• No news currently, check back later
• Why not check out our great value bird news subscriptions

 

Weekly birding round-up: 16 - 22 Aug 2022

Finally the dam broke, so to speak, in recent days with heavy rain falling across parts of Britain that had, hitherto, been parched for weeks on end. What would have been a welcome relief for gardeners and allotmenteers everywhere was a very mixed blessing for many at the coast as, in a gesture of peak irony given the parlous state of affairs generally at the moment, countless gallons of sewage gushed into inshore waters. For an absolute mercy, while miles of Britain’s coast was therefore landing surprises literally nobody wanted to find, British and Irish birders were having rather more luck this week at coastal locations…

 

Topping the headlines for the second consecutive week, Co.Cork pulled another absolute banger out of the bag in recent days with the discovery of a fine adult Sharp-tailed Sandpiper at Clogheen Marsh on 17th.

Only the tenth Irish record of the species, it’s also the fourth record for Co.Cork. More tellingly, the last accepted record was also in Ireland, a one-day juvenile bird present on Carrahane Strand (Co.Kerry) on 7th October 2016; but, for our last British bird we need go back a full decade to an adult that spent four days on Orkney’s Westray on 20th-23rd July 2012. After a steady run of records in Britain and Ireland through the 1990s and early 2000s, with some years scoring more than one bird, they’re become considerably rarer fare of late. A new generation of birders will be understandably keen to catch up with one someday soon.

For Irish birders, that opportunity came good this week, as the bird at Clogheen Marsh settled down for a few days, remaining there and showing well at times until 19th.

 

Cementing the conclusion that the week was a thoroughly Good One for vagrant waders, the weekend was barely under way before news broke of an adult male Greater Sand Plover in Aberdeenshire just outside St Combs on 20th. It was to prove somewhat flighty, coming and going south and north as the day unfolded and, after being seen in the morning of 21st, appeared to have moved on for good as the day unfolded.

Only the second record for the county, Aberdeenshire’s first did the decent thing and hung around the Ythan estuary for a week on 12th-19th September 2008 before setting off south to Lothian, where it was seen at Dunbar for a day on 20th. This bird seems not to be so accommodating. Where next for it?

Looking at the map of the 17 past British records, there’s a fair spread of birds up the east coast, with a decent showing in northern Scotland – Aberdeenshire, Highland & Caithness and Orkney all having had a look-in in the past. The species remains conspicuously absent from the Shetland list, however – surely one will eventually be found on Pool of Virkie one of these days?

 

The cream of a very rich crop of seabirds this past week came from Co.Wexford on 20th, where a Barolo Shearwater was seen heading west in the late afternoon.

Cornwall’s venerable seawatching location, Porthgwarra, was turning up the goods too, with one (or two) Fea’s / Desertas Petrel seen from there in the early and then late afternoon of 18th, and further sightings coming on 20th and 21st too. An additional bird – perhaps one and the same? – was seen from the Scillonian in the morning of 22nd near Land’s End (Cornwall).

All that said, the week belonged emphatically to Wilson’s Petrels, with nary a day going by without at least one bird seen in Britain or Ireland. But on some days, we soared well into double figures, with a cumulative total of at least 120 birds logged across the week. Pelagics in the English southwest proved particularly fruitful, with birds seen off Cornwall and Scilly alike – the latter giving the week’s highest English total, with at least 19 birds seen from the pelagic of 20th. Co.Cork just pipped that with at least 20 birds seen from the pelagic off Baltimore on 21st. 10 seen from The Lizard (Cornwall) on 21st was a highly impressive land-based tally but, perhaps most notable of all though had to be the trio of birds recorded on a pelagic off St Ann’s Head (Pembrokeshire) on 19th - Wilson’s Petrel being a highly desirable Welsh tick for many local birders. Pembrokeshire got in on the land-based sightings too, with one seen that morning lingering off Strumble Head.

A handful of Leach’s Petrels were seen in recent days – one from North Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 17th, and another from Bridges of Ross (Co.Clare) on 19th; and two at sea north of Fraserburgh (Aberdeenshire) on 20th.

