Weekly birding round-up: 20 - 26 Jul 2021
After the sun, the rain… While allotmenteers and gardeners may have been lamenting the recent heatwave, birders have had relatively little to complain about in the past few weeks with decent birds hanging around in Britain and Ireland alike and t-shirt weather in which to see them. And while this week’s cloudbursts in parts of Britain may not have heralded a deluge of readily available fresh rarities, in Norfolk at least there was a wader to whet our appetites for the weeks to come…
And in Kent? Well there’s a tale that may, or may not, be hard to swallow…
Sometimes, when writing the weekly RBA Rarity Round Up, I find I can’t quite believe the species I find myself typing in the headlines. Last year’s White-chinned Petrel was a good example. I mean, really? Just a jaw-dropping bird, coming completely out of leftfield, and photographed perfectly well enough for there to be no doubt whatsoever about it.
Briefly, before Orcadian birders who knew the finder well were swift to torpedo such nonsense, there was a flurry at the time of naysayers pouring doubt upon that record. It just seemed too unlikely for words, so perhaps some doubt was understandable.
That played out in real-time. This week, it took five days before the penny dropped in the wider world that someone in Kent had reportedly photographed a Swallow-tailed Kite flying over Chartham (Kent) on the morning of 20th. Roy Thicke had been working on a fence near the paper mill in the valley bottom when the bird appeared, and posted an image to the Chartham Village Noticeboard Facebook page that afternoon. Frustratingly, his post included an image, presumably taken with a phone, of an unidentifiable speck in the sky… and a clear image of a bird scraped from the internet, taken in Florida.
My brother showed me a pic (by someone in his village) of a bird they saw in Chartham, Kent yesterday. He sent me a link to the Facebook page for the village, screenshot here. I don't know any more than what is here. Swallow tailed kite pic.twitter.com/yIkhAr9cs1
— Norfolk Puffin (@NorfolkPuffin) July 26, 2021
That could easily be innocent – an attempt to show locals what to look out for, maybe a comparative pose with what he saw. But of course, cynics might suggest an attempted hoax. Though a local residents’ Facebook group is a pretty odd place to try to troll a nation’s twitchers… Or maybe it’s a very clever place?
(In a bizarre coincidence, a hoax unfolded this week in Staffordshire on another Facebook residents group, where a local non-birder, for reasons best known to himself, posted a photo of a Red-winged Blackbird at the edge of a lawn. The following day, with some fairly direct questions from informed neighbours who understood the implications of the bird were it to prove to be local, he revealed the photo was taken in Canada: “Sorry to be a tease!”)
Oh how we laughed.
Back in Kent, a couple of locals responded to Roy’s post, one to add they’d seen the bird in the area a week previously, being harassed by the local Common Buzzards… and the other to report a sighting of it from nearby Chilham.
I know, we’ve all had non-birders tell us, in the wake of a local rarity, how they had one in their garden recently too, but a Swallow-tailed Kite is a pretty distinctive, not to say relatively sizeable, beasty…
And unexpected? Well, yes… and not entirely, no…
Rewind just a few months, to 10th March, and a Swallow-tailed Kite found on the Azorean island of São Jorge. A bird that went on to hang around a little while… That bird was the fourth Western Palearctic record, and the third for the Azores. It made the case for March being the prime time for one to be found, being the third such to date; one of the Azores records dating to later in the year, a bird present on São Miguel, on 24th August – 7th September 2008. The fourth WP bird had made it across the Atlantic, a March bird seen on the Canary Islands, on Fuerteventura in 1993.
While a March arrival pattern appears to be forming, albeit from a small sample to date, it’s worth noting that the Central American and south-eastern USA breeding populations of Swallow-tailed Kite are both highly migratory and depart their breeding grounds in late July and August. A late July arrival isn’t entirely beyond the realms of possibility… or, alternatively, I guess we have to throw in the possibility of a bird turning up earlier in the year and only now being noticed by someone.
Back to the here and now and, sure enough, the news had broken for just a few minutes on 26th before the first doubters were expressing some scepticism. That’s not unreasonable given the circumstances, but stranger things have happened. The latest Azores bird was first posted on Facebook as an unknown bird… So we’ll wait and see if this initial report, seemingly posted in innocence on a private Facebook residents group, firms up into any subsequent sightings.
To this day, Western Sandpiper remains a top drawer American peep, for all we’ve been spoiled rotten by some long-staying British birds – there are just 10 accepted British records on the books, which numerically at least means they’re still proper rare.
