British Birds

Volume 114 • Number 1 • January 2021

2 BB eye: Science and birding – reflections on some pioneers

4 News and comment Adrian Pitches
8 From the Rarities Committee’s files: BBRC and newly
split species Andy Stoddart and Nigel Hudson
18 The reintroduction of the White-tailed Eagle to Britain Ian Newton
27 The chick-rearing period of the Great Auk Tim Birkhead
30 ‘Taiga Merlin’: new to Britain Nina O’Hanlon and Rob Hughes
33 Genetic analysis reveals the origin of a Bearded Vulture in northern
Europe Louis Phipps, Franziska Loercher, David Ball and Etienne Marlé
38 Notes 47 Obituaries 51 Reviews
57 Recent reports 59 My patch

The papers in this issue offer some thought-provoking contrasts, notably

between Martin Martin’s seventeenth-century diaries of St Kilda, in an era
when Great Auks were still fishing in UK waters, and the analysis of discarded
feathers collected from a preening site that revealed the individual identity
and provenance of last year’s wandering Bearded Vulture. That vulture
would have been a highlight for many BB readers in 2020, and confirms the
progress of the Bearded Vulture reintroduction programme in the Alps. This
in turn is another counterpoint to Ian Newton’s account of how the ‘Sea
Eagle programme’, to restore White-tailed Eagles to their rightful place in
the Scottish countryside, came about in the early 1970s. Contemplating the
changes in all aspects of ornithology over a birding lifetime is something
that may give many of us pause for thought at the start of another year. Correspondence with long-
term subscribers is always a highlight for me, and just before Christmas I particularly enjoyed a letter
from J. S. C. Robinson, a subscriber since 1945 and who (in his own words) highlighted the following
contrast: ‘The award [The Carl Zeiss Award, in the November 2020 issue] for coverage of the Pallid
Swift on Skokholm in November 2018 was clinched by a superb series of photographs. Compare that
with the first occurrence of [Western] Bonelli’s Warbler, also on Skokholm, on 31st August 1948. I was
on a series of visits to that enchanting location and witnessed the distress of my good friend Peter
Conder when he resorted to euthanasia to submit the specimen for assessment by Mr Wagstaff at
Yorkshire Museum, having failed to make an identification from literature available on the island.’

Roger Riddington

British Birds aims to: v provide an up-to-date magazine for everyone interested in the birds
of the Western Palearctic; v publish a range of material on behaviour, conservation, distribution,
ecology, identification, movements, status and taxonomy as well as the latest ornithological news
and book reviews; v maintain its position as the journal of record; and
v interpret scientific research on birds in an easily accessible way.

© British Birds 2021

BB eye
Science and birding – reflections on some pioneers
T
he history of the luminaries of science
and birding is a long and illustrious
one, as is the list of names. Those
included here are personal choices to high-
light a range of aspects of science and birding.
As birders, we will be familiar with
Eleonora’s Falcon Falco eleonorae, but are we
aware that the name memorialises Eleanor of
Arborea, the Sardinian judge who, in 1392,
introduced legislation (the Carta de Logu)
that included protection of the nests of
Sardinian hawks and falcons? It wasn’t until
many centuries later that wild birds in the
UK were given protection. By the late nine-
teenth century, the tide was beginning to
turn from shooting and exploitation to pro-
tection. Emily Williamson founded what
would become the RSPB, in Didsbur y,
Manchester, later joining forces with Eliza
Phillips’s Fur and Feather group, and
appointing the Duchess of Portland as their
president. America followed suit when
Harriet Hemenway and her cousin Minna B.
Hall founded the Massachusetts Audubon
Society, which became a national organisa-
tion in 1905. More protection was sorely
needed, however, since shooting birds was
still permitted on the Audubon Society’s
reserves. Step forward conservation activist
Rosalie Barrow Edge, who contacted
Audubon members about the shortcomings
in the Society’s defence of birds and other
wildlife. She went on to found the
Emergency Conservation Committee and to
create the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary as a
refuge for Appalachian hawks and eagles.
She also led campaigns to create national
parks (Olympic, Kings Canyon and
Yosemite). Rachel Carson used migration
data from Hawk Mountain in her work on
the decline in raptor populations in the
1960s. Current news reports highlight the
need for a great deal more work on the topic
of bird protection, especially for raptors.
The distant past is key to our under-
standing of birds, with much of the earliest
work relating to reptiles rather than birds.
Mary Anning spent her life exploring the
2 © British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 2– 3
Jurassic marine fossil beds in Lyme Regis, in
Dorset, discovering ichthyosaur and ple-
siosaur skeletons. Being instrumental in the
discovery that coprolites are fossilised faeces
must have been fun! It wasn’t until nearly a
century after Anning’s death in 1847 that
Hildegarde Howard pioneered advances in
avian palaeontology using her discoveries in
the La Brea Tar Pits (Los Angeles). She stan-
dardised the terminology now used in
palaeontology worldwide.
Birds have evolved into what we see today
through a series of interactions with their
environment and each other. Scottish
ornithologist Annie Meinertzhagen (nee
Jackson) produced a wide range of work,
from plumage and moult in ducks (1915)
and waders (1919) to chick mouthpart col-
oration. She made several important contri-
butions to Witherby’s A Practical Handbook
of British Birds and published papers in Ibis.
In the early 1970s, Barbara and David Snow’s
studies would show co-adaptation between
fruit-eating birds and plants. Agriculture is
undeniably the greatest driver of bird–envi-
ronment interactions; the work of Juliet
Vickery and colleagues has clearly shown it to
be detrimental to farmland species.
Other drivers of evolution include migra-
tion. In the early twentieth century, Evelyn
Baxter and Leonora Rintoul worked on the
Isle of May, studying the movements of birds
and developing theories of bird migration.
They founded the Scottish Ornithologists’
Club and published The Birds of Scotland in
1953. In our own time, we can see the changes
in Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla migration, with
some birds from central Europe now over-
wintering in Britain & Ireland rather than the
Iberian Peninsula. Kate Plummer and col-
leagues’ work on the increasing numbers of
Blackcaps in our gardens has revealed the
mechanisms behind this shift, which are
partly linked to supplementary feeding in
gardens. These new migration patterns are
accompanied by phenotypic evolution, with
changes in bill shape reflecting the adaptation
to a wider range of foods.

Evolution is a risky business: an inability to
adapt to changing conditions can lead to
extinction. Janet Kear’s work at the Wildfowl
& Wetlands Trust (WWT) to prevent the
extinction of the Nene Branta sandvicensis is
well known. Captive breeding was followed by
reintroduction, leading the way for many
other reintroductions of species that were
facing total, or local extinction. Kear’s time as
President of the British Ornithologists’ Union
and editor of Ibis took her influence beyond
WWT, as did her interest in bird behaviour.
It’s all about genetics! Our understanding
of this scientific field has developed rapidly
over the last 100 years. In the late 1920s,
Barbara McClintock developed a staining
technique that allowed her to identify,
examine and describe maize genes, revealing
that they are on chromosomes. She went on
to identify jumping genes and develop the
concept of epigenetics, both of which are
now vital in revealing how any species’
genome works. Just two decades later,
Rosalind Franklin worked on the X-ray
diffraction images that determined the
overall B-form of the DNA helix.
Science and birding continue to affect
today’s world, covering everything from our
physical and mental health to the health of
this planet. Good nutrition and an under-
standing of drugs are essential for our health.
The Second World War years saw publication
of Elsie Widdowson’s book The Chemical
Composition of Food, co-authored with
Robert McCance, describing the nutritional
values of many foods. They advised on
British wartime rationing, personally trialling
a diet of bread, cabbage and potatoes, and the
result was the addition of vitamins and min-
erals to the wartime bread ration. Just after
the war, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin suc-
ceeded in describing the 3D-structure of
penicillin using X-ray crystallography. She
followed this with the structures of vitamin
B12 and, finally, insulin, making possible
mass-production for the treatment of dia-
betes. She was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize
in Chemistry for her work.
As a species, humans appear to be very
successful. However, the effects of our pres-
ence and our behaviour on this planet are
becoming an increasing threat to the exis-
tence of all species. Everyone will remember
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 2–3
BB eye
2020 for the Covid-19 pandemic, but the
first coronavirus was identified in the mid
1960s, by the Scottish virologist June
Almeida at St Thomas’ in London. Work has
continued in that same establishment to
develop diagnostics, treatments and a
vaccine for Covid-19.
Alongside diseases, climate change is
probably the present biggest threat to
humanity. The current work carried out by
the British Antarctic Survey under the lead-
ership of Jane Francis is looking at climate
change in those areas most sensitive to its
effects, with Lucy Quinn focusing on alba-
tross species around South Georgia. Her
work has identified climate change as one of
the major factors in population declines of
up to 60%; bycatch in fisheries and plastic
pollution are other factors. Lucy was
involved in the BBC’s Blue Planet II film of
albatross chicks eating plastic, which should
help to drive efforts to remove plastic from
the oceans. Closer to home, Sarah Wanless’s
seabird studies on the Isle of May and
beyond, one of the first to use radio-
tracking, resulted in the ban on sandeel
fishing in parts of the North Sea.
Technology is enabling us to widen our
approach to scientific research, especially in
terms of birding. The fieldwork for, and pro-
duction of, the latest BTO Atlas (Bird Atlas
2007–11) benefited greatly from advances in
computing; a phenomenal accomplishment,
coordinated throughout by Dawn Balmer.
Individual species projects, such as Liz
Humphreys’ work using Global Positioning
Satellite (GPS) tags on Arctic Skuas
Stercorarius parasiticus, use Atlas data to
reveal the detail behind the trends.
For today’s scientists, organisers, motiva-
tors, leaders and artists who are, above all,
birders, the vital task is to ensure that
training, inspiration and encouragement are
available and easily accessible to develop
tomorrow’s luminaries. Mya, Megan,
Charlotte, Elle, Siân, and all the others: we’re
here for you – good luck!
Eve Tigwell
Eve Tigwell is the BTO Regional Representative
for Somerset and a Trustee of the British Birds
Charitable Trust
3
 News and comment
Compiled by Adrian Pitches
Opinions expressed in this feature are not necessarily those of British Birds
New year, new bird names?
A movement that gathered pace in North
America in 2020 may cross the Atlantic in
2021 (although, of course, via instanta-
neous digital communication and social
media it already has). Its advocates are cam-
paigning for the removal of eponyms from
bird names – the roll-call of ornithologists,
collectors and museum workers from
history immortalised in the English names
of birds – to be replaced with descriptive
names. The movement has a very simple
message: Bird Names For Birds. See
https://birdnamesforbirds.wordpress.com
for the manifesto and mission statement.
Here are some quotes from the webpage:
‘Eponyms and honorific common bird
names are problematic because they perpet-
uate colonialism and the racism associated
with it. The names that these birds currently
have represent and remember people (mainly
white men) who often have objectively hor-
rible pasts and do not uphold the morals and
standards that the bird community should
memorialise. By continuing to use epony-
Des Ong/FLPA
1. Male Lady Amherst’s Pheasant Chrysolophus amherstiae, Norfolk, April.
4 © British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 4– 7
mous common bird names, we continue to
reference and honour our colonial heritage
and the racism that was a direct consequence
of this exploitation.’
The debate in the USA intensified in the
summer of 2020 when the Black Lives Matter
protests erupted after the police killing of
George Floyd in Minneapolis. For politically
aware (or politically correct?) American
birders, the spotlight fell on McCown’s
Longspur Rhynchophanes mccownii, an
attractive bunting of the Prairies whose type
specimen was obtained in 1851 by one
Captain John P. McCown. Ten years after
shooting the longspur, he joined the
Confederate States Army, where he was ulti-
mately promoted to Major General; he’s the
only member of the Confederate armies
whose name is borne by a bird.
Honouring a man who fought to maintain
slavery is no longer acceptable to many in the
birding community in the USA. Indeed, the
alternative name of ‘Thick-billed Longspur’
has now been adopted by the American

Ornithological Society after a unanimous
vote by the North American Classification
Committee. The IOC may follow suit in its
next World Bird List. A detailed overview can
be found on the Audubon Society website:
https://bit.ly/3oBFUvB
And the patron saint of American
ornithology himself, John James Audubon,
has also been discredited – he was a slave
owner and decried the British Government’s
decision to abolish slavery in the West Indies
in 1834. He also fraudulently claimed a new
species of eagle ‘the Bird of Washington’,
which appeared in the opening plates of his
landmark The Birds of America (1827–38):
https://bit.ly/2JRZMff
There are 142 bird species in North America
with honorific names and the Bird Names For
Birds movement would like to see them all
Statue to honour RSPB founder
A statue of Emily Williamson, who founded
the all-female Society for the Protection of
Birds in 1889, is to be erected at her former
home in Didsbury, Manchester.
Four short-listed maquettes will be
unveiled in July, marking the centenary of
the 1921 Importation of Plumage
(Prohibition) Act – the culmination of Emily
Williamson’s long campaign. The Act was
critical in saving millions of birds from being
hunted for the millinery trade with Great
White Egret Ardea alba, Little Egret Egretta
garzetta and Great Crested Grebe Podiceps
cristatus particular targets. At its peak
between 1870 and 1920, bird skins were
imported by the ton with the trade worth
£20 million/year (c. £900m at today’s prices).
Emily Williamson, together with Eliza
Phillips and Etta Lemon, challenged this indus-
trial slaughter for the fashion industry and her
Society for the Protection of Birds became the
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, now
the UK’s biggest conservation charity.
The RSPB is inviting sculptors to submit
designs to commemorate its inspirational
founder. The bronze statue should bear a
close likeness to the only known image of
Emily and will stand in Fletcher Moss Park,
Didsbury, where she founded the society in
1889. The short-listed maquettes will be
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 4– 7
News and comment
swept away. In ‘our’ portion of the Holarctic
there may be less appetite to follow suit...
Some of the most enigmatic and charis-
matic species in the Palearctic are named
after the intrepid explorers who ventured
into Siberian forests and Central Asian
deserts in search of ornithological treasure.
Would we wish to see Pallas stripped of his
leaf warbler, grasshopper warbler and sand-
grouse? Or Steller be separated from his eider
and sea eagle? Who will remember Kozlov,
Roborowski or Middendorff without the
birds that bear their names?
Women were largely overlooked when
honorific names for birds were handed out in
the nineteenth century, so it would be a great
shame for Lady Amherst and her pheasant to
disappear from view if all eponyms were
erased. Let the debate ensue.
unveiled in July 2021, marking the centenary
of the Plumage Act. The public will have the
opportunity to vote for their favourite design
from the short-listed maquettes, which will
tour the country, and the winning design will
be unveiled in April 2023 by Emily’s great-
great-niece Prof. Melissa Bateson. www.emily
williamsonstatue.com
Tessa Boase, co-founder of the Emily
Williamson Statue Campaign and author of
Mrs Pankhurst’s Purple Feather: fashion, fury
and feminism – women’s fight for change, said:
‘When I started researching the RSPB’s sur-
prising eco-feminist roots, it was very difficult
to discover anything about Emily Williamson.
Finding her photograph, via her great-
nephew Sir Patrick Bateson, was a revelation.
When you have a face, you have a personality
– and then you have a story. Without this
image, there would be no statue campaign.
‘It’s fascinating that Emily’s remarkable
legacy was also a revelation to her descen-
dants. This suggests an essential modesty – a
trait shared by all three women who built the
RSPB: Emily Williamson, Eliza Phillips and
Etta Lemon. I hope this statue is just the first
step in honouring these early eco-heroines.’
(Conor Jameson wrote a ‘Tail piece’
about these pioneers in July 2018: Brit. Birds
111: 415–416.)
5
 News and comment
Licensing for grouse shoots in Scotland
The Scottish Government has signalled that
it will introduce a licensing system for
grouse shooting in Scotland, sooner rather
than later.
Following the Werritty Review of grouse-
moor management – sparked by
widespread incidents of raptor persecution
in the Scottish uplands – the Scottish
Government had indicated that the
industry would have five years to get its
house in order. But now it appears that
licensing could come as soon as this year.
RSPB Scotland welcomed the announce-
ment. Anne McCall, Director of RSPB
Scotland, said: ‘While we commend the work
of both the current Government at Holyrood
and that of its predecessors in trying to tackle
the illegal killing of raptors on grouse moors,
21 years of piecemeal changes to wildlife pro-
tection laws so far have unfortunately not
been enough to halt this practice.
‘The Werritty Review was prompted by
commissioned peer-reviewed research which
European Breeding Bird Atlas published
EBBA 2 has landed! The long-awaited update
to the 1997 European Breeding Bird Atlas
was published in December (and you can
expect a book review in BB in the next issue
or two). During the fieldwork period of
Richard Stonier
2. Male European Roller Coracias garrulus, Aldbrough, Yorkshire,
June 2012.
6 British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 4– 7
showed that a significant proportion of
satellite-tagged Golden Eagles Aquila
chrysaetos were going missing in illegal or
suspicious circumstances, almost exclusively
on areas intensively managed for driven
grouse shooting.
‘Self-regulation by the grouse-moor
industry has not tackled the issues of wildlife
crime and damage to the environment by
unregulated muirburn. Any future licensing
scheme for grouse moors must be robust and
address these issues, hopefully once and for
all. Grouse-moor estates which are found to
be breaking wildlife protection laws should
lose their right to shoot. Only this will act as
a genuine deterrent to this still-widespread
criminal activity.
‘We believe that landowners and their
employees who manage their shoots legally
and sustainably have nothing to fear from the
introduction of licensing. Indeed, gamebird
shooting is licensed in some form or other in
most other European countries.’
2013–17, 120,000 volunteers surveyed 11
million square kilometres across all the coun-
tries of Europe. The resultant atlas maps 539
native breeding bird species, of which 59 are
near-endemic to Europe and 40 are endemic.
EBBA 2 data show that 57
non-native species breed in
Europe, i.e. one in ten of
European breeding bird
species have been introduced
from elsewhere; 39 of these
species were documented for
the first time in the last three
decades.
Marked changes were
obser ved in the 30 years
since the fieldwork was
conducted for EBBA 1.
Encouragingly, more than a
third of all native species had
increased their range, among
them Mediterranean Gull
Ichthyaetus melanocephalus,
Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis

