the wine and dish up the nibbles, it’s time for, if not a party, then certainly the weekly birds.
Back in the heady days of early 2007, when Pacific Diver was a startling new debutante on these shores, our second ever British record was a juvenile bird found at Llys-y-Fran reservoir in Pembrokeshire on 2nd February 2007, a bird that was set to remain there until 20th March, and to return in the subsequent two years to the same location, last seen as an adult bird there on 26th February 2009.
But since then in Wales? Not a thing. Another bird, with a dozen years elapsed in the meantime, was always likely to prove quietly popular in that neck of the woods.
Unfortunately when the second record for Wales was found this past week on 11th, it was at a site with no general access, Eglwys Nunydd reservoir in Glamorgan. Not that this clear stricture was stopping birders from trying for it, leading to further updates on 12th that not only was the bird still present, but security were too, and were escorting birders from the site… Not such a pacific twitch after all then.
Mercifully, the bird remained more or less visible from the adjacent vantage points into 13th, so all hope wasn’t completely lost. In Co.Cork, meanwhile, one of recent years’ returning British and Irish wintering birds was once more seen at Crookhaven on 8th-9th. Still no news from Cornwall…
Just when it was looking like the settled White-tailed Lapwing in East Yorkshire had finally flown the coop in the preceding week, with sightings becoming intermittent and then drying up altogether, there it was again at least semi-regularly again this past week until 13th.
What a stay this is turning out to be; present now for 110 days and counting. Could it possibly, if not overwinter entirely, then at least make it into the looming New Year? Time alone will tell, but if it’s still present when January dawns it’s assured to elicit some fresh local interest as Yorkshire birders look to get their year off to a fine, flying start.
Little Auks really are the gift that keeps on giving at the moment, with regular weekly tallies into the hundreds, if not higher. While we didn’t scale the dizzy heights of some recent weeks in recent days, a weekly tally of nearly 600 birds still remained notable and, of those, 397 seen from Sumburgh (Shetland) on 9th were comfortably the highest single site count.
It also feels like no week lately would be complete without a Brunnich’s Guillemot - and this week, a probable bird was seen from Burntisland (Fife) in the late morning of 8th.
Speaking of those heart-wrenching sea-watch moments when you know you’ve seen something really good, but can’t quite put your finger on precisely what it was, spare a thought for the finder of the albatross sp seen on 12th in Co.Cork from Ballycotton. One’s head says it’s going to have been Black-browed… but one’s heart always hopes for something more extraordinary still.
Ballycotton also scored the week’s only Balearic Shearwater on 12th.
On 8th, single Leach’s Petrels were seen from Pendeen (Cornwall) and, in Somerset, off Burnham-on-Sea and Stert Point.
While in Shetland the regular White-billed Diver was still to be seen in South Nesting Bay on 10th, another was briefly seen this week from Gibraltar Point NNR (Lincolnshire) on 9th, and a possible adult was seen heading west past Cley on 10th.
Finally, a scatter of Pomarine Skuas were again noted in recent days – three off Brixham (Devon) on 7th being the best of it, with a possible on 7th at Port Eynon Point (Glamorgan), one more on 10th off Pendeen (Cornwall), a bird on 12th in Cornwall at St Agnes and, on 13th, single birds seen from Berry Head (Devon) and North Foreland (Kent).
The weekly strut through the long-legged beasties concerns, as ever, Glossy Ibises. Some 20 were again recorded in Britain and Ireland, most of which were birds we were already familiar with – the exception being two found at Lough Neagh (Co.Armagh) on 9th. Other settled duos were still present at Dungeness (Kent) on 9th-12th, and at Fremington (Devon) again on 10th (rising to four birds on 13th) in the wake of a single bird still on 8th. Pick of the bunch were the steadfast quintet still present in Cambridgeshire at Berry Fen on 9th, which also added to their number by increasing to seven birds there on 13th; while single birds were at the African Savannah enclosure of Newquay Zoo (Cornwall) still on 8th, at Allhallows (Kent) again on 10th-12th, 30th-5th, and on the Somerset Levels at Westhay once more on 11th-12th.
