Bird rarities of the year
A month-by-month roundup of all the key rare birds of last year
A roundup of rare birds seen in the UK during the past year
Owing to the quirks of producing 13 issues of Bird Watching every year, we have one issue a year which doesn’t fit the monthly routine of UK Bird Sightings. So, we have a perfect window to summarise the best rare birds of the year. And this is it (‘normal’ UKBS will be back as usual, in the March issue).
And what a year 2020 was! It goes without saying that rare bird-watching, just like every aspect of our lives, was affected by the COVID-19 restrictions, not least the national lockdown which started in the second half of March. But, with luck, the rare bird year will be remembered instead by many of us as the year of the UK’s first Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, or our first White- chinned Petrel. Or perhaps for you it is the year of the Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin, or the Tennessee Warbler, or Zino’s Petrel, or even the year of the Lammergeier…
The first part of the year was quiet enough, and the middle section became even quieter, as many birds were ‘suppressed’ or inaccessible owing to ‘lockdown’. But as the lockdown became less intense, so it revealed one of the most exciting rare bird autumns any of us can remember. Good things can’t last forever, though, and so- called ‘Lockdown 2’ dampened the latter part of the year for rare birds, once again. Over the next 10 pages, we will look at the most exciting
rare birds of 2020 (from January to late November), in month by month order.
Some rare starters
The year kicked off gently, with a male Desert Wheatear at Eccles- on-Sea, Norfolk (a bird echoed at the end of 2020 with another male in north Norfolk). The likes of Bufflehead in Cornwall (at Stithians Reservoir and the Camel Estuary) and a Ross’s Gull in the same county were good starts, while a convincing American
Herring Gull was at West Brexington, Dorset (26th; which was seen at the Axe Estuary, Seaton, Devon in February).
The last year’s male Black-throated Thrush was still performing well at Whipsnade Zoo, Bedfordshire, while another male was a ‘first’ for Lincolnshire, at Grimsby ( last seen on April 2). Another ‘hanger- on’ from 2019 was the ‘Alaskan’ Eastern Yellow Wagtail at Sedgeford, Norfolk (into early March).
Rare wildfowl included more birds staying over the Christmas period, including the Steller’s Eider on Papa Westray, Orkney, the Musselburgh (Lothian) American White-winged Scoter and the Blue-winged Teal at Man Sands, Devon. Meanwhile, the Long-billed Dowitcher at Marshside RSPB, Lancashire, was arguably the best photographed wader of the year, so far!
The shortest month
February is the shortest month, of course,
and the rare bird news was dominated by a long spell of unhelpful westerly winds and few new rarities. One extraordinary find (actually from December 2019) was a Tengmalm’s Owl once more at Kergord, Mainland, Shetland (where the earlier 2019 bird had been seen). It was caught and ringed and found to be a first-winter, so a new bird, which just happened to choose the same areas to roost in as the previous individual.
March into lockdown
Before the March lockdown really kicked in, the most exciting find was probably the pink-flushed, adult Ross’s Gull at
South Huish Marsh, Devon (9 March). A first-winter Laughing Gull was found at Chew Valley Lake, Somerset, the day after the Ross’s Gull, and it moved from water body to water body in the county (and into Devon in April).
On Scilly, a male Lesser Kestrel was a great find at Porthellick, St Mary’s (from 14th), but the lockdown prevented ‘non-islanders’ from coming to enjoy it. Similarly, a Killdeer on Lundy, Devon, would also have been a popular bird, but this island was also inevitably ‘closed’.
Hidden from view
Probably the rarest bird from the heart of
April’s lockdown was a Song Sparrow on Fair Isle, Shetland (9th & 10th). But, as was the case with March’s island rarities, this bird was not ‘twitchable’. Next in the ‘rankings’ (if there were such things), was a singing male Sardinian Warbler at Portleven, Cornwall (18th-19th).
Meanwhile, the ‘inaccessible’ Isles of Scilly were having a decent spring, with Red-throated Pipit, Eastern Subalpine Warbler, Short-toed Lark and Night Heron on St Mary’s, alone.
It was a good month for raptors, especially Black Kites and White-tailed Eagles. There were good numbers of the former around the country, and Whitetailed Eagles from the Isle of White reintroduction scheme (and some not from the scheme!) were popping up around lots of sites in England.
Other classic spring fare included a good influx of Hoopoes, plus several Red-rumped Swallows, Purple Herons and a few Bee- eaters and the odd Black-winged Stilt. But who knows what was ‘suppressed’?
May the force
May saw a slight relaxation of lockdown, which allowed more movement around the country, which suited birders in this peak month for
rare birding. However, the star of the show was seen by just one extremely lucky person, a White- chinned Petrel seen (and unmistakably photographed) flying over Scapa Flow, Orkney (25th).
Talking of rare brown seabirds, a Brown Booby was seen on a Belgian trawler off the Isle of Wight (9th). And talking of rare brown birds, a Brown Shrike at Flamborough, East Yorkshire (12th-14th) was just the third spring UK record of this species (which also had a record autumn in the country!).
