Rarity Round-up
After a false start in October, Parrot Crossbills truly invaded in late November
The best rare birds seen in the UK and Ireland throughout November
October’s fine rush of rarities came to its inevitable conclusion and November had a lot to live up to (as it always does). Though not a classic late autumn rarity-fest, the month did get off to an extraordinary start with the shock discovery of an out-of-context, out-ofseason seabird turning up at Rutland Water, Rutland (or Leicestershire, if you prefer) on 2nd. It was a Cory’s Shearwater, only the second ever inland record, after one over Regent’s Park, London, in mid-september 2016. The bird appeared to be in good condition and was seen to fly around the giant reservoir. And two days later it was refound at Pitsford Reservoir, Northamptonshire, but too briefly to get on nearly every Northants birder’s county list… A day after the Cory’s Shearwater was in the heart of England, up on Shetland a Pied-billed Grebe was found at Loch of Spiggie, Shetland. This American grebe is a rare enough bird anywhere in the UK, but this was the first of its kind ever found in the Shetland archipelago. It was still present at the end of the month. Also found on 3rd was a Wilson’s Snipe at Lower Moors, St Mary’s, Scilly, a bird confirmed by great photographs of its diagnostic underwings etc. Wilson’s Snipes are, of course, the American equivalent of our Snipe, and very similar (as are most of the snipe species around the world!). But they have recently been ‘split’, and so snipe are worth examining, closely, especially on the UK ‘hotspot’ of the Scilly archipelago. And the 3rd also marked the last day that the Welsh Rock Thrush was seen. Apparently, it was seen to fly off strongly, and could not be relocated in subsequent days. Perhaps it is still wintering somewhere in the country, though? The first week of November was also notable for the continuation of the Hawfinch invasion (especially into the southern half of the country); a Red-flanked Bluetail at Lowestoft, Suffolk (7th); the Bee-eater still being up in the north-east of England, and a Lesser Yellowlegs at a private (but viewable with permission) site at Maxstoke in the unlikely county of Warwickshire. Once more, evidence that rare birds can turn up anywhere! Meanwhile the Lodmoor (Dorset) Lesser Yellowlegs continued to give outstanding views. The main news of the second week of the month
concerned a bird which would surely be considered an ‘insurance tick’ at the absolute best. It was an Italian Sparrow, or something looking very like an Italian Sparrow, at East Budleigh, Devon. The taxon itself is fraught with controversy, being recognised as a full species on the one hand, as a stable ‘hybrid swarm’ on the other (ie a hybrid between House Sparrow and Spanish Sparrow), which doesn’t tend to move much; and on the third hand, a just about indistinguishable regional hybrid form. Who knows where this Devon bird came from? Its plumage looked good (or was there a touch of House Sparrow grey in the crown?), but its bill was a bit oddly overgrown, which perhaps hints at ‘unnatural’ origin. Another bird fitting the Italian Sparrow description was found in a garden in Cambridgeshire. The plot thickens… Talking of potential escapes, early December brought a surge of excitement when a Whitecrowned Wheatear was photographed by a non-birding vicar in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire. It turned out that the bird had been surviving in and around gardens since late November, but had prior to that been in the aviary of a ‘bird fancier’. It was duly caught and returned to its ‘owner’. Apparently, the latter had tales to tell of a plethora of ‘unusual’ birds he had previously kept in captivity, once more opening up a can of worms concerning the wild origins of even insect-eating rare birds (such as chats and thrushes) around the country. The third week was notable for a bit of Little Auk activity on the east coast as well as a late Bluethroat trapped at Spurn, East Yorkshire; the continued appearance of the Pacific Diver at Mount’s Bay, Cornwall; and fly-by White-billed Divers in north-east England, south-east Scotland and Shetland. There was a little spate of Ferruginous Ducks into the country, in at least some of the cases, birds originating from a German reintroduction scheme. From the opposite direction, there were also several Ring-necked Ducks seen during the month.
Invasion of the Parrots
Late in November, the main rare bird theme was a revival of an invasion we thought may have fizzled out early in October. If you recall, the first couple of weeks of October saw a mini-influx of several Parrot Crossbills into Shetland. But the predicted invasion then faded away. That is, until late November, when a flock which numbered at least 32 Parrot Crossbills was located in the Santon Downham/santon Warren area on the Suffolk/ Norfolk border. Well into the first week of December, there were still at least a dozen still present at this site. A few days after the Suffolk/norfolk birds were found (from 25th) a flock of at least 16 Parrot Crossbills was found at Wishmoor Bottom, in the county of Berkshire. Only time will tell how many flocks are yet to be discovered around the country.