Heading up the honkers and quackers, as is our wont, are The Goose Formerly Known As Canada. Kicking off with interior Todd’s Canada Geese, three birds remained available in Scotland – up on Yell (Shetland) again on 12th; on Tiree (Argyll & Bute) still on 9th-13th; and at Mersehead RSPB (Dumfries & Galloway) still on 9th also. Islay (Argyll & Bute) held onto a hutchinsii Richardson’s Cackling Goose still on 10th, with Lancashire providing sightings of one at Marshside RSPB on 9th-10th and Banks Marsh NNR on 11th-13th, and another being seen on 13th still at Lissadell (Co.Sligo).
Sightings of Black Brant came from Cley (Norfolk) still on 8th and, in Kent, at Reculver again on 7th, 9th and 13th, and Funton Creek on 11th-13th. A further possible bird was seen in Norfolk at Binham on 12th.
Our only Snow Goose sightings of recent days owed themselves to Co.Sligo, where a white morph seen on 9th at Ballygilgan NR and, on 13th, at Lissadell. A further report came late on 13th from Lancashire at Burscough beside the A49.
Finishing the honkers with a flourish again this week, the Ross’s Goose remained at Hunterston (Ayrshire) on 7th-12th still.
Moving out onto the rarity duckpond, pick of the bunch were once more rare seaducks – namely the drake White-winged Scoter still present in Lothian on the waters around Musselburgh on 11th-13th, and a drake Black Scoter was at Stag Rocks (Northumberland) on 12th-13th.
Fisherrow (Lothian) retained two drake Surf Scoters throughout this week until 12th, when three birds were again logged there. Singletons lingered off Barra (Western Isles) on 9th-12th and at Broad Haven (Pembrokeshire) on 10th; additional birds were found this week off Westray (Orkney) on 7th, and Crookhaven (Co.Cork) on 8th; and a further possible in Co.Louth north of Baltray on 12th. Two more were present on 13th at Baltray (Co.Louth).
On Shetland, one of the recent drake King Eiders was still to be seen from Unst’s Uyeasound on 7th.
Lesser Scaups, meanwhile, remained deliciously numerous. The recent quartet were still present on Islay (Argyll & Bute) on Loch Skerrols on 11th-12th; two were still to be seen at Beesands (Devon) on 10th-13th; and one remained on South Uist (Western Isles) on 8th-11th. On 12th a drake was found on Lough Neagh (Co.Armagh) and a first-winter at Bateman’s Lake (Co.Cork), and the drake remained on 12th-13th on Round Lough (Co.Cavan) – the Bateman’s Lake bird remaining there on 13th also. Finally, on 13th a possible drake was seen distantly in Somerset on Blagdon Lake.
Some 30 Ring-necked Ducks were reported this week, of which the five still on Dozmary Pool (Cornwall) on 8th-11th (rising to six again on 13th) and the five on Lough Gara (Co.Sligo) on 12th accounted for the largest gatherings.
The drake Ferruginous Duck was seen intermittently at Thorpe Park (Surrey) still on 7th-13th.
Derbyshire’s drake American Wigeon remained at Carr Vale NR on 7th-13th, and the errant drake at Marston Vale Millennium CP (Bedfordshire) was back there again on 12th-13th.
Green-winged Teals meanwhile didn’t quite scrape into double figures. Starting in Scotland, birds were still present on Barra (Western Isles) on 9th-12th; at Tain (Highland) on 9th-13th, with two birds at the latter site on 12th; and one more was found near Wishaw (Clyde) on 9th. English individuals were seen at Blagdon Lake (Somerset) still on 7th, Conder Green (Lancashire) still on 9th-12th and back in Somerset at Chew Valley Lake again on 10th-13th. Irish birds, finally, were present at Blennerville (Co.Kerry) on 8th-12th still, and East Coast NR (Co.Wicklow) still on 9th.