and Citrine Wagtail Motacilla citreola. But
25% of species have shown a decrease in
range, including Great Bustard Otis tarda,
European Roller Coracias garrulus and
Or tolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana.
Fur thermore, the breeding ranges of
European birds have shifted northwards by
an average of 28 km (about 1 km per year).
Wintering Scaup numbers decline in northwest Europe
Meanwhile, analysis of coordinated count data
from the last 30 years has shown a 38.1%
decrease in wintering numbers of Greater
Scaup Aythya marila in northwest Europe,
from 309,000 individuals during 1988–91 to c.
192,300 during 2015–18. Annual trends in
wintering numbers differed throughout the
£200,000 grant for Eurasian Curlew conservation
A grant of £221,000 from the UK Govern-
ment’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund has
been awarded for Eurasian Curlew Numenius
arquatus conservation in northern England.
The RSPB will use the money to offer financial
support to farmers in Geltsdale and along
Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland and
Cumbria and in the Forest of Bowland AONB
in Lancashire, with a focus on halting the
decline of the Eurasian Curlew. The UK holds
around a third of the world breeding popula-
tion but the UK’s own breeding population fell
by almost half between 1994 and 2010.
The Green Recovery Challenge Fund is
a short-term competitive fund to support
projects that focus on nature restoration
and connecting people with nature in the
context of the UK Government’s 25-Year
Environment Plan.
The grant will enable the RSPB to build
on the existing Curlews In Crisis project,
which was funded by the LIFE Programme of
the European Union, funding that will now
Postal delays
We apologise to readers for delivery delays
that affected the December issue in some
areas. If you have not had your issue, or
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 4– 7
News and comment
As many species shift their ranges
northwards, species richness is increasing
among forest birds, probably as a conse-
quence of land abandonment resulting in
forest regrowth. But specialists of montane
grasslands and tundra, mires and moor-
land are losing ground in substantial parts
of their ranges.
range. Numbers decreased in the UK, Ireland,
and in the Netherlands, while they were stable
in Denmark. Germany, Poland, Sweden and
Estonia showed increasing numbers, sug-
gesting a shift in the distribution of the species
within its wintering grounds towards the east
and north. https://go.nature.com/2IwcEqO
disappear. It will deliver landscape-scale con-
servation and improve the habitat for around
300 breeding pairs of Curlew (more than 1%
of the English breeding population). The
habitat improvements will also benefit other
threatened wader species including Northern
Lapwing Vanellus vanellus, Common Snipe
Gallinago gallinago and Common Redshank
Tringa totanus. Up to 50 local volunteers will
be trained to help monitor Curlews during
the breeding season.
Wildlife tourism is a growing industry in
the region and it is hoped that, by safe-
guarding waders such as Curlews around
Geltsdale and the Forest of Bowland AONB,
ecotourism in these areas will continue to
grow and benefit the local economy.
Liz Charman, RSPB Senior Conservation
Officer, said: ‘We are in danger of losing this
iconic species if we don’t act now. This grant
will enable us to kick-start positive, practical
habitat management to make a real difference
for Curlews in our northern uplands.’
it was damaged, please contact Hazel at
subscriptions@britishbirds.co.uk or on
01424 755155.
7
From the Rarities Committee’s files
BBRC and newly
split species
Andy Stoddart and Nigel Hudson
Abstract In recent years, a wealth of new research in taxonomy has led to fre-
quent readjustments of the list of taxa considered by the British Birds Rarities
Committee, and also to the statistics of the national rarity archive. Although in
some cases straightforward, in other cases there is simply insufficient data available
to assign all older records to new species. This paper aims to clarify the position
with respect to a number of these new species pairs/groups, and should be treated
as a supplement to the annual BBRC report.

Introduction species pair or group. These ‘either/or’ cat-

In recent years, avian taxonomy has been in a
state of flux, with seemingly constant move-
ments of taxa between species and subspecies
status, known more commonly as ‘splits’ and
‘lumps’. Such revisions have continued apace
with the adoption by British Birds and BOU
in 2018 of the IOC World Bird List www.
worldbirdnames.org. Splits have proved to be
far more frequent than lumps and, where a
‘BB rarity’ is involved, BBRC has to attempt to
disaggregate the relevant records and their
accompanying statistics.
Sometimes this reallocation is straightfor-
ward but in many cases it is much less so. For
many of these ‘new’, often cryptic, species the
identification criteria are still being devel-
oped, while historical records are understand-
ably often not sufficiently well documented to
allow a retrospective identification. Some
records therefore have to be regarded as ‘inde-
terminate’, i.e. belonging to an ‘either/or’
egories considered by BBRC are kept under
review and can be found at www.bbrc.org.uk/
about/constitution/appendix-iv-species-pairs.
The relevant splits have been announced
and adopted in BBRC Annual Reports as they
have arisen, and subsequent records have
been allocated accordingly. However, it has
not always been clear from Annual Reports
how historical records are to be treated. This
paper therefore seeks to clarify the position
with respect to a number of these new
species pairs/groups. It provides full updates
for those reattributions arising since the
adoption of the IOC World Bird List and also
includes some minor revisions arising from
earlier splits where the published record
needs updating.
This paper should be regarded as a supple-
ment to the Report on rare birds in Great
Britain in 2019 (Holt et al. 2020) and updates
the statistics given in that report.

Zino’s/Fea’s/Desertas Petrel Pterodroma madeira/feae/deserta

Owing to identification difficulties, BBRC has traditionally published most records of these
northeast Atlantic Pterodroma petrels as belonging to a ‘Zino’s/Fea’s Petrel’ species pair,
although to the end of 2015 six had been accepted and published specifically as Fea’s Petrel. At
the time of writing there are no accepted records of Zino’s Petrel.
With the adoption of IOC taxonomy in 2018, ‘Fea’s Petrel’ was split into Fea’s Petrel P. feae
(monotypic, breeding in the Cape Verde Islands) and Desertas Petrel P. deserta (monotypic,
breeding on Bugio, Desertas, Madeira). Given that the field separation of Fea’s and Desertas Petrels

8 © British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 8–17

 BBRC and newly split species

is highly problematic, all accepted records of ‘Zino’s/Fea’s Petrel’ (a 1950–2019 total of 73) are now
treated as ‘Zino’s/Fea’s/Desertas Petrel’ and the six previously accepted ‘Fea’s Petrels’ are reclassified
as ‘Fea’s/Desertas Petrel’. The 2017 Devon bird listed below has now also been added to this latter
category. This record was originally published as ‘Zino’s/Fea’s/Desertas Petrel’ (Brit. Birds 111: 565)
but this was corrected in the following year’s Report (Brit. Birds 112: 568). With the addition of
two further birds in 2019, the 1950–2019 total of accepted ‘Fea’s/Desertas Petrels’ is therefore nine:
2001 At sea Sea area Sole, about 96 km SW of
Scilly, 1CY+, 12th August, Brit. Birds 96:
547–548; 98: 639.
2001 Isles of Scilly Sea area Sole, 12 km S of
St Mary’s, 1CY+, 8th July, Brit. Birds 95:
479; 98: 639.
2004 Isles of Scilly Sea area Sole, about 16 km
W of St Mary’s, 1CY+, 6th September,
Brit. Birds 98: 639–640.
2014 Isles of Scilly At sea, S of St Agnes, 1CY+,
18th August, Brit. Birds 108: 575.
2014 Yorkshire At sea, off Easington, 1CY+,

12th July, Brit. Birds 108: 575.
2015 Isles of Scilly 18 km NE of Scilly, 1CY+,
16th August, Brit. Birds 109: 575–576.
2017 Devon Berry Head, 1CY+, 11th July,
Brit. Birds 111: 565; 112: 568.
2019 Isles of Scilly Approximately 1.5 km south
of St Mary’s, 1CY+, 23rd August; approx-
imately 10 km south of St Mary’s, 1CY+,
27th August, Brit. Birds 113: 610.
Joe Pender
3. Fea’s/Desertas Petrel Pterodroma feae/deserta,
10 km south of St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, 27th
August 2019. This Pterodroma petrel shows a
rather heavy build and a deep-looking bill. This
combination of features places it outside the
range of Zino’s Petrel P. madeira and allows it
to be identified as Fea’s/Desertas Petrel.

Audubon’s/Barolo/Boyd’s Shearwater Puffinus lherminieri/baroli/boydi

The ‘Little Shearwater’ P. assimilis was formerly treated as a polytypic species with nine subspecies,
most inhabiting the Southern Oceans but also including baroli (breeding in the Canaries, Madeira
and the Azores), boydi (breeding in the Cape Verde Islands) and lherminieri (breeding in the
Caribbean and the Bahamas). Subsequently, baroli and boydi were treated together as
‘Macaronesian Shearwater’ P. baroli (named ‘North Atlantic Little Shearwater’ by British Birds), dis-
tinct from ‘Audubon’s Shearwater’ P. lherminieri (Sangster et al. 2005). Since the adoption of IOC
taxonomy in 2018, Barolo Shearwater P. baroli has been treated as a monotypic species, distinct
from Boyd’s Shearwater P. boydi.
Accepted British records have been published by BBRC as ‘Little Shearwater’ and subsequently
as both ‘Macaronesian Shearwater’ and ‘North Atlantic Little Shearwater’. However, the (albeit
often unwritten) assumption has always been that all records actually involve baroli.
Nevertheless, Boyd’s Shearwater is perhaps a potential vagrant to British waters while
Audubon’s Shearwater has recently been confirmed to have reached northwest Europe (Flood et al.
2020; Flood & Fisher 2020). Given that the field separation of all three taxa is problematic, accepted
records have, since the publication of the 2018 Annual Report, been published as
‘Barolo/Boyd’s/Audubon’s Shearwater’ (Brit. Birds 112: 568). Although not actually stated in that
Report, all historical seawatch records are now also treated as belonging to this species group.
However, there is a small number of non-seawatch records where more tangible evidence, such
as a specimen or a sound recording, is available. Most of these records (listed below) were pub-
lished as baroli by BBRC but two (males that were trapped or sound recorded in Pembrokeshire in
1981–82 and in Devon in 2010–11), published simply as ‘Little Shearwater’ and ‘Macaronesian
Shearwater’ respectively by BBRC, have been published elsewhere as relating specifically to baroli
(James 1986; Townend 2010). A further bird, found shot dead in Lancashire in 1975 (and

British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 8–17 9

Stoddart & Hudson

published as ‘Little Shearwater’) was presumably also baroli and, given that the specimen still
exists but is yet to be examined, is probably also best retained, at least pending an ongoing review
(see below), in this list of birds attributed to Barolo Shearwater.
In summary, the 1950–2019 total of birds accepted as ‘Audubon’s/Barolo/Boyd’s Shearwater’
(all seawatch records) is 58, with the additional seven individuals listed below (all specimens or
sound-recorded) currently treated as Barolo Shearwater:
1958 Cheshire & Wirral Stockport, moribund, 10th May, Brit. Birds 51: 354–355; 53: 158.
1960 Norfolk Between Cley and Blakeney Point, freshly dead, 1st May, Brit. Birds 54: 39; 54: 179.
1975 Lancashire & North Merseyside Cleveleys, Fylde, 2CY female shot dead, 27th March,
Brit. Birds 69: 327.
1977 Cheshire & Wirral Rostherne Mere, sick individual, 29th June, caught 2nd July, died 3rd,
Brit. Birds 71: 489; 73: 493.
1981 Pembrokeshire Skomer, male, 26th June to 10th July, trapped 29th June and 7th July,
Brit. Birds 78: 532.
1982 Pembrokeshire Skomer, male, 21st June to 25th July, presumed same as Skomer 1981,
Brit. Birds 78: 532.
1990 Lothian Musselburgh, dead, 9th December, Brit. Birds 84: 452.
2010 Devon Lundy, 2CY+ male sound-recorded (but not seen), 4th–24th June, Brit. Birds 105: 562.
2011 Devon Lundy, 2CY+ male sound-recorded (but not seen), 21st April to 5th May, presumed
same as Lundy 2010, Brit. Birds 105: 562.

These statistics must be regarded as highly provisional, however, and are in effect a ‘holding posi-
tion’. A BBRC review of ‘Little Shearwaters’ has been in progress for some years but, informed by
recent taxonomic revisions and the availability of new identification literature (Flood & van der Vliet
2019; Flood & Fisher 2020), this review (including of the birds listed above) will hopefully be com-
pleted in the relatively near future. This exercise is likely to revise, perhaps significantly, the overall
total of accepted records and may also revise the number specifically referred to as Barolo Shearwater.

Daurian/Turkestan Shrike Lanius isabellinus/phoenicuroides

When IOC taxonomy was adopted in 2018, the red-tailed shrikes of Asia, formerly treated as
‘Isabelline Shrike’ L. isabellinus, were split into Daurian Shrike L. isabellinus (polytypic, with
three subspecies, isabellinus, arenarius and tsaidamensis, breeding in Mongolia, southern Russia
and northern and western China) and Turkestan Shrike L. phoenicuroides (monotypic, breeding
in Central Asia from northern Kazakhstan to Afghanistan and Pakistan).
This treatment has turned the spotlight on the long-standing problem of separating these two
taxa. Although identification criteria for 1CY birds have been proposed (Svensson et al. 2009;
Garner 2014), there is not yet sufficient confidence that these characters are fully robust and can
be applied to vagrants of unknown geographical origin. There are additional problems in inter-
preting plumage hues in photographs.
For the time being at least, only adults are currently considered by BBRC to be separable, and
even then not in all cases. Genetic analysis is a potential further source of evidence, although this is
not necessarily straightforward either (Brit. Birds 111: 591–592).
A number of records have previously been accepted and published by BBRC as either Daurian or
Turkestan Shrike. Some have been explicitly stated to be one or the other in the formal entry in an
Annual Report but others have been referred to, either in the formal entry or sometimes in the
accompanying species comment, as showing ‘characters of’ or ‘characters closest to’ one or the other.
This has created some ambiguity in the published record and, in an attempt to provide some clarity,
a summary statement of the accepted Daurian and Turkestan Shrikes (and those no longer deemed
acceptable) to the end of 2005 was published in the 2005 Annual Report (Brit. Birds 100: 92–94).
This summary listed five birds accepted as Daurian Shrike, but only the most recent of these
(an adult male on Fetlar, Shetland, on 14th–17th September 2002) was subsequently accepted by
BOURC, thus becoming the first for Britain (BOU 2016). The four earlier dated records (an adult

10 British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 8–17

 BBRC and newly split species

female at Dunglass, Borders, on 13th September 1989, an adult male on North Ronaldsay,
Orkney, from 28th October to 2nd November 1991, a male found dead at Richmond, Greater
London, on 21st March 1994 and an adult female at the Nene Washes, Cambridgeshire, on 8th–
9th September 2000) are therefore now regarded as ‘Daurian/Turkestan’.
To the end of 2019 a further four birds were accepted as Daurian Shrike, although one of these
– a 1CY at Warham Greens, Norfolk, on 15th–17th October 2014 (Brit. Birds 108: 598–599) – was
attributed contrary to the BBRC policy of accepting only adults and is therefore now also
regarded as an ‘either/or’.
Since then, a review of post-2002 adult female ‘Isabelline Shrikes’ has been undertaken
during the preparation of this paper, resulting in the acceptance as Daurian Shrike of a further
six individuals, four from Shetland and one each from Hampshire and Norfolk. The revised
1950–2019 total of birds accepted as Daurian Shrike is therefore now ten:
2002 Shetland Tresta, Fetlar, 2CY+ male, 14th–17th September, Brit. Birds 96: 600; 100: 92–94;
108: 598–599; 109: 600–601.
2010 Hampshire Forton Lake, Gosport, 2CY+ female, 10th–11th September, previously accepted
as ‘Isabelline Shrike’, Brit. Birds 104: 593.
2010 Shetland Scousburgh, Mainland, 2CY+ female, 12th–17th October, previously accepted as
‘Isabelline Shrike’, Brit. Birds 104: 593.
2011 Shetland Hillwell and Brake, Mainland, 2CY+ female, 6th–29th October, previously
accepted as ‘Isabelline Shrike’, Brit. Birds 105: 593.
2012 Shetland Hestingott, Toab and Virkie, Mainland, 2CY+ female, 27th September to 5th
October, previously accepted as ‘Isabelline Shrike’, Brit. Birds 106: 606.
2012 Dorset Portland Bill, 2CY+ male, 23rd–27th October, Brit. Birds 106: 606; 108: 598–599.
2013 Cornwall Pendeen Watch, 2CY+ male, 4th–7th October, Brit. Birds 108: 598–599.
2013 Shetland Brough, Whalsay, 2CY+ female, 17th–28th October, previously accepted as
‘Isabelline Shrike’, Brit. Birds 107: 616.
2014 Orkney Holland House, North Ronaldsay, 2CY+ female, 15th–20th September, trapped,
Brit. Birds 108: 598–599.
2015 Norfolk Paston, 2CY+ female, 12th–20th October, previously accepted as ‘Isabelline Shrike’,
Brit. Birds 109: 600–601.

Roger Riddington

4. Adult (2CY+) female Daurian Shrike Lanius isabellinus, Brake, Shetland, October 2011. Separation
of Daurian and Turkestan Shrikes L. phoenicuroides in the field relies heavily on a critical assessment
of plumage colours, which is invariably best done by careful observation, ideally in a variety of light
conditions (and preferably not bright sunshine). Relying on a single photograph, however good, may
often be unhelpful. Daurian Shrike is characterised by sandy-grey and ginger hues to the crown,
mantle and scapulars, with orange or buff in the supercilium, whereas rufous and ‘cold-earth’-brown
hues point towards Turkestan, which typically has a more whitish supercilium. The underparts are
also important and differences in the colour palette remain the same – Daurian shows sandy and
ginger, Turkestan either more rufous or more cold-earth hues. In essence, these differences apply to
both first-calendar-year and older birds.

