• No news currently, check back later
• Why not check out our great value bird news subscriptions

 

Weekly birding round-up: 21 Dec 2021 - 3 Jan 2022

Would you just look at that roll-call of headline birds? Crazy days… To say that this time of year is traditionally a quiet one, sitting in the chilly doldrums between autumn and spring migration, seems ludicrous in the light of the quality that was on offer, sometimes fleetingly, but sometimes not, in the past fortnight.

There was something for everyone, British and Irish birders alike. Brand new rarities, re-found rarities, and rarities that finally did the decent thing and settled into something approaching a routine. And that’s to say nothing of a supporting cast of scarcities here and there, and nothing short of an invasion of Glossy Ibises. If the coming year continues as strongly as the old one concluded, we’re in for quite a ride…

 

For those blessed – or determined – enough to find themselves in the vicinity of its wandering path last year, the peripatetic Egyptian Vulture first seen on Scilly in June and latterly in Ireland in Co.Donegal, Co.Wicklow and Co.Mayo in the space of a few weeks spanning July and August, would be a strong contender for bird of the year. And that in a year blessed with some really fine other contenders.

That hoary old chestnut that raptors don’t cross water has been thoroughly debunked in recent years but, nonetheless, any vulture is always going to be big news, literally and metaphorically. They remain distinctly thin on the ground… and, for such large units, they can prove surprisingly elusive. The last report of the midsummer Egyptian Vulture came as it flew over the N59 at Shanvolahan (Co.Mayo) on 11th August but thereafter… not a squeak.

British birders would have, not unreasonably, been hoping it would keep on working clockwise around the Irish coast and perhaps make the short hop over to southwest Scotland or northwest England. Or maybe it would head south back down through Ireland and crop up in Wales, or southwest England. All that idle speculation come to naught – no further news was forthcoming.

Slipped through the net, or come to an untimely demise, it’s fair to say that nobody was really expecting the dying days of 2021 to feature the bird again, four months after it had last been seen. Massive credit to Owen Murphy then who managed to not only keep his car on the road when he found it flying overhead as he drove some miles north of Athlone (Co.Roscommon) on 31st, but also grabbed a couple of record shots. These, a little later, were superseded by a gorgeous image of the perched bird taken by Conor Henry a few miles away from that initial, serendipitous encounter.

It seems likely the bird never went away, and has spent the late summer, autumn and early winter making the best of the carrion potential offered by the livestock farming heartland of Ireland. An area of the country that’s relatively under-watched in birding terms, and where a vulture could quietly ply its trade unnoticed by anyone who cared.

So, where next for this bird? It’s probably not gone far, and will surely end up on some Irish birders’ yearlists before too long…

 

Christmas presents get little better for the dedicated sea-watcher than an adult Brown Booby, and that’s just what Brett Richards and Pete Middleton unwrapped heading south past Flamborough (East Yorkshire) in the early morning of Christmas Day.

Once upon a not so long time ago, the thought of a Brown Booby anywhere off the British coast, let alone off the northeast in midwinter, would have been greeted with, at best, consternation. But these days, in the wake of a succession of confirmed records, and with a supporting cast of regular sightings elsewhere in western Europe – including even this past week one off Malaga (Spain) on 28th – scepticism needs to be left at the door. Fortune favours the brave and the dedicated sea-watcher.

That or someone taking a bracing breath of fresh air on a Sussex beach… For as the new year got under way, walkers on the beach at Hove (East Sussex) on 2nd found themselves sharing the shingle with an exhausted Brown Booby. Initially seen to approach walkers, the bird was clearly in a poor way as it became increasingly lethargic and, in due course, was taken into care.

East Sussex, lest we forget, has booby form in this regard, with the sad tale of Britain’s first Red-footed Booby still fairly fresh in the memory. Found exhausted on the beach at St Leonard’s-on-Sea on 4th September 2016, a female bird was taken into care by the RSPCA and, in mid-December of the same year, flown to the Cayman Islands, only to die there in quarantine. Hopefully this Brown Booby’s rehabilitation will have a happier ending for the bird.

