Rare Birds in Britain and Ireland

RARE BIRDS IN BRITAIN AND IRELAND

Come in the evening, or come in the morning. Come when you're looked for, or come without warning. THOMAS OSBORNE DAVIS

With illustrations by PER ALSTROM CLIVE BYERS MARTIN ELLIOTT ROBERT GILLMOR P. J. GRANT MARTIN HALLAM ALAN HARRIS IAN LEWINGTON RICHARD MILLINGTON R. A. RICHARDSON CRAIG ROBSON D. I. M. WALLACE JAN WILCZUR IAN WILLIS

Rare Birds in Britain and Ireland

by J. N. Dymond, P. A. Fraser and S. J. M. Gantlett

T & A D POYSER Calton

First published 1989 by T & AD Poyser Ltd Print-on-demand and digital editions published 2010 by T & AD Poyser, an imprint of A&C Black Publishers Ltd, 36 Soho Square, London W1D 3QY Copyright © 1989 by J. N. Dymond, P. A. Eraser and S. J. M Gantlett The right of J. N. Dymond, P. A. Fraser and S. J. M Gantlett to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. ISBN (print) 978-1-4081-3959-2 ISBN (epub) 978-1-4081-3963-9 ISBN (e-pdf) 978-1-4081-3962-2 A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means - photographic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or information storage or retrieval systems - without permission of the publishers. Visit www.acblack.com/naturalhistory to find out more about our authors and their books. You will find extracts, author interviews and our blog, and you can sign up for newsletters to be the first to hear about our latest releases and special offers.

Contents

Introduction

7

Acknowledgements

15

SPECIES ACCOUNTS

16

CATEGORY D SPECIES

347

EXTREME VAGRANTS

355

References and bibliography

Index

357

359

5

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Introduction THE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK

In 1974, J. T. R. Sharrock compiled Scarce Migrant Birds in Britain and Ireland, a book covering the records of some two dozen species of regularly occurring rarities and rare migrants between 1958 and 1967. Two years later the natural successor to this book, Rare Birds in Britain and Ireland (J. T. R. and E. M. Sharrock, 1976) was published. This covered nearly all those species which, during 1958-72, were considered by the British Birds Rarities Committee; it also included notable records of extreme rarities up until 1975. This current book unifies and updates these previous two. It analyses some 46,000 records of rare and scarce migrant birds in Britain and Ireland. From the maps and graphs shown, the reader can, at a glance, see how many, where, when and how frequently each species arrived. The thrill and excitement of the unusual fascinates almost everyone, and this is no more or less true of birdwatchers than any other group of human beings. This has been elevated (perhaps demoted!) to a kind of existential performanceartform with the advent of 'twitching' - the pursuit of species, as yet unseen, so that they might be added to one type of list or another; although that famous wartime film 'The Tawny Pipit' reminds us that it might not be as recent as we might like to think. The enjoyment of seeing and finding unusual birds is not confined to the twitching community. Across the gamut from professional ornithologist to back-garden birdwatcher, the unusual will quicken the pulse and do wonders for the telephone company's profits. In addition to the thrill for the individual, the interest in seeing rarities has, for the serious minded, had several important spin-offs. Although one record of a single species may have virtually no scientific value, the recording and analysis of the patterns of arrival of rarities can point to subtle or dramatic changes in the status of birds within their breeding ranges, indicating possible climatic and ecological threats, and can also indicate changes in the breeding ranges themselves. At another level, seeing rare birds in one's home country can lead to an interest in the countries of origin of the same birds, and their environmental and development problems. OSME (The Ornithological Society of the Middle East) and the OBC (Oriental Bird Club) can both trace their origins in British twitching. THE RECORDS

In this book, we have analysed all published records for each species during the period 1958-85; in addition, records of extreme rarities prior to, and subsequent to, this period have been listed. We have followed the method of analysis of Sharrock and Sharrock (1976), giving yearly and weekly histograms combined with seasonal analysis by counties. The histograms and maps include all records that have been vetted by the relevant committees and published, either in the reports of the British Birds Rarities Committee or in the county, regional and national bird reports. The very small numbers of national rarities that are published in county reports without acceptance by the BBRC are excluded. For the following list of species, which were considered by the BBRC for only part of the 1958-85 period, we have used county bird reports only for the periods when the species was not considered by the BBRC: Cory's Shearwater, Purple Heron, White Stork, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Long-tailed Skua, Richard's Pipit, Tawny Pipit, Aquatic Warbler, Serin and Common Rosefinch. 7

