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2008 Hampshire Bird Report

The Hampshire Bird Report for 2008
Published by the Hampshire Ornithological Society in October 2009

Well, I am always excited on receiving this publication, not only because of its usual high quality but also of its wonderful ‘new’ printing aroma. Hampshire Bird Reports of late have been of the highest accolade and bar those produced by the Isles of Scilly and Spurn Point, have been consistently the best on offer – and this 2008 report is certainly no exception.

It is a mammoth 258 pages and a brilliant, sumptuous affair. The design layout, size and content are perfect and the text layout extremely pleasing on the eye. It really is a pleasure to read and an essential addition to my library. Front cover is Steve Lavington’s superb imagery of the displaying male Black-winged Stilt on the Beaulieu River at the end of June 2008 whilst Richard Ford’s depiction of the very juvenile Red-backed Shrike at Pennington Marshes in early October 2008 adorns the back cover. On opening the
first few pages, one is soon greeted by the first of many of David Thelwell’s eloquent watercolours and these, amongst others, enhance the report throughout.

Alan Cox provides the review of the year on pages 13-27 and although an impressive 267 species were recorded all told – none were new to the county list in 2008. In fact, one species was ‘lost’ – a record of Madeiran Storm Petrel from November 1911 being belatedly rejected by the BOURC. The highlights of the year included the very popular juvenile White-tailed Sea Eagle, a twitchable Glossy Ibis, a pair of Black-winged Stilts, a further influx of Cattle Egrets and the regularly returning adult Red-breasted Goose. Rarest
of the year however was the totally (and inexplicably) suppressed White-throated Sparrow at Old Winchester Hill, first recorded in October 2008 (and not widely twitched until news was finally released in April 2009).

Pages 26-195 are solely devoted to the all-important Systematic List of Species and this is a typically absorbing read. Species sequence and taxonomy follow that of the less traditional latest BOU offering and is written by a team of selective writers. As usual, the layout is excellent and I adore the choice of colours in highlighting different texts. WeBS count totals are attractively relayed via easy-to-glance tables and each species is given a detailed review. The photographs used were of the highest quality and reproduction, whilst David Thelwell’s artwork was added to by equally attractive works by Dan Powell and Jan Wilczur.

Reading through the Systematic List threw up some interesting data: 2008 was the best year for Whooper Swan since 1964, 5 Greenland White-fronted Geese occurred, the population of non-naturalised Snow Geese have virtually died out; Hampshire is most likely the best county for Black Brant; Egyptian Geese now number over 156; 2000 Gadwall winter in Hampshire, as well as nearly 1,000 Pintail; at least 83 pairs of Little Egret bred; a French Great White Egret returned for a sixth winter; eight pairs of Honey Buzzard
oversummered; Red Kites continue to spread; Northern Goshawks now number at least 30 individuals in the New Forest; some 24,300 Dunlin winter in the county – and on it carries.

What I also enjoyed about the Systematic List was its detail devoted to the scarcer ‘forms’ – with individual sections highlighting all of the records say for Pale-bellied Brent Goose and White Wagtail.

Appendix One on pages 196-199 features the escapes and others and includes further proof of the British colonisation of the Australian Black Swan and a record of a ship-assisted Common Yellowthroat. Then towards the back of the report, we have the featured articles and as always, an essential read.

Pete Carr produces an update after ten years of the Little Egret colonisation (pages 208-213) whilst pages 214-224 highlight the changes in status of the breeding birds of Martin Down NNR (note how European Turtle Dove bucks the national 86% decline by holding stable), Marcus Ward summarizes 5-years worth of patchwork study on pages 225-232 and Keith Betton and Richard Jacobs fully document the county status of Red Kite on pages 236-243. The report concludes with the 2008 Ringing Report on pages 244-256 and like everything else this report throws at the browser, full of interesting and very readable anecdotes.

Truly an annual report to be very, very proud of. Exceptionally well done.

The report can be obtained from Margaret Boswell, 5 Clarence Road, LYNDHURST, SO43 7AL and is priced at £10.50. Alternatively, receive it free when you join HOS via Christine Maclean, 6 Jukes Walk, Moorgreens Road, West End, SOUTHAMPTON, SO30 3EF.

2007 HAMPSHIRE BIRD REPORT

The standard of this annual bird report just keeps getting better and better and considering this is one of the first to appear for 2007, its editorial team and production consultants need to be congratulated. The quality of the colour reproduction throughout the report is first-rate and liberal and the cover portraits of Farlington Spotted Crake and Calshot Hoopoe are particularly well chosen and extremely pleasing to the reader.

