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Weekly birding round-up: 24 - 30 May 2022

The week just gone was a memorable one, with a strong candidate for bird of the decade, let alone bird of the year, found in Kent. Hyperbole? Well, arguably not in this instance. Some species are resolutely rare in these parts and have built a staunch reputation for being almost impossible to catch up with. One such finally fell this week…

 

A covetous scan through the British list soon highlights a small number of species that have, after an individual made a brief stay here some 40 years ago, utterly failed to rematerialize in the form of another twitchable bird. The White-winged Lark of October 1981 in Norfolk being one such; the White-crowned Black Wheatear of June 1982 in Suffolk being another. Birds to conjure with and, for those who saw them, the source of some quiet satisfaction as the years turn into decades that pass by without a whiff of another sighting.

Eleonora’s Falcon isn’t one of those birds and yet, somehow, it’s almost been worse since Britain’s first spent 8th-9th August 1977 at Formby Point (Lancashire). It’s easier to swallow a persistent blocker when there aren’t any subsequent accepted examples on the British list. But that’s not been the way of this enigmatic falcon. There have been (mostly unsubstantiated) reports of birds, almost annually, to the point where they’ve – perhaps a little unfairly – become a byword with Booted Eagle for single observer records that go nowhere.

Which isn’t to say they’ve not been turning up here, for their place on the British list has been incrementally cemented since that first bird, with seven more records accepted down the years. The last three, at Maldon (Essex) on 13th September 2008, Porthgwarra (Cornwall) on 11th August 2012, and Winterton (Norfolk) on 20th August 2020, were all photographed, providing irrefutable proof to the naysayers of the immense good fortune that had befallen their finders. This, surely, was the way ahead – in an age of widespread and high quality digital cameras, genuine Eleonora’s Falcons, like a number of outrageous seabird species, were going to be recorded for posterity and not be consigned to the footnotes of the rueful stories birders swap years later over a pint or two.

And for a while this week, it looked like another example had been added to that roster – a bird photographed and posted online as a Hobby over Sandwich Bay (Kent) in the morning of 26th was swiftly re-identified as an Eleonora’s Falcon. What was, presumably, the same bird was then reported in the early afternoon inland at Stodmarsh NNR.

So far, so familiar. We know the drill with Eleonora’s Falcons by now – all of the handful of accepted birds, post-Formby, have been one-day birds. That’s the point where the story ends.

Except, at long last, it didn’t.

The morning of 27th was still young when news broke of the bird back at Sandwich again, seen over Worth Marsh – a first-summer male pale morph Eleonora’s Falcon. And one that would, as the day unfolded, prove to be twitchable by those who could drop everything and hit the road to east Kent. ‘Working from home’? Yeah, right…

The bird turned out to be eminently obliging, remaining in the area off and on throughout the day and, in a touch of additional lustre, sharing the area with a female Red-footed Falcon. Consistently present throughout the weekend and into the new week on 30th, to the delight of a steady stream of admirers, one of the big blockers had finally fallen after all.

 

Given that the first Short-toed Eagle for Britain was as recently as 1999, the wonderful juvenile that spent five days on Scilly in early October, we couldn’t have endured quite so many years of hurt as Eleonora’s Falcon elicited. And better yet, there was the subsequent summering bird that toured southern Britain between Wareham Forest (Dorset), the New Forest (Hampshire) and Ashdown Forest (West Sussex) in May-July 2014 before, in a final flourish, passing through Surrey en route to Norfolk. A genuine crowd-pleaser, this bird.

None of which is to in any way diminish the significance of a Short-toed Eagle in Britain – they remain rarities of the highest calibre to this day.

Last year came the news that one had been seen at an undisclosed site in Highland & Caithness on 20th June – after several southern English records, Scotland now had a wayward bird of its own. That was remarkable enough, but this week the story took a dramatic further twist – what one has to assume must be the same bird was again seen in Highland & Caithness, near Lairg on 24th.

