Birdwatch UK October 2017

http://www.birdguides.com/birdwatch Birdwatch•October 2017 21

BIRD NEWS WESTERN PALEARCTIC

Sudden appearances

shatter the calm

This two-day Caspian Plover at

Łaszka was the fi rst record for

Poland, though it was initially

reported on 9th as an Oriental

Plover.

PAWEŁ MALCZYK

Western Palearctic: August 2017 White-rumped Sandpiper is

a considerably rarer bird in

France than in Britain; this bird

was at Lac de Rillé, Indre-et-

Loire, on 28th.

DAVID MONTICELLI

FIRST FOR BIRD NEWS

FIRST FOR BIRD NEWS

First for bird news

First for bird news

Solitary Sandpiper visited

Cabo da Praia from 11-

14th.

Spain scored its

second Kelp Gull – an

adult at Isla Cristina, west of

Huelva, on 8th. Other Spanish

records included several Elegant

Tern reports, while in Italy the

Western Reef Heron remained at

Peschiera del Garda, Veneto.

Poland’s  rst Caspian Plover,

a moulting male, was seen at

Laszko, Pomerania, on 9-10th – a

great  nd indeed, but it would have

been all the better had it been

the Oriental Plover it was initially

thought to be.

Yet another Dutch Black-winged

Kite record galled British birders

• it lingered near Overschild,
  Groningen, from 13th into
  September. A potential Danish  rst
  was the juvenile Saker Falcon at
  Tipperne, Denmark, mid-month.
  A juvenile Pallas’s Gull brie y
  visited Blåvand, Denmark, on 12th,
  while another was at Simrishamn,
  Sweden, on 3rd. The long-staying
  American Royal Tern was again
  seen on the Channel Islands, this
  time back on Guernsey at Houmet
  Paradis on 16th.
  Just across the sea, an adult
  Red-necked Stint showed well at
  Dragey-Ronthon, on the northern
  French coast, on 6-7th and a
  Sociable Lapwing was well inland

at Le Thoreil, Maine-et-Loire, early

in the month. Back on the north

coast, a Western Swamphen at

Le Crotoy on 10th was easily the

most northerly record for France in

modern times.

Germany’s Black-browed

Albatross visited Sylt regularly,

though it wasn’t seen after 20th.

The country’s 10th Long-billed

Dowitcher was at Neukirchen,

Schleswig-Holstein, on 2nd, while

a very early Isabelline Wheatear

was noted in Niedersachsen on

8th. Austria’s eighth Black-winged

Pratincole visited Seewinkel

on 7th and Finland’s second

Eleonora’s Falcon was near Espoo

on 21st.

The Bateleur remained in Israel’s

Hula Valley until the end of August,

while a Swinhoe’s Storm Petrel

was off Eilat on 15th, a Yellow-

billed Stork was at Beit She’an

and a Pink-backed Pelican was at

Yeruham on 19th.

Lastly, the identity of a Pale

Martin photographed at Jahra

Pool Reserve, Kuwait, on 5

January has now been con rmed,

and if of cially accepted it will

become the  rst record for the

Western Palearctic. ■

The identifi cation of this

Pale Martin at Jahra

Pools Reserve, Kuwait,

on 5 January was fi nally

confi rmed in August,

and it becomes the fi rst

record for the region

(as defi ned by BWP

boundaries).

A Snowy Egret at Ponta das Contendas, Terceira, Azores, on 10th

proved to be a nice bonus for those twitching the tattler.

DAVID MONTICELLI

The long-staying Grey-tailed

Tattler on Terceira, Azores,

became the main target for

visitors to the archipelago.

OMAR ALSHAHEEN

BRUNO DUCHENNE

1710 p20-21 western palearctic FIN.indd 21 21/09/2017 15:35:44