Weekly birding round-up: 14 - 20 Mar 2023
Spring began to move through the gears this week, with the ongoing influx of Alpine Swifts continuing to make their presence felt in the skies above us, and more besides – not least on Scilly, where another year’s rarity account was opened in emphatic fashion.
We tend to think of Scilly as the quintessential autumn birding destination (sorry Shetland – love you too) but there’s a compelling case for it deserving far more visiting birder attention in spring too – after all, it turns up quality there year after year. The only imponderable really being when the first big bird of the year will be unearthed.
This week saw the Scillonian spring account get under way with an absolute banger, a cracking adult male Lesser Kestrel found on St Mary’s on 23rd where it continued to delight daily until 27th, giving superlative views at times.
The fifth record for the islands, it’s only the third in modern times. The first, dating way back to 3rd March 1891, remains on the islands to this day, an adult male that was shot and now lives in the Isles of Scilly Museum. After the second record, in late February 1926, decades elapsed until the dawn of the current century and a first-summer male that spent 13th-21st May 2002 on St Mary’s – a duly very popular bird with local birders and those from further afield too.
The Scilly Lesser Kestrel in atmospheric context. Magnificent bird in the most beautiful of places. pic.twitter.com/eFWYnnxOjl
— Scilly Pelagics (@Scillypelagics) March 25, 2023
This week’s bird comes relatively hot on the heels of the archipelago’s last record, also an adult male, and another that was to prove an extremely popular draw, not least by virtue of its extended stay on St Mary’s – from 7th March right through to 1st May 2020. That might temper the allure of this week’s bird for those from further afield, but in no way detracts from the sheer quality of this latest individual. One to savour if you’re on the Fortunate Isles in the days to come.
It’s funny to think that, once upon a not too long ago time, we were all told that large raptors simply didn’t cross the English Channel. It was simply an insurmountable barrier to their kind. They just wouldn’t countenance crossing it. One wonders what a rarities committee would make of a nailed on Booted Eagle were one to be found these days, in the wake of recent vultures and eagles firmly blowing that hypothesis out of the water…
But we digress. It’s not a Booted Eagle that catches our attention this week – nope, it’s (yet) another Short-toed Eagle. Since Britain’s first in October 1999 we’ve now four accepted birds on the record books, and counting – last autumn’s bird in Kent is waiting in the weeks to formally join them in the record books and, this week, another bird was found.
Alas this one wasn’t to prove obliging – seen heading southbound over the Little River Ouse (Suffolk / Norfolk) on the morning of 21st, it wasn’t subsequently relocated. If nothing else, it’s a timely reminder that the times they have a-changed where large raptors are concerned, and reports of their kind need no longer be greeted with innate scepticism.
On the one hand, Suffolk was clearly having a good week, if we look at the quality of birds being found in the county. However, as the last of our headline birds serves to prove, neither of the big ticket items were really playing ball for local birders.
We’ve been saying for a couple of weeks now that a Great Spotted Cuckoo may be imminent and, sure enough, one was found this week in Suffolk at Easton Bavents on the clifftop there at midday on 24th before heading deep into a field with no general access.
As the afternoon wore on, the bird was still present in said field, albeit only viewable distantly from the adjoining coastal footpath. But as 25th dawned there was no further sign of it there. Suffolk’s been poorly served by the species down the years, with just one prior record on the books, dating back to autumn 1992. A new generation of county birders will have wanted this week’s bird very keenly indeed.
In an otherwise fairly quiet week for seabirds, the first signs of the anticipated spring White-billed Diver show off the coast of mainland Scotland were seen this week, with single birds noted from west of Elie Ness (Fife) on 21st, and off Burghead (Moray) on 24th and 27th.
A Little Auk was seen passing Tory Island (Co.Donegal) on 26th.
As the week drew to a close on 26th the adult Double-crested Cormorant was again seen at Doon Lough (Co.Leitrim).
We expected the first reports of scarce herons any day now and, sure enough, things were warming up a little on this long-legged beasty front this week. A Purple Heron was found on Scilly on Eastern Isles on 21st, while another probable was seen over the River Neath near Neath (Glamorgan) on 24th.
