Chestnut Bunting

Chestnut Bunting

Emberiza rutila

This 1cy bird was found at Papay Westray, Orkney, Scotland on October19th 2015. It is the 10th for Western Palearctic if accepted and 1st for Britain.
It was filmed by Pete Hines on October 29th.

Black-faced Bunting

Black-faced Bunting

Emberiza spodocephala

This bird was a first for the UK, and the 6th record in the WP. It was found at Pennington, Greater Manchester on March 8th 1994 and it remained until April 24th. It was filmed byAlan Shaw.

Naumann's Thrush

Naumann's Thrush

Turdus naumanni

This male was the first record of the very rare Naumann's Thrush in the UK. It was found at Woodford Green, Greater London on January 19th 1990 and was seen at least until March 9th.
It was filmed in Febuary 1990 by Alan Shaw.

Golden-winged Warbler

Golden-winged Warbler

Vermivora chrysoptera

This bird was a first record for the WP and of course Britain. It was found on January 24th 1989 at Larkfield Maidstone, Kent and it was seen until April 10th. It was filmed by Alan Shaw in Febuary.

Citril Finch

Citril Finch

Carduelis citrinella

At 1pm on June 6th 2008, Tommy Hyndman found and filmed this bird. At the time, he was the only one who had seen the bird and he had no idea how rare it was or that it was a first record for Britain. He made this legendary message on the answering machine message at Fair Isle Bird Observatory.

Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross

Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross

Thalassarche chlororhynchos

This first for Britain was found at Brean Down, Somerset on June 29th 2007. It was found by Hugh Harris, when he saw this big strange bird wandering around on his driveway at Warren farm. The bird appeared sick and Mr. Harris easily caught it by hand, picked it up, put it in the boot of his car, and took it to the rescue centre.

The bird was checked and seemed healthy, so it was released on June 30th 2007.
More about this bird here.
This film was made by Burnham-On-Sea.com.

Masked Shrike

Masked Shrike

Lanius nubicus

This first for Britain was found at Kilrenny, Anstruther, Fife on October 29th 2004, and were last seen November 14th.
It was filmed by Derek Turner.

BOU/BBRC wrote in November 2005

 "There have been several previous claims, including an adult seen at Bamburgh, Northumberland on 22 October 1961. One of the reasons for rejection at the time was the unusually late date. With date no longer being an issue, this record was recirculated with the Kilrenny file but, due to insufficient detail in the description, was felt by the Committee not to meet the standards necessary for acceptance of a first for Britain"

Fea's Petrel

Fea's Petrel

Pterodroma feae

On July 8th 2001 at about 19.00, approximately 12 km's south of St. Mary’s during an evening short-range pelagic trip this Fea’s Petrel was seen at point blank range and remained with the boat for some 12 minutes, thrilling the blessed seven birders on board.
The extended stay made it possible to capture video footage of the event and from that extract video grabs showing enough structural detail to make a safe identification as Fea’s Petrel, rather than Zino’s Petrel. The record was accepted in 2006 by BBRC and BOURC (who review all firsts for Britain) and thus became the first for Britain (Ashley Fisher, Bob Flood, and Nigel Wheatley). 

To see the full account with images Click here

It was filmed by Ashley Fisher.