Weekly birding round-up: 20 - 26 Jun 2023
Coming in the wake of an unconfirmed report of a bird heard on Tresco (Scilly) on 17th, belated news this week came of a Scops Owl heard in Norfolk from a public footpath at Billingford Lakes early in the morning of 23rd. Alas, there was no sign or sound of it in the late evening of 24th.
None of that’s terribly satisfying, really. Not for weekend birders heading to Norfolk, and certainly not for resident birders in the county. While Scops Owls have, from time to time, stuck around for a day or two elsewhere in Britain and proved twitchable, Norfolk’s been enduring a decades-long drought where they’re concerned.The last bird to be found in Norfolk resides there to this day, sitting in the Castle Museum in Norwich after being found moribund on 27th August 1954, and succumbing the following day. Eight prior records take us back to the first, a bird shot at Strumpshaw almost 200 years ago on 17th June 1824. To say another extant and twitchable bird is a little overdue is something of an understatement.
Essex, meanwhile, has had no such problems with Franklin’s Gulls as, in the wake of the county’s first in 2000, three more accepted records have followed. The last of them, a first-summer bird at Abberton reservoir in 2016, proved to be an amenable beast, spending eight days there on 9th-16th May.
An adult found this week at Holland Haven CP on 23rd was, in its way, also amenable. At least, in the sense that it was found there mid-morning and stayed put there until mid-afternoon, allowing those Essex birders with an hour or two free in the day to connect with it. By late afternoon, however, it appeared to have moved on, and no further sign of it was to be forthcoming over the course of the weekend.
Pelagics began to bear fruit this week, with Wilson’s Petrels seen off Scilly on 20th, and Co.Cork on 20th also; another bird spent 45 minutes offshore from Porthgwarra (Cornwall) on 24th; and another lingered a while off Brandon Point (Co.Kerry) on 26th.
A Leach’s Petrel was reported offshore from Newquay (Cornwall) on 24th; four birds were seen from Lewis (Western Isles) on 25th.
Single Great Shearwaters were noted from the Scilly pelagics of 20th and 22nd, while another was seen from Porthgwarra (Cornwall) on 23rd, two in Co.Kerry passing Deelick Point on 25th, and a further two off Brandon Point (Co.Kerry) on 26th.
Ten Cory’s Shearwaters were seen from Brandon Point (Co.Kerry) on 26th.
The recent White-billed Diver remained in Dunnet Bay (Highland & Caithness) on 21st-24th, with another seen from Barra (Western Isles) on 20th.
Two Pomarine Skuas were seen from the Scilly pelagic of 20th; on 23rd singletons were seen from Cornwall off Porthgwarra and The Lizard respectively; on 24th one was seen in Cornwall from Trevedran; and on 26th a bird was seen passing Brandon Point (Co.Kerry).
Night Herons remained an almost daily feature in the newsfeed, not least at Ouse Washes RSPB where a single bird was reliable on 20th-25th still. Another bird was settled at Adwick Washlands RSPB (South Yorkshire) on 21st-23rd; and additional birds were noted at Titchwell RSPB (Norfolk) on 20th, Nafferton (East Yorkshire) on 20th, Druridge Pools NR (Northumberland) on 21st, reported from Weir Wood reservoir (East Sussex) on 22nd, and heard at Haddiscoe Marshes (Norfolk) on 22nd. On 25th one was found on the Slaney River in Co.Wexford at Solsboro; and on 26th, our final bird of the week by the River Frome in Dorset between Stinsford and Dorchester.
Purple Herons also remained a daily feature here and there. The recent Bedfordshire bird was again seen at Marston Vale Millennium CP on 20th, 24th and 26th; one lingered in Co.Cork at Rostellan Lake on 22nd-26th; birds were seen in flight over Trelissick (Cornwall) and Goole (East Yorkshire) on 22nd; and another sighting came on 23rd from Hickling Broad NWT (Norfolk).
Glossy Ibises meanwhile were still somewhat in abeyance. Single birds were reported from Martin Mere WWT (Lancashire & North Merseyside) on 21st-22nd, Aldeburgh Town Marshes (Suffolk) still on 21st and again on 26th, Cantley Beet Factory (Norfolk) on 22nd and once more on 25th, at Buckenham Marshes RSPB (Norfolk) on 22nd-23rd, and at Lady’s Island Lake (Co.Wexford) on 25th.
Still proving thoroughly elusive, but defiantly audible, the recent Little Crake remained in song at Ouse Fen RSPB (Cambridgeshire) on 20th-24th.