British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 8–17 11

Short papers
(Newton 1861; Grieve 1885; Birkhead 1993;
Bourne 1993; Fuller 1999; Love 2019;
Birkhead et al. 2020).
The Alcidae exhibit greater variation in
their post-hatching developmental strategies
than any other bird family (Gaston & Jones
1998). At one extreme, puffin Fratercula spp.
chicks are fed at the colony for up to seven
weeks, and leave the colony at around 65% of
adult mass, capable of flight and independent
of their parents – a semi-precocial strategy.
At the other extreme, the two chicks of mur-
relet Synthliboramphus spp. are precocial and
leave the colony with their parents just two
days after hatching. Between these two
extremes are the two Uria guillemots,
Common U. aalge and Brünnich’s Guillemot
U. lomvia, and the Razorbill Alca torda,
whose chicks leave their breeding sites after
21 and 17 days, respectively, at about 20–25%
of adult mass, in what is referred to as an
intermediate strategy (Gaston & Jones 1998).
Which of these post-hatching strategies
did the Great Auk follow? Given what we
now know about the phylogenetic relation-
ships among the auks (Smith & Clark 2015)
and the lack of observations of Great Auk
chicks at the colony, it seems unlikely that
they followed the puffins’ semi-precocial
strategy. On the basis of their physical simi-
larity and close phylogenetic affinity to the
Uria guillemots and the Razorbill, it seems
most likely that Great Auk chicks were ‘inter-
mediate’ in their chick development.
However, one piece of evidence was respon-
sible for raising the possibility that Great Auk
chicks may have been precocial.
That piece of evidence is Martin Martin’s
account of the timing of the Great Auk’s
breeding season on St Kilda (Martin 1698).
In a detailed description of the different
seabird species breeding on St Kilda, taken
from the inhabitants, Martin stated that the
Great Auk ‘appears on the first of May and
goes away about the middle of June’ (note
that because of the subsequent change to the
Gregorian calendar we need to add 11 days to
these dates, so mid May to late June).
It was this seven-week time-span – pre-
sumed to encompass both the incubation
period (assumed to be around 40 days) and
the chick-rearing period – that encouraged
Grieve (1885) and, later, Fisher & Lockley
28
(1954) to suggest that Great Auk chicks left
the colony just nine days after hatching.
Bengtson (1984), with rather more informa-
tion about alcid biology available, came to
the same conclusion that the Great Auk’s
chick-rearing period was shorter than that of
the Uria guillemots and the Razorbill.
Another account, written by the Rev. Neil
Macleod, who visited St Kilda in 1746,
stated: ‘The Gernhell [Great Auk] is the most
remarkable fowl about St Kilda, for his enor-
mous size and rarity, his wings are so very
small in proportion to his bulk that he does
not fly; they are taken by surprising them
where they sleep, or by intercepting their
way to the sea... they lay their eggs a little
later above the sea mark on rocks easy of
access; they carry off their young soon to
feed them at sea’ (unpublished manuscript
cited by Gaskell 2000).
Several other observations were consistent
with the idea that Great Auk chicks left the
colony at a young age. The first comprises
records of what were thought to be the
down-covered young of Great Auks at sea
with their parents (see Birkhead 1993). The
second is the absence of any accounts of
Great Auk chicks being seen at breeding
colonies. However, given that the only reason
people visited Great Auk breeding colonies
was to take their eggs and kill adult birds, it
now seems unsurprising that there are no
records of any chicks being seen there.
A striking feature of the precocial alcids is
that their eggs are disproportionately large
among the alcids, necessary for producing a
chick that is well developed at hatching
(Gaston & Jones 1998), as in other birds.
However, the Great Auk’s egg was not dispro-
portionately large (Birkhead 1993), which
might suggest that its chick was not precocial.
On the other hand, Anthony Gaston, who
studied the precocial Ancient Murrelet
Synthliboramphus antiquus, suggested to me
that the absolute size of the Great Auk’s egg
might still have allowed it to produce a preco-
cial chick. The Ancient Murrelet chick weighs
just 27 g when it goes to sea 48 hours after
hatching. The Great Auk’s much larger egg
would have produced a chick weighing about
236 g at hatching (Harris & Birkhead 1985).
More or less convinced by this at the time, I
wrote: ‘In terms of absolute body weight,
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 27–37

there is no reason why Great Auk chicks could
not have been precocial’ (Birkhead 1993).
Similarly, Gaston & Jones (1998) stated that:
‘We cannot rule out the possibility that the
young of the Great Auk were completely pre-
cocial.’ Gaskell (2000) also concluded that the
Great Auk chick was precocial.
Houston et al. (2010) subsequently used a
time and energy model to explore the link
between the energy delivered to the Great
Auk chick in relation to the parents’ expendi-
ture of time and energy, in order to assess
what post-hatching strategy was most likely.
‘The results unambiguously suggest that the
chick-rearing strategy of the Great Auk was
not precocial’ and that an intermediate
strategy ‘would certainly have been more
energetically “comfortable” for the Great Auk
and this is made even more likely by its phy-
logenetic position within the Alcidae’
(Houston et al. 2010).
Martin (1698) made it clear that the Great
Auk, unlike the Uria guillemots and the
Razorbill, did not produce a replacement egg
if their egg was taken: ‘it flyeth not at all, lays
its egg upon the bare rock, which, if taken
away, it lays no more for that year’. Bourne
(1993) questioned the accuracy of this state-
ment because there is an account from
Geirsfuglasker, Iceland, in August 1808 when
Great Auk eggs and chicks were said to be
present (Newton 1861). This late date sug-
gests that they may sometimes have produced
replacement eggs, but it is not definitive since
it might simply have been a late breeding
season. The fact that Uria guillemots and
Razorbills lay replacement eggs, but Great
Auks did not, is potentially puzzling.
However, the Great Auk’s inability to produce
a replacement egg may have been a conse-
quence of its flightlessness, since being unable
to fly would have limited its foraging range
and ability to acquire sufficient nutrients to
form a replacement egg within a biologically
appropriate time-frame, as is the case in most
penguin species (Williams 1995).
If Martin (1698) was correct that Great
Auks on St Kilda did not produce a replace-
ment egg, this may hold the key to the dif-
fering views regarding the Great Auk’s
post-hatching strategy. The St Kildans har-
vested huge numbers of seabird eggs, and
especially those of the Common Guillemot,
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 27–37
Short papers
scaling the high cliffs to obtain them
(Hutchinson 2014). It is almost certain that
the St Kildans also harvested Great Auk
eggs, since their mass, at three times that of
a Common Guillemot egg (Harris &
Birkhead 1985), would have made them par-
ticularly desirable. Moreover, because Great
Auks were flightless, they must have bred on
relatively accessible, flat surfaces, making
them particularly vulnerable to human egg
predation. The Great Auk population on St
Kilda in Martin’s day was almost certainly
quite small (Bourne 1993) and, given the
Great Auks’ highly social nature, any distur-
bance by eggers may have made them more
likely to abandon their breeding sites after
their eggs were taken.
If the Great Auks on St Kilda abandoned
their breeding colony soon after their eggs
were taken, this may explain their mere
seven-week stay. This in turn destroys the
very foundation on which the precocial case
was built. On the basis of this, I now con-
sider it most likely that the Great Auk chick
was ‘intermediate’ in its development, like
the chicks of its closest relatives, and as
Houston et al. (2010) suggested.
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to Ben Hatchwell and Robert Montgomerie
for helpful comments on the manuscript.
References
Bengtson, S-A. 1984. Breeding ecology and extinction
of the Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis): anecdotal
evidence and conjectures. Auk 101: 1–12.
Birkhead, T. R. 1993. Great Auk Islands. Poyser, London.
––, Russell, D. R., Garbout, A., Attard, M., Thompson, J. E.,
& Jackson, D. 2020. New insights from old eggs –
the shape and thickness of Great Auk Pinguinus
impennis eggs. Ibis https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12820
Bourne, W. R. P. 1993. The story of the Great Auk
Pinguinis impennis. Archives of Natural History 20:
257–278.
Fisher, J., & Lockley, R. M. 1954. Seabirds. Collins, London.
Fuller, R. 1999. The Great Auk. Privately published.
Gaskell, J. 2000. Who Killed the Last Great Auk? OUP,
Oxford.
Gaston, A. J., & Jones, I. 1998. The Auks. OUP, Oxford.
Grieve, S. 1885. The Great Auk or Garefowl Alca
impennis, its History, Archaeology and Remains.
Thomas Jack, London.
Harris, M. P., & Birkhead, T. R. 1985. Breeding ecology of
the Atlantic Alcidae. In: Nettleship, D., & Birkhead,
T. R. (eds.), The Atlantic Alcidae, pp. 155–205.
Academic Press, London.
Houston, A. I., Wood, J., & Wilkinson, M. 2010. How
did the Great Auk raise its young? J. Evol. Biol. 23:
1899–1906.
29
Short papers

Hutchinson, R. 2014. St Kilda: a people’s history. Birlinn,
Edinburgh.
Love, J. A. 2019. St Kilda’s claim to the last ever Great
Auk. Hebridean Naturalist 19: 19–26.
Martin, M. 1698. A Late Voyage to St Kilda, the Remotest
of the Hebrides, or Western Isles of Scotland. Gent,
London.
Newton, A. 1861. Abstract of Mr Wooley’s researches
in Iceland respecting the Gare-fowl or Great Auk
(Alca impennis, Linn.). Ibis 3: 374–399.
Smith, N. A., & Clarke, J. A. 2015. Systematics and
evolution of the Pan-Alcidae (Aves,
Charadriiformes). J. Avian Biol. 46: 125–140.
Williams, A. J. 1995. The Penguins. OUP, Oxford.

Tim Birkhead, Department of Animal & Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield,

Sheffield S10 2TN; e-mail T.R.Birkhead@sheffield.ac.uk

Tim Birkhead is emeritus professor of evolution and behaviour at the University of Sheffield. Having studied
Common Guillemots for 48 years, he has always been fascinated by the Great Auk.

‘Taiga Merlin’ in Caithness: new to Britain

Abstract On 3rd February 2018, a bedraggled Merlin Falco columbarius was photo-
graphed in a garden in Scrabster, Caithness. Subsequent examination of the photo-
graphs revealed the distinctive and diagnostic tail pattern associated with the North
American ‘Taiga Merlin’ F. c. columbarius. It was seen again only briefly, on 18th February.
Based on these photographs, the record was accepted by BBRC and BOURC as the
first British record of Taiga Merlin, which has now been added to the British List.

T
he morning of Saturday 3rd February
2018 was grey and drizzly, but it was
high tide and the sea was calm so Rob
and I headed out to bird our respective local
patches. Rob set off round Holborn Head
while I wandered down to Thurso East to
check the Eurasian Wigeon Mareca penelope
flock and roosting waders. As I walked back
in the rain, sudden panic among the
Common Starlings Sturnus vulgaris and Feral
Pigeons Columba livia suggested that a raptor
was about. Looking up, I saw a Merlin Falco
columbarius tear through them, relatively
high and heading towards Thurso. This was
the first Merlin on my patch since I’d moved
here 16 months earlier, so I was very happy as
I continued along the sea front to Scrabster.
As I got to the end of the track at
Burnside, overlooking Scrabster Harbour, I
was surprised to come across the Merlin
again. It looked pretty bedraggled, perched at
the top of a small conifer above a pigeon loft,
about 100 m in front of me. The Merlin
stayed put as I walked slightly closer, and I
took a few digiscoped photos with my phone
through a rapidly steaming-up scope before
it dropped out of view (plate 11). I continued
to Scrabster to meet Rob, who was watching
several Iceland Gulls Larus glaucoides in the
harbour plus a single ‘Kumlien’s Gull’ L. g.
kumlieni. I showed him the Merlin pictures
and he commented that the striking tail
pattern looked interesting.
Back at home, we had a better look at the
images, compared them with plates and text in
Raptors of the World (Ferguson-Lees &
Christie 2001) and searched online for Merlin
images. Martin Garner’s Birding Frontiers blog
link to North American ‘Taiga Merlin’ F. c.
columbarius (https://birdingfrontiers.word
press.com/2010/08/11/taiga-merlin) seemed
useful but unfortunately had been ‘hacked’ so
we couldn’t view the images. As we’d been
unable to convince ourselves that it was any-
thing out of the ordinary, I tweeted it as a
Merlin patch tick. Shortly afterwards, Ben
Sheldon and Brydon Thomason responded to
the tweet, commenting that the tail pattern
looked very good for Taiga Merlin – we
realised then that we should have researched it
more thoroughly. After further comments and
a detailed reply from Jack Ashton-Booth,
everyone seemed sure it was a Taiga!
We spent the following morning searching
Holborn Head and around Scrabster, trying
to relocate the bird. After a couple of hours,
we saw a distant Merlin chasing Skylarks
Alauda arvensis on Holborn Head but

30 © British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 27–37


couldn’t be 100% sure it was the same bird.
Despite searching over the next few days, we
weren’t certain we’d seen it again until 18th
February, when Rob found it chasing Snow
Buntings Plectrophenax nivalis on Holborn
Head; on that occasion, he could see the
striking uppertail pattern, even at a distance.
Description
The most noticeable feature of this individual
was the tail pattern, which comprised solid
blackish bands, separated by narrow, whitish
bands. The uppermost dark band was nearly
double the width of the pale bands, while the
distal dark band was roughly four times the
width of the pale bands. The tail was tipped
whitish too. Only two pale bands could be
seen on the underside of the tail, but there was
a hint of a third covered almost entirely by the
undertail-coverts. The long undertail-coverts
also overlapped with the second pale band,
leaving just one pale band completely clear of
the undertail-coverts. This tail pattern is
found only in the North American subspecies.
Despite being wet, the bird appeared to
show distinct, narrow, droplet-shaped breast
streaking, especially compared with the larger
spots on the flanks, whereas European or
Icelandic Merlins would be expected to show
thicker spotting. The background colour of
the underparts was whitish rather than buff.
The bird had a short, thin, pale supercilium,
typical of Taiga Merlin.
Previous Western Palearctic records
There are two accepted records of Taiga
Merlin from the Western Palearctic: a juven-
ile male found dead near Akranes, western
Iceland, in late October 1989 (Petersen 1992;
Pétursson et al. 1992); and a female at Cape
Clear, Co. Cork, on 29th September 2000
(Garner 2002; Milne & McAdams 2009). In
addition, several Taiga Merlins have been
reported from the Azores, though only one
has been accepted as being of this form: a
large, dark, first-year female that ranged
widely at Caldeiro do Mosteiro, Flores, on
8th–30th October 2007 (Crochet 2008; P.
Alfrey, P-A. Crochet, P. Ramalho in litt.).
There are also two historical reports of
Taiga Merlin from Britain, both supported
by specimens held at the Natural History
Museum, Tring. A specimen of an adult male
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 27–37
Short papers
Nina O’Hanlon
11. ‘Taiga Merlin’ Falco c. columbarius,
Scrabster, Caithness, February 2018.
claimed to have been collected by Richard
Meinertzhagen on South Uist, Outer Hebrides,
on 11th November 1920 was previously on the
British List, and was then regarded as the only
British record of this race. However, this indi-
vidual, along with several other Meinertzhagen
specimens, has since been discredited and F. c.
columbarius was removed from the list (BOU
1993; Knox 1993). In addition, a specimen of
an adult male with the label inscription
‘English, Sussex’ was discovered among the
Hume Collection. There is no date on the
label but the registration number (BMNH
1885.8.19.2482) indicates that it was col-
lected in or prior to 1885, when it was
acquired by the Museum and registered. As
much of Hume’s collection came from India
and contained ver y few raptors from
Britain, BOU considered that it was unlikely
to have been collected at the location on the
label (BOU 1992).
Discussion
Three subspecies of Merlin breed in North
America and each has a tail pattern similar to
that of the Caithness bird. The nominate
form, Taiga Merlin, breeds across northern
North America including Alaska, Canada
and the northernmost USA, east to
Newfoundland. In recent decades its
breeding range has expanded southwards and
encroached into urban areas (Cava et al.
2014). It is highly migrator y and is a
31
Short papers
common migrant along the east coast of
North America. It is able to fly over open
water for extended periods and travel large
distances to winter from the southern USA
and through central America south to
northern Peru (Warkentin et al. 2020). As
highlighted by Garner (2002), its transatlantic
vagrancy potential is high. ‘Prairie Merlin’ F. c.
richardsonii breeds in the prairie regions of
central Canada and the mid-west USA. It has a
similar tail pattern but is a pallid bird and was
excluded because of the dark upperpart
colours of the Caithness bird. ‘Black Merlin’ F.
c. suckleyi is extremely dark and the pale tail-
bands are narrower and less distinct than
those of the Caithness bird. It has a west-
coast distribution, breeding from southeast
Alaska to northern Washington state.
Two subspecies of Merlin occur in Europe:
F. c. aesalon breeds throughout northern
Europe, including Britain, while F. c. subae-
salon is restricted to Iceland. Neither has a
tail pattern that matches that of the
Caithness bird. In F. c. aesalon, the tail would
be expected to have 5–7 pale bands with at
least two always clear of the longest under-
tail-coverts (Garner 2002). The tail pattern of
the Caithness bird also rules out the darker,
sometimes plainer-backed F. c. subaesalon.
Four other races breed in Asia but these also
have tail patterns that resemble those of
European birds, and can also be excluded.
In the weeks leading up to the finding of
the Caithness Taiga Merlin there had been
strong west and northwesterly winds, which
are likely to have brought in the Iceland Gulls
seen on the day of discovery. Given its elusive
nature, and the low density of observers, the
Taiga Merlin may have arrived some time
before its discovery and been overlooked.
It has been suggested that the North
American and Eurasian Merlins are distinct
species with no gene flow between these popu-
lations for at least one million years (Johnsen
et al. 2010). More recently, Fuchs et al. (2015)
found high genetic divergence (2.2%) between
individuals sampled from North America and
Europe, greater than that between some
closely related but distinct falcon species such
as the Hobby F. subbuteo and African Hobby
Nina O’Hanlon and Rob Hughes, 5 Churchill Road, Castletown, Thurso KW14 8UW;
e-mail nina.ohanlon@uhi.ac.uk
32
F. cuvierii (0.3–0.6%). While Johnsen et al.
(2010) and Fuchs et al. (2015) considered the
Eurasian and North American Merlins to be
distinctive and reciprocally monophyletic,
the IOC World Bird List (www.worldbird
names.org) treats them as one species but
comments that more sampling of subspecies is
desirable (Gill et al. 2020).
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Peter Alfrey, Pierre-André
Crochet and Pedro Ramalho for clarifying the status of
Taiga Merlin in the Azores.
References
British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU). 1992. Records
Committee: Seventeenth Report. Ibis 134: 380–381.
–– 1993. Records Committee: Nineteenth Report. Ibis
135: 493–499.
Cava, J. A., Richardson, A. D., Jacobs, E. A., & Rosenfield,
R. N. 2014. Breeding range expansion of Taiga Merlins
(Falco columbarius columbarius) in Wisconsin reflects
continental changes. J. Raptor Research 48: 182–188.
Crochet, P-A. 2008. A Taiga Merlin on the Azores: an
overlooked vagrant to Europe. Birding World 21:
114–116.
Ferguson-Lees, J., & Christie, D. A. 2001. Raptors of the
World. Helm, London.
Fuchs, J., Johnson, J. A., & Mindell, D. P. 2015. Rapid
diversification of falcons (Aves: Falconidae) due to
expansion of open habitats in the Late Miocene.
Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 82: 166–182.
Garner, M. 2002. Identification and vagrancy of American
Merlins in Europe. Birding World 15: 468–480.
Gill, F., Donsker, D., & Rasmussen, P. (eds.). 2020. IOC
World Bird List (v 10.2). www.worldbirdnames.org
Johnsen, A., et al. 2010. DNA barcoding of Scandinavian
birds reveals divergent lineages in trans-Atlantic
species. J. Ornithol. 151: 565–578.
Kerlinger, P., Cherry, J. D., & Powers, K. D. 1983. Records
of migrant hawks from the North Atlantic
Ocean. The Auk 100(2): 488–490.
Knox, A. G. 1993. Richard Meinertzhagen – a case of
fraud examined. Ibis 153: 320–325.
Milne, P., & McAdams, D. G. 2009. Irish Rare Bird
Report 2007. Irish Birds 8: 590.
Petersen, Æ. 1992. Amerískur smyrill finnst hérlendis.
[An American Merlin found.] Bliki 12: 11–14.
Pétursson, G., Thráinsson, G., & Ólafsson, E. 1992.
Sjaldgæfir fuglar á Íslandi 1989. [Rare Birds in Iceland
in 1989.]. Bliki 11: 31–63.
Pyle, P. 2008. Identification Guide to North American
Birds, Part 2. Slate Creek Press, Point Reyes Station,
CA, USA.
Warkentin, I. G., Sodhi, N. S., Espie, R. H. M., Poole, A. F.,
Oliphant, L. W., & James, P. C. 2020. Merlin (Falco
columbarius), version 1.0. In: Billerman, S. M. (ed.),
Birds of the World. Cornell Lab of Ornithology,
Ithaca, NY, USA. Retrieved from https://doi.org/
10.2173/bow.merlin.01
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 27–37
 Short papers

Editorial comment Paul French, Chair of
BBRC, commented: ‘Nina O’Hanlon and Rob
Hughes have described the main distin-
guishing feature of “Taiga Merlin”, and
happily the photographs obtained showed the
tail well. It was accepted in a single circulation
of BBRC. The described size suggests that this
bird was a 2CY male, as does the off-white
colour of the tail-bands as assessed here
https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/
jfo/v043n03/p0191-p0196.pdf. However, Pyle
(2008) gave less weight to the colour of the
tail-band, so this individual was left unaged
and unsexed beyond a 2CY+. With several
records in the Western Palearctic and the
seemingly ever-present promise of a split, a
twitchable one will be widely appreciated.’
James Gilroy, BOURC Chair, commented:
‘This individual clearly displayed the key
diagnostic features placing it among the
Nearctic subspecies of Merlin, and the
BOURC was satisfied that the plumage
characteristics were sufficient to allow identi-
fication as the nominate “Taiga Merlin” F. c.
columbarius, rather than the paler F. c.
richardsonii. Populations of Taiga Merlin are
highly migratory, and the Committee judged
the likelihood of this individual being an
escape from captivity to be very low. As with
all transatlantic vagrants, there is a possi-
bility that ship assistance played a part in its
arrival, but the Committee felt that natural
unassisted vagrancy is highly plausible for
this taxon – not least because Taiga Merlin is
among the most frequently observed raptors
on transoceanic migration across the
western North Atlantic (Kerlinger et al.
1983), suggesting that they are more than
capable of long overwater flight. The mid-
winter timing of the Caithness record
perhaps suggests that the bird arrived in
Europe during the previous autumn,
although a midwinter movement driven by
hard weather is also a possibility.’

