Weekly birding round-up: 15 - 21 Nov 2022
And still the Americans kept on coming. Those forecast, intense westerlies always seemed likely to deliver something tasty. Maybe even the big one, travelling late and alone. And so it proved though, alas, the main bird in question wasn’t going to give itself up easily. Or rather, not to birders. For the fortunate few, it was showing shockingly well.
Nor was that all. Further west, a top drawer bird from the east was also about to make the headlines. Alas, this wasn’t going to be an easy bird to catch up with either.
As a lad, growing up in the 1980s, I used to read accounts of various firsts for Britain and daydream about what it would have been like to be there, in that moment. Didn’t we all? Those accounts were the stuff of fantasy.
One or two stood out, for their utter implausibility. Not in terms of veracity, just the sheer unlikelihood of the circumstances in which the birds in question were found. One such, a perennial favourite, was the American Purple Gallinule found on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 7th November 1958. Picked up exhausted as it staggered through the gutters of Hugh Town, it died in care two days later.
Then, as now, I marvelled at the possibility of Rallidae making such stupendous sea-crossings as the breadth of the Atlantic, let alone being found in such incongruous surroundings as a roadside.
American Purple Gallinule, then, felt improbably unattainable as a British bird – unlikely to occur in the first place, and only to be found in the most improbable of circumstances. That sense of unattainability was only enhanced in more recent years with a trio of further records, two British and one Irish, in quick succession. One in Shefford (Bedfordshire) in April 2008; another found in Mary Tavy (Devon) in January 2011; and then one found on The Mullet (Co.Mayo) in early February 2014.
And all of them found dead. Would anyone clap eyes on a living bird again over here?
This week, the British American Purple Gallinule story took another turn for the surreal, and very much in the spirit of that long-ago first for Britain. News broke on 17th of a bird found and, apparently, photographed the previous day on the edges of Dunster Beach car park in Somerset. A photo, posted on Twitter (which has since been deleted), didn’t stay there for long, but long enough to set the usual predictable, cynical hares running as online birding sleuths exercised their own peculiar version of due diligence upon the image – was the substrate the bird was photographed upon consistent with that of the car park? Was it too dry, given the wet weather of 16th? Even, laughably, conjecture about whether the photo was ‘good’ enough, as it didn’t show all of the bird, and that apparently was a suspicious detail.
Sometimes, as a tribe, we don’t do ourselves many favours, do we?
As the circumstances of the bird’s discovery and identification became clearer, cold water was poured on those smouldering, conspiratorial embers. There was absolutely no reason to doubt the record – photographed by a non-birder, a builder working at one of the chalets in the area, he’d sent the images to a family friend to see if they could identify the bird, as he couldn’t. Those images were swiftly forwarded to other birders for confirmation, and the news broke in good order. As conspiracy theories go, there was nothing to see here, and the cynics could move on…
Unfortunately, back in the real world, there was nothing to see at Dunster Beach either in the course of 17th onwards. No sign of the bird was forthcoming. Just the chastening detail that the bird had been seen in the vicinity of the chalet on at least 15th-16th, and had been coming readily to bread offered by well-meaning hands.
A first for Somerset, a fourth for Britain, and what might have been a once-in-a-lifetime twitchable American Purple Gallinule had slipped through our fingers. The bird may be dead, but the species’ mythological status remains alive and kicking.
Given what had been found up country in Somerset, the discovery of a Black-faced Bunting in Cornwall at the irrepressible Nanjizal Valley on 19th felt rather like it was going against the westerly run of play. Then again, who was questioning this bird?
Britain’s first, the wintering bird that spent weeks at Pennington Flash (Greater Manchester) in March-April 1994, was greeted rather cautiously in some quarters at the time. Maybe that was understandable – the legacy of the cage-bird trade in wild birds being fresh and alive in our memories at the time.
Six more birds have followed in the intervening period to the present day – five autumnal birds, all found in October, and a spring bird on Unst (Shetland) in 2018. There’d been a shot across our bows recently, though, with a bird found off the French coast on Ouessant on 20th-24th October. Maybe the possibility of one this autumn wasn’t completely out of the blue.
None of the British records have been further south than that first, Mancunian example, so this week’s bird was perhaps destined to have been a popular one, found on the cusp of the weekend in southern England, albeit about as far west as one can go. That is, had it gone on to show well – but that wasn’t to be the case. Released at the edge of a crop field after it had been trapped and ringed, there was no confirmed further sight of it thereafter as the day and the subsequent remainder of the weekend unfolded. Unavailable then for all but the most local of Cornish birders, let alone anyone from further afield.
