Missed opportunities in the second half of the year

As is usual I've made a list of the birds I missed in the second half of 2025,   I've gone early as things seem to have tailed off now this autumn but hopefully there'll be one more opportunity come along in December. (Yellow Warbler 2024, Pacific Diver 2021, Black-throated Thrush 2019, Blyth's Pipit 2016, Blue-rock Thrush 2016, Brunnich's Guillemot 2013, American (Buff-breasted) Pipit 2012, Western Sandpiper to name a few of the December ticks I've enjoyed over the last few years.)

And so to the missed opportunities to add new birds to "my list".

Carrying on from the first half of the year an Eastern-subalpine Warbler remained on Fair Isle until 4th September and another was found on Whalsay on 28th September only so neither twitchable within my self imposed boundaries to the hobby.

One on Shetland betweeen 4th and 16th October was later Identified as Eastern from a DNA sample too.

Wilson's Storm Petrel sightings started on 5th July from land in Cornwall and from both the Scillonian crossing and Scilly paleagics and continued until 18th September. There was also a "report" of "one past Cromer, Norfolk" on 26th September.

A Barolo Shearwater was seen on a Scilly paleagic on 9th July before a "probable" from the Ullapool-Stornaway ferry on 23rd August whilst Barolo-type Shearwaters were reported from Lizard Point and Cape Cornwall on 5th and 6th July with another reported past Pendeen on 27th July and another past Caithness on 17th August. One was later reported past Pendeen on 4th September.

A Soft-plumaged Petrel was "spotted" flying along the Cornish coast on 13th July which is only the second ever for Britain and a first for Cornwall if accepted.

Feas type Petrels were reported off Lizard point Cornwall on 20th July, Pendeen on 21st and 25th July, with another off the Lizard on 27th. August saw another off  Pendeen on 4th before two Scottish reports on 18th (Orkney) and 20th (Caithness) with one past St.Ives in Cornwall on 29th too. September saw reports from Cornwall, Dorset, Yorkshire, Northumberland and Durham.

The first Scopoli's Shearwater of the season was seen on 14th July with a "possible" and "probable" on Scilly paleagics in August followed by two of the Cornish coast later that month. September saw one seen from the Scilly Paleagic on 1st and another on 26th September. A South Polar Skua was filmed at Pendeen on 11th September.

A Bridled Tern was seen offshore in Fife on 23rd August and was seen again at Musselburgh lagoons on 24th before returning to Fife on 25th but not seen again. (38 previous accepted records)

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Autumn started on land in earnest with a Swainson's Thrush on Barra, Outer Hebrides on 20th September which remained until 22nd. (47 previous accepted records) with another on Foula on 3rd October.

The 21st September saw the 11th ever mainland Pechora Pipit found in Durham but at a time when I was far too busy at home to even consider the long trip north for it. It showed again on 22nd but wasn't seen after that. Another was seen on mainland Shetland on 8th & 9th November.

A Tawny Pipit (my bogey bird) was "reported" at Winterton Dunes on 25th September but news didn't land until several hours after the "reported" bird was seen and it wasn't seen again by anybody else. Another two were reported at Staines reservoir on 30th September as "wholly unconfirmed" and a "probable" on Scilly on 16th October so another year without a twitchable bird for me and thus Tawny Pipit remains my top target just ahead of Terek Sandpiper.

A Yellow-browed Bunting was trapped and ringed in Dorset on 29th September (Just six previous records)  followed by a Grey-cheeked Thrush on Lundy and a Siberian Thrush (14 previous records) on Shetland on the same day, the Bunting and Grey cheeked Thrush weren't seen after release by the ringers and the Siberian Thrush wasn't seen the following day but was refound on 2nd October nearby and was still being seen through to 10th October.

A White's Thrush was found on Orkney on 1st October but was quickly lost when flushed by cattle.

The first Lanceolated Warbler of the autumn was found on Fetlar, Shetland on 5th October with the second being trapped and ringed in Cornwall on 14th. No others were reported.

