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Weekly birding round-up: 21 - 27 May 2024

To be fair, taking a quick look at those headlines, we’ve had far worse weeks in the fervid height of autumn. For a week in spring, the past few days have pulled out all the stops, and then some – let’s not forget, while the big ticket items were being seen this week, we were creaking at the seams with scarce migrants too. If you were birding on the east coast this past week and you didn’t bump into a Red-backed Shrike or an Icterine Warbler, you’ve probably been hexed by somebody with some eldritch birding powers and a deep-seated grudge. The week just gone was a stone cold classic.

 

As the late, great Tim Cleeves was fond of saying, the big one travels late and alone. This week’s headline-grabbing bird, the Western Palearctic’s first ever Indian Golden Oriole, however, was neither really – late May is still very much in the heart of spring migratory action, as evinced by the deluges of Red-back Shrike, Icterine and Marsh Warbler in the past week… and it’s not like there weren’t plenty of bog-standard Eurasian Golden Oriole to go around in recent days, widely spread from Shetland in the north to Scilly in the far southwest.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s rewind to the morning of 21st, and the very first bird Marc Read set eyes on upon Holy Island (Northumberland). At first glance, a cracking young male Golden Oriole - let’s lose the prefix for now as at this stage who, honestly, was even countenancing there being a viable alternative to Eurasian in this neck of the woods?

To Marc’s immense credit, he did something we all know, in our hearts, we should do, but hand on heart don’t always do – he took a moment after the event, a metaphorical pace backwards, questioned his own judgement, and considered the options, no matter how outlandish they might at first glance appear. His bird had a lot of black extending behind the eye, like smudged kohl…

It couldn’t be, surely… but the photographs left the identification in no doubt. That black eye mask was indeed extending well behind the eye, the primaries were shorter than one would expect on Eurasian Golden Oriole… This really was a first-summer male Indian Golden Oriole - a first record for the Western Palearctic, no less.

Formerly considered conspecific with Eurasian Golden Oriole, many authorities including the IOC have adopted the split of this partly Indian resident. While all Indian Golden Oriole winter on the Indian subcontinent, at least some of their population migrate north and west to breed in central Asia – so the potential for some outrageous vagrancy was, after all, always present.

It shares that range with a handful of other species that have, in the past, crept into northwest Europe - Sulphur-bellied Warbler, Long-tailed Shrike, and Pied Bushchat.

Alas, by the time the bird’s identity had been resolved, the bird itself had moved on – last seen heading northwest around lunchtime on 21st. Needless to say, every subsequent Golden Oriole that’s been seen this past week will, no doubt, have been given more than the usual scrutiny!

We’ve become accustomed in recent years to the British list growing steadily and incrementally, bolstered in no small part by a series of remarkable seabirds. This week’s Indian Golden Oriole goes to show that we’re far from done with eastern passerines – and the anticipation of our first Pied Bushchat just intensified that little bit more. Let’s hope it’s travelling late, and alone…

Were it not for persistent rumours of a string of rare bird hoaxes directed at Irish birders in recent times, we might have greeted the news of a Yellow-crowned Night Heron photographed on a footbridge at Belcarra (Co.Mayo) in the morning of 26th with more than an initial cautious raised eyebrow. There was no further sign of the bird there as the day wore on, and conflicting reports about whether it had, or had not, been ringed. As the evening of 26th unfolded, there was a feeling of how lovely it would be to be proved wrong, cynicism misplaced, with the bird being relocated and proving to be unringed and suitably wary, but all the same… hoaxers can only cry wolf so many times before the news of anything startling is greeted with wary caution.

But then, some encouraging news from Belcarra. The bird really was, after all, tangible flesh and feathers – it was back there on the bridge that evening, and was ring-free. We could get to grips with provenance in the fullness of time, but the main thing was that the bird was real, not a product of a mind with too much time and Photoshop on its hands.