For me, this is a report with only few faults and a testimony to the very hard work and effort that Alan Cox (editor) and Keith Betton, John Clark, Pauline Cox, Jason Crook, Richard Ford, Paul Norris and Russell Wynn (the Editorial Team) have put into this production. Furthermore, it is lavishly illustrated with some beautiful vignettes, kindly provided by Dan Powell, David Thelwell and Rosemary Watts.

It is a top-notch publication of 238 pages length and records the ornithological results of a team of over 300 contributors (listed on pages 7-10). Alan Cox provides the review summary (pages 11-21) which highlights the fact that 257 BOURC species were recorded in the county during 2007 and that GREATER YELLOWLEGS (the only county addition of the year) represented the 365th species to be recorded.

The Systematic List of species is provided on pages 22-177 and boy is this exhaustive and comprehensive. For each species of wildfowl, we are given an easy-on-the-eye chart highlighting all of the WeBs peak counts at each individual location (complete with totals) and we are treated to a detailed summary of breeding numbers and very useful historical data (particularly in the case of the scarce and declining Bewick’s Swans and Eurasian White-fronted Geese). The sole record of an adult Greenland White-fronted Goose at Farlington Marshes on 6 November was an intriguing occurrence, whilst the regularly returning adult Red-breasted Goose was well documented. I was particularly pleased to see that the national cull of Ruddy Ducks had not had any effect on the Hampshire population of this delightful oxyura and that Goosander had experienced another good breeding season in the New Forest.

Common Quail were scarce in 2007, with just 12 calling males in what is traditionally the species’ ‘best’ county, whilst Hampshire received a vagrant Cattle Egret, a peak roost count of 237 Little Egrets, 4 Great White Egrets, an adult Purple Heron, a Black Stork, a Black Kite, Northern Goshawks consolidated their presence in the New Forest with 12 territories now occupied, a Corncrake, a Kentish Plover, an adult American Golden Plover, a Red-necked Phalarope, the regular Gosport adult Ring-billed Gull, an adult Caspian Gull, 2 White-winged Black Terns, 4 Hoopoes, a European Bee-eater, a Red-rumped Swallow, 3 Richard’s Pipits, a Bluethroat, an Aquatic Warbler, a Marsh Warbler, a Barred Warbler, two Western Subalpine Warblers, 2 Rose-coloured Starlings and a ship-assisted White-throated Sparrow. Its most famous rarity of the year however was the Finnish-ringed juvenile White-tailed Sea Eagle that survived to overwinter in the Shipton Bellinger area which is given adequate treatment (with photographs) on page 64.

Most intriguing was a record of a Red-billed Chough in Cholderton Park on 10 April – the first occurrence in the county since April 1941.

I found the Systematic List an absolute delight to read, highly informative, crammed full of important information and extremely interesting, and particularly useful for studying the trends in more frequent species such as Woodlark, Nightjar, Dartford Warbler, Hobby and Wood Warbler.

Pages 178-180 incorporate that highly important ‘escape section’, whilst pages 187-198 incorporate Duncan Bell’s Ringing Report for 2007. There is an excellent survey summary of breeding Ringed and Little Ringed Plovers whilst Jason Crook has published (pages 203-206) a superb and exhaustive account of the first Greater Yellowlegs for the county. David Thelwell provides an enchanting review of the birds of Timsbury village (1966-2006) and there are further interesting papers on Bar-tailed Godwit migration (pages 215-225) and Southampton Water Turnstones (226-233).

This is a brilliant report in every sense of the word and one that took me over five hours to extract important records for my Master Database. No wonder British Birds has consistently voted this report as one of the best bird reports published in Britain. Pure class.

For further information on how to purchase a copy of this magnificent report, simply email alanfjcox@compuserve.com for details. Like most county bird reports these days, it has a limited production run, concentrating on members of the Hampshire Ornithological Society (http://www.hos.org.uk/)

Rare Birds, Where and When

This work is an essential reference for anyone seeking a book about the status, distribution and vagrancy patterns of rare species within the UK and Ireland, together with a comprehensive overview of Western Palearctic records. It pulls together the records for all species presently treated as ‘rarities’ by the British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC) and the Irish Rare Birds Committee (IRBC).