Genetic analysis reveals the origin of a Bearded Vulture

in northern Europe in summer 2020
Abstract A second-calendar-year Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus spent nearly
four months in England in 2020, and settled in the Peak District for several weeks in
the summer. DNA analysis of feathers collected from a preening site on 30th August
revealed that the bird fledged from a French territory in the Bargy Massif, in the
Haute-Savoie region of the northwest Alps, on 6th July 2019. Its parents were a
wild-hatched male that fledged from the same area, and a female reared in La
Garenne Zoo in Switzerland and released as a fledgling in 2006 in Italy.

A
second-calendar-year Bearded
Vulture Gypaetus barbatus was pho-
tographed near Balsall Common,
West Midlands, during the afternoon of 26th
June 2020 (Burrell 2020). Based upon
matching plumage characteristics, the bird
was identified as the same individual that had
been observed in northern France, the
Netherlands, Belgium and the Channel
Islands during May and June 2020 (Burrell
2020). The vulture was then observed on
several days in the southern Peak District
before travelling farther north, where it used
different roost sites in the vicinity of Derwent
Edge throughout July. From 2nd August it
settled in an area around Crowden and
Woodhead Reservoir (Viles 2020), before
departing the Peak District on 19th
September. The vulture was subsequently
seen in several counties of central, eastern
and southern England, before arriving on the
Sussex coast on 14th–15th October. It was
last observed from the Beachy Head area,
heading out across the Channel towards
France on the last date (plate 12). This is the
second record of a Bearded Vulture in
Britain, the previous record being of another
second-calendar-year individual, in southeast
Wales and southwest England in May 2016
(McInerny & Stoddart 2019).
On 30th August, the vulture was observed
by DB perched and preening on a rocky

© British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 27–37 33

 Short papers
a b
Roger Charlwood
12. Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus with Common Buzzard Buteo buteo in 12a, circling over Beachy
Head, Sussex, in the early afternoon of 15th October 2020 before embarking on a Channel crossing.
Louis Phipps/Vulture Conservation Foundation
13. Bearded Vulture feathers collected from a
preening rock north of Crowden, Peak District
National Park, Derbyshire, on 30th August 2020.
34
Roger Charlwood
outcrop to the north of Crowden, in
Derbyshire, a short distance from the
Pennine Way. After the vulture had taken off
and flown out of view, DB walked to the
outcrop, where he found and collected two
feathers (plate 13). These were stored in
paper envelopes and passed to LP a few days
later. Although the origin and species of the
feathers could not be verified by visual
inspection alone, the circumstances of the
observation and colour, size and shape of the
feathers indicated that they might be from
the Bearded Vulture. They were subsequently
sent to Switzerland for further analysis.
Genetic monitoring of the captive-bred
Bearded Vulture population as well as the wild
population in the Alps started in 1998
(Gautschi 2001). Blood samples are collected
from all captive birds, while targeted searches
below nest sites and feathers found oppor-
tunistically are used to monitor the wild pop-
ulation and acquire the genotypes of the
wild-fledged birds. When possible, wild-
hatched chicks are marked in the nest or
during rescue missions involving birds that
fall from the nest or fledge early. Currently,
some 640 genotypes are stored in the
International Bearded Vulture Monitoring
(IBM) database: 200 captive-bred birds
remaining in captivity, 249 captive-bred birds
released to the wild, 137 birds hatched in the
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 27–37
 Short papers

wild in the Alps, 40 individuals from Corsica
and 14 individuals from the Pyrenees. A form
of genetic fingerprinting can then be used to
identify individuals and trace parentages by
assessing the sequences of genetic markers
within microsatellites (DNA segments com-
posed of repetitive stretches of DNA base
pairs) and comparing them to those from
known individuals in the IBM database. All
samples were genotyped with 24 microsatel-
lite markers by the commercial lab Ecogenics
(www.ecogenics.ch). Raw data were analysed
by FL with GeneMapper 5.0 (Applied
Biosystems) followed by manual proof-
reading. All feathers, including the two
feathers collected in Derbyshire, were analysed
in triplets and only identical genotypes from
the three repeats were considered. The geno-
types obtained were compared with the
existing genotypes in the database in Cervus
3.0.7 (Marshall et al. 1998; Kalinowski et al.
2007). Both showed a 100% match with the
genotype GT0169 obtained from a feather
collected by EM on 10th July 2019, below the
nest of the ‘Bargy BIS’ breeding pair, and anal-
ysed by FL on 11th December 2019. Sex was
determined using the capillary electrophoresis
method and species-specific primers
(Morinha et al. 2012). GT0169 corresponds to
the wild-hatched female chick with the identi-
fication code W0297 (also known as ‘Flysch’)
in the database, which fledged from the Bargy
BIS territory on 6th July 2019. This territory is
in the Bargy Massif in the Haute-Savoie
region of the northwest Alps, approximately
1,025 km southeast of where the Derbyshire
feather samples were collected (fig. 1). After
the extirpation of the species in the Bargy

Fig. 1. Map showing the location of the nest site of the Bearded Vultures Gypaetus barbatus in
‘Bargy BIS’ territory in the Haute-Savoie region of the northwest Alps, France, from which GT0169
(W0297 – Flysch) fledged in 2019 (red square); and the location where the feathers were collected
in Crowden, Derbyshire, on 30th August 2020 (red star; 1,025 km displacement). The release sites
(circles) and most northerly displacement locations for two Bearded Vultures, ‘Adonis’ (black cross;
1,176 km displacement) and ‘Larzac’ (blue triangle; 1,290 km displacement), released in Grands
Causses, France, in 2014 and 2015, respectively, are also shown.

British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 27–37 35

Short papers

Massif at the beginning of the twentieth calendar-year, wild-hatched individual with

century, Bearded Vultures were first released one captive-bred parent and one wild-hatched
there in 1987 and the first wild-hatched bird parent from the demographically self-sus-
fledged in 1997 (Mingozzi & Estève 1997). taining breeding population in the Alps
The parents of GT0169 were identified as (Schaub et al. 2009; Jenny et al. 2018). Two
a wild-hatched male (GT0099) that fledged other birds of known origin, both released in
from the territory ‘Bargy’, approximately 250 the Massif Central in France, are known to have
m east of the Bargy BIS territory; and a travelled farther than the 1,025 km reported
female (BG0493, ‘Zufall’) that was reared in here, and there are records of individuals of
La Garenne Zoo in Switzerland and released unknown origin travelling even farther north
as a fledgling in 2006, in Martell, South Tyrol, (fig. 1; IBM unpublished data). Observations
Italy (fig. 2). The natal dispersal distance of of immature Bearded Vultures in northern
BG0493 was 333 km, which is one of the fur- Europe are becoming more frequent
thest natal dispersal distances recorded (McInerny & Stoddart 2019), most likely due
(Jenny et al. 2018; IBM unpublished data). to the increasing populations in both the Alps
This pair had occupied the territory since (Jenny et al. 2018) and the Pyrenees (Margalida
2016 and reared a chick in 2017, 2018 and et al. 2020), resulting in a higher number of
2019. In 2020 the chick died at approximately individuals completing long-distance move-
30 days old for an unknown reason. The ments. In addition to the increased probability
parents of the male parent were both captive- of unusual, long-distance movements as
bred birds, the female and male being population size increases (Armsworth &
released in 1988 and 1989, respectively. Roughgarden 2005), this could also be
The results confirm that the Bearded attributable to a number of other factors,
Vulture that was present in the Peak District which require further investigation (Doherty &
from July to September 2020 was a second- Driscoll 2018; Morton et al. 2018).
While the increasing fre-
quency of observations of
BG0150
*1970
BG0151
*1960
Bearded Vultures in northern
Europe reflects the successful
Founder & implementation of conservation
captive birds BG0022
*1957
BG0023
*1958
BG0130
*1990
BG0034
*1971
BG0035
*1963
measures that have enabled the
recovery of the populations in
Captive-bred &
released
the Alps and Pyrenees (Jenny et
Bargy BG0099
*1988
BG0111
*1989 al. 2018; Margalida et al. 2020),
Territories the long-distance excursions
such as that described here may
pose increased risks to the birds.
For example, flying conditions
GT0099 BG0493
in lowland areas are usually less
Wild-hatched *~2010 *2006 Bargy BIS
favourable and more energeti-
cally expensive than in moun-
tains, where thermals and
GT0107
*2017
GT0144
*2018
GT0169
*2019
Flysch-Vigo orographic lift are more suitable
for soaring and gliding flight
Fig. 2. The genetic pedigree of Bearded Vulture GT0169 (named (Fielding et al. 2020).
Flysch, but known as ‘Vigo’ in the UK) determined by parental analy- Furthermore, levels of human
sis and pedigree reconstruction based on the analysis of the feathers activity and infrastructure
collected. Circles represent females, squares indicate males. Pale blue density are generally higher in
shapes indicate founder or captive individuals; yellow shapes indicate lowland areas at higher latitudes
captive-bred individuals released to the wild; dark blue shapes indicate
wild-hatched individuals; the red circle indicates GT0169; and purple (Venter et al. 2016) and have
rectangles indicate the names of the territories. The year of hatching been linked to lower survival
is shown beneath each genetic identification code, with all released rates in vultures owing to,
individuals released in their first year as fledglings. for example, increased risk of

36 British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 27–37


collisions with power lines, reduced feeding
opportunities and higher risk of food contami-
nation (Blanco et al. 2019; Arrondo et al. 2020).
It is important, therefore, to assess the potential
drivers of, and consequences of, these indi-
vidual long-distance movements to help
inform potential conservation actions. The suc-
cessful identification of this individual vulture
illustrates the effectiveness of cooperative,
cross-border networks for research and moni-
toring (Perrig et al. 2019), and we thank all
those involved in observing and reporting the
movements of this now-famous vulture.
Acknowledgments
We thank all of those involved in monitoring and
reporting the movements of GT0169, both within the
breeding territory and beyond, particularly in the UK.
We thank Asters, Conservatoire d’Espaces Naturels de
Haute-Savoie, for coordinating the breeding moni-
toring in the Bargy BIS territory and their participation
in the IBM network, especially for the collection of the
original feather samples. We thank all stakeholders and
organisations involved in managing the land on which
GT0169 has stayed during its travels. Thanks to Hans
Pohlmann and anonymous reviewers for constructive
comments on earlier drafts.
Supplementary information
Microsatellite data from the individual described and
identified in this paper, and related individuals, are avail-
able as a supplementary file. Please contact Franziska
Loercher (see below) for further information.
References
Armsworth, P. R., & Roughgarden, J. E., 2005. The
impact of directed versus random movement on
population dynamics and biodiversity patterns.
The American Naturalist 165: 449–465.
Arrondo, E., Sanz-Aguilar, A., Pérez-García, J. M., Cortés-
Avizanda, A., Sánchez-Zapata, J. A., & Donázar, J. A.
2020. Landscape anthropization shapes the survival of
a top avian scavenger. Biodiv. & Conserv. 29: 1411–1425.
Blanco, G., Cortés-Avizanda, A., Frías, Ó., Arrondo, E., &
Donázar, J. A. 2019. Livestock farming practices
modulate vulture diet-disease interactions. Global
Ecology and Conservation 17: e00518.
Burrell, L. 2020. Rarity Finders: Bearded Vulture in the
West Midlands. www.birdguides.com/articles/rarity-
finders-bearded-vulture-in-the-west-midlands
Louis Phipps, Vulture Conservation Foundation, Wuhrstrasse 12, 8003 Zurich, Switzerland;
e-mail l.phipps@4vultures.org
Franziska Loercher, Vulture Conservation Foundation (see above) and Stiftung Pro Bartgeier,
Wuhrstrasse 12, 8003 Zurich, Switzerland; e-mail f.loercher@4vultures.org
David Ball, Aston, Sheffield, Yorkshire
Etienne Marlé, Conservatoire d’Espaces Naturels de Haute-Savoie, Asters - 84 route du Viéran PAE
de Pré-Mairy, 74370 Pringy, France
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 27–37
Short papers
Doherty, T. S., & Driscoll, D. A. 2018. Coupling movement
and landscape ecology for animal conservation in
production landscapes. Proc. Roy. Soc. B 285:
20172272.
Fielding, A. H., et al. 2020. A simple topographical
model to predict Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos
space use during dispersal. Ibis 162: 400–415.
Gautschi, B. 2001. Conservation genetics of the
Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus). PhD thesis,
University of Zurich, Zurich.
Jenny, D., Kéry, M., Trotti, P., & Bassi, E. 2018. Philopatry in
a reintroduced population of Bearded Vultures
Gypaetus barbatus in the Alps. J. Ornithol. 159: 507–515.
Kalinowski, S. T., Taper, M. L., & Marshall, T. C. 2007.
Revising how the computer program Cervus
accommodates genotyping error increases success
in paternity assignment. Mol. Ecol. 16: 1099–1106.
Margalida, A., et al. 2020. An assessment of population
size and demographic drivers of the Bearded
Vulture using integrated population models. Ecol.
Monogr. 90: e01414.
Marshall, T. C., Slate, J., Kruuk, L. E. B., & Pemberton, J. M.
1998. Statistical confidence for likelihood-based
paternity inference in natural populations. Mol. Ecol.
7: 639–655.
McInerny, C., & Stoddart, A. 2019. Bearded Vultures in
northwest Europe. Brit. Birds 112: 26–34.
Mingozzi, T., & Estève, R., 1997. Analysis of a historical
extirpation of the Bearded Vulture Gypaetus
barbatus (L. ) in the western Alps (France-Italy):
former distribution and causes of extirpation. Biol.
Conserv. 79: 155–171.
Morinha, F., Cabral, J. A., & Bastos, E. 2012. Molecular
sexing of birds: a comparative review of poly-
merase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods.
Theriogenology 78: 703–714.
Morton, E. R., et al. 2018. Dispersal: a matter of scale.
Ecology 99: 938–946.
Perrig, P. L., Lambertucci, S. A., Donadio, E., Padró, J., &
Pauli, J. N. 2019. Monitoring vultures in the 21st
century: the need for standardized protocols. J. Appl.
Ecol. 56: 796–801.
Schaub, M., Zink, R., Beissmann, H., Sarrazin, F., &
Arlettaz, R. 2009. When to end releases in reintro-
duction programmes: demographic rates and
population viability analysis of Bearded Vultures in
the Alps. J. Appl. Ecol. 46: 92–100.
Venter, O., et al. 2016. Sixteen years of change in
the global terrestrial human footprint and
implications for biodiversity conservation.
Nat. Commun. 7: 12558.
Viles, S. 2020. Bearded Vulture: historic vagrancy and
current European status. www.birdguides.com/
articles/bearded-vulture-historic-vagrancy-and-
current-european-status
37
Notes
Drake Mandarin Duck escorting brood
In common with other ducks, male
Mandarin Ducks Aix galericulata normally
abandon the female before the eggs hatch,
though some may occasionally visit the nest
and remain for several hours (Lever 2013).
Kear (2005) noted that the pair bond in
Mandarins lasts until late in incubation or,
more rarely, into early brood-rearing, but
that parental care is entirely by the female.
On 22nd May 2019, on a small lake at
Limpsfield, Surrey, I was surprised to see
both a drake and a duck Mandarin escorting
a brood of six recently hatched ducklings.
The duck, as expected, was leading the
flotilla and the drake was bringing up the
rear, exactly in the manner of Common
Shelducks Tadorna tadorna and geese. On
27th May, I was even more surprised to see
Peter Oliver, Limpsfield Chart, Surrey; e-mail peterj.oliver6@gmail.com
Roof-nesting Lesser Black-backed Gulls using nearby tourist
beach as crèche for fledglings in the Netherlands
The Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus
breeds in increasing numbers on rooftops in
urban areas in western Europe. In The
Hague, the Netherlands, the number of
rooftop nests more than doubled between
2010 and 2017 (Lensink et al. 2015; Buijs &
Huig 2019). Most nests are situated on flat-
roofed buildings that provide little or no
shelter. Here we report on a crèche at a busy
tourist beach, used by a small rooftop colony
of Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
Aerial photographs in late May 2017, at
the peak of the breeding season, revealed 321
Lesser Black-backed Gull nests in the coastal
borough of Scheveningen. The highest nest
density was found in a small rooftop colony
on two adjacent buildings c. 0.8 km from the
coast, which held a total of c. 45 nests. In
2018 and 2019 a total of 21 adults were cap-
tured and colour-ringed, while 28 and 49
chicks were colour-ringed in 2018 and 2019
respectively. Approximately 9 km farther
38
the drake leading the flotilla, with no sign of
a female anywhere on the lake. The drake
was again leading the brood, now of five
ducklings, on 5th June, and I last saw the
drake on 22nd June, when there were two or
possibly three fairly well-grown ducklings
close by, but not closely associating with
him. On 18th August, I saw what was evi-
dently the same brood of five, now fully
grown and full-winged, grazing on the grass
beside the lake.
I have found no reference to drake Mandarin
Ducks having any involvement in the rearing
of young, with or without the female.
References
Kear, J., 2005. Ducks, Geese and Swans. Vol. 2. OUP, Oxford.
Lever, C. 2013. The Mandarin Duck. Poyser, London.
inland, at the largest colony in The Hague, 39
adults and 70 juveniles were colour-ringed in
2018, and 59 adults and 102 juveniles in
2019. The Port of Rotterdam, c. 15 km to the
south, contains the largest breeding colony in
the Netherlands, where Lesser Black-backed
Gulls have been colour-ringed for many
years, including 249 juveniles in 2019.
Prompted by reports of colour-ringed
juveniles congregating on Scheveningen
beach in 2018, we monitored this beach daily
from 20th July 2019, when the first colour-
ringed juveniles appeared, until the end of
September. Between 20th July and the end of
August, colour-ringed juveniles from the
Scheveningen colony were seen almost daily,
always in a single group on the same stretch
of beach. Sightings peaked in late July with
17 colour-ringed individuals from the
Scheveningen colony.
Scheveningen is one of the most popular
beaches in the Netherlands, especially in July
© British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 38–46
 Notes

and August, but juvenile Lesser Black-backed
Gulls were seen daily, in groups of up to 48
birds, with small numbers of adults. The
colour-ring data confirmed that the adults
included local breeders and that the beach
was apparently used as a crèche by this
colony with juveniles resting, being fed and
learning to forage. Adults arriving with food
would call to their chicks, which then moved
to the edge of the group to be fed.
The use of a crèche is well known in pen-
guins (del Hoyo et al. 1992), and has also
been described for some duck species (e.g.
Gorman & Milne 1972) and Slender-billed
Gulls Chroicocephalus genei (Chokri et al.
2011). At Scheveningen, however, the juven-
iles formed a crèche after fledging, not prior
to it as in the above examples. Besnard et al.
(2002) suggested that a crèche strategy can
evolve in a gull species when the colony

