Weekly birding round-up: 28 Sep - 04 Oct 2021
Now that’s what we’re talking about – an autumn week that featured arrivals from east and (mostly) west – and not just passerines, but decent waders and a particularly good duck too. Something for everyone, then – though not, perhaps, much solace for birders on the English east coast or Scilly. Their time, surely, will come in the next month or so, but this week the action was firmly all in Scotland and Ireland.
That Fair Isle, the jewel in Shetland’s crown – sorry, Unst, but there it is – is a wonderful place almost goes without saying in these parts, but sometimes the magic isle conjures up a day that shatters even our highest expectations. Any day on there that features a golden-spangled White’s Thrush would, by any normal standards, be considered a Good Day. But for that day to close with a Baikal Teal is another matter entirely.
29th September will live long in the memories of those fortunate enough to have been on Fair Isle at the time. The morning kicked off in style with the discovery of said thrush, but it wasn’t until the early evening that the day, and indeed Shetland’s autumn as a whole, really stepped up a gear, with the discovery of a young drake Baikal Teal on Da Water.
What a day @FI_Obs! Still can't quite process the White's Thrush from earlier, and nobody expected a Baikal Teal this evening! pic.twitter.com/3G8iycMbxB
— Alex Penn (@AlexPenn_1) September 29, 2021
With less than 10 accepted British records, any Baikal Teal is a big deal – but for Scotland, and Shetland in particular, it’s more significant still. The species has endured a chequered history on the British list, coming and going, rising and falling from favour. Among the past records that eventually fell at the post was a bird that, for a while, enjoyed star billing as Britain’s first acceptable record –this was a female seen on Fair Isle on 24th September – 7th October 1954 during a spell of arrivals of other notable eastern vagrants to Fair Isle and Britain as a whole.
That bird, however, wasn’t accepted as Britain’s first wild example until 1980… In the sage words of one of the bird’s original finders, D.I.M.Wallace, in his British Birds paper describing the circumstances of the find and its eventual elevation to the British list, “no duck has ever struggled harder to become accepted as a wild British bird than the Baikal Teal.” Read article here
These were words that were to prove bleakly and ironically prescient for the Fair Isle bird. It wasn’t set to stay on the British list for long. A paper in Birding World in 1992 threw a cat amongst the pigeons, highlighting a number of plumage anomalies in the description of the bird, and was instrumental in consigning the Fair Isle record to the limbo of ‘unproven’ in the subsequent BOURC review of all British records to date. Read article here
As it currently stands, Britain’s first accepted record is now the one-day bird collected way back on 1st January 1906 at the Marsh House Decoy at Tillingham (Essex); it wasn’t until 2001 until Britain got its first latter-day acceptable bird, a first-winter drake at Minsmere RSPB (Suffolk) on 18th November – 29th December. Five more subsequent birds have made the grade, the last of which was the drake that haunted Cambridgeshire on 16th March – 3rd May 2014. The touring drake in 2019, first found in Norfolk and ranging as far north as Forth, fell at the final hurdle, the BBRC accepting the identity, but deeming the bird’s origin uncertain.
What fate befalls the drake seen earlier in 2021 in Hampshire remains to be seen in due course; as does that of this week’s bird on Fair Isle, the latter still being present on the isle until 4th, on which date it was seen flying north – birders on Shetland would be understandably keen for it to find Loch of Spiggie and settle there for a few days....
As it stands, having arrived at the same time as a White’s Thrush and a scatter of other eastern passerine vagrants in Shetland as a whole, one might hope it stands a good chance of being accepted as Scotland’s first record of the species. Decades’ worth of precedence tells us not to hold our breath…
Happily a much less contentious bird next in the headlines – nobody keeps Greater Yellowlegs in captivity, so the discovery of a fine adult bird this week at Loch of Strathbeg RSPB (Aberdeenshire) is free of any taint or speculation. Far from annual in Britain, this statuesque wader remains a find of real quality, and even more so in Aberdeenshire – this week’s bird, present on 28th-4th, is only the third of its kind in the county. The last was also seen at Loch of Strathbeg RSPB, a long-staying bird that hung around the area and the Ythan estuary over the course of the spring, summer and early autumn of 2012.