There’ve been a few Western Palearctic records hitherto – some where we’d reasonably expect them, on Atlantic islands – the Azores, chiefly, and Madeira too. A mainland Portuguese bird at Faro on 19th May 2020 has a feel-good feeling about it. Then there are a couple of outliers – a bird at Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt on 12th January 2021 surely had hitched a ride? And a dead bird at Ouddorp in the Netherlands on 14th May 2021 posed as many questions as it answered, being only a short way west of the vast and busy port of Rotterdam.

But the most pertinent thing, looking at the 13 Western Palearctic records to date, is that spring birds certainly aren’t out of the question – five of those records come from the April-June window. This Irish bird, bearing no incriminating leg bling, and not displaying outlandish familiarity with people, could feel pretty good. The Irish west coast, in late May, doesn’t ring particular alarm bells.

The waters muddied a little further in the evening of 26th with the suggestion the bird had been present in the area for months, beforehand. Perhaps that May discovery date was wholly meaningless after all – and heaven knows we had a decent spell of transatlantic vagrancy at the back end of 2023 which could have ushered the bird our way.

Certainly something to rouse the Irish birding community, while it’s also going to be a busy week for those British birders who maintain an Irish colony in their lists – the bird remained present at Belcarra and showing well throughout 27th.

With the prior week’s electric blue male Indigo Bunting finally moving on from its favoured Whitburn (Co.Durham) garden, with no sign of it there on 21st, we could be forgiven for looking back fondly upon it – a confiding and convenient mainland British bird that hung around for a few days and a weekend, allowing anyone so inclined to make a move for it.

When would we get another chance at one, after all? They’re hardly two a penny in Europe… Except, this past fortnight, they’ve been breaking the mould somewhat. As we catalogued in last week’s Round Up, there’d been other European records, more or less contemporaneous with the Co.Durham individual – in Denmark, and Iceland.

And so too, this past week, in Britain. News emerged belatedly of another male bird, in another garden – this time in Pembrokeshire, near Milford Haven, on 22nd. Lest we forget, Pembrokeshire was uniquely blessed with American warblers last autumn – whether this bird has been tucked away there all along, or has wintered further south and only now made it this far north, will be a matter of conjecture. The main thing being that, as of now, we’ve had two Indigo Bunting in Britain in the space of a week. What chance another or, indeed, something else from the Nearctic in the next week or two?

Returning to where the headlines began, with a bird that winters in India and has a breeding range that extends north and west from the subcontinent, we come to another species with those attributes, albeit one we’re somewhat more familiar with in these quarters, namely Green Warbler.

We’ve been blessed with a few of their kind now, not least in recent years with an accelerating frequency – since our first, the autumnal bird that graced St Mary’s (Scilly) on 26th September – 4th October 1983, we’ve added a further nine birds to the British tally – all of them in the past decade.

Almost all of those have been spring birds, and a little over half of them (five, to be exact) have been found in Shetland – three on Fair Isle, and one apiece on Foula and Unst. All of the Shetland birds have been found in May and June, so there’s the distinct feeling they’re becoming, if not regular in the archipelago, then certainly keenly anticipated at this time of year.

Unst was set to add another bird to its scorecard this week, courtesy of the irrepressible rarity finder, David ‘Super’ Cooper, with his discovery of a fine male bird at Norwick on 22nd. Still present to 24th, and at times singing, this is the bird of the spring – so far! – in Shetland…

As the week drew to a close on 26th, another probable bird was found on the island of the moment, Holy Island (Northumberland), in the early afternoon. It went AWOL for a few hours before, in the evening, being re-found and its identity confirmed – the second Green Warbler of the week.

With just 15 accepted British records to the end of 2022, Crag Martin remains a bird of some calibre in these parts. It comes to something doesn’t it when it’s set to be rarer, statistically, than Cliff Swallow… but that’s what 2023 is going to do to the overall picture.