Darkness had fallen on 21st by the time news broke of a drake Hooded Merganser outside Newport at Rosadune (Co.Mayo) – found on 20th, and still present on 21st.
We’re seasoned veterans in these quarters at looking askance at Hooded Mergansers - as, heaven knows, some dodgy birds have turned up in compromising circumstances in the past and, in some cases, have even been given the rubber stamp of BBRC corroboration.
And then there are birds that turn up in Ireland, on the coat tails of a sustained westerly system that’s delivered a American Purple Gallinule to southwest Britain and, lest we forget, just a few days after a couple of Wood Ducks and Buffleheads too. All in all, everyone here is in good company and, if you were looking for a feel-good Hooded Merganser, this surely had a lot going on for it.
Onto less emotional news all round – that of an American Coot found on Lough Yganavan in Co.Kerry on 17th. The question being, was this a brand new bird, or that last seen there earlier in the year on 17th March?
On the one hand, that former bird could have been lurking there unseen all along, or have returned there from unknown summering grounds elsewhere. Then again, the weather lately has clearly been propitious for transatlantic vagrancy, and if Lough Yganavan could land one American Coot, there’s absolutely no reason why it couldn’t land another.
Either way, good news for birders in that neck of the woods.
That the autumn just gone was a good one for Nearctic passerines is a matter of record now – it’s been an absolute belter, with a glittering array of species found.
Amongst their number, however, was a notable omission – we’d not hitherto had a Grey-cheeked Thrush. Perhaps surprisingly, given they’re not the very rarest of Nearctic thrushes on these shores, and we were blessed with a quartet of slightly (statistically speaking) rarer in a British and Irish context Swainson’s Thrushes, in Shetland, Scilly, Co.Mayo, and the Western Isles.
Ireland’s got 13 accepted records of Grey-cheeked Thrush on the books to date, almost all of which were found in Co.Cork – Co.Clare and Co.Mayo getting a scant single bird apiece. That makes this week’s discovery of a bird at East Coast NR on 16th the first record for Co.Wicklow. News of it came slightly belatedly, a day after the event, and there was no further sign of the bird, frustratingly.
The biggest seabird news this week involved one of the smallest of the regular seabirds at this time of year, as numbers of Little Auks spiked at the weekend, with some 1,600 of the week’s 3,600 birds recorded found on 19th alone. Inevitably there were some chunky single site counts amongst there, with 407 seen from Fife Ness (Fife) on 20th a notable high.
Great Shearwaters, on the other hand, finally seemed to call it a day after a prolonged season this year with regular weekly national tallies in four figures since late summer. Just a few birds were logged lately, all in Cornwall – five seen from The Lizard on 15th; two from Pendeen on 17th followed by a single bird on 18th; a singleton from Cape Cornwall on 18th; three from Pendeen on 20th; and three off Trevose Head on 21st.
A solitary Balearic Shearwater was seen from The Lizard (Cornwall) on 15th, and another on 21st from Berry Head (Devon).
A handful of Leach’s Petrels were found this week – a single bird off Portland (Dorset) on 16th followed by two birds seen further east along the English Channel coast at Dungeness (Kent) on 17th; with a further probable seen from Torness Point (Lothian) on 18th, and a possible from Burghead (Moray) on 19th. On 20th singletons were noted from Pendeen (Cornwall) and Burnham-on-Sea (Somerset).
Around 190 Pomarine Skuas seen nationwide marked a surge in the species again this week, with Norfolk vantage points particularly blessed on 17th, when Sheringham alone notched up 38 birds. Long-tailed Skuas, once more, were harder to come by – single birds were seen at Dungeness (Kent) on 15th, on 17th at Pendeen (Cornwall) and Cullercoats (Northumberland), at Strumble Head (Pembrokeshire) on 18th, and back at Pendeen on 20th; and four birds were noted from Whitburn CP (Co.Durham) on 17th.
Five sightings came of White-billed Divers in recent days – one lingered off Isle of May (Fife) on 17th-18th; birds were seen passing Gibraltar Point NNR (Lincolnshire) and Long Nab (North Yorkshire) on 19th; one was seen from Tarbat Ness (Highland & Caithness) on 20th; and a final bird on 21st off St Abb’s Head NNR (Borders).
As ever these days, Glossy Ibises remained widespread for still another week, with around 25 birds once more noted across Britain and Ireland. The British high count came, as we’d expect, from Cambridgeshire where eight birds were seen back at Berry Fen again on 19th; while Ireland’s best site was Lady’s Island Lake (Co.Wexford), where four birds were still to be seen on 18th.