That minor coincidence pales beside the serendipitous discovery at Loch of Strathbeg RSPB this week of another yellowlegs – a Lesser Yellowlegs seen there also on 30th-4th, at times feeding right alongside its larger, rarer cousin. Has that ever happened before in Britain or Ireland? Answers on a postcard.
The ink was barely dry on the prior week’s Rarity Round Up, celebrating David ‘Super’ Cooper’s discovery of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak on Unst (Shetland), before another island rarity finder of note was replying in kind – John Bowler, he of (amongst other fabulous bird finds) Yellow-bellied Flycatcher fame, found a first-winter male Rose-breasted Grosbeak on Tiree (Argyll & Bute) early on 30th.
Boom! 1st-winter male Rose-breasted Grosbeak briefly in the garden at Balephuil #Tiree early on this morning - very mobile and has flown off NE - no further sign since 0930hrs @BirdGuides @ScottishBirding @PatchBirding pic.twitter.com/XWZAnMEiln
— Parula (@Tireebirder) September 30, 2021
The bird proved to be a slippery fish, being mobile and prone to vanishing throughout the day for hours at a time. The Unst bird may have been a little more obliging – though only a little – but in its way the Tiree bird was more significant, being the first record of the species for Argyll & Bute. There can’t be many birders in Britain who can be quietly confident they’re going to find a Nearctic passerine on an annual basis, but John is surely one of them…
Just like the Unst bird, it was a strictly one-day bird. Our second Rose-breasted Grosbeak of the year had been and gone, presaging a small arrival elsewhere of Red-eyed Vireos and another American Buff-bellied Pipit. One couldn’t shake the feeling that there might be something of an even higher calibre still out there somewhere…
Irish birders could have been forgiven for wondering if there was a juicy Nearctic warbler hunkered down on some remote westerly headland, particularly given the context of birds found in Scotland and closer to home too. Chief amongst these were a couple of decent waders, foremost of which had to be the Solitary Sandpiper found on 1st-4th at Clogher (Co.Mayo).
In an Irish context, Solitary Sandpiper remains a decidedly rare commodity, with only seven prior accepted records. Three of those owe themselves to many decades ago, being found in quick succession between 1968 and 1974. Since the turn of the century they’re averaging two per decade, with this week’s individual the first since one that spent 15th-18th August 2016 at Cloghaun Lough (Co.Clare). Co.Mayo’s only previous record was a one-day bird on 22nd September 2009, so this settled individual will have given local birders a welcome chance to catch up with one in the county.
In terms of past form, Semipalmated Plover sits more or less on a par for rarity in Ireland with Solitary Sandpiper, with six past accepted birds on the books to the end of 2018. However, as regular readers of these columns will know, 2021 has been quite the year for vocal Semipalmated Plover in Ireland, with automated sound recordings picking up calls over Lissagriffin (Co.Cork) on 2nd July and again on 1st August.
Those presumably related to one and the same bird. Co.Cork was at it again this week, with a Semipalmated Plover discovered on 1st-4th at Galley Cove and Cockle Beach in Crookhaven – not, it has to be said, a million miles from Lissagriffin, but given the recent arrival of floods of Pectoral Sandpipers into Ireland and Britain, and rarer waders still, one wouldn’t like to bet against this being a new and different individual to that earlier 2021 bird. At least this time of asking the bird was actually visible as more than a sonogram…
A quiet day on Mizen came good at the end when I (re)located the Nocmig Semipalmated Plover from July/August. The first time it’s actually been seen. pic.twitter.com/WsmxxprQzu
— BirderPaul (@PaulBirder) October 1, 2021
Could this be it? Has the long-staying adult Black-browed Albatross finally bid adieu to Bempton Cliffs RSPB (East Yorkshire) for the year? With no reports this week, it’s finally looking that way…
Eyes cast out to sea off the north Norfolk coast may not have caught sight of it heading south this week, but they did log a possible Fea’s / Desertas Petrel going east past Cley on 29th.
