Weekly birding round-up: 25 - 31 Jul 2018
This week was of course dominated by continuing hot weather, with temperatures in the Southeast touching the mid-30s on 26th and 27th. Further north and west, however, it was cooler and much more pleasant. The hot weather finally broke down on 27th and 28th as a line of thunderstorms pushed west. These were, in places, violent with strong winds and heavy rain and hail. Behind the weather front, a cooler blustery southwesterly flow developed with further rain on 29th before temperatures slowly edged up once more.
Turning to the birds, top billing was taken by a Pterodroma petrel off Porthgwarra, Cornwall on 29th, identified as a pale or intermediate morph Trindade Petrel (note the correct spelling - nothing to do with Trinidad). This is a bird of the South Atlantic, breeding on Trindade Island, off Brazil, with a small outlier population on Round Island in the Indian Ocean. Although it is a rare bird, with perhaps as few as 1,130 breeding pairs, there are plenty of records in the North Atlantic, mostly from the long-established pelagic trips off the Carolinas in the United States. However, there are multiple records too from the Azores, and Trindade Petrel has also reached the Cape Verdes. It is therefore a viable vagrant to British and Irish waters and would conform neatly to the pattern of increasing vagrancy by warm water species such as Black/White-bellied Storm Petrel, Red-footed and Brown Boobies, Red-billed Tropicbird etc. Indeed it has been claimed in British waters at least twice before - off Dungeness, Kent in 1998 and Porthgwarra, Cornwall in 2005. Whatever the ultimate fate of this record, it must surely have been a thrilling encounter for those fortunate enough to be there at the time. A super account can be found here
An example of what is now, post-split, known as Barolo Shearwater (formerly Little or Macaronesian Shearwater) flew past Bridges of Ross, Clare on 31st. This species has always been something of an enigma in British and Irish waters and is currently the subject of a somewhat protracted BBRC review which may significantly adjust its official status on this side of the Irish Sea. The IRBC have already undertaken such an exercise, with similar consequences. Nevertheless, when seen at all well, this is a very distinctive species, easy to identify in its home range. Sadly, however, this newly-defined species has a small population and is fast declining. The chances of seeing one in Britain or Ireland must be getting slimmer each year.
Next in the line-up comes another warm water seabird - the wonderful adult Sooty Tern , relatively settled on the Ythan Estuary, Aberdeenshire until 31st (although it thwarted a number of twitching attempts by being absent somewhere nearby on both 27th and 29th).
Also hanging on from last week was the adult Franklin’s Gull at Scaling Dam Reservoir, Yorkshire to 27th and then again in the evening of 29th.
Given the brisk windflow into the Southwestern approaches it was little surprise that other Pterodroma petrels also featured in this week’s seabird movement. Though most are realistically only identifiable as Fea’s/Desertas/Zino’s Petrels , these charismatic seabirds still represent an exciting prize. Singles passed Ballycotton Cork on 26th, Porthgwarra, Cornwall on 27th, Mizen Head, Cork on 28th and Carnsore Point, Wexford on 30th. We’re only at the beginning of the season for these so hopefully some more will be on their way over the next month or two.
Apart from Pterodromas, the main event at sea was a good movement of Great and Cory’s Shearwaters off the Southwest and southern Ireland. Totals of the former included 23 past Cape Clear, 89 past Galley Head and 43 past Ballycotton, all Cork, on 26th with, on 27th, no fewer than 368 off Galley Head. In England numbers were much smaller, mainly ones and twos at a number of sites in south Cornwall and Devon but 15 were off Scilly on 26th, ten off Start Point, Devon on 28th and, on 29th, 92 off Porthgwarra, 78 off The Lizard and 44 off Lamorna, all Cornwall, 12 off Start Point and singles as far east as Portland, Dorset and Dungeness, Kent. Singles flew past Porthgwarra and St. Catherine’s Point, Isle of Wight on 30th with four more off Cape Clear. 31st saw another 65 off Mizen Head and 35 off Galley Head.