Ronald van Oosteroom

14. Juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus siblings N-N/L and N-N/P, about to be fed by an
adult at Scheveningen beach, 29th July 2019.

Ronald van Oosteroom

15. Juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull N-N/L learning to forage independently in surf along the
shoreline, 4th August 2019.

British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 38–46 39

Notes

75 juveniles beaches near the city (total of

adults 15 sightings); just one sighting
60
of a bird from this colony was
45 near the Scheveningen crèche.
Of the 249 colour-ringed ju-
30
veniles from the Port of
15 Rotterdam colony, 22 (9%)
were seen on beaches in and
0 near The Hague but none
w/c w/c w/c w/c w/c w/c w/c w/c w/c
20 Jul 27 Jul 3 Aug 10 Aug 17 Aug 24 Aug 31 Aug 7 Sep 14 Sep
appeared in the Scheveningen
Fig. 1. Sightings of colour-ringed juvenile and adult Lesser crèche, and 16 of these were
Black-backed Gulls Larus fuscus from the Scheveningen colony seen on a remote beach with
in the crèche on Scheveningen beach in 2019. Numbers peaked
in the second week after the first fledgling was seen on the low recreation pressure. These
beach (20th July). numbers illustrate how ju-
venile Lesser Black-backed
becomes accessible to terrestrial predation, Gulls typically avoid tourist beaches in this
which was not the case at Scheveningen. For area, and suggest that the Scheveningen
this rooftop colony, exposure to direct sun- beach crèche is particularly remarkable.
light, heat and lack of shelter on the roof may
encourage early fledging, when juveniles are Acknowledgments
capable of flying short distances but are not We wish to thank Ronald van Oosteroom for his valu-
entirely independent. able insights and photographs.
Some 75 colour-ring sightings (a sighting
is defined as a known individual seen on a References
particular day, so the same individual on Besnard, A., Gimenez, O., & Lebreton, J-D. 2002. A model
consecutive days would be counted as two for the evolution of crèching behaviour in gulls.
Evolutionary Ecology 16: 489–503.
sightings) at the crèche before 1st August Buijs, R-J., & Huig, N. 2019. Meeuwen in Den Haag: stand
compares with two and seven sightings on van zaken anno 2018. Technical Report, Buijs Eco
local beaches by that date from the 102 and Consult B.V. Oud-Vossemeer. (In Dutch)
Chokri, M. A., Hammouda, A., & Tavecchia, G. 2011.
249 juveniles ringed at the other roof colony Survival of Slender-billed Gull chicks during the
in The Hague and at the Port of Rotterdam crèching period. Bird Study 58(4): 443–449.
respectively. In total, 141 out 144 sightings of Gorman, M. L., & Milne, H. 1972. Creche behaviour in
fledged juveniles from the Scheveningen the Common Eider Somateria m. mollissima L. Ornis
Scand. 3: 21–25.
colony were in the crèche group, showing del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J. (eds.). 1992.
that the vast majority of these birds use the Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 1.
crèche; sightings involved 34 individuals of Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
Lensink, R., De Jong, J. W., & Kleyheeg-Hartman, J. C.
the 49 that were colour-ringed (69%). In 2015. Luchtfotoinventarisatie van op daken
comparison, just nine juveniles (9%) from broedende meeuwen in Den Haag in 2010.
the largest colony in The Hague were seen on Limosa 88(3): 114–124. (In Dutch)

Naomi Huig and Roland-Jan Buijs, Buijs Eco Consult B.V., Zandfort 96, 4631 RR Hoogerheide,
The Netherlands; e-mail nhuig@buijsecoconsult.nl

Tawny Owl landing on water

On arrival at Grafham Water, Cambridge-
shire, at about midday on 15th November
2019, I heard the distant but persistent agi-
tated alarm-calling of some Blackbirds
Turdus merula coming from tall trees at the
waterside and wondered if an owl could be
the cause of the fuss. Common Chaffinches
Fringilla coelebs and a Song Thrush Turdus
philomelos were also alarm-calling, soon
being joined by Carrion Crows Corvus
corone. When a Common Kestrel Falco tin-
nunculus also joined in, I became convinced

40 British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 38–46


16. Tawny Owl Strix aluco mobbed by Carrion Crows Corvus corone, Grafham Water, Cambridgeshire,
November 2019.
that an owl must have been discovered and
wandered towards the furore.
Further crows duly arrived until a gang of
about ten were present. This clearly proved
too much for the Tawny Owl Strix aluco that
was indeed the cause of the commotion. At
12.06 hrs, it flew out and directly across the
reservoir, which is c. 1 km wide at this point.
The crows were very persistent, though, and
most of them followed the unfortunate owl,
dive-bombing it constantly, and gradually
forcing it lower and towards the water
surface. Eventually, about halfway across, the
owl was forced to land and sat very low on
the water, initially with wings spread wide as
if mantling prey.
Even then the crows persisted in their
mobbing and were joined by several Common
Richard Patient, Cambridgeshire; e-mail richard.patient@outlook.com
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 38–46
Notes
Richard Patient
Gulls Larus canus (although these were less
persistent). The owl drew its wings in towards
its body and adopted a posture with its tail
held nearly vertical and its head low, but
glaring upwards towards its tormentors (plate
16). To my astonishment, after several minutes
it took off from the water and flew towards the
far shore, but again landed on the water, about
20 m from the shoreline. With the wind
blowing it towards the bank, I wondered if it
could simply drift to land. Finally, at 12.17 hrs,
it rose from the water again and managed to
fly low into the tree cover on the far shore, with
the mobbing crows still in pursuit.
I was surprised and delighted to see the
owl survive this ordeal, having endured some
ten minutes of floating on the reservoir
without becoming waterlogged.
41
 Notes

Trans-continental dispersal of a UK-bred juvenile Peregrine Falcon

Since 2007, a BTO-administered colour-
ringing scheme has involved fitting individu-
ally marked blue plastic rings on Peregrine
Falcons Falco peregrinus in southwest
England. To date, over 200 Peregrine pulli
have been colour-ringed, resulting in 46
recoveries, both dead and alive. The results
have been mostly as expected: females have
travelled farther than males, and only three
(7%) of recoveries have been more than 200
km from the nest site. On 30th May 2019, a
small team led by LJS ringed a brood of three
male Peregrine pulli at an urban nest site in
Taunton, Somerset.
On 1st November 2019, one of these males,
blue RY, was found dead in Tiznit, Morocco,
reportedly hit by a motor vehicle. RY had made
a direct-line dispersal of 2,435 km in the 155
days since being ringed at 21 days old. This is
the first British-ringed Peregrine to make it to
mainland Africa, and in distance covered it
has been beaten only by a nine-month old
female Peregrine ringed as a nestling in
Northumberland, which made it slightly farther
south, to Lanzorote, in the Canary Islands
(3,065 km), in 1998 (Robinson et al. 2019).
Robin Morrison
British-hatched Peregrine Falcons gener-
ally stay within the UK or disperse shorter
distances to Belgium, France or the
Netherlands (Ratcliffe 1993; Robinson et al.
2019), while Peregrines from northern
Europe, such as Finnish Lapland, sometimes
migrate to northern Africa (Tuomo Ollila
pers. comm. 2009). This remarkable recovery
illustrates the species’ ability to travel long
distances, which it does regularly between
North America and Central and South
America, and between northern Russia and
the Middle East (White et al. 2013).
Acknowledgments
We thank Alhaine Abdellah for reporting the ringing
recover y and the ringing team of Michael Leigh-
Mallory, Seb Loram and Robin Morrison.
References
Ratcliffe, D. 1993. The Peregrine Falcon. 2nd edn.
Poyser, London.
Robinson, R. A., Leech, D. I., & Clark, J. A. 2019. The Online
Demography Report: bird ringing and nest recording in
Britain & Ireland in 2018. BTO, Thetford. [Retrieved
from www.bto.org/ringing-report on 31st July 2019.]
White, C. M., Cade, T. J., & Enderson, J. H., 2013. Peregrine
Falcons of the World. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

17. Three juvenile Peregrine Falcons Falco peregrinus, Taunton, Somerset, June 2019.

Ed Drewitt, School of Biological Sciences, Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ;
e-mail ed.drewitt@bristol.ac.uk

Luke J. Sutton, School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus,
Plymouth PL4 8AA, and The Peregrine Fund, 5668 West Flying Hawk Lane, Boise, Idaho 83709,
USA; e-mail lsutton@peregrinefund.org

42 British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 38–46


Jackdaws feeding on Yew berries
On 13th November 2019, at Bramfield
churchyard, Hertfordshire, we were surprised
to observe Jackdaws Coloeus monedula
feeding on Yew Taxus baccata berries. We had
never seen this before, despite frequently
watching birds in churchyard Yews over very
many years. Later, reviewing the literature, we
found that Yew berries are not mentioned in
the list of food items taken by Jackdaws by
either Cramp & Perrins (1994) or Snow &
Snow (1988). However, the latter reference
states ‘that the crows... or at least the larger
ones... do not eat yew berries.’ The qualifica-
tion is due to a historical record of Eurasian
Jays Garrulus glandarius eating Yew berries
near Dresden (Creutz 1952, 1953).
On 14th November we returned to
Bramfield and managed to photograph this
behaviour. Over the next three weeks, we
carried out a one-hour watch at ten other
sites with Yew trees in villages in north and
central Hertfordshire, and one in the urban
centre of Welwyn Garden City. This revealed
up to eight Jackdaws eating Yew berries at
five of these sites, which suggests that the
habit may be widespread in the county.
During that time, we also spent a total of
34 hours studying the feeding behaviour of
Jackdaws in more detail in the churchyards
at Tewin and Bramfield. At Tewin, we were
simultaneously able to observe up to 80
Jackdaws feeding on adjacent permanent
pastures. From there, the birds made occa-
sional forays to feed on the berries, though
periods of over an hour sometimes passed
with no Jackdaws coming to the Yews.
Usually they arrived in the trees in small
parties of 6–8 birds, mostly in pairs, but on
one occasion over 50 arrived together and
fed simultaneously. Forays to feed on the
berries never lasted more than six minutes
and the intake was small; those observed
comprised a maximum of nine berries,
which appeared to be eaten whole.
During two days when we spent all the
daylight hours at Tewin, at least 70% of the
birds in view on the adjacent grasslands
visited the Yew trees to feed. Some made
Tom and Janet Gladwin, 99 Warren Way, Digswell, Welwyn, Hertfordshire AL6 0DL;
e-mail tomandjanet.gladwin@btinternet.com
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 38–46
Notes
Tom Gladwin
18. Jackdaw Coloeus monedula feeding on Yew
Taxus baccata berries, Bramfield churchyard,
Hertfordshire, November 2019.
more than one foray, but since the birds were
not marked we were unable to estimate the
pattern of multiple visits. Jays, Magpies Pica
pica and Carrion Crows Corvus corone occa-
sionally perched in the Yews but none were
seen to eat any berries. Rooks C. frugilegus
were present daily on the adjacent grasslands
but never visited the Yews.
Yew fruits are not true berries, but aril-
lates. The red flesh-like cap, the aril, an out-
growth from the seed, is the only non-toxic
part of Yews. It is not clear whether Jackdaws
are seed dispersers or consumers; and, if the
latter, whether they are immune to the toxi-
city of the seeds, like some other species
(such as the Great Tit Parus major).
Acknowledgments
Our thanks go to Hein van Grouw and other staff at
the Natural Histor y Museum, Tring, for their kind
counsel, and for access to the library there, and to
Benjamin Gladwin for translating several papers from
German into English.
References
Cramp, S., & Perrins, C. M. (eds.). 1994. Birds of the
Western Palearctic. Vol. 8. OUP, Oxford.
Creutz, G. 1952. Misteldrossel und Seidenschwanz.
Orn. Mitt. 4: 67.
— 1953. Beeren und Früchte als Vogelnahrung. Beir.
Vogelkunde 3: 91–103.
Snow, B., & Snow, D. 1988. Birds and Berries. Poyser,
Calton.
43
 Notes
Wild berries as food for birds in the eastern Canary Islands
I noted with interest Simon Rowlands’ obser-
vation of a Great Grey Shrike Lanius excu-
bitor feeding red berries to its well-grown
chicks in Lanzarote (Brit. Birds 112: 300).
The berry in question is almost certainly the
fruit of Lycium intricatum, a thorny shrub
that is a member of the nightshade family.
This plant is widespread in Lanzarote and
Fuerteventura, and indeed it is the plant that
the shrike in Simon’s photograph is perched
on. While studying the Houbara Bustard
Chlamydotis undulata in Fuerteventura, I do
not recall seeing shrikes eating the berries of
David Collins
19. Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor koenigi
perched on Asparagus pastorianus, Fuerteventura,
Canary Islands, Spain, March 2017.
David Collins
20. Houbara Bustard Chlamydotis undulata fuertaventurae feeding on Lycium fruits, Fuerteventura,
Canary Islands, Spain, April 2013.
David Collins, Penbothidno House, Constantine, Falmouth TR11 5AU;
e-mail david.collins@elmtwo.com
44
Lycium, but this plant is valuable to them in
two other ways. The hard thorns are often
used as larders, where lizards and other prey
are stored for future use, and larger speci-
mens provide ideal nesting sites due to their
impenetrability.
The only other shrubs on the islands with
similar berries are the various species of
shrubby asparagus, but these are much less
widespread. Plate 19 shows a Great Grey
Shrike in Fuerteventura perched on
Asparagus pastorianus. Although this species
is also thorny, the thorns are shorter and
weaker and are not suitable as larders.
Lycium fruits also form a significant part
of the diet of the endemic race of the
Houbara Bustard C. u. fuertaventurae (plate
20). Of 106 faeces that I collected during
January to April (the fruiting season for this
species), 49% contained its seeds. Fresh
faeces collected from the roost of a single
bird on 13th April 1980 were estimated to
contain the remains of about 600 fruits
(Collins 1984).
References
Collins, D. R. 1984. A study of the Canarian Houbara
Bustard (Chlamydotis undulata fuertaventurae) with
special reference to its behaviour and ecology.
Unpublished M.Phil. thesis, University of London.
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 38–46