Numbers of Leach’s Petrels continued to rise for a second consecutive week, with some 100 birds logged around Britain and Ireland. Peak count came from Bridges of Ross (Co.Clare), where 24 birds were seen on 3rd; counts of five apiece for Dungeness and Folkestone (Kent) on 1st were the highest Britain could muster; and the single wrecked bird inland at Pitsford reservoir (Northamptonshire) on 2nd was particularly notable.
Leach's Petrel #Northantsbirds from the causeway..wet back of camera @jcbirder @bonxie @barbeldave pic.twitter.com/RXjszVx4Z4
— Martin Swannell (@alanthetortoise) October 2, 2021
A single Great Shearwater lingered off Flamborough (East Yorkshire) on 30th-2nd; further individuals were seen this week off St Mary’s (Scilly) on 28th and Staithes (North Yorkshire) on 30th, with a probable bird seen from Berry Head (Devon) on 30th also, and off Bridges of Ross (Co.Clare) on 3rd.
Balearic Shearwaters on the other hand were having a fine old time, with high numbers tallied daily, especially off the English southwest – some Some 4,700 birds were reported over the course of recent days, with a highest single site count of 645 from Berry Head (Devon) on 30th.
Some 40 Pomarine Skuas were logged this week, with a peak count of four birds coming from Berry Head on 2nd; Long-tailed Skuas, meanwhile, also amounted to around 40 individuals nationwide, of which four off Bardsey (Gwynedd) on 3rd were the highest single site tally.
Lastly, a White-billed Diver was seen from Druridge Pools NR (Northumberland) on 30th.
It was fairly peaceful this week where our long-legged beasties were concerned, if we can ever call a week in which some 30 Glossy Ibises are logged nationwide quiet. It’s remarkable to think that only a couple of decades ago even one Glossy Ibis was a notable bird, yet now they’re seemingly omnipresent and surely standing on the brink of becoming permanently established in Britain... The flock of five birds at Berry Fen (Cambridgeshire) again on 2nd were once more the highest tally of the week.
An unconfirmed, belated report emerged of the Black Stork again seen on 2nd at Frampton Marsh RSPB (Lincolnshire).
What would have made the headlines, had it only come to more than an initial report, was the possible Sora seen on Tresco (Scilly) on 29th.
Alas that went no further than possible. A Spotted Crake was present on Tresco on 28th-2nd still, while another was seen on neighbouring St Mary’s on 29th-2nd; and a possible bird was seen briefly on Westray (Orkney) on 28th.
Our resurgent honkers and quackers section of proceedings kicks off this week in Scotland where, in Moray, a hutchinsii Richardson’s Cackling Goose was present at Findhorn Bay on 1st-3rd.
A possible white Snow Goose was seen at Aberlady Bay (Lothian) on 29th, while three birds were reported with Pink-footed Geese at Snettisham (Norfolk) on 1st.
The Black Brant was once again seen in Norfolk this week at Wells on 1st-4th.
Lingering in Ireland on Cross Lough, the drake Black Duck was still present there on 28th-2nd, sharing the site with an American Wigeon for good measure. Further American Wigeons remained at Barleycraft Lake (Cambridgeshire) on 28th-3rd, and Freiston Shore RSPB (Lincolnshire) on 28th; and one more was found on 4th in Highland at Balnakeil Marsh.
A Blue-winged Teal flew over Fort William (Highland) on 2nd.
Five Ring-necked Ducks remained on Lewis (Western Isles) on 28th at Loch Stiapabhat, with four still present there on 29th-3rd; a further individual was seen elsewhere on the island on 28th still. Additional single birds this week were logged at Cardiff Bay (Glamorgan) still on 30th-1st; on Loch Oire (Moray) still on 29th; on Orkney Mainland at Loch of Bosquoy on 1st-2nd still; and on Yell (Shetland) on 1st. On 4th two were present on Tiree (Argyll & Bute), one was found on Unst (Shetland), and one was seen on Anglesey at Llyn Alaw.
