Weekly birding round-up: 1 - 7 Mar 2022
We remained steady at the helm this week with no breaking news to rock the birding boat – or at least, no breaking news of any extant birds. Belated news emerged of one bird, dead in the water back in February and fast-receding in the year’s wake…
But who’s complaining, really, at this point in the year? Early March marks the becalmed Sargasso Sea of a year’s birding as winter hands over to spring. Hopefully just the calm before the storm of a busy spring migration period to come. And meanwhile, Irish birders remained spoiled for choice.
Studded throughout this week’s round up are a host of good birds still present in Ireland. It comes to something when an American Coot and a couple of Ross’s Gulls are relegated to also-rans. But when your headlining bird is one of the substance of an Egyptian Vulture, that’s what happens.
And so it proved this week, with the bird near Ardmullen (Co.Roscommon) proving reliable and even obliging for a steady stream of admirers. Reliable enough that it inspired some British birders to cross the water to Ireland to see it as its stay extended until 7th. I guess a steady supply of dead sheep have kept it hanging around all these months and, while they keep on coming, there’s no motivation for it to move along any time soon…
Only in Ireland - yesterday watched a Egyptian Vulture with a Irish Hare and then last night the northern lights! pic.twitter.com/xwZRHVztit
— Stephen dunbar (@dunbar44) March 6, 2022
Those birders who maintain a British and Irish list would have had the case for crossing the Irish Sea at the weekend amplified by the tempting prospect of seeing not only said vulture but also the settled Double-crested Cormorant in Co.Leitrim at Doon Lough. Still present until 7th, it’s quite a state of affairs when a bird of this calibre plays second fiddle to something else at any time of year, let alone early March.
In the absence of Glamorgan’s Pacific Diver this week, its winter sojourn at Eglwys Nunydd reservoir having drawn to an end, the pick of the week’s seabird news also concerned a bird that had come to an end – in this case, literally. Belated news emerged this week of another wayward Brown Booby taken into care by concerned well-wishers – found wandering around the carpark at Perranporth (Cornwall) on 22nd February, it may have been present there for a couple of days before being taken in to the Mousehole Wild Bird Hospital.
Their care of the underweight bird was to be short-lived as, despite appearing alert and eager to feed, it deteriorated overnight and the decision was made to euthanize it the following morning. News is regularly forthcoming from Mousehole Wild Bird Hospital – you can keep up to speed on the recovery of Plonkie the Kestrel et al on their Facebook page.
A Schrödinger's cat-like cloak of silence, meanwhile, shrouds the current status of the Brown Booby picked up on the beach at Hove (East Sussex) on 2nd January and taken into care by East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service. Hopefully it’s still alive…
Onto more certainty now – Northumberland was enjoying a good week for White-billed Divers, with one seen from Dunstanburgh Castle on 1st exceeded that day by four birds further up the coast logged from Stag Rocks – two on the sea, and two passing by. One remained off Stag Rocks on 6th, while one was again reported that day from Shetland’s South Nesting Bay also. At least three birds were again seen from Stag Rocks on 7th, with one that day also at Burghead (Moray).
On 2nd, a Great Shearwater was seen heading south past Flamborough (East Yorkshire).
A Little Auk was seen from Kinnaird Head (Aberdeenshire) on 1st.
The week’s only Pomarine Skua was a single bird noted off Swanpool (Cornwall) on 2nd.
Recent cold conditions may be quashing any prospect of early spring Purple or Night Herons clocking in just yet, but wintering Glossy Ibises remain very much a thing in Britain and Ireland for another week – some 50 birds being logged once more across the region. The largest aggregation remained the flock of 11 birds on the Isle of Wight at Brading Marsh RSPB on 1st-4th, with eight birds still there on 6th-7th; closely followed by nine again in Cornwall at Walmsley Sanctuary CBWPS on 4th and again on 7th.
Pick of the week’s honkers was the Scottish Ross’s Goose, seen initially near Ladybank (Fife) still on 1st and then, by 5th, relocating to outside Newtonhill (Aberdeenshire). It was seen leaving its roost at Loch of Skene on 6th, but not thereafter.
