ICELANDIC_TYPE REDPOLLS IN SUMMER

These redpolls are representative of the birds that have recently been recorded summering and breeding in Lewis and North Uist (Outer Hebrides) and are considered to be ICELANDIC-TYPE REDPOLLS. They are large redpolls, predominantly dark in plumage (but highly variable), appearing quite grey in winter.

A TYPICAL MEALY REDPOLL

Redpolls in Alder tree at Titchwell RSPB in Norfolk on 29 January 2006 (Josh Jones)

Plates 1-3 show what I consider to be typical MEALY REDPOLL in winter plumage, being quite frosty-grey in plumage, with cloaked feathering on the nape and tarsi, noticeable streaking on the flanks and sides, a few streaks on the undertail-coverts, a few streaks on the white rump (not shown here) and clear white braces on the mantle and an obvious and quite broad whitish greater covert bar. The overall size of the bird is larger and more bulkier than Lesser Redpoll.

Plate 4 depicts a LESSER REDPOLL for comparison.

A TYPICAL LESSER REDPOLL

Utilising Steve Ashton's fantastic images (plates 2-4), one can illustrate the defining characters of a LESSER REDPOLL Carduelis cabaret.

The image at the top (plate 1) is of a well-marked LESSER REDPOLL in February (photographed in South Devon by Mike Langman). This is a very pale individual, showing the variation in wingbar and mantle bracing.

As a general rule, LESSER REDPOLL is the smallest and darkest form, with (importantly) no cloaked feathers about the nape nor no cloaked feathers on the 'thighs/trousers'. They CAN be sparsely marked on the undertail coverts (with little or no streaking at times) and regularly have pale-edged wing coverts (forming bars) and pale tramlines on the mantle and back. The rump is generally dark streaked. In spring, like all redpoll species, they become much paler, with obvious pink on the breast and deep red on the poll (forehead). Overall, they are rather brown-looking and have a long, pointed, yellowish bill.

A typical MEALY REDPOLL is larger and paler, with significantly more feathers on the 'grey' nape and long feathers on the tarsi (where they feed much more regularly on the ground). They are slightly more longer-tailed and much cleaner white below, with less streaking on the sides and flanks and often just one or two shaft-streaks on the undertail-coverts. Males invariably have much rosier-pink on the breast and a striking contrast between the ear-coverts and the grey feathering surrounding. The eye is more prominent and the bill is slightly shorter. The wing-bars are generally 'pure' white rather than buffish (although this is largely age-related) and the mantle 'tramlines' are white and not buffish-white. In flight, the rump should appear very pale, often white, with limited streaking.

A poorly marked SCANDINAVIAN ARCTIC REDPOLL may be difficult to differentiate from a very well-marked Mealy Redpoll but essentially will be much heavier feathered on the tarsi (with obvious trousers) and on the nape feathers. It will have a very noticeable short, rather 'pinched-in' bill and be very pale about the mantle, back, head, upperwings and underparts. Although first-winters may have noticeable streaking on the flanks and sides, the base colour is very white, with the undertail-coverts strikingly gleaming white without streaking (some showing just one dark shaft-streak). The greater covert bar is very broad and WHITE (no buff infiltration) with much white in the leading edge of the upperwings. The uppertail and rump are also extremely white, with little or predominantly no dark streaking in the rump and the whiteness continuing up into the lower mantle feathers. The head is often very white with limited streaking, with a contrastingly deep crimson-red 'poll' and a contrasting dark ear-covert patch.

FIRST CORNISH SNOWY OWL FOR 63 YEARS

The juvenile SNOWY OWL previously present on St Martin's (Scilly) has followed the recent Gyrfalcon from that archipelago to MAILAND CORNWALL where today it was showing very well 3 miles WSW of St Ives and south of the B3306 at Sperris Croft on the open moor 400 yards west of the ruined cottage. It was found during the monthly RSPB Hen Harrier roost-count after a member of the public had videoed the bird showing down to 60 yards for two hours early afternoon.

Ludgvan birder Richard Minari relocated the bird at around 1600 hours and during the next forty minutes, some 12 birders connected, including John Swann, MA, Dave Flumm, Dave Parker, Paul St Pierre, Duncan Walbridge and John Foster. The bird flew at 1640 hours, after it sat for nearly an hour on a 5-bar gate.

