Snowy egret makes rare appearance in Sambro

ANDREW RANKIN THE CHRONICLE HERALD
Published October 31, 2017 - 7:44pm 

It was as if the stately creature knew it was a rarity to behold, and a roadside Sambro marsh would be a perfect place to attract admirers.

The snowy egret, whose arrival on Sunday marked the fourth such sighting in Nova Scotia this year, accomplished just that.

The weekend sighting sparked a flurry of commotion as photos and a video of the golden slippers bird shot up on the Nova Scotia Bird Society’s Facebook site to massive fanfare.

Diane LeBlanc was one of the lucky birders who caught site of the gorgeous creature, its fluffy snow-white plumage, the slender black legs and golden feet.

“It’s the first time we’ve seen one in this area, in my sort of birding patch,” recalled LeBlanc, a Portuguese Cove resident.

“They’re so gorgeous, so stark white. They’re called the golden slippers bird because of their distinctive legs, all black but their feet are golden.

“When I first spotted it, it was right out in the open, stalking a bit. Then it started to fly off so gracefully and vanished in the marshy grass. It was amazing.”

Continued  

Ear-ear! Rare Norfolk sightings of long-eared owl caught on camera

PUBLISHED: 14:08 27 July 2017 | UPDATED: 14:16 27 July 2017

ANDREW STONE

An amateur wildlife photographer from Norfolk made the sighting of his life - not once but twice - when he photographed a long-eared owl on consecutive days this week.

Brian Shreeve, 71, and his wife Ann, 72, of Hemblington, made the rare sighting of the winged predator in the Ludham Marshes area on Monday and Tuesday. He said: “I have never seen one of them before in my 50 odd years of loving wildlife.”

Mr Shreeve, a keen wildlife photographer, said he and Mrs Shreeve usually went out in the early morning and evenings during the week when it was quieter.

“Ann acts as my spotter. When I’m looking through the viewfinder she looks around to see what I’m missing.”

Continued  

The dodo’s gorgeous island-hopping relative finds its way to our shores

The Australian
12:00AM May 5, 2017

Victoria Laurie

A gorgeously plumed pigeon ­described as the closest living descenda­nt of the now extinct dodo has been found by Aborig­inal rangers in the Kimberley.

The Nicobar pigeon has never before been found on the Australian mainland, but was spotted by Bardi Jawi rangers walking across a road near monsoon vine thickets at Chile Creek on the Dampier Peninsula last month.

Since then there have been numerous sightings and earlier this week a juvenile bird was capture­d 40km away by children in the front yard of a house at One Arm Point, near Broome.
“It was definitely a strange bird to all of us,” says Bardi Jawi ranger co-ordinator Phillip McCarthy, who says his rangers handed over the captured Nicobar pigeon to quarantine officers as part of their biosecurity role in protecting the Kimberley coast.

“I’ve lived here all my life and I’ve never seen one. We don’t know how the bird got here — whether it flew all the way, if it island­-hopped or came by boat.”

With rainbow-hued adult plum­age and a knob on its nose, the iridescent bird is named after the Nicobar Islands, one of the most isolated island chains in the world, in the Bay of Bengal.

But pigeon flocks have a tendency to hop islands in search of food, so the species range extends down to the Malay Archipelago, The Philippines, New Guinea, Indones­ia and Solomon Islands.

The closest it has been recorded to Australia previously was in 1989, when a single bird landed on an oil rig in the Timor Sea.

continued

Sighting of Shaheen falcons in Sikar excites bird watchers

Anindo Dey | Nov 15, 2014, 03.27 AM IST

JAIPUR: In what can be music to the ears of ornithologists in the state, a pair of Peregrine or Shaheen falcon, the state bird of Pakistan, was recently sighted in the ancient village of Harsh in Sikar. The sighting of a pair is though not the only of its kind but is said to be a rare one.

A large, crow-sized falcon, with a blue-grey back, the Shaheen falcon can fly at up to 322 km/h (200 mph) making it the fastest animal in the world. The Shaheen falcon is migratory in nature but the sighting of the pair has sparked interest amongst bird lovers, who are keeping a close watch on it as to whether the pair mates there.

