West Midland Bird Club Annual Report No. 65 1998
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West Midland Bird Club Annual Report No. 65 1998 mmm jrthSta Moors D 5 10 15 20 miles D 5 10 15 20 25 30 km Belvide Reservoir Lichfieli .adywalk R Avon. BromsgrDve Kenilworth Hartlebury Common Qupton Warren Jroitwich Spa •Trench Wood R Slour1 Evesham, Land between 400400ft (122-244m) Riven Land over 800 ft (244m) Motorways Main towns and cities West Midland Bird Club Reserves County boundaries Other principal birdwatching sites Reproduced by kind permission of the Ordnance Survey © Crown Copyrighl NC/99/100016135 West Midland Bird Club Annual Report No. 65 1998 The Annual Report of the West Midland Bird Club on the birds in the counties of Wan/i/ickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire and the former West Midlands county. Contents 2 Officers and Committee 3 Editorial 5 Birds and Weather in 1998 11 Survey of Breeding Waders in Staffordshire 1998 26 Common Buzzards in Worcestershire 33 Population trends in three south Staffordshire Mute Swan herds 37 Systematic List 193 Short Notes 196 Ringing in 1998 205 Submission of Records 205 County Lists 212 Gazetteer 219 Key to Contributors The West Midland Bird Club is a registered charity. Registered Charity No. 213311. Printed by Healeys-Prinlers Ltd, Unit 10, The Sterling Complex, Farthing Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 5AP. Price £7.00 (Front Cover Photo) Common Kingfisher (Keith Stone) 2 Officers and Committee 1999 President W E Oddie Vice Presidents F C Gribble, A J Richards Chairman *J R Winsper, 32 Links Road, Hollywood, Birmingham B14 4TP Deputy Chairman *G R Harrison, 'Bryher', Hatton Green, Hatton, Warks CV357LA Secretary *Mrs H F Brittain, 13 Lawford Avenue, Lichfield, Staffs WS14 9XJ Acting Treasurer *J Coleman, 2 Marsons Drive, Crick, Northampton NN6 7TD Report Editor Vacant Bulletin Editor Vacant Membership Secretary J O Reeves, 9 Hintons Coppice, Knowle, Solihull B93 9RF Permit Secretary Miss M Surman, 6 Lloyd Square, 12 Niall Close, Birmingham B15 3LX Public Relations Officer *A J Richards, 1 Lansdowne Road, Studley, Warwickshire B80 7RB Ringing Secretary *A E Coleman, 67 Park Lane, Bonehill, Tamworth, Staffs and Research, B78 3HZ Records & Reserves Committee Chairman Branch Chairman: Birmingham *J N Sears, 14 Ingram Street, Malmesbury, Wilts SN16 9BX Solihull *G A Morley, 64 Cambridge Avenue, Solihull, B91 1QF Stafford *J A Lawrence, 4 Ashlands Crescent, Hartfields, Stoke-on- Trent, Staffs ST4 6QT Tamworth Mrs B Stubbs, 19 Alfred Street, Tamworth, Staffs County Recorders: Warwickshire J J Bowley 17 Meadow Way, Fenny Compton, Southam, Warwickshire CV47 2WD Worcestershire R E Harbird, Flat 4, Buckley Court, 16 Woodfield Road, Moseley, Birmingham B13 9UJ Staffordshire Mrs G N Jones, 4 The Poplars, Lichfield Road, Abbots Bromley, Rugeley, Staffs WS15 3AA West Midlands T C Hextell, 39 Windermere Road, Handsworth, Birmingham Recorder B21 9RQ Executive Council Mrs J Neal (Minutes Secretary), D Coles, P McBride, Records Committee J J Bowley, R E Harbird, S M Haynes, T C Hextell, Mrs G N Jones, W J Low * Officers serving on the Executive Council 3 Editorial Since few readers, I'm sure, will have looked at the preceding list of officers and committee members, I thought I should draw attention to some important changes following the Annual General Meeting. Firstly, our President, Tony Norris, stood down after 22 years. Tony joined the Club in 1936 and subsequently served with distinc- tion as Secretary (1947-1953), Editor (1947-1952), Chairman (1953-1962) and Vice President (1967-1976) before becoming President in 1977. We are sorry to lose him, but delighted that Bill Oddie has accepted the invitation to become our new President. Secondly, Alan Richards retired as Chairman after 16 years. Alan has been a Club member for fifty years and, like Tony, has filled several offices including Secretary, Bulletin Editor and Public Relations Officer. Jim Winsper has taken over as Chairman, with Alan becoming a Vice President as well as continuing as Public Relations Officer. Finally, our Honorary Secretary, Hugh MacGregor, decided to stand down after ten years exemplary service. On behalf of the membership, I should like to express our sincere thanks and best wishes to them all. Sadly, I also have to record the deaths of our Bulletin Editor, Paul South, and of Eric Harvey and Tom Leach. In their own special ways, they gave so much of their time and energy to the service of the Club and we shall miss them all. Obituaries have appeared in the Club's Bulletins. Once again the editorial team's aim to get the Report out before Christmas has been thwarted as one or two people overran deadlines. However, the challenge remains. If everyone would let the County Recorders have their records on the appropriate forms/slips by the end of January at the latest, it would be a great help. Too many records are still