Britain’s best birding year?
2020 was one of the best-ever years for rarities and scarcities in Britain and Ireland. Sam Viles rounds up an extraordinary 12 months.
It’s fair to say the 2020 was a unique year – and not necessarily for the right reasons. However, despite COVID-19-related restrictions on our movements, the birds still came, and there were some incredible moments throughout the year, whether over gardens during lockdown or further afield when we could move around. Sam Viles rounds up a year that none of us could have predicted.
Aremarkable year for rarities across Britain and Ireland, 2020 will go down in history for the highest number of species recorded, including a cumulative 10 British and Irish firsts. The year of the ‘grip-back’, a number of old-school rarities made their first appearances for several decades, while plenty of impressive influxes were also enjoyed.
After a steady start to the year,
Orkney weighed in with an utterly bonkers Western Palearctic first on 25 May, when a White-chinned Petrel was photographed shearing across Scapa Bay. This was just the first in a run of remarkable seabird records to grace the isles over the spring and summer period, including a moribund Shorttailed Shearwater found on the beach at Tramore, Co Waterford, on 22 June – another Western Palearctic first at the time of its discovery, although since usurped by two belated French records. Scilly’s pelagic trips scored Britain’s first Zino’s Petrel on 30 July – one of the world’s rarest seabirds with an estimated population of only 85 breeding pairs on Madeira.
Not to be outshone, the Western Palearctic’s first Cayenne Tern performed in Ireland at Lady’s Island Lake, Co Wexford, from 12 June. A subspecies of Cabot’s Tern and breeding from the Caribbean south to northern Argentina, the female bird seemed to be paired with one of the local Sandwich Terns. Two days later, a Sooty Tern repeated history by calling in at the famous colony at Cemlyn Lagoon, Anglesey, for a matter of minutes on 14th. Its pelagic journeys continued, making appearances in Suffolk, Northumberland and Ayrshire throughout July.
Award winning
A worthy winner of the Birders’ Choice Awards Rarity of the Year category, Britain’s wide-ranging immature Bearded Vulture was undoubtedly the most popular potential ‘first’ of the year, seen by several thousand people during its five-month stay in the country. First reported in the West Midlands on 27 June, it mirrors the appearance of another back in May 2016, although that was consigned to the Category E ‘scrapheap’ of the British Ornithologist’s Union’s (BOU) British list. With DNA analysis tracing the bird back to a nest in the Haute-Savoie region of the French Alps, only time will tell if this latest record will carry more favour. Whatever happens, there is no doubt that it made for a spectacular sight in British airspace, and will be fondly remembered for decades to come.
Numerous fast-moving low-pressure systems across the Atlantic throughout the autumn produced no fewer than three national firsts, with Tiree’s Yellow-bellied Flycatcher from 15-23 September pick of the bunch. Another Western Palearctic first, it joins Alder and Acadian as the third Empidonax flycatcher on the British list (the same garden produced another three county firsts that autumn, including a Pine Bunting on 30 November).
That early weather system also delivered a juvenile Sora to Lundy, Devon. Ireland’s first Tennessee Warbler was next up, seen on Inishbofin, Co Galway, from 6-8 October. Barra, Outer Hebrides, has an enviable track record with Nearctic passerines, and kept the flame alive this year with Britain’s first Ruby-crowned Kinglet at Cuithir from 12-19 November. There is a single previous Irish record, from Cape Clear, Co Cork, back in 2013.
From a very different corner of the Northern Hemisphere, a fortuitous sandwich stop at Westing on Unst, Shetland, produced Britain’s first-ever East Siberian Wagtail on 25 October, a subspecies of White Wagtail that breeds in north-east Siberia.
A showcase of the rarest
Away from national firsts, Ireland’s second Brown Shrike – and the first in more than 20 years – broke the winter doldrums in a garden at Rathduff, Co Cork, on 7 January. In early February, photos taken on a coastguard training session in Shetland at Kergord,
Mainland, the previous December amazingly showed a Tengmalm’s Owl – presumably a returning bird from the previous winter. Relocated in due course, it went on to remain from 11 February to 23 March, even relocating to Lea Gardens, Tresta – the very same trees favoured the year before.
