Red-necked Phalarope - 2008

Phalaropus lobatus

Vagrant.

The Red – necked Phalarope breeds above the middle latitudes across the Holarctic, the nearest to Pembrokeshire normally in the far north of Scotland. Western Palearctic birds winter in the Arabian Sea and largely migrate overland.

A juvenile shot on a farm pond at St Twynells in c.1900 was housed in the collection of F. Roberts. Bertram Lloyd examined the specimen on the 20th May 1928 and verified the identification was correct. Lockley et al (1949) quotes “Recorded by a writer in the Field, 18th March 1899” but gives no detail, not even a locality. Barrett, 1959, noted singles off St Ann’s Head (not St Govan’s as quoted by Donovan and Rees, 1994) on the 19th September 1950 and at the Gann on the 16th September 1957. Subsequently there was a juvenile on a farm slurry pond at Haroldston West on the 4th and 5th October 1983.

Graham Rees.

(Covers records up to and including 2008). 

Red-footed Falcon

 Falco vespertinus

Vagrant.

The Red-footed Falcon breeds from E Europe through NC Asia to extreme NW China and southern Siberia. Winters mainly in SW Africa, from Angola, Namibia and N South Africa through Botswana to Zimbabwe and Zambia. Periodically breeds well outside normal range.

Mathew (1894) quoted two occurrences which on the evidence presented were found to be unconvincing by later authorities. The first accepted record therefore was one recorded at Ramsey on the 24th May 1959 by H. Grenville. Further singles were noted at Solva being present from the 6th to the 16th of October 1972; at Skokholm on 27th May 1975 and presumably the same bird at Kete from the 28^th to the 31st May 1975; at Skomer from the 8th to the 11th June 1975 and on 20th May 1989; Bosherston on 2nd June 1992; and at Bicton on the 17th June 2006.

Graham Rees

(Covers records up to and including 2006)

White-winged Black Tern - all records

Chlidonias leucopterus - Rare visitor.

The closest breeding areas of the White-winged Black Tern are in Eastern Europe.  Winter quarters are in southern Africa.

1973 - The first to be recorded in Pembrokeshire was located by Stuart Devonald, a juvenile at the Gann on the 31 August.

1976 - Single juveniles were then recorded at Llys y fran Reservoir on the 16 to 28 October

1986 - single juvenile at Llanstadwell on the 26 August

1990 - Single adult at Skokholm on the 3 September

1997 - single adult at Strumble Head on 15 October

1999 - single juvenile at Strumble Head on the 1 August

2016 - an adult at Penberry Reservoir, St. David’s 25th – 26th May

Little Tern - Spring

Sternula albifrons

There have been only 15 records in the spring, between 14th April and 24th June, having been seen eight times in April, three times in May and four times in June. All were occurrences of one or two birds at a time except for six in Solva Harbour on the 8th May 1916.

Graham Rees.

(Covers records up to and including 2006).

Roseate Tern - spring

 Sterna dougallii

Very few were recorded in spring. They were: one at Caldey in April 1975, two at Poppit on the 20th April 1998, one at Fishguard Harbour on the 24th April 2007, one at Skomer on the 23rd May 1995 and one at Strumble Head on the 27th May 1985.

June records were: two at the Gann on the 30th 1995, one at Strumble Head on the 12th 1998 with two there on the 19th in 1983 and the 23rd in 1984.

Graham Rees

(Covers records up to and including 2008).

Forster’s Tern

Sterna forsteri

Vagrant.

The Forster’s Tern is a North American species which has occurred as a vagrant to Britain and Ireland.

On the morning of the 10th January 1994 Sarah Earle saw a tern at Pwllgwaelod, which she sketched and described but did not identify. In the afternoon of that day Brian Atkinson independently saw and identified a first winter Forster’s Tern in the adjacent Fishguard Harbour, presumably the bird seen by Sarah. It remained there during the morning of the 11th January, being seen well by several observers down to a range of less than 10 metres, but was not seen thereafter.

Another first winter Forster’s Tern was seen at the Gann on the 4th December 2000 which moved on to Dale, where it was watched at close quarters fishing along the high tide shoreline. It was lost to view about half an hour later and despite several observers scouring the surrounding estuary area could not be relocated. It may have cut overland to nearby West Dale Bay, where nobody thought to look at the time.

Graham Rees.

(Covers records up to and including 2009).

White-tailed Eagle

Hatiaeetus albicilla

Vagrant.

The White-tailed Eagle breeds in SW Greenland, W Iceland; N & C Eurasia S to Greece and Turkey, S Caspian Sea, L Balkash and Manchuria, wintering S to N Mediterranean, Persian Gulf, Pakistan, N India and SE China.  35-44 pairs were nesting in Scotland by 2008 following introduction schemes started in 1975.

An immature was shot on the 2nd of February 1908 by B.Edwards near Whitchurch in Mynydd Preseli. It was reported as a Golden Eagle in “The Cardigan and Tivy-side Advertiser”. However on the 13th June 1928 B. Lloyd and C. Oldham were able to inspect the specimen and identify it as a White-tailed Eagle.

