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Weekly birding round-up: 17 - 23 May 2022

What a week the week just gone proved to be. Something, once more, for everyone with quality migrants streaming in, particularly down the east coast of Britain. The biggest birds, however, were all found at Britain and Ireland’s extremities…

 

Conditions as the week commenced were perfect for Fennoscandian migrants being wafted across the North Sea in our direction, with the charts showing what amounted to a conveyor belt of south-easterlies coming straight at Shetland. The team of birders, including RBA’s very own Toby Carter, who had rolled the dice and opted to base themselves on Out Skerries (Shetland) for the week would have justifiably have been feeling cautiously optimistic as 17th dawned…

It was not, however, until late in the day that the Fates really delivered for them with their discovery of a River Warbler out there. Good field views and a positive reaction to playback secured the identification of what, for now at least, was the team’s bird of the week.

While they’re far from reliably annual in Britain, the conditions certainly had augured well for one this week, and if it was to be found anywhere Shetland would always have been a likely candidate – no other county in Britain comes close to holding a candle to Shetland for River Warbler records, with a staggering 26 of the accepted 48 British records to the end of 2019 owing themselves, spring and autumn, to the archipelago.

Better news still – of the years Britain does get a River Warbler, more often than not we get more than one record. So there’s plenty of scope for another, perhaps somewhere more accessible, in the weeks and months to come…

Speaking of birds in less than readily accessible locations, Co.Wexford served Irish birders a White-throated Sparrow this week out on Great Saltee. While Britain boasts 50 accepted birds on the books to the end of 2019, it’s a somewhat different story in Ireland – almost perplexingly so, as one might not unreasonably expect the westerly location to lend itself readily to more birds having been found down the years.

But to date, Ireland had just the three accepted prior records – one on Cape Clear (Co.Cork) on 3rd April 1967; and overwintering bird at Duncrue Street Marsh (Co.Antrim) on 1st December 1984 – May 1985; and another on Cape Clear on 12th-18th October 2008.

The individual found this week on 20th on Great Saltee comes then to be only the fourth Irish record and a first for Co.Wexford. So far so good… the only fly in the ointment being, of course, that it was solely daytrippable via a short boat ride from Kilmore Quay. Easier to get to than Out Skerries, but still an element of faff involved.

And no sign of it there the following day. They continue to play hard to get in an Irish context.

I don’t think many birds epitomise the highs that a Shetland spring fall can deliver quite like a stonking male Collared Flycatcher. Bill Oddie’s unforgettable anecdote about one perched on an Out Skerries washing line way back when will live long in the memory of many a more seasoned birder in our number, and may well have been in the minds of a younger generation who found themselves living or working in Shetland this week too.

Certainly those blessed to find themselves on Fair Isle on 20th will have had to pinch themselves to be sure they weren’t in a waking dream when, hot on the heels of a Thrush Nightingale trapped and ringed on there, what should pop up but an immaculate Collared Flycatcher?

Another week, another Slate-coloured Junco - what a spring it’s proving to be for them. This week’s bird was somewhat more accessible than the last, being found in a garden near St Ishmael’s (Pembrokeshire) on 22nd.

Pembrokeshire’s last – and indeed, the county’s first – record was a one-day bird on Skomer on 8th May 2017, so a mainland individual on a Sunday was always going to be popular with Welsh birders, let alone those based in Pembrokeshire – the only long-staying prior Welsh bird was way back in 1975 on Bardsey (Gwynedd), making this weekend’s accessible bird a welcome find. Albeit not a lingering one, as there was no sign of it the following day.

The biggest news, literally and metaphorically, of recent days came late in the week when, on 22nd, an Egyptian Vulture was watched near Devoran (Cornwall) heading initially east and, latterly, south over Tallack’s Creek.

The initial suspicion is, naturally, that this has to be the bird that’s spent the past year lobbing around Ireland enjoying a bounty of fallen sheep corpses. And yet, with the news that this Cornish bird was a sub-adult, that doesn’t seem possible after all. The Irish (and formerly, Scillonian) individual is/was an adult. Quite literally a two bird theory then. And a glimmer of hope for birders on the British mainland. Maybe we’re to be treated to an accessible bird all our very own. Watch this (air)space.