This is the third record for Cornwall following a long-staying bird near Bude in April-May 1945

COMMON RAVENS IN KENT

COMMON RAVEN is still a difficult-to-see bird in Kent so two birds calling loudly from trees in Bedgebury Pinetum this afternoon were of interest.

Elsewhere in the county today, the adult BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON was still present on the Royal Military Canal at West Hythe, a TUNDRA BEAN GOOSE was at Elmley Marshes RSPB (from Wellmarsh Hide), as well as 108 Eurasian White-fronted Geese and 25 Bewick's Swans and the adult female ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD was still on Eastchurch Marshes.

The juvenile GREAT NORTHERN DIVER remains at Bough Beech Reservoir, 8 WAXWINGS were at Folkestone Business Park briefly (with another 6 off the A2070 in Ashford at Park Farm Estate), a WATER PIPIT at Swanscombe Marsh, the HAWFINCH again 2 miles WSW of Maidstone by Barming Parish Playing Fields on Church Lane (TQ 723 543) and 32 Bewick's Swans and an adult Whooper Swan on Walland Marsh.

ESSEX RARE GULL BONANZA

SIMON KNIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY

This first-winter GLAUCOUS GULL roosted on the Target Pools at Rainham Marsh RSPB for over an hour this morning

Meanwhile, the regularly returning adult RING-BILLED GULL was showing very well at high tide opposite the Rossi's Ice Cream Parlour at Westcliff-on-Sea esplanade

WAXWINGS PENETRATE FURTHER SOUTH

TODAY'S IMAGES

Plates 1-4 RARE BIRDS IN IRELAND - the AMERICAN BUFF-BELLIED PIPIT at Mullagh, Lough Neagh, County Antrim (Derek Charles), CATTLE EGRET at Incydoney, County Cork (Sean Cronin) and the adult NORTH AMERICAN HERRING GULL in Galway Harbour, County Galway (Tom Cuffe and Michael Davis).

Plate 5: SHORE LARK, perhaps of a Nearctic form with its rich colouration and bright yellow face pattern, at Lambaness, Unst, Shetland (Rory Tallack)

Plates 6-7: female RING-NECKED DUCK on Martnaham Loch, Ayrshire (Jim Woods)

Plates 8-9: ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD near Coveney, Cambs (David Hopkins)

Plate 10: AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER at Baltasound, Unst, Shetland (Rob Brookes)

Plates 11-14: first-winter IVORY GULL on Fetlar, Shetland, identified as a different individual on plumage characteristics to the one seen recently near Lerwick (Brydon Thomason)

Plates 15-16: drake AMERICAN WIGEON at Lower Farm GP, Berkshire (Adam Hartley)

Plate 17: GREY PHALAROPE at Covenham Reservoir in North Lincolnshire (Dean Eades)


This is the UK400 Club Rare Bird Alert for Friday 19 October 2008 issued at 2200 hours and published in association with Rare Bird Alert Pagers whilst utilising additional information gleaned from the Regional Birdlines, BirdGuides, local email groups, blogs and websites and individual observers.

Bird of the week has been the white morph GYRFALCON which has inhabited the cliffs of West Cornwall for much of the period and was that bird previously seen on Scilly. Although largely untwitchable, due to the fact that it is ranging so widely, it has been noted at Land's End, Sennen Cove, Skewjack and as far east as Marazion.

The two PENDULINE TITS were seen again today briefly feeding on reedmace along the Loop Trail at Rainham Marsh RSPB Reserve (Essex) (Dave Smith)

The Shetland Islands have once again stormed the headlines with their second IVORY GULL of the winter - another juvenile - showing very well at Oddsta, Fetlar, on 14-15. In addition, an AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER was discovered on Unst (at Baltasound) on 18, with the SHORE LARK (perhaps an AMERICAN HORNED LARK) still present at Lamba Ness. A LITTLE AUK, 3 Great Northern Divers and 650 Eiders are in Bluemull Sound, whilst 7 Iceland Gulls are at the Shetland Catch Fish Factory in Lerwick, 4 Icelandic-type Redpolls at North Road and 2 Greenfinches at The Sletts.

In East Kent, the winter-plumaged adult BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON remains on the Royal Military Canal at West Hythe, generally feeding on the north bank up to 300 yards west of the dam

The BOHEMIAN WAXWING invasion is gradually sweeping southwards with many more birds (including flocks of up to 10 birds) appearing in southern counties and in the Midlands. Keep your eyes out for colour-ringed birds, many of which have been ringed by the Grampian Ringing Group.