Scilly continued its strong spring with a Solitary Sandpiper (St Mary’s, 18th). Other cool May waders included a Hudsonian Whimbrel at Dunnet Head, Highland, a Collared Pratincole at Pilning Wetland, Gloucestershire; and a Terek Sandpiper in north Lincolnshire and later at Musselburgh, Lothian (a county first).
Frustrating island lockdown ‘megas’ included Black-and-white Warbler and White- crowned Sparrow, on Shetland.
Meanwhile, there was a Scops Owl at Nanjizal Valley, Cornwall and a Little Swift at Potteric YWT, South Yorkshire.
Classic spring rarities included a smattering of Squacco Herons, and a good spread of Red-footed Falcons, Black Kites, Hoopoes and Woodchat Shrikes. There were also a few Whiskered Terns, a handful of White-winged Black Terns and a couple of touring Caspian Terns. Singing Blyth’s Reed Warblers (and Marsh Warblers) featured strongly, with at least 10 of the former heard across the country.
Creeping beneath the radar, was a female Little Crake, singing on a private area of the Nene Washes, Cambridgeshire.
Midsummer desert
The expected rarity desert of June instead turned up an Asian Desert Warbler on Holy Island, Northumberland (15th-19th). This singing male was only the third UK example of its species not to appear in autumn or winter and also the first ‘twitchable’ since May 2000.
And where there is desert, there is often sand, in this case a first-summer Greater Sand Plover at Tyninghame Bay, Lothian, from 27th into July.
The month was also notable for the exceptional number of Blyth’s Reed Warblers (mainly found by their singing), including an obliging singer at Far Ings NR, Lincolnshire (7th-21st). Marsh Warblers were also prominent this month.
Even rarer warblers included a couple of Green Warblers on North Ronaldsay, Orkney (an island which will feature again later on) and on Fair Isle, Shetland. Fair Isle also produced a River Warbler, and there were Booted, Moltoni’s and Paddyfield Warblers in other parts of Shetland; and a singing Western Bonelli’s Warbler at Reculver, Kent.
Other cool passerines included a Calandra Lark on Fair Isle and a smattering of Rustic Buntings, plus a Black- eared Wheatear in a garden in Wester Ross, Ross and Cromarty. And these paralleled a bit of a midsummer invasion of adult Rose- coloured Starlings.
The month also saw the reappearance of the immature Bearded Vulture (aka Lammergeier) later known as ‘Vigo’. It was seen first over Balsall, West Midlands (26th), and reappeared in the Peak District in Derbyshire, where it would take up residence for a few months, regrowing its tail and living off dead sheep limbs on the moorland tops.
I want to break free (and bones)
Now that the country was feeling slightly less locked down, the lure of the Lammergeier was strong for many birders, having been tied down to a particular part of the Peak District in the
second half of July (around Black Tor, Howden and so on). And it was to linger around these ‘highlands’ for the next few months (until it grew a ‘decent’ tail).
Come the autumn, it started its movement back out of the high ground and into Leicestershire, then Norfolk. And then, it found its way across to the Lincolnshire fens and south a bit into Cambridgeshire, near Peterborough, a crazy sight in and above the flattest of country, for this mountain bird.
But a diet of hares was not enough to keep it in the fens, and it headed further south over Bedfordshire, and was seen near Beachy Head, East Sussex, before crossing the Channel back to France. We now know that this bird was hatched in a ‘wild’ nest of ‘mixed’ truly wild and ‘released’ parentage in the French Alps in 2019. It is up to the BOURC whether it becomes an official British bird.
Probably more likely to reach The British List was a Zino’s Petrel well documented on a Scilly pelagic trip on 30 July. A Black-browed Albatross was on and near the chalk cliffs of Bempton, East Yorkshire (2nd & 3rd; and at other east coast sites, in September)
And while on tubnesoses, mention must be given to the one or two (or three?) Yelkouan Shearwaters with 80- odd Balearic Shearwaters, off Portland Bill, Dorset (8th-9th). Other seabirds of note included a Sooty Tern turning up here and there, and two Caspian Terns.
Seabird madness
August would normally see a few birders shunning the Rutland Birdfair and seawatching in Cornwall, instead. This year, as there was no physical Birdfair, the lure of the south-western seabirds proved great, and the trip proved very worthwhile for many. Claims included a possible Bermuda Petrel off Berry Head, Devon (27th); and a Band-rumped (aka Madeiran) Storm Petrel off Pendeen, Cornwall (22nd), a bird with just two accepted UK records ( both from 2007).
There was also a purported Scopoli’s Shearwater (one accepted record!) near the Queensferry Bridges in the Firth of Forth. This bird had a distinctive worn patch in one wing and was able to be picked out along the east coast at several sites, as far south as Norfolk.