But enough of last year – what of the here and now? Cornwall’s no stranger to a Crag Martin - indeed, we can thank the county for Britain’s first ever record, a one-day bird on 22nd June 1988 at Stithians Reservoir. What followed in the next 25 years were a succession of further one-day birds – generally speaking, a lost Crag Martin seemed destined not to linger.

Of course, the next three birds to be found in Britain all confounded that, hanging around for between three and twelve days respectively. A chance for a good many of us to catch up with one in British airspace, most notably the bird that stayed faithful to Chesterfield (Derbyshire) on 8th-19th November 2015. A couple more one-day birds were supplanted by site faithful birds in Kent and Scilly that stuck around for a fortnight and almost a week respectively – so really, from a national perspective, Crag Martin, while statistically rare, is far from a blocker.

Unless, that is, you’re a keen Cornish lister. In which case we’re pushing on towards 40 years since the first and last chance to connect with one. Pulses will certainly have quickened at the breaking news over the weekend that there was a bird showing well just outside St Ives on 26th. But all for naught – as the afternoon wore on, there was no further sign of the bird to be seen.

 

The adult Double-crested Cormorant was also still to be seen, on Colgagh Lough (Co.Sligo) on 27th.

A probable White-billed Diver was seen from Egilsay (Orkney) on 26th.

Co.Cork also supplied a Balearic Shearwater, seen from Ballycotton on 25th.

Numbers of Pomarine Skua held firm in recent days, with around 30 in all seen across the region. The peak counts came from North Uist (Western Isles), where half a dozen were noted on 22nd, and nine on 27th.

Two Long-tailed Skua were seen heading past North Foreland (Kent) on 23rd, but it was to North Uist where we turn for decent numbers on 27th – here 17 birds were noted.

Purple Heron were a lot harder to come by this week than in the preceding period – not least on 21st, when birds at Slapton Ley (Devon) and St Aidan’s RSPB (West Yorkshire) were both seen in flight only. The latter bird was again noted at St Aidan’s on 23rd, and presumably was one and the same as the bird seen at Fairburn Ings RSPB on 26th. Also on 23rd, one was still present at Worth Marsh RSPB (Kent), and seen again there on 26th; and further inland in the county, a bird remained at Stodmarsh NNR on 24th-27th. A probable bird was seen on 26th at Moor Green Lakes NR (Berkshire); and a confirmed bird over Spurn (East Yorkshire) on 27th.

In Somerset a Night Heron was found on 26th-27th at Burnham-on-Sea.

A female Little Bittern was seen coming inland at Kenidjack Valley (Cornwall) on 26th, but was not subsequently relocated.

Glossy Ibis edged into double figures again this week, all but one of which were seen in Britain – the outlier being an Irish individual at Cahore Marsh (Co.Wexford) on 24th-25th. Our British birds were noted at Hollesley Marshes RSPB (Suffolk) still on 24th-27th; in Norfolk at Stiffkey on 21st-27th still, Ken Hill Marshes on 22nd and 26th-27th still, and Cley NWT again on 25th; in Oxfordshire at Port Meadow on 23rd, Clifton Hampden on 25th, and Otmoor RSPB again on 27th; in Lincolnshire at Deeping Lakes LWT on 25th still; in West Yorkshire at Fairburn Ings RSPB on 21st-25th again, and Allerton Bywater on 27th; in North Yorkshire at Bank Island on 22nd; and in East Sussex at Pannel Valley NR on 27th.

At least one Spotted Crake was still audible at Bank Island (North Yorkshire) on 22nd; and another bird was heard in song at Tixall Wide Marsh (Staffordshire) on 25th.

Still keeping the honkers side of things afloat, the Red-breasted Goose remained in Lincolnshire at Freiston Shore RSPB and Frampton Marsh RSPB on 21st.

In Norfolk, a Black Brant was seen at Snettisham RSPB on 23rd and 25th.

The recent drake Black Duck (or hybrid) remained this week at Skinflats Lagoons RSPB (Forth) on 21st.