As for Glossy Ibises, the best of them remained at Lough Aderra (Co.Cork), where numbers fluctuated from four still present on 21st down to a trio of 22nd-23rd, back up to five birds again on 25th, and back to the dizzy heights of seven birds once more on 27th. Another Irish bird remained at Tacumshin (Co.Wexford) on 25th.
The peak English count were the quartet still present at Titchfield Haven NNR (Hampshire) on 22nd-26th. Elsewhere duos were still to be found at Fremington Pill (Devon) on 25th; at Ham Wall RSPB and Shapwick Heath NNR (Somerset) on 21st-26th; and at Dungeness (Kent) on 21st-27th. In Wales a single bird was reported from Goldcliff Pools NR on 23rd.
Numbers and variety both of interesting honkers were on the wane this week, and won’t delay us for long before we get into the quackers where more interest remained. Starting with The Goose Formerly Known As Canada, in Northumberland the recent hutchinsii Richardson’s Cackling Goose continued to linger in the Earsdon area on 21st-27th.
The Islay (Argyll & Bute) Red-breasted Goose remained present on the island on 26th.
In Essex the Black Brant was seen again at Mersea Island on 21st; another possible bird was seen at Holy Island (Northumberland) on 25th.
Pick of the ducks this week was once more the drake Baikal Teal, still to be seen at Forydd Bay (Gwynedd) on 21st-22nd.
Drake American Wigeons were seen on Islay (Argyll & Bute) still on 22nd-26th; in Northumberland at Grindon Lough still on 21st-23rd and Hauxley NR on 23rd; and at Otmoor RSPB (Oxfordshire) still on 24th-27th.
Thirteen Green-winged Teals were logged this week, the species still holding firm in double figures nationally for now. Scottish sightings came from the Western Isles on Lewis still on 25th, and Barra and North Uist still on 21st; in Highland & Caithness on 23rd at St John’s Loch, and still at Altulrie on 24th; and on Orkney’s Sanday still on 26th. On the Isle of Man the individual remained at Poyllvaaish on 24th. Irish sightings came from Inch Island Lake (Co.Donegal) still on 23rd-27th, and Larne Lough (Co.Antrim) on 25th-26th. The English representatives were birds still in Essex at East Tilbury on 21st-27th, Slimbridge WWT (Gloucestershire) on 27th, and at Campfield Marsh RSPB (Cumbria) on 26th.
A Ferruginous Duck was seen on Filby Broad (Norfolk) on 22nd and 26th still, and another sighting came from nearby Ormesby Little Broad on 26th also.
Some 30 Ring-necked Ducks were logged againacross Britain and Ireland. Most of these were singletons, but the steadfast two remained in Glamorgan on Lisvane reservoir on 22nd-26th still, and the Irish quintet was still to be found on Kilkee reservoir (Co.Clare) on 26th.
English Lesser Scaups remained on Farmoor reservoir (Oxfordshire) on 21st-27th, and at Ham Wall RSPB (Somerset) still on 23rd-27th. It was Scotland, however, where birds continued to come out of the woodwork this week – in addition to the drake on St Mary’s Loch (Argyll & Bute) still on 21st-23rd, a female was found on Balgray reservoir (Clyde) on 25th-27th, and a possible female on Loch Heilen (Highland & Caithness) on 24th.
The drake Black Scoter put in a Northumbrian reappearance off Cocklawburn Beach again on 23rd, and Stag Rocks on 24th-27th.
Two drake Surf Scoters remained present off Llanddulas (Conwy) on 25th; the female bird was still present off Pennington Marshes (Hampshire) on 21st; the Islay (Argyll & Bute) individual was again seen there on 24th-26th; while the female was again seen in Cork (Co.Cork) harbour on 25th-26th.
Finally, the second-winter King Eider was still present off Redcar (Cleveland) on 21st-27th, and the second-winter drake off Port Seton (Lothian) on 22nd and 27th, and off Musselburgh on 26th.
