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June 2008
Most birds are settling down to breed and there's a distinct drop in anticipation levels amongst birders. But whilst the number of semi-rarities drops off considerably after the numbers in May, June is right up there with the best of them for major "showstoppers".
The UK's only Rock Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Cape May Warbler, Rufous-sided Towhee, White-crowned Black Wheatear, the UK's 1st and 2nd Cretchzmars Bunting, 1st Long-toed Stint, 2nd Ruppell's Warbler, Marmora's Warbler and Egyptian Nightjar and 3rd Eleonara's Falcon..... all chose June. And if that's not enough to keep you in the field then June 22nd holds four firsts all to itself; Oriental Pratincole, Crag Martin, White-throated Robin and Elegant Tern !
But with none of the above seriously likely to reappear in June 2008 what can birders expect ? There should still be a few new semi-rarities - probably a Roller and a Lesser Grey Shrike will prove to be the most popular. In a reedbed somewhere, a Great Reed Warbler will announce its residence, whilst June is a good month for any one of the three recorded species of Pratincole. Amongst the smaller warblers, Subalpine, Greenish and Booted should all show.
With the year's longest day already upon us, this is a good month to enjoy the commoner summer visitors - try heading for the heath and enjoy the last hours of daylight with a chorus of Woodcock, Nightingale and Nightjar. Or find a raptor watchpoint, scan the skies for Red-footed Falcons and Honey Buzzards and get a tan at the same time. Hey, you might just pick up a Needle-tailed Swift overhead. In your dreams !
June 2007: The shocks continued for twitchers in 2007 as belated news of Britain’s first Yellow-nosed Albatross seeped into the grapevine. Found in Somerset exhausted and released the next day it was then tracked as it flew across England, but not by a single birder. More obliging however, was the delightful White-tailed Plover, well-twitched in Dumfries and Galloway and then relocated in Lancashire. Accompanying rarities included a popular Hudsonian Whimbrel in Cumbria. Mid-month Shetland produced a crop of rare warblers with Paddyfield, River and Great Reed all present. Away from the Scottish Isles a Booted Warbler arrived in Norfolk and a White-throated Sparrow in Northumberland.
June 2006: Highlight of the month was a territory-holding Scops Owl in Oxfordshire. Elsewhere a Black-headed Bunting graced Bardsey for a day as did a Paddyfield Warbler in Shetland. A few lucky birders twitching the Black-browed Albatross off the Outer Hebrides found a Bridled Tern, whilst pelagic trips off Scillies were producing double-figure counts of Wilson's Petrels by the month's end. A pair of Black-winged Stilts looked set to breed in Lancashire until bad weather intervened.
June 2005: Britain's second Audouin's Gull in Yorkshire would have been more popular had it decided to stay longer than a day, as would two more Trumpeter Finches, both in Kent, were it not for the two in May. A Black-headed Wagtail in Devon and a Balearic Woodchat Shrike in Somerset were well watched. Birders on Shetland had a good month with Paddyfield and Blyth's Reed Warbler amongst a host of other rarities. A splash of colour came with the arrival of as many as ten Bee-eaters across south-east counties.
June 2004: One-day Collared Flycatchers and Paddyfield Warblers in Shetland were out of range for most birders. More popular were Red-footed Falcon and Icterine Warbler in Suffolk as were a couple of 'spotty' Spotted Sandpipers in Cheshire and the West Midlands. A Red-headed Bunting in Dumfries and Galloway attracted the usual critics. At the end of the month a Short-billed Dowitcher was identified in County Wexford, Ireland.
June 2003 and another first for Britain - a long awaited Black Lark was identified on the 1st and stayed for over a week on South Stack, Anglesey. In all likelihood it probably arrived in May. With a Turkestan Shrike in Somerset and a Steppe Grey Shrike on the Isle of Man birders could have been forgiven for thinking they were 'birding the central asian republics'. A White-throated Sparrow on Fair Isle and a Lesser Grey Shrike in Norfolk topped a supporting cast that also included the likes of Iberian Chiffchaff in Devon, two Black-headed Buntings on Skomer and in the Highlands, and the first Fea's Petrel of the season.
June 2002 brought birding to the masses as the first Bee-eaters for nearly 50 years bred in Britain. But it wasn't just brightly coloured Bee-eaters entertaining birders on a summer day. If June 2001 was remembered for the invasion of Rose-coloured Starlings then June 2002 was a complete occupation. Some 140 'pink stinks' arrived in June 2002 occupying the length and breadth of Britain. Is this the pattern of things to come ? For twitchers, best bird of the month was the one-day male Collared Flycatcher in Sussex closely followed by a fly-over Little Swift in Lincolnshire. A Terek Sandpiper and a very spotty Spotted Sandpiper kept wader buffs in the north happy.
June 2001 bird of the month came to the UK with family and friends. An invasion of Rose-coloured Starlings kept birders and photographers busy with as many as 30 individuals scattered across the country. Elsewhere a White-throated Sparrow sought refuge on a North Sea oil rig, a Citrine Wagtail visited East Lothian, a Black-winged Pratincole flew over Spurn whilst an equally elusive Baillon's Crake was singing at Oare Marshes, Kent towards the end of the month. But if accepted, the photos of the Red-billed Tropicbird, at sea, apparently near the Isles of Scilly will have been the most unexpected occurrence of 2001.
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