The week’s honkers and quackers begin with The Goose Formerly Known As Canada and, on Tiree (Argyll & Bute) on 15th, four possible interior Todd’s Canada Geese still – two confirmed birds remained here on 21st. A further possible example was at Lissadell (Co.Sligo) on 19th; and a confirmed bird at Marshside RSPB (Lancashire & North Merseyside) on 16th. Lissadell also sported a hutchinsii Richardson’s Cackling Goose still on 19th. On North Uist (Western Isles) the Cackling Goose remained present on 17th-20th, joined by a second bird there on 20th at least.
In Ireland, the two Snow Geese remained on The Mullet (Co.Mayo) near Aghernagallagh on 18th; and, on 21st, another was seen on Soutjh Ronaldsay (Orkney).
Black Brant sightings came again from Mersea Island (Essex) on 17th and on The Fleet in Dorset at Wyke Regis on 18th-20th, and in Norfolk from North Point Pools on 16th and Sea Palling on 19th; and a new bird in Hampshire at Farlington Marshes HWT on 18th-20th.
The drake Black Duck was back on Cross Lough (Co.Mayo) on 18th.
In Lincolnshire the Blue-winged Teal was once again seen at Winter’s Pond on 19th-21st.
Lingering recent Green-winged Teals remained on the Lossie estuary (Moray) on 15th-21st; at Inch Island Lake (Co.Donegal) still on 15th; and at Tain Links (Highland & Caithness) still on 16th; in Wigtown (Dumfries & Galloway) and Buckroney Marsh (Co.Wicklow) on 20th; and on Sanday (Orkney) on 21st again. Further examples were found on 20th at Hollesley Marshes RSPB (Suffolk), and on South Uist (Western Isles).
The drake American Wigeon was still settled at Shapwick Heath NNR (Somerset) on 15th-20th; and additional drakes were found at Blunham (Bedfordshire) on 16th and Lough Gur (Co.Limerick) on 18th.
The Marbled Duck of unknown origin was still to be seen on Holy Island (Northumberland) on 15th.
Quite what’s going on in Norfolk lately was almost more mysterious still. The three Ferruginous Ducks reported from Ormesby Broad on 13th were again seen there this week on 16th with adjacent Filby Broad hosting them on 16th-21st also. Either cementing Filby Broad’s place in the firmament of British vagrant duck hotspots, or damning all ducks concerned with an unhelpful whiff of intrigue, the same site also played host to not one but two Ring-necked Ducks on 16th-21st. In Ireland, meanwhile, the female Ferruginous Duck remained in Co.Donegal at Inch Island Lake on 15th.
But back to Ring-necked Ducks. Some 20 birds, including those two Norfolk individuals, were seen across Britain and Ireland this week, with additional duos amongst their number at Lisvane reservoir (Glamorgan) still on 17th-21st, at Standlake (Oxfordshire) on 16th-19th, and on Lough Dahybaun (Co.Mayo) on 21st.
We did well for Lesser Scaups this week, with the female still present on South Uist (Western Isles) on 17th-19th, and the drake at Dunfanaghy New Lake (Co.Donegal) on 18th still, and an additional bird on Tiree (Argyll & Bute) on 17th; and a further possible bird at Wexford Wildfowl Reserve (Co.Wexford) on 19th.
In Northumberland, the drake Black Scoter was still present off Cocklawburn Beach on 16th and 20th.
Surf Scoters were seen in recent days off Fisherrow (Lothian) on 18th-19th, and on 19th off Criccieth (Gwynedd), and on 19th-20th in Cork (Co.Cork.
In Lothian, off Musselburgh, the drake King Eider was still present on 17th; while the drake was once again seen in Shetland in Lingy Sound on 20th.
The week was a quieter one for waders of note, with just a couple of newfound Nearctic waders providing a note of novelty. Chief amongst these were a fleeting Baird’s Sandpiper seen in Suffolk at Hollesley Marshes RSPB on 18th, and a Lesser Yellowlegs on North Uist (Western Isles) on 19th-20th.
Staying in the Western Isles a moment, out on St Kilda the Spotted Sandpiper was still present on 17th; while the recent Irish bird remained on the fringes of Leixlip reservoir (Co.Kildare) on 15th.
The American Golden Plover was still present on Annagh Marsh (Co.Mayo) on 15th also; the North Uist (Western Isles) bird was seen again there on 21st, while the Orcadian bird was once more on North Ronaldsay on 21st also.