This was a good week for large shearwaters too, with approximately 800 Cory’s Shearwaters and 1,550 Great Shearwaters recorded – the highest single site count of the former being from Ballycotton (Co.Cork), where 301 birds were tallied on 22nd, and the latter from Porthgwarra on 21st, where 389 birds were logged.

We did well too for Balearic Shearwaters, with some 1,750 birds seen, predominantly in the English southwest, where the week’s highest count, of 216 birds, came from The Lizard (Cornwall) on 21st.

Modest numbers of skuas were being seen – around 60 Pomarine Skuas, with 15 seen at Bloody Foreland (Co.Donegal) on 21st the highest return; and some 35 scattered Long-tailed Skuas.

 

Again heading up our long-legged beasties this week, though perhaps for the last time, we find the settled adult Squacco Heron still in West Sussex at Pagham Harbour LNR on 16th-19th – has it finally moved on?

Showing more staying power, albeit usually only seen there in flight, the first-summer Night Heron remained at Oare Marshes KWT (Kent) on 16th-20th.

Kent also gave us intermittent sightings of juvenile Purple Herons, at Grove Ferry NNR again on 17th and 21st, and Stodmarsh NNR once more on 18th and 20th. The Derbyshire bird was still present at Willington GPs on 16th and a fresh bird was found on 22nd at Weston Turville reservoir (Buckinghamshire).

Glossy Ibises remained a British and Irish fixture, albeit in slightly lower numbers than of late in the absence of any chunky counts from Cambridgeshire in recent days. Best of the lot were half a dozen at Dungeness (Kent) on 20th, and three still in Co.Wexford at Lady’s Island Lake on 19th-21st.

For another week, Spotted Crakes were pleasingly all over the shop. Scilly alone had two birds, one on St Mary’s on 16th-20th, and another on Tresco still on 16th-19th. The Devon bird of late remained at Slapton Ley on 17th-18th. Somerset landed an individual at Ham Wall RSPB on 16th-22nd. In Norfolk, one was again seen at Cley NWT on 17th. Moving north, in East Yorkshire sightings came from Blacktoft Sands RSPB on 16th-18th and North Cave Wetlands YWT on 16th-22nd; and in West Yorkshire, a bird was showing well at St Aidan’s RSPB on 19th-22nd. In Cheshire, a bird present at Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB on 17th-22nd was joined by a second individual there on 18th-19th. A final English bird was found in Northumberland on 22nd at Linton Lane NR. Wales got in on the act on 21st with a bird found at Ynys-hir RSPB (Ceredigion).

Finally, a Corncrake was heard only at Nosterfield Quarry (North Yorkshire) on 16th.

 

Distinctly quiet times of late on the rarity duckpond, with just a few familiar faces making up the weekly news.

Starting up in Shetland, the eclipse drake King Eider was once more seen in Basta Voe on 17th and, in the continuing absence of the recent drake Harlequin, looks set to be a quacker fixture on the autumn birding circuit there. In Lothian, the stalwart first-summer bird remained off Musselburgh on 18th-22nd.

As the week drew to a close on 22nd, single drake Surf Scoters were again seen in Lunan Bay (Angus) and off Blackdog (Aberdeenshire).

In Northamptonshire the juvenile drake Ferruginous Duck was still present at Daventry reservoir CP on 16th-20th.

Finally, our honorary wildfowl was still resident in Argyll & Bute, where the adult male Pied-billed Grebe was again seen at Loch Feorlin on 20th-21st.

 

Judging by the headlines waders were, clearly, where it was at this past week – seabirds notwithstanding – and even the also-rans included some quality birds.

Foremost amongst those was a Great Snipe flushed on Fair Isle (Shetland) on 22nd – a little early given their peak is historically in September, but far from unprecedented, as there are almost 60 past records for August and we are, after all, standing almost on the brink of September anyway.

Said snipe was followed next in the pecking order by the Pacific Golden Plover at Saltholme RSPB (Cleveland) on 19th.

Meanwhile Co.Wexford gave us sightings of American Golden Plover still at Rosslare Back Strand on 16th-20th and Tacumshin on 20th-21st; another adult bird was found on 20th-22nd on North Ronaldsay (Orkney); and a further bird was discovered on 22nd at Coble Shore (Fife).