A 2nd or 3rd winter bird was seen at Skomer on the 10th and 11th November 1993 which departed along the line of the southern shore of St Bride’s Bay but was not seen again.

The 1908 bird must have been an immigrant as none were then breeding in the UK. The 1993 bird may also have been an immigrant but could have come from the Scottish population.

Graham Rees

(Covers records up to and including 2010).

References

Rare breeding birds in the UK in 2008, British Birds Vol. 103, 507.

White-tailed Eagle in Pembrokeshire, British Birds, Vol. 35, 230.

White-billed Diver - 1999

Gavia adamsii

Vagrant

Breeding range is in high latitudes of the old USSR and parts of North America but distribution is not fully known. In the western Palearctic they winter along the coast of Norway with infrequent occurrences further south.

An adult was seen passing Strumble Head on the 27th September 1999.

Five observers were assembled in “The Lookout” building logging passing birds, mostly seabirds. The observers were:  Cliff Benson, Jack Donovan, Graham Rees, Andrew Sinclair and Ray Wilkinson. All were seated and equipped with binoculars and tripod mounted telescopes. They were sheltered from a force six south west wind, the sky was overcast but visibility was good.

As well as a variety of other birds, four separate Red-throated Divers had passed close inshore when Ray “called” another diver approaching, following the same line of flight. This one was larger with a slower wing beat than the Red-throated’s and when it came level with the observation point exhibited a large slightly yellow white bill which appeared curved upwards. All other visible features were noted and some sketches made, enabling a positive identification as a White – billed Diver and the assessment that it was an adult in transition between summer and winter plumage.

The record was duly accepted by the BBRC and to date remains the sole recorded occurrence for Pembrokeshire and the second for Wales.

Graham Rees

(Covers records up to and including 2008)

Long-billed Dowitcher - 1987

Limnodromus scolopaceus.

Vagrant.

Although restricted as a breeding species to north-east Siberia, Alaska and north-west Canada, the Long-billed Dowitcher is an almost annual vagrant to Britain and Ireland.

A first winter bird was at the Gann from the 12th December 1987 to the 3rd January 1988.

Late in the afternoon of the 12th December 1987, approaching high tide with a light drizzle falling, Graham Rees was positioned in his car overlooking the upper Gann lagoon when an unfamiliar medium sized wader, with a Snipe like bill and a white patch on its back, flew in to alight on a muddy margin. Viewed through a window mounted telescope it was identified as a Long-billed Dowitcher and a full description was taken.

This was before mobile telephones were available and by the time the observer had returned home to use land lines to spread the word, darkness had descended. However, the bird remained in much the same place until the 3rd January 1988 and was seen by many observers. When flushed, as it was all too frequently by dog walkers, it usually called, adding further confirmation to the identification. The details were submitted to the BBRC who found it acceptable. This was, and remains to date, the only record for Pembrokeshire.         

Graham Rees.

(Covers records up to and including 2008).

Black-browed Albatross

Diomedea melanophris

Vagrant.

Breeds around the southern oceans, is migratory and dispersive. Classified as accidental to Britain single Black-browed Albatrosses have several times spent prolonged periods at Gannetries.

Two recorded occurrences in Pembrokeshire have been accepted by the BBRC. The first was an adult seen from Skokholm by G.Thompson on the 19th August 1990. The second was also an adult, seen from the Rosslare to Fishguard ferry, when about four miles west of Strumble Head on the 17th September 1990. Both sightings probably refer to the same bird, as might an adult at Strumble Head seen on the 12th September 1990 which was not sufficiently well documented to be fully accepted by BBRC.

The following records are noted here in case they are “discovered” by future researchers: a sub – adult seen from Skomer on the 30th August 1989 was not accepted by BBRC and a white headed, black backed albatross floating past Strumble Head, near Gannets doing the same thing, on the 4th October 1995 was just too distant to be specifically identified by the assembled seawatchers of the day.

Graham Rees

(Covers records up to and including 2006)

Sooty Tern - 2005 - first for Pembrokeshire

Onychoprion fuscatus

Vagrant.

An adult was seen at Strumble Head on the 23rd August 2005.

It was a bright sunny day with a gentle south west breeze and very few birds passing. By about 1000 hours (BST) just two Common Scoters and four Sandwich Terns had been noted by the two observers present, Graham Rees and Adrian Rogers. At 1010 hours a large black and white tern came into view at the one o’clock position flying steadily westwards towards the lighthouse. Viewed through telescopes down to about 400 yards range, descriptions were written immediately after it had gone out of sight. Identified as a Sooty Tern, the descriptions were submitted to the BBRC which found the record acceptable.

An adult Sooty Tern was present around Anglesey from about the 7th to the 26th July 2005 also visiting the Skerries, Dublin until the 15th August and it is presumed that it was this bird which passed Strumble Head, making it the second to be recorded in Wales (the first being in Merioneth in 1909) and the first for Pembrokeshire.

Graham Rees

Ruddy Sheldrake - 1894

Species account from M Mathew, 1894, "The Birds of Pembrokeshire and its islands"

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