Weekly birding round-up: 12 - 18 Jul 2022
The mercury rose, inexorably, as the week just gone wore on and, as we stand on the cusp of a new week ahead, doesn’t look like it’s peaked just yet. The week come seems set, miserably, to break the record highest temperature ever recorded in Britain, an unwelcome distinction if ever there was one. And the birding? The week to come remains an unknown entity, while the week just gone was, if not red-hot, then certainly not too bad given the time of year.
After a couple of records in the early 1960s, Lincolnshire had a long wait before its next Stilt Sandpiper - the third county record being one present at Frampton Marsh RSPB on 22nd August – 3rd September 2018.
That thirteen day stay qualified as the shortest on record for a Lincolnshire Stilt Sand, so hopes may be justifiably high that the bird found this week at Alkborough Flats NR briefly on 15th might hang around for a while in the county.
And so far, so good for this, the fourth county record – still present at Alkborough Flats NR on 16th-18th and, at times, showing well. What with this and recent golden plovers of various flavours in Ireland, autumn wader migration is off to a strong start.
While many birders were enjoying returning to the birders’ Glastonbury, the phoenix-like Global Bird Fair in Rutland over the weekend, there was an enduring distraction to be found further north in East Yorkshire throughout the week, in the attractive form of the Turkestan Shrike still present near Bempton Cliffs RSPB until 18th. A 22 day stay to date has been a marvellous opportunity for birders to catch up with this magnificent bird.
Once more topping the seabirds for yet another week, the steady adult Black-browed Albatross remained at Bempton Cliffs RSPB (East Yorkshire) on 12th-17th.
A possible Great Shearwater reported at Southport (Lancashire & North Merseyside) on 12th was followed, on 13th, by two seen from the Scillonian and a further bird on 14th from a Scilly pelagic.
A probable Balearic Shearwater was seen passing St Mary’s Island (Northumberland) on 17th, and a confirmed bird also in Northumberland on 18th off Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.
Pomarine Skuas were represented by single birds seen from Long Nab (North Yorkshire) on 14th, on 16th from Flamborough (East Yorkshire) and Salterstown Pier (Co.Louth), and on 17th from Kinghorn (Fife).
A Long-tailed Skua was seen in the morning of 17th off Dysart (Fife), and another on 18th was noted from Whitburn CP (Co.Durham).
In Kent, the recent first-summer Night Heron was seen intermittently again at Oare Marshes KWT on 12th-18th and, in Norfolk, the adult bird was again at Cley NWT on 17th.
A Purple Heron was again seen at Nanjizal (Cornwall) on 15th-16th; a probable was seen in the morning of 18th in Cornwall heading north past Sennen, while later in the morning a bird was present at Porth reservoir before also moving on east.
Some 25 Glossy Ibises reported from around Britain – one in Ireland at Ring Marsh on 14th and two at Lady’s Island Lake (Co.Wexford) being the exceptions – kept the species firmly on the British birding radar for another week. Our peak count came from Welney WWT (Norfolk) where nine birds were logged on 16th.
The rarity duckpond was a lonely place this past week, with barely a quacker of note breaking the mirror calm.
Two American Wigeons remained in Co.Derry at Lough Beg on 14th.
Also on 14th, the first-summer King Eider was hanging around off Musselburgh (Lothian), and was seen again there on 18th.
And finally, our honorary waterfowl, the adult male Pied-billed Grebe, was once more seen and heard in song at Loch Feorlin (Argyll & Bute) on 13th-17th.
The family of half a dozen Black-winged Stilts continued to make good progress at Potteric Carr YWT (South Yorkshire) on 12th-18th, and were joined briefly in the news by another family of six birds – also two adults and four chicks – at Welney WWT (Norfolk) on 12th-14th.
An American Golden Plover flew over Killinick (Co.Wexford) on 15th.