In Norfolk, the juvenile Long-billed Dowitcher was still hanging around Cley NWT on 16th-21st.
A late Dotterel was found in Co.Wexford at Tacumshin on 20th.
A Red-necked Phalarope settled into Lodmoor RSPB (Dorset) on 17th-18th.
Some 50 Grey Phalaropes were seen this week, inclement weather helping to blow them close inshore. The peak single site count was nine birds logged off Fife Ness (Fife) on 20th.
The week was drawing to a close when, on 21st, the Wilson’s Snipe was once more seen on St Mary’s (Scilly).
Some 20 Sabine’s Gulls seen this week maintained the species’ presence in our collective consciousness, helped in no small part by some obliging birds in southern England that didn’t necessitate a stroke of seawatching good fortune in order to see them. Two birds remained in Dorset haunting the Chesil Cove area until 21st; while an obliging inland individual settled at Amwell NR (Hertfordshire) on 16th-20th.
Less obliging, not least on account of its location but also the brevity of its sighting, was a fleeting Ross’s Gull seen in Shetland on 18th at Loch of Spiggie.
A Ring-billed Gull was present at Lurgangreen (Co.Louth) on 17th.
A shade over a dozen Glaucous Gulls were again seen this week, with a strong bias towards Scottish sightings. The notable exception to that rule was the confiding bird in Exeter (Devon) still on 15th-21st, and an Irish example was seen from Cape Clear (Co.Cork) on 20th.
Similar numbers of Iceland Gulls were seen too in recent days, all single birds bar three seen on 19th on North Uist (Western Isles), and two on North Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 21st.
A little further variety came in the form of a Kumlien’s Gull at Cruden Bay (Aberdeenshire) on 21st.
Two lingering Pallid Harriers were to prove locally popular again this past week, these being juveniles in the Nanjizal Valley (Cornwall) vicinity on 16th-20th, and around Stiffkey and Warham Greens (Norfolk) on 18th-19th again, and Wells on 20th.
A Rough-legged Buzzard was found in Suffolk at Lowestoft on 15th; and another was reported from Over Silton (North Yorkshire) on 18th.
Into the headlines but for the lack of complete certainty, this week’s passerines kick off with a probable Oriental Turtle Dove seen in Cleveland at South Gare on 19th.
@teesbirds1 @teeswildlife @teesmouthbc @nybirdnews @RSPBbirders Pretty sure just had #Turtledove at S Gare, flew towards Cabin Rocks. pic.twitter.com/R399NjdPQx
— SCANNERMAN (@bobhogrunner) November 19, 2022
The recent Pallid Swift influx wasn’t quite done with us lately, with the lingering bird still hanging on in Moray at Portnockie on 15th-16th, and a couple of additional birds found on 16th over Peveril Downs (Dorset) and Mablethorpe (Lincolnshire).
The recent couple of Penduline Tit sightings heralded a small further arrival in East Sussex this week, where three birds were found at West Rise Marsh on 19th-20th.
A Hoopoe settled in Kent for a few days at Lympne on 17th-21st, with another found on 20th at Haw Bridge (Gloucestershire), and an Irish bird at Townley Hall (Co.Louth) on 21st.
The recent Wryneck was last seen in Barcombe (East Sussex) on 15th, but not thereafter.
Kent also retained a settled Great Grey Shrike on Hothfield Common on 18th-20th. Further birds were seen this week near Llyn Brenig (Denbighshire / Conwy) on 15th-20th still, at Pig Bush (Hampshire) on 19th-20th, and by Loch of Spiggie (Shetland) on 21st.
A Red-backed Shrike was reported from Chapel Porth (Cornwall) on 19th.
Kent was doing well for Red-rumped Swallows still – two were at Kingsdown on 17th, while single birds were seen on 18th at Foreness Point again, and Pegwell Bay. Elsewhere, singletons were seen on 16th at Gifford (Lothian), and on 17th at Horsey (Norfolk).
Around 450 Waxwings were a solid national tally this week. The best of these were a lingering flock of 70 berry-strippers in Buckie (Moray) on 15th-19th.
In Cornwall, the Short-toed Lark remained at Nanjizal Valley on 18th-20th.
A Hume’s Warbler was seen at Druridge Pools NR (Northumberland) on 18th-19th; another bird was found Whitley Bay (Northumberland) on 19th-21st; and further birds on 21st at Mire Loch (Borders) and Whitburn CP (Co.Durham).
Some 30 Yellow-browed Warblers were again logged this week, down very slightly on the prior week.
