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Weekly birding round-up: 22 - 28 Nov 2022

A quieter week, all told, the one just passed compared to what had gone immediately before. American Purple Gallinule and Black-faced Bunting were, to be fair, always going to be a hard act to follow.

And, if we’re being honest with ourselves, we know we’re coming to the quieter time of year. Or rather, you’d assume that just about anywhere but Scilly. The Fortunate Isles weren’t quite done with us yet for 2022.

 

I know Twitter’s been going through a bit of a rocky patch lately, and you might, if you were a Twitter habitué, have been considering a move to another social media platform like Mastodon.

Two things, though. Firstly, why would you ditch the spritely bird site for a lumbering, extinct, hairy mammal? And secondly, why would you forgo the pleasure of following the exhilarating wildlife exploits told on accounts like that of Scott Reid on Scilly?

Scott’s no stranger to finding some seriously cool stuff washing up or blown in to Scilly, but this week all the credit goes to his wife, Samaya, for finding Scilly’s sixth Myrtle Warbler on 24th on St Mary’s – both late in the day as far as this year is concerned, and a long time coming since Scilly’s last, a bird that spent 4th-15th October 1995 on Tresco.

(Though try telling that to Cornish birders, for whom the wait for a first county record stretches on interminably).

Still present as the week drew to a close on 28th, I’m far from convinced that Scilly’s finished for the year. Who’d bet against it having one last hurrah in the month to come?

 

Solid numbers of Little Auks continued to filter past our coastlines this past week, though in considerably reduced volume compared to the preceding week – some 650 birds in total being recorded nationwide lately.

Great Shearwaters meanwhile still weren’t quite done with us for the year – a singleton seen from Pendeen (Cornwall) on 23rd being followed by a healthy tally of 25 birds logged off The Lizard (Cornwall) on 26th; then four from The Lizard and two from Pendeen on 27th.

A handful of Balearic Shearwaters kept the species in the round up – single birds noted on 26th in Cornwall from The Lizard and Falmouth, and in Devon off Hope’s Nose and Dawlish Warren NNR; and another sighting, this time of two birds, on 27th from The Lizard.

Numbers of Leach’s Petrels picked up a little, with some 20 birds noted in the course of the week. Most were wayward singletons, but two birds were seen from Ballycotton (Co.Cork) on 23rd, and three from Porthoustock (Cornwall) on 24th.

Pomarine Skuas on the other hand were very much down on where they had been lately, with a mere 21 birds logged in recent days – the peak count being four birds seen on 24th from Berry Head (Devon).

A few Long-tailed Skuas added a little variety – birds found on 24th off Crook of Baldoon RSPB (Dumfries & Galloway), on 26th off Peterhead (Aberdeenshire), and on 27th off Dungeness (Kent).

Finally, a probable White-billed Diver off Whitburn CP (Co.Durham) on 22nd preceded two confirmed birds in the northern isles on 26th – one off Sanday (Orkney), and the other lingering a while in Lerwick harbour (Shetland).

As we now take for granted, good numbers of Glossy Ibises remained scattered around Britain and, to a lesser extent, Ireland this week. The sole Irish sightings came from Garryvoe (Co.Cork) on 25th, and Cahersiveen (Co.Kerry) on 27th; Britain’s peak count was, once more, in Cambridgeshire where eight birds were again seen at Berry Fen on 26th.

Compared with some recent weeks, The Goose Formerly Known As Canada was uncharacteristically subdued this week. An interior Todd’s Canada Goose was seen in Cumbria at Rockcliffe Marsh on 26th, with another possible that day in Norfolk at Stiffkey, and a final possible on 28th near Walls on Shetland Mainland. The hutchinsii Richardson’s Cackling Goose remained at Lissadell (Co.Sligo) on 25th-28th. And, at Dún na mBó (Co.Mayo), a Cackling Goose was seen on 22nd.

Staying in Co.Mayo on The Mullet, the recent two Snow Geese remained present on 22nd; another bird was seen this week on 23rd at Soulseat Loch (Dumfries & Galloway).

The Black Brant was once more seen in East Yorkshire around Kilnsea on 26th; and additional sightings came again in Essex at West Mersea on 23rd and Hamford Water on 25th.

Onto the quackers, and the drake Black Duck was again in Co.Mayo on Termoncarragh Lough on 22nd.