A Mourning Dove was found on Scilly late on 7th October and was a first for the islands with just five previous British records all confined to the northern isles. (also one on the Isle of Mann and three Irish records) The bird was seen again on 8th but didn't return for the twitchers that waited for news to break until it was finally pinned down on 9th for those staying on Scilly to get across and connect with it. I've seen lot's of these in Florida but would welcome the chance to see one on the mainland over here at some point too and of course if I'd had been on Scilly I'd have given it all the time it needed to find it's way onto my UK list. The bird was last seen on 16th October.

A White-throated Needletail was found at Top Low NR in East Yorkshire on 8th October but quickly vanished before being refound at Bempton Cliffs later in the afternoon where it showed well until it was lost just before dusk. (12 previous records but a first for East Yorkshire) (NB: four records from 1991 appear to relate to the same bird so the twelve records refer to just nine birds) The bird failed to show for the massed crowd at Bempton on 9th but was "reported" briefly in Aberdeen before heading off west before being refound late afternoon in the Filey area putting the Aberdeen report in doubt or was there a second bird?  The 10th saw the bird move north to be found mid morning in the Scarborough area but it didn't stay and was later seen briefly further north at Long Nab but wasn't seen on 11th other than a possible sighting reported in Northumberland. It was seen moving north through the highlands of Scotland on 13th,14th and 15th October.

A Blackpoll Warbler turned up on Unst, Shetland on 8th but wasn't seen after the original report. (52 previous but I think a first for Unst and only the sixth record for Shetland as a whole, half of all records relate to the Scilly Isles.) The bird was pinned down on 9th for more arriving birders to connect with it and nail the ID in case of doubt over the original brief sighting but it went missing late on 10th only to be refound on 14th and it stayed until 18th.

A Veery was found on Islay in Argyle Scotland on 13th October, it showed occasionally on 14th but had moved on by 15th. (11 previous records accepted)

A Black-billed Cuckoo was "found dead" in Devon on 5th October (15 previous records)

The biggest miss of the year for the top listers came on 20th October when news broke of a first for not just Britain but the western pelagic too. A Great crested Flycatcher was reported as "one photographed early last week but no sign since" begging the question why news wasn't shared "last week" when Shetland was packed with birders hoping for exactly this kind of news. The story behind this never really evolved much after the first report with little in the way of explanation for the news being delayed.

The 21st October saw an Eyebrowed Thrush found on Scilly although elusive it was seen again on 22nd. (28 previous records) Another was seen briefly on Orkney early on 4th November.

A Rufous-tailed Robin was found on Orkney on 21st October but wasn't seen long after the original sighting by the finder only. (four previous records)

A male Siberian Rubythroat was trapped and ringed on North Ronaldsay, Orkney on 28th October. Only the second record for Orkney and Britains 18th with 15 of the 18 being on Shetland, one Orkney, One Durham and one in Dorset) Another was seen briefly on Unst during the 7th November and gain on 9th. A female was trapped and ringed on mainland Shetland on 1st December making it the third record for this year.

The 4th November saw news of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak on Orkney but the bird moved on within an hour or so of being reported. (33 previous records)

A Killdeer was found on Skokholm off the coast of Pembrokeshire on 5th November and was briefly seen again on 6th before flying off to be found again later in the afternoon on Skomer before heading off towards the mainland. (60 previous records) It's likely the same bird that turned up in the south east of Ireland some days later.

Updated 1st December and will be revised should anything new arrive in the final month of 2025.

Snow Buntings at Landguard

Birding time is as ever at a premium for me, I managed another hour at KGV last week where I eventually bumped into the Grey Phalarope. Also present were Greater Scaup, Brent Goose, Goldeneye, Raven, Black-necked Grebe and a Black Redstart.

Following that little excursion and finding a free day either side of early and late family commitments I headed up the A12 to Landguard where a walk along the beach eventually saw me connect with my first Snow Buntings of 2025 and my 243rd species on the pointless year list.

