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The Very Best of British and Irish Birding - 2011 Review
(click on any image for a larger version.)
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January 2011: The New Year got off to another 'gull flyer' with a Slaty-backed Gull giving birders the run around in Essex. But better that than the moribund American Purple Gallinule in Cornwall or the Dusky Thrush from December 2010 belatedly identified from photographs in Greater Manchester! Less traumatic twitches included the possibility of up to 4 Northern Harriers including a popular Norfolk bird, 3 Pacific Divers in various counties, 5 Northern Long-tailed Tits in Kent, a White-tailed Eagle in Hampshire or, further afield, a Killdeer at the end of the month in Argyll. |
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February 2011: Most birders sighed with relief as news of the Oxfordshire Oriental Turtle Dove, also belatedly identified from photographs, was relocated...as did those birders who still had to connect with the Slaty-backed Gull when it reappeared mid-month. Another Northern Harrier was identified in the Outer Hebrides, along with a Snowy Owl. South coast birders had the pick of a Long-billed Dowitcher in Dorset, the returning Pacific Diver in Cornwall, an Azorean Yellow-legged Gull in the same county or more sightings of Northern Long-tailed Tits in Kent. |
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March 2011: Highlight of the month was a stunning drake Stejnegers Scoter in Ireland. Perhaps as popular, being closer to most birders' homes, was a Short-toed Treecreeper in Suffolk. Argyll hosted a Pied-billed Grebe; South Wales a drake Blue-winged Teal, whilst English birders could catch up with long-stayers including the Oxfordshire Oriental Turtle Dove, the Hampshire White-tailed Eagle, those gorgeous Northern Long-tailed Tits or simply continue to enjoy the winter's record invasion of Waxwings. |
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April 2011: A Little Crake in Sussex was the month's best bird although another Oriental Turtle Dove in Suffolk might have been equally popular had it been twitchable. The singing male Barolo Shearwater returned to Lundy, a Black Scoter was identified off Northumberland and two Little Swifts appeared together over Cornwall. A spring record of Red-flanked Bluetail, from Dorset, was unexpected. Shetland hosted a Collared Flycatcher at the month's end as the usual spring migrants started to appear in numbers. |
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May 2011: Highlight of the month was an Audouin's Gull in Suffolk although arguably more popular was the displaying male Great Snipe in Norfolk. Other popular waders included a Terek Sandpiper in Northumberland. On the passerine front, a Trumpeter Finch appeared on Lundy, a popular Collared Flycatcher in Norfolk, a Thrush Nightingale in Shetland and a headline grabbing in-flight record of Calandra Lark from Lincolnshire. |
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June 2011: Highlights of the month were the White-throated Robin in Cleveland and the White-winged Scoter in Aberdeenshire. Nearby a Greater Sandplover reached Highland. Further south a Roller arrived in Suffolk and a Squacco Heron in Kent. Red-footed Falcon and Black Kite sightings reached more or less double figures. At the month's end birders searching the Scoter flocks in Aberdeenshire also found a Black Scoter for their troubles. |
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July 2011: A summer plumaged Stilt Sandpiper in Dorset attracted a steady stream of admirers, as did a singing Western Bonelli's Warbler in Derbyshire that settled onto territory. A flyover Pacific Swift in East Yorkshire was seen by just a lucky few. Other headline grabbing birds included a Paddyfield Warbler pulled from a mist-net in Dorset, at least one Eastern Common Tern in Suffolk, along with female Two-barred Crossbills appearing in East Yorkshire and Shetland at the month's end. |
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August 2011: Highlights were two adult Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and a Red-necked Stint, all in Ireland. Meanwhile Shetland delivered three Booted Warblers in the final week whilst at the other end of the country a Black Stork flew over Sussex. Typical August fare included good numbers of Greenish, Arctic and Western Bonelli's Warblers, whilst various pelagics and headlands logged Wilson's and Fea's Petrels, along with Yelkoun and Little Shearwaters amongst good numbers of Cory's and Great Shearwaters. |
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September 2011: Highlight of the month was a Sandhill Crane in Scotland, whilst at the other end of the country the Isles of Scilly delivered Nearctic vagrants in the form of a delightful Northern Waterthrush and Black-and-white Warbler. A Semipalmated Plover in Ireland, a Greater Yellowlegs in Cornwall, a late-identified Long-toed Stint in Sussex, a more obliging American Black Tern in Lincolnshire and a record invasion of Pallid Harriers were just a taste of things to come. Record numbers of Nearctic shorebirds arrived on the back of the Atlantic storms. |
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October 2011: October burst into the record books as a trio of Siberian Rubythroat, (a moribund) Siberian Blue Robin and Rufous-tailed Robin made landfall. But only the rubythroat hung around long enough for birders prepared to trek north to Shetland. Whilst an equally tantalising Eastern Crowned Warbler, ringed in Hertfordshire of all places, was not seen subsequently. Nearctic delights included two Summer Tanagers, in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, an Ovenbird in the Outer Hebrides and a supporting cast of Grey-cheeked and Swainson's Thrushes, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Upland Sandpipers, Wilson's Snipe and the crowd-pulling Sandhill Crane as it flew south along the east coast. And with more Pallid Harriers, Isabelline Shrikes and the now annual rush of Red-flanked Bluetails birders could hardly pause for breath. |
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November 2011: The autumn continued where October left off; highlight was the two male Eastern Black Redstarts in Kent and Northumberland whilst a long-staying Sharp-tailed Sandpiper in Somerset and a Greater Yellowlegs, again in Northumberland, were a magnet for birders. Wheatears were a plenty with Pied, Isabelline and Desert Wheatears all putting in appearances, the latter species in double digits. Nearctic passerines were now rather thin on the ground but a Blackpoll Warbler was seen by a few birders in Kent and the now traditional scattering of records of American Buff-bellied Pipit made it into the log. At the end of the month a Western Sandpiper appeared in Norfolk although it was not until December that its identity was finally nailed. |
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December 2011: Slow to rise birders could use the month of December to catch up with a raft of rare waders from November that seemed set on over-wintering, including Norfolk's Western Sandpiper, Northumberland's Greater Yellowlegs and Somerset's Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. New rarities included the returning Lesser White-fronted Goose in Norfolk, an increasingly rare Siberian Stonechat in Cleveland, more Desert Wheatears and towards the end of the year a Slate-coloured Junco in Hampshire that was to find itself soon relegated to second division status when an apparently long-resident Spanish Sparrow just a few miles away was to finally reach the ears of birders, but only in early 2012. |
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Photos from top: Slaty-backed Gull copyright Steve Arlow; Rufous Turtle Dove copyright John Carter; Northern Long-tailed Tit copyright James Lowen; Collared Pratincole copyright Martin Standley; Great Snipe copyright Penny Clarke; White-throated Robin copyright John Carter; Bonaparte's Gull copyright Chris Townend; Wilson's Petrel copyright Richard Stonier; Northern Waterthrush copyright Gary Thoburn; Siberian Rubythroat copyright Hugh Harrop; Eastern Black Redstart copyright Tom Tams; Greater Yellowlegs copyright Nigel Voaden.
You can search thousands of photos from 2011 and earlier for other rare birds - simply go to any gallery and use the search feature on the left hand bar. Many thanks to all the photographers who have 'showcased' their work on surfbirds in 2011.