The full list of County rarities can be found below. All species will appear in bold blue on the daily sightings page. Please send all descriptions, photos and/or known observers’ names to [email protected]. County rarities are divided into two categories as follows:

Category A – Species requiring a full description and/or a series of clear and diagnostic photos  for acceptance into the county record:

Bewick’s Swan                                   Golden Eagle                                        Tree Sparrow

Taiga Bean Goose                             Stone Curlew                                        Greenish Warbler

Tundra Bean Goose                         Black-winged Stilt                              Pallas’s Warbler

Black Brant                                          Lesser Yellowlegs                               Radde’s Warbler

Snow Goose                                         American Golden Plover                Dusky Warbler

Ruddy Duck                                         White-rumped Sandpiper             Lesser Whitethroat (‘Eastern’ races)

Red-crested Pochard                      Temminck’s Stint                               Icterine Warbler

American Wigeon                             Red-necked Phalarope                    Wood Warbler

Smew                                                      Long-tailed Skua                                Blyth’s Reed Warbler

Surf Scoter                                           White-winged Black Tern               Marsh Warbler                                     

White-billed Diver                            Roseate Tern                                         Arctic Warbler

Wilson’s Petrel                                   Ring-billed Gull                                   Nightingale

Night Heron                                         Kumlien’s Gull                                     Bluethroat

Common Crane                                  Caspian Gull                                          Yellow Wagtail (not flavissima)

Corncrake                                             Little Owl                                                Citrine Wagtail

Honey Buzzard                                  Red-footed Falcon                              Olive-backed Pipit

 Black Kite                                            Hooded Crow                                        Common Rosefinch

White-tailed Eagle                           Lesser Spotted Woodpecker         Twite

Montagu’s Harrier                           Penduline Tit                                         Common (‘Mealy’) Redpoll

Goshawk                                               Shore Lark                                              Ortolan Bunting

Rough-legged Buzzard                  Short-toed Lark                                   Plus any unusual subspecies/ races

Category B – Species that do not always require a full description, if the bird in question has been seen and confirmed by three experienced observers who are known to the Rarities Committee. These names should be included when details of sightings are submitted. A full description may still be asked for at the county recorder’s discretion, for example a highly out-of-season record.

Pink-footed Goose                           Buff-breasted Sandpiper                Richard’s Pipit

White-fronted Goose                      Pectoral Sandpiper                           Red-rumped Swallow

Egyptian Goose                                 Black Guillemot                                   Siberian Chiffchaff (tristis) (outside Oct-Mar)

Ruddy Shelduck                                Little Auk                                                Barred Warbler

Green-winged Teal                          Sabine’s Gull                                         Melodious Warbler

Ring-necked Duck                            Long-eared Owl                                  Waxwing

Quail                                                       Alpine Swift                                           Rose-coloured Starling

Leach’s Petrel                                    Bee-eater                                                Red-breasted Flycatcher

Cormorant (sinensis)                      Ring-necked Parakeet                     Scandinavian Rock Pipit (littoralis)

Purple Heron                                      Golden Oriole                                       Hawfinch

Glossy Ibis                                            Red-backed Shrike                            Serin

Spotted Crake                                    Great Grey Shrike                               Cirl Bunting (outside core range)

White Stork                                          Woodchat Shrike                                Little Bunting

Grey Partridge                                   Bearded Tit                                            Plus any uncommon subspecies/ races

Dotterel                                                  Willow Tit (outside core range)

National Rarities – Any species nationally rarer than those listed above must be verified by the British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC) before they can be included in county totals. Such species appear in bold red on the daily sightings page. The submission form can be found here and the BBRC website here. Please send all records ready to be submitted to the county recorder ([email protected]), where they can then be forwarded onto the BBRC.

Notes – 

(1) This list has been adjusted significantly as of early 2022, and supersedes any previous categorisation.

(2) Any species not covered by the list above may still require a description at the county recorder’s discretion. Such situations are unusual, but, as examples, can be required for out-of-season records or very high counts of otherwise commoner species.

(3) Any County Rarities suspected of breeding should be sent to the county recorder ([email protected]) in confidence, and also submitted to the Rare Birds Breeding Panel (RBBP) if applicable. Such records will not appear on the website under Recent Sightings, but are important for the county database..