Three eagle species in Britain in a morning? Whoever would have thought that could happen… But there it was. Where has the bird been in the meantime? Has it passed, unseen, through Britain again to return to Scotland for another summer? Or did it never go away? One thing’s for sure, this one won’t be an easy bird to catch up with.

Not easy, but possible. The bird remained in the Loch Grudie area on 27th-28th – for those prepared to put the hard miles in, a massive Scottish tick could be in the offing.

 

Still showing no signs of abandoning East Yorkshire – at least for longer than it takes to go to sea to feed – the adult Black-browed Albatross was still to be seen at Bempton Cliffs RSPB this week on 24th-30th. A second North Sea individual was also seen heading north past Zeeland (Netherlands) in the early morning of 28th.

Skua passage continued to trickle by the Scottish coast in recent days. There were no big numbers this week – Pomarine Skuas totalled around 85 birds, with a peak count of 33 from North Uist (Western Isles) on 25th; while North Uist also accounted for the best of the weekly national total of 30 or so Long-tailed Skuas, with 14 birds seen from there on 25th also.

Shetland was once more a nexus for White-billed Diver sightings – birds were logged this week from Cunningsburgh still on 24th and in adjacent Mousa Sound on 25th; off Foula again on 27th; from Gletness on 27th also; and passing Wats Ness on 28th. Away from Shetland, one was found on 29th at Loch Ryan (Dumfries & Galloway).

Balearic Shearwaters were again noted off Portland (Dorset) on 25th, 27th and 29th; while one was seen from Berry Head (Devon) on 27th.

Finally, a Leach’s Petrel was seen from North Uist (Western Isles) passing Aird an Runair on 26th, and another off Islay (Argyll & Bute) in the evening of 29th.

 

What a week it was for long-legged beasties across Britain and Ireland and nowhere more so than in Co.Cork where White’s Marsh hosted both a Squacco Heron and a Purple Heron on 27th-30th.

Further Purple Herons were seen at Dungness (Kent) again on 25th; in Suffolk at King’s Fleet on 26th, Walberswick NNR on 26th-27th, and Minsmere RSPB on 29th; in Lincolnshire at Anderby Creek on 26th; in Cornwall at Delabole on 28th; and on Tresco (Scilly) on 29th.

A couple of Little Bitterns were logged also – one in the morning of 26th in Lincolnshire at Healing, and another singing in the magnificent surroundings of Ham Wall RSPB on the Somerset Levels on 28th.

Ham Wall RSPB also continued to host some Glossy Ibises, with three birds still present there on 24th – only a small proportion of the 40 or so birds noted nationwide, with larger flocks available, particularly in the east. Eight birds were present at Berry Fen (Cambridgeshire) on 27th; and six lingered at Minsmere RSPB (Suffolk) on 27th-29th.

Finally, a Black Stork was reported passing over Newhaven Heights (East Sussex) mid-afternoon on 29th.

 

The rarity duckpond was rapidly drying up this past week, with barely a honker or quacker of note reported for days on end.

In Shetland, a Green-winged Teal put in a brief appearance on the enticing pool at Haroldswick on Unst on 25th; another Shetland sighting came on 30th from Loch of Greista on Mainland.

The drake American Wigeon remained on Lough Beg (Co.Derry) on 24th.

In Staffordshire, the female Ferruginous Duck was once more finding Belvide reservoir to her liking on 26th-30th.

In some regards the rarest sighting of the week at this juncture in the year, a new duck of substance, a drake Lesser Scaup was found on 29th-30th in Merseyside at Marshside RSPB.

A handful of scattered Ring-necked Ducks were noted this week – the drake still in county of the moment Kent at Dungeness on 24th-30th; a drake still on Bingham’s Pond (Clyde) on 24th-29th; a drake on Achill Island (Co.Mayo) on 30th; and females at Drift reservoir (Cornwall) on 25th, and Holme Pierrepont (Nottinghamshire) on 28th.

In Scotland, the first-winter drake King Eider was once more seen from Musselburgh on 28th and again on 30th, while the drake was again seen on Loch Fleet (Highland) on 25th.