Putting the cherry on the cake for a superb week of late spring rarities, Cornwall signed off with a late, colourful flourish in the form of a Roller found at Praze-an-Beeble in the evening of 23rd.

With a Black-headed Bunting discovered earlier in the day on Scilly, the signs were already good for something of a similar southeasterly origin to be uncovered. That said, would we have put money on it being in Cornwall? The county’s last record dates back to 1994, and that was only the fourth record since 1950 – the next record on the books before that dating way, way back to 1887.

Found in the evening, at the time of writing as the new week dawns on 24th, the bird had done the decent thing and stuck around. A welcome individual for a new generation of county birders.

Putting in a solid shift this week, the adult Black-browed Albatross was still to be seen at Bempton Cliffs RSPB (East Yorkshire) daily on 17th-23rd.

The preceding week’s excellent skua passage almost dried up entirely this past week, with a mere 21 Pomarine Skuas logged, of which six passing Helvick Head (Co.Waterford) on 18th were the highest tally. As for Long-tailed Skuas, the Loch of Clumlie (Shetland) bird was doing all the daily heavy lifting, with no further birds reported anywhere until 21st, when another Shetland sighting came from near local institution The Cake Fridge on the B9071. The Loch of Clumlie bird appeared to have met a sorry end when it was picked up by Hugh Harrop on 23rd – and sure enough, it died later in the day, the suspicion being that it’s the latest victim of the avian flu that’s sweeping through the seabirds of northern Scotland.

A White-billed Diver was seen from Foula (Shetland) on 22nd; another was off Cullen (Moray); and another possible that day was seen from Whitburn CP (Co.Durham). On 23rd more sightings came in – starting in Shetland, off Mainland birds were noted in South Nesting Bay and from Cunningsburgh; and one was seen off Lewis (Western Isles).

Finally, a Balearic Shearwater was lingering off Portland (Dorset) on 19th-20th.

Heading the long-legged beasties once more, Glossy Ibises continued to hold fairly steady nationwide, with around 30 birds in all noted across Britain and Ireland as a whole. Peak count came, once more, from Ham Wall RSPB (Somerset), where six birds were again logged on 21st; and six were seen on 23rd at Minsmere RSPB (Suffolk).

But we’re growing accustomed to them, so steady a presence have they been for months on end. We craved a hot new long legged bird to liven things up and, in Cambridgeshire, one was briefly obliging at Smithey Fen in the evening of 17th – a fine Squacco Heron, one of two found that day as Lodmoor RSPB (Dorset) had played host to one earlier too.

A Night Heron was recorded over Hunmanby (North Yorkshire) in the early hours of 20th.

The week began on 17th with Purple Herons at Dungeness RSPB (Kent) and Gibraltar Point NNR (Lincolnshire); did the latter account for that seen at Alkborough Flats NR (Lincolnshire) on 19th-22nd? Another was found on 19th-21st at Goonhilly Downs (Cornwall); while another was seen on 20th at Hickling Broad NWT (Norfolk). On 21st one was found in Gwent at Newport Wetlands NNR, remaining there until 23rd; and another was seen on 21st in East Yorkshire over Baswick.

A wayward Corncrake was found on Yell (Shetland) on 20th. A Spotted Crake was seen at North Duffield Carrs (North Yorkshire) on 18th, and was followed by one heard passing over Ulverston (Cumbria) in the early hours of 20th, and another recorded in the dead of night over Norwich (Norfolk) on 23rd.

Our honkers and quackers were abandoning the rarity duckpond in droves again this week, with still fewer of their kind to report in recent days.

Of the geese, we’ve just the Black Brant lingering around Kilnsea (East Yorkshire) on 18th-23rd to concern ourselves with.

Duck news this week began with a belated report of a female Baikal Teal on the sea off Flamborough (East Yorkshire) on 16th. In the wake of two wintering drakes this may have seemed to have the ring of verisimilitude about it, at least to begin with. Alas, when re-found on 19th at Thornwick Pools, a rather different ring was all too apparent – a green plastic ring of shame on one leg. A salutary reminder that all’s not necessarily as it seems with any of these rare quackers.

