Birds in Cornwall 2005 Ydhyn yn Kernow Cornwall Bird-Watching and Preservation Society CORNWALL BIRD-WATCHING & PRESERVATION SOCIETY SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT 2005 Edited by Derek I Julian. HONORARY OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE (As of January 2010) President Steve Madge, Seawinds, Lower Trerieve, Downderry, Torpoint, PL15 3LZ Chairman Derek Julian, 12 Dunveth Road, Wadebridge, PL27 7XD. [email protected] (01208 816779) Vice-Chairman Bruce Taggart, Primrose Bank, Radford Lane, Millbrook, PL10 1AH [email protected] (01752 829163) General Secretary Tony Bertenshaw, Hantergantich, St Breward, PL30 4NH [email protected] (01208 850419) Treasurer Tony Jones, Lansdowne, Southdown Road, Millbrook, PL10 1EJ [email protected] (01752 822694) Membership Secretary Angela Tonry, 20 The Copse, Boscoppa, St Austell, Pl25 3EU [email protected] Conservation Officer Tony Blunden [email protected] Newsletter Editor Simon Marquis, St Breock Place, Wadebridge, PL27 7JS Field Meetings Officer Gordon Mills (01209 718144) Public Relations Officer Vacant Honorary Solicitor Greg Adams, 2 Wendron Street, Helston, TR13 8PS Committee Members: Rosemary Parslow, Kester Wilson, Colin Selway ******** The Society is a Charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales Number 255899 The Trustees are the Honorary Officers and other Members of the Executive Committee shown above ******* 2 Birds in Cornwall County Recorder Darrell Clegg, 55 Lower Fore Street, Saltash, PL12 6JQ [email protected] (01752 844775) Editor “Birds in Cornwall” Derek Julian, 12 Dunveth Road, Wadebridge, PL27 7XD. [email protected] (01208 816779) Records Committee: Mashuq Ahmad, Greg Conway, Dave Parker, Pete Fraser, Steve Madge, Keith Pellow, Front cover photograph; Long-billed Dowitcher, Drift Res. 02/10/05 - Dave Flumm. Birds in Cornwall 3 Submitting records... Cornwall Bird Watching and Preservation Society are now using the Mapmate system for recording birds in the county. The advantage of this database is that it is widely used by clubs and societies throughout the country, as well as by thousands of individuals for recording everything from mosses and liverworts to cetaceans. Records can be exchanged between recorders so that large volumes of data can be downloaded onto a main database quickly and easily. In Cornwall this means that we can have a team of people imputing data and sending it to the county recorder, speeding up the lengthy process of adding every single bird record to the database. Another major advantage of the Mapmate system is that it can import emailed Spreadsheet records provided they are submitted in the following column headings: Taxon, Vernacular, Site, Gridref, VC, Recorder, Determiner, Date, Quantity, Method, Sex, Stage, Status, Comment. This is not as daunting as it looks, and indeed some of the columns can be left blank. The following however are important. Taxon: The scientific name – including sub-specific name for distinct sub-species, i.e. Motacilla flava flavissima. Site: Hopefully self explanatory. Gridref: CBWPS uses a 4 figure grid reference, and a comprehensive gazetteer can be found at the back of the Cornwall Bird Report. A 6 figure gird ref can also be used if preferred. VC: The County is divided into 2 vice counties. West Cornwall is VC 1 and East Cornwall is VC2. The dividing line is more or less from the Camel to the Truro River. If in doubt, a rough guide is that SW grid refs are usually VC1 and SX and SS grid refs are VC2. Recorder: Again self explanatory – usually YOU. Determiner: A determiner is someone who confirms a record, so if you see a House Sparrow and can identify it yourself – you are the determiner. If someone else identifies it for you – they are the determiner. Date: can be written as either 01.01.07 or 01/01/07 or 1st January 07 . Quantity: The number of birds seen. Mapmate doesn‟t like estimates so c100 won‟t work, however 99+ will. It‟s one of the anomalies of the system! All the other columns can be left blank, although you can fill them in if you wish to provide extra information. The vernacular column is the common English name for a bird which you may find useful to fill in, though Mapmate will assign an English name from the Taxon. For Example – it doesn‟t like Common 4 Birds in Cornwall Scoter or Common Gull so Melanitta nigra is Black Scoter and Larus canus is Mew Gull. If you want more information on any of the other columns, or to receive a blank spreadsheet file, email the recorder [email protected] This is what a completed spreadsheet will look like: Taxon Site Gridref VC Recorder Determiner Date Quantity Apus melba Falmouth SW8032 1 Birdguides Birdguides 30/03/2006 1 Apus melba Truro SW8244 1 Birdguides Birdguides 05/04/2006 1 Apus melba Porthallow SW7923 1 Birdguides Birdguides 16/04/2006 1 Apus melba Redruth SW6942 1 Birdguides Birdguides 09/07/2006 1 Pluvialis dominica St. Just SW3731 1 Birdguides Birdguides 15/09/2006 1 Nanjizal