On Shetland, the Wadbister Voe King Eider remained a faithful and reliable bird throughout the week, while the drake was again seen off East Burra on 29th.
Lovely views of this Surf Scoter today in the Bay of Skaill. #Orkney pic.twitter.com/eaJHSQBQr8
— Raymond Besant (@RaymondBesant) October 2, 2021
Finally, Surf Scoters were once more noted off Musselburgh (Lothian) on 29th-4th; on Orkney Mainland, in Bay of Skaill off Stromness on 28th-3rd; and off Pensarn (Conwy) on 4th.
Best of the week’s waders was, yet again, the resident White-tailed Lapwing in East Yorkshire at Blacktoft Sands RSPB on 28th-4th. While the Albert may have called it a day, there’s still at least one mega available in Yorkshire…
The American Golden Plover remained this week on Omey Island (Co.Galway) on 1st, with further birds seen on Bryher (Scilly) on 28th-2nd, and in Cambridgeshire at Pymoor on 1st-3rd. On 3rd-4th birds were found on North Uist (Western Isles) and Myroe Levels (Co.Derry), with another (or a Pacific Golden Plover) seen briefly on 3rd in Suffolk on the Alde estuary.
Bryher also held onto its Buff-breasted Sandpiper on 28th-2nd; with a further bird this week on South Uist (Western Isles) on 2nd, and a probable seen distantly in flight on North Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 28th.
Sightings of Baird’s Sandpiper came from Co.Kerry at Black Rock Strand on 30th, Cashen on 2nd, and Inny Strand on 4th; another was present at Clonakilty (Co.Cork) still on 1st.
Boom! Semi-p at Virkie: a ghost finally laid to rest after ten long years. Nothing better than finally getting to grips with a bird you've thrown away in the past, and this one was well worth the 5 hours it took PVH and me to nail it.@NatureInShet @RareBirdAlertUK @BirdGuides pic.twitter.com/HQdUJGN10S
— Roger Riddington (@RogerRiddington) October 2, 2021
In Shetland, a Semipalmated Sandpiper was present on Pool of Virkie on 2nd-4th – a satisfying find for Roger Riddington. Belated news came of another retrospectively identified in South Uist (Western Isles) on 2nd.
Another peep, either an adult Semipalmated Sandpiper or a Western Sandpiper, was found on 4th in Hampshire at Normandy Marsh.
Numbers of Pectoral Sandpipers dropped this week, though that’s all relative – there were still 50 birds noted across the region, and whichever way you look at it that’s a lot of Pecs appeal. Tacumshin (Co.Wexford) was, once again, the best place for them, with four birds still present there on 28th; closely followed by Lewis (Western Isles), which amassed three birds on 1st.
The adult Long-billed Dowitcher was again seen at Potter Heigham Marshes (Norfolk) on 28th and again on 3rd-4th; another dowitcher sp, seen fleetingly at Loch of Strathbeg RSPB (Aberdeenshire) on 2nd, was also thought to be of this species; and a final bird was seen on 4th at Lough Beg (Co.Derry).
We’ve touched already in the headlines upon the Lesser Yellowlegs found at Loch of Strathbeg RSPB this week on 30th-4th, but there were several other individuals on offer this week elsewhere. Further Scottish examples were seen on Lewis (Western Isles) on 29th-4th, and on Shetland Mainland at Melby on 1st, the latter just reward for the long hours local birder Kristofer Wilson puts in. Suffolk’s recent bird remained near Shelley on 29th. Irish birds were seen at Tacumshin (Co.Wexford) on 28th-3rd still, at Kilcoole (Co.Wicklow) on 30th-3rd, and at Lough Beg (Co.Derry) on 4th.
A Great Snipe was typically unobliging on Fetlar (Shetland) on 29th- flushed but not giving itself up readily thereafter.
The Dotterel on Tresco (Scilly) was still present, intermittently, on 28th-4th, with a sojourn on Bryher on 1st. Another probable bird was heard over St Alban’s (Hertfordshire) in the dead of night on 30th; and one was found on 4th at Titchwell RSPB (Norfolk).