Green-winged Teal were again seen on Unst (Shetland) on 25th, and in East Yorkshire at Kilnsea Wetlands NR on 21st-23rd, and Tophill Low NR on 25th.

A drake American Wigeon was found on 26th at Seaforth LWT (Lancashire & North Merseyside), while the recent Islay (Argyll & Bute) bird was also still present on there on 26th-27th.

In Warwickshire, the drake Ferruginous Duck remained at Napton Reservoir on 23rd.

Five drake Ring-necked Duck were again logged in recent days. Starting in the north, one remained more or less constant at Loch of Hillwell (Shetland) on 22nd-26th; another remained on Great Bernera (Western Isles) on 25th-26th; in Wales, one was still present on Llyn Brenig (Denbighshire) on 21st-27th; on the Devon/Cornwall border, a drake was present on Lower Tamar Lake on 26th; and a drake was on Beesands Ley (Devon) on 27th.

The drake Lesser Scaup was again seen at St Aidan’s RSPB (West Yorkshire) on 24th.

A first-winter drake Surf Scoter settled off Marazion (Cornwall) on 21st-27th; another was seen on 22nd in Bannow Bay (Co.Kerry); and a final bird for the week was seen from Lewis (Western Isles) on 25th.

Passage waders livened up a little this week with a handful of Nearctic birds dropping in – starting in the north, a Semipalmated Sandpiper settled on Lewis (Western Isles) on 24th-25th.

In Lincolnshire, a Pectoral Sandpiper was seen at Saltfleetby Theddlethorpe Dunes NNR on 22nd-24th.

A Spotted Sandpiper made a fleeting appearance at Queen Mother Reservoir (Berkshire) on 24th.

Numbers of Temminck’s Stint, meanwhile, sharply contracted. Single birds this week were noted at Forres (Moray) on 21st; Aldeburgh Town Marshes (Suffolk) on 22nd; at Ynys-hir RSPB (Ceredigion) on 24th; Wykeham Lakes (North Yorkshire) on 25th; and at Saltfleetby Theddlethorpe Dunes NNR (Lincolnshire) on 21st-22nd, the latter site boasting two birds there on 23rd-24th. Two were also seen on 23rd at Potter Heigham Marshes (Norfolk).

Norfolk also gave us a brief Black-winged Stilt at Snettisham RSPB on 25th. Further birds remained at Frampton Marsh RSPB (Lincolnshire) on 21st-27th, and Berry Fen (Cambridgeshire) on 21st and 25th; and two were seen briefly at East Tilbury (Essex) on 25th before heading off southeast.

Frampton Marsh RSPB (Lincolnshire) also retained its recent Lesser Yellowlegs on 23rd-24th; and the Dundalk bird remained in Co.Louth on Castletown River on 26th.

An adult American Golden Plover was seen in Dorset near Swineham GPs on 21st, and another on Bute (Argyll & Bute) on 26th.

The week’s only Dotterel were noted on Fair Isle (Shetland) on 24th, when a single bird was seen, rising to two present there the following day.

Finally, the week was a fruitful one for migrant Red-necked Phalarope - single birds were found at Tacumshin (Co.Wexford) on 21st; Lilbourne Meadows NR (Northamptonshire) on 22nd; at Great Blasket (Co.Kerry) on 24th; and Egleton NR (Leicestershire) on 27th; while two were seen from the MS Oldenburg between Ilfracombe and Lundy (Devon) on 23rd.

Terns once again dominate the gulls’n’terns section, headed by the welcome news that the adult male Least Tern is back in Co.Dublin again this week for another summer, being seen on 21st and 27th amongst the Little Tern colony near Portrane, and again on 24th on Rogerstown Estuary.

Speaking of birds that are courting the attention of other species, in Northumberland the adult female surinamensis American Black Tern remained at Long Nanny on 21st-27th, garnering some close attention from a local male Arctic Tern. Is such a pairing even feasible, and what on earth could the resulting progeny look like?