The British Birds Rarities Committee was set up in 1959, largely at the instigation of I.]. Ferguson-Lees and P. A. D. Hollom. Since 1982, the Committee's work has been sponsored by Zeiss West Germany. Under the chairmanships of P. A. D. Hollom (1959-72), D. I. M. Wallace (1972-76), P.]. Grant (1976-86) and P. G. Lansdown (since 1986), and with the honorary secretaries G. A. Pyman (1959-61), C. M. Swaine (1961-63), D. D. Harber (1963-66), F. R. Smith (196675), ].N. Dymond (1975-77),]. O'Sullivan (1977-78) and M.]. Rogers (since 1978), this voluntary committee has continually strived to maintain the highest standards of assessment and documentation of rarity records, despite an everincreasing volume of work. Thirty other members served on this committee during 1958-85: H. G. Alexander, D. G. Bell, the late A. R. M. Blake, D.]. Britton, P. E. Davis, A. R. Dean, R. H. Dennis, I.]. Ferguson-Lees, A. Hazlewood, D.]. Holman, T. P. Inskipp, R.]. Johns, B. Little, S. C. Madge, ]. H. Marchant, ]. R. Mather, H. P. Medhurst, the late Prof. M. F. M. Meiklejohn, Dr I. C. T. Nisbet, R. F. Porter, Dr R.]. Raines, the late R. A. Richardson, I. S. Robertson, Major R. F. Ruttledge, Dr ]. T. R. Sharrock, K. D. Smith, K. E. Vinicombe, R. Wagstaffe, G. A. Williams and K. Williamson. The membership of the committee is rotated on a regular basis with ten members serving at anyone time. A. Brown, S.]. M. Gantlett and R. A. Hume joined the Committee after 1985. The Irish Rare Birds Committee (formerly called the Irish Records Panel) was formed in 1971 to perform a similar function to the BBRC for the whole oflreland. Three secretaries have guided the work of the committee since its inception: K. Preston, ]. Fitzharris and P. Smiddy. In addition the following have also served on the committee: ]. Dowdall, T. Ennis, K. Grace, F. King, A. McGeehan, O. Merne, C. Moore, K. Mullarney, Major R. F. Rutledge and Dr]. T. R. Sharrock. For a description of the work of the IRBC see Irish Birds, 2:364. THE SPECIES COVERED

It is the role of the Records Committee of the British Ornithologists' Union to maintain and categorise the species list of Britain and Ireland; for a brief history the reader is referred to The Status of Birds in Britain and Ireland (BOU, 1971). The four categories currently used to classify the status of the species on the British and Irish list are as follows: A: Species which have been recorded in an apparently wild state in Britain or Ireland at least once in the last 50 years. B: Species which have been recorded in an apparently wild state in Britain or Ireland at least once, but not within the last 50 years. C: Species which, although originally introduced by man, have now established a regular feral breeding stock which apparently maintains itself without necessary recourse to further introduction. D: Species which have been recorded within the last 50 years and would otherwise appear in category A except that (1) there is a reasonable doubt that they have ever occurred in a wild state, or (2) it is beyond all reasonable doubt that they have arrived with ship-assistance, or (3) they have only ever been found dead on the tide-line. In addition, category D is used for those species which cannot be put into category C as the feral population may not be self-supporting. In this book we deal with all species in category A, records of which have been considered by the BBRC at any time during the period 1958-85, plus seven species of 'scarce migrants' that have never been on the BBRC list. There are four species in category A which were included in Sharrock (1974) or Sharrock and Sharrock (1976) which we have not looked at: Rough-legged Buzzard and Mediterranean Gull, of which there are many records of long-staying and wandering individuals, present insurmountable problems of duplication within and between counties; and 8