Click here to pre order

2006 Highland Bird Report

I always look forward to receiving the Highland Bird Report and that produced for Year 2006 is perhaps the best for that region yet. It is a real bumper issue, stretching to a staggering 208 pages and is, as usual, crammed full of invaluable information. From the front cover portrait (a stunning portrayal of an adult male Scottish Parrot Crossbill perched on an isolated dead branch) to the wonderful array of colour plates in the centre pages, it is superbly illustrated, featuring a duel between an adult White-tailed Sea Eagle and an adult Great Black-backed Gull and adult male White Wagtail (both Bob McMillan) as well as regional rarities such as the Common Crane at Durness (Graham Smith) and the 2nd-summer Laughing Gull at Brora (Sandy Morrison). Amongst David Whitaker’s fabulous images is a Common Kingfisher with fish prey on the inside back cover.

Just browsing the highly informative individual species’ text entries in the Systematic List gives one a detailed oversight of the region’s avifauna, and it is interesting to compare fortunes of different species over a 25 year period. There have been many gains on the breeding front, with species such as Northern Goshawk, Osprey, Jay, Blackcap and Goldfinch consolidating and rapidly expanding their ranges. Other species such as White-tailed Sea Eagle and Red Kite have benefited from reintroduction schemes. However, it is not just amongst the breeding birds that we have seen increases. The numbers of species such as Black-tailed Godwit and Sanderling have increased markedly in the same period, both as passage and wintering species. Conversely, many breeding birds have undergone rapid declines, such as Slavonian Grebe, Common Scoter, Short-eared Owl, Ptarmigan, Capercaillie, Woodcock, Black-headed Gull, Twite, Snow Bunting and Corn Bunting.

Year 2006 in Highland was slightly below average, with at least 228 species recorded. However, TWO NEW SPECIES were added to the Highland List: an AMERICAN ROBIN that was present at two different locations in Speyside on 4th and 6th May and a BOOTED or SYKES’S BOOTED WARBLER at Tarbat Ness on 19th August. These two new additions forward the Highland List to 336 species. The year also saw the second record of LAUGHING GULL, whilst of the 164 species that were suspected or known to have bred, most intriguing was that of the regularly returning male BLACK KITE which once again paired with a female Red Kite on the Black Isle and reared two hybrid young. Marsh Harrierand Northern Pintail were also proven to breed.

Dave Butterfield provides an ample summary of the avian highlights in his review of the ornithological year on pages 15-23 whilst the Systematic List for 2006 (on pages 24-174) provides a brilliant insight into the bird species that occurred in Badenoch & Strathspey, Inverness District, Easter Ross, Sutherland, Wester Ross, Lochalsh, Lochaber and Skye during the year. Delving through the data, I picked up some interesting snippets, which enhanced my knowledge of the region. For example, Broadford Bay on Skye has a regular wintering flock of Greenland White-fronted Geese, over 800 Barnacle Geese now winter at Balnakeil, 232 Common Goldeneyes were counted on Loch Kerry, near Gairloch, in January, 470 lekking Black Grouse were recorded in Speyside in April, breeding Black-throated Divers increased by 19% to 217 pairs, 74 pairs of Osprey bred successfully rearing 97 young, Black-headed Gulls are in serious decline as a breeding species, just 1 nest of Wood Warbler was recorded in 2006, a pair of Red-backed Shrikes summered in North Sutherland, the male for its third consecutive year and that there is a stable population of Corn Buntings. Most intriguing was a party of 5 Burrowing Parrots in Lairg, which survived in the wild from May to July after escaping from an aviary which got damaged in a storm.

At the end of the report, there is the standard first and last dates (page 177), The Highland Ringing Group Report 2006 (pages 178-191) and Gazateer (pages 202-205). Additionally, a thorough review of The Highland Common Swift Survey for 2006 is included (on pages 192-201).

My only real criticism of the report was its lack of accounts on its major rarities of the year, such as the two firsts. I would have liked to have seen a description (or photographs if they exist) of the Booted Warbler for example.

Overall, a superb report and well worth the small investment in purchase price. Copies can be obtained (ordered) from Dave Butterfield or the Scottish Ornithologist’s Club

Product Review – Spurn Wildlife 2007

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.

Product Review – Hampshire Bird Report 2006

Wow ! What a production. From the dazzling Osprey front cover through the array of colour photographs and artwork inside, this bumper 254-page special 50th Edition is truly sumptuous. The editorial team (Alan Cox, John Clark, Jason Crook, Richard Ford, Paul Norris and Pauline Cox) are to be congratulated on this mamoth production, quite easily one of the best county bird reports ever published.