Pluvialis dominica Valley SW360239 1 Birdguides Birdguides 01/11/2006 1 Colliford Pluvialis dominica Res. SX183744 2 Birdguides Birdguides 04/11/2006 1 Larus argentatus Sennen smithsonianus Cove SW3526 1 Birdguides Birdguides 28/01/2006 1 Larus argentatus Sennen smithsonianus Cove SW3526 1 Birdguides Birdguides 11/02/2006 1 Larus argentatus Sennen smithsonianus Cove SW3526 1 Birdguides Birdguides 11/02/2006 1 Larus argentatus Sennen smithsonianus Cove SW3526 1 Birdguides Birdguides 21/02/2006 1 Larus argentatus Sennen smithsonianus Cove SW3526 1 Birdguides Birdguides 28/02/2006 1 Larus argentatus Sennen smithsonianus Cove SW3526 1 Birdguides Birdguides 14/03/2006 1 Larus argentatus Sennen smithsonianus Cove SW3526 1 Birdguides Birdguides 15/03/2006 1 The entry of records into our database is a huge task, one that needs to be spread over the whole year. If you submit more than just a handful of records therefore, please submit them on a quarterly Birds in Cornwall 5 basis. For more information on Mapmate see www.mapmate.co.uk If you wish you send records by post, please send to the County Recorder: Darrell Clegg, 55 Lower Fore Street, Saltash PL12 6JQ Please ensure that your name and address, together with the year to which the records apply, are clearly shown on the front page. All records are of use. Whilst not every report is included in our annual "Birds in Cornwall", they are all entered in the database, where they are available for research. They may be used in the compilation of the Cornwall Bird Atlas, a long-term project for which data is required over a period of a number of years. Submission of Rarity Reports National Rarities Descriptions of national rarities should be sent to the County Recorder who will then forward them to the British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC) for appraisal. These descriptions should follow the criteria listed below or can be submitted on special BBRC forms that are available from the County Recorder or the Secretary of the BBRC,Mr Nigel Hudson, Post Office Flat, St Mary‟s Scilly TR21 0LL. Please enclose copies of field notes and photographs, where possible. County Rarities The identification of the majority of county rarities is quite easy for experienced observers and, consequently, the following list of 'Group A' species requiring a full description is relatively small. Many of the species requiring a full description in the past are now included in 'Group B'. Descriptions are not required for sightings of 'Group B' species unless specifically requested by the County Recorder, and provided the bird or birds have been seen by three, experienced observers who are known to the Rarities Committee - the names of the observers should be included when details of sightings are submitted. These arrangements have been introduced to eliminate the need for unnecessary descriptions of 'easy' rarities, without compromising the integrity of the county records. Group A - Species requiring a full description Bean Goose Rough-legged Buzzard Twite American Wigeon Long-tailed Skua Mealy Redpoll Surf Scoter Caspian Gull Rustic Bunting European Honey-buzzard Kumlien's Gull Any unusual subspecies Montagu's Harrier Roseate Tern Northern Goshawk Tawny Pipit Group B - Species not normally requiring a description, provided the bird(s) has been seen by at least three experienced observers who are known to the Rarities Committee - please submit names of observers with the record details. Purple Heron Corn Crake Buff-breasted Sandpiper White Stork Common Crane Red-necked Phalarope Pink-footed Goose Kentish Plover Ring-billed Gull Snow Goose Stone Curlew Sabine's Gull Green-winged Teal Temminck's Stint Long-eared Owl Ring-necked Duck Pectoral Sandpiper European Bee-eater 6 Birds in Cornwall Short-toed Lark Rufous Nightingale Red-billed Chough Horned Lark Aquatic Warbler L. S. Woodpecker Bluethroat Barred Warbler Common Rosefinch Richard's Pipit Icterine Warbler Ortolan Bunting 'Scandinavian' Rock Pipit Melodious Warbler Cirl Bunting Water Pipit (away from European Serin Plus any uncommon races Maer Lake and Walmsley Red-breasted Flycatcher Sanctuary) Woodchat Shrike Birds in Cornwall 7 Editorial This report has been a long time coming. Numerous problems have had to be overcome to get to this stage, which includes the loss of all the records. Many species this year had very few records submitted, these were mainly common resident species or common migrants, and to build a picture of the counties avifauna we need records for all species. You will note some inconsistencies between this report and the 2006 one, (which was published earlier), due to the fact that some of the data used in the production of this report was not available whilst writing of the 2006 report. These will be rectified in future publications. I would like to thank everyone who have helped and encouraged me in the production of this report, especially Darrell Clegg, the county recorder and his team of data imputers.