"Harsh is a religious place of the Chauhans and is famous for the temple of lord Shiva. The village was plundered by the Mughals and though it was restored but not to its original glory. The village is at a height of 2,400 feet and offers a good aerial view, making it a haunt for various birds of prey," said Rajpal Singh, member state wildlife board.

Continued ...

Rare black swans glide in Pembrokeshire

Three black swans have made a rare appearance in Pembrokeshire.

The swans were spotted at Llangwm on the Milford Haven estuary after previous sightings along the Pembrokeshire coast and among a few rare sightings across Wales.

Black Swans were first introduced to Britain accidentally after the ornamental birds escaped and you can now find them sharing the same types of habitat as our native swans.

In Wales they aren’t a common site though, so when Heather Payton from Llangwm, spotted this trio, she took their picture.

“Black swans are native to Western Australia, where they make a huge fuss about them, and those in the UK probably escaped from populations imported as decorative waterbirds. There are apparently captive populations in Devon and Leeds Castle.

“The ones I have pictured were previously seen near Dale. We saw them on the Western Cleddau near Hook a couple of days ago, then they turned up here yesterday.”

Continued

Rare sighting of cuckoo in Erith Marshes

11:28am Tuesday 27th May 2014 in NewsBy Heloise Wood

Despite the grim weather, it appears Spring has definitely sprung.

A cuckoo has been snapped in Erith, bringing joy to local bird-lovers, as the species is declining rapidly.

Experts have blamed a reduction in the large caterpillars which the cuckoos feast on with a loss of habitat in their African wintering grounds.

Twitter user @MikeFRobinson, who records wildlife sightings across south east London, posted the snap of the beautiful bird today (May 27) after originally seeing it on Friday.

He said: “The cuckoo, first seen on 23 May, still on the Erith Marshes four days later.”

The adult birds normally arrive in late March or April and depart in July or August and the younger birds leave a month or so later.

The Erith Marshes - near the Crossness Sewage Treatment Works - contain a huge and varied wildlife including the threatened water vole, birds, plants and invertebrates.

Visit rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/c/cuckoo/

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/11237633.Rare_sighting_of_cuckoo_in_Erith_Marshes/

Rare sighting of marked spoon-billed sandpiper on migration

Spoon-billed sandpiper spotted on migration 5000 kilometres from nesting location

September 2013. A rare sighting of a marked spoon-billed sandpiper on migration has been reported from Rudong mudflats north of Shanghai. The critically endangered bird was identified by a lime green plastic flag on its leg marked ‘01' that was attached by scientists from Birds Russia on its breeding grounds this summer. 

Major contribution to the survival of his species

Conservationists know that this bird ‘Lime 01' fathered six fledglings this summer - three that were hand-reared by conservationists and three that he raised himself - which is 10 times the average for the species.

In all, this summer sixteen hand-reared spoon-billed sandpiper fledglings and eight adults were marked with uniquely inscribed plastic leg flags. Birdwatchers are being asked to report all sightings of spoon-billed sandpipers.

Extremely important stop over site for the spoon-billed sandpiper

Coordinator of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper Task Force, Christoph Zöckler said: "The Rudong mudflats are an extremely important stop over site for the spoon-billed sandpiper to rest and feed and it is very exciting news that our Russian breeding birds have been sighted there. Unfortunately these mudflats, like much coastal wetland along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, are threatened by the development. Alongside illegal trapping and hunting, it has pushed these birds to the edge."

Read on

RSPB chuffed as Irish choughs arrive to bolster Duchy's resident population

Was a mystery visitor who appeared in the Isles of Scilly this week on a half-term break – or could he, or she, have had more permanent intentions?

Those were the sorts of questions being asked both in the islands and on the Cornish mainland after a chough turned up from out of the Atlantic blue and perched on lonely St Martins.

Ornithological experts were immediately in a state of excitement – because Cornwall's extremely rare "national bird" doesn't tend to just materialise out of nowhere…

"Very exciting news !" declared the RSPB's Cornwall projects manager, Claire Mucklow, when she first heard news of the mystery appearance yesterday. "I wonder if it is a West Penwith chough on half-term holiday or a new incomer from Southern Ireland again?"

Later Ms Mucklow got back to the Western Morning News having been told that the St Martins chough was wearing no official jewellery… "It is not ringed apparently, so it is very likely from Ireland given the wind direction recently.

