Rare Bird Alert weekly round-up: 03 - 09 October 2012

The week's highlights:
The first Eastern Kingbird for the Western Palearctic arrives off the coast of Galway
….and a Belted Kingfisher hits the same county too!
….as do one or even two Myrtle Warblers, with a third in County Cork….
….which also hosts a new juvenile male Northern Harrier
….back in Galway, Inishmore scores one more….Blackpoll Warbler!
Scilly hosts 1st ever Sykes’s Warbler and also Grey-cheeked Thrush
Fair Isle pops in a Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler and Black-throated Thrush
One or perhaps two Swainson’s Thrushes on Barra as the week begins
Cornwall’s first White’s Thrush for 50 years makes it to Cot Valley
Two British and two Irish American Buff-bellied Pipits remain from last week
….and a new one arrives on Scilly
The Lodmoor Short-billed Dowitcher clocks up a calendar month in Dorset
Cork’s fourth Fea’s-type Petrel of 2012 breezes past Mizen Head

Mega, mega, mega…..everywhere there were megas. Well, that’s how it felt as the weekend approached and it seemed as though all the action was centred on one single county on the west coast of Ireland…actually, make that one single island.
The weather suggested that yes, there could be a few good birds from the Nearctic in the early to middle part of the week but, in truth, the small ripples of “action” along a strung out band of rather innocuous-looking Atlantic weather systems really didn’t indicate the truly spectacular quality of arrivals in Galway this week.
After the excitement (and despair) of the weekend came and went, the weather settled down as high pressure and some gentle south-easterlies eased some quality birds in to the far southwest. The autumn was, unquestionably, in full flow.

Headline birds
During a weekend full of mega megas, there was a move afoot from some quarters of the round-up team to leave a little vacant space on the appropriate webpage on the RBA site and just have a little online sign saying “gone birding, back in November”.

As tempting as that would have been, there’s been far too much to ignore in what has been another extraordinary week, not only on a par with a fortnight ago, but exceeding even that to become the best rarity week of 2012.

After the euphoria and general “cor blimey!” reaction to the magnificent Magnolia a couple of weeks ago (coupled with the distant sound of the gnashing of twitcher’s teeth as that Monday morning dawned) it must be said that last week saw a downward shift (only from sixth gear to fifth) ~ no disrespect to mainland Pallas’s Grasshopper Warblers or a Hebridean Swainson’s Thrush, but they were not of the calibre of Setophaga magnolia.

With the weather as it was, a handful of rippling little Atlantic fronts heading vaguely north, it seemed likely that somewhere on the west coast ~ again the all encompassing “Scilly to Shetland” suited many needs in terms of predicting at least where the next mega might appear ~ but predicting the species itself became a complete guessing game, once you get beyond the usual Nearctic suspects.

Early in the new review period, a couple formidable clues arrived ~ one in County Cork (more on that later) and on Ouessant, off the French coast, a newly arrived Cliff Swallow suggested that more was certainly on the way.

…and on the way it was…..! And “it” was, arguably, better even than Fair Isle’s marvelous Maggie…..

árainn Mhór, or Inis Mhór, is one of the three Aran Islands, situated in Galway Bay. In recent years, its appeared on the radar on a few occasions ~ along with notable flocks of Yellow-browed Warblers (in 2007), birds from across the Atlantic have included (in a hectic 2008) Long-billed Dowitcher, a sensational Punk-flock of 15 Ring-necked Ducks later joined by a Blue-winged Teal and a Semipalmated Sandpiper too. Green-winged Teal, Kumlien’s Gull and Buff-breasted Sandpiper have followed and then, two years ago, a Myrtle Warbler was found around the Dun Aengus hostel (until this week, the most recent record of the species).

So it was then, that at midday on 5th, Irish birder Hugh Delaney had his “golden moment” when he discovered the Western Palearctic’s first-ever Eastern Kingbird at Kilmurvey, towards the west end of Inishmore. What a moment that must have been…it’s the moment that everyone dreams of ~ a 1st for the Western P!!! ~

Generally not thought to be one of the more glitzy and glamourous passerines to see on a trip to the US or Canada (or to encounter in Britain or Ireland…everyone wants the colourful ones….), a perusal of Dermot’s images show what a deliciously subtle gem Eastern Kingbird really is ~ delicate slate grey and coal black upperparts contrast with snow white underparts. Narrow white wingbars and feather fringing, coupled with gleaming white tips set against the dark, dark tail enhance a bird full of field marks. Throw in some fabulous flycatching antics from any available “high point” ~ stone walls, roof tops, chimney pot and tree tops ~ and it all adds up to a most beguiling first….

On the breeding grounds (it’s a widespread species across North America, with the exception of northern Canada and the southwest of the USA), Eastern Kingbird lives up to its tyrant flycatcher family grouping ~ flying insects their primary food source. Interestingly, once on their South American wintering grounds, they travel in flocks and are often covert to fruit-eaters.


The Inishmore first-winter was last seen heading around the back of the wood at around 6pm ~ but as some of Dermot’s shots show the bird was a) very active, feeding constantly and b) that the skies were sailor-suit blue and clear as a bell….those two elements alone generally add up to just one thing….

….Saturday’s dippers (some 60 or 70 were on the early morning boat over from Doolin) were on hand to uncover not one, but perhaps two Myrtle Warblers as they searched the island for the departed Kingbird ~one at nearby Kilmurvey wood and the other in willows near the cemetery (though they were apparently not seen at the same time).

By way of compensation for the time, money, effort and lack of sleep expended on the Quest for the Kingbird, two delightful American wood-warblers still won’t cut the mustard, but with negative news from Kilmurvey and some more breaking mega news from mainland Galway, some at least got something for their troubles….

Much more in the full online round-up
Finder Hugh Delaney recounts the magical moments when he laid eyes upon the WP's first Eastern Kingbird
Tantalisingly brief video clip of the Eastern Kingbird
Some belting photos of the Lough Fee kingfisher
Myrtle Warbler stats and facts
Northern and Pallid Harriers
Superb video footage of the Church Cove Paddyfield Warbler

Plus much more...