 

The ink was barely dry on the last Rarity Round Up on 2021 before Ian Grant was writing the headlines on the opening Round Up of 2022 with the discovery of a drake Baikal Teal on the wildfowl-packed waters of Aqualate Mere NNR (Staffordshire) in the morning of 21st.

Announced with masterful understatement this, Staffordshire’s first record of the species, was a cracking find by Ian Grant. Alas the scale of the site, and the restricted viewing possibilities there, meant that while the bird remained present on the water that afternoon, actually catching up with it would prove problematic at best for many and, after 21st, no further sign of it was forthcoming.

Or was it? News broke late on 3rd of a drake Baikal Teal photographed on 2nd in Somerset at Greylake RSPB – and said to have been present there for at least a week. Whether it’s the same bird or not, if accepted it would certainly amount to a first for Somerset. We’ll just have to wait and see if it sticks around…

 

American Coots, it transpires, are like buses in Ireland. Fairly hot on the improbably splayed heels of the recent bird at Tacumshin (Co.Wexford) – which was, this past fortnight, seen once more there on Boxing Day – came another a few days later, this time on Lough Yganavan (Co.Kerry) on 30th.

With a mere four accepted Irish records to the end of 2018, the species retains some rarity cachet. The last bird on the books, one that spent a long winter settled on Lough Gill from 5th November 2014 – 5th March 2015, was also in Co.Kerry, so perhaps this latest bird won’t be raising too many local pulses after all.

All that said, a top drawer find, and surely further incentive were any needed given the volume of Ring-necked Ducks and Lesser Scaups in Britain lately to pay closer attention to the Coots on your local patches’ freshwater bodies. There must be another American Coot out there…

 

High on many a British birder’s Christmas list in the days leading up to the big day must have been a quiet word with Santa to let the recent male Belted Kingfisher in Lancashire be pinned down somewhere accessible.

It had, after all, been hitherto downright uncooperative in both choice of location and its elusive habits…

All of those Christmas wishes were abundantly granted when 21st dawned and the bird was, unbelievably given its form to date, still present on the River Darwen at Roach Bridge (Lancashire). Better still, with the odd spasmodic absence throughout, the bird remained in the area until 3rd – an opportunity for those who wanted a Belted Kingfisher to wallow in the experience, in every sense...

 

On the subject of the New Year, several yearlists got off to an unexpectedly fine start – and, indeed, conclusion – in Lincolnshire with the relocation of the White-tailed Lapwing, formerly resident at Blacktoft Sands RSPB (East Yorkshire), a few miles down the road in Lincolnshire on Winter’s Pond at East Halton Skitter on 31st – and still present there as the new year dawned on 1st-3rd.

While some are quietly expressing some unease at such a protracted stay on these shores, the bird’s doing little else wrong, having arrived fully winged and without any incriminating bling on those long yellow legs. And from a Lincolnshire perspective, it’s a very welcome county first to boot.

 

In South Wales, the Pacific Diver remained tucked in on Eglwys Nunydd reservoir (Glamorgan) on 21st-3rd – Wales’ second record now appearing settled for the winter.

In Shetland, a White-billed Diver was present at the traditional wintering site of South Nesting Bay; a further bird was seen powering north past Stag Rocks (Northumberland) on 30th.

Little Auks remained in relatively short supply, with a handful of birds logged over the festive period. Singletons were seen from South Uist (Western Isles) on 23rd; Skye (Highland) on 26th; and Dun Laoghaire (Co.Dublin) on 28th; and two were noted from Pendeen (Cornwall) on 28th. On 2nd one was seen from Yell (Shetland) at Gossabrough, with a candidate mandtii Black Guillemot present too there on 1st-3rd. On 3rd single birds were seen from Blairmore and near Dunoon (Argyll & Bute).

