British Birding Association

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This is the UK400 Club Rare Bird Alert for Friday 7th December 2007, issued at 2200 hours, and published in association with Rare Bird Alert Pagers, and utilising valuable information gleaned from the Regional Birdlines, Birdguides, websites, local email groups and individual observers. All Irish rare bird news is by kind courtesy of John Coveney and BINS.

Tags: birding information, birds, bird guide

The three most recent volumes of the HIGHLAND BIRD REPORT have just arrived on my desk, including the 2005 edition which has just been published. With a superb juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper adorning the front cover (provided by Dave Pullan), this really is an impressive bird report. It is a sumptuous edition at 248 pages long, much more than in many county reports published for English counties. Following 13 pages detailing the weather in Highland Region in 2005, we then move on to the Dave Butterfield provided year end review, highlighting the 231 species recorded in Sutherland, Ross-shire and Inverness-shire during that year.

Tags: scarce birds, bird finder, scarce birds

An AMERICAN MOURNING DOVE is present for perhaps its fourth day on North Uist (Outer Hebrides), favouring a farm track about half a mile WSW of Clachan a Luib just SW of Loch na Faoileige at Carnack (at NF 803 635). Brian Rabbitts identified the bird early afternoon and it remains present and showing well until dusk.

It represents the third record for Britain following one trapped and ringed at the Calf of Man Bird Observatory (Isle of Man) on 31st October 1989 (found dead next day and now preserved in the Manx Museum) (British Birds 86: 496; 89: 157-161; 509, plates 69-71; Birding World 3: 64; Ibis 135: 220) and a first-winter at Carinish, North Uist (Outer Hebrides) from 13th-15th November 1999 (British Birds 93: 539; plate 40; Birding World 12: 453.

Tags: bird finder, birding holidays, bird guide

Less than ten months after the end of the year, the 2006 Fair Isle Bird Observatory Report landed on my desk this week - one of only a few 2006 bird reports thus far published. Once again, it is a bumper edition, at 160 pages long. A total of 204 species were recorded on the ‘Magic Isle’ in 2006 including one addition - North American Black Duck, whilst other highlights included Eurasian Scops Owl and Blyth’s Pipit. As ever, the daily log recorded the numbers and dates of all migrants, continuing the island’s invaluable 60 year database. The Fair Isle seabirds had a much better year than of late, with a record population of Great Skuas as well as more than 800 pairs of Arctic Terns.

Tags: bird reports, rare birds, scarce birds

This is the UK400 Club Rare Bird Alert for Tuesday 30th October 2007, issued at 2100 hours, and published in association with Rare Bird Alert Pagers (www.rarebirdalert.co.uk) and utilising information gleaned from Regional Birdlines, Birdguides, local email groups and individual birders.

On the Isles of Scilly, the WILSON’S SNIPE (first photographed on 3rd October) remains on Lower Moors Pool, St Mary’s, with a first-winter LAUGHING GULL over Hugh Town and in The Roads at dusk. A Richard’s Pipit was seen on St Mary’s Airfield, with several Yellow-browed Warblers scattered about the islands and the juvenile Eurasian Spoonbill still on Tresco Great Pool. On St Agnes, there was no sign of the first-winter male ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK today at Grinlington Farm and environs nor of the DUSKY WARBLER present since Friday.

Tags: twitching, birding holidays, scarce birds

This is the UK400 Club Rare Bird Alert for Tuesday 23rd October 2007, issued at 2200 hours and produced in association with Rare Bird Alert Pagers ( www.rarebirdalert.co.uk) and utilising information gleaned from the Regional Birdlines, www.Birdguides.com, the local email groups and individual observers.

Tags: bird books, birding reports, birding guide

This is the UK400 Club Rare Bird Alert for Friday 19th October 2007, issued at 2200 hours, and published in association with Rare Bird Alert Pagers (for enquiries, visit www.rarebirdalert.com) and utilising additional information gleaned from the Regional Birdlines, Birdguides, the local email groups and individual observers.

Tags: bird guide, bird books, rare birds

Keith Vinicombe has very kindly provided the most recent information regarding Ruddy Shelduck status in NW Europe and further east (although 2007 statistics from Holland and Switzerland are eagerly awaited).

KEV is a prime advisor to the UK400 Club on vagrant wildfowl occurrencies in Britain and his eticulous work has been very much appreciated over the past 30 years. Together,  we have carefully vetted all of the records and the UK400 Club treatment is aresult of his extensive studies.

Tags: twitchers, twitching, birding reports

With the addition of LEAST SANDPIPER (juvenile photographed at Butt of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, on 13th October) and North American WILSON’S SNIPE (on Lower Moors Pool, St Mary’s, Scilly) on 11th to at least 15th October), the total number of species now recorded in Britain and Ireland in 2007 has reached a remarkable 427 species, equalling the previous record high achieved only last year.

Tags: birds, bird finder, rare birds

This is the UK400 Cub Rare Bird Alert for Monday 15th October 2007, issued at 1600 hours, and produced in association with Rare Bird Alert Pagers (www.rarebirdalert.com) and utilising further information gleaned from Regional Birdlines, www.Birdguides.com, the Irish Birdnet, local email groups and individual observers.

With a major clearout on Shetland at the onset of an Atlantic front, all major activity reverts to the Isles of Scilly. The star attraction continues to be the North American WILSON’S SNIPE. Present early mornings in front of the Lower Moors hides, the bird then retreats to the quiet, sedge-filled surroundings of the adjacent Stepping Stones Field, where it is incredibly difficult to observe and out of view for 90% of the time. It occasionally returns to the pool prior to dusk, but does roost there each evening.

Tags: birding tours, twitchers, birding