Wasn't a lot else of note present but I enjoyed the company of the three Buntings before the rain started to fall and I left to pick the little ones up from school again.

Another couple of hours at Wallasea Island

I nipped down the A127 to Wallasea Island again today for a couple of hours birding. The first bird I saw was the ring-tailed Hen Harrier followed quickly by a brief view of the male hunting along the distant flood bank. A Great Egret was walking about in the distant pools and the Red-breasted Goose was still out on the marsh with the Brent Geese. A Peregrine hunted the feral pigeons around the farm buildings and knocked one out of the air spreading feathers everywhere, it grounded next to the pigeon but flew off without it perhaps spooked by people working in a nearby garden. Marsh Harriers, Kestrels and Buzzards were present but despite reports of a couple of Short-eared Owls being present I didn't see any on this visit. A Robin posed for the camera and even flew into the car through the open window at one point. Next up was a Stoat that walked along the road towards me until it saw me and ran the other way. Three Stonechat came close and again I just had to point my camera at one of them. Another nice couple of hours birding what is one of my favourite local winter sites.

Peregrine

Kestrel

Robin

Stonechat

Stonechat

Stoat

Stoat

Red-breasted Goose at Wallasea Island

I had a couple of hours free time today so headed down the A127 to Wallasea Island arriving just as the rain stopped. The first bird I saw on arrival from the car was a ring-tailed Hen Harrier hunting low over the marsh. As I scanned a large flock of waders out on the fields which contained Lapwings, Golden Plover and Black-tailed Godwits I saw a flash of white and to my surprise it was a beautiful male Hen Harrier. I grabbed a few distant record shots of both before heading down to the car park. I walked out onto the reserve in a bitter northerly wind and scoped the large good flock where the reported Red-breasted Goose was easily picked out in a small flock of Brents surrounded by Canada, Greylag and Egyptian Geese. Two Great Egrets were the only other highlights before I returned to the comfort and warmth of the car to enjoy more views of the Hen Harriers and a pair of Marsh Harriers.

year list now 242

 The birds were all distant and the weather was really grey reflected in the noisy images above.

Grey Phalarope at KGV

I figured that after yesterdays rain from storm Claudia there might be a chance of Phalarope dropping into KGV this morning and sure enough before I had left home to look Richard B had found one in the mist that engulfed the reservoir at first light. Put out originally as Red-necked it was reidentified as a Grey Phalarope when DM arrived and news was shared.

I called the Jims and we headed over to find four other birders watching the bird in the south west corner of south basin. It swam past me and headed into the south east corner before being spooked by a boat from the sailing club and it flew back towards the west bank. The bird gave me my 241st year tick.  I didn't have long due to a commitment with my youngest involving some digging, some pannelling and some laying of steel works all of which I'm starting to think I may be a little too old for these days but we got the work done and enjoyed a nice dinner together.

ps..returned for an hour on 17th November with better light................

Red-breasted Merganser at KGV

I'm still busy supporting my son and his wife with the little ones whilst they endure the challenges life has thrown their way and as such birding time remains limited but with no commitments today I called Jim and offered him a couple of hours birding the local KGV reservoir which he duly accepted and we made our way through Chingford to make the long walk out along the east bank and back.

Our reward for the effort was a slow count of just 39 species which included Red-breasted Merganser which was a new bird for me on the reservoir, a Slavonian Grebe on south basin, 3 Goosander and a Red Kite. Ducks included Teal, Mallard, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Tufted, Pochard, Wigeon and Shoveler along with Mute Swan and Canada Goose. A Little Egret was in the relief channel and there were a number of Coot, Little Grebe and Gt crested Grebe present. Grey Wagtail was the highlight of the smaller birds seen.

It was nice to be out birding and I'll try to find more time as the year comes to an end leading up to the start of another year of listing and chasing a few ticks.