The majority of the fortnight’s Pomarine Skuas were, once again, in the English southwest – exceptions to that rule being birds seen from Greystones (Co.Wicklow) on Christmas Day, and North Foreland (Kent) on Boxing Day, with two individuals seen from the latter site. In Cornwall, single birds were seen from Cape Cornwall on 22nd, and off Clodgy Point on 29th; Devon, meanwhile, provided single birds off Shoalstone Point on Christmas Eve and 30th; Brixham on Boxing Day; and a flush of records from Berry Head, where two on 30th were followed by five on New Year’s Eve, half a dozen birds on New Year’s Day, and three on 2nd.

Lastly, a Leach’s Petrel was found on 3rd off Shaft Beach (Gloucestershire).

 

The week before Christmas was already shaping up to be a remarkable one for Glossy Ibises in Britain and Ireland, with some 70 birds in total logged across the region – the 20 birds of recent weeks augmented by some 50 fresh faces. That theme of a mass arrival significantly coalesced over the course of the fortnight in question, with a grand total of some 160 birds logged in Britain and Ireland. The usual caveat applies to those – there will have, undoubtedly, been some duplication of records with these mobile birds. That said, by the same token there must have been a good few that found themselves a damp, productive place somewhere birders don’t go, and went wholly unnoticed…

Amongst that remarkable overall tally were some equally startling flocks – the usual suspects in Britain were still present, so there were six birds again at Berry Fen (Cambridgeshire) on 1st-3rd, and five at Fremington (Devon) on 29th-3rd – but they were blown out of the water by Orkney’s Westray, where the recent flock of 10 birds rose to 11 individuals on 22nd-24th; by Walmsley Sanctuary CBWPS (Cornwall), where 15 birds came to roost on 21st; and by Brading Marsh RSPB (Isle of Wight), where peak counts of 11 birds came on 25th and again on 29th, with 10 still present to 3rd.

Small parties and single birds were widely reported across Ireland too, with larger aggregations also out there – 15 birds were reported from Frosses (Co.Donegal) on 27th, while nine birds settled in at Reenroe (Co.Kerry) on 24th-1st and then, on 2nd-3rd, 21 were found in Co.Cork at Nohoval.

 

Moving into the honkers and quackers, some festive colour kicks off the former in Essex, where the adult Red-breasted Goose reappeared at Holliwell Point on 31st-3rd, and two birds were again present there on 2nd.

There was a dusting of snow on offer too, in Scotland and Ireland at least – white Snow Geese were seen at Loch Spynie (Moray) again, where three birds remained on 22nd; on North Uist (Western Isles), where one was present on 28th; and at Lissadell (Co.Sligo), where one remained on 27th-28th.

Essex accounted for sightings of Black Brant at Mersea Island again on 23rd, South Fambridge on 24th and 29th-2nd, Holliwell Point on 2nd and, on 3rd, Hamford Water. One remained in Kent at Reculver on 21st, and again on 30th-2nd. Norfolk, finally, gave us sightings at Salthouse on 26th, and Cley once more on 27th and 1st-3rd.

Various flavours were available once more in the variety box that’s The Goose Formerly Known As Canada. Starting with interior Todd’s Canada Geese, birds were seen in Lancashire on 22nd at Hesketh Out Marsh RSPB still, on 24th and 3rd at Marshside RSPB, and on 26th-27th at Banks Marsh NNR; in Norfolk at Brancaster Staithe on 31st-2nd; and at Dooey (Co.Donegal) on 2nd.

Ireland accounted for our hutchinsii Richardson’s Cackling Geese - birds were seen at Doonbeg (Co.Clare) on 23rd (two Lesser Canada Geese were present that day), Lissadell (Co.Sligo) still on 28th-2nd, and Ballintemple (Co.Sligo) on 3rd. A Cackling Goose was present on North Uist (Western Isles) still on 3rd.

