Rarity Round-Up
The Northern Mockingbird reached Northumberland, and other rare bird tales
The best of the rare birds seen in the UK during May
May was a funny old month. I know it is hard to remember what the weather was like, but believe me, it was rubbish throughout most of the month. While April had been cold and almost bone dry, May was absurdly cold and wet, and somewhat miserable. What should have been a great celebration of warm spring migration, became a hard slog, only really getting going in the last week, when the weather finally changed.
Last month, we left with something of a cliffhanger as to the whereabouts of the Northern Mockingbird. You will recall that it spent months in selected gardens in Exmouth, Devon, then did an overnight flit to gardens in Pulborough in West Sussex, appearing for just a day (8 April). Then it went missing until a month later, 7 May, when it popped up in a private garden (its favoured habitat, of course) at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland. This time, the first for the county did the decent thing and hung around for a couple of days, ‘showing well’ as they say (and then not at all, come the 10th).
Where it was in the intervening month, between West Sussex and Northumberland, we will probably never know. And similarly, where it went next is also a mystery (unless someone is keeping very quiet about an odd bird in their garden).
Having a lark
Despite breeding a lot closer than Northern Mockingbirds (in Europe rather than North America), the Calandra Lark is also a prized rarity in the UK, with fewer than 30 occurrences, ever. About a third of all UK records come from Fair Isle, Shetland, including one last June. So, it was not a complete surprise when one again appeared there, on the 8th. More surprising, though, was that this bird stayed until the 15th. More surprising still was the appearance of ( presumably) another on Fair Isle on the 29th, which was also another lingerer,