The drake American Wigeon remained settled at Shapwick Heath NNR (Somerset) on 22nd-28th, and the other recent English drake was once more seen at Blunham (Bedfordshire) on 23rd. Another was found on 26th in Co.Durham at Bishop Middleham; and a Scottish individual was reported on 24th from Balmore Pool (Clyde).

Green-winged Teals still weren’t quite scaling the dizzy heights of double figures this week, with eight (or nine) birds logged nationwide. Scotland was doing well for them with, in addition to the lingering birds on the Lossie estuary (Moray) still on 25th and at Tain Links (Highland & Caithness) still on 26th, further birds found at Luthrie (Fife) on 22nd, North Uist (Western Isles) on 22nd-24th, and near Wishaw (Clyde) on 26th. In England, one was again at Colt Crag reservoir (Northumberland) on 25th, while a bird at Dungeness on 26th-28th was a good bird for Kent birders; and one (or a hybrid) was present on the Somerset Levels at Catcott Lows NR on 27th still. Ireland had just the one bird, still present at Buckroney Marsh (Co.Wicklow) on 27th.

Norfolk’s murky Ferruginous Duck outbreak held firm this week with the three recent birds lingering on Ormesby and Filby Broads until 26th, and one at least still on the latter broad on 27th. With a couple of hybrid birds also kicking around there, not to mention two Ring-necked Ducks still on 22nd, it’s all quite incredible really. A report of a possible Ferruginous Duck on UEA Broad (Norfolk) on 23rd seemed almost unremarkable under the circumstances of this focused Norfolk arrival. In Staffordshire, a female was present on Aqualate Mere on 27th.

Almost 30 Ring-necked Ducks were logged this week, a significant tally augmented in no small part by the swelling numbers on Lough Gara (Co.Sligo), where five birds on 25th had risen to nine individuals on 26th-27th, with eight still logged there on 28th. In Britain, away from Norfolk, duos were noted on Lisvane reservoir (Glamorgan) still on 22nd-28th; at Standlake (Oxfordshire) again on 26th; and on Loch Lochy (Highland & Caithness) on 22nd.

Just one Lesser Scaup was reported in recent days, this being the drake still present at Dunfanaghy New Lake (Co.Donegal) on 22nd-27th.

A handful of Surf Scoters were noted lately – one still in Cork and off Aghada (Co.Cork) on 25th; two birds seen from Llandulas (Conwy) on 25th also; and one off West Sands (Fife) on 28th.

In Shetland the young drake King Eider was still hanging around Yell on 23rd, being seen that day from Gutcher. This was thoroughly eclipsed by the discovery, on 27th, of a drake in Cleveland off Marske-by-the-Sea; it remained off South Gare to week’s end on 28th.

We finish with a colourful flourish back in Ireland where the drake Hooded Merganser was still to be seen this week at Rosduane (Co.Mayo) on 22nd-28th.

The week proved still quieter than ever for notable waders, though we’d expect nothing more at this late juncture. Lingering quality comes to the fore at this point and, this week, news broke of something that’s been hanging around Hanningfield reservoir (Essex) for almost a month now – a Spotted Sandpiper, present for its 18th day on 25th, and still there on 26th-27th.

Similarly consistent, on Scilly the Wilson’s Snipe remained on St Mary’s on 24th-25th.

Up in Orkney, the American Golden Plover was still on North Ronaldsay on 23rd, and the Lesser Yellowlegs again on Papa Westray on 24th.

Those aside, the week belonged to Grey Phalaropes, with around 40 birds seen from Orkney in the north to Cornwall, Devon, Hampshire, West Sussex, and Kent along the south coast. Mostly singletons, the most notable exception to that rule were the 12 seen off Clahane Strand (Co.Clare) on 28th.

After a strong showing in the preceding week, numbers of Sabine’s Gulls dropped back to a considerably more modest five or six birds noted lately. One or two remained in the Weymouth area of Dorset, single birds being seen in Chesil Cove again on 22nd and Weymouth Bay on 24th; the recent Dungeness (Kent) juvenile was still there on 22nd; and the inland bird was once more seen at Amwell NR (Hertfordshire) on 24th. On 27th, at Dungeness, an adult was coming to bread; and on 28th, a bird was present in Cornwall at Fistral Beach.