Finally, it’s an ill wind that blows no good, and strong winds at this time of year usually mean Grey Phalaropes. Around 40 were logged in recent days, of which the highest single site tally were seven birds seen from Bridges of Ross (Co.Clare) on 1st. English vantage points yielded peak counts of three birds apiece for Pendeen (Cornwall) and St Agnes (Scilly) on 30th.
When there are Grey Phalaropes in the offing, there are invariably Sabine’s Gulls too, and so it proved this week – around 35 birds were noted in the course of recent days, with a peak count of six birds off Bridges of Ross (Co.Clare) on 1st closely followed by quartets seen from Annagh Head (Co.Mayo) on 28th and Strumble Head (Pembrokeshire) on 1st.
Many birders have a bogey bird: a species that continually eludes them. I'd never seen a Sabine's Gull anywhere in the world, until I found this juvenile at Girdle Ness this evening. I could have twitched them, but this is exactly how I'd hoped to see my first one. pic.twitter.com/l7KxUAPdyQ
— Andrew Whitehouse (@Anthrobirder) September 30, 2021
Sticking with Wales a moment, our first Bonaparte’s Gull this week was an adult seen at Rhyl (Denbighshire) on 28th; while the recent adult was again seen on Belfast Lough (Co.Down) on 3rd.
Glaucous Gulls were an exclusively Scottish preserve, with singletons seen on North Uist (Western Isles) on 28th and Garlaff Landfill (Ayrshire) on 1st, with another reported on the latter date from Stromness (Orkney).
Just two definite Iceland Gulls were seen this week – an adult in Lerwick (Shetland), and another passing Bloody Foreland (Co.Donegal), both on 3rd – while a further probable bird was seen briefly on 2nd at Lea Marston (Warwickshire).
A Black Kite was about the sum of our rare raptors this week, lingering at Tacumshin (Co.Wexford) on 28th-29th.
A probable Gyr was seen on 4th in Suffolk at Combs.
Apart from that, though, we’ve just the female Snowy Owl still present out on St Kilda (Western Isles) on 29th to delay us before we get into the tasty stuff for another week…
As in the headlines, so in the passerines section this week – we really can’t start anywhere else in Britain or Ireland than on Fair Isle (Shetland), where the few birders present on the isle were having a whale of time in recent days. We’ve touched already on the discovery of the fine White’s Thrush there on 29th, the shot across the bows that was to announce the arrival of the Baikal Teal there later in the day – the thrush, like the teal, was set to linger on the island for a while, and was still present on 1st.
That, however, was far from all. A Pechora Pipit came a day before the White’s Thrush, being the highlight of 28th; and then, on 1st, a cracking male Daurian Shrike was trapped and ringed on the island – making it a three-shrike day, as the lingering male Woodchat Shrike was also still present, as was a Red-backed Shrike also.
The Daurian Shrike, still present there on 4th, was the island’s 200th species for the year to date, but was more notable still – being the first Isabelline Shrike sp to be recorded on the island since 1994. Overdue, then, and all the sweeter for being the first example of an attributable Daurian Shrike in the wake of the former Isabelline Shrike splitting into Daurian and Turkestan Shrikes.
Fair Isle also landed a Blyth’s Reed Warbler on 1st, which allows us to segue back to bird news from the rest of Shetland, and beyond… another Blyth’s Reed Warbler was trapped and ringed on Bressay (Shetland) at Gorie on 28th, and remained present until 1st. Gorie, a hidden gem on Bressay, has first for Britain written all over it. Watch this space…
Rob Fray could have fairly cracked open a beer in the evening of 29th in the wake of his discovery of a Great Reed Warbler lurking at the Burn of Hillwell (Shetland), feeling he’d had a good day’s birding. Better was to come later in the day…
A handful of Marsh Warblers were seen across Shetland this week – individuals being noted on Unst at Norwick on 28th-29th and again on 2nd; on Fetlar on 30th; on 1st in the north Mainland at Hillswick and Collafirth; and, on 4th, on Out Skerries.