That said, they do have a charming habit of sticking around a while. Indeed, looking at Britain and Ireland as a whole, you have to go back to 1988 to find a one day bird – two days is the bare minimum for Western Sandpipers and, given half a chance, they seem happy to hang out for considerably longer still. Our last two British birds put in stints of five and six days respectively, on North Uist in autumn 2016 and Cheshire in autumn 2012.
Those were mere dilettantes, as one past bird racked up a stay that extended into many weeks – this was the popular individual that settled at Cley and Blakeney Harbour on 28th November 2011 – 31st January 2012. The only thing not to like about that record was the time of year – as many of us can attest, birding on the north Norfolk coast in the winter isn’t for the faint-hearted.
However, everything came up summery roses this week in north Norfolk, with the discovery on 22nd of the county’s second Western Sandpiper, and adult bird at Snettisham RSPB. News broke on 23rd but, true to form for the species, happily it stuck around until 26th, showing well and delighting both those who’ve enjoyed previous British examples and newcomers to the delights of these smart peeps. All that remains to be seen is how long it digs in for in the invertebrate-rich delights of The Wash.
If the final day of the week wasn’t exciting enough, what with the revelation that there may – or indeed may not – have been a Swallow-tailed Kite floating around in east Kent recently, there was still more belated raptor news to go at as the afternoon of 26th wore on.
Not that, at the time of going to press, we know a heck of a lot of detail about it. All we can say is that a Short-toed Eagle was seen for an hour and a half at an undisclosed site in the Highlands on 20th June. Presumably, in due course, someone will produce an image or two that exceeds the single figure pixel count of the Chartham offering…
So what do we know about this report? In a nutshell, if accepted, it would prove to be Britain’s fifth record – and by some margin the most northerly bird to date, easily outstretching the bird that made it to Santon Downham (Norfolk) in 2014 and, as such, Scotland’s first record of the species.
While East Yorkshire’s resident birders may have enjoyed the subtler delights of the recent Rufous Turtle Dove, the tenure of said lonesome dove was relatively brief – present for just a few days. Further along the coast, however, and now staking a perhaps unassailable claim for the title of bird of the year, the adult Black-browed Albatross at East Yorkshire’s Bempton Cliffs RSPB continued to be a crowd-pleaser of the very highest calibre this week, showing at times excruciatingly well every day apart from 23rd-24th. While we’ve no crystal ball to tell us how many years, if any, it will faithfully return to Bempton, for 2021 at least it’s been an absolute delight and will, I’m sure, have inspired some non-birders to pick up a pair of bins again in future.
While, in Shetland, the summering Long-tailed Skua continued to linger around the Boddam area of south Mainland on 21st-24th, additional birds were seen on the move further to the south – a single bird off the Northumberland coast on 21st, seen from St Mary’s Island and the Farne Islands; and two passing Flamborough (East Yorkshire) on 23rd.
Pomarine Skuas too were beginning to wander – East Yorkshire enjoying the best of the dozen or so noted nationwide, with four birds seen from Flamborough and two from Ulrome on 24th.
The week was a fairly quiet one for Balearic Shearwaters, with around 90 birds in all logged nationally – of these, the peak count was 26 birds seen from Portland (Dorset) on 25th.
Two Leach’s Petrels were trapped and ringed on Unst’s Lamba Ness on 24th.
Not an enormous amount to report in recent days where long-legged beasties were concerned – the best of the slim pickings being settled Glossy Ibises still present in Norfolk at Ken Hill Marsh on 20th-26th, and in Lincolnshire at Alkborough Flats NR on 22nd-25th.
A possible Purple Heron was seen over Gwithian (Cornwall) on 22nd.
If the long-legged beasties were thin on the ground in the past week, the surface of the scarcity and rarity duckpond was a very Sargasso Sea, so unrippled was it in recent days. The high summer doldrums were biting with a vengeance and, for a while, it looked like the first-summer drake Surf Scoter off Kinnaber Links (Angus) on 20th was all that stood between us and a blank week altogether…
…but then we learned the first-summer drake King Eider was still present in the sheltered waters of Unst’s Baltasound on 25th-26th, giving just a smidgen of variety.
While Norfolk was making the headlines this week, in Lincolnshire the gorgeous adult Pacific Golden Plover remained settled at Frampton Marsh RSPB on 20th-26th; on the latter date, it transpired that an elusive adult bird had been present at Burnham Norton (Norfolk) since 23rd, and was still present on 26th./p>
Mixing things up a little, an adult American Golden Plover made a fleeting appearance on Unst (Shetland) on 26th.