Back to Ireland, the Elegant Tern remained on Inis Doire (Co.Mayo) on 23rd.

A White-winged Black Tern was seen off Birchall (Co.Galway) on 25th.

Rounding off the terns, a possible Gull-billed Tern was seen off North Foreland (Kent) on the morning of 21st.

To the gulls now, and the adult Ring-billed Gull again seen in Perth & Kinross on Loch Turret on 25th.

A couple of Iceland Gull were seen on 27th – on Orkney Mainland at The Loons RSPB, and at Portballintrae (Co.Antrim) again.

Lastly, a shade over half a dozen Glaucous Gull were noted this week – on South Uist (Western Isles) on 21st; over Sunderland’s Stadium of Light (Co.Durham) on 22nd; on Fair Isle (Shetland) on 22nd and 24th; on 23rd on Yell (Shetland), and Coquet Island (Northumberland); on 25th-27th on Unst (Shetland); and on 25th on Orkney Mainland around Stenness still.

A week without a confirmed Pallid Harrier? Surely not. And maybe it wasn’t, for either a Pallid or a Montagu’s ringtail was seen on Holy Island (Northumberland) on 21st; and another candidate was seen in Suffolk on 27th in the Butley area.

Confirmed Montagu’s Harrier meanwhile remained at Tacumshin (Co.Wexford) on 21st-24th; and were found elsewhere, in Norfolk at Cley on 22nd and Titchwell RSPB on 23rd; while back on Holy Island a probable ringtail was seen on 24th; and another bird was reported from near Summer Leys NR (Northamptonshire) on 27th.

Unsurprisingly, following their mass arrival in Cornwall on 20th, several Black Kite were seen in the county on 21st – two following the plough at Mullion; singletons at Crows-an-Wra, and near Four Cross; and a possible at St Just. Far bigger news, at a local level, was the discovery of a bird on Barra (Western Isles) on 22nd-25th – a first for the island. A probable bird was seen elsewhere in Scotland at North Queensferry (Fife) on 23rd.

The week was to prove a busy one for Red-footed Falcon, not least in Kent where it began at Worth Marsh with two females present on 23rd, rising to three birds there on 24th-25th, two still present on 26th, and at least one still on 27th; a female was also seen at Langdon Cliffs on 23rd, and sightings of a male on 27th at Kingsdown and Hope Point. In Cambridgeshire the first-summer male remained at Fen Drayton Lakes RSPB on 21st-24th. Another first-summer male graced the Wigton area of Cumbria on 23rd-27th; and another was seen in Norfolk at Denver on 24th. A further female was seen on Shetland at Swinister Burn on 26th.

A juvenile Rough-legged Buzzard was kicking around Aberdeenshire on 22nd, being seen at Rattray Head and Loch of Strathbeg RSPB.

Magnificently this week, a second wave of Red-backed Shrike made landfall in northern and eastern Britain – at a conservative estimate, around 350 birds were tallied over the course of the week. Amongst them, some eye-popping counts – Fair Isle (Shetland) soared to 37 birds on 22nd alone; while North Ronaldsay (Orkney) hit 19 birds on 23rd; Out Skerries, the merest of flecks of inhabited rock off Shetland’s east coast, had 10 birds on 24th; while Flamborough (East Yorkshire) hosted nine on 22nd.

Shetland managed a little variety – a Woodchat Shrike on Fetlar on 22nd-24th. Another was found on St Mary’s (Scilly) on 22nd.

We’ve become accustomed in recent years to hearing that, in autumn, the commonest warbler on Shetland is Yellow-browed - this past week, that was supplanted by Icterine Warbler for, at times, they were positively commonplace. (Even as I write, there are two around my house, one in song right outside the window). Around 200 were logged nationwide and, to give some scale of the extent of the Shetland arrival, we have to turn to Fair Isle and Out Skerries once more – the former scored a remarkable 34 birds on 22nd, while the latter held a dozen on 24th.

