Rarity Round-up
December provided one last month to tick (or dip) some rare birds in 2018
The best rare birds seen in the UK and Ireland during December
Remember back in 2017, when there was a repeated theme of wandering terns? There was a Caspian Tern which moved back and forth from Wales to Northamptonshire, then Lincolnshire, West Yorkshire and Norfolk. And a Gull-billed Tern which may have made its first appearance in Cambridgeshire, but popped up again in Kent, Somerset, and perhaps Lancashire and Ayrshire. Well, 2018 was the year of the touring (American) Royal Tern. What was presumably the long-staying Channel Islands individual finally reached mainland UK on 19 June at Church Norton, West Sussex, and hopped along the coast to Dorset. Then everything went quiet for about five months, before a bird fitting that one’s description (complete with metal ring) turned up at Dulas Bay, Anglesey (10 December). It was still round the area the next day, but it was not until 22nd that it reappeared at the Gann Estuary, Pembrokeshire (for a little more than an hour). The next sighting was on 26th at St Mary’s, Scilly, and it spent Boxing Day having a little tour of the islands there. Thereafter, the trail went cold. There is some debate about whether this was the Guernsey and the summer’s south coast individual or a newbie, but it seems the likeliest solution at present. There have only been four ‘accepted’ records of Royal Tern in the UK (the first at Kenfig NNR, Glamorgan, in 1979, and the most recent in 2009 at Porth Ceiriad, Gwynedd). Another particularly rare seabird (though not in the Royal Tern league of rarity), which appeared this month, was a juvenile Ivory Gull which flew past Cairnbulg, Aberdeenshire on 12 December. The bird was seen and photographed by our very own Aberdeenshire UKBS correspondent Mike Chandler (and no-one else!), but disappeared soon after and has yet to be relocated. Also falling into the camp of mega which didn’t stay for long was a Dusky Thrush which was seen and photographed on the golf course at Skaw, Whalsay, Shetland on 5th. Yes, you guessed it, this rare birdie did not hang around…
Less rare but very unseasonal were two or three winter Red-rumped Swallows well into December. One was at Cley, Norfolk (5th to 9th; perhaps the same bird turning up at Kessingland, Suffolk on 10th). Meanwhile, a juvenile Redrumped Swallow was at Torpoint, Cornwall, 9th to 13th. Who would have thought December would feature mild enough weather to supply enough flying insects to feed swallows?
Other key rarities
Talking of insectivorous birds surviving a modern British winter, there was a notable quantity of Dusky Warblers in the country, during the month, with five or more birds present. These included birds at East Fleet, Dorset, Kessingland, Suffolk, Stiffkey, Norfolk and Kingsbury Water Park, in Warwickshire. Are Dusky Warblers going to join their Phylloscopus cousins, Chiffchaffs, as regular winterers? An extremely confiding Little Bunting was ‘showing well’ in the Chiswell area of Portland, Dorset, 8th to 11th. And while still considering passerines, there was a lovely male Desert Wheatear on St Agnes, Scilly, from 15th into the New Year. A female Black-throated Thrush was an intriguing report from Bishopstone, Wiltshire, with a bird photographed on 12th. A black-bellied Dipper (the nominate, continental subspecies) was found at North Walsham, Norfolk (from 4th into January), following one seen at Hollingbourne, Kent (3rd). A few Coues’s Arctic Redpolls turned up, mainly on the east of the country, with birds in Shetland, Lothian, Northumberland, South Yorkshire, and Norfolk. And before we leave the perching birds, a quick nod to Waxwings, which showed at least an attempted surge in numbers after Christmas, with small numbers penetrating as far as the south coast of England. Also in southern England, a young White-tailed Eagle was in the New Forest area, from at least 13th, first appearing at Milkham Inclosure, Hampshire, but also wandering to Blashford Lakes HWT (last seen in the county on 22nd). Another young Whitetailed Eagle was at Sleddale, Cleveland and one seen at Faseny Bridge, Lothian. And so ends another year of rare birds. What will 2019 bring?