Weekly birding round-up: 21 - 27 Nov 2023
This really was one of the quietest weeks of what’s been, up to now, a year that just never let up. The pace and quality’s been unrelenting, on land and at sea, so the absence of birding noise this week was slightly deafening. Though, lest we forget, a couple of top drawer rarities were still sitting pretty…
While there are some logistical hurdles to overcome if you’re still of a mind to catch up with England’s first Cape May Warbler, the female bird in question remained present on Bryher (Scilly) for yet another week on 21st-27th. Given how clement Scilly is, one wonders what it’s going to take to shift her…
Also showing some admirable tenacity, on Flamborough Head (East Yorkshire) the first-winter male Red-headed Bunting continued his extended residency – sporadically popping out of the woodwork at Northcliff Marsh again on 25th-27th.
The biggest numbers of notable seabirds came, this week, in the form of one of the more diminutive species – around 500 Little Auks were logged over the course of recent days, with a peak count of 74 off Howick (Northumberland) on 25th.
Around a dozen Great Shearwaters were seen, two off St Mary’s (Scilly) on 23rd, and at least 10 off there on 26th; and a single Cory’s Shearwater was seen from Flamborough (East Yorkshire) on 26th.
Similarly, Balearic Shearwaters this week were in short supply, with just two seen from The Lizard (Cornwall) on 26th.
The week gave us just a couple of Leach’s Petrel, both noted on 24th – one off Sheringham (Norfolk), and the other from Strumble Head (Pembrokeshire).
Fifteen Pomarine Skua were seen lately, with a handful of sites scoring multiple birds – duos were logged from Holme Dunes (Norfolk) on 21st, and Cley NWT (Norfolk) on 24th; and four birds were seen on 24th from Flamborough (East Yorkshire).
Finally, in Aberdeenshire a White-billed Diver was seen on 24th from Peterhead, with a possible also that day seen passing Girdle Ness.
Glossy Ibises again made all the running for the notable long-legged beasties this week – some 30 birds were logged in recent days, with several sites again enjoying small flocks. Starting in Kent, numbers at Dungeness rose to five birds there on 23rd-24th; three were seen again at Titchfield Haven NNR (Hampshire) on 26th-27th; three were seen at Fremington Pill (Devon) on 21st; and duos at North Warren RSPB (Suffolk) on 21st, and Stanwick GPs (Northamptonshire) on 24th-27th. In Ireland, Co.Wexford’s Tacumshin retained four birds on 21st-27th.
As ever at this point in the year, we’ll starting the week’s notable honkers with The Goose Formerly Known As Canada. An interior Todd’s Canada Goose was seen at Hundred End (Lancashire & North Merseyside) on 21st; and a hutchinsii Richardson’s Cackling Goose on Islay (Argyll & Bute) on 24th.
Islay also gave us a Red-breasted Goose on 25th, preceded by another bird on 23rd at Dengie Marshes (Essex), the latter bird being seen there again on 26th.
Keeping up the seamless segues a while longer, Essex also sported a Black Brant at West Mersea still on 23rd. Additional birds this week were seen at Kessingland (Suffolk) on 22nd, and in Dorset on The Fleet on 21st-24th.
An adult possible Grey-bellied Brant was back in Co.Dublin on 23rd in Dublin’s Phoenix Park, with a further sighting on 27th at Blackrock College.
In Co.Wexford the two Snow Geese, one blue, the other white, were seen at Tacumshin on 23rd. A white morph bird was seen on St Kilda (Western Isles) on 21st.
In East Yorkshire the Blue-winged Teal remained at Tophill Low NR on 25th still.
Lingering Green-winged Teal remained on Hayle Estuary RSPB (Cornwall) on 24th-27th; Grafham Water (Cambridgeshire) on 22nd-27th; Tain Links (Highland & Caithness) on 24th-25th; and on Lewis (Western Isles) on 26th. Additional sightings this week came from Inch Island (Co.Donegal) on 24th, Lunt Meadows LWT (Lancashire & North Merseyside) on 25th-27th, and Barra (Western Isles) on 26th. A further bird was reported from Hook (Pembrokeshire) on 25th.
The recent American Wigeon remained on St John’s Loch (Highland & Caithness) on 21st, with another Scottish sighting this week on the Lossie Estuary (Moray) on 23rd, and the female still present on Islay (Argyll & Bute) on 26th.