Shetland in particular, but the British northeast coast in general, also did well for itself with Marsh Warbler during the week – at the very least 75 birds were found in recent days. Once again, Fair Isle was acting like a lightning rod for them, attracting a dozen birds on 24th alone, and 13 birds by 27th. It wasn’t wholly coastal action this week – a singing bird inland was a delight at Branston GPs (Staffordshire) on 24th-25th.

It should come by now as little surprise that we get some Blyth’s Reed Warbler too – and so it proved, with one found in song in the garden of Spurn Bird Observatory on 21st, and another trapped and ringed on Fair Isle (Shetland) on 22nd. Later in the week it was Norfolk’s turn, with birds found on 26th on Blakeney Point and at Winterton North Dunes, while another was present on Tiree (Argyll & Bute) on 25th-26th. On 27th the small fall continued, with birds noted in Norfolk at Beeston Regis, Hendon (Co.Durham), and on Yell (Shetland).

Five Great Reed Warbler were logged during the week – one still in song at Ouse Fen RSPB (Cambridgeshire) on 21st-27th; additional croakers at The Naze (Essex) on 21st, and Bank Island (North Yorkshire) on 25th; one trapped and ringed at Fife Ness (Fife) on 25th; and another seen briefly on 25th on Unst (Shetland).

Savi’s Warblers remained in song at North Cave Wetlands YWT (East Yorkshire) on 21st-27th, and Egleton NR (Leicestershire) on 21st-24th.

Heading back to Shetland, a Barred Warbler was a spring surprise on Fair Isle on 22nd.

Also a pleasant surprise, and continuing the purple patch this particular well-vegetated garden’s enjoyed lately in the wake of the recent Thrush Nightingale there, an Eastern Subalpine Warbler was found in the south Mainland of Shetland at Hillwell on 22nd. With a garden list presently of 205 species, it’s a garden to be reckoned with come the autumn at this rate…

A singing male Western Subalpine Warbler was found in Kent at North Foreland on 23rd.

Back to Shetland, and a Subalpine Warbler sp on Fair Isle on 25th-26th. It’s getting to the time when another Moltoni’s feels overdue…

Just a trio of Hoopoe were seen in recent days – one at Nether Dalachy (Moray) on 22nd-24th, another in Kent at Riverfield Fish Farm on 24th, and a singing bird on Dursey (Co.Cork) on 25th.

Bee-eaters this week were mostly mobile birds – single birds noted passing over Ipswich (Suffolk) on 22nd; Pendeen Carn (Cornwall) on 22nd; Gibraltar Point NNR (Lincolnshire) on 22nd; Tulloch Moor (Highland & Caithness) on 26th; and two over Samson (Scilly) on 27th; but one did linger in the Wybourne/Kelling Heath area of Norfolk on 25th.

A few more Wryneck were seen lately – one at Aberdare (Glamorgan) on 23rd-24th; another at Barnack Hills & Holes NR (Cambridgeshire) on 23rd; and a Fair Isle (Shetland) individual on 24th-25th.

Some 25 Golden Oriole were seen this week – and we’ll never look at them in quite the same way again in the wake of the Holy Island (Northumberland) alternative.

A handful of reorientating Waxwing were on the move lately – single birds seen in Shetland on Unst on 23rd, and on Mainland at Dalsetter on 23rd also; and on 24th on Colonsay (Argyll & Bute), and Harris (Western Isles).

A Red-rumped Swallow seen in the Toab area of Mainland Shetland on 23rd-24th presumably also accounted for the bird found on 25th at Brow Marsh. Another was seen this week on Anglesey at Cemlyn Bay on 25th; another bird on 26th in Kent at Bockhill Farm; and a final Shetland sighting much further north up Mainland on 27th at Vidlin.

An Alpine Swift was seen in Norfolk on 27th at Blakeney Point.

We’re knocking on the door of June now, so it must be time for some Rose-coloured Starling, and so it proved this week – birds were found on Unst (Shetland) on 24th, at Scourie (Highland & Caithness) on 21st, at Culkein Drumbeg (Highland & Caithness) on 27th, and in Kent at Reculver on 27th.