Post breeding flocks of Golden Plover building nicely, a joy to see but this gorgeous adult American was all the more reward for the ever hopeful scan through. #americangoldenover #shetland pic.twitter.com/b3heRRBIjz
— Brydon Thomason (@shetlandnature) July 26, 2021
As we’d expect around about now, Nearctic sandpipers are a distinct possibility. They can’t all be as rarified as Norfolk’s finest, but nobody’s day was ruined by seeing a White-rumped Sandpiper - and, this week, birds were available at Minsmere RSPB (Suffolk) on 20th-23rd still; Snettisham RSPB (Norfolk) on 22nd; and Pool of Virkie (Shetland) on 22nd-24th.
Pectoral Sandpipers meanwhile were present at Hickling Broad NWT (Norfolk) on 20th-25th still; Adwick Washlands RSPB (South Yorkshire) on 21st-26th; Old Hall Marshes RSPB (Essex) on 23rd; and Holywell Pond (Northumberland) on 24th.
A Lesser Yellowlegs was seen on Booterstown Marsh (Co.Dublin) on 20th.
Staying in Ireland, the magnificent first-summer Short-billed Dowitcher remained on the Ring estuary at Clonakilty (Co.Cork) on 20th-21st.
On 25th two adult Long-billed Dowitchers were found – one apiece at Dickleburgh Moor NR (Norfolk) and Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB (Cheshire). While the latter individual remained present the following day, in Norfolk one was present at Potter Heigham Marshes.
In Hampshire, the Temminck’s Stint stayed at Pennington Marshes on 20th.
Two Dotterel passed over North Newbald (East Yorkshire) on 26th.
And finally, a Red-necked Phalarope was present at Spurn (East Yorkshire) on 24th; and a Grey Phalarope was seen from the ferry between Oban and Barra (Argyll & Bute / Western Isles) on 26th.
Without doubt, the week belonged to the terns, so we’ll kick off the gulls’n’terns with them…
Starting in Ireland where, on 21st and again on 24th-25th, the adult male Least Tern was now spreading his favours in the Little Tern colony at Baltray, some 12 miles north of his previous residence in Co.Dublin; later in the morning of 25th, and again on 26th, he was back at Portrane.
Moving to Anglesey, the adult Elegant Tern continued to show well at Cemlyn Bay NWWT on 20th-26th.
A Caspian Tern lingered at Saltholme RSPB (Cleveland) on 23rd-26th.
Belated news, of a sort, this week came with the re-evaluation of a Black Tern present at Long Nanny (Northumberland) until 16th July as, after all, an American Black Tern. During the current week it showed up again, there once more on 22nd, but wasn’t seen on either side of that. Present there also in 2020, were anyone taking a putative split seriously, it would be worth the trip should it reappear again this year, or next. Either way, a gloriously smart bird.
An adult White-winged Black Tern brightened up Ashton’s Flash (Cheshire) on 21st.
Finishing off the terns’ strong showing, on 22nd two Gull-billed Terns were found, one in Kent at Chartham and the other in Lincolnshire at Stallingborough. Unfortunately neither hung around. However, on 26th, a more obliging bird was found and stayed put a while at Minsmere RSPB and, latterly Carlton Marshes SWT (Suffolk).
Moving onto the gulls, on Unst (Shetland) the first-summer Bonaparte’s Gull remained at Norwick on 20th-25th, while in Kent the recently returned adult was still present at Oare Marshes KWT on 20th-26th. Another probable adult was seen in flight at Doxey Marshes SWT (Staffordshire) on 25th.
White-wingers were, of course, in short supply. In the Western Isles, a Glaucous Gull was present on South Uist on 21st, and an Iceland Gull on North Uist on 22nd. Further Iceland Gulls were seen on Scilly, on St Martin’s still on 20th, and St Mary’s still on 21st.
The week’s main notable raptor news was somewhat belated – a male Pallid Harrier spent a little over a month, from mid-May to 29th June displaying at an undisclosed site somewhere in Co.Limerick. Given the species’ range expansion west in recent years, and with British precedents for this sort of territorial behaviour, we might reasonably expect more birds to turn up in due course. Given the absolute state of Britain’s uplands, that’s not to say they’ll be warmly welcomed in some quarters… Speaking of which, this year’s Hen Harrier Day is almost upon us. Hen Harrier Action’s Hen Harrier Day Online is coming up on 1st August , while Hen Harrier Day itself, as ever, comes up the weekend before the opening of the grouse-shooting season on the Inglorious 12th August.
