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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