Kentish Plovers were found this week at The Naze (Essex) on 13th, and briefly at Snettisham RSPB (Norfolk) on 15th.
Snettisham RSPB also held onto a White-rumped Sandpiper on 12th-16th still; while another was found on Pool of Virkie (Shetland) on 17th-18th.
Pectoral Sandpipers were found scattered across Britain – one in Aberdeenshire at Loch of Strathbeg RSPB on 13th-16th; another in Kent at Dungeness RSPB on 15th-17th; one more at Frodsham Marsh (Cheshire) on 17th-18th; and final birds at Slimbridge WWT (Gloucestershire) and Mill of Rango on Mainland Orkney on 18th, with a further probable bird that day at Wedholme Flow (Cumbria).
A Temminck’s Stint was again seen in South Yorkshire at Eddersthorpe Flash on 13th-15th, with another found on 12th at Low Newton-by-the-Sea (Northumberland).
Lastly, a Lesser Yellowlegs in Hampshire at Normandy Marsh on 13th-18th briefly flirted with greater things. An intriguingly marked bird that proved to be, at the very least, thought-provoking and one that challenged some preconceptions.
Starting to look settled once more, in Kent the adult Bonaparte’s Gull was seen regularly at Oare Marshes KWT on 13th-18th.
In Ireland, a first-summer Ring-billed Gull was present at Liscannor (Co.Clare) on 13th.
The adult Sabine’s Gull continued to delight a steady stream of admirers at Jenny Brown’s Point (Lancashire & North Merseyside) on 12th-14th. Somewhat further afield for most, another was seen at sea off the Skellig Islands (Co.Kerry) on 12th, another passed over Scousburgh on Shetland Mainland on 15th, and final birds were seen from North Ronaldsay (Orkney) and South Uist (Western Isles) on 18th.
In Highland & Caithness two Glaucous Gulls remained at Brora on 12th, and one was seen on 18th at Golspie; and single birds were seen on the Orkney Mainland at Birsay on 14th, and the Lossie estuary (Moray) on 16th.
A first-summer Iceland Gull was present at Magheroarty (Co.Donegal) on 17th.
Terns remained a potent midsummer force for yet another week and, while not packing the rarity punch of some of their tribe, there was no gainsaying the sheer presence of the largest of them all, an excellent showing of Caspian Terns across England. Cleveland served as something of an epicentre for sightings, with birds noted at several sites as the days wore on, but two birds being seen at Greatham Creek on 12th, and Saltholme RSPB on 13th-15th and 17th. One was again seen on 12th at Hickling Broad NWT (Norfolk), and another on the Severn estuary (Gloucestershire) at Epney on 12th, the latter bird being seen again there on 14th-17th and Slimbridge WWT on 18th. Dorset got a bird at Stanpit Marsh on 13th-16th, and Brownsea Island NT on 16th; while one was seen at an undisclosed site in Highland & Caithness on 16th, and a bird flew over Cresswell Pond NWT (Northumberland) that day also. A possible bird was seen heading southeast over Ripon (North Yorkshire) on 17th.
In Northumberland, the adult surinamensis American Black Tern was still present at Long Nanny on 12th-18th.
Rarer fare was one offer in Ireland, where the Elegant Tern was once more seen at Lady’s Island Lake (Co.Wexford) on 12th and later in the week at Inishroo (Co.Galway) on 18th, the latter record a county first; and the Least Tern near Portrane (Co.Dublin) again on 14th and 17th.
A couple of confirmed Black Kites made up the best of the week’s raptors, being noted at Hartland Point (Devon) and Predannack (Cornwall) on 12th; the same day also producing a probable at Amberley (West Sussex), and a possible at Charminster (Dorset). Another possible bird was seen in Northumberland at Hadston on 17th.
Midsummer colour made up the best of the week’s passerines, and for that we’ve nowhere better to start than in Norfolk where the breeding party of half a dozen Bee-eaters were still present, though not always seen in full numbers, in the sand quarry outside Trimingham on 12th-18th. Another report came of one, heard only, at Bosherton (Pembrokeshire) on 12th.