A few more Dotterel were on the move, with single birds noted at Beachy Head (East Sussex) on 16th and 20th; on 17th at The Naze (Essex) and Porthgwarra (Cornwall); on 18th at Weybourne Camp (Norfolk); and on 21st on Holy Island (Northumberland).

The White-rumped Sandpiper remained in East Yorkshire at Beacon Ponds NR on 16th, with another report of it on the Humber on 18th. A further example was found on 22nd in Lothian at Musselburgh Lagoons.

East Yorkshire also retained its Pectoral Sandpiper at Blacktoft Sands RSPB on 16th-22nd. Another was reported from Spey Bay (Moray) on 18th; on 21st birds were found at Hanningfield reservoir (Essex) and Low Newton-by-the-Sea (Northumberland), the former bird remaining there the following day while, also on 22nd, another was found in Kent at Cliffe Pools RSPB; and, in Ireland, birds were found at Ring Strand (Co.Cork) on 16th-17th, and at an undisclosed site in Co.Limerick on 16th.

The Temminck’s Stint remained at Sidlesham Ferry Pool (West Sussex) on 16th-17th; and another was present in Norfolk at Salthouse on 18th-21st before relocating to Cley NWT on 21st. Further birds turned up on 21st in Kent at Stodmarsh NNR, and in Dorset at Stanpit Marsh.

The party of four Black-winged Stilts remained at Doddington (Cheshire) on 16th-22nd.

Essex got itself a Red-necked Phalarope at Old Hall Marshes RSPB on 19th, and another was present at Kilnsea Ponds NR (East Yorkshire) on 22nd but, if the week belonged to any phalaropes it was Grey Phalaropes, with seawatches and pelagics between them accounting for some 30 birds, of which eight seen from a pelagic off Baltimore (Co.Cork) on 21st was the best return.

 

As is usually the case at this time of year, when we’re getting Grey Phalaropes we’re usually also scoring Sabine’s Gulls, and so it proved in recent days, with 64 birds logged in British and Irish waters – the emphasis being firmly on the latter, and Bridges of Ross (Co.Clare) in particular, where 35 birds were seen in the course of the week, with a mighty 21 birds on 20th alone.

In Kent, the adult Bonaparte’s Gull remained at Oare Marshes KWT on 18th-21st.

The adult Ring-billed Gull was once more seen in Co.Louth at Blackrock on 21st.

White-wingers returned to the sort of stultifying early autumn numbers we’d anticipate, with just an Iceland Gull at Fermoyle (Co.Kerry) on 21st, and a few Glaucous Gulls on offer lately. Examples of the latter species remained in Lerwick (Shetland) on 18th and in Co.Derry’s Coleraine still on 20th; and another was found at Loch Spynie (Moray) on 20th.

The recent Caspian Tern continued to lob around Norfolk for another week, being seen on 18th at Hickling Broad NWT, on 19th at Potter Heigham Marshes and Cley NWT, and on 20th back at Potter Heigham Marshes. It’s going to feel weird to have a week without one of these bruisers after such a prolonged run of records over the past few weeks.

Another tern, however, was in the ascendant in recent days, and it was Norfolk that kicked things off with a White-winged Black Tern seen initially at Sheringham and latterly at Cley NWT on 16th. Thereafter Whitburn CP (Co.Durham) was treated to fly-bys on 18th and again on 20th; and Hampshire a bird at Blashford Lakes HWT on 19th-20th, and a further sighting from Pennington Marshes on 20th.

Finally, in Co.Louth the Forster’s Tern was still present at Soldier’s Point on 18th-22nd.

 

Into the headlines but for the lack of complete certainty, a ringtail probable Northern Harrier was reported on 20th-21st from Rogerstown estuary (Co.Dublin) – a mobile bird that frustratingly evaded being 100 percent nailed down. One for another week in the near future, perhaps.

A Black Kite was seen in Kent at Grove Ferry NNR on 18th.

 

In the wake of the prior week’s flurry of Aquatic Warblers things calmed down somewhat in the week just gone – one was found in Co.Cork at Galley Head on 18th, with another possible the previous day at Marloes (Pembrokeshire).