Five Green-winged Teals were noted this week – at The Shunan on Orkney still on 17th; at Alturlie Point (Highland) still on 17th-21st; at Slimbridge WWT (Gloucestershire) still on 17th-19th; on 18th still at Loch of Strathbeg RSPB (Aberdeenshire); and on 20th on Rogerstown estuary (Co.Dublin).

A drake American Wigeon remained on Lough Beg (Co.Derry) on 18th-23rd; and a probable female was found in Cambridgeshire at Ouse Washes RSPB on 18th.

In North Yorkshire, the drake Ferruginous Duck remained on 17th-22nd at Castle Howard – perhaps not such a surprise he was lingering when, on 22nd, the penny dropped that he’d had his wings clipped; while the female was once again seen in Staffordshire at Belvide reservoir on 22nd-23rd.

Silence for days from Ring-necked Ducks and then, on 21st, a small flurry of records – birds noted at Dungeness RSPB (Kent) still, near Ladybank (Fife) again, and on Colonsay (Argyll & Bute), the latter bird having been present the previous day also. The Dunge bird remained there on 22nd-23rd, while in Clyde the drake was once more seen on Bingham’s Pond on 22nd-23rd also.

In Scotland, the first-winter drake King Eider was once more seen from Musselburgh on 19th-21st.

Just one Surf Scoter this week, a first-winter drake seen off Benbecula (Western Isles) on 21st-23rd.

Finally our honorary wildfowl, the adult Pied-billed Grebe, was again seen in Argyll & Bute at Loch Feorlin on 19th-23rd.

Heading up the shorebirds rather than residing in the headlines solely by virtue of being, presumably, the self-same bird that featured so heavily in the headlines earlier this spring, an adult White-tailed Lapwing was found in Norfolk at Hickling Broad NWT on 23rd. Where’s it been in the meantime since it was last seen on 10th April at Snettisham CP?

The soap opera that’s this spring’s welcome influx of Black-winged Stilts continued to unfold this past week. While the focus remained, initially, in Norfolk where Hickling Broad NWT continued to host four birds on 17th-18th, dropping to two there on 19th, the national picture evolved as the days wore on. Also on 17th, one remained at Misson (Nottinghamshire), and two at Potteric Carr YWT (South Yorkshire) until 19th. 19th was marked by the discovery of two birds at Ouse Fen RSPB (Cambridgeshire), and one considerably further north, at Lochwinnoch RSPB (Clyde). On 21st, two were present at Down Level (East Sussex), and one at Wallasea Island RSPB (Essex). The week ended strongly in Norfolk where, on 23rd, five birds were seen in a secluded area of Sculthorpe Moor NR; and one was noted in flight over Hythe (Kent) at 11:35pm.

The week kicked off with two male Kentish Plovers found on 17th – one apiece for Tetney Marshes RSPB (Lincolnshire) and Aberlady Bay (Lothian). On 22nd another was found in Pembrokeshire on the Gann estuary, while a distant possible was seen at Seal Sands (Cleveland) that evening also.

Scotland laid claim to one of the week’s biggest wader stars – a Broad-billed Sandpiper that obligingly remained on North Uist (Western Isles) on 19th-21st.

Alas, the Collared Pratincole seen in Cornwall at Predannack Airfield on 19th wasn’t hanging around.

Similarly frustrating, the unconfirmed report of a Terek Sandpiper at Spurn (East Yorkshire) on 18th came to nothing further.

Three Pectoral Sandpipers lingered into the past week – at Staveley YWT (North Yorkshire) on 17th; Loch of Strathbeg RSPB (Aberdeenshire) still on 17th-19th; and at Frampton Marsh RSPB (Lincolnshire) still on 18th.

A White-rumped Sandpiper was found inland at Egleton NR (Leicestershire) on 22nd.

A Dotterel passed over Out Skerries (Shetland) on 20th; and another was seen on Unst (Shetland) a few days later on 23rd.

Some 15 Temminck’s Stints were reported this week, with duos notable at Hickling Broad NWT (Norfolk) on 18th and Frampton Marsh RSPB (Lincolnshire) again on 19th and 21st-22nd. Four were reported from the former site on 21st also.

South Yorkshire was graced on 23rd by a Lesser Yellowlegs at Old Moor RSPB.