Unst also scored a fine Booted Warbler on 28th at Skaw.
A late Greenish Warbler was found in the west Mainland of Shetland at Walls on 30th. North Ronaldsay (Orkney) laid claim to the only Arctic Warbler of the week, present on there on 29th-2nd.
Down on Scilly, the Western Bonelli’s Warbler remained on St Martin’s on 29th; and on Shetland Mainland another bird at Easter Quarff, found on 3rd, finally called and confirmed its identity on 4th.
A Radde’s Warbler found in Orkney on 3rd on Sanday was a fairly early bird.
Around 200 Yellow-browed Warblers logged nationwide this week certainly marked an increase on recent weeks, but remains a pale shadow of past years that have seen four figure national tallies recorded around about now. There’s time yet, of course, and nobody’s day in the meantime was ever worsened for bumping into one of these smart and pleasingly vocal birds.
Some 25 Barred Warblers were seen this week, most of which were in Shetland, with Orkney and the Western Isles getting the scraps. Westerly birds made it to Mizen Head (Co.Cork) on 30th and Achill Island (Co.Mayo) on 4th.
A Melodious Warbler was found in Cornwall at Penlee Point on 29th.
Rounding up the warblers, on 1st Lanceolated Warblers were discovered on Unst and Foula – the latter bird, sadly, being found dead in its roost hole the following morning, testament to just how shatteringly far these birds have come by the time they make landfall here. North Ronaldsay (Orkney) got a look in on the week’s action with a final bird found on there on 4th.
While the cream of the week’s shrikes was definitely on Fair Isle, it shared the island with the lingering Woodchat Shrike, still present on there until 3rd. On the Shetland Mainland, another Woodchat was present at Aith on 30th-4th; and meanwhile, on Scilly, the badius Woodchat Shrike remained on St Mary’s on 28th-4th, and still another Woodchat was seen on St Martin’s on 4th.
Red-backed Shrikes were also, mostly, shared between Shetland and Scilly this week, with just the individual on Bolus Head (Co.Kerry) still on 28th-4th the exception that proved the rule. On Shetland, birds were present in Lerwick on 28th, Fair Isle on 28th-1st still and again on 4th, on East Burra on 29th-2nd, and at Wester Quarff on 4th. The female bird remained on St Martin’s (Scilly) on 28th-4th, with another bird seen on St Mary’s on 3rd-4th.
An unconfirmed report came of a Great Grey Shrike at Hornsea (East Yorkshire) on 3rd.
Just a handful of Wrynecks were logged this week, the sustained recent influx of them finally drawing to a close. These were birds on Skokholm (Pembrokeshire) on 28th and 3rd-4th; at Cadgwith (Cornwall) and West Burrafirth (Shetland) on 29th; and on St Agnes (Scilly) on 2nd.
Presumably the same Hoopoe that was last seen on Noss (Shetland) had relocated to adjacent Bressay on 1st; another was reported that day from Eastleigh (Hampshire); the Sker Point (Glamorgan) bird was seen again there on 4th; and one near Whittlesey (Cambridgeshire) on 29th had been present in the area for around a week beforehand.
A couple of Short-toed Larks made it to Scottish islands in recent days – one on St Kilda (Western Isles) on 29th-3rd, and the other on Fair Isle (Shetland) on 1st-4th.
An American Horned Lark was found by Mike Silvia on Inishmore (Co.Galway) on 3rd. This was Ireland’s first confirmed record of a Nearctic alpestris subspecies bird.
Ireland’s 1st American Horned Lark. Self found by Mike Sylvia on Inishmore Galway County today. The bird was very cooperative and allowed a two hour viewing period. Numerous photographs were obtained. The bird was still present when we departed. pic.twitter.com/LHc7HnRwWV
— Mike Sylvia (@mikesylvia87) October 3, 2021
St Kilda (Western Isles) remained in the news with the previous week’s American Buff-bellied Pipit still present there on 29th-2nd, joined on the island by a second individual on 2nd-3rd. Another was found down on Scilly on St Agnes on 3rd-4th.