Opportunistic use of temporary refuge from the cold
by Bearded Tits
The Bearded Tit Panurus biarmicus has been
an occasional breeding species in the Björka
lertag nature reserve in south-central Sweden
since 1987. The reserve lies at the northern
limit of the bird’s range in Sweden, and cold
winters have decimated numbers there on
several occasions. On 2nd February 2001, I
visited the reserve with Pia Mrose. The day
was clear and sunny, with a cold wind from
the northeast and about 10 cm of lying snow;
the air temperature was -20oC at 09.50 hrs,
rising to -17oC at 13.40 hrs.
As we crossed a small wooden bridge over
a ditch, two male Bearded Tits suddenly
emerged from under my feet and started to
call. One flew away while the second
remained and perched among some reeds on
the other side of the ditch. It appeared some-
what dazed and fluffed out its feathers. On
close approach it appeared well; it cleaned its
bill and preened while perched for several
minutes low over the ice, moving just occa-
sionally between individual reed stems.
Jonas Engzell, Bromölla, Sweden; e-mail joengzell@hotmail.com
Interaction between Long-tailed Tits and Blue Tits at a nest site
The note by Graham Martin (Brit. Birds 112:
687) describing Long-tailed Tits Aegithalos cau-
datus stealing nesting material from a Eurasian
Treecreeper Certhia familiaris reminded me of
a similar interaction between Long-tailed Tits
and Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus.
The Long-tailed Tit is a rare and occasional
breeder in the Outer Hebrides, but one or two
pairs bred successfully between 1996 and
1999. On 2nd May 2000, I observed a Long-
tailed Tit attending a nest site in the Castle
Grounds in Stornoway, the only extensive area
of woodland in the islands. I observed the
Long-tailed Tit carrying nesting material on
several occasions but was puzzled to see a Blue
Tit chase it away on two occasions.
On 5th May I discovered the Long-tailed
Tit’s nest, c. 3 m above ground in a Scots
Pine Pinus sylvestris; the nest was in a cavity
formed by a split in a branch. On 8th May a
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 38–46
Notes
A little later we returned to the bridge and
were surprised to see five Bearded Tits (three
males, two females) emerging through a
small hole in the ice. Closer examination
revealed that the ice covering the ditch had
formed when the water level was much
higher, leaving a gap between the current
water level and the underside of the ice. The
birds were emerging through a small hole
where part of the ice had collapsed. Shortly
afterwards we watched all the Bearded Tits
disappear under the ice in a nearby ditch.
The distance from the ice to the water in the
ditch was about 20 cm at both locations.
The following day I returned and mea-
sured the air temperature 40 cm above the ice
covering the ditch and 20 cm below the ice
(and 40 cm laterally from the hole). The air
temperature that day was -17oC but it was
only -2oC below the ice – a significant tem-
perature difference and, since the ice effec-
tively blocked the wind, the true sheltering
effect of the ice was probably even greater.
Long-tailed Tit entered the nest carrying an
insect, but on 10th May I found one of a
pair of Blue Tits pulling some of the
material from the nest. A Long-tailed Tit
appeared but was chased by both Blue Tits,
only for the former to return and chase
away a Blue Tit. A few minutes later both
birds were engaged in aerial combat before
the Long-tailed Tit fell to the ground and
was attacked from above by the Blue Tit.
Twenty minutes later, one of the Blue Tits
again returned to the nest and began to
remove some of the nesting material.
Subsequently, only Blue Tits were seen
attending the nest, and on 28th May they
were seen entering the nest carrying food
items. Young could be heard calling from
the nest on 18th June and three days later I
found that the nest was empty, the young
presumably having fledged.
45
 Notes
Based on these observations, it could be
argued that the Blue Tits were attempting to
evict the Long-tailed Tits from their nest.
However, the site was not a typical location
where a Long-tailed Tit would construct a
nest (Cramp & Perrins 1993). The hostility
shown towards the Long-tailed Tits, the
removal of the nest material brought in by
them and the Blue Tits’ successful breeding
Robert Wemyss, Willowglen House, Willowglen Road, Stornoway, Outer Hebrides;
e-mail robert.wemyss@btinternet.com
European Stonechat with ocular nematode
Norman McCanch
21. Male European Stonechat with ocular nematode visible in the
lower portion of the eye, Calf of Man, Isle of Man, spring 1992.
In the spring of 1992, a male European
Stonechat Saxicola rubicola held territory
and fathered two broods close to the obser-
vatory farmhouse on the Calf of Man. In
early April the bird was trapped and found
to have a nematode actively living inside its
eye, visible through the cornea (plate 21).
The bird seemed unaffected and was
retrapped in the summer, when it was found
to be of a similar weight to others captured
during the period. Stonechats leave the Calf
of Man for the winter and this individual
did not return to the same territory the fol-
low ing year. No attempt was made to
remove the nematode and it was not pos-
sible to identify the species.
Norman McCanch, 23 New Street, Ash, Canterbury, Kent CT3 2BH; e-mail nvmccanch@hotmail.com
46
may be evidence that the Long-tailed Tits
had occupied what had originally been a
Blue Tit nest, perhaps from a previous
season. For the subsequent four years, a pair
of Blue Tits occupied this nest site.
References
Cramp, S., & Perrins, S. M. (eds.). 1993. The Birds of the
Western Palearctic. Vol. 7. OUP, Oxford.
Subsequent research sug-
gested that a likely candidate
would be a representative of
the genus Oxyspirura, possibly
the parasitic roundworm
Oxyspirura mansoni, which is
known to infect the eyes of
birds. These parasites live on
the surface of and/or behind
the eyeball in the lacrimal
duct and its associated glands,
producing the disease called
oxyspiruriasis or oxypirurosis.
Patrick Manson first collected
this eyeworm from poultry in
China in 1878 and it was sub-
sequently described by
Cobbold (1880). Although this parasite
seems widespread in domestic poultry,
records of this condition in wild birds seem
scarce. Illingworth (1931) described its inci-
dence in House Sparrows Passer domesticus
in Hawaii, where it seemed fairly ubiquitous.
I have been unable to find any reference
to ocular nematodes in wild birds in Britain,
suggesting the phenomenon might be rare
or simply overlooked.
References
Cobbold, T. S. 1880. Prefatory note to Manson, P., Further
observations on microfilariae, with description of a
new species. J. Quekett Microscopical Club 6: 130–132.
Illingworth, J. F. 1931. Manson’s Eye-Worm distributed
by English sparrows. Proc. Hawaiian Entomological
Soc. 7: 461.
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 38–46
 Obituaries
Peter Hope Jones (1935–2020)
P
eter was born in Oswestr y,
Shropshire, a few kilometres from the
Welsh border, because there was no
Welsh maternity unit close to his parents’
home in Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant. Peter
was brought up in Prestatyn and went to
Rhyl grammar school. He took up bird-
watching, influenced by Edmund Sandars’ A
Bird Book for the Pocket. In 1953, he went to
the University College of North Wales,
Bangor (now Bangor University) to study
forestry. There, he began counting wildfowl
on Anglesey’s lakes and estuaries. He
dropped out of college during his second
year for medical reasons.
In March 1956, he became Assistant
Warden at Fair Isle Bird Observatory, where
he completed two seasons. He moved to the
Camargue, in the south of France, helping as
a volunteer to ring birds at the Tour du Valat
David Saunders
22. Peter Hope Jones (right) and Mike Harris on Skomer,
Pembrokeshire, in 1962.
© British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 47–50
research station. In 1960 Peter became the
Nature Conservancy’s warden naturalist for
Newborough Warren on Anglesey, where his
work included protecting breeding
Montagu’s Harriers Circus pygargus. He
became friendly with the wildlife artist
Charles Tunnicliffe, finding recently dead
birds for Charles to use as specimens for his
illustrations and paintings.
Peter moved to Meirionnydd in 1965,
with responsibility for nine National Nature
Reserves. In 1968, a Winston Churchill
memorial award took him to the USA for
two months, where he studied wildlife con-
servation and management. In 1973 he
resigned from his post in Meirionnydd.
He moved to Orkney in 1976, where he
set up cliff monitoring plots for seabirds,
surveyed and censused seaducks and estab-
lished year-round beached bird counts. This
was in response to the
building of a terminal for
North Sea oil in Scapa
Flow. Many of these
surveys and monitoring
counts continue today and
have proved invaluable in
monitoring and under-
standing changes in
seabird numbers in the
wider context of Britain &
Ireland. Peter could see
the waste of biological
material from seabirds
killed in oil spills and
devised a system for pro-
cessing oiled birds (partic-
ularly auks) to get their
age, sex and biometrics to
help trace the source of
the dead birds. A later
MSc thesis looked at the
precise plumage col-
oration of Common
Guillemots Uria aalge and
Razorbills Alca torda using
a standardised colour
chart. This was done
47
Obituaries
despite the fact that Peter was colour-blind!
Peter analysed the corpses of birds from the
Amoco Cadiz (March 1978), Christos Bitas
(October 1978) and Hamilton Trader (May
1979) oil spills. Later, he also looked at the
auks from the large seabird wreck on the east
coast of Britain in March 1983 and helped to
coordinate the post-mortems following the
Braer spill in Shetland in January 1993.
During 1978–1982, Peter was based in
Aberdeen, initially setting up and then
being part of the (four-man) Nature
Conservancy Council ‘Seabirds at Sea’ team.
Their remit was to map the distribution of
seabirds in the North Sea, to increase our
understanding of the possible impact of oil
pollution. This was, of course, before all the
current methods of tracking individual
seabirds were available. Relying heavily on
the goodwill of oil companies and others,
members of the team went out on ferries,
supply boats, fisher y protection and
research vessels. They also visited oil and
gas platforms to determine which birds
were at most immediate risk if incidents
occurred around them; in 1979, Peter stayed
on a platform for five weeks to investigate
claims that gas flaring incinerated birds
around the platform (he found no evidence
of mass damage).
Illness hospitalised Peter for some weeks
in 1982, and he returned to Prestatyn to
recuperate. The following year he moved to
Menai Bridge and took part in counts of
seabirds and cetaceans in the Irish Sea. He
also spent much time on Ynys Enlli
(Bardsey), including 12 months during
1984–85. He had been an obsessive collector
of references about Bardsey since 1959, and
edited the Bird Observatory’s Report from
1970 to 1999. While on the island, he worked
on The Natural History of Bardsey, published
in 1988 and which remains the best general
introduction to the island’s wildlife. Ten
years later, Between Sea and Sky, a superb
collection of Peter’s photographs from
Bardsey, was published; accompanying each
is a quotation from the poetry of his friend
R. S. Thomas, who was Vicar of Aberdaron
and visited Bardsey frequently.
In spring 1986, Peter began a project
for the RSPB on the status and ecology of
Black Grouse Lyrurus tetrix in Wales.
48
Unfortunately, ill health prevented him
from continuing beyond the following year,
because of the arduous fieldwork involved.
In October 1987 he enrolled in the College
of Librarianship in Aberystwyth (as the
oldest in a class of 80 students), and in 1990
submitted a Master’s thesis on the feasibility
of creating a wildlife database for Wales. By
then, he had rejoined NCC in Bangor as
Monitoring Ecologist, and set up a team of
a dozen workers for what became the
Countryside Council for Wales’ monitoring
programme.
His next project, Birds of Anglesey, Adar
Mon, with Paul Whalley – finished up as a
very large bilingual book (he was as com-
for table speaking Welsh as English,
depending on his audience). A Lifetime
Achievement Award from the Welsh
Ornithological Society in 2012 was very
appropriate. The citation mentions a total of
148 publications. Incredibly hard-working,
conscientious well beyond the call of duty,
he was great company and an inspiration to
friends and colleagues. His achievements
were limited only by the number of hours in
the day and, sadly, by bouts of illness.
Peter (or Peter Hope as he always
announced himself) combined the precision
of a scientist with a poetic sensibility, and
influenced a generation of naturalists as
much through his unique combination of
personal qualities as through his work. He
exhibited a vulnerability born of his strug-
gles with depression, an engaging and giving
personality, always looking for things to do
for others, and a thoughtfulness that con-
nected the detail of any subject under dis-
cussion with a holistic and philosophical
turn of mind.
Peter was not deeply academic and had a
wide range of interests, many focused on his
native Wales, particularly Anglesey and
Bardsey. He did not seek the limelight, but
his diligent and thorough studies laid solid
foundations for much of the work on British
seabirds that continues today.
Thanks to Geoff Gibbs and James Robertson, who
wrote an obituary for the Guardian, for providing
additional information.
Mark Tasker
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 47–50
 Obituaries

Frank Denis Hamilton (1932–2020)

F
rank Hamilton’s interest in birds On the return of the Ospreys Pandion hali-
started in 1949 when, aged 17, his life- aetus to Scotland in 1958, the RSPB (contro-
long friend Keith Macgregor invited versially for the time) opened a public
him to a Scottish Ornithologists’ Club (SOC) viewing hide, with a camp of volunteers to
meeting. The ‘birding switch’ was thrown, guard the nest area. Frank helped to set up the
and he threw himself into birding locally, in camp for volunteers at Loch Garten; he and
Lothian. With Keith he recorded the birds at Kathleen were based there, organising rotas,
Aberlady Bay, their data helping to persuade preparing meals, and handling press
the local council to make the bay a Local inquiries. Frank was convinced that telling
Nature Reserve in 1952, the first declared in people and allowing them to see the birds was
Scotland. Together they published the Birds the way to secure their protection. Over 2.5
of Aberlady Bay Nature Reserve in 1958, and million people have by now visited the Loch
Frank kept an eye over the reserve for much Garten Ospreys, and that volunteer camp has
of his life. Frank was also an early visitor to started many successful conservation careers.
the Isle of May Bird Observatory. In those In 1961 the RSPB moved its HQ to
days, protocols were rather rudimentary and, Bedfordshire, where Frank helped to raise
when he eventually applied to the BTO for a the public profile and professionalism
ringer’s licence, he was not amused to be within the organisation. This included
declined, pending formal training! highlighting important conser vation
Frank Hamilton joined the staff of the matters such as the dangers of organo-
RSPB in 1958, having repeatedly written chlorine pesticides, and the threats to
asking to be considered for
any vacancy. His chance
came eventually and he
joined the small staff
in the Society’s London
HQ, helping to develop
and support the junior
members as well as
showing the wildlife films
the RSPB was renowned
for making. This involved
taking the films and pro-
jection equipment on a
circuit of towns and cities
across the UK, often
accompanied by his wife,
Kathleen. During the
interval he would bounce
on stage, a tall, spare, red-
haired figure, and implore
the audience to join the
RSPB and support its
work for birds. On one
occasion, at the Usher Hall
in his home city of
Edinburgh, so successful
were his entreaties that a
queue of over 200 people
RSPB

formed, delaying the

second programme! 23. Frank Hamilton in the early 1990s.

British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 47–50 49

Obituaries
seabirds from oil pollution. Following the
move to Sandy, the RSPB enjoyed rapid
growth and public support.
In 1966 the Ulster Society for the
Protection of Birds merged with the RSPB,
and Frank was tasked with establishing an
RSPB office in Belfast, which involved
setting up membership groups and bird
reserves, and supporting conservation
efforts south of the border where possible.
This was no easy posting, and indeed
Kathleen and their two young children may
not have regarded this as the perfect pro-
motion as the troubles emerged in
Northern Ireland.
Frank returned to Scotland in 1971, and
settled in Longniddry, close to his beloved
Aberlady Bay. He was appointed assistant to
the (then) Scottish Director, George
Waterston, and succeeded him as Director
in 1972, becoming a member of the RSPB
board of management. Frank championed
the establishment of regional offices across
the UK, and especially the local perspective
on conservation projects.
Frank was a strong proponent of buying
reserves to secure and enhance sites for
both birds and people. He considered that
the statutory conservation agencies were
subject to too much pressure from
landowning, farming or commercial
forestry interests to put nature first. He was
particularly delighted to see the RSPB’s
acquisition of the Abernethy estate in the
Cairngorms, oak woodlands in Galloway
and farms on Islay. He relished seeing
others getting pleasure out of looking at
birds. Frank was a principled and coura-
geous advocate for birds and nature, and
coached the RSPB through stormy waters,
including the rush to expand oil develop-
ment in the North Sea, securing safeguards
and oil-spill contingency plans that we now
take for granted. He was fearless when it
mattered, risking the wrath of decision
makers when speaking out about the dam-
aging afforestation of blanket peatlands in
the Flow Country.
Frank supported his staff to the hilt, and
in return expected them to go the extra mile
for conservation. With his infectious enthu-
siasm and preparedness to lead by example,
he commanded great loyalty from members
50
and staff alike. He was also famously careful
with the RSPB’s finances. Frank’s contribu-
tion to conservation was recognised when he
was made an OBE in 1987.
After retirement, Frank embarked on
various expeditions and travels. Castles and
cathedrals were of little interest, but the rain-
forests of Guyana and the páramo in the
Andes thrilled him. His travels took him to
Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina, Guyana,
Peru and many countries in Africa and Asia.
His passion for birding and great sense of
humour made it a privilege for us to be his
companions on some of those journeys.
Each trip had a special bird to see, and we
will never forget him falling to his knees and
kissing the ground on a high-altitude pass in
the Andes as he achieved his ambition to see
a Diademed Sandpiper-Plover Phegornis
mitchellii on its breeding grounds!
Frank was a great note taker, and his
records tracked the decline in formerly
common species, including Corn Crakes
Crex crex and Corn Buntings Emberiza
calandra. With Keith Macgregor he discov-
ered a Wilson’s Phalarope Phalaropus tri-
color at Rosyth marsh in Fife in September
1954, a British and western European first
(Brit. Birds 48: 15–17). Frank was a lifelong
supporter of the SOC, joining in 1949 and
becoming President in 1990. He was a
regular attendee at social gatherings and the
annual conference, and was made an Hon.
Life President to recognise his service to
Scottish ornithology.
Frank’s health gradually declined, but he
remained razor sharp and keen to keep
abreast of developments at his beloved
RSPB. It was a poignant experience to be
part of the small gathering of friends and
family who assembled to see him off at the
cremation ser vice. Ty pically, we were
requested to wear bright clothes. In normal
times this event would have been attended
by hundreds of people wanting to honour
an unforgettable man and his achievements
for conservation.
Frank is survived by his wife, Kathleen,
son Ruaraidh, himself a keen birder, and
daughter Kirsty, an environmental
researcher and campaigner.
Stuart Housden and Ian Darling
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 47–50
Reviews
The Birds of Italy,Vol. 1: Anatidae–Alcidae
By Pierandrea Brichetti and Giancarlo Fracasso
Edizioni Belvedere, 2018
Hbk, 511pp; 82 colour photos, 100 illustrations, 181 distribution maps
ISBN 978-88-89504-60-4; €48.00

The Birds of Italy,Vol. 2: Pteroclidae–Locustellidae

By Pierandrea Brichetti and Giancarlo Fracasso
Edizioni Belvedere, 2020
Hbk, 415pp; 82 colour photos, 15 illustrations, 125 distribution maps
ISBN 978-88-89504-63-5; €42.00

While there is no shortage of information Moltoni, to mention

about European birds in our libraries, there
have been few books which have reviewed
this data at country level. In 2015, Eduardo
de Juana and Ernest Garcia published The
Birds of the Iberian Peninsula, which set a
benchmark. In a similar style, Pierandrea
Brichetti and Giancarlo Fracasso have pro-
duced the first book dedicated to the birds of
Italy in the English language. This review
coincides with the publication of the second
volume of this three-part work, the first
having appeared in 2018. The third volume is
expected in about two years.
Both authors have a long histor y of
ornithological research activities and publi-
cations that date back to the early 1970s, and
they were joint authors of the nine-volume
Ornitologia Italiana, published between 2003
and 2015. While that work included much
information on identification and ecology,
the focus of this series is to provide detailed
data on distribution, regional populations,
habitats, movements and wintering numbers
of all Italian species. The first volume deals
with 384 species and a further 229 species are
included in the second.
There is a seven-page account of the geog-
raphy, bioclimate and vegetation of Italy with
photographs of a range of habitats (the latter
differing in each volume). This is followed by
a seven-page history of Italian ornithology,
putting into context the work of pioneering
ornithologists such as Scopoli, Savi and
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just three, and then
an eight-page section
explaining how to use
the book. In a three-
volume work there
will always be some
duplication of mater-
ial, but in the first
two volumes these sections appear identical.
For each species there is a summary of the
worldwide range followed by a more detailed
account of the Italian breeding distribution
(where appropriate) and a description of pre-
ferred habitats. A section on populations
summarises what is known about each
species nationally, and also reviews local
studies in different Italian regions; these vary
in detail and length, for some species this can
extend up to 1,500 words. A monochrome
distribution map accompanies all breeding
and wintering species, showing range and
geographical relief. These are also included
for regular passage migrants but not
vagrants. For the latter there is a list of all
accepted records since the early 1800s. The
most recent Italian breeding atlas has not yet
been published and the previous survey dates
back to 1983–86. Despite this, the authors
have consulted a huge number of reports
published on a local scale to bring everything
up to date. A further section on movements
and/or wintering extends to a further 50–
1,000 words, depending on the species, and is

