Weekly birding round-up: 26 Mar - 1 Apr 2024
There was definitely a feeling of mounting migratory action in recent days, albeit the weather was still throwing some wet and, indeed, snowy curveballs at us as the week unfolded, in addition to some sunnier spells. Passerines were on the move and, amongst them, it fell to the irrepressible Fair Isle to supply an early and unseasonal surprise.
The week began, on 26th, with the recently discovered drake Bufflehead still settled at Collieston (Aberdeenshire) on Sand Loch. When there was no sign of it there on 27th, and given the apparent hitherto northeast-bound trajectory of the bird, we might have assumed it had departed our shores.
Assuming that what followed does concern the same bird, it appears to have had second thoughts about that. On 29th a drake Bufflehead was found in Perth & Kinross at Loch Leven – needless to say, a county first, and one that lingered over the Easter weekend until 1st.
One wonders if the Kilwinning Myrtle Warbler is ever going to abandon his favourite Ayrshire garden, given how steadfast he’s proving to be there – this week, showing delightfully well daily until 1st. Surely, eventually, the urge to migrate will overcome the considerable charms of a well-stocked feeding station…
We’d probably need to go back to the early 90s to find the circumstances that would warrant a Red-flanked Bluetail sharing the weekly headlines with a Myrtle Warbler. As we all know, the former species went, in the space of a few short years, from unimaginable rarity to anticipated autumnal scarcity and, as such, was dropped both by the BBRC and from warranting inclusion in our headlines.
Which is in no way to understate the joy that finding one elicits in those so blessed, even now. They’ve still got it, Red-flanked Bluetail. They’re attractive, charismatic birds, and still have some of the lustre their former mega status accorded them.
All of that said, we’d not usually see them scaling the giddy heights of the headlines nowadays. However, while they’re regular on these shores in the months of autumn, spring birds are a much more unusual proposition.
Prior to their removal from the BBRC’s remit in 2016, we’d just three previous March records in Britain – on March 31st 2007, at Easington (East Yorkshire), doomed to be catted shortly after its discovery; on March 31st 2012 on Lewis (Western Isles); and on March 30th on Fair Isle (Shetland). The latter bird went on to extend its stay until April 5th, the island’s former totemic status for autumn Red-flanked Bluetail gaining just a little extra burnish from this spring arrival.
Fast forward to the week just gone, and Fair Isle was at it again with only their second-ever spring bluetail – a bird found on the isle on 29th sitting pretty there until 1st. Spring birds remain rarities indeed, and the newly arrived Fair Isle Bird Observatory team had opened their 2024 account in some style.
A sure sign of the building spring these days are mounting numbers of White-billed Diver seen from the coast of Scotland. This week news of a single bird off Dunure (Ayrshire) on 26th was followed by a singleton seen from Portsoy (Aberdeenshire) on 27th. The latter site gave us two birds on 29th, and three there by 30th; rising to eight birds noted off there on 31st.
Meanwhile, in Ireland the adult Pacific Diver was again seen at Crookhaven (Co.Cork) on 28th-31st.
A Balearic Shearwater was logged passing Porthgwarra (Cornwall) on 27th.
Numbers of our regular long-legged beastie star, Glossy Ibis, remained fairly constant, with a little over a dozen birds again noted across Britain and Ireland. The sole Irish sighting came from Tacumshin (Co.Wexford) still on 28th; while in Britain, two sites provided multiple birds once again – four remaining in Somerset at Ham Wall RSPB on 26th-1st, and two in Suffolk at Hollesley Marshes RSPB still on 26th-1st.
The honkers and quackers were showing some cracks in their hitherto dominance of the dailies this week, most noticeably amongst the geese, where recent numbers of notable birds took a tumble.
For The Goose Formerly Known As Canada, an interior Todd’s Canada Goose was reported from Marshside RSPB (Lancashire & North Merseyside) on 1st.
The first-winter Red-breasted Goose was again seen in north Norfolk this week at Blakeney Harbour on 30th. The presumed escaped bird remained at Middleton Lakes RSPB (Staffordshire / Warwickshire) on 31st, doing itself few favours by hanging out with a gaggle of feral Canada Geese.
A Snow Goose was reported from Highland & Caithness at Halkirk still on 27th.
The Black Brant was once again seen at Kilnsea (East Yorkshire) on 1st.
A possible Grey-bellied Brant was again seen on Tiree (Argyll & Bute) on 26th.
Numbers of American Wigeon noted this week took a bit of a tumble, with just four reported – one seen at Cloddach Quarry (Moray) still on 26th; a bird found in Ireland at Shanahoe Marsh (Co.Laois) on 27th in an area with no general access; on 31st-1st at Buckroney Marsh (Co.Wicklow) still; and in North Yorkshire at Long Preston Deeps again on 31st, and Wheldrake Ings YWT on 1st.
Green-winged Teal on the other hand were maintaining their recent standards, with some 20 birds again noted as a whole across Britain and Ireland.
Similar numbers of Ring-necked Duck were also logged during the course of the week, with several sites sporting multiple birds. In their recent stronghold, Somerset, two were seen at Glastonbury Heath on 29th-31st; two remained at Lisvane Reservoir (Glamorgan) on 26th-1st; and two on South Uist (Western Isles) on 30th. In Ireland, two were seen at Bracklagh Lough (Co.Cavan) on 30th still.
Numbers of Lesser Scaup contracted somewhat though, in the not-so-distant past, any week containing nine birds would have been considered remarkable. Duos this week remained at Abberton Reservoir (Essex) on 29th-30th, and Hodbarrow RSPB (Cumbria) on 26th-1st. Single birds remained at Woolston Eyes NR (Cheshire & Wirral) on 28th-29th, Lochwinnoch RSPB (Clyde) on 26th-30th, Lough Neagh (Co.Armagh) on 26th-30th, and Knockaderry Reservoir (Co.Waterford) still on 1st. Showing that there may yet be more surprises in store, a first-winter drake was found at Cardiff Bay Wetlands NR (Glamorgan) on 31st, relocating to Lisvane Reservoir by 1st.
Absent as a species from the news for a while, a couple of Ferruginous Duck were found this week, seen at Woolston Eyes NR (Cheshire & Wirral) on 30th-31st.
The drake White-winged Scoter, first seen in Brandon Bay (Co.Kerry) in late October 2023, has been an off and on staple in the news ever since, sharing those waters with varying numbers of Surf Scoter for good measure. There he was again this week, still to be seen off Inch on 29th and 31st – with added excitement on the latter date coming in the form of confirmation that he’d also had two first-winter drake White-winged Scoter there with him since December 2023.
On the subject of Surf Scoter, two remained off Inch on 29th-1st; one was still to be seen from Llandulas (Conwy) on 30th; another off Roseisle (Moray) on 26th-31st still; one still present in Sound of Taransay (Western Isles) on 27th; and the Cornish bird still off Feock on 1st.
Finally, the Pied-billed Grebe, still present on Inishmore (Co.Galway) on 1st, makes another appearance as an honorary wildfowl this week.
A couple of Dotterel were found over the Easter weekend on 30th – one apiece at Moore NR (Cheshire & Wirral), and at Beinn Liath Mhor (Highland & Caithness); and another on 31st at night heard passing over Burton Dasset CP (Warwickshire).
A quartet of recent Long-billed Dowitcher were again seen in recent days. One remained at Cley NWT (Norfolk) on 26th-1st, while in East Sussex the wintering bird remained at Cuckmere Haven on 30th. In Ireland, sightings came once more from Lady’s Island Lake (Co.Wexford) on 28th-31st, and at Kilcoole (Co.Wicklow) on 28th-31st.
A full house again this week of our regular Lesser Yellowlegs, with the Frampton Marsh RSPB (Lincolnshire) bird still reliably present on 26th-1st, the Swine Moor (East Yorkshire) individual again there on 29th-1st, and the Lurgangreen (Co.Louth) bird still present on 29th-1st.
A final putative Nearctic sighting came in the ephemeral form of an unconfirmed report of a probable Semipalmated Sandpiper seen briefly before flying off at Dawlish Warren NNR (Devon) on 27th.
Three Bonaparte’s Gull records enlivened the gulls side of the gulls’n’terns this week – these being birds seen at St Dogmaels (Pembrokeshire) on 26th-27th, and Carnfunnock CP (Co.Antrim) on 28th, and another reported from Bowers Marsh RSPB (Essex) on 26th.
We got just three Irish sightings of Ring-billed Gull lately – one still present at Blackrock (Co.Louth) on 29th, also on 29th at North Bull Island (Co.Dublin) again, and on 1st at Tarbert Estuary (Co.Kerry).
Scotland supplied a handful of Glaucous Gull this week – a bird seen in the Lerwick area of Shetland on 27th-30th; sightings in Orkney on Westray on 27th and Papa Westray on 30th; at Whitesands Quarry (Lothian) on 27th; on Skye (Highland & Caithness) on 29th still; at Balormie (Moray) on 31st; and on Lossie Estuary (Moray) on 1st. A further bird was seen at Glenarm (Co.Antrim) on 29th-1st still; and another on 31st at Galway (Co.Galway).
We were a little better off for Iceland Gull, with some 25 birds noted over the course of the week. Two were seen at Bruntwood Flood (Ayrshire) on 28th, but all other sightings were of single birds.
Cornwall did well again for Kumlien’s Gull, with the adult again seen at Mousehole on 28th, and a third-winter at Tehidy CP on 27th-29th. In Scotland, the adult remained in Highland & Caithness at Helmsdale on 26th-1st, and the second-winter was again seen on Unst (Shetland) on 28th.