The first-winter drake Surf Scoter remained in Stinky Bay, Benbecula (Western Isles) on 24th-28th.

 

We love a good two bird theory in these quarters, so the hypothesis that the adult White-tailed Lapwing, still present as the week began in Norfolk at 24th, was in fact a different individual to that which toured East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in the course of the past year was always likely to appeal. Plumage details hint that it might be… but the way it’s heading back north towards its former stamping grounds, being tracked through Lincolnshire at Rimac on 26th-27th and Saltfleetby NNR on 28th, suggest it might yet be one and the same bird. Then again, good habitat is good habitat, and who’s to say two birds wouldn’t like the same damp places? And how the discovery of a bird – the bird? – in Greater Manchester in the afternoon of 29th at Bickershaw CP accords with any of this theorising is moot. The main thing being that this is a superb bird for local birders, and stayed put into 30th.

Dropping from the news somewhat this week, though that’s not to say they aren’t still out there and have better things to do, we heard nary a thing about Black-winged Stilts until 29th when three were seen at Chew Valley Lake (Somerset).

An American Golden Plover was found in Co.Wexford at Tacumshin on 29th-30th.

A male Kentish Plover was seen in, where better, Kent at Pegwell Bay on 25th.

At the opposite end of the country, three Dotterels were noted on Unst (Shetland) on 24th, and one more on North Uist (Western Isles) on 29th-30th.

A Temminck’s Stint was reported from Minsmere RSPB (Suffolk) on 24th; another was seen in Lincolnshire at Frampton Marsh RSPB on 28th; and the Letham Pools (Fife) individual was seen again there on 29th.

Ireland enjoyed a brace of decent sandpipers in recent days, with a Spotted Sandpiper on the Grand Canal near Naas (Co.Kildare) on 27th, and a Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Clogheen Marsh (Co.Cork) on 28th.

A Pectoral Sandpiper was found on 29th at Gibraltar Point NNR (Lincolnshire), with another that day in Essex at East Tilbury; and a final bird on 30th at Letham Pools (Fife).

In South Yorkshire the strong>Lesser Yellowlegs remained at Old Moor RSPB on 24th-26th. Another was seen on 30th in Co.Cork at Clogheen Marsh.

A female Red-necked Phalarope was seen in Hampshire at Lymington on 26th; another was reported from Attenborough NR (Nottinghamshire) on 28th; and, on 30th, a mobile bird was seen in Berkshire at Theale GPs.

Lastly, a probable Collared Pratincole was seen over Frampton Marsh RSPB (Lincolnshire) on 30th.

 

Best of the gulls this week was, once again, a first-summer Bonaparte’s Gull, this time a brief visitor to Ouse Washes RSPB (Cambridgeshire) on 26th.

A first-summer Ring-billed Gull, meanwhile, lingered off Benbecula (Western Isles) in Stinky Bay on 27th-30th.

White-wingers reduced to a mere half dozen apiece of Glaucous Gulls and Iceland Gulls while, for the first time in ages, there was no news of the lingering juvenile Kumlien’s Gull in Barra (Western Isles).

Perhaps the long-staying baton has been handed to the returning adult surinamensis American Black Tern, still present this week in Northumberland at Long Nanny on 24th-30th.

Kent and Norfolk again shared the honours where Caspian Terns were concerned – one remained at Hickling Broad NWT (Norfolk) on 24th-26th while, in Kent, sightings of presumably the same mobile individual came from Pegwell Bay on 24th-27th, South Foreland on 27th, and inland at Stodmarsh NNR in the evening of 26th.

Radipole Lake RSPB (Dorset) landed itself a brief Gull-billed Tern in the morning of 29th – last seen heading off high to the north. Another was found on 30th at Tacumshin (Co.Wexford).

 

It’s not many weeks of the year that have not one but two headlining raptors but, as we’ve seen, that was the case during the week just gone. And, as mentioned at the top of the piece, the fabulous male Eleonora’s Falcon in Kent was sharing the Worth area with a female Red-footed Falcon for good measure on 27th-30th.