Two of our recent Red-breasted Geese were logged again in recent days – one still wandering the north Norfolk coast Cley, Blakeney Freshmarsh and Salthouse on 1st-7th, and the other still around South Fambridge (Essex) on 2nd.
North Norfolk also provided Black Brant sightings at Salthouse and Cley on 3rd-7th; while Essex held one too still at Mersea Island on 1st-4th. In East Yorkshire, the recent bird was again seen at Skeffling on 2nd, joined there by a second individual the following day; both birds were present at Kilnsea on 6th. A south coast bird was found at Thorney Island (West Sussex) on 3rd; and the Ferrybridge (Dorset) bird was again seen there on 6th.
A possible Grey-bellied Brant was present in Dublin (Co.Dublin) on 1st.
Trios of Snow Geese remained at Slimbridge WWT (Gloucestershire) on 1st and around Loch Spynie (Moray) on 3rd-7th; in Lancashire, one was again seen at Banks Marsh NNR on 2nd, 5th and 7th, and Hesketh out Marsh RSPB again on 6th; and another single bird on North Uist (Western Isles) on 7th still. Blue morphs, three of them, were present at South Slob (Co.Wexford) on 7th; while another was reported from Tarleton (Lancashire) on 6th.
Moving onto The Goose Formerly Known As Canada, an interior Todd’s Canada Goose was again seen at Banks Marsh NNR (Lancashire) on 4th, with a second bird present there on 5th-6th too. Co.Sligo remained a hotspot for hutchinsii Richardson’s Cackling Geese, with one still present at Ballintemple on 1st-3rd and two seen at Lissadell on 4th-5th; further birds were seen on Islay (Argyll & Bute) still on 2nd-7th and North Uist (Western Isles), where one was seen at Loch Sandary on 5th-7th. Elsewhere on North Uist on 5th, at Loch nam Feithean, two Cackling Geese were also present. A Cackling Goose remained at Doonmore (Co.Clare) on 7th.
Onto the quackers, both of our drake Baikal Teals remained settled for another week at Swine Moor (East Yorkshire) still on 1st-7th and at Greylake RSPB (Somerset) on 1st-7th.
Drake American Wigeons were still to be seen at Big Waters NR (Northumberland) on 1st-5th and at Crook of Baldoon RSPB (Dumfries & Galloway) still on 1st-5th, and at Frampton Marsh RSPB (Lincolnshire) again on 6th-7th; another was seen on 6th on South Uist (Western Isles).
In Ireland, the drake Black Duck was still present on Cross Lough (Co.Mayo) on 4th-5th.
Green-winged Teals broke into double figures nationwide again this week, with 12 birds logged overall. Amongst these, the southeast of England was graced by two birds – one that lingered in East Sussex at Rye Harbour NR on 2nd-5th, and another in Kent at Oare Marshes KWT on 5th. You need to go back to 2002 for the last bird recorded in East Sussex, at Arlington reservoir on 19th January; Kent fares rather better, with one five years back at Oare in December 2017. Further English birds this week remained at Priory CP (Bedfordshire) still on 1st-6th, and at Smithey Fen (Cambridgshire) again on 2nd-7th. The balance of sightings were all Scottish – at Ladybank (Fife) still on 1st-7th; at Loch of Strathbeg RSPB (Aberdeenshire) still on 1st-5th; on Shetland at Loch of Hillwell still on 1st; on 4th still at Tain (Highland) and Inganess Bay (Orkney); on 5th still on Barra (Western Isles); and on 2nd-3rd on the Eden estuary (Fife).
Numbers of Ring-necked Ducks dipped a little more again this week, though there were still some 40 birds in all logged across Britain and Ireland, which isn’t shabby at all, and chief amongst them were the half dozen still at Margam Opencast (Glamorgan) on 6th-7th; and three at King’s Myre (Perth & Kinross) on 7th.
In Oxfordshire, the drake Ferruginous Duck remained on Allen Pit on 1st-6th.
