UK400 Club List Updates
April 3, 2008
The following UK400 club updates are now available to members…
The UK400 Club UK and Ireland Combined Life List Totals
2008 County Listing
UK & IRELAND YEAR LISTING 2008
2008 UK bird totals
April 1, 2008
With the addition of eight further species (Osprey, GYRFALCON, Curlew Sandpiper, ROSS’S GULL, Common Tern, WHITE-SPOTTED BLUETHROAT, Sedge Warbler and Willow Warbler), the total number of species now recorded in Britain and Ireland in 2008 moves forward to 278 species
Product Review - Spurn Wildlife 2007
April 1, 2008
You either love or loathe Spurn Point in East Yorkshire as it is a migration spot where you literally either see very little or incredibly much on a visit during peak periods, and on many visits it can be particularly frustrating, especially if you have just missed that flythrough Pallid Harrier, Chimney Swift, Calandra Lark, Bee-eater or Chimney Swift by just a few minutes.
Although it is the best part of a four-hour drive for me, some of my best (and worst birding days in Britain have been spent at the peninsular, and I have great memories of rarity-filled days both in spring and late autumn, and of ginormous falls of thrushes, pipits, Common Redstarts, Robins and Goldcrests. Unfortunately, my most recent memory is of a day following the occurrence of White’s Thrush, Olive-backed Pipit, Rustic Bunting and a whole host of Siberian rares, when I just managed a juvenile Common Rosefinch - every other bird had disappeared overnight.
The latest 2007 report to reach my desk is the fabulous new lavish production from Spurn Bird Observatory - in its new larger format - and what a fantastic report it is in every way. Design, production and layout wise, it is absolutely superb and so easy on the eye - and in terms of artwork and photography, probably second only to the most recent Scilly reports in its quality and content. As soon as I opened the front page, I was hit by an excellent Raymond Scally watercolour, capturing the evocativeness of a typical autumn day at Spurn, with skeins of Icelandic Pink-footed Geese and small flocks of Snow Buntings passing overhead. For me, this is truly a benchmark report on which to follow.
The 2007 Report consists of 132 pages, incorporating the Observatory Warden’s Report (page 10), Breeding Bird Survey (11), an article on the Beacon Lagoon Little Tern colony (13), Accommodation details (14), an Annual Review (18-28), the Systematic List (38-97), a Bird Gallery (98-103), Rarity write-ups (104-109), the Ringing Report (110-116) and Insect Report (124-132).
Year 2007 was another good year for the Spurn Observatory Recording Area with a total of 243 species recorded, with a further six just outside to the north of the area. There was one new bird - Cattle Egret - and three new ones for the ‘Greater Spurn area’ - Red-flanked Bluetail, European Roller and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. The Systematic List written by Adam Hutt and Andy Roadhouse is extremely detailed and definitive, including all records of passage migrants (such as Whooper Swan and Barnacle Goose) and a detailed analysis of resident birds (such as Mute Swan). The text is liberally enhanced by the inclusion of some first-rate artwork (by artists Ray Scally, Jack Ashton-Booth, Paul Leonard, John Grist and Alan Harris) and I was very impressed by the detail given to every rarity occurrence (such as American Golden Plover, Red-footed Falcon, European Roller, Red-rumped Swallow and Bluethroat.
Four pages are devoted to the gallery, depicting an excellent selection of the year’s birds and featuring 24 full-colour images, including the March Red-flanked Bluetail, June Common Quail, July Roller,, September Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and November Cattle Egret and Little Bunting, whilst elsewhere in the report, photographs of the rarest birds are given a full page and scattered neatly throughout the report.
Being a vagrant fanatic, I was rivetted to the ‘Rare Encounters’ section, where I could read Martin Stoyle’s account of the Bluetail, Andrew Hanby’s account of the Roller, John Grist’s account of the ‘Sharpie’ and Mich Turton’s write-up on the Cattle Egret occurrences.
A total of 7,507 birds of 97 species was ringed at the Observatory in 2007, including a Northern Gannet, Bar-tailed Godwit, Common Kingfisher, Blyth’s Reed Warbler and 3 Common Rosefinches, with a total of just 39 recoveries involving 18 species, including noteworthy reports of a Belgian-breeding Little Tern, a Whinchat in Holland, a Chaffinch in Lithuania and two Goldfinches that went on to winter together in Suffolk.
Towards the end of the report, there is an exhaustive and highly detailed report by Barry Spence on the Butterflies, Moths, Dragonflies and Damselflies recorded at the Observatory in 2007.
Spurn Wildlife No.17 is a publication to be well and truly proud of and Chris Gaughan of Designwing needs to be congratulated for its conception. This is a huge improvement on the previous format and stands heads in front of the majority of county and local bird reports published thus far in 2008.
This latest report can be obtained direct from the Spurn Bird Observatory (Kilnsea, Hull, East Yorkshire, HU12 0UG) priced £9.00 including post & packaging.