Islands were also supplying our only Richard’s Pipits - single birds on Unst (Shetland) on 28th and Skokholm (Pembrokeshire) on 1st and, on 4th on Mainland Shetland, one at Sullom and a probable at Grutness on 4th, and a further probable on Unst at Norwick; and also on 4th, a final bird on Calf of Man (Isle of Man).
Unst, however, was bowing down under the weight of Olive-backed Pipits - kicking off with two birds together at Norwick on 29th; while single birds were present at Northdale on 1st-3rd, the Setter Hill Estate peaked with three birds on 2nd, and a final bird was found at Skaw on 4th. Elsewhere in Shetland single birds were found on Out Skerries, and Mainland at Ocraquoy on 3rd; and at Isbister and Brae on 4th.
Unst also supplied our first Citrine Wagtail of the week – a bird at Norwick on 28th-2nd, with another seen on 4th on Fetlar.
Unst followed that with a probable Eastern Yellow Wagtail at Haroldswick on 29th. A confirmed bird was to be found on the same day at the other end of Shetland as Rob Fray proved that if anyone’s going to find a rarity in the Spiggie area, it’s him – turning up a smart bird at Noss Farm whose call matched those of tschutschensis; a bird that, obligingly for those birders arriving on Shetland over the weekend, remained in the area until 2nd.
Visiting birders basing themselves on Foula (Shetland) this week were having a solid time with, in addition to their ill-fated Lanceolated Warbler, a Red-flanked Bluetail on 29th.
Foula also scored a Bluethroat on 28th; followed by further birds seen in Shetland at Wester Quarff on 29th and 2nd-4th, on Unst at Norwick on 29th-4th and near Burrafirth on 4th, and on Out Skerries on 2nd-3rd – the latter site accumulating three birds by 4th.
An unconfirmed report of a possible Desert Wheatear in Cornwall at Penryn on 3rd came to nothing further.
Fair numbers of Red-breasted Flycatchers were found this week, with 20 birds logged nationally – mostly found in Shetland, with just one at Easington (East Yorkshire) on 29th giving east coast birders some scant succour, and one on Scilly on St Martin’s on 3rd offering a glimmer of hope to birders based there. It’s coming to the time that we might start hoping for another Taiga Flycatcher, so it’s worth paying these birds more than a cursory glance…
Rose-coloured Starlings failed to make double figures this week, with nine birds noted across the country. One lingered at Titchwell RSPB (Norfolk) on 28th-4th; the Cornish bird was ranging between Land’s End and Sennen on 29th-1st still; one was still present on Bryher (Scilly) on 1st-4th, with another seen on Tresco on 4th also; the adult remained at Aith (Shetland) on 29th; and the adult was still in Highland at Balnakeil on 1st. Further birds were found at Hythe (Kent) on 28th-1st and Rickmansworth (Hertfordshire) on 1st, with another reported from Filey (North Yorkshire) on 29th.
An Arctic Redpoll or two usually turns up in Shetland round about now – more often than not on Unst, but not at first this week – it was East Burra’s turn to shine, with a smart snowball found on there on 2nd. Another, an exilipes, was found on Unst on 4th.
Numbers of Common Rosefinch were reasonable again nationally this week, with some 20 recorded in all. Most of them were in Shetland, but a few were found elsewhere, including a couple down on Scilly – birds being noted on St Agnes on 28th-4th and St Mary’s on 28th.
Shetland was also dominant in the scarce bunting stakes – all but one of the week’s 20 Little Buntings were recorded up there, with the sole outlier being one not a million miles away on Papa Westray (Orkney) on 28th. Peak count came from Unst where three individuals were logged on 30th.
The same rule largely applied to Rustic Buntings - apart from one trapped and ringed at Kilnsea (East Yorkshire) on 28th, and one present at Nanjizal Valley (Cornwall) on 4th, the rest were found in Shetland. On 29th birds were found on Out Skerries and Whalsay, with a second bird found on Whalsay on 1st; and a further individual was seen on Mainland at Sandness on 30th.