Nor was that the only Red-footed Falcon of recent days. Another female was seen on 24th in Suffolk at Boyton Marshes RSPB; two birds were again seen in Hampshire at Beaulieu Road Station on 27th; and a bird passed over Nanjizal Valley (Cornwall) on 29th. A final possible was seen on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 30th.

Nanjizal was having a good day on 29th, for a probable male Pallid Harrier was seen over there too that day.

A female Montagu’s Harrier was seen in East Yorkshire at Blacktoft Sands RSPB on 25th. Another was seen fleetingly on 29th at Holland Haven CP (Essex), with a further possible that day in Norfolk near Choseley.

Some half dozen Black Kites were logged over the course of the week. On 24th one was at Langford Lakes NR (Wiltshire), and a probable bird was noted at Beaminster (Dorset); one was seen in Cumbria at Egremont on 25th; a Hampshire sighting came from Fishlake Meadows HIWWT on 27th; and on 28th birds were seen at Otterbourne (Hampshire) and Wadebridge (Cornwall). On 29th one was seen in Hampshire over Martin Down NNR; further sightings came from Cornwall at Marazion RSPB and Skewjack, with a probable bird at Porthleven, and a further Cornish possible at Predannack. The week closed with a final bird seen on the Isle of Wight at Brading Marsh RSPB on 30th.

Two headlining raptors? Well. It might have been three, had the possible Long-legged Buzzard reported on The Lizard (Cornwall) on 30th have coalesced into something more concrete. Perhaps one to watch in the coming week…

 

There’s heaps to go at during this late spring week, so we’ll kick off with Cornwall’s cracking south-eastern mega from the prior week, the Roller outside Camborne at Praze-an-Beeble still on 24th-30th, and go from there into other colourful, literal and metaphorically, passerine news.

Some 40 Bee-eaters were logged this past week, with a handful of small flocks amongst their number. Largest of those were the eight birds again around Bockhill Farm (Kent) on 25th; but trios were also noted on Bryher (Scilly) on 24th, and at Angmering (West Sussex) on 27th; then, on 29th, four birds were seen in Devon over Trentishoe; and four were present on Scilly on St Mary’s on 30th, with four also that day in Cornwall at Boscregan.

A few Hoopoes were seen this week – one at Mylor Bridge (Cornwall) on 24th, another at Wakering Stairs (Essex) on 28th, and one at Oare Marshes KWT (Kent) on 30th.

Potentially ascending to the giddy heights of the headlines but for the brevity of the sightings, a Little Swift was reported from London in the area of Lee and Cold Colfeians Sports Ground on 26th-27th.

More substantial, Alpine Swifts were seen at Old Harry Rocks (Dorset) on 26th-27th, and Gosforth (Northumberland) on 26th-27th.

A Wryneck was noted at Callander (Forth) on 27th.

Some 25 or so Golden Orioles were recorded this week, from Scilly to Shetland – a solid haul of gold, but considerably down on the prior week’s tally.

Norwich (Norfolk) landed the best of the week’s shrikes, again betraying a recent south-easterly bias to our latest bird arrivals – a smart male Lesser Grey Shrike found on 28th.

Woodchat Shrikes remained at Castlemartin (Pembrokeshire) on 24th, and Flamborough (East Yorkshire) on 24th-29th. Another was seen at Cogden Beach (Dorset) on 24th-27th.

St Mary’s (Scilly) meanwhile landed a couple of Red-backed Shrikes - a male on 25th, and a female on 28th.

Scilly also sported Short-toed Lark on Bryher on 24th and 26th still, and on St Mary’s on 24th-29th.

Numbers of Red-rumped Swallows have diminished significantly from their high of a few weeks past, but four were nonetheless seen this past week. One remained on South Uist (Western Isles) on 24th-25th; and further birds were found on 25th at Easington (East Yorkshire) and Low Newton-by-the-Sea (Northumberland); and on 27th at Kilnsea Wetlands (East Yorkshire).

Onto the warblers, and news that the singing male Iberian Chiffchaff was still in London’s Regents Park on 24th-30th, and the probable was still down in Hampshire at Otterbourne on 24th-28th also.