© British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 51–56 51

Reviews
occasionally accompanied by additional
maps and seasonal graphs.
The appendices provide further informa-
tion on introduced or escaped non-established
species. There is a list of the conservation
status codes of all breeding species, which
would have been more useful alongside the
actual species texts. A gathering of excellent
colour photographs is placed at the back.
Both volumes contain a huge amount of
information and the authors are to be
A Farm in the Marsh
By John A. W. Moyes
Privately published, 2019
Hbk, 252 pages; many colour and black-and-white photographs
and illustrations
ISBN 978-1-910693-61-2; £40.00
Created in 1874, Wisbech Sewage Farm
became, in its later years, famous for the
number and variety of birds it attracted, par-
ticularly waders. The importance of the site,
which lay on the Norfolk/Lincolnshire border
just south of the Wash, can be illustrated most
clearly by its astonishing single-day counts of
up to 650 Curlew Sandpipers Calidris ferrug-
inea and 130 Little Stints C. minuta as well as
a procession of rare waders including Stilt C.
himantopus and Semipalmated Sandpipers C.
pusilla and no fewer than 50 Pectoral
Sandpipers C. melanotos.
This book presents an account of the site’s
ornithological histor y, focusing on the
author’s observations there, which stretch
from 1954 until the farm’s demise in 1985. It
comprises a series of historical maps, an
introduction to the site, a systematic bird list,
a series of annual count tables and annual
reviews and an appendix of cuttings and cor-
respondence. These sections contain a wealth
of information and provide ample testament
to the author’s long and intimate association
with the farm and its birds. The book fea-
tures a number of photographs and is illus-
trated by the author’s own artwork. The
quality of both is variable (and the layout is
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52
congratulated for bringing together so much
material. The text density is heavy on the eye.
In common with their previous works (in
Italian) the authors have allowed ‘forced
hyphenation’ throughout the text where
simple words (some even as short as five
letters) are often split between two lines. A
rethink on design would help to improve
readability for the final volume.
Keith Betton
somewhat basic,
resembling a personal
scrapbook) but some
of the sketches and paintings are delightful. I
was particularly taken with the cover
painting of Common Shelducks Tadorna
tadorna and, inside, some lovely drawings of
Green Sandpipers Tringa ochropus and Black
Terns Chlidonias niger.
So far so good but, unfortunately, the text
is beset by problems. Most importantly, it is
badly let down by the standard of English.
Grammar is notable mainly by its absence.
Non-sentences abound, making this a labori-
ous and frustrating read, while spelling mis-
takes (including people’s names) are rife and
the use of punctuation, capitals and italics is
entirely random and frequently incorrect.
These problems are exacerbated in the sys-
tematic list where the taxonomy used is both
obsolete and obscure. For example, Rock
Anthus petrosus and Water Pipits A. spinoletta
are afforded separate treatments but the
latter is described in the text as a subspecies
of the former. The list’s nomenclature is simi-
larly muddled with some strange English
names (e.g. ‘Golden Eye’ and ‘Lesser Yellow
Legs’), a peculiar use of the definite article in
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 51–56

a couple of cases (‘The Dotterel’ Charadrius
morinellus and ‘The Ring Ouzel’ Turdus
torquatus) and, here and elsewhere in the
text, a number of misspelled species names.
The systematic list does not include scien-
tific names but these typically accompany the
photo and artwork captions. Unfortunately,
these are also routinely misspelled and one or
two (notably ‘Capela galinego’ for Common
Snipe Gallinago gallinago and ‘Plautus alle’
for Little Auk Alle alle) are puzzling. The
meaning of the caption to a painting of a
Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata –
‘Exercise to illustrate the numenius form
Curlews probably (tenuirostris) immature
female’ – can only be guessed at.
As for the systematic list content, it is not
made clear which records are accepted by
the relevant authorities and which are not.
We therefore have a mix of accepted records
(e.g. Stilt Calidris himantopus and
Semipalmated Sandpipers C. pusilla)
among a host of other records, some sub-
mitted but not accepted, and others that
have not been submitted (including Least
Sandpiper C. minutilla, Sharp-tailed
Sandpiper C. acuminata, Baillon’s Crake
Porzana pusilla and no fewer than ten Great
Snipes G. media). Confidence is certainly
undermined by the inclusion amongst them
Bird Senses: how and what birds see, hear,
smell, taste and feel
By Graham Martin
Pelagic Publishing, 2021
Pbk, 270pp; numerous colour images
ISBN 978-1-78427-2166; £29.99
In the early 1900s the Estonian biologist Jakob
von Uexküll came up with the extraordinarily
novel concept that all animals live in a sub-
jective world – an Umwelt – where only certain
things matter. The Umwelt of a nocturnal owl,
for example, is very different from that of the
flightless kiwi, which is also nocturnal, and
while the owl relies mainly on vision and
hearing, the kiwi has poor eyesight and
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Reviews
of a claim of a Greenish Warbler
Phylloscopus trochiloides (described as in
‘winter plumage’) on 23rd November 1958
and the assertion that (referring to Little
Stints) ‘Some birds not conforming to any
of the usual plumage patterns... have also
occurred... and were probably Red Necked
Stints (Calidris ruficolis) [sic].’
A particular negative for this reviewer is
the recurring undercurrent of criticism of
other birdwatchers, either for allegedly
misidentifying birds or for submitting
records to BBRC ‘to boost their own egos’.
Most of the derogatory comments are aimed
at unnamed observers but poor Ian Wallace
is singled out for a ‘rather ill-informed
article’. Such point-scoring is unforgivable in
a book of this nature and merely reflects
poorly on the author.
This book is therefore an interesting but
essentially personal account of the birds of
Wisbech Sewage Farm. The author’s knowl-
edge of the site and its birds is not in doubt.
However, the translation of this experience
into a book has proved problematic, the
complete absence of any editorial oversight
has ensured that it is neither a definitive nor
even a competent avifauna.
Andy Stoddart
depends on touch and
hearing. Birds (and all
other animals) per-
ceive their world through their sensory system,
hence the subtitle of Graham Martin’s excel-
lent and extremely comprehensive book.
Martin has spent most of his academic
career studying the senses of birds, focusing
mainly on vision and hearing, especially in
53
Reviews
nocturnal species. He has published prolifically
on this topic and his previous books include
Birds by Night (Poyser 2010) and The Sensory
Ecology of Birds (Oxford 2017). The present
book, aimed principally at a more general
audience than the latter, covers avian vision,
hearing, smell, touch and taste as well as the
way birds perceive the earth’s magnetic field
(so important in navigation and migration).
The section on vision is perhaps inevitably –
given its importance to both birds and Martin
– the most detailed and intriguing, covering
eye design, position of the eyes on the head,
visual fields and binocular vision. There are
two chapters on birds in the dark, and one on
birds underwater. The slightly less well-studied
senses of hearing and smell together get a
chapter, as do touch and taste. It would have
been interesting to know whether Martin
thinks that birds experience emotions.
With numerous attractive colour pho-
tographs and diagrams throughout, this is
an attractively produced book, but I was left
wondering whether it was the author’s or
the publisher’s decision not to include any
references? Without these, anyone wanting
to follow up on a particular topic will
struggle. And, although we are told that ‘all
statements are well supported by published
material’ – which I am sure is true – in an
age of increasing misinformation, I suspect
Raptor Prey Remains: a guide to identifying
what’s been eaten by a bird of prey
By Ed Drewitt
Pelagic Publishing, 2020
Pbk, 230pp
ISBN 978-1-78427-207-4; £24.99
This pocket-sized book is primarily a collec-
tion of high-quality photographs showing the
bird remains most commonly left by raptors.
There is a short, but useful introduction,
which quickly leads on to the species
accounts. Here, the emphasis is on images of
feathers (or tracts of feathers), with a few
dead birds and severed heads thrown in for
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that many readers would rather have had
the references.
Studies of the sensory ecology of birds have
been eclipsed in the last few decades by the
huge volume of research on their behaviour
and ecology, yet understanding how birds per-
ceive the world – their world – is essential for
a complete appreciation of what it must be
like to be a bird. This is not simply of aca-
demic interest; it also has important conser-
vation implications. Around 100 million
birds are killed each year by collisions – with
aircraft, power lines, communication masts,
oil rigs, fishing nets, buildings and windows.
That birds function in a completely different
visual world from ourselves will be clear after
reading Martin’s book, and that’s what the
engineers who design wind turbines should
do, to reduce the risk of collisions. In flight
many birds cannot see directly in front of
them, and even for those that can, this is not
the field of view with the highest resolution,
and unlike a human driving a car, birds are
unable to make drastic changes in their speed
of travel, meaning that the rate at which they
receive information as they fly is fixed – are
we surprised then, that collisions are so
common? Can we design structures that take
the birds’ Umwelt into account?
Tim Birkhead
good measure. The text
is concise but helpful,
drawing attention to
the key features to look out for. A handful of
mammals are also included at the end.
The book sets out to provide an introduc-
tion to the subject rather than a comprehensive
reference. Only the most commonly found
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 51–56

species are dealt with. For example, of the
ducks, Mallard Anas platyrhynchos and Teal A.
crecca receive full coverage, while the warblers
are represented by Willow Warbler Phylloscopus
trochilus, Common Chiffchaff P. collybita and
Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla. In contrast, there are
18 wader accounts, reflecting the wide range of
species taken frequently by raptors, especially
by the Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus.
Henry Seebohm’s Ornithology
By Tim Milsom
Privately published, 2020
Pbk, 357pp; 16 colour plates, numerous black-and-white images
and figures
£40 plus postage, from Wildside Books: wildsidebooks@hotmail.com
This blockbuster of a book is outstanding,
and if you have any interest in the history of
ornithology, it is one you will want to have.
Recent years have seen the publication of a
number of biographies on eminent Victorian
ornithologists and this ranks among the best.
In this carefully researched, beautifully
written, nicely illustrated and elegantly pro-
duced volume, Tim Milsom has produced a
scholarly, readable, wonderfully comprehen-
sive (and long overdue) tribute to a ground-
breaking ornithologist. Some may be
daunted by the size of this volume – which is
self-published and therefore unconstrained
by any commercial publisher – but don’t be:
it is compulsively readable.
A Quaker and steel manufacturer based in
Sheffield, Henry Seebohm (1832–1895) used
his wealth to pursue a passion for birds.
Described by Milsom as more of a ‘flawed
genius than an ornithological hero’, Seebohm
was one of several Victorian ornithologists
who travelled widely to collect both skins and
eggs, but who – unusually for the time – also
pursued the study of living birds.
In an era when systematics, nomenclature
and taxonomy defined ornithology, Seebohm
was among the first to embrace Darwin’s
evolutionary ideas to see the link between
geographical variation and the way species
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Reviews
This is a good, accessible introduction to
this subject. It provides a good feel for the
types of remains worth looking out for, and it
will be of great help in identifying the more
commonly found species. For those wishing to
identify every species found, other references
will be needed, and a useful list is provided.
Ian Carter
are formed. Seebohm
used trinomials to
identify geographic
subspecies and in so doing emphasised the
ongoing nature of evolution. As Milsom
explains, the key to the resurrection of
Seebohm’s reputation is that his ideas were
the basis for Ernst Mayr’s 1940s biological
species concept – the issue of what consti-
tutes a species and how they arise – that was
to have such a powerful influence on our
understanding of speciation, systematics and
evolution. In the 1990s, Mayr acknowledged
Seebohm’s crucial role in the development of
his own ideas, and Milsom’s meticulous
research now reveals how Seebohm came
even closer to the biological species concept
than even Mayr recognised.
Why has it taken so long for Seebohm to
emerge from the shadows? The answer is
complex, but boils down to two interrelated
issues. The first is that many of Seebohm’s
most innovative ideas were effectively lost
because they were often presented willy nilly
among a mass of other information. The
second is his relationship with the eminent
and influential Alfred Newton.
Sharing a passion for birds and collecting,
these two men could hardly have been more
different: Newton was independently
55
Reviews
wealthy, a conservative Conservative, univer-
sity educated holding an influential position
as Professor of Zoology at the University of
Cambridge, while Seebohm, who as a Quaker
had been denied a university education, was a
smart, blunt-speaking Yorkshireman who
made his living in industry in what was then
the grubbiest city in England.
The two first met after Seebohm wrote
to Newton in 1875 inviting him to see the
spoils (skins and eggs) of his recent
Siberian expedition. New ton couldn’t
resist, travelled to Sheffield and was grudg-
ingly impressed, as he revealed in a letter to
a colleague. In that letter he also mentioned
how T. H. Huxley (Darwin’s bulldog) had
described Seebohm as ‘a born lecturer’ –
something that Newton certainly was not,
despite his academic position. Newton felt
Into the Tangled Bank: in which our author ventures
outdoors to consider the British in nature
By Lev Parikian
Elliot & Thompson, 2020
Hbk, 280pp
ISBN 978-1-78396-506-9; £14.99
This is an enjoyable, light-hearted book about
the benefits of an interest in nature and the
great outdoors. Lev Parikian’s main interest is
birds, the subject of his previous book. But
here he expands the theme to all wildlife, as
well as the people who take pleasure in
watching and studying it. He potters around
his local patch in south London and then ven-
tures farther afield, catching up with the
Thames Beluga Whale Delphinapterus leucas,
and visiting the former haunts of Gilbert
White, Charles Darwin and Sir Peter Scott,
among others. Later, he gets away from it all by
spending time on Skye, Skokholm and in the
Kielder Forest dark skies park. Everywhere he
goes he pays attention to his own responses to
the natural world, as well as the many different
ways in which others interact with it.
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threatened by Seebohm, not just by his
speaking skills but by his ideas, and con-
spired to destroy his reputation: ‘It is not so
much that Seebohm is no scholar, but it is
his way of making reckless assertions that is
so reprehensible.’ In Newton’s magnum
opus, his Dictionary of Birds (1896),
Newton tried to erase Seebohm’s ideas on
the classification of birds from history: ‘It is
difficult to take as seriously as they were
intended... the methods... presented... by
the late Mr Seebohm.’
Milsom has restored Henry Seebohm to
his proper place in ornithology. All proceeds
from sales will be donated to natural history
charities in memor y of Milsom’s wife,
Jennifer, who died in 2019.
Tim Birkhead
The author is not
alone in rediscovering
the importance of
nature later in life. He fits his new-found
activities around an already busy life that
includes a young family and his work as a
conductor (musical not bus). There is
humour on every page (and his jokes are
better than mine), making this a warm, ‘feel-
good’ book. He comes across as a thoroughly
decent bloke with an optimistic take on life
and considerable tolerance of the foibles of
other people. You sense he’d be a good
person to share a pint with. And he’d make
you laugh as he told you what he’d been up
to and why nature is important to him.
Ian Carter
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 51–56
Recent reports
Compiled by Barry Nightingale and Harry Hussey

This summary of unchecked reports covers the period from early November to early December 2020.
Headlines With a series of fast-moving depressions crossing the Atlantic throughout this
period, most of the rarities were from the Nearctic. Ireland fared particularly well, with a
Double-crested Cormorant, two Belted Kingfishers and two Buffleheads. A Ruby-crowned
Kinglet in Outer Hebrides was the first for Britain, and other arrivals from North America
included a Common Nighthawk in Kent, Pied-billed Grebes in Cumbria and Shropshire (as well
as the long-stayer in Argyll), a Greater Yellowlegs in Suffolk, a Buff-bellied Pipit in
Northumberland and a Dark-eyed Junco in Greater London. Adding spice to the mix from
other directions were a White-bellied Storm-petrel off Norfolk (another potential British
‘first’), a Sociable Plover in Cornwall, a Lesser Kestrel in Co. Clare, Crag Martins in Orkney and
Kent, no fewer than nine Eastern Yellow Wagtails, and Pine Buntings in Argyll and Co. Kildare.

Cackling Goose Branta hutchinsii Long-stayers
Islay (Arg yll), to 11th November and
Termoncar rag h Lake (Co. Mayo), to 6th
December; Cadder (Clyde), 6th–7th November.
Black Duck Anas rubripes Strontian (Highland),
long-stayer to 21st November; Cross Lough
(Co. Mayo), 14th November to 6th December.
Lesser Scaup Aythya affinis Loch of Spiggie
(Shetland), 15th–27th November. King Eider
Somater ia spectabilis Findhorn/Burg head
(Moray & Nairn), long-stayer to 10th
November; Little Haven (Pembrokeshire), 10th
November to 6th December; two, St. John’s
Beach (Co. Donegal), 25th November to 2nd
December. White-winged Scoter Melanitta deg-
landi Lothian, returning long-stayer to 2nd
December. Black Scoter Melanitta americana
Cocklawburn Beach, 10th November; Ross
(both Nor thumberland), 18th November.
Bufflehead Bucephala albeola Undisclosed loca-
tion (Co. Clare), 29th November; Quoile river
(Co. Down), 5th–6th December.
Hooded Merganser Lophodytes
cucullatus Forfar Loch (Angus &
Dundee), 20th November.
Island (Cumbria), 6th–8th November; Chelmarsh
Resr (Shropshire), 26th November to 6th December.
Sociable Lapwing Vanellus gregarius Crows-an-wra,
27th November to 6th December, same Skewjack
(both Cornwall), 6th December. Pacific Golden
Plover Pluvialis fulva Findhorn (Moray & Nairn),
long-stayer to 28th November. Kentish Plover
Charadrius alexandrinus Stert Island (Somerset),
9th–26th November. Hudsonian Godwit Limosa
haemastica Eden Estuary (Fife), long-stayer to 5th
December. Long-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus
scolopaceus Long-stayers Cumbria to 3rd December
and Yorkshire to 2nd December; new arrival Loch
of Tankerness (Orkney), 15th November. Spotted
Sandpiper Actitis macularius Bremore (Co. Dublin),
1st–6th December. Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes
Long-stayers in Devon, Norfolk, Co. Waterford and
Yorkshire; new arrival Capel Fleet (Kent), 9th–12th
November. Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca
Dingle Marshes (Suffolk), 7th–19th November.

Common Nighthawk Chordeiles

minor Burham Marsh (Kent), 6th
November. Pallid Swift Apus pal-
lidus Towan Head (Cornwall), 9th
November; Knott End then
Fleetwood (Lancashire & N
Merseyside), 14th November;
James Kennerley

Weston-super-Mare (Avon), taken

into care early November, released
in Sussex, 16th November.

Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podi-

ceps Loch Feorlin (Argyll), long- 24. Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca, Dingle Marshes,
stayer to 6th November; Walney Suffolk, November 2020.

© British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 57–58 57

Recent reports
Bonaparte’s Gull Chroicocephalus philadelphia Gann
Estuary (Pembrokeshire), long-stayer to 18th
November; Budle Bay (Northumberland), 27th
November. Franklin’s Gull Leucophaeus pipixcan
Anglers CP (Yorkshire), 10th November.
Pacific Diver Gavia pacifica Penzance (Cornwall),
25th November to 4th December; Crookhaven (Co.
Cork), 6th December. White-bellied Storm-petrel
Fregetta grallaria Cley (Norfolk), 17th November.
Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus
Carrigafoyle Castle, Carrig Island (Co. Kerry), 25th
November to 6th December.
Pallid Harrier Circus macrourus Undisclosed loca-
tion (Co. Cork), 11th–12th November. Black Kite
Milvus migrans Dungeness then New Romney (both
Kent), 12th November. Snowy Owl Bubo scandiacus
St Kilda (Outer Hebrides), long-stayer to 1st
December; Cobh, 7th November and Aghada (both
Co. Cork), 21st–30th November.
Belted Kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon Dunboy,
Castletownbere (Co. Cork), 9th November to 6th
December; Ballyquirke Lake, Moycullen (Co.
Galway), 10th November.
Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni Undisclosed location
(Co. Clare), 9th November. Gyr Falcon Falco rusti-
colus Termoncarragh Lake, 6th December.
Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus Lewis (Outer
Hebrides), 6th–10th November. ‘Isabelline Shrike’
Lanius isabellinus/phoenicuroides Yell (Shetland), 10th
November. Penduline Tit Remiz pendulinus
Bramfield (Suffolk), 7th November; Langford
Lowfields (Nottinghamshire), 6th December; Steart
(Somerset), four on 6th December.
Crag Martin Ptyonoprogne rupestris Kirkwall
(Orkney), 18th November; Kingsdown, intermit-
tently 21st November to 4th December, and
Samphire Hoe CP (both Kent), 28th November to
2nd December.
Hume’s Warbler Phylloscopus humei Deerness
(Orkney), still 6th November; Kilnsea (Yorkshire),
7th November; Gunton (Suffolk), 8th November;
Anderby Creek (Lincolnshire), 8th November.
Radde’s Warbler Phylloscopus schwarzi Blakeney
Point (Norfolk), 8th November; Unst, 10th
November; Easington ( Yorkshire), 27th
November. Dusky Warbler Phylloscopus fuscatus
About 32 new arrivals in this period, including up
to six in Scilly, five each in Cornwall and Norfolk,
and inland in Avon and Nottinghamshire. Records
from 11 English and two Scottish recording areas.
Blyth’s Reed Warbler Acrocephalus dumetorum
58
Tresco (Scilly), 13th November. Ruby-crowned
Kinglet Regulus calendula Barra (Outer Hebrides),
12th–19th November.
Black-throated Thrush Turdus atrogularis Weybourne
(Norfolk), 25th November. Red-flanked Bluetail
Tarsiger cyanurus St Mary’s (Scilly), to 7th November;
Derwent Resr (Northumberland), 6th November;
Norfolk (undisclosed site), 27th November. Desert
Wheatear Oenanthe deserti Salthouse/Gramborough
Hill (Norfolk), 13th–22nd November; Penberth
(Cornwall), 22nd–23rd November.
‘Black-bellied Dipper’ Cinclus c . cinclus Voe
(Shetland), 26th–28th November, two on 29th, one
to 30th November.
Eastern Yellow Wagtail Motacilla tschutschensis
Dingle Marshes, two long-stayers to 16th, one to
19th November; Kelling Quags, 6th–12th
November; Gramborough Hill (both Norfolk), 6th
November; Prestwick Carr (Northumberland), 6th
November; Weybourne (Norfolk), 10th November;
Worth (Kent), 20th–25th November; Carlton
Marshes (Suffolk), 24th–27th November and 5th–
6th December; Steart (Somerset), 25th November to
6th December. Olive-backed Pipit Anthus hodgsoni
Goxhill Haven (Lincolnshire), 8th–15th November.
Red-throated Pipit Anthus cervinus Lundy (Devon),
13th November; Huntspill (Somerset), 20th
November. Buff-bellied Pipit Anthus rubescens Amble
(Northumberland), 18th–19th November.
Arctic Redpoll Acanthis hornemanni Unst, 10th
November; Portland Bill (Dorset), 12th November.
Parrot Crossbill Loxia pytyopsittacus Southey Wood
(Cambridgeshire), 8th November; Wakerley Great
Wood (Northamptonshire), 16th November to 1st
December; High Lodge (Suffolk), 20th November.
Pine Bunting Emberiza leucocephalos Undisclosed
location (Co. Kildare), 9th–10th November; Tiree,
29th November. Rustic Bunting Emberiza rustica
Ockley Common (Surrey), 27th November to 6th
December. Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis
Hammersmith (Greater London), about 25th
November to 1st December.
Notable records of commoner species
White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons Influx end
November and early December, with records from
two Welsh and 28 English recording areas, mostly
small flocks but with a peak of 425 at Worth
(Kent), 1st December. Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla
Dungeness (Kent), 13,000 on 5th December.
Mediterranean Gull Ichthyaetus melanocephalus
Ferry Bridge (Dorset), 1,600 on 18th November.
Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris Cors Ddyga
(Anglesey), at least one million, 29th November.
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 57–58
My patch – West Dengie
I
n 2004, with one young son and another
on the way, my family and I relocated to
our present home on the Dengie penin-
sula, a thinly populated but commutable place
halfway up the coast of Essex. Our two human
fledglings, and the work needed to support
them, took absolute priority. So out went the
twitching (but not before the 400-species
milestone had been reached, on the eve of our
elder’s first birthday) and in came a focus on
meaningful local birding. This has since
involved the regular monthly WeBS count on
the Blackwater Estuary and associated
breeding bird census, a BBS square, the
Heronries Census, several tetrads for the
2007–11 Atlas, an annual forest survey and
annual monitoring of local sites for Rare
Breeding Birds Panel species. Sadly, there has
been no BB rarity (yet), but the birding has
been highly satisfying, and I’ve had a strong
sense that the ebbs and flows of local bird
populations are well covered. Or so I thought.
The national lockdown from March 2020
had an initial chilling effect on birdwatching
activity. Within a few weeks, however, the UK
Government had slightly widened the limits of
permitted daily exercise in England. As long as
social distancing was strictly observed, it was
permitted to drive to one’s exercise location, if
the exercise lasted significantly longer than the
drive, and it was also permitted to exercise
more than once a day. With my commute to
London now replaced by a working day at
home of endless Zoom meetings, pretty much
from 8 am to 8 pm, this opened the door for
pre-breakfast or evening birdwatching walks in
the local area – essential for my own mental
health at a time of crisis, but also coinciding
with the breeding season. As monitoring
breeding birds is my top birding passion, the
scene was therefore set for something not pre-
viously attempted: a local breeding bird census.
With both virus control and ornithological
knowledge in mind, the sensible objective was
to define a census area that was unlikely to be
visited by a similar observer; was representa-
tive of local habitats; and which could be
reached in little over five minutes by car. I
chose an area of 62 km² of the western Dengie
peninsula, amounting to 1.69% (or 1/59th) of
© British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 59–62
the land area of Essex – potentially significant
enough to gather meaningful data as well as to
draw some wider conclusions.
For historical reasons to do with seasonal
marshiness in medieval times, this area is not
blessed with many public rights of way. It is
also now a mainly open landscape. To survey
the area, I would need to walk every right of
way and observe from every public road, at
least once during the breeding season (in
calm and dry weather), while counting
apparent pairs or territories of a range of
target species, whether visible or audible. For
the more conspicuous species, this enabled an
almost certainly complete census to be under-
taken – not only of, for example, wildfowl,
waders and raptors, but also of warblers,
many species of which sing almost constantly
at the survey times. The target species were
essentially all but the commonest passerines,
whose counting would not have been feasible
in the time available.
The crepuscular opportunities also allowed
something not previously attempted, even
during the Atlas periods: an owl census. My
night-time excursions for ‘owling’ coincided
perfectly with the rest of the family watching
the entire box set of Peaky Blinders, prompting
discussions among us as to whose activities
were actually the darker. This owling led to
some major surprises – including the dis-
covery of a previously unknown population of
Long-eared Owls Asio otus. This goes to show
that, even when you’ve lived somewhere for 16
years and prided yourself on local birding, you
never know as much about the local bird pop-
ulations as you thought you did. There is
always something to find out and boundaries
of knowledge to push – right under your nose.
The survey area included sections of two
estuaries, the Blackwater and the Crouch.
Away from the estuaries, the habitat is open
and predominantly arable, dominated by a
typical rotation of cereals, oilseed rape and
beans, although recent years have seen an
increase in land supporting horses (‘equicul-
ture’) or devoted to viticulture. There is little
woodland, the largest wood being only 21 ha,
although there are numerous small copses and
plantations across the area.
59
 My patch
Adrian Dally
Adrian Dally
25 & 26. West Dengie, Essex, in August 2020. Much of the habitat is open and arable (above) but
pockets of quality habitat can be found among the arable land (below).
The numbers of apparently breeding
pairs/occupied territories located for each
target species are set out in table 1. For most
species, it’s likely that the number given is
close to the actual number present. For those
with a single asterisk (*), however, the
number given is likely to be slightly below the
actual number present. And for those with a
double asterisk (**), it is likely to be signifi-
cantly below the actual number – for
example because the species is widespread
and many birds will have been inaudible or
invisible from public rights of way. For those
species with numbers in blue, there is strong
evidence that the population has increased
since the 2007–11 Atlas period, while for
those with numbers in red, there is strong
evidence of a decline. For those not high-
lighted, the evidence is not strong either way.
60
These results showed that, even in the
short time since the 2007–11 Atlas, there has
been considerable change. Seven species have
been gained: Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis, Little
Egret Egretta garzetta, Marsh Harrier Circus
aeruginosus, Common Raven Corvus corax,
Coal Tit Periparus ater, Cetti’s Warbler Cettia
cetti and Eurasian Nuthatch Sitta europaea.
Nine have been lost: Shoveler Spatula
clypeata, Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta,
Mediterranean Gull Ichthyaetus melano-
cephalus, Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus
fuscus, Common Tern Sterna hirundo, Lesser
Spotted Woodpecker Dryobates minor,
Garden Warbler Sylvia borin, Spotted
Flycatcher Muscicapa striata and Meadow
Pipit Anthus pratensis. Ten other target
species have gone up, and 16 gone down.
Furthermore, 11 regularly nesting Essex
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 59–62
 My patch

Table 1. The numbers of apparently breeding pairs/occupied territories located for target
species in the West Dengie study area, 2020. For the key, see main text, p. 60.

Red-legged Partridge Alectoris rufa 12 ** Barn Owl Tyto alba 11

Grey Partridge Perdix perdix 2* Tawny Owl Strix aluco 10
Canada Goose Branta canadensis 23 Little Owl Athene noctua 9
Greylag Goose Anser anser 5 Long-eared Owl Asio otus 6
Mute Swan Cygnus olor 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major 25
Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna 25 Green Woodpecker Picus viridis 23
Gadwall Mareca strepera 2 Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus 14
Mallard Anas platyrhynchos 47 * Hobby Falco subbuteo 1
Common Pochard Aythya ferina 4 Eurasian Jay Garrulus glandarius 5
Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula 1 Common Raven Corvus corax 1
Common Swift Apus apus 16 Coal Tit Periparus ater 10
Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus 10 Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica 81 *
Stock Dove Columba oenas 75 House Martin Delichon urbicum 42
Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur 2 Cetti’s Warbler Cettia cetti 8
Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto 66 Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus 16 *
Water Rail Rallus aquaticus 3* Willow Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus 1
Moorhen Gallinula chloropus 35 ** Common Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita 31
Common Coot Fulica atra 11 Sedge Warbler Acrocephalus schoenobaenus 6
Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis 4 Reed Warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus 27
Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus 21 Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla 72 *
Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus 2 Lesser Whitethroat Curruca curruca 18
Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula 1 Common Whitethroat Curruca communis 170 **
Common Redshank Tringa totanus 4 Goldcrest Regulus regulus 5
Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus 20 Eurasian Nuthatch Sitta europaea 1
Herring Gull Larus argentatus 8 Eurasian Treecreeper Certhia familiaris 11
Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis 2 Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava 15 *
Grey Heron Ardea cinerea 13 Pied Wagtail Motacilla alba 63
Little Egret Egretta garzetta 36 Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula 2
Eurasian Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus 4 Corn Bunting Emberiza calandra 33
Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus 1 Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella 17 *
Common Buzzard Buteo buteo 15 Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus 22

species remained absent throughout: Great
Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus, Little
Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius, Little Tern
Sternula albifrons, Great Cormorant
Phalacrocorax carbo, Common Kingfisher
Alcedo atthis, Marsh Tit Poecile palustris,
Bearded Tit Panurus biarmicus, Sand Martin
Riparia riparia, Grasshopper Warbler
Locustella naevia, Common Nightingale
Luscinia megarhynchos and Black Redstart
Phoenicurus ochruros. Lack of habitat is the
explanation for most of these absences. But
this cannot be said for Common Nightingale,
whose absence is baffling and which has sub-
stantial populations immediately outside the
area, forming a highly clustered distribution.
Particular highlights from the survey
would have to include the two pairs of Cattle
Egrets which fledged one young in a Little
Egret colony – one of three sites in Essex in
2020 for this colonist, which first bred in the
county in 2019 – and the pair of Common
Ravens that fledged two young, which may
be the first breeding in coastal Essex since
the nineteenth century. The Ravens were first
detected during an NHS lockdown clap,
when one casually flew down the road at
rooftop height over our heads, which was
surreal. It was also pleasing, and unexpected,
to find both Coal Tit and Eurasian Nuthatch
breeding in this unpromising environment –
both apparently colonists as well. Also

British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 59–62 61

My patch
unexpected was that Common Buzzard
Buteo buteo, another recent colonist, had
overtaken Common Kestrel Falco tinnun-
culus as the commonest raptor (just) and
that Stock Dove Columba oenas was actually
more numerous than Collared Dove
Streptopelia decaocto – even though it might
seem the opposite given the latter’s prefer-
ence for human environments.
More negatively, Grey Partridge Perdix
perdix, Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus,
Common Redshank Tringa totanus and
Willow Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus were
found to be teetering on the edge, and
Eurasian Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus
numbers were lower than expected. The
extinction of Meadow Pipit was a genuine
shock. And just two Turtle Dove Streptopelia
turtur territories were found; in both cases the
singing males appearing unmated. The
Dengie peninsula was until recently a national
stronghold for this species, so these birds’
songs seemed to have a particularly mournful
and poignant tone this year – very sad.
Owls were a particular highlight. The 11
pairs of Barn Owl Tyto alba and nine of
Little Owl Athene noctua were as expected,
since these are relatively conspicuous (the
former making use of nestboxes put up for
them). But the ten pairs of Tawny Owl Strix
aluco were a complete surprise, since I had
previously encountered the species locally on
only a handful of occasions, and had pre-
sumed (based on the previous Atlases) that
the area was too marginal for it. I had,
however, specifically looked for Long-eared
Owl in a few places during the previous
Atlas, albeit without success. It was therefore
a revelation to find six pairs of these, highly
significant in an Essex context.
The county population of Long-eared
Owl was estimated at around 8–12 pairs
during the previous Atlas. It seems, though,
that we may not have been looking in the
right places: none of the Dengie pairs were
in places that were otherwise attractive for
birdwatchers. Five of the six (mainly small
and dense) nesting woods had adjacent
grassland used for equiculture, either for
grazing or for cropping. And all six woods
had surrounding smaller fields with mature
hedgerows – reflecting the species’ need for
close cover (in contrast to Short-eared Owl
62
Asio flammeus). These findings suggest that
breeding Long-eared Owls may have been
overlooked more than previously appreci-
ated. Considering that breeding density is
affected by the fluctuating abundance of
rodents, it’s tempting to suggest that the
breeding population in Essex may in fact be
between 20 and 50 pairs, significantly higher
than previously assumed.
Importantly, by doing this survey on an
area basis, some insights were gained which
would not have been possible from a solely
site-based survey. For example, the long-
standing Common Swift Apus apus colony in
Latchingdon church, only a few metres from
home, turned out to be the only colony in
the area. House Martins Delichon urbicum
were found to have switched significantly
from farmhouses to houses built since 2015
(linked, it would seem, to planning policies
which favour gables suitable for this species).
Both Sedge Warbler Acrocephalus
schoenobaenus and Reed Bunting Emberiza
schoeniclus had retreated to just one site,
Lawling Creek, although the census there
had shown an increase for both. And Corn
Buntings E. calandra were found in four
semi-colonial sites, a loss of two sites since
the last Atlas – yet at the Lawling Creek
census site numbers had increased 20%
during that period. For these species, my
site-based census at Lawling Creek had been
giving a misleading impression of the
species’ true status in the area.
The upshot was that this survey was both
hugely enjoyable and valuable. In addition
to revealing the true status of a variety of
breeding birds, it showed that there are
benefits to studying at an area, rather than
just site, level. Doing this appears to reduce
potential observer biases, by ensuring that
all habitat types and sites are covered. It
also enables some broader phenomena to
be identified, such as the highly clustered
breeding concentrations of some species.
I’m looking forward to following up in
2021 already...
Adrian Dally
Footnote: A fuller write-up of the sur vey, also
covering migrants and other wildlife, is scheduled
for publication in the 2020 Essex Bird Repor t
www.ebws.org.uk/publications/essex-bird-reports
British Birds 114 • January 2021 • 59–62
 RE PA IRS & SE RV ICIN G O F COUNTY & LOCAL BIRD REPORTS
B IN O CU L A RS & T E L E SCO P E S
bought & sold, around 7,000 in stock; add your
Optrep Optical Repairs ‘wants’ to my database. Plus, small stocks of other
journals available e.g. British Birds, Birding World,
SINCE 1960 British Wildlife, OBC etc.
www.opticalrepairs.com
Contact Steve Holliday for catalogue at 2 Larriston
Tel: 01243 601365 Place, Cramlington NE23 8ER or tel 01670 731963
E-mail: info@opticalrepairs.com
(eve’s/weekends) or birdreports@hotmail.co.uk
Optrep (Ref: BB), 16 Wheatfield Road,
Selsey, West Sussex PO20 0NY My latest catalogue can also be found at:
(5 minutes from Pagham HLNR) http://callunabooks.co.uk/store.html

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