Sightings today include 120 near Longniddry (Lothian), 115 by Clevedon Academy (NS 560 684) in Glasgow (Clyde), up to 150 in Ayr (Ayrshire), 30 in Durham, 20 in Washington (Durham), 1 in Kepple Lane, Garstang (Lancs), 4 in Blackburn (Lancs), 5 in Denton (Gtr Manchester), 26 at Jennyfield, Harrogate (North Yorks), 250+ in Pepper Road, Leeds (West Yorks), 25 in Tong Road, Leeds (West Yorks), 100 in Moor Road, Hunslet (West Yorks), 80 in the Mecca Casino car park on St Thomas's Road, Huddersfield (West Yorks), 1 in Broomhill Park (South Yorks), 20 in Hull (East Yorks), 6 in Shiptonthorpe (East Yorks), 8 in Market Street, Clay Cross (Derbyshire), 40 by Chilwell Retail Park (Notts), 5 on Hucknall Road, Carrington (Notts), 13 in Ridlington (Norfolk), 1 in Minsmere RSPB North Bushes (Suffolk), 18 in Tower Road, Rendlesham (Suffolk), 14 in Stoke-on-Trent (Staffs), 14 in Newcastle-under-Lyme (Staffs), 16 at Minworth Asda Supermarket (West Midlands), 11 in Sutton Coldfield (West Midlands), 1 at Danbury CP (Essex) (briefly), 5 at Benfleet Creek, Leigh-on-Sea (Essex), 4 in Brightlingsea (Essex), 10 in Barrow-upon-Soar (Leics), 9 in Leicester High Street (Leics), over Highfield Road, Tring (Herts), 10 in York Road, Stevenage (Herts) and 1 in Moggs Mead, Petersfield (Hants) - the latter not seen today. In the far south, one remains by the playing fields off Muscliff Lane in Shelley Lane, Bournemouth (Dorset).

In IRELAND, a flock of 120 is by the Asda Shopping Centre in Coleraine (Londonderry), with 30 in Dublin.

The female RING-NECKED DUCK remains with Tufted Ducks at Passfield Pond, Bordon (Hants) whilst nearby in Fareham, the YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER and 2 Firecrests can still be found by the lower fishing pond at Newlands Farm. The warbler has been heard singing and is presumably a male. In neighbouring Berkshire, the drake AMERICAN WIGEON continues to commute between the Trout Lake and Lower Farm GP.

The CATTLE EGRET is still showing well at Hubberton, West Angle Bay (Pembs), feeding with cattle by the farmhouse north of the B4320, with the colour-ringed GREAT WHITE EGRET still on Rockford Lake, Blashford Lakes HWT (Hants). Another CATTLE EGRET is present by the Golden Lion Causeway at Stithians Reservoir (Cornwall).

Rare waders include the GREY PHALAROPE at Covenham Reservoir, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER on North Uist (Outer Hebrides) and SPOTTED SANDPIPER at Tittesworth Reservoir (Staffs).

The NORTHERN GREY SHRIKE was still present by the RSPB car park at Lakenheath RSPB (Suffolk) today whilst in Cambridgeshire, the ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD was again just south of Coveney. Further NORTHERN GREY SHRIKES were by the A149 just north of the Castle Rising turning (Norfolk) and in the New Forest (Hants) at Pig Bush.

A flock of 17 Pale-bellied Brent Geese remain at Baiter, Poole Harbour (Dorset), whilst also of local interest is the adult drake Red-breasted Merganser for its fourth day at Willen Lake South Basin (North Bucks), a juvenile Red-necked Grebe on Carew Mill Pond (Pembs), at least 14 freshwater and long-staying Great Northern Divers and a drake Common Scoter on Carsington Water (Derbyshire).

News from IRELAND in recent weeks has been rather scant but highlighting is the continuing AMERICAN BUFF-BELLIED PIPIT at Lough Beg (Co. Antrim). The bird favours the area by Mullagh Farm early mornings but soon disperses and becomes difficult to locate.

The CATTLE EGRET remains at Inchydoney (Co. Cork) and the regular adult NORTH AMERICAN HERRING GULL is again commuting between Nimmo's Pier and Galway Fish Docks (Co. Galway).