Following a report of a possible Forster’s Tern seen from Shipstal Point (Dorset) on 26th, confirmation came on 30th that the second-winter bird was back in Poole Harbour at Arne RSPB that day. On 31st-1st it was still to be seen in the area, at Arne RSPB and out on Brownsea Island lagoon too.
We enjoyed Pallid Harrier sightings lately from the usual recent stations – at Llanrhidian Marsh (Glamorgan) on 26th-29th still and again on 31st; at National Wetlands Centre WWT (Carmarthenshire) again on 31st; and in Norfolk around Warham Greens on 26th-30th. A sighting of a probable bird also came from Norfolk at Snettisham RSPB on 29th.
The weekend gave us two reports of Black Kite, coincidentally both over quarries – one on 30th over Stainton Quarry (South Yorkshire), and the other a possible the same day over Lock Quarry (Bedfordshire) – before a confirmed bird was seen over Hampstead (London) on 31st.
Yet more hints and nuances of southern colour filtered into English southern counties this past week. Cornwall again landed a Hoopoe, this time a bird seen at Gorran Haven on 29th. Another was found at the end of the week inland at Jubilee River NR (Buckinghamshire).
In Devon an Alpine Swift was found on 28th, initially seen at Shoalstone Point and latterly Berry Head. Another was seen on 31st in Kent over Margate, with a report following on 1st of a sighting at North Foreland.
Close views of an Alpine Swift Tachymarptis melba in the quarry at Berry Head, Brixham, Devon early pm today feeding on the sheltered side out of the gale force winds pic.twitter.com/P1fmD3iNEa
— John Walters (@JWentomologist) March 28, 2024
Dorset, meanwhile, was blessed with our first Red-rumped Swallow of the year, found at Christchurch Harbour on 29th.
This photo of yesterday’s Red-rumped Swallow shows it is in quite worn plumage. A 2cy bird? pic.twitter.com/XkHES6ZzXP
— CHOG (@CHOG_birds) March 30, 2024
Dorset also retained a Great Grey Shrike near Sugar Hill on 26th-27th, and at Morden Bog NNR on 29th-1st. In Norfolk, the wintering bird remained near Weeting on 26th-29th. Shetland scored a migrant bird at Scousburgh on 1st.
The Yellow-browed Warbler also remained in Dorset this week, still present at Louds Mill sewage works on 31st.
Back in Devon, a Richard’s Pipit was found on 26th at Okehampton, while the recent individual also remained in Cumbria at Ulverston on 26th-31st.
A Serin was reported from Oulton (Suffolk) on 28th, and another from Portland (Dorset) on 1st.
In Norfolk the exilipes Arctic Redpoll was seen again near Helhoughton on 28th-31st, and the same area again gave up its male Rustic Bunting on 29th-30th and once more on 1st.
Finally, the recent Little Bunting remained at Broadsands (Devon) on 27th-1st.
Starting the overseas news reasonably close to home, a Sociable Lapwing was found in the Netherlands at Kooiweg on 25th-27th.
Germany also enjoyed a Sociable Lapwing, seen at Magdeburg on 29th.
Up in Iceland, the American Robin remained at Keflavik on 27th-28th.
Out on the Azores, a Great Blue Heron remained on Sao Miguel on 31st.
Lastly, in Egypt at least 20 Long-tailed Cormorant were seen on Lake Nasser on 26th.
Easter Bank Holiday behind us, we’re heading into a new month and should be feeling justly optimistic. April is the point at which spring migration really shifts through the gears and the birds really start to move with purpose.
The coming week, historically, holds all manner of precedent. Nearly double figures of past Great Spotted Cuckoo speak of the potential of this always well-received species. Five accepted records of Iberian Chiffchaff meanwhile tell a tale of a species that’s come from nowhere to be recognised as an annual occurrence on these shores.
Far less regular, but no less enticing, the coming week boasts two past records of Crested Lark, one at Marazion (Cornwall) on 4th April 1965, and another at Steart Point (Somerset) on 8th April 1972. There’s been just a dozen post-1950 records of the species, and a quarter of those have been in April. Our last bird was a one-day individual in Kent at Kingsdown Beach on 1st June 2013 – the county has traditionally done well for them, with four latter-day records on the books. We’re overdue another anywhere in Britain, and Kent would be as good a bet as any for a keenly anticipated repeat.
However, with our superb Nearctic autumn still fresh in our memories, three past records for the coming week of Slate-coloured Junco leap out at us. Birds seen at Wootton (Isle of Wight) on 8th-9th April 1989, Dungeness (Kent) on 7th-9th April 2008, and Point of Ayre (Isle of Man) on 3rd April 2016 should be a reminder that a displaced bird might be on the move around about now. Let’s see what the coming week brings.
Jon Dunn
Many thanks to all this week's contributors for your photos and videos
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