Skokholm’s (Pembrokeshire) Moltoni’s Warbler remained on there on 25th-29th.

Female Subalpine Warbler sp were seen in Shetland on Out Skerries on 23rd-27th, and Foula on 27th-30th.

Kent’s recent golden run of form continued at the weekend with the discovery of an occasionally singing but mostly reliably elusive male Sardinian Warbler at South Foreland on 28th-30th.

Unable to compete in aesthetic terms, but always winning for volume, the singing Great Reed Warbler remained at Snettisham CP (Norfolk) on 24th-30th; and another was found on 24th at Hook-with-Warsash LNR (Hampshire).

An Icterine Warbler at Scousburgh (Shetland) on 24th was all we heard of the species this week until 29th, when another was found on Skokholk (Pembrokeshire).

A report of an Isabelline Wheatear at Porlock Marsh (Somerset) on 27th came to nothing more concrete.

Bluethroats were logged this week at Peterhead (Aberdeenshire) still on 24th, and on St Kilda (Western Isles) on 28th.

A Rose-coloured Starling was seen on 25th on Barra (Western Isles); and another unconfirmed report came of a bird on 29th at Kinlochbervie (Highland & Caithness).

Tiree (Argyll & Bute) got itself a Red-breasted Flycatcher on 24th.

Some half a dozen Blue-headed Wagtails were seen nationwide in the course of recent days. Less numerous were Grey-headed Wagtails, with just the one lingering on Unst (Shetland) on 24th-25th; an even scarcer was the male feldegg Black-headed Wagtail found on 28th at Cors Caron NR (Ceredigion).

Common Rosefinches were seen in Shetland on Unst on 24th-26th, with two birds present on the latter date; and Fetlar on 26th, and Foula on 28th. One was found in song much further south in Essex at The Naze on 25th, and further singing birds on 29th on Fair Isle (Shetland), Pendeen (Cornwall) and Sandy Point (Hampshire). The coastal monopoly on singing birds was broken on 30th with one heard inland in Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire).

Serins, meanwhile, were found on 24th at Kilnsea (East Yorkshire); nearby Easington on 25th; on Fair Isle (Shetland) still on 25th-30th; on Portland (Dorset) on 26th; on 28th at Great Orme (Conwy); and, on 30th, at Spurn (East Yorkshire) and King’s Lynn (Norfolk).

A Rustic Bunting was found on Barra (Western Isles) on 26th, and another on Unst (Shetland) on 30th.

And, finally, Black-headed Buntings were seen this week on Bryher (Scilly) still on 24th-27th, and on Mull (Argyll & Bute) on 24th also.

 

For a change, we start the overseas news in Norway, where the displaced Sandhill Crane was found on 26th at Kvaløysletta, and a Cretzschmar’s Bunting on 28th at Stemdalen.

In Denmark, the Steppe Eagle remained at Skagen on 27th.

The Western Swamphen was still in the Netherlands at Het Nieuwe Waterschap on 28th.

Belgium scored a first-summer drake King Eider at Het Zwin on 28th-29th.

Southern France was graced by a Masked Shrike at Salin-de-Giraud on 28th.

Finally, in Spain, the recent Lesser Flamingo remained at Laguna de Fuente de Piedra on 28th.

 

The first week of June looms ahead of us now, but that’s not to say that spring migration is done with us just yet. Waders, at the very least, are still on the move out there, and the coming week offers some possibilities for those scanning the muddy margins of their local patches.

Pratincoles of all three flavours on the British list have historic form for the days ahead and, were we to fancy a wader with the same sort of hard to come by cachet as Eleonora’s Falcon, one of Britain’s precious few Caspian Plovers was found on 3rd-4th June 1996 in Shetland at Skelberry.

Another of those would be a longshot. More likely is another Broad-billed Sandpiper or, perhaps, a Terek Sandpiper - eight past examples of the latter owe themselves to the coming week. One more might be quietly popular.

 

Jon Dunn
31 May 2022

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

 

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