Cetti's Warbler and Savi's Warbler, of which the majority of records considered by the BBRC concerned breeding birds. In addition to the above we also include those species in category B, recent records of those species which might be new to Britain and Ireland but have not yet been admitted to the British and Irish list by the BOU, and those species currently placed in category D on grounds of their inadmissibility to category A. The authors wish to emphasize that the inclusion of records of species not yet admitted to the British and Irish list does not constitute a validation and that, conversely, omission of any recent records does not imply official unacceptability. We merely wish to include interesting records which have come to our attention since the main period of analysis. One of the more recent developments in British and Irish bird watching is the 'pelagic trip'. The brave and the foolhardy travel out beyond the sight ofland in small fishing boats, sometimes out as far as the continental shelf, to look for species that might not otherwise be seen, or seen so easily, from the coast. To date, such records have not been counted (in the literal sense) by the BBRC, although records 'at sea' are mentioned in the annual BBRC reports, so we have not incuded them in the maps and histograms in this book. However, we have mentioned the more interesting developments in the text for those species considered by the BBRC. We have not included those records of scarce migrants seen 'at sea', though we are aware that certain species, especially Sabine's Gull, are being regularly seen off-shore in the North Sea as well as in the Western Approaches. The recently constituted Seabirds Advisory Panel now considers and advises the BBRC on the more problematic records of seabirds seen both on and off-shore. Its members are P. Harrison (Secretary), P. R. Colston, W. F. Curtis, J. Enticott and B. A. E. Marr. THE SPECIES ACCOUNTS

We have, in general, followed the format used by]. T. R. Sharrock. The order and names of species follow the 'British Birds List of Birds of the Western Palearctic' (1984). Readers may notice that we have adopted a few of the new names in the discussion document 'Suggested changes to the English names of some Western Palearctic Birds' produced by the BOU Records Committee (Brit. Birds, 81: 355). Every species is illustrated by a line drawing. The drawings have been commissioned from some of the most gifted bird artists who are, in their own right, experienced and knowledgeable field ornithologists. We have retained some of the vignettes from Sharrock and Sharrock (1976), but this volume contains around 150 new drawings. For the new drawings we would like to thank Per Alstrom, Clive Byers, Martin Elliott, Martin Hallam, Alan Harris, Ian Lewington, Richard Millington, Craig Robson and Jan Wilczur. The breeding range is summarized for each species and the non-breeding distribution for those populations which occur as vagrants to Britain and Ireland described. A brief species description is followed by relevant references on identification; these are articles in specialist journals which may cover the salient features of a single species or review an entire genus or family. There is now an even more comprehensie range of field guides (which covers almost every area of the world from which a British or Irish rarity might originate) than at the time of the publication of Rare Birds in Britain and Ireland. Likewise, more groups and families have been treated in detail; we have recently seen the publication of identification guides on gulls (P.]. Grant, 1982), seabirds (P. Harrison, 1983), shorebirds (P. Hayman, ]. Marchant and A. Prater, 1986) and wildfowl (S. C. 9

Madge and H. Burn, 1988) in addition to those published earlier on warblers (K. Williamson, 1976) and European rap tors (R. F. Porter, I. Willis, Bent Pors Nielsen and S. Christensen, 1974). Extreme rarities (which we have defined as species for which there are twelve or fewer occurrences during 1958-85) have all their records listed. In the case of these species, records prior to 1958 are also listed if there are fewer than ten of these earlier records; additionally any records of extreme rarities since the 195885 period have also been noted. If any of these recent records have not yet been accepted by the BBRC or IRBC, they are indicated by an asterisk (*). It should be noted that the maps and histograms of these species only cover the main 195885 period. For all other species, maps and histograms are presented for records during the 1958-85 period. Weekly histograms show the seasonal occurrence, broken down into 7 day periods. Week 52, of course, contains 8 days. Week 9 runs from 26th February until 4th March regardless of leap years. We have presented seasonal maps in a similar way to Sharrock. It will be immediately apparent that we have used the county structure as it stood until 1974 (see map). This may seem somewhat idiosyncratic but the decision to do so was arrived at only after a great deal of thought. Firstly, we would apologise to younger readers who have grown up not being aware that such wonderful administrative entities as Buteshire, Clackmannanshire and Flint used to exist. Aside from this the reasons for staying with an old county system are fourfold. Firstly, continuity; 10 Aberdeenshire 48 Anglesey