Apart from the obvious distraction in East Yorkshire, waders of note are starting to look pretty thin on the ground. Perhaps best of the rest remains the Spotted Sandpiper still present on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 8th-13th.
That said, a late Dotterel hanging out with the local Golden Plovers in Oxfordshire at Port Meadow on 8th-9th was a quality find at this point in the year.
And better still, in Cornwall an American Golden Plover was amongst the Golden Plovers at Hayle Estuary RSPB (Cornwall) on 12th.
In Lincolnshire, the settled Grey Phalarope at Covenham reservoir increased its long tenure, being seen there still until 13th, while a handful of further birds were seen across the week – on 8th at Burnham-on-Sea (Somerset), Westwood Pool (Worcestershire), Bridges of Ross (Co.Clare), and Hook Head (Co.Wexford); on 10th at Weybourne Camp (Norfolk); on 11th at Aberystwyth (Ceredigion) and off Papa Westray (Orkney); on 12th from Papa Westray; and on 12th-13th at Tanybwlch (Ceredigion).
Once more, it fell to a Bonaparte’s Gull to top the week’s gull news – on this occasion, a first-winter bird seen on the Isle of Luing (Argyll & Bute) on 9th.
Numbers of Ring-billed Gulls seen in Britain and Ireland picked up a little this week, with seven birds noted overall. The recent adult remained on the Hayle estuary (Cornwall) on 7th-13th, with a first-winter bird found at Llys-y-Fran reservoir (Pembrokeshire) on 10th, and an adult also seen in Cornwall on 12th at Gerrans Bay. In Ireland, adults were still to be seen at Nimmo’s Pier (Co.Galway) on 9th and Blackrock (Co.Louth) on 10th, and another was found in Co.Cork at Cuskinny Marsh NR on 12th; and a first-winter was found on 12th at Dun Laoghaire (Co.Dublin).
Persistent westerlies didn’t do much for the numbers of white-wingers reported this week – around 25 Glaucous Gulls were seen nationwide, of which three on Unst (Shetland) on 8th were the highest single site tally; and 25 Iceland Gulls were logged nationally, all of which were single birds. It is, of course, early days yet for both species this winter, and many a reservoir, landfill, and coastal town will be graced by the inevitable presence of one, the other, or both species before the advent of spring 2022.
In Cambridgeshire, the third-winter Kumlien’s Gull was still hanging around in the pig fields at Heydon on 8th-12th.
A trio of potential Rough-legged Buzzards make up the week’s initial raptor news – a probable bird was seen at Marston Vale Millennium CP (Bedfordshire) on 9th; a possible bird was seen the following day at Hartlepool (Cleveland); and, on 11th, a probable was reported from near Glasdrum (Argyll & Bute).
All of this frustrating ambiguity was dispelled by confirmed birds towards the close of the week – one seen in Norfolk on 12th at Holkham and another on 13th in Cambridgeshire near Earith.
Kicking off the pared-down passerines this week, in Lancashire the male Belted Kingfisher continued to tease and play hard to get, flirting with would be observers with just the most fleeting of appearances in the daily news reports – a possible sighting of it in flight on 7th in the vicinity of Red Scar Wood on the River Ribble.
Scotland landed a couple of Hoopoes in recent days – one in a Kingoodie (Perth & Kinross) garden briefly on 8th, and another in Montrose (Angus) on 11th.
Honours were fairly evenly split where Great Grey Shrikes were concerned – Scotland got one at Glen Feshie (Highland) on 10th-11th; Wales retained a bird in Denbighshire at Llyn Brenig still on 9th-10th; and two English records owed themselves to Waxham (Norfolk) still on 9th-13th and Bonsall Moor (Derbyshire) still on 9th.
