Weekly birding round-up: 6 - 12 Jul 2021
After weeks of mounting excitement, some recent stellar performances, and amidst a growing atmosphere of anticipation, everything came to a grinding halt this week. Less of a climactic crescendo, and rather more of a damp squib. And that was just the birding hitting the buffers of the midsummer doldrums. We’ll not speak of the football…
In what has to be one of the more remarkable birding tales of recent years, lightning struck twice in as many weeks where news of one man and his autonomous noc-mig recording equipment was concerned…
Sean Ronayne, doubtless flushed with success after picking out Ireland’s fifth Baillon’s Crake from a recording overnight on 24th June at Buckroney (Co.Wicklow), only went and did it again on 2nd July with a recording of something that sounded at once similar to, but distinctively different from, a Spotted Redshank…
His curiosity piqued, and recalling that Semipalmated Plover was said to have a call similar to Spotted Redshank, he had a listen to calls of the former on Xeno-Canto… and found they matched his recorded bird perfectly. Sensibly dotting i’s and crossing t’s, Sean shared the recording with others and, with a resulting unanimous verdict, was able to release the news that he’d recorded Ireland’s seventh Semipalmated Plover, passing over Lissagriffin (Co.Cork) at 4:43am on 2nd July.
Ireland’s seventh record, and a first for Co.Cork – a county which, lest we forget, has just enjoyed another county first shorebird in the form of the Short-billed Dowitcher, discovered on the Ring estuary on 3rd. Which begs the question of not only where that flyover Semipalmated Plover is now, but also what else might be out there having arrived in the same movement of birds?
While new, big headline birds may be thin on the ground, what’s shaping up to be the bird of the year for many remained more or less faithful to East Yorkshire’s Bempton Cliffs RSPB thoughout the week – with only the occasional absence, Albert II, the recently returned adult Black-browed Albatross, was a (mostly) reliable and extremely popular presence there in recent days, showing well at times every day apart from on 7th.
The week began strongly for Balearic Shearwaters, with the vast majority of the week’s national tally of 280 birds logged on 6th – the peak count coming that day from Start Point (Devon), where 125 birds passed by.
Two Cory’s Shearwaters were also seen in Devon on 6th, from Beer Head.
Two Wilson’s Petrels were found at sea on 6th off Arranmore (Co.Donegal); and a Leach’s Petrel was trapped and ringed overnight on 11th at Craig David Croft (Aberdeenshire), with two birds trapped and ringed on 12th on Fair Isle (Shetland). Will there be another chapter in the long-running British Swinhoe’s Petrel enigma this summer?
While the adult Long-tailed Skua remained in the Boddam area of Shetland until 11th at least, a handful of further birds were seen elsewhere – on Skye (Highland) on 9th; in Lyme Bay (Dorset) on 10th; and from Porthgwarra (Cornwall) on 11th. Further birds were seen at sea on 12th from the RV Celtic Explorer 59 miles west of Barra (Western Isles), and from a Scilly pelagic six miles south of St Mary’s.
Single Pomarine Skuas, meanwhile, were noted from Berry Head (Devon) on 7th, Girdle Ness (Aberdeenshire) on 8th, Porthgwarra (Cornwall) and Dawlish Warren NNR (Devon) on 11th, and Cromer (Norfolk) on 12th.
Comfortably the pick of the week’s long-legged beasties was the Black Stork found in Kent at Worth Marsh on 9th. Worth Marsh has already been graced by a bird earlier this spring, seen there in early May – presumably this week’s arrival is a new bird, rather than the self-same individual having been keeping a low profile elsewhere in east Kent in the meantime.
Staying in Kent a while yet, the settled Glossy Ibis was again reported from Dungeness on 9th; and a bird was seen up at Bough Beech reservoir on 9th-12th. Another individual was found on the south coast at Pagham Harbour LNR (West Sussex) on 10th-11th, with a bird noted flying east past Selsey Bill on 12th; one more was found on 12th in Norfolk at Ken Hill Marsh; and a bird was reported in flight at Hobson’s Park NR (Cambridgeshire) on 7th.
Finally, a probable Purple Heron was seen from a moving train near Kingsteignton (Devon) on 8th.
For a second consecutive week, we’d barely a scarce or rare quacker in the daily news this week. Not a great surprise, given the time of year, of course. For the most part it fell to Scotland to provide what little excitement there was…
Starting in far north, on Unst (Shetland) the first-summer drake King Eider was seen intermittently from Baltasound again this week on 8th-11th.
Getting to the Scottish mainland, the drake Black Scoter was once again seen from Blackdog (Aberdeenshire) on 8th.
Had nowt to do today #retired so tried for a 5 Scoter day. Failed miserably as Surf and White-winged didn't show at Musselburgh. Black Scoter at Cocklawburn a bonus and Musselburgh is great anyway pic.twitter.com/yAYwFedrAt
— Natural Newbiggin (@NatNewbiggin) October 18, 2018
Lastly, northern England got a look in too, with a drake Surf Scoter noted from Ulrome (East Yorkshire) on 9th.
While Co.Cork was, once again, writing the headlines this week with a noc-mig shorebird of the highest quality, a more confiding and obliging bird altogether racked up another week in the county – this being the smart first-summer Short-billed Dowitcher still present on the Ring estuary at Clonakilty on 6th-12th.
In Norfolk, the recent adult Pacific Golden Plover made a fleeting reappearance at Cley on 11th; with presumably the same bird also accounting for the probable bird earlier in the day at Stiffkey.
Sticking with Norfolk, the two Black-winged Stilts remained at Hickling Broad NWT on 6th-11th; further news emerged this week of a breeding attempt earlier in the spring at Rye Harbour (East Sussex), where a pair present since 29th April hatched four young in the first week of June. On 9th July two birds remained there, an adult and a juvenile; with the female still present the following day.