Moving onto the rarity duckpond, we’ll kick off with seaducks. In Northumberland, the drake Black Scoter was lingering off Stag Rocks still on 21st-3rd, while the other recent drake remained in Moray at Lossiemouth on 27th, and a further possible bird was seen on 3rd in Co.Meath at Laytown. Lothian’s drake White-winged Scoter was still haunting the waters off Musselburgh on 24th-29th. One of these days we’ll complete the set with a drake Stejneger’s…

Numbers of Surf Scoters edged, only just, into double figures with 10 birds in all logged across Britain and Ireland. Most of these were single birds, bar the semi-regular trio still present off Musselburgh (Lothian) on 22nd-24th.

In Shetland, the two recent drake King Eiders were still lurking in the Eider flocks in Bluemull Sound on 22nd.

If one duck species was dominating the news lately, it continued to be Ring-necked Duck - a mighty 55 individuals were noted in the course of the fortnight. As usual, Cornwall’s Dozmary Pool accounted for the largest single site aggregation, with a peak count of seven birds there again on 26th. Ireland’s highest tally came on the same day, when a quartet were seen at Derrybrick Lough (Co.Cavan).

The legacy of the late 2021 arrival of Lesser Scaups was still very much in evidence recently. Single birds remained on Tresco (Scilly) on 24th-1st; on Lewis (Western Isles) on 23rd-1st; and on Bateman’s Lake (Co.Cork) on 21st-3rd. Two females continued to lurk at Beesands (Devon) on 21st-1st, with one on Slapton Ley again on 2nd followed by both of them there on 3rd; and three (two drakes and a female) were seen on Islay (Argyll & Bute) on Loch Skerrols on 3rd. A drake was found at Auchincross (Ayrshire) on 30th-3rd; and a further probable drake was seen at Auchenreoch Loch (Dumfries & Galloway) on 29th-30th.

In Staffordshire, the female Ferruginous Duck remained on Aqualate Mere NNR on 22nd-2nd, with a sighting from Belvide reservoir on 26th again; drakes, meanwhile, remained at Thorpe Park (Surrey) on 22nd-30th, and Blashford Lakes (Hampshire) on 28th-2nd. A further possible bird was seen on Ouse Washes (Cambridgeshire) on 2nd, though only distantly.

The popular drake American Wigeon remained at Carr Vale NR (Derbyshire) on 21st-28th; in Bedfordshire, a drake was present at Kempston Hardwick on 30th-1st. On 2nd birds were seen at Misson (Nottinghamshire) and Islay (Argyll & Bute).

21 Green-winged Teals were logged in recent days, with two sites again managing two birds – these being Tain (Highland) once more on 21st-26th, and Barra (Western Isles) on 1st again.

And finally, what better way to greet the new year than with an old friend on these murky rarity duckpond waters, a Hooded Merganser? Given just how many Nearctic ducks have made it across here in recent weeks, there’s a wild vibe about the female found this week on 2nd at Tollesbury Wick EWT (Essex) – if anyone’s still looking to fill a space on their advanced duck bingo card, this could be a bird with a feel-good factor about her.

 

Most notable of the (un)seasonal shorebirds this past fortnight had to be the Dotterel hanging out with the Golden Plovers at Otmoor RSPB (Oxfordshire) on 31st.

On Scilly, the Spotted Sandpiper rang in the New Year on St Mary’s on 21st-3rd.

At the opposite end of the country, in Orkney the Lesser Yellowlegs was still present on Sanday on 21st; another recent bird remained in Ireland at Rahasane Turlough (Co.Galway) on 3rd.

A handful of Grey Phalaropes were seen lately – starting with a moribund individual at Old Head of Kinsale (Co.Cork) on 26th; and with livelier birds seen in Somerset at Burnham-on-Sea on 28th, and in Cornwall on 28th also at The Lizard and Pendeen, the latter site scoring two individuals. 2022 was greeted with birds seen on 2nd in Ireland at Ballycotton (Co.Cork), and on 3rd at Ireland beach (Shetland), Ogmore-by-Sea (Glamorgan), and Lyme Regis (Dorset).

 

Pick of the gulls this fortnight was the adult Bonaparte’s Gull seen in Co.Antrim on 24th at Ballycarry, on 25th a little north at Larne, and on 2nd at Drains Bay.