Two Pallas’s Warblers were a pleasant surprise at Durlston CP (Dorset) on 15th-16th. Single birds, meanwhile, were found on 19th at Newbiggin and Bamburgh (Northumberland) and Wells Woods (Norfolk), the Newbiggin and Wells Woods birds remaining the following day; and one of the recent South Foreland (Kent) birds remained there on 17th.
St Mary’s (Scilly) held onto lingering quality Phylloscs this week, with the recent Radde’s Warbler still there on 16th-17th, and two Dusky Warblers still on 16th-19th, at least one of which was still present on 20th. Additional Dusky Warblers were seen lately at Filey (North Yorkshire) on 16th-19th; The Naze (Essex) on 18th and 20th; and Blakeney Point (Norfolk) on 19th.
A Rose-coloured Starling was seen at Sennen (Cornwall) on 19th.
Back on St Mary’s (Scilly), the Red-flanked Bluetail was again seen there on 18th-21st.
The week was barely a few hours old before still another Isabelline Wheatear was added to our autumn scoresheet – a bird seen at Filey (North Yorkshire) on 15th. This was in addition to Ireland’s second, still present this week at Toe Head (Co.Cork) on 16th-21st, and the Welsh individual still present at Mynydd Mawr (Gwynedd) on 15th-21st.
A couple of the traditional late autumn arrival, Desert Wheatear, were found this week for good measure – birds at Goldcliff Pools NR (Gwent) on 18th, and Pendennis Point (Cornwall) on 19th.
Female Desert Wheatear at Pendennis Point this morning. Great find by @gardenbirder1! Having walked there countless times, it was surreal to see such an amazing bird 5 minutes from where I've grown up! Pintail at Stithians and Eider off Greenbank were the supporting cast.@CBWPS1 pic.twitter.com/lqkwhT6zkz
— James Drage Hubert (@drage_james) November 19, 2022
An Olive-backed Pipit was noted over Lundy (Devon) on 18th.
A handful of Richard’s Pipits cropped up this week – on Skokholm (Pembrokeshire) on 15th; at Hempsted (Gloucestershire) on 16th-20th; on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 16th-20th; at Trevescan (Cornwall) on 18th; on Portland (Dorset) on 19th; and in Lancashire & North Merseyside at Martin Mere WWT on 20th.
A late Common Rosefinch was settled into a South Uist (Western Isles) garden on 15th-21st.
North Ronaldsay (Orkney) held onto an Arctic Redpoll on 16th.
A Serin was trapped and ringed at an undisclosed site somewhere in Suffolk on 19th.
Finally, we end pretty much where we started in the headlines, at Nanjizal Valley in Cornwall, where the Black-faced Bunting this week was preceded the day before by a Little Bunting present there on 18th.
Starting the overseas news in Germany once more, where the country’s first ever Western Olivaceous Warbler remained on Heligoland on 15th.
In the Netherlands a Crag Martin was found on Texel on 19th.
Two drake Stejneger’s Scoters were seen in Poland at Krynica Morska on 15th.
In Hungary, the Sandhill Crane remained at Balmazujvaros on 16th.
In France a Lesser Flamingo was seen at Etang de Moro on 17th; and the Eastern Long-legged Buzzard remained at Thibie on 21st.
Switzerland’s first Common Yellowthroat remained at Magadino on 19th-21st.
In Spain, Galicia was still enjoying a good run this week, with the recent Least Sandpiper still at Cecebre on 16th, and a drake Black Duck found at Praia de Sada on 17th.
Heading to the Western Palearctic’s outer extremities, five Swinhoe’s Petrels remained off Eilat (Israel) on 17th; and a Common Yellowthroat was seen on Terceira (Azores) on 18th.
The coming week looks to be much like the week just gone – persistent south-easterlies in the very north of Scotland, a succession of snorty westerlies for much of Britain and Ireland, and some southerlies interspersed into that now and again.
Whether that augurs another week of headlining birds of quite the calibre of American Purple Gallinule and Black-faced Bunting is quite another matter…
If those southerly breaks don’t waft us another Desert Wheatear then I’m a Dutchman… but if we’re after a more leftfield prediction, it feels rude to ignore those westerlies. The last week of November is starting to cut it pretty fine where Nearctic passerines are concerned, but the coming week has a decent pedigree for rare herons, sporting past Green Heron and American Bittern. Either, while not an American Purple Gallinule, would nonetheless be a terrific find in the days to come.
Jon Dunn
15 Nov 2022
Many thanks to all this week's contributors for your photos and videos
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