ELMLEY MARSHES, ISLE OF SHEPPEY (NORTH KENT) THIS WINTER

The regular returning ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD hovered at the foot of Harty Hill at around 11.15 this am before flying towards Harty Ferry. Also on Harty and Leysdown Marshes were about three ringtail HEN HARRIERS, a MERLIN, two Common Buzzards and two SHORT-EARED OWLS. At least five RUFF were feeding with black-tailed Godwits and Golden Plovers near the RSPB raptor viewpoint, and there was a COMMON KINGFISHER, two Green Sandpipers, 16 CORN BUNTINGS and several BEARDED TITS in the same area.

At Shellness, there was a PURPLE SANDPIPER feeding with Turnstones near the beginning of the rough track to the hamlet, two Red-throated Diversand two Red-breasted Mergansers. Also 20+ SCANDINAVIAN ROCK PIPITS.

Sean Huggins

2008 TOTAL FOR BRITAIN AND IRELAND HOLDING FIRM AT 445 SPECIES - A NEW RECORD

With just two weeks remaining before the year end, the last two additions (IVORY GULL on SHETLAND and NORTH AMERICAN BLACK TERN in the OUTER HEBRIDES) saw the 2008 total rise to 445 species - the new record total to beat. This does not include a further five pending species, including two Hooded Mergansers of unknown provenance (both still under review).

The only real surprise is the complete lack of ISABELLINE SHRIKE records this year, and perhaps the failure of a NUTCRACKER to cross from Holland to the east coast. Sadly, none of the 160 irrupting TENGMALM'S OWLS in Sweden/Norway made it this far either and yet another year goes by without either Siberian or Black-throated Accentor, Dusky Thrush (twitchable) or Eastern-crowned Warbler.

COLOUR-RINGED GLAUCOUS GULL IN SUFFOLK

For nearly three weeks now, a colour-ringed juvenile GLAUCOUS GULL (hyperboreus) (white lettering 'LE' on a green ring) has been ranging the Suffolk coastline. Interestingly, this bird was ringed in the summer (18 July 2008) on Bear Island (Bjornoya), Svalbard, in the Barents Sea and south of Spitsbergen and the permanent pack ice limit. This large island is home to 6,335+ pairs of Glaucous Gulls.

This is a very interesting occurrence as for many years the origins of our wintering Glaucous Gulls was circumspect. Those birds breeding in the Canadian Arctic and western Greenland have always been considered to be fairly sedentary and moving south only into eastern North America. The eastern Greenland population is more migratory and largely winters in Iceland (up to 30,000 birds) whilst those from Spitsbergen and Bear Island generally winter in Northern and SW Norway, the Faeroe Islands, Iceland and in Greenland.

Mark Grantham added

BTO recoveries give a reasonable hint as to the origins of our Glaucous Gulls, and we've had a few over the years. The following was an extract from a Birding World article I wrote a while back.....

"19 May 2003 Glaucous Gull A bird accidentally caught in a fish barrel at Scalloway, Shetland, on 12 January 1986 was found on this date at Hopen, a Norwegian meteorological station near Spitsbergen (2,100km). Other foreign movements include birds from Glasgow and Fair Isle to the Faeroes, and several records of birds ringed as chicks in Norway, Bear Island and Iceland. The most remarkable though are the recoveries of two birds with consecutive ring numbers, ringed as chicks on 21 June 1982 at Amyrar, Iceland. Both were later found dead, one at Ballycotton, Co Cork, on 26 March 1983 (1,696km) and the other on Benbecula, Western Isles, on 14 July 1984 (1,181km)!"

Newfoundland birder Bruce Mactavish commented

''Lee Evans quoted sources that eastern Canadian Arctic Glaucous Gulls are relatively sedentary in migratory movements. I am not so sure 'sedentary' is accurate. Two colour ringed Glaucous Gulls, ringed as nestlings on South Hampton Island, Canadian Arctic were observed in the first winter after ringing at St. John's, Newfoundland. This is further than the distance the Glaucous Gulls (described as migratory) travel from eastern Greenland to Iceland. The thousands of Glaucous Gulls wintering in eastern Newfoundland can't all be from Labrador breeding sites and must include good numbers of Arctic breeders.

