Weekly birding round-up: 13 - 19 Feb 2024
Could this, whisper it, be the first green shoots of spring? Reports of one or two migrant passerines, the very tip of the vanguard of what’s yet to come, suggest it just might be around the corner, if not quite here yet. Then again, winter is usually slow to slip its grasp, and there’s plenty of time yet for a return to wet, windy and cold form. On the whole, this past week, there wasn’t much change to report. The weather was fairly settled, and so too were the birds.
In an otherwise really pretty quiet week, it fell once more to the settled drake Baikal Teal to continue to do the heavy lifting for the headlines, still present in Somerset at Greylake RSPB throughout the week until 19th.
Quiet times at sea this week, with really very little notable seen upon which to report. Pick of the bunch were three White-billed Diver seen in the rich inshore waters of Orkney, off Eday on 14th; while a further probable bird was seen going south past Gibraltar Point NNR (Lincolnshire) on 13th; and one remained at sea off Unst (Shetland) on 19th.
A Little Auk was seen from Westray (Orkney) on 19th.
A little over 20 Glossy Ibis were noted this week, with a couple of small flocks making up a decent proportion of their number. Four birds on the Somerset Levels at Shapwick Heath NNR on 15th-17th and again on 19th maybe augur well for the year ahead; three remained at Titchfield Haven NNR (Hampshire) on 15th-18th; and three again at Fremington Pill (Devon) on 18th.
Keeping it traditional this week, we’ll start the honkers and quackers once again with The Goose Formerly Known As Canada - and, on Islay (Argyll & Bute), two hutchinsii Richardson’s Cackling Geese were seen on 15th-16th; and another was seen again at Lissadell (Co.Sligo) on 18th.
To the winter’s main goose event next, and we still had plenty of Red-breasted Geese to report nationwide. One was again seen on Islay on 14th-16th. Additional birds were noted at Budle Bay (Northumberland) again on 14th-18th; in Norfolk over Warham Greens on 17th; at Keyhaven and Pennington Marshes (Hampshire) on 13th-18th still; passing Fleet Head (Essex) on 18th; and still kicking around Martin Mere WWT (Lancashire & North Merseyside) on 13th. Another presumed escaped bird made a pitstop, with some Canada Geese, at Middleton Lakes RSPB (Staffordshire) on 14th before flying off to who knows where.
A white Snow Goose was seen in Highland & Caithness at Cromarty on 16th; another sighting came from Highland & Caithness on 19th near Halkirk; the white morph remained on Tiree (Argyll & Bute) on 19th; and the blue bird remained settled at Llay (Wrexham) on 18th.
Essex notched up a Black Brant at South Woodham Ferrers on 16th, while another remained at The Cull (Co.Wexford) on 18th; and four possible adult Grey-bellied Brant were seen on 16th at Kilbarrack (Co.Dublin).
Onto the quackers, and starting with seaduck, both of our recent notable scoter species were still up for grabs this week. Out at Inishmore (Co.Galway) the juvenile female White-winged Scoter was still to be seen there on 15th; while in Norfolk the drake Black Scoter continued to prove popular off Holkham Gap on 14th-19th.
Two drake Surf Scoter, meanwhile, were still hanging around off the Welsh coast at Llandulas (Conwy) on 14th-19th; on 18th a drake was noted off Black Rock Sands (Gwynedd), and another off Bremore Point (Co.Dublin); while on 18th-19th two were again seen at Gormanstown (Co.Meath).
The drake King Eider remained off Joppa (Lothian) on 13th; and a further first-winter bird was found in Shetland’s Bluemull Sound on 19th.
The bulk of the week’s American Wigeon once more hailed from Scotland, with four birds logged in recent days – at Newshot Island (Clyde) still on 13th-17th; at Cloddach Quarry (Moray) on 16th still; at Crook of Baldoon RSPB (Dumfries & Galloway) on 13th-15th still; and on the Orkney Mainland on 16th-17th at Graemeshall Loch. An English sighting came from Little Neston (Cheshire & Wirral) on 15th, and another on 18th-19th at Bubwith Ings (East Yorkshire); and the recent Inishmore (Co.Galway) bird was still to be seen there on 15th.
Numbers of Green-winged Teal remained high, with some 25 birds in all noted across Britain and Ireland as a whole. If ever there was a good time to check your local Teal, that time seems to be now, as new birds continue to come out of the woodwork to augment existing known individuals.
The long-staying drake Black Duck was still present at Cross Lough (Co.Mayo) on 18th.
The two settled Ferruginous Duck remained in Norfolk on Filby Broad on 13th; the drake was once again seen at Misson (Nottinghamshire) on 16th-17th; and then, on 18th, two drakes were present at Brandon Marsh NR (Warwickshire).
Around 20 Ring-necked Ducks were logged during the past week, with several sites again contributing multiple birds. Starting in Ireland, fouour were present on Kilkee Reservoir (Co.Clare) on 16th-19th; and two on Lough Gur (Co.Limerick) on 16th still. Regular recent hotspot Shapwick Heath NNR (Somerset) gave us a peak count this week of four birds present on 18th; while two remained at Lisvane Reservoir (Glamorgan) still on 14th-19th.
The recent flock of five Lesser Scaup remained on Abberton Reservoir (Essex) on 13th-18th, with at least four still present there on 19th; and a female at Rixton (Cheshire & Wirral) on 14th was a new English bird, seen latterly on 18th at Woolston Eyes NR. In Pembrokeshire the wintering singletons remained at Bosherston Lily Ponds on 16th-18th, and Penberry Reservoir on 13th-16th still. In Scotland, one remained at Lochwinnoch RSPB (Clyde) on 16th-19th; and our final bird for the week was still present in Co.Armagh on 13th-19th on Lough Neagh.