A dozen Waxwings were reported from Danes Wood in Devon on 7th, but weren’t subsequently seen there again.
Devon also accounted for the first of our Yellow-browed Warblers this week, the bird still present at Clennon Valley Lakes on 11th-13th – the week’s other birds being seen in Cornwall on 12th at Crackington and on 13th at Carnon Downs.
In Dorset, the Pallas’s Warbler was again seen in Weymouth on 9th-10th; and another was moving around Auchinleck (Ayrshire) with a mobile mixed tit flock on 12th-13th.
Kent finally provided us with a wintering Dusky Warbler, found on 13th near Fordwich.
Norfolk, meanwhile, retained the Barred Warbler at Wiveton on 7th-12th.
Cornwall held onto a juvenile Rose-coloured Starling still at Lower Boscaswell on 12th.
In Orkney, a Common Rosefinch was an unseasonal bird at Finstown on 9th-10th, and was trapped and ringed there on the latter date.
The female Serin was again seen at Royal Oak (Co.Durham) on 11th-12th.
Finally, a Little Bunting was found in West Sussex at Iping Common on 11th and again on 13th.
There’s nothing quite like a national first to kick off the overseas news, never mind one as lovely as Ukraine’s first Black-throated Accentor, found at Kuchurghan on 8th.
Cyprus, meanwhile, enjoyed a national second record of Franklin’s Gull, an adult at Akrotiri on 8th-9th.
Returning somewhat closer to home, at least for now, sheer volume demands we look next to Sweden where the male Siberian Rubythroat remained at Vargön on 9th-13th, a Dusky Thrush was seen at Visby on 9th-11th, and a Stejneger’s Scoter at Hemmeslov on 10th.
In Holland, meanwhile, the Caspian Plover was still present around Groningen on 7th-11th, the reliable Pygmy Cormorant was still present at Utrecht on 7th-13th and, on 8th-11th, the Eastern Olivaceous Warbler popped back out of the woodwork at Nieuwvliet-Bad.
Belgium’s recent first-winter Ross’s Gull remained constant at Zeebrugge on 7th-13th, with a sighting of a first-winter off Koksijde on 13th also.
French birders also enjoyed a first-winter Ross’s Gull at Leffrinckoucke on 7th-8th; and another Pygmy Cormorant at Marais de Beauchamp on 10th.
In Spain, the Sociable Lapwing remained at El Hondo on 8th-13th, and the White-backed Vulture was also still present at Los Barrios on 8th.
We finish where we began, in the outer reaches of the Western Palearctic – on the Azores this week, Terceira hosted a Snowy Egret on 7th-10th, a Great Blue Heron on 10th, and Belted Kingfisher on 11th still.
It's not often Britain or Ireland is graced by a Walrus - they're far from annual in these quarters, though itinerant animals sporadically do wash up here. Two different animals being recorded in one year is however truly exceptional - but that's what's happened in the dying days of 2021, as a female animal formerly seen in Holland and, more recently, at Seahouses (Northumberland) was discovered snoozing on the walkways of a salmon farm off the west side of Shetland Mainland this week on 10th.
Last seen at Seahouses on 14th November, she stayed put in Shetland until 12th at least, delighting a steady stream of local admirers. These impressive marine mammals are consummate long-distance swimmers, as evidenced by this year's other British and Irish individual making his way down to the north coast of Spain, and back north again, in the late summer.
While past records tell us that the coming week can be quietly fruitful for all sorts of interesting things, Little Bustards amongst them, the vehemence of the recent westerlies cannot be wholly ignored. Have they swept something tough and hardy in from the Nearctic? Eight historic records of Laughing Gull remind us that the time of year could be a fruitful one to start paying the local gull flocks some closer attention, whether at the coast or inland – gulls get everywhere, after all…
Jon Dunn
14 Dec 2021
Many thanks to all this week's contributors for your photos and videos
Share
