Guillemot Uria aalge aalge (Pontoppidan, 1763)
Farne Islands, Northumberland © Nigel Milbourne 2013
Very rare, wind-blown, passage migrant.
- One, not aged, 19th june 1913 (per D. Carr).
I have chosen to include Guillemot in the bird list on the basis of a single record that was explained thus in The Birds of Somerset (Palmer & Ballance): “Since 1912, about 54 found dead or exhausted (often oiled) on coast between Sand Point and Porlaock Weir, and two inland (Blagdon (I) and Yeovil).” Blagdon (i) refers to Blagdon in the present North Somerset, and although it is not made clear where in Blagdon the bird was picked up, it is of sufficient historical interest to include here. Occasional ‘wrecks’ of seabirds occur during storms, with exhausted birds often being blown inland. It is likely this is what happened in this instance, although I have no further details to help substantiate the circumstances of the occurrence.
Donald Carr’s notes in the Report of Wells Natural History & Archaelogical Society says “Caught on Blagdon Lake, June, 19th, 1913.”
Bibliography:
- Palmer, E.M. & Ballance, D.K., The Birds of Somerset. Longmans, Green & Co. Ltd. 1968.
- Carr, D. Report of Wells Nat. Hist. & Archael. Soc. for 1913.
Last update: 7th December 2024