Where waders were concerned, were it not for Long-billed Dowitchers this week the cupboard would have been entirely bare. Happily, the Cley (Norfolk) stalwart was still present on 21st-26th, while the Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB (Cheshire & Wirral) bird put in another reappearance there on 21st-27th also; and the Sanday (Orkney) bird was again seen up there on 25th-26th.
Pick of the gulls this week was the adult Ross’s Gull in Aberdeenshire, still gracing Kinnaird Head on 21st-27th.
Ring-billed Gulls weren’t done with us yet, with five birds seen in the course of recent days. Ireland once again had the best of them – birds remained at Carrickfergus Harbour (Co.Antrim) on 21st-27th; at Cuskinny Marsh NR (Co.Cork) on 25th; at Tralee Bay Wetlands (Co.Kerry) on 25th; and still at Enniskillen (Co.Fermanagh) on 27th. On 27th Tralee Bay Wetlands excelled itself, with no fewer than six birds logged there – three adults, two second-winters, and a first-winter.
Cornwall supplied three sightings of potentially two birds this week – a second-winter on the Gannel estuary on 22nd, a first-winter past Newquay on 25th, and a first-winter back on the Gannel estuary on 26th.
Numbers of Glaucous Gulls remained little changed, with around 30 birds noted lately; numbers of Iceland Gulls meanwhile dropped somewhat, down to some 30 birds noted across Britain and Ireland as a whole.
In Unst (Shetland), the juvenile Kumlien’s Gull remained at Uyeasound on 23rd-25th.
Co.Galway’s Forster’s Tern put in another appearance on the rocks between Nimmo’s Pier and Mutton Island on 25th, and at Claddagh Beach on 27th.
As we’ve already seen, raptors were dominating the headlines this past week. Further variety elsewhere came largely in the form of some settled recent favourites.
In Norfolk, the juvenile female Pallid Harrier was seen regularly again at Warham Greens on 21st-24th.
In Shetland, both recent Rough-legged Buzzards were again noted this week on 23rd, on Unst, and on Mainland at Black Gaet.
A probable Black Kite was seen at Treorchy (Glamorgan) on 24th.
The biggest story amongst the passerines this week was, of course, the ongoing Alpine Swift influx, with new arrivals and, doubtless, wandering birds cropping up here and there as the days wore on. There remained a sense that birds could be found pretty much anywhere (apart from the northern isles of Scotland, where they remained stubbornly absent) – even London got a look in this week, with single birds seen at London Bridge on 21st, Dagenham Chase NR on 25th, Hackney and Walthamstow Wetlands LWT on 26th-27th, and Hornchurch on 27th.
Ireland accounted for some 35 birds this past week, with half a dozen birds over Dublin (Co.Dublin) the week’s largest flock anywhere in the region. Britain meanwhile garnered reports of some 85 birds, though surely there was some duplication of records of these ultra-mobile creatures, particularly in well-watched stretches of the east coast. All in all, the show is far from over yet, with every day this week delivering sightings of seemingly new birds.
Providing another shot across our bows this week warning of imminent weeks of spring overshoots, a couple of Hoopoes were found in the southwest at the weekend on 25th – one in Cornwall between Mousehole and Lamorna, and the other in Devon at Croyde. The latter bird remained on 26th-27th, while another was reported in Ireland at Old Head of Kinsale (Co.Cork) on 26th, and a further bird near Newtownards (Co.Down) at Comber on 27th.
The week’s most intriguing unconfirmed report, had it only came to anything, was of a Nutcracker seen by a non-birder in Felixstowe (Suffolk) on 21st. While one’s inner cynic is screaming Starling, one of these days one of these reports will turn out to be the real deal…
In Kent, all three of the recent Hume’s Warbler were still present this week – these being the individuals in Folkestone on 22nd-27th, at Elmstone on 25th-27th, and in Dover again on 27th.
Staying in Kent a moment, the two recent Penduline Tits were again seen at Elmley NNR on 23rd, with four birds present there on 24th, and at least three still on 25th. Far rarer in their respective national context, three were seen in Ireland at Lough Beg (Co.Cork) on 26th.
