Yellow-nosed Albatross

British birders were left somewhat in shock with the news of another new British species. On Friday 29th June, a sub-adult Yellow-nosed Albatross was apparently picked up on Brean Down, Somerset. It was taken to a nearby animal rescue centre, kept overnight and released the following day. It appears that no birders were aware of this turn of events until Sunday 1st July! Sea-watching will presumably be a popular pastime in the Bristol Channel over the next few days...

Read more courtesy of Burnham-on-Sea.com.

UPDATE: The tale of the albatross gets stranger! It is claimed that a Yellow-nosed Albatross was present on a small fishing lake at Manton in North Lincs on 3rd & 4th July, apparently being photographed by fishermen (see the Lincs Bird Club website. News only came out on 11th July. If this albatross was indeed photographed at this site, then it suggests that the bird might reappear again.

Note that Yellow-nosed Albatross has been recorded off Norway and Sweden during the last few weeks also. The number of individuals involved is not entirely clear. Whilst it is just about possible that all records refer to the same bird, it seems more likely that at least two birds are in north-west Europe at present.