Four Lesser Scaups remained this week on Islay (Argyll & Bute) on 1st-4th, dropping to three birds on 5th-6th, and at least two still present on 7th. Duos remained on South Uist (Western Isles) on 1st-6th and at Woodend Loch (Clyde) still on 1st-7th. The female was hanging on out on Benbecula (Western Isles) on 1st-7th. England claimed just the one bird, still present at Abbotsbury (Dorset) on 4th; while the Irish drake was still at Lough Neagh (Co.Armagh) on 4th, and the Lough Gara (Co.Sligo) bird remained present on 6th.
A probable Black Scoter was seen in Ireland on 5th at Rossbeigh (Co.Kerry); the drake remained off Cocklawburn Beach (Northumberland) on 1st-7th. In Lothian, the drake White-winged Scoter was still present off Musselburgh on 1st-7th.
Musselburgh also accounted for three of the week’s dozen or so Surf Scoters, seen off there on 2nd-7th. A trio were still of Pendine (Carmarthenshire) on 1st; but the week’s laurels belonged to Llandulas (Conwy), where a peak of four birds were seen on 4th.
Back in Lothian, the first-winter drake King Eider was still to be found off Seafield on 1st-4th and Musselburgh on 5th-7th; the drake was still off Nairn (Highland) on 1st-7th.
Finally, honorary waterfowl – the American Coot was still present on Lough Yganavan (Co.Kerry) on 5th, and the stalwart Pied-billed Grebe was still plying his lonely trade on Loch Feorlin (Argyll & Bute) on 5th.
One wonders what, if anything, will now displace the White-tailed Lapwing from England, given how many months it’s been here. Were this a duck, we’d be forgiven for starting to feel a little uneasy about that prolonged tenure. Alas, it being a shorebird, the bread test can’t be usefully applied... Those jaded, cynical doubts cast aside, the bird was still present this week in Lincolnshire in the East Halton Skitter area on 1st-6th.
In Co.Cork the Semipalmated Plover was still present at Crookhaven on 5th.
An American Golden Plover was reported with Golden Plovers at Longhoughton Steel (Northumberland) on 3rd.
Also in Northumberland, the Grey Phalarope remained at Dunstanburgh Castle on 1st-2nd; and one was seen passing Stag Rocks on 7th.
In Lancashire, the Long-billed Dowitcher was still to be seen at Fluke Hall on 1st-7th.
Suffolk’s Lesser Yellowlegs remained at Minsmere RSPB on 1st-7th; and the Rahasane Turlough (Co.Galway) bird was again seen there on 6th.
Given how Ireland was dominating the best of the week’s birds overall it comes as little surprise that it too owned the cream of the weekly gull crop too – these being the lingering first-winter Ross’s Gull still present on Mutton Island (Co.Galway) on 1st-6th, and an adult bird seen in Dublin harbour (Co.Dublin) on 1st.
Adding a little more larid lustre, a first-winter Bonaparte’s Gull was seen on 4th at Timoleague (Co.Cork); another first-winter bird was seen on 5th at Conwy RSPB (Conwy); and the adult was again in Cardiff Bay (Glamorgan) on 7th.
Ireland also accounted for five Ring-billed Gulls - three still at Tralee Bay Wetlands Centre (Co.Kerry) on 1st, with two lingering there on 2nd-6th; one still in Cork (Co.Cork) on 1st; and the adult still at Blackrock (Co.Louth) on 5th-6th. Lothian was busy too – aside from daily sightings of the adult bird at Holyrood Park on 1st-7th, two adults were noted at Eastfield on 1st, an adult at Penicuik on 4th, and an adult at Duddingston Loch on 6th. Adults were seen in England at the usual sites of Hayle estuary (Cornwall) on 2nd-5th, and Blashford Lakes HWT (Hampshire) on 5th-7th again.
Numbers of white-wingers receded somewhat this week – with four Glaucous Gulls still at Killybegs (Co.Donegal) on 6th the best single site tally of the 25 or so birds seen throughout Britain and Ireland; and seven Iceland Gulls on Lewis (Western Isles) on 6th the best of the 70 odd national records logged over the course of the week.