The pattern of winter head streaking in adults seems to be at least an indication of which side of the Atlantic Glaucous Gulls originated. Photos of adult winter Glaucous Gulls that I've seen from European are frequently, nearly always(?), heavily streaked on the head and neck where as the birds wintering in Atlantic Canada are typically very lightly streaked on the head and neck. A randomly chosen sample of 20 adult and near adult Glaucous Gulls photographed in the first half of January 2008 at St. John¢s, Newfoundland can be found at the web site below. It would interesting to get reaction from Europeans on the head streaking of these birds. Are winter Glaucous Gulls in Europe ever this poorly streaked? Newfoundland Glaucous Gull hold winter head streaking well into February so these birds are considered to be at peak of winter head streaking.

http://www.pbase.com/bruce_mactavish/glaucous_gull_ad_winter

Ross Ahmed added

''Some January Glaucous Gulls in the UK show virtually no head streaking as in your St John's birds, but others do indeed show quite dense streaking. Unlike your birds however, 3rd-year and 4th-year (presume you include these age groups as being 'sub-adults') Glaucous Gulls in the UK have a tendency to show dense and blotchy streaking.

Not sure if you are implying your birds are racially distinct? I've been playing with various other theories - could head streaking be sexually-specific? Figuring out that male Pochard winter in different locations to females is easy, but to prove that Glaucous Gulls do the same would be more difficult...''

IVORY GULL ON SHETLAND

This superb first-winter IVORY GULL was discovered and photographed by Brydon Thomason at Oddsta on Fetlar. It is presumably the bird present earlier in November at Seafield, near Lerwick.

AMERICAN WOOD DUCK in the North Sea - only acceptable British record to date

This superb adult drake NORTH AMERICAN WOOD DUCK settled just offshore of the FPSO Maersk Curlew platform (at 56 44 N 01 17 E) on 2nd November 2003.

The record is accepted on to Category D of the UK400 Club Definitive List of Birds of Britain and Ireland and as such represents the only acceptable record of this popular wildfowl species in captivity.

12 DECEMBER 2008

TODAY'S IMAGES

Plates 1-2: Slavonian Grebe, Brogborough Lake, Beds, December 2008 (Dave Bilcock)

Plate 3: Juvenile Great Northern Diver, Queen Mother Reservoir, Berkshire, December 2008 (Marek Walford)

Plates 4-5: Juvenile Great Northern Divers at Farmoor Reservoir, Oxfordshire, December 2008 (Nic Hallam)

Plate 6: Juvenile Great Northern Diver, King George VI Reservoir, London, 8 December 2008 (Andrew Moon)

Plates 7-10: First-winter Grey Phalarope, Covenham Reservoir, North Linolnshire, December 2008 (Dean Eades)

In East Kent, a winter-plumaged adult BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON is wintering on the Royal Military Canal, ranging between the dam 600 yards west of West Hythe car park (at TR 118 340) and the roadbridge 3 miles further west at TR 070 343).

A YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER is at Newlands Farm, Fareham (Hants), in bushes on the east side of the large fishing pond, with a LITTLE BUNTING reported again in Old Basing (Hants). Also in Hampshire, a first-winter drake RING-NECKED DUCK remains for a second day - SE of Bordon at Passfield Pond.

On the Isles of Scilly, the juvenile SNOWY OWL remains on St Martin's but there has been no sign on St Mary's of the white morph GREENLAND FALCON (GYRFALCON) since Wednesday.

A juvenile GLAUCOUS GULL colour-ringed on Bear Island, Svalbard, in the Barent Sea was at Minsmere RSPB Reserve (Suffolk) this morning, as was a juvenile on Cley Beach (Norfolk), with two more at Long Drove, Cottenham (Cambs) and another at Aldeby Tip (Norfolk).

In Angus, a beautiful adult RING-BILLED GULL is still showing exceptionally well, taking scraps from passers by in the snackbar car park 250 yards west of the railway bridge on the A85 Riverside Drive at NO 386 292, with another on the beach in West Angle Bay (Pembs). The first-winter remains on Helston Boating Lake (Cornwall) with other regular adults in London, Essex and Hampshire.

The long-staying first-winter GREY PHALAROPE and Long-tailed Duck remain on Covenham Reservoir (North Lincs).

CATTLE EGRETS remain at Hubberton in West Angle Bay (Pembs) north of the B4320 in the cattle field behind the farmhouse and just east of Day's Lock, Dorchester-on-Thames (Oxfordshire). Meanwhile, the adult GLOSSY IBIS remains on Warton Marsh (Lancs).