Quackers, decent or otherwise, grew ever harder to come by this week. By some margin the best of them was the drake Lesser Scaup again on St John’s Loch (Highland & Caithness) on 21st.
A handful of Ring-necked Ducks were also logged this week – at Kilnsea Wetlands (East Yorkshire) on 20th; on the Forth & Clyde Canal (Clyde) again on 21st; and at Carlton Marshes SWT (Suffolk) on 20th-25th.
In Aberdeenshire the second-summer drake King Eider remained on the Ythan estuary on 20th-23rd.
Popping back into the news this week, a couple of Surf Scoters provided a little Scottish variety – birds were seen off Blackdog (Aberdeenshire) on 22nd-26th, and Scrabster (Highland & Caithness) on 23rd-24th.
A fine feature of the prior week stuck around a little longer in the week just gone, to the delight of local and weekend birders alike – the adult American Golden Plover was still to be seen at Cley NWT (Norfolk) on 20th-26th.
Lincolnshire’s family of Black-winged Stilts continued to prosper, with all six birds (two adults, and their four young) still present at Frampton Marsh RSPB until 23rd, at least three birds still present there on 25th and then, on 26th, 10 birds present – with now at least seven young present on site. Two birds were still to be seen in South Yorkshire at Old Moor RSPB on 20th-23rd, and back at Adwick Washlands RSPB on 24th-26th; then, on 25th-26th, the news of six birds present at Edderthorpe Flash – two adults, and four young.Two were seen in Norfolk at Buckenham Marshes RSPB on 20th-21st; and the male remained in Gloucestershire at Slimbridge WWT on 20th-26th.
A few Pectoral Sandpipers were found this week – at Hollesley Marshes RSPB (Suffolk) on 22nd-23rd; Alston Wetland (Lancashire & North Merseyside) on 23rd; and on Papa Westray (Orkney) on 24th, and Westray on 26th.
https://twitter.com/snettsbirder/status/1672688274429575169?s=20Orkney’s North Ronaldsay boasted three Red-necked Phalaropes on 24th.
The adult male Least Tern remained steady in Co.Dublin this week, showing well at the Little Tern colony at Portrane on 23rd-26th.
In Northumberland the adult surinamensis American Black Tern was once more seen at Long Nanny on 20th-22nd and 25th.
White-winged Black Terns this week were seen at Huttoft Bank Pit LWT (Lincolnshire) on 20th, Langford Lowfields RSPB (Nottinghamshire) on 22nd and reported again on 23rd, at Hornsea Mere (East Yorkshire) on 24th, and at Saltholme RSPB (Cleveland) on 26th.
A Caspian Tern was found on 26th in Worcestershire at Lower Moor – a locally very significant bird, being only the second county record after the first way back on 29th July 1971.
The best of the week’s gulls was, of course, in Essex, but Orkney did its best to divert too, with a first-summer Bonaparte’s Gull found on the irrepressible Papa Westray on 22nd.
White-wingers weren’t entirely giving up on us just yet – Glaucous Gulls were noted in the Western Isles on South Uist on 20th-21st still, and Barra on 22nd, 24th and 25th; on Islay (Argyll & Bute) on 22nd; on Orkney Mainland at Stenness on 23rd still; and in Co.Kerry at Cahersiveen on 22nd. The Western Isles also gave us Iceland Gull sightings still on South Uist on 20th-24th, and North Uist on 24th; while one was seen on Unst (Shetland) on 25th.
For the second week running we start the raptors section with some wishful thinking. Taking the baton from Booted Eagle – Eleonora’s Falcon being relegated to an also-ran in the mythical stakes these days in the wake of the most twitchable of birds – is Long-legged Buzzard. Reports of them are shaping up to be an annual event, and this year’s opening salvo came from Cornwall, where a wholly unconfirmed report of a bird seen initially perched on a telegraph pole and then in flight towards the sea near Soapy Cove on The Lizard in the morning of 23rd came to nothing further thereafter. This comes almost exactly a year after a short succession of sightings of a possible bird in the same area at the end of May and in early June 2022. Whilst, courtesy of the bird photographed passing through Shetland on 1st September 2019, Long-legged Buzzard is on the British list, a twitchable bird on the British mainland remains, for now, firmly the stuff of birding fantasy.
A couple of first-summer male Red-footed Falcons were seen in recent days – one lingering at Dungeness (Kent) on 20th-22nd, and another in Suffolk at Boyton Marshes RSPB on 21st.