Other early migrant warblers were, however, on the move. Melodious Warblers were found on Portland (Dorset) on 18th and 22nd (with the first bird re-trapped again on 21st), and at Kenidjack (Cornwall) on 20th.

Icterine Warblers, meanwhile, were seen in Norfolk at Wells Woods again on 19th, and Winterton South Dunes on 16th and 19th-20th; another lingered on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 16th-18th; one was trapped and ringed on Portland (Dorset) on 19th; and one filtered onto Fair Isle (Shetland) on 21st, followed by three present on there on 22nd.

A handful of Barred Warblers made it onto the northern isles – Shetland getting birds on Fair Isle on 17th-22nd, at Sumburgh on 19th, and on Unst on 22nd; and North Ronaldsay (Orkney) a bird on 17th. Hopefully (many) more to follow in due course…

Still showing no signs of giving up anytime soon, in London the Iberian Chiffchaff was once more seen in Regent’s Park on 20th-22nd.

Speaking of steadfast, settled birds, in East Yorkshire the male Turkestan Shrike remained by Bempton Cliffs RSPB on 16th-22nd.

Further variety this week was provided by Woodchat Shrikes at Mellon Udrigle (Highland & Caithness) on 16th and Prawle Point (Devon) on 21st; and Red-backed Shrikes at Barns Ness (Lothian) on 17th, Whixall Moss (Shropshire) on 17th-22nd, Fair Isle (Shetland) on 19th, Burnham Overy Dunes (Norfolk) on 20th, The Lizard (Cornwall) on 20th-21st, and Alfriston (East Sussex) on 21st.

Autumn is truly upon us. And nothing screams autumn quite like a Citrine Wagtail… our first of the season was seen in south Wales at Goldcliff Pools NR (Gwent) on 18th-22nd, a superb first county record at that, so justly destined to be locally popular.

The male possible iberiae Spanish Wagtail remained on Rathlin Island (Co.Antrim) on 16th-19th. A Blue-headed Wagtail was reported from Tealham Moor (Somerset) on 19th.

The week shaped up well for Wrynecks, with almost 20 birds reported, from St Mary’s (Scilly) in the southwest to Spurn (East Yorkshire) in the north. Norfolk notched up at least three individuals, with two in Winterton Dunes on 19th, and a further bird at Sheringham on 18th.

And it’s Norfolk where we wrap up the week’s British news, at Trimingham where the breeding Bee-eaters finally fledged four young from two nests. The first bird emerged fully into the outside world on 16th, followed shortly after by the remainder of its companions by 20th. A happy event all round. Their imminent departure south in the days to come will, hopefully, coincide with the arrival of plenty more wayward migrants to our shores. Another was seen on 21st considerably to the north over Piltanton Burn (Dumfries & Galloway) and, on 22nd, back in Norfolk a single bird was seen at Snettisham.

 

This was a decidedly quiet week on the overseas news front, with precious little to relate here. In France the reliable Bridled Tern was still present on Île aux Moutons on 16th.

While some variety came from Belgium, where a Lesser Kestrel was seen passing over Lissewege on 18th.

In Spain Western Reef Egrets remained on 22nd at Estanys de les Ecoles and Marjales de Alfalfar.

Finally, way out in the Atlantic, a nominate leucoptera White-winged Crossbill was seen on Sao Miguel on 20th-21st.

 

And, before we knew it, the last week of August is upon us. The blurry handover from late summer to early autumn is here and, in the next couple of months to come, we can expect all manner of excitement in the post. And the week ahead, what of that?

Four historic British and Irish records of Yellow Warbler, two of Northern Waterthrush and a Black-billed Cuckoo for good measure all serve as timely reminders that passerines are definitely on the move in North America at this time of year.

Single records of Brown Booby and Red-billed Tropicbird, both in Cornwall, in 2019 and 2015 respectively, make the case for a decent seabird still being an outside possibility too.

But for us mere mortals, the birders working an east coast patch, or heading east for some birding on a promising day at this time of year, what’s more likely? Last week of August, a self-found Greenish Warbler feels like a formality for somebody in the week to come…

 

Jon Dunn
23 Aug 2022

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

 

Share

Tweet  

 

 

 

 

 

Latest photos

Register free to upload

Latest articles