Our final honorary wildfowl put in another appearance this week in the dailies – this being the Pied-billed Grebe still happily settled on Inishmore (Co.Galway) on 15th.
The week’s waders begin, once again, in Somerset where the regular adult female Kentish Plover remained at Burnham-on-Sea on 13th-18th.
Three Long-billed Dowitcher were logged in recent days – one still present in East Sussex this week at Cuckmere Haven on 16th; another back at Carlton Marshes SWT (Suffolk) on 14th-19th; and final bird on 18th-19th again at Tacumshin (Co.Wexford).
In East Yorkshire the Lesser Yellowlegs was once again seen at Swine Moor on 15th-18th, while in Lincolnshire the more regularly reported bird remained at Frampton Marsh RSPB still 13th-19th.
Even the gulls this week were erring towards the quiet side, with rather fewer white-wingers noted than of late. But before we tear open the weekly bin bag and get into the meat of those, there are a few Ring-billed Gulls to acknowledge – single birds again in Co.Kerry at Tralee Bay Wetlands on 13th-14th; at Clonakilty (Co.Cork) again on 19th; and on the Hayle Estuary (Cornwall) still on 13th-16th. Another adult was reported in Bristol at Southmead on 16th, but wasn’t seen there subsequently.
A little over a dozen Glaucous Gull were noted nationwide this week, singletons all apart from two birds at Portballintrae (Co.Antrim) on 13th-14th. As for Iceland Gull, the story was little more fruitful, with just 20 birds logged – two on Yell (Shetland) on 15th being the only multiple sighting lately.
Nonetheless, there were still fair numbers of Kumlien’s Gull to be seen. Starting in the north, the Uyeasound bird remained on Unst (Shetland) on 13th; and the adult at Helmsdale (Highland & Caithness) on 13th-16th. In Cheshire & Wirral, the third-winter bird remained at Widnes on 13th-17th; while down in Cornwall the juvenile remained on Hayle Estuary on 13th, and an adult at Mousehole on 13th and Penzance on 14th also. Additional birds were found on 18th at Kerrykeel (Co.Donegal), and in Lerwick (Shetland), the latter bird remaining there on 19th; a possible juvenile was seen at St Ives (Cornwall) on 19th.
However, that wasn’t us all done for the week as, for the first time in months, we’d a rare tern to throw into the mix. Found in the morning of 18th, a Gull-billed Tern at Kilkeran Lake (Co.Cork) was most unexpected, and remained present there the following day.
While Welsh sightings of Pallid Harrier were a little quieter than of late this week – being restricted to Llanrhidian Marsh (Glamorgan) again on 16th, Castlemartin Corse (Pembrokeshire) again on 17th-18th, and Wernffrwd (Glamorgan) on 18th – it was the turn of birders in East Yorkshire to enjoy a mobile bird in recent days. The probable seen on 11th at Spurn solidified into a confirmed juvenile wandering around Easington, Holmpton, Welwick and Kilnsea on 15th-17th. Maybe this was the bird seen in late January near Brigg (Lincolnshire). Back in Norfolk, our regular second-winter female was again to be found at Warham Greens on 13th and 17th-19th.
Pallid Harrier. Llanridian Marsh, 16/2/24. pic.twitter.com/Q0kmYIqtns
— P Leyshon (@Solice22) February 16, 2024
Both of the recent juvenile Rough-legged Buzzards were still haunting Rosedale Moor (North Yorkshire) on 13th-19th. Additional sightings this week came on 18th at Great Ayton Moor (North Yorkshire / Cleveland), and Walton-le-Dale (Lancashire & North Merseyside).
Absent from the news for some significant time, the male Snowy Owl was once again seen on the remoteness of Ronas Hill (Shetland) on 14th.
With some reasonable flocks of Waxwing still in the offing this past week, we’re not quite yet back at the point where they require accounting for individually in the round up. That time surely isn’t that far away now though…
In the meantime, decent passerines generally were ever harder to come by. Two Great Grey Shrike made the dailies this week – the regular bird still present on Budby Common (Nottinghamshire) on 15th-19th; and one again seen in West Sussex at Black Down NT on 15th-19th.
A tiny bit of variety, albeit one couched in some vagueness, came in the form of a Dusky Warbler at an undisclosed location on the Isle of Man on 14th. Surely there are one or two more of its kind waiting to be found somewhere out there?
In Northumberland the Black-bellied Dipper was again seen at Cramlington on 19th.
Finally, the Little Bunting was still present this week in Kent at Godmersham Park on 13th-18th; and another was reported on 18th in Pembrokeshire at Gann Estuary midway along Pickleridge.
All very quiet again this week…
All very quiet again this week…
Ah, we’re standing on the cusp of the final week of February. March is almost galloping upon us, and we all know that this must herald the first Wheatear of spring, and rarer fare besides. But what of the here and now?
Peering into the murky depths of the rarity crystal ball tells us that we probably shouldn’t expect too much of the coming week. Granted, precedent gives us one particular stand-out bird, and one that also turned up in a notable Waxwing winter – this being the remarkable discovery of a Cedar Waxwing in Nottingham (Nottinghamshire) on 20th February 1996, a bird that delighted many during a stay that was to extend until 18th March.
That particular bolt of lightning’s unlikely to strike twice though. Probability says that we’re more likely to have a decent gull turn up in the coming week, perhaps one blown in off the Atlantic…
Last week’s pick, American Herring Gull, remains a decent bet for the coming days but is – just – outnumbered in the past half century by accepted records for the week ahead of Bonaparte’s Gull. The latter has been conspicuous by its absence in the daily news reports lately. Time now, surely, for that to change…
Jon Dunn
Many thanks to all this week's contributors for your photos and videos
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