Herons in numbers
BIRD NEWS ANALYSIS: SCARCITIES
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ROBIN CHITTENDEN (WWW.ROBINCHITTENDEN.CO.UK)JOHN HEWITT GRAHAM CATLEYScarcities: August 2017
http://www.birdguides.com/birdwatch Birdwatch•October 2017 17
Citrine Wagtail sightings picked up a little in September, with this juvenile at Kilnsea, East Yorkshire, on 6th (above left), after just one sighting in August
of a bird which fl ew over nearby Spurn on 31st (conceivably the same individual). The fi ve Greenish Warblers seen in Britain were widely spread, and
included this amenable and fairly long-staying bird (above right) in the car park bushes at Bempton Cliffs RSPB, East Yorkshire, from 29th to 1 September.Norfolk, Buckinghamshire, Greater
London, Kent and Scilly. One of
the juveniles from Britain’s rst
breeding record (see last month’s
Birdwatch, page 70) remained at
Westhay Moor NNR, Somerset,
until 17th.
A juvenile Purple Heron at
Leighton Moss afforded close
attention from 18th, but others in
Cambridgeshire, Isle of Wight and
Co Sligo were brief.
Spoonbills were numerous,but a ock of up to 37 at
Stiffkey Fen, Norfolk, was
exceptional. In Leicestershire,
a Spotted Crake at Walnip
Meadows formed a double
act with a Pectoral Sandpiper.
Small numbers are expected
in August, and so it proved
with others at Druridge Pools,
Northumberland, Frampton
Marsh in Lincolnshire,
Stodmarsh, Kent, Upton Warren
in Worcestershire and on Scilly.Lots of Littles
Little Gull numbers peaked
at Hornsea Mere, East Yorks,
on 20th, with 6,800 roosting.
Ring-billed Gulls occurred on
either side of the Irish Sea: an
adult was at Carew, Pembs, on
6th, and in Ireland birds were
at Nimmo’s Pier, Co Galway,
on 13th and Lurgan Green, Co
Louth, on 27th.
In Lincolnshire, the juvenile
White-winged Tern remainedfrom July, with another off
Exmouth, Devon, from 7th.
Adults were more widespread,
with records in Leicestershire,
Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Hampshire,
Cambridgeshire and Orkney.
Eastern Scotland proved the
place to be for Surf Scoter this
month. Single drakes were off
Murcar Golf Course, Aberdeens,
and Boddin Point, Angus,
while three more were off an
Aberdeen retail park on 18th.FIRST FOR BIRD NEWSFIRST FOR BIRD NEWSFirst for bird newsFirst for bird newsWesterly winds led to a slower
arrival of Wrynecks, which
included this bird at Kessingland,
Suffolk, on 10 September.Another staple of south-
western pelagics is Sabine’s
Gull – this fi rst-summer was off
Scilly on 20th.
JIM ALMOND (WWW.SHROPSHIREBIRDER.CO.UK)1710 p16-18 scarcities FIN.indd 17 21/09/2017 15:33: