Weekly birding round-up: 19 - 25 Jul 2022
Scorchio doesn’t even come close to describing the weather in the week just gone, with records well and truly smashed, and a legacy of parched earth, wilting plants, and the inevitable careless wildfires in their wake.
Cracking the flags, certainly, but not breaking a great deal of new ground where fresh rarities were concerned. Apart from sea-watching beginning to build a head of steam, the week was a fairly quiet one on the birding front. Thankfully, a couple of settled rarities were on hand to provide an ongoing diversion.
You’ve gotta love a good Stilt Sandpiper - prone to turning up here, settling down, learning to love their newfound surroundings and, critically, not sodding off overnight leaving disappointed birders in their wake. Of course, if all birds were like that, birding would be no fun whatsoever, but still… it’s hard not to feel some warmth towards a species that does the decent thing.
First found at Alkborough Flats NR (Lincolnshire) on 15th, here we are at week’s end on 25th and the bird is still obligingly present – prone to vanishing from time to time, but generally there if one puts in the hours. Lincolnshire’s fourth record of the species is chasing down the thirteen day record of the species’ shortest stay in the county.
Similarly obliging and showing no signs whatsoever of moving on any time soon, Bempton Cliffs RSPB’s Turkestan Shrike is making an albatross-esque case for being described as semi-resident now, having stayed faithful to the area for yet another week. For anyone prepared to travel for a new bird, there’s really been no excuse now for not connecting with this one.
A strong week of seabirds generally was topped by events of 24th in Ireland, where two Fea’s / Desertas Petrels were seen from Galley Head and Cape Clear (Co.Cork), and two birds were noted from Myross Island (Co.Cork) in the afternoon. More of these prized sea-watching finds are surely in the post in the coming days and weeks…
Irish pelagics off Baltimore (Co.Cork) on 20th and 21st supplied five Wilson’s Petrels apiece; one was seen from a Scilly pelagic on 21st also. A British mainland bird was seen from Fistral Beach (Cornwall) on 25th, followed a little later by a sighting from Pendeen, and two more that evening from a Scilly pelagic.
Two Leach’s Petrels were noted from a boat off Longa Island (Highland & Caithness) on 19th, and two were seen at sea a couple of miles southeast of Noss (Shetland) on 25th.
Large shearwaters were merely ticking over through the week until 24th, with barely 20 apiece of both Cory’s and Great logged until the floodgates burst on Sunday – on which day 2,355 Cory’s Shearwaters were seen, including peak counts of 995 birds off Galley Head (Co.Cork), and 363 off Porthgwarra (Cornwall); and 206 Great Shearwaters, with Galley Head notching up 134 birds.
Balearic Shearwaters were present in more muted numbers in our waters, with some 90 birds noted nationwide.
The scarcer skuas were seen in modest numbers too - Pomarine Skuas nudging, only just, into double figures nationally, and a handful of Long-tailed Skuas logged – single birds at Bempton Cliffs RSPB (East Yorkshire) on 22nd, Galley Head (Co.Cork) on 24th, and a couple of miles off Noss (Shetland) on 25th, with a further unconfirmed report of a bird seen at Long Nanny (Northumberland) on 22nd.
Last, but never least, the adult Black-browed Albatross remained at Bempton Cliffs RSPB (East Yorkshire) on 19th-25th.
Kicking off our long-legged beasties this week, in Norfolk the adult Night Heron was again seen at Cley NWT on 24th-25th; and the first-summer bird once again at Oare Marshes KWT (Kent) on 24th.
We did well for Purple Herons, with three birds seen in recent days – one on Anglesey at Valley Wetlands RSPB on 19th; one at Brading Marsh RSPB (Isle of Wight) on 22nd; and a final bird in Kent at Stodmarsh NNR on 23rd-25th.
In another strong week for Glossy Ibises, Cambridgeshire was the place to be, with a peak count of 11 birds emerging from the shimmering haze at Fen Drayton Lakes RSPB on 22nd-23rd. Overall, some 40 birds were logged nationwide this week. Surely there’s some happy news due to emerge imminently from all of this…
Comfortably smashed my Glossy Ibis PB at Fen Drayton Lakes this morning – 11 birds on Ferry Lagoon! ?? 10 shown in the video. As you can see – distant, hazy and behind a wire mesh. Ideal viewing conditions! ?? @CambsBirdClub pic.twitter.com/A3F2sz24wI
— Rachel Lennard ???? (@rachel_lennard) July 22, 2022
Absent from the rarity duckpond for some time now, we’d cause to be grateful in an otherwise very quiet week indeed for honkers and quackers for the presence of a handful of Ring-necked Ducks in recent days. Birds were noted at Lough Beg (Co.Derry) on 22nd, Valley Lakes RSPB (Anglesey) on 22nd-25th, and on Achill Island (Co.Mayo) on 23rd still.
Providing some variety, a juvenile Ferruginous Duck landed at Draycote Water (Warwickshire) on 23rd-25th.
In Scotland, the first-summer King Eider remained off Musselburgh (Lothian) on 20th-21st.
The drake Surf Scoter was again seen in Lunan Bay (Angus) on 25th.
The family of half a dozen Black-winged Stilts continued to prosper at Potteric Carr YWT (South Yorkshire) on 19th-25th, with an adult also seen on 22nd at iPort Lakes in Doncaster.
If one wader owned the week, it was Pectoral Sandpiper, with in excess of a dozen birds noted as the days unfolded. The most eye-catching of these records was comfortably the bird noted passing over the RV Celtic Explorer 28 miles north-north-west of St Kilda (Western Isles) on 19th, but there was a wide scatter of more accessible birds seen across Britain too.
On 19th birds were noted at Hauxley NR (Northumberland) and Marshside RSPB (Lancashire & North Merseyside); one settled at Letham Pools (Fife) on 19th-20th; and the recent birds lingered at Wedholme Flow (Cumbria) and Llangorse Lake (Powys) on 19th-21st. A bird made landfall on Shetland’s Mainland at Scatness on 20th; on 21st birds were noted at Frodsham Marsh (Cheshire & Wirral) and Newport (Pembrokeshire); and a bird settled at Saltholme RSPB (Cleveland) on 21st-22nd. An unconfirmed report came of a bird at Long Nanny (Northumberland) on 22nd. On 23rd, further birds were logged at Hazlewood Marshes SWT (Suffolk) and Edderthorpe Flash (South Yorkshire), the latter bird remaining on 24th-25th. Also on 24th, further birds were seen at Misson (Nottinghamshire), Loch of Strathbeg RSPB (Aberdeenshire), and Poulaphouca reservoir (Co.Wicklow). On 25th, another Irish bird was found, at Clogheen Marsh (Co.Cork), with a possible that day also at Slimbridge WWT (Gloucestershire).
A handful of White-rumped Sandpipers proved a scarcer prize for wader-watchers – birds being found at Letham Pools (Fife) on 19th-20th, Titchwell RSPB (Norfolk) on 21st, Montrose Basin (Angus) on 21st-22nd, Dorney Common (Buckinghamshire) on 21st-22nd, and Kilnsea Wetlands (East Yorkshire) on 24th.
Two Red-necked Phalaropes were seen on North Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 21st.
In Hampshire, the recent Lesser Yellowlegs remained at Normandy Marsh on 19th-25th, with another individual seen in Norfolk at Titchwell RSPB on 23rd-25th.
In Kent the adult Bonaparte’s Gull continued this year’s residency at Oare Marshes KWT on 19th-25th; and another adult bird was found in Fife at East Wemyss on 22nd-23rd.
Our only white-wingers this week were a third-summer Iceland Gull in Orkney at Stromness harbour on 23rd, and a juvenile Glaucous Gull noted passing Tarbat Ness (Highland & Caithness) on 24th.
Caspian Terns continued to be a potent presence in England for another week, not least on the Severn estuary and its immediate environs where a lingering bird bounced around on 19th-22nd. In Cleveland, one remained at Saltholme RSPB on 19th. A bird seen in Lincolnshire at Baston & Langtoft GPs on 19th was joined there by a second individual on 20th. Also on 20th, one was seen in Nottinghamshire at Holme Pierrepont and Netherfield Lagoons. On 21st, and again on 25th, a bird was once more seen at Hickling Broad NWT (Norfolk). On 22nd, one was seen heading north past Frinton-on-Sea (Essex), whilst another was further north at Staveley YWT (North Yorkshire).
South Yorkshire was graced by a White-winged Black Tern at a fishing lake with no general access near Doncaster on 23rd. In Northumberland, the adult surinamensis American Black Tern was still present at Long Nanny on 20th-24th.
Gull-billed Terns were good finds at Oare Marshes KWT (Kent) on 20th, Etton Maxey GPs (Cambridgeshire) on 20th, and Baston & Langtoft GPs (Lincolnshire) on 20th-21st.
In Ireland, the relocated Elegant Tern was still to be seen at Inishroo (Co.Galway) on 19th-22nd, with the lingering adult Forster’s Tern also present there on 23rd. The adult Least Tern was still near Portrane (Co.Dublin) on 19th-25th.
Our only raptors of particular note this week were a Montagu’s Harrier noted over Oare Marshes KWT (Kent) on 23rd, and a Black Kite passing Weir Wood reservoir (East Sussex) on 25th.
Happy news this week came from Norfolk where the breeding party of half a dozen Bee-eaters made some significant progress, with the RSPB confirming on 20th that young had hatched – happy news that comes, of course, with a caveat that the increasing frequency of breeding attempts by these and other southern species in Britain is emblematic of a heating planet and changing times.
In London, the summering Iberian Chiffchaff was once more seen in Regent's Park on 22nd and 24th.
An Icterine Warbler was trapped and ringed in Wiltshire at an undisclosed location on 24th.
A few Rose-coloured Starlings were once more noted in recent days – on Orkney at Birsay Moors on 20th and at Holm again on 23rd, at Chesterton (Gloucestershire) on 22nd, and in Brighton (East Sussex) on 25th.
Lastly, the recent Blue-headed Wagtail was seen again at Nanjizal (Cornwall) on 20th.
Much of the overseas news this week stemmed from France, where several birds of note remained settled. The Bridled Tern was still on Île aux Moutons on 20th; the White-throated Sparrow was still in song at Les Bouchoux on 23rd; and the White-rumped Swift remained at Minerve on 20th.
In Spain, the Western Reef Egret remained at Platja d’Aro on 20th.
Finally, close but not quite making it to our shores, a Greater Sand Plover pitched down in the Netherlands on Texel on 22nd-23rd.
The coming week feels like a good one to roll out a decent seabird of some description, something swept in from the deep Atlantic to grace a headland in southwest Ireland or England. Historically, after all, if the past 100 years have taught us anything – and while clearly, politically, we’ve learned absolutely nothing, there’s some birding precedent to examine – it’s that the last week of July can deliver the goods with a following wind.
Single records of Cape Verde / Madeiran / Monteiro’s Petrel (off Scilly on 28th July 2007) and Yelkouan Shearwater (from Devon’s Berry Head on 29th July 2008) provide faint glimmers of hope.
Failing which, it’s still absolutely prime time for waders, and events on Texel in the last week, allied with three past records for the last week of July, point towards the possibility of a Greater Sand Plover. Given how arid Britain’s coming to be presently, one should feel right at home…
Jon Dunn
26 Jul 2022
Many thanks to all this week's contributors for your photos and videos
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