Bonaparte’s Gulls put in a solid performance this week – one in Pembrokeshire at Llys-y-Fran reservoir on 25th; the adult again at Stag Rocks (Northumberland) on 27th-28th; a sighting of an adult on 28th at Sunderland harbour (Co.Durham); and Irish birds at Tralee Bay Wetlands (Co.Kerry) on 22nd, and Ballygalley (Co.Antrim) on 23rd-28th.

A second-winter Ring-billed Gull was seen at Hillsborough Forest Park (Co.Down) on 24th-28th. We’ve become accustomed to semi-regular returning wintering adult birds in recent years, but younger, newer individuals seem to be harder to come by. Adults this week were seen at Blackrock (Co.Louth) and Lelant Saltings (Cornwall) on 27th.

Glaucous Gulls more or less scraped into double figures this week. The lingering bird remained in Exeter (Devon) still on 25th-26th, and the regular Lerwick (Shetland) bird was once more noted there on 28th; and further birds were found at Penzance (Cornwall) on 22nd, Portland (Dorset) on 22nd-23rd, Perranuthnoe (Cornwall) on 23rd, Hornsea Mere (East Yorkshire) on 26th, Reenard Point (Co.Kerry) on 26th and 27th, on the Bann estuary (Co.Derry) on 26th, on 27th at Llys-y-Fran reservoir (Pembrokeshire) and Barra (Western Isles) and, on 28th, at Lochbuie (Argyll & Bute).

Similar numbers of Iceland Gulls were logged lately – single birds at Luthrie (Fife) on 22nd-27th, St Mary’s (Scilly) on 22nd-27th, Newlyn (Cornwall) and St Margaret’s Bay (Kent) on 23rd, on the Bann estuary (Co.Derry) on 25th, and Lough Atalia (Co.Galway), Llys-y-fran reservoir (Pembrokeshire), and Newlyn (Cornwall) on 27th. The latter bird remained there on 28th, and another was found that day on Orkney Mainland at Marwick.

A well-marked, chocolatey Kumlien’s Gull was present on Unst (Shetland) on 26th-27th; and an adult bird at Tralee Bay Wetlands (Co.Kerry) on 24th.

In Norfolk, the juvenile female Pallid Harrier continued to haunt the Warham Greens area on 22nd-28th.

A smart, frosty Rough-legged Buzzard settled into Unst (Shetland) on 24th-26th; another was found at St Abb’s Head (Borders) on 26th; Orkney sightings came on 27th on Papa Westray and then, on 28th, on Mainland near Dounby; and a further probable bird was seen at Pundershaw Forest (North Yorkshire) on 25th.

Proving it’s not too late in the year for Black Kites, one was seen in Gloucestershire at Frampton-on-Severn on 24th, hot on the heels of a report of a bird in Kent the previous day near Gravesend.

While Scilly stole the show with the magnificent Myrtle Warbler this week, there was also an intriguing, unconfirmed report of a White-throated Sparrow present in a Northwich (Cheshire & Wirral) garden on 25th-26th.

While that failed to coalesce into anything more concrete, there was no denying the growing presence of Penduline Tits in our midst – the three birds found in East Sussex at West Rise Marsh on 19th-20th growing to a flock of five present there this week on 26th, at least four of which were still present there on 28th; while the Woolston Eyes NR (Cheshire & Wirral) bird was still present there on 22nd-23rd; and another was found in Norfolk at How Hill NR on 24th.

If numbers of their kind were on the up, they couldn’t hold a candle to Waxwings, as the early winter influx gathered pace for another week – while mobile flocks of birds in urban settings like Aberdeen (Aberdeenshire) confounded certainty about absolute numbers, somewhere in the region of 1,000 birds were reported nationwide over the course of the week.

The recent Hoopoe remained in Kent at Lympne on 22nd; and another bird was found in Suffolk near Framlingham on 24th.

A number of Great Grey Shrikes continued to set the winter scene this week – in Kent, the bird remained on Hothfield Common on 22nd-26th; Hampshire provided records from Pig Bush on 22nd-28th still, and Liphook on 24th; a bird was found in Norfolk near Methwold on 25th-28th; the Whixall Moss (Shropshire) individual was still present on 22nd; the Langdale Forest (North Yorkshire) bird on 26th still, joined in the area by a second individual on 27th; and a bird at Dipton Wood (Northumberland) on 27th.