The first twitchable individual since 2010, an adult male Lesser Kestrel led a merry dance over Porth Hellick Down on St Mary’s, Scilly, between 7 March and late April. Ireland’s first record in 130 years was at Kilkee, Co Clare, on 9 November.
Fair Isle’s fifth Song Sparrow was an April highlight. Elsewhere in Shetland, the first-ever spring Black-and-white Warbler was a one-day visitor to Aithsetter, Mainland, on 28 May; another on Tresco, Scilly, on 8 October was arguably more expected. Papa Westray’s lingering Steller’s Eider was
last noted on 24 April.
The classic mid-June mega mantle fell to an attractive Asian Desert Warbler on Northumberland’s Holy Island on 15 June, before a predictable Friday night bunk later that week. The archetypal 20th century mega, records have rather dried up since the turn of the century, with the last twitchable bird as far back as May 2000.
Another old-school rarity, the chance of a Black-browed Albatross – perhaps the regular German adult – at Bempton Cliffs RSPB, East Yorks, on 2-3 July was well received. Others flew past coastal sites in Cos Down, Donegal and Mayo, plus Northumberland, Suffolk and Somerset later in the autumn. A Yelkouan Shearwater – an incredibly rare vagrant from the Mediterranean Sea with just one accepted record from Devon back in 2008 – was fortuitously photographed among a corral of Balearic Shearwaters off Portland Bill, Dorset, on 7 July, remaining in place alongside a second bird until 10th.
Ireland’s third Brown Booby was discovered on the beach at Greystones, Co Wicklow, on 13 July, although it unfortunately died in care later that month. Another was at sea off Co Cork the previous day, with the sole British occurrence of the year on a fishing vessel off the Isle of Wight on 16 May.
And still the ‘seabird summer’ continued: Scotland’s first Scopoli’s Shearwater, and the first away from the Isles of Scilly, was in the Firth of Forth from 9-11 August. A highly distinctive individual with a large white mark in its right wing, it was belatedly reported past a number of English east-coast sites on 9 July, and again off Norfolk on 15 August. Who’d have imagined twitchable Scopoli’s and Yelkouan in the space of a few weeks? A pale-morph Eleonora’s Falcon spent a matter of minutes over Winterton Dunes, Norfolk, on 20 August. Just Britain’s eighth record, the wait for a truly twitchable bird continues.
A flurry of action to end September saw a Two-barred Warbler at Budle Bay, Northumberland, for eight days from 29th, while all-the-more noteworthy was a first-winter female Siberian Thrush at Kilminning, Fife, from 305th. Notorious for a run of six one-day individuals in Shetland since the turn of the century, it is the first to linger sufficiently since a male on Gugh, Scilly, in 1999.
With just three previous records to date, two different Masked Shrikes during October was remarkable. The first arrived at Hartlepool Headland, Cleveland, during a big fall on 3rd, with the second at Shuart, Kent, from 17th.
Britain’s fourth Taiga Flycatcher proved very popular at Trow Quarry, Co Durham, between 14th and 18th, while a Western Orphean Warbler at
Lothbeg Point, Highland, on 10-11th kept Scottish listers happy. Meanwhile, photographs emerged of a Short-toed Snake Eagle found waterlogged on a Dorset beach at Hengistbury Head on 5th, although it died in care shortly after.
A major east coast fall in mid-October delivered in a big way, with Britain’s first twitchable Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin since 1963 at Stiffkey, Norfolk, from 17-21st, attracting several hundred admirers and becoming one of the biggest rarity events of the year.
A number of ‘classic’ transatlantic systems throughout September and October saw a long list of Nearctic passerines across Britain and Ireland. The latter’s fourth Bobolink was an impressive find at Fanad Head, Co Donegal, from 20-22 September. A long time has passed since the Tennessee Warblers of the 1970s and ’80s, so one on Yell, Shetland, from 29 September-7 October was very warmly received. Ireland’s second Philadelphia Vireo spent 10 days on Inishmore, Co Galway, from 9 October, while on 25-26th, Britain’s first twitchable Indigo Bunting for 24 years was on St Agnes, Scilly, but was in poor condition.