Finally, while we were all hoping for just a taste of the Nearctic warbler largesse Iceland had enjoyed during the prior week, what we actually got in recent days were mainly Red-eyed Vireos - one lingered at Blacksod (Co.Mayo) on 1st-2nd; another was present on Bardsey (Gwynedd) on 2nd-4th; a bird was reported from Brae (Shetland) on 2nd, and relocated there again on 4th, with further individuals found on the latter date in the south Mainland at Setter, and the north Mainland at Sullom; and a final bird was found on 4th on Achill Island (Co.Mayo).
Just processed the only image I had of the Red-eyed Vireo. Initially the shot was completely dark and under exposed as the bird was in dense foliage. Lightroom has made it brighter but grainy! pic.twitter.com/xAZD70qYQw
— Bardsey Lodge & Bird Obs (@bardseyobs) October 4, 2021
To put the Shetland birds into some context, three in the space of one week is absolutely unprecedented – there have only been three records in the whole of Shetland ever, in successive years between 2012 and 2014, so this week’s arrival spoke of something special happening. It’ll be interesting to see if anything rarer still in a national sense comes out the woodwork in the coming week…
We’ll start the overseas news in Iceland once again – where Iceland’s fourth-ever Common Yellowthroat on Heimaey on 28th was the hangover from the prior week’s Nearctic binge, and Iceland’s fifth White’s Thrush on 30th in Reykjavik the refreshing tonic to clear Icelandic heads. Iceland’s fourth Red-flanked Bluetail, found at Höfn on 1st continued the Palearctic theme.
Iceland wasn’t alone in being graced by a White’s Thrush - Norway got one too, at Myken on 29th; while a Green Warbler was trapped and ringed at Sula on 28th.
While in Holland the Pygmy Cormorant remained in Utrecht on 2nd, it was sightings of Lesser Spotted Eagle this week that were quickening Dutch pulses – reports came from Dussen on 2nd and near Waspik on 4th. A Greater Sand Plover lingered on Texel on 29th-4th.
Two Pygmy Cormorants remained in France at Affut ONCFS on 28th still.
Spain’s second-ever Short-billed Dowitcher remained at Embalse de Aguilar on 30th. In Italy, the Western Sandpiper was still present at Casei Gerola on 29th.
Casting our net further afield, raptor watching in Cyprus was yielding results this week, with the island’s second Crested Honey Buzzard seen on 28th over Akrotiri, and an Amur Falcon on 3rd at Limassol.
Autumn mission to find a Crested Honey buzzard complete ?
— Anders Gray (@AndersG2211) September 28, 2021
This dark morph male circled over us at Lady’s mile, a stunning bird that really did stick out like a sore thumb. 2nd record for Cyprus!
Photos courtesy of @LUFCDave_ . #cyprusbirds pic.twitter.com/Ro1T9o76K7
Finally, to a fairly subdued Corvo in the Azores, where highlights were a Northern Waterthrush on 28th, and the fifth Azorean record of Black-billed Cuckoo on 2nd.
The coming week’s looking, potentially, interesting as what’s left of Hurricane Sam spins away in the Atlantic. A big, powerful system, quite late in the season. The burning question being whether it’ll sweep something good into southern Ireland, Scilly, or maybe up into Scotland…
Surely we’re due a Grey-cheeked or a Swainson’s Thrush, and more Red-eyed Vireos seem like a given. But after a week where even Shetland managed three of the latter, let’s take a punt on a rarer vireo altogether – how good would a Philadelphia Vireo be round about now? As one seasoned Azores veteran, sat at my kitchen table this as I write this, puts it – if he was on Corvo and there were three Red-eyed Vireos, he’d assume there was something rarer out there waiting to be found.
The coming week has historic form – birds found on 6th-17th October 1985 on Galley Head (Co.Cork), and 10th-13th October 1987 on Tresco (Scilly). Is the coming week going to add to that roll call? Granted, Britain and Ireland’s not the Azores… but here’s hoping.
Jon Dunn
5th October 2021
Many thanks to all this week's contributors for your photos and videos
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