The female Red-necked Phalarope remained at Grindon Lough (Northumberland) on 17th-23rd; while a Grey Phalarope was seen at Troon (Ayrshire) on 19th, and another on 22nd from a boat west of Ardgroom harbour (Co.Kerry).

It was the terns once more that made all the running in the weekly gulls ‘n’ terns, but more of them in just a moment. Firstly, let’s get the best of the bin bag botherers out of the way. A first-summer Bonaparte’s Gull lingered on the Exe estuary (Devon) on 17th-19th; and an adult was logged at Gibraltar Point NNR (Lincolnshire) on 20th.

Absent from the news for a while, a Ring-billed Gull remained in Cork (Co.Cork) still on 20th; and an adult was found on 22nd in Perth & Kinross at Glen Turret.

White-wingers continued their slide into summer obscurity, with barely a dozen Glaucous Gulls and a mere half dozen Iceland Gulls recorded. On Barra (Western Isles) the steadfast juvenile Kumlien’s Gull was still to be seen on 17th-19th.

And so to the terns. And where to begin, with such a decent spread of species? For the sake of a good segue, in the Western Isles where two White-winged Black Terns were logged on 18th from Lewis.

In Northumberland, the adult surinamensis American Black Tern was looking settled at Long Nanny on 17th-23rd still.

Gull-billed Terns were found in a small flurry in the early part of the week – one on Harper’s Island (Co.Cork) on 17th-19th; one in Lothian at Gosford Bay on 17th-19th; and a possible in Dorset over Lytchett Fields RSPB on 18th.

Kent and Norfolk shared the honours where Caspian Terns were concerned – a mobile bird was touring the Broads of the latter county on 19th, being noted at Hickling Broad NWT, Breydon Water and Nogdam End; while in Kent, sightings came from Swalecliffe on 18th and 20th, and Tankerton on 20th also; and on 23rd at Pegwell Bay. Back in Norfolk on 22nd-23rd the bird was once more seen at Hickling Broad NWT and, earlier on 22nd, at Snettisham CP.

Once again this week, we enjoyed some variety in the raptors on offer in Britain. Just two Red-footed Falcons were reported this week – but making up for paucity they were both together, two males in Hampshire at Beaulieu Road Station on 21st.

Scotland scored a couple of Pallid Harriers - a ringtail at Balnakeil (Highland) on 17th, and a juvenile male out on Foula (Shetland) on 18th. A Pallid / Montagu’s Harrier was seen in Dorset at Langton Matravers on 18th; and in Cornwall the male Montagu’s Harrier remained settled at Bosporthennis Common on 17th-23rd.

Black Kites continued to be noted almost daily in Britain and Ireland – the first of the week being out on Skellig Michael (Co.Kerry) on 17th, followed on 18th by individuals at Greystones (Co.Wicklow) and Steart WWT (Somerset). On 19th two birds were seen on Unst (Shetland), with at least one still present there until 21st; while another (or one of them) was seen on Mainland at Kergord on 21st and Aith on 22nd. Orkney too scored a bird on 19th on North Ronsaldsay, with another Orcadian sighting on Westray on 21st. A possible bird was seen in London at Hackney Marsh on 21st, and a probable at Shuttlewood (Derbyshire) on 22nd.

Finally, in the Western Isles the adult female Snowy Owl was once more seen on St Kilda on 22nd-23rd.

We’ll start the passerines this week with one of the birds we concluded the prior week’s round up with – a prediction of an imminent Thrush Nightingale wasn’t the greatest act of divination ever given the time of year and the prevailing conditions, but still… there was nonetheless some small measure of satisfaction in these quarters for having called it when, on 20th, a sprosser was trapped and ringed on Fair Isle (Shetland).

And so to warblers and, specifically, what we once in our naivety, happily called Subalpine Warbler. In this brave new, split world of ours, we now think of them as Eastern, Western and Moltoni’s Subalpine Warblers - shades of differentiation that have wrought merry hell with past county records of Subalpine Warbler.

Take Shetland… seven past records of Western Subalpine Warbler on the books, fully a third of the British 21 accepted birds to the end of 2019. I think we all intuitively suspect that Shetland and Britain alike have had more past birds than those figures suggest. But we’ll never know as, in most instances, the evidence simply isn’t there to make a definitive call on those past records.

