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CONTENTS PAGE Preamble ... ... ... ... ... ... 3 Field Days in 1954 ... ... ... ... ... 4 The Weather of 1953 ... ... ... ... ... 5 List of Contributions ... ... ... ... ... 6 Cornish Notes for 1953 ... ... ... ... ... 8 Recoveries of Ringed Birds ... ... ... ... 28 The Camel Estuary, the Walmsley Sanctuary and its Vicinity, 1953 ... ... ... ... ... ... 29 Arrival and Departure of Cornish-Breeding Migrants ... 31 The Cornish Seas ... ... ... ... ... 33 The Isles of Scilly ... ... ... ... ... 35 Arrival and Departure of Migrants in the Isles of Scilly ... 39 The Blue-headed Wagtail in Cornwall ... ... ... 40 Observations on a Colony of Sand-Martins at Loe Bar, Porthleven ... ... ... ... 45 The Nesting of Birds with Birds of a Different Species ... 48 The Macmillan Library ... ... ... ... ... 51 The Society's Rules ... ... ... ... ... 52 Balance Sheet ... ... ... ... ... ... 53 List of Members for 1953 ... ... ... ... 54 The Committee for 1953 ... ... ... ... ... 66 Index ... ... ... ,.. ... 67 TWENTY-THIRD REPORT OF The Cornwall Bird Watching and Preservation Society 1953 Edited by B. H. RYVES, H. M. QUICK and A. G. PARSONS (kindly assisted by Dr. R. H. BLAIR) Fifty-six new members joined the Society in 1953. We regret the loss by death of three members; nine have resigned. This makes the total membership 590. The Twenty-second Annual Meeting was held in the Museum, Truro, on May 2nd. Miss Tousey, of the Audubon Society of Massachusetts, showed colour films of Audubon's birds, with running commentary. The second General Meeting was held on November 14th, when two speakers were present. Dr. Thomas, of the Nature Conservancy, gave a short address upon man's effect on the country side and its relation to wild life, and Dr. Blair showed his own colour films of the Isles of Scilly. One Executive Committee meeting was held during the year. Our thanks are due to Mr. Geach for kindly auditing the accounts. Three field days were held in spring and autumn at Gweek, the Gannel Estuary and the Camel Estuary, and were well attended. Dates and information about those to be held in 1954 will be found on another page. Two Bird Protection Bills were introduced into Parliament during November. They were critically examined and constructive suggestions were made thereon. A record of a wintering Whitethroat, which was intentionally held back from the 1952 Report, will be found following the Cornish Notes in this Report; no other such record is known for Cornwall. 3 The Editors make great efforts to get the Report published early each year, before the breeding season starts. Members are, therefore, asked to send in their records, before January 15th, to Mr. Parsons, Pare Vean, Redruth. Please write on one side of the paper only. In response to wishes expressed in various quarters, an index will in future be incorporated in the report each year, instead of being published five-yearly. After each bird's name will be given the Handbook number, and under that number the species may be found in any of the sections shown in the index; details will be found at the head of the index itself. Members are kindly asked to send their subscriptions direct to the Hon. Treasurer, and not to any of the Secretaries. Mr. Parsons will be pleased to advise any member who is think ing of buying field-glasses or a telescope for bird-watching. It will be helpful if he is told the approximate sum which the buyer is prepared to spend. Among the more interesting events of the year were the breed ing of a pair of Blue-headed Wagtails. Unusual visitors included Crossbills, a Scops Owl, a Hobby on spring passage, Bewick's Swan, Red-crested Pochard and Long-tailed Duck; Roseate Terns, both adult and juvenile, were seen on autumn passage. A Sabine's Gull was seen, and the body of an American Bittern identified, both occurring just after the September gales. ***** FIELD DAYS IN 1954 May 15th, 2 p.m. Assembly by the signpost to Prideaux. This is easily reached from St. Blazey, near St. Austell, by leaving the main road at the turning to Mill; the assembly point is about a quarter of a mile from Mill. It is hoped to show the Wood-Warbler and other song birds. September 4th, 2 p.m. Assembly at Carnsew Cottages, Hayle. Waders and, possibly, some Terns will be seen. If desired by participants, and sufficient cars are available, it may be practicable for a party with one guide to remain at Hayle Estuary and for another to go to Porthkidney Sands, Lelant, to see the Terns; in all probability four species of adult and young Terns will be there. 