89 84 13 Angus 94 91 Antrim 107 IS Argyllshire 33 95 Armagh 17 26 Ayrshire 37 8 Banffshire 22 65 Bedfordshire 70 77 Berkshire 93 28 Berwick 18 67 Brecknock 46 66 Buckinghamshire 106 27 Buteshire 75 49 Caernarvonshire 73 3 Caithness 83 56 Cambridgeshire 63 71 Cardiganshire 71 114 Carlow 57 II 68 Carmarthenshire 97 Cavan 39 45 Cheshire 87 20 Clackmannanshire 88 110 Clare 80 119 Cork 120 86 Cornwall 108 36 Cumberland 115 47 Denbighshire 12 44 Derbyshire 19 90 Derry 34 85 Devon 25

10

Donegal Dorset Down Dublin Dumfries-shire Dun bartonshire Durham East Lothian Essex Fermanagh Fife Flint Galway Glamorgan Gloucestershire Hampshire Herefordshire Hertfordshire Huntingdonshire Inverness-shire Isle of Man Isles of Scilly Isle of Wight Kent Kerry Kildare Kilkenny Kincardineshire Kinross Kirkcudbrightshire Lanarkshire

41 112 54 98 116 42 76 90 105 102 100 103 51 76 23 96 74 52 7 9 55 58 30 43 109 2 72

29 69 14

Lancashire Laoighis Leicestershire Leitrim Limerick Lincolnshire London Londonderry Longford Louth Mayo Meath Merionethshire Middlesex Midlothian Monaghan Monmouthshire Montgomeryshire Morayshire Nairn Norfolk Northamptonshire Northumberland Nottinghamshire Offaly Orkney Outer Hebrides Oxfordshire Peebles-shire Pembrokeshire Perthshire

62 24 101 6 31 54 87 32

Radnorshire Renfrewshire Roscommon Ross-shire Roxburghshire Rutland Scilly Selkirk I Shetland 53 Shropshire 99 Sligo 79 Somerset 50 Staffordshire 16 Stirlingshire 64 Suffolk 81 Surrey 82 Sussex 4 Sutherland III Tipperary 92 Tyrone 59 Warwickshire 118 Waterford 21 West Lothian 104 Westmeath 38 Westmorland 117 Wexford 113 Wicklow 35 Wigtownshire 78 Wiltshire 60 Worcestershire 40 Yorkshire

Map of Britain and Ireland, with county key opposite page. The boundaries and names are those used for the years 1958-74 and retained for the whole period covered by this book.

11

in the two earlier books some 20,000 records of both rarities and scarce migrants have been analysed. To these we have added another 26,000 records. It can be seen that to present a book covering the period 1958 to 1985, analysed by new counties, would involve a complete re-analysis of old records, which would have considerably delayed the production of this work. Secondly, political; the time this book was conceived coincided with a political threat hanging over the existence of the new metropolitan counties (Cleveland, Merseyside, Greater London, Greater Manchester, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands), we had no desire to produce a book that had a large amount of built-in obsolescence, to the degree that in ten years' time readers would have no idea these districts existed. In this situation we would then be faced with having recorded birds in three different ways, old counties, new counties and whatever might follow them. Thirdly, geographical; the post-1974 (1975 in Scotland) county boundaries were drawn to reflect demographic changes in human population in Britain. They are an extremely bad way of presenting natural history data, because of the large variation in size compare the Scottish regions with the English metropolitan counties. There are many bird species for which the east coast distributions would black out the county on the map. Fourthly, current practice; there is still a great deal of resentment of the new county structure and many county bird reports still reflect allegiances to old county boundaries. For some time after the re-drawing of the boundaries there was much confusion over 'who-did-what'; for example, the part of south Gloucestershire that now lies in Avon was not included in any county bird report for several years after 1974 (although it was recorded elsewhere!). For all these reasons we have remained faithful to the old county system. There is not sufficient space to list all the bird-watching sites affected by the new county boundaries, but there were some subtle shifts which may not be widely appreciated. Some examples affected the following sites: Christchurch Harbour, Stanpit Marsh and Hengistbury Head (all now in Dorset) were in the old county of Hampshire; Wraysbury Reservoir was in the old county of Buckinghamshire and apologies are offered also to the bird-watchers of the city of Oxford, as their local reservoir (Farmoor) was in the old county of Berkshire. As in the previous books, records at sites straddling a county boundary have been allocated to the county whose name is alphabetically first. We, like J. T. R. Sharrock and the BBRC, have considered that the first arrival of a rare bird in Britain or Ireland constitutes the only record. Hence, if a bird moves from its initial site of arrival to another county, the record in the second county is not included. Similarly, birds returning to the same site year after year are not counted in the yearly histograms. One important factor which must be taken into account when assessing the changing patterns of occurrence of rare birds is the number of observers. This affects both the geographical patterns and also the histograms. There can be no doubt that the rapid rise in the number of observers (the membership of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds rose from 7,500 in 1958 to nearly 500,000 in 1988) has contributed enormously to the increased number of records. However, it must be remembered that some sites, particularly observatories and wildfowl refuges, have always been relatively well watched and that an increased number of visitors will not lead to a proportionate increase in records at such sites. There must also be a point of saturation (eg St Mary's on Scilly in October) at which the increase in observers makes little or no difference to the number of records. Notwithstanding this, however, there are still many underwatched areas, particularly mainland headlands in Scotland, Ireland and the western coasts of England and Wales. These would undoubtedly repay birdwatchers' attention. We await with interest to see how the patterns change over the next ten years. 12