The drake Canvasback remained in Essex on Abberton Resevoir on 21st-27th.
If the provenance of that bird is one birders can form their own opinion upon, so too is that of the outbreak of Norfolk Ferruginous Duck earlier in the year – and again this week, with one bird on Ormesby Little Broad on 21st followed, on 22nd-25th, by two on adjacent Filby Broad. In Cambridgeshire, meanwhile, a female was seen at Berry Fen on 25th-26th.
Some 20 Ring-necked Ducks were once more logged across Britain and Ireland as a whole this week, with a couple of sites again sporting multiple birds. Three were seen on Lough Corrib (Co.Galway) on 21st; two remained on Garranes Lake (Co.Cork) on 21st also; and two were seen at Shapwick Heath NNR (Somerset) on 27th.
It was Devon’s turn to enjoy multiple Lesser Scaup this week, with four birds found on Slapton Ley on 25th, two of which remained there on 27th. The recent Devonian drake, meanwhile, remained at Northam Burrows CP on 21st-27th; and the female was still on South Uist (Western Isles) on 27th.
Nine Surf Scoter were seen lately – two remained off Dornoch (Highland & Caithness) on 21st-26th; and two off Gormanstown (Co.Meath) on 22nd still. One was again seen off Ahanesk (Co.Cork) on 24th, and the drake once more off Titchwell RSPB (Norfolk) on 22nd. A further drake was seen from Hartlepool Headland (Cleveland) on 24th and, on 27th, two were found at Feock (Cornwall).
Finally, the female / juvenile drake Bufflehead remained on Corbally Road Reservoir (Co.Antrim) until 22nd.
Waders of note were dwindling still this past week. Just two American Golden Plover were seen lately – a new juvenile at Lodmoor RSPB (Dorset) on 25th-27th, and another juvenile again at Blennerville (Co.Kerry) on 26th.
In neighbouring Somerset, the female Kentish Plover was again to be found at Burnham-on-Sea on 21st.
Gloucestershire’s Slimbridge WWT held onto the recent White-rumped Sandpiper on 21st-25th.
Moving east, the recent Long-billed Dowitchers remained in Norfolk at Cley on 21st-23rd, and at Cuckmere Haven (East Sussex) on 21st-26th. An Irish bird was found in Co.Wexford at Tacumshin on 25th.
Some half a dozen Grey Phalaropes marked a sharp drop on the preceding week. One remained in Devon at Northam Burrows CP on 21st-24th; another was seen on 21st at Dungeness (Kent), with another Kentish sighting at Minnis Bay on 24th; on 25th, a single bird was noted from Hartlepool Headland (Cleveland), and two from Flamborough (East Yorkshire); and, on 27th, a bird was seen passing Pendeen (Cornwall).
All three recent Lesser Yellowlegs were seen at various points again this week – one in East Yorkshire again on 21st at Swine Moor; the Lincolnshire individual still at Frampton Marsh RSPB on 21st-27th; and the Suffolk bird at Southwold still on 25th-26th.
A first-winter Bonaparte’s Gull was the pick of the larids this week, found on 23rd at Aughris Head (Co.Sligo). Another was found on 25th in Co.Antrim at Larne in Drains Bay.
Numbers of Glaucous Gulls picked up significantly this past week, with around 30 birds noted in all – of which 10 seen from Skaw on Unst (Shetland) on 25th were the highest tally.
Iceland Gulls on the other hand were still a scarcer white-winged commodity, barely making it to double figures. One remained at Portballintrae (Co.Antrim) on 21st-22nd; one was seen in Suffolk on 21st at Landguard NR; in Scotland, singletons were seen from Lewis (Western Isles) on 23rd, Skye (Highland & Caithness) on 23rd-26th, and on the Lossie Estuary (Moray) on 25th; and one was noted from Whitburn CP (Co.Durham) on 24th.
A couple of Kumlien’s Gulls added variety – one present at Dundalk (Co.Louth) on 25th-27th; and another seen at Girdle Ness (Aberdeenshire) on 25th.
Vaguely interesting, depending firstly on the reported lat/long being accurate, and secondly and crucially upon whether you consider Irish waters to be their actual territorial, sovereign waters, extending at most 14 miles from land, or their Exclusive Economic Zone, which extends to some 230 miles from land.