35 Waxwings were logged during the week, with a couple of fair flocks amongst their number – 14 birds remaining in Salsburgh (Clyde) on 21st-26th, and 13 birds seen in Inverness (Highland & Caithness) on 25th.
After a frankly dismal winter for reports of Great Grey Shrikes, their numbers continued to pick up marginally again this week, with seven individuals reported. Starting in Scotland, sightings came from Highland & Caithness near Loch Ashie on 23rd, and at Oykel Bridge on 25th. English records came from East Sussex at Black Down NT still on 21st-27th; Shatterford (Hampshire) still on 21st-22nd; in Harwood Forest (Northumberland) still on 22nd-24th; and at Hothfield Common (Kent) again on 25th-27th. Wales got a bird at Abergavenny (Gwent) on 25th.
Suffolk retained its Eastern Yellow Wagtail at Carlton Marshes SWT on 21st-27th.
The Richard’s Pipit was still on St Mary’s (Scilly) bird on 22nd-26th.
The exilipes Arctic Redpoll remained in a Doagh (Co.Antrim) garden on 22nd-23rd.
For a second consecutive week Kent again gave us a Serin, this time at Foreness Point on 23rd.
In Cornwall the wintering Little Bunting remained at Metherell on 21st-27th, while the Hertfordshire bird remained at Stanborough Reedmarsh on 21st-25th also.
Notable passerines were once more the order of the day overseas, with lingering quality firmly augmented by some eye-watering new arrivals. Little could better the national first Black-throated Accentor found in a Danish garden at Odense on 21st-23rd for sheer northern European daydreaming material…
Though, of course, the lingering Baltimore Oriole in Sweden’s Förslöv still on 21st-26th shouldn’t allow familiarity to breed contempt either, and nor should the male Siberian Rubythroat still present at Trollhattan on 26th.
In Germany, the Dusky Thrush remained in Berlin’s Landschaftspark Rudow-Altglienicke on 23rd-26th.
Belgium’s Moustached Warbler also remained at De Gavers on 24th-26th.
In the Netherlands a drake Baikal Teal was present at Zevenhoven on 22nd.
Further afield to the eastern Mediterranean next, and to Cyprus where a marvellous week was being had, crowned by a male Diederik Cuckoo at Famagusta on 23rd-27th, and with a supporting cast of a Black-bellied Sandgrouse at Mandria on 24th.
Glad to have caught up with this Diederik Cuckoo. 2nd record for Cyprus, 5th for Western Palaearctic. pic.twitter.com/mkvzbgsAEn
— Alex Kirschel (@akirschel) March 26, 2023
A Pied Crow was seen in Egypt at El Qoseir on 25th.
Finally, in Israel the Pied Bushchat was still to be found at Ma’or on 24th-25th; four Swinhoe’s Petrels were seen off Eilat on 21st; and a Verreaux’s Eagle was reported from Eilat on 24th.
With the first half of the week ahead, at least, looking at the time of writing to boast some half-decent southerlies, we could be looking at some more colourful overshooting passerines in the days to come.
Inevitably, there will be more Alpine Swifts, and nobody (apart from your own correspondent whose Rarity Round Up spreadsheet now groans under their numbers) will be complaining about that. But what else might be on the cards at this early juncture of spring?
Another Great Spotted Cuckoo feels far from beyond the realms of impossibility and, hopefully, will prove to be a more obliging bird than this week’s Suffolk skulker. An early Sardinian Warbler could be a decent longshot in some southern or eastern coastal scrub.
Northbound, displaced Killdeer are a strong historic feature of the closing days of March and the start of April, so we shouldn’t be too surprised were one to turn up somewhere.
Perhaps more realistically, the coming week boasts double figures of past Black-winged Stilts and, with the species making strides towards being a regular rare breeding bird in these quarters, it’s not unreasonable to hope some early pioneers for 2023 might be bound our way someday soon.
Jon Dunn
28 Mar 2023
Many thanks to all this week's contributors for your photos and videos
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