Brown Booby was a new bird for the UK in 2019, and during this August 2020, there were at least two seen (off Gower, Glamorgan and Pendeen, Cornwall). A Bridled Tern was seen off Lundy, Devon.
On dry land, a pale-morph Eleonora’s Falcon was a fabulous bird to have photographed, at Winterton Dunes NNR, Norfolk (20th). At the end of the month an Isabelline Wheatear at Carmel Head, Anglesey, was exceptionally early (30th); as was a Yellow-browed Warbler on North Ronaldsay, Orkney (I told you it would feature again), on 31st. This latter island also held a Turkestan Shrike on 23rd.
Other prominent birds of August included a Gull-billed Tern which was mainly seen (very well) at Alton Water, Suffolk; while the Spurn area, (East Yorks) had Roller and Collared Flycatcher.
Rarity rush
And so we come to the start of an amazing autumn for rare birds, from east and west. First mention must go to the
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher in the Tiree (Argyll) garden of long-time UKBS contributor John Bowler. Covid restrictions were just about relaxed enough at the time to allow some birders to travel from the mainland to enjoy this not only UK ‘first’ but first for the Western Palearctic!
Shetland’s September was also sensational, with a Tennessee Warbler at Burravoe, Yell (from 29th) being perhaps the most popular bird (the first in the UK since 1995 and only the fifth ever). North Ronaldsay could not be left behind, and produced the UK’s fifth- ever Semipalmated Plover. And there were Two-barred Warblers at Budle Bay, Northumberland and on Fetlar, Shetland. It was indeed Shetland which hogged the rarities, with White’s Thrush, Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler ( both of which would appear multiple times in October!).
And there were Hornemann’s Arctic Redpolls to add a bit of fluffy, white padding. A Swainson’s Thrush was at Birsay, Mainland, Orkney (30th). But stealing attention from the northern archipelagos was a first-winter female Siberian Thrush on the British mainland at Kilminning, Fife, which stayed into October. And elsewhere in the country, highlights included Norfolk’s second ever Brown Shrike, at Warham Greens.
Insane October
October will be remembered as a true classic for rare birds. The elements came together to deliver an outrageous bounty of brilliant birds. Top of the pile for many will be the Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin which was found at Stiffkey, Norfolk (from 17th). The last twitchable UK bird
was in September 1963. Although it was a bit weary-looking and somewhat ragged, the beauty of this European species is undoubted; the Norfolk bird was of the greyer eastern European subspecies.
Another tired-looking bird of extreme rarity was the first-winter Indigo Bunting (the UK’s third) which was found on St Agnes, Scilly (25th-27th). Nearby was another North American ‘relative’ in the form of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak on Gugh (24th). And even more tired was a Short-toed Eagle found grounded and sadly moribund on the beach at Hengitsbury head, Dorset (6th).
North American warblers included a Blackpoll Warbler at Burrafirth, Shetland (16th-29th) and a Black-and-white Warbler on Tresco, Scilly (8th-13th). Scilly also saw good numbers of Red- eyed Vireos and two Swainson’s Thrushes!
And the thrush theme of the autumn continued with Eyebrowed Thrushes on (you guessed it) North Ronaldsay, Orkney, and both Fetlar and Mainland, Shetland. There were also five new White’s Thrushes in the country, this month!
In the North East of England, the chief rarity was a Taiga Flycatcher at South Shields, Co. Durham (14th-19th). Also in that neck of the woods, was a Masked Shrike (Hartlepool Headland, Cleveland), while another of this very rare shrike appeared at Shuart, Kent. Brown Shrikes were appearing all over the place, with five found this month; and a Steppe Grey Shrike was at Benacre, Suffolk.
There were stupid numbers of Lanceolated and Pallas’s Grasshopper Warblers, while it seemed the country was overrun with Radde’s Warblers (and later Dusky Warblers), as well as Redflanked Bluetails and Siberian Stonechats (including a few Stejneger’s).
Mention must be made of a Western Orphean Warbler at Lothberg, Highland (10th-11th) and a race of White Wagtail called East Siberian Wagtail which may be a first for the UK.
Lockdown 2: November
November will probably be remembered by the ultimate ‘lockdown blocker’. It was a Ruby- crowned Kinglet. This North American relative of the Goldcrest is very common on that side of the Atlantic. But it had never occurred in the UK, until this
month, when one of these tiny beauties was found on Barra, Outer Hebrides. Covid restrictions, however, meant that the news was not released until after the bird had departed a week later.
A Pied-billed Grebe was at South Walney NR, Cumbria. November also saw a very showy Greater Yellowlegs at Dunwich Pools, Suffolk. Even better, a Hudsonian Godwit was at the Eden Estuary, Fife.
With shades of last winter, four Eastern Yellow Wagtails appeared, including an Alaskan at Dunwich Pools.
And as it neared its end, in an echo of the Black-browed Albatross on the chalk cliffs of Bempton earlier in the year, there was a Crag Martin at Kingsdown, Kent, also seen perching on fabled chalk cliffs.