More numerous fare came in the form of a dozen Ring-billed Gulls, of which over half were found in Ireland. These were single birds seen at Nimmo’s Pier (Co.Galway) still on 23rd, at Blackrock (Co.Louth) still on 29th-2nd, at Tralee Bay Wetlands Centre (Co.Kerry) still on 22nd-3rd, at Cooanmore Point (Co.Sligo) on 30th-31st, on 2nd at Ballyalia Lake (Co.Clare) and in Cork (Co.Cork), and on 3rd at Clonakilty (Co.Cork). Scottish sightings came from Strathclyde Loch (Clyde) on 24th-2nd, and Musselburgh (Lothian) on 28th-30th. English birds numbered the stalwart adult at Hayle (Cornwall) still on 21st-3rd, a brief bird at Lodmoor RSPB (Dorset) on 28th, and the adult again at Preston (Lancashire) on 22nd-23rd.

While we didn’t get the rare Arctic gull we so dearly craved, there were still fair numbers of white-wingers providing some scarce consolation this past fortnight – some 40 Glaucous Gulls and 60 Iceland Gulls respectively. Of these, the only single site count that bettered one or at most two individuals were the four Iceland Gulls seen on 23rd across Skye (Highland).

In Cambridgeshire, the regular third-winter Kumlien’s Gull was still intermittently present in the pig fields at Heydon until 3rd. A further probable bird was seen in Cornwall on the north coast outside Portreath on 27th.

 

Pick of the recent raptors was, by a comfortable margin, the settled juvenile Northern Harrier still present in Ireland at Lough Boora Parklands (Co.Offaly) on 26th-3rd.

Couched in just about every caveat going, Kent gave us an unconfirmed report of a possible white Gyr seen, from a moving car, perched on top of a hedge at Northbourne on 29th…

Norfolk provided a couple of potential Rough-legged Buzzards, with a possible bird at Mannington Hall on Christmas Day, and a further report at Ludham Bridge on 29th. An unconfirmed report came of another on 3rd over Wellow (Nottinghamshire). A confirmed bird was seen in Leicestershire at Woodhouse Eaves on Boxing Day, and another was in Kent on New Year’s Day on Sheppey at Shell Ness.

Finally, the male Snowy Owl was still toughing the winter out up on Ben Macdui (Aberdeenshire) on 22nd.

 

A couple of decent warblers helped to bring the fading year’s passerine account to a fine conclusion - Hume’s Warblers being found at Bockill Farm Wood (Kent) on 22nd-3rd, and Aldeburgh (Suffolk) on 26th-27th.

Yellow-browed Warblers, meanwhile, were on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 28th-3rd and, more notably, inland at Milton (Cambridgeshire) on 21st-3rd.

We did well for Dusky Warblers lately, with five birds in all recorded in England. The Kentish bird remained at Fordwich on 21st-2nd; the London bird was still to be seen at Walthamstow Marsh NR on 21st-3rd; the Cornish individual was still present at St Erth on 26th; and fresh birds were found at Aylestone Meadows (Leicestershire) on 24th, and Wheldrake Ings YWT (North Yorkshire) on 27th-3rd.

The discovery of a Red-flanked Bluetail inland at Bowlees NR (Co.Durham) on 31st would have, surely, have left the fortunate finder rubbing their eyes in disbelief… the site is, after all, not far from Barnard Castle…

A Penduline Tit at Weston Airfield (Somerset) on 21st heralded daily sightings until 3rd, with as many as three individuals noted on some days.

Cornwall landed a couple of Hoopoes, at Ladock on 26th and St Stephen on 29th.

Great Grey Shrikes remained in fairly short supply, given the time of year. Birds were logged in Denbighshire at Llyn Brenig still on 31st; at Wistow (North Yorkshire) on 31st-3rd; at Backley Bottom (Hampshire) still on 1st; in Glen Feshie (Highland) again near Feshiebridge on 2nd; and at Backwater reservoir (Angus) again on 3rd.