"There has been a stranger chough in Penwith for the past two winters," Ms Mucklow went on, explaining that every other resident Cornish chough was ringed and therefore identifiable.

"We have always said it is only a matter of time until new birds find their way to Cornwall – like the original Lizard pioneers did – and this is the third year in a row it has happened.

"We just need the bird to stay and make friends with the resident choughs near St Just," she added.

Such hopes are based on a report earlier this year that DNA testing had discovered how the choughs, which came back to Cornwall 11 years ago, had somehow made their way nearly 200 miles across the ocean from the nearest Irish coastline.

Read on:  http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/RSPB-chuffed-Irish-choughs-arrive-bolster-Duchy-s/story-17216077-detail/story.html

Rare Burrowing Owl Spotted in Chicago

The last time a Burrowing Owl—a bird typically found on the Great Plains and western deserts—showed up on the Chicago lakefront was in October 2008, and things did not end well for it. After being seen by birders throughout the morning, it eventually fell prey to an opportunistic Cooper’s Hawk.

Were birders responsible for its untimely death by making it fly too many times? This is a debate that still resonates in the birding community, so when Jerry Goldner and I independently discovered a Burrowing Owl this past Saturday along the lakefront, we had reservations about announcing it to the wider birding community.

Owls are nocturnal birds that are not accustomed to flying around during the day, and Burrowing Owls tend to spend the day perched on the ground hidden in grass or hiding in a burrow. Along the lakefront, this means it would probably spend its time trying to hide in the grasses in the beach, where it would be susceptible to being flushed by over-eager birders wanting to add it to their lists.

With many birds of prey flying around, we wanted to ensure that the bird was not disturbed while still allowing as many birders and passersby to enjoy the beautiful little owl.

http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2012/10/08/rare-burrowing-owl-spotted-chicago

Rare sighting of belted kingfisher in west

A LITTLE bird not seen in Ireland in almost three decades has caused a flutter of activity among birdwatchers in Connemara.

Several dozen birdwatchers travelled to the Kylemore Abbey estate in Co Galway to try see the belted kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon), last spotted in Ireland in 1985.

The belted kingfisher is native to North America and usually does not find its way to our shores. It is believed to have got caught in a jet stream across the Atlantic on its annual migration south.

A possible sighting was made at Kylemore, but the first confirmed sighting was at Lough Fee. The bird was spotted again flying high towards Kylemore Head – it relocated later at Lough Maladrolaun.

Joe Doolan of irishbirding.comsaid the best thing for people to do if they spot the bird is take a photograph. “A photo eliminates any possible arguments about the identity of the bird,” said Mr Doolan.

“The first sighting of the belted kingfisher was in 1979 but it is a rare and unusual sighting.

“Birds like that can come across the jet stream in 24 or 48 hours, but can migrate in flocks of 100,000.

“It is lucky for us that the weather systems help us out.”

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/1009/1224325061048.html

Birdwatchers atwitter after rare sighting of piratic flycatcher near Carlsbad Caverns

Photo: Wikipedia

CARLSBAD CAVERNS - Haven't you heard? Piratic flycatcher is the word among Southeastern New Mexico birdwatchers after the South American species was spotted around Rattlesnake Springs.

"It usually nests is southern South America during the summer (North America's winter) and flies north during the winter (North America's Summer), but when it should be heading south again, it is heading even further north here to New Mexico," said Steve West, a member of the New Mexico Ornithological Society. "It is 3,000 to 5,000 miles away from its normal range."

The species is usually only found no further north than Mexico or the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago, but this one has found its way well above the equator and will soon find the temperatures here cooling instead of warming as the bird might expect.

"He's going to be a little confused when that happens," West said.

This marks only the third time the species of bird has been documented in New Mexico and the sixth in U.S. history. When one was spotted in 1996, it stayed in the area for slightly more than a week before it departed. 

http://www.currentargus.com/carlsbad-news/ci_21566879/birdwatchers-atwitter-after-rare-sighting-piratic-flycatcher-near?source=rss

More on the Piratic Flycatcher (Legatus leucophaius):

http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=4436

http://www.birdguides.com/species/species.asp?sp=202109