Birdwatch UK October 2017

Herons in numbers

BIRD NEWS ANALYSIS: SCARCITIES

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

Scarcities: August 2017

I

n a rather uneventful

August, it was once again

the seabirds of the South-

West Approaches that provided

the greatest spectacle. Four

Wilson’s Storm Petrels were

off Porthgwarra, Cornwall, on

2nd and provided the largest

count from mainland Britain, but

most Cornish headlands saw

a piece of the action. However,

as is often the case with this

species, it was south-west

Ireland which regularly had the

largest numbers: eight were off

the Bridges of Ross, Co Clare,

on 18th, but an astonishing

minimum of 56 from a pelagic off

Baltimore, Co Cork, on 6th raised

eyebrows, while Co Mayo and Co

Kerry also logged records.

The most signi cant

individuals were those which

made it as far east as Orcombe

Point, Devon, on 3rd, and

from a pelagic off Salcombe,

Devon, on 14th. Pelagics from

Scilly recorded birds on almost

every trip – usually two or

three, but peaking with 10 on

20th. A particularly notable

Birder’s Special trip saw a ‘bait

ball’ created by Blue n Tuna

leading to a wave of seabirds,

including four Wilson’s, 1,

Cory’s Shearwaters, 550 Great

Shearwaters and 200 Sooty

Shearwaters.

The extraordinary numbers of

scarce seabirds continued with big

gatherings of Cory’s Shearwaters;

several thousand were seen,

including 600 from St Mary’s,

Scilly, on 13th. Great Shearwaters

were in abundance too: 44 were

off Porthgwarra on 14th, 12 from

a pelagic into Lyme Bay, Devon, on

11th and 150 from a Scilly pelagic

on 7th. Records of both species

in the North Sea – including East

Yorkshire and Highlands – were

unusual. Away from the South-

West, a Leach’s Storm Petrel was

ringed at Whitburn, Co Durham, on

1st and three were seen from the

Ullapool-Stornoway ferry on 23rd.

Herons aplenty

Cattle Egrets were recorded as

far north as Lancashire, where

up to three continued their stay

at Marshside RSPB. Adding to

the Mediterranean  avour was

a  ock of seven Glossy Ibis at

Braunton Marsh, Devon, from

1st, while an even larger  ock

of 14 remained in Cornwall at

Walmsley Sanctuary. Singletons

were in Norfolk, Somerset and

Essex. The suspected (and

suspect!) American Black-

crowned Night Heron remained

on show at Shrewsbury, Shrops.

Seemingly better candidates

were seen in Northumberland,

Co Durham, Northamptonshire,

PETER GARRITY

Though listed as Endangered,

Balearic Shearwaters

pass Britain and Ireland in

internationally important

numbers during autumn – this

bird was seen from a Scilly

pelagic on 13th.

And still the seabirds

fl ood in...

PHOTOS: JIM ALMOND (WWW.SHROPSHIREBIRDER.CO.UK)

The huge seabird infl ux

continued, writes

Sam Viles, but other

autumn migrants were

at a low ebb.

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All the annual scarce shearwater species continued to arrive in

numbers throughout August, often keeping each other company on

Scilly pelagics, as here with Cory’s (front), Sooty (middle) and Great

(rear) Shearwaters lured in by chum on 31st.

1710 p16-18 scarcities FIN.indd 16 21/09/2017 15:32: