It was fine to see my weekly Rarity Round Up written for Rare Bird Alert published on their website today. I’ve been doing these occasionally since late last year, and thoroughly enjoy immersing myself in the latest goings on in British and Irish birding – the rare birds, the occasional spice of some intrigue, and above all vicariously enjoying a spot of virtual birding. I may live on an island in a remote corner of the UK, but that’s not to say I don’t still get a thrill from a bird that’s blown to British or Irish shores from halfway around the world… I might not get to see it in the flesh (though living here in Shetland, arguably the UK or indeed Europe’s premier birding location, I often do) but I can share the wonder by writing a little about it.
This week’s Rarity Round Up was a case in point, with some American passerines and waders rubbing shoulders with displaced migrant passerines from southern Europe, terns from south-eastern Europe, and a duck of questionable provenance that might be from somewhere in the former Communist bloc… or might just have hopped over the wire fence of someone’s wildfowl collection!
It’s a lot of fun to compile and write, and hopefully for anyone with a passing interest in rare birds it’s an entertaining and informative read.
Rarity Round Up April 30th – May 6th 2014
www.jondunn.com 