Adult Kumlien’s Gulls were noted in recent days in Newlyn (Cornwall) still on 2nd-5th, and on Skye (Highland) again on 3rd. The juvenile individual remained on Barra (Western Isles) on 2nd-3rd. Cambridgeshire’s third-winter bird was once more at Smithey Fen on 3rd and 5th; not a million miles away from Reed (Hertfordshire), where a third-winter bird was seen on 1st.
Finally, closing where we began in Ireland, in Co.Galway the adult Forster’s Tern was again seen hanging around Kinvarra and Traught on 5th-7th.
In Ireland the juvenile Northern Harrier remained present, albeit elusive, in Co.Offaly at Lough Boora Parklands on 2nd-6th.
A Rough-legged Buzzard was reported from Fulletby (Lincolnshire) on 3rd.
There was definitely a sense of changing times amongst the passerines, with some recent rarities clearing out this week – notably, there was no sign of either the American Robin or the wintering Red-flanked Bluetail.
Some goodies hung on. In East Sussex, the Eastbourne Hume’s Warbler was still to be seen on 1st-6th; but again, just one Yellow-browed Warbler was noted, this time at Milton CP (Cambridgeshire) on 1st-7th.
In Somerset, the three Penduline Tits remained at Weston Airfield until 7th.
The West Runton (Norfolk) Short-toed Lark was still present on 3rd-7th.
We did a little better than of late for Great Grey Shrikes, with four wintering birds again seen - in Denbighshire at Llyn Brenig still on 1st-7th; at Comberton (Cambridgeshire) still on 1st-7th; and at Backley Bottom (Hampshire) and Bonsall Moor (Derbyshire) again on 4th, the Hampshire bird at least remaining present until 6th – and one fresh bird found in Cropton Forest (North Yorkshire) on 7th.
In Highland, the recent quartet of Waxwings remained at Nethy Bridge on 4th, with five or more there on 5th. Single birds were seen at Guisborough (Cleveland) still on 1st, in Alford (Aberdeenshire) still on 2nd-3rd, and at Whitby (North Yorkshire) on 1st-7th.
The Hoopoe remained at Duxford (Cambridgeshire) on 1st, while another probable bird was reported in South Yorkshire near Wentworth on 2nd.
Lastly, Cornwall’s wintering Rose-coloured Starling remained at Lower Boscaswell on 1st-7th, while one was seen again in Forth at Grangemouth on 3rd.
Our overseas news kicks off in Egypt, for a change, where the Western Palearctic’s second Village Weaver was seen at Abu Simbel on 3rd.
Closer to home, on the Dutch/Belgian border at Emmadorp the Song Sparrow remained on 1st-7th. Also still present in Holland this week, the Western Swamphen remained at Het Nieuwe Waterschap on 2nd-7th, and the Pygmy Cormorant was still present in Utrecht on 2nd-6th.
In Germany, the Sandhill Crane remained at Freyenstein on 1st, and the meena Western Rufous Turtle Dove at Schonberg Nordost still on 1st-3rd.
The male Siberian Rubythroat remained in Sweden this week at Vargön on 1st-6th.
In Spain a Sociable Lapwing was seen at Laguna de Gallocanta on 2nd-7th; and a Lesser Spotted Eagle on Menorca on 6th.
Finally, at the WP’s northwesterly extremity, on Iceland a White-winged Scoter was seen from Keflavik on 1st.
The second week of March looks set to begin with south-easterlies blending into southerlies going into the weekend. Promising conditions, perhaps, for some early spring overshoot action.
Earlier in the piece we alluded to the possibility of an incoming scarce heron or two, and these feel like a decent bet. Last week, however, we touched on the classic spring trio of Red-rumped Swallow, Alpine Swift, and Great Spotted Cuckoo… of which the latter two boast six historic records apiece for the coming week. That’s form enough to have a little punt on the rarest of them – nobody ever turned their nose up at a Great Spotted Cuckoo, right?
Jon Dunn
8 March 2022
Many thanks to all this week's contributors for your photos and videos
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