We mused on those technicalities back in late October with the belated news of a female Black-throated Blue Warbler seen on a boat 140 miles off Mizen Head (Co.Cork), and here we go again this week with belated news of an American Kestrel that boarded a vessel in Newfoundland on 28th September and stayed on board until 1st October before flying off into the blue, with the given coordinates of 49.3771, -12.1716 being way further from dry land than 14 miles…
Far less tenuously from an Irish listing perspective, the juvenile Northern Harrier remained in Co.Wexford this week, being seen again at Ferrycarrig on 22nd.
In Norfolk, the second-winter female Pallid Harrier was seen at Warham Greens on 23rd and 25th; and at North Point Pools on 21st. Another juvenile bird was seen in Pembrokeshire on Skokholm on 23rd, and this may have accounted for the probable seen at Marloes Mere on 25th.
Finally, an unconfirmed report of a possible Snowy Owl on Orkney at Burray on 27th gives some food for thought for local birders in the coming week.
Scoring top marks for sheer tenacity, the recent juvenile Pallid Swift remained into this week at Winterton (Norfolk) on 21st. Another was reported over the River Great Ouse at Olney (Buckinghamshire) on 24th.
Also showing remarkable staying power, the lingering Wryneck remained on Skokholm (Pembrokeshire) on 21st.
A Hoopoe was found a few miles outside Peterborough (Cambridgeshire) on 24th.
Some half a dozen Great Grey Shrike were noted during the week countrywide – one still in Wales at Lake Vyrnwy RSPB (Powys) on 25th; one in Northumberland in Harwood Forest still on 21st; one in Denbighshire near Llyn Brenig on 21st-22nd; a Hampshire bird at Bransbury Common on 23rd; a Norfolk individual at East Wretham Heath NR on 23rd-24th; one at Ramsley Reservoir (Derbyshire) on 26th-27th; and a final bird on 27th at Black Down NT (West Sussex).
Waxwings? Yep, still loads of them, and spreading south and west still…
The recent Hume’s Warbler remained on Fetlar (Shetland) on 21st.
Yellow-browed Warblers were dwindling to almost nothing. One remained in Devon at Budleigh Salterton on 21st-23rd; another was reported from Minet CP (London) on 24th; one was noted on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 25th; and another on 26th at Hope’s Nose (Devon).
Kent enjoyed a small purple patch for scarce warblers this week, with an initial Dusky Warbler at Dungeness RSPB on 23rd followed, the next day, by a Pallas’s Warbler at Sandwich Bay. Another Pallas’s Warbler was found on 26th-27th at Dawlish Warren NNR (Devon).
A Barred Warbler was present on 26th at The Cunnigar (Co.Waterford).
Shetland meanwhile accounted for two Black-bellied Dipper sightings – one at Voe on 21st, and the other at Brig o’ Fitch on 22nd.
The male Eastern Yellow Wagtail was seen again on 26th at Carlton Marshes SWT (Suffolk); another probable was also seen that day in the county on the beach at Benacre.
The presumed returning Eastern Yellow Wagtail on Peto's Marsh at SWT Carlton Marshes on Sunday 26th November 2023 @SWTSiteManager @SWTCarltonMarsh pic.twitter.com/gk6tlKmCd1
— Andrew Easton (@Leostoff) November 27, 2023
Finally, an extremely optimistic Serin was in song on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 25th.
Further afield, Spain’s excellent autumn for Nearctic passerines produced the country’s first ever Swainson’s Thrush this week at A Coruna on 23rd-25th.
Well, here we go – the official start of winter comes this week and, appropriately enough, that’s happening during a cold snap in Britain that may, amongst some hardish frosts, also deliver a dusting of snow on high ground. Winter is coming.
And what birds could a spell of northerlies over the weekend waft our way? The usual suspects must be considered outside shots – potentially an Ivory Gull, Brunnich’s Guillemot, or a Gyr…
(Though let’s not rule out someone stumbling across a Nearctic warbler tucked deep into some lush and marginally warmer sheltered pocket somewhere (Pembrokeshire, say) in the days and weeks to come… a Common Yellowthroat feels like the very least this year could yet do for us).
Jon Dunn
Many thanks to all this week's contributors for your photos and videos
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