And that means, in the current day, the onus is firmly on the finders of a Subalpine Warbler sp to figure out what’s before them. A fine male bird, found on 20th by the same team on Out Skerries this week who’d already got a River Warbler under their belt by that stage of their stay, was initially mooted as an Eastern Subalpine but with the caveat that its plumage was chameleon depending on the changing light conditions. A vocal bird, as the morning progressed the identification firmed up into Western Subalpine Warbler - nominally a rarer warbler in a Shetland context than said headlining River Warbler…

On Calf of Man (Isle of Man) the recently trapped and ringed female Western Subalpine Warbler was re-trapped again on 19th; while a first-summer male probable was found on North Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 22nd.

Finally, a Subalpine Warbler sp was trapped and ringed on Skokholm (Pembrokeshire) on 17th, and remained present there, though mostly unseen and, critically, unheard until 23rd. On the latter date it finally did the decent thing by calling a couple of times and revealed itself for what it was – a Moltoni’s Subalpine Warbler. Cryptic little devils, these Subalps… but this, providing it’s accepted as such, will be the first for Pembrokeshire.

Fair Isle’s (Shetland) excellent week continued with a Blyth’s Reed Warbler on 18th-23rd, trapped and ringed there on 21st; another probable was present but elusive on North Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 19th.

In Norfolk, the recent Great Reed Warbler remained in full-throated song at Snettisham CP on 17th-23rd, with a second singing bird present there on 19th and again on 22nd.

Back to Fair Isle, where a possible Iberian Chiffchaff was trapped and ringed on 18th. The probable singing bird remained in Hampshire at Otterbourne on 19th-22nd; and the singing bird was still settled in London’s Regents Park on 17th-23rd.

Icterine Warblers began to filter into the northern isles this week – Shetland birds were noted on Fetlar on 17th and Foula on 20th; Orkney got in on the act with one present on North Ronaldsay on 18th-19th, and a Stronsay bird on 20th; while one was present on the Scottish mainland at Loch of Strathbeg RSPB (Aberdeenshire) on 17th. A possible, much further south, was reported from Sywell CP (Northamptonshire) on 19th.

If the week was notable for anything, it had to be Golden Orioles - while there was perhaps some duplication in records at some sites, with these mobile and at times elusive birds teasing their observers, a significant arrival was certainly under way. Around 75 birds were reported over the course of the week, with some sites notching up multiple birds at once. Three were present on St Mary’s (Scilly) at Jac-a-Ba on 19th; surpassed only by five birds logged at West Runton (Norfolk) on 20th.

We did well for Bee-eaters too, with some 35 individuals logged in recent days, foremost of which was a flock of a dozen birds inland at Stonebow Washlands (Leicestershire) on 17th, closely followed by a party of eight that hung around Bockhill Farm (Kent) on 22nd.

A handful of Hoopoes were noted – birds present on 17th at Beaminster (Dorset) and North Shields (Northumberland); on 20th at Praa Sands (Cornwall); on 20th-22nd at Killingworth (Northumberland); and on 23rd at Wapsey’s Wood (Buckinghamshire).

More often associated with late autumnal arrivals, a cracking Pallid Swift was an excellent spring find in Northumberland on 18th, being seen heading south over Seaton Point early that morning.

Fair numbers of Red-rumped Swallows continued to be seen for another week – single birds at Low Newton-by-the-Sea (Northumberland) on 18th; on 19th at Spurn (East Yorkshire); and on 21st at Skewjack (Cornwall) and in Kent at South Foreland, Bockhill Farm and Shuart. Two lingered on South Uist (Western Isles) on 19th-22nd, with one still present on 23rd. On 22nd one was reported in Essex at Frinton-on-Sea; and, on 23rd, another was found over Westhay Moor NNR (Somerset).

North Ronaldsay (Orkney) got itself a Short-toed Lark on 17th-18th; another was found at Sheringham (Norfolk) on 17th; while on 23rd a final bird was discovered on Bryher (Scilly).

The week started with a Woodchat Shrike on private land in Devon near Newton Abbot on 17th; further birds were seen in Pembrokeshire at Castlemartin on 18th-23rd, and out on Skomer on 19th-20th. North Yorkshire got a bird on 22nd near Hovingham, while another that day was turned up in Cornwall near Porthgwarra and remained on 23rd. Also on 23rd, one was found in East Yorkshire at Flamborough.

