National Rarities
Descriptions of national rarities should be sent to the County Recorder who will forward them to the BBRC for appraisal. These descriptions should be submitted on BBRC forms that are available from the County Recorder and on the CBWPS and BBRC websites. Please enclose copies of field notes and photographs where possible.
County Rarities
This is for species that do not fall within the criteria for national rarities but are still rare enough at a county level to require verification before being accepted into the county database. The identification of most county rarities is quite easy for experienced observers and consequently we have tried to keep the list of Group A species requiring a full description to a minimum. However, new species are regularly being “downgraded” by BBRC, so the list grows. A full review is carried out regularly by the county rarity committee and the species requiring a description in either Group A or B may be significantly amended.
Descriptions are not required for sightings of Group B species, provided the bird or birds have been seen by three experienced observers who are known to the Rarities Committee – the names of whom should be included when details of sightings are submitted. Alternatively a clear photograph may suffice. These arrangements have been introduced to eliminate the need for unnecessary descriptions of ‘easy’ rarities, without compromising the integrity of the county records. In some cases, the County Recorder may require descriptions for other species, for example if reported for an unusual date or location.
County rarities (Groups A and B below) are in bold blue in the daily sightings pages and often elsewhere.
Group A – Species requiring a full description
| Bean Goose | Rough-legged Buzzard | Dusky Warbler |
| Black Brant | Golden Eagle | Lesser Whitethroat (except curruca) |
| American Wigeon (female/juv) | Black-winged Stilt | Icterine Warbler |
| Surf Scoter | American Golden Plover | Blyth’s Reed Warbler |
| Black Grouse | White-rumped Sandpiper | Marsh Warbler |
| White-billed Diver | Red-necked Phalarope | Arctic Warbler |
| Wilson’s Petrel | Long-tailed Skua | Bluethroat |
| Night Heron | White-winged Black Tern | Yellow Wagtail (not flava/flavissima) |
| White Stork | Roseate Tern | Citrine Wagtail |
| Honey Buzzard | Caspian Gull | Olive-backed Pipit |
| Black Kite | Red-footed Falcon | Twite |
| White-tailed Eagle | Penduline Tit | Common (‘Mealy’) Redpoll |
| Montagu’s Harrier | Greenish Warbler | Lesser Yellowlegs |
| Goshawk | Pallas’s Warbler | Any unusual subspecies |
| Radde’s Warbler | ||
Group B – Species not normally requiring a description, provided the bird(s) has been seen by at least three experienced observers who are known to the Rarities Committee – please submit names of observers with the record details.
| Bewick’s Swan | Dotterel | Richard’s Pipit |
| Pink-footed Goose | Temminck’s Stint | Shore Lark |
| Snow Goose | Buff-breasted Sandpiper | Short-toed Lark |
| Egyptian Goose | Pectoral Sandpiper | Red-rumped Swallow |
| Ruddy Shelduck | Black Guillemot | Wood Warbler |
| American Wigeon (male) | Sabine’s Gull | Siberian Chiffchaff tristis (See note below) |
| Green-winged Teal | Ring-billed Gull | Barred Warbler |
| Red-crested Pochard | Kumlien’s Gull | Melodious Warbler |
| Ring-necked Duck | Little Owl | Waxwing |
| Smew | Long-eared Owl | Rose-coloured Starling |
| Ruddy Duck | Alpine Swift | Nightingale |
| Quail | Bee-eater | Red-breasted Flycatcher |
| Leach’s Petrel | Lesser Spotted Woodpecker | Tree Sparrow |
| Cormorant (sinensis) | Ring-necked Parakeet | Scandinavian Rock Pipit littoralis |
| Purple Heron | Golden Oriole | Hawfinch |
| Glossy Ibis | Red-backed Shrike | Common Rosefinch |
| Spotted Crake | Great Grey Shrike | Serin |
| Corncrake | Woodchat Shrike | Ortolan Bunting |
| Common Crane | Hooded Crow | Cirl Bunting (outside core range) |
| Grey Partridge | Bearded Tit | Little Bunting |
| Stone Curlew | Plus any uncommon races | |
Change log:
- Grey Partridge (away from the known release site) added 1st Jan 2018
- Yellow-legged Gull removed 1st Jan 2018
- Great White Egret and Cattle Egret removed as County Rarities 1st Jan 2019
- Update from BBRC 1st April 2019 – relating to all records from 01/01/19
- Arctic Redpoll and Subalpine Warbler (all sp) Re-instated as BBRC species from Group A
- Lesser Yellowlegs and Arctic Warbler downgraded from BBRC species to County assessed species
- Lesser Scaup and Kentish Plover upgraded to BBRC description species from Groups A and B respectively 27/04/20 (effective from Jan 1st 2020)
- Siberian Chiffchaff no longer a description species from Oct – March inclusive (normal winter period) as of 01/01/21
djc