Also thin on the ground were Waxwings - a shade over 50 were reported nationwide, but few of those chose to stick around. Moray was the best bet, with Hopeman accounting for three birds on 27th and two on 28th, and Elgin hosting one on 27th-1st joined there by a second individual on 1st-3rd, and a mobile flock of 12 birds on 3rd.

The juvenile Rose-coloured Starling remained at Lower Boscaswell (Cornwall) on 30th-2nd.

A superb midwinter find came in Devon in the form of an American Buff-bellied Pipit on Mealcombe Beach at Prawle Point on 30th-3rd. This was a long-overdue first for Devon, and comes hot on the heels of the probable bird that flew over Lundy on 2nd December. There’s a lingering feeling there may be one or two more out there on quiet beaches in the wider reaches of Britain and Ireland waiting to be found.

Half a dozen reports of Richard’s Pipits were logged over the fortnight, starting with one present on The Lizard (Cornwall) on 21st-22nd. One was reported from Scotney Castle (Kent) on 22nd; Filey (North Yorkshire) provided sightings on 27th and 30th; one passed over Spurn (East Yorkshire) on 31st; and on 1st, one was heard only at Trow Quarry (Co.Durham), and another was seen at Frampton Marsh RSPB (Lincolnshire). A final probable bird was seen briefly at Splatt Bridge (Gloucestershire) on 2nd, but not thereafter.

The irrepressible Brydon Thomason was at it again on Unst (Shetland) on New Year’s Eve – finding a glorious white snowball hornemanni Arctic Redpoll there.

The recent Little Bunting remained at Upper College Farm (London) on 21st-3rd, while the West Sussex individual was still at Iping Common on 22nd-2nd, with a second bird seen there on 23rd also.

Finally, the year and the Round Up closes with a flourish in Ireland, where a Rustic Bunting was found in a Bangor (Co.Down) garden on 22nd-31st.

 

Holland continued to dominate the overseas in the closing days of 2021, with the first national Western Swamphen (still present at Het Nieuwe Waterschap on 21st-24th) followed in quick succession by another individual, at Zevenhuizen on 22nd-3rd. The Caspian Plover still present around Groningen on 24th, and presumably accounts for the bird recorded over Vlaardingen on 1st. All the meantime, the resident Pygmy Cormorant was still present at Utrecht on 22nd-2nd.

In Belgium the first-winter Ross’s Gull remained at Nieuwpoort until 3rd.

In Sweden the male Siberian Rubythroat remained at Vargön on 21st-2nd.

As noted in our British and Irish headlines, Spain was also graced by a Brown Booby in recent days – one seen on 27th at Malaga.

Out in the mid-Atlantic, in the Azores, Terceira continued to boast a decent array of American waifs and strays on 29th – a Belted Kingfisher, a Snowy Egret, two Great Blue Herons, and three Semipalmated Plovers.

 

While I maintain the recent strong north-westerlies and imminent northerlies ought to bring us an Ivory or Ross’s Gull, I can’t keep invoking them weekly until one finally turns up… so for the first prediction of 2022, we’ll take a look at years gone by and ponder what might be lurking out there, waiting to be unearthed in the week ahead…

Sticking with the gulls a moment, and ignoring the fact that we’re going to continue to be knee-deep in Glossy Ibises and they ought to be a reasonable target for anyone’s patch list, a Laughing Gull or Bonaparte’s Gull is a reasonable call given the time of year – both are approaching double figures of prior records for the coming week.

Ever the fan of a really long shot, with so many good Nearctic ducks being found lately, what’re the odds of a Bufflehead coming out of the woodwork somewhere? One was found in Ireland at Lough Atedaun (Co.Clare) on 6th January 2007, and we need look back only to winter 2020/21 for further, more recent inspiration.

 

Jon Dunn
4 Jan 2022

Many thanks to all this week's contributors for your photos and videos

 

Share

Tweet  

 

 

 

 

 

Latest photos

Register free to upload

Latest articles