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.
Product Review - Hampshire Bird Report 2006
March 6, 2008
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
Discussion Forum/Email Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UK400Club/
Rare Bird Alert: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RareBirdAlertforBritainandIreland_UK400ClubBBA/
Email Address: LGREUK400@aol.com
Website Address: www.uk400clubonline.co.uk
Chaffinch House
8 Sandycroft Road
Little Chalfont
Amersham
Buckinghamshire
England
HP6 6QL
Telephones: 01494 763010 and 01494 581157
Mobile/Text Alerts: 07881 906629
(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
January 4, 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
Product Review - Highland Bird Report 2005
November 23, 2007
The three most recent volumes of the HIGHLAND BIRD REPORT have just arrived on my desk, including the 2005 edition which has just been published. With a superb juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper adorning the front cover (provided by Dave Pullan), this really is an impressive bird report. It is a sumptuous edition at 248 pages long, much more than in many county reports published for English counties. Following 13 pages detailing the weather in Highland Region in 2005, we then move on to the Dave Butterfield provided year end review, highlighting the 231 species recorded in Sutherland, Ross-shire and Inverness-shire during that year.
Of these 231 species, 155 were proven to have bred, with a further 7 likely to have done so. This included the mixed pairing of a Black x Red Kite on the Black Isle, the suspected breeding of a pair of Gadwall and the presence of two singing male Bramblings in Sutherland. In terms of rare vagrants, 2005 produced a wintering IVORY GULL, an adult WHITE-BILLED DIVER, a singing male WESTERN SUBALPINE WARBLER and a BLACKPOLL WARBLER on Skye, the latter the only new county addition of the year (the County List now standing at a very respectable 334 BOU/346 BBA). Scarcities included 2 Great Shearwaters offshore, the 3rd Little Egret for Skye, Common Crane, 5th Pectoral Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, returning adult Ring-billed Gull at Dingwall, up to 8 Hoopoes, a singing male Marsh Warbler on Eigg, a Lesser Whitethroat on 4th June, a male Woodchat Shrike in July and a huge influx of Trumpeter Bullfinches, 2 Hawfinches
The Systematic List for 2005 (covering pages 36-207) was incredibly detailed and informative, providing breeding and wintering numbers of most species and offering the reader an excellent insight into the insight of each and every individual species recorded. I was highly impressed by the content, the layout and the overall accuracy. Although in the new taxonomic order of which I am not a supporter, the text was easy to follow and geographical areas well abbrieviated. The summaries were littered with items of a highly informative nature (eg results of Common Scoter breeding survey, just 28 pairs of nesting Common Goldeneyes, a pair of Smew in May, total of 361 lekking male Black Grouse, 143 pairs of Black-throated Divers, a decrease from 43 to 37 breeding pairs of Slavonian Grebes, at least 6,618 breeding adult Storm Petrels on Priest Island, 55% of the UK breeding population of White-tailed Sea Eagle, 18 pairs of Hen Harrier fledging 56 young, 108 pairs of Golden Eagle representing 44% of the national population, 81 pairs of Osprey, total of 33 of 1,108 calling male Corncrakes in Scotland, just 542 pairs of Common Snipe, 332 pairs of Eurasian Curlew, 307 pairs of Arctic Tern, just 244 Atlantic Puffins on Handa Island, at least 4 singing Wrynecks in June, 275 singing male Tree Pipits in Abernethy Forest, Red-backed Shrikes again breeding successfully and 16 singing male Corn Buntings).
Towards the back of the report, pages 212-224 featured the Highland Ringing Group Report 2005, pages 225-233 a featured article on the dynamics of a Highland Barn Swallow roost and pages 234-240 a very interesting historical perspective on the Birds of the Cromarty Firth.
A colour plate section in the centre pages features some of the year’s avian highlights, including a Common Quail, Hoopoe, flock of spring passage Pomarine Skuas, the Blackpoll Warbler and first-winter Ivory Gull, drake Ring-necked Duck and Eurasian Bittern.
I felt that these most recent three Highland Bird Reports were of an exceptional standard and Dave Butterfield, Alastair McNee and others are to be congratulated on such an impressive production.
The report can be obtained, priced £9.00 (inc. p&p), from Alastair McNee, Liathach, 4 Balnafettack Place, Scorguie, INVERNESS, IV3 8TQ
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