Rarity Round-Up
The ‘best’ of the rare birds seen in the UK during February
Of course, February was another month of official Covid ‘lockdown’ in England, and restrictions were also tight in the rest of the country. And this brought a particular and peculiar focus to what will surely be one of the ‘ birds of the year’, when we look back over the whole of 2021. The bird in question was, of course, a Northern Mockingbird, found by Chris Biddle, in his Exmouth garden, Devon. Chris tweeted photos of the bird with his provisional (correct) identification and many birders’ minds duly exploded.
Everyone knows, from Harper Lee’s classic novel, that “it is a sin to kill a mockingbird”. Perhaps, from the reaction of many on social media, in early 2021, “it is a sin to see a mockingbird”. It could even be considered as somewhat unlawful, if the tales of £ 200 fines being dished out for travelling tickers are based on fact. Yes, there was quite a lot of righteous indignation that some birders travelled ‘ beyond their local area’ to see this third for the UK.
The previous accepted records of Northern Mockingbird were one on 30 August 1982, at Saltash, Cornwall, and one on 17-23 May 1988 at Horsey island, Essex. Although, this measly offering gives no real indication of a pattern of occurrence, it is thought that the Devon mockingbird most likely crossed the Atlantic some time in the autumn, when several other extremely rare North American landbirds were turning up (think back a few months to the Yellowbellied Flycatcher or Tennessee Warbler, for instance).
At the time of writing (in mid-March), the Northern Mockingbird is still enjoying private gardens in Exmouth.
So, there is some hope for birders who have been feeling ‘the grip’, that it will still be around when travel restrictions are eased somewhat and it once more becomes socially acceptable to twitch an ultra-rare bird.
More garden goodies
If you remember, in the rarity roundup for January (April issue), we mentioned a Whitecrowned Sparrow in a garden near Ashford, Kent? Well, in February, the same sparrow, or perhaps another, was in a garden at Barcombe, East Sussex, which is getting on for 40 miles to the west of the January Whitecrowned Sparrow. As we have said before, who knows how many rare passerines are happily living unseen, unnoticed, unidentified or unannounced at any one time?
You may not remember last month’s rare sparrow, but you will certainly remember last year’s Lammergeier aka Bearded Vulture. Well, not wishing to be left out, 2021 has delivered another one! This time it is an apparent adult initially photographed over Dereham, Norfolk (10th); and over the next week or so seen over other Norfolk sites (including Mattishall, Lenwade and North Tuddenham).
Other top birds
Much more convincingly wild, the first-winter Sociable Lapwing was still being seen around Maer Lake and Bude Marsh area until at least 20 February. Other notable birds which have been ‘hanging about’ include a good smattering of Ring-billed Gulls (11 in the UK plus Ireland, although more in Ireland than the UK), Ring-necked Ducks (including three on Tiree, Argyll and Bute); and some scarce wintering warblers, most notably Dusky and Yellow-browed Warblers. And the Thursley Common (Surrey) Rustic and two Little Buntings continued their long stay.
White-billed Divers were also seen, mainly in the north around Shetland and Orkney, with at least five individuals involved, including two in Bluemull Sound ( between Unst and Yell), Shetland, on 24th.
Meanwhile, in Northern Ireland, a first-winter Ross’s Gull (complete with pink flush on the underparts), was a great find.
With most of March also being somewhat shrouded in lockdown mystery, the start of the migration season proper, and its inevitable wave of rare birds, will also be somewhat tricky to unravel. But, then again, news of mega rare birds has a funny habit of emerging no matter what, so watch this space.