Last reported at Lough Beg (Co.Derry) on 26th June, the first-summer Bonaparte’s Gull was again seen there this week on 11th-12th; whilst in Shetland, the settled first-summer bird was still present up on Unst at Norwick on 8th-10th.
A Sabine’s Gull was seen at sea off Arranmore (Co.Donegal) on 6th.
Just a couple of Scottish Glaucous Gulls were seen in recent days – one on North Uist (Western Isles) on 10th, and the other on the Lossie estuary (Moray) on 11th.
Scilly accounted for our sightings of Iceland Gull this week, on St Martin’s on 7th-8th and St Mary’s on 6th-11th.
Rare terns continued to feature strongly in the daily news, with two settled birds of note still present in their respective adopted terneries. In Co.Dublin, the adult male Least Tern remained near Portrane on 9th-11th...
…while on Anglesey, the Elegant Tern was still a popular draw at Cemlyn Bay NWWT on 6th-12th. Both birds were seen to be showing some attachment to the local terns…
A Caspian Tern was seen heading inland at Skibbereen (Co.Cork) on 10th; with a further sighting coming from the Ring estuary on 11th.
While a first-summer male Red-footed Falcon has been a fixture on St Mary’s (Scilly) for weeks now – and was still present there on 7th – it was Wiltshire’s turn to get a slice of the action of this attractive falcon in recent days, in the gorgeous form of a first-summer female bird found at Langford Lakes NR on 8th-12th.
The week’s headlines would have written themselves had the possible pale morph Eleonora’s Falcon seen high over the Wiveton Bell pub in Wiveton (Norfolk) on 9th only been confirmed.
Norfolk did however score a confirmed Black Kite on 10th, seen from Burnham Overy Dunes and Holt CP. A further probable bird was noted drifting north in Dorset at Swineham on 8th, and a possible bird was reported from outside Bassingham (Lincolnshire) on 12th.
Lastly, on St Kilda (Western Isles), the resident female Snowy Owl was still present on Hirta on 12th.
We’ll kick off the passerines in East Yorkshire where Paul French’s ultimate garden bird, the meena Rufous Turtle Dove, remained to start the week in Easington on 6th-7th – not only a welcome bird for many, but an obliging one too. If only all rarities were like this.
In Norfolk our now familiar friends, the wandering flock of nine Bee-eaters, were seen this week once more at Sidestrand and Cromer on 8th.
Whether the birds in question were particoloured or monochrome, Cromer was having a bit of a purple patch that day, with an Alpine Swift also found there. This had been preceded by another further up the east coast at Kilnsea (East Yorkshire) on 6th; and a further probable bird on 6th over Portland (Dorset).
A male Red-backed Shrike was present at Spurn (East Yorkshire) on 8th-9th.
East Yorkshire also accounted for a singing male Golden Oriole on 9th at Beverley; another bird was found down on Scilly on St Martin’s on 10th.
There was a little more variety than of late amongst our warblers, with a couple of intriguing reports amongst their number – an Aquatic Warbler reported from Cliffe Pools RSPB (Kent) on 8th, and a possible male Sardinian Warbler at Snettisham RSPB (Norfolk) on 10th.
A Marsh Warbler was heard only at Keyhaven Marshes (Hampshire) on 11th.
Norfolk, meanwhile, scored a Savi’s Warbler in song at Hickling Broad NWT on 10th.
Wrapping the warblers up, a Melodious Warbler was found on 11th in Plymouth (Devon) at Cattedown.
The male Blue-headed Wagtail was again seen in Lancashire this week at Hesketh Out Marsh RSPB on 10th.
Numbers of Rose-coloured Starlings held steady for another week, with some 20 birds in all seen across Britain and Ireland, of which two-thirds appeared to be new birds.
Finally, a cracking male Common Rosefinch was found in Cornwall at Porthgwarra on 9th.
We’ll start the overseas news in Spain where, in what’s hopefully a shot across our bows for a third consecutive year of sightings in British and Irish waters, a couple of Brown Boobies were recorded on 6th – at Cabo Silleiro and Estaca de Bares respectively.
Shifting our focus north a little, in France the pair of Elegant Terns remained with their two chicks at Polder de Sebastopol on 6th, with one adult missing there on 8th.
In Holland, the Stilt Sandpiper remained at Twisk on 7th-9th.
Denmark’s second Oriental Pratincole was still present at Videaslusen on 7th.
In Iceland, the summering Black-and-white Warbler was still present at Syðra-Lágafell on 7th.
Finally, in southern Bulgaria, a male Namaqua Dove was found at Cape Maslen Nos – a national first if accepted, though conflicting reports were coming out of Bulgaria this week as to whether or not it bore a ring of shame…
And before we knew it, we’re already coming up to halfway through July. The birding year is rattling along, and we remain in prime time for wayward waders. Pretty much anything feels possible round about this time of year – and particularly in Ireland where, with recent Short-billed Dowitcher and Semipalmated Plover, the auguries are promising to say the very least.
A White-rumped Sandpiper feels almost like a formality at this juncture, but perhaps we could take a leaf out of Holland’s book lately – Dutch birders have already been blessed with a Stilt Sandpiper and, with five historic records for the coming week, it feels like a reasonable call. The latest of those past birds was an individual that spent 14th-17th July 1979 at Ballycotton (Co.Cork) – and on recent form, Co.Cork seems like a likely place to make the news again in the days to come…
Jon Dunn
13 Jul 2021
Many thanks to all this week's contributors for your photos and videos
Share this story