An arrival of Eyebrowed Thrushes raised eyebrows early in October: three were recorded on the Northern Isles. North Ronaldsay hosted the first on 2nd, lingering for several days, while Shetland had two on 7th.
Britain’s fourth Hudsonian Godwit at Eden Estuary, Fife, from 3 November was another internet find, remaining contentedly in place among wintering Black-tailed Godwits until 17 December. A Hermit Thrush was found the same day at Mizen Head, Co Cork. Less than a week later saw the county score again, with a young male Belted Kingfisher near Castletownbere from 9th and into 2021.
And still the autumn showed no signs of slowing down. Two different Eurasian Crag Martins in an autumn was unprecedented: one over Kirkwall, Mainland Orkney, on 18 November was followed by a more settled bird at along Kent’s White Cliffs of Dover from 21st and into December. Ireland’s third Little Swift was photographed over Glengarriff, Co Cork on 10 November.
Back in south-west Ireland, a firstwinter Double-crested Cormorant was at Carrig Island, Co Kerry, from 25th. As part of the largest influx of the species into the Western Palearctic since 2002, another was earlier recorded on a Spanish shipping vessel in Irish waters on 29 September; these representing just the second and third Irish occurrences.
Another grip-back for fledgling listers provided the final attraction of the month, when a young Sociable Lapwing was found at Crows-an-Wra, Cornwall, from 27 November, holding out in the county until the year’s end.
Incredible invasions
Despite lockdown restrictions across much of the country in the spring, the best arrival of Hoopoes for several years kept many birders hoping that one might grace their garden during April. Meanwhile, the run of overflying White-tailed Eagles against the cloudless skies that defined spring 2020 kept birders looking up – several truly wild birds arrived, alongside the roving Isle of Wight birds.
No fewer than 30 Blyth’s Reed Warblers dotted across Britain in the late spring period defined the season for many – an unprecedented spring influx of a normally scarce autumn visitor – with one particular male at Far Ings NR, Lincs, likely to linger long in the memory. Moreover, May and June will be remembered fondly for a recordbreaking arrival of Rosy Starlings – BirdGuides data suggests that in excess of 250 were recorded, easily eclipsing the famous influx of 2002.
North Ronaldsay was the undoubted star performer of the year, with the islands enjoying a brilliant purple patch from June. A Green Warbler on 1 June was part of a wider influx to northern Europe (a second bird was on Fair Isle from 16th), with an adult female Redtailed Shrike on 23 August getting the autumn off to a terrific start. This was followed by a candidate Semipalmated Plover on 7 September, then a run of classic eastern rarities including White’s and the aforementioned Eyebrowed Thrushes, plus both Lanceolated and Pallas’s Grasshopper Warblers, as well as several Red-throated Pipits.
The latter were part of a significant arrival to the Northern Isles during classic fall conditions in late September and early October. Shetland scored four Pallas’s Grasshopper and seven Lanceolated Warblers. Meanwhile, 1 October produced no fewer than three different White’s Thrushes across the Northern Isles. An amazing seven had been amassed by the end of the month, with a lingering bird on Lundy, Devon, from 7-26th a notable English record.
An excellent spell of easterlies throughout mid-October produced one of the best arrivals of eastern birds on record, with Red-flanked Bluetails as well as Dusky and Pallas’s Warblers featuring heavily. The bluetails especially appeared to be everywhere and a remarkable 44 individuals were recorded by the year’s end, while three inland counties – Bedfordshire, Derbyshire and Worcestershire – hosted their first. Dwarfing the previous record of 31 in 2010, a new record single-site count also came when four were at Holme-next-the-Sea, Norfolk, from
17th.
Upwards of 80 Pallas’s Warblers was another terrific showing, with at least 20 in Norfolk alone during the month. The Dusky Warbler invasion continued apace well into December, with the overall count no fewer than
115 individuals by the end of the year, including several inland records.
For many, December will be remembered fondly for the major influx of Russian White-fronted Geese across southern England and Wales, coinciding heavy fog across southern England and a north-easterly airflow. Birds were recorded in all manner of unusual situations, including ‘tame’ birds in London parks, and found their way on to many a patch list. Thousands arrived, with flocks several hundred strong distributed across south-eastern counties. ■