being received in mid-summer! It would also help if everyone were to submit their records of Category A species (those marked * in the Submission of Records and County Lists) as soon as possible after the sighting, rather than waiting until the end of the year. This year the list has been reviewed and made more objective by conforming with the very rare, rare and scarce status categories. This means that from 1999 descriptions will no longer be required for Smew, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Common Quail, Mediterranean Gull and (in Worcs and Staffs only) Common Raven, but they will be required for Little Tern. I should like to thank everyone who has helped me to produce this Report. I am especially grateful to those who contributed records, articles and short notes; to Bert Coleman for a fascinating Ringing Report; to the artists, Phil Jones and Terry Parker, and photographers, Keith Stone, Phill Ward and Rob Skeates, for making their work available; and above all to the County Recorders and their teams: Warwickshire: Jonathan Bowley for compiling the section and Steve Haynes, John Judge, Simon Roper and Carl Bagott for helping with the collation and adjudication of records. Worcestershire: Richard Harbird, Terry Hinett and Gavin Peplow. 4 Staffordshire: Gilly Jones, Neil Carter, Eric Clare, Dave Emley, Ray Jennett, Andy Lawrence, Bill Low and lastly Ben Reavey who retired this year after several years of writing. West Midlands: Tim Hextell. Finally, I should like to thank Jim Winsper and my wife, Janet, without whose help and support this Report would not have come to fruition. Graham Harrison European Nightjars and other breeding birds of Cannock Chase Due to an unfortunate error on my part, this article in last year's Report failed to acknowledge Frank Gribble as a joint author. My sincere apologies Frank. Graham Harrison Birds and Weather in 1998 1998 will go into the record books as the year of the floods. Birdwise it was uneventful, with few weather-related movements and no large-scale invasions or new species, though Black Kite and Yellow-browed Warbler were recorded in the West Midlands County for the first time. Just 219 species were recorded compared to an average of 229 over the last decade - the lowest total since 1984. January was milder, but wetter, than average as a succession of Atlantic depressions swept across. It began with a vengeance, as four days of strong south-westerlies culminated in a ferocious gale which brought heavy rain and widespread flooding. Conditions were worst in Warwickshire and Worcestershire, with the R. Severn reach- ing its highest level for 30 years at Worcester. Floodwater drew good flocks of dabbling duck, particularly on Longdon Marsh where Common Teal totalled 650 and Northern Pintail reached a regional record of 475. Remaining from 1997 were three Great Northern Divers, Slavonian Grebe, two Great Bitterns, two Whooper Swans, Ferruginous Duck, Red-breasted Merganser and Black Redstart, while four White- fronted Geese were New Year's Day discoveries. The severe storms drove several Great Skuas into the Bristol Channel and one penetrated inland to Fens Pools on the 3rd. The next day brought eight Kittiwakes, while the same evening at least 16 Yellow- legged Gulls roosted at Draycote. One of the year's two Bohemian Waxwings frequented a Pelsall garden from the 2nd-12th and a skein of 15 White-fronted Geese arrived on the 6th. Following snow in Staffordshire on the 5th, an anticyclone from the 9th-11th brought sunny and unusually mild weather, with a near-record temperature for January of 14°C on the 9th. The mild weather even tempted some birds into early nesting activity. After a Red-breasted Merganser on the 16th, another very wet day on the 18th heralded the onset of a week's colder weather, with the wind turning northerly on the 19th before high pressure brought a return to calm, settled conditions and more normal temperatures. A third Great Bittern was discovered at Ladywalk and a party of ten Whooper Swans appeared on the 24th. In a cold end to the month, a keen east wind on the 25th brought the first of three Hen Harriers, while Slavonian Grebe was new on 26th and the second Bohemian Waxwing appeared on the 29th. Also notable during the month were up to seven Long-eared Owls roosting at Park Hall and at least eleven Smew in the Middle Tame Valley. Light, mild winds and settled weather brought the warmest February on record, with temperatures during the 7th-27th often 5°-7°C above average. This advanced plant growth by three-four weeks. It was also the third sunniest February on record and uncharacteristically dry. During the first week, days were sunny, but nights cold, with temperatures falling to -7°C overnight on the 1st. Next day a Wood Lark was at Westport, while unseasonal waders included a Little Stint on the 3rd and the arrival at Bredons Hardwick of a long-staying Spotted Redshank on the 5th.