Red-backed Shrikes were turning up in greater, though still modest numbers – one present on Fair Isle (Shetland) on 17th-20th had a companion on the island on 18th; elsewhere in Shetland single birds were noted on Out Skerries and Muckle Roe on 18th; and back in Pembrokeshire one was on Skomer on 18th-20th. On 22nd one was seen on Fylingdales Moor (North Yorkshire).

An unconfirmed report came of a Great Grey Shrike in Highland at Kinlochewe on 20th.

A small arrival of Rose-coloured Starlings made it into the far English southwest – birds being found on Scilly on St Mary’s on 19th and St Martin’s on 20th-21st; and in Cornwall on The Lizard on 19th.

Bluethroats remained very much a northern English and Scottish highlight of recent days, with Shetland particularly blessed – of the 20 or so birds noted this week, Fair Isle and Out Skerries both enjoyed trios on 17th, while two were seen on Unst on 20th.

Out Skerries and Unst also shared the Shetland honours for Red-breasted Flycatchers, on 17th and 18th respectively; another was seen at Tarbat Ness (Highland) on 18th.

And so to the wagtails, and by a country mile the best of the myriad wagtail subspecies of note this week had to be the personata Masked Wagtail found at Sammy’s Point (East Yorkshire) on 18th and adjacent Kilnsea the following day – only the second British record of this dapper subspecies of White Wagtail.

While some dozen Blue-headed Wagtails were noted nationally in recent days, the week belonged to Grey-headed Wagtails, with a chunky haul of some 20 birds – of which West Runton (Norfolk) enjoyed the lion’s share, with half a dozen seen there alone on 19th.

A Tawny Pipit, found on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 19th, may also have accounted for the bird latterly found on St Martin’s on 21st-22nd.

Common Rosefinches began to trickle in this week, with a handful found over the course of the passing days – at Waxham (Norfolk) on 18th; on Tiree (Argyll & Bute) and Yell (Shetland) on 20th; on South Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 21st; and on Unst (Shetland), and heard singing on Portland (Dorset) on 23rd.

A wide scatter of Serins were also seen – at Freshwater Bay (Isle of Wight) and The Lizard (Cornwall) on 19th; on Skokholm (Pembrokeshire) on 20th; and on Fair Isle (Shetland) on 20th-23rd. Things went a little loopy on 22nd with a flock of five birds seen at South Foreland (Kent); and singletons at Gibraltar Point NNR (Lincolnshire), and Culver Down (Isle of Wight).

A possible Ortolan Bunting flew over Fowlmere (Cambridgeshire) on 22nd.

A quartet of Scottish records of Rustic Bunting were found this week – on 17th on Noss and Out Skerries (Shetland), and trapped and ringed on the Isle of May (Fife); and on 19th on Fair Isle (Shetland).

Finally, and magnificently, a cracking male Black-headed Bunting was found on Bryher (Scilly) on 23rd; one was reported from the morning on neighbouring St Mary’s.

In Germany a Pygmy Cormorant was seen on 21st at Hemelinger Aussendeich.

Danish waters this week were graced by a Wilson’s Petrel some 62 miles west of Thyboron on 21st. The Steppe Eagle remained at Skagen on 22nd, and a Bonelli’s Eagle was seen from there on 23rd.

Norway got itself a Ross’s Gull at Vealos on 21st-22nd.

Finally, in Spain, the recent Lesser Flamingo remained at Laguna de Fuente de Piedra on 17th.

Last week’s closing predictions were unusually accurate, so it’s perhaps time to stop playing it uncharacteristically safe and throw some caution to the wind for the coming week. It is, after all, late May, and we’re closing in on the time when the hoary old adage of the big one travelling late and alone begins to ring true.

They come little bigger than White-throated Needletail - with only seven latterday records since 1950 and, one way or another, no easy ones amongst them to connect with, it’s one of the ultimate birds on the British list. And just look at those things – a missile in bird form, clad in plumage of Airwolf hues. Stonking.

And four of those post-1950 birds were found in the final week of May, the length of Britain from Kent to Shetland. The timing, at least, is auspicious…

 

Jon Dunn

24th May 2022

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

 

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