In Cornwall, the Short-toed Lark remained at Nanjizal Valley on 25th-27th.

Two or three Red-rumped Swallows were seen this week – one in Kent at Cliftonville on 22nd, and another further north in Norfolk at Hopton-on-Sea on 25th followed, on 28th, by a bird at Sheringham (Norfolk).

Almost fading from the news entirely now, a probable Pallid Swift was found on 27th at North Queensferry (Fife).

Hume’s Warblers remained scattered down the north-east coast at Mire Loch (Borders) still on 22nd-25th, Whitley Bay (Northumberland) still on 22n-25th, and Whitburn CP (Co.Durham) still on 23rd-27th; and another was present at Low Newton-by-the-Sea (Northumberland) on 23rd-28th, joined there on the latter date by a second individual.

Numbers of Yellow-browed Warblers contracted strongly, down to some 20 birds noted nationwide in recent days.

The Pallas’s Warbler remained in Essex at The Naze on 22nd still; another was found in Kent at Dungeness on 27th.

A possible Greenish Warbler was reported from Hauxley NR (Northumberland) on 25th.

St Mary’s (Scilly) held onto two Dusky Warblers until 27th, with at least one still present as the week drew to a close on 28th; and another was found at Nanjizal Valley (Cornwall) on 27th.

St Mary’s also retained its recent Red-flanked Bluetail on 22nd-28th.

Winning prizes for longevity, and ensuring Welsh birders all get a chance to catch up with it, the Isabelline Wheatear remained at Mynydd Mawr (Gwynedd) on 22nd-28th.

A possible Eastern Yellow Wagtail was present at Loch of Wester (Highland & Caithness) on 22nd.

Lundy’s recent good form for pipits got better still this week with an American Buff-bellied Pipit present on the island on 25th.

Nanjizal Valley (Cornwall) had to make do with a Red-throated Pipit on 25th.

Richard’s Pipits remained in Gloucestershire at Hempsted on 22nd-25th still, and Awre again on 25th also; and on St Mary’s (Scilly) still on 22nd-28th.

A wayward male Serin settled into a garden on Eigg (Highland & Caithness) on 24th-28th, while two birds were found on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 27th-28th.

Finally, a Little Bunting was seen on North Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 22nd-24th.

Finally relegating Germany from opening our overseas account, this week we kick off in Italy where, on 26th, a Chinese Pond Heron was found at Liguria – a first record for Italy.

But Germany… still holding on to the country’s first Red-breasted Nuthatch this week at Tonsheider Wald on 23rd-27th.

France, meanwhile, retained some recent quality in the form of the Northern Harrier still present on Ouessant on 22nd, the Eastern Long-legged Buzzard still at Thibie on 22nd also, and a Lesser Flamingo still on 26th at Etang de Moro. Better still, the country’s first Sandhill Crane was found on 25th at Givry-en-Argonne.

On 24th the Sandhill Crane remained in Hungary at Balmazujvaros.

In Spain’s Galicia the recent drake Black Duck remained at Praia de Sada on 23rd, and the Short-billed Dowitcher was again seen at Ria de Foz on 25th.

We started this section with a rare heron, and we’ll finish with another – in addition to a Common Yellowthroat on the island that day still, a Great Blue Heron was present out on the Azores on Terceira on 26th.

So what now for the week to come, as November hands over to closing act of the year? The first week of December may not be lauded as one of the classics where past rare birds are concerned, but that’s not to say we should give up hope just yet.

And it looks, at the time of writing, like we’re in for some light easterlies in the days to come. At the very least, there will be Waxwings, and whose day was ever made the worse for spending time with them?

It’s certainly not too late for a decent thrush – the coming week boasts past records of Black-throated, Dusky, Eyebrowed, and White’s Thrushes and, with common winter thrushes on the move at the moment, something rarer crossing the North Sea with them seems a reasonable bet.

For a longer shot, how about a Sociable Lapwing. Erstwhile regular in the 1980s and 1990s, since 2000 they’ve become significantly scarcer and, since 2008, we’ve just had one record, a bird that kicked around Cornwall throughout December 2020 and into the following new year for good measure. France, the Netherlands, and Poland have all had birds this autumn since August. Could it be our turn again sometime soon to see one enjoying the company of what’s left of our wintering flocks of Lapwings?

 

Jon Dunn
29 Nov 2022

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

 

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