Rare Bird Alert weekly round-up: 15 - 21 August 2012

The week's highlights:
Trio of Fea’s (type) Petrels off the Irish coast
Ireland’s second Least Sandpiper of the autumn flies through County Cork
…while a Barolo Little Shearwater also passes the Cork coast
Northern Isles and east coast enjoy another week of drifters and rares…..


The new round-up week began with a lively belt of weather moving across many western parts of Britain and Ireland, bringing hefty showers or longer spells of rain, along with some pretty unseasonal strong south to southwesterly winds.

Once the system had moved through, a pulse of very warm, humid weather followed on behind and over the weekend, in parts of East Anglia and the southeast of England, temperatures climbed beyond the 30 degree mark (Suffolk hitting 32 degrees on 19th). Coupled with the high humidity it was, in some places, borderline unbearable.

The further north you went, the better it got (in terms of birding weather for starters) ~ much of the week saw the Northern Isles enjoy south-easterlies and occasional pulses of rain or showers ~ and the birds that arrived as the week unfolded certainly reflected those exciting conditions…

Headline birds
Last week, the lack of rarer seabird species was duly noted ~ the smart money, after a peek at the aforementioned weather system that skirted through at the start of the week, and the hairdryer-hot pulse of air coming from way beyond the Iberian peninsula that followed, suggested that if there was going to be something a cut above the norm, then the first few days of the new round-up period would be the time to look…

…and, right on cue, Ireland scored three Fea’s (type) Petrels over the weekend of 18th & 19th. First up, two birds seen off Carnsore Point (Co. Wexford) on the morning of 18th, with at least one lingering off shore to mid-morning, amongst a feeding flock of Manx Shearwaters. Once accepted by the IRBC, these two will become the fourth and fifth county records ~ previous Wexford records (all accepted as Fea’s/Zino’s, as is the case with virtually every other record from Ireland or the UK) came in 1999 (seen across six late August days from three different locations), 2005 and 2008, both of which were seen from Carnsore.

The following day, on 19th, another Fea’s type was seen off Cape Clear (Co. Cork) ~ the 12th record for the island. Currently Cork has 31 accepted Fea’s/Zino’s to its name ~ a remarkable haul ~ and Cape Clear’s dozen include the first ever accepted Pterodroma, seen in September 1974. The only site to claim more of these legendary seabirds is County Clare’s most famous seawatching spot, Bridges of Ross ~ 17 records there…..

Currently, there are just three records of specifically proven Fea’s Petrel on the British or Irish list ~ all photographed birds from the Western Approaches, in and around Scilly ~ two birds in 2001 (including the much-admired bird from the M.V. Scillonian III) and one during the autumn of 2004.

Not to be outdone by a Fea’s Petrel, Cape Clear’s long-time warden Steve Wing notched up a calling Least Sandpiper just after midnight of 20th. As audacious a claim as it may seem to be, the squidgy, shrill notes of this lovely little Calidrid would stand out to the trained and travelled ear.

There are currently five records of Least Sandpiper on the Cork list ~ the first in 1966, the most recent in 1993 ~ and all five have arrived between August 7th - 13th September.

Staying in Cork, back out to sea, news too this week of a fly-by Barolo Little Shearwater off Toe Head in the west of the county, on the afternoon of 19th. If accepted, this would become Cork’s first Little Shearwater since August 1993, when one was seen off Cape Clear Island. The Cape has four of the five county records to its name at present, including two birds seen between 24th-26th September 1978.

Earlier this week, four Barolo Little Shearwaters were seen off the coast of Nova Scotia, each one of them captured wonderfully well in startling flight shots, something that has yet to happen with any claim in Britain or Ireland to date…

Meanwhile, at Birdfair, the RBA team were busy demonstrating the Android version of the RBA news App "bird alert PRO", enabling visitors to see what our iPhone users have been raving about. It will be available on Android in September, and anyone interested in getting two month's free should email admin@rarebirdalert.co.uk with the subject "Android offer".

Much more in the full online round-up