As with any reference book, we have endeavoured to maintain the highest standards of accuracy. The advent of micro-computers has meant that it has become substantially quicker to perform the types of analysis seen in this book. The 30,000 records since 1968 have been stored using one of the standard database packages on a hard-disc micro-computer. What does not change, however, is the time spent entering records from bird reports and subsequently checking for errors. We have, wherever possible, endeavoured to follow the totals maintained by the BBRC and published in the annual rarity reports. Nevertheless some errors are inevitable; we would be most grateful if a reader spotting any slips would inform us, so that we may correct future editions. Please write to P. A. Fraser, c/o T. and A. D. Poyser, Town Head House, Calton, Waterhouses, Staffs STIO 3]X.

13

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Acknowledgements

We wish to express our gratitude to many people for help during the preparation of this book. We extend our thanks to Trevor Poyser for his invitation to us to produce the book, his guidance and advice, and to both Trevor and Anna Poyser for their wonderful hospitality. Dr J. T. R. Sharrock gave us much encouragement and help, particularly in the early stages. For the loan of many county and regional bird reports we thank I. K. Dawson and C. A. Harbard at the RSPB, Robert Hudson and his library assistant at the BTO, J. T. R. Sharrock and his assistant, Mrs S. D.Cobban, at the British Birds office and T. Francis. Many thanks are due to Graham Williams at the RSPB Welsh office for providing the Welsh scarce migrants. For their help with providing computer equipment and facilities we thank Tim Phillips, Dept. Physics and Astronomy, VCL, Charles Copp, Bristol City Museum, Avon Wildlife Trust and Mercator Computer Services, Bristol. For solving the many queries that arose during the course of extraction of scarce migrant records we thank especially the following: G. A. Avery, c.J. Booth, A. Brown, M. Cade, G. P. Catley, M. Coates, J. Cudworth, W. A.J. Cunningham, W. Curtis, J. E. Dale, D. E. Dickson, G. Evans, J. Fitzharris, R. Goater, A. Harding, R. Harrison, S. M. Henson, M. S. Hodgson, A. Hogg, J. Howard, M. Hutcheson, M. Innes, M. Jones, R. W. Key, C. A. E. Kirtland, S. Manson, C. Newman, O. O'Sullivan, K. Preston, N.J. Riddiford, J. Sankey, P. Standley, Mrs P. M. Vizard, P. Walton, R. B. Warren, C. Wilson, and B. Zonfrillo. The extraction of records from the reports of the British Birds Rarities Committee and their use in this book has been carried out with the permission and support of the Committee and the editors of British Birds. Our sincere thanks are extended to M. J. Rogers, honorary secretary of the British Birds Rarities Committee, for solving many queries regarding national rarities in Britain, and to K. Preston who responded similarly concerning Irish records. For help with a few other records our thanks go to F. A. Currie, M. J. Everett, R. Spencer and Dr. K. F. Woodbridge. To those who helped but may have been overlooked in this list we apologise and send our sincere gratitude.

