Americana on the airwaves

France, Norway and the Azores all scored monster North American landbird records, while a regional first was discovered on Cape Verde. Josh Jones rounds up the action.

Extraordinary news from Sal, Cape Verde, on 13th concerned the WP’s first Preuss’s Cliff Swallow. This West African species wasn’t on anyone’s radar for an appearance in the region, and it lingered in the Santa Maria area till 16th. A second new species for Cape

Verde was found on the island in the final days of the month: Redbacked Shrike.

Another regional first was in Kuwait on 10th, when a firstwinter Bay-backed Shrike was discovered at Jahra East Outfall. However, it quickly moved on.

Norway’s stunning brace of Nearctic warblers – both national firsts – stole the show on 23rd, with a Cape May Warbler on Utsira followed hours later by a Black-and-white Warbler on the mainland at Naerbø. The latter was present for just one day, but the former lingered to 26th. Utsira also scored Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler on 27th, while the country’s sixth Brown Shrike was on Røst on 26th.

The same system that delivered the warblers also produced Iceland’s second Alder Flycatcher at Hvalsnes from 21st, followed by a Tennessee Warbler in the north at Hrísey on 22nd and a Swainson’s Thrush at Seltjörn from 23rd, as well as a handful of American Buffbellied Pipits in south-western areas.

Denmark’s first Brown Booby was on a beach on Bornholm briefly on 12th, while Estonia’s

first Manx Shearwater passed Cape Põõsaspea on 27th; with a Black Scoter there on 21st. Nearby, another new species for Estonia comprised of a Spotted Sandpiper at Spithami on 29th.

Further Brown Booby records came from the coasts of northern France and The Netherlands, with the latter also scoring a Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin at Oostvaardersdijk on 1314th – a Dutch third. A Sociable Lapwing was at Huissen from 27th, while Belgium’s eighth Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler was at Zeebrugge on 28th. An Oriental Turtle Dove was then at Zwaantje on 30th – quite an early date for this species in Europe.

German sightings included a White’s Thrush at Greifswalder Oie on 20th, a Paddyfield

Warbler on Heligoland on 17th, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler Heidesee on 8th and a couple of Pygmy Cormorants.

Yet another Greater Sand Plover for this summer was in north-west France at Plouhinec on 14th, while a Lesser Flamingo was seen in the Camargue midmonth. The highlight from the Channel Islands was a juvenile male Pallid Harrier.

In Spain, a Least Sandpiper made landfall on the Galician coast at Lira on 6th, while Elegant Terns were regular in Andalucia and an Arctic Warbler was at Port de Pollença on 12th.

The Azores had a steady month, with the Corvo season starting early when a Baybreasted Warbler was found on 18th, along with a Red-eyed Vireo. Laughing Gull and at least two Semipalmated Plovers were on the famous isle, while Flores also hosted the latter species. Bird of the month, though, was the Black-capped Petrel

All five of the WP’s Alder Flycatcher records have come since the turn of the millennium. This one – Iceland’s second – was at Hvalsnes for five days from 21st.

Without a doubt this Cape May Warbler will prove to be one of the regional birds of the autumn – only the fourth for the WP and a Norwegian first.

Preuss’s Cliff Swallow is found as close to Cape Verde – the south-western extremity of the region – as GuineaBissau, but this bird at Santa Maria on 13th was nonetheless a WP first. Caption like the Cape May Warbler, this Bay-breasted Warbler was also a regional fourth, found in the Azores on 18th – the third record for the archipelago. this Swainson’s Thrush was discovered at the rarity hot-spot of Iceland’s southern peninsula on 23rd.