Around 50 Bluethroat were logged in recent days – with Scottish islands again enjoying the lion’s share of them. Fair Isle (Shetland) notched up seven birds on 22nd, while Isle of May (Fife) ran it a close second with half a dozen birds present on there on 22nd also.

Shetland’s excellent recent run of Thrush Nightingale continued apace this week, with two more confirmed birds – one present on Yell on 21st-22nd, and another out on Noss on 22nd-23rd. Surely a few of these arch skulkers have gone unseen too…

A first-summer male Red-breasted Flycatcher settled and began to sing at Ballater (Aberdeenshire) on 24th-27th; another was found on Isle of May (Fife) on 27th.

A possible female Collared Flycatcher was seen on Lundy (Devon) on 21st. Devon’s only had one prior bird, a first-summer female at Orcombe Point on 20th April 2016, so this might have garnered some local attention had it been confirmed.

The Yellow Wagtail pic’n’mix this week gave us some 15 Blue-headed Wagtail, and a handful of Grey-headed Wagtail too – the latter being birds seen in Shetland on Unst on 25th, and three on Fair Isle on 25th also; on Orkney on Sanday on 23rd, and Papa Westray and North Ronaldsay on 24th; and on Holy Island (Northumberland) on 24th.

A female Citrine Wagtail was seen at Balnakeil (Highland & Caithness) on 22nd.

Fair Isle (Shetland) landed that increasingly scarce commodity, a Tawny Pipit, on 27th.

We did well for Common Rosefinch this week, with some 18 birds found, many of them in song. The bulk of the week’s birds were in Shetland, where two were singing on Fetlar on 23rd. Away from Shetland, one was settled on Isle of May (Fife) on 22nd-23rd, with it or another seen there on 25th-26th; an adult male was showing well at Kilnsea Wetlands NR (East Yorkshire) on 23rd-24th; birds were found on Holy Island (Northumberland) on 24th and 26th; a bird was trapped and ringed on Calf of Man (Isle of Man) on 25th; and birds were seen on Harris (Western Isles) and on Tiree (Argyll & Bute) on 26th.

A Serin was seen at Flamborough (East Yorkshire) on 22nd and 24th.

An Ortolan Bunting was seen at Bempton Cliffs RSPB (East Yokrshire) on 26th.

Finally, a small fall of fine male Rustic Bunting painted Shetland with some additional colour this week – birds being found at Sandness on Mainland on 23rd; on Fair Isle on 25th-26th; and on Foula on 25th-26th, with two birds present on 26th. (Rarer, in a Shetland context, was the Corn Bunting found on Out Skerries on 26th – a former breeding resident, it’s long extirpated in the isles, victim of changing agricultural practices). Away from Shetland, a further popular bird was found at Howdon Wetland NR (Northumberland) on 23rd-24th.

We’ll kick off the overseas news this week in Scandinavia, where a small arrival of Lesser Kestrel occurred – a male bird being seen at Midtbygdsvegen in Norway on 18th-21st, and a first-summer male at Skagen (Denmark) on 23rd.

In France, the Bridled Tern was back at Ile aux Moutons on 23rd again.

Spain meanwhile scored a subpersonata Moroccan Wagtail at Bateria de Urrutia on 24th.

In Morocco itself, four White-backed Vulture remained at Jbel Moussah on 22nd.

Finally, in Israel, the Yellow-billed Stork was still present at Eilat on 26th.

As May hands over to June, we’re getting firmly into the territory of south-eastern exotica. Like we need any telling, after the week just gone…

Past records of Trumpeter Finch and Cretzschmar’s Bunting hint at the possibilities, but if there’s one species that statistically stands out as a decent possibility, it’s surely Black-headed Bunting, boasting past accepted records well into double figures for the week ahead.

 

Jon Dunn

28th May 2024

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

 

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