15

White-billed Diver, Cavia adamsii

Breeds Arctic, from western USSR eastwards to Canada. Winters in adjacent coastal waters. Resembles Great Northern Diver C. immer, but bill never has dark culmen ridge and is usually held pointing upwards, like Red-throated Diver C. stellata. Brit. Birds, 64: 519; 67: 257; 79: 365.

JAN

FEB

MAR

OCT

APR

NOV

All but two of the 79 records in 1958-85 were between October and June, with a pronounced peak in the second half of that period, suggesting a small but regular wintering population and midwinter movement across the North Sea from Norwegian waters.

•

...11

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I ~~~~~~~~oo~MMronnnH~~nn~ro~~~~~

SPRING

AUTUMN

The numbers of birds seen have increased considerably during the course of the 28-year period (11 in the first ten years of the period and 50 in the last ten years). This compares with only 18 before 1958. The identification problem makes it difficult to draw conclusions from these figures, but the dramatic increase does seem likely to be real, at least in part, rather than entirely reflecting the increasing number and vigilance of observers. There was only one autumn record during 1958-72 but since then autumn records have become almost annual. The reported slight shift of the Gulf Stream in recent years and the consequent slight fall in sea temperature to the north of the British Isles may result in more White-billed Divers (and other Arctic species) coming further south to winter in British waters. As might be expected from a species likely to be coming from Arctic Norwegian waters, the majority of records have come from the East Coast and especially Scotland. The spring peak in Shetland perhaps suggests a northerly departure route. One noteworthy individual returned each year from 1978 to at least 1988 to overwinter in the inshore waters between Whalsay and Mainland, Shetland. 16

rll

.,

•

1-2 3-4

•

••

.

••

7-8

••

Ci V

#.

.~

5--6

!l--10 11-12

••

Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps

Breeds North, Central and South America. Canadian population winters south to USA. Slighty larger than Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis but with thick, short, stubby bill; plumage mostly grey-buff, darker above than below; in summer the pale bill has a vertical dark central bar, and the throat is black. Brit. Birds, 58:

305;60: 290,295; 72: 329.

l •• I

JAN

I

I

I FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

JUN

JUL

•• •

I AUG

SEP

OCT

I

NOV

DEC

17

Pied-billed Grebe-continued Seemingly an unlikely transatlantic vagrant, at least nine were found during 1958-85 (and three since); some have stayed for long periods. Surprisingly for an American bird, four of the twelve records have come from the eastern side of the country.

II

I

I

I

I

I

.900m~mMffiWg.wronnnHThron~~~m~~~~

AUTUMN

SPRING

These are the only records, and the nine in the period are mapped: Somerset: a series of records probably involving one individual: Blagdon Lake on 22nd December 1963; Chew Valley Lake from 17th August to 23rd October 1965, 15th May 1966, 22nd July to 2nd November 1966, 14th May to 2nd October 1967; Blagdon Lake from 14th May to 5th June 1968; and Chew Valley Lake on 4th-5th July 1968. Yorkshire: Beaverdyke Reservoir, near Harrogate, from 9th June to 24th November 1965. Norfolk: Welney on 9th-12th November 1968. Kirkcudbrightshire (Dumfries and Galloway): Carlingwark Loch, Castle Douglas on 1st-8th October 1975. Aberdeenshire (Grampian): Loch of Strathbeg from 9th January to 27th March 1977. Yorkshire (North Yorkshire): Gouthwaite Reservoir from 23rd April to 15th May 1977. Dorset: Radipole Lake from 25th January to 4th February 1980; and subsequently at Studland from 10th February to 27th April 1980.