Black Kites this week were seen at Elvington (East Yorkshire) on 21st-22nd, and St Margaret’s at Cliffe (Kent) on 24th; another was reported over Ham Wall RSPB (Somerset) on 22nd; and a possible was seen in Norfolk at Hardingham on 24th.
A ringtail Montagu’s Harrier was present at Gibraltar Point NNR (Lincolnshire) on 24th-25th.
Starting the passerines in Scotland with a splash of colour, a Hoopoe was seen at Rothiemurchus (Highland & Caithness) on 20th.
Speaking of colour, the returning Bee-eaters remained in the vicinity of Trimingham throughout the week. A further possible was reported from Dover (Kent) on 22nd, and another was heard only in Kent over Seaton on 25th.
An unconfirmed report of a Great Grey Shrike came from Milecastle (Northumberland) on 24th. A Woodchat Shrike was present at Long Nanny (Northumberland) on 21st; and a male Red-backed Shrike near Slaidburn (Lancashire & North Merseyside) on 22nd, with another found on 25th at Loch of Strathbeg RSPB (Aberdeenshire).
A handful of Golden Orioles were seen and heard in recent days – seen on Foula (Shetland) on 21st, Portland (Dorset) on 23rd, and in Gosforth Park NR (Northumberland) on 24th; a probable was reported from Cowpen Bewley (Cleveland) on 20th, and a further bird was reported as heard near the city centre in Cork (Co.Cork) on 22nd.
An unconfirmed report came of a Red-rumped Swallow at Marazion Marsh RSPB (Cornwall) on 23rd.
The Great Reed Warbler remained in song at Saltholme RSPB (Cleveland) on 21st-24th.
Some 20 Marsh Warblers were again noted nationwide this week. Once again, there were scarcer still prizes to be found by the keen-eared – a couple of Blyth’s Reed Warblers were found in Shetland, on Foula on 21st, and in a Mossbank garden on Mainland on 23rd.
The Savi’s Warbler remained in song near Saltholme RSPB (Cleveland) on 20th-25th.
The singing Icterine Warbler was last heard in Lerwick (Shetland) on 20th.
A Western Subalpine Warbler was trapped and ringed on Skokholm (Pembrokeshire) on 24th.
The recent Rose-coloured Starling was once more seen in Norfolk at West Runton on 20th.
The singing male Bluethroat remained at Slimbridge WWT (Gloucestershire) on 20th-26th.
The male Blue-headed Wagtail also remained at Hesketh Out Marsh RSPB (Lancashire & North Merseyside) on 24th. A Grey-headed Wagtail was present on Fair Isle (Shetland) on 20th.
The settled male Common Rosefinch remained in Kendal (Cumbria) on 20th-26th. Another was found on Shetland Mainland at Scousburgh on 24th.
A Serin was seen on Portland (Dorset) on 20th.
The overseas news got a little more varied this past week but, of course, we have to start in Spain where the lingering Ancient Murrelet continued its residency on the mouth of the River Odiel near Huelva this week on 20th-25th.
A little closer to home, in France the White-rumped Swift was back for another summer amongst the Red-rumped Swallows at Minerve on 22nd-26th.
In Austria, a singing Spectacled Warbler was found at Wiedersberger Horn on 22nd, the first for the country.
Finally, to Scandinavia where, on 23rd a Caspian Plover was found in Denmark at Margrethe-Kog and, on 24th, a Griffon Vulture was seen in Finland at Kemionsaari.
The final week of June’s upon us, and we’re rattling into July before we know it. That’s the height of summer whichever way we paint it, and the natural inclination is to assume that the birding will be a little slower and quieter than of late.
Which isn’t to say that, historically, the coming week has been entirely devoid of past, startling, glories. How could we forget the Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross taken into care in Somerset on 29th June 2007 and released the following day – a release that, had we but known of it, would have perhaps been the scene of one of the biggest twitches of all time? Or the Lark Sparrow that settled into Landguard Point (Suffolk) on 30th June – 8th July 1981?
The exceptions, those, rather than the rule, naturally. Somewhat more reasonably, the coming week is a decent one for Roller, with seven past records; Whiskered Tern, with five past records; and Marsh Sandpiper, also with five past records.
None of which will set the twitching world on fire. But all of which would represent excellent county birds, and superb self-finds for someone.
Jon Dunn
27 Jun 2023
Many thanks to all this week's contributors for your photos and videos
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