As for Cory’s, the best counts were 13 off Galley Head and 10 off Ballycotton on 26th, 36 off Porthgwarra and 51 off Galley Head on 27th, 161 off Porthgwarra, 60 off The Lizard and 53 off Lamorna and 19 off Start Point on 28th, 36 off Porthgwarra and 14 off Start Point on 29th and 19 off Cape Clear on 30th. On 31st another 20 passed Galley Head.
There were plenty of Balearic Shearwaters too with 11 off Porthgwarra on 25th, 11 there also on 28th with 22 off The Lizard, 28 off Start Point and 34 off Portland, Dorset. On 29th 29 were off Dungeness, Kent, 60 off Start Point, 34 off Berry Head, also Devon, and 34 off Portland whilst 35 were off Berry Head on 30th. Further north, one was off Walney, Cumbria on 28th.
Also prominent were Wilson’s Petrels with two off Scilly on 26th, one off ‘The Scillonian’ on 28th and then an astonishing 59 from a pelagic off Cape Clear, Cork on 29th, with two more off The Lizard, Cornwall the same day. The remaining scarce seabirds of the period were a Grey Phalarope off Porthgwarra on 25th, a Sabine’s Gull off there on 27th and Long-tailed Skuas off The Lizard on 29th and Bridges of Ross, Clare on 31st.
Wildfowl action was limited to a drake Ferruginous Duck at Skinflats, Forth on 25th and a drake Green-winged Teal at East Chevington, Northumberland on 26th and, perhaps the same bird, at Dorman’s Pool, Cleveland on 27th to 31st. Single Surf Scoters were in the Sound of Taransay, Western Isles 27th and, more unusually, off Blackhall Rocks, Durham on 28th to 31st.
In Leicestershire the long-staying juvenile Purple Heron was still at Rutland Water to at least 31st with an adult at Shapwick Heath, Somerset to at least 27th. At this latter site, four Cattle Egrets were also present along with an impressive thirty Great White Egrets .
Other long-legged birds included apparently the country’s only Glossy Ibis at Rutland Water to at least 31st and another at Oare Marshes, Kent on 26th and 28th. White Storks (inevitably of unknown origin) were at Amesbury, Wiltshire on 27th and Sevenoaks, Kent on 30th. Around 70 Spoonbills were around the country, most in the Southeast where 18 were at Gibraltar Point, Lincolnshire and 21 at Titchwell, Norfolk. The furthest north were two in Ayrshire and singles in Aberdeenshire and Orkney,
Finally, Spotted Crakes put on a good showing for July, with singles at Burton Mere Wetlands, Cheshire on 25th, Upton Warren, Worcestershire on 27th, Teifi Marshes, Ceredigion on 28th, Frampton Marsh, Lincolnshire on 30th and Potter Heigham Marshes, Norfolk on 30th to 31st.
The only raptors of note were some well scattered Honey Buzzards - at least one still at Wykeham Forest, Yorkshire and other singles at Strumpshaw, Norfolk on 25th, Reay, Highland and Londonderry, Derry on 27th, North Foreland, Kent on 28th, Westhay Moor, Somerset on 29th, Annesley, Nottinghamshire on 30th and Wickham Market, Suffolk on 31st.
As befits the season, wader passage picked up significantly this week. The pick of the crop was a brace of Marsh Sandpipers - an adult seen briefly at Scaling Dam, Yorkshire (the Franklin’s Gull site) on 25th, and then a juvenile at Devoran Quay, Cornwall (surprisingly, a new bird for the county) on 26th and (the same bird?) at Rainham Marshes, London on 27th to 29th and then Cliffe Pools, Kent on 29th and 30th.
Otherwise, an adult Semipalmated Sandpiper was at Spurn, Yorkshire (the county’s seventh) on 27th and then at Snettisham, Norfolk (the county’s sixth) on 29th to 30th. Also in west Norfolk, the now long-staying adult Lesser Yellowlegs remained at Titchwell to at least 31st, on which date an adult Pacific Golden Plover was found at Findhorn, Moray.
Pectoral Sandpipers really stole the show, however, with a real surge in sightings this week. Singles were at Frampton, Lincolnshire on 25th to 30th, Westray, Orkney and Dorman’s Pool, Cleveland on 25th, Pegwell Bay, Kent on 25th to 28th, Potter Heigham Marshes, Norfolk on 26th and 29th to 31st, Drift Reservoir, Cornwall on 27th to 31st, Druridge Pool, Northumberland on 28th and South Uist, Western Isles on 29th to 30th. Given the lack of transatlantic vectors, it’s tempting to assume that most of these were Siberian - their arrival certainly coincided with a good scatter of adult Curlew Sandpipers.
Completing the wader line-up, Red-necked Phalaropes were at Branton Ponds, Northumberland on 25th, St. John’s Loch, Highland on 27th and Oare Marshes, Kent on 28th to 31st.
The best gull was a colour-ringed and perfect-looking 2cy ‘Baltic Gull’ in Sheffield, Yorkshire on 25th to 28th. Otherwise, the gull highlights were the adult Bonaparte’s Gull still at Oare Marshes, Kent to at least 31st, Glaucous Gulls at Llandulas, Conwy to 27th and East Chevington, Northumberland on 25th and a particularly unseasonal Iceland Gull at Folkestone, Kent on 27th.
With no mid-summer Caspian Terns seen anywhere, the best tern was an adult White-winged Black Tern at Frampton Marsh, Lincolnshire on 26th. Away from breeding areas, Roseate Terns were at Titchfield Haven, Hampshire (up to two) on 25th to 26th, Seaforth, Merseyside on 26th, North Ronaldsay, Orkney (two) on 27th, Hayle Estuary, Cornwall and Minsmere, Suffolk on 27th, Blackpool, Lancashire on 28th and Weybourne, Norfolk (two) on 29th.
This week saw some impressive movements and gatherings of Swifts so it was little surprise that a rare swift made an appearance, on this occasion an Alpine Swift over Titchwell, Norfolk briefly on the morning of 31st.
The somewhat meagre passerine parade was led by leftover Rose-coloured Starlings from the late spring influx. Typically, all were at a far-flung northern or western Scottish location - Barra, Western Isles on 25th to 29th, Tiree, Argyll on 25th with three on 27th and one still to 31st, Harris, Western Isles on 26th and 27th, Yell, Shetland and Skye, Highland on 27th to 29th, St. Kilda, Western Isles (two) and Tingwall, Shetland on 27th to 30th and Lewis, Western Isles and Islay, Argyll on 30th. Late news involved another at Ardfern, Argyll on 24th to 26th. Also left over from the spring, a Savi’s Warbler was still singing at Minsmere, Suffolk on 27th and the summering female Eastern Subalpine Warbler was still on Fair Isle, Shetland to 31st.
The most notable passerine event, however, was the arrival of the autumn’s first scarce migrant - an Icterine Warbler on Fair Isle, Shetland on 27th to 29th, closely followed by another on Unst, Shetland on 28th to 29th and a Marsh Warbler also on Unst on 28th. With the odd Pied Flycatcher already seen on the east coast and Willow Warblers on the move through the Irish Sea, the best of the autumn is now upon us.
Further afield, the ringed American Royal Tern was seen in Normandy, northern France, during the week, confirming that it has now left British waters. Elsewhere in north-west Europe, the Black-browed Albatross which has also visited us previously was still at Sylt, Schleswig Holstein, Germany.
Other highlights on the near-continent this week included a Bonaparte’s Gull in Denmark, a Franklin’s Gull in Germany, Black-winged Pratincoles in Sweden and Poland and a Semipalmated Sandpiper on Jersey, Channel Islands.
Looking ahead, we’re in for an initial spell of light and mild south-westerlies followed by a further period of anticyclonic and increasingly warm weather. The long, hot summer has clearly not finished yet. What any of this means for rare birds is hard to predict although seabird excitements look to be off the menu for a while. Bar a surprise early passerine (a Hippolais/Iduna?) the best bets still looks like a wader. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and Red-necked Stint are both overdue an appearance, the former now absent since 2012 (a late July adult on Orkney) and the latter since 2011 (an early August adult in Kerry).
Andy Stoddart
1 August 2018
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