Following an obituary to Norman William Orr (the Stone Curlew saviour in the 1960′s), who sadly died in 2006, pages 13-176 review all 253 species of bird recorded in the county during 2006, including the first DUSKY WARBLER (362nd species recorded since 1949), only 3rd-ever SURF SCOTER, two CATTLE EGRETS, two WOODCHAT SHRIKES and AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER and SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER. The review is very well written, very neatly produced and extremely well presented, with easy-to-read histograms and charts highlighting the wildfowl counts and wader counts.

I particularly liked the matching blue, red and black text colours and was most impressed by the choice of photographs (all in full colour throughout) (Peter Raby’s image of the Pennington juvenile SemiP is outstanding, as well as Richard Ford’s Long-eared Owl). Each individual species text was accurate and informative and quite detailed when discussing a county scarcity. Equally pleasing was the excellent selection of artwork provided by the two local artists – David Thelwell and Dan Powell.

Towards the back of the report, Duncan Bell provided the 2006 Ringing summary (pages 185-197), followed by a comprehensive account by John Eyre on the status of Woodlark in Hampshire (198-203), an excellent analysis by Russell Wynn of the status of seabirds (204-212), a prelude to the 2007-2011 Bird Atlas (213-220) and an article by John Cloyne on the Birds of the Itchen Valley (221-231). Particularly interesting was an article on Grey Partridges (247 pairs recorded in 2006), whilst the winter gull survey results and full documentation of the Hayling Island Dusky Warbler finish the book.

Fifty years of the Hampshire Bird Report is an achievement to be proud of and Alan Cox has illustrated on pages 245-251 the leaps and bounds the Hampshire Ornithological Group has come along.

This 2006 report can be purchased (priced £12 including p & p) from Margaret Boswell, Sales Officer, 5 Clarence Road, Lyndhurst, Hampshire, SO43 7AL.

Lee G R Evans
British Birding Association
UK400 Club, Rare Birds Magazine, Ornithological Consultant and Conservationist
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Email Address: LGREUK400@aol.com
Website Address: www.uk400clubonline.co.uk

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(Lee Evans Enterprises incorporate documentation of rare bird occurrences in Britain & Ireland and elsewhere in the Western Palearctic and in North America; Rare Bird Information and Rare Bird Alerts; Rare Birds Magazine and other related publications; Bird Tours for Birders)

Rare Birds Yearbook 2008

Rare Birds Yearbook 2008 is an absolute essential purchase for all of you concerned about the predicament facing the World’s 189 most threatened birds.

This doomsday avian charter highlights the most threatened birds on the planet (in fact it includes some birds, such as Slender-billed Curlew, which I consider became extinct some 14 years ago and lists 39 species not actually physically recorded since at least 2001, some as long ago as 1823 – Hooded Seedeater) and describes the dramatic circumstances which have pushed these species to the brink of survival.

The 274 pages are crammed full of information, the book itself being edited by Erik Hirshfeld and published in association with Birdlife International. There are some very interesting feature-articles on such birds as the endangered Madagascan Pochard (one of six species of wildfowl on the Critical List) and Balearic Shearwater (now numbering just 12,500 birds), with the main heart of the book (pages 84-243) concentrating on defining those 189 species, highlighting the range and population, potential threats and conservation actions currently employed or required. Each species is illustrated, either by existing photographs or constructed plates, and range from White-winged Guan and Blue-billed Curassow through Gorgeted Woodquail, Red-headed Vulture, Samoan Moorhen, Moheli Scops Owl, Imperial Woodpecker to the Munchique Wood-wren. Some of the most exquisite and beautiful birds on the planet are represented. Sadly, since 1500, a total of at least 155 species has become extinct – an absolute tragedy, including 7 species between 1980 and 1989. In fact, five further species now only exist in captivity – Alagoas Curassow, Socorro Dove, Guam Rail, Spix’s Macaw and Hawaiian Crow.

This is a publication that EVERY birder should own and for every copy purchased, £4.00 of the cover price goes direct to Birdlife International, where it can be converted into real support and education for each threatened species. The book was published on 7th November 2007 and, apart from putting the spotlight on the situation of the Critically Endangered species, sales of the book will create much needed funds to help save them.

The recommended retail price for the book in the UK is £18.95 and can be ordered direct through http://www.rarebirdsyearbook.com

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