Rarity Round-up
The best rare birds seen in the UK and Ireland throughout March
March was a month which started snowy and the snowy theme continued to dominate proceedings. The Beast from the East, as the big late February/early March freeze was tagged, brought some hideous conditions for birds, with tragic consequences. Birders started noticing unusual build-ups of birds such as Lapwings and Golden Plovers and winter thrushes, in unusual places, with Woodcocks and Snipes appearing in several gardens. Exhausted plovers almost became a ‘trend’ on social media, and there were inevitable mortalities of birds unable to flee to a warmer haven (when our island climate is so often the ‘warmest’ place around). There were few rare displaced birds found at this time, and even getting out and about to search was tricky for many birdwatchers. There were, however, a few displaced coastal species, with the odd diver etc. turning up inland, including a Red-throated Diver appearing a mile or so from the Bird Watching magazine office at Ferry Meadows CP, Peterborough. The cold weather also brought larger than usual numbers of white-winged gulls, particularly to the west, with spectacles such as 40 Iceland Gulls together on North Uist, where and when there were also 20 Glaucous Gulls present (4th). The coldest snap didn’t see off that most ‘High Arctic’ of gulls, the Ross’s Gull at sites in southern Dorset, which was seen from 3rd and continued to move between Lodmoor, Radipole, Chesil Cove and Ferrybridge. It was last seen at the latter site to the morning of 7 March, when it was spotted flying west. But it was another bird from the ‘frozen’ north which kept the winter theme going strong in March: Snowy Owl. The Scilly female remained in place in the early part of the month, dispelling initial ideas that a first-winter female reported in Norfolk was the same individual having moved east (as it happens, subsequent photographs showed easily distinguished head patterns on the two birds). Initially found at North Wootton on 5th, this well-watched bird spent the next week or so working its way west along the north Norfolk coast, calling in at various suitable sites, then relocating, requiring a bit of searching before birders could move in to enjoy it. On the 11th, it was seen at Snettisham (on the western end of
north Norfolk, in The Wash). Then after getting lost somewhere in the endless marshes bordering The Wash, the same owl was relocated at the marshes of the bombing range at Wainfleet, Lincolnshire (21st), and stayed there throughout the next day, delighting visitors. Where it went to next remains a mystery but, in the meantime, there were Snowy Owls on Papa Westray and Stronsay, Orkney, as well as at Twmbarlwm, Gwent (22nd) and South Stack RSPB, Anglesey and St David’s Head, Pembrokeshire (a female which stayed into April). Though the cold weather through March may have been turning intrepid birders’ skin blue, it was a bird of a brighter colour which brightened spirits to claim the non-snowy Owl headlines this month. White-spotted Bluethroats underwent a bit of a return to form, with beautiful, blue-throated males at sites including South Ronaldsay, Orkney, Dungeness, Kent (where there more than one individual), Landguard, Suffolk, and Walthamstow Wetlands, London. The bulk of the Bluethroat influx was in the third week of March, when there was also a large influx of that other beautiful early spring chat, Black Redstart. Birds were widely spread, but particularly prevalent in the south and east of the country with the vast majority found at coastal sites (again, mainly in the south and east). Around this time, the first few Hoopoes started appearing, with individuals at sites in Cornwall. Also, there were up to 10 Ring-necked Ducks in the UK and Ireland. One of the standout new rarities in the country was an American White-winged Scoter found off Musselburgh, Lothian, on 24th, which was still present into April. On a similar ducky theme, an adult drake Hooded Merganser was found on St Kilda, Outer Hebrides, on 29 March. Given its remoteness and western location, surely this North American duck will be looked upon favourably as a bird of decent credentials (ie not an escape).
Lingerers and long-stayers
Many of the rare birds which have been present for some time in the country, continued to be present well into March. These included the Pied-billed Grebe at Loch of Spiggie, Shetland, as well as the Loch Feorlin, Argyll, individual. The American Horned Lark continued its protracted sojourn at Staines Reservoirs, Surrey into April, and the Pacific Diver remained off Penzance (and nearby localities) to at least the third week of March. There were also the usual suspects with respect to lingering waders and a smattering of wintering Parrot Crossbills, the odd Little Bunting and so on around the country. What delights will April bring?