A possible Saker was an intriguing record on 21st, seen heading east over Titchwell RSPB (Norfolk).
A probable Black Kite was also logged on 21st, at Clacton-on-Sea (Essex).
Meanwhile, out on St Kilda (Western Isles), the female Snowy Owl was again seen on 21st and 26th.
In a development that feels almost like autumn – and it’s not that far away now – we’ll start the passerines with some warblers. And why ever not when Cornwall’s Kenidjack Valley was turning up something as downright lovely as a Western Bonelli’s Warbler on 23rd-25th?
A Marsh Warbler was present on Unst (Shetland) at Norwick on 25th.
A small flush of early Melodious Warblers started the week – birds found on Hilbre Island (Cheshire & Wirral) on 20th; at Porthgwarra (Cornwall) on 21st; and on Portland (Dorset) on 22nd, with a further probable in Dorset at Cogden Beach on 26th. While Portland is something of a traditional site for them, Hilbre most certainly isn’t – this was just the third record for the island, their first coming in 1977, and the second as long ago as 1994.
The end of an incredible week at #Hilbre Islands LNR with the obvious highlights being the #MelodiousWarbler and the #Hoopoe but there has been much more besides, check out our blog! Click on the link to view: https://t.co/uLse4i0lEE What will next week bring? pic.twitter.com/ZbprcVk7nC
— Hilbre Bird Obs (@hilbrebirdobs) July 25, 2021
If that seems like a long time ago, the wait was even longer for Hilbre’s next Hoopoe, the island’s last being in May 1991. That too changed this week on 21st, when Colin Davies found the island’s fourth ever bird. Another was found, inland, at Wisbech (Cambridgeshire), on 20th; one was seen on 25th-26th near Burnmouth (Borders) at Paxton; and another on 26th in Cork (Co.Cork).
Cornwall supplied a couple of sightings of a mobile Bee-eater - near Carharrack on 21st and over Gunwalloe on 22nd.
A male Golden Oriole was singing in a garden in East Dereham (Norfolk) on 20th.
A Red-rumped Swallow was reported from Alkborough Flats NR (Lincolnshire) on 25th.
Rose-coloured Starlings almost crept into double figures this week. Birds were logged on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 20th-22nd; Galley Head (Co.Cork) and St Kilda (Western Isles) on 20th-26th; Hook Head (Co.Wexford) and Barra (Western Isles) on 20th; Fair Isle (Shetland) on 21st; Girlsta on Shetland Mainland on 24th and Sumburgh on 26th; and on North Ronaldsay (Orkney), where of two birds seen on 20th one lingered until 22nd.
A male Blue-headed Wagtail was present at Pilning Wetland (Gloucestershire) on 24th.
Finally, a Common Rosefinch was found on Pendennis Point (Cornwall) on 20th.
In a week that enjoyed such a solid showing of scarce and rare terns in Britain and Ireland, it’s fitting that this week’s overseas star turn should be a Lesser Crested Tern found in Greece at Chalkida on 22nd.
A male Ruppell’s Warbler was found in Sweden on the Koster Islands in an area with no general access on 24th.
In Norway, the Sandhill Crane remained this week on 23rd at Porsanger.
A Pacific Golden Plover was found in the Czech Republic at Rzovak Pond on 24th.
Holland’s Pygmy Cormorant remained at Everdingen on 25th.
Finally, in Spain a Western Reef Egret was present on 21st at L’Albufera de Valencia; and a Brown Booby was seen on 24th at Barbate. Any day now, Britain and Ireland, any day now…
Tempting Fate is always fun. The cloudy, opaque depths of the RBA Crystal Ball rarely deliver clarity where predicting the coming week’s headline bird is concerned, so it’s maybe more fruitful to say that, on the basis of the coming week’s weather forecast, it doesn’t feel particularly promising. That sort of challenge to Fate ought not to go unanswered…
The week begins with the prevailing wind coming off the Atlantic, and seems set to conclude with northerlies. Hard to feel immensely inspired by much of that. Perhaps it’s time to set our sights modestly low – thinking waders, a smart Semipalmated Sandpiper would be a solid find for someone…
Jon Dunn
27 Jul 2021
Many thanks to all this week's contributors for your photos and videos
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