4 THE WEATHER OF 1953 by B. H. RYVES A year that will long be remembered for its warm and pleasant autumn and early winter. The spring and summer, taken as a whole, were cool and cheerless and breeding birds often had to contend with difficult conditions. January. Mainly cold with many sharp frosts and mild intervals. The rainfall was low. February. The first half was cold and frosty with a gale on the 10th. The last fortnight was somewhat mild and dry. March. Many cold and foggy days with a prolonged drought which was broken by rain and gales on the 26th. April. Though rain fell during the first week, the month was largely dry and cold except for a short spell of warm days. On the 22nd there was actually a heat-wave. May. Fairly warm and dry up to the 9th, when rain was badly needed. At last, on the 13th, rain came and lasted for a few days. Except for a warm day on the 24th, the last half of the month was cool, foggy and generally unpleasant. June. A generally cold and cheerless month, with two hot days to finish up with. July. Except for a few pleasant days to begin with, the weather throughout was as unpleasant as it could be—cold, wet and blowy. August. I can only record a few decent days. For the rest, it was cool, foggy and often blowy. September. I think the warmest and best month of the whole year. October. Another exceptionally pleasant month with much sunshine and but little rain. November. Exceptionally mild and dry throughout and free of fogs and damping mists. December. Much like November and free of any wintry condi tions. In fact, far more like advanced spring. I can never remember anything like it in any past December. 5 LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS J.E.B. The Rev. J. E. Beckerlegge. A.T.B. A. T. Beswetherick. R.J.B. R. J. Beswetherick. R.H.B. Dr. R. H. Blair. E.H.W.B. Lt.-Col. Sir E. H. W. Bolitho. C.B. C. Bonham (non-member). F.E.C. Mrs. F. E. Carter. W.D.C. W. D. Clague. H.P.O.C. H. P. O. Cleave. C.J.F.C. C. J. F. Coombs. W.C.C. W. C. Crowther. R.M.C. R. M. Curber. H.W.J.C. H. J. W. Cuss (non-member). W.M.D. Mrs. W. M. Dakin. P.J.D. P. J. Dare (non-member). A.P.D. A. Perrin Dixon. H.L.D. H. L. Douch. C.V.E. C. V. Eyre. R.G.H. R. G. Hadden. P.H.T.H. The Rev. P. H. T. Hartley. E.I.H. Miss E. I. Harvey. G.H.H. G. H. Harvey. C.H. Miss C. Hodgkinson (non-member). W.T.H. W. Tregoning Hooper. H.G.H. H. G. Hurrell. D.J. Mrs. D. Jeffreys. E.M.J. Mrs. E. M. Johnson. B.K. B. King. P.G.L. Major P. G. Lyster (non-member). H.M.M.M. Dr. Helen M. M. Mackay (non-member). P.I.R.M. P. I. R. Maclaren. E.M. E. Malan (non-member). T.F.M. T. F. McKenzie (non-member). R.H. & M.J.M. R. H. and Mrs. Meares. A.N. A. Nancarrow. I.G.N. Miss I. G. Nicholson. R.H.P. R. H. Palk (non-member). J.L.P. J. L. Palmer. F.R. & J.H.P. Mr. and Mrs. Parry. 6 A.G.P. A. G. Parsons. A.C.J.P. A. C. J. Phillips. N.R.P. N. R. Phillips. H.M.Q. Miss H. M. Quick. F.P.R. P. P. Radway. G.I.R. G. I. Rattley (non-member). J.L.R. J. L. Rogers. C.R.R. C. R. Roseveare. B.H.R. Lt.-Col. B. H. Ryves. H.B.S. H. B. Sargent. R.L.S. R. L. Savory (non-member). A.V.S. A. V. Smith. F.R.S. F. R. Smith. C.J.S. C. J. Stevens. A.N.S. A. N. Sykes (non-member). D.G.S. D. G. Sythes (non-member). R.W.T. R. W. Tully. M.P.V. Mrs. M. P. Visick. H.J.W. H. J. Wain (non-member). R.P.W. Mrs. R. P. Weeks. O.W. Miss O. Wesley. E.M.W. Miss E. M. Whelan. T..T.W. T. J. Willcocks. 7 CORNISH NOTES FOR 1953 1. RAVEN. Broods were reared at many of the known sites; it appears to have been a successful year. Eds. 3 CARRION CROW. My resident pair bred successfully in a nest built at the top of one of my large pines in so thick a part of it that the nest was quite invisible from any view point. To the best of my belief, the Crows did not interfere with any of the many other birds breeding in my garden. B.H.R. 14 STARLING. There were five pairs nesting in Porthleven compared to one pair in 1952. R.G.H. 18 HAWFINCH.