We’ve now installed a live camera on the Norfolk bee-eater nests, capturing amazing moments like this!
— Fabian Harrison (@fabianharrison_) July 16, 2022
?? Watch from 7am-9pm each day and let us know what you see https://t.co/6OccOJGpl4 pic.twitter.com/tkteCTRRcY
A Hoopoe was seen in West Sussex near Cocking on 13th.
Adding some lustre to the week’s ongoing shrike show in East Yorkshire, a male Woodchat Shrike was found on Skomer (Pembrokeshire) on 12th.
The mobile Rose-coloured Starling was again seen at and near Kilnsea Wetlands (East Yorkshire) on 12th, while the other recent individual remained in Wales at Llangwyryfon (Ceredigion) on 12th-15th, and another was found on 17th on South Uist (Western Isles). One was reported again from Holm on Orkney on 17th.
A singing Golden Oriole was heard in Suffolk at Hintlesham on 17th.
A possible Iberian Chiffchaff was heard in song at Scarborough (North Yorkshire) on 16th.
A Blue-headed Wagtail was seen again at Hesketh Out Marsh RSPB (Lancashire & North Merseyside) on 16th, with another logged on Skomer (Pembrokeshire) on 13th. A further probable bird was noted over Nanjizal (Cornwall) on 15th.
Finally, mixing things up with the merest hint of autumn – or is it still late spring? – a Common Rosefinch was found on Gibraltar Point NNR (Lincolnshire) on 14th, with another possible reported that day also from Ingram (Northumberland).
Pick of the week’s overseas news came from Norway, where a spectacular Yellow-browed Bunting was seen near Berlevåg airport on 12th. A rare enough proposition in Europe at the best of times, let alone midsummer, this was a national first for the country.
Male Yellow-browed Bunting, Emberiza chrysophrys photographed at Tanahorn, Berlevåg, Finnmark by Przemyslaw Antoni Kunysz & Magdalena Duszynska - the 1st record for Norway pic.twitter.com/oSs00RzXNt
— Tarsiger (@TarsigerTeam) July 12, 2022
Tern news from France concerned the Bridled Tern still on Île aux Moutons on 12th-17th, and an Elegant Tern at Grau de Piemanson on 12th-16th. The singing White-throated Sparrow remained at Les Bouchoux on 12th-16th; and a White-rumped Swift at a Red-rumped Swallow nest again at Minerve on 8th-17th.
In Spain, Western Reef Egrets remained at Platja d’Aro on 14th, and in Madrid at San Martin de la Vega on 12th-18th. An Elegant Tern was on the Ebro Delta at Llacuna de la Tancada on 16th.
Finally, way out on the Azores, Semipalmated Plovers were seen on Pico on 14th still, and Terceira on 17th.
By the time this Rarity Round Up hits the press, there’s a fair chance that the British record temperature (38.7C, in Cambridge in 2019) will have already fallen to the mounting heatwave that’s building even as I write. What this means for our prospects of new rarities in the week to come is anybody’s guess.
(Though I daresay our newly resident population of Glossy Ibises will be feeling right at home…)
If the past week taught us anything, it ought to be that it’s now firmly rare wader o’clock, and a glance at the historic records for the third week of July serves up a fine array of past glories. Great Knot, Hudsonian Godwit, Lesser Sand Plover, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher…
All have had one past record from the week to come. Two of those – the Great Knot and the Short-billed Dowitcher were on Co.Dublin’s Swords estuary, making it clearly the place to be scouring in the coming days.
Joking aside, estuaries and coastal wetlands deserve closer than ever scrutiny this week. Something good might be lurking out there for us.
Jon Dunn
19 Jul 2022
Many thanks to all this week's contributors for your photos and videos
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