The adult white morph SNOW GOOSE remains with Pink-footed Geese in fields behind Bell's Pond, Druridge Bay CP (Northumberland), whilst the adult RED-BREASTED GOOSE remains with Dark-bellied Brent Geese on Normandy Marsh (Hants).

American Green-winged Teals remain at Loch of Tankerness (Orkney), Tain (Highland) and Marshside Marsh (Lancs), with a first-winter female LESSER SCAUP at Lea Marston Balancing Pond (Warks) (present for 3 weeks) and drakes at Hogganfield Loch (Clyde) and the A52 Pit, Holme Pierrpont (Notts). The first-winter drake FERRUGINOUS DUCK reappeared yesterday at Groby Pool (Leics) (but was not seen today after the site froze over), whilst the long-staying drake HOODED MERGANSER remains at Radipole Lake RSPB (Dorset) and the female SURF SCOTER at Dawlish Warren (South Devon).

BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS are now penetrating further south and further inland with 23 at West Lorimer Place, Cockenzie (Lothian), 200+ at Joppa Terrace, Edinburgh (Lothian), 25 in Irvine (Ayrshire), 300 in Heathfield, Ayr (Ayrshire), 2 at Rockcliffe Marsh (Cumbria), 4 in Grange-over-Sands (Cumbria), 5 in Dalston (Cumbria), 43 in Penrith (Cumbria), 17 in Hornby (Lancs), 1 in Warton (Lancs), 1 in Blackburn Town Centre West St Car Park (Lancs), 6 in Risley (Cheshire), 45 in Brancepeth (Durham), 30 by the Castle Eden Walkway (Cleveland), 20 in Green Lane, Yarm (Cleveland), 57 in Forest Lane, Kirklevington (Cleveland), 95 by Woodhouse Square, Leeds (West Yorks), 4 in Crossgates, Leeds (West Yorks), 5 in Yeadon (West Yorks), 48 in Cemetery Avenue, Sheffield (South Yorks), 8 on Featherbed Lane, Shrewsbury (Salop), 13 in Rugeley (Staffs), 15 on Princess Drive, Weston Coyney (Staffs), 9 in the front garden of 59 Bilbrook Road, Bilbrook, Codsall (Staffs), 2 in Melton Mowbray (Leics), 9 at Gibraltar Point (Lincs), 1 in Holkham Pines (Norfolk) and 34 in Tower Field Road, Rendlesham (Suffolk) On the South Coast, 4 remained for a second day on Mortimer Road in Botley (Hants), with another in Mogg's Mead, Petersfield (Hants). Three were also seen in Lower Halstow (Kent), with 2 at Reculver (Kent)

An obliging HAWFINCH is in Croome Park (SO 878 446) (Worcs), just NW of the ornamental lake, with 4 in Romsey (Hants) and up to 20 at the Rhinefield roost in the New Forest (Hants).

NORTHERN GREY SHRIKES seen today include singles just north of Dalwhinnie (Speyside) (at NN 640 858) and at Charterhouse (Somerset) (ST 504 556), whilst ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARDS include singles at Leighton Moss RSPB (Lancs) and between Farforth and Scramblesby (Lincs). In Cambridgeshire, the bird remains SE of Coveney near Coldmoor Farm viewable by looking east from the road between Wentworth and Coveney.

In London, 21 Black-necked Grebes remain on William Girling Reservoir, with the long-staying bird on Coton Lakes (Warks) and another in the North Arm at Rutland Water (Leics), with the Slavonian Grebe still at Brogborough Lake (Beds). Great Northern Divers remain in Whitwell Creek, Rutland Water (Leics) and at Draycote Water (Warks), Farmoor Reservoir (Oxon), Queen Mother Reservoir (Berks) and Staines Reservoirs (Surrey).

At Marton Mere (Lancs), 9 LONG-EARED OWLS are roosting on the north side of the reserve, with 5 Ring-necked Parakeets (rare localised record) nearby at Lytham St Annes Churchyard.

The first AMERICAN BUFF-BELLIED PIPIT for NORTHERN IRELAND is present for its second day at Mullagh, Lough Beg (Co. Antrim) whilst a first-winter drake KING EIDER remains off Frenchport Pier at Annagh Head (Co. Mayo).