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. These species are in bold red in the daily sightings pages and often elsewhere.

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
Lesser Scaup	American Golden Plover	Blyth’s Reed Warbler
Surf Scoter	White-rumped Sandpiper	Marsh Warbler
Black Grouse	Red-necked Phalarope	Arctic Warbler
White-billed Diver	Long-tailed Skua	Bluethroat
Wilson’s Petrel	White-winged Black Tern	Yellow Wagtail (not flava/flavissima)
Night Heron	Roseate Tern	Citrine Wagtail
White Stork	Caspian Gull	Olive-backed Pipit
Honey-buzzard	Red-footed Falcon	Twite
Black Kite	Penduline Tit	Common (‘Mealy’) Redpoll
White-tailed Eagle	Greenish Warbler	Lesser Yellowlegs
Montagu’s Harrier	Pallas’s Warbler	Any unusual subspecies
Goshawk	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	Stone Curlew	Bearded Tit
Pink-footed Goose	Dotterel	Shore Lark
Snow Goose	Kentish Plover	Short-toed Lark
Egyptian Goose	Temminck’s Stint	Red-rumped Swallow
Ruddy Shelduck	Buff-breasted Sandpiper	Wood Warbler
American Wigeon (male)	Pectoral Sandpiper	Siberian Chiffchaff tristis
Green-winged Teal	Black Guillemot	Barred Warbler
Red-crested Pochard	Sabine’s Gull	Melodious Warbler
Ring-necked Duck	Ring-billed Gull	Waxwing
Smew	Kumlien’s Gull	Rose-coloured Starling
Ruddy Duck	Little Owl	Nightingale
Quail	Long-eared Owl	Red-breasted Flycatcher
Leach’s Petrel	Alpine Swift	Tree Sparrow
Cormorant (sinensis)	Bee-eater	Scandinavian Rock Pipit littoralis
Purple Heron	Lesser Spotted Woodpecker	Hawfinch
Glossy Ibis	Ring-necked Parakeet	Common Rosefinch
Spotted Crake	Golden Oriole	Serin
Corncrake	Red-backed Shrike	Ortolan Bunting
Common Crane	Great Grey Shrike	Cirl Bunting (outside core range)
Grey Partridge	Woodchat Shrike	Little Bunting
	Hooded Crow	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

 

djc