.~

18

I

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

•

•

2

Outer Hebrides (Western Isles): Loch na Liana Moire, Askernish, South Uist from 8th June 1983 to 22nd August 1985. Caernarvonshire (Gwynedd): Aber Ogwen from 13th November to 30th December 1984. Glamorgan (Mid Glamorgan): Kenfig Pool from 31st January to 25th April 1987, and again from 31st October 1987 to 1st April 1988. Dumfries-shire (Dumfries & Galloway): Lochmaben on 24th-25th April 1987 . Wexford: Lady's Island Lake from 24th May to 19th June 1987.

Black-browed Albatross Diomedea melanophris

Breeds on islands of southern oceans. Winters north to Tropics. Larger than a Gannet Sula bassana and shaped like a huge Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis, fat-bodied, with a short, thick neck and short tail, with very long, narrow wings and powerful gliding flight. Adults identified by blackish underwing with broad white central stripe, wholly white head (except for black 'brow') and yellow bill; immatures have head and neck grey, less white on underwing and bill dark grey or yellow with dark tip. Brit. Birds, 57: 179; 59: 376; 61: 22; 75: 585.

l

I

•

I ••

I

JAN

FEB

t•

FEB

MAY

JUN

JUL

I

1.&.1 • AUG

I

SEP

I

OCT

I

I NOV

ALL ALBATROSSES

II.

I

JAN

APR

I

I

I

MAR

I

MAR

APR

MAY

JUN

JUL

AUG

SEP

OCT

NOV

DEC

•

DEC

Of the albatrosses recorded in our period, 63% were identified as this species, and almost all the others were probably Black-browed. The records of those specifically identified are shown in the upper histogram and those of all albatrosses in the lower histogram. The main concentrations of records were in late April to mid May and July to early November, but this may partially reflect the times when most sea watching is carried out. One adult Black-browed Albatross frequented the gannetry on the Bass Rock, East Lothian, in the summers of 1967-69 and another, or perhaps the same, frequented the gannetry at Hermaness on Unst, Shetland, each summer from 1972-87. One of the Cork records (Cape Clear Island 26th August 1968) concerned two together; all other sightings were of single birds. 19

Black-browed Albatross-continued

:~

I

I

.L 1.11 I ~ 1.11 ..

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I ~~~~~~M~~~~~mnnn~Th~n~rooom~~M~

~~~~~~K~~~~~mnnn~Th~n~ro~m~~M~

AUTUMN

SPRING

.1. •• ~

V

•• SPRING

The 60 records in 1958-85 were all between late March and October, with a pronounced peak from August to early October. This contrasts with only five records before 1958. Concentrated sea watching in Ireland (mostly at Cape Clear Island, Cork and Brandon Point, Kerry) during the 1960s was responsible for the autumn peak of records in those years but the spring 1977 and autumn 1978 peaks were due primarily to the remarkable number of records (two and seven respectively) reported from Flamborough Head, Yorkshire (Humberside), in those two years. A single male was present in the Manx Shearwater colony on Skomer, Pembrokeshire (Dyfed), from 26th June to 10th July 1981 and again from 21st June to 25th July 1982. The spring birds in Cheshire (2), Lancashire and Norfolk were all dead or dying storm-driven vagrants but all others were seen during sea watches.

25

Wilson's Storm-Petrel Oceanites oceanicus

Breeds Antarctica and islands of southern oceans. Disperses north to about 47°N. Small, square-tailed, round-winged storm-petrel with long legs, which extend beyond the tail in flight or are dangled as the bird skips with raised wings over the surface of the sea. Though difficult to see, yellow webs to the feet are diagnostic. Compared with European Storm-Petrel Hydrobates pelagicus, slightly larger; white rump patch larger and extending further round body; lacks white bar on underwing but has more pronounced pale upperwing covert bar. Brit. Birds, 72: 330; 76: 161. All four records during 1958-85 were in autumn at St I ves, Cornwall: on 29th October 1967, 20th October 1970, 11th September 1978 and 3rd September 1983. Before 1958 there were four records, all last century. Birds were recorded at sea as follows: St George's Channel, off Pembrokeshire (Dyfed) on 12th September 1980 and about 88 km southwest of Mizen Head, Cork, on 17th August 1985. In addition, eight were seen at sea from pelagic trips southwest of Cornwall and Scilly in August 1986, a staggering 50 were seen in the same area in the second half of August 1987 and then a further 99 in the same period in 1988 (these records have yet to be accepted and published by BBRC) and nine were seen between 64km and 112km WSW of Mizen Head on 23rd August 1986. This dramatic discovery changes the known status of Wilson's Storm-Petrel in southwestern British waters, and supports Gould's observations in 1838 (Brit. Birds, 81: 402).

White-faced Storm-Petrel Pelagodroma marina

Breeds in subtropical North Atlantic (Salvage and Cape Verde Islands) and islands of southern oceans; between 30 N and 50 o S. Winters mainly in the tropics. A small petrel with wholly white underparts. Mainly slaty-brown upperparts with conspicuous white supercilium and pale grey upper tail-coverts contrasting 0

26

with blackish tail. Long dark legs, with orange webs, extend slighdy beyond tail in flight. Brit. Birds, 51: 269. There is one record: Argyllshire: Colonsay, Inner Hebrides, female, caught, on 1st January 1897.

Madeiran Storm-Petrel Oceanodroma castro

Breeds tropical and subtropical Adantic (including Cape Verde Islands, Salvages, Madeira group and Azores) and Pacific Oceans. Disperses in winter at sea within same regions. Differs from Leach's Storm-Petrel Oceanodroma leucorhoa in shorter, broader wings and undivided white rump. Flight bouyant with relatively shallow wingbeats and shearwater-like glides. Brit. Birds, 73: 263; 76: 161. There are two accepted records: Hampshire: Milford, dead, on 19th November 1911. Mayo: Blackrock lighthouse on 18th October 1931.

Magnificent Frigatebird Fregata magnificens

Breeds on islands in tropical Adantic and east Pacific. Rarely wanders very far north of tropics in Adantic. Huge, fork-tailed seabird with eight-foot wing-span and wonderful powers of flight, gliding and skimming food from the surface of the sea. Brit. Birds, 47: 58,

59.

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Magnificent Frigatebird-continued There were no certain records of this species in the period, but there were two records of unidentified frigate birds: Aberdeenshire: Forvie on 20th August 1960. Cork: Cape Clear Island on 24th August 1973. The only other record is of a fully identified Magnificent Frigatebird at Tiree, Inner Hebrides, Argyllshire, on 9th July 1953.

American Bittern Botaurus lentiginosus

Breeds North America. Winters southern USA to Central America. Slightly smaller than Bittern B. stellaris, and distinguished by wing-coverts paler than the mantle and scapulars; darker, more contrasting remiges in flight; contrasting dark brown culmen ridge to pale bill; rich rusty brown crown; cleancut, bright lemon gape and long black moustachial stripe, which is clean-cut against the uniform grey-brown sides to the head. Brit. Birds, 78: 103.

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AUTUMN

The eight records In 1958-85 were all between 7th September and 16th December: Caemarvonshire: Bardsey on 12th-15th September 1962. Galway: Loch Corrib, shot, on 16th December 1964. Dublin: Malahide, an immature found dying, on 4th October 1970. Donegal: Malin Beg on 21st October 1973. Cornwall: Marazion Marsh and St Erth on 7th-25th September 1977. Dorset: Tincleton, found shot, on 12th November 1980. Monmouthshire (Gwent): Magor from 29th October 1981 to 7th January 1982. Renfrewshire (Strathclyde): Kilmacolm from 4th November 1981 to 9th January 1982. 28

There have been no more records since then. This species was formerly more frequent, with about 50 records before 1958: 20 in England, 18 in Ireland, eight in Scotland and four in Wales, mostly in late autumn and prior to 1914.

Little Bittern Ixobrychus minutus

Breeds most of Europe (except Scandinavia, Britain and Ireland) and eastwards to Sinkiang; also central and southern Africa and Australia. European population winters in tropical Africa. Tiny heron; male black and creamy; female duller; immature streaky brown and buff: but all show pale wing coverts, forming conspicuous patch in flight, which is low, with rapid wing-beats and long glides; green legs. Brit. Birds, 46: 138,450. 16

1+ 12 10

4

JAN

FEB

MAR

Apart from one in January (Norfolk in 1968), all the other 144 records